Highlighting news and images in Arizona—via tweets.
By Mike Saucier @MikeTheSauce
With the Pope quitting, the Grammys rocking, the Jodi Arias trial resembling soft porn, another North Korea nuclear test and a State of the Union on the horizon, Twitter just might finally break.
CAN’T. TURN. AWAY. FROM. ARIAS TRIAL
Jim Small, AZ Capitol Times editor, got it about right when he tweeted: “It’s Monday, so you know what that means: Productivity will be in the toilet as we all follow @michaelbkiefer and the #JodiArias testimony”
12 News tweeter Tauhid Chappell: “I don’t normally follow court cases at all, no matter how big the spotlight, but following this #JodiArias trial in AZ is crazy. Wow…”
Steve Krafft of Fox 10 tweeted: “227pm #Arias #fox10newsnow Jodi says they also had sex on her front porch; this was one of Travis’ fantasies.”
CNN’s Jane Velez-Mitchell, who has been all over the trial, tweeted: “Courtroom spectator: Yes, Arias appears believable http://bit.ly/V1i11L”
Of course, Rose Law Group co-founder Jordan Rose has been a regular on Velez-Mitchell’s show discussing the Arias trial. You can see a clip, as tweeted by the Rose Law Group:
“Watch the clips from RLG’s Jordan Rose on @HLNtv @JVelezMitchell discussing the #JodiArias murder trial https://roselawgroupreporter.com/2013/02/watch-the-clips-from-rlgs-jordan-rose-on-hln-discussing-the-jodi-arias-murder-trial-on-february-5/ …”
FUN. WON AND MORE GRAMMY TWEETS
Cronkite student Gilbert Romero on Frank Ocean: “I wish @frank_ocean was my best friend. I feel like him and I would have some serious, deep conversations about a lot of things”
Maybe start by asking him about that whole Forrest Gump thing.
The big Grammy winners of course were the guys from Fun., including Glendale native Nate Ruess. The hometown hero got some love from Scottsdale social media strategist Nicki Escudero, who tweeted: “So, so, so proud of Nate Ruess and @OurNameIsFun! #Grammys”
Ruess earlier in the week tweeted his tour schedule (with apparently only one AZ appearance…): “Excited to say that we will be touring with @teganandsara on our summer tour! See bit.ly/mostnights for tickets”
Of course, with the Grammys, as with the Oscars, the Twitterverse focuses on appearances and makes judgments about them. Some not so nice.
PR pro and storyteller David Leibowitz: “They should have done projection thing on Adele’s dress. Would have been like IMAX”
Leibowitz again: “When did LL Cool J become the Applebee’s of rap?”
And again: “Target should buy promotional space on Rihanna’s five-head. Logo would look smashing.”
CBS Morning 5 news anchor Nicole Crites: “Ok. Think this is what they meant by #underboob #Grammys
“Good Morning Arizona” anchor Stella Inger: “Jlo’s dress…like it or not?”
TIMING IS EVERYTHING
Dan Nowicki of The Republic tweeted that “Arizona’s @GovBrewer to take an ‘extensive aerial tour of the Arizona border’ on Tuesday. Same day as President Obama’s #SOTU speech.”
COOLIDGE GOT IT RIGHT
Amity Shlaes, who wrote the book “Coolidge,” and is director of the Four Percent Growth Project, a key economic initiative of the George W. Bush Institute, appeared the Goldwater Institute last week. She tweeted a quote by the subject of her writings, President Calvin Coolidge: “In June of 1909 I went to Phoenix… It was the first I had seen of the West. The great possibilities of the region were apparent…—CC”
TREE TEE PEE MYSTERY
Johnjay Van Es from the Johnjay and Rich radio show found his house tee-peed. He tweeted: “Almost have all the TeePee down from the trees!”
He then set out to find the tee-pee perpetrators, tweeting: “Found receipt for the toilet paper used in the TeePee attack on my house last night, I called the cashier, my #1 suspect shops there! AHA!”
SLOW RIDE, TAKE IT EASY
Phoenix wedding photographer Mike Olbinski observed in a tweet: “Arizona…where you have 10 cars in the fast lane doing 65 in a 75. Sigh.”
ONE FUN RUN
AZ Central’s biz/publishing editor Julie Dart tweeted: “It hardly feels like exercise with scenery like this all around. @McDowellSonoran”
A great photo. But nothing beats this outstanding visual by Tom Tingle, which was tweeted by the Republic’s director of visuals Michael Meister: “Wow picture by @TomTingle2 of the Arizona desert after the snow level has dropped. #Weather slide show @azcentral”
Gov. Jan Brewer, who attended the Western Women’s Summit in Santa Barbara, tweeted a photo: “So great to be at the #Reagan Ranch with @RebeccaforReal and K.T. McFarland! #tcot”
The hashtag TCOT stands for Top Conservatives on Twitter.
MARIANO VS. CHRISTIE
Phoenix Business Journal reporter Kristena Hansen tweeted a link (no longer works): “Chris Christie calls Scottsdale’s Connie Mariano ‘just another hack who wants five minutes on TV’” The tweet included a link to the piece about the exchange with the New Jersey governor: http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/blog/business/2013/02/chris-christie-trades-barbs-with.html?ana=twt
Dr. Mariano (who is the doctor of Jordan Rose) responded in this article, tweeted by Toby Harnden of the British Sunday Times: “Dr Connie Mariano on Chris Christie’s haranguing call: “It made him rather small, if you can use that figuratively.” http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/world_news/Americas/article1211135.ece …
THIS WEEK IN GUNS
Brahm Resnik of 12 News: “If you’re keeping score: 3 shootings, 3 school lockdowns (but no shootings in schools) so far in #PHX area today.”
DESERT DUSTING
3TV’s weather guy Royal Norman retweeted a desert snow shot: “Nice RT @lizette_1985: @royalnorman beautiful picture of Sedona!!!”
“Good Morning Arizona” producer Emily Graham: “Yes it even snows in the desert. We have snow on the cacti!”
MARRIED SINCE FDR WAS PRESIDENT
Maria Polletta, who covers East Mesa for the Republic said (via a tweet) she, “Just interviewed a #Mesa couple who will celebrate 73 (count em–73) years of marriage in July for a #ValentinesDay story. Wow.”
IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR
Royals pitchers and catchers begin workouts in Surprise, AZ in a light rain this morning. #RoyalsST
IT’S THAT TIME OF THE YEAR?
Surprised by the chilly temperatures, Ryan Court, a player in the D-Backs organization, tweeted: “36 degrees right now in Scottsdale. Again, I find myself confused”
WHY CAN’T WE GET A PLAYER LIKE THAT?
As a Red Sox fan, I have seen my share of good players become great players after being traded to another team. That might be the case with former D-Back Justin Upton. Atlanta Journal-Constitution baseball reporter David O’Brien: “#Braves hitting coach Greg Walker on Justin Upton: ‘The first impression is, mechanically and talent-wise he’s about as good as it gets.’”
LAST WORD
Joanna Allhands of the Republic asks in a tweet: “What should @BarackObama say (or not) during Tuesday’s #SOTU0213? Send us your quotes!”
What about things he would love to say but can’t, like this: “If legislation for background checks for guns fails in Congress, good luck in 2014, GOP.”
SEE SOMETHING? SAY SOMETHING
So, you think a tweet is funny, clever or over-the-top? Nominate it for inclusion in TwitterZona. Do it by email at msaucier@gmail.com or Tweet @MikeTheSauce.
