Feed
Two things which are happening on this blog at the moment:
-A lot of people are reporting that they can’t read the blog, because the RSS feed isn’t working. This has led to unfounded, but chilling rumours on the internet that the Blogless Day is upon us. I imagine that many have already taken their own lives over this. But in the hope that it’s not too late to save some people from despair, let me just make clear that the blog is very much still alive and unbroken, and celebrates its 300andsomethingth day today. I will make it my business to sort out this RSS thing and take the harshest possible measures against whoever, or whatever, is blocking the ‘feed’. But in the meantime those of you accustomed to using phones for this blog might have to resign yourselves to reading it on the actual internet using an actual computer.
The other thing is, if you check back to the ‘Boyle scandal’ thread, an increasingly odd and at times grammatically-suspect debate is still going on about sociology, Lacan, whether I am a ‘puppet’, whether I am a ‘naive liberal’, what the nature of individuality and subjectivity might be, and (in one cases) whether everyone on this blog is a bit like a Nazi. As someone has pointed out, this is an example of ‘Godwin’s Law’ which states that eventually, any online debate ends up with someone getting carried away and glibly citing Nazism as if it is remotely relevant, even though it almost never is.
I keep getting tempted to weigh in to this discussion, because I did do an English degree at a well-known university and have probably read more of Lacan and his ever-so-serious contemporaries than some of these posters realise, and I think some of them have quite badly distorted what I said in the original blog. But the resulting arguments would be quite tedious and I’d run the risk of looking self-important when, really, this is only a blog. Isn’t it?
Oh there were a couple of interesting comments yesterday about the respect-in-football campaign, and whether it’s relevant. I can’t tackle them now (no lame football pun intended, there) but I will before the end of the week. markwatsonthecomedian.com: where the debate never stops. Unless you can’t read the feed. In which it never starts. Sorry.
Posted by Sarah on January 13, 2011
Ali – thank you!! That has worked perfectly for me on my iPhone x
Posted by Shell on January 13, 2011
The feed thing is a bit baffling. I didn’t have it set up so cannot comment on when it stopped. I access the blog via a computer or iPhone and it all appears completely normal to me. Odd.
Godwin’s Law… heh. Well I’m going to just leave them too it in that thread. Arguing for the sake of arguing does nothing for me.You’re right not to weigh in Mark. Time for us all to move on now.
Posted by Lydia on January 13, 2011
Until a couple of days ago I had never heard of the Godwin’s Law thing or really noticed it, but then someone told me about it. And now you are. I don’t know why this always happens with things I have never heard of.
Posted by Tracey on January 13, 2011
Hi Mark. This is the first time I’ve been able to read your blog since last Friday. I don’t know what’s been wrong but I use an actual computer – rather old now and nothing new was coming up on your blog page – I just got sent back to 7th January all the time. I thought you might be ill – so glad you’re not! All I’ll say about the Friday 7th blog is what I said before – I love you both to bits. Hopefully it’s all in the past now. I’m relieved that my ageing pc is finally letting me see your daily blog again! Take care, Tracey x
Posted by MusicalLottie on January 13, 2011
Ooh, I get a different title at the top of the archive each time I click on it. This is exciting! It’s also weird that the site can’t decide how many blogs are on here, but oh well. It’ll sort itself out eventually …
… which is what I hope happens with the whole FB debacle. (I have NEVER done a segue before; please forgive its lameness.) I think you could either address it in blog form, or just leave it to run its course and watch with mild, detached amusement. (The latter would be the safer option.)
My cat is sitting at my feet, purring at me
I have no idea why I decided to share that, but it’s just one of life’s simple pleasures!
Posted by Rachael on January 13, 2011
Don’t be tempted to intervene, it will never end!
Posted by ali on January 13, 2011
The main page for the blog looks broken to me as well. It’s stopped at Jan 7, like the RSS feed, and shows an incorrect number of comments (not sure if it’s always done that?)
So, I have a suggestion for a temporary solution. It may or may not work (I can’t say definitely until there’s another update. Maybe by then, the problem will have been fixed and this won’t be necessary.) Anyway:
If you are a person who comes directly to the homepage, change the bookmark address to:
http://www.markwatsonthecomedian.com/web/2011 -instead of web/blog
for RSS readers use this:
http://www.markwatsonthecomedian.com/web/2011/feed -instead of web/feed
and hopefully you’ll get the new updates without having to dig through the archives, as well as save yourselves from any heart damage or other blogless-day-panic related injuries.
Posted by Someone on January 13, 2011
I don’t understand a word of what’s been going on, and haven’t for some time now. Something about potatos. And Hitler… I think some of them commenters might be locked in some horrific sort of Scrabble game, too. Maybe they need help.
Godwin’s Law’s interesting though. I have a mate who likens pretty much everything to nazis, from Star Trek to Scouts. He looks like Jesus, too. But I’m sure that’s just a coincidence.
Also also I’m listening to ‘…Substantially Better’ *again* right now. Can’t be healthy.
Posted by Misha on January 12, 2011
Imagine what it must’ve been like before the Nazi’s, no Godwins Law eh?
A scary thought.
Posted by Melanie on January 12, 2011
You could always wade in anonymously (I do hope that my spelling is correct there), Mark. Have a bit of fun!
Posted by Clembear on January 12, 2011
Oooooh, go on then, what did Lacan really say?
Posted by Cathy on January 12, 2011
Phew – I tend to read the blog on the actual internet, on an actual computer – and even I thought that there had been no blog since Boyle-gate. For some reason, clicking on ‘blog’ on that top banner of your website ^, which normally takes you to the most recent blog, actually takes you to the Jan 7th blog. It’s not until I clicked the 2011 bit at the side that I realised there were other blogs. To repeat – phew! I thought that nasty man had brought about the blogless day!
Hooray for blogs!
Posted by Julie on January 12, 2011
I was wondering why my RSS feed wasn’t working and thought I’d broken it again so am quite relieved to hear it’s a general problem. Hope it’s sorted quickly though it’s a little eerie that the last blog I got was last Friday on the Boyle affair. Bit suspicious, that.
Posted by Josh on January 12, 2011
I am awful at Hitler. I mean, I talk about Hitler far too much. I just find that he’s a really good tool to make people reassess their views, especially in Ethics lessons.
But this is all fairly academic…
Posted by Sarah on January 12, 2011
Oh, thank goodness, I thought it was just me! I’ve been refreshing the page on my iPhone for DAYS, even thinking we might have had the dreaded Blogless Day, but have finally caught up on my laptop. The weird thing is, I don’t subscribe to the RSS feed, I look at the website itself – well, the mobile version of it. A different WordPress theme is used when you view the site on a mobile.
So… to summarise, I have NO idea why it’s happening. But I’m glad it’s not just me
Posted by Anji on January 12, 2011
I can’t get into a highbrow debate. But I can read this on my phone – simple, but hopefully helpful.
Posted by Hannah Mae on January 12, 2011
God, just read back on those comments! It amuses me greatly that you pissing off a comedian has degenerated into a pseudo-intellectual Lacan debate. If it were a genuine discussion it might be quite interesting (if a bit of a ridiculous leap), but frankly, I get the sense that the participants don’t really know what they’re talking about and are attempting to blind readers with sociological jargon. I do English at sort-of-well-known university (not quite yours, but it thinks it is) so I’ve read a bit around the subject and I’m not really buying it.
This *is* only a blog, and I can imagine you’re quite keen to lay this whole thing to rest now, but perhaps weighing in on this discussion in blog form (rather than a comment) wouldn’t be such a bad idea? I don’t know. I suppose then you’re inviting further responses and the whole bloody thing (which started out as something so minor) might never end. I’m just quite interested in hearing your educated opinions on it all, really. Maybe it’s petty to retaliate, but it’d be pretty sweet if you could address their strange accusations with measured counter arguments, turning what I suspect was just an odd attempt at feigned intellectual superiority into something proper. As I said though, maybe that’s petty.
Posted by Sam on January 12, 2011
Those sounds like the kinds of debates I have all the time, except I don’t bring up Nazi-ism, I just tend to go for philosophy and sollipsism and be done with it.
I saw the clip you did for The TV Book Club (almost a year ago) today. I was most amused by you standing holding the word Boondoggle. I do like that word, I thought it was in common useage, or was in like the 80s or something, I’ve heard my parents use it, either that or I dreamt they used it.
Posted by Daniel on January 12, 2011
Love Godwin’s Law. The surest sign you’ve won an argument.
” But I thought I was doing the right thing. ”
” That’s exactly what Hitler said, and look what happened there. Nazi. “
Posted by Hannahq on January 12, 2011
It is! Cor. Do I get a question or something? I don’t think I can deal with that kind of pressure.
Posted by Hannahq on January 12, 2011
Is this the first comment? This is so exciting! I have nothing to say though. And it’s probably not even the first comment by now.