How We Broke the Blog
May212010
So it turns out that blogs aren’t designed for the kinds of conversations we keep having. Those conversations are supposed to be on forums, of which we have one. So we have two choices:
We can move all the discussions to Cherry Forums and fight them out there.
Or we can keep them here and stop nesting comments to the fifth level or whatever it is. It appears to be the nesting that goes that wonky.
Given my lack of success at moving any conversation on any blog to the Forums–I suspect you’re either a Forum person or you’re not–I suggest we institute an informal rule–nobody will yell if it gets broken–that we don’t go down more than one level in commenting, that if we want to reply to a reply, we start a new comment and reference the old one. I don’t think the Popcorn blog even has nested comments–it’s a very simple blog, unlike this sucker–so it shouldn’t be a problem over there. Although even as I say that, I see the gleams in your eyes.
As for the lists, I have a feeling they may shift a little as we work through them, but let’s go with what we’ve got for now. If we make it through all 36 on the list and Lani and I are still up for it, we can do four-movies-on-a-theme months after that. For right now, let it go, grasshoppers, we’ve got our list.
Popcorn blog to go up shortly. Like by Monday. Pinky swear.
Edited to Add:
In answer to the question below, here’s how to do a block quote:
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44 Comments to 'How We Broke the Blog'
On May 21, 2010 at 10:58 am Kate G said...
Oh I’m glad we are staying here. For some reason I have trouble getting on the Forums. I’m missing the appropriate synapsis or something.
Something just struck me, Jenny and Lani are wanting to write better rom-com? I thought you guys were already the best! No I’m not being sycophantic (I can’t even spell it). I just know if I want to get a certain feeling from a book where I can go to get it. But I’m not agaisnt the pcc (popcorn chronicles) I need to become a better writer and it’s sure to help me. – After all, isn’t all about me?
On May 22, 2010 at 8:31 pm Lora said...
ditto. i like it here but lack the cybergene to be comfortable with the forums. i gave up and went “screw it” to forums ages ago.
On May 21, 2010 at 11:04 am Diane (TT) said...
I’m in the “not a Forum person” category, so thanks for setting a guideline that will allow us to continue here!
I’m also not much of a movie person – I don’t know why I have this big barrier about turning on the TV at the moment, but so it is. But I’ll read other people’s thoughts!
On May 21, 2010 at 11:05 am Sierra said...
The no-nesting thing seems to work alright over at Lucy’s blog, and I think that being able to blockquote helps with that. Can we do that here?
On May 21, 2010 at 11:32 am Jenny said...
In order to do a block quote like this:
type the less-than symbol (< ), then the word "blockquote" (no quotation marks), then the more-than symbol (>), then your quote, then the less-than symbol (<), a slash mark (/), “blockquote”, and the more-than symbol again. The actual example is up in the post as an image because if I type in the actual string of letters it becomes a block quote.
On May 21, 2010 at 11:22 am Merry the CB said...
Personally, I blame the whelk.
And second the blockquote idea.
On May 21, 2010 at 11:39 am Sierra said...
Oooh! Blockquote works over here? Let me see if I remember how to do it. (I’ve been spoiled by Lucy’s place.)
Quick question, since the comments on the last post are hopelessly tangled – what was the verdict on A New Leaf? I really do want to see it, but with Netflix not having it up instantly any more, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get my hands on it.
On May 21, 2010 at 11:43 am Jenny said...
I’m leaving A New Leaf on there until we get to it. If it’s impossible to get from Netflix, we’ll go to Cactus Flower, which came last on the poll. We have until September 3 to figure it out.
On May 22, 2010 at 1:23 am Moth said...
Housecalls is also not available through Netflix FYI. I just checked.
But you can get a DVD on amazon.
On May 22, 2010 at 9:30 pm JulieB said...
So, the list will be:
Barefoot in the Park
The Goodbye Girl
What’s Up, Doc?
A New Leaf
Avanti
Housecalls
I chronological order (not the way I listed it here.) Is that correct?
And, Cactus Flower, will fill in if A New Leaf is actually unavailable?
On May 23, 2010 at 7:25 pm AudreyL said...
So JulieB you have the same list that I do??!! LOL
On May 21, 2010 at 1:10 pm Diane L. said...
Thanks for sticking with the blog! For some reason, I just don’t have the patience for forums (fora?).
On May 23, 2010 at 1:17 am Meredith B. said...
Either one will work– “forums” is the modern form and “fora” is the old fashioned one, and the Latin roots that the word came from are a little vague anyway, so even Latin scholars won’t judge you on this one.
On May 21, 2010 at 1:45 pm Jennifer said...
Yes, thanks from me, too, for sticking with the blog. My available computer time comes in little three minute bursts throughout the day. With the forum, by the time I’ve signed on and found where I want to be, I have to stop.
I’ve missed most of the movie discussion (spring is very, very busy for me), but the bits I’ve caught sound fabulous, and I’m looking forward to the Popcorn blog. It will be great for suggestions for my regular “girls movie night” with my friends, where we throw all the husbands and children out and giggle and allow ourselves to drool or otherwise be as inappropriate as we like. I’m guessing the Popcorn blog will be the online version of the same event.
On May 21, 2010 at 2:07 pm Tawna Fenske said...
Glad things are staying on the blog. I love the on-stop-shopping I get here, and I pinky-swear I won’t break the blog with nested comments (though I might occasionally bitch-slap it).
Tawna
On May 21, 2010 at 3:48 pm JulieB said...
Well, I will say I don’t mind going to the forums, since I go there every day anyway.
But I would miss everyone here. Instead, I’ll just miss nesting, since when it works, it’s nice… 
On May 21, 2010 at 3:54 pm robena grant said...
Whew! (Swipes forehead with back of hand). So glad I was out of town when the blog broke. I’m happy to watch and discuss anything you choose. Now I’m off to buy a big box of microwave popcorn, extra butter of course. : )
On May 21, 2010 at 4:51 pm McB said...
I really do prefer the blog for general conversation. Forums definitely have a place when you want to discuss specifics and even better for finding a reference down the road. But it lacks around the table spontaneity. And, as much fun as the nesting comments can be, I don’t think placing limits is unreasonable at all.
Playing the ol’ shell game, eh? Shockingly, she sells out sea shells to shell shocked
scriveners.
On May 21, 2010 at 5:58 pm Shiloh said...
I don’t have much patience with forums either. I think it would change Argh too much! This is much better!
On May 21, 2010 at 6:24 pm Jill said...
Yup, not a forum person, just never really could get into them. Feels too much like walking into a party where I know no one. Thanks for keeping us able to chat here!
On May 21, 2010 at 6:42 pm Carol Anne said...
()Yay!()
Let’s see if it worked for me. So glad it is not a forum. Like this! It is an on-going party.
On May 21, 2010 at 6:43 pm Carol Anne said...
That means “O Yay! O”
On May 21, 2010 at 6:45 pm marly said...
Referencing back, not nesting. I agree with Merry – it’s the fault of The Knobbed Whelk. Definitely not a rom-com.
On May 21, 2010 at 8:00 pm Merry the CB said...
I figured that this would probably be my only chance, in the whole of my lifetime, to actually type the sentence “I blame the whelk.” Couldn’t let an opportunity like that go by.
On May 21, 2010 at 10:45 pm Micki said...
OK, too much nesting makes the blog go wonky. Funny, that happens to me — I curl up with good books and DVDs all weekend, I get funny aches and pains by Monday, LOL!
Re: the New Leaf: that decade is still down the road a bit, and I bet if You Request It, It Will Come. Amazon seems to be putting old movies on DVDs (I’m a little ashamed, but I decided I had to have a copy of The Brass Bottle with Barbara Eden). And in the comments, someone said another company was transferring old vids to DVD. Soooo, do we want to push for this? Gambit was 19.99, compared to the $10 Charade. So, it will come at a cost, but it could be done. At least the campaign part.
On May 21, 2010 at 10:47 pm Micki said...
Sorry, I’m having a fuzzy-prose day. Just want to make clear that it wouldn’t be just Jenny making the request, but all of us who want to see the movie on DVD — although the blog might be the defacto “touchpoint” where we can keep in touch and urge others to ask Company XYZ to release The New Leaf. I guess we could do this on Facebook, too — after all, they got Betty White on SNL.
On May 21, 2010 at 11:28 pm Clever Cherry aka Judy Long said...
I have some form of mental block about the forums also. I’m happy to comment here. To simplify for myself I will probably do like I do at Lucy’s blog. Instead of hitting reply after a comment, I will just reference the comment in my comment. For example:
Marly & Merry the CB – the whelk sounds like a very guilty party.
Micki – I’m up for a campaign to put the New Leaf on dvd. The movie poster makes it look hysterically funny.
Like that. I need to have things simple.
On May 21, 2010 at 11:38 pm Stephanie Leary said...
You could turn off the nesting feature altogether, Jenny. We’d just go chronologically and maybe not be confused!
Looking forward to the popcorn blog.
On May 22, 2010 at 12:16 am Jenny said...
Sometimes I reply to comments from the dashboard and then the nesting feature is a good thing. And I think if we only go down one layer, we’re okay. If even that makes the comments wonky, I’ll go back to the site designer and have her take it off. I do like it. We just tried to nest four hundred comments (I was as bad as everybody else so not pointing fingers), so I think if we show some restraint, it’ll be okay.
Micki, I like the idea of us all requesting it. It’s free to request and there’s no obligation. We could get A New Leaf back and we could try for Trenchcoat and Ask Any Girl. Gambit has me all hopeful now.
I did order A New Leaf and it looks like a bootleg to me. I’d feel worse if I hadn’t already bought a legit copy and lost it, and if it comes out again, I’ll buy the real deal, but at least I have this. Although I have no idea how bad the copy is yet. Sigh.
And yes, I’ll put up a blog post on AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT TOPIC soon. It’s been one of those weeks.
On May 22, 2010 at 6:44 am McB said...
For shame! If e’er there was a character innocent of doings, ‘twould be the maligned knobbed whelk who is the only the merest observer of this play we call life.
On May 22, 2010 at 11:38 am R. said...
I’m pretty sure I saw the whelk in the library – with a candlestick.
On May 22, 2010 at 6:45 am McB said...
They don’t even nest, ya know.
On May 22, 2010 at 9:47 am JulieB said...
Well, we’ve been keeping ourselves quite busy with these, and you’ve been joining in the discussion completely. No pitchforks or beachballs have come out at all!
On May 22, 2010 at 12:24 pm Jenny said...
Yes, but I feel guilty if I don’t feed the blog regularly. And I do have several posts to go up that are just waiting for pictures or final info. But thank you for restraining your pitchforks.
On May 22, 2010 at 12:32 pm Skye said...
R.: LOL!
On May 22, 2010 at 1:04 pm R. said...
I was just talking to a buddy and asked him if he’d ever heard of the Knobbed Whelk. He said it was a Trojan product name. One of their best sellers. It was too good not to share.
On May 22, 2010 at 1:14 pm Merry the CB said...
Oh McB. For shame.
On May 22, 2010 at 3:42 pm Bethany said...
Feed the blog makes me think of a bunch of lolcat cherries going “nom nom nom” But that might be medicine overdose… Need to finally get that Netflix subscription so I can watch these. My local library doesn’t have a great movie selection.
On May 23, 2010 at 12:13 am JulieB said...
Sing it with me…. “Feed the blog, tuppence a bag, Tupppence, Tuppence, Tuppence a bag!” Oh wait, we’re not doing musicals. Right.
On May 23, 2010 at 12:36 am Skye said...
One of my favorite songs! Sometimes I just wander around the house singing it. (Why, yes, I do live alone ….)
On May 23, 2010 at 5:50 pm AngelFire said...
“It’s quiet. Too quiet.”
New post? No more comments? Where is everyone? At the mall?
On May 23, 2010 at 7:29 pm BJ said...
Gardening?
On May 23, 2010 at 7:39 pm Jenny said...
RESTING.
On May 23, 2010 at 9:02 pm AngelFire said...
Sorry…
*tiptoes out of the blog*