1) Vote Berube! 2) We’re Sorry 3) Vote Berube!

1) Vote Berube! 2) We're Sorry 3) Vote Berube!The glitz, the glamour, the gift bags ...

We flew a little too close to the sun.

We apologize: We handled the 2006 Weblog Awards all wrong. Encouraging you guys to vote for us, then asking again, then undoing another button and leaning forward to ask yet again -- we tainted this blog, a well-tended quad of pristine sarcasm, with the stench of earnestness.

And frankly, we're ashamed. It's a little like waking up after a bender to realize what you've wrought. (Suffice it to say that we once got up and sleep-peed in our sock drawer at like 8 in the morning, in full view of two stunned friends visiting from high school -- and this post-Bloggies nausea feels even worse.)

To quote a role model: I was wack. Today we leave those posts behind as The Sincerity That Shall Not Be Named, and fully endorse Prof. Michael Berube for Best Educational Blog 2006. He's neck-and-neck with SpunkyHomeSchool -- a blog that's actually defunct but has rabid acolytes with adept at getting out the vote. Berube seems like a funny guy (and half of us are alums of the same hockey team), but mainly we just want to see the tension play out between the academy and the homeschooling army.

26 Responses to “1) Vote Berube! 2) We’re Sorry 3) Vote Berube!”

  1. OMG Says:

    alumNI

    alumNI!!

    http://www.bwog.net/publicate/index.php?page=post&article_id=2823#comment15474

  2. Michael Bérubé Says:

    I just can’t believe the hockey team has an athletic department van to crash into other vans and drinks on game buses. Why, in my day, we had to push our own rickshaws all the way up to Riverdale in the Bronx and then hose down a vacant lot just to have a practice. And we were grateful for the privilege, let me tell ye! Today’s Columbia hockey players are just a bunch of . . .

    Oh. Sorry. What were we talking about again? Right. Thanks for the generous endorsement! I accept the baton; I will overlook your brief and misguided flirtation with The Sincerity That Shall Not Be Named; and I hope that my blog will carry the day. For I am locked in a vicious struggle between Good and Evil, and I cannot countenance the thought that Good might win.

  3. jacob Says:

    I hope you realize that if Bérubé loses by less than the 2200+ votes you have, that you’ll be blamed for his loss, that organizations with which you have been affiliated will be roundly mocked and lose their influence, that people who voted for you because they actually thought that you were the best candidate will be mocked, criticized, and yelled at for (at least) six years hence, and that you will destroy any hope your party had in smaller elections.

    Of course, some people will blame the Bérubé campaign for not allowing its most prominent and popular supporter to campaign publically, for running a poor campaign in its home state (hey Bérubé, why don’t you make sure you win in Pennsylvania, huh?), and for being an uninspiring candidate. But those people are either naifs or paid off by the homeschoolers, so we can ignore them. It’s all your and your supporters’ fault.

  4. Christopher Says:

    The Jesus people are currently in the lead by a narrow margin…

  5. Long Live Spunky Says:

    Since your endorsement of yourself caused you to slide to several THOUSAND votes behind Spunky, I wholeheartedly applaud your support of Bérubé. You will end up tainting his blog as well, and Spunky will win! And it will be on your head. How will you ever have the courage to blog in public ever again?

    The (not really an) army marches on!

    (for those elitists who don’t have a sense of humor, the preceding post was completely in fun)

  6. jess Says:

    Actually, I get this even less than the unbridled self-promotion of yore, by which I mean two days ago. Throwing the election to an opponent for no good reason other than that your overzealousness has played a part in your losing? I suggest that next year you go for something in the untapped middle.

  7. Michael Bérubé Says:

    Jacob says: hey Bérubé, why don’t you make sure you win in Pennsylvania, huh?
    ________

    Well, I did make sure. My state campaign manager is the Secretary of State, and my brother is the governor, and I nailed down the “swing” vote by arguing that all fetuses should have the right to bear arms so that, if the need arises, they can shoot their way out.

    What more do I have to do?

  8. I should create a cool sounding alias for myself Says:

    Sweet bejeezus, the home school blog is ahead!! But wait…according to berube’s blog he noticed 100 votes in 10 minutes. He should demand a recount immediately! Look! It happened during last year’s awards:

    http://weblogawards.org/2005/12/summary_of_poll_changes.php

    Leave it to far-right conservatives to rig every damned election they come near.

  9. 4jkb4ia Says:

    Because of the awards I visited the blog for the first time. It is funny.

  10. 4jkb4ia Says:

    Long live Wash U :)

  11. Christopher Says:

    Jess, the initial response to this whole awards thing should have been apathy followed by some kind of scorn for plebeian contests with commoners like their competitors.

    But anyway, speaking of The Sincerity That Shall Not Be Named, did you guys forget to run the earnest-check on about half of your posts from the past two weeks?

  12. Cornell Says:

    Something dirty is going on over at Spunkyhomeschool. Between 11:30 pm and 1:30 am EST they surged like 200 votes.

  13. Cornell Says:

    Yep – The Jesus people are, in fact, cheating. Here’s how they’re doing it:

    http://www.dailykos.com/comments/2006/12/14/82323/518/37#c37

    It’s pretty easy to remove the cookie-esque thing from your computer and keep voting over and over…. so in true Ivy fashion, lets find an end around the problem and tell ourselves its not cheating because the goal is good.

    Allons citoyens!

  14. 09yalie Says:

    from the homeschoolers’ blog: “IvyGate is self-described as an Ivy League College gossip and s*x blog.”

    “s*x”? do they think they’ll go to hell for typing out such a dirty, dirty word descring such a dirty, dirty thing?

  15. 07yalie Says:

    No, they were not sure what it is, so they just decided to play it safe in case s*x turns out to be something horrible.

  16. You cannot be serious Says:

    So, cheating instructions get posted on Bérubé’s site, and then get posted here, and the accusations fly that the homeschoolers must be cheating?? What kind of logic do they teach in the Ivy League?

    *ring*
    “Hello, Kettle? This is Pot. You’re black.”

  17. Michael Bérubé Says:

    I tampered with those cheating directions in my comments section, actually. But I don’t see what’s wrong with being a gossip and sox blog. Unless someone sleep-pees in the sox drawer, of course.

  18. b*ll b*nz*n Says:

    where’s the six?

  19. Not Homeschooled and glad of it Says:

    I had s*x s*x times last night with my s*x on.

  20. color scheme Says:

    As fun as Berube’s blog is to read, does anyone else think his comments section is hard to read? Send him a quote, Kyle Jaster Studio.

  21. stubborn Ivy girl turned to the dark side Says:

    damn you, Berube, and your funny, witty charm! Don’t you know that Ivy League elitists are programmed to hate people automatically if they are in competition with us? Then you came along with your intelligent and humorous banter and turned my heart from stone to something warm and gooey. I hate it when people do that. It shows weakness. And since now I’m all weak and vulnerable… what are you doing next Saturday?

  22. wow Says:

    y’all got your asses kicked by berube AND the homeschoolers. ouch.

  23. to the desparate vulnerable chick Says:

    dear stubborn girl,
    just in case you may not have noticed….this here is IvyGate. There isn’t any intelligent and humorous banter in sight. At least not any that would make girls get all gooey and warm and stuff. Just between me and you, you might want to post your desparate and anonymous pleas for affection over there on Berube’s blog where there is a chance he may actually read it. Just a thought…

  24. damn it Says:

    and yeah i know i spellt desperate wrong. how embarrassing….i don’t even want to say which ivy I goto.

  25. Christopher Says:

    Cornell, naturally.

  26. stubborn girl Says:

    um, hello, it wasn’t a plea for affection, you idiot. it’s called a Joke. Sarcasm. perhaps you should follow in the footsteps of your more illustrious alumni and throw yourself into one of those silly gorges.

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