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November 29, 2005
tinnitus, anyone?
40-love
For almost the past year I've been suffering (quietly to those around me) from tinnitus in my right ear. For those of you who might not know what that is, it's a constant ringing or swishing noise in your ear. Because I'm lazy -- here is the wikipedia link.
Back in March I was falling asleep peacefully and it started...sounded like one of those pulsating lawn sprinklers that rotate around in a circle. Went outside to find who was watering their lawn. No one was watering their lawn. My husband swore to me, he couldn't hear a thing. Hardly a day has passed when I don't have this overwhelming swishing noise in my ear and it's driving me beyond crazy. In another month or two I may end up a liberal.
It's near impossible to describe the torment of never having perfect silence, but it's almost like listening to Maureen Dowd's monotone voice 24/7...or even worse Roger L. Simon's "go me!" monologue masquerading as conversation.
I've done my web research and it's useless crap. I've read everything from "avoid red wine" (SNORT, um...never!) all the way to avoid stress. Again, not attainable.
I can't sleep, my ADD is even worse, and the panic attacks are out of control. I'd blame it all on the excessive laughter caused by Pajamas Media, but this started long before their mis-launch.
Anyway, surely someone else out there has this and may have some tips on how to deal. Or you can make fun of me. Your choice.
Posted by Moxie at 1:00 AM | Comments (32)
November 28, 2005
Pajama Envy
Okay, so the Pajama crew has a spare pair after Tim Blair wisely stepped away from the trainwreck. I'm tipping my virtual fedora at Mister Blair for handling it with much diplomacy.
On a happy note, I got Althoused today! Steve H and I were chatting earlier and he pointed out that she's become the Insta-lanche provider of choice for those of us too cool to join the Pajama Club.
I have a few observations about the Pajama Media wreck. And no, I'm not handing out free advice. My offer to set them straight still stands with a pricetag of 1 million dollars ;)
Here's what I noticed...I had a theory this weekend. And so far my experiments have been suggestive but not conclusive. Each time an anti-Pajama post landed on technorati results for "Pajamas Media" -- a pro PJ blogger or two would bury it. And because results show up both for the blogger's home page AND some sort of PJM feed it doesn't take much to keep the negative posts from the top of the heap. Embarrassed much?
You see where I'm going with this...your observations are welcome in the comments.
Also, from someone on the inside I've heard that Raj and crew don't see any problems with their "business model" and I use that phrase loosely.
That may be their biggest problem of all, if it's true. Which I doubt. Afterall, they did have a logjam on THANKSGIVING day, of all times trying to figure out what the heck they were doing.
I can tell them what they are doing in two words -- screwing up.
Okay, I got that out of my system. For now. Going to work on a few more posts -- hopefully not Open Sores Media related.
UPDATE: Simply hilarious...
"Brought to you in part by Preparation H...the perfect product to keep on hand to remind you of the painful assholes who wish to single-handedly give blogging a bad name."
Posted by Moxie at 2:29 PM | Comments (15)
November 27, 2005
linking the enemy...
Meet Rodger Jacobs, not be to be confused with the disgraced founder of Pajamas Media, Roger Simon. Rodger with a "D" is a new liberal friend, who writes some fun stuff on his Wonderland blog.
Porn as Eco-activism...not safe for the clean shaven woman. Nor a man who prefers his armpits be hairier than his grrrlfriend's.
Rodger also finds Boring.LA to be less than entertaining. Full disclosure: I used to be part of that and ducked out after someone posted asking about where to get a bikini wax (hint: don't ask the woman pictured in the link above. Now you REALLY want to look, right?).
Okay, that's not entirely true -- I think I got too busy -- but I always felt it fell short on the local, inside angle. Unlike Raj, I knew when I wasn't helping the cause. And Sean Bonner was always a very gracious and kind leader.
Anyway, I'm adding 8763 Wonderland to my blogroll. And I'm adding Pajamas Media/OSM to my list of business plans only a mother could love.
You're welcome.
Posted by Moxie at 11:50 PM
honest 7 million dollar question
Laurence Simon set up a forum for people to discuss the Pajamas Media debacle. But why oh why would ANYONE in their right mind give them free advice?
They have SEVEN million to burn through. They don't need hand-outs!
My offer: for 1 million dollars I'll get them on the right path.
Posted by Moxie at 7:50 PM | Comments (4)
November 26, 2005
Raj still reinventing the wheel
in jammies.
I figured, not being very bright and all, that someday in the near future I'd figure out (even vaguely) what genuis concept Pajamas Media pitched to investors. Now it's clear THEY don't even know what they started.
I figured, it had to be something really great! Something beyond my limited intellect...how else would they garner SEVEN million dollars to do what many other sites already do, without that kind of cash. In fact, many other sites do this kind of thing without ANY investment, whatsoever.
Honestly, I'm embarrassed to be typing about Pajamas Media, Roger L. Simon and his cadre of shackled union workers. But it's a holiday weekend, and now the traditional time to rag on other conservatives.
Everything has already been said. I think.
They swindled millions for having nothing more than a domain name. I can't add anything insightful to this mess. And yet I still feel like the topic is ripe for ridicule.
It's only a matter of time before a major paper picks up this big debacle, which puts all blogs in a bad light (involved or not).
It's time the blogosphere's big failure to go the corporate, mainstream route hit the mainstream media. Question will be, who? The New York Times? The LA Times?
Useless webpage, fancy launch party, 8 staff members and 70 prisoners? 7 Million dollars.
Scorned by the ones they scorn? Priceless.
And delicious.
Posted by Moxie at 6:32 PM | Comments (3)
November 22, 2005
nap time!
I've been silent for the past few days because it has taken all my strength not to rag on Raj of Pajamas Media nee OSM nee Open Source Media nee Pajamas Media.
Today, of course Raj announced that they are returning to the original name, Pajamas Media which is one of the only smart things he's done. I think an appropriate tagline would be, "Pajamas Media, a nap-inducing portal into Mr. Roger's Blogosphere".
This whole debacle has been fun on so many levels; I've found many new blogs to read (both left and right), it's been nice to agree with the left 100% on something for a change and I realized how shocking it is for the Pajamadeens to see other conservatives whacking their poorly thought out plan.
I've been pretty careful not to say anything about those who got roped into the venture as contributors. I like many of those people, think they are very talented and still do. What I will never understand is why they overlooked Raj's non-business plan and signed up anyway.
Part of being a conservative is being a capitalist and someone somewhere said Pajamas Media looks like nothing more than a union.
So I hope my friends understand my criticisms. However Raj can be angry with me all he wants. But having met him a few times, or having listened to him talk about himself endlessly, I know it's not likely he's given a thought to most of us who are having fun at his expense.
So, while I'm still not tired of the subject (it's given me endless hours of laughter and enjoyment) I'm going to try to stop the abuse.
You can always head over to Steve's...he's got a contest running for more appropriate names for Raj's 3.5 million boondoggle.
You're welcome.
Posted by Moxie at 1:54 PM | Comments (5)
November 18, 2005
Pajama Club flashback post from May
Pajama Game Rules (revised)
I've been doing some undercover citizen journalism and discovered there are only three rules in order to join Pajama Media Open Source Media OSM:
The first rule of Open Sores Media Club is - you do not talk about Pajama Club, Open Source Radio, OSM or Raj's dimestore fedora.
The second rule of Open Sores Media Club is "42" *
The third rule of Open Sores Media Club is "bend over." But that one is mostly for the investors.
* It's the total number of times Glenn Reynolds has linked to anyone other than Ann Althouse, Jeff Jarvis, and Mickey Kaus.
Posted by Moxie at 3:22 PM | Comments (4)
November 17, 2005
Carnival of the Bloated Egos #1
As promised, I stopped a random neighbor this morning and asked her, "I'm sorry to bother you as you are picking up the enormous turd your horse-sized dog has left on my lawn....but do you know who Roger L. Simon is?"
It actually pains me to share her answer with you all, for free...I could have milked an investor or two for some dough.
"WHO?" she asked.
"You know, Roger L. Simon!!!," I said with feigned excitement.
"Oh yeah! Okay. No. No clue."
"Really?"
"Is this someone I should know?"
"No, I suppose not."
UPDATE for the record: I was invited to join the circlejerk. Several times. It just never made sense to me on the business front nor individual level, I told Raj as much. So you can skip your "jealousy over not being invited" comments. Those comments will be altered to help you say what you really meant.
Posted by Moxie at 12:39 PM | Comments (22)
WAS Happening!!
In today's episode Raj and Rerun get hopelessly lost in an ocean of circle jerkers in NYC. And the W hotel demands they pay for an extra room to house their ginormous egos. Luckily, they hustle a few rich guys who can pay for it, and then some. Then they go back to the hotel and guzzle little bottles of crappy pink wine from the minibar. Jeff Goldstein finds them passed out in the arms of Nancy Pelosi, hours later.
Meanwhile Dwayne back at home says, "hey hey hey!" and notes the irony -- for once, many conservatives, libertarians and liberals all agree. When an idea is THAT bad, even politics can't get in the way!
Posted by Moxie at 11:48 AM | Comments (1)
Almost like living here...
Lots of people miss my daily tales of life here in Los Angeles. Me too, so here is a TRUE STORY:
A few days ago, I was accidentally overcharged for my Red Bull at the neighborhood store. After gently pointing out the error, the store owner was embarrassed and apologetic. Offered me a free Los Angeles Times newspaper along with the proper change.
I laughed and said, "I'm tempted because it would make a lovely lining for the litter box. But my cats deserve to shit on something better."
Posted by Moxie at 8:54 AM | Comments (4)
November 16, 2005
open media sores of indeterminate origins
Many years ago, I ghost wrote a segment for The Chris Rock show mocking the dot-com boom. The tape is lost in the mess here...but from what I recall a guy working out of his mother's garage had an idea for a business. They acquired millions of dollars from investors using marketing babble. Their idea? A URL.
It's deja vu while watching the disaster formerly known as Pajamas Media. Luckily, they not only found a truly generic (and utterly forgettable) name to go by -- Open Source Media -- but they also had the foresight to buy a domain name!!!
Par for the course they also dropped some coin on a pretty website design. In a call-back to the dot com era, this is all you need to have in order to waste 3.5 million dollars of investor's cash.
I'm wondering how much of the 3.5 was spent to fly in guests, put up them up at the W hotel, feed them and pay for the extra ballroom required to hold all the giant egos? I'm pretty sure Judith Miller was free.
What exactly is OSM? Don't ask me, I'm not that smart! And it seems the more I read about PJ Media/OSM, the less I know:
Silly, trite details. fact checking, and all. Critics have noted that there is already a vehicle for this purpose, known as THE FUCKING INTERNET.
Also unclear....how they plan to make money. Spending it is much easier.
Here's what I am going to do with myself the next few days. First I am going to ask and videotape one random neighbor a day and ask them if they know who Roger L. Simon and/or David Corn are. I will call it the Carnival of Bloated Egos. Full disclosure: even I am not sure who David Corn is, though my web browser's history indicates I've been to his site and I'm pretty sure I saw that horror flick about his children on cable.
Later I will sit at the intersection of Hollywood and Highland with a sign that says, "Honk if you've read Instapundit..."
Enjoy the silence.
As always, you're welcome.
PS: God bless Ann Althouse for being first to identify the Open Sores Media, band-aiding the world. She does God's work.
PPS: Jesus loves my pal Steve H.
PPPS: Heh! Indeed.
Posted by Moxie at 7:31 PM | Comments (15)
November 15, 2005
audacious, vain and
not safe for work!!!
Of course, I love it. And it's so much better than wearing the regulation pajamas.
Speaking of jammies...here is my literal pajama-clad reporting in action.
My neighbor knocked on the door and suggested I come outside and see the thick fog that had invaded the neighborhood. So I did, in my PJs and socks.
Posted by Moxie at 12:46 AM | Comments (4)
November 11, 2005
what would moxie do?
- Tear up protected vegetation to make way for a lush, sodded lawn? CHECK
- Build a 26-foot-long barbecue, bonfire pit and outdoor theater on environmentally sensitive land? CHECK
- Not wanting to stir up trouble and go for permits? CHECK
Sadly, I have not yet begun to build my own right-wing bonfire pit -- we're still drilling for oil here at the compound.
But hypocrite Laurie David -- environmental warrior and self proclaimed conservationist HAS. Put that in your huge Prius and smoke it.
Posted by Moxie at 4:22 PM | Comments (7)
November 3, 2005
The Tony Snow Show
Tomorrow morning about 11:30 AM ET, I'll be on Fox News Radio with the fabulous Tony Snow. We'll be talking about the news and Los Angeles but probably NOT my homeland security scratch and sniff book: The Scent of Fear. I hope you'll tune in and listen.
Tony's show is available on XM and Sirius satellite radio as well as on many radio stations across the country. If all else fails, you can stream it live from his site!
Posted by Moxie at 3:14 PM | Comments (26)
November 2, 2005
Wake Up Mr. West
Sorry, can't help myself...50 Cent calls Kanye West's "Bush hates black people" accusation ludacris.
Posted by Moxie at 12:05 AM | Comments (5)
