From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE...
Jotter...International Man of Mystery
"I'm 57, I have a PhD in biochemistry. I'm no longer in the lab, it's all computational biology now. I'm originally from Tennessee, and have lived in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1980."
So begins the six-volume, 1,016-page epic saga of the Kossack whose daily High Impact Diaries reach the uppermost echelons of Echelonia. In our latest installment of our interview series, Yes, We're All Staring at YOU!, Jotter takes a seat in the beanbag chair...
How long have you been blogging at Daily Kos and what first attracted you to it?
I started exploring the political blogosphere in 2002-2003, for the usual reasons (good god, I'm not alone!), and rapidly came across Daily Kos. I read the site for a good long while (I saw the transfer to Scoop) before registering in November 2003. Comments only until July 2004, when my first timid post recommending a recent article by Kurt Vonnegut garnered all of two commenters---Maryscott [O'Connor] and Malacandra. It seems timely to revisit that article now. Mr Vonnegut concludes with: "We are all addicts of fossil fuels in a state of denial, about to face cold turkey. And like so many addicts about to face cold turkey, our leaders are now committing violent crimes to get what little is left of what we're hooked on." Too bad Kurt was so ill-informed.
You're the author of the popular daily diary called "High Impact Diaries." It's widely rumored that many people try to sleep their way to the #1 spot, and more than a few have gone clinically insane once they reached the top. How does it feel being the Casey Kasem of Daily Kos?
It was a little disturbing to have Armando drop by frequently and shout FRAUD! at the top of his voice. Maybe that's where the rumors started?
You flatter me by comparison---Casey Kasem certainly made a career out of his lists, I'm just doing what I can do for this community. Other people have the content thing down better than I could aspire to. The "Top o' the Charts" competition using the high impact list as a score card, while a heap of fun from time to time, is not really why they are there. I'm gratified by the reports that people find them useful for keeping track of "what happened" on the site, and for getting caught up when they have to be absent for a while. But many people seem to like the sporting aspect, so let them enjoy.
How do you determine the impact of a given diary?
Gee, Bill, funny you should ask that! As you know, the impact measure attempts to combine both recommendations and comments into a single number. Rather than go into detail about the calculation (I'm afraid everyone would click away, click away), suffice it to say that your work serves as the standard for comparison. Impact is defined relative to Cheers & Jeers in the first 13 weeks of 2005, before you ascended to the front page. It seemed only right and proper to call the unit of impact "bharns". And so it is. Impact first made its appearance in this diary. Those really interested can go there to get the first chapter of the story (of which there are several more).
What is the highest-impact diary of all time?
I'll give you the fish, and teach you to fish too. But caveats first. Since impact requires both recommendations and comments, there isn't any available number for diaries produced before the recommendation system was finalized. There were no great numbers of recommendations until Kos put up a notice about it Aug 10, 2004.
And then there is impact inflation. As more people show up and participate, the average impact of the top diaries goes up. So it is probably best to list top diaries per year for each year:
- I Hate to Interrupt, But... by Keith Olbermann (1/14/08---1,675 recommends, 1,598 comments, Impact = 18.58)
- Gore-ville UPDATE: Gore Knows by Mike Stark (2/11/07---1,475 recommends, 695 comments, Impact = 15.65)
- Updated: Florida machines flipflopping votes to GOP already by Cream City (10/30/06---1,283 recommends, 875 comments, Impact = 13.83)
- The. Biggest. Scandal. Ever! Phony Front Companies Cycle Millions to GOP! House Staffer, DELAY by Sherlock Google (12/10/05---812 recommends, 389 comments, Impact = 8.65)
- NATIONAL! The smoking gun on voter registration fraud: Nathan Sproul by Bob Johnson (10/13/04---425 recommends, 217 comments, Impact = 4.56)
- Rock the Vote: Discuss the debate by Marisacat (11/05/03---[Recommends didn't exist then], 463 comments, Impact = .79)
If just one per year isn't enough---and really, it isn't---use search to find more. Set the time limits to encompass your year of interest, sort by impact, use sid=2005 (or whatever year you want). Like this.
What kind of music makes you feel invincible to the GOP horde?
Oh the usual stuff, Corelli, Motown, Tom Petty, John Coltrane, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, that sort of thing. And of course almost anything that Land of Enchantment drops off. Here's a book recommendation or two: This is Your Brain on Music, and Musicophilia.
Finish this sentence: In the kitchen I make a mean...
Negroni. In my defense, the bar is close to the kitchen.
What do you do for fun when you're not workin' the blogs?
My work---analysis of gene expression and gene amplification---is my fun, mostly. Also some spectator art; season subscriptions to theatre (Berkeley Rep, ACT), and music (Philharmonia Baroque). Some sailing when I get the chance. Extensive fooling around on the computer. Python.
No waffling here: dogs or cats?
Have I shown you my pictures of Benjamin the Wonder Cat? Pull up a chair. Hey...where ya going? Okay, maybe later.
What are your favorite blogs besides Daily Kos?
I used to have other favorite blogs, but I no longer have the time. I hardly have time for Daily Kos. What did I used to look at? Atrios, TPM, Juan Cole, Making Light, Rick Hasen's Election Law Blog, Dave Niewert, Real Clear Politics (just for the numbers, ya know),
I have one question left, but Hotel Erotica just came on the TV. Please ask and answer the final question yourself...
Who else has Bill interviewed?
Result Interviewee Date
1 Adam B 01/21/2008
2 BarbinMD 12/27/2007
3 SusanG 03/24/2008
4 DarkSyde 01/14/2008
5 Meteor Blades 03/17/2008
6 McJoan 01/07/2008
7 DavidNYC 05/20/2008
8 Georgia10 02/04/2008
9 Plutonium Page 01/29/2008
10 Devilstower 02/25/2008
11 Kagro X 04/07/2008
12 Trapper John 02/12/2008
13 Miss Laura 02/19/2008
14 Smintheus 12/17/2007
15 Scout Finch 12/11/2007
Next: A Kossack who dreams of the day when humans harness electrical power from brie.
Cheers and Jeers starts in There's Moreville... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Monday June 23, 2008
Note: Aren’t you glad the British didn’t opt instead to pass a Writ of Habeas Corpse? Yick.
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By the Numbers:
Days 'til the general election: 124
Days 'til the Rock the Valley Music Festival in Madawaska: 10
Number of Americans who say they're vegetarians: 7.3 million
Percent of them who have been vegetarian for more than 10 years: 57%
(Source: Harris survey via USA Today)
Mainers who felt they were "worse off" a year ago: 30%
Percent who feel worse off today: 55%
(Source: Market Decisions survey)
Number of rocks in Steny Hoyer's head: 152 (plus 349 pebbles)
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Your Monday Texan As A Second Language Lesson
Brought to you by the 2008 Netroots Nation Convention in Austin July 17-20:
If a man’s from Texas, he’ll tell you. If he’s not, why embarrass him by asking?
---John Gunther
(Translation: Shush.)
Say this phrase three times out loud before you go to bed and you'll be fluent in Texan in no time!
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Puppy Pic of the Day: If Martin Van Buren came back as Marley the Brittany spaniel.
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BIG CHEERS to George Carlin. All you have to do is look at his numbers to get an idea of his success as an envelope-pushing comedian:
He produced 23 comedy albums, 14 HBO specials, three books, a couple of TV shows and appeared in several movies, from his own comedy specials to Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure in 1989... He won four Grammy Awards, each for best spoken comedy album, and was nominated for five Emmy awards. On Tuesday, it was announced that Carlin was being awarded the 11th annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
Carlin died yesterday at 71. His last words: "Carrot Top survives..."
CHEERS to cool science. I think I stopped being impressed with technology when I spent six hours bawling over the genius of the first automatic-flush toilets. But I gotta say, I'm really amazed at what scientists can do these days. They actually emailed a software patch tens of millions of miles to the Mars lander to take care of a small glitch. Apparently it was sending NASA employees' bank account numbers to Nigerian princes in its spare time. Naughty.
JEERS to weird science. I was born and raised in Mount Vernon, Ohio, a lovely little town of 14,000 that is small-town America personified. But it doesn’t entirely surprise me that a teacher---yeah, a science teacher---got busted at the middle school for burning crosses into students' arms:
[John] Freshwater used a science tool known as a high-frequency generator to burn images of a cross on students' arms in December, the report said. Freshwater told investigators he simply was trying to demonstrate the device on several students and described the images as an "X," not a cross. But pictures show a cross, the report said.
Freshwater will appeal the ruling, and may get his job back, but only if he promises to use a proper branding iron next time.
CHEERS to supporting the troops. Sixty four years ago yesterday, President Roosevelt---he of the Democratic Party---signed the GI Bill. It rewarded servicemen for their sacrifices with low-cost loans, educational subsidies and other benefits. Kind of like what George W. Bush wants to do for veterans now...minus the low-cost loans, educational subsidies and other benefits.
CHEERS to Joe Biden. For cleaning shrill, bug-eyed Lindsay Graham's clock yesterday on Meet the Press. But shame on Brian Williams for interrupting a heated exchange about Iraq and Afghanistan for this:
SEN. BIDEN: The overall thinking here is, as we continue to be bogged down by this old think that Lindsey and John [McCain] stick to, is the reason why we're in so much trouble to begin with...
MR. WILLIAMS: Senator Biden, I don't mean to interrupt.
SEN. BIDEN: No, I understand.
MR. WILLIAMS: You're in the news yourself this past week.
SEN. BIDEN: Uh-oh. What did I do?
MR. WILLIAMS: You interested in the vice presidency?
SEN. BIDEN: I am not interested in the vice presidency.
MR. WILLIAMS: You're not interested in the vice presidency.
SEN. BIDEN: I'm not interested.
Deep!
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Gong! Gong!! BuddaBuddaBudda... GONG!!!
This is another edition of The One Word Answer Man. ABC's Charlie Gibson wants to know: Isn’t it unfair that John McCain can't raise as much as Obama?
No.
Now back to Cheers and Jeers.
Gong! Gong!! BuddaBuddaBudda... GONG!!!
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CHEERS to 1-900-CLARENCETHOMAS. 17 years ago today, the Supreme Court refused to shut down the dial-a-porn industry. The justices in the majority were the ones with cauliflower ears.
P.S. Today is Clarence Thomas's 60th birthday. Today you'll find something special on top of your Coke can, sir. We all chipped in.
JEERS to coming up dry. Hey, I've got an idea! Let's see how things are going at the Super Duper Oil Summit in Saudi Arabia:
"Produce more oil!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"Well...okay. But only 200,000 barrels a day and you have to receive them in Dixie cups. Hahahahaha!!! Hey, you're not laughing..."
Some days I think they're just toying with us. But we'll take it! We'll take it!
JEERS to coming down with a bad case of the stupids. In Massachusetts a husband and wife stockpiled 45 gallons 'o gas in their apartment building to stave off the effects of higher gas prices. Turns out that a funny thing happens when the fumes from nine plastic jugs of gas in an closet meet a spark from an air-conditioner: eeet burrrnz!!! I knew this heterosexual marriage thing would be dangerous. I knew it!
CHEERS to Things That Go Clackety-Clack for $200, Alex. On June 23, 1868, Christopher Latham Sholes received a patent for his "Type-writer," the first to have the famous QWERTY sequence on its upper keys. Today bloggers who can't think of anything for their subject line typically go south for the edgier and more mysterious "asdf." And the day someone decides to drop down to "zxcv"? Anarchy, I tell you.
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One Year Ago in C&J: June 23, 2007...
CHEERS to bouncing toward the dustbin of history. Say this about George W. Bush: you might not like him but at least ya know where he stands. And right now he stands at 26 percent, the lowest approval rating of any president except Richard Nixon. But I gotta give him credit---he's working damn hard to earn it. You think destroying a republic in eight years is easy? He must be plumb tuckered out by now, and yet you know he won't be satisfied 'til he's in single digits. My money's on 9.9% by next April. [6/23/08 Update: Damn, he's only fallen to 24 percent. Egg on my face.]
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And just one more...
JEERS to the "brown note." Going to the Democratic convention in Denver? Then you'll probably be interested to know that the police might be out in force with a secret new infrasound weapon called the "crap cannon." It emits a frequency that makes you poop your pants. But fear not: apparently it was a hoax and no such weapon even exists. But to achieve the same crowd-control effect, they'll hold up posters that say "President McCain." Pack yer Pampers, kids.
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Oh my God! Look who found Bush's WMDs! Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial:
"I never really loved Cheers and Jeers until I was deprived of its company."
---John McCain
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