Saturday, January 19, 2008

UPDATE, HUNGOVER EDITION

Good morning lusty soldiers. After an evening of typing and drinking tequila sunrises (I had grenadine in the fridge - who knew?), your commanding officer is feeling a bit slow on the uptake. So let's keep the noise down to a minimum.

Just a quick update - I now have sent emails to 43 comrades and I am checking back on Megan's last post to harvest...er, I mean recruit...more fighters.

Right now I must say I am ready to put ON STRIKE next to my name. After poking around a little online (with an assist from Chicago Bureau, my brother in this fucking -30 degree icy bullshit city) it has become quite clear that there is something rotten in the state of Gawker. To read more, may I suggest this. I am sure that many of you also saw that Greg was let go. So was Liz Gorman, staff photographer.

Big Head DC also picked up on this, and includes a poll about whether readers would like to see Megan contribute there. Read all about it.

The good news is that since the changes over at Gawker, visits and comments seem to be down (please correct me if I am wrong about this), so maybe this crazy boycott thing will make an impression. We certainly have among us some of our most prolific and hilarious (i.e. the people that make the site worth reading in the first place) commenters. In the meantime, it is still okay to view, comment on and Digg Megan's farewell post. But the Nevada caucuses are dead to us!

For those that missed it, Megan has started a new blog since her dismissal - chaoticmegan.blogspot.com. Pay the girl a visit. And for the love of Satan if you are in the DC area go out with the girl tonight and buy her a drink!

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

argh! you posted again before I finished my comment. I left some practical comments about next steps at the last message. Hope you're feeling better, Homo. the Bighead DC article is informative. but could Megan land on her feet at Bighead? If we all jumped the Gawker ship would it help another blog gain market share? I know nothing about this business!

Anonymous said...

Actually, I think that the page view stats over at Wonkette really have spiked during live event posts (debates (?), election nights, etc.). What exactly that has to do with it is unclear to me, obviously. There's more money coming in, but there is something structurally fucked up over there.

But anyway: business calls. Must now go and put on five layers of clothes and somehow not look like a hobo. This could take a while.

Anonymous said...

Wait 'til you hear it from Megan why she was let go. It gets worse.

Anonymous said...

dm:

Is Megan going to post that here, or on her public blog? Frankly, as much as it might help her to write it all up, unless she has a secure position elsewhere, it might not be a good idea to post it all publically. Unless of course she has already thought it all through and decided 'fuck it' anyhow, but I sure would like to know.

Anonymous said...

er that was me from my aim account.

Anonymous said...

Denton's millions:

You spiked my curiosity.

Anonymous said...

Well, I am quite honored to be drafted in to this worthy cause. I wish there was something more I could do than just Digg here and write "Fuck!" there, but I guess that's the internet for you.

I wish I liked BHDC more, but I find their site ugly and their sense of humor stiff. But if they hire her there, I'm certainly willing to jump ship.

And I'm tired of the Jezebel thing becoming a "don't be scared of feminists" thing. I TEACH feminism -- that's not my problem. The problem is the incoherent editing and bad writing that obscures the occasional good stuff over there, plus their community of commenters makes me want to rip my pubic hair out by the roots.

Mostly though, it just isn't the right venue at all for what Megan does best, which is the wonk stuff. And it certainly isn't going to be enough to support her in any way, and it won't fix the problem at Wonkette.

I'll go to her articles through her new website, but I'm kinda done with the whole Gawker bullshit machine.

Uhhh, thanks for letting me vent. Love you Homofascist!

Anonymous said...

Manchu - yes, you caught my attention too, and I would love to know what is up with Megan and her take on things since I haven't seen her write anything since she posted her two messages on her blog last night.

And yes, considering there are two caucuses happening now, Wonkette has more crickets than commenters at the moment.

Anonymous said...

Also: I can't BELIEVE they fired Liz, too. WTF?!?! I actually rather like Ken's Gloomy Gus musings, but all alone with Jim? It's going to be like Eeyore and Woody Woodpecker trading cock-knock jokes in a lockerroom version of No Exit.

Okay, that sounds sort of gross yet sexy, but that's not how I meant it. I mean it's gonna get juvenile and lowest common denominator in there and it's gonna suck. For the life of me, I can't tell what the thinking behind it all was. "Pure sexism," as BHDC charges, seems...I don't know. Too blatant to be the reasoning? Anyhoo, it's a sad sad morning.

Anonymous said...

berightback,

Which Liz? Is it Liz "Homicidal if you call her Glover, but takes fun photos" Gorman or Barbie Cam Liz Glover (whose sister we managed to take a dump on in Dec and of which I am guilty of)?

Anonymous said...

Er, perhaps I should fucking read the whole article.

I like Liz Gorman, too.

Anonymous said...

Homofascist, so I'm the guy with the cute butt standing under the shower in your army, 'mkay? Let us know if any of us can guest post on this bloggy blog thing you have. I propose an 'Ode to Megan' contest. If things get really dire, we can always bring in the Paultards for some spamming attacks.

Homofascist said...

Yeah, I am sure Nick is one of those "girls are icky" gays, but the sexism thing is a bit of a stretch to me. I am sure he likes the fact that women make him money (see Jezebel and their 10 million visits a month)

Anonymous said...

I would be very surprised if sexism was responsible for Megan's firing. That also doesn't explain Intern Greg. More likely (said the expert on programming in obscure languages) is inter-personal issues. Those can brew for ages, and suddenly explode, as this seems to have done.

I'd like to hear Megan's take on it.

Anonymous said...

berightback -- your critique of Jezebel is spot on. I have implored people to follow Megan because I want to believe that every little bit helps in situations where you've been sucker punched by the powers that be. Other than emailing Denton, ignoring all Wonkette posts other than hers, joining this cause and Digging her old posts, I don't know what else to do to help.

Anonymous said...

jnov -- well, I certainly agree with you there. And Moe, Slut Machine, et al. seem like genuinely good people, I just think they need more discipline. Which, as Homofascist would be the first to point out, can work to increase, not decrease, the fun if done correctly.

But on another note: when Gawker reorganized/disemboweled itself, one of the things that occurred was the firing of nearly all of the occasional columnists, like Tionna, etc. Is the same thing going to happen at Wonkette? PSP (at least I think that's him) is supporting the ban over in the BHDC comment section, so I wonder if there's going to be a CondiRoundup on Monday. And whither the Comics Curmudgeon, whom I'm actually more loyal to than anyone in Gawkerverse (I post over there under a different name)?

If they jettison them too, I can't see how Wonkette will be readable at all.

Anonymous said...

Actually had a look at Jezebel the other day, and, well, y'know...

As I say in such circumstances, I'm not their Target Audience, but now that Megan is posting links to strike-safe posts, I'll certainly pay another visit. But from what I've heard, we may be too, um, harsh for the regulars.

Anonymous said...

nojo: I believe the term is "snarktacular," not harsh. :D

whatsername said...

The strike against Wonkette seems to be going swimmingly. Megan's farewell message has 296 comments.

The 14 stories that came after it? 60 comments.

Granted, it's a late Saturday afternoon, and some of you might still sleeping off last night's solidarity hangover...

whatsername said...

[no, don't call me AL. This is whatsername. D#$!m Blogger account wasn't set up right...]

Anonymous said...

berightback -- I hear you, but I would hate to see anyone mess with Moe's style. I love the rambling stream-of-consciousness that somehow makes sense and conveys outrage and heart.

HF -- I await your orders.

Anonymous said...

I take it from the lack of comments in the last little while that people are out buying Megan drinks!

coozledad said...

These battles take a long time. Just think how long it took for the Irish to gain the right to decorate their own pubs. One day, we'll all be all be able to rub our double chins together in a feast of Celtic brotherhood. But until that day just remember: the early fire warms you as the toast gets cold.