Eschaton, jr.

2003-06-18T14:36:00.000-04:00

Over and Out

"..the internet's most masturbatory blog .."
-anonymous

"Is it just me, or has Atriosjr turned into a snarky blogging version of Michael Getler?"
-Hesiod

"..self appointed conscience of the lefty blogosphere.."
-Mac

"What's more pathetic, having a loser blog like mine, or kicking a loser blog like mine in the nuts?"
-John Constantine

"..my rebellious kid"
-Atrios

"hi junior, thanks for the mention, and i'll definatley drop by again."
-Skippy (and for the record: after he left this message, he obviously read the rest of the blog and de-linked it.)

"Man I love this blog! Sorry if this seems sappy, but reading blogs is not typically fun, until this one came along. Long live Junior!"
-pCharles, esquire

"your coolness quotient is steadily sinking."
-jessebeller

"If you hold a mirror exactly in the center of the blog title on this page (Eschaton Jr.), it spells out "1-ONE-IX-HE-DIE", which proves definitively that Paul is dead."
-Effern

"I consider this an example of what I like to call "cannibal blogging"."
-Right is Right

"Kudos to Atrios, Jr.! Will the self-stimulation never cease? One can only hope"
-Medium Lobster

"I like to think of Atrios Jr as the lefty blog reader's ombudsman."
-Mac (for the record: Mac said this in comments from a post about Hesiod.. who then used the word "ombudsman" in a post about Atrios, jr.)

"The sheer chutzpa you have, Junior"
-Eric

"..Go fall on a knife."
-Sam

"This blog about other people's blogs is like a movie about a movie, it really annoys me."
-Josie

"Yeeee-haaawwww!"
-Hillbilly Dan

"if that was my other blog, i'd never admit it."
-boingboing

"BTW, I honestly can't remember being as amused by something online as much as this whole identity thing has made me."
-Prometheus 6

2003-06-17T13:54:00.000-04:00

Ad confusion

I've gotten a couple emails today wondering about this ad, and what I know about it. Seeing as how it's on the same two pages that had the fake Coppozalla ad from Marduck, I can only assume that he stopped the ad and put that picture in its place. If I'm wrong and somebody has better info, let me know.

2003-06-17T11:06:00.000-04:00

Blogging for Dummies

A quick glance around amazon.com for books about blogging yielded these results:

Blog On: Building Online Communities with Web Logs
We Blog: Publishing Online with Weblogs
The Weblog Handbook: Practical Advice on Creating and Maintaining Your Blog
We've Got Blog: How Weblogs Are Changing Our Culture
Blogging: Genius Strategies for Instant Web Content
Essential Blogging
Running Weblogs with Slash

Keep in mind, these are just the books with "blog" or some variation of the word in the title. Many many more on the "virtual community" scene.. anyhow, I found this interesting, mainly because I would think that if you're not smart enough to figure out how blogging works and what it takes to be "successful" in a weekend of reading other blogs, well.... do we really need your blog?

Disclaimer: Eschaton, jr. is in no way affiliated with amazon.com and the above links are not to be interpreted as an endorsement of big-chain big-money corporations of any kind. Please, if for whatever reason you were to decide to buy one of those books, go to your local bookseller and buy it there, or have them order it for you.

2003-06-16T19:52:00.000-04:00

Setting the record straight

Natasha (yes, that Natasha) has decided to begin posting on Asperger's, a neurological disorder within the autism spectrum that she has been dealing with her entire life. In light of the accusations that had been slung her way lately, and the implications that it was her disorder that made her do so, I think this is an important thing she is doing.

2003-06-16T10:46:00.000-04:00

I should have thought of this..

While this blog deals mainly with mocking "blogitics" (for those of you who are not me, I guess I should tell you that "blogitics" will be my new word for anything related to the politics of blogging), this blog deals with mocking the dullness of most (and I do mean most) blogs, by, well, being the dullest damn blog you ever read.. and sometimes even duller comments (100's of them!). So let's say you're bored, but not quite bored enough.. go there.

2003-06-16T07:20:00.000-04:00

Re-directed from Meme Cauldron?

Wondering what happened to John? Me too.. Tell him to get his ass back online and feel free to use the comments to send John some love.

2003-06-16T07:05:00.000-04:00

Pop-up alert

Seeing the Forest has added a pop-up ad.. Granted, it's for the Howard Dean campaign, which we here in the Eschaton family are completely in support of, but I'm afraid this is the kind of thing that could be counter-productive. So I'm doubly annoyed.. that the Dean campaign is lowering itself to this kind of tactic, and that Seeing the Forest is starting something that could get real, real ugly. Here's the post explaining it. Jump in on comments if you like..

UPDATE: The pop-up is generated and distributed from Carl with a K, so maybe we should take this up with Karl.

2003-06-14T11:22:00.000-04:00

An admittedly pathetic post

I'm pretty busy this weekend, (my pop's in europe you know, that's a long way to go to give him a card and a crappy tie..) so I'm going to do like Skippy and give you an "around the blogsphere" kind of post about what I've noticed today then head out..

John Constantine at Meme Cauldron has come up missing.. I'm honestly upset by this, I hope it's a joke of some kind.

Mac Diva's precious TTLB ranking is slipping fast after many people have de-linked her, including her so-called "blogfather". (But looking at pop's blogroll, I did notice that he still has his Mars or Bust link.. wonder who he's siding with?)

Stop in and say "Hi" to Mac, and don't forget the Oreo's..

Andrew Sullivan is on a pledge drive, which is really about as sad as it gets..

Is Hesiod turning into a liberal blogging version of Dennis Miller, or is it just me?

Josh Marshall will be selling BlogAds.. Hopefully he won't be buying them too.

and finally.. How do I get my own "guest bloggers" like my old man? Sure, in his case the content is suffering.. but, in mine it might improve!

2003-06-13T15:11:00.000-04:00

NatashaWatch revisited

Remember NatashaWatch? What's that you say? You missed it? Well, thanks to The MinuteMan, we get a second chance..

Oops.. forgot to ask her "permission".. damn me and my ethics!

2003-06-13T15:00:00.000-04:00

Let the accusations (like pigs) fly!

I'm gonna do this in an attempt to drive John crazy..

2003-06-13T14:13:00.000-04:00

Keeping your blog free

I use Blogger to run this blog and Enetation for my comments.. I'm sure anyone paying even the slightest bit of attention knows that, anyway.. While I'm certainly grateful for these free services, I am new to both of them and now see that in the blog world, you get what you pay for.. (unless you're Marduck, then you don't get such a good return on your investment, as Jim C points out..) and while I would (and probably should) pay the $14 to upgrade my Enetation comments (which would put them on a dedicated server), I wouldn't pay a cent to upgrade Blogger. The servers are slow, even when visiting the "pro" sites, and the posting software is sub-par at best. Thinking about this, I wondered how much it cost to advertise on BlogSpot, seeing as how this is obviously the way they make their money back, because I'm sure the amount of server space they require can't be cheap, and got this message:

Put your ad on Blog*Spot... but not at the moment. We are retooling the way we serve ads on Blog*Spot. We will have more information in the coming weeks about how to place your ad in front of thousands of Blog*Spot users and readers. Stay tuned!

I have to admit, this is a little worrisome.. what if they were to integrate these just plain awful ads into your blog, which would almost force you to upgrade..? I mean, think of the possibilities! Hopefully, this is what they're referring to.. which answers another question.. Why is it that when I search in Google do so many blogs come up first?

2003-06-12T17:49:00.000-04:00

Show me the money!

On his blog the other day, Tacitus entertained the idea of selling BlogAds on his blog, citing the idiot Marduck's incedibly wasteful spending as something he'd like to get in on.. to mixed reviews. Well well well, I see that he did decide to go through with it, at least for a short time.. with a fake ad for Capozzola paid for by none other than, do I have to say it? Marduck. If you've been paying attention, you know that this isn't the first ad for someone paid for by someone else, now is it?

I think this would be an absolutely wonderful trend (no offense Jim), to see BlogAds get used not for its intended "Look at me!" purpose, but instead as satire, thereby underscoring anyone's serious interests in promoting oneself shamelessly. As far as Marduck is concerned, I say let the idiot spend his money, 'cause no one can possibly be taking that bile he spews out daily seriously anyways.

So, in the spirit of fair play.. and to help this trend on its way.. don't forget to check out the newest ad on my blog!

UPDATE: Check out this post at the Rittenhouse Review just above the one I linked to in this post for his insight into a topic that possibly has been discussed here at least once. Ok, maybe twice.. either way, he's right.

2003-06-11T21:11:00.000-04:00

Holy Crap!

After discovering a link gone bad I noticed this: Transpose the "s" and the "p" in any given Blogger/BlogSpot web address (for example: http://atriosjr.blogpsot.com) and see what you get..

2003-06-11T10:42:00.000-04:00

There's gold in them there blogs!

Want your blog to make you rich? Of course you do, isn't that what it's all about? Find out how. Apparently all you gotta do is get about a billion hits a day and then either beg for money or sell them stuff! It's brilliant!! Well, I could have never figured out that ingenius formula.. and this guy is obviously very credible, not only does he call Reynolds the "gravity" of the blogworld, but he even sites Andrew Sullivan as the guy who "brought Trent Lott down".. hmm.. something tells me big Daddy Atrios and his little buddy Josh Marshall would have a thing or two to say about that..

2003-06-11T06:53:00.000-04:00

Last word on the Diva

Don't go claiming the high road and questioning other peoples ethics when you refuse to quit bringing up someones medical condition into the argument.. You are attempting to demonize people that suffer with autism/Asperger's and that is incredibly unforgivable. Not to mention your decision to start touting her last name on your blog. It is astonishing to me that someone who blogs about civil rights every day (via Silver Rights) can use a discriminating factor against someone else without even a smidge of remorse. Shame on you.. and shame on me for being fooled by you.

2003-06-10T13:20:00.000-04:00

Paranoid? Nah...

The NatashaWatch blog has been removed, sorta:

Natasha Watch has been converted to a private blog after its address was published without my permission. But, believe me, Natasha will still be watched.

Remember, just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not watching you..

2003-06-10T09:19:00.000-04:00

My vote for worst blog ever..

Obviously, in light of recent developments, I've been reading alot more of the Diva lately than I normally care to. Due to my fondness for Mac Diva, I had sorta bit my tongue on some things about her blog(s) that I don't especially care for. (and in the process, fueled some fires) But it's gotten worse and worse, and I have to say that it's gone too far. It seems as though her last few days worth of blogging have been devoted to TTLB contest, which she happens to have won, and defending herself against attacks from bloggers from around the sphere. While some of the arguments are ridiculous, there have been some rather good points made. I personally am not a fan of the third-person referencing (and linking) between her two blogs, Mac-a-ro-nies, and Silver Rights. I also agree with the point that is made about her refusal to post comments on her blog, yet will air out any dirty laundry from email that she finds herself fit to. I'm assuming this has to do with posting only the email arguments that she thinks she can win. Thus, champion of her own domain. Fair enough, everyone plays by their own rules I guess. but......

I don't know the back-story about this, I assume that at least somebody does, but this is utterly pathetic. And sad. All I know is that this is a woman that seems to have gotten under her skin more than a few times, and well, I guess it was enough to start a third blog about. I'm sure in a matter of days, it will be linking her other blogs and she'll be pleased as punch to see her Technorati and TTLB numbers go up, which as you all know by now, is what I think drives far too many bloggers.. Sorry J, but it has become achingly clear that this is all too true.

2003-06-10T07:45:00.000-04:00

Help stop media consolidation

A fine example of what I see wrong with alot of blogging is happening in a "bigger picture" sense in the media. The Michael Powell led FCC voted last week to ease the rules on how many media outlets an individual/corporation can own in a single market. MoveOn.org had a petiton, that I hope you all signed, but it didn't help. Well, we get a second go at it. John McCain is pushing for a second look at this disaster, and I would like to use this small voice, to ask for lots of voices, to avoid only hearing one voice in the media. It's bad enough already, give it all you got so it doesn't get worse. Go here to sign MoveOn.org's petition and here if you don't know how to contact your representatives. Tell 'em to cut it out before all we get is 37 variations of FoxNews.. ugh.

2003-06-09T18:55:00.000-04:00

New BlogAd!

Oh, and what a piece o' crap this one is too. The top entry on the page (at least when I got there) was talking about BlogShares, which history will someday prove to be another of blogdom's undoings. At least at $15/month (the rate for advertising on Cold Fury) they didn't go broke begging you to look their way..

2003-06-09T09:15:00.000-04:00

Monkeys in a barrel

Anyone who wants to weigh in on the silliness of the accusations of my being Mac Diva, go here, these idiots are making a federal case of it.. and there you will find (and I'm quoting here) the "unmistakable evidence".. This is probably the last I'll speak of this, but you never know.. I've got some things to post later, maybe I can avoid this topic..

2003-06-04T09:13:00.000-04:00

C'mon, tell me how important I am

Hesiod at Counterspin Central wants to know how much you love him and how important he is to you and how you couldn't go on without him... or at least it sounds that way to me.

2003-06-03T21:00:00.000-04:00

Justin Timberlake's biggest fan

Wow. From Cry Me a River. (permalink doesn't work, scroll down, you'll find it.) This is completely uncalled for. Seriously, I'm not even saying this for the purpose of defending Mac Diva, I just can't stand violent talk. Of any kind. This kind of discourse will get us nowhere:

She gives the strong, independent, real women a bad name. I'm sure her significant other beats her to a pulp and while she spends the day at work with sunglasses on, she tells everyone how much she loves him and how good he is to her. She's one of those women who end up dismemberd and found in a ditch.

She also.. ahh, forget it.. pointing out all the errors in her idiotic ramblings would take too much time.

Anyways.. "Anger in the Blogosphere"* is the post on Mac-a-ro-nies that followed. Read it, it's good.

Full Disclosure: Mac Diva is entered in the aforementioned "Weblog Contest" on the Truth Laid Bear, and this is the post that was submitted. I'm linking to it against my better judgement-- It's just a good piece and it's relevant to what this blog is all about. So there.

*link removed

2003-06-03T19:01:00.000-04:00

Blogs for masochists

..seem to be pretty popular. I think my favorite part is that she intentionally runs a blog where she announces "Serving the Blogosphere's needs for intolerance, profanity, and abuse since 2002. If you came here looking for sweetness and light, you've come to the wrong place. Flee now, while you still have your fingers!" in the header, then seems disgusted by the same behavior in her readers.. Don't forget to check out the FAQ for more snarkiness.

2003-06-03T14:19:00.000-04:00

Slimy Mollusc

I went to The Truth Laid Bear site to read about the "New Blog Showcase", which apparently is a contest to see which new blog can get the most votes and/or links for it's blog.. Just what I like to see..* Scrolling through the Ecosystem, which for those of you that have never been there, is a listing of the how great each blog is by the amount of links they get to them. This blog is listed as #1461, under the heading "slimy molluscs" (hence the title of this post you see..), which is oddly strange seeing as how I myself did not submit my blog. Or any of the other stuff I seem to be getting signed up for. Or comments on other blogs, or.. well, the list goes on and on. Anyways, these list, contests and such are precisely the type of things that promote the "whoring" of one's blog, which in turn will bring us the demise of blogdom as we know it.

* For the record, I was led there by not 1, not 2, but 3 bloggers emailing me trolling for hits to their blogs for this purpose, which leads me to believe that some people reading this blog are completely unclear on the concept altogether.. ugh, hope that doesn't make me sound too much like this, wouldn't want to start any rumors....

2003-06-03T13:54:00.000-04:00

Gone daddy gone..

Ok, so not quite yet. But trust me, there will be some partying done in the Eschaton household while pop's gone, and I'm not talking about blogging, if you know what I mean...

In any event, hopefully this experience will convince "the farmer" to start his own blog..

2003-06-01T09:27:00.000-04:00

Profile of a blogger

Reading this article made me realize I had never just come out and linked to my other blog, so, with some hesitation, here you go. Enjoy.

2003-05-31T14:53:00.000-04:00

ahh.. sweet irony

Well, John Constantine of Meme Cauldron (which is who placed the absolutely hilarious ad on Pop's site) has changed the ad, and even changed his own as well. Mine pointing to Disinformation and his to the Center for Cooperative Research. (The latter of the two being an awfully good site, nice choice John.) In respect to full disclosure, I had considered doing the same thing (placing an add on Eschaton) but thought Atrios wouldn't run it. Guess I was wrong. So, in the spirit of fair play, I will take the Eschaton ad off my page.. but later in the day, 'cause it's still funny to me.

Note to John: See, told you I wouldn't gloat.

2003-05-31T11:35:00.000-04:00

Oh how embarassing

Looks like dear ol' dad decided to use my allowance to buy an ad on his site for me.. isn't that sweet?

Though it seems he could have found a more flattering picture of me from the family photo-album, don't you think? Since one good turn deserves another, I thought I'd break out an old drawing I made of dad in my younger years, and do the same for him.

Update: (12:40p)

The ad keeps changing, now it says: "Disinformation: Everything you know is wrong". I'm not sure I know what that's supposed to mean, but somebody has wa-a-a-ay too much time on their hands too be spending this much of it on silly little me.

2003-05-31T10:30:00.000-04:00

Games stupid people play

I have something I've been working on, but this WhoIsAtriosJr? crap is taking up too much of my time, so, I'll post whatever they post about it here, and hopefully get back to what I was doing. Maybe this will be fun though.. I don't know what's funnier... Not knowing who WhoIsAtriosJr? is, knowing they're wrong, or the fact that they're wasting so much time on poor little insignificant me... On with the show.....

Well, here's WhoIsAtriosJr?'s newest addition to the "I have too much time on my hands" game..

Oh, you don't think I'm that easy now, do you? Since you put so much time and energy into coming up with this little ploy, why not let everyone else play the game?

Clue #1: What (who?) do these sites have in common?

Marduk's Babylonian Musings
Liquid List
Electric Venom
Meme Cauldron
Prometheus 6
Agonist Watch

If you're stuck, technorati might help or the myelin ecosystem

Ok, even funnier.. I don't know what they all have in common.

2003-05-30T21:58:00.000-04:00

Let's go ahead and get this over with

So I can go on hiding my real identity...

Someone posing as "WhoIsAtriosJr?" has accused me of being Venomous Kate, which I guess would also be accusing her of being me.**

**As Venomous Kate points out, a re-read does seem to indicate that it's my other "persona" that visited her site, not that she's me. Or I'm her. Whatever.**

Anyways.. it's going on in comments, I thought I'd bring it out here. Here's the accusation:

No, Jr. is a Lefty blogger with a combination greed for links and chip-on-shoulder. Ironically, this is not the first such blog - Agonist Watch was the warm up. It's essentially a one-two punch; set up a blog which criticizes those who generally ignore you because you're not "first tier", then collect a few links (oh, maybe 5? or so) to bump you up a bit in the ecosystem. Since it worked so well once, why not try it again, this time dissing those who follow the big boys?

Thing is, you left too many fingerprints, "Jr."... Not smart to trash someone hours after you've obviously been to their site as your "regular" persona, a la Venomous Kate. And it's not hard to track down the other subjects of your ire. You were definitely sloppy, especially if you think like a link hound.

Then, of course, you fell for the bait I laid out earlier today. Definitely not smart.

I had planned on letting this pass, even told your "dad" as much. But it was too blantantly obvious, especially when I noticed the Starbuck's "ad". Almost struck my head with my palm at that point.

When I asked if they were serious:

If the facts didn't speak for themselves, that might even work...

What's funny is, if someone were to start a blog to discretely promote their usual blog, that sounds like something I would rail against here. They also said the facts speak for themselves... but, yet, no facts have been submitted. If they want to submit facts, I will post them here underneath this post. Point/Counterpoint.

2003-05-30T20:43:00.000-04:00

The Song Remains The Same

Big Daddy Atrios is at it again...

As Much As...

I appreciate seeing a bit of Zeppelin coverage on CNN, but this is a goddamn commercial.

Synergy, indeed. Bring on that media consolidation!

Ha Ha.. earlier, in this post, he linked to Amazon.com for the same Zeppelin wares being showcased on CNN. But it's not like he get's paid if you buy from that link, right?

2003-05-30T18:35:00.000-04:00

An ass and advertising

I still haven't figured out if Mac Diva* is calling me an "ass" in this post*, but I guess it doesn't matter.. it's still spot on..

An ass and advertising

Eschaton, Jr. has been thinking about advertising, specifically bloggers who advertise on other bloggers' sites. {-snip-}

If I had any money to spare, which I do not, my first priority would be to upgrade Mac-a-ro-nies to Blogger Pro or move it to another, more reliable weblogs provider. If I had the kind of bling bling a certain cretin does, which I do not, I would buy myself a new laptop. Spending $376 per month on advertising a blog, especially a sorry ass excuse for a blog, seems just plain wasteful to me.

And Marduck defends his wastefulness after a quip from his wife.

After reading the previous entry, and completely ignoring the loving things I said here about her yesterday, Mrs. Marduk rather tartly observes that for someone who buys ads promoting his blog, I am hardly in any position to comment about the inadequate egos of others.

To which I offer the following two points:

1. The purchased ads are merely my way of ensuring the proper dissemination of my work among the semi-illiterate Idiotarians. It is, in fact, a public service.

2. Anyone who plans on spending an unseemly amount of tourist dollars on the weasely French, has no business criticizing the spreading of a few shekels in the blogosphere.

What the hell do the French have to do with it? I for one am sick of the "boycott the French 'cause they tried to not let us have our dang 'ol war" mentatlity. Funny thing is, those same people are the ones who cry "why do they hate us so much?" every time something happens to American interests.. Instead of suggesting we re-evaluate our foreign policy as the 'worlds bully', they insist that it's our obvious superiority that they envy, which fuels the hate.

Oh, and for the record, if Mrs. Marduck wants to start a blog called "Mrs. Marduk, Married to an Egocentric Babylonian Blowhard", I'll personally buy ad space on that blog.

*links removed

2003-05-30T11:50:00.000-04:00

Hypocrisy, thy name is Atrios, jr.

What, me, a hypocrite? No... you say. Yes.
So, here's a link for you. (Link "bloggered", top post today.) From a friend of the show, Effern.

(See, no additional comment from me.)

2003-05-29T14:19:00.000-04:00

Hey mister, spare some change?

Very rarely do bloggers just come right out and ask for money.. but my pop, he's got no shame...

Oh, and if anyone wants to contribute to the utterly worthless cause of subsidizing my travels - you know, so I return rested with More Powerful Blogs Than Ever - feel free to click the links to the left or buy an ad or whatever.

2003-05-29T12:54:00.000-04:00

Smacking with hypocrisy

Like many of you I'm sure, I began reading/hosting blogs a couple of years ago because of my utter disgust with standard media. I found in blogdom a brotherhood of sorts, a kinship. When it became a competition, I can't be sure, but the need for hits, links, and general notoriety has plagued this medium since. "Blogging for Bucks" is the newest symptom of this plague, and the one that has pushed me over the edge. It doesn't necessarily take a genius to understand that whenever money changes hands, things start changing, like it or not. (This in fact is what is wrong with the campaign finance system in this country..) Now that so many blogs are a constant plea for attention, trolling for traffic and links are the motivating point in which bloggers post. The easiest way I see to make a mockary of this practice, as the ol' saying goes: "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em..". Oliver, of the Liquid List says this of me, posted in the comments section of this post:

As one of the sites that advertises on Atrios, I'm pretty convinced that blogging is, in and of itself, a "look at me!" activity. So to catch flak from another blogger, especially one whose site is called Eschaton, Jr. (and I don't give a rat's ass if you run another blog, you also run this one), smacks of hypocrisy.

I blog because I have things to say and I want people to read them. Is that presumptuous and/or narcissistic? Yes, indeed. Might it be silly to pay for traffic? Maybe, but why be on the Web if you're not looking for traffic, or if you don't care to have your opinions read? Why not just write in a journal?

Pot, meet kettle. You might notice some similarities.

Now first of all, when I "gave them flak", I would like to point out that it was in no way was an attack on their particular blog, because I could care less to write about the content of one's page in this space. (Unless of course it pertains to the idea I'm trying to convey). It was simply an example of how "look at me!" we really have gotten here. Once upon a time, your readership was built on solid writing and engaging in common interests with your readership (Counterspin is a perfect example), but now all you gotta do is rent the space! Hey, they have an ad, they must be good! Calling me a hypocrite is like calling the fat kid fat.

The other problem that I have seen is blogs turning into websites that are basically morphed headlines with links to the original article. "News" websites such as BuzzFlash, and bloggers such as Skippy the Bush Kangaroo and Tom Tomorrow have turned this practice into sheer art. What's the point in taking the time to blog if you have nothing relevant to say?

Oh, and if you could, leave your rat's ass and my other blog out of this.

2003-05-28T18:43:00.000-04:00

Sinking to my level

Prometheus 6, in this post (that has now been removed), gives that self-promotionaholic Marduk much less than he deserves. (partially recovered on that waste of server space called Marduk's Babylonian Musings)

On the other hand, Mar-dick is getting on my last fucking nerve.
I got a question for ya, Ducky. How many friend would you have if you didn't buy them with ads and shower gifts (you find them Hulk Hands yet?).
Link to that, bitch. Because it's the last time your name appears on my site. You may, of course continue to bask in my digital radience.. IF you learn how to spell ("syncophant"?).

Prometheus 6 removed it because he said he doesn't want to "sink to that level". I guess that means my level.. which is why it's posted here.

2003-05-28T10:58:00.000-04:00

I wouldn't call the venom "electric"..

Maybe "arrogant" is the word I'm looking for. So, let me get this straight.. you troll for hits, advertise for hits, then ridicule the people who took the time to read your blog and respond. Makes perfect sense to me.

Yes, I know that it's easy to form the impression when you're reading the (searchable) information about someone else's life that you have some kind of cosmic connection with them. It's even more simple to take one out of every fifteen entries (or details about the blogger) and think to yourself, "Gee, I'm like that, too!" which gets translated into "We have lots in common." [I know. I did that. Ask Glenn, a lawyer (like me!) who's into politics (like me!) and reads lots of blogs (like me!) and is clearly computer literate (like me!). (Or, rather, don't. The man is busy.]

But if you delude yourself - as I did, momentarily - that you are an exception rather than the rule (i.e., the person(s) to whom this post is addressed), you'll be costing yourself in the long run. Because what you'll do is start - or continue - an avalanche of unsolicited e-mail to which bloggers truly try to kindly respond but which, when they get to be more than, say, one every five or so days, turns into a burden.

Let me repeat: burden

All this and link-happy too!

2003-05-27T21:25:00.000-04:00

More on Blogads

In the "look at me!" category, by way of paid advertising for a blog, Marduk's Babylonian Musings is by far the biggest offender. Not only by just his sheer inability to stop himself from buying adspace on other blogs (9, count 'em, 9), but also the content of his site is quite contrary to some of those who he pays for ad space. Renting space on Eschaton then railing on about "The whining bitching of the perennial left-of-center losers" (Not directly aimed at Eschaton's readers, but you get the point...) Even worse? He has the audacity to knock Mac Diva*, easily one of the left's finest bloggers..

I truly love reading the racist bint Mac Diva's blogs, since every day she comes up with the most incredible fuckwit opinions.

Anyways, back to the adspace.. First, the price of the ad space alone. Here's a list of the blogs he advertises on, and how much they cost per month.. shall we?

BlogCritics -- $60/month
Jane Galt -- $30/month
The Truth Laid Bear -- $25/month
Daily Pundit -- $30/month
Ken Layne -- $40/month
Amish Tech Support -- $36/month
Matt Welch -- $40/month
Cold Fury -- $15/month
and of course... Eschaton -- $100/month

Now, that comes to $376 a month for paid advertising for a blog. Granted, some of the prices may have gone up slightly since he signed up (I know big daddy Atrios' have almost doubled since the start), but this is nothing short of overkill. Unless he won a contest with BlogAds where he gets to pick 9 sites to advertise for free, it's a pathetic plea for attention.

Newest list of offenders:

Electric Venom
Observations of a Misfit
Mind of Man
Allen's Arena
Cut on the Bias

*link removed

2003-05-27T21:24:00.000-04:00

Oh Johnny boy..

John Constantine, of Meme Cauldron, seems quite offended and is maybe taking my comments just a tad too personal.

Eschaton, jr. takes me to task for advertising on Eschaton.
I'm hurt. Truly.
Hmmm... What's more pathetic? Having a pathetic loser blog like mine, or kicking a pathetic loser blog like mine in the nuts?

C'mon John.. lighten up. I've read your blog, and I've never even made one mention of it's content. My comments were/are based solely on the shameless promotion of one's blog, and ends there with yours. Cut it out, and be vindicated.. take Where's My Soap? for instance. Their advertisement is no longer on Eschaton, so, they will be unmentionable in this space, unless of course they continue- or give up posting original information of course...

2003-05-27T07:40:00.000-04:00

Intelligent, informative blogging

Don't worry, I know you laughed a little when you thought I was talking about me.. no harm done. I'm a liitle behind on my reading, so put these guys under "bloggers I'll be reading today" (and that can be said everyday):

Kevin Drum with CalPundit
-and-
(Dr.) Joshua Micah Marshall* with Talking Points Memo
-and-
Bob Harris at This Modern World, who needs to get a blog of his own and seperate himself from the link-heavy blogging of his host, Tom Tomorrow (a.k.a. Dan Perkins). Honestly, I'm not trying to be harsh with Tom, I'm actually quite a fan. But as far as blogging is concerned, he could point you in the direction of big papa Atrios, or Hesiod at Counterspin, or even the N.Y. Times front page and you and you could do his blogging for him. (But I've got a feeling you'd struggle with the cartooning. Just an assumption.)

*Speaking of Josh Marshall, here's a strange ending to an otherwise fine interview with Clinton's main man Sid, from Liberal Oasis..

Liberal Oasis: Finally, are you Atrios?

Sidney Blumenthal: No. But I do read Atrios. I read a lot of blogs. But I'm not Atrios. Nor am I Josh Marshall.

Josh Marshall? Since when does anyone think Josh Marshall is Sid? I thought the issue with the tinfoil hat crowd was with "who is Atrios?", not "which blogger is actually Sidney Blumenthal". Am I wrong?

2003-05-24T14:47:00.000-04:00

Gone Fishin'

Ok, not really, but I thought I'd let you know that I won't be posting for a couple days, I'm sneaking out for holiday while my daddy's not looking.. Be sure to check back tuesday--

2003-05-24T13:05:00.000-04:00

Calling all bloggers

I don't know if you've looked around blogdom lately, but turn to your left and all you'll really see (save a few free thinkers out there) is a plethora of "Eschaton jr."s... I'd bet my left blog that if Atrios up and quit, lefty blogs would dwindle faster than tech stocks in a bush economy. Think about it, how many times have you seen a blog entry start with "today, Atrios says"... For shit's sake people, what's the point in running your own blog if all you do is quote Atrios, hoping he'll link you, just once? Make it easy on yourself and when people load up your blog, let the link "go read Eschaton" be the only thing they see. Or... you could dig around the news, find something you're passionate about, and blog the shit out of it! Before you make the argument about this being an entire blog of "today Atrios says", let it be known that this blog and my other blog have never met. Nor will they ever. Call me a bigablogist, but this blog already gets 10X the hits my other blog gets (that I'll bet many of you have never read), and has never, nor will it ever (unless I review the Sid book) be linked by my daddy. I don't even know if he knows it exists. And I like it that way. Let this be a warning.. I catch you heavy linking Atrios, I'm gonna call you on it. Betcha.

Oh, and obviously, this goes for those of you who actually pay to advertise your blog on Eschaton. Are you kidding me? This is pathetic... You're actually paying for a link on another blogger's site? Here's the rundown of the current offenders of this "look at me!" phenomenon: Marduck's Babylonian Musings, Meme Cauldron, Where's the Soap?, and the Liquid List.

2003-05-24T09:56:00.000-04:00

uh-oh

I'm not sure what to make of this and it's subsequent posting. A quick read and look around pejmanesque, and I can tell these are not my people. (seriously, a link to the "wall street journal opinon page"??) I suppose only time will truly tell, but this blog is not intended to bash Atrios.. what it will actually evolve to is anybody's guess, but I'd like to think it could be a proficient soundboard for those who generally side with the left, and mostly agree with Atrios and his ilk, but would like a forum for discussion outside of Eschaton that does not include getting jumped on by the "usual suspects". Big dreams for my little blog, I know.

2003-05-24T09:36:00.000-04:00

Sid Sid Sid Sid Sid Sid Sid Sid Sid Sid Sid Sid Sid Sid Sid Sid Sid Sid Sid Sid Sid Sid Sid Sid Sid Sid Sid Sid Sid Sid Sid Sid Sid Sid Sid Sid Sid Sid Sid Sid Sid Sid Sid Sid

As I'm sure you all have assumed, this is all we hear about at the Atrios family dinner table. And the breakfast table. And... well, you get the point. Want examples? Try here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here. Which of course is just a segment of his obsession with this book. (and all I had the patience to link...) Now, I too have alot of interest in this book, but I do understand that there is going to be absolutely no objective review of this book-- anywhere. You're simply not going to find it. There was no one capable of looking at this part of history objectively during the fiasco, it certainly hasn't changed since then. It's hypocritical to protest slanted book reviews when one is slanted yourself.

2003-05-24T09:15:00.000-04:00

Comments are a "go"

To the many people that suggested them, here you go. Open thread, don't be shy...

2003-05-23T15:29:00.000-04:00

You know what to do

Apparently, my daddy's still in bed, so I'll send out the call to torture Wolf Blitzer.

Presently, we're at 55% "yes".

2003-05-23T07:30:00.000-04:00

Only 12 hours old and...

Well, I see that shortly after bedtime (and of course my nightly digest of my daddy reading me his latest obsession, "The Clinton Wars"), my daddy mentioned me on his blog. Not to get into a debate with his comments section, but this is not an anti-Atrios blog, for who do you think taught me everything I know? Rather, let's call it a supplement, a pocket sized Eschaton...