This year's big digital phenomenon has been the explosion of Twitter, which took the least useful bit of Facebook and built a whole social media platform around it. But as well as giving Lindsay Lohan a handy forum for ranting inarticulately at her ex, and allowing regular mortals to detail their every tedious move, the website has also unearthed a few gems.
One of the best is 'Shit My Dad Says' - a Twitter account which has amassed over 700,000 followers and become the stuff of internet legend. It's the story of a 29 year-old guy who lives with his 73 year-old father, a man so profanely cantankerous that he may well be evidencing the early stages of dementia.
Given the venomous vitriol spouted by his father, Justin Halpern would be forgiven for looking into flights to Switzerland. But instead, Halpern captures his dad's comments and posts them on Twitter. Ordinarily, this soul-destroying commentary on the foibles of modern life would become unbearably oppressive, but presented in bite-sized pieces of 140 characters or less, they're slightly more tolerable.
Choice quotes from Halpern Senior include:
“You look just like Stephen Hawking…. Relax, I meant like a non-paralyzed version of him. Feel better? Fine. Forget I said it.”
"Why the fuck would I want to live to 100? I'm 73 and shit's starting to get boring. By the way, there's no money left when I go, just fyi"
"I wanted to see Detroit win. I've been there. It's like God took a shit on a parking lot. They deserve some good news."
Now it seems as though Hollywood wants in on the action. CBS has commissioned Justin to write the pilot for a new sitcom, based on his tweets, that will be produced by Will & Grace creators David Kohan and Max Mutchnick.
In the past, we've had movies and TV shows based on books, plays, songs, poems and even toys. But this will be the first to be inspired by a Twitter feed. Still, if a Twitter account can get a development deal, maybe there's hope for Lindsay's career after all.
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