Statpr0n and three big moments

I was flicking through some WordPress plugins and seeing what they could do for 6000 miles…when I realised that there are three fairly large moments rapidly approaching. And, quite conceivably, they could all arrive on the same day. Although I will not be making any particular effort to ensure that they do. Honest.

Firstly – on January 30th, I will complete my 365th day of consecutive posts. I got the post-a-day idea from the inimitable Brian Micklethwait and I thought I’d see how it went in February. It went well and the rest is, as they say, history. Or soon will be, anyway.
I’ve had to throw the odd quota photo in here and there to keep things going, and – mainly due to intercontinental travel – I have even pre-written a couple of entries, but generally, you’ve had one or more quality posts each day.
It’s been hard work, really hard, sometimes, but readership is up, subscriptions are up and I’ve actually enjoyed the challenge.
Will I continue? I haven’t decided just yet, but it seems likely. Watch this space on 31st January.
And before and after as well, obviously

The second big thing is that I am “just” 10,000 words short of 200,000 words on 6000 miles… blog posts. That’s a whole lot of words and a whole lot of posts considering I (apparently) average just over 300 words per post. One memorable effort didn’t even have any words at all. That must have dragged the average down a bit.  

The last bit of news is that – at an average 8 comments per post – I am almost up to 5,000 genuine (i.e.ham, not spam) comments. This blog would still exist without comments and commenters, but it wouldn’t be nearly as interesting and fun. Posts about the 2009 general election in South Africa were particularly well commented upon, as is any post about the contentious issues in local politics. Quota photos generally don’t get comments, nor do admin posts; those about religion do and that one about The Killers concert really got people going.

I’m going to make an effort to reward my 5,000th comment in some way.
Not sure how yet, but I’ll do it.
And because of all the spam that Akismet sifts out for me, no-one will know who or when it is, save for myself and The Guru. And thus, he’s not allowed to enter. Sorry, The Guru – it just wouldn’t be fair.

This post is 422 words long and is being filed under admin.
All of which means that no-one will actually have read this far.

Man at work

While you and I were living it up and drinking at the weekend, The Guru was also living it up and drinking. And then coding. Some say he codes better after a bottle of red wine. Or two. Some say they have never seen him wholly sober.
All I know is that he is working damn hard to iron out the little nuances which the multitude of web browsers chuck at part-time web designers these days. The Guru is a thorough animal and is determined that this project (and therefore this blog) will be all sparkly with all its bits in the right places; whichever browser you choose to use.
Consequently, things may seem to be a little out of place from time to time when you visit here. Please feel free to mention them in a comment somewhere. Especially if you are using a mainstream browser: i.e. IE. But do make sure it’s the most recent version. The Guru doesn’t have time to go back into the annals of history just because you’re still living in 1994 and using Mosaic.
He has coding to do and red wine to drink. 

While we’re on admin stuff, here’s a few more bits ‘n’ pieces:

  1. Made in Oxford is an exhibition by Oxford Flickr users. I lived in Oxford for 9 years and while I constantly wax lyrical about how photogenic Cape Town is, that goes for Oxford too. The Flickr blog showcases a few great examples.
  2. I popped some new photos up onto Flickr myself. Nothing too spectacular, just point and shoot fun with the kids this weekend.
  3. And if you were wondering if you have it in you to become a fantastic photographer, you can find all the information you need here at 27/6.com. It might just be easier than you think.

Right. I must away. People to do, things to see.
Or something along those lines.

EDIT: Damn, I think my short-term memory is going. Two more bits of admin stuff that I had forgotten.

  1. Welcome Wiggy’s World to the blogroll. Probably the best blog written by a Newcastle United-supporting, football-playing marquee salesman from Mansfield that I have read this year. Or at least in the top 3.
  2. New spam technique (which had me confused for a while): Copies of existing comments from the blog (including one of mine). Presumably, the theory is that because the comment in question has made it past Akismet and moderation once, it’s regarded as clean. Clever. But it didn’t fool me. Eventually.

In other news, I think my short-term memory is going.

A couple of Micklethwaits

I was drawn to Brian Micklethwait’s blog archives in search of this staircase (don’t ask) and while there, started reading and stumbled upon these photographs taken in Bethnel Green last February.

  

As I have mentioned before, I enjoy Brian’s photography. It’s unpretentious, often imaginative, sometimes cheeky, occasionally rather clever. And then explained or narrated in much the same style.

Brian’s photographs are also mostly urban. And while many may appreciate beauty only in photographs of lakes and fields and mountains and trees, having lived in cities all my life, there’s something comforting for me about seeing wires, tower blocks, and cranes; industry and infrastructure, hustle and bustle.

In other news:
I recognise that the blog has been a little photo-heavy of late, but since the election, things have all gone a little quiet. Almost as if people are waiting for something to happen. It hasn’t. Yet.
There’s really only been the rather unexpected utterly bizarre behaviour of Helen Zille having a pop at JZ and the completely expected utterly bizarre behaviour of the ANC Youth League having a pop at Helen Zille, both of which have been done to death on the news sites and blogs over here.

So I didn’t bother.

I have always attempted to maintain a decent standard of writing on this blog and, if I’m completely honest, I notice that my standards drop when I’m writing about a subject that doesn’t interest my or that I don’t believe in. Thus, if I don’t find something worth writing about, I don’t write about it. All of which made sense when I started that sentence.

But, hey. Don’t worry. This is South Africa. Nothing ever stays normal for long.

Baby Admin post

Do these count?
Of course they do.

I have added the tweetmeme plugin to my vast range of WordPress plugins which make my life easier and make your reading enjoyment all the more… enjoyable.

If you’re active on twitter (and let’s face it, these days, who isn’t?) you can now retweet the content that you see here with just the click of a single button (that little green one under the post).
Share the wealth. You know it makes sense.
One great feature is that you still get to edit the content of your tweet before you tweet it. I suppose some people would call that a twedit.
Not me, though.

Go on – choose a post (hopefully more interesting than this one) and tell the world you were here!