I just cannot comprehend how anybody can enjoy listening to the same tracks in practically the same order day in day out, nay hour to hour. Do they fail to notice that there is no transition in the play list? Or do they suffer from amnesia? Each hour are their brains purged of the banal commercial deluge which permeates through their cochlea?

Would you for instance turn on the same TV channel each evening in the full knowledge that the entire evenings viewing would consist of the exact same 5 programs repeated each day? Same episode day in day out?

Maybe the first two days you may relish watching the same episode of Only Fools And Horses, you know the one where Del Boy falls through the gap in the bar, but i'll wager that before long the merest hint of the opening theme tune will have you projectile vomiting over your digibox before you reach "...no vat" and if not then i gather that you could well be the sort of person who is able to comfortably ingest the aural strychnine that is commercial radio.

Now everyone and their grandmother has one. And according to Technorati, it has hit the mainstream.

Blogging in its strict sense, being a website with posts being shown in a reverse chronological order, has been mainstream for quite some time now. The websites of many mainstream news sites, such as the New York Times, prominently feature blogs. Even corporations like Google and Microsoft have blogs.

But do these count as real blogs?

Not really. Just because it is in the same format as a blog doesn't make it one. And even mega-blogs like Techcrunch and ReadWriteWeb aren't what we truly mean when we say blogs.

In my opinion a blog is a blog, when it is started and maintained by a single user. And the blog is used, not to report news, but to give personal opinions on news or anything else for that matter. In a sense, the blog should have a particular character, that of its author.

Whenever you use your blog almost exclusively to report news, promote or market your product or services, and other such non-personal purposes, you turn it into a commercial site.

Now think of all the blogs you believe to be mainstream. How many of them are truly blogs?

And according to ReadWriteWeb, blogging isn't mainstream at all.

Of those 133 million blogs that Technorati has indexed - guess how many of them have been posted to in the last 7 days? 1.1% of them, or 1.5 million total.

Just for context, 1.6 million people in the US have defaulted on their mortgages last year. In 2005 there were 1.6 million people around the world who could speak Esperanto. 1.6 million people went to the Minnesota State Fair last year.

Is blogging mainstream? Globally, fewer people are posting to their blogs each week than go to the Minnesota State Fair or speak Esperanto. Maybe the impact of blogging on media is comparable to the economic impact of an equivalent number of people defaulting on their mortgages, but that would be a pretty drastic statement to make.

Trying to blog (as 130 million+ people have in the past 6 years) may be somewhat mainstream, but actually blogging does not seem to be so yet.

People try to blog everyday, but few make it. In fact, it is very rare to find a single author blog that is wildly popular, even in it own niche.

So today, I join the 130 million of you who attempt to blog. Hope I can join the ranks of the 1.1% of you who make it.

I have to admit, I'm not giving up my DS Lite anytime soon. Of course, the fact it's a limited edition Legend of Zelda DS Lite has something to do with the value of it to me. Still, the cameras and new bells and whistles for the DSi don't interest me in the least.

However, I can see how this would be of interest to plenty of people. I can't count how many times I go to the mall and see a group of kids sitting in a circle playing with their DS. I also can't count how many people I see all over the place with a Nintendo DS in their hands.

What are they doing? Well, some of them are playing some more serious games like I might be. Others are using pictochat, playing Mario Kart against each other or, playing things like Nintendogs.

Us Nintendo fans just need to face facts, our beloved system goes two ways these days. There's the very casual mainstream audience and there's us...the ones who have been around for awhile, come to love the franchises Nintendo gives us, and the more hardcore games available.

We've been split in two. There are plenty of new announcements Nintendo has released recently that is going to appease us. The recent announcement surrounding Metroid Prime and plans for Punch Out are two of them. However, Nintendo is also harnessing an audience many other game consoles and hand-helds aren't taking a hold of...they've got the mainstream around their finger.

The DSi is a smart move. Sure, I'll give you the fact controversy could surround the camera feature. Any adult could think of some ways that will become an issue. However, it's going to be even more of an appeal to the mainstream audience. People who wouldn't normally think of sitting down for hours to a Zelda game or play Chrono Trigger until their thumbs want to fall off.

Who is going to love the DSi? The kids in the mall, the guys at the office who are bored and the Mom I saw waiting to pick her kids up from school. It's not necessarily for us. It's for a completely different audience.

Now...will I look into a DSi? Sure I will. I still won't give up my DS Lite...not anytime soon. That beautiful triforce on the front is just too pretty to let go of.

WATCH GREATNESS UNFOLD TONIGHT AT 10PM

-Review coming shortly-

I am surround by family. I have a husband, son, sister, mother, and brother. I have more cousins, aunts, and uncles than I could count, even using my and your toes. Oh did I mention in-laws.

I have friends that count as family. Those that call me after months of not hearing from them…

“Hey, Suz. I need your couch.”

I hope I’m not unique in that.

I have a very special extension of my family too. While we all have some things in common, we are as different as… well snowflakes come to mind. Mostly because of the flake part. 

We are creative, smart (at least we think so), loving, and friendly. We are also testy at times, each have moments of “duh”, and get hurt feelings, even when it was not intended.

We are unique in the fact that, while we work together, hardly any of us have met. We know more about each other than some of our blood. We talk, we share, we agree, and sometimes must agree to disagree. 

I am of course talking about the authors around me that have found their home in Second Wind. I’m talking about writers that range from Mainstream Fiction to Paranormal Romance. We also range from thirty years-old to past retirement.

We live from coast to coast and everywhere in between. We also love to read, love to write, and create in ways that amaze me from day to day.

And though we all write, our books are as different as we are. We have different voices, different genres, and different ways of looking at each. And through it all we will stand as family, like any family; with love in mind, and stories to tell.

Suzette Vaughn

The Second Wind Publishing Family

Author of Badeaux Knights and Mortals, Gods, and a Muse

Pro-PaYne - The Young Man

Pro-PaYne - The Super Duper Song (Swagger Like Us) ft. Mainstream, S-Preme and Carmega

both from The Super Duper Mixtape

it will be released on December 4th

from Otaku Swagger

Marie Bostwick

Kensington, Nov 2008, $14.00

ISBN: 9780758222572

In Fort Worth, Texas, Evelyn Dixon thought her life was pretty good.  That is until she figuratively receives two shotgun blasts into her gut.  First her husband informs her he is leaving her; second she learns she has breast cancer.

Needing to get away, Evelyn moves to New Bern, Connecticut where she opens up a quilting store.  As she begins to heal, Abigail Burgess, her niece Liza, and Margot Matthews enter her store.  Each has issues with Abigail and Liza struggling with the sudden death of the latter’s mom and Margot looking for a job hopes quilting will bring her fresh contacts.  These four begin to bond one stitch at a time.

Although the inspiring single thread that runs through this well written uplifting character study is not new as there are a bunch of examples out there, Marie Bostwick provides warn look at starting over while coping with at best a life changing emotional issue.  The story line is driven by four women who each are coping with difficult poignant problems that lead to them finding a sisterly bond with one another; as the power of friendship helps each of them deal with the deck dealt them.

Harriet Klausner

Allison Winn Scotch

Shaye Areheart (Crown), Oct 7 2008, $23.00

ISBN: 9780307408570

In Westchester County, New York, anyone who knows Jillian Westfield will believe she lives the perfect life in her lovely upscale family home.  Her husband Henry adores her and their infant daughter has a vocabulary of sixteen words.  She seems to be the model of lifestyles described in the upbeat family living magazines she reads.  However, Jillian is unhappy as she is already tired of cleaning up their daughter while her lawyer husband hides behind long office hours.   Adding to her despondency is learning that her post graduate college lover, Jackson is getting married.

Following a deep, chi-clearing massage, Jill awakens not to her daughter’s cries, but somehow seven years ago when she worked in Manhattan advertising and dated Jack yet remembering her future.  Each time she reaches a major decision point, she considers selecting the other opportunity she rejected the first time.  As she redoes pivotal points even Jill wonders where her selections will leave her.

With nods to It’s A Wonderful Life and Peggy Sue Got Married, TIME OF MY LIFE is a poignant character driven drama as the heroine gets the chance to answer the what if fantasies people make about their past.  Jillian carries the wonderful story line as she debates herself on whether to select the alternatives or follow the same path she already knows where it is going.  Allison Winn Scotch provides a deep tale of second chances.

Harriet Klausner

The Review:
There are two vegan-friendly dishes, one of which doubles as a gluten-free option, as well as a dairy-laden vegetarian dish. The roasted tofu is exquisitely light and beautifully presented. It is topped with a sorbet-like scoop of beetroot agar that demands the dish be considered unique.

Service is pleasant and attentive without being overbearing. Expect a well-dressed crowd for workday lunches, and an attractive dinner clientele. 

Come for an upscale stylish lunch or a chic and trendy dinner. 

Don't miss:
The WC

Contact:
http://www.portalrestaurant.co.uk/
Portal
88 St John Street
London EC1M 4EH
+44 (0)20 7253 6950

St. Aidan's is the seventh Anglican church in Ontario, and the eleventh nationally, to secede from the Anglican Church of Canada over doctrinal issues focused on acceptance of homosexuality.

Members of the parish said they wanted to return to a more orthodox and traditional version of Anglicanism, centered around the authority of scripture and the gospel.

James I. Packer, Professor of Theology at Regent College in Vancouver, BC and one of the most highly regarded Protestant theologians today, said the Anglican Church of Canada has been "poisoned" by a liberal theology that "knows nothing of a God who uses [the Bible] to tell us things and knows nothing of sin in the heart and in the head."

Charlie Masters, the executive archdeacon of ANIC, told the Windsor Star, "The big issue (is) around the Bible and the authority of scripture and the gospel," which teaches that human sexuality is reserved for marriage, which is an exclusive commitment between a man and a woman.

In a news release, ANIC said, "Unfortunately, the Anglican Church of Canada continues to abandon mainstream Anglican teaching and doctrine, particularly in relation to the authority of the Bible, breaking with the vast majority of global Anglicans."

The Windsor Star reported that St. Aidan's bishop, the Right Rev. Robert Bennett, said, "They may not say it, but the issue of same-sex marriage is underlying the whole debate," and that he will be investigating the validity of the vote.

"We're trying to clarify the details," said Bennett. "There are also serious issues about who owns the building. We're looking at our options."

Report from the Christian telegraph

Wild Child Magazine - "We share essential practical information and resources that strengthen Family Values. "

WildChild covers a lot of the issues that mainstream ignores, but we as the enlightened, uprising youth know to be some of the more 'real' stories of the day. Like what the heck did happen on Wall Street with the stock markets? Is the news actually giving us the real story?

Anyway, you'll find commentary, photos and videos (some are downright hilarious) on current events, postings about new technology (a car that runs on air?!), info about UFOs, as well as a rich community of avant garde thinking people - artists, activists, techno-whizzes, musicians, and beautiful people (photos of some hawtie women). You can join the community and post your own videos, photos and discussions. For those of you in my blogging online class, this is a good way to gain additional link backs to your own blog or web site. I'll wax some philosophy on how the internet is like Grandmother spiders web some other time, but for now let the analogy sink in - we need to connect with each other :~)

http://www.wildchildmagazine.com

Check 'em out, enjoy and join up (don't forget to add me as your friend when you do join) and have your own voice heard at Wild Child Magazine!

Love, love, love is STILL the answer~*

I guess the big one is the (further) disintegration of my friendship group. Alot of people told me that by the time you finish college you wont give a shit about the people you went to high school with. I always discounted this, thinking my group was strong enough to make it through. Initially we started as ten, then dropped to the 'core group' of five, one went out, one came back in and then .. as of two weeks ago shit well and truly hit the fan. Now half the people arn't talking to eachother, more out of arrogance and apathy than actual anger. Still, as commented by a mate today, we don't really just 'hang out' anymore. It's a shame really because that's the good bit, the just sitting around talking shit, not relying on abuse to build rapport. Nxt week there's a big outing where 5 of the originals will all be on the same table at a ball, of these five 3 were always core, one was an extra and one got too cool for the rest of us about three years ago (though recently has found himself friendless and decided we were his fallback plan). I'm hoping it'll all be chill and with that in mind i'll prob control the drinking .. oh and partly because there will be a lovely lady there i really like.

On this topic, sunday i hooked up with this girl i really wanted for a while about a year ago but never got the stones up to ask. But yeah, hook in .. not so great .. better in my head, admittedly the circumstances were a bit weird but neither of us is exactly lining up for more (there was a time however ..) So Part two to this is me thinking whether i'm fixated on these past girls more as an excuse to not look for new ones rather than actual desire. So yeah, this girl coming up i really like for a while but again (having only recently grown a pair) never actually hooked in with. The good news is this'll take the edge off, hopefully kill the way-keenness that has paralyzed me in the past, while giving me a chance to get to know her anew. Yeah done, good headspace. Also opens up a whole new range of girls to go with this new confidence i'm toting.

Musically i'm listening to the same shit as everyone else (and not even judging them for it). Ladyhawke - paris is burning (cut copy remix) is getting a workout for the chill value as is trentemollers moan. In fact, alot of the songs in my 'Indie 5000' playlist have recently gone mainstream. A drive switching to a pop station revealed Kings of Leon, MGMT, Does it Offend you Yeah, Midnight Juggernauts, Black Kids and the Presets .. all material previously relegated to the underfunded cheesy-voice free frequencies. For the first time ever i'm not just droppin' like its hot as soon as they hit mainstream, rather i'm just enjoying it. People dont like it? fuck'em .. bigger things to worry about .. well .. not really but it's hardly worth devoting the care. SUNDAY: SOULWAX. honest to god, if you're not into these belgiums and their dj counterparts then i suggest you get your shit together because they're an absolute outrage. Oh incidentally, i'm thinking of hauling arse to a concert in another state tomorrow night .. waiting to hear back on costs but i feel like i need to do something crazy .. it's been a while.

That's about it sweet internet, in terms of other blogs the young lady over here is a good read, superficial continues to be awesome.  That just about ends my little update, i've gone easy on the cynicism though it's still around .. just lurking .. as is my music judgementalness .. lurk lurk. May do a ghost friendly post in about a weeks time on outcomes etc. bet you wish i'd put this paragraph at the start and saved you a whole lot of care .. though i doubt the care would be highly taxed.

A young lady i once/still like(d) told me writing things down and burning them was a great release of thoughts. Failing some kind of digital immolation however, this will have to suffice.

quedub.