Convention, blogging, yada-yada

Hey, did you hear? Apparently there are bloggers at the convention. Oh, you did hear? That’s good.

Went to a party last week and managed to correctly identify a guest’s accent as Georgian. She noted that such an ability, along with an academic study of blogging, meant I “should be appearing in an Us Magazine story any day now.” Ouch. I didn’t have the heart to admit that I showed up in Fitness Magazine recently. (Oh, the irony.)

Frankly, I’ve found that the convention makes for good television. Remember that old medium? I actually care that a politician can give a good televised speech — I think that sort of matters. And having Kerry speak at the end of the convention means we get to place bets as to who he will best (Gephart, Dean) and who he will be bested by (Carter, Gore, Clinton, his own wife and veep). I wonder how many people had the exact same thought David Weinberger and I did last night: Obama is a shoe-in for 2012. At least he’ll have my vote.

Oh, and I never understood why Hillary is so unpopular (among some) until last night. She is annoyingly smug. Maybe the camera just caught her at bad times, but she and her daughter sipping champagne and joking over Dean’s speech struck me as somehow just inappropriate. I wonder if the way she looked at Teresa Heinz-Kerry is any indication of how she feels about her.

Speaking of which, I’m happy to see the appellation “partner” winning out over husband or wife. For a long time I’ve introduced my wife, Jamie, as my partner. It’s because I have always thought of her as that, as “more” than my wife, but as someone with whom I work through things together as a friend and team-mate, as well as a mate-mate. “Partner” also allows me to share the same term that my non-breeder friends use, and provides them with a way to more comfortably distance their private lives from their professional lives. I’ve seen the term gain in popularity over the last few years, but had assumed it was only in academic circles. I am glad that the idea and use of “a partner in life” is showing up at a more public event like the convention.

For all the attention blogging has gotten at the convention, I haven’t found the actual reportage particularly useful or interesting. A lot of sound and fury and endless introspection. Some of that introspection, though, is outstanding. For those interested in studying blogging, the interview of Fafnir (& Giblets) by University at Buffalo grad Wolf Blitzer is an instant classic:

WB: But given that bloggers might be biased, or play “fast and loose with the truth,” and given the increased importance of blogs today, should Americans be concerned?

F: Yes they should be very concerned. We are an unchained force of nature Wolf Blitzer! You cannot stop us once we spin out of telecommunicontrol!

G: Bow before the power of blog Wolf Blitzer! Bow before the power of blog NOOOOOOW!

I’ve just checked my triplicate rankings (via Brake), and find that I actually do have more than six readers, which means I should post more often than once a week, I suppose. I will have to take Giblets’ approach from now on: “Blogs must be spontaneous intant [sic] reactions to the lightning events of the everyday! Giblets fires up a random news article, pounds his head against the keyboard several times, an hits the ‘publish’ button for the purest of pure blog posts!”

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One Comment

  1. Posted 7/29/2004 at 8:49 am | Permalink

    The Daily Show tonight picked up on the champagne shot of Hillary and Chelsea. At least I now know I wasn’t being hypersensitive. And everyone seems to agree that Obama was a very impressive speaker. Too bad Kerry already has a running mate.

One Trackback

  1. By Blog.org on 8/5/2004 at 9:53 am

    OK I am somewhat converted to Fafblog
    It’s a little weird and off-centre but this post to fafblog has convinced me it is funny enough often enough to be worth adding to my blogroll.

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