Chinese democracy
See one, feel one, touch one
December 8, 2006 21 comments
Voting has opened for the 2006 Weblog Awards, for which unspeak.net is shortlisted in the Best UK Blog category. You are allowed to vote every 24 hours, until December 15 when the polls close, so please vote early and vote often. Thanks!
Is the subtitle to this post a reference to a 1982 Multi-Coloured Swap Shop spin-off single, which reached the top 20 in January 1982? Also in the charts that month (I note with a sigh): “Golden Brown”, “Land of Make Believe”, “Dead Ringer”, “Ant Rap”, “It Must Be Love”, and, perhaps most sublimely, Abba’s “One of Us”.
I am 35 today.
Happy Birthday.
Happy birthday DF!
You have the subtitle reference exactly. What an amazing chart month that was.
(I just wanna be a winner)
Just a little Weblog please,
(I just wanna be a winner)
or a box of CBEs,
(I just wanna be a winner)
I wouldn’t mind if it was Nobel,
(I just wanna be a winner)
Even Steven would serve me well.
See one, feel one, touch one,
See one, feel one, touch one,
See one, feel one, win an award
Such as perhaps a little Weblog Award
(For argument’s sake).
Is the Swap Shop reference meant to subtly imply that this nomination has come your way via the Cosmic Ordering Service?
I only recently learned about the Cosmic Ordering Service, via John Humphrys’s new book. Sounds rather good if it works.
Tragically, it looks like the blogs with the biggest readerships are running away with this voting lark, though.
I’ll vote for Unspeak over any of the other candidates. Especially Samizdata – check out their support for Pinochet’s killing regime.
Absolutely shocking that such a site should be up for an award.
Steven,
“Tragically, it looks like the blogs with the biggest readerships are running away with this voting lark, though.” Are you sure it’s “tragic”?
A very pertinent question, sw. There is a section in Unspeak all about dubious political invocations of the concept of tragedy. Here, though, it is about as appropriate as could be: in the special sense, of course, of that used in Alanis Morrissette’s marvellous song “Isn’t It Tragic?” – which, if it has not yet been recorded, I’m sure soon will be.
“It’s like an ink stain on a brand new shirt,
a puddle of mud, when you’re expecting dirt,
It’s spilled milk all over the floor
Isn’t it tragic . . . don’t you think?”
I quite like Slugger O’Toole, but go Unspeak!
but…[sighs]…I have a dark, weary feeling that this kind of procedure – unexplained, unchallengeable nominations from on high; pernickety rules for ‘fairness’ which ill-conceal the fundamental unfairness of it all; the strong elbows of the strong; etc. etc… – is actually is a very exact vision of democracy’s spectacular future… Future? Hell, present.
Hmm. Maybe I’ll go have a cup of tea.
As far as I can tell, there was no prize, other than that you would have been allowed to have that tacky graphic screwing up your site design for a year, and to have Unspeak listed on a list of the other winners, most of whom appear to be absolutely frightful. As I once said to someone high up in the Groucho Club “I would never want to be a member of a club that had a twat like you on the membership committee”.
What’s more depressing the fact that the top one (at the moment) is a full frontal apology for murder and torture (samizdata) or that the one currently in second starts: ‘Do Australian men take Ashes cricket a bit too seriously?’ (normblog)
dsquared, your concern for the site aesthetics is comforting. I’m with lamentreat on this being democracy as we know it.
Sorry for absence of new posts, readers. Have a week of meetings and parties.
It’s a tough life Steven!
And work. I should have mentioned the work. I have work to do. Honest.
I would refer people to Jesus’ General, to which there is a link on the sidebar; The General’s Inner Frenchman discusses the blog awards and makes some recommendations. Unfortunately, he makes no reference to Best UK Blog category, probably because most Europeans are French. However, his views on soy and the efforts of one town to prevent a Menorah from being put up with other Christmas decorations should make it all worthwhile.
One possible prize is new readers.
If there are any new readers, practitioners of neijia or otherwise, welcome!
Thanks to everyone who voted and helped me to win the coveted eighth place. The nasty logo is gone now.
I’m surprised you haven’t said, “It was an honour just to be nominated among such exceptional competition”. Anyway, 8th out of millions isn’t too shabby.
On the other hand, what a shocking week! The weblog awards and the Ashes.
It was an honour just to be a finalist along with, er, some of the other finalists.
Luckily I don’t give a toss about the cricket.