John Olson
@jfolson.bsky.social
Retired man-about-town. And by "town" I mean New York City and Calgary.
Pinned
John Olson
@jfolson.bsky.social
· Dec 17
I only follow people whom I know in the real world, or public intellectuals like Heather Cox Richardson or Paul Krugman. Recently, three different "Jenny"s have followed me, all strangers. I guess "Jenny" must be the least suspicious sounding name, perfect for bots.
Slightly diminish a band:
Surprise! At the Disco
Surprise! At the Disco
Slightly diminish a band:
String Quartet Maneouvres in the Dark
String Quartet Maneouvres in the Dark
Slightly diminish a band:
And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Complaints
And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Complaints
January 12, 2026 at 2:14 AM
Slightly diminish a band:
Surprise! At the Disco
Surprise! At the Disco
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints of the Planet of the Apes
January 10, 2026 at 10:36 PM
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints of the Planet of the Apes
Moonrise, New Years Eve, Banff.
January 1, 2026 at 1:31 AM
Moonrise, New Years Eve, Banff.
Please quote this with a time you didn't interact with someone famous.
On our way to see a Broadway show, Peter Dinklage got out of a limo near us. He was wearing a black velvet jacket, very elegant. We did not bother him, as he was clearly on his way somewhere. As were we.
On our way to see a Broadway show, Peter Dinklage got out of a limo near us. He was wearing a black velvet jacket, very elegant. We did not bother him, as he was clearly on his way somewhere. As were we.
When I was eight years old, NASA ran an ad in the newspaper advertising for astronauts. A friend of my dad's was one of 8000 people to apply for 35 slots and made it to the final round. My dad drove him and another applicant up to Edwards to watch a drop test. I didn't go, so I never met Sally Ride.
Please quote this from the time you didn't interact with someone famous.
I was visiting with family in New Bedford, Massachusetts, at the same time that Mother Theresa was there visiting her Missionaries of Charity. The bishop held a Mass for her at the church where I was baptized. I didn't go.
I was visiting with family in New Bedford, Massachusetts, at the same time that Mother Theresa was there visiting her Missionaries of Charity. The bishop held a Mass for her at the church where I was baptized. I didn't go.
January 1, 2026 at 1:20 AM
Please quote this with a time you didn't interact with someone famous.
On our way to see a Broadway show, Peter Dinklage got out of a limo near us. He was wearing a black velvet jacket, very elegant. We did not bother him, as he was clearly on his way somewhere. As were we.
On our way to see a Broadway show, Peter Dinklage got out of a limo near us. He was wearing a black velvet jacket, very elegant. We did not bother him, as he was clearly on his way somewhere. As were we.
I've decided to redact everything the president says. When someone posts a screenshot of one of his rants, I just don't read it. Sometimes people transcribe a rant, and then I might read a word or two before I catch myself. It's made my life better.
December 27, 2025 at 8:24 PM
I've decided to redact everything the president says. When someone posts a screenshot of one of his rants, I just don't read it. Sometimes people transcribe a rant, and then I might read a word or two before I catch myself. It's made my life better.
Not just bordering. It's deliberately sowing confusion, just like the oil companies and the gun companies and the tobacco companies and the lead companies...
At this point it's bordering on dishonest to keep bringing up protein systhesis or cancer detection when all those data centers and chips and greenhouse gases and trillions of dollars are *really* for lying, theiving chatbots, surveillance capitalism, and unethical porn.
December 21, 2025 at 10:38 PM
Not just bordering. It's deliberately sowing confusion, just like the oil companies and the gun companies and the tobacco companies and the lead companies...
No, idiot. No one apologized for being white. People like you make me *sad* that I'm white. And male, and Christian. I thank God I'm gay.
JD Vance: "In the United States of America you don't have to apologize for being white anymore"
December 21, 2025 at 10:00 PM
No, idiot. No one apologized for being white. People like you make me *sad* that I'm white. And male, and Christian. I thank God I'm gay.
Get a room, Jeanette, Isabella.
December 21, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Get a room, Jeanette, Isabella.
A trailer for a movie about volcanic eruptions in Los Angeles. Lots of beautiful people running from rivers of lava, which is utterly absurd. Los Angeles is on a subduction zone, and subduction zone vulcanism produces basically no lava.
Midnight Rocky Horror in Paris where everybody was hollering shit in colloquial French. Was like hearing new folk music in the wild
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen at the Somerville; 2 other people in attendance. Mostly watched in silence except at the end when one of em blew a loud ass raspberry
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen at the Somerville; 2 other people in attendance. Mostly watched in silence except at the end when one of em blew a loud ass raspberry
Raising the always fun question: What are your most memorable theater-going experiences?
Mine also include The Matrix, Blair Witch, and being way too stoned in Belgium when Fellowship of the Ring was sold out so we sat in the back row for Mulholland Drive instead.
Mine also include The Matrix, Blair Witch, and being way too stoned in Belgium when Fellowship of the Ring was sold out so we sat in the back row for Mulholland Drive instead.
December 19, 2025 at 4:46 PM
A trailer for a movie about volcanic eruptions in Los Angeles. Lots of beautiful people running from rivers of lava, which is utterly absurd. Los Angeles is on a subduction zone, and subduction zone vulcanism produces basically no lava.
The Rose is White, or Pink, or Red—
The Violet—is Blue
And Sugar's kiss is sweet as Death
When He will come—for you—
(Not Emily Dickinson)
www.qwantz.com/index.php?co...
The Violet—is Blue
And Sugar's kiss is sweet as Death
When He will come—for you—
(Not Emily Dickinson)
www.qwantz.com/index.php?co...
Dinosaur Comics!
Roses can be red / Violets are purple, not blue / Poem now haiku
www.qwantz.com
December 17, 2025 at 5:35 PM
The Rose is White, or Pink, or Red—
The Violet—is Blue
And Sugar's kiss is sweet as Death
When He will come—for you—
(Not Emily Dickinson)
www.qwantz.com/index.php?co...
The Violet—is Blue
And Sugar's kiss is sweet as Death
When He will come—for you—
(Not Emily Dickinson)
www.qwantz.com/index.php?co...
This is an excellent summary. Summarizing the summary: don't worry about overpopulation, worry about overconsumption.
The thread on one page: skywriter.blue/pages/did:pl...
Page by George Monbiot | @georgemonbiot.bsky.social
Because the issue of population change is so widely misunderstood, here's a short thread which seeks to lay it out simply.
It explains why there is almost nothing anyone can do to change the global po...
skywriter.blue
December 15, 2025 at 1:19 PM
This is an excellent summary. Summarizing the summary: don't worry about overpopulation, worry about overconsumption.
Billion dollar business model: A catalog of ludicrous, AI-generated products which exist only as NFTs (remember those?) that can be purchased with cryptocurrencies.
December 2, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Billion dollar business model: A catalog of ludicrous, AI-generated products which exist only as NFTs (remember those?) that can be purchased with cryptocurrencies.
I bet MTG is going to run for president.
November 22, 2025 at 6:31 PM
I bet MTG is going to run for president.
This morning's semi-consciousness gave me this:
SUNDAY! SUNDAY! SUNDAY!
AT THE MAUSOLEUM!!
MONSTER TRUCK ZOMBIE SMASH!
Soon to be a series on some streaming service or other
SUNDAY! SUNDAY! SUNDAY!
AT THE MAUSOLEUM!!
MONSTER TRUCK ZOMBIE SMASH!
Soon to be a series on some streaming service or other
November 20, 2025 at 2:26 PM
This morning's semi-consciousness gave me this:
SUNDAY! SUNDAY! SUNDAY!
AT THE MAUSOLEUM!!
MONSTER TRUCK ZOMBIE SMASH!
Soon to be a series on some streaming service or other
SUNDAY! SUNDAY! SUNDAY!
AT THE MAUSOLEUM!!
MONSTER TRUCK ZOMBIE SMASH!
Soon to be a series on some streaming service or other
I knew someone once, from Japan
Whose Limericks just would not scan.
They started out well
But then they would go awry
And become haiku.
Whose Limericks just would not scan.
They started out well
But then they would go awry
And become haiku.
November 15, 2025 at 8:30 PM
I knew someone once, from Japan
Whose Limericks just would not scan.
They started out well
But then they would go awry
And become haiku.
Whose Limericks just would not scan.
They started out well
But then they would go awry
And become haiku.
Reposted by John Olson
November 10, 2025 at 11:29 AM
Please read this brief blog post about fact checking, take it to heart, make it your lodestar.
Anyway, here's my slightly fuller fact-check - and rant about the media's constant failings - shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/10...
You did no fact checking, and I must scream
I'm neither a journalist nor a professional fact checker but, the thing is, it's has never been easier to check basic facts. Yeah, sure, there's a world of misinformation out there, but it doesn't tak...
shkspr.mobi
November 9, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Please read this brief blog post about fact checking, take it to heart, make it your lodestar.
Today was a good day! Zohran Mamdani is the mayor elect of NYC.
November 5, 2025 at 2:44 AM
Today was a good day! Zohran Mamdani is the mayor elect of NYC.
In these stressful, cruel times, it's important to take a moment to appreciate the little things. Dick Cheney is dead.
November 4, 2025 at 12:45 PM
In these stressful, cruel times, it's important to take a moment to appreciate the little things. Dick Cheney is dead.
This.
Too often, we talk about homelessness as if it's natural or inevitable. The truth is that it's a political choice.
When then-Gov. Cuomo cut the Advantage program rather than tax his wealthy donors, his decision sent thousands of New York families into shelters.
When then-Gov. Cuomo cut the Advantage program rather than tax his wealthy donors, his decision sent thousands of New York families into shelters.
September 29, 2025 at 10:32 PM
This.
IF U SEE THIS, POST A BRIDGE
September 28, 2025 at 10:35 PM
IF U SEE THIS, POST A BRIDGE
First they came for the drag queens,
But I said nothing, because I have no style.
Then they came for the comedians,
But I said nothing, because I'm not funny.
They didn't bother coming for the journalists
Because they already owned them.
But I said nothing, because I have no style.
Then they came for the comedians,
But I said nothing, because I'm not funny.
They didn't bother coming for the journalists
Because they already owned them.
September 19, 2025 at 2:22 PM
First they came for the drag queens,
But I said nothing, because I have no style.
Then they came for the comedians,
But I said nothing, because I'm not funny.
They didn't bother coming for the journalists
Because they already owned them.
But I said nothing, because I have no style.
Then they came for the comedians,
But I said nothing, because I'm not funny.
They didn't bother coming for the journalists
Because they already owned them.
It was Pride weekend in Calgary, so I haven't been paying attention. Is Trump still dead?
September 2, 2025 at 5:16 PM
It was Pride weekend in Calgary, so I haven't been paying attention. Is Trump still dead?
Oh! He's up on the roof, and we can't get him down
@harrymsanders.bsky.social ask Kirsten to explain
@harrymsanders.bsky.social ask Kirsten to explain
August 5, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Oh! He's up on the roof, and we can't get him down
@harrymsanders.bsky.social ask Kirsten to explain
@harrymsanders.bsky.social ask Kirsten to explain