Blogography Logo
spacer

  Home  

Bullet Sunday 219

Posted on Sunday, February 13th, 2011

Dave!At 2:30am I ended up playing chauffeur to the hospital ER. While I was waiting, I saw a guy walk in holding one of his fingers that had gotten cut off. Holy crap. I could so not work the reception desk at an ER. I do not do well when people show up holding body parts. Or The bubonic plague.

   
• Debloggered. I've been noticing for quite a while now the long, slow, steady decline in blogging. It's a little depressing, but I didn't know how depressing until I was bored in the hospital waiting room and decided to edit my feed reader. It turns out twenty-eight of my feeds ended up getting deleted because they haven't been updated in over six months. Twenty-eight! I can't be sure, but I probably deleted close to that many a year ago. A few of the deleted bloggers I keep in touch with via Twitter or Facebook, so I guess that's okay. But there are others who apparently dropped off the face of the earth. A few left with a sad "this is my last entry" post, whereas others just... stopped.

A classic example is an expatriate who decided to move to Korea for a year so he could experience life in another country before getting his PhD. I found his blog during my third trip to Korea when I was Googling for... something... and kept reading because he was an interesting guy living an interesting life who had similar thoughts and hobbies (comic books!) to mine. Eventually he fell in love with a Korean girl, got married, ended up staying in Korea five years, got accepted at a school back in the USA, moved into a new apartment here with his wife, and then the entries just... stopped. It's so strange to have been a part of somebody's life for years and then =BLAM!= you have no idea what happened to them or how they're doing. I ended up doing some Google-stalking, found the guy on Twitter, then sent a request... but since I never commented on his blog, he doesn't know me and will probably ignore it.

It's the same story for a few other blogs I once followed. You get caught up in somebody's life, feel like you know them, then one day they're gone and you're left wondering. Now, granted, it's not like a blogger owes anybody anything. If they decide that blogging is no longer something they want to do, then that's all there is to it. But, even so, it's a little bit cruel. And a little bit curious. I wonder how many people would notice (or even care) if tomorrow I just... stopped?

   
• Fosterized. Last summer a song called Pumped Up Kicks by an unknown band called "Foster The People" was creeping through the blogosphere, infecting people wherever it landed. The song was contagious in a way that's truly rare... slamming through a catchy beat and even catchier nonsense lyrics that still haunt me months later. The odd thing being that the band was practically invisible, and finding any new material past their one song was nigh impossible. So imagine my surprise when I discovered that not only did they finally release a video for Pumped Up Kicks, they also unleashed an EP with three songs on iTunes (including Houdini, which has become permanently implanted in my head). Apparently an album is on the way. I'm hoping it sucks, because I don't know how I will be able to function with more than three awesome Foster The People songs constantly looping through my head...


"Pumped Up Kicks" from Foster The People

   
• Branded. And so Russell Brand hosted Saturday Night Live last night. Compared to most recent episodes, it wasn't bad. But with the exception of Brand's monologue, Jay Pharoah's flawless Eminem impersonation, and a faux ad-spot for an offensively British movie called Don' You Go Rounin' Roun to Re Ro, it just wasn't that funny to me. By the time we got to the heinous A Spot of Tea sketch, I wanted to impale myself on my remote just to end the suffering. Surely even the people involved can't think this crap is in any way funny? Here's hoping Miley Cyrus manages to somehow have a good show in two weeks despite all evidence pointing to doom. Wow. If Hannah Montana can't make for a good episode of SNL they might as well hang it up.

   
• Weathered. Well, poop...

Shitty Weather Forecast

   
• Microsofnokia. Nokia, once the final word in mobile phones, has been sliding into irrelevance for years. First Blackberry skewered them in the business market. Then iPhone and Android served them their head in the personal smartphone market. In every way that matters Nokia was dying a slow death, never to be heard of again.

And then... Stephen Elop, a former Microsof employee (and Microsoft's eight largest shareholder), became CEO of Nokia. After a brutally honest critique of Nokia's complete lack of ability to compete in the market, Elop announced that Nokia was dumping pretty much everything and hitching its wagon to the Microsoft Windows Phone 7 train. It was spectacularly brilliant and evil. For all intents and purposes, Nokia was now a hardware division of Microsoft. For which Microsoft paid nothing. Nada. Zip. Zero dollars. When I first mentioned this, people called me a wingnut Microsoft-hating conspiracy theorist. And now another former Microsoft employee of sixteen years, Chris Weber, has just been installed as CEO of Nokia USA.

Get out your tinfoil hat!

I'd congratulate Microsoft for dropping to an entirely new level of evil, but I don't think this is going to make much difference. All they've done is ensure that what few manufacturers were making Windows Phone 7 handsets will now be embracing Android 100%. Good thing Microsoft has a lot of money, because that's about the only thing that's keeping them in the smartphone game. Alas, the same can't be said for Nokia. Since Microsoft has no financial interest in the company, they also have no risk. If this massive gamble doesn't pay off, Nokia is done for.

And let's not fool ourselves here, Nokia is done for.

UPDATE: Or billions. Whatever... this doesn't end well.

   
And on that sad note, I suppose I should try to get some work done before this weekend is over.

If only I could wake up...

Comments

  1. Stacey says:

    I would notice if you disappeared! Lately I’ve been getting that feeling that blogging has lost steam. Maybe Twitter killed it? I was following people for years that don’t seem to write anymore.

  2. A. Lewis says:

    But I’m still blogging. And you are. Gotta keep on keeping on man. Facebook has cheapened the development of in depth writing, serious pieces, and worthwhile stories. I love FB but it’s definitely made it’s mark on other blogs.

  3. That’s the difference between you and me. I read that first paragraph and thought, “COOL!”

  4. claire says:

    I wonder the same thing about my blog sometimes. However, based on the comments you get on *every* post you post, I think a good number of people would notice if you stopped.

  5. Alexander says:

    I’ve thought of giving up on one or more occasions but can never bring myself to actually DO it because I know it would last (at most) a few days.

    re: Microsoft. Is MS still relevant in any meaningful way? At work I’ve come to view it as an annoyance more than anything else.

  6. Gary says:

    I’ve noticed the decline in blogging. At first I thought it was FB, then I thought everyone was moving to another platform, I just don’t know which one — certainly not Twitter. Tumblr got my attention for a while (ahem), but the interaction’s missing.

  7. Jeff says:

    I have never blogged, but have followed you and a few others for quite a long time. All the other blogs have faded away and you are the only one left. I need my daily dose of Dave!

    “Hi, my name is Jeff and I am a Dave addict”

    I would certainly miss you. Keep it up Dave!

  8. Sybil Law says:

    I totally missed SNL. Dammit! Guess I’ll have to watch it online. Anyway, I still try to watch, almost all the time. I mean, it’s LIVE, so even when it sucks, I give them some respect.
    Microsoft IS evil. Evil and genius.
    I should probably smack you the next time for the earworm.
    🙂

  9. Lisa says:

    I gave up blogging once and missed it a lot, so you’re stuck with me for the forseeable future. It does make me sad when people just disappear. It’s happened a few times and I always wonder about them.

  10. You can call me, 'Sir' says:

    Yeah, I’ve been awful so far this year. My priorities are elsewhere at the moment and they involve writing, so that side of my brain is mush by the time I get home.

    Which is a horrible excuse. Because this here comment? Could be a blog post. WTF, me?

  11. martymankins says:

    I’ve heard that Foster The People song quite a bit on Sirius XMU (channel 26). It’s been growing on me quite nicely.

  12. delmer says:

    I must have watched “Don’ You Go Rounin’ Roun to Re Ro” half a dozen times. I thought Brand’s opening was OK as well.

    Weekend Update always makes me laugh, but as a rule I sort of zip by most of SNL unless my kids mention something I should see.

  13. Yeah I’ve noticed a bit of a decline in blogging as well. I, for one, don’t blog anywhere near as much as I used to. Your blog is certainly one of my must reads in the morning and I’d certainly notice if you stopped. I don’t always leave a comment, but I do always read.

  14. bo says:

    The reduction in blogging saddens me, too. Losing the story of someone’s life is sad, but more so I always worry about why those people decided to drop their readers. What happened, you know?

  15. Avitable says:

    I do think that the decline in blogging is sad, but I’m also hoping that it’s not evolving into Twitter. Maybe there’s just another format on the horizon that will still let people own their content and not be ADD.

    With regards to SNL, it’s a sketch show, and I think that most of the stuff is funny when they do it for each other. I think that putting on a 90-minute show full of sketches almost every week has to be taxing, and if they can make me laugh 2-3 times, they’ve done their job. And I agree with you about the parts that were funny – Brand’s (who looked just like Weird Al) monologue, the Eminem impression, and the movie trailer were the best. Stefan always makes me laugh, and Kristen Wiig’s Travel Channel sweepstakes presenter is hilarious.

    I’ve heard good things about the SNL doc that’s airing this Sunday, so I plan on checking that out, too.

Add a Comment

Blankatar!

   
I love comments! However, all comments are moderated, and won't appear until approved. Are you an abusive troll with nothing to contribute? Don't bother. Selling something? Don't bother. Spam linking? Don't bother.
PLEASE NOTE: My comment-spam protection requires JavaScript... if you have it turned off or are using a mobile device without JavaScript, commenting won't work. Sorry.




   


   


   
   
   
Your personal information is optional. Email addresses are never shown, and are only used by me if a public reply would be too personal or inappropriate here. The URL link to your web site or blog will be provided, so only fill this in if you want people to visit!



   

  Home  

spacer
Welcome:
Blogography is a place to learn and grow by exposing yourself to the mind of David Simmer II, a brilliant commentator on world events and popular culture (or so he claims).
Dave FAQ:
Frequently Asked Questions
Dave Contact:
dave@blogography.com
Blogography Webfeeds:
Atom Entries Feed
Comments Feed
translate me
flags of the world!
lost & found
Search Blogography:
thrice fiction
Thrice Fiction Magazine - March, 2011 - THE END
I'm co-founder of Thrice Fiction magazine. Come check us out!
hard rock moment
Visit DaveCafe for my Hard Rock Cafe travel journal!
travel picto-gram
Visit my travel map to see where I have been in this world!
badgemania
Blogography Badge
Atom Syndicate Badge
Comments Syndicate Badge
Apple Safari Badge
Pirate's Booty Badge
Macintosh Badge
license
All content copyright ©2003-2022
by David Simmer II
   
Creative Commons License
This weblog is licensed under
a Creative Commons License.
ssl security