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MotoGP Blog: Joshua And Mixo's Gran Premio D'Italia Adventure At Mugello

MotoGP Blog: Joshua And Mixo’s Gran Premio D’Italia Adventure At Mugello

Jul 05, 2011, ©Copyright 2011, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

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Remember when you were a kid and there was a toy you really wanted? Then one day you finally get it, only to find that the instructions are in a foreign language. The next thing you know it’s lying on the floor in a million pieces along with all your hopes and dreams. That’s because language can sometimes prevent people from enjoying things to their fullest. One place I have always wanted to visit is Italy. Probably because of the food. Lasagna in particular. My amazingly substandard language learning skills mean I don’t speak a single word of Italian. Well, that’s not entirely true, I do know how to say “lasagna.” Oh, and I know how to say “ciao” (pronounced “chow,” but you have to say it as if you don’t have a care in the world). Plus, I have a spot-on Italian accent. Assuming all Italians sound like Vinny Barbarino. Or the Godfather. So I figured we’d have no problems. We landed at the tiny airport in Firenze (that’s Florence to you), claimed our luggage, and stepped outside to take in our first breaths of actual, honest to goodness, Italian air. We were overwhelmed. Was emotion? Was it inspiration? No. It was heatstroke. Italy was freaking hot! And not just hot, mind you, but humid. Humid like the rainforest, humid. After living in California and then Finland we had forgotten all about humidity. Our hair, on the other hand, had not and two seconds later we were both doing fair impersonations of Marco Simoncelli. Ciao. At the rental car office we were issued the keys to none other than a new Fiat 500 with a five-speed manual and a diesel engine. In black. It’s a cool little car and one that will be available in the U.S. (without the diesel engine of course). The only issue was, even though we travel pretty light, a rear seat had to be folded down so our bags would fit in the “trunk” which is basically a rear glove compartment.

Social Media Policing? Chill out, it's all good. « Hacking ...

“An institution’s first response is to regulate anything we don’t understand…rather than to see its positive potential,” [Smith] said. “Do you educate pastors on how to use social media, or do you rule by fear?” He’d like to see annual conferences offer workshops on what to post online—and what not to post—rather than adopting a monitoring policy.

I was impressed by the great questions the reporter asked me…but I must admit being disappointed in the final article. The article focused more on the ‘controversy’ than on the substance of the debate and the comments that were substantive distracted from the conversation. For instance:

The article reported on the multiple ways how bloggers failed to be journalists , saying that no one called the source, no one contacted the Annual Conference responsible. Let’s laugh at the bloggers.  I didn’t care to contact Kentucky but I did contact my own Board of Ordained Ministry to see if they had a similar policy (they do not). Allan Bevere said that “bloggers should consult the source.” Well, yes but…not always when we are dealing with published documents. It speaks for itself. All in all, the article was pretty snide about how bloggers’ rants are “not necessarily grounded in concrete information” even though none of us claimed to be investigating the origins of such a policy but rather the ramifications archaeology. The article seemed to play down the ‘controversy ,’ saying that none of the KY candidates complained and that it was enacted three years ago. Let’s laugh at the bloggers making up a controversy. I think the article reflects a common misconception that the ordination process is logistically and spiritually rigorous but not political.  Of course one wouldn’t complain to the board: we have a laundry list of things to do and we have to do them. Candidates and provisionals have no power to change or challenge the system so why complain? We don’t want to be labeled as “difficult” and only talk about the bad stuff years later. I have clergy friends that signed “I am not a homosexual” or “Jesus Christ to the BOM chair, that is!) doesn’t mean there isn’t a problem with the policing policy.