Is 'blogging the [ok, we need to decide what to call this current decade. we had the sixties/seventies/eighties etc. what the fuck is now? the o's? the zeroes? the nuls? at any rate, put your title for this decade HERE] equivalent of the seventies' passion for CB's? Will 'blogging go the way of ham radio and Mr. Microphone?
I think about this whenever I get too excited by traffic numbers, or when I'm pleased to get almost 1/5 th of the number of comments midwinter gets on a daily basis. Is this merely a fad?
I don't think so. I think people are hooked into this trend for news/gossip/fun now. Perhaps it'll peak and diminish a bit, but not so much as CB radios did.
I'm also concerned about electronic archiving--where does all this shit go if we ever have a cataclysmic event? Cook Library is in the process right now of planning to throw away more than 200 journals in print because we're replacing them with electronic databases. This freaks me out. What if next year there IS no internet? Or ten years from now? What if all those goodies are fried by a lack of fossil fuels to keep the juice running, or by the electro-magnetic pulse of a nuclear attack? How will I be able to look up something in Guitar Player or Rolling Stone from 20 years ago?
9 comments:
'Blogs have stolen the news from the stranglehold of the established media.
And allow comment on current events almost instantaneously. And for that commentary to become a potent "meme".
Which brings up the observation - without the Evangelical vote, Kerry would be President elect. Do we want our country controlled by the likes of Pat Robertson/Jimmy Swaggart/Jerry Falwell/Earnest Angeley/whoeverthefuck?? Lame duck Bush isn't as much of an issue as THEY ARE!!!!!!
Dems and Progressives ought to keep repeating this question. Over and over. There's TRACTION GALORE IN IT!!!
First things first...
You should be pleased to know that your blog is the only blog I check on a regular basis. CBs and ham radios are still around, I guess the fad is the format and how the information is presented--the actual need for the info will never go out of style. I had a good friend (Rajiv Jain if you're reading this!) that dropped out of MICA to be a truck driver. I really envied him! He had a satellite tracker thingamagig in his rig which could be an update of CB. I think it was more of a way for his employers to keep track of his routes. Rajiv is one person I really miss. Some nights I lay petrified with remorse--ashamed that I lost touch with him. I don't have many friends--when we had Taran I was unable to do as many things and he just sort of drifted away. Damn. Anyway, electronic media is great and everything but-- what you said. Half the stuff is garbled from scanning or transcribing anyway. I would recommend Double Fold by Baker if you're interested in more info on the fallacies of microforms and electronic archiving. Myself--if I had the money I would have a Victrola standing in my huge library of BOOKS .
Oh yeah--what are they throwing away??? We've done some weeding also.
Don't forget my favorite, Dr. James Dobson, of Focus on the Family. Suddenly he's too legit to quit, and gets to be on TV shows like "This Week."
On "This Week" he talked about how dissatisfied he is with Bush's progressive ideas about Civil Unions and stem cells.
I hope there IS a Rapture. Tomorrow.
I like The Oughts!
We're getting rid of titles in the JSTOR database next. I haven't checked the list, or what dates, but I was told whenever we get around to this "project" that I will have a big role in it, along with five or six others who will have a big role in it.
I mentioned CB radios the other day in class--not one student knew what I was talking about. The CB craze launched the Smokey and the Bandit and Cannonball Run franchises into the stratosphere...oh, wait. FUCK CB radios! Jesus Christ.
Yeah, they are still around. I can see the same thing happening with 'blogs. Just like ham radios have devotees, so there shall remain some crusty old bloggers even if the trend dies off.
I sent that picture of Lady O home so I can post it using my laptop. I don't have a photoblogging program here.
I dunno, maybe I should ask her permission first. She might get real embarrassed about it!!
Speaking of TV evangelicals--I've seen this one show a few times, it has a bunch of Indian fellows, some Caucasians and some African Americans--all male and in suits, standing, seated in a kind of forum watching each other go fucking ape shit with prayer. What the hell is that? It's like a train wreck--when we were in the hotel room last weekend I was flipping channels and came across it and I was transfixed. JL0 was like "What are you watching that for?" but I couldn't help it. I also saw something about an underground church made completely out of salt. I have to research that later.
I was only kidding about using the photo here. I'll post it on my anonymous filthy blog.
I watch that kind of shit pretty regularly. There's a weird cable network (TBN? TCN?) high up the dial that shows this shit 24/7, including bizarre kids shows with an Evangelical robot, and really lame Biblical cartoons. Then there's Benny Hinn--that faith healing stuff cracks me up! SO fake.
Benny Hinn--I think that's him!!!
Benny Hill>Fur elise played at 45, much better thank you.
I also watched and episode of Three's Company and it was enjoyable!! It didn't suck! WTF?
Saw the Animal Planet guy, Jeff something--much better than crocodile hunter. was in Morocco--he got really upset because the local guides had killed a snake they thought was poisonous and he made this huge impassioned speech, he rocked.
what filthy blog--you didn't give me the url for that--what kind of a friend are you???? ^_^
Digital Archiving is the biggest topic in the world at my school (second only to Hating the Patriot Act), but I'm totally bored by it, as I am by archiving in general. It just seems like there's so much JUNK. I should really care, I think, but I just don't.
My boss at the other library refused to cancel print subscriptions that were duplicated online on the grounds that budget-makers are fickle and networks are always broken. She was lucky to have that kind of autonomy.
4/5 of my comments are to myself; it's more babble than commentary that goes on over there.
Em
There IS way too much junk. Maybe nothing better could happen to us than to have our databases and discs erased.
I detect unnecessary modesty--you rule! No need to hide it :-) The only mystery is why you don't get more traffic than Wonkette, who's a third as witty and less interesting.
The Library of Congress is still trying to figure out how to preserve cassettes, films, photographs, and daguerrotypes, for Christ's sake. A friend who works there says they've got 5 million photos they've yet to catalog, let alone figure out how to archive and preserve. I won't hold my breath for a digital archive system anytime soon.
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