Monday, August 13, 2007

My 300th post

Excuse my party hat, but I’ve got cause to celebrate. When I launched this blog eight months ago, I didn’t know how long I could keep it going (me not being renowned for my stamina).

Well, this is my 300th post. And blogging is the most fun I’ve had as a writer in five years.

I’ll devote this post to updating other posts. (Click on the headlines below to read the original pieces.)

Assassination of a journalist

Dick Prince’s blog, Journal-isms, has been the place to turn for updates about the broad-daylight murder of Chauncey Bailey, the Oakland journalist. Prince linked to an August 7 San Francisco Chronicle story which reported this fascinating fact:

Saleem Bey, who had worked for years at Your Black Muslim Bakery, revealed himself to be the inside source for Bailey’s investigation of the bakery’s shady dealings.

“I gave him the stories. I knew everything that was going on,” Saleem Bey told the Chronicle. “I thought it was dangerous for me, not him.”

Earlier, a 19-year-old handyman at Your Black Muslim Bakery confessed to the ambush killing of Chauncey Bailey.

Here’s the kicker: Saleem Bey was a son-in-law of the late Yusuf Bey, the founder of Your Black Muslim Bakery and a community activist who’d had his own run-ins with the law. In Mafia terms, Saleem “betrayed the family” by revealing secrets to Bailey, but it was the journalist who paid with his life. This sick drama is not over yet... not by a long shot.

For ‘Chocolate Rain’ fans only!

The mainstream media are all over Tay Zonday, Mr. “Chocolate Rain,” the Internet star of the summer. The L.A. Times profiled him in Sunday’s paper. So did the Toronto Star, which revealed Tay’s real name – Adam Bahner. He’s a grad student in Minnesota.

Today MTV.com profiled him. And last week Tay performed his hit song on “Jimmy Kimmel Live.” You go, bruh.

Lawrence Auster’s ‘female trouble’

The hubbub over fringe-right blogger Larry Auster’s examination of the ruinous effect of women’s right to vote... well, over the weekend it spread like an oil slick at two conservative group blogs – New English Review and What’s Wrong with the World.

Auster posted numerous comments at both blogs, and I jumped into it like a game of Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots. Oh, it was feisty.

Mary Jackson at New England Review shut down that discussion after a while, which pissed off Auster because he didn’t get the last word. The conversation is still rolling at What’s Wrong with the World, where a few ignorant fuckstains posted insulting remarks about my racial status and professional accomplishments. But (in the words of Oscar Brown, Jr.) I was cool.

I bring all this up for those of you who like to watch blog wars, or who specifically like to see me mix it up with Mr. Auster.

Attack of the GIANT NEGROES!!

Shortly after midnight this morning, somebody in the MetaFilter community linked to my original Giant Negroes post from last month. I didn’t even know what MetaFilter was.

Now I do. Because readers started pouring into this joint by the hundreds. I’m talking about 1 a.m., 3 a.m., 5 a.m. in the morning... hundreds per hour.

I try not to get hung up on numbers, but this blog has been averaging 600 site visits per day. (And they’re not all regular readers; many are folks who just happened to Google “Petey Greene” or “David Simon” or “Vanessa Del Rio.”) On my best day ever, I got close to 1,000 site visits.

Today: more than 5,000 visits.

Such is the impact when the MeFi community takes notice of you. And it was a quite unexpected gift on the day of my 300th post.

16 comments:

S.O.L. said...

Let me be the first to congratulate you on the big 3-0-0. I've known you for a long time, David but these 300 posts have been more revealing than anything. Thanks for one of the Net's awesome new destinations. You have made the top of my procrastination list. That's serious stuff right there. Keep on truckin'!

Anonymous said...

Congrats. That Auster thread on "What's Wrong with the World" is something else. Dispatches from the 10th Crusade? Oh dear, I think I just added another site to my "procrastination list."

Cheers.

Undercover Black Man said...

Thanks for the vibe, S.O.L.

Cheers back at you, Redcoat.

Donald said...

Great news on your 3 double O! I look forward to many more posts from you and the provocative commentators. Keep on Keeping on!

quirkychick said...

Yay Dave! Thanks for the abundant interestingness and awesome music. I hope you keep having fun with it for a long time.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations! I'm actually shocked that you've only been going at it for less than a year because this is one of the most impressive single-person operations I've ever seen. The output alone, of course, but the scope of your interests is what really makes me feel inadequate. Anyways, thanks for the 300 posts and I hope to see another 300 in the future.

justjudith said...

congrats, david. yours is one of the few i read daily -- for whatever that's worth :)

and before it's said and done i have to figure out if the michael vick coverage is somehow a descendant of the giant negro syndrome. nothing like a mission to keep a busy girl busier!

congrats again!!

Anonymous said...

"And since that is the opinion, there is no need to couch it in waffle."

Rofl.. Ms. Mary Jackson is AWESOME. She's like this reluctant superhero, just minding her own business until one day the far right tried to rough her up.

But was this just a one-time event, or can her powers be turned to good? Who will face her wroth next? Screw the Bionic Woman, they should put this on NBC.

Unknown said...

Keep up the good work, but don't forget to shower and get out of the house to play poker every once in a while! Big kudos...

John

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed following the Auster Threads. I loved the way in which one of the posters tried a Seff Efrican-style grading of your blackness, so as to dismiss you as a mostly white troll.

- percyprune

Anonymous said...

Congrats! Just don't forget we're counting on you for some quality TV, too!

Anonymous said...

congrats on a perfect bowling score, UBM! :-) i mean, 300 posts!

Undercover Black Man said...

Thanks to all. And blackinusa, I am very proud of the quality of commenters who participate here.

bklyn6 said...

Tom Glavine's not the only one jonesing on #300 these days! Congrats!

Undercover Black Man said...

THIS IS SPARRRTA!!!

Anonymous said...

^You know what that movie needed? Giant Negroes.