Tag Archives | blogging

Blogger dies of exposure

skeleton at deskLONDON, ON (The Skwib) — Yesterday the writer of the popular blog, Prawned! was found draped across his keyboard, unconscious.

Patrick Jones, aka Dedred S., was pronounced dead at the scene by the medical examiner.

Jones was known as an insightful and amusing commentator on the gaming and shrimping industries, and appeared as a regular commentator on many television and radio programs. He was also quoted extensively in Shrimper’s Times, the magazine of the shrimping industry.

Sorrowful family and friends are still trying to understand what happened to Jones. The blogger quit his full-time job as a successful lawyer to follow his blogging passion less than a year ago and everyone said he seemed “incredibly happy.”

“His blog was doing so well,” his sister Bethany Jones told The Skwib. “It was getting tons of hits.”

More than hits. According to the web experts, Prawned! was in the top 100,000 sites on Alexa (a website that tracks traffic on the web.) It received hundreds of comments on a regular basis, and had an inbound link score of more than 1,000.

“How could he die? I mean, he appeared on CNN!” his baffled sister asked.

“I was worried about him,” Felicia Jones, his mother said. “He seemed to be getting thinner and thinner, and his color looked terrible. ”

In his report, the medical examiner cited the cause of death as “blogging exposure”, though he noted that the physical cause of death was starvation.

Note: this post was originally published in June, 2009 BEFORE I saw District 9. Alltop has been cleared of any wrong-doing in the death. Photo by Adi Setiawan.

You post to your blog, not blog to your blog!

The Phrase FreakDo you blog? Yes? Then when you sit down to write something for that blog, do you “write a blog” or do you “write a post”?

If you answered “write a blog”, then you are one of the doofus digerati that makes the Phrase Freak cry.

It’s a common error (especially on MySpace) and one that is understandable. The blog is still a relatively new phenomenon (not in web years, but in the writing world), so the conventions are still shaking out. That said, this is an error in usage that we should all try to stamp out now, while there’s still time. (I’m still upset that phrase freaks and grammarians everywhere were unable to prevent the odious “proactive” or even worse, “moving forward.“)

If you were writing an article or story for a newspaper, would you say, I’m writing a newspaper? Of course not, that would sound ridiculous. (Unless you’re a one-person operation, in which case it may be accurate, but still sound absurd.)

If you were writing a sit-com would you say, I’m writing a TV? Only if you were the Vice-President of TV.

Acceptable:

  • writing a (blog) post
  • writing a blog entry
  • posting to a blog
  • writing
  • posting
  • blogging.

This gets 4 gobsmacks out of 10:
4 gobsmacks out of 10

Alltop is all about the humor usage.

Blogger ponders on things instead of musing about them

LONDON, Ontario (The Skwib) — The web is still reeling from the revelation that a blogger has been pondering things instead of musing about them.

Variety of cogitation used on weblogs“Yeah, I’ve spent a lot of time musing, in fact, the tagline from my blog used to be ‘muted musings from Jeff’s tasty trumpet” — clever, eh? But . . . I don’t know, it just seemed like it was time to, you know, start pondering instead,” Jeffrey Trumpeter told The Skwib in an early morning phone interview.

Trumpeter runs “Assorted Cream Fillings (pudding-like ponderings from Jeffrey’s pastry pan),” a blog devoted to his interest in cats, Boston Cream Donuts, hockey, politics and humor he describes as either “quirky” or “explosive”.

“Yeah, I’m pretty happy with the change in direction. I think I’ll keep pondering on things for a while,” Trumpeter said.

According to experts, Trumpeter is one of many bloggers who are shifting their mode of cogitation.

“We have been tracking this development with new blogging software, ThoughtCounter, and we may be reaching the tipping point away from musing,” Leslie Flapkake, PhD candidate at a “leading university”, told The Skwib.

“Musings are still the most popular form of cogitation,” Flapkake said, “but you see people pondering, reflecting, mulling, brooding and even thinking.”

Pie chart courtesy of ThoughtCounter.

Alltop does not believe bloggers can cogitate. Originally published in 2005. Yes, 2005, so you can see the trend is still developing. The pie chart is brand new though, so that’s something.

Are you SAD?

Downward trend graphA public service announcement from The Skwib

This time of year can be troubling for bloggers; the days get shorter, the holiday season has its own particular stresses, and for those running weblogs, there are the dangers of SAD.

Statistical Affective Disorder (SAD) is caused by an abrupt and inexplicable drop in the visitor statistics to your blog. Early symptoms include:

  • sudden weeping
  • shout at the ceiling: “why, why, gods of blog … why?”
  • desperate attempts/plans/Fred Flintstone-like schemes to boost readership including:
    • massive increase in Tweets
    • hyper-active friending on Facebook
    • increased meme generation.

As the disorder progresses, you may find yourself:

  • bitter
  • angry
  • drunk.

And in the final stages, SAD can even lead to:

  • apathy
  • self-loathing
  • watching TV and reading books.

If you have any of these symptoms you may have SAD, and should seek qualified psychiatric help at the first opportunity. Alternatively, you could just turn off your damned computer.

Alltop and humor-blogs.com both suffer from FUN (Frequent, Uncomfortable Noobishness). Originally published in December 2005.)

Thag blog funny

[Transcript begins.]

Professor QuippyProfessor Quippy:
Welcome to The Skwib’s first ever presentation of the Pre-Columbian Interpretive Dance Olympics, held here in sunny Southwestern Ontario, where the humidity is hovering somewhere near 90%, the air-quality index is “tubercular” and where I’m sharing the announcer duties with the lovely Dennis Travesty and her biographer and the last Dadaist, Toulouse Le Grandfig.

Dennis TravestyWelcome all. Now what can we expect to see today Dennis?

Dennis Travesty:
I’m hoping to see that hunky Cro-Magnon I saw hanging around the sausage vendor!

And then I’d like to see him dance. Oh, yes!

Professor Quippy:
Monsieur Le Grandfig, I’m told that you actually won this competition when it was held in Calakmul in 910 AD? Putting aside the issue of your longevity, what exactly will the competitors be feeling right now?

Toulouse Le GrandfigToulouse Le Grandfig:
It depends a little bit on where they have done their training.

Some of the artists will have been to the Abstract School in Schenectady New York, in which case they will be feeling a sense of confusion and intestinal cramping–

PQ:
Cramping?

TLG:
Yes, their food handling techniques are notoriously lax. If they’ve gone to the Camus School, then the dancers will no doubt be feeling a sense of ennui and their own futility–

DT:
I’m feeling ennui right now!

PQ:
You seem strangely excited by it. Ah, here comes the first dancers.

DT:
It’s the hunk! And some kind of overweight tourist…

PQ:
Yes, our first dancers are the cave man Thag and Dr. Maximillian Tundra, performing: “Thag blog funny.” Thag is wearing some kind of fur loincloth and Dr. Tundra is wearing a Hawaiian Shirt, greasy jean cut-off shorts, and what appears to be a tiny bowler hat.

Toulouse, do you know where have they done they’re training?

TLG:
Thag is self-taught. It is clear from the way he’s carrying himself to the performance area. Do you see the way he’s dragging his knuckles? That is a sure sign of an amateur. Dr. Tundra has been to the Timothy Leary School. Or he might be a science fiction writer who thought this was the way to the Con Suite.

PQ:
Well, whatever the case, he seems to be getting ready to dance by limbering up. Do you see him touching his toes? Oh, no, sorry … it’s probably a case of nerves. I know that I threw up before the Oral Defense of my thesis.

DT:
Me too!

TLG:
He said “thesis” Den.

DT:
They’ve started!

PQ:
Now, what would that mean? It seems as though Thag is opening his arms to the sky, and Dr. Tundra is lying down.

DT:
Look at his arms!

TLG:
Ah, I see what they’re going for here. The Classic pre-Columbian Duality Dance. Thag is the positive force, and Tundra the negative. Do you see how he’s hopping from one foot to the other? And how Tundra is now turning over, as though he awoke and then fell back asleep?

PQ:
And he’s rolled in his own vomit.

DT:
Ewwwwww!

TLG:
It means that a successful blogger writes something new every day. The lazy ones roll in their own filth. Or it could be something about soup.

PQ:
Soup?

TLG:
Yes, baby fricassee too.

DT:
Oh Toulouse, you’re too much.

PQ:
Now what are they doing?

DT:
Look at Thag’s calves. Yummy!

TLG:
Yes, he’s kicking Dr. Tundra, repeatedly, to show how a good blogger isn’t afraid of doing the same thing over and over. Now, do you see how he varied that kick, with the heel instead of the toe — he’s saying that even if you do the same thing, you need to make it new and interesting. Newts and bowling, by the way.

[Professor Quippy stares at Toulouse Le Grandfig]

DT:
Oh, Dr. Tundra is getting up! He’s covering his privates.


PQ:

So is he saying that a bad blogger hides his personal life?

DT:
No, Thag is kicking him there.

PQ:
I don’t think we should be airing this in prime time.

TLG:
No the kids should see this. Do you see how Dr. Tundra is now huddled next to the bleachers, hugging himself and crying? They’re saying that too much self-love is not funny. You have to make fun of yourself if you’re going to refer to yourself, that’s why Thag is beating him with the sturgeon?

PQ:
Actually, I believe that’s a wiffle bat.

DT:
I love wiffles! With ice cream!

TLG:
Exactly, Den! They’re saying that puns can be humorous too!

PQ:
Now, why are there a troop of large apes entering the dance area?

DT:
Well, duh — monkeys are hilarious! And those are über-chimps.

PQ:
But why are they wearing tutus and fezzes? And why do they have tubas?

TLG:
Custard?

PQ:
Is that little one wearing a tiny Napoleon outfit? He’s adorable.

DT:
Wow, Thag is really laying into those über -chimps.

PQ:
Yes, the little one can’t seem to keep them in their ranks. He does a lot of shouting, doesn’t he.

Beware the Angry MonkeyTLG:
You see how Dr. Tundra is crawling away, hiding under the bleachers? And how Thag is wading in, knocking the über -chimps unconscious? That’s a metaphor.

PQ:
For what?

TLG:
Writing. The key to successful writing is never letting the critics get you down. Just wade into the crowd of monkeys and let fly. Only a failed writer will crawl away.

PQ:
I guess most of the crowd are failed writers too. They’re really emptying the bleachers quickly. Oh, look, some of the chimps —

DT:

Über -chimps!

PQ:
Über -chimps, are bringing the mouthpieces of their tubas to their lips. That can’t be good …

TLG:
Yes, yes, yes. This is great. Every pre-Columbian Interpretive Dance should end in some kind of catastrophic bloodshed. And onions.

[Catastrophic, Tympanic membrane-busting, sound. Transcript ends.]

The preceding was a dramatization; no actual tubas were hurt during its production, though Dr. Tundra did throw up. Its production was in answer to a “non-meme” created by the Menacing Brent Diggs, proprietor of the Ominous Comma, Lord of the Baleful Apostrophe, and Master of Threatening Punctuation. If you would like to participate in this “non-meme”, all you have to do is:

  1. Write a funny post that includes an actual and helpful technical blogging tip or educational material helpful to new bloggers.
  2. Challenge five other experienced bloggers of funniness.
  3. Post it.
  4. Link and badge up if you so desire.

I’m sure that most of the other funny blog writers at humor-blogs.com and alltop have seen this challenge, so I will “not-tag” the following bloggers: Mark, Archer,Ellison, Jon and Leslie. Now, if you have a humor-blogs account (or would like one), please express your joyous need for soup and tell everyone you loved this post.

High-brow Sunday O-Rama

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Now, just so you don’t think I’m being completely ironic, Rob at Old Is the New New, found this delicious Livejournal community that asks the historically vital question: Were they hot? Check out the babe with the eye patch!

Mark at NeoBubble is worried about the end lines, and has a great list to prove it.

And if like me, you are also trying to get in shape, you may want to check out Rickey’s useful Guide to Gym Membership.

Then you may want to massage your brain with this week’s Carnival of the Insanities, or perhaps massage your atheism with the Carnival of the Godless.

And now, something completely different:

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(This one via Neatorama.)