www.JohnAry.com

Recently, I have been on a luchador movie kick. If you have never seen El Santo or one of his masked wrestling buddies star in one of these unbelievably cheesy, cheap and awesome action flicks from Mexico, then I pity you. These movies must be seen to be believed.

Anyway, awhile back I checked with the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library to see if they had any available for checkout. I was sad to learn the library did not own any of El Santos’ masterworks on DVD. Via TSCPL.org, I suggested that the library should add some luchador action to their movie selection.  Today I received this email:

The Library has purchased the following titles and your name has been placed on reserve:

Santo en el musel de cera/Santo y blue demon

Santo vs. las lobos/Santo vs. el espectro del estrangulador

Carol A. Mongold
Collection Development
Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library

Talk about service!!! Thanks TSCPL!



While driving to an appointment today in downtown Topeka, I caught the end of an impromptu show by the Capital City’s best known street performer.  I was in luck as I happened to have my camera with me.  I hopped out of the car and walked over to him as he cleaned the snow off the wheelchair he carts his stuff around in.  He was unbelievably nice.  After a 5 minute conversation, I asked if I could take some video of him during his next performance when the weather warms up.  I gave him my card and he told me he would call me soon.  I can’t wait to learn more about him.BTW – He goes by the name Trumpet.

Yesterday, the story broke that Brick Oven Courtyard Grille in Topeka may be shutting its doors. This is bad news for the community, as Brick Oven is a local favorite for business meetings and nice dinners with friends and family. Here’s how social media beat traditional news outlets to the story.

Keith Czechanski (@KeithCzechanski) originally mentioned it in a twitter post yesterday morning at 10:06. He claims a bank teller who works at the bank near the restaurant told him. I retweeted his statement:

This lead to a phone call by Mandi Walter later in the morning to the Brick Oven. She asked whomever answered the phone if Brick Oven was closing. They said no.

After hearing from Mandi, I posted this tweet:

I then received this tweet two hours later from John Walkenford (@JWalkIV):

What can we take away from the way this breaking news story unfolded? The subject needs to be of communal interest. Brick Oven is a popular restaurant in Topeka. If it had been an eating place that few frequented or even a national chain, I believe fewer Twitterers would have cared or taken the time to dig up the facts themselves. Also, most tweets are taken at face value. Few people questioned where the information came from. Many took the information at face value and passed it on through their own posts and retweets. The few who did question the tweets took the next step of confirming the information themselves.

In conclusion, be careful what you believe on Twitter. Not all tweets have been researched or confirmed. Just because someone says they have information, doesn’t mean the information is current or properly investigated. In this case, those who questioned the information did the leg work and perhaps found the truth.

UPDATE (2:57 p.m. 1/13/11)

UPDATE (8:59 a.m. 1/14/11)

UPDATE (6:38 p.m. 1/15//11)