Buddies,
Wif this post, The Joey Polanski Show begins its third year. What more warrant do I need fer waxin all self-importnt-like?
Well, theres a lot to be happy about in Polanskiville these days, I guess. We got ourselfs a pretty good famly o reliable & talentd prformers chimin in post aftr post, fokes that emselfs gots blogs that is lotsa fun to play at. While I try to keep th Show fresh & funski, lotsa th fresh & lotsa th funski comes from yous fokes! And lotsa th fresh & th funski that comes from ME is thoroughly INSPIRD by yous fokes. Thanks to yous, I dont hafta play wif myself no more.
I think I done tolt th story, once or twice, of how th Polanski Show famly startd & how it grew ovr th many munts since July 2005, how th findin of a few talentd & energetick bloggrs led to th establishment o more & more cool contackts. When I think back to th first year o th JPS, and look back ovr th life o th Show, I am movd to remark how HARD it is to FIND good bloggrs. As I think o all th reggalr commentrs at th Polanski Show, it strikes me that only about two of em is bloggrs that I went out n found. By far, th majority o commentrs is fokes who came to th JPS through already-establishd connecktions. Periodickly, I surf th blogassfear lookin fer new playrs, but wif very little t show for it. Theres probly a few reasns fer that, but th most notable is that there just aint a lot o bloggrs out there who gots ... ummm ... "IT."
So lemme take a little time & tell ya bout some o my more memorable FAILYURES in my efforts to find werfwhile bloggrs. I got four cases in mind. Three of em involves bloggrs who HAVE made appearances here at the Joey Polanski Show.
One o these bloggrs was a guy who usta post stuff that was really off th wall -- stuff that was quite funny in that way that kinda sneaks up on ya. Like, first ya gotta scratch yer head a little bit. Then, ya smirk, or evn crack a smile. Finaly, it jus strikes ya as hilarious. I think o that blogski as bein quite in the mold o Geritopias Bloggy-Blog or Aaaaaarons blogski (once calld Total Crap, wif a little bit o little noodle's world thrown in fer good measure. Th guy probly dint blog enough, but I tryd to increase th interacktivity by playin at his blog fer a while. He comentd only once here at th JPS. He soon stoppd respondin to coments I left ovr at his blog. Finaly, he belly-uppd his blogski altogethr.
Th othr bloggr who made a single JPS appearance was a chick whos blogski was appealin cause she was, like, a total smartass. I mean she was always pissd off about sompm, and had a fairly witty way o bein pissd off. I playd at her blogski fer quite a while bfore givin up. Th more I read ovr there, the more her posts began to seem somwhat predicktable. Thered be a report on her ... ummm ... her menstrual status. Then thered be a story about some kinda illness -- usualy a "potty-distress" story. Then thered be a standard rant eithr about not gettin laid enough or about a frustratin encountr wif a employee or a customr at some store. It also became clear that this chick genrally was NOT a interacktive bloggr. She was more or less totaly self-absorbd. Tho she had a shitload o blogs linkd in her sidebar, she dint realy make a point of visitin em reggalrly, and I think it became rathr clear that she was just a link-tradr: she linkd to any blog that linkd to hers first. Im guessin she probably visitd th JPS only cause she thougt shed get a instant link here at th JPS. I nevr link up blogs instantly. I gotta scope em out fer a while first. Anyhow, she nevr made a seckon JPS appearance. In th course o my infrequent checks on blogs that I once "scoutd," I noticd on TWO seprate ockasions that this chick convertd her blog into a "private" blog, each time eventualy ditchin that stupit idea. That she woud evn considr makin her blog a "private" or "exclusive" thing shows pretty clearly that she aint Polanski Show material.
A third scoutd bloggr atchualy commented pretty reliably here at th JPS fer a while. He had a pracktice o buildin his link-list by periodickly settin out a slate o "cannidates" and havin his readrs "vote" on who shoud get a linkski. Eventualy, th JPS made one o the slates o cannidates and got votd a link on th firs ballot. In keepin wif JPS pracktice at th time, I startd scoutin his blogski pretty heavily, playin ovr there regglrly and preparin to link him up here at JPS. But, as it happmd, this guy got stuck in a kinda a RUT, which had th effeckt o increasin his popularity wif his establishd readrs, but which also cmpletely turnd me off. He was in th habit o perducin these little FLASH films ovr on his blogski -- which, in itself, was kinda cool -- but EVRY FRIGGIN ONE o them little films was what Id call a "shmooze-film": it was his way o payin tribute to his already-establishd readrs. From th perspecktive o one such as me -- NOT a establishd readr o his -- em little films seemd entirely "exclusive"; and "exclusivity" is sompm thats cmpletely incompatible wif any Polanski principple. Since he was doin othr stuff when I firs startd readin his blogski, I dcided to wait till he got outta that shmooze-rut; but bfore he did (and atchually I dont think he EVR did), he left a cryptick comment here at JPS basicaly sayin (in code) that he was cuttin ties. Fuck im.
Th final one o th four memorable cases involves a bloggr who aint nevr made evn a single appearance here at th Show. This guy had anothr one o those blogs that was funny in a EXTREMLY SUBTLE way. This guy coud TYPE deadpan! He was a musician & a filmmakr o sorts, and he had a way o writin bout what he was up to, but in such a way as to suggest that he was a BIG losr wif a shitty life. When I finaly "got it," I found it extremely funny. I playd at his blog fer a while, an in th course o my interacktion wif him, it became clear that this guy had no friends prcisely because he was a self-cnfessd and unapologetick assole. Except fer one or two real-world pals (includin a ex-girlfriend, whose coments where ovious UNwelcome), this guy had only one othr readr / comenter bsides me, and he almos NEVR visitd her blog -- again, a totaly self-absorbd bloggr. And whats worse is that this guy had th nerve to lament his lack o readrs -- stoopin evn to publishin a post sayin he woud not post again until his latest post attracktd TEN coments from distinct bloggrs. This was durin th time that I was still checkin out his blogski pretty reggalrly, but aftr Id dcided that he was NOT Polanski Show material. I dint post no comments while he was waitin fer TEN t come in. Eventualy, he pussyd out & startd postin again, evn though mosta th "TEN" coments he ended up gettin was clearly from his real world pals postin anonymously. THEN you can bet I startd commentin again, telllin him what a big pussy he was fer NOT havin th guts to bag th blogski like he said he woud. What evr happmd to this guy? Shortly aftr I calld him a big pussy, he writ a post that was titled "BYE" and had no content. It was NOT opn fer comments, and evry othr post was deletd. I checkd back a time or two, and one o them times I noticd that some "content" had been added -- a period (.) that was set up as a link. Th link led to a new blog, set up undr a new usr-name. I postd a coment on th inagural post. My coment jus said "(*snickr*)". Post aftr post receivd NO coments. Th blog is still up, but it aint been updatd since Octobr o last year.
So, you see, my efforts to build up th Polanski Show famly was probly unsucksessful as oftn as it was sucksessful. And I guess I shoud mention that initial sucksess aint th same thing as ongoin sucksess. The Polanski Show has atchualy lost its share o one-time reliables. Nfackt, th VAST majority o th earlyest JPS commentrs have cut their ties -- at least wif th Polanski Show, if not wif bloggin altogethr. Some o these have dvelopd what I think we might call "Polanski issues." This means that theres some ... ummm ... some principple bhind their pullin away from any association wif th Show. Th "lost commentrs" who aint got Polanski issues probly got some othr kinda issues, cause they seem to have quit bloggin altogethr. All o them is missd, tho th ones that got Polanski issues can go fuck emselfs bfore Ill apologize fer being Polanski.
In this cnnecktion, I done trimmd th links list -- th list o "Places I Play." I aint nevr really had a firm UNlinkin policy in th past -- except that when a linkd blog goes belly-upski, then th JPS linkski does too. But I think its probly appropriate to ditch links to anyone who seems clearly to have givn up eithr their association wif th JPS or their cmmitment to reggalr bloggin.
As I think about it, my LINKIN policy has atchualy undrgone a kind o evolution ovr th course o th life o th Polanski Show. In th early days, gettin a JPS link dpended on two things: how reliably entrtaining a bloggrs blog is and how reliably th bloggr contributes to th JPS. Aftr a while, howevr, aroun th time I changd th link-lists title to "Places I Play," I startd to link blogs where I was reggalrly postin coments. (Thats how come Suzzs blog, Writing on Tilt got linkd. Suzz has NEVR made a appearance here at JPS. I dont know why. She seemd suprised to learn that I evn HAD a blogski. Maybe she thinks she needs a ingravd invitation bfore she can come in and play th JPS stage. Unfortunately, Joey dont hand out em kindsa invitations. Im afraid Id soun too much like Salbert.)
Now, Im figgrin that Im probly th prson who most uses th JPS links-list. (Im happy to say that a large portion o th JPS famly is already intr-linkd.) So I probly shoud think o th links-list in th reggalr ol way: its MY portl to th places I like t visit reggalrly. I got lotsa blogs bookmarkd, but goin into my bookmark files and visitin em blogs aint as easy as just clickin on a JPS link. So some o th blogskis I might intend to visit reggalrly, I end up NOT visitin as oftn as Id like cause theyr only bookmarkd and NOT JPS-linkd. Im a-gonna correckt that.
Therefore, Im addin a link to Sirdar, Inc. Sirdar is a Canadian
but dont hold THAT against im. He found us somhow through our connecktion wif th Revrend Anaglyphs Tetherd Cow Ahead and / or JediMacFans Old Fish and Lemonade. Sirdar gots a blog whos primary purpose aint necessarily to entrtain, but it is ockasionally entrtaining. And when it aint entrtaining, its oftn thougt-prvokin. Like when he writ a post askin bloggrs how they dcide what to put in their links-lists. This post promptd one o th most carefully cmposd Polanski coments since th days when I usta prpound a rathr elaborat theory bout th dynamicks o th blogassfear ovr at Salberts now-dfunckt blogski.
Since he publishd that post right aftr I done put up some new linkskis here at JPS, I wonderd if he mighta been ... ummm ... lobbyin fer a JPS link. I was reminded of anothr guy who was commentin here for a while and who, aftr an earlyr addition o links, crabbd that I dint have his blog linkd. I told him he was being scoutd. Immediately aftr that, he startd postin nothin but morbid, maudlin shit ovr on his blogski. I nearly had t run fer covr. Anyhowski, he, not gettin a JPS link, simply quit visitin.
Sirdar, howevr, in th course o th comments on that thougt-prvokin post o his, ended up sayin sompm like, "A link dont mattr. Jus keep bloggin." And aftr quite a bit o time wifout a JPS link, hes still a reggalr and valued cntributor here at th Show.
Best of all, Sirdar can take a joke as well as he can dish em out. His coments here at th JPS are proof enough o that. Also, as a Canadian, he ... ummm ... knows his place. It was from his blogski that I got this mapski:
Dint I tell ya he knows his place, fokes? Welcome to th Polanski Show famly, Sirdar!
Th question that keeps poppin inta my head, tho, especialy at these milestone moments is this: How long shoud th Show go onski? Can things stay fresh & funski throughout a third year? Shoud a blog cntinue evn if its quit bein fresh & funski? And if th final curtains t come down, how t do it? Evr think about how to END a blogski? I think about that alla time. Ocourse, I sppose any o us coud jus drop deadski all of a suddn, an th blog jus STOPS wifout explanation or announcement. But I think jus to STOP bloggin wifout croakin is a pretty shitty way to end a blogski. That aint th way Id want th Polanski Show to end. On th othr hand, I think itd be probly just as shitty to publish a farewell post outta th clear blue skyski. Yet again, to announce a retirment-date well ahead o time seems kinda wrong too. Thatd probly be th best way t do it, tho, if a final curtains t come down.
Dont worry, fokes. I aint ready to announce th final curtain jus yet. When I do, tho, weell make a party outta it -- a carnival, a circus, a supr-extravagonzo. Fonzarelli might evn jump a shark for us.
Fer now, tho, yer STUCK wif me.
