This isn’t my blog (I’m just a hired hand working on a dream I plan to try) so I think I can safely tout this without being called a braggart: traffic was fantastic here last month! Nearly two million page views, which is over 50% more than in January 2009, and more than this place ever got even during the election.
I think the credit for this is entirely due to all of you, if for no other reason than that page views actually measure how many times you visit the site.
handy
Umm…I’m guessing the hippie punching posts have done their fair share of driving up traffic.
Incertus
I get all happy when I top 200 visits in a day (which happens only when I link to myself here or other places), so to say I’m wowed by 2 million in a month is an understatement. Of course, I probably account for a couple hundred page views a day myself, but still…
Drive By Wisdom
It’s the economy stupid.
DougJ
@handy:
If you outlaw punching hippies, only outlaws will punch hippies.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
I’m pretty sure that if I ever get fired, it will be because of the number of times I visit here.
handy
@DougJ:
Not saying correlation equals causation, just sayin’…
General Winfield Stuck
Ok, cough it up.
MikeJ
@Belafon (formerly anonevent):
Step one to avoid this: set up an SSH tunnel to your home computer and direct all non-work related browsing through the encrypted connection.
Martin
Well, little things like getting headlined on Maddow don’t hurt, but I’ll take this as a tacit endorsement to keep pissing people off in the comments.
DougJ
Ok, cough it up.
For reasons that are difficult to explain, I have been listening to the song “Tequila Sunrise” a lot lately.
Incertus
@MikeJ: If I worried about being busted about surfing at work, I would ask you to repeat that in English.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
The last refuge in the innertoobz for people whose political/emotional Toyotas have outrage brakes.
slag
I don’t know. I think the credit goes to WordPress. Never underestimate the value of a good error page.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@MikeJ: Can you tell me where I would find somewhat detailed instructions on how to set that up? I can do most of the setup if someone can just tell me the overall steps.
General Winfield Stuck
@DougJ: @DougJ: Great song!
jeffreyw
I have 4 BJ threads open right now, and refresh them in series, hate to miss stuff.
AngusTheGodOfMeat
Time for you guys to pitch the thing to Roger Ailes.
beltane
I’ve been recommending this place over at GOS. We all need a little sanity in our lives.
Hiram Taine
There is nowhere on da toobz that I get better or more consistent belly laughs, I show up for teh st00pid and the snark.
I’m considering putting tear offs on my monitor..
MikeJ
@Belafon (formerly anonevent): Google and set up a
windows ssh server
on your computer at home. Substitute your operating system for windows.
On your laptop, or other computer at work, set up a ssh client. On the work computer, connect your ssh client to the ssh server (at home). Your network traffic will be encrypted and bounced off your home computer. All your local sysadmin will see is noise.
Martin
@beltane: How does inviting them over here help us with sanity?
Ok, some of them are rather good. Get Jeff Lieber over here. We’d be more appreciative of the dildo story, after all.
DougJ
@AngusTheGodOfMeat:
What makes you think we haven’t already?
arguingwithsignposts
@jeffreyw:
I’m with jeffreyw – it’s not the number of times we visit, but how often we refresh the same threads to see what the other pristine mf’ers have witty to say.
Totally OT, let me tell you that there is a certain airline, which shall remain nameless, but whose initials begin with the letter “A” that SUCKS and deserves a good dose of asiangrrlMN’s rusty garden implements(tm). My connecting flight today was cancelled even before I left my originating city on the flight which left OVER 1 1/2 HOURS LATE!!!!
So I’m sitting in a hotel in the middle of the land of the rising star (governed by Good Hair himself) waiting to wake up at the crack of “Why am I waking up at this hour?” to take a shuttle back to the airport to get on a plane and go back through TSA-ghanistan. Thankyouverymuch!
Morbo
I admit I was slightly disappointed while Jon Stewart was mocking blog metaphor exaggeration that he didn’t reference your douchebag post. Alas it was about hyperbolic verbs in the end, so it really wouldn’t have belonged.
Oh, and Anthony Weiner rules.
AngusTheGodOfMeat
@DougJ:
Please remember us little people when you are famous and filthy rich. Without laughing, I mean. Heh.
Yutsano
@arguingwithsignposts: I know at least for myself that I view not only here but also at home so that shows two different sites viewing pages. So I’ll take a bit of credit for the traffic numbers.
I am sincerely hoping the name of the airline is descended from the familiar name of Vespucci and not from Mooseburger’s home state. If it’s the latter I’ll drive up to their corporate headquarters and raise an unholy stink. Although I doubt it as I think their only two hubs are in Dallas and Houston.
Sentient Puddle
Rock!
That said, this is just my excuse to go OT: Mass Effect 2 credits rolling as I speak. Bloody great game. And the final mission is incredible too. Think of some of the spiffy things they did for the final battle in Dragon Age, and kick it up a bit. My only complaint is that it’s not entirely clear why some outcomes happen, and at least as far as achievements go, those are kind of important things to know.
But hell, another run-through, and I can indulge in all the spoilers and walkthroughs I want now.
arguingwithsignposts
@Yutsano:
Well, I am with you on the home/work two-views split, but there’s still a lot of reloading going on, especially late at night.
And yes, this particular airline has major hubs in the land of the rising star (secession!).
The Other Steve
The reason traffic boosted here is because I stopped posting comments as often.
I’m not sure whether or not I should apologize.
Calming Influence
Love this place, will never leave, &tc., &tc., but traffic was probably due to Balloon Dog v. Fire Juice kerfuffle. Poking sticks in hornets nest is an excellent way to observe lots of hornets.
mcd410x
Why do hippies dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?
MikeJ
Virgin fucked me over once (ironic, no?) and made me spend the night in Beantown trying to get home to DC. Bad enough that I didn’t get into the hotel until after midnight, or finish dinner until 2am, but then they put me on the 6 am shuttle. I seriously considered just skipping until noon so I could sleep in, but was afraid I wouldn’t actually get on the plane I wanted.
Still, if you get stuck, Virgin handles it better than any other. They gave me a hundred squid for a 4 hour delay in getting my luggage, and they paid for that (short) night in one of the better hotels in Boston and fell over themselves apologizing.
parksideq
Balloon Juice got the internet going nutz!
Congrats on the extra traffic guys! I can only assume that it came from people trying to run, not walk away from the Jane Hamshers of the left. (didn’t read the comments so apologies if I’m just reiterating what’s upthread)
danimal
Hey Democrats, want to make an issue out of Senate obstruction and get on the right side of the anti-Beltway mobs? Check this out. Shelby’s an opportunistic jerk and this one should be easily understood by the least politically engaged.
Ailuridae
I expected to be thanked on the front page. Ingrates!
Seriously, congrats. Y ‘all deserve it.
Elie
I really like it here even when I really hate it here – (not really, never hate it here).
I like you peeps… a community I can fit into whether on the fly or when I have more time… I am still getting to know a lot of you, but I always learn a lot here — as much about myself.
It feels comfortable and familiar. We also get intense but its always mitigated with human, folksy stuff — we purr and clean each other after the furr flies.
Lots of smart people here too, but not many not willing to question themselves and not any who are just willing to take someone else’s say so on anything..
Good community…Me Likee
mclaren
But remember: traffic would’ve been much higher if we’d had a capital gains tax.
arguingwithsignposts
@mclaren:
fixd
SiubhanDuinne
@danimal #34: This is fucking reta — I mean, this is insane. If Shelby can (legally) put a blanket hold on 70 nominees, can Obama (equally legally) do a blanket recess appointment covering all 70?
Ash Can
We have no lives.
Ecks
How many million hits?
I guess those same 10 bloggers in their pajamas in their basement have been REAALLLY busy hitting refresh.
I’m scared to ask how many different unique IP’s it is.
2th&nayle
@DougJ:
Well, thank you for coming forth with that! When I read that I said, “That’s got to be a song lyric, but wtf is it?” Of course that probably means I’ll have “Tequila Sunrise” looping though my head the rest of the night. That’s ok though, had a J.D. Souther earworm most of the day anyway. “Go Ahead And Rain”
2th&nayle
@arguingwithsignposts: Speaking of asiangrrl, anybody seen her around? I haven’t read all the posts so I might have missed her.
tjproudamerican
This blog is keeping me sane in a world that has turned into a typical “Hunting of The President” because the Democratic Party happened to win an election. Since John Kennedy, there has been an effective “conservative” assassination squad to destroy Democratic Presidents. Bill Clinton made it easy for this permanent squad of Hitmen, but they come after ANY Democratic Party Leader.
Remember Jimmy Carter’s “Malaise” Speech? Neither do, although I read about it at the time. That is because Carter never said “Malaise” and his speech was quite good.
Now, every word, picture, and gesture of Obama’s is distorted. At least the right winger media only praise people who arm themselves and claim that TeaParty idlers are Patriots. We have symbolic assassinations of “Democrat’ Presidents, where the -ic is amputated with an absolutely violent sneer.
I feel bad for Larison and the other real conservatives that these Breitbart/Drudge/Fatso, the Drug-addict angry white guys drown out, but I mourn the assassination of the country I was born in 60 years ago as ot gets uglier and uglier.
This blog is my first stop because you fight the bastards, because you are humans with real full lives and wide interests, and because you are good writers.
Please keep the faith, and Thank You!!!!
JSD
Hey Doug, it’s you, and it’s John (and Anne & Tim & Dennis). I love John’s wit and insightfulness, and I love your intelligence and knowledge. And it’s not all politics all the time, although that’s primarily why I come. But I love the “homey” bits, too, like the dog pics, John’s technology questions and game mentions, and your alcohol posts.
So keep doing what you’re doing. I love it.
bob h
Give some credit to the Republicans, and the desire to find a zone of sanity amid all their craziness.
Ivan Ivanovich Renko
Since the passing of Steve Gilliard (pbuh), the ‘Juice has been my home on the intertoobz. First stop, last stop.
Honest, intelligent commentary and commentariat (take a bow, y’all), mass quantities of world-class snark make this a den of smart people (no, I don’t really belong here, but I show up anyway– and I haven’t gotten shown the door quite yet).
Stealing Magnolias
Well I’m finally going to take the plunge and comment where I’ve been visiting since so many in the left blogosphere drank the crazy juice and started finding an enemy in everyone that isn’t a true “progressive”, whatever the hell that means.
Everyone here appears to be relatively sane, much more pragmatic, and a lot less prone to hold hands with a rightwing loon simply because they smiled at them once in an elevator. The thread of libertarianism running through so much of this criticism is alarming, and frankly, if that’s the way some want to go about making progress, I’m afraid I’ll have to stand on the side of good sense and take the stairs instead.
Starfish
All the work web filters got tighter around the New Year. For some reason, they still let you guys through. I don’t understand why.
Bob (Not B.o.B.)
Kudos to the team here for their great work.
Also special thanks to Kos and FDL for being such fuckwits that the sane left comes here now.
SGEW
I think I’m suffering from a touch of the “but I was into it before it was cool!” neurosis. Who are all these people cluttering up the threads?
More seriously, congrats on the traffic. Good stuff and good work deserve page views.
chrome agnomen
i’ll take credit for about 400 of those page views. where the hell’s my pony, my unicorn, and my soros check? those page views won’t fuck themselves!
Skepticat
@arguingwithsignposts: Blame the weather about to hit the DC area–they’ve canceled all sorts of flights because it will be lousy later. Air travel, never much fun these days, is going to be snarled all over the country for a week or more. I’m so glad that I don’t have to travel by commercial air.
This is a great community. When JC’s mentioned on another site, I find myself saying, “Hey, I know him!”
RedKitten
The argument with Glenzilla probably contributed to a few page hits as well, me thinky.
carlos the dwarf
@MikeJ:
I’m flying virgin for the first time in a couple months, so that’s good to hear. But I make a point of using amtrak for all travel east of the appalachians. Less hassle, better for the environment, and often cheaper. [that said, i got a damn good deal on my virgin flight, and amtrak cross-country is hella expensive.]
Nazgul35
I blame Tunch…
Elise
I’ve been directing every sane person that I see at DK over here. There are a lot of people who aren’t so happy about the direction of that joint, and I think it’s clear that a lot of them are looking for a new home.
Maude
I’d like to thank Tim Russert for dying. It was John’s post on the overdone, never ending eulogy for Russert that hooked me.
So, thanks, Tim.
licensed to kill time
I have to put my .02 in – Balloon Juice has become my most favorite, most visited, most fun/informative site. All the other sites I used to visit have been sitting in my bookmarks lonely and forlorn and rarely clicked. The commentariat here is unparalleled and I enjoy John’s sense of humor and outrage, DougJ’s apt music titles and posts, Anne Laurie’s unique outlook and middle of the night offerings, Tim F’s activism and Dennis G’s in depth coverage.
This is just a great place to learn and laugh and rant and refresh like a mad rat pressing that pedal to get your next fix in some science experiment. Gotta see who said what next!
Love this joint, thanks to everybody here.
bjkeefe
Hurrah for Pajamas Media!!!1! All praise Roger Simon!!!1!
But seriously …
Congrats. I’m proud to be one of your millions of minions.
SamInMpls
As an inveterate and unrepentant DFH, I don’t mind John throwing fire towards our left flank.
What really makes this blog for me is that the funny is never forgotten. That and the lexicon. Doing gods work with that one.