Max Aaron doing AMA (ask me anything) on Reddit RIGHT NOW! | Golden Skate

Max Aaron doing AMA (ask me anything) on Reddit RIGHT NOW!

karne

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Here's the link

You don't even need an email address to sign up with Reddit and it literally takes two seconds. ;)
 

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avatar credit: @miyan5605
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Cross-posting from the American Ladies thread: tomorrow will bring another social media opportunity to interact with a (former) U.S. champion.

NASA's Google+ Hangout with Rachael Flatt (and other cool people :cool:):

Wednesday, July 17: 4:00 p.m. EDT (3:00 p.m. CDT)
> Fitness Training With the "Best of the Best!"
A Discussion About Health & Fitness With Olympians, a CrossFit Champion, an NFL Player and an Astronaut
How do astronauts stay in shape for long-duration missions in a weightless environment? Learn this and how elite athletes stay fit in a special Google+ Hangout on Wednesday, July 17.
NASA Astronaut Mike Hopkins will be joined by 2010 U.S. Olympic Team figure skater Rachael Flatt and bobsledder Curt Tomasevicz, CrossFit Games Champion Rich Froning, Jr., and Houston Texans player Jared Crick for the discussion, which can be seen live on NASA's Google+ page or on NASA Television.
Peter Moore of Men's Health magazine, Sam Kass, Executive Director of the White House's Let's Move! campaign and Mark Guilliams, Hopkin’s lead strength coach, will also participate.
To participate and have your questions answered during the hangout, use #askNASA.

ETA, the Google+ page for the event:
 

Serious Business

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Oh poop, I missed his AMA by an hour. I used to use Reddit heavily and already have an account there. But then, reading the thing, I can't feel too bad, 'cause his answers are as dull as his skating. :p
 

karne

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Oh poop, I missed his AMA by an hour. I used to use Reddit heavily and already have an account there. But then, reading the thing, I can't feel too bad, 'cause his answers are as dull as his skating. :p

Dude, he quoted South Park, smacked down one of the "you're so gay" brigade with "Real men wear tights" and was polite and witty in most of the other answers. Think you were reading the wrong AMA, mate.
 

Serious Business

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Dude, he quoted South Park, smacked down one of the "you're so gay" brigade with "Real men wear tights" and was polite and witty in most of the other answers. Think you were reading the wrong AMA, mate.

He gave brief boilerplate answers to all the questions, telling us absolutely nothing new. And nothing new is the very definition of a South Park reference, a TV show over a decade old that may have been controversial once, but has long since entrenched itself as a libertarian establishment. That song is so banal even Brian Boitano skated to it, and named a TV show after it. It was cutting edge humor in the age of beepers and AOL.

As for his "real men wear tights" answer, that's a glib and trite answer, if not an outright concurrence to a homophobic sentiment. Since the question asked was, "how straight can you be wearing tights?" His answer implied "real men" are "straight men". I guess, if you insist, that sort of ignorance in a general context may be shocking enough to make this AMA less soporific. But no one who knows how conservative figure skating is would be remotely surprised by it.
 

karne

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He gave brief boilerplate answers to all the questions, telling us absolutely nothing new. And nothing new is the very definition of a South Park reference, a TV show over a decade old that may have been controversial once, but has long since entrenched itself as a libertarian establishment. That song is so banal even Brian Boitano skated to it, and named a TV show after it. It was cutting edge humor in the age of beepers and AOL.

As for his "real men wear tights" answer, that's a glib and trite answer, if not an outright concurrence to a homophobic sentiment. Since the question asked was, "how straight can you be wearing tights?" His answer implied "real men" are "straight men". I guess, if you insist, that sort of ignorance in a general context may be shocking enough to make this AMA less soporific. But no one who knows how conservative figure skating is would be remotely surprised by it.

I think your reading of Max's answers says a lot more about you than about him.
 
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He gave brief boilerplate answers to all the questions, telling us absolutely nothing new. And nothing new is the very definition of a South Park reference, a TV show over a decade old that may have been controversial once, but has long since entrenched itself as a libertarian establishment. That song is so banal even Brian Boitano skated to it, and named a TV show after it. It was cutting edge humor in the age of beepers and AOL.

Aw, come on. Max has no obligation to be cutting edge.

Anyway, from the interview, here he is with Alissa Czisny's little sister. ;)

http://i.imgur.com/8BZmEyr.jpg
 

Serious Business

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Aw, come on. Max has no obligation to be cutting edge.

And he isn't. I only disagree with some starry-eyed fan's attempt to cast Mr. Aaron's recall of a decade old song as an example of wit.

I think your reading of Max's answers says a lot more about you than about him.

Indeed. It says I'm enlightened about the perpetuation of toxic gender and sexual archetypes :biggrin:, and he and people who share his ignorance are beneath notice.
 

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- By "dull," Serious Business seems to mean "predictable." If so, then SB seems to be living in a big ol' glass house, LOL. The uptight crankiness and smug superiority complex that SB has worn as badges of honor in this and other threads are as consistent as Max Aaron's relaxed and good-natured humility.
The difference is that if I had to choose one of you to have a beer with ... or to be stuck on a desert island with ... or to have a child of mine marry ... gee, whose "dull"-ness would I prefer? ;)

- Max is not a homophobe (and neither am I). Not fair for Serious Business to put words in Max's mouth as a basis for a false accusation. Talk about toxic behavior. :bang:

- Max deserves credit, not condemnation, for reaching out via reddit both to gain new fans for skating and to connect with existing ones.

Max's use of the AMA platform in and of itself is "something new" for the sport, AFAIK. Isn't Max one of the first (and perhaps the very first) elite skater to conduct an AMA?

As an experienced redditor, SB should be well aware that AMAs are free-for-alls, with questions submitted by anyone and everyone -- including some participants who just wander in with no prior knowledge of or interest in the subject at hand.
Many of the questions for Max were from people who apparently had little or no familiarity with or understanding of skating as a serious sport -- e.g., the questions about Blades of Glory and about Boitano and South Park. By answering the pop culture questions with playful humor, Max probably made non-skating fans feel something in common with him. Maybe they'll pay attention the next time a reference to or image of skating goes by on TV or online somewhere. When the Sochi Olympics roll around, maybe they'll recognize Max's name and cheer for him or other skaters. Don't understand why a supposed supporter of skating such as SB would throw cold water on Max's friendly responses to newbies who don't have PhDs in figure skating, but who have innocent curiosity. (To be clear, I am not lumping all the questions together as innocent. Some hateful ones were posted too, unfortunately.)​
 

Serious Business

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Aw, I don't think I'm superior to you, golden411. I apologize if I ever gave that impression. And I wish you every happiness on your island paradise filled with beer, your Max Aaron-sired grand kids and whatever else you imagine. ;)
 

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Aw, I don't think I'm superior to you, golden411. I apologize if I ever gave that impression. And I wish you every happiness on your island paradise filled with beer, your Max Aaron-sired grand kids and whatever else you imagine. ;)

May wonders never cease: SB has a sense of humor after all! :yay:
Please share your lighthearted side with us more often -- and as I bounce granddaughter Maxine on my knee in the shade of the palm trees, I will raise my frosty mug and toast you. ;)
 

w_darling

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As a general sort of disclaimer: I do think Max seems to be a nice kid and a commendable athlete (he works hard, he does have flaws but appears to recognize them and at least try to address them, he delivered at a crucial moment when his competitors couldn't, etc.). However, my, er, social-justice-y side feels compelled to jump in and agree with Serious Business's point about "real men wear tights." I understand that he probably meant it with the best intentions in mind; that does not erase the fact that it's a flawed approach to the issues of homophobia and gender stereotypes and doesn't constructively address these problems. The problem with the "real men" argument and the implication here that "real men" aren't homophobic is that, quite obviously, real men -- everyday men who can be friends, family members, co-workers, that random guy you crossed on the street -- are homophobic. Using a dogmatic "real men" statement reduces the very real impact of this terrible truth and, consequently, undermines our very attempts to meaningfully address these issues. [If anyone is at all interested -- which I understand if you aren't when here you were blithely, and quite reasonably, expecting talk of figure skating /o\-- there is more written criticism about the "real men don't rape" slogan that has recently become quite popular; the semantics and logic used are similar to that of the "real men wear tights" issue here.]
 

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I strongly disagree with SB in that I did/do not think for one second that the implication of Max's words is/was that "real men are straight men."

I'm not a linguist, but that is why I referred to unfairly putting words in Max's mouth.
 

w_darling

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I strongly disagree with SB in that I did/do not think for one second that the implication of Max's words is/was that "real men are straight men."

I'm not a linguist, but that is why I referred to unfairly putting words in Max's mouth.

After a re-read of SB's post, I realize that we [SB and I] are talking about slightly different things and that it seems that my understanding of Max's comment is probably more consistent with yours (albeit leading to different implications). Well, that teaches me to reply without reading properly /o\

... Anyway! On a less, uh, controversial note -- I did enjoy the other parts of his AMA that I read! And that's all I'm going to say before I put my foot in my mouth again, lol.
 
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