Be Sure To Wear Some Bloggers In Your Hair

Famous blogger spotted, but sadly "did not reek of patchouli." Famous blogger also blogs duplicitous rat-smell first whined about here on the SGR, and for a few crumbs from the (other) Cox table.

Like Total Confession: I've been known to wear patchouli, but only when meeting with the Junior League. Hmmm.... I wonder if they're YouTubing their recipes yet? I'd like to tape 'em after they've mixed-up one of their Confederate punch concoctions. Shoot, you've never seen the grosgrain fly off a gal so fast.

Citizen Journalism

Our Leonard (I say "our" as he was one of the first people I met through Atlanta Media Bloggers. Speaking of AMB, we need to regroup, eh gang? Kinda let the group slide into Jello. I'll talk to Sherry about that at PodCamp Atlanta, where, BTW, I'll be rapping for two sessions on Saturday March 17: one at 11:30am about Old Media vs. New Media, and then again at 1:30pm on a video blogging panel. So mark your calendars for PodCamp Atlanta, March 16-18 at Emory. Come yap with me! SG - flight attendant on the social media star fleet.)

Anyways, back to the point here about Leonard Witt, he's blogging like a man on fire about citizen journalism, using the AJC time and time again as an example of what happens when you miss the boat and simply "don't get it." Get on over to his PJNet and learn something (all you'll get here is rant and attitude of course), particularly about this Open Source radio. I'm headed there now.

Journalists want to get paid to write about the community and the world they live in. But God forbid they have to sit down at the same table with it. Shame. It's a great raucous party really. They're the ones missing all the fun.

Reminds me of how so very often I'm asked if I get paid to blog. Or why would I bother if I don't. And I have to say that I get paid just fine, in full and often. It's not just necessarily with cold hard cash; fond as I am of that, I also love my fringe bennies. And sometimes, they turn out to be more valuable. Time will tell. Besides, this dude says he'd hire me to blog!

Keep hope alive.

Caption Contest

Do you know these two? If so, have at it.

Wow -- I Smiled Today!

This gorgeous photo of Lo on her mom's (Tania's) blog is just beautiful. It warmed even my bitter ole cynical worn-out rode hard snark-monkey heart. That, and Ava's candy heart stash she came home with. Just in the nick of time.

And James made me snort outloud with his V-Day shoutout to assorted dopes, especially that AJC fucktard, Jim Wooten. (Whether PS or GD, whenever the boys post a "My Morning Wooten" entry, I know it's all gonna work out ok.)

Think I'll go play me some Nick and Dave. Remind myself that the absolute best is often grossly underappreciated. (Dang... the Rockpile Wikipedia entry is in dire need of beefing-up. Hint hint, my rock archivist friends.)

Blog A New Voice

Why is blogging so addictive? Why do we feel compelled to write and put ourselves out there almost every day? Because there has never been a forum, other than journaling of course and that's been private territory, that is remotely like blogging. It is, when done honestly and often, a deep journey into ourselves -- who we really are, what we mean to the world around us, and who we want to become. How we react, sense and perceive our reality, and, chiefly, the role our individual histories bring to the table. We test our sensibilities, ask for acceptance (well, sometimes) by soliciting comments from those around us who may or may not share our perspective.

Blogging is a discovery process. Narcissistic, yes, but vital to becoming the person we are really meant to be. The strong, avid bloggers keep at it because they simply love to write, and in doing so some of them are becoming genuine writers, not just neo-journalists and opinionists. It's fascinating to watch this process evolve; the poet, the sentimentalist, the dreamer, the realist, the cynic, the naysayer, the prophet, the teacher, the champion, the truth all begin to emerge in the person who is driven to blog. A voice is sculpted and crafted and turned over to an audience. A life's story begins to emerge.

I had the delight of discovering the beginnings of a couple of deeply original and inspired voices of genuine, contemporary southern culture over the last few days within a couple of key posts. One was from James. The other from Will Hinton. There's something critical and seminal in these two unpolished musings on the past King Day. Linking to such emerging voices is simply at the heart of why I started my own blog in the first place, why my own blog emerged from my history, and why I started the e-zine WaySouth in the nineties too. I know there is a strong, uniquely southern voice out there. And I for one sure don't want to miss a musing.

One note, I've disabled "comment moderation" here too to encourage more comments. Blogging without comments is the equivalent of drinking alone - why bother?

This post put together by Yo La Tengo, Beta Band and Cat Stevens.

Remora Fish Hate You

What's the sound of a white, (prematurely) aging, white again, male suit whining? An editorial in the Wall Street Journal! Those MSM dudes would be kinda funny, with their chronic ink-stained hand wringing, if they weren't so deadly humorless. I smell a nespot, or something equally elitist and pampered and clueless.

Joseph Rago, assistant editorial features editor at the WSJ, has this nasty little shoutout for us bloggers. Hey, at least this is a fairly transparent flame of pure hatred, well written of course, rather than that patronizing joke of a TIME magazine cover, conceived by yet another suit. Wonder who's job is on the line? (Surely not mine!) Says Mr. Rago:

The blogs are not as significant as their self-endeared curators would like to think. Journalism requires journalists, who are at least fitfully confronting the digital age. The bloggers, for their part, produce minimal reportage. Instead, they ride along with the MSM like remora fish on the bellies of sharks, picking at the scraps.

More success is met in purveying opinion and comment. Some critics reproach the blogs for the coarsening and increasing volatility of political life. Blogs, they say, tend to disinhibit. Maybe so. But politics weren't much rarefied when Andrew Jackson was president, either. The larger problem with blogs, it seems to me, is quality. Most of them are pretty awful.

Many, even some with large followings, are downright appalling. Every conceivable belief is on the scene, but the collective prose, by and large, is homogeneous: A tone of careless informality prevails; posts oscillate between the uselessly brief and the uselessly logorrheic; complexity and complication are eschewed; the humor is cringe-making, with irony present only in its conspicuous absence; arguments are solipsistic; writers traffic more in pronouncement than persuasion . . . The way we write affects both style and substance.

The loquacious formulations of late Henry James, for instance, owe in part to his arthritis, which made longhand impossible, and instead he dictated his writing to a secretary. In this aspect, journalism as practiced via blog appears to be a change for the worse. That is, the inferiority of the medium is rooted in its new, distinctive literary form. Its closest analogue might be the (poorly kept) diary or commonplace book, or the note scrawled to oneself on the back of an envelope -- though these things are not meant for public consumption. The reason for a blog's being is: Here's my opinion, right now.

Full not-for-public-consumption babble here. And my opinion? Right now? What fish could even GET up an ass as tight as Mr. Rago's? Henry James would never have bothered, that boring little poofster. How about a nice, loquacious bitch-slap to the WSJ for Christmas? Oh dear... a full Python moment has suddenly overtaken me. Sing along:

I'm a Blogger-Journalist and I'm OK.
I work all night and I sleep all day.
I fan the flames, I blog some more,
I go to the lavatory.
On Wednesdays I may take a shower,
and opinionate some more!

The Best Social Media Trend of 2006

Let's meme it up... Dan Greenfield, Communications Guru at Earthlink, and author of the excellent Bernaisource blog, asks: What was the most notable PR/marketing social media trend or event in 2006 and why?

Wow! Where do I begin? Web 2.0 about took over my life in 2006. I had to launch an entire company, WaySouth Media, Inc., just to keep up. (Site to be built-out when I can catch my social media breath.) It's all so astonishingly personal when I slow to ponder the question -- whether marketing my vlog TrueGritz, being caught up on the periphery of the Edelman/Wal-Mart fake blog scandal, getting serious about growing The Spacey Gracey Review, or seeing my friend Catherine wrangle with the roller coaster of success at Second Life, where she's Director of Marketing.

The biggest social media trend for me is seeing the Atlanta social media community begin to gel. We are establishing our own regionalized identity. We've read each other's blogs, we've come together at various meetings and seminars and social functions. We're starting to get an idea of who's who on the Atlanta social media scene, and we're casting our nets for bigger and better -- together.

And yes, we're still in the baby stages since we saw Creative Loafing's Best Of award for Best Blog go to a Big Media-sponsored blog, Rodney Ho's. Radio Talk is a good blog as Rodney's up on his beat in a big way; yet Radio Talk remains a non-organic blog in that it was created with a standard-issue, ready made audience, AJC.com. It thus had an assist of hugenormous, not easily overlooked, proportions, rather than put out there to grow and flourish and be marketed and build readership on its own creative merits. It didn't percolate to the top; rather, it was placed on the top by MSM, not the natural blogosphere.

Yet, we also saw Amber and Rusty recognized for their incredible hard work and devotion to creating, branding, marketing and sustaining the Georgia Podcast Network. They've been just amazingly supportive of the Atlanta social (and independent) media community, and I couldn't thank them enough, for instance, for coming out to the Punchline and podcasting Jeff Justice's Level II workshoppe graduation night performances. They are the future: energetic, smart, informed, open and community-minded, and incredibly techno-savvy. Yep, the sharpest knives in the drawer, as a good southerner would spin it for ya. (All I want for Christmas is a GAPN thong!)

All of a sudden there are plenty of social media conferences in the works for 2007: Podcamp Atlanta and SoCon (website coming soon) for starters. Who needs SXSW when we can roll our own!

Ultimately, my feelings about marketing and public relations for social media 2006 are entirely regionally focused: within the scope of the ATL, the Dirty South, the Old South, the New South, I see a sparkly, bubbly treasure trove of growth and possibility and fabulous new media creativity for 2007.

Here in Atlanta, we've given ourselves the gift of independent media. Talk about learning to love (and trust) yourself -- and one's own personal network! You built it, you've grown it, you own it. Let us go forth and use it wisely.

Happy New Media New Year!

Best News I've Heard All Year

Hey, Michelle Malkin's goin' to Iraq! Hell yeah! Excellent news. Now set her down outside the Green Zone, roll cams, and put it out on YouTube. What a holiday gift to the lefty blogosphere. Thanks, Eason! From IraqSlogger:

Some of you have asked what's up with IraqSlogger's invitation to send Michelle Malkin to Iraq. It was a serious invitation, she accepted it, she asked if I'd also pay for her to take along Curt of the Flopping Aces blog, I said yes, and now we're working to arrange the trip.

Full story here.

I could so kick her righty ass. Bad. Hell, I could kick most of these blogosphere whimps and whiners, with my eyes closed. After all, I was the generation that de-segregated the South Carolina public school system. Say it with me, the South Carolina public, countryidiotass backwater school system. Talk about kids being the unintended victims of (adult) stupid legislation and good intentions. Jeez... least I know how to beat the crap out of someone if I need to, about the only useful bit of education to come out of that little endeavor if you ask me, which of course, no one did.

Good To Give As Well As Receive

As most of you know, to be a primo blogger not only must you write dazzlingly compelling entries on your own blog (check), you must also respond and comment (check) on other good blogs to earn your Genuine Blogger chops. Elizabeth Edwards does! But I hear Obama is dazzling huge crowds already in New Hampshire, so John Boy Edwards might have a heap of charm rivalry come '08.

B-Partisan Blog Holilday (Christmas?) Party

Red or Blue, pc or not, you gotta love bloggers who throw holiday parties. The boys at Peach Pundit are having a shindig at the new Taco Mac on Piedmont on Thursday the 14th. Details here. Hope I can make it. You too.

Hmmm... which holiday bustier shall I wear? The black or the midnight blue? I just adore having a fashion anxiety to look forward to.

Welcome All New Readers, I Gotta Run

Delighted to have any new visitors to The Spacey Gracey Review. If you flame on a vicious personal level though, you'll just be deleted. Those are my rules as this is my blog. Feel free to start your own blog and do what the heck you wish with that thang. Thanks Mouth of The South #2 (Ted's really #1) for mentioning the blog on your show yesterday. I'm delighted to, uh, "meet" some of your totally wacko listener-base. Whew! What a day it was...

Blogging today will be very lite as it's Value Village Once-A-Month-Wednesday, when all clothing is half-price. So naturally enough, I gotta go shop. If you don't get there early enough, the Hispanic ladies will have taken all the carts. Those women are some very wily shoppers.

My two-cents: never trust a fashionista who doesn't incorporate thrifting into her life. She wouldn't be real. In the meantime, be sure to browse an array of delightful topics to your right. Something for everyone! Or take a broadband bounce on over to my vlog, TrueGritz.

Quick tech note, the DVD kiosk rental throw down moves to ATLanta Wal-Marts.

A sad note... Atlanta fireman Steve Solomon has died of his injuries. Thank you Steve for your bravery and strength and devotion to the community's safety. Read more here about this and how you can support the family he left behind. And thank you Captain Keith here in the 'hood for updating our neighborhood discussion board about Solomon's condition over the past week, and bringing him closer to us that way. Because you cared enough to communicate, Steve was in our hearts and thoughts and prayers all the while.

Don't Have To Kiss Your (Editor's) Ass Anymore

The experts agree: blogging is addictive. It's addictive with an audience of 100 uniques a day. Imagine the beast you've got to feed when you're at 100K, as is writer Andrew Sullivan.

Sullivan has some wonderful insights into the liberating sensation blogging fuels the writer with, thus making blogging such a powerful and intriguing medium compared to tired old media ways:

It is addictive. I also found it just amazing, as a writer who had been in the mainstream media and actually edited a regular weekly magazine and dealt with publishers, other editors, owners, and other stuff. To actually just have yourself and your readers -- to get rid of all the people you have to basically suck up to. Not to have to suck up to anyone anymore was so liberating, especially after my five years at The New Republic, which were not marked by my obvious skills at people management.

Full piece here.

But set the content-providing thrills aside (and yes, bloggers do provide content -- valuable, marketable content) and think of the wonderful garden paths blogs send the reader traipsing down.

A quick check to a blogger pal's, Chris Boese's, blog finds that Chris used to play high school basketball against the woman who just got elected Governor of Alaska, the most oil-rich state in the nation, as Chris reminds the reader. Talk about an interesting perspective you weren't really going to find in a paper.

Surely not in the AJC as they can't even recognize a good story in their own backyard. Case in point, yesterday the AJC's most popular/most emailed story was about Shirley Franklin's response to the recent John Eaves campaign ad controversy, the same ad controversy that had become a NATIONAL conversation.

But did the AJC put the story on the front page of the print version? No! They could have scrawled The Passion of Shirley Franklin above the fold and sold a ton of papers yesterday. Instead, they put a smallish image of Newt there and a bland, uninspired story about the Mayor inside on the Metro section cover, a story that told the reader nothing about Shirley's anger and emphatic stance at the Commerce Club speech on Wednesday. You'd have thought the Mayor was just whistling Dixie at the podium from their version of it!

But in reality, she was pissed-off and fired-up, and directing that fury at a room full of aging, white, corporate and civic power-suits. I know because I was there, and blogged it.

The other thing worth noting was that the news of Shirley's fiery response was cranked-out to the public just an hour or so after it occurred, not by the AJC, but by an independent blogger.

So not only can the AJC not tell a story worth a damn, nor put a story on the front page that should be on the front page because it's part of a national conversation, they are headed for a scenario where bloggers will soon start stealing their online readership, too.

The AJC deserves every bit of its declining print readership conundrum. Why these media giants still even bother with print is beyond me. Just put out a boutique-y little thing for the old folks and go at the Internet with guns blazing. If you ask me, which of course no one did.

Good PR Firm, Good

At my request in a blog comment today, Edelman did remove my editorial from the Georgia Families For Wal-Mart site. At once. Edelman hizseff contacted me by email to honor my request. I really appreciate this responsiveness on their part, and I told 'em that they were free to put the article back on the site, if it (their site) suddenly became "more transparent."

This is the power of the blogosphere, folks. YOU now own media. You, the individual, don't you see? And all before lunch! Now everybody... shut-up and shop!

Technorati tags: Wal-Mart, Edelman, PR

ConvergeSouth

Attention all Atlanta bloggeratti, or however you'd spell that word: CovergeSouth is coming up soon. All Atlanta Media Bloggers on the Atlanta Social Media Conference committee should plan to be there Oct. 13-14.

It would be most great to have a strong Atlanta contingent in Greensboro for the conference. We need to go in laptops a'blazing. Several folks, including myself, are already registered. Sure hope to pow-wow at ConvergeSouth with our tribe and others. Register here.

Note Andrew Baron's (Rocketboom) blog entry about what videoblogging is doing to the Technorati rankings... as in sweeping 'em.