But George Zimmerman's promotion to public enemy number one comes fresh on the heels of a "not guilty" verdict. which used to mean something, especially to lawyers and law enforcement.
But George Zimmerman's promotion to public enemy number one comes fresh on the heels of a "not guilty" verdict. which used to mean something, especially to lawyers and law enforcement.
This isn't about law enforcement (laws are enforced in an arbitrary and capricious manner now anyways) and all about the politics.
"My father always taught me that no matter how tough or smart you are, there is always someone out there who is tougher or smarter; and usually it’s the one you least expect. It was an invaluable lesson that I’ve carried with me through life.
Anytime I’ve found myself in a battle I’ve always expected my opponent to be stronger or smarter. 95% of the time I was far over-prepared and had given my opponent far too much credit, but I’d rather err on that side than the side of underestimating my opponent and finding myself ill-prepared.
It’s what you don’t know that always blindsides you, and arrogantly thinking you know everything is a surefire way to get blindsided. Which is why I’ve always been incredibly thorough and meticulous in my approaches, allowing the fear of defeat to fuel my relentless and methodical preparation: playing a never-ending game in my mind of putting myself in my opponents shoes and imagining what I would do if I were in them; identifying where my weaknesses and vulnerabilities are. And employing doubt to dissect where I think my strongest points are.
Always expect the unexpected. The ability to adapt to changing situations is vital, because no matter how much you prepare you will always find yourself in a situation where someone blindsides you. It’s in those moments that the ability to think on your feet will win or lose the day. Expect the unexpected. Expect to be blindsided by what you don’t know. It’s a much better place to be than arrogantly thinking you know everything and have it all under control.
Of course, if you’ve the ability to convincingly play the role of arrogance, it does a mighty wonderful job of masking what’s really going through your head, what you’re really sizing up and how deeply prepared you actually are. Then your opponent underestimates you, which is a much more dangerous error to make than overestimating you.
History is riddled with stories of underdogs exploiting the arrogance of far more powerful, resourced and equipped opponents to achieve impossible victories. David and Goliath is one of the oldest parables, and one of the most valuable.
Which is why my father taught me to always be David, and always make sure you’re not being Goliath. It is a lesson I have never forgotten, and one I have always practiced…whether or not my opponents ever knew it before it was too late."
If you stick with the insect theme, maybe Lem should change the name of this blog to the Mos Eisley Cantina, where "you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy."
Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi! You're my only hope.
Man, I've got to get some work done today. It's been nice to spend some time reading blog comments though. You all have a good day.
I understand what you're saying Icepick. What bothers me is that we're not marching on Washington with pitch forks and torches, ala Young Frankenstein. I include myself in this. I think I should be standing on a roof top screaming "have you seen what these fuckers are doing"?
The general acceptance of Cook County goon tactics as the new normal is the worst part of this.
How lucky am I! On her way back home to NYC with her three cats, Amba will be arriving here at my house any minute now for a return visit. I'm looking forward to a grand evening with her, my family and our three nieces (though I'm tired after having hosted seven teenagers yesterday, including a slumber party that didn't break up until after 1 this afternoon).
Best of all, the plan is for Amba and I to get together for lunch tomorrow with my longtime good friend Callimachus. They've been wanting to meet in the flesh for years now. But I'm the truly lucky one; listening to those two converse together in person is going to be a whole coffeehouse, nay, salon, on it own. Woo hoo!!!!
I'm sorry if this hurts a little. Because I really don't want to be in a position of acting like I'm hurt or bearing a grudge.
I'm not.
But the truth is, Althouse instead of leaving us the way Mariano Rivera is leaving baseball. I watched the game last night. Althouse is looking more and more like Many Ramirez instead.
Those of you that know baseball know what I'm talking about.
Manny one day said his hammy was acting up again and wanted to sit. The management ordered a cat scan or something like that, Manny could not decide which leg hurt, management ordered both legs examined.
It feels like, well maybe I exaggerate a little, but I'm on a baseball meta thing here and I'm not about to get off it.
Althouse, future hall of famer, consecutive streaks and all that. In the middle of a game walks off the mound... and everybody looks around befuddled and a fan of Althouse, right there in the front row, up in the bleaches, says I can come in long relief.
Everybody knows it cant possibly work.
But the kid comes in because that's who we are and we feel good about it and all that... at least for a while.
That there actually does come off as Betamax imitating Althouse.
The other idea of Betamax being an Althouse sockpuppet seems unlikely, but how appropriate is the name "Betamax" for her male sockpuppet? I don't think Althouse has the unique chops to be Betamax. If she was, I'd be impressed.
Maybe Lem. Except Althouse wasn't under contract and paid vast sums to perform at a certain level. Her hosting was voluntary, as was the commenting, and it is easy to walk away from a relationship like that.
I don't quite understand the unwillingness to move on. Every thread here seems to end up being an Althouse/Meade thread. Are folks grieving? Is that why?
Will this bright group of people whom I (mostly) admire from a distance turn their gaze back to current events and culture, away from the past?
I understand what you're saying Icepick. What bothers me is that we're not marching on Washington with pitch forks and torches, ala Young Frankenstein. I include myself in this. I think I should be standing on a roof top screaming "have you seen what these fuckers are doing"?
Most of the people in my neighborhood want to see Zimmerman lynched. The last thing I want to do is stand on a roof and proclaim my belief that GZ should be left alone.
Yes, good tactics now rule the day. We have finally established a peace-time tyranny, and everyone seems more or less okay with that.
Maybe we need to move on from an open thread to a link to some news item or something.
Maybe the rest of this thread can be a kind of tipline for Lem?
Worse comes to worse, you can always link any althouse thread that isn't dedicated to abusing her commenters. Folks here used to like that kind of stuff.
I'm sure there is a bit of grieving going on. It's human nature.
When one door closes, though, another is supposed to open. Isn't that why Lem is here?
Meade did me the courtesy of responding to an email in which I never asked why comments had been closed. But he did link me up to a very simple reason. He didn't have to respond, but he did. Now I choose not to believe he was playing me because I'm really an unknown here. I couldn't change opinions or views or beliefs or anything. And I wouldn't even try. Some people are willfully ignorant while others simply don't know how to remove the plank from their own eye.
I don't need to know who fiona is. I already know. It's jaltcohen. ;) As for why Meade is here, why not? He isn't hiding it. He will choose to stay or leave as he sees fit. As we all can do.
"Will this bright group of people whom I (mostly) admire from a distance turn their gaze back to current events and culture, away from the past?"
Althouse will necessarily be a recurring theme here, and right now it is a current event close to the people here. It would be unrealistic to expect it to just be moved past so soon.
Icepick, I hope you are not hurt by the fact that we ended up here at Lem's rather than your blog. For me it was just luck of the draw. I commented on both your blogs until it seemed that most commenters were ending up here. No particular reason for me. I like you both. I'm not sure if this is a good thing for Lem or not. I couldn't handle a blog myself.
So we are here, I think Lem is great for it. He seems the perfect personality for what he wants to make here. He possesses a quality that was disappointingly missing before - humility and openness. I can't imagine Lem ever holding out his arm and saying "talk to the hand", and that is exactly what it felt like before comments were closed. Although I haven't been back to check, it sounds like that continues today.
Anyway, thanks Lem, and I'll try to support you as much as possible. Get that Amazon portal, and I like the idea of commenters providing the lead occasionally. that could be fun and interesting.
It could be that Althouse never thought we would come back together like this. She never though that we could even say we had something good that she made happen. She thought we would just evaporate. But we didn't, to my own astonishment.
Inspector Steve Keller: I think I might have located the woman in the video. Lt. Mike Stone: Really. That's great. What did you find out? Inspector Steve Keller: Well I was perusing the Lonely Hearts Dating column of the Chronicle and I found a bunch of postings from a woman who described herself in such a way that it might be the poor woman in the video. Lt. Mike Stone: What the hell where you doing reading the Lonely Hearts column? Where you looking for a date? What happened to that cunning linguist woman? Inspector Steve Keller: We broke up. She left a bad taste in my mouth. (The Lonely Hearts Murders, The Streets of San Francisco, 1973)
I just happened on Lem's blog today and out of curiosity, saw another open thread from the 15th, I think. Wow, Meade was weird in that thread and he was linking to this fionaxxxx comment from another thread. So I have concluded that fionaxxxx is not betamax -- quality of some of the other fionaxxxx comments gave away. I now think fiona is Meade.
Icepick, I hope you are not hurt by the fact that we ended up here at Lem's rather than your blog.
Good lord, no! I'm relieved! For about five days I did a lot of work getting posts up and whatnot. I don't really have the time to do that.
And I've blogged in the past (my own blog is still up, but down to two posts for the current year it is feeling neglected) and I contribute occassionally to the group blog Ambiance, which was set up by Annie Gottlief (sometime Althouse commenter Amba) for her on-line friends. And I haven't even contributed much there.
I have been thinking about getting back into blogging more lately, but I will probably do it with another blog, and quite possibly another 'avatar'. Icepick has a lot of online history at this point, and that can be distracting.
But if I go back to doing the work, I will not want to be constrained to following someone else's blog. That's a drag, as was following Althouse for several days.
Well, this is a sad day for me. I've just read Althouse's latest post disparaging her former commenters. I've read the blog through times when I was in constant disagreement with Althouse, times when I felt I should be taking a stand by not giving her the blog hit, and the wonderful, early times when I discovered not only her unique writing and perspective, but the brilliant commenting community she had attracted.
I've made some commenters real friends. I've become a fan of so many others.
I'll miss the habit, but that's the last click for me.
Lem—I did not mean to imply that you could NOT make this blog succeed. What I did say was that Meadhouse PERCEIVES that they can marginalize part of their stellar commentariat by handing it off to a working Joe with neither the time nor the breadth of obsession necessary to man the html. Successful blogging takes a special kind of crazy. Just look around.
They're counting on the old Durocherism—"nice guys finish last". Now man up and just do the best you can and we'll all stick it to them and old dead Leo.
Shorter version: I've already done a lot of blogging, and already know that my audience is actually going to max out at about ten people, max. Mostly I, like Lem, missed the community and wanted to try to preserve that. Since the mission was accomplished, I don't care who got 'lucky'.
Lem doesn't have to do anything but keep threads open. Say not much over 200 comments. It's nice to have him as the volunteer. An amazon portal would be a nice gotcha if it works out.
The open question is whether Althouse startoff topics were necessary or not. Althouse did it because she felt this or that was interesting. The commenters could agree or not, and if not the thread went elsewhere. But the thread was there.
A top comment can be a startoff topic, as indeed it sometimes wound up being on Althouse, who sometimes felt as if people hadn't read the links. They responded to comments. Yes.
The attraction of Althouse, the reason she gets commenters, is that she has a large readership, so your comments reach a lot of people, in particular enough so that some will be interested in your comment if it's any good. It's worth writing.
That's enough to get an interested community.
The readership distribution follows Zipf's law, which more or less says that a few bloggers get most of the readers and the rest of the bloggers are in a long tail.
Not to say that Althouse isn't responsible for her readership so much as the lottery has to fall somewhere, and once she's a big site that's cutting out a top slot.
The commenters go the the top site offering comments in the area that they want to comment on. Althouse had a lot that people wanted to comment on, not necessarily on her view but on the topic.
My own view of comments is that they're rephrasings of the same thing, trying to get something right. Responses can build, substitute, correct with that aim.
There's value in carving the duck at the joints, if it takes a whole thread to do it.
For those of us talking about abusive government, NR has an article about Angela Corey (Zimmerman's Special Prosecutor) that contains more along that front. She's a real piece of work.
And a torrential downpour just started. I just love the weather when it's sunny in the morning and rains in the afternoon.
Lem you have that mixed up with the Scifi movie called "Pandragon" where an evil dragon, who has lost his ability to breathe fire, captures his victims and takes them back to his lair where they are pan fried.
I slid down a short escarpment of dirt, rain eroded a side of a hill and I tucked under it into the shade. Sun lit the dirt right next to me, warm and bright, cool and shaded. I reached up and grabbed a chunk of overhanging grass and weeds and broke it off and shook out the dirt from the roots. Vigorously, again, to remove as much dirt and stones as possible but it would not all come out. I plunked the clump on my head anyway and let the dirt fall down my back between my shirt and lodge inside my belt and I sat there in the shade of a waning summer sun for a very long time under my grass and roots wig bored out of my mind wishing school would start up knowing full well at eight years old this will be one favorite period of my life and a fond childhood memory, so suck it. It don't get better than this.
I do think there had ought to be a Justice Dept. investigation of the Martin-Zimmerman case, as George Zimmerman obviously has been subject to malicious prosecution by the State of Florida, and his civil rights have been infringed upon.
AJ: Actually, we have moved back to Delaware [New Castle County], although we haven't sold the house in Iowa yet. (Big Boo! Anyone want a great deal on a big old Victorian with river views?)
Darcy manages to express a sense of comradery with the commenters here, and I just want to say that I share that too. I feel pretty close to a lot of people who I have never met, know very little about, but who still feel like long time friends somehow.
Although I can force it when needed, I've always been pretty shy due to just not liking social situations, but this forum lets me be a lot more comfortable talking to people. Besides, it seems you really can't talk a lot of subjects face to face with people you have to work with or deal with in person. There is just too much at stake there.
Now how do we get some lefties in here to fight with? Put up a sign saying "free cheese", "free birth control", or "hackysack welcome"?
I'm sorry if this hurts a little. Because I really don't want to be in a position of acting like I'm hurt or bearing a grudge.
I'm not.
But the truth is, Althouse instead of leaving us the way Mariano Rivera is leaving baseball. I watched the game last night. Althouse is looking more and more like Many Ramirez instead.
Althouse, future hall of famer, consecutive streaks and all that. In the middle of a game walks off the mound... and everybody looks around befuddled and a fan of Althouse, right there in the front row, up in the bleaches, says I can come in long relief.
Frodo: I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.
Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.
Lem: You're doing fine. You'll keep doing fine. You've got a powerful set of commenters who will stick around. I've never seen a blog start so auspiciously.
The real question is whether you want to keep doing this.
creeley23, this will be the last comment I waste on you. You have proven yourself to be an intellectual midget. I've given you a huge hint and you still can't figure it out.
I know it's not high brow, but does anyone ever watch the "Frisky Dingo" cartoon on Adult Swim? I linked to a clip earlier in this thread. That is one funny show to me. Maybe I'm the only one over 25 watching it, but I love it. It isn't currently being made, but you can watch previous episodes on Youtube and other places.
My own view of comments is that they're rephrasings of the same thing, trying to get something right. Responses can build, substitute, correct with that aim.
I hadn't thought of it that way before, but I think that's right.
Shorter version: I've already done a lot of blogging, and already know that my audience is actually going to max out at about ten people, max. Mostly I, like Lem, missed the community and wanted to try to preserve that. Since the mission was accomplished, I don't care who got 'lucky'.
I tried blogging and after many sputtering starts and stops, I just realized that I just didn't have time for it. My mileage definitely varied.
Well, this is a sad day for me. I've just read Althouse's latest post disparaging her former commenters. I've read the blog through times when I was in constant disagreement with Althouse, times when I felt I should be taking a stand by not giving her the blog hit, and the wonderful, early times when I discovered not only her unique writing and perspective, but the brilliant commenting community she had attracted.
I've made some commenters real friends. I've become a fan of so many others.
I'll miss the habit, but that's the last click for me.
It's either withdrawal or Kubler-Ross' stages of grief thing.
Question is, on whose side?
Maybe it's me, but the commenters seem to have moved on.
Darcy manages to express a sense of comradery with the commenters here, and I just want to say that I share that too. I feel pretty close to a lot of people who I have never met, know very little about, but who still feel like long time friends somehow.
Although I can force it when needed, I've always been pretty shy due to just not liking social situations, but this forum lets me be a lot more comfortable talking to people. Besides, it seems you really can't talk a lot of subjects face to face with people you have to work with or deal with in person. There is just too much at stake there.
Now how do we get some lefties in here to fight with? Put up a sign saying "free cheese", "free birth control", or "hackysack welcome"?
I'll be honest with you. I'm not sure where I stood in the commenteriat pool. I figured I would just let me be me regardless of where I stood with whoever read what I had to say. The fact that people read it was enough for me. Lotsa nice people though and that's always a plus.
So this is where everyone went. I missed whatever sent A-house's panties into a terminal twist, but I suppose my own comments over the years haven't helped. :-)
It's amusing that she's now posting comments from commenters asking her to keep comments turned off. Are they insane, or just stupid? Here's a test for them: if you can fill in the blanks in the following puzzle, there may be medications that can help you: "If you don't want to read comments, don't r--d c-m--n-s."
With typical modesty she's also reprinting fawning e-mails that praise her for "challenging the conventional wisdom." That she takes that hackneyed cliche seriously is just further evidence that her blog, while a source of amusing anecdotes, is about as challenging to conventional wisdom as Reader's Digest.
And Lem, you seriously need to install an Amazon portal...250+ comments on this thread already, and I'll bet a lot of these guys could use a new toaster.
Icepick: I will. She's settling in the cats as we speak.
And she came bearing really good chocolate. Even the teens are quiet at the moment (on account of their mouths being full). Smart woman, that Amba. LOL. (She loves young people.)
I've read Althouse for a long time. Don't know how long, but I can recall a dustup between her and Goldstein, and that was more than a few years ago. Commented occasionally, usually feeling like a jackass. I've seen some comments on this thread by people I haven't seen in a long time, maybe I can follow a lot of my old favorite commenters (yes, many of you have fans). I'm not sore at Althouse or Meade. It's just that with blogsurfing, it's take what you need and leave the rest. There's now a lot less to choose from at Althouse's.
I just went through a similar situation playing Eve (as I have for 4 years now). The breakup, not the acrimony. It's all kind of raw still. And a friend is in his final days, and depression ever lurks. Put it all together and I just want to cry. And I do. But as with my Eve friends, even if I mostly read comments without offering my own, a lot of you make me feel better. More, please.
I wish someone would show the clear connection between Al Sharpton's self-aggrandizing mouth and all the violence and destruction it has caused.
The robed stores, the beaten people, the lives ruined by jail because people listened to him. Show some poor black youth with a record now, because that race-baiting asshole told them they were justified in tearing up their own community. Show the mothers and children hiding in their homes because of a man's mouth out of control turning neighbors into predators and prey.
I liked earlier shows on Adult Swim: SeaLab 2021 ("Bebop! COLA! GOOOOOOD!"), The Brak Show ("I want MEAT!"), Home Movies ("We won, because we got points.") and such. Although I think Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law might be most appropriate for current times.
Also, loved the original bumper music, a remix of Tito Puente's Mambo Gallego - here's the original. It set the mode nicely.
I've been thinking about the cool thing Freeman Hunt did yesterday when she introduced a puzzle involving numbers, spatial organization and reasoning into he blog. It was a lot of fun! that sort of thing should be a regular feature of a blog. I'd like to introduce one today as a word problem.
Here's the set-up:
Phillip bought a vintage MG convertible to drive from his home in Leicester to visit his ladyfriend in Exeter. Without regard to the costs of insurance, tax or road use fees, calculate the cost of Phillip driving his MG between those two cities.
Assume that his MG will travel at an average speed of 47 kilometers per hour, there will be a persistent 12 knot headwind and rain showers occur half-way through the trip. The MG will be driven top-down until the showers hit, then it will be top-up.
Since Phillip will leave early in the morning, add in the cost for bangers and mash at a restaurant before he hits the motorway.
The petrol tank in Phillip's MG holds 20 liters of fuel and his car can achieve 26 kilometers per liter.
Solve for the cost of travel as outlined above. You may use local fuel costs. Provide your answer in farthings per furlong.
Smith was nearly legendary in Eve. I never crossed his path, but he was known to me. I don't think the Eve people are liberal, if that's what you meant. The close-knit group I was part of (for 3 years) were almost entirely conservative, though I'm not sure conservative is an entirely accurate label for me. I think it's mainly a mixture with the Eve players. I was made aware of the existence of Eve by a comment on Althouse (Dust Bunny Queen?).
There's everything you need to know about what Althouse has done to Althouse
There is an upswing the last couple of days, but that would appear to mostly be from people coming by to look at the wreckage from the crash. That will drop off, especially with her delusions of grandeur hate-fest continuing.
Speaking of Mariano. . . . That All-Star game was sure a Rivera love fest. I didn't mind it too much because I could just think back to 2001 when he blew his save and gave my hometown a legitimate sports championship. Yea!
Did anyone else watch the end when Tim McCarver got all choked up about his scorecard going into the HoF? Made me a little emotional and I'm not a big McCarver fan.
I hadn't thought of it that way before, but I think that's right.
Alternately, it can help the writer clarify their own thinking, as well.
I knew a woman back when I was in grad school who used to say "I am always engaged in a conversation in my head. When I speak to you, I'm sharing where I am at that point in my own conversation. Since you didn't hear what came before and you won't hear what comes after, everything I say to you is necessarily out of context."
Sometimes I think a lot of miscommunications on blogs (and elsewhere) arise, not only out of our inability to clearly express what it is we really mean, but also because we're always somewhere in the process of figuring it out for ourselves as we go.
Smith was nearly legendary in Eve. I never crossed his path, but he was known to me. I don't think the Eve people are liberal, if that's what you meant. The close-knit group I was part of (for 3 years) were almost entirely conservative, though I'm not sure conservative is an entirely accurate label for me. I think it's mainly a mixture with the Eve players. I was made aware of the existence of Eve by a comment on Althouse (Dust Bunny Queen?).
********
Sorry I deleted because I realized I might have brought up a depressing subject.
I know DBQ and Synova I think are online players and there were some EVE players rolling around in Ace's basement.
Anyways was Smith's group Liberal--they were the ones that essentially heisted EVE to begin with right?
He was known for recruiting EVE players to the foreign service.
I was just surprised that EVE didn't advocate more than they did--for opening up the investigation into Benghazi.
The damn tape--video--evaporated from the TOC--it gets interesting as hell until you just have to give up.
But--it was Smith who--well let everyone in on the idea that State Dept. security was abysmal.
I don't know if you caught LTC Wood's testimony.
Real depressing shit--so ya--hate to get you going on it when I've read your comment.
Anyways I remember you from Althouse--please hang around and check in.
I hadn't seen photos of Brutus Sharpton next to Popeye Sharpton before. That's quite a change.
I just can't fault a single man for having a hot girlfriend, but if he wasn't so damned sexy, I'd call her a gold digger. I bet they actually have a lot in common intellectually, and share the same values.
bagoh20 said... Now how do we get some lefties in here to fight with?
Unlike Althouse I liked the 40 to 1 conservative to liberal mix, it made for an even fight. Otherwise it would have been it bit like shooting an unarmed teen with a semi-automatic loaded with hollow-point bullets.
I think Althouse is going to regret her move. Blogging is popular culture, the greasiest of all greasy poles. She will never by number one again.
The one person I know named Simon is among the strangest of all people I know. He buys art. You make a building in Denver, by law 2% at least must go to art. Who says what's art? Simon Says! We hit it right off. He is so off-putting it drives people nuts. One of the funniest things I saw him do is walk up to a small square service window and speaking directly to the person on the other side slip into a WWII Jewish refugee persona,
"Please, Mister." *pathetic downtrodden look* If called to be witness, you'd swear you saw rags. "Rice for a poor boy." *trembling, holding out cupped hands* "A scrap. Please."
And I totally sucked at Simon Says. I blew it every single time. I just flat suck at taking directions and I always did.
So hello there. Ave. Hail. Greetings. I did stop by Althouse this morning and recalled many forms of standard greetings in my time travels, through the ages people have ways of delivering a friendly, "wut up?" The verbalized form of showing you are unarmed, which may be a ruse on the highways.
The highways being not much more than dirt roads. Camel paths. Caravans.
But I skipped. Since you are not there to remark I am not so interested in the subject whatever it may be, even entomology, just skip that. <-- that was a test, s/b etymology , just skip that. Apparently I have ADD because all the items were skimmed. There is nothing behind them. Little floaty boats with no anchors doodlydoodlydo.
I've discovered a new way of talking to people in real life and I believe it will be useful. It is condescending as all hell but also comical. It parlays what little they think they know into an exaggerated knowing of that same thing, it's wrong but still works because they were wrong to start off with. For example I can allow the bandwagon-atheist avowal of disbelief, "Ah, I see, you haven't died enough times yet." Then he's thinking, "Shit, I knew this guy had it rough there, how many times has he died?"
" calculate the cost of Phillip driving his MG between those two cities"
As someone who once owned an MG convertible and drove it from Los Angeles to Ensenada, Mexico and back in one day because he couldn't find a hotel room after tequila shots all day, I'll tell you that one cost will be your ass. It will never be the same, and your girlfriend will not think that car is so cool as she did when you picked her up that morning looking like Fred Astaire.
IIRC, Smith was with some form of GoonSwarm, and they're an alliance that has a lot of members, and can throw a lot of weight around when it comes to things like market manipulation, causing grief for anybody that crosses them, etc.
I don't think the Eve community (or even GoonSwarm) could get organized enough to pursue it. But who knows? I have no idea what The Mittani (one of his best friends in Eve and in life) could have brewing, if anything.
And don't worry. You're not bumming me out. There's good things happening too. I was in a fleet that suicide ganked a Widow last night. I rocketed up my corp's killboard. So there's that...(I know that's gibberish to anybody who doesn't play, but I couldn't resist).
Lem, I think you could post just about anything and get a lot of comments. Just post what you like or find interesting. You don't even have to talk about it much, and you will get a lot of comments, I'm sure.
Now how do we get some lefties in here to fight with?
Unlike Althouse I liked the 40 to 1 conservative to liberal mix, it made for an even fight. Otherwise it would have been it bit like shooting an unarmed teen with a semi-automatic loaded with hollow-point bullets.
Yes, but you always managed to shoot yourself in the head on such a consistent basis, we couldn't help wondering when the people from the UN would come in and surround you with peacekeepers.
"…amusing that she's now posting comments from commenters asking her to keep comments turned off. Are they insane, or just stupid? Here's a test for them: if you can fill in the blanks in the following puzzle, there may be medications that can help you: "If you don't want to read comments, don't r--d c-m--n-s."
With typical modesty she's also reprinting fawning e-mails that praise her for "challenging the conventional wisdom."
She's turning into Andrew Sullivan. I expect a beard soon.
"Phillip bought a vintage MG convertible to drive from his home in Leicester to visit his ladyfriend in Exeter. Without regard to the costs of insurance, tax or road use fees, calculate the cost of Phillip driving his MG between those two cities."
The petrol tank in Phillip's MG holds 20 liters of fuel and his car can achieve 26 kilometers per liter.
What's he got, a gas tank for a riding lawn mower on that thing? And I remember the Bs, BGTs and Midgets getting much better gas mileage on the highways.
Fiona's mini polemic about being prepared, thinking on your feet, never underestimating an opponent is all true. Litigators who are good understand this on a profound level. Those failed attorneys who can't stand the competition become law professors. There it is the classroom where the rule supreme and w/ the hammer of grades held over their students. Where the fuck is competition being a law prof? Who are your opponents?
Well, I see an impressive array of my favorite commenters. How cool is that? I'd have more to say, but I did a welding job earlier, and the man that I did the work for, forced me to drink beer.
So I wasn't an Althouse commenter, though I was tempted to comment many times. I lurked. Althouse became one of my first blog clicks of the day. And now...nothing.
Sure Ann's output is up, but not being able to read the responses and counter-responses from Ann has left me listening to one side of a conversation. I'd often read someone give voice to what I was thinking. And sometimes Ann would respond to those arguments -- allowing me a virtual conversation with Althouse without having to do anything (yay!).
Whatever the reason for the killing of comments, Althouse is no longer a go-to stop for me. I'm guessing I'm not alone. And Ann can tell herself how great this is all she likes, but it looks like the closing of the Althouse mind, to me. And that's a shame.
Althouse posts about still being #1 "In the Law Prof Blog Traffic Rankings.
Covering all blogs written by lawprofs that have a displayed Site Meter."
then posts later, quoting Vladimir Nabokov, "I don't care about the general public."
Doesn't care about the general public unless it helps her Site Meter ratings, I guess.
Look at her running averages for the past 30 days though. Big drop and a small recovery so far. We'll see.
In the mean time, Meade's become a troll. Be careful crossling the bridge.
That's like those people who go onto reality game shows and try to fit in and make nice and when their bullshit is revealed and they get called out on it, then they are all like, "I came here to win, not to make friends."
Competition is a very basic condition that appears as soon as there is life, and I suppose even without it in a sense.
It's both a glorious and terrible thing. The winner and the loser are not always clear, and can often be merely nominal. Winners often become more dependent and losers more free. The winner's identity now lies in what they won, and the loser is free to choose a new path having taken the lion's share of knowledge learned from the fight.
I was having my coffee and reading here at Lem's and I ran across the discussion of the news station that got punked over the names of the crew of that Asiana flight. I laughed so hard that my son asked me what was so funny. I could barely get the names out because I couldn't stop laughing.
First: Thanks for the laugh.
Second: My (young and so PC) son thinks I'm a racist creep now. Thanks. :)
Ok, one more then I have to eat. Haz, the crawler is about ready to do some major earth moving. Shortly, my friend, I will have some pictures!
You know what? It was about a day that I missed the Althouse blog. Actually, not the blog, but the commenters. Then, I realized that it aint' where it's at. Everyone can have their thoughts about why this happened, but I think the problem was The Lawn Boy.
He doesn't work. He was spending too much time dictating the emotional Althouse, who really isn't that smart, and who wasn't able to handle push back.
I just went through a similar situation playing Eve (as I have for 4 years now). The breakup, not the acrimony. It's all kind of raw still. And a friend is in his final days, and depression ever lurks. Put it all together and I just want to cry. And I do. But as with my Eve friends, even if I mostly read comments without offering my own, a lot of you make me feel better. More, please.
Hey Crimso, good to see you. I didn't know you played Eve. I do/did too. It's an on again/off again fascination. Why are you leaving?
Palladian, I agree, some people don't want to compete. However, if you read the polemic, implicit in it is that she does love to compete, assess her opponent, etc. In private business you compete. Working for the govt., you don't.
I liked earlier shows on Adult Swim: SeaLab 2021 ("Bebop! COLA! GOOOOOOD!"), The Brak Show ("I want MEAT!"), Home Movies ("We won, because we got points.") and such. Although I think Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law might be most appropriate for current times.
Also, loved the original bumper music, a remix of Tito Puente's Mambo Gallego - here's the original. It set the mode nicely.
I'm still a big fan of Robot Chicken and Action League NOW!!!
Well hello, Reasonable Man. Nice to see you. Hope things are well.
Glad to see lots of the Althouse group. I won't be around as much, having recently sold out to the man and taken a proper job, but I'll chime in from time to time.
Goodness, every time you show up, you look good. You've always been a bright shining light amongst the commenters, and I shall say, we all love to see your presence.
Well, I see an impressive array of my favorite commenters. How cool is that? I'd have more to say, but I did a welding job earlier, and the man that I did the work for, forced me to drink beer.
I'll be back tommorrow early,
Yay Allen. Good to see you dude. How's the wall? :D
Patrick said... Well hello, Reasonable Man. Nice to see you. Hope things are well.
Glad to see lots of the Althouse group. I won't be around as much, having recently sold out to the man and taken a proper job, but I'll chime in from time to time.
Hi Patrick,
I won't be around much either. A long illness is finally easing. For someone with time on their hands, either forcibly or by choice, the last few weeks of the Althouse comments were quite a trip. I suspect we shall not look upon their like again.
I think the cathertic experience of divesting oneself from a one time mutual relationship that started becoming poisonous is revealing. In this regard, the Althouse commentariat being shut out of meeting place and the owner giving them the finger on the way out. Fine, we'll go elsewhere and commiserate there. However, seeing the tentacles of the stalkerati from that once mutual relationship only reinforces that you were never appreciated to begin with and was seen as a means to an end. That end being the embellishment of the proprietor and not of the customers that purveyed. I just did what Bag did, killed the link out of my bookmarks and not look back. It was what it was, I just didn't need to be punched in the back of the head on my way out.
Palladian, I agree, some people don't want to compete. However, if you read the polemic, implicit in it is that she does love to compete, assess her opponent, etc. In private business you compete. Working for the govt., you don't.
Hmm. I suppose that's true. If I worked for a State-funded university rather than a private college, I would probably be getting a paycheck even though I'm not teaching this summer.
Lt. Mike Stone: Boy you look beat. What did you do party all night? Inspector Steve Keller: Oh it was crazy man. I went out looking for pussy with my friend Pierre. Lt. Mike Stone: Is that the airline stewardress? Inspector Steve Keller: Steward. They call them stewards when they are guys. Anyway he was my wingman and we met this crazy chick and we double teamed her. It was wild. Lt. Mike Stone: What does double team mean? I know about double timing a broad but not double teaming her. Inspector Steve Keller: We had sex with her at the same time. It was crazy. It was like a golf course with every hole in action at the same time. Lt. Mike Stone: That's disgusting. And the guy Pierre is a weirdo. Inspector Steve Keller: He's not weird. He's french. Although he does have a pet monkey that he is way too fond of. Lt. Mike Stone: I don't know Steve. It still seems creepy. Inspector Steve Keller: Hey what could go wrong? It's the 1970's man get with it Grandpa! (The Lonely Hearts Murders, The Streets of San Francisco, 1973)
It is wonderful to see my fellow trooper Allen S--we will always be around early in the morning to make sure the sun has risen and we have another day. Also good to see Simon, A Reasonable Man and other refugees--Honestly I miss Robert Cook whose politics I never agreed with but he was true to his principles.
Lem--my thought--you have an excellent commentariat--well done sir.
And a special shout out to Palladian--another man true to his principles.
It appears that the commentariat is now almost complete.
And the fair Darcy: If Darcy is with us, who can be against us. (apologies to Handel)
Lem--to use your baseball analogy: you have the bases full and its the bottom of the ninth--take the mound and close the game. You got a a major game going here and you can win it.
Michael--I do hope you are talking about Victoria VB spurs--several years ago Drill Sgt (who has been AWOL here) and others helped her with her choice personal weapons. Victoria is a class act and I, for one, would be happy to see her on this blog.
If we can get Sippican and Cheers, Victoria back too it'd be a commenter victory.
I have no idea whatever happened to Victoria. I was on one of my Althouse sabbaticals when whatever happened happened. The same with Sippican. But he still has his own blog. But that meltdown was truly epic, as he went back and deleted all of his old comments. Yikes! I doubt he would have any interest in coming back.
Also missing would be Ruth Ann Adams, one-time official historian of the Althouse blog. And if you read threads from 2006 (as I was recently) you will see a lot of missing names.
And that doesn't include those that have passed (Randy/Internet Ronin) or those Missing/Presumed Dead.
The old community can never be wholly regained. We can only move forward with what we have, and those we can bring in.
If someone knows how to contact Robert Cook, that would be good. But his profile was either sparse or hidden, last I checked. I have no idea on how to reach him.
@icepick: The old community can never be wholly regained. We can only move forward with what we have, and those we can bring in.
And Lem seems to be doing a good job. I look forward to Lems continued efforts--have to admit I like the open thread forum--gives me a chance to spout my ideas about current policy--but I am an unabashed policy wonk. let the threads go where they will--with a stellar commentariat like you have itt will be easy
icepick: I would add two: quaestor our resident classicist. had a wonderful discussion with him on the difference between laconic and taciturn; and my old comrade in arms Drill Sgt I, of course, forgive drill because he was a tanker and not a cavalryman--but his insights on military and national security issues were always top notch. And he was smart enough to marry a Army JAG colonel.
The one person I know named Simon is among the strangest of all people I know. He buys art. You make a building in Denver, by law 2% at least must go to art. Who says what's art? Simon Says!
1 Among twenty snowy mountains the only moving thing was the pieman coming.
2 I was of three minds, like Simple Simon looking at three pies.
- Victor Contoski "Simple Simon in American Literature"
403 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 400 of 403 Newer› Newest»But George Zimmerman's promotion to public enemy number one comes fresh on the heels of a "not guilty" verdict. which used to mean something, especially to lawyers and law enforcement.
Dude--
The "Firsts!" only count if you do it with authori-taay
The question mark negates it.
But George Zimmerman's promotion to public enemy number one comes fresh on the heels of a "not guilty" verdict. which used to mean something, especially to lawyers and law enforcement.
This isn't about law enforcement (laws are enforced in an arbitrary and capricious manner now anyways) and all about the politics.
"My father always taught me that no matter how tough or smart you are, there is always someone out there who is tougher or smarter; and usually it’s the one you least expect. It was an invaluable lesson that I’ve carried with me through life.
Anytime I’ve found myself in a battle I’ve always expected my opponent to be stronger or smarter. 95% of the time I was far over-prepared and had given my opponent far too much credit, but I’d rather err on that side than the side of underestimating my opponent and finding myself ill-prepared.
It’s what you don’t know that always blindsides you, and arrogantly thinking you know everything is a surefire way to get blindsided. Which is why I’ve always been incredibly thorough and meticulous in my approaches, allowing the fear of defeat to fuel my relentless and methodical preparation: playing a never-ending game in my mind of putting myself in my opponents shoes and imagining what I would do if I were in them; identifying where my weaknesses and vulnerabilities are. And employing doubt to dissect where I think my strongest points are.
Always expect the unexpected. The ability to adapt to changing situations is vital, because no matter how much you prepare you will always find yourself in a situation where someone blindsides you. It’s in those moments that the ability to think on your feet will win or lose the day. Expect the unexpected. Expect to be blindsided by what you don’t know. It’s a much better place to be than arrogantly thinking you know everything and have it all under control.
Of course, if you’ve the ability to convincingly play the role of arrogance, it does a mighty wonderful job of masking what’s really going through your head, what you’re really sizing up and how deeply prepared you actually are. Then your opponent underestimates you, which is a much more dangerous error to make than overestimating you.
History is riddled with stories of underdogs exploiting the arrogance of far more powerful, resourced and equipped opponents to achieve impossible victories. David and Goliath is one of the oldest parables, and one of the most valuable.
Which is why my father taught me to always be David, and always make sure you’re not being Goliath. It is a lesson I have never forgotten, and one I have always practiced…whether or not my opponents ever knew it before it was too late."
betamax is cool
Instead of lemmings, how about Lembinos?
If you stick with the insect theme, maybe Lem should change the name of this blog to the Mos Eisley Cantina, where "you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy."
Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi! You're my only hope.
Man, I've got to get some work done today. It's been nice to spend some time reading blog comments though. You all have a good day.
Isn't that cute - fionamcgeealthouse is pretending she knows who her father is.
Now get back to sucking down box wine.
I understand what you're saying Icepick. What bothers me is that we're not marching on Washington with pitch forks and torches, ala Young Frankenstein. I include myself in this. I think I should be standing on a roof top screaming "have you seen what these fuckers are doing"?
The general acceptance of Cook County goon tactics as the new normal is the worst part of this.
Sixty Grit said...
Isn't that cute - fionamcgeealthouse is pretending she knows who her father is.
Now get back to sucking down box wine.
July 17, 2013 at 3:09 PM
*********
You actually read that?
This much: "My father always taught me..."
Then I realized it was a hoax. Bitch have no idea who her daddy be. Momma, eitha.
Sixty Grit said...
This much: "My father always taught me..."
Then I realized it was a hoax.
**********
LOL!
Well definitely didn't have anything to say for themselves.
How lucky am I! On her way back home to NYC with her three cats, Amba will be arriving here at my house any minute now for a return visit. I'm looking forward to a grand evening with her, my family and our three nieces (though I'm tired after having hosted seven teenagers yesterday, including a slumber party that didn't break up until after 1 this afternoon).
Best of all, the plan is for Amba and I to get together for lunch tomorrow with my longtime good friend Callimachus. They've been wanting to meet in the flesh for years now. But I'm the truly lucky one; listening to those two converse together in person is going to be a whole coffeehouse, nay, salon, on it own. Woo hoo!!!!
: )
I'm sorry if this hurts a little. Because I really don't want to be in a position of acting like I'm hurt or bearing a grudge.
I'm not.
But the truth is, Althouse instead of leaving us the way Mariano Rivera is leaving baseball. I watched the game last night. Althouse is looking more and more like Many Ramirez instead.
Those of you that know baseball know what I'm talking about.
Manny one day said his hammy was acting up again and wanted to sit. The management ordered a cat scan or something like that, Manny could not decide which leg hurt, management ordered both legs examined.
It feels like, well maybe I exaggerate a little, but I'm on a baseball meta thing here and I'm not about to get off it.
Althouse, future hall of famer, consecutive streaks and all that. In the middle of a game walks off the mound... and everybody looks around befuddled and a fan of Althouse, right there in the front row, up in the bleaches, says I can come in long relief.
Everybody knows it cant possibly work.
But the kid comes in because that's who we are and we feel good about it and all that... at least for a while.
Insects have very small brains and very large mouths. They chomp and buzz all the day long.
I do wonder how those circus fleas were so well trained.
Alt-Fiona-House was quoting from a blog:
http://www.seanoakley.com/2013/01/23/what-you-dont-know/
I believe she is telling us that she is the noble underdog, David against the small-brained Goliath insect-swarm.
the bleachers... bleached bleachers.
Everybody knows it cant possibly work.
*******
Not true Lem.
Get out there and be your own star.
A different kind of star--play baseball.
Do sports.
Do music--my gawd you have a gift for picking beautiful music.
Do it for the love of it, for the place to hang out and shoot the shit.
Remember?
That's all you ever wanted.
Ask for help maybe--from they guys that you have known for yeeeeaaars.
You know who the good guys are Lem--you already started with Chicken Little.
Keep going, and--
after awhile never look back, don't read the reviews.
Lem, you're such a great guy.
Hang in there. You're a beloved commenter and a gracious host and that's a big part of why everyone's here.
It will all sort itself out. In the meantime, I'll add my gratitude for your willingness to put your place out there and your kind spirit.
That there actually does come off as Betamax imitating Althouse.
The other idea of Betamax being an Althouse sockpuppet seems unlikely, but how appropriate is the name "Betamax" for her male sockpuppet? I don't think Althouse has the unique chops to be Betamax. If she was, I'd be impressed.
Maybe Lem. Except Althouse wasn't under contract and paid vast sums to perform at a certain level. Her hosting was voluntary, as was the commenting, and it is easy to walk away from a relationship like that.
I don't quite understand the unwillingness to move on. Every thread here seems to end up being an Althouse/Meade thread. Are folks grieving? Is that why?
Will this bright group of people whom I (mostly) admire from a distance turn their gaze back to current events and culture, away from the past?
I hope so.
Damn it Lem--just the way you wrote that has me in tears.
I'm out.
Catch you guys later.
Althouse, future hall of famer, consecutive streaks and all that. In the middle of a game walks off the mound...
Wait...Manny was pitching? I must have missed that game... I'm confused...
We the People of the Lem's Learning Levity, in Order to form a more wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy....
Jesus, Meade. What the fuck is your problem?
With Meade its Althouse first and Meade second, which is the way it should be.
I understand what you're saying Icepick. What bothers me is that we're not marching on Washington with pitch forks and torches, ala Young Frankenstein. I include myself in this. I think I should be standing on a roof top screaming "have you seen what these fuckers are doing"?
Most of the people in my neighborhood want to see Zimmerman lynched. The last thing I want to do is stand on a roof and proclaim my belief that GZ should be left alone.
Yes, good tactics now rule the day. We have finally established a peace-time tyranny, and everyone seems more or less okay with that.
rcommal said... a bunch of good stuff for her.
I wish I could be there for that. Sigh.
The other idea of Betamax being an Althouse sockpuppet seems unlikely....
bagoh: I'm not terribly attached to my Althouse/Betamax theory.
But have you ever seen them both in the same room at the same time? Huh?
playing a never-ending game in my mind of putting myself in my opponents shoes
Escape is easier if you've got his shoes. Being a mile away is good too.
Somebody said that, probably a Korean.
It feels like, well maybe I exaggerate a little, but I'm on a baseball meta thing here and I'm not about to get off it.
Why should you? It's your house!
(Lord help me, I'm quoting Ray Frickin' Lewis....)
creeley23,
You are a poor judge of character. You completely missed the lesson in the story.
Are folks grieving? Is that why?
Actually, yeah, I think that's about it.
Maybe we need to move on from an open thread to a link to some news item or something.
Maybe the rest of this thread can be a kind of tipline for Lem?
Worse comes to worse, you can always link any althouse thread that isn't dedicated to abusing her commenters. Folks here used to like that kind of stuff.
EDIT: Yes, GOON tactics now rule the day. We have finally established a peace-time tyranny, and everyone seems more or less okay with that.
I'm sure there is a bit of grieving going on. It's human nature.
When one door closes, though, another is supposed to open. Isn't that why Lem is here?
Meade did me the courtesy of responding to an email in which I never asked why comments had been closed. But he did link me up to a very simple reason. He didn't have to respond, but he did. Now I choose not to believe he was playing me because I'm really an unknown here. I couldn't change opinions or views or beliefs or anything. And I wouldn't even try. Some people are willfully ignorant while others simply don't know how to remove the plank from their own eye.
I don't need to know who fiona is. I already know. It's jaltcohen. ;) As for why Meade is here, why not? He isn't hiding it. He will choose to stay or leave as he sees fit. As we all can do.
That's all I'm going to say about that.
Time to go back to lurking.
Betamax is too poetic to be Althouse.
Fresh Glitter on Dreadlocks Does Not Gain You Entrance when you Have Been Eighty-Sixed. Wait patiently Outside: Someone Will Be With You Shortly.
"Will this bright group of people whom I (mostly) admire from a distance turn their gaze back to current events and culture, away from the past?"
Althouse will necessarily be a recurring theme here, and right now it is a current event close to the people here. It would be unrealistic to expect it to just be moved past so soon.
Icepick, I hope you are not hurt by the fact that we ended up here at Lem's rather than your blog. For me it was just luck of the draw. I commented on both your blogs until it seemed that most commenters were ending up here. No particular reason for me. I like you both. I'm not sure if this is a good thing for Lem or not. I couldn't handle a blog myself.
So we are here, I think Lem is great for it. He seems the perfect personality for what he wants to make here. He possesses a quality that was disappointingly missing before - humility and openness. I can't imagine Lem ever holding out his arm and saying "talk to the hand", and that is exactly what it felt like before comments were closed. Although I haven't been back to check, it sounds like that continues today.
Anyway, thanks Lem, and I'll try to support you as much as possible. Get that Amazon portal, and I like the idea of commenters providing the lead occasionally. that could be fun and interesting.
Lem- relax- this is a blast coming here and seeing all the old gang. Thanks for doing this.
It could be that Althouse never thought we would come back together like this. She never though that we could even say we had something good that she made happen. She thought we would just evaporate. But we didn't, to my own astonishment.
Inspector Steve Keller: I think I might have located the woman in the video.
Lt. Mike Stone: Really. That's great. What did you find out?
Inspector Steve Keller: Well I was perusing the Lonely Hearts Dating column of the Chronicle and I
found a bunch of postings from a woman who described herself in such a way that it might be the
poor woman in the video.
Lt. Mike Stone: What the hell where you doing reading the Lonely Hearts column? Where you looking for a date? What happened to that cunning linguist woman?
Inspector Steve Keller: We broke up. She left a bad taste in my mouth.
(The Lonely Hearts Murders, The Streets of San Francisco, 1973)
Hey, A.J! How are you doing?
I am waiting to make a video of utility crews replacing a pole for unknown reasons.
Six guys standing around watching another guy dig a hole for the new pole.
It's 100 degrees. He finished the hole, and now they're all on a break.
Apparently, in answer to my curiosity, they put up a new pole alongside and transfer the wires.
That raises curiosity number two, how do they get the old pole out right next to the new pole.
Perhaps it is a multi-day project and I am wasting my time waiting for break to end.
Yo tambien le mando un abrazo grande a Lem.
Answer: break is over and six trucks have started up. They're leaving.
Progress so far: hole.
Latest Drudge headline:
Queen Approves Gay Marriage.
Oh the jokes that write themselves!
I just happened on Lem's blog today and out of curiosity, saw another open thread from the 15th, I think. Wow, Meade was weird in that thread and he was linking to this fionaxxxx comment from another thread. So I have concluded that fionaxxxx is not betamax -- quality of some of the other fionaxxxx comments gave away. I now think fiona is Meade.
You are doing a great job Lem.
Almost Zen like.
Keep it simple and it will be fine.
Don't listen to anyone else. Even me. Especially me. Follow your heart. You have a good heart. It won't steer you wrong.
Of course you are also a moron because you are Red Sox fan.
We are going to whip your ass this weekend hombre.
BOSTON SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wait...Manny was pitching? I must have missed that game... I'm confused...
Althouse is a throwback to Babe Ruth era baseball. Althouse could both throw and pitch.
I commented rarely at Althouse, but enjoyed the variety of topics and the variety of opinions.
Thanks, Lem for hosting the gathering.
And I'm happy to hit the tip jar for you.
Icepick, I hope you are not hurt by the fact that we ended up here at Lem's rather than your blog.
Good lord, no! I'm relieved! For about five days I did a lot of work getting posts up and whatnot. I don't really have the time to do that.
And I've blogged in the past (my own blog is still up, but down to two posts for the current year it is feeling neglected) and I contribute occassionally to the group blog Ambiance, which was set up by Annie Gottlief (sometime Althouse commenter Amba) for her on-line friends. And I haven't even contributed much there.
I have been thinking about getting back into blogging more lately, but I will probably do it with another blog, and quite possibly another 'avatar'. Icepick has a lot of online history at this point, and that can be distracting.
But if I go back to doing the work, I will not want to be constrained to following someone else's blog. That's a drag, as was following Althouse for several days.
So I am truly happy Lem got stuck with this duty.
Well, this is a sad day for me. I've just read Althouse's latest post disparaging her former commenters. I've read the blog through times when I was in constant disagreement with Althouse, times when I felt I should be taking a stand by not giving her the blog hit, and the wonderful, early times when I discovered not only her unique writing and perspective, but the brilliant commenting community she had attracted.
I've made some commenters real friends. I've become a fan of so many others.
I'll miss the habit, but that's the last click for me.
Lem—I did not mean to imply that you could NOT make this blog succeed. What I did say was that Meadhouse PERCEIVES that they can marginalize part of their stellar commentariat by handing it off to a working Joe with neither the time nor the breadth of obsession necessary to man the html. Successful blogging takes a special kind of crazy. Just look around.
They're counting on the old Durocherism—"nice guys finish last". Now man up and just do the best you can and we'll all stick it to them and old dead Leo.
Shorter version: I've already done a lot of blogging, and already know that my audience is actually going to max out at about ten people, max. Mostly I, like Lem, missed the community and wanted to try to preserve that. Since the mission was accomplished, I don't care who got 'lucky'.
Althouse could both throw and pitch.
Aww, crap, back to the gay marriage thing again....
Lem doesn't have to do anything but keep threads open. Say not much over 200 comments. It's nice to have him as the volunteer. An amazon portal would be a nice gotcha if it works out.
The open question is whether Althouse startoff topics were necessary or not. Althouse did it because she felt this or that was interesting. The commenters could agree or not, and if not the thread went elsewhere. But the thread was there.
A top comment can be a startoff topic, as indeed it sometimes wound up being on Althouse, who sometimes felt as if people hadn't read the links. They responded to comments. Yes.
The attraction of Althouse, the reason she gets commenters, is that she has a large readership, so your comments reach a lot of people, in particular enough so that some will be interested in your comment if it's any good. It's worth writing.
That's enough to get an interested community.
The readership distribution follows Zipf's law, which more or less says that a few bloggers get most of the readers and the rest of the bloggers are in a long tail.
Not to say that Althouse isn't responsible for her readership so much as the lottery has to fall somewhere, and once she's a big site that's cutting out a top slot.
The commenters go the the top site offering comments in the area that they want to comment on. Althouse had a lot that people wanted to comment on, not necessarily on her view but on the topic.
My own view of comments is that they're rephrasings of the same thing, trying to get something right. Responses can build, substitute, correct with that aim.
There's value in carving the duck at the joints, if it takes a whole thread to do it.
The hostess may not have done it right.
I wish I could evaporate [about 20 lbs. of fat]
Hey Reader!
For those of us talking about abusive government, NR has an article about Angela Corey (Zimmerman's Special Prosecutor) that contains more along that front. She's a real piece of work.
And a torrential downpour just started. I just love the weather when it's sunny in the morning and rains in the afternoon.
Reader - how's Indiana treating you? Have you gotten back to your old stomping grounds in DE this summer?
Lem you have that mixed up with the Scifi movie called "Pandragon" where an evil dragon, who has lost his ability to breathe fire, captures his victims and takes them back to his lair where they are pan fried.
Althouse posts about still being #1 "In the Law Prof Blog Traffic Rankings.
Covering all blogs written by lawprofs that have a displayed Site Meter."
then posts later, quoting Vladimir Nabokov, "I don't care about the general public."
Doesn't care about the general public unless it helps her Site Meter ratings, I guess.
Look at her running averages for the past 30 days though. Big drop and a small recovery so far. We'll see.
In the mean time, Meade's become a troll. Be careful crossling the bridge.
Don't listen to anyone else. Even me. Especially me.
That goes for me too. Except when it doesn't.
I slid down a short escarpment of dirt, rain eroded a side of a hill and I tucked under it into the shade. Sun lit the dirt right next to me, warm and bright, cool and shaded. I reached up and grabbed a chunk of overhanging grass and weeds and broke it off and shook out the dirt from the roots. Vigorously, again, to remove as much dirt and stones as possible but it would not all come out. I plunked the clump on my head anyway and let the dirt fall down my back between my shirt and lodge inside my belt and I sat there in the shade of a waning summer sun for a very long time under my grass and roots wig bored out of my mind wishing school would start up knowing full well at eight years old this will be one favorite period of my life and a fond childhood memory, so suck it. It don't get better than this.
You are a poor judge of character. You completely missed the lesson in the story.
Fiona: I wasn't explaining the story. I was saying what I believe you are telling us.
What do you think the point of the story is? Why did you tell the story to us?
You're sounding dumber in this round. Maybe you are Meade.
I do think there had ought to be a Justice Dept. investigation of the Martin-Zimmerman case, as George Zimmerman obviously has been subject to malicious prosecution by the State of Florida, and his civil rights have been infringed upon.
AJ: Actually, we have moved back to Delaware [New Castle County], although we haven't sold the house in Iowa yet. (Big Boo! Anyone want a great deal on a big old Victorian with river views?)
Hey gang. Just saying hello.
Darcy manages to express a sense of comradery with the commenters here, and I just want to say that I share that too. I feel pretty close to a lot of people who I have never met, know very little about, but who still feel like long time friends somehow.
Although I can force it when needed, I've always been pretty shy due to just not liking social situations, but this forum lets me be a lot more comfortable talking to people. Besides, it seems you really can't talk a lot of subjects face to face with people you have to work with or deal with in person. There is just too much at stake there.
Now how do we get some lefties in here to fight with? Put up a sign saying "free cheese", "free birth control", or "hackysack welcome"?
Ann's boasting of her blog traffic numbers is a little bit premature.
Give it a month or 2 and we'll see the effects.
Lem said...
I'm sorry if this hurts a little. Because I really don't want to be in a position of acting like I'm hurt or bearing a grudge.
I'm not.
But the truth is, Althouse instead of leaving us the way Mariano Rivera is leaving baseball. I watched the game last night. Althouse is looking more and more like Many Ramirez instead.
Althouse, future hall of famer, consecutive streaks and all that. In the middle of a game walks off the mound... and everybody looks around befuddled and a fan of Althouse, right there in the front row, up in the bleaches, says I can come in long relief.
Shorter - Roberto Duran, "No mas".
rcomma, say high to Annie and Cal for me. And give Annie's cats a scratch on my behalf.
Frodo: I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.
Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.
Lem: You're doing fine. You'll keep doing fine. You've got a powerful set of commenters who will stick around. I've never seen a blog start so auspiciously.
The real question is whether you want to keep doing this.
Best. Thanks.
creeley23, this will be the last comment I waste on you. You have proven yourself to be an intellectual midget. I've given you a huge hint and you still can't figure it out.
Hagar, there ought to be a Justice Dept. investigation of the Justice Dept.
Say "HI". Sheesh. I knew I shouldn't have stayed up till four last night.
Although I can force it when needed, I've always been pretty shy due to just not liking social situations....
Ah, now I understand why you show up drunk, naked and feeling frisky at parties: You're too shy to do it sober!
Why am I not at these parties???
I know it's not high brow, but does anyone ever watch the "Frisky Dingo" cartoon on Adult Swim? I linked to a clip earlier in this thread. That is one funny show to me. Maybe I'm the only one over 25 watching it, but I love it. It isn't currently being made, but you can watch previous episodes on Youtube and other places.
My own view of comments is that they're rephrasings of the same thing, trying to get something right. Responses can build, substitute, correct with that aim.
I hadn't thought of it that way before, but I think that's right.
Hey Simon!
creeley23, this will be the last comment I waste on you.
Hallelujah.
You have proven yourself to be an intellectual midget. I've given you a huge hint and you still can't figure it out.
Rest assured, I'm not trying too hard. I don't take you seriously.
***
Meade or Althouse? Tough call. Still not sounding smart. But there is that Althouse demand that we work out her puzzles to her satisfaction.
It's got to be a play on Peronistas.
Lemonistas. Leministas. Leninistas.
Something like that.
Simon. nice to see you.
Icepick said...
Shorter version: I've already done a lot of blogging, and already know that my audience is actually going to max out at about ten people, max. Mostly I, like Lem, missed the community and wanted to try to preserve that. Since the mission was accomplished, I don't care who got 'lucky'.
I tried blogging and after many sputtering starts and stops, I just realized that I just didn't have time for it. My mileage definitely varied.
Hi Simon!
" You have proven yourself to be an intellectual midget."
How's the view up there? It must be great to be so tall - like Goliath.
Open Thread photo Caption from an alterative script to Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
- "What could there possibly be over that big rock that we have to brave death over?"
- "I cant tell you, the director says I don't know."
- "Its aliens isn't it? they are coming. Why cant they land here where we are?"
- "I don't have access to that information either."
There's everything you need to know about what Althouse has done to Althouse.
Bags,
I love Frisky Dingo - Squidbillies, too.
Darcy said...
Well, this is a sad day for me. I've just read Althouse's latest post disparaging her former commenters. I've read the blog through times when I was in constant disagreement with Althouse, times when I felt I should be taking a stand by not giving her the blog hit, and the wonderful, early times when I discovered not only her unique writing and perspective, but the brilliant commenting community she had attracted.
I've made some commenters real friends. I've become a fan of so many others.
I'll miss the habit, but that's the last click for me.
It's either withdrawal or Kubler-Ross' stages of grief thing.
Question is, on whose side?
Maybe it's me, but the commenters seem to have moved on.
Hey, Simon!
bagoh20 said...
Darcy manages to express a sense of comradery with the commenters here, and I just want to say that I share that too. I feel pretty close to a lot of people who I have never met, know very little about, but who still feel like long time friends somehow.
Although I can force it when needed, I've always been pretty shy due to just not liking social situations, but this forum lets me be a lot more comfortable talking to people. Besides, it seems you really can't talk a lot of subjects face to face with people you have to work with or deal with in person. There is just too much at stake there.
Now how do we get some lefties in here to fight with? Put up a sign saying "free cheese", "free birth control", or "hackysack welcome"?
I'll be honest with you. I'm not sure where I stood in the commenteriat pool. I figured I would just let me be me regardless of where I stood with whoever read what I had to say. The fact that people read it was enough for me. Lotsa nice people though and that's always a plus.
So this is where everyone went. I missed whatever sent A-house's panties into a terminal twist, but I suppose my own comments over the years haven't helped. :-)
It's amusing that she's now posting comments from commenters asking her to keep comments turned off. Are they insane, or just stupid? Here's a test for them: if you can fill in the blanks in the following puzzle, there may be medications that can help you: "If you don't want to read comments, don't r--d c-m--n-s."
With typical modesty she's also reprinting fawning e-mails that praise her for "challenging the conventional wisdom." That she takes that hackneyed cliche seriously is just further evidence that her blog, while a source of amusing anecdotes, is about as challenging to conventional wisdom as Reader's Digest.
And Lem, you seriously need to install an Amazon portal...250+ comments on this thread already, and I'll bet a lot of these guys could use a new toaster.
Icepick: I will. She's settling in the cats as we speak.
And she came bearing really good chocolate. Even the teens are quiet at the moment (on account of their mouths being full). Smart woman, that Amba. LOL. (She loves young people.)
I still click on Althouse, but not to see how the comment thread is going, so that cuts out a lot of clicks.
Ahh, Crack likes Frisky Dingo AND Squidbillies, another favorite of mine. I should have known. Good company.
How's the view up there? It must be great to be so tall - like Goliath.
Zing! POW! Right in the kisser!
Hey Simon!
creeley23 possesses inadequate amounts of introspection or extrospection. Alas he is not the curious individual he likes to see himself as.
Crunch went the locust .
I've read Althouse for a long time. Don't know how long, but I can recall a dustup between her and Goldstein, and that was more than a few years ago. Commented occasionally, usually feeling like a jackass. I've seen some comments on this thread by people I haven't seen in a long time, maybe I can follow a lot of my old favorite commenters (yes, many of you have fans). I'm not sore at Althouse or Meade. It's just that with blogsurfing, it's take what you need and leave the rest. There's now a lot less to choose from at Althouse's.
I just went through a similar situation playing Eve (as I have for 4 years now). The breakup, not the acrimony. It's all kind of raw still. And a friend is in his final days, and depression ever lurks. Put it all together and I just want to cry. And I do. But as with my Eve friends, even if I mostly read comments without offering my own, a lot of you make me feel better. More, please.
I wish someone would show the clear connection between Al Sharpton's self-aggrandizing mouth and all the violence and destruction it has caused.
The robed stores, the beaten people, the lives ruined by jail because people listened to him. Show some poor black youth with a record now, because that race-baiting asshole told them they were justified in tearing up their own community. Show the mothers and children hiding in their homes because of a man's mouth out of control turning neighbors into predators and prey.
I liked earlier shows on Adult Swim: SeaLab 2021 ("Bebop! COLA! GOOOOOOD!"), The Brak Show ("I want MEAT!"), Home Movies ("We won, because we got points.") and such. Although I think Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law might be most appropriate for current times.
Also, loved the original bumper music, a remix of Tito Puente's Mambo Gallego - here's the original. It set the mode nicely.
"the commenters seem to have moved on."
Toolbar link is gone. New one says "Lem's".
bagoh20,
I wish someone would show the clear connection between Al Sharpton's self-aggrandizing mouth and all the violence and destruction it has caused.
Dude, just like with Althouse, that only happens in Bizarroland,..
I've been thinking about the cool thing Freeman Hunt did yesterday when she introduced a puzzle involving numbers, spatial organization and reasoning into he blog. It was a lot of fun! that sort of thing should be a regular feature of a blog. I'd like to introduce one today as a word problem.
Here's the set-up:
Phillip bought a vintage MG convertible to drive from his home in Leicester to visit his ladyfriend in Exeter. Without regard to the costs of insurance, tax or road use fees, calculate the cost of Phillip driving his MG between those two cities.
Assume that his MG will travel at an average speed of 47 kilometers per hour, there will be a persistent 12 knot headwind and rain showers occur half-way through the trip. The MG will be driven top-down until the showers hit, then it will be top-up.
Since Phillip will leave early in the morning, add in the cost for bangers and mash at a restaurant before he hits the motorway.
The petrol tank in Phillip's MG holds 20 liters of fuel and his car can achieve 26 kilometers per liter.
Solve for the cost of travel as outlined above. You may use local fuel costs. Provide your answer in farthings per furlong.
Go.
Smith was nearly legendary in Eve. I never crossed his path, but he was known to me. I don't think the Eve people are liberal, if that's what you meant. The close-knit group I was part of (for 3 years) were almost entirely conservative, though I'm not sure conservative is an entirely accurate label for me. I think it's mainly a mixture with the Eve players. I was made aware of the existence of Eve by a comment on Althouse (Dust Bunny Queen?).
There is an answer, by the way. I've worked it out.
There's everything you need to know about what Althouse has done to Althouse
There is an upswing the last couple of days, but that would appear to mostly be from people coming by to look at the wreckage from the crash. That will drop off, especially with her delusions of grandeur hate-fest continuing.
Speaking of Mariano. . . .
That All-Star game was sure a Rivera love fest. I didn't mind it too much because I could just think back to 2001 when he blew his save and gave my hometown a legitimate sports championship. Yea!
Did anyone else watch the end when Tim McCarver got all choked up about his scorecard going into the HoF? Made me a little emotional and I'm not a big McCarver fan.
Phillip would have been better off financially staying in the area and visiting the local talent. Do I get a prize?
I hadn't thought of it that way before, but I think that's right.
Alternately, it can help the writer clarify their own thinking, as well.
I knew a woman back when I was in grad school who used to say "I am always engaged in a conversation in my head. When I speak to you, I'm sharing where I am at that point in my own conversation. Since you didn't hear what came before and you won't hear what comes after, everything I say to you is necessarily out of context."
Sometimes I think a lot of miscommunications on blogs (and elsewhere) arise, not only out of our inability to clearly express what it is we really mean, but also because we're always somewhere in the process of figuring it out for ourselves as we go.
Smith was nearly legendary in Eve. I never crossed his path, but he was known to me. I don't think the Eve people are liberal, if that's what you meant. The close-knit group I was part of (for 3 years) were almost entirely conservative, though I'm not sure conservative is an entirely accurate label for me. I think it's mainly a mixture with the Eve players. I was made aware of the existence of Eve by a comment on Althouse (Dust Bunny Queen?).
********
Sorry I deleted because I realized I might have brought up a depressing subject.
I know DBQ and Synova I think are online players and there were some EVE players rolling around in Ace's basement.
Anyways was Smith's group Liberal--they were the ones that essentially heisted EVE to begin with right?
He was known for recruiting EVE players to the foreign service.
I was just surprised that EVE didn't advocate more than they did--for opening up the investigation into Benghazi.
The damn tape--video--evaporated from the TOC--it gets interesting as hell until you just have to give up.
But--it was Smith who--well let everyone in on the idea that State Dept. security was abysmal.
I don't know if you caught LTC Wood's testimony.
Real depressing shit--so ya--hate to get you going on it when I've read your comment.
Anyways I remember you from Althouse--please hang around and check in.
I hadn't seen photos of Brutus Sharpton next to Popeye Sharpton before. That's quite a change.
I just can't fault a single man for having a hot girlfriend, but if he wasn't so damned sexy, I'd call her a gold digger. I bet they actually have a lot in common intellectually, and share the same values.
bagoh20 said...
Now how do we get some lefties in here to fight with?
Unlike Althouse I liked the 40 to 1 conservative to liberal mix, it made for an even fight. Otherwise it would have been it bit like shooting an unarmed teen with a semi-automatic loaded with hollow-point bullets.
I think Althouse is going to regret her move. Blogging is popular culture, the greasiest of all greasy poles. She will never by number one again.
Hello Simon.
The one person I know named Simon is among the strangest of all people I know. He buys art. You make a building in Denver, by law 2% at least must go to art. Who says what's art? Simon Says! We hit it right off. He is so off-putting it drives people nuts. One of the funniest things I saw him do is walk up to a small square service window and speaking directly to the person on the other side slip into a WWII Jewish refugee persona,
"Please, Mister." *pathetic downtrodden look* If called to be witness, you'd swear you saw rags. "Rice for a poor boy." *trembling, holding out cupped hands* "A scrap. Please."
And I totally sucked at Simon Says. I blew it every single time. I just flat suck at taking directions and I always did.
So hello there. Ave. Hail. Greetings. I did stop by Althouse this morning and recalled many forms of standard greetings in my time travels, through the ages people have ways of delivering a friendly, "wut up?" The verbalized form of showing you are unarmed, which may be a ruse on the highways.
The highways being not much more than dirt roads. Camel paths. Caravans.
But I skipped. Since you are not there to remark I am not so interested in the subject whatever it may be, even entomology, just skip that. <-- that was a test, s/b etymology , just skip that. Apparently I have ADD because all the items were skimmed. There is nothing behind them. Little floaty boats with no anchors doodlydoodlydo.
I've discovered a new way of talking to people in real life and I believe it will be useful. It is condescending as all hell but also comical. It parlays what little they think they know into an exaggerated knowing of that same thing, it's wrong but still works because they were wrong to start off with. For example I can allow the bandwagon-atheist avowal of disbelief, "Ah, I see, you haven't died enough times yet." Then he's thinking, "Shit, I knew this guy had it rough there, how many times has he died?"
" calculate the cost of Phillip driving his MG between those two cities"
As someone who once owned an MG convertible and drove it from Los Angeles to Ensenada, Mexico and back in one day because he couldn't find a hotel room after tequila shots all day, I'll tell you that one cost will be your ass. It will never be the same, and your girlfriend will not think that car is so cool as she did when you picked her up that morning looking like Fred Astaire.
AReasonableMan,
Although I think you are certifiably nuts, it's good to see you here. I look forward to you proving it again on fresh new turf.
IIRC, Smith was with some form of GoonSwarm, and they're an alliance that has a lot of members, and can throw a lot of weight around when it comes to things like market manipulation, causing grief for anybody that crosses them, etc.
I don't think the Eve community (or even GoonSwarm) could get organized enough to pursue it. But who knows? I have no idea what The Mittani (one of his best friends in Eve and in life) could have brewing, if anything.
And don't worry. You're not bumming me out. There's good things happening too. I was in a fleet that suicide ganked a Widow last night. I rocketed up my corp's killboard. So there's that...(I know that's gibberish to anybody who doesn't play, but I couldn't resist).
Oh, Michael Haz, that word problem is in metric. We Americans don't understand that.
Lem, I think you could post just about anything and get a lot of comments. Just post what you like or find interesting. You don't even have to talk about it much, and you will get a lot of comments, I'm sure.
AnUnreasonableTroll said...
Now how do we get some lefties in here to fight with?
Unlike Althouse I liked the 40 to 1 conservative to liberal mix, it made for an even fight. Otherwise it would have been it bit like shooting an unarmed teen with a semi-automatic loaded with hollow-point bullets.
Yes, but you always managed to shoot yourself in the head on such a consistent basis, we couldn't help wondering when the people from the UN would come in and surround you with peacekeepers.
Well there goes the neighborhood.
We all know whom we can thank for this.
Sydney, you are right. I had forgotten the rule: "If God wanted us to use the metric system, there would have been ten apostles".
You may convert the problem out of metric for extra credit.
"…amusing that she's now posting comments from commenters asking her to keep comments turned off. Are they insane, or just stupid? Here's a test for them: if you can fill in the blanks in the following puzzle, there may be medications that can help you: "If you don't want to read comments, don't r--d c-m--n-s."
With typical modesty she's also reprinting fawning e-mails that praise her for "challenging the conventional wisdom."
She's turning into Andrew Sullivan. I expect a beard soon.
"Phillip bought a vintage MG convertible to drive from his home in Leicester to visit his ladyfriend in Exeter. Without regard to the costs of insurance, tax or road use fees, calculate the cost of Phillip driving his MG between those two cities."
Does that include the engine rebuild?
Unlike Althouse I liked the 40 to 1 conservative to liberal mix, it made for an even fight.
Most everyone of substance ignored you.
The engine re-build is assumed to be required for the return trip, and is therefore not a part of this calculation.
After reading every line on this open thread, I notice a missing party...where is AllenS?
Next to Rabel, Allen was the most succinct of commenters. I envy that because I don't seem able to do it.
Yep, we're missing AllenS, and garage mahal, and a few others.
AllenS might well be in county lockup.
There's good things happening too. I was in a fleet that suicide ganked a Widow last night. I rocketed up my corp's killboard. So there's that.
******
Ya--have no idea what that means but--
Suicide ganked a Widow has me laughing.
She's turning into Andrew Sullivan. I expect a beard soon..
LOL--gross I will not be part of the posse that watches for that
******
Ya, AllenS--that guy was funny terd of the bass.
The petrol tank in Phillip's MG holds 20 liters of fuel and his car can achieve 26 kilometers per liter.
What's he got, a gas tank for a riding lawn mower on that thing? And I remember the Bs, BGTs and Midgets getting much better gas mileage on the highways.
Fiona's mini polemic about being prepared, thinking on your feet, never underestimating an opponent is all true. Litigators who are good understand this on a profound level. Those failed attorneys who can't stand the competition become law professors. There it is the classroom where the rule supreme and w/ the hammer of grades held over their students. Where the fuck is competition being a law prof? Who are your opponents?
Where the fuck is competition being a law prof? Who are your opponents?
Some people don't want to live a life full of competition and opponents. You may want to think about that, Spinelli.
I just sent AllenS an email. Maybe he'll show.
Lem,
WOOO HOOOO!
I tried your original request, but for whatever reason I couldn't join, but...
Thanks, bags!
I will be a regular.
I miss Robert Cook. Yeah, he;s an uber-lefties, but he isn't actually batshit crazy.
And garage mahal has been mailing it in for years now. Just not that interested.
In da house!
Well, I see an impressive array of my favorite commenters. How cool is that? I'd have more to say, but I did a welding job earlier, and the man that I did the work for, forced me to drink beer.
I'll be back tommorrow early,
Hey, it's AllenS!
Icepick, I didn't get your email from last week about your blog until now, it ended up in the ol' junk folder. Sorry about that!
So I wasn't an Althouse commenter, though I was tempted to comment many times. I lurked. Althouse became one of my first blog clicks of the day. And now...nothing.
Sure Ann's output is up, but not being able to read the responses and counter-responses from Ann has left me listening to one side of a conversation. I'd often read someone give voice to what I was thinking. And sometimes Ann would respond to those arguments -- allowing me a virtual conversation with Althouse without having to do anything (yay!).
Whatever the reason for the killing of comments, Althouse is no longer a go-to stop for me. I'm guessing I'm not alone. And Ann can tell herself how great this is all she likes, but it looks like the closing of the Althouse mind, to me. And that's a shame.
"Some people don't want to live a life full of competition and opponents."
Maybe so, and maybe that's what heaven is, but that's not possible in this life. The best we can do is play fair.
DADvocate said...
Althouse posts about still being #1 "In the Law Prof Blog Traffic Rankings.
Covering all blogs written by lawprofs that have a displayed Site Meter."
then posts later, quoting Vladimir Nabokov, "I don't care about the general public."
Doesn't care about the general public unless it helps her Site Meter ratings, I guess.
Look at her running averages for the past 30 days though. Big drop and a small recovery so far. We'll see.
In the mean time, Meade's become a troll. Be careful crossling the bridge.
That's like those people who go onto reality game shows and try to fit in and make nice and when their bullshit is revealed and they get called out on it, then they are all like, "I came here to win, not to make friends."
Yessss! Allen's returns! How's the crawler?
They haven't made a county lockup yet that could hold AllenS, an original asskicker if there ever was one. Or so the legend goes.
Icepick, I didn't get your email from last week about your blog until now, it ended up in the ol' junk folder. Sorry about that!
No sweat.
Come on, folks, there's a fresh steaming pile of NEW Open Thread! Only eleven comments so far!
...
What, you don't like fresh steaming piles?
Palladian said...
Most everyone of substance ignored you.
I'm hoping this post was meant ironically.
Competition is a very basic condition that appears as soon as there is life, and I suppose even without it in a sense.
It's both a glorious and terrible thing. The winner and the loser are not always clear, and can often be merely nominal. Winners often become more dependent and losers more free. The winner's identity now lies in what they won, and the loser is free to choose a new path having taken the lion's share of knowledge learned from the fight.
That's what Obama meant when he said "I won."
If we can get Sippican and Cheers, Victoria back too it'd be a commenter victory.
I was having my coffee and reading here at Lem's and I ran across the discussion of the news station that got punked over the names of the crew of that Asiana flight. I laughed so hard that my son asked me what was so funny. I could barely get the names out because I couldn't stop laughing.
First: Thanks for the laugh.
Second: My (young and so PC) son thinks I'm a racist creep now. Thanks. :)
Ok, one more then I have to eat. Haz, the crawler is about ready to do some major earth moving. Shortly, my friend, I will have some pictures!
You know what? It was about a day that I missed the Althouse blog. Actually, not the blog, but the commenters. Then, I realized that it aint' where it's at. Everyone can have their thoughts about why this happened, but I think the problem was The Lawn Boy.
He doesn't work. He was spending too much time dictating the emotional Althouse, who really isn't that smart, and who wasn't able to handle push back.
Chinese fortune cookie --
He who doesn't work, can only mow the lawn.
HA! I'm back!
OMG--
AllenS--goes long!
Crimso said...
I just went through a similar situation playing Eve (as I have for 4 years now). The breakup, not the acrimony. It's all kind of raw still. And a friend is in his final days, and depression ever lurks. Put it all together and I just want to cry. And I do. But as with my Eve friends, even if I mostly read comments without offering my own, a lot of you make me feel better. More, please.
Hey Crimso, good to see you. I didn't know you played Eve. I do/did too. It's an on again/off again fascination. Why are you leaving?
Palladian, I agree, some people don't want to compete. However, if you read the polemic, implicit in it is that she does love to compete, assess her opponent, etc. In private business you compete. Working for the govt., you don't.
Icepick said...
I liked earlier shows on Adult Swim: SeaLab 2021 ("Bebop! COLA! GOOOOOOD!"), The Brak Show ("I want MEAT!"), Home Movies ("We won, because we got points.") and such. Although I think Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law might be most appropriate for current times.
Also, loved the original bumper music, a remix of Tito Puente's Mambo Gallego - here's the original. It set the mode nicely.
I'm still a big fan of Robot Chicken and Action League NOW!!!
AllenS, Good to see your dago puss!
I wanted to say hi to Crimso, too. Hope you find something to smile about here.
Well hello, Reasonable Man. Nice to see you. Hope things are well.
Glad to see lots of the Althouse group. I won't be around as much, having recently sold out to the man and taken a proper job, but I'll chime in from time to time.
The winner and the loser are not always clear, and can often be merely nominal.
And rarely permanent. That is crucial.
And AllenS! :)
Darcy,
Goodness, every time you show up, you look good. You've always been a bright shining light amongst the commenters, and I shall say, we all love to see your presence.
Michael Haz said...
Sydney, you are right. I had forgotten the rule: "If God wanted us to use the metric system, there would have been ten apostles".
You may convert the problem out of metric for extra credit.
Christ liked his base 12. His dad was definitely a base 7 man.
AllenS said...
Well, I see an impressive array of my favorite commenters. How cool is that? I'd have more to say, but I did a welding job earlier, and the man that I did the work for, forced me to drink beer.
I'll be back tommorrow early,
Yay Allen. Good to see you dude. How's the wall? :D
bagoh20 said...
"Some people don't want to live a life full of competition and opponents."
Maybe so, and maybe that's what heaven is, but that's not possible in this life. The best we can do is play fair.
I'd rather play to win, but you can't have it all.
Aww, Allen. :)
Patrick said...
Well hello, Reasonable Man. Nice to see you. Hope things are well.
Glad to see lots of the Althouse group. I won't be around as much, having recently sold out to the man and taken a proper job, but I'll chime in from time to time.
Hi Patrick,
I won't be around much either. A long illness is finally easing. For someone with time on their hands, either forcibly or by choice, the last few weeks of the Althouse comments were quite a trip. I suspect we shall not look upon their like again.
Oh, Darcy :-) ♥ ♂
I think the cathertic experience of divesting oneself from a one time mutual relationship that started becoming poisonous is revealing. In this regard, the Althouse commentariat being shut out of meeting place and the owner giving them the finger on the way out. Fine, we'll go elsewhere and commiserate there. However, seeing the tentacles of the stalkerati from that once mutual relationship only reinforces that you were never appreciated to begin with and was seen as a means to an end. That end being the embellishment of the proprietor and not of the customers that purveyed. I just did what Bag did, killed the link out of my bookmarks and not look back. It was what it was, I just didn't need to be punched in the back of the head on my way out.
Palladian, I agree, some people don't want to compete. However, if you read the polemic, implicit in it is that she does love to compete, assess her opponent, etc. In private business you compete. Working for the govt., you don't.
Hmm. I suppose that's true. If I worked for a State-funded university rather than a private college, I would probably be getting a paycheck even though I'm not teaching this summer.
Lt. Mike Stone: Boy you look beat. What did you do party all night?
Inspector Steve Keller: Oh it was crazy man. I went out looking for pussy with my friend Pierre.
Lt. Mike Stone: Is that the airline stewardress?
Inspector Steve Keller: Steward. They call them stewards when they are guys. Anyway he was my wingman
and we met this crazy chick and we double teamed her. It was wild.
Lt. Mike Stone: What does double team mean? I know about double timing a broad but not double teaming her.
Inspector Steve Keller: We had sex with her at the same time. It was crazy. It was like a golf course
with every hole in action at the same time.
Lt. Mike Stone: That's disgusting. And the guy Pierre is a weirdo.
Inspector Steve Keller: He's not weird. He's french. Although he does have a pet monkey that he
is way too fond of.
Lt. Mike Stone: I don't know Steve. It still seems creepy.
Inspector Steve Keller: Hey what could go wrong? It's the 1970's man get with it Grandpa!
(The Lonely Hearts Murders, The Streets of San Francisco, 1973)
Holy Crap! AllenS nails it.
Funny how the strong feminist is now the victim of the patriarchy. The irony, it burns!
Welcome back, AllenS - post a picture of that machine when you can.
It is wonderful to see my fellow trooper Allen S--we will always be around early in the morning to make sure the sun has risen and we have another day. Also good to see Simon, A Reasonable Man and other refugees--Honestly I miss Robert Cook whose politics I never agreed with but he was true to his principles.
Lem--my thought--you have an excellent commentariat--well done sir.
And a special shout out to Palladian--another man true to his principles.
It appears that the commentariat is now almost complete.
And the fair Darcy: If Darcy is with us, who can be against us. (apologies to Handel)
Happy to see Palladian here too!
Thank you, Roger J. Too kind. :)
Darcy--kindness begets kindness--its really easy. :) Umm--ok a considerable amount of hotness helps :)
Lem--to use your baseball analogy: you have the bases full and its the bottom of the ninth--take the mound and close the game. You got a a major game going here and you can win it.
You heterosexuals, always rubbing your lifestyle in our faces!
Having been in contact with our long lost Victoria I am able to report that she will join us in the near future.
Cheers.
Michael--I do hope you are talking about Victoria VB spurs--several years ago Drill Sgt (who has been AWOL here) and others helped her with her choice personal weapons. Victoria is a class act and I, for one, would be happy to see her on this blog.
one thought: it is difficult to recreate what was--but that does not preclude us to create what may become
Continue to fight the good fight Lem--you have a winner here.
Roger - one and the same.
If we can get Sippican and Cheers, Victoria back too it'd be a commenter victory.
I have no idea whatever happened to Victoria. I was on one of my Althouse sabbaticals when whatever happened happened. The same with Sippican. But he still has his own blog. But that meltdown was truly epic, as he went back and deleted all of his old comments. Yikes! I doubt he would have any interest in coming back.
Also missing would be Ruth Ann Adams, one-time official historian of the Althouse blog. And if you read threads from 2006 (as I was recently) you will see a lot of missing names.
And that doesn't include those that have passed (Randy/Internet Ronin) or those Missing/Presumed Dead.
The old community can never be wholly regained. We can only move forward with what we have, and those we can bring in.
If someone knows how to contact Robert Cook, that would be good. But his profile was either sparse or hidden, last I checked. I have no idea on how to reach him.
@icepick: The old community can never be wholly regained. We can only move forward with what we have, and those we can bring in.
And Lem seems to be doing a good job. I look forward to Lems continued efforts--have to admit I like the open thread forum--gives me a chance to spout my ideas about current policy--but I am an unabashed policy wonk. let the threads go where they will--with a stellar commentariat like you have itt will be easy
Icepick, I was hoping others would chime in with names I'd missed, and you remembered some great ones.
fionamcgee said...
"Insects have very small brains and very large mouths."
The Blogging Cockroach did very well for himself with those qualities, a featured character in fact.
Which reminds me, if anyone has connections among the dead, Sir Archy's musings would be very welcomed concerning the recent events.
icepick: I would add two: quaestor our resident classicist. had a wonderful discussion with him on the difference between laconic and taciturn; and my old comrade in arms Drill Sgt I, of course, forgive drill because he was a tanker and not a cavalryman--but his insights on military and national security issues were always top notch. And he was smart enough to marry a Army JAG colonel.
The Drill Sgt is at LI.
VB tweets a lot.
Sippican is the man - up in Maine, making sawdust and furniture.
...and I might add, still writing as well, if not better, than ever.
lem--you are going to hit 400--well done dude
The one person I know named Simon is among the strangest of all people I know. He buys art. You make a building in Denver, by law 2% at least must go to art. Who says what's art? Simon Says!
1
Among twenty snowy mountains
the only moving thing
was the pieman coming.
2
I was of three minds,
like Simple Simon
looking at three pies.
- Victor Contoski "Simple Simon in American Literature"
There is an announcement coming.
Reduce speed! Approaching comment maximum.
Captain, I don't she'll take much more!
BOOSH!
The thing's hollow — it goes on forever — and — oh my God — it's full of stars!
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