Road Trip!

OK, buckle your seatbelts!  We’re heading off to http://www.themudflats.net!

Don’t worry.  This blog will still be here with all the old posts and comments for your reference.  Comments will be turned off here, however, so as not to confuse anyone.

Our new hosted site will have some new features I’m sure you will all enjoy!

So, put on your boots, grab those rakes and shovels, and come on over!

Just click the truck!

(Keep this site bookmarked for archives, and as a backup location if there are ever any technical glitches on the new site!)

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Bedtime Thread – One Word Only.

Bedtime in Alaska.  There has been lots of duck-paddling going on under the surface of the water here at Mudflats!   WordPress has just done a major upgrade, and I’ve been enjoying the much improved design, back here in my work area behind the scenes.

We’ve  been waiting for this upgrade, to move the blog to a new site!  I promise this will be almost completely painless.  All it will involve is clicking once, which will take you to the new site.  And the new site will look pretty much exactly like this site, only you’ll have some cool new features like the ability to edit your own posts!  Nice.

I’m hoping the jump will happen in the next day or two. 

In the meantime, the Night Kitchen is always open for stream of consciousness chatter, and also check out the One Word Meme thread on the Forum.  Find out how Mudflatters answer a series of questions with just one word!

Fascinating.

Compelling.

Challenging.

Fun!

Bedtime in Alaska – Adventure Thread!

OK, Mudpuppies!  Welcome to…..Adventure Thread!  What’ makes tonight’s open thread an Adventure Thread?  It involves a bit of travel!  Don’t worry….it’s not far.  I’ll explain in a moment.

In an attempt to improve the functioning of the blog, we’ll be having the Bedtime Open Threads over on the Forum.  Don’t panic!!  Change is good.  The Forum, if you have not been there, is a big series of rooms, each one designed for a particular type of conversation.  Many Mudflatters have been happily conversing over there for more than a month now.  As a matter of fact there are almost 1400 like-minded Mudpuppies signed up to use the Mudflats Forum right now!

The great thing about the Forum is that our wonderful Forum Administrators Snoskred and Sephyroth are able to build new rooms any time we want!  So the latest one is designed to be….the Bedtime in Alaska Open Thread!  It’ looks a little different than it does here, but it serves the same function. It’s a place where everyone can go to have open discussions.  And it also gives you easy ways to use smileys, and send messages, and all sorts of other fun stuff.  And if you don’t want to use those extra features, you don’t have to.  All up to you.

This blog will remain unchanged.  You can still leave comments after a blog post, and I love it when you do, but the blog functions best when comments are related to the topic of the post.  So, if I’ve posted on ConvicTed Stevens, and you are itching to talk about Joe Lieberman, that’s great….just pop over to the Blog chat at the Forum and post it there.

This is good for many reasons:

• It’s easier for newcomers to the blog to figure out what’s going on, and easily join in the conversation, because it’s about what they just read. 
• It also reduces the total number of comments on the blog by transferring some of them over to the Forum.  When hundreds of comments pile up on one post, things start to run very slowly.  Then posters get sad and email me and ask why everything is so slow…
• I probably won’t be regularly posting 6 or 7 times a day now that things have settled down a little.  Don’t worry, I will still be posting as frequently as I can, but if the number of posts decreases, and the comments stay the same….log jam in the series of tubes, and the reloading time to comment gets longer.  So, it will make it easier on everyone if off-topic posts find their natural home over on the Blog Thread on the Forum.
• The Forum can handle as many comments as you can dish out!

And best of all, there are friendly people on the other end of the jump who will help you and answer any questions you have. 

So, when you arrive at the Forum, you’ll see a bunch of posts, and you’ll see page numbers for the thread, and you’ll see a reddish-greyish button that says “Reply”.  To read the comments click through the pages, and to reply, click…you guessed it….Reply!

(Once you get used to this basic function, you’ll be able to change your settings to put the most recent post on top! Nice!  And you’ll be able to change your settings to keep you right in the thread after you post, just like here.  You can read all about it in this FAQ sheet from Sephyroth – Click HERE)

So, ready?   One…..two…..three….Click HERE!! 

Open Thread – Election Eve in Alaska

This is it, Mudflatters….Election Eve.  We’ve been on a strange journey since August 29th, when the unlikely selection of Sarah Palin for Vice President was announced.  It all comes down to tomorrow. 

Remember, the Mudflats Chat Room will be open all day.  Just go to the Mudflats forum (on the sidebar) and then click the link in the upper right-hand corner to enter the chat room.  Before you click the link, I’ll tell you what it’s like.  It’s a big virtual Alaskan lodge made of long orange spruce logs.  There’s a roaring fire in the fireplace, and some nice hot cider.  There’s a full wet bar over in the corner too, for those who need it!  There are windows looking out over the Chugach Mountains, and lots of big, soft chairs and couches to flop on and chat with all your fellow Mudflatters.  Unlike many Alaskan lodges, there are no moose heads on the wall here.  The only moose heads to be found are those still attached to our favorite Mudflats mascots Brian and Brenda, who are hanging out outside in the snow, nibbling bark.  So stop in any time!

I will also be trying to make sure that there are threads available for you on the blog, and will attempt to post about my doings about town, and any other big happenings of note.  I’m looking forward to sharing tomorrow with all of you.  It’s been quite a ride, and it’s not over yet.

Good night from Alaska, Mudflatters.  See you in the morning.

Mudflats is Bloggers’ Choice #1 Political Blog for 2008!

 

We won!

Mudflats is the #1 Political Blog for 2008

on the Bloggers’ Choice Awards!

Thanks so much to all of you who voted, and to all who contribute here, and make Mudflats what it is!

I wonder how Sarah Palin would feel about my recycling the photo above I took at her Welcome Home rally?  She wouldn’t mind, right?  We needed some confetti, and it is for a good cause!

Mudflats Chat!

The Mudflats Forum team has been busily researching the best way to hold live chats. They have found a way to chat live via the Forum itself!

You can join in by going to the Forum (permanent link in sidebar), and then click on “Live Chat Now” available 24/7 right here” in the top right hand corner of the screen.

Click HERE to join in!