Googling Bloggery / The Propriety of Money Handling

Thank you, Google! I am now officially the sole result for a search on the word "skullbloggery". And no, I did not mean to search for skullbuggery.

Man, this blogging business is crazy. I’ve had the Novellas up for not even a week yet, and Google’s already got me all indexed. Pick any random, somewhat unique phrase from a previous post, tap it into ye olde search engine, and voila!

For example, thanks to my twin affinities for the new Robyn Hitchcock album and an old Rick Springfield one, coupled with a poor excuse for wit, I am also the sole result for a search on such phrases as:

• "earlier this year the consummate English kook flew his arse,"
• "a belated apology for talking shit", and
• "IP packets containing the payload data".

Likewise, the Googlebot phenomenon explains how thenoiseboy’s review of Dungen, to which I refer one post below, found its way into an email update sent out by Scandinavian music gurus It’s a Trap less than a week after its posting, much to the surprise of thenoiseboy. Ah...those heady days of September ’04. We were so naïve.

But it’s November now, the election’s over, and the bloggers won! (Hey, we must enjoy our silver linings.) Chris Matthews and the pundits are all abuzz over blogs. The point is that these days it’s possible for anybody with an Internet connection to be Sy Hersh or Lester Bangs, and, though it may be a lot to sift through, that’s a damn good thing. Inevitably, the more information that’s out there, the better off we all are.

Blogging is merely a part of a larger movement, only now taking form, that of 21st century populism and electronic man-on-the-street democratization. The pendulum is shifting: someday Wal-Marts will go out of business while the mom-and-pops thrive. We are already seeing a version of this scenario with the relative strength of independent record labels holding up amidst the slow, painful, public collapse of the majors. Media consolidation is neither static nor infinite. Clear Channel will not always be Clear Channel.

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Lastly, someone has some 'splainin’ to do, and it’s the $15 million question. Now I don’t want to jump to conclusions without hearing JFK’s side, but WTF??!! He promised he would give us his all, but for my money, I say that means having a bank account not significantly higher than zero on The Morning After. It's hard to read this as anything but an insult to all those who gave in $10, $20, and $30 increments, including yours truly, those of us who cared SO MUCH and wanted to contribute somehow, in our own small ways, to the Crawford, Texas relocation project. I didn't walk neighborhoods and stand on the corner of 58th & Kipling holding up Kerry/Edwards signs for your future political career.

John, let me tell ya what I told a bearded, battered Al Gore. I do still love ya, but if you think you’re gonna run again next time 'round, forget about it now and hang on to your dignity. I’m not big on do-overs, and to a party sorely in need of a fresh approach, you offer only a disappointing rerun.

And really, does anyone ever want to see those nasty freakin' Swift Boat Veterans again??

I hate to be so harsh on the guy--there really are quite a few things to like about John Forbes Kerry. Quite a few. And I think he would have made a very good president. And, let me stress, I don't have all, or even many, of the facts yet. But right now I gotta call it like I see it.

A’ight, I gots to get out of this chair and shake these CPT-ravaged hands like there’s no tomorrow! Speaking of tomorrow, Dead Meadow show--can’t wait!

N/P Amon Duul II – Yeti, record one, side two.