Writing

In Which I Have Some Moral Qualms and Then Say Ah, What The Hell

Blogs, Food, Internet, Writing
Published on

I came across a hilarious collection of food essays from the North Star Writers Group – hilarious for all the wrong reasons – while idly googling for a recipe today. I did think of keeping it to myself as a personal treat, so beguiling is its dreadfulness; some sample titles:

Filo: Mankind’s Ticket to the Cosmos

and

Shatter Stability With Vegetables for Breakfast

But on the other hand I did think, that like the glorious McGonagle and Daisy Ashford , such inspired awfulness should be shared with the world.

But I didn’t want to appear to be deliberately holding someone up for public ridicule, although that is in effect what I would be doing. I’m one of those British hypocrites who can’t bear to think of themself as ever being unkind, though I frequently am.

Then Martin as usual cut through my wussy introspective crap and said, look, he’s put it on the internet, he wants people to read it, it’s all subjective and the feedback he gets is the feedback he gets. Besides, only a few people read this blog anyway, it’s not a very big public.

He’s right you know.Ah, what the hell. Enjoy.

About that new Huffington Post and blog

Blogs, Media, Meta, US politics, Writing
Published on

New (Since 9 May 2005!), cool and filled with Hollywood magic ™ as it may be, the
Huffington Post blog reminds me of nothing so much as NRO’s the Corner, or any of the other given rightwing gasbag “blog”. It has the same blank faces and dull posts from people you are supposed to know from somewhere, the same corporate blandness of presentation and layout and the same uninspired, almost randomly balanced blogroll.

The blogroll is especiallyrevealing, recent controversy notwithstanding. Let me look at your blogroll and I’ll have a good idea what your site is about, what you think is interesting, who you think are good people to link to and whether or not I’ll find your site interesting.

Most of the Huff’s blogroll is blandly centrist, with the usual media friendly “celebrity” blogs (Adam Curry, ’nuff said) or the soft inoffensive left (Ezra Klein e.g.) but to have Little Green Fascists or Powerline on the rolls? Szeesh. Wasn’t this supposed to be some sort of vaguely progressive site?