Glenn was there. Lileks was there. Roger L. Simon was there.
Were you?
What? You missed it?
The Uber bloggers, (sorry I don't know how to do that punctuation thing over the "U" and it is 3 AM), were guests on the Hugh Hewitt show today.
If you missed it, you can listen to the replay on the net here - click "Today's Show" under Hugh's picture, (until Hugh's show starts today, which is 3:00 PST.) I'm listening to the replay right now.
I've mentioned before, Thursday is usually meeting day, which means six hours in the van and the ability to catch all three hours of Hugh's show. (The downside being I'm still at my desk at 3 am.)
I turned down the radio for the phone. When I turned the volume back up.......What's This? ......Glenn and Lileks?.........A little piece of Bloggie Heaven!
Yet I still faced a dilemma. They're still talking and I'm pulling into the shop to get my nails done. Would you consider me obsessive if I told you I considered stopping to pick up a radio with headphones? Me? Obsessive? Me, radio, headphones, Hugh, Glenn, Lileks, Pedicure........ Should I?
Instead, I ran inside the shop on a commerical only to be told they couldn't get me in for about another 1/2 hour. OK. It would be better to get home earlier, but if I have to wait I may as well listen in the van. Glad I didn't stop to get the radio after all. I wouldn't want to have to explain it to anyone.....
Here is a stream of conciousness blogging of the show from the net replay. It does NOT quote directly, just gives an idea of what was discussed. I may have gotten caller names wrong..Apologies in advance for any errors....etc....etc....etc...
Hugh: Has the blogosphere had an impact on the campaign so far?
Glenn: Pretty substantially providing rapid reaction....sheer volume of goofy Kerry photos.....ability to compare the things said before to what they're saying now
James: Agree and disagree. If blogs were that powerful Dean would be the nominee...he had that internet thing going. Blogosphere is divided. James doesn't see people from center checking both sides and making decisions.
Hugh: What did James do on his site today? Glenn linked to it and excerpted about 4 paragraphs. Glenn's traffic about 126,000 daily.
Lileks: Explains yesterday's Bleat fisking Kerry's MTV statements.
Glenn: Agree very much. Blogs good at early primary stage. Motivating people. World James describes, Media world isn't split. Traditional liberal media was only game in town. Conservative partisans beaten down by it previously. Break their spirits and tend to get apologetic about conservative candidates. Exposes bias of traditional media
James: Agrees. In addition to blogs credits talk radio.
Hugh: Back to the MTV interview. What does it do?
Glenn: I get e-mails from Democrats. When they go read Lileks fisking, they're exposed to another view.
Hugh: Didn't see coverage of the MTV interview except on MTV and the blogs. Blog exposure can lead to water cooler discussion.
Hugh: Daschle versus Thune site. An example of micro blogging. Covers one important race.
Glenn: Thinks its right. Passes info up the media chain.
James: Micro blogging is exactly what the medium is made for. I don't do that. I serve up large chunks. Through individual voices I end up places I would never go.
Hugh: The memes. Powerline post with the Kerry daisy chain, subject of a number of Instapundit posts. Who does that besides you and Powerline and James?
Glenn: Kerry daisy chain on one hand not a big deal. But he's the Dem nominee looking like a complete goofball.
Lileks: Can't write in his national column about net meme without fully explaining it. Frustrating when people who don't follow the internet, aren't aware of stories commonly known on the net. Talked to someone inside Washington Beltway about the Kerry/VVAW story, but he had no idea what he was talking about. Hadn't heard of it because it hadn't been in the Washington Post.
Hugh: Is the left overmatched in the blogsphere?
Glenn: I think it was, it's evening out. Disadvtage the left has is it doesn't have the mainstream media as a foil.
Hugh: Are any bloggers on the left funny?
Glenn: None come to mind.
Lileks: Wolcott of Vanity Fair portrays the war bloggers as spent forces. According to Wilcott, left bloggers are the future
Hugh: JMM resigned from my show today. Who's good on the left. American Prospect hired Matthew Yglesias? He's 20 something?
Glenn: Good idea to hire him. Good blogger. Brought Matt in to liven things up and he's done good.
Hugh: Superstars?
Lileks: Stephen Den Beste, extraordinary stuff. extra long. Some of his posts more fascinating than pros. Blogosphere very fluid. Buzz happens very quickly. Come and go. In radio if Hugh were dull - maybe 6 months to decide to change . If someone blogging goes off the reservation, you stop going back often, then drop them from your links.
Hugh: Has it plateaued? Glenn? Most influential site? You link and destroy servers.
Glenn: Traffic climbing continuously. Increases during a big event, war, elections, but drops back, then goes past previous peak again. With 5% reading blogs now, plenty of room to grow.
Hugh: Prof. Bainbridge started 3 months ago and is high on the Ecosytem. Can it still happen? Who are new stars?
Lileks: Sure Mitch Berg gets 300 hits a day and should get 10 times that. I have the bandwidth bills (to show growth). Fark linked to the Gallery of Regrettable Food and sent thousands.
Clay: Blogosphere reminds him of The Tipping Point book. Blog correlates, different types of people, connectors and mavens. Connectors create the links, Mavens explore it. Glenn is a connector, and sometimes a maven on things like 2nd Amendment. DenBeste is a maven.
Willie, Denver: Blogs all web based, what about Newsgroups. There are 90,000 and they're political war zones.
Lileks: Art of flame war perfected in newsgroups. Arguments generate much more heat.
Hugh: Wouldn't think of Newsgroups as source material for radio show.
Glenn: Advantage in blogs you can ignore the idiots. Worn out on usenet.
DC of Brainstorming: (I met Hugh once and have called his show once or twice, but he remembers me. Amazing! A walking Dale Carnegie the man is.)
Just a note for Lileks. My Dad can sing the Auctioneer. (Hugh rightly accusses me of going down the rabbit hole.)
Hugh: Next!
DC of Brainstorming: Will we see more things coming from the Blogosphere like Northern Alliance Radio?
(I have to explain something. I couldn't hear Lileks the second time he started talking, so I ended up interrupting his answer to sign off. Ugh! Even listening a second time, I'm not sure exactly what he said in response. Something like this....)
Lileks: Depends if you can get groups like that together. A group that can really write.
(In any case, it sounded complimentary to the NARN guys.)
Unfortunately, the internet stream cuts off there, missing the last hour of the show.
I know Hugh mentioned he received an e-mail from Captain Ed, thanking Glenn for the links and traffic he'd sent his way. Then, they were joined by Roger Simon. I know someone, (Hugh?), mentioned BoifromTroy.
At the end, Hugh asked each of them which five blogs they read every day. Here's what I can remember, (corrections welcomed):
Glenn: Volokh Conspiracy, Just One Minute, Buzz Machine?
Lileks: Shot in the Dark, Fraters Libertas (even though Hugh has them on probation), Small Victory, LGF, some gadget site
Roger: Michael J. Totten, Matt Welch, Gizmodo
I do have pretty toes now. I also passed on some site names to a woman getting her nails done after they asked what I had been doing while I waited. One more potential reader added to the blogosphere. I also ran across this article on blogs as I wrote this up. Night all!