Friday, January 25, 2008

A TRIBUTE TO KEN LAYNE

Because I'm a lover, not a fighter.

I wrote all of my many, lengthy (sorry!) posts last night so that I could actually have one productive day at work today. [editor's note - which is going SO fucking well - ha ha] I saved this one for last, because after the horrible, bitchy things I wrote earlier (hee hee - just wait lovers) I thought this would be a good one to end with.

Here is the thing. I fucking love Ken Layne’s writing. I was not around during the AMC years - I started reading casually in earlyish 2006 and started commenting in October of the same year, so to me Wonkette was Alex and Ken. One of the reasons I haven’t said anything like “Megan is the new Ana Marie” is because frankly I never read Ana Marie, and I don’t want to be some lying poseur. I liked some of Alex’s stuff, but it was Layne’s writing that I found myself laughing out loud at and forwarding to my friends. His acerbic wit and restrained use of an f-bomb was, in my humble opinion, a thing of beauty and sometimes downright genius. He deals in the humor to which I respond. I was really bummed when he left Wonkette, and really elated when he returned. Needless to say, my opinion of him has soured a bit.

But I will elaborate on that later. For now, I want to share a few of my favorite Ken Layne Wonkette moments, and reflect on what might of been. I am sorry these are links to Wonkette, but I really want to capture to the spirit of the writing better than a lame ass summary. That and mama is fucking tired!

NRA Secret Graphic Novel Revealed.
Ken would be called a liar and the book a hoax by quite a few bloggers and publications, but would ultimately be completely validated.

Checking In With Drunken Crook Jim Gibbons. Ken’s disdain for Nevada’s governor brought the goods. Although many of the posts only had like 200 page views. WTF? And Megan was bringing numbers down? Oh wait, sorry, this is supposed to be a tribute.

Meet the Antichrist.
It is Obama. Did you know that? It has almost 23,700 views. Not quite as many as Megan’s farewell, but a noble effort! Oops...tribute. Sorry!

Help Name 18 Lousy Little Baby Pandas!
I think that one is pretty self-explanatory.

I hope you have enjoyed this little trip down memory lane. Because soon I am going to bring it, and it isn’t going to be pretty.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bring it, babe. Megan just brought it on her blog, too.

Anonymous said...

"Iraqi insurgents tragically fail to kill US lawmakers" is may all-time fave from Layne.



At this point, the only way I’m going back is if Wonkette provides an in-depth special report on the activities of mega-hubba-hubba IVAW activist and honorary hetero member of the D.C. Bear Mafia, Adam Kokesh--complete with centerfold. I vote that we add this non-negotiable bon-bon to our manifesto immediately.

nojo said...

I hear O.J. played some pretty decent football.

Anonymous said...

The tribute was a great idea, HF. The graphic novel piece was indeed brilliant, and the names of commenters past and present read like a wall of f/shame.

kudos. Now bring it!

Mistress Cynica said...

I have been reading Wonkette since AMC was there, and really the only thing that kept me reading after she was gone were the commenters. The je ne sais quoi of the bitchy femme fatale POV was totally missing under the Layne-Pareene regime (though to be fair that graphic novel thing was fucking genius). What kept me coming back were the commenters - mostly the ones who are now here, and who I hope to see over at Cynic's Party.

Homofascist said...

@Original Andrew. Oh, I would be HAPPY to cover Mr. Kokesh. Every part of him. In depth. Very deep. I am sure Cynic's Party can pick him up (watch Megan and I fight over him).

Anonymous said...

"I don’t want to be some lying poseur"

Wait. You mean that's a bad thing?

Loving the Cynics' Party (the name? reeeally? OK). The software is not quite the boyfriend you thought you'd love forever but is certainly the boyfriend whose taste you can't get out of your mouth right now(this works for teh str8z too. As I remember). Are you going to come out and lure us all over to cynics? That would be totes awesome, dude.

My only worry in turning my back on Wonkette 4evah is what's going to happen to intern Justin??? He should call me. He should.

Megan said...

@Lyndon: He is a cutie, isn't he?

Homofascist said...

Where can I find pics of this cutie intern? I have been looking for someone to come in and do a few odd jobs around HFA HQ...

Anonymous said...

As I stated on Megan's blog, civility rocks, until you're shat upon.

Kudos, Jason.

I first read AMC back when her nom de plume was "Ann O'Tate" over on Suck. (Matter-o-fact, once I finally get my blogsite styled, my intro post will be a sloppy blowjob to Suck.)

(I'm straight. Really.)

(No, really.)

Nonetheless, Megan truly did bring back the "-ette". Sadly, yada yada yada.

I too, will miss Ken's writing. He transmogrified the one tip I sent him into a jewel.

But as a soldier with honor, I'll simply fade away from Wonkette.

And actually, I look forward to reading all the new blogs started by the expatriates.

Anonymous said...

Couldn't agree more. Layne is a comic genius. I was quite excited about him coming back to add to Megan and Jim's already strong back and forth. Very sad that couldn't last, but thems the breaks. Ah well.