Friday, June 14, 2013

Post 45: A Sleeping With The Devil Meta Commentary

A star-studded turkey, Movie 43 is loaded with gleefully offensive and often scatological gags, but it's largely bereft of laughs ~ Rotten Tomatoes reviews the 2013 American independent anthology black comedy film co-directed and produced by Peter Farrelly.

Welcome to the 166th Sleeping With The Devil post. As of today my blog has been in existence for 7 years, 4 months and 9 days. I call this commentary Post 45 because this is my 45th post of 2013. The significance of 45 is that 45 posts is the most I have ever published in a single year. In 2012 I published 44 posts. The year after (last year) I only published 20 posts.

Other bloggers may publish far more commentaries, but I try to write only posts of significance. Posts where I state my position and make my case backed up by the facts. I do not cut and past large sections of articles by professional authors and journalists, although I may (from time to time) reference these articles and use excerpts, I try to keep the quoting to a minimum. I also try not to revisit the same topic too often, instead including everything I have to say on a topic in one post (which explains why they usually run a little long).

Now, before you say "wait I minute, I've seen posts where you transcribe lengthy sections of dialogue from TV news programs or radio shows"... Yes, I have done that, but those aren't cut and paste jobs. I actually transcribe what I've heard on programs like the Thom Hartmann radio program (5 times) or The Young Turks (as broadcast on Current)(3 times).

Regarding The Young Turks and Al Gore's Current TV, I've heard that the channel's new owners, Al Jazeera, will be jettisoning the current programming and replacing everything with their own content sometime in August. That will be six hours of programming that I watch (almost) every week day gone... which will be disappointing.

But back to discussing my blog... in addition to commentaries from a Progressive prospective, you may have noticed a number of fictional stories. Some have told me that I should move away from the stories as they don't attract readers and generate comments. And while it is true that these kind of posts (fictional stories) frequently receive absolutely no comments, so do my political commentaries. Actually, the political commentaries do sometimes receive a comment or two, and, in addition, Blogger reports that they get more hits. With the exception of a story I titled "The Famous Actress & The Scene Featuring Full Frontal Nudity".

That one gets a lot of hits for an obvious reason (even though it was published way back in October of 2011). I chose the title of the post with that in mind. Although I suspect people searching for "famous actress full frontal video" and arriving at my blog LEAVE a short while later, possibly feeling deceived. That's OK, because when I think about that I laugh a little. By the way, that post was part of a continuing storyline I call "Senior Fellow at the Progressive Ideology Foundation". That storyline is just one of a total of FIVE, which I have summarized below... in order of how many entries each has (in doing so perhaps I will attract some attention to one or more of them and generate some comments?)...

[1] Senior Fellow at the Progressive Ideology Foundation (18 entries) This narrative details my exploits as a Senior Fellow at a progressive think tank. Other characters include my adversaries, most of whom are continually seeking to do me harm. Please look to the sidebar for links to the 18 (as of the publishing of this post) entries. I currently have another entry in the works that will be published soon. The individual posts can also be brought up by clicking the label "Ridiculous".

[2] The Adventures of William the Moderate (6 entries) A story that follows the escapades of the morally bereft eponymous character. Set in a Dungeons & Dragons type universe, the last entry ended with a cliffhanger. Another installment is in the works and will be published later this month (most likely). The individual entries can be found listed in the sidebar under their own heading (The Adventures of William the Moderate) or via the label "William the Moderate".

[3] The Inceptrix (5 entries) The "Inceptrix", as explained in the most recent installment, is like a cross between the movies Inception and The Matrix. According to the Morpheus-type character I am very much like Neo, the savior of humanity. Although it is possible I am completely nuts. Click the link Inceptrix to call up all the stories in this series, or locate the list located in my sidebar.

[4] Messages (2 entries) Only 2 entries so far, but I have been working on a third, which looks like it's going to be a two parter. According to what is said in these stories, there is a possibility that they may be true! Given that there are currently only two entries, I have not yet created a scrollbox for my sidebar... but I plan to, as I have a lot of additional ideas for further entries... or expect that further far-fetched events may occur in the future that I plan to report here if and when they occur.

[5] The Bald Frog (2 entries) I'm not sure about the title of this one. I may change it later on. There is also no scrollbox in my sidebar for this story, as there are only two entries, the last one published on 5/14/2011. The current 2 entries can be found via the "bald frog" label. This was going to be a "Wind in the Willows" type fable featuring frog characters who run for political office (the title character becomes a candidate for pond vice president). I do have a third entry that is partially written. Whether or not I complete it is questionable, as I'm not sure where this story should go.

OK, so that wraps up the summary of all the fictional stories I've written for this blog. A total of 32 posts out of 166, or approximately 20 percent of all the posts published on this blog. So, if you don't like them or think I shouldn't do them if I expect to generate the traffic and comments I claim to want? I've decided I don't care, and that taking that advice would not lead to more traffic or comments. I like writing the stories so I'm going to continue writing them (and, as I already said I have several more in the works).

Finally, in regards to this "meta post", how incredibly boring, right? Yes, that may very well be true, but if you're a person who reads but does not comment... to you I say "stuff it". If you have an opinion please let me know. I want comments, be they positive or be they negative. Of course I'd prefer the positive ones, but I'll take the negative ones as well. In fact, the negative ones can be quite enjoyable, unless the person comments anonymously and just writes "you suck" (or words to that effect). Nice to know I offended someone, but some more details regarding exactly why I suck would be appreciated.

Anyway, I think I'll create a "meta" label the next time I author a meta post (that way I can link the two). That will most likely be when I reach 200 posts. That day is currently 34 posts in the future, or 1.4 posts per week... if I want to make it to 200 by the end of the year. My current rate of post composition is very close to 2 posts per week. Right now I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to keep that up, so whether or not I make it to 200 this year is not currently known. We shall see.

By the way, if you want to leave a comment in regard to this post and how much you think it sucks, be my guest. Although I'd prefer you do so while signed in with your Blogger account. Why not stand behind your insults instead of taking the chicken route? Don't be afraid, like I said earlier I welcome negative comments. But if you're reading this and liking it (not this particular post, perhaps, but maybe other ones), I'd also appreciate a comment. The anonymous option is available (and I have no plans on disallowing this commenting method), so you can use it if you don't have a Blogger account. If you do have a Blogger account it would be nice if you'd sign in first.

If you do comment, that is, which I'm sure you won't. I predict that this post will get one comment at most. In fact, I wouldn't be at all surprised if it gets zero, as it is (as I already pointed out) boring and rambles on and on. So, congratulations if you've made it this far... the end is near. Now all you have to do is compose a comment. A few words are all that is necessary... heck, I'll be satisfied with one word. All you have to do is write "yes" if you like my blog or "no" if you don't like it. That isn't hard at all, now is it? And face it, you've already wasted quite a bit of time reading to this point (if you are in fact still reading). You can't spare a few more seconds to leave a one-word comment? If you've read this far but decide not to comment I say FU.

OK, I take that back. Maybe I appreciate readers even if they don't comment? I can't decide. On one hand I like the idea of people reading and don't need the validation of actual responses, as I'm not someone yearning for adulation, but on the other hand... screw you. That's not quite as bad as FU, but still I think you are deserving of some harsh words... for depriving me of a comment AFTER reading what I took the time to write. But you probably stopped reading a LONG time ago, or never even started reading. That is the most likely scenario. But in the off chance that you are still reading... how about a comment?

SWTD #166

8 comments:

  1. Actually, if you want to generate comments, you might complementing Shaw Kenawe over at Progressive Eruptions. She seems to have a strong following of wingnuts that like to trash her on other blogs.

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    1. I have commented there. I saw your comments, didn't you see mine?

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  2. Notes and clarifications...

    When I said "I try to write only posts of significance", I meant those posts where the topic is politics. Obviously the stories aren't "of significance", nor is this post. This post in particular is of no significance at all.

    In regards to the "meta" label I said I'd hold off creating until I reached 200 posts... I realized that I have other posts the "meta" label could apply to, so I went ahead and created the label. If you click it a total of 3 posts (including this one) will be displayed.

    When I said "I wouldn't be at all surprised if [this post] gets zero [comments]", I meant comments from people other than myself. My own comments don't count. I'll be surprised if this post gets any comments from someone who isn't me. Maybe one, and possibly two (less likely), but no more. And, in saying that I'm not trying to discourage comments... so if you want to comment, please do.

    Even if you don't want to comment... if you read the entire post PLUS this comment I say you're obligated to produce a comment. Get to it!

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    1. Jerry commented while I was outside. I wrote the comment above, then let it sit there for awhile. I went outside and didn't publish it until I got back. So my reference to maybe getting one comment was made before I saw that Jerry had responded (his was the ONE I thought I might get, btw).

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  3. Yes, I know you have commented over there. What I meant was that you need to compliment her, say nice things about her, there and on your blog. It drives them crazy.

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  4. Bad news on that front Jerry. I usually agree with Shaw, but in regards to her latest post I couldn't disagree more. In fact, I was so upset regarding the conversation that I quickly dashed off a critical post for my blog. I'm going to wait until tomorrow to publish it though, as I don't like doing more than one post per day (and THIS post has already been published today).

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  5. You put to much importance in Blogger ID. Being anonymous means I do not have a blogger account, or a blog. It does not make what I say any less important, and to claim otherwise shows a closed mind. In fact I find it insulting that only if I have a blogger account do you pay attention to what is said.
    Try illustrating your points using the statements of people in power who can effect peoples lives, not some nut job like Will, or Dmarks. Your points are lost when citing idiots. I find that uninteresting, but since you don't like anonymous comments you probably find me uninteresting. Stop trying to prove how dumb the dummies are.
    It seems to bother you that people read your blog, but do not comment. That shows an egotistical need for attention, not sharing ideas with people no matter who they are, where they come from, or expecting a response as a prerequisite for reading your ideas.

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  6. Actually, I was referring to comments from people who leave insults (primarily). Some people have left generic insults using the Anonymous option, and I suspect they actually have Blogger IDs but don't want me to know who they are. I could be wrong. Anyway, if they do have a blog they obviously want to insult me without me then taking a look at their blog. I thought about disabling anonymous commenting for that reason - many other blogs have. But I'll leave it for the reason you cite - I'd don't want to disallow comments from people who don't use blogger... but I think you're the only one -- the only one who regularly comments, for sure. I've received an occasional positive comment from an Anonymous person, but it's rare.

    BTW, I'm assuming you're the anonymous commenter who said he was going to call himself "Anon-X" so I'd know who I was dealing with (this is another aspect of anonymous commenting I don't care for). Anyway, you're being insulted in regard to something I wasn't talking about. If I thought what you say you think I mean then I'd have disabled anonymous commenting already.

    But perhaps *I* should be insulted, as I thought I made it clear my reasons for wanting some feedback have nothing to do with being egotistical or needing attention. If people want to read but not comment that's fine. But I have no way of knowing if that is what is going on. I think many of the hits Blogger says I'm getting are people doing Google searches, arriving here, and then quickly realizing that THIS BLOG is what they were looking for (and quickly leaving). No comments supports that theory. I would like to know if I'm wrong... THAT is why I'm asking for comments. I can't be curious about whether anyone is actually reading or if they're coming here by mistake and quickly leaving?

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Comment moderation is not currently in effect. Your comment will appear immediately. I do not, however, allow Anonymous comments. Anyone wishing to comment MUST have a Blogger account.