Looks Like We Picked the Wrong Week to Quit Campaigning

Nojo: thanks for the link!

Also: I loved the sound of a bazillion Obsessed housewives from the square states Claymates’ heads asploding.

Love the new place/look.
Talibunny’s interview makes even less sense if you read the transcript. So many words, so little sense.
And Clay looks like k.d. lang on that People cover, which may cause some confusion.

Oooh, and since we’re allowed to talk Project Runway: SFL & Jamie, were you as horrified as I was when Suede was aufed instead of Mean Girl?

It also appears that the House Web hamsters are all dead. The main Web site only gives you a simple text version that was state-of-the-art in 1993.

So, nojo — please inform as to the upgrades to this here blog has so that everything doesn’t crash like CP / [insert name of worthless bank here]. Because I’d hate to see this one go down like that.

Meanwhile, please note: if any ex-W / CP / S people in Chicago are out there, we are having a local get-together / Debate(?) Party tomorrow night. Homofascist, flippin and myself are scheduled to appear. Posting here with yr e-mail gets you details, as well as a possibly better acronym than what I’ve come up with.

@rptrcub: Just created a special link category in case any of the other regulars want some bloglurve.

What is a “Clay Aiken”? Some kind of homespun craft?

Also, why should I care, and, more to the point, should I pretend that I didn’t already know and not care?

@chicago bureau: please inform as to the upgrades to this here blog

1. It’s running on my server, so I can fix any damn thing that breaks without waiting for some time-serving hamster to get around to it sometime maybe.

2. It’s not sharing a huge fucking database with a thousand other blogs, so general responsiveness should be much better. (This is my first WordPress installation, so we’ll see whether that holds true over time.)

3. The server farm has multiple Big Fucking Pipes to the Internet, so the site shouldn’t feel like you’re sucking it through a straw at peak hours.

On the other hand…

4. It’s the server farm down the road from the other farm that blew up a few months back. But in case of calamity, I do back up the database nightly (and will start backup up the graphics), so I can restore the site on another server without forcing everyone to sign up again and receive comical swear passwords.

By the way, is this a permanent switch to this site? Will Hunter, Marcel, Les Meres, et al post here?

@Tommmcatt Yet Again: Everyone’s invited, but this is not an official successor to CP — Hunter and Greg will still be hanging out there, far as I know, and they have some plans in the works to bring CP back in line with their original vision. (How’s that for tap dancing?)

This is a permanent switch for me, however. Creative differences and all that.

Well, enough meta. Because it looks like the Geezer campaign is back on again! Sort of.

And today’s news includes — yes, yes! — a Palin news conference!

Five questions — but it looks like she skipped one because she was running out of time, and if she’s still writing when they call time and she doesn’t stop, her test scores are invalidated. As follows:

CNN: On the topic of never letting this happen again, do you agree with the way the Bush administration has handled the war on terrorism, is there anything you would do differently?

A: I agree with the Bush administration that we take the fight to them. We never again let them come onto our soil and try to destroy not only our democracy, but communities like the community of New York. Never again. So yes, I do agree with taking the fight to the terrorists and stopping them over there.

[See, "war on terrorism" = "taking the fight to the terrorists and stopping them over there." The question was: how has Bush handled it? She's clueless on that one, on this evidence. And, a hint: moderates hate Dubya.]

POLITICO: Do you think our presence in Iraq and [Afghanistan] and our continued presence there is inflaming islamic extremists?

A: I think our presence in Iraq and Afghanistan will lead to further security of our nation, again, because the mission is to take the fight over there. Do not let them come over here and attempt again what they accomplished here, and that was some destruction. Terrible destruction on that day. But since September 11, Americans uniting and rebuilding and committing to never letting that happen again.

[The transcript is for shit, but there were four attempts at a sentence there. Three attempts appear to be FAIL. Also: the question was about Islamic extremism, and promotion of the same by our presence there. She can play hoop, yes, but she's also pretty good at dodgeball.]

POLITICO: Do you support the reelection bids of embattled Alaska Republicans, Rep. Don Young and Sen. Ted Stevens?

A: Ted Stevens trial started a couple days ago. We’ll see where that goes.

[Beautiful. Absolutely priceless. Stick with him until the trial is up, then throw him under the bus. And nothing on Young, either -- which is odd, since she sent the Lt. Gov. after the guy.]

POLITICO: Are you going to vote for them?

[no answer.]

["Uhhh.... uhhhh.... PASS!"]

JERSEY JOURNAL: What do you think of bailout package before Congress?

A: I don’t support that until the provisions that Sen. McCain has offered are implemented in Paulson’s proposals.

[I don't have video on this, but it appears that she wanted to get out of dodge -- but this left a lot of stuff hanging. What has Sen. McCain offered? How is this different from what Paulson put up? How can he tell if that's so when he didn't get around to reading the damn thing until Tuesday?]

Please, God. More Tailbunny press conferences. I’ve been really, really good this year.

@nojo: Beautiful tapdancing–very diplomatic. Since I’m not obligated to be as diplomatic, however, let me just say that where you lead, I’ll follow. Your posts are great, but in addition you’ve gone above and beyond with commenting and just general relationship-building, which hasn’t necessarily been the case with the other admins. Plus, most of us originally followed Megan to CP in the first place and she hasn’t been there in months. I know that both her and other admins’ circumstances change, become busy, etc. but that’s cold comfort when we just want a lively, current, and, uh, functioning place to chill and vent with like-minded folks.

Looks great nojo!

@Mistress Cynica: I can’t believe Suede got the auf. I am no fan of his, but what he did last night was pretty good. Ridiculous that Kenley is still around. If she gets to be a finalist instead of Jerrell, there will be hell to pay.

ooooh . . . shiny.

Sugguested theme song: Tool, “Stinquefist”

/off to post office to file change of address card from CP to stinque. . .

@nojo: Thx! Also, is it pronounced “stink” or like “stahnk,” you know, like fake French?

@nojo:

Ah, a shame. A house divided and all that. I’ll probably stick over here…I like the casual, gossipy tone of the commenters- plus, you guys have become my super-special ether pals-and Nojo’s writing gives me the laughs. I’ll miss the others, but I since I do this mostly on company time I can only patronize one site.

@homofascist:

I forgot how much I love that avatar! Good to see it back….

@flippin eck: We are a fascinating study in how online communities form. It is a very strange thing which has happened, but it’s all good in my book. And I, for one, am glad to be a part of it. And in a way, the Wankette incident turned out for the best — Megan went on to get a full-time gig at the Jez, I’ve met some cool people online and in person, and Ken Layme’s ownership of the W has gone down like the Hindenburg without us.

@rptrcub: “stink”, although feel free to go all elite about it.

Oh, and the Friday porn post? “Stanque”.

@Tommmcatt Yet Again: Yeah, I don’t want to be splitting up the family and all — and honestly, I planned to launch this after the Big Changes at CP, so the need for it would be self-evident. I felt the plans there would drive a stake through the heart of Our Little Community.

But with the CP hamsters on strike, and so much shit breaking out all over, I rushed the launch. This is the Minimum Essential Requirement version — I still have a few touch-ups on my list.

@Tommmcatt Yet Again: I know right? I missed the avatar (although I tried on Gravatar to no avail – it just disappeared one day) and I also missed being HF. I don’t mind that y’all know my real name – if we get some newbies it will just be a mystery again.

Nice place you got here, nojo. It’s so shiny, and new!

Wait, does this make us new-media elites? I can’t keep track any more.

EDIT: Also, if I ain’t been around much lately, it’s because (at the risk of exposing my One True Name) I’ve been completely absorbed by SketchFest — Seattle Stinquers, come on out, we had a fan-fucking-tasting opening night, and it’s this weekend only. More (good) sketch comedy than you can shake a dildo-shaped-stick at.

@nojo,TCatt: I agree. It’s not so much a house divided as the hamsters behind the curtain over at CP driving off a cliff and sending us to wander in the desert (metaphor/allusion count: 5).

Punchy from really late night lawyering w/out benefit of the creative powers of the grape. I’m writing a quick motion and I’m outta here for a while.

@IanJ: You’re the mayor of Seattle? Awesome.

@redmanlaw: Yes, please refer to me as Your Emminence or Your Majesty from now on. Everyone in Seattle does, and I don’t see why I should be treated any differently here.

@IanJ:

How about “Your Protuberance” ?

I would have thought its pronounced “steen-kay.”

What original vision? Horrendously boring “political” “analysis” like in the podcast? Man, I was being dimplomatic, but that was laughable, no insights, sophomoric theorizing about strategy and public reaction, I could get that shit anywhere.

You were that place, Nojo, they neglected it completely except to pop in and bore occasionally, do you mean you were told to lay off the lighthearted stuff and stick to some format? Fuck that.

@Promnight:

Ah, that’s my Prom, always the diplomat.

@Promnight: Actually, in their plans I had a free pass. It was everyone else they were going to clamp down on.

@Promnight: Oh, and how dare you introduce Off-Topic Bad Vibes into this thread.

Actually, Hunter’s a real nice guy, and I don’t want to start a feud. (Unless it builds traffic, of course.) But he and I have profoundly different visions about what makes this kind of thing work, and since CP belongs to him and Greg, they should be free to steer it as they choose. Me, I prefer organic evolution.

oh hun-ter!!! oh geg-gy!!
we pick nojo.
hear that ADVERTISERS.

@burned: Advertisers?

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

It’s all automated Google ads at both joints, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the profits total up to a beer or two in a given month. But I’m already paying for the server — it’s a business expense — so if Google provides a little subsidy, I won’t mind.

(And if it provides a big subsidy, I’ll have to figure out how to give everyone a taste…)

One ad you’re not seeing is MSNBC, because they wouldn’t approve my application until after the site launches. But this is a good moment to pose the question: Does anybody want the MSNBC ad? (It would go on the left instead of the tall Google ad.) I kinda liked seeing their headlines flash by, although I rarely clicked on them.

Nojo, thanks for the password help!

@nojo: It was everyone else they were going to clamp down on.

Does that mean they want to censor comments? I don’t get it — in what way do they think CP was veering off course?

Well no hard feelings for the NY boys, but I’m sticking with y’all. I wish I had the time and energy to be a wanton slut, but for now I’ll have to be moblogomous.

But please tell me you worked out a joint custody arrangement for Chainsaw…?

@Promnight: Um, yeah, the podcast was kinda painful, I couldn’t get past the first minute 0r two. Too bad, it’s not a bad idea, but the execution needs serious work.

So, how do you like that Palin, huh? She’s pretty dumb. And hey, I hear John McCain “suspended” his campaign. Whats that all about? Can’t he campaign and chew gum at the same time?

My impression of Jay Leno.

@Pedonator: Hunter’s been very clear the past few days he doesn’t want to censor comments, although you could see him getting a wee uncomfortable with all the threadjacking going on.

(As I’ve said for months, every thread gets jacked after the first couple of comments. It’s how we roll. It’s like a rolling conversation at a good party.)

However, he does want to exert more editorial supervision over the bloggers, including approval before posting, and a one-post-per-blogger daily maximum. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, and in other circumstances I would totally agree — that is how journalism works, after all.

But CP had evolved from its original purpose (or spun out of control, depending on your perspective), and where I want to encourage that evolution, Hunter wants to roll it back. That’s the heart of the “creative differences” — we have a thriving community because things are allowed to get a little messy at times, and I want to keep it that way.

My brain hurts. I can’t handle Exodus during the campaign, I really can’t. I profess no fealty (nor can I spell worth shit) but possess no skillz at wandering between multiple sites so here I’ll sit until I re-configure google reader.

I liked the MSNBC embed, but also never clicked on it.

Oh but hey, Nojo: can the @commenter be in a color other than blue? It doesn’t really jump out like the red did. Minor quibble, that’s all.

@nabisco: You will eat blue, and you will like it.

However, you may have bold.

@nojo: OK, I understand, wish them the best, and will keep the main CP posts in my RSS feed for when I have time to catch up.

Thanks for making sure those of us with a very generous definition of apropo have a comfy nest to foul.

@Pedonator: Hunter’s having the same problems registering as everyone else, but once we get him in the system, he’ll be able to speak for himself instead of me shamelessly misrepresenting him. Things will probably be civil, although it would be more fun if shot glasses were thrown.

@nojo:

Yes. Flame wars, please. Thursday afternoons drag on forever….

@nojo: Seems strange – I registered right away with no problem.

@homofascist: I think the issue is that everyone thinks their CP logins work, which they don’t — fresh site, yet another database. The confusion and annoyance is understandable, especially how we keep dragging everyone through new registrations from site to commenting system to site…

@nojo, nabeesco: movement of Jah people.

bees – see Mexico go down to Chile last night? Mexico scored one goal, but they scored it for Chile. Ouch.

@nojo: I will admit I tried to sign in with my CP account like four times.

@Tommmcatt Yet Again: Hunter’s almost here — his registration came through, now he just has to deal with the gibberish password…

@nojo: finally got it figured out, im going to head up to the most recent post to chat with folks for a bit, the 45th comment on a thread is kind of a bad place to begin any discussion

@redmanlaw: hijuela, no lo vi! Funny thing is that I had to console mi’ijo after his practice when he also dished up an own goal during scrimmage. He was screaming on defense, however.

@hunter: Beg to differ, Hunter! Sometimes I hop onto the threads that have the most comments, because you know that train has long de-railed into something irreverently irrelevant.

@nojo Bold works, thanks. But ten minutes to edit our comments? Who do you think we are, a group of William Safires striving for the perfect post? I’m more like a chimp with a keyboard.

Where’s my peeps? So much going on, somuch chaos, and noone to make flippant remarks about it with.

@nabisco: Bold blue was somewhat overwhelming, especially with the longer names out here. I’ve thrown up my hands and plugged in red until I can think of something better.

I actually don’t see that timer because I’m God and your puny temporal dimension means nothing to me. But I remember the original timer really annoyed the fuck out of me. This one keeps its place. I think. I’ll have to log in as a mortal and check it out sometime.

@nojo: Meh. He said he didn’t want to censor me, but did tell me to stop bitching and email my complaints to him and not write them on that thread. Tomato, Toemahto.

@Promnight: I’m here! I’m here!

@nojo: I vote for purple.

@JNOV: See Colbert tonight on the Greatest Roosevelt? He chose Muppet Roosevelt Franklin because he represents both Red States and Blue States because . . . he’s purple.