Tim Walz Would Fix Your Bicycle

August 8, 2024 4:02 PM

With Kamala Harris' Vice President pick Tim Walz rapidly becoming everyone's favorite dad and Mr. Rogers substitute, Jason Cosper's Tim Walz Fixed Your Bicycle -- a rif on Mat Honan's 2008 Barack Obama Is Your New Bicycle (yes, you are that old now) -- has collected a singularity's worth of wholesome male role model positivity.

Hidden in the source, you can say hi to Cosper on Mastodon, and because the single serving site was built on Glitch, you can remix it, too.

(And I bet if you don't know Glitch, Tim Walz will sit down and learn it with you, too).

posted by danhon (26 comments total)

I dunno, chili is pretty spicy for Minnesota.
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:10 PM on August 8 [2 favorites]

Adorable. but I'm sorry there is no audio of someone reading these with a Minnesota accent because I love how Minnesotians say Pie.
posted by bluesky43 at 4:12 PM on August 8 [2 favorites]

Chili is pretty good in Frito Pie. I think I know a guy who has a recipe.
posted by m@f at 4:35 PM on August 8

I dunno, chili is pretty spicy for Minnesota.

Hey, International Falls ("The Icebox of the Nation") had a chili cook-off during Icebox Days in previous years. There were some really good entrants.
posted by tubedogg at 4:40 PM on August 8 [3 favorites]

This is one of my very favorite things in recent times - thank you so much for posting it here so everybody gets to enjoy it, danhon!

(I had wondered what tools were used to create it and I'm delighted to learn it's Glitch. I guess maybe someday I should do something with that Glitch account I've had for ages.)
posted by kristi at 5:03 PM on August 8 [2 favorites]

Makes me think of this classic SNL routine where Jimmy Carter solves problems on a call-in show.
posted by doctornemo at 5:25 PM on August 8 [20 favorites]

Full sized candy bars on Halloween 2024!! Let’s do this1!1
posted by Devils Rancher at 5:30 PM on August 8 [7 favorites]

As an underparented person and fully believer that Pedro Pascal / Bluey’s dad is the internet’s daddy, I find myself resisting the dadification of Walz, from the inevitable let down to just the inappropriateness of it - political figures aren’t parent substitutes nor should they ever be and I’m sorry so many of us need them. Not to be a killjoy because I am indeed relishing the relief of the past few weeks. Just a self-check.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 6:02 PM on August 8 [11 favorites]

Walz seems to be, for all reports, as wonderful as his image is. But I've been burned too many times so I'm wary.

However, this is a delightful site and I can't hate it. We all need a bit of joy and lightness in our lives.

(But let's note I'm someone who has been watching a lot of Reading Rainbow episodes from my childhood because I need that kind of comfort. I get it. I don't fault anyone for any of this.)
posted by edencosmic at 6:13 PM on August 8 [7 favorites]

Omg I think I'm dating Tim Walz.
posted by HotToddy at 8:48 PM on August 8 [6 favorites]

It says something to me that there is no “Kamala Harris Would Fix Your Bicycle”.
posted by Going To Maine at 9:08 PM on August 8 [3 favorites]

Tim Walz will fill my wiper fluid before a road trip, which coincidentally is some my dad would do…

I had forgotten about the Obama bicycle stuff, but I haven’t forgotten about how good it felt to have an articulate hopefully President after8 years of axis of evil talk.
posted by CostcoCultist at 11:21 PM on August 8 [5 favorites]

Masculinity’s check-engine light is on. Let Tim Walz have a look.:

The kind of man who, as another user joked, would start his job at the White House “being asked about national security and the tax code and end with him wearing a headlamp up in the attic fixing some old wiring.”

posted by needled at 6:03 AM on August 9 [5 favorites]

Seems like the kind of guy that might put the bowling lanes back in the basement of the White House.
posted by Wild_Eep at 6:12 AM on August 9 [12 favorites]

But I've been burned too many times so I'm wary.

I've also been burned. But even if Tim Walz the person doesn't live up to the hype, Tim Walz the myth still matters and is worth celebrating in this moment because that's what we want to see in a man.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 7:00 AM on August 9 [11 favorites]

Politicians at the county fair has always been a thing. As box posted the other day: Tim Walz at the state fair launching himself in a slingshot with his daughter - even with a camera on him - is much more of a human being thing than we're used to seeing from 'men'. There's an element of fun. There's an element of actual love of your child. There's an element of excitement. There's an element of zaniness and goofiness (because, how often when you go to the fair or amusement park do you see those things NOT in use). It is him being genuine. I don't think his daughter is a political mastermind - I think she genuinely wanted to spend time with her dad and make him do something close to a PG Jackass for her personal bemusement. The fact that it turned into a press opportunity is secondary to the awesomeness of it being a genuine vignette. Seeing Bob Dole go duck hunting - or even Tim Walz - is not the same thing.
posted by Nanukthedog at 10:25 AM on August 9 [8 favorites]

Tim Walz meme fun from reddit:

My wife just sent me a meme proclaiming “Tim Walz is the guy who asks if you need help with a creepy dude at the bar. JD Vance is the creepy dude at the bar.”

I also saw one that said ‘Tim Walz is the guy who will mow your lawn when you break your leg. JD Vance is the guy that reports your overgrown lawn to the HOA.”

Tim Walz is the neighbor who helps your little sister study for her geography test. JD Vance is the neighbor who says your little sister will be hot in a few years.

Tim Walz is the guy who'll help you carry your furniture when you're moving houses. JD Vance is the guy who'll put the furniture down and get freaky with it.

Tim Walz is the guy that pulls over on the highway and changes your flat tire. JV Vance is the guy that drives into the rain puddle splashing you while you’re changing your tire on the side of the road.

Tim Walz would coach your kid’s team, JD Vance would leer at their cheerleaders

Tim Walz is a dad. JD Vance is a father.

And so on.
posted by ishmael at 11:34 AM on August 9 [13 favorites]

Wow a straight older white man who isn’t just ANGRY about everything all the time. Who knew that existed and was kind of nice for a change?
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 12:11 PM on August 9 [9 favorites]

It says something to me that there is no “Kamala Harris Would Fix Your Bicycle”.

Because Kamala Harris wouldn't. She's not a Fun Dad, she's a Cool Aunt. (Now, as the Cool Aunt, she may possibly have bought you the bike in the first place.)
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 12:47 PM on August 9 [15 favorites]

Actually would be here for an exhaustive collection of Things Kamala Harris Did for You on Your Birthday

-took you to get your ears pierced without telling your parents
-gave you name brand sneakers
-let you take a sip of her wine


etc
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 12:54 PM on August 9 [18 favorites]

I'm the same age as Walz (and Harris), and my daughter (12) is also an IVF baby, so I love him and his daughter and annoy my daughter by showing her their videos.
posted by kirkaracha at 1:00 PM on August 9 [6 favorites]

Seems like the kind of guy that might put the bowling lanes back in the basement of the White House.

Seems like the kind of guy that might put the solar panels back on the roof of the White House.
posted by Iris Gambol at 1:17 PM on August 9 [11 favorites]

Seems like the kind of guy that might put the solar panels back on the roof of the White House.

Biden-Harris and Harris-Walz administrations are a Jimmy Carter redemption arc because he was right and we need to bring his visions to life.
posted by ichomp at 3:49 PM on August 9 [11 favorites]

Tim Walz will give you a quick tip about replacing the headlight harness on a 2014 Ford Edge.

Tim Walz will run a 4-4 defense and turn your 0-27 high school football team into state champs in just 3 years.
posted by mhum at 6:57 PM on August 9 [8 favorites]

Such a strange propaganda spin he’s getting, but it seems to be working.
posted by iamck at 10:00 PM on August 10

"Tim Walz knows he's campaigning for us, not him."

I'm okay with climbing aboard this particular bandwagon. In a hostile era, Tim Walz stood up for students’ Gay-Straight Alliance (WaPo) Those who knew the likely Democratic vice-presidential nominee during his Minnesota teaching days say he and his wife made them feel accepted and included. [...]

Mankato West’s theater scene also drew Micah Kronlokken when he started at the school in 2001. His castmates told him about the Walzes, who were described to him as “incredibly supportive” of LGBTQ+ students.

That fact alone gave him a sense of security. “Even as a closeted kid, just knowing that there are at least two teachers here that I know are safe people — that probably meant more than I could comprehend,” said Kronlokken, 37, an actor and theater marketer in Chicago. Again and again this week, Walz’s former students effused about the lasting impact he and his wife had on them.

Governor Tim Walz’s record on LGBTQ issues (GLAAD, Aug. 6, 2024)
posted by Iris Gambol at 12:36 PM on August 11 [2 favorites]