Yesterday I was actually able to tie a number of articles about unexpected change together — you did read it, didn’t you? Today, no such luck. So here goes…
- Dearth of Comments. As someone who writes long blog posts, I always wonder if people didn’t read them. After all, we’re in the TL;DR generation — people only comment on short Facebook posts, tweets, and tumbled pictures, right? Andrew Ducker on LJ alerted me to an interesting article on this phenomenon: The Guardian publishes stats on the size of their commenting community. It turns out that only a small percentage of readers comments, and of that small percentage, the comments are dominated by a small number of posters. So, if you read news articles and always see the same crazies, that’s why. That’s also probably why those of us with blogs see so little comments, or it’s always the same folks. So c’mon, join the commenting pool. It’s less frightening than a delurk week.
- Growing Up in Porn. There was a very interesting article in the SF Chronicle about Liberty Bradford Mitchell, the daughter of one of the Mitchell Brothers (of porn fame) on what it was like to grow up in an environment where there was porn all around. She turned out pretty well, and it is interesting how her environment shaped her world view. Hint: the shaping came less from the porn, and more from the 1960s hippie outlook.
- Wearing a Costume. A post on weirdjews on LJ alerted me to an interesting set of costumes at Walmart. These include (stereotypical) grand rabbis, Jewish mothers, Jewish high priests, and various Orthodox garb. Odd to see this reduced to caricature, but if the Simpsons can do it. Related to this was an interesting take from the Kveller blog: What’s a Jewish Costume?
- Harvey House. I always love to visit Union Station downtown, and look at the Harvey House that is seemingly frozen in time. Perhaps not for much longer… Union Station is seeking an operator for the restaurant space.
- Protecting Copyright. An interesting article from NPR on copyright in Europe, and why it is prompting people like Bob Dylan to do limited release of music from the vaults… in order to extend copyright 20 years. Ah, the law of unintended consequences.
- Prices Going Up. Lastly, something that doesn’t surprise me: DirecTV to Increase Prices an Average of 4.5% Starting in February.
I’ve heard from the time I started using dial-up bbses in the 80s that for every 100 readers / users a site has, that site might receive 1 to 5 comments. I do read; I just don’t always find it necessary to comment.
It’s like saying “I love you”. I want what I say to mean something.
The Naughty Nun costume has been out there for years. Is the Randy Rabbi really all that much of a surprise?
Yes, but Walmart didn’t have the Randy Rabbi. They were more stereotypical Orthodox styles. (I do know a number of good looking rabbis, but they don’t come across as that naughty. I guess that would be a question for “Mr. Lucky”, which I’m told is the name for the husband of a rabbi). At least that’s what Ari, Rabbi Sheryl’s husband, told me 🙂