My husband and I attended the Blog Bash at Keegan's last night. It wasn't really fair to bring my better half, since he's more of a Best of the Web and Town Hall kind of guy so it didn't hold the same level of excitement for him as it did for me. Yet even though we were only there about an hour and a half, just going to the cities and back consumes so much of the day, (while we're down here, we should stop here, oh and we could get that done too, kind of thing), that I was selfish for his company. After twenty years together, he's still the best. Love you babe.
On to the Blog Bash.
"Isn't it ironic....dontcha think?.....Alannis Morisette
It occurs to me that Minnesota is the only state, (out of 50!), that voted for Mondale, (50 I tell you!). How then is it possible that the same DFL dominated state has produced such star power of conservative thought on the web? Maybe it's because in order to develop and maintain a conservative viewpoint in a place where liberal thought permeates the very air you breathe, one has to develop the skills of independence and critical thinking? Is it that the atmosphere demands a conservative be ready and able to defend their views in a point by point fashion?
Don't get me wrong. Bloggers from both sides were in attendance last night. Yet one can't ignore the fact that the most influential blogs from "the state where nothing is legal", (shamelessly stolen from Soucheray), are right leaning.
I submit as evidence: The Northern Alliance who put the bash together:
Mitch was the first person to greet us. It's hard to believe some great conservative gal hasn't taken him off the market yet. His post about the party is here. We also met Pinkmonkeybird, a frequent commentor at Mitch's place who is considering starting his own blog. Go for it Pink!
As a mother of two kids who will eventually be off to college, I always appreciate the insight into higher education from King Banion, of SCSU Scholars. We didn't get to chat too long, but I did share a little of the direction I'm thinking of taking Brainstorming with him, and he had already noticed. (Bless you, King.)
We enjoyed chatting with Scott "Big Trunk" Johnson of Powerline fame and his lovely wife. We talked about the great guests they've been able to book on NARN. Trunk's party report is here.
St. Paul, Atomizer, and the Elder from Fraterslibertas were in attendance and has the most comprehensive list of guests who blog. I had a blast talking about Shanghai with the Elder. I've been traveling to Asia for business since the late eighties so I'm willing to trade stories for hours. Lucky for him the conversation got broken up sooner than that.
I finally got to meet Ed from Captain's Quarters! He and I started blogging around the same time. It's been fun to watch his meteoric rise to the top of the blogosphere. In his opinion the gathering was a Rousing Success!
Lileks was there. Yes. James Lileks. Sir Screediness! High Master of the Bleat! The man whose work makes me despair of ever writing anything but dreck.
We were also pleased to meet:
David Strom, of the Taxpayer's League, who can be heard on AM 1280 The Patriot at 9 AM on Saturday mornings, and his wife Margaret. They also blog at Our House. See David's report and the treatment you can expect as an in-law here.
Cathy in the Wright was there. She must be brilliant because she seems to be one of the few who remembered her camera. Note to self, call Cathy before leaving the house in the future.
Cathy brought her brother Bob, who writes Three Sheets to the Wind whose permalinks seem to be bloggered.
Joining us at the smoking table, was Chumley Wonderbar from Plastic Hallway. I 've wanted to see iRobot, so I found his review helpful.
Doug Bass from Belief Seeking Understanding was there and apparently had a woodchuck encounter. Now I expect that kind of thing where I live, but on University and Hennepin? Makes me wonder how far into the evening, (and the Keegans' inventory), this occurred.
Since we were there only a short time I didn't get a chance to meet the rest of the folks, but the NARN guys will be doing a live broadcast next weekend from Diamond Bluff and at the State Fair, so maybe we'll see you there.
However, I did get lost checking out their sites:
Dave's Picks who has great Mac info on his site.
Shawn Sarazin of The American Mind reports it was "More Fun Than a Human Being Should be Allowed to Have."
I missed meeting Jay Reding, whom I had no idea was local. He's another Apple fan who made the Shindig.
John R. LaPlante of PolicyGuy reports that speaking out against homosexuality in Sweden landed a pastor in prison.
Another surprise, one of the writers of Tacitus, Thorley Winston, is local. See his latest on the Iraq prison abuse statistics.
Flash of Centrisity reminds us to stop by for a little balance.
Bill Tuomala writes Rocks Off and Exiled on Main Street. For balance he shares his love of trial lawyers.
Chuck Olson of Blogumentary was there with a camera, apparently hanging on Lileks' every word and he scored a Plain Layne interview with her creator Odin Soli.
I'm especially sorry to have missed Peggy Kaplan of What If? whose been on my blogroll a while and Bob Davis who brought back the morning show the KSTP.
Two more bloggers I'll be looking for at the next gathering are Steve Gigl and Mary of Fresh Bed Goodness. Next time!
