After lelangir poked holes into the notion of a team blog as being a team I started reading about pirates for 18th Century English Literature. Certainly even here at THAT and elsewhere we are not a finely tuned military machine (blog) that ensures the best cooperation between all arms (members). There are many things that prevent a team blog to have the sort of efficiency that allowed the Wehrmacht to roll over most of Europe with Blitzkrieg. Instead even in the digital age I suppose most collaborative efforts are marred by communication problems, be it time zone differences or generally that it takes us days to respond to requests. Even lelangir, espouser of teamwork, was hard to get a hold of for a marimite post. While I am sure that a higher level of team work might be achievable, the limitations imposed simply because generally each blogger has real life obligations that we can scarcely move beyond a loose coaltiion. Just as Blitzkreig would have been impossible without the radio so too is the kind of professional teamwork seen in such places as say 1up beyond the reach of most team blogs simply because we have our own schedules. At most we can probably attain as sort of Wellington and Blucher dynamic rather than a Patton and Abrams.
Ideally I suppose every team blog or multi author blog would be organized along Prussian/German lines (because no matter what the Germans are notoriously efficient). There would be a General Staff that would have prepared piles of posts or ideas for posts that only needed a bit of fine tuning and a time stamp. Each team would be distinguished by the formal selection of its authors by intelligence and proven merit rather than élan, and the exhaustive and rigorously structured training which authors undertook. This training would be designed not only to weed out the less motivated candidates, but also to produce a body of writers with common methods and outlook (grammatical standards essentially with variation in diction and prose), and most importantly an almost monastic dedication to posting. That aside most responsibility would be delegated to each author in the field with resources and aid allocated as dictated by the needs of the post in question. The overall objective is to institutionalize the work (and perhaps genius) of those who came before, those who now serve, and those who have yet to come. In reality, there is no casual anime blog that even comes close to this nor are we in the business of declaring that “there can only be one” or other such nonsense. In order to be a team in the true sense every person on a blog has to become a cog in a machine with a specified role along with latitude given to field operatives who have the best assessment of a changing situation, otherwise you have micromanagement and that makes for a shitty command structure as the Syrians found out in 1973. (Note that this passage is not indicative of the views of THAT or in anyway a reflection of the collective prejudices of THAT, it is only a sorry excuse for me to rant about Germans in a manner most tangential)
While publicly there is probably little indication of combined effort, logistically (behind the scenes) there is much more team work to be seen, blogroll maintenance, checking e-mail, and for me what I dub Black Bag Operations and spam control (I am, after all, the NKVD here). Being part of a team means being able to get a second opinion on a post before publishing it, or otherwise fine tuning it a bit. It allows for extended leave by changing of the guard so to speak. Logistics aside generally speaking team blogs are not finely tuned posting machines that seek to steamroll over other blogs in campaigns of conquest. Besides not all of us are tech savy and choose to pool our efforts in order to avoid the ground work for setting up a blog with all the bobs and whistles.
Rather in terms of, for a lack of a better word, society I suppose bloggers are essentially pirates. Sure most of us have dabbled in copyright issues, but beyond that superficially at least we do share some traits with the likes of Black Bart and Calico Jack. You see pirates back in ye olde days were essentially social misfits who got sick of being beaten by ship masters in “respectable” occupations, and if you know anything about what life was like for the impressed sailors of the Royal Navy, one would conclude that it was not a decent living. Not to say that we have it as hard a life as those poor sea dogs, but given that we even discuss the merits of “adult” loli hentai as CP we don’t exactly fit in with the mainstream either. Still if you look at the code of conduct drawn up by one fellow by the name of Bartholomew Roberts (you may have heard of him), as listed here:
1. Every man shall have an equal vote in affairs of moment. He shall have an equal title to the fresh provisions or strong liquors at any time seized, and shall use them at pleasure unless a scarcity may make it necessary for the common good that a retrenchment may be voted.
2. Every man shall be called fairly in turn by the list on board of prizes, because over and above their proper share, they are allowed a shift of clothes. But if they defraud the company to the value of even one dollar in plate, jewels or money, they shall be marooned. If any man rob another he shall have his nose and ears slit, and be put ashore where he shall be sure to encounter hardships.
3. None shall game for money either with dice or cards.
4. The lights and candles should be put out at eight at night, and if any of the crew desire to drink after that hour they shall sit upon the open deck without lights.
5. Each man shall keep his piece, cutlass and pistols at all times clean and ready for action.
6. No boy or woman to be allowed amongst them. If any man shall be found seducing any of the latter sex and carrying her to sea in disguise he shall suffer death.
7. He that shall desert the ship or his quarters in time of battle shall be punished by death or marooning.
8. None shall strike another on board the ship, but every man’s quarrel shall be ended on shore by sword or pistol in this manner. At the word of command from the quartermaster, each man being previously placed back to back, shall turn and fire immediately. If any man do not, the quartermaster shall knock the piece out of his hand. If both miss their aim they shall take to their cutlasses, and he that draweth first blood shall be declared the victor.
9. No man shall talk of breaking up their way of living till each has a share of 1,000. Every man who shall become a cripple or lose a limb in the service shall have 800 pieces of eight from the common stock and for lesser hurts proportionately.
10. The captain and the quartermaster shall each receive two shares of a prize, the master gunner and boatswain, one and one half shares, all other officers one and one quarter, and private gentlemen of fortune one share each
11. The musicians shall have rest on the Sabbath Day only by right. On all other days by favor only.
Yo Ho, Yo Ho, a pirate’s life for me
We pillage, we plunder we rifle and loot
Drink up me hearties, yo ho
We kidnap and ravage and don’t give a hoot
Drink up me hearties, yo ho
You will see that like pirates, we bloggers of fortune are generally egalitarian in our decision making, in the case of THAT even Captain Impz is answerable to the rest of us and his authority derives out of common consent. Not that we ever had to deal with a mutiny or anything…Though I wish I could have acted as quartermaster for a duel or two. Otherwise this is a collaborative effort with each author contributing his/her time to write up a post. Sadly most of the articles laid forth by Roberts do not apply, seeing as we have no cutlasses or any of that cool jazz. Also we allow girls to be apart of these enterprises, and I’d like to believe that we are not in the habit of seducing children, but I suspect otherwise. Still for the most part organizationally we are spread out across the globe without any formal union. Like pirates we (and that includes single author blogs) often make loose alliances to raid (blog) series in concert and rob the ship masters (writers, directors, studio staff) of those blockaded (viewed) series of all their dignity or to see them off handsomely as perceived quality allows. Most importantly the ability for each of us to separate or retire is sacrosanct. So in many ways we share some similarity to pirates, we have little love of stratification, and value our own independence. The degree of desired independence will vary from person to person, not every one wants to be a free booter, despite the jokes of Impz’s Army and accusations that blogomerates are sucking up all the traffic, as in the age of sail we are all at the mercy of the winds of fortune. The only real advantage of being on a multi-author blog is the reduction of logistical difficulties, and perhaps mild feelings of camaraderie.
Yo Ho, Yo Ho, a pirate’s life for me
We extort, we pilfer we filch and sack
Drink up me hearties, yo ho
Maraud and embezzle and even high-jack
Drink up me hearties yo ho
I don’t find lelangir’s entourage theory and venn diagrams to be entirely precise defining the author in relation to the reader, mostly because I think that the average reader is reading mostly because said reader is interested in the series being discussed, with any fondness for the author being secondary or even tertiary. After all like the Battle of Guadalajara there are many writers of fortune who see the same thing but each can derive an all together different conclusions. Just as the French and Russians felt that the problem with the Italian Mechanized Warfare was deficiencies in the concept of mechanized warfare, where as the Germans felt that the problem was deficiencies in Italians; we the audience can at the same time give a standing ovation or merely hurl rotten tomatoes. The reader themselves can decide what to make of an episode, their participation is by and large voluntary and have no need to visit a blog instead of heading off to a forum. The same loosely applies to the editorial as the issue might be the same, but the conclusions might vary wildly. As such I don’t read all of IKnight’s posts since his delving in mecha have brought out stuff older than me or series I have never even heard of, I read only on things that I can somewhat relate to. I don’t read all of lelangir’s editorials because he uses technical language that is beyond my peasant comprehension just as I suspect most of you will know nothing of Waterloo, the Prussian General Staff, the Spanish Civil War, or the Golden Age of Piracy. In the end maybe it’s not fondness for a writer’s style that appeals to the average reader but love for a series and then discriminating from there. Maybe like the general public readers take interest simply based on the notoriety of the writer of fortune in question, after all Omni is usually at the tip of the spear so naturally we go to RC for spoilers since many do not speak moon. There are other ways of achieveing noteriety of course…
Personally I don’t think people read my posts because they like tl;dr posts, rather they simply like Gundam 00, Ture Tears, and Macross Frontier. Maybe my notoriety derives from being the only one who actually liked Alto-hime, or perhaps I am the only one who is openly sick in the head (Hell my date of enlistment was in 2004, anyone who knows anything about world events knows what connotations that might carry), perhaps that is why the wandering minstrel lelangir has declared me a test subject and marked me for observation. Since there is some mild hostility to the term blogosphere, I propose that we rename it Pirate Helltown (Mos Eisley or some other hive of scum and villainy would also do), blogs become ships, and bloggers become writers of fortune. Besides finding innovative ways to spend huge amounts of money in a short period of time was also a pirate trait as was the perpetual search for loot.
As for these “team posts”, they are admittedly in an experimental phase. It is certain that the format needs refinement, as there are communication problems within the GATTAI post. But from the three I have done, they have been wonderfully productive for the authors, though, as Crusader mentions, a post being productive for the reader is just as or more important.
In the end, this nascent idea of “teamwork” needs refinement and expansion, not abandonment.
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40 Comments
I am sad and disappointed that you did not include a screenshot of the SMS crew for your pirates theme, Genosse Kreuzritter.
Way to include pictures that make light of WWII and the holocaust. If only everyone was as considerate as you. Are you immature, or just ignorant?
Online anonymity sure does bring out the best in a person.
@Crusader: I actually managed to follow and understand that wall of text,which is kinda weird because most other WoT posts in THAT leave me bored.
Anyway,I don’t see what’s so great about team bloging (as lelangir is trying to do),sure it has it’s merits but is it worth it ?
I’m confused, are the demotivator pictures supposed to supplement the point? They seem unnecessary.
This is Crusader. He’s like a mini-Sunrise, taking us off guard with random bullshit. That being said …
Harr, team blogging be mind business, matey. Aye, it be ’bout you yourself not any more no more. Thar be more like lots of same planks on big ship sailin’ over yonder sea, naye?
Anyway, I’m inclined to agree with Crusader. I tend to skip most of lelangir’s editorials if the first paragraph does not appear to be humongously interesting, not because I fail to understand his (needlessly?) elaborate prose, but more because theoretical musings upon the nature of the blogosphere (and, vis a vis, communication in general) are not particularly interesting to me. I read THAT’s entries because I’m interested in what other people think about a particular show, and I dare declare that to be the norm. Who precisely writes a post is only relevant insofar as that person provides a deep, reflected or funny – in short, unique – view of the topic, and not because I feel like following every word author xyz has send out to the ether.
Take the titanic chat excerpt where lelangir and a bunch of other people discussed Kannagi’s treatment of religion; while I see the subject as being worthy of discussion, I also fail to see the need to provide us with a straight chat quote. I’m not here to read an unfiltered brain fart. That’s the kind of phased out perception that has sprung up in the blogosphere as of late, where the writer seems to identify with his own written word, and not with being read.
Taking the turnaround to the topic at hand, this is why team blogging is flawed. It seems more like an excuse to wrench everyone’s minority opinion into one huge exposition, which doesn’t appear to me as aiming for a common goal, that being: providing an interesting view on a certain subject, and not providing a totality of information. While different views on a subject are the exact reason I come to THAT to begin with, trying to streamline these into one entry is not likely to be sufficiently successful in my opinion. It’s not only organizational aspects which hinder this, but also the plain fact that the reason that the authors want their opinion included is not because it gives a more balanced view, but because it makes their ramblings appear somewhere.
@magnuskn
Their career was far too short to merit mention, also I found no fan art on the matter.
@Eric Steele
Lighten up (these have been floating around the internet for a while now), it’s Eric Steeles like yourself that reduce history to a litany of dates and make ultimately boring to the point few students even care any more, if you knew a thing about either the holocaust or WWII you’d actually realize that it was not just six million, and you would also acknowledge the fact that der Fuhrer did not come up with the idea by himself nor was it that he alone that slaughtered so many. Hence the achievement would have to be locked again… Black humor comes with trying times, if you ever suffered any real stress you’d know that.
Online anonymity has nothing to do with it, take a good look at the Arabs who live near Israel honestly this wasn’t even vitriol. If it were up to people like you there would be no humor in the world, since after all Hogan’s Heroes made light of POW camps, those were no picnic either. There are other ways to teach history you know, it doesn’t have to be grim, dark, and brooding. Still if your seriousness on the matter was the way of there would be no WWII in media other than a documentary. Saving Private Ryan might have been outlawed if it were up to you because Das Reich was not committed until July and they were thrown against the British and Canadians, as such Saving Private Ryan was making light of the horrors the the British and Canadians endured while fighting the infamous 2nd SS “Das Reich” Division. 300 would not have been made because it treated the Persians as bungling morons and made a bit of farce at the sacrifice of King Leonidas.
It’s not a question of immaturity or ignorance, it’s a question of whether or not we ought to continue to treat history as a the grim dark school room subject or if we wish to look back and laugh and mock the funny pictures that we see in an effort to propagate history as something fun to learn about. You won’t make head way preaching morality to people, you get farther with humor. Racism it self is a serious subject but that should not stop people from laughing at how absurd it is.
@Zentari
I take the veiw you will get as much out of it as much as you put in.
@Kaioshin
Teamwork, notoriety, and uniqueness, I do believe there is a correlation.
Man stop being so damn serious about whether or not the pictures were necessary or not. They were fun =]
But really, a mecha guy like you, and no picture of Bob and Prince TOGETHER?
@fnord
What Gundam 00 did not air last week…I have to do something to pass the time.
I am sure the is some merit to bringing in more than one point of view, the trick is refining the process to make it more palatable and accessible. It will take some practice and it will take some time to get it right, but I think that in the end it will be worth it. Still lelangir does bring forth some discourse on subjects that interest him and others, I wish I could make more sense of it is all.
Like I said in my Guadalajara analogy there can be one event but different interpretations on what had happened. I should have used Rashomon, but that might have been equally obscure.
@D=
There was no fan art of them being pirates or even working as a team. Though if they did work together the results would be devastating to Jihad-kun and his lowly band of terrorists…
>.> Photoshop man. Best one would be Street Fighter selection screen with 2 vs CB. I can come up with an infinite amount of captions and phrases for that one. Patrick will be the bottom solo square with a sad face.
Actually I think more or less like Crusader. But odly enough I dont think that is like pirates. I have some (funny & traumatic) experience with posting regular in forum based games and team work with voluntier fans from around the world is like a bunch of Orks going to war. If we compare anime fans and bloggers with Orks, there are different Clans: the Mecha Clan, the Fansevice clan, the Loli clan, and so on… and then we have the Ork War Bosses (aka bloger), that have ork followers (aka regular posters). Yeah, you can have a huge Ork War Band if you get aboard a bunch of very popular War Bosses, and have atractive campaings on the horizont, but coordinated effort is really dificult, because the chain of command is a charismatic leader or a consense decision system, no strong discipline and everyone can get out at any moment. I agree that is better if you get enough variety of clans in the War band and they work coordinated against a target that two or three War Bosses get interest in to, in place of separated blogs or posts. But I have no idea how to co-write a successful article, my experience is more of behind the scenes carefull negotiation for forging alliances and selective bribes for end like the leader of the biggest team in the game. Anyway, dont give up, keep trying new ideas, if Crusader is a ironic Pirate then Lelangir is an optimistic Explorer. BTW I like the pics, the black humor a trademark.
@D=: Pfft…..demotivators like most 4chan stylings are too derivative to be fun.
Okay, actually in all seriousness I just like giving Crusader a hard time. :p And to be even more honest, part of me appreciates how shockingly off colour and brazen the choice of pictures are and thus how they are the perfect way to draw attention to the article. There’s nothing wrong with a little controversy and it’s almost always a good way of generating discussion.
@Crusader: Hmmm…well if you don’t mind some constructive criticism from an outside source then I’ll go ahead and add my thoughts about the team concept as I see it applying to THAT.
Truthfully I’ve always had the impression that for the most part the THAT animeblog team and it’s readers tend to have very similar opinions and mindsets whenever they converge on a topic but that they have different interests when it comes to the kind of topics they like to bring to the table, whether it be about a specific anime episode or a general subject that interests them. That’s about where I think my take on the team concept stops coinciding with yours and starts to coincide a little more with Lelangir’s “Refinement and Expansion” theory of team blogging.
Anyway, when I look at THAT I see a blog that often brings interesting topics to the table and just as often finds interesting ways of presenting them (even if I don’t always agree with the team’s tendency to inject their personal biases into just about everything), but where the discussion quickly falls apart when you realize everybody has pretty much the same thing to say about any given subject when it comes time for the feedback. To often I find that once the first comment is dropped here everything pretty much follows a pattern, and I think I’ve said this before but it can make for a very boring and predictable read made all the more unfortunate by what I see as wasted potential. The issue as I see it then becomes how best to address that wasted potential and make the most out of THAT from the aspect of a team blog. Of course I come with an idea since as I said I come in the interests of constructive criticism, not to gripe.
Personally I’d love to see an article here where a team member who disagrees with another person on the team’s viewpoint comes in to give their own alternative viewpoint on a topic. Failing that I’d at least like to see someone play devil’s advocate (other than me I mean….like as in someone on the team) in the interest of generating some real debate or encouraging the other team member to back up their claims with more hard evidence and less assumption that the peanut gallery will just support whatever they write or that because they go uncontested by anyone else on the team that they’re viewpoint is automatically correct.
The effect this could have would be two-fold in that contrasting opinions can make for a more interesting read where it concerns the article, and also that they have the potential to spur on differing reactions from the peanut gallery. For example one person might agree with one team member, while they might disagree with the other and then try to give their own reasons as to why that is the case. Better yet one might find that they agree with some points that one blogger makes and some points that another blogger with a constrasting viewpoint makes, and thus they could potentially end up coming away with an entirely new perspective on the subject that they wouldn’t have been presented with otherwise.
Of course this might be impractical to introduce to THAT’s style of blogging, but I can’t help but feel it would enhance the reader experience, which is something Lelangir seems to also think is of the utmost importance when it comes to maximizing the potential of a team blog. Just something to think about.
While it is true that the subject of the writing is critical (I wouldn’t look forward to Crusader’s posts on cooking, for example), his being here at THAT is irrelevant.
If he wrote about anime, or wrote about other things from the perspective of anime/otakudom in a different blog, I would probably read anyway.
We can’t read everyone’s take on the same anime, so we prefer specific authors.be
I’m all up for piracy if it means more delicious Crossbone Gundam.
@Crusader
You put A LOT of words in my mouth that I NEVER said — from which you put together an arguement which makes many unfounded claims. Due to the fact that your argument was based off of many, many false premises it is logically fallable and effectively worthless.
What I said:
“Way to include pictures that make light of WWII and the holocaust. If only everyone was as considerate as you. Are you immature, or just ignorant?
Online anonymity sure does bring out the best in a person.”
False Premises (Things you pulled out of your ass):
1. That I believe that only 6 million people died during the holocaust and WWII.
2. I believe that Hitler alone slaughtered those people.
3. I know little about the holocaust and WWII.
4. I assume that the only way to teach history is in a “grim, dark, and brooding” manner.
Unfounded Claims:
1. People like myself “reduce history to a litany of dates and make ultimately boring to the point few students even care any more.”
2. History should be made fun, so inconsiderate and racist jokes about horrible atrocities that may deeply offend and hurt others are OK.
3. “Saving Private Ryan was making light of the horrors the the British and Canadians endured” — Have you even seen the movie?
4. “If it were up to people like [me] there would be no humor in the world.”
5. If history was taught in the manner I’d prefer (which I never specified):
a. “there would be no WWII in media other than a documentary.”
b. “Saving Private Ryan might have been outlawed”
c. “300 would not have been made”
On the topic of online anonymity, you said that it has “nothing to do” with this. WRONG. If you think that anonymity has no effect on a person’s decision-making you are an idiot. People will do all sorts of things anonymously that they’d never do when their personal information was known. Such as posting pictures making jokes about the people who died in the holocaust!
In my post I asked if you were immature or ignorant. Based upon your response I think that I now know the answer: you’re both.
@Eric Steele:
“You put A LOT of words in my mouth that I NEVER said — from which you put together an arguement which makes many unfounded claims. Due to the fact that your argument was based off of many, many false premises it is logically fallable and effectively worthless.”
I guess this is your first time here. If you visit THAT enough you’ll eventually get used to that sort of thing since it seems to be the borderline policy for arguing and debating and it happens A LOT here. I don’t know why some of the people here tend to jump to conlusions and make wild assumptions and claims based off of limited experiences that tend to have little or no basis in fact, logic, or reality but I eventually learned to have fun with it in my own little way.
I’ve pretty much come to the conclusion that a substantial portion of the regulars here actually have no idea what they are talking about and/or are just to jaded (The in thing to be at the moment) and crabby about god knows what aspect of the anime experience to really care about whether they have their facts straight or whether what they say makes any sense at all. In some ways when you get down to it it’s actually pretty entertaining. It’s like watching an episode of Family Guy guest starring Oscar The Grouch every time somebody makes a post.
Anyway, if your looking for somebody who still isn’t “broken” as they say you can always talk to me. I’m still pretty jaded and anti-social, but in a different way that still allows me to acknowledge alternate viewpoints when they are well supported and well-argued.
eh, i could do without the nazi pictures despite them being slightly funny, but i find the 6,000,000 kills tasteless, i think my 15 family members are writhing in the grave as a result of that. Pretty fucking offensive to me.
Mention of pirates in an anime blog and not a single reference to One Piece? shame.
Man, all this drama lately over what the definition of “team” is. Do people have nothing better to do?
@Eric Steele:The moral police thing is often unwanted.
@Kaioshin Sama: I had to take a step back because your ego just came out of my screen…
Anyway, I hope we get Gundam this week,I’m in need of my Ali dose.
Just to step in, I will suggest that people keep to civil manners without having to go for insults. Remember, if you have to resort to calling someone immature, stupid or retarded, you already lost the battle. Obviously, when we argue, we hope to at least let the other person realize our points. If we resort to merely hateful conduct, there is no longer any point right?
Of course, don’t go to the Godwin’s Law please. Other than that, enjoy your discussion and have fun. Also, take Crusader’s sarcastic entries with a heavy pinch of salt. If there is any personal offense felt at some of the jokes, I apologize for that. It’s not intended to offend, and is merely a satire. Of course, we understand different people have different tolerance levels.
@Kaioshin: Well, you will be surprised that many of the bloggers in THAT disagree with each other quite a bit. The problem is that we have very diverse interests on different anime genres that we will never watch anything to do with what the other blogger does. You would be enjoying some of the sarcastic logs I have with Calawain (when it comes to fanservice, or shoujo) or Crusader (on mecha when I start describing in detail why a certain mecha show is terrible). The problem is that we hardly watch anything similar to each other.
Of course, nothing is perfect. A blog is a place to voice out their opinions and I won’t deny that some of us are biased. Hell, if we are all nice and objective, we will not have the strong personalities in THAT. Your suggestion nonetheless about different opinions slowly came through with Lelangir in the picture. Still, it’s really up to everyone’s schedule since there is no formal structure in THAT.
If anyone calls me a tyrant, or hint anything to that, GET READY TO DIE A VERY PAINFUL DEATH. Oh, Team blogging is like syphilis, you can survive with it but it can be painful at times.
@D=
I only got MS paint.
@Kaioshin
All you want to see really is a fight, eh? In any case if you don’t get it you never will, but I guess it’s just too meta for you and your buddy.
@Eric Steele
Ah you are one of those ersatz victims. Fair enough so what is it that you want?
It amazes me how people assume people are decent simply because of public behavior, no being anonymous reveals what humans really are. You never had to be a bad person I take it, but at the end of the day what a man can do is what a man will do. But hey believe what you want.
@JDMFLCL
Sorry about your feelings, but tastes vary. Besides the man is notorious and achievements are generally given for everything. I am sure if the Mossad wanted me dead they would have gotten to me by now.
@nitpick
I stopped watching that many moons ago.
@Calawain
Well like I said Gundam 00 did not air that week.
@Impz
Sure, painful death…
Oh my oh my. As I mentioned.. I am German. So I have the fantastic and perfect viewpoint for that, because I first heard about the Holocaust when I was 8.
)was able to understand the picture as a joke – because I got the whole picture.
When I was 8,I also had to realize the fact, that my grandfather.. and all the others grandfathers and grandmothers of every one of my classmates helped in one or another way in this tragedy. When we Germans visit France, we are moslty hated by their grandparents and called “Nazi” by the younger ones. When our soccer team plays in Italy, their newspaper titles: “The tanks are coming”. When we dare to visit Poland or Tschechien, they will refuse to talk German, even if they would be able to speak it. Germans are not allowed to buy ground in Tschechien. They have renamed the old German cities and tried to bury every piece of German history in these areas. Also we dare not to sing and even know our national anthem. To flag a German flag in front of a house was mostly unthinkable until the last world soccer championship ( hosted in Germany in 2006). Also since 5 years some of us are finally able to say, that they are proud of being German for some special reasons without being bullied by the (foreign + own!) media. An American congratualted me to my country – I had to told him, that this sentence isn`t seen as a compliment in Germany because we are not able/used/brainwashed to answer to that.
And even myself, with this shame and tragedy in my nations history, with a strong and fighting German Jewish Council behind my back(they cencored the Monty Python – Musical
And some kilometers away from my hometown, there was a concentration camp.
Ah and yes, we love deadlines and we would organize a blog like that hehe.
A deadline means 10:00 and not 10:01 but 9:59:59 is accepted. When there is a meeting at 10:00 it is at 10:00 and not 10:05 or what so ever. We are angry, when the bus / train is 2 minutes too late. If it is 10 min too late, then we are short befor a riot.
If you have a problem, then say it, else you do NOT have a problem. I am not there to “sense” your problem or to ask you, whether there is a problem. Speak or stay quiet. My job is not to please you but to discuss facts.
I realized how different Germany is, when I studied 5 months abroad in Sweden and met many different people from different countries. I didn`t count the numerous people, who had a problem with my
undiplomatic way – and I tried really hard to be nice. And here in Germany I don`t have the slightest problem with people (despite the normal problems everyone can have).
It`s difficult to make jokes about the Second World War, but that shouldn`t stop one from trying to.You should trust the writer, that he din`t want to humiliate these millions of deaths because he didn`t done it before.
The picture wasn`t a good idea – that`s it (especially for the less informed but sensitive audience). It was cynical and the article made the point of view very clear – so don`t be ignorant yourself.
And hey Crusader – the most fun were the German words, forced into English.
actually not…its just plain tasteless
its quite objectively bad when 15 of your family members where killed as scapegoats for a failed economy and failed world war.
ITT: People leap onto the Moral Outrage bandwagon. Many sprain their ankles.
Now if only the internet Lenny Bruce persona “Crusader” could take it one step further! Hopefully without invoking Godwin’s Law. (There’s enough of that with people’s reactions to his G00 posts.)
@Mel
Removing the lens of morality for a moment every military scholar acknowledges the brilliance and tactical elegance that Prussians and Germans were capable of. It was not always put to the best use, but nevertheless it was still widely said that now one had ever really fought a war until the fought the Germans. Even today the German military influence can still be seen in the doctrines of many Western and even the IDF. I don;t think it’s taboo to make fun of the Second World War hell the language on both sides reflected this and you have to admit some of that propaganda was pretty darn funny in hindsight.
@JDMFLCL
Everyone lost some one in that conflict unless you happen to be from South America. When the Japanese rolled into China I lost family too, and unlike your dead at least they got their justice in the end. You have the freaking Mossad hunting down every one involved and even humiliated some South American countries by going in nabbing the SS guys and hauling them off to a public trial. That took balls of steel. My dead? Hell they got sold out by both the nationalists and communists for Japanese recognition.
Every one knows about the tragedy that befell the Jews, hardly any one remembers the horrors that went on else where to other people. I admire God’s Chosen people they usually have a sense of humor, barring yourself of course. So how much longer will Adolf be your personal bogey man? At some point you have to realize that despite everything, the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Babylonians, good many centuries of near universal loathing, and the National Socialists you Jews have survived them all (in the case of the last group you guys did a banged up job of hunting them down), perhaps it is mere coincidence, I don’t trust coincidences, maybe it was providence.
@Dorian Cornelius Jasper
Morality is a funny thing, people think it’s universal, but its really not.
well i guess i got double fucked, since im half chinese. Don’t be quick to assume, i was in the same boat, on the chinese side i heard all about the japanese thing. What is with your obsessive connections to the mossad, its like you really are worried about them
“and I’d like to believe that we are not in the habit of seducing children, but I suspect otherwise” <– This one, yes, this one! Almost peed in my pantsu on this one!
“I don’t read all of lelangir’s editorials because he uses technical language that is beyond my peasant comprehension”<– Impz says I have a piglet’s brain that’s why I almost always cry in trying to comprehend most of the said author’s entries.
@ghostlightning
I’d hope you’d never trust one of my cooking post I got once nice oil fire going once…
usagijen on the other hand ins someone you can trust.
@IKnight
Oddly enough I prefer the mecha musume version…
@JDMFLCL
That’s rather rare, Jews I have met tend to marry within their faith. Still at least you know half of your genes come from some of the toughest people on Earth.
Besides being one who wears a tinfoil hat and all that jazz, I cannot help but admire the Mossad, so efficient. Besides the boys and girls in the Mossad have been doing a better job than the CIA as of late. Any one who knows anything about intelligence agencies know to respect the Mossad, they don’t mess around. They have your back not mine.
@13sugars
What Impz says is irrelevant, you are his master…
@Kaioshin: =[ “You are bad guy!” >.< Hiro face
@Crusader: D= but if you master photoshop, your blogging level will jump quantum leaps just like the 00-raiser! Your ability will be BEYOND LOGIC AND COMMON SENSE!
@Eric Steele: Wait, are you the same kind of guy who is sensitive to racism? I’ve ALWAYS wondered, how do guys like you handle that crap everyday? I mean, I can’t help see myself only being surrounded by people who like harmless humor. I’d suffocate. D= Can you guys imagine if there was no Russell Peters? I’d never learn to BEE A MAN DO DA RITE THING.
Compared with the boring history lesons that he throw from time to time, the cinic humor of the pics is what avoid me from falling in to sleep mode. That and that he talk straigh what he think. It can improve and be more diplomatic or skip tabu themes, but maybe then is no longer ”unique” and interesting to read.
@ Crusader
Hmm, a pirate theme…
What is with pirates and the military? In my unit we have a room decked out with pirate paraphenalia…must be the rum or something.
Couldn’t help but note that the “pirate rules” are suspiciosly like Roger’s Standing Orders…
By the way, I don’t think the debate about adult loli could by CP puts the audience out of the mainstream…it was about EPIC LEGAL ISSUES of FREE Speech !!!111!!! =)
2004, same year of my enrollment…ne-ne, Crusader-kun, may I enquire as to your trade in your beloved CORPS (or your MOC, as you Yankees refer to it)?
From my moar lurking, I would tend to side with Crusader on some aspects of the posting: besides the hardcore ani-bloggers, I would say you would likely read a blog for the series first. Only if an author really grabs you would you really dwelve into all of his/her posts (and even then, I admit I leave Crusader’s shoujo posts largely unread).
THAT is very successful in its selection of series to blog, the diversity of its bloggers and the general quality of the posts. Not to mention, its updated (e-cookies for flattery.
@Impz: master, now that I have sung the praises of your blog, can you loosen the chains? The Ranka-certified TRAP collars are chafing =)
Correction to above: MOS for the American Imperialist Fighting Machine =)
“In reality, there is no casual anime blog that even comes close to this nor are we in the business of declaring that “there can only be one” or other such nonsense.”
–yes, there will never be only one or is there? unless there’s a big honcho out there that says He/She stands out from the rest. but, I don’t there is.
“bloggers are essentially pirates”
–huh? I don’t get that notion. We are pirates?
“in the case of THAT even Captain Impz is answerable to the rest of us and his authority derives out of common consent.”
–it’s a good thing this blog hasn’t been sued before. but I don’t think that’ll happen.
Essentially, team blogging can be attributed to team programmers, that is, if they are in full cooperation. Take for example on what happened to Windows Vista. Maybe the ragtag of programmers in Redmond HQ were slacking off that device driver compliance became a mess. Hehehe… it’s just my opinion over the matter. It’s not just about being pirates.
yeah here is my take…i’ll admit its funny, i just think you could’ve picked something slightly less potentially imflammatory. I’ll admit when i first saw some of these in the past i loled then would realize what i was loling at. I’ve decided to take it with a grain of salt, but i just think something slightly less kneejerk worthy would’ve served the same purpose. And yes, i have pretty interested roots, not your every day.
as for the mossad, if the CIA was run by them, we wouldn’t have gone into Iraq on WMD grounds …. period. I read in Foreign Affair’s magazine that back in 2003 they only had 2 operatives who could speak arabic….TWO
nuff said, tax dollars at work, inept secret agencies and impounding JDM cars
@CDn: *Ignores the e-flattery, ready the cannons of death.*
Enjoy~
I think your THAT as a team blog is fine, Impz. I find it noble that you’ve created a sense of place for the readers of different preferences to explore and check out. It may differ from lelangir’s definition but you seem to be successful in achieving your intentions as your own way of team-blogging.
It is a quite common joke in school to imitate Hitler or Goebbels (when history is talking about 1933-1945) , because they have a very special way of speaking.
.
On the one hand funny, but on the other hand terrifying, when one can speack German.
They had done an more than 13 years long masterpiece of propaganda. One can see the steps that led to every step of laws etc – there have been masterminds behind this developement.
But I think, not only the way of war in general was remarkable, but also their (the Germans in WW2) way to finance the country. Actually they weren`t able to stop the war at all, because else, they would have been broken. But I think this is far beyound an anime blog
And don`t define too much around the word “teamwork”, at the end everybody loses the motivation to blog and that would be a pity.
@D=
I got no legit copy of photoshop, and doing it at work might land me in trouble.
@cdn delta
I just made E-5, as to my rate I signed up for ships and got a guard post at some ECP, right now pick your rate and choose your fate seems to have little bearing on my actual job. I had Marine Corps instructors for the most part and I am not in the Marines…
We still technically pirate stuff at any rate…
@JDMFLCL
I am beginning to think that the CIA is a joke, I bet its the NSA that does all of the heavy lifting these days…
@Mel
If you consider the fate of Himmler his demise was decidedly humorous in some ways. i suppose that is what one gets when you make a chicken farmer head of of everything.
@ Crusader
Navy corspman? the pirate stuff starting to make sense.
E-5 and in the Navy, that must mean you must be polishing, and swabbing decks all the time (sarcasm mode off, now), when do you have time for animu and massive blogging? (cannot resist, in the cdn army (eh) and “high society” in the officer world) =)
@cdn delta
No not a corpsman, I can’t do the lateral until I get my degree so I can boast at least some qualify able medical training. I’m in the reserve for now waiting on the deployment line for the moment. Besides if I were on a big ship I’d probably have more time while in port.
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