April 18, 2008
As I See the Waters
Back in 2004, I really thought the Internet--i.e. blogs and ThunderJournals--would be a monumental force come the 2008 election.
As it is, although the Internet is arguably more popular and powerful than ever, the world of personal online commentary, as I see it today, is a far less potent force than it was just four years ago. The technologies driving blogs, ThunderJournals and other avenues of personal opinion that were once all the buzz are now being absorbed and leveraged by more traditional media outlets (despite A LOT of resistance). online journals aren't hip and edgy any more; they just are. . . another cog in the media machine. Hell, even the magazines I write for now have their own blog counterparts.
The Web, as it has done since its inception, has evolved in rapid and unexpected ways. It's like watching the evolution of mankind, except in 5X fast-forward and in digital format.
The Internet today? It's like television with a comment box.
April 17, 2008
And an Oil Change
Ryan says: Okay, for some reason, the song "Unbreak my heart" popped into my head.
Caroline says: Awww. I haven't been gone THAT long.
Ryan says: But, that's not the funny part.
Ryan says: I was singing it to myself while writing some notes, and the following lyric shot forth:
Ryan says: "Unfart my brakes."
Caroline says: OMG I hate it when my brakes have fart.
Ryan says: A brake unfartening costs huge at Tires Plus.
Caroline says: Unless you have the lifetime unfartening warantee.
April 16, 2008
April 15, 2008
Very Enzyme-ish Today
I can't believe the amount of snot I can produce during a given cold-besotten day. Each reverse-snuffle into a wad of paper towels procured from the bathroom results in enough slimy nasal discharge to coat an entire clutch of alien face-hugger eggs.
April 14, 2008
Mr. Coleman Meets the InterTubes
I've used this little slice of the Worldwide Web to pick on Nick Coleman mercilessly over the last few years for a variety of reasons:
-- He can't write for shit.
-- He's logically impaired to the point of qualifying for disability checks.
-- He's reactionary enough to be a nuclear bomb.
-- He's just generally a dumbass.
-- It's fun to rip him a nice, fresh fecal excretion aperture, if for no other reason but for something to do.
One of Coleman's trademark deficiencies over the years has been his apparent inability to grasp the evolving world of the Internet. On the one hand, he wields Google like a drunk cowboy in an attempt to augment whatever point he's trying to make, and he seems to revere Google search results as gospel. On the other hand, he's treated online journals such as blogs with nothing but the utmost disdain ever since they first started exposing him as the neanderthal journalist he most certainly is.
So it was with a barely-concealed guffaw when I happened over to the Minnesota Monitor--a site that sort of looks like an online newspaper conceived, created, and maintained by crackheads--and saw a couple of Nick Coleman comments.
Leaving aside the sheer idiocy of the comments--hey Nick, yes, more people will visit a free zoo over a fee zoo, but I don't feel as though I should have to be taxed for the free zoo, what with me living in Rochester and all--it's Nick's online profile that provides the biggest laugh-out-loud scream:
Twin Cities journalist (35 years; half at Pioneer Press, half at Star Tribune), columnist (more than 3,000) and commentator, bane of wing-nuts. Big brother and God-father of St. Paul mayor. Father of six, all in hockey skates. Let's pick sides.
Honest to God, I've read less self-absorbed MySpace profiles. Seriously, you read that a couple of times, and you start to wonder if Nick has it spray-painted in 276-pt bold font on his "Me Wall" in his home.
"Bane of wing-nuts?" Only if you consider being mocked, ridiculed and dismissed across the board as a nattering dumbass, I suppose.
Anyway, it's nice to see Nick trying to grasp the InterWebs, I guess. I suppose it's appropriate that one of the first online cesspools he jumps into is Minnesota Monitor. It suits him.
April 13, 2008
Mixed Martial Arts Update
Travis Wiuff won the heavyweight title, fighting at the debut of YAMMA pit fighting.
For now, anyway, you can view Travis's second fight on YouTube, at least until it's taken down by the copyright gods:
