From Andrea:

Don’t look now, kids! Arianna Huffington is going to wake up that sleepy old blogtown — she’s gonna start a celebrity blog! Jeepers!

Because after all, celebrities have such a tough time getting anyone to pay attention to them.

My plan is to delink anyone who’s stupid enough to have a link to that pile of crap if it ever actually happens. Gosh almighty, the press EXISTS for celebrity lick-fests…I have to plow through that BS even on the sports page these days.

Long-time TFG favorite, Swen “Swen” Swenson is back posting after a year off — Coyote at the Dog Show. And he’s already bitching about the Casper newspaper again.

Thanks to Big Jim Rummel for the heads-up…

Here’s a new place for you: Oil Field Trash, Part 2.

I’m paying off a few loads of road base, so I helped my buddy set this up. I don’t know if he’ll let me keep posting privileges or not. Should be fun, no matter what…

Someone of you web geniuses tell me what the hell good Technorati is. 50% of the time it freezes up like an an aluminum-engine 70s Vega, the rest of the time it’s so far out of date, it’s pointless. I realize that I’m losing massive web hippy cred by asking this question, but why even bother with their dumb tags* if they can’t keep track of regular old links?

* The latest web hippy trend that I’ve yet to see a need for, but hey! I didn’t know I needed a blog, either. Wait a minute — sure I did. I’ve had a personal web page since the mainframe days.

I learned, in the space of about four hours, that Captain’s Quarters and Daily Pundit have disappeared from Google searches. There are reports that other blogs have, as well, including the execrable Duncan Black. Two things leap to mind:

1) They are combing their databases and about to launch an experimental Blog Search option. Which, you know, why not just do their standard soft launch that slowly leaches out from the digerati?

2) They’re making a political statement of sorts. I don’t know what it would be, if Duncan’s really gone, since the Google boys are decidedly librulz.

Bottom line, though — they are now a public company with many, many stockholders. They built their company by being totally blind about what is returned when you click Search. Many, many stockholders bought their stock because of that. I would expect many, many stockholders would be very unhappy if that is to suddenly change.

Further, they are selling their AdSense program to ad buyers for the very same reason. And they get me, Mr. Free Billboard, to work with them on that. All reports are that AdSense is an extremely profitable line of business. Would it be as profitable with any kind of restrictions on basic Search? I reckon not. Restrictions always kill commodities, and you can hardly move upmarket with something that is so easily duplicatable.

Of course, I suspect that this would not be the first time that a lefty completely ruined a good business model because of his politics. I suspect that because I am just too lazy to go Google it.

Kevin Drum: Conservatives tend to thrive on a sense of besiegement, a belief that they’re surrounded on all sides by enemies seen and unseen who must be destroyed.

It’s simply impossible to address such a silly statement. It’s so ridiculous on it’s face that I have to laugh. Destroy, destroy, destroy! Except…I just don’t know what to destroy! Does that mean I’m not a conservative? Of course not…Mr. Drum is patently wrong, and it’s as good an example of Loonie Lib overreach as you could ask for on a Sunday evening.

So why bother blogging it? I dunno…just seems to be a sterling exemplar.

DESTROY, DESTROY, DESTROY!

Ace is, in my opinion, having exactly the right amount of fun with the Jeff Gannon business. This one is probably my favorite, but there’s still daylight left.

Don’t know who Jeff Gannon is? Don’t worry…nobody else does, either. It’s some kind of loony left coonskin cap here of late.

Yes, I am feeling marginally better. Almost human, even. Thank Kentucky for bourbon and science for ibuprofen and Ma Nature for echnacea. I did make an appointment with my hayseed uncle the country doctor (he still uses glass thermometers) for Monday afternoon in case I’m not back to three packs a day by then.

I was dorking around looking at stuff and got here, and my first thought was

Why’s Matt Welch shilling for Aimpoint?

My new blog name: #29 300LbBoilCoveredSocialCriticInADoublewide.com

Hat tip*: Snarkette.

* I just felt my last soul molecule die off…

Whoever designed the layout for the default WP install needs to be dragged out back and horsewhipped. Hours are spent defining the precise freaking layout of the calendar and unordered lists, yet there’s an undefined DIV for the damn posts. And look at the date, then look at the title. The dates are formatted with H2, and titles are H3. Which one’s bigger? Freakin’ geeks. I tell ya…

That’s enough blog format talk. Come play some Party Poker - bonus code thefatguy. heh

My server is broken pretty much all the time now. Some people can get to it all of the time, some people some of the time, some people not ever. My email seems to fade in and out, like an AM signal from Mexico. Comments take a million damn years to post, so everybody pushes the button two or three times, because they can’t believe the freaking internets are so slow. Half the time, when I try to post, it just times out, even set to two minutes. The other half of the time, it loses all the formatting and just shoves everything together into one big blob.

All of which is to say, if I go bye-bye, it’s been fun. Now it’s turning into a fucking job and who needs another one of those?

Velociman announces the Georgia Writers’ Workshop.

That would be fun. Those Deep Southerners are spooky, though, given to hallucinating dead relatives and generals, and weeping over Granny’s outhouse back in the holler.

Twelve days without a post, then 20 posts in four hours. Alternate headline: Chuck Takes The Afternoon Off

Just got in from Christmas pie and coffee* with three of my really old podnuhs, like junior-high / Chi Rho pards. Two say they hate the poker talk (tuff tittie, boys), and wish I talked more about “current events.” “Why?”, says I, genuinely interested. “Your insight,” one says. The next thing I remember was the concerned bartender hovering over me with an oxygen mask…seems I passed out from laughing so damn hard. I might have inhaled a Marlboro that clogged my airway, too, but that’s nothing new. I’m still flabbergasted that someone thinks there’s a dime’s worth of insight to be found herein. I ain’t got no dang insight. Opinions, sure…by the bushel basket.

The third? Well, he wasn’t even aware of the site and has never visited. Bastard. And he’s the only one I could sell advertising to.

* Beer and nachos.

Juan Gato is back.

At least for a day. Oh, me, oh, my! As Michele said, this makes me happier than it probably should, but…it’s the little things, ya know.