The Quagmire

       (Go to: Quagmire Blog's Main Page)

The Quagmire describes my mind -- full of random bits of things all stuck together -- these things may include, but are not limited to: music, TV, movies, writing, reading, theatre, politics, religion, whatever.

Sunday, March 30, 2008

All Sorts of Tidbits II

Ah, yes, the compendium type post. Sure to be of interest to no-one, except, guess what? You're here reading it. So it must interest someone at least little on some level. That or your RSS reader has let you down in a spectacular fashion.

1. First, the blog is approaching 200,000 posts and I expect we'll hit that number this summer. Though recent traffic has dropped off a bit. I cannot believe how many hits I get, though about 70% of them are what I deem a "worthless" hit. To me, that's someone who reads the one post they came across and never comes back to the blog again.
2. Secondly the mix of visitors has slowly started to change. Search engine referrals are down to 73.5% while website referrals are up to 26% -- Google still provides most of our traffic (75% of that 73%).
3. My post on Led Zeppelin still remains the single most popular post and it generates people who linger and read the 300+ comments. Following that is the post about Daniel Radcliffe's Penis which generates more worthless hits than anything -- apparently people think they're getting the goods from my website. I think not. In third place is the Dell Sucks post which generates traffic as well as getting me lots of sympathetic e-mails. In fourth place is the Crazy Frog post, which like the Penis post, is worthless for valuable traffic. All other posts generate insignificant traffic when measured over time. Short-term some posts like mine on Wolfgang Van Halen and Terry Brooks generate short-terms bursts but then people move on to whatever else is news.
4. A special shout-out goes to Maury Wilkinson. She's the one who challenged me to make a blog. So I should thank her for that. But that's not why she's getting the shout-out here. She's been bugging me forever to get a TiVo. I broke down and got a DVR today (which she calls a Ti-Faux because it's a generic one) so I don't have to miss House, Heroes, and Lost any more. We'll see how I like it.
5. I love being a grammar Nazi. No, really. I'm not perfect but I am better than most people. And I certainly know the difference between your/you're and it's/its -- which about 80% of the people who write me obviously don't. I started a thread on my Panthers Hockey Message Board (which actually tracks back to another thread on a different board). I am only mentioning this because the thread is awesome. And better yet, the spiteful bitch on the original thread, who apparently runs the LED board, made an ass out of herself, engaged in petty-name calling, and then used RED on the matrix board to make the error worse.
The thread got locked and the entire ad was gone from the last game. Victory is mine! (Okay, it's got nothing to do with me or anything I said, but still.)
6. My guest room is now wired for HDTV for the benefit of my guests. And I've installed a new flat-screen LCD TV. Isn't that great? Except I don't like guests. Damn -- I think that may be ironic. That's why I'm in the process of finding a new home for my Sony KV27EXR10.
7. I saw Horton Hears a Who. It is surprisingly good. Really. Except when they break into song at the end -- a clear Shrek rip-odd. Everyone knows the story, has read the book, etcetera so there's no point in me going over it. You will like it. Visually appealing, very entertaining, and just a good film. Really. Saw previews for Ice Age 3, Narnia: Caspian, Wall-E and Speed Racer. I can't wait to see the first three. I was looking forward to Speed Racer but the preview has me reconsidering.
8. My neck still hurts (see accident report) and though it was getting better, it's acting up again. Not sure why. But my C4 vertebrae is in the wrong place according to the x-ray the chiropractor took. I definitely have whiplash. Progressive Insurance are being serious poopy-heads about it, and I've written a letter to their CEO and the State of Florida Insurance Commissioner. They lied to me, and I caught them in the lie. They also tried to get me to sign a waiver of rights including all future rights. I'm not even cured yet and they want to buy me off for a small pittance. I was very up-front. I want them to pay my medical bills. Nothing more and nothing less. Apparently they think this is unfair. State Law entitles to me reimbursement for missed work and other benefits. I wasn't really excited about the paperwork, but I suppose I have to do it now. It's clear they are lying scum and do not have my best interests at heart. Ultimately, I will be better so I'm not worried about long term issues, but if they think I'm signing a waiver for something down the road, they're nuts. What if something was missed on the x-ray? Too many things could go wrong. Woe be the person who gets rear-ended by a Progressive policy holder. Progressive Sucks. They must use Dell laptops :)
9. I am opposed to bio-fuels. Why? Food should not be used to operate cars when people are starving to death all over the planet. I can't imagine why anyone thinks this is a good idea.

Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,




5 Comments:

At 30 March, 2008 20:26, Blogger Johnny B said...

What?!? You hate Led Zeppelin? I agree with your original post that they are probably the most overrated band in rock music. That said, I do own five of their albums. Not the fourth one, though. If I never hear "Stairway" again, I'll be happy. I do like the Frank Zappa cover version, though. Mostly because the 10-piece horn section ripping through the guitar solo is amazing. That the music translates so well to the alternate arrangement speaks volumes about how well-composed that part of the song is. I'm just tired of hearing the original.

Pink Floyd at their best is wonderful, beautiful music (see Dark Side of the Moon, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn). Pink Floyd at their worst are trite, stodgy and dull (The Wall, I'm looking at you). As much as I love the Floyd, these days I'm more likely to be listening to Hawkwind.

I'll agree that Progressive is pretty terrible. That is why I don't buy their insurance anymore. Just count me as a dissatisfied customer.

Now that we have HDTV, I want to build one of those DVR thingies. We'll see how it works. I might have to get a bigger antenna first.

 
At 30 March, 2008 23:07, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Don't be so quick on shooting down all bio-fuels. Bio-Diesel is made from vegetable oil and much of that can be the used junk from restaurants. Ethanol is the scam especially considering that your gas mileage will drop by a larger percent than you savings at the pump. Just last week I saw a new story about Indy cars now using ethanol. WTF? They have run on alcohol since I was a kid.

 
At 31 March, 2008 08:05, Blogger Rev. CMOT TMPV said...

"CAN BE" not "ARE" -- the biggest supporter of these Bio-Fuels are ConAgra and the agricultural conglomerates. If it was only waste, I wouldn't care. But the fact is, most of it's brand new, perfectly edible corn. FUEL OVER FOOD is a horrendous idea.

 
At 31 March, 2008 12:00, Blogger Jose said...

Ah, yes, the compendium type post. Sure to be of interest to no-one, except, guess what? You're here reading it. So it must interest someone at least little on some level. That or your RSS reader has let you down in a spectacular fashion.

LOL. Yes, a classic of the genre.

I am opposed to bio-fuels. Why? Food should not be used to operate cars when people are starving to death all over the planet. I can't imagine why anyone thinks this is a good idea.

I'm not a land-use expert, but what the hell, it's the internet... I agree that food should not be used for bio-fuel. Then again, I believe we should be subsidizing fruit and vegetable farmers, rather than corn farmers. But back to corn-based bio-fuels: I may have read somewhere that switchgrass, which I believe is not food (unless you're desperate, I suppose), and which I believe the Brazilians are using for bio-fuel, is more efficiently converted into bio-fuel, and it can be planted on a fallow field (assuming I'm remembering correctly and that fallow field farming is still a method employed in these times). I'd much prefer to see these kinds of bio-fuels. Forget corn. I like corn, but corn syrup sucks.

 
At 31 March, 2008 12:42, Blogger Rev. CMOT TMPV said...

I agree Jose, Corn Syrup really does suck.

 

Post a Comment

Links to this post:

Create a Link

<< Home


Please note, anonymous comments are generally rejected. If you're afraid to put your name on your comments, don't expect to see them here.
This blog was started 24 October 2004 and the template last updated 21 April 2008.
©2004-2008, Eric A. Seiden. All Rights Reserved.
eXTReMe Tracker