How To Liveblog: Morans Need Not Apply

Howdy, friends.  This diary might get zilch traffic because I didn't put anything sexy in the title.  Well, don't come crying to me when you want to liveblog the next Sean Hannity, Lou Dobbs or John Gibson interview with Ann Coulter.

There's a lot of folks here who have been posting great Liveblogs or have volunteered to continue one, but have gotten concerned about logistics.  I am not the uber-veteran here, but have done enough to learn from the experts like donnamarie.  If you think you want to Liveblog something in the future -- save this diary somewhere for reference.

LIVEBLOGGING 101

Caveat: Do not Liveblog a Duran Duran comeback concert -- you will be embarassed by the comments.

MOTHERSHIP
 First, be available for the long-haul as you will have to update your diary with links to subsequent diaries.  

When you set up a diary for Liveblog, and you think there will be interest beyond 6 comments, your title should read something along the lines of:  "Liveblog: ABC Debate on the Benefits of Flossing -- MOTHERSHIP."  The purpose of the Mothership is a "placeholder" on the rec list so that subsequent diaries do not clutter it with the same topic.

The Mothership should describe, at the minimum, the issue/hearing/debate and provide a link to the audio/video -- optimally, more than one linked source. If you only have one, fear not, our community is great for supplying other sources. In your diary, include the following:

PLEASE RECOMMEND THIS DIARY.  Do not post pictures or videos as they will slow down the site for dial-up users.

Next, request volunteers for follow-up diaries.  Repeat the request in your second comment.  Indicate that the second diary should be posted around comment 150.

As you receive volunteers, post them in numerical order in your diary.  When each subsequent diary is posted, include a link in the Mothership to the "baby" diaries.

In your tags, make sure you include: "liveblog or liveblogging."

First comment:  Tip jar/ Please post transcripts only after this comment.
Second comment:  Please volunteer for follow-up diaries under this comment.
Be prepared for no one to pay the least bit of attention to comments one and two.

FOLLOW-UP (BABY-SHIP) DIARIES

Baby-ship diary volunteers are self-less. They get mojo -- but must forego Recommends.  Sometimes you just have to suck it up for the good of the nation.

Title:  "Liveblog # 2: ABC Debate on the Benefits of Flossing"
Change the blockquoted comment in the Mothership to:

DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS DIARY.  RECOMMEND THE MOTHERSHIP (provide the link). Repeat the annoying crap about pictures and videos.

Provide a link back to the Mothership.  Copy the tags of the Mothership.  Make sure you update volunteers.  Repeat comments one and two from the Mothership.

Cut and paste the body of the diary from the Mothership.  Add any extra material you feel like about flossing and dental care.  If you are a dentist, don't be pedantic.  

The next diary should be ready to post at 250.  Dial-up users may start begging for a new diary before that -- they should be accommodated.

Simple -- even a Kossack can do it!

•  Mothership tip jar. n/t

  by gchaucer2 on Sat May 03, 2008 at 02:05:20 PM PDT

  •  liveblogging tip:

    spell title of thread correctly

    by goodlittlesquid on Sat May 03, 2008 at 02:08:08 PM PDT

    •  um, I guess you don't

      know the moran joke here.  I don't have a link to the picture but someone might provide it for you.

      by gchaucer2 on Sat May 03, 2008 at 02:09:05 PM PDT

      •  .

        

        by Lava20 on Sat May 03, 2008 at 02:10:21 PM PDT

        •  Thank you, Lava20

          I thought everyone knew this picture by now.  I never cease to have a hearty guffaw.

          by gchaucer2 on Sat May 03, 2008 at 02:11:13 PM PDT

          •  This used to be my favorite...

            but I have a new one from Rian.  George Bush found a cat!!!!!
            

            Thanks Rian!

            by Lava20 on Sat May 03, 2008 at 02:15:43 PM PDT

            •  Oh, dear Lord!

              That is unbelievable.  I'm bookmarking for further amusement.  Thank you.

              by gchaucer2 on Sat May 03, 2008 at 02:16:50 PM PDT

            •  That's a keeper alright.

              by lineatus on Sat May 03, 2008 at 02:41:10 PM PDT

              •  Those poor Morans.

                What an unfairly maligned family. As unfortunate as all those Cretans.

                by LanceBoyle on Sat May 03, 2008 at 03:42:27 PM PDT

        •  An American icon nt

          by ActivistGuy on Sat May 03, 2008 at 02:15:53 PM PDT

        •  We Found His Mom

          

          by The Baculum King on Sat May 03, 2008 at 02:26:09 PM PDT

          •  Bwaaaahaaa!!!

            H.L. Mencken is pissed he isn't around.

            by gchaucer2 on Sat May 03, 2008 at 02:27:53 PM PDT

            •  Very Shallow Gene Pool There...

              by The Baculum King on Sat May 03, 2008 at 02:29:21 PM PDT

            •  HL Mencken is spinning in his grave...

              whether from anger or amusement we aren't yet sure, but either way, we're tapping the rotational energy for about 10 kWe.

              by PeterHug on Sat May 03, 2008 at 05:36:08 PM PDT

          •  I am soooo steeling this!

            LOL!

            by Lava20 on Sat May 03, 2008 at 02:51:54 PM PDT

          •  Another favorite:

            

            by mem from somerville on Sat May 03, 2008 at 03:02:50 PM PDT

            •  Christ

              white people are really stoopid sometimes (I'm a white people).

              by gchaucer2 on Sat May 03, 2008 at 03:04:21 PM PDT

          •  wow, now that is funny!! n/t

            by a girl in MI on Sat May 03, 2008 at 04:32:02 PM PDT

          •  that's offal. n/t

            by beabea on Sat May 03, 2008 at 10:27:49 PM PDT

    •  Actually, I think you meant to type

      spell title of diary correctly.  Ya see, the thread follows the diary so the thread really never has title, just the diary.

      Mmmmkay?

      by MTmofo on Sat May 03, 2008 at 02:40:00 PM PDT

      •  Heh, thanks

        MTmofo.  

        by gchaucer2 on Sat May 03, 2008 at 02:44:13 PM PDT

  •  Awesome diary, my fireblogging friend

    I am reading it from the San Diego area, where I am visiting my precious nieces.  The signs of the fire are still so evident.  Empty lots, burned trees . . . you can still see here, at my brother's house, how close the fire came . . . literally feet from the front door.  Bless the heroic firefighters.

    Thank you for this diary.

    Two more tips:

    Tip One: Do NOT pimp the mothership in a Kos diary unless you are dressed in full pimp paraphenalia and asbestos underwear.

    Tip Two: Be kind.  Especially if it is a liveblog of several days (as in, the infamous fireblogs) -- don't disrupt with unnecessary comments, don't post unnecessary opinions about side-issues.  If you don't care about the topic, go somewhere else.

    Love, noweasels

    by noweasels on Sat May 03, 2008 at 11:06:16 PM PDT

    •  This?

      Tip One: Do NOT pimp the mothership in a Kos diary unless you are dressed in full pimp paraphenalia and asbestos underwear.

      Unless you are Remebering Jello.

      by donnamarie on Sun May 04, 2008 at 03:48:12 AM PDT

    •  Thanks, noweasels

      I am probably going to post another one in a month and will correct it with your and donnamaries most excellent suggestions.  

      by gchaucer2 on Sun May 04, 2008 at 02:03:38 PM PDT

•  What's a Moran? Like a Klingan but different?

  by hideinplainsight on Sat May 03, 2008 at 02:07:34 PM PDT

  •  A DKos joke

    as in a picture of a dude with a sign that says:  "Get a Brain Morans."

    by gchaucer2 on Sat May 03, 2008 at 02:09:44 PM PDT

    •  I thought he might have meant Marranos...

      and I was insulted.  That is the epithet given to the Jews in Spain during the inquisition who pretended to have converted to Christianity.  The word means Pig.

      And since we are on to semantics.  Moron, which most people take to be an epithet for someone who is mentally challenged, had once been a technical term to describe a degree of congenital cognitive incapacity.

      Then around the 1960s, it was replaced by mental retardation, which I imagine is no longer an acceptable term.
      -------
      Are you impressed.  This was to show that I ain't no Moran.

      by arodb on Sat May 03, 2008 at 02:16:59 PM PDT

      •  Yikes, I didn't know

        about the epithet -- and I am quite confident the dude in the picture didn't either.  Are those Jews the Sephardic Jews?  I have a friend who remembers her Catholic grandmother practicing rituals from Seder meals at holidays.  The inquisition -- one of the multiple tragedies in human history.  Thanks for an educational moment.

        by gchaucer2 on Sat May 03, 2008 at 02:20:54 PM PDT

        •  Her Catholic Mother...

          practicing Jewish rituals would indicate this was her history. I hadn't heard that the residue of this time is still in existence.

          There had been many Jews in Spain before this time, as there was pretty complete acceptance.  It was the inquisition that lead to the dispersion to other European lands.

          I guess you can trace it as one of the events leading to the Holocaust.

          by arodb on Sat May 03, 2008 at 02:28:35 PM PDT

          •  So many horrible events

            in Christianity that lead to the Holocaust.  Yes, this woman used to put on a veil (like one we used to wear to church), light candles, and say a prayer before the meal.  Lovely image for me -- a Catholic.  Heartbreaking, as well.

            by gchaucer2 on Sat May 03, 2008 at 02:30:56 PM PDT

      •  Now people use

        developmental disability.  Some people improvise with "mentally challenged", but the phrase is considered kinda' goofy.  'Cuz aren't we all mentally challenged from time to time?

        There's still an organization called the Association of Mentally Retarded Adults, I think. Or close to that.

        by ozarkspark on Sat May 03, 2008 at 10:30:43 PM PDT

  •  link to the pic...

    and a definition at urban dictionary.

    by Wide Awake in NJ on Sat May 03, 2008 at 02:14:58 PM PDT

    •  Thanks, Wide Awake!

      Haaaa!  Didn't realize it had made the urban dictionary.  The guy is a legend!

      by gchaucer2 on Sat May 03, 2008 at 02:15:43 PM PDT

•  I wonder if that guy with the sing

  knows how famus he is.

  by lisastar on Sat May 03, 2008 at 02:17:32 PM PDT

  •  Heh, there's famous

    and there's infamous.

    by gchaucer2 on Sat May 03, 2008 at 02:22:06 PM PDT

  •  what r u drying to say?

    by Colorado Billy on Sat May 03, 2008 at 04:52:08 PM PDT

•  I believe it is spelled....

  maroon.

  by Floyd T Barber on Sat May 03, 2008 at 02:19:46 PM PDT

  •  Clearly the dude in the

    picture never watched cartoons.

    by gchaucer2 on Sat May 03, 2008 at 02:21:25 PM PDT

•  This moran doesn't but might some day, thanks n/t

  by sceptical observer on Sat May 03, 2008 at 02:21:50 PM PDT

  •  Clearly you are not a moran

    so you will be quite capable when the occasion arises.

    by gchaucer2 on Sat May 03, 2008 at 02:22:52 PM PDT

•  Thanks, gchaucer...

  I just suffered a serious setback with an already sensitive tooth when I saw the "edscan dentistry" tag.

  & no health insurance, to boot!

  by birds and bees on Sat May 03, 2008 at 02:41:45 PM PDT

  •  Oh, dear, b and b

    Here's a tip -- oil of oregano is your friend.  I've used it for more things than I can count, but it is perfect for sensitive teeth.  

    by gchaucer2 on Sat May 03, 2008 at 02:43:14 PM PDT

    •  Thanks, I'll make a note of it...

      can't have to many home remedies in today's economy!

      by birds and bees on Sat May 03, 2008 at 02:50:06 PM PDT

      •  It is an incredible cure

        for bacteria and fungus related ailments.  It is the primary "medication" in my house.

        by gchaucer2 on Sat May 03, 2008 at 02:51:21 PM PDT

•  Is Duran Duran really making a comeback?

  Please tell me EVERYTHING ABOUT IT!!!

  by Fortschreitend on Sat May 03, 2008 at 02:46:09 PM PDT

  •  Watch for my next

    Liveblog -- I live dangerously!

    by gchaucer2 on Sat May 03, 2008 at 02:46:52 PM PDT

  •  They have been.

    Hey! I like Duran Duran! :D

    by FishBiscuit on Sat May 03, 2008 at 03:45:51 PM PDT

•  Thanks for putting this together gchaucer2

  This is quite helpful for us neophytes. Thanks for sharing your knowledge/experience.
  BTW, what's edscan denistry? :-}

  by BigVegan on Sat May 03, 2008 at 02:46:36 PM PDT

  •  You are welcome and

    I hope you will take a shot sometime with a Liveblog.  

    edscan is our resident haikuish diarist extraordinaire and always has "unusual" tags.  He/she has become my tag inspiration.

    by gchaucer2 on Sat May 03, 2008 at 02:48:14 PM PDT

  •  Oh, one more thing

    and belated -- welcome to DKos!!!

    by gchaucer2 on Sat May 03, 2008 at 02:49:02 PM PDT

•  Having semi-botched my first try by posting

  my baby diary too early (we were able to salvage, thankfully), I think I'm better set to try again.  

  I'd make one suggestion for mothershippers - it's nice to email diary text to the baby diarists so they can put their diaries together more quickly - especially if there are a lot of links.  Baby diarists can still take the original text and customize/update it to suit their style.

  by lineatus on Sat May 03, 2008 at 02:49:29 PM PDT

  •  You did a great job on

    your first liveblog.  I'm a computer idiot so donnamarie would be better suited re: the email concept.  I remember during the Wildfire Liveblog we had a tremendous amount of links and someone figured out how to transfer them easily to the next diarist.  Will do an update diary when I find out the trick.

    You were wonderful in jumping in as a volunteer on that liveblog -- thank you again.

    by gchaucer2 on Sat May 03, 2008 at 02:54:09 PM PDT

    •  Well, the second time will certainly be easier.

      I don't know who's responsible for FAQs, but maybe the liveblog section could be updated with some of the info you've posted here.  The current version doesn't include anything about motherships, for example.

      by lineatus on Sat May 03, 2008 at 03:00:53 PM PDT

      •  The Mothership idea was

        invented by donnamarie and a couple of other users during the Wildfire Liveblogs -- it miraculously worked with a bunch of kinks for over 100 hours.  It is one of the better inventions on this site -- for which I take no credit -- I'm a beneficiary.

        by gchaucer2 on Sat May 03, 2008 at 03:03:18 PM PDT

        •  I wanna say that the "Mothership' concept

          predates the fireblogs- seems to me that it was used for some of the more, um, kabuki oversight hearings back around the mid-term.

          For the fireblogs, we were just e-mailing around a .txt file of the raw html for the links- you could copy/paste into the diary draft, add a header and a title, and hit publish @ 200 comments. More complicated file types always ended up w/ markup errors. Chose .txt over .doc because not everybody has MsWord compatible editor- but ya can cut up a .txt w/ anything.

          Very handy for diarists to add an e-mail address to their profile page.

          Pretty much worked, 'cept when it didn't.

          by Remembering Jello on Sat May 03, 2008 at 05:07:36 PM PDT

          •  Thank you!!

            I couldn't remember what worked when trying to copy a diary.  I KNOW just putting the text directly into an e-mail didn't work!  I gave you a shout-out upthread too, TeeHee.

            by donnamarie on Sun May 04, 2008 at 04:01:21 AM PDT

        •  Credit

          Cedwyn is the one who came up with the Mothership concept and created the UID Liveblog.  She let Kos know that Liveblog was not a sockpuppet and explained to him how we were going to use that UID.  Several of us have the password for Liveblog so one person was not responsible for monitoring a liveblog for a lengthy session.

          I'm going to go check out the proper tags for a liveblog and I'll post below.  

          Thank you SO MUCH for doing this, gchaucer2!  All of your tips were spot on!

          by donnamarie on Sun May 04, 2008 at 03:59:39 AM PDT

          •  Thanks, donnamarie

            I truly feel remiss for not crediting Cedwyn.  Next How to will include all of your and noweasels' instructions.

            by gchaucer2 on Sun May 04, 2008 at 02:06:15 PM PDT

•  ABC debate on benefits of flossing

  "But do you wear a flag pin when you floss?"

  "Does Jeremiah Wright floss afer his arugala and latte?"

  "Does your dentist love America as much as you do?"

  by Tara the Antisocial Social Worker on Sat May 03, 2008 at 08:45:22 PM PDT

  •  Hey, you listened to

    the debate and we didn't even actually liveblog it!  Kudos, Tara!  Thanks for stopping by.

    by gchaucer2 on Sat May 03, 2008 at 08:47:44 PM PDT

•  Nice job, gchaucer.

  One thing you forgot -- if you sign up for a baby blog during the late hours, be prepared to nap in your chair as the wee hour diaries slow down.

  Fortunately there are always enough night owls around to fill a slot for those who need to sleep.

  by Over the Edge on Sat May 03, 2008 at 11:25:16 PM PDT

•  But I thought that

  "Hungry Like the Wolf" was actually pretty good, especially the very obscene fadeout.  Sorry, this left, fifth finger is still crapping out on me.  Warmest regards, Doc.

  by Translator on Sun May 04, 2008 at 03:26:16 AM PDT

•  This is GREAT

  Again, thank you, gchaucer2!

  It looks like the tag is Live Blogging.  2 words.  And the Mothership should use the tag Mothership.

  And the Mothership predates the fireblogs.  The fireblogs were an amazing thing.

  I have a bunch of liveblogs in my profile if anyone wants to take a look.  UID Liveblog has some too.

  And for you dear gchaucer2, fellow cat herder:
  

  by donnamarie on Sun May 04, 2008 at 04:06:19 AM PDT

•  Tags

  In additiion to the Live Blogging tag, I've added the learning tag so it gets picked up in the Saturday teaching/learning diary.

  Also posted a pimp in Mojo Friday for this diary, gchaucer2.

  by donnamarie on Sun May 04, 2008 at 04:12:19 AM PDT

  •  Thanks, donnamarie

    I'm late checking in -- was out for most of the day.  Thank you!

    by gchaucer2 on Sun May 04, 2008 at 01:58:37 PM PDT

    •  Nice how-to, gchaucer!

      And that's one of the best tags I've ever seen...heh.

      by Matt Keener on Mon May 05, 2008 at 06:30:28 AM PDT