Today nocaptionneeded.com celebrates its second birthday.
There is a lot to be said for the Web, but virtual parties are not likely to be high on the list. Even so, we’re still here and somewhat amazed about that, and still growing and somewhat amazed about that.
As we did last year, this is a time to say “Thanks” and to take stock. Thanks to all our readers, and not least to those who take the time to comment. We don’t always like what you say, but you don’t always like what we say, and that’s what we should expect from an honest and engaged discussion.
We also want to pause a moment and take stock. If you would like to give us any advice, now is a good time to do it. What works and what could be improved? What might be added? Where should we be headed? Advice might not be heeded, especially given our limited resources, but it always is appreciated. You can comment below or email us at rhariman@gmail.com and lucaites@indiana.edu.
We’ll be taking two weeks off from posting—first, to lead a week-long seminar at the Rhetoric Society of America’s summer institute for scholars, and then to get of out of Dodge for awhile. Both should provide additional context for our assessing what we do here, and we’ll continue to read our mail. . . .
See you July 6, as we start another year at NCN.
Fabulous work as ever, fellers. Enjoy your cake and champagne, and keep going!
Photography blogs…
'The whole point of taking pictures', according to Magnum photographer Elliott Erwitt, 'is…
I enjoy the occasional guest commentators . . . .
Happy birthday! I just hope you don’t have to suffer the terrible twos.
Congratulations! In a place where things can be so fickle and websites come and go without much ado this is a considerable success. Hopefully there will be many more birthdays to celebrate.
One thing I have noticed is that the website takes longer to load than most other blogs I follow. This is not a problem I have in the US where my connection is fairly fast, but when I’ve been in Mexico and now in China, where my connection is not as fast, it has been noticeably slower than other websites and I wonder why this is.
Eskow: “Is Sarah Palin the first Post-Modern Politician?” imho, No; (actually, “post-modern”, that distinction being about ~1973, died on 9/11, and is “so yesterday”, fwiw). Ronald Reagan was the first post-modern politician: “Let’s just drop all pretense, whatsoever: a politician is a performer in a leading role — no longer a real leader acting like a performer.” (Wiki: ‘A Face In The Crowd‘, 1957). The “new post-9/11 realpolitik” is quite well described by Todd S. Purdum’s Vanity Fair article, “It Came From Wasilla“, and his conclusion about Sarah Palin: “It is, at the moment, a [political dynamic] in which the loudest and most singular voices, not burdened by responsibility [moral hazard], wield disproportionate power. She may decide that she does not need office in order to have great influence — any more than Rush Limbaugh does.” The NEW DYNAMIC that Eskow should be seeking to describe is that POLITICAL POWER post-9/11 is no longer wielded by POLITICIANS, but by political theater PUNDITS = performers acting like real journalists and/or un-elected “officials” of the public narrative. Wallechinsky: “Let’s face it, being a government official is a hassle. Say [or passive-aggressively, rhetorically ask] something stupid and half the country makes fun of you. Say something stupid on television [or on the internet], and your ratings go up.”