Welcome, readers of The Llama Butchers blog and thanks to Steve for the link. I’m not sure just what it was about this blog that caught his attention: the scalding analysis, the piercing humor, or perhaps he just found this to be the most morose blog of the week and he wanted to cheer me up.
As a special thank-you to all of you who made the trip from the butcher shop, here’s a link to a great llama flash file.
I checked my blog for new comments and traffic around lunch time today and was stunned to see a day’s worth of traffic had already come and gone! Usually the “referral” tab on the meter gives an indication of which blog, web site or search engine referred a visitor to me, but it everyone was coming in “unknown”. The only thing I could tell at first was that everyone was hitting the Fundamentals in Film archive, which was really strange because I had posted the latest film yet. Someone must have mentioned this somewhere but the TTLB and Technorati were silent.
A little further digging, however, showed that just about everyone hitting that film archive lives in Michigan.
Does somebody over there want to tell me what’s going on? Is there a Michigan version of the MOB (Minnesota Organization of Blogs)? Why has everyone turned into film aficionados?
Anyway, you’re all welcome. Feel free to stick around!
Today is the one-year blogiversary of The Night Writer and I find myself amazed. Considering that I didn’t have more than a general idea of what I was going to write about when I started or even more than one or two ideas on Day 1, I’m amazed that I’ve made it this far, amazed that it went by so fast, amazed by the number of new people I’ve met electronically and in person in this time, amazed that there have been 398 posts (counting this one) and amazed that according to Site Meter there have been more than 17,000 visitors to this page. That’s a slow week for Mitch Berg (and now JB Doubtless will probably slam me for mentioning traffic – see #55) but I have to admit that it’s something I pay attention to.
I know a lot of bloggers say that they blog for their own satisfaction, and that’s a big part of it for me as well – if it wasn’t amusing me I wouldn’t do this. But I’ll tell you, if I did this just for my own entertainment there would not have been anywhere near 400 posts here. The thought that someone might read your blog can be enough to get you started; knowing that people are reading it can be powerfully motivating and I’ve tried to put something of interest here every weekday (and there are good days and bad days). I’ve said before that since I can’t sing or play an instrument this blog is my garage band; my chance to jam and vent my muse. Thanks for being there.
My first post compared having a blog to having a CB radio. I started about the time that Eason-gate was reaching its peak, and I later got my first mini-lanche in writing about Terri Schiavo. I’ve written about trips I’ve taken, things my family has experienced (pretty interesting times for us when I stop to think about it), wild animals in my home, wild senators on television and Vikings sex cruises — and enjoyed cruising through the MOB and the other blogs to see what others are writing about. Thinking about it now, I have no idea how many words I’ve written in the past year. I wonder if I had spent the same amount of time and effort each evening in writing a book if it would be finished by now. It’s doubtful because without this blogging experience over the last 365 days I never would have thought I’d have the gumption to come this far. Someday perhaps I’ll turn my time and attention to a book and let this lapse, but for now I feel as if I’m in a good vein and I’m going to mine it a bit longer.
One thing I know for sure is that if I hadn’t met so many wonderful people through their blogs and the trips to Keegan’s I wouldn’t have made it to this anniversary. It’s fitting that today is also a Trivia Night so I’ll be heading over there for sure. Leo, my first blogging buddy, is going to be in town from St. Cloud and I don’t want to miss him or any of the other regulars (and irregulars). I instituted a new rule for my blogging daughters (something else I didn’t expect when I started this): no Keegan’s for them unless they’ve posted something that week. This must be pretty motivating because they both “got ‘er done” before this week was two days old.
Well, another day and another post done. Now, what the heck am I going to write about tomorrow?
Update:
Shucks. Doug noticed it was my blogiversary even before I mentioned it. He’s got a sharp eye and, according to my Powerblogs statistics, more people have come to this blog from his than any other external referrer. An extra big slice of blogiversary cake for him!
Update:
Pssst! It’s Leo’s blogoversary on Sunday!
I think the redesign of this blog is finished, unless my behind-the-scenes designer has more tweaks or alternative templates in mind. I love the clean, orderly new look (that reflects nothing of the state of my mind or my desk). Mucho thanks to my friend Tom at The Jestus Company (graphic and web design) for the much needed facelift.
You’ve probably heard that there are three elements to any job: quality, speed and affordability – and you get to pick two. I’m pleased to say Tom is a good bet to go 3-for-3. Check him out.
I’m trying to spiff this place up a bit in time for the imminent blogiversary party. As such, some reconstruction is going on in the template.
There are a couple of hiccups when viewing in Internet Explorer, but I think overall it’s looking pretty darn good in that browser. For some reason there are more problems when viewing with Firefox. I hope by the time you read this the issues will have already been worked out. If not, bear with us; I think the changes in store will make this blog more readable (well, the words will at least look better) and easier to browse.
Update:
Cabin fever must be going around: it looks as if I’m not the only one revamping my look. The Llamabutchers have a cool new Miami Vice homage skin.
Waaay back a few weeks ago I was tagged with the “5 Weird Things” meme and did my duty by passing it on, selecting several new MOB members to get them in on the fun. One of these was Todd, aka Space Beagle, who I thought had “spaced” the invitation because he didn’t respond.
Until last week, that is, and now one reason for the delay is readily apparent: the meme called for the taggee to list five weird things s/he does; Todd featured 16 weird habits. That, and excessive use of punctuation and emoticons, really slowed things down. I’m not sure if it was a miscommunication or a lack of inhibitions, but you should go and check it out and decide for yourself.
Count me in.
An Appeal from Center-Right Bloggers
We are bloggers with boatloads of opinions, and none of us come close to agreeing with any other one of us all of the time. But we do agree on this: The new leadership in the House of Representatives needs to be thoroughly and transparently free of the taint of the Jack Abramoff scandals, and beyond that, of undue influence of K Street.
We are not naive about lobbying, and we know it can and has in fact advanced crucial issues and has often served to inform rather than simply influence Members.
But we are certain that the public is disgusted with excess and with privilege. We hope the Hastert-Dreier effort leads to sweeping reforms including the end of subsidized travel and other obvious influence operations. Just as importantly, we call for major changes to increase openness, transparency and accountability in Congressional operations and in the appropriations process.
As for the Republican leadership elections, we hope to see more candidates who will support these goals, and we therefore welcome the entry of Congressman John Shadegg to the race for Majority Leader. We hope every Congressman who is committed to ethical and transparent conduct supports a reform agenda and a reform candidate. And we hope all would-be members of the leadership make themselves available to new media to answer questions now and on a regular basis in the future.
Signed,
N.Z. Bear, The Truth Laid Bear
Hugh Hewitt, HughHewitt.com
Glenn Reynolds, Instapundit.com
Kevin Aylward, Wizbang!
La Shawn Barber, La Shawn Barber’s Corner
Lorie Byrd / DJ Drummond , Polipundit
Beth Cleaver, MY Vast Right Wing Conspiracy
Jeff Goldstein, Protein Wisdom
Stephen Green, Vodkapundit
John Hawkins, Right Wing News
John Hinderaker, Power Line
Jon Henke / McQ / Dale Franks, QandO
James Joyner, Outside The Beltway
Mike Krempasky, Redstate.org
Michelle Malkin, MichelleMalkin.com
Ed Morrissey, Captain’s Quarters
Scott Ott, Scrappleface
The Anchoress, The Anchoress
John Donovan / Bill Tuttle, Castle Argghhh!!!
Bloggers who support this statement can sign on here at Truth Laid Bear.
I’d like to join Bogus Gold, the Cake Eater Chronicles and others in celebrating “National De-Lurking Week”, recognizing regular but silent visitors to blogs like this one.
Here’s to you, the few but faithful and oh so circumspect, who stop by regularly but don’t comment, leaving no mark but a wisp of your presence in my referral log. Here’s to you, Sunnyvale, CA (Qwest), Chicago, IL (Earthlink), Kirkland, WA (Level3), Scottsdale, AZ (ClearSky) and Edna, KS and many others! (You know who you are, but I don’t). Have a cookie!
And while you’re here, drop a line or just say “Hi” in the comment box. It’s your week!
Much has been made of the presumed warfare between the mainstream media (MSM) and the blogosphere. Rather than “cats and dogs”, however, the nature of the relationship is more “dinosaurs and mammals.” I picture brontosauri slowly nodding their masticating heads and opining on those small, fast and furry creatures: “They’ll never last,” one says as the others harrumph in agreement. “Hey, does anybody else feel cold?” says another. This sophisticated level of analysis is again demonstrated in last weekend’s The Blog House column in the Strib, which features people who live in glass houses lecturing others on the importance of window dressing.
The turf war for influence is pretty much over, just like any pretense of objectivity. All that’s left is merely negotiating the terms of surrender. There will be ongoing skirmishes, but the outcome is pretty clear for anyone who thinks about what the media will look like in 20 years.
No, if you want to see where the real warfare is going on you need to look to the world of politics where the blogosphere is not the reason for the strife but merely the latest territory to be exploited – kind of like those movie scenes depicting the start of the Oklahoma land rush. Politics has always been a fight for jealously guarded turf, block by block with lots of knife and club work to determine what colors will have dominion. It is gang warfare, which brings me finally to the reference I made in my headline (my journalism professors are retroactively flunking me).
For those of you not familiar with the latest bloodletting in Minnesota, the current stir in local politics is about how Blois (rhymes with “royce”) Olson, a prominent consultant for the Democratic Farmer Labor (DFL) party, co-publisher of
Politics In Minnesota and head of the PR firm New School Communications, filed a lawsuit against an anonymous blog, Minnesota Democrats Exposed, alleging defamation and damages. MDE has long been a thorn in the DFL’s side for getting embarrassing scoops on party candidates and officials and his identity and those of his usually reliable sources have been a cause of great consternation and angst to the party. This time MDE was able to make a case for a chain of events that suggest New School Communications offered to assist the campaign of DFL congressional candidate Coleen Rowley and that after the offer was declined, Blois Olson began to publicly criticize Rowley as a candidate. In radio interviews and newspaper articles, however, Olson hasn’t been able to disconnect the timeline or articulate how he’s been damaged and the heavy suspicion is that the suit is mainly a way to force out into the open the name of the person behind MDE. If so, that goal was accomplished as Michael Brodkorb outed himself on his blog after the suit was filed. Brodkorb has long been affiliated with the GOP, but that’s probably not shocking given that the name of his blog doesn’t exactly suggest excruciating objectivity in the first place. (I hope that wasn’t too long an explanation for those of you already familiar with this story).
On one level it’s both sides seeking to discredit the other and it’s hard to say who has been hurt the most by the suit; Broadkorb is getting a lot of support in the blogosphere (including from center-left blogs) while Olson is being criticized for his heavy-handed tactics and the whole thing has even made it into the MSM (which, predictably, refers to Olson as a consultant and Brodkorb as an operative) where most readers probably have stronger feelings about whether or not Mike Tice got a raw deal. As ongoing sniper fire in the big war it may not be much, but the concern is that it might be an opening salvo in a battle to neutralize the ‘sphere leading up to the ’06 elections.
Does a blogger have a right to blog anonymously? I believe that most think so – and it’s a perogative for bloggers of any affiliation. Does a blogger have an obligation to be responsible in what he or she writes about the other side? You’d hope so, just like you’d hope that people won’t use foul language around your kids – yet you know it’s going to happen. How big an effect can these attacks have?
Bloise Olson wrote, “anyone can start a blog in 10 minutes, while not just anyone can buy millions of dollars in television ads.” True, but just because you put something in a blog doesn’t mean everyone’s going to believe it or even read it. The blogs that get the readership have typically earned it by establishing some credibility, even if just among like-minded readers. They have cemented the relationship by being consistently interesting and heartfelt. As a reader, you can begin to feel as if you actually know the person behind the blog – especially if the blogger uses his or her own name.
Personally, I always dismiss the letters to the editor in my little hometown paper if they are “signed, but name withheld by request.” Yeah, retribution can be swift and sure in a small town where everyone knows everyone else, but I always thought that if you believe enough to write it you ought to stand behind it. In Minnesota harassment and intimidation are not unheard of on either side so anonymity can be useful in preserving your career and/or your hostas – or the finish on your car. All in all, while I endorse a blogger’s right to be anonymous, I think Michael Brodkorb and his positions gain by being identified. While I may only dip my toe where others wade in up to their necks, I too need to consider whether to claim my own opinions.
Respectfully submitted by John Stewart.
Update:
Two excellent reviews of the Blois Olson op-ed piece have been done by Gary at Kennedy vs. the Machine and by Mitch at Shot in the Dark.
Joy-joy. I was listening to the Northern Alliance Radio Network program on 1280 today when this blog got mentioned! Yowza!
The guys, however, were talking to a caller named Gary who wanted people to start calling the MSM the “Agenda Media”, and Mitch said that the caller’s blog was the Night Writer.
So, while it was great to hear “Night Writer” on the air, it wasn’t because anything I’d written had caught their eye. Therefore I only wet myself on one side.