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Monday, April 30, 2012

On Blogs and Blogging

Alright, it's Monday and you might be asking yourself "where is the election coverage I was promised?" If you are asking that thank you for reading last Tuesday's post. After much consideration I have decided that there are much better places to find election coverage than here and that since I am assuming my readers are at least reasonably intelligent, you will go there.

So what will I post about on Mondays? Anything, everything whatever I find interesting on that day and feel like writing about.

So today I am going to discuss blogs themselves, why do people write them and why do other people read them?

There are blogs out there on quite literally every imaginable topic. A quick search will find discussions on knitting, cooking, animal husbandry, math, politics, and which Star Trek Captain is best. The Internet has allowed anyone with an opinion to share it instantly and some of those opinions are even read by others.

As I started putting this blog together I was asked by a friend to include a "blogroll" a list of blogs I like and then perhaps they in turn would list me on theirs. As I began the process (which is started but far from complete) I realized that the vast majority of people I know have blogs of their own.

I am reminded of a comic I read back in the mid eighties (When Cable TV started to become very widespread) that stated "By the year 2000 there will be over 15,000 TV stations. How will you ever decide what to watch?" The other character then replied: "No one will watch anything, we will all be too busy appearing on each other's talk shows" In some ways I feel blogging has fulfilled that prophecy.

The end result is a gigantic "blogosphere" in which we each strive to have our voices heard above the din, and hope that maybe just once, we can say something that is important to at least one other person. Most of us won't. A rare few become superstars. Even more will shine brightly for a moment and then crush themselves under the weight of their own success.

I thank you all for joining me as we learn together exactly what kind of blog this one will end up being.


P.S. I was asked if I would be responding to posted comments. For the time being the answer to that is "no" Someone I once counted as a friend and mentor began posting too many comments on his own blog and that was the first step on a path that lead to his ruin. I would like to avoid that.

Friday, April 27, 2012

Tonsils, iPads and Doctor Who

Two major events occurred in our family recently: my youngest had her tonsils out and we bought an iPad. One of the first things I did with the iPad was to connect it to my Netflix account so that my children could watch movies on it from time to time. A few weeks after we had the iPad, my youngest had her tonsils removed. While recovering she would spend hours watching the iPad. As she is a fairly young person I figured that she might be watching Spongebob or My Little Pony or something along those lines. I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered she was not watching any of those, she was in fact watching Doctor Who.

Doctor Who was always one of my favorites as a kid and I have fond memories of being curled up on my Dad's lap watching it together. I was thrilled that I would be able to share this with my child. Words cannot describe my wonder at being able to sit with my daughter and watch the show I had watched with my Dad all those years ago.

Now Doctor Who has become an important part of my relationship with my Daughter. We go to the Comic Book store to search for collectibles. We scour the net for previews and info on the coming season. We cried together when we learned that Amy Pond would be leaving the show this fall. We cringed in terror when the Astronaut killed the Doctor last season.

Doctor Who is a show that I would recommend to anyone anyway, but it has been made all the more special by being able to share it with my Daughter.


Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Fake but Accurate News of the Day

Republican Primaries- In a quiet ceremony in New Hampshire Paul and Gingrich met with Romney where he officially handed them their asses. According to reports the asses were tastefully wrapped in blue paper with a red ribbon on top. Paul seemed confused by the event citing several Internet polls in which he had received 2000% of the vote, while Gingrich asked for the location of the nearest pawnshop and asked how much Romney thought his ass might be worth.

Secret Service Sex Scandal- Obama appoints former President Bill Clinton head of an investigative panel. Clinton vows to keep pushing until the Hooker Problem is licked. He added that he was more than willing to go undercover if needed.

Global Warming- Shortly after stating that he had falsely contributed to "Global Warming Hysteria" and calling out others for doing the same, Gaia Theory creator James Lovelock was found beaten to death outside a massive Tennessee Estate. No suspects at this time, however the murder weapon appears to be a Hockey Stick adorned with a Peace Prize medal.

Unemployment- Debbie Stevens of N.Y. was fired shortly after giving her boss a Kidney. She stated that if she had to do it over again she would go with a fruit basket instead.

Immigration- Mexican Immigration has fallen to zero for the first time since the great depression.  Local Gardener and former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson was interviewed as he snuck across the border into Mexico. "Due to the drug war there are a lot of openings in the cartels. I am hoping to get an entry level job as a pusher or mule and maybe work my way up to enforcer. It is a lot more promising than the US job market." he stated before swimming across the Rio Grande.

John Edwards- Trial got underway this week for former Democrat Vice Presidential Nominee John Edwards. In the opening statement his lawyer stated "What? It's not like he diddled an intern in the Oval Office."



FNN- All the news that's fit to wrap.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Day One

OK so you read the little "Hello World" thing I wrote yesterday and you have come back for more? (Or you are still hopelessly looking in the wrong place for cat videos.) Well now the pressure is on, I mean I have to come up with something clever right away otherwise you are bound to go look for a more informative blog or funnier blog  or may decide to check out those cat videos yourself. The problem is not a lot has happened in the last day. I mean I could make fun of Obama eating a dog, but that has been done to death. I could talk about the Colombian Hooker Scandal, but there is no new info on that and it is pretty well covered. George Zimmerman got out of jail on bond Monday morning, but that story is not particularly funny.

Other topics that come to mind are too easy for a lengthy post:

Gas prices? Too damn high, next topic.

Unemployment? Too damn high.

Obama's approval rating? Too damn high.

I think you see where that is going. So, no topic for today. Instead I will tease you with a preview of things to come:

Mondays: Discussion of Politics and upcoming elections including the Recall in Wisconsin

Wednesdays: Fake News. Completely made up crap that I find entertaining at the time. May or may not relate to actual news stories of the day.

Fridays: Popular Culture, discussion of books, movies, TV or theater that I happened to enjoy recently. May or may not be interesting to readers.

Breaking News with commentary as it warrants.

So that is the plan. I hope you return often and bring some friends. However, if this sort of thing does not appeal to you well then here are some kittens.

Monday, April 23, 2012

Hello World

Welcome to my little blog.

You may be asking yourself "What is the Fish News Network?" You may also be asking yourself "How did I wind up here when I was not trying to find a blog, I was looking for some nice cat videos?"  To those of you asking the first question I will try to answer below. To those of you that asked the second question you probably stopped reading some time ago anyway.

So, what is the Fish News Network?

Good question. The truth is we will learn what it is together. My hope is that it will be a place for me to share my perspective on news items and current events. As I am more than a little bit snarky and sarcastic by nature you should expect my perspective to be along those lines.

I will make an effort to point out the bits that are completely fake, however I do expect my readers to have a sense of humor and not need to be lead by the hand at all times.

All comments will be moderated for the time being. Offensive, pointless or boring comments will not be posted.

So I hope you enjoy. (If you don't I won't care or know and frankly there is a better than even chance I will forget my password and stop updating this in a week or so.)