CULTURE CLUB

Long feature on blogging in today's Age: The Blogs That Ate Cyberspace.

IT HAS been the most extraordinary rise, and it happened while you probably weren't even looking. In just under a decade, the blog has swamped the virtual world, multiplying at a rate usually seen only inside Petri dishes. Some now say it is poised to deliver a killer blow to mainstream media, others reckon it to be a fad that will soon be forgotten.

The hack, Dan Silkstone (also a blogger, although it doesn't say where he blogs), gives the caper a balanced write-up, neither proclaiming blogs mean the end of journalism as we know it, or conversely, that blogs are doomed. There are lots of stats, history on the early development of blogging and even a pop at the internet's "insatiable invention of new words". A point with which I'm in complete congreement.

While he mentions ten heavy hitters, a couple of whom I've heard of, he doesn't mention me or the AGB, which is quite an oversight. But neither does he mention any local blogs, thus preventing me from getting jealous. He also wisely steers clear of trying to define what makes a good blog and even wiser still, avoids any dismal Schembri-like attempts at "satire". Or as we sneer on the internets, schembrire.

In fact, it's not too shabby at all.

And of course he mentions cats. Where are we with cats? First people posted pictures of their cats. Then people started making jokes about people who posted pictures of their cats. It can't be long before people make jokes about people who make jokes about people who post pictures of their cats. Where to from here?

Comments

[GoAwayBrownie]

"Where to from here?"
Well I was gonna say that the cats will be posting themselves ... then I remembered that BAZcat At Sills Bend has his own MySpace.

Dan found the fabulous Steph Sumthin
(linked at Brisbane Window and brace yourself if you visit either blog) and he mentions Bill & Meva who comment at the AusBlogs I read.
If I knew nothing about bloggers, his piece wouldn't inspire me to change that.
At The Age homepage they have a Profile of him whch lists his MANY Awards.
This morning I have picked a kilo of fresh strawberries from an Avenue Of Honour market garden, and now I am going to a family lunch in Caulfield and a mini-blogmeet with Copperwitch for afternoon tea.

[GoAwayBrownie]

save ya the effort-
"Dan Silkstone is a senior reporter at The Age. During the past 12 months he has covered some of the biggest stories to break around Australia, including the AWB inquiry in Sydney, the Beaconsfield Mine collapse and the inquiry into the death of Private Jake Kovco. Before this, Dan was The Age's transport reporter and won a Quill Award this year (with Royce Millar) for Off The Rails – a series chronicling the problems in Melbourne's public transport network. He also shared a Quill award in 2002 for best online report for Lifeblood: A story of a country hospital. Dan has also been a court reporter for The Age and has covered State politics and city affairs.
In 2003 he covered the Canberra Bushfires and in 2005 spearheaded the paper's coverage of the Cronulla riots.
He has an honours degree in English Literature from the Australian National University.
He edited his primary school newspaper – The Saint Augustines' Bugle and was, for a while at least, the youngest published author in Australia, when his first and only novel was published at age 11.
He is still working on the difficult follow-up work. "

A blogger I read last night mentioned that "he is in a friends band".

[Tony.T]

"If I knew nothing about bloggers, his piece wouldn't inspire me to change that."

Fair point. I suppose more than anything I was just relieved it wasn't yet another article by a smug journo shitcanning blogs.

Found the Sumthin Blog through Russ. Disgusting. Not one mention of cricket. Saw Bland Canyon, too. And the Meva one.

You see, the trouble with long articles is ... ummm ... you forget some of the detail before you get to the end.

On the upside, Dan's quite the achiever.

[Scott Wickstein]

I'm writing a blog that's full of long articles, but I knew you wouldn't like it so I didn't bother to let you know. It's nothing special anyway just something for me to bash away at the keyboard and feel smug and superior about my sports writing. I need to feel smug sometimes.

[nick]

Scott, I think it's a sad indictment on this World Cup that you haven't felt the need to drag Ubersportingpundit out of retirement. That said, I see you're in good compnay - Warnie's blog is thinner than he is lately.

[nick]

England batting - well a short game is a good game!

[pat]

I suggested to the kids today (in all seriousness) that we have the male cat - Oscar De La Hoya - put down. Didn't go over well. The bastard thing just keeps eating everything in and out of sight.

Today we found a baby ring tail possum's tail in his lair. So far, by my count, he's eaten:

2 x Blind Snakes (harmless things)
2 x Gekkos
1 x Golden Crown Snake (relatively harmless)
4 x Blue Tongue Lizard babies
1 x Butcher Bird
2 x Eastern Rosellas
a bazillion frogs and penny lizards

Makes me sick to think of it. I have tried to feed the shithead as much as I can and have now got two bells on him, keep him in at night when the prick of a thing can be tricked into coming inside but the evil thing just is a bottomless pit of cruelty and insatiable hunger.

If he eats a Lyre Bird I will throttle him. That's a promise.

The female cat is typical of the species. Lies around sleeping or hassles non-stop begging for more food and humps my leg if I can't keep the food up.

I like cats, much preferrable to dogs, but Oscar is one kill short of his own death. I've had a gutfull.

[nick]

Brearley out, then.

[Tony.T]

Didn't catch even one minute of the England/Straya match and didn't even know the score until this morning's 8:30 news. I hate the West Indies.

[Scott Wickstein]

It was a pretty humdrum affair. You can watch highlights on Fox this afternoon if you are desperately keen, but it wasn't a patch on the tonking of South Africa.

[Bruce]

A very low key drubbing. Although it looked a bit dicey when Bell and Pieterson were taking it to Pigeon. Then followed the inevitable collapse and the coast to the line.

[Tony.T]

Luckily it's an abridged package, and will certainly be better viewing that weak, pathetic, soft, shithouse, fuckin' Melbourne.

[Lad Litter]

The article could have explored more blogs, for mine. It was a little bit like the Australian's Media section: you get to it and find it's all business-focussed rather than on the nature of the media.

[Tony.T]

Yeah, it was certainly dry, but it had a lot of detail and didn't treat blogs and bloggers as sad nerds, which was a pleasant change.

[girtbysea]

i love cats

but i can't eat a whole one