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There are some people that, whatever they do, the only way they feel up is to put someone else down.
It doesn't cost anything to be nice. You (probably) wouldn't be rude to someone standing in your living room. Why should you be rude to someone on your blog. Or theirs?
Very happy to join in when you reveal your Grand Plan :).
Also, I went to York University, too :).
And as for that Beki - I had a no idea she was a new blogger - she's very good. It took me almost 2 years to get regular comments. I didn't have a clue what to do with them at first x
ikyshe - female power-blog bitch
I think it's years of subjecting my friends and family to email ramblings which have been good practice for blogging!
Keep smiling and keep blogging. Although you lot are taking up FAR too much of my time!
And Keef? I'll be cross if the silly bugger has ended up getting this summer's Hampden gig cancelled. Mind you, he could play with brain damage: who'd know? He does, though, seem to have missed his chance at playing Johnny Depp's Dad in "Pirates of the caribbean III", which is a pity. Falling out of a coconut tree, though? Priceless.
Rob
A while ago, I bought some proper hosting and now use Wordpress for my graphics blog, the way WP works is ideal for that. However, I kept this blog here, because, it made sense to do so. It's a personal blog, and it's nice to know most of the hard work is done for me. I don't have to worry about upgrades and security patches etc. I can just log in and post.
Thanks for the link :-)
I'll post the details for the Newbie Hugging on Saturday.
Oh, I would have loved to see Keef playing Johnny Depps Dad, that would have been wonderful. What a shame it won't happen. Yes, the tree incident is odd, I honestly can't think of any reason why he was up one in the first place. LOL I'll keep my fingers crossed the Hampton Court gig goes ahead. I also have a feeling it will take more than this to stop him.
I think much of the nastiness to newbies come from people's own insecurities. A 'this is MY group and I will be threatened if anyone else joins' kind of thing. It's not very mature and is also downright unkind :/.
Yes, insecurity is definitely their main motivation. Really, they are to be pitied, I suppose. Having said that, I stll like the sound of Stegbeetles cyber punch on the nose.
I'm sorry to hear that someone was so unpleasant to you - my response to this is something along the lines of 'who died and made you god?'. I just don't tend to read sites like that; don't get much out of it. And as for the sycophants - bugger 'em. A few comments from people who've got similar interests and who have taken the time to really think about what you've said, or to express concern or whatever, is worth more than that.
And that is the gist of my comment. If what I read here was of the self-centered, self-important, or self-blowhard type, I wouldn't be typing this. I would have been long gone.
I do not read blogs for the bells and whistles--although they are sometimes fun--but rather for what the writer has to say. MY toaster has all of the buttons I need; it is humanness that I crave.
Newbie or not.
Yes, I would rather have that kind of commenter. It's always nice to have people say something positive, but I don't feel the need to have a fan club telling me how great I am.
I agree, for me a blog has to have a human feel for it to be of interest. I love reading about the little everyday things, the highs and lows of life. I know some bloggers think all that stuff is boring, but it's not because it's about real people who are rarely dull.
Nice ducks though. And the city itself is lovely :).
I was out in the sticks at Scarborough . . . I think it would have been the teacher training college in your day. Anyway, it's small and cosy, and stuck up folk tend to find themselves as the outsiders . . . and occasionally in the harbour courtesy of angry fishermen LOL
I had a much nicer time when I did a conversion for a year a few years later at Leicester. I made up for lost time :).
Glad to hear you had a better time in Leicester. Mind you, it has always seemed like a friendly place. I grew up nearby in Stratford, and remember Leicester as a good place for a night out.
LOL I know what you mean about changing your mind halfway through signing up for something. I have done that a few times on forums. I get so far, then think, do I really want to.
So much comment love, for a site with zero PR. Is this all coming from CoComments?
I really do like the idea of hugging newbies. If any newbies want to check out my site (which is a heavily modified blogger template atm) and get some help, please feel free.
I am not a master of HTML, CSS, SEO, or Blogging in general, but I have gotten pretty decent at all three, and am always willing to help.
Just so you dont think I am a link whore spammer, I wont post my link. You'll have to figure out how to find me! ;)
Good luck!
Not to mention... its an online men's magazine (its PG-13, and mostly cubicle safe!)
Gratuitous link ahead!
Fat Boy Magazine
Jack, I think you right about a blogger like that losing readers. I know that kind of behaviour makes me stay away.
Chuck, so far I have had three visitors from co-comment, but that may change as I use it more. Most people seem to find me either through technorati, or my britblog listing . . . most commenters here are from the UK . . . or because other bloggers have been kind enough to blogroll me. I'm not sure why I get comments, to be honest it always amazes me that anyone reads this blog at all LOL
I think Jack is right about personal posts being popular though. Speaking for myself, they are sort I would be most likely to comment on, especially on a blog I haven't visited before.
OK I am kidding.. I dont only post Page 3 girls... I post a lot more than that... product reviews, etc.. but it isn't a "personal" blog.
Kate, I came by thanks to coComment, but like you I usually get visitors from Technorati. Britblog doesn’t get me too many, sadly (yes, I am British by nationality). I think you get many visitors because you write from the heart and people want to share with you. People can relate to your experiences and add their twopence.
Seriously though, I have two other blogs, both are of a more informative nature, and neither gets many comments. I think people visit, find what they are looking for and move on. I know it's seems unfair when you have spent a lot of time on your content, but that just seems to be the way things work.
Good luck with your blog :-)
I didn't know you were 'one of us' That explains the jumping up and down on the tv sofa . . . British eccentricity LOL
Do you get Little Britain in New Zealand, or have you seen it here? I do like it, well mostly, some sketches are a bit toe curling . . . that horrible man who keeps leering at old ladies for example. Other characters are brilliant though, really well observed.
If you like LB, you might like the Mighty Boosh It's not as controversial, but it has that quirkiness. I think it is the funniest thing I have seen for ages.
Kate, we get Little Britain down here, but on Channel 4 (which is primarily a music network). I prefer the Ricky Gervais sort of humour but the funniest sitcoms I encountered over the last decade or so were Black Books and the first series of Chalk. Just random enough for me. Mighty Boosh isn’t here but it looks very good—thank you for the link!
I have to admit, I ahve never run into rude/snarky comments from other bloggers myself.
Black Books is hilarious, and slightly surreal. I didn't see Chalk, was it the one about teachers? Think I was working when that was on, I missed a lot of stuff because of that.
I had a peep at your blog, liked the Clive Barker quote. Imajica is one of my favourite books of all time, Great and Secret Show is is a good one too.
Don't worry about your page rank, it can take a while because Google sandboxes new domains, give it a few months and it will improve. Using tags will probably bring you as many visitors anyway.
Chalk was the one about the teachers. Only the first year was good, though there was one good episode the second year. I understand it was disliked in the UK.
And then you realise that you really just need to generate enough content for the visitors to start talking to each other rather than you.
Unfortunatly I haven't got to that point yet ;-)
Thanks for the back story, now it makes sense LOL
There were also US remakes of Coupling and Red Dwarf, and I believe Dad's Army. I don't think the Coupling remake went down very well, but I suppose it would have been too similar to Friends.
Thanks for the welcome!
Sorry to hear you have had content stolen. It happened to me a couple of months ago, some spammy type using scraping software had a few of my posts on his/her blog. There is a really useful post about it on the Performancing site, it explains what you can do, and gives a few tips on prevention.
Candy, with someone pinching your post, can you comment at that person’s blog and say something like, ‘It would have been courteous for you to have acknowledged your source’?
Chuck - The cast of the British version of the Office were largely unknown too, maybe to give a sense of realism. Or maybe because they weren't certain it would work and unknowns were cheaper. Who knows ;-)
Usually the originals are better. Chuck, you won’t have seen them but the Brits redid Married with Children and Who’s the Boss?, and Al Bundy and Tony Micelli do not “translate into English”. Transplants go both ways, but seldom work out …
You had to have liked Married With Children, unless you are one of those "Masterpiece Theatre" types, or I believe you Brits call them "Southern Fairies" ;)
Did I offend the coco? I didn't mean to. I'm not a Brit... I used the expression because I thought it was funny when the goofy guy in Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels said it.pd
Very true! Another example is the UK version of the Golden Girls which was awful. Funny for all the wrong reasons.
I just had a look, talk about tenacity . . . you'd have to really like a programme to spend two years looking for a lost episode. Big pat on the back to that chap.
No, the US wasn't under direct threat from the Nazis . . . although there were u-boats along the western coast. These weren't a problem for a home guard though, the coast guard bombed them using bi-planes. Seriously!
I think the lack of a direct threat is to the detriment of a US version, part of the appeal of the original is the sense of poignancy. The characters were a bit daft, but in reality those old men were prepared to defend the country. Take that away and it just seems silly.
Around here they're Southern Softies LOL but fairies would do just as well
My apologies to readers from the south, I love you really :-)
Aha, maybe you have uncovered co-comments deep dark secret, it is in fact a southern softy, tee hee
That remindes me of my favourite tv commercial. It starts with a man sitting in front of the tv watching the football results, then you hear the announcers voice say 'Liverpool 1 Southern Softies 0' Liverpool are a northen team BTW.
Only redeeming feature was Christina Appleby :-)
Oh my, an English Golden Girls? That sounds worse.
Chuck, I saw the American Office on the plane, and I thought it was pretty good. Still slightly better as a Pommy show, but you don’t feel that it’s trying to be the original. I believe that is where these shows can be successful: Married for Life and The Upper Hand (UK Who’s the Boss?) never had much soul.
IIQ, the cynicism didn’t come through on the comment, so I apologize. I actually liked the original Married with Children, or more specifically the later seasons where things got more and more surreal. The first seasons were a little too overt for me.
Try watching it in a hotel room in Switzerland in German!
Tone is frequently difficult to read in blogging or emailing. Hence the danger of the medium.
Even emoticons do little to really convey implied tone. Besides its more fun just to let people guess and misinterpret ;-)
The Upper Hand was a truly terrible show. It had a good cast, but really, no one could have made it watchable. Bizarrely, it ran for several series, but I'm sure that was only because they got Joe McGann to take his shirt of at least per episode.
You mentioned an American Red Dwarf, Kate. Positively scary as well.
There is an article about the American Red Dwarf here. Apparently, Jane Leeves from 'Frasier' played Holly.
I remember Jane Leeves from some of the later Benny Hill Shows.
I don't remember Benny Hill very well, my parents watched something on the other side (possibly Mash) but I did see Jane Leeves on the Johnathon Ross chat show,talking about her time on the programme. She said BH was not as pervy as he seemed, but was a bit eccentric.
I contrast this to Martin Shaw’s behaviour when he prevented The Professionals from being repeated for his own reasons, to the point where co-star Gordon Jackson’s widow was left with huge debts when her husband passed. It was only then that Shaw changed his mind.
Yet in modern Britain, Benny Hill is someone to be ashamed of, and Martin Shaw is admired.
I've only ever read one biography - David Nivens - I gather lot of it exaggerated , but it was really entertaining.
I am a sucker for bios, I have to say. I’ve even read John Major’s autobiography, and a couple of biographies on Rupert Murdoch.
I would imagine John Major's biography would be quite interesting, from what I have read, he has had a varied life.
I don't know any celebs, but I grew up in Stratford on Avon, so often came into contact with them. It is surprising how much some of them differ from their public persona.
Yes, I have heard of actors being mistaken for the characters they play. The cast of Casualty are often asked to diagnose illnesses at parties.