By Mike Saucier
Most years around the holidays, the news cycle is filled with traffic and shopping highlights interspersed with a few crime stories and end-of-the-year lists. This year, the usual holiday news fare was infused with news of young children being slaughtered in their school, displays of mourning, and a renewed debate about gun rights.
Also peppering the news cycles was the fiscal cliff, which to me conjures the image of “Thelma & Louise” as they made their suicidal pact and plunge. Senate members faced the possibility of voting on the final day of the year in order to reach an agreement to avoid massive tax increases and devastating spending cuts.
But, back to guns and Christmas. I’m typically not a big fan of perennially cynical types like Maureen Dowd of the New York Times but she is a master wordsmith and wrote the following in a column headlined, “Why, God?”:
“How does one celebrate Christmas with the fresh memory of 20 children and 7 adults ruthlessly murdered in Newtown; with the searing image from Webster of firemen rushing to save lives ensnared in a burning house by a maniac who wrote that his favorite activity was ‘killing people’?”
Now the battle is on about what to do next.
Arizona’s House Minority Leader Chad Campbell @repcampbell opposes Tom Horne’s idea of arming one educator per school. Campbell tweeted: “Horne & Babeu’s plans are horrible. Only gun a teacher should need is a staple gun. My plan is better. “http://ow.ly/gmZ4V”
These are the lines which have been drawn in the desert sand here and the battle over more guns or fewer guns will dominate national headlines for months to come, featuring Arizona (Is there a state more associated with guns than AZ?) as a key player in the discussion.
TWEETING THE HOLIDAYS
KPHO reporter Colton Shone @ColtonShone tweeted: “I’ve had so much candy and sweets this week. Yup, I’m going to eat more when I get home.”
Arizona writer, copy editor and photographer Janice Semmel @jlsemmel tweeted this great photo: “It was a gorgeous night @PhoenixZoo ZooLights!”
Semmel also tweeted an account of what she saw while wandering the deserted streets of Scottsdale on Christmas: “Deserted Scottsdale streets offer peace, beauty on Christmas wp.me/pqLqP-xV Even though the day was gray, Christmas was beautiful!”
D-Backs pitcher Charles Brewer @CharlesBrewerAZ: “Spending money for Christmas is fun. But why is spending money the day after Christmas even better?! #getsmeeverytime”
Mega star and AZ native Jordin Sparks @JordinSparks: “1st Christmas away from home…but I’m loving every second. Merry Christmas to you & yours!”
The deejay ELEMENT @DJElementAZ of Phoenix on Christmas Day tweeted: “Go Jesus it’s yo birthday, go Jesus it’s yo birthday!!”
Fox reporter Britt Moreno @brittfox10 tweeted: “After the presents have been unwrapped, people flock to the movies on Christmas Night!”
Lauren Pfingstag @LaurenElectra: “Seriously? There’s cops directing traffic inside fashion square parking garage. #postxmascraziness #shopaholic”
Storyteller, marketer and writer David Leibowitz @leiboaz of Phoenix tweeted: “One good thing about downtown meetings on the Friday after Christmas: Zero traffic.”
JUST RANDOM
Jessica Bender @ArizonaJess (“Follower of Christ | A lady | Conservative politico | Arizona native | Arizona State Sun Devil | Congressional House staffer”) tweeted: “Never getting my teeth whitened again. The pain! The sensitivity! The lack of coffee! AGGHHHH!”
Gayle Bass, “co-host of the nationally syndicated TV show RightThisMinute & Hosts, the Az Morning News Saturday on KTAR” and aka The Click Chick @theclickchick: “No matter how many napkins you give them, kids will somehow get ketchup on your carpet. The one you just shampooed…”
Matt Fox @persuasionfox of Scottsdale: “I didn’t realize how many blondes there are in the Phoenix area until I spend 1 day walking around NYC.”
Kayla Ross @saltshotlime of Tempe: “I seriously love interracial couples.”
Molly Brush @mollykahr of Phoenix (a “Midwesterner recently transplanted to the desert. Writer, editor, & grammar cop. Classical musician with a rock ‘n’ roll heart. Natural redhead”) tweeted: “Completely alone in the office and hearing noises. I sure hope that’s the janitorial staff.”
SHOUTOUTS AND SHAMELESS PLUGS
This tweet by Kate Gallego @KateWGallego (chair of the PHX Environmental Quality Commission and Vice Chair of PlanPHX) references an app that lets customers pick songs and vote on the music. How cool is that? She tweeted: “How many times have you wished you could change the music at a bar or restaurant? Someone invented the app to do it: @roqbot”
Request from @MikeTheSauce: Keegan’s on Camelback in the Biltmore Plaza–PLEASE get this app!
We have some restaurants from Texas to look forward to, according to food writer, cookbook author and Scottsdale Culinary Institute grad Gwen Ashley Walters @chefgwen, who tweeted: “PHX: Salty Sow opening March in PHX, Hopdoddy Burger Bar in summer in Scottsdale. Both Texas imports.”
Johnjay Van Es @JohnjayVanEs touted a Hulu-only show, tweeting: “The show is called “The Booth at the End” its only on HULU…its soooo good! Give it a chance, VERY clever, great stories #imaddicted”
Holiday time means movie time and the endorsements and pans roll in over Twitter throughout December and January, such as this one from D-Backs pitcher Tyler Skaggs @TylerSkaggs37: “Django was a great movie wow!!! Deff a must see.”
Jen Parsons @japarsons of Phoenix had a different take on the film, tweeting: “Friends who are obsessed with Tarantino – I just don’t get it. Please explain.”
The McCains lunch in Jerome and tweet a picture. Sen. John McCain @SenJohnMcCain: “Having lunch with the family @TheAsylum in the historic mining town of Jerome, AZ”
Greg Stanton @MayorStanton tweeted his thanks for a love letter to Phoenix which appeared in the Huffington Post: “Thank you, Dr. Dombrowski, for this thoughtful piece of poetry. #phx ain’t perfect, but it’s a great city.” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/love-letters/phoenix-arizona-love-letter_b_2315418.html …
An excerpt: “We complain about the heat even as we embrace it. It gives us an excuse to head downtown to City Center, Heritage Square and Roosevelt Row for the shopping or the people watching. It’s never too cold to wander the city streets and never too boring either. The sky is blue and your friendly people are invariably polite and welcoming.”
And speaking to Phoenix and positive vibes, there’s this tweet/link from Tony Motola @TheTonyMotola (former senior policy advisor to the Mayor of Phoenix): “Phoenix home values gain most in US. Phx leads all cities with a 21.7% gain. #Phoenix #homeprices.”
The impressive stat in full, via the Republic website: “US home prices rose in most major cities in October compared with a year ago, with Phoenix leading all cities with a 21.7 percent gain.”
State Sen. Al Melvin @SenatorMelvin on the sudden departure of EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson: “#azright Good News: Obama’s head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is resigning. Bad News: She’ll be replaced by another leftist.”
For those on both sides of the climate change debate, 3TV meteorologist Royal Norman @royalnorman has a stat for you: “2012 will probably end up 3rd warmest year on record for PHX; 16th driest according to #ASUclimate #since1895”
THE TWEETWEEK IN SPORTS
Cindy Brunson @CindyBrunsonAZ is coming to Arizona from ESPN in Bristol, Conn. According to her Twitter bio, she is an “Anchor, ESPN. Mariners & Seahawks fan. Proud WSU Alum.” She is also the wife of new Diamondbacks broadcaster Steve Berthiaume, hence the relocation out here. She tweeted: “My last @SportsCenter is 12/29 1am ET here’s why AZ is my new home RT@PaolaBoivin:#Dbacks new announcers meet the press http://bit.ly/RDs6Om ”
TWEET OF THE WEEK
Andy Tobin @Andy_Tobin, Speaker of the AZ House of Representatives: “Thank you to all AZ public safety personnel & first responders who run toward the danger that we run away from. Merry Christmas. God Bless.”
(TwitterZona is a column about Arizona tweets from movers and shakers in government, the sports world, newsrooms, public relations, the commentariat, business and enterprise, entertainment, the restaurant and nightlife scene, and arenas in between. Tweet selection is based on whether it is funny, clever, timely, insightful, provocative, sweet, moving, uplifting, or if it was an apt way of commenting on the issue of the moment. It was conceived by and written by Phoenix resident Mike Saucier, @MikeTheSauce, a former newspaper reporter and editor in Massachusetts and New York City and a former spokesman for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection and the New York City Department of Correction. Email: msaucier@gmail.com)
