Happy Blogiversary to US!

posted by The Sailor @ 3:01 PM Permalink

Today is the second blogiversary of VidiotSpeak! As we enter our 'terrible twos' I thought it appropriate, (and easy), to reprint our One Year Blogiversary post:

It's been a year since VidiotSpeak was conceived in blogtopia (y,wksctp!*). And they said we would never last!

If you're in the mood for a 'how we met' story it's pretty good; She was in a black leather motorcycle jacket and I was a rock & roll outlaw hiding in academia ... umm, actually, we've never met. The Vidiot previously had an excellent online column about current events that occasionally went down because it was so popular. I offered some reserve bandwidth to make sure I could get my daily fix of snark and outrage that quieted the voices in my head while expressing the voices in my heart.

But I digress, without further urdu, here are our self-chosen highlights and excerpts for our one year blogiversary (y,wktjmotlctp!**):

January

The Vidiot:
At the beginning of last year, I wrote this: Constructing Our Reality ... I could’ve written it today. NOTHING has changed.

The Sailor:
Cognitive Dissonance ...
... Is the sound of one hand clapping, inside your head, in space, where no one can hear you scream.

"The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him."
- G.W. Bush, 9/13/2001
[...]

February

The Vidiot:
In february, I liked these two little ditties: Corporate Control

I saw this headline and nearly did a spit take:
Exxon: America will always rely on foreign oil
and
I'm so koany

If a real estate bubble bursts and the media doesn't mention it, did it really burst?

The Sailor:
Since we're talking about our favorites, I kinda liked this one: Cartoon uproar felt throughout Bay Area
and here's a blast from the past we should keep in mind during The New Way Forward:
Lies Big Brother Told Me

March and April
And who can forget The Vidiot's Brain Salad Surgery Saga?

The Vidiot:
Brain Damage...

I feel terrible not posting very much. But I have a very good reason.

So, funny thing, I've been feeling like crap lately and I went to the doctor, and guess what? I have a brain malformation. Well, OK, anyone who knows me might've suspected that right off the bat. But, it gets better.

It's official

Just got back from seeing the neurosurgeon and he said "Yup. You need surgery."
So, I've provided pictures to explain what's going to happen.

The day before tomorrow....

Tomorrow is the big day. (Update: Surgery is scheduled for 8:30 am) Today is the last day I'll not have a scar on the back of my head for the rest of my time here on Earth.

The Sailor:
So here's the deal ...

I'm sure the millions, well thousands, OK, hundreds ... would you believe 3 ... people who read vidiotspeak know Sara Bellum (AKA The Vidiot), is going in for a bit of 'nip and tuck.' Hopefully this time she'll get a brain surgeon and not a rocket scientist to do the ... uhmm ... honors.
[ED: BTW, thanks very much to skippy, Jeralyn, Myra, therealmrsjamesrubin, Rose and the various anonymouses who sent their good wishes. It meant a lot then and it means a lot now.]

Mr. Vidiot:
Update on The Vidiot:

The vidiot is out of her six hour surgery as of Thursday afternoon and doing well. The surgery was a success as everything went exactly as planned.

The Vidiot:
Well THAT sucked.

That sucked more than the 2000, 2002, 2004 elections COMBINED, multiplied by a bazillian. I'd rather have 8 more years for Bush/Cheney than go through THAT again.
[ED: If you ever want to see true love in action, read the whole post!]

The Sailor:
Well, that was a downer ... OK, a lot of downers, intubation and an IV drip. But there were a couple of light spots:
The Acme of Corruption ... or ... Gee, Brain, what do you want to do tonight?
and
It's Easter Sunday, the time of year we genuflect to eggs that were dyed for us ...

May
May saw Mr. Vidiot stand up, step up and sound off!

Mr. Vidiot:
"Blame the Victim"

Articles about the Katrina effect are ridiculous.

Capitalism.....

This article gets somethings right and some things wrong:

The Sailor:
So how bad do the neocons want a war with Iran?

June
I swear, looking back over our posts for this retrospective, some could have been written today.

The Sailor:
So how's that whole War On Terror thing going?

Who's That Tap, Tap, Tapping on My Phone*

General Confusion and the Secretary of Defensiveness

U.S. commander predicts new reductions in troop levels in Iraq this year, but no firm timetable

Ohh, and there was a minor personal event for

Mr. and The Vidiot:
Light Blogging by the Vidiot

And I apologize. After brain surgery, I realized I needed a vacation. So, I'm off to Spain in a few days. Well, it's actually, a honeymoon

July

The Vidiot:
The other day, I went OFF. I mean really, went OFF.

Spain

The Sailor:
Res ipsa loquitor

Is US Winning? Army Chief Is at a Loss

August

Mr. Vidiot:
Viva Cuba Libre

What they really mean

The Sailor:
He's out of touch, they're out of time

The Vidiot:
Katrina

Last year at this time, I was watching Mr. Vidiot frantically dialing his friends and family in NOLA, making sure everyone was OK.

September
In September we got some things right and some things wrong.
The wrong:

The Vidiot:
Wait for it, wait for it....

And the Right:

The Vidiot:
That's it then

The Sailor:
Bushco, making government smaller ... by poisoning us

October

The Vidiot:
What the hell!

Is this a tactical nuke going off in Iraq during the ammunitions fire? Watch the video. At about 3:56, there's a HUUUUuuuge explosion. Looks like a nuke with a glowing mushroom thingy to me.

Let's reflect for a moment

on the fact that this war and Iraq, a byproduct of the neocon plan to militarily dominate the planet and its resources, has caused the death of well over a half million Iraqi lives.

The Sailor:
Sunday Sermon on Wednesday

I don't understand the 'debate' on torture. I don't understand why there is a debate. I just can't see it. It's wrong, it's immoral and it doesn't work. You can make anyone say anything you want if you torture them long enough.

And we can't leave out the Guest Post by Edger:
What can we do about Islamic Terrorism?

November
November brought some good news:

The Vidiot:
Well, It's official.

The dems now control both houses of Congress.

The Sailor:
The Election is Making a Difference Already

Democrats Purge Climate-Change Skeptics

And some bad news:

The Vidiot:
The coffin doesn't need anymore nails.

Every other day, I read about some legislative assault on the constitution. Here's another one.

The Sailor:
Lied to death

Army Recruiters Accused of Misleading Students to Get Them to Enlist

December
And what year would be complete without the blessings that the season holds for all of us? Well, maybe not all of us.

The Sailor:
2006 by the Numbers ... or ... 3 freaking THOUSAND!?

The Vidiot:
Funny, isn't it.

They have $3 billion a week for the Iraq war, yet NO $$ to treat the 9/11 workers.

So, there it is. Just a small part of what inspired vidiotspeak to speak out in the darkness. That and we're pissed off and our friends are sick of listening to us.

Special thanks:
The Sailor:
I'd like to thank the academy, my agent and all the little peo ... oops, sorry, wrong speech.
Special thanks go to our good friends skippy and SteveAudio, for believing in us and linking to us first. AMERICAblog for linking to our posts and helping us in our research. But most of all I want to thank my partner in crime, without whom none of this would have been necessary!

* Yes, we know skippy coined that phrase! [back]

** Yes, we know Jeralyn Merrit of TalkLeft coined that phrase! [back]

So as you can see not a lot has changed in the world. But a lot has changed at VidiotSpeak. We've had a bloglift, we've added most excellent new writers, and our readership has more than doubled.

So I propose a toast to our new writers, our new readers, and especially to The Vidiot, without whom none of this would be!

Labels: blogiversaries