General Blog Talk

Wow, it really really is. Even the layout looks similar. Maybe they had a 5-year non-compete deal.

Haven't read anything yet but I'm irritated by the red they're using in their headers. The site has a pretty clear palette in the color-blocking in the background, and that red is nowhere near it.

That just looks hideous. My eyes don't know where they're supposed to go.

I don't like the red, but I do appreciate that it seems to have a message of, "hey, TWoP got too big and mean-spirited and the forums were out of control, but we still really dig talking about TV, so let's do this over, but let's have fun and not have forums, just comments, which people don't expect to be orderly!"

Reading through a few articles: eh.

Frankly, it sort of highlights what I had somewhat suspected, that their earlier success was more out of timing than talent. They were one of the few towns with running water and a sheriff in the Wild West days of the Internet. Now there are many places that do what they did better and more professionally. Plus I'm just not on a wavelength with their sense of humor.

Plus I'm just not on a wavelength with their sense of humor.

Yeah, I think that's why I didn't enjoy the articles I read on the site. It's just not my thing at all.

Moved from Publishing Scandals:

SelfAmused wrote:I guess this is the place to discuss Hugo Schwyzer's meltdown and the resulting controversies.  As Schwyzer is a well-known male feminist blogger and professor who, in a manic episode, confessed to being a fraud, racist, etc., I thought it would belong here.

I like The Toast pretty well so far. It has that kind of earnest grad-schooly vibe that Nicole does well, and any site with writing by Anne Helen Peterson will be one I check regularly. They've gotten essays from some interesting people and introduced me to Emily Books, which has added about a dozen books to my to-read list.

Does anyone know what the hell the point of the Hairpin's "People Who Are Hotter Than Benedict Cumberbatch" post was? Did someone just learn the ol tag? Is it Dadaist art? Desperate click-bait? Why are you wasting time on Cumberbatch when People just declared Adam freakin' Levine the sexiest man alive?

IDK, I think it was just supposed to be funny. I laughed, anyway.

I love Grant Brisbee of McCovey Chronicles so, so much. His description of Adrian Gonzalez in yesterday's Giants/Dodgers game: He "runs like he’s trying to leave an insecure manatee at day care."

This is interesting: Jim C. Hines breaks down his earnings as a writer over the last several years.

The blog I've always needed: Does the Dog Die? Letting you know whether it's safe to see that movie or if you'll end up crying and pissed off.