Mason's World

So, I recently went and participated in the great American tradition of roller skating. Like, for reals roller skating. At a rink with an organ and everything. And here's my big takeaway: I do not understand roller skating.

I'm curious if there's a parallel in other countries. According to the almighty Wikipedia, the "sport" has been around since the early 1800s. When I was a little kid, we'd go from time to time to the same rink I was at last weekend. In my teenage years, I got caught up in the rollerblade craze - which was awesome... at the time.

But back to my weekend adventure. My main problem with roller skating is that the actual skates are heavy and awkward. Unlike inline skates, it's really hard to turn and maneuver with all four wheels on the ground. I'm proud to say I didn't fall once, but I came close a number of times.

The thing that really surprised me, though, was that there was a rich subculture of roller skating fanatics. They closed down the floor for a few songs for just the experts to skate, and they were amazing. They moved gracefully - some dancing, some skating in synchronized pairs, other doing tricks... I was totally shocked. 1: I couldn't understand who would want to spend their time doing that (then again, I'm sure plenty of people don't know why anyone would want to spend their time doing bar trivia - which I love). And, 2: I was impressed at their skill.

So, yeah. Roller skating. Who knew?

So, I've resolved to finally get an iPhone.

It's a decision I've put off for a long while, as I'm the kind of guy who likes to wait until the last minute to make any decision. And so, here I am, less than a month away from going to SXSW (which is a big interactive, music and film festival in Austin, Texas) and I need to be connected at all times.

I'm really curious how mobile phone carriers work overseas. What kind of phones do you have? What does it cost? I truly hate the fact that this industry has so many rules and divides about what you can do where. Did you know that companies offer different phones and plan depending on what state you're in? There is no reason that these divides should exist - but who can afford to buy an unlocked phone?

Anyway...enlighted consumer rant aside, it's been very interesting to watch the culture evolve as the iPhone has been adopted. Hobbyist application developers are making hundreds of thousands of dollars on applications that make fart noises. People are tying their friends from social networks like Facebook and Twitter to other applications like maps and games. Truly revolutionary stuff.

So here I step into the brave new world. My only problem will be remembering to look up from my phone once in a while to notice.