Finishing Up The 2005 Texas Blogfest
And Planning For The Future.
Home again! I was way too wiped last night to churn out any posts about the final day of the Blogfest. I got all my gear out of the PimpSled, topped up the nearly empty food & water bowls for Betsy Cat and Pookie Cat, then collapsed on the daybed to watch Deadwood on HBO before limping off to bed. Now, I'm just barely conscious at work, and I still need to get the guns cleaned from yesterday's range session before I can crash tonight. Oh, the price we pay for our frivolities!
All in all, I'd say the Blogfest was a huge success. Spats & Beth are to be congratulated for a job very well done, and I make a motion for the pair to reprise their organizer roles for the 2006 Texas Blogfest! Do I hear a second? All in favor? (Thunderous acclamation!!) All opposed? (deathlike silence) OK! Looks like the Ayes have it!
We spent a bit of time after the range session and at the farewell lunch at Whataburger discussing the scope of the future Blogfests. Spats brought up the point that this blogging thing may well be a flash in the pan. He's got a point, but I think we'll hang on for a few more years before the development of implantable intra-cranial blogging gear makes face-to-face meets obsolete.
I for one would like to see the Blogfest expanded to include a wider variety of attendees. At this Blogfest, we had only token representation from the "Blue" side of the Blogosphere. Lots of the attendees this year were diehard "Reds", and that's OK. I just feel it's important that we keep in mind that while we can seriously disagree with the opposite side of the political spectrum, they are still human beings, and need to be seen as such. I worry about the possibility of the two wings separating so far that we start to dehumanize the other side. Usually when that happens, sooner or later people tend to get Zyklon'ed or machete-ized to "purify" the realm.
Andy showed a huge set of cojones to march into the midst of the Evil Right Wing Conspiracy, wearing naught but a kilt and a cloak of Moral Certainty. Sure, Spats & AJ disagreed with him, but by Sunday, there were at least grudging signs of respect. For his part, though he bitched about the habits of conservative troglodytes on his blog, Andy remained cordial and willing to look for common bonds. I think that's very important. To use a quote from the HBO movie 'Live from Baghdad', "As long as we're talking, we're not going to war".
Eric from Who Tends The Fires said it best (even while he was full of 15 year old scotch, which makes it that much more impressive!) when he said "We don't need to be the ones showing our ass in public." He's absolutely right. As long as we can maintain the high road, we can offer the other side as much rope as they want, 'cause sooner or later they'll either get their shit properly braided together, or they'll hang themselves by excessive public ass-waving.
OK, enough pontificating. Thanks to all who attended. It was great meeting all of you! I hope we can do it again very soon!
Home again! I was way too wiped last night to churn out any posts about the final day of the Blogfest. I got all my gear out of the PimpSled, topped up the nearly empty food & water bowls for Betsy Cat and Pookie Cat, then collapsed on the daybed to watch Deadwood on HBO before limping off to bed. Now, I'm just barely conscious at work, and I still need to get the guns cleaned from yesterday's range session before I can crash tonight. Oh, the price we pay for our frivolities!
All in all, I'd say the Blogfest was a huge success. Spats & Beth are to be congratulated for a job very well done, and I make a motion for the pair to reprise their organizer roles for the 2006 Texas Blogfest! Do I hear a second? All in favor? (Thunderous acclamation!!) All opposed? (deathlike silence) OK! Looks like the Ayes have it!
We spent a bit of time after the range session and at the farewell lunch at Whataburger discussing the scope of the future Blogfests. Spats brought up the point that this blogging thing may well be a flash in the pan. He's got a point, but I think we'll hang on for a few more years before the development of implantable intra-cranial blogging gear makes face-to-face meets obsolete.
I for one would like to see the Blogfest expanded to include a wider variety of attendees. At this Blogfest, we had only token representation from the "Blue" side of the Blogosphere. Lots of the attendees this year were diehard "Reds", and that's OK. I just feel it's important that we keep in mind that while we can seriously disagree with the opposite side of the political spectrum, they are still human beings, and need to be seen as such. I worry about the possibility of the two wings separating so far that we start to dehumanize the other side. Usually when that happens, sooner or later people tend to get Zyklon'ed or machete-ized to "purify" the realm.
Andy showed a huge set of cojones to march into the midst of the Evil Right Wing Conspiracy, wearing naught but a kilt and a cloak of Moral Certainty. Sure, Spats & AJ disagreed with him, but by Sunday, there were at least grudging signs of respect. For his part, though he bitched about the habits of conservative troglodytes on his blog, Andy remained cordial and willing to look for common bonds. I think that's very important. To use a quote from the HBO movie 'Live from Baghdad', "As long as we're talking, we're not going to war".
Eric from Who Tends The Fires said it best (even while he was full of 15 year old scotch, which makes it that much more impressive!) when he said "We don't need to be the ones showing our ass in public." He's absolutely right. As long as we can maintain the high road, we can offer the other side as much rope as they want, 'cause sooner or later they'll either get their shit properly braided together, or they'll hang themselves by excessive public ass-waving.
OK, enough pontificating. Thanks to all who attended. It was great meeting all of you! I hope we can do it again very soon!
posted by El Capitan | 11:30 AM
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