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Final day for Koufax voting

So I might as well make public my own votes.  Here goes:

Best Blog by a Non-Professional:  Atrios, still my first stop for most of my blog-reading needs.  Honorable mention, Digby, almost always my second stop.
Best Blog by a Sponsored, Professional, Paid Person Who Gets Money of Some Kind, as Opposed to Shleps Like Me Who Do It Only for Love and Maybe Also for Truth, Justice, and Universal Harmony:  Josh Marshall, Talking Points Memo.  Second, James Wolcott.
Best Group Blog:  Corrente.  Also very fond of Pandagon.
Most Humorously Funny Blog:  The Poor Man, with Fafblog so close you couldn’t even wedge a piece of ham jello between ‘em.
Best Single-Minded, er, I Mean Single Issue Blog:  Brad DeLong, runner-up David Neiwert.
Best Expert:  Pharyngula, followed by Juan Cole.
Best Writing:  David Neiwert at Orcinus.
Best New Blog:  Amanda Marcotte, Mouse Words.  Followed by Wolcott.
Most Deserving of Universal Admiration, or, Failing That, Wider Recognition:  Tough, tough call.  Suburban Guerrilla by a micron over Majikthise and Sisyphus Shrugged.
Most Humorously Hilarious Post:  Much as I’d like to vote for myself here, since I’m still remotely in the running, intellectual/comic honesty compels me to give it up for The Poor Man’s “Poker with Dick Cheney.” The stuff of genius.
Best Series:  Orcinus, “Pseudo-Fascism.” Read it and weep.
Best Post:  Jeanne D’Arc, Body and Soul, “And in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.” Read it and weep some more.
Best Commenter:  You’re kidding me, right?  I have the best commenters and everybody knows it.

As for my own categories:  right now I appear to be in fourth for Best New Blog (among eight finalists).  Mouse Words 83, Wolcott 63, and then a steep dropoff to a virtual tie for third-- Bradblog 43, me 41, AmericaBlog 37.  In Best Writing (ten finalists), it’s Digby 99, Meteor Blades 81, Wolcott 72, me 67.  And in Most Humorous Post (nine finalists), I stayed in the race all week but just couldn’t keep up with the front of the pack.  The Poor Man 49, Rude Pundit 43, me 41.

Of course, these vote counts represent only the votes that were sent to Wampum’s comments section, so they’re not accurate vote totals.  Still, when you consider that when I started this blog last January, I said to Kurt Nelson, “let’s try to make this the sixteenth best new blog of 2004, with the ninth best writing and maybe the sixth funniest post of the year,” you can see that we’re pretty damn happy with the way things turned out.  We think it was a good idea to do this, in the end, even though I started it up chiefly because I was getting tired of standing by and watching little bits and pieces of my essays being batted around the right-wing blogosphere, like unto beach balls in football stadiums.  More important, I learned about-- and was sustained by-- dozens of sharp wits and smart writers out there.  Many thanks to you all.

Posted by on 02/18 at 01:44 PM

  1. Pandagon is not a group blog nomore, nosir!

    Posted by  on  02/18  at  03:52 PM

  2. Hey, I know Jesse’s not a group all by himself.  But last year the Dynamic Duo of Jesse and Ezra were a group, and sure enough, there they are in the “group” category.  Maybe next year there should be two categories, “group” (like, say, the White Stripes or the Pet Shop Boys) and “supergroup” (like Emerson, Lake and Palmer or Genesis-- hey, there’s an idea, a competition for Most Turgid Supergroup)!

    Posted by  on  02/18  at  03:59 PM

  3. Good as Poker with Dick Cheney was, The Editors have topped it today with:

    And now, a word from our sponsors

    Posted by  on  02/18  at  04:04 PM

  4. Thanks for the reminder, Michael: went over to do my part to get you closer to third place for “Best New.” Just don’t sell that shiny piece of bronze on EBay.

    Posted by Chris Clarke  on  02/18  at  04:43 PM

  5. Congrats, Michael, on a fine performance - hey, you got the Rude Pundit’s vote, you forgot to brag about that! You do have the best commenters in the progressive blogosphere, no question. But that too is mostly your merit. It was good to see you, be well.

    Posted by Idelber  on  02/18  at  06:19 PM

  6. Oy, I tried tracking back to this post, but it no worky.  Ah well.

    And in Most Humorous Post (nine finalists), I stayed in the race all week but just couldn’t keep up with the front of the pack.  The Poor Man 49, Rude Pundit 43, me 41.

    I’ll note I voted for you.  Too bad we couldn’t do a vote exchange, because Suburban G and Majik are kicking my ass in the Wider Recog category worse than it has ever been kicked before.  Damn you, Berube!

    Posted by NTodd  on  02/18  at  08:05 PM

  7. I’m up against the unconquerable Juan Cole in my category, so I know how this is going to turn out. I say all of us runner’s up need to get together (in a purely virtual sense of course) post-announcement to raise a toast to the winners, and once that’s out of the way, spend the rest of the evening drinking to each other, the best danged second and third and eighth and etc. placers around.

    Posted by PZ Myers  on  02/18  at  08:21 PM

  8. I say all of us runner’s up need to get together (in a purely virtual sense of course) post-announcement to raise a toast to the winners, and once that’s out of the way, spend the rest of the evening drinking to each other, the best danged second and third and eighth and etc. placers around.

    Oh man, that’s gonna cost me a fortune!  I only like playing drinking games when I have really nice red wine.  The Cabernet costs will break me.  But I’m in--I probably can steal some cash from my wife.

    Posted by NTodd  on  02/18  at  08:26 PM

  9. You only need one bottle of good wine. After that, you can switch to cheap swill without noticing.

    Posted by PZ Myers  on  02/18  at  08:56 PM

  10. You only need one bottle of good wine. After that, you can switch to cheap swill without noticing.

    I used to be able to do that.  Alas, my tolerance is way too high, and I’ve gotten too spoiled by road trips with my boss.

    Posted by NTodd  on  02/18  at  09:03 PM

  11. Damn, indeed, NTodd!  I didn’t know there were vote exchanges.  I’m heading over now to vote for you for best commenter, just for that.  And Idelber, I think I got a number of celebrity votes worth bragging about; I just wish we could vote for the Rude Pundit in a category called “Most Appropriate Response to the Bush/Cheney Campaign.”

    And I’m up for PZ’s suggestion with a couple of decent pinot grigios-- the house drink of the effete liberal-academic elite, don’t you know.

    Posted by Michael  on  02/18  at  09:32 PM

  12. Pinot grigio if our offical drink?  I love it--or a nice riesling--but only in the summer.  Alas, we don’t get that for another 5-6 months here in Vermont.

    As for the vote exchange, no worries.  It’s a little-known rule.  And please don’t tell MB: she might disqualify us.  Not that this is illegal or anything, but we don’t want to rub her the wrong way.  I mean...crap, I’d better just stop typing before you get me in trouble.

    Posted by NTodd  on  02/18  at  09:57 PM

  13. Why, thank you very much…

    Posted by  on  02/18  at  10:17 PM

  14. I can see pinot grigio as the effete liberal wine.  You have to serve it so cold that you can’t taste anything.  Very near to a wine cooler…

    Now, white zinfandel is the wine most europeans expect effete americans to drink.  What’s funny is that it costs there about 4 times what decent table wine costs…

    Posted by Ryan  on  02/18  at  10:36 PM

  15. White zinfandel is to zinfandel grapes what white chocolate is to cacao. As a proper California chauvinist I refuse to drink any zinfandel I can see through.

    Um, well, to be precise, I don’t drink any of it anymore. But I’ll gladly toast allayouse nominated folks for your fine work with an espresso or something. (And if someone else uses Lagavulin, please let me know so I can remember and sigh wistfully.)

    Posted by Chris Clarke  on  02/18  at  11:00 PM

  16. White zin should be called ‘white sin’.  There is no zinfandel but the red variety.  All else is Satan Spawn.  I’m serious.  It’s in the Bible.  Somewhere.  Lemme finish this glass of Shiraz and I’ll find the verse on Biblegateway…

    Posted by NTodd  on  02/18  at  11:19 PM

  17. Somehow, every time I try to vote for a good Leftist blog at Wampum it ends up being for Pat Buchanan…

    Posted by  on  02/19  at  03:59 AM

  18. I was pinot grigio before pinot grigio was liberal, and it would be a dark and loathesome sin to chill Santa Margherita until you couldn’t taste it.

    Just saying.

    Posted by julia  on  02/19  at  06:01 PM

  19. What th’-- wine?

    I thought we drank the blood of Christian children! Guess I’ll have to reprint all those invitations to my Upper West Side Limousine Liberal Cocktail Party.

    I wonder if Katrina vanden Heuvel can bring a salad…

    Posted by Alex  on  02/19  at  07:53 PM

  20. I thought we drank the blood of Christian children!

    Only Jewish liberals.  But I thot they used the blood to make matzos?

    Anyhoo, the rest of us gentile libs drink wine during a non-stop bacchanalia.  Well, some tend toward wiccan activities, I s’pose, but that’s what is so great about liberalism: we accept all sorts of immoral behavior into our big tent of evil.

    Posted by NTodd  on  02/19  at  08:06 PM

  21. Well, Crap! Here I sit drinking carbinated sa-vig-non out of a nice box and you effete liberal snobs are merrily chatting away about beverages that have never, ever, been boiled out of a copper tub and condensed out of a 1954 studebaker radiator...and what the hell is a Pine-Nut Grudge-knot?

    I’ve heard of a Grudge Match...We have lots of those here in East Tennessee...The love of my life (this week), who’s reading your whining rants to me and typing my considered and thoughtful response, got whipped in one last Saturday night at the National Guard Armory in Dayton. Since all the boys went to I Rack, rastlin matches are about it for Saturday nights at the Armory...Not that I expect any of you northerners to understand any of this...Why do I keep tryin’? Anyway, I voted early and often...didn’t work this time neither…

    Posted by Whitescreek  on  02/19  at  09:50 PM

  22. NTodd, haven’t you been readiing David Brooks? We use the blood of Christian babies to make lattes.

    Posted by Chris Clarke  on  02/20  at  01:56 AM

  23. Chris - sorry, I must’ve spaced on the blood libel, er...latte thing.  My bad.

    Posted by NTodd  on  02/20  at  11:25 PM

  24. Michael-
    I’ve tried my hardest to interpret Kaye Grogan’s latest column at Renew America, but it appears I’m going to need an expert on postmodernist/absurdist literature to weigh in.  Care to help???

    -Brad

    Posted by Brad R.  on  02/21  at  11:49 AM

  25. Hey, if Amanda Marcotte, Mouse Words is the Best New Blog, shouldn’t she be on your blogroll? (James Wolcott, your runner-up, already is).

    Just sayin’…

    Posted by  on  02/21  at  02:46 PM

  26. Actually, she should’ve been on the blogroll three or four months ago-- but I haven’t updated since the election.  It’s on my To Do list.  Also there are another dozen or so people-- including Kaye Grogan!-- who should be there too.

    Posted by Michael  on  02/21  at  02:52 PM

  27. Well, I’ve read Joyce and Pynchon, and let me tell ya, Kaye’s text is both denser and more enigmatic.  Here are two paragraphs that particularly befuddled me (I even tried critiquing them using Eco-Feminist-Marxist-Monster theoy, but no dice):

    “And if the whole war idea does indeed turnout to be over ‘gushing’ oil wells, I’m really going to get mad! I mean you can’t eat oil or wear it!  But on the other hand, you can trade food for oil as many of the antiwar crowds may have found out in the U.N. Maybe someone needs to investigate if ‘arms’ for oil raised the ante in the trading oil frenzy. Who knows… maybe Saddam’s ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’ are sitting in some gigantic warehouse in another country, while a lot of ‘winking’ is going on between those who guard them.”

    Now, there’s a lot going on here.  Kaye’s mad that you can’t eat or wear oil (or even huff like rubber cement!), but you can trade it for food and use it to hide weapons of mass destruction and wink at people.  At any rate, it sounds straight out of the “Oxen of the Sun” chapter in Ulysses.

    Here’s the second one:

    “(W)hen Americans are attacked, sitting around twiddling thumbs is not going to save America. We have to go after the bad guys, before they get us. It seems mighty strange, many terrorists involved in the terrorist acts ended up being captured in Iraq. This vindicates Saddam Hussein from having anything to do with the attacks, right?”

    She seems to be saying that the terrorists that participated in the 9/11 attacks have been found in Iraq (even though they technically died on 9/11) and that having zombie terror soldiers in his country vindicates Saddam Hussein from any wrongdoing.

    What’s your take?

    Posted by Brad R.  on  02/21  at  03:19 PM

  28. Forget all this talk about winning blog awards.

    Here’s what really matters:

    Dr Wu says: Don’t rely on occupation news to provide news.

    (I heard this via the ouija board that our ace reporters never leave the green zone and resort to calling in the handouts given to them by the SOME TWENTY SOMETHING LIEUTENANT WHO NEVER FINISHED GRADE SCHOOL and then submitting them to their news organizations.)

    Hey, Senators, you call this news?

    I tell you one thing Hillary looks awful lately--ever since she collapsed at a speaking engagement. Condoleezza will whip her -ss.

    Clue for Dems: run someone who looks alive and with a common touch.

    Want to win blog award? Get in touch with my ouija board.

    Posted by  on  02/21  at  06:26 PM

  29. hey M.,

    i think you are ripping off my annual Faculty Self-Evaluation Report “Mad Lib” template! look:

    “Still, when you consider that when I started this <POSITION> last <DATE>, I said to <DEPARTMENT HEAD>, “let’s try to make this the <RANK> best new <PROJECT> of <FISCAL YEAR>, with the <RANK> best <ACHIEVEMENT> and maybe the <RANK> <ACHIEVEMENT> of the year,” you can see that we’re pretty <EXPLETIVE> happy with the way things turned out.”

    now i’m going to have to craft a whole new one before June!

    i’m turning you in to the “Turn-It-In” people--even though i did my best to vote for you (which i either did twice, or not at all, as far as i can tell.)

    otherwise--i recommend the riesling (although i appear to be your only commenter who does NOT have their own blog...)

    -Librarian, the Blogless

    Posted by Librarian  on  02/21  at  07:28 PM

  30. Please Professor Berube Sir, can you help me find my culture? I’m of mostly Irish/Dutch ancestry, a recovering Catholic, and of Liberal/Wackofreak ideological bent. Yet I toast with Margaritas or brandies. Can this be cured? It’s upsetting the Pregon Brie cell of the movement. I think they think I’m a mole with no heritage cred and may throw me out of the Underground Bowling League.

    Posted by Kevin Hayden  on  02/22  at  02:59 AM

  31. Pregon? Pfffft! that shoulda said ‘Oregon’. Vive la Raza!

    Posted by Kevin Hayden  on  02/22  at  03:01 AM

  32. Thanks for the endorsement!  I think you and Wolcott split the clever vote and I won via the Jesse Ventura method, but that’s just a personal theory.

    Posted by Amanda  on  02/24  at  02:36 PM

  33. Chiming in late here, but I still think you wuz robbed for funniest post.  Also: the blood definitely goes in the matzohs.  We won’t say what’s in the chopped liver.

    Posted by  on  02/26  at  02:20 PM

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