Yes, in what appears to be one of the odder variations on the old "I HATE YOU ALL!" internet stomp off, Mr. Baldwin has abandoned his Twitter account in order to...eventually return to Twitter in some other form. Via the L.A. Times:

The "30 Rock" star sent a tweet late Tuesday that said, "Let's play a game called Mass Unfollowing. I want to crash this acct and start again. But, tonight at 10 PM NY time, unfollow me."

His account was then closed out with a link to three YouTube videos of an orchestra performing Mahler's 9th Symphony.

In the event you need refreshing, the precedent for this kind of planned resurrection was once set by Jesus. This is what his Twitter looks like now:

Mr. Baldwin did, however, take time to file for the Huffington Post on the crucial issue of How Much American Airlines Sucks As Told To You By Alec Baldwin. Journalism and/or serenity, now!

The lesson I've learned is to keep my phone off when the 1950's gym teacher is on duty. That was my fault there, even though this trip was quite a bit different from so many others. But it is sad, I think, that you've got to fly overseas today in order to bring back what has been thrown overboard by US carriers in terms of common sense, style, and service.

 
Not that this is the first time an overzealous celebrity has raged against an airline and "won," but this time, thankfully, due to Mr. Baldwin's bold sacrifices made over the last 24 hours, the world not only knows how much (the literally bankrupt) American Airlines sucks, but also, just how patently unaccountable the world will hold anybody for being insufferable when they have as many Twitter followers as Alec Baldwin does.

We are all better off.

fkamer@observer.com | @weareyourfek

What's the term IPO MANIA worth in Words With Friends scoring?

Yesterday, the world took note of a revolution brewed in the skies—or ten feet from an airport gate—when Glengarry Glen Ross actor Alec Baldwin stood up for an entire populace of belligerent, gadget-tethered humans and revolted against the oppressive goosestepping of flight attendants who want you to turn your iPad off when airplanes taxi out of runways. He did it by refusing to stop playing Zynga's 'Scrabble'-copycat, Words With Friends. Zynga, as you might have heard, is the next large tech company about to IPO, to the tune of potentially $1B. How great would it be if Zynga got some awesome press before their IPO to help them oversell their company to the tune of $1B? Really awesome. So imagine how awesome everyone at Zynga felt yesterday when this all went down (answer: super awesome). But could something like this actually affect the way an IPO plays out as a company takes it on the road? Betabeat asked as much yesterday when we noted, as we often do, with the power of subtext:

zynga pre-IPO pr stunts?

We're not the only ones to think this way. Via Bloomberg, whose headline reads 'Zynga Gets Pre-IPO Boost From Game-Engrossed ‘30 Rock’ Star Alec Baldwin' emphasis ours:

“This is phenomenal for Zynga,” said Pachter, who’s based in Los Angeles. “The problem for Zynga with investors has been that the average portfolio manager doesn’t relate to their games. This definitely helps change their perception.” Zynga took up Baldwin’s cause with Twitter posts featuring the phrase, “#LetAlecPlay.” “Words With Friends” is Zynga’s sixth most popular game, according to Appdata.com.

Baldwin was removed from a flight to New York from Los Angeles, the actor said on his Twitter account. American Airlines parent AMR Corp. (AMR) filed for bankruptcy protection from creditors on Nov. 29.

“He loves WWF so much that he was willing to leave a plane for it, but he has already boarded another AA flight,” Matthew Hiltzik, a spokesman for Baldwin, said in a statement. Adam Isserlis, a spokesman for San Francisco-based Zynga, declined to comment beyond the company’s posts on Twitter.

Realize: If anybody in an investing sector—let alone the general, non-corporate, consumer-level investing public—is stupid enough to put money into a de facto ponzi scheme like Groupon, surely, they will see Alec Baldwin's belligerent endorsement of Words With Friends as a sign of good things to come, and put their money where their untrained eyes are, likely forgetting that this is the same actor who Kim Bassinger divorced and whose voice was heard calling his 11 year-old daughter a "rude, thoughtless little pig."

Alec Baldwin is not a normal representation of the Words With Friends/Zynga mania, which is crazy, but not that crazy. He is an outlier. Please remember this when investing in Zynga.

fkamer@observer.com | @weareyourfek

Yes, for those who can't tell, it says "LET ALEC PLAY." In so many words. Literally. The Glengarry Glen Ross actor, meanwhile, has apparently changed his Words With Friends username to "There'sAlwaysUnited." True. There is that. Also, god willing, this whole screengrab-as-press-release thing will begin to trend. That'd be nice.

Steve Martin—comic legend and celebrated actor, celebrated novelist, not entirely celebrated panel speaker, but still the guy behind (the actual, sans-penguins) Happy Feet—is creating a book of his Tweets, which he announced on Twitter with little fanfare and trademark modesty.

Reuters reports:

The book will be called "The Ten, Make That Nine Habits, of Very Organized People. Make That Ten," and will be a collection of Martin's tweets as well as responses from followers, publishers Grand Central Publishing said in a statement. The book is due for release in summer 2012, and all profits will go to charity.

Books culled from Twitter are, if you haven't heard, big business! Be they Shit My Dad Says (turned into an unsuccessful TV show, but still: a #1 New York Times bestseller) to this year's collection of Tweets from Dan Sinker (AKA: @MayorEmmanuel) they're generally ready-made books with quick turnaround times that sell well, a nice niche boon for a publishing industry that can still use all the help it can get.

No word on whether Martin's good pal, Oscar co-host, and Saturday Night Live-hosting-record-competitor Alec Baldwin will be getting into the paper-binding business any time soon, but the guy's obviously a good fit, given the way he's quickly mastering the form (which goes without mentioning his savvy in using it to shake politicians up). Could be a good fit.