Joe Blog's Interview #115 The Iraqi Dentist

Name : Omar
Age : mid-twenties
Location :Baghdad
Vocation :Dentist
Philosophy : yet to choose one

Sum up what your blog is about.
Iraq and the war on terror, that's what it's pretty much about.

Why are you doing your blog?
To tell the world what's going on from an Iraqi perspective.

What’s the funniest entry on your site?
No funny entries on my blog as far as I know. War and politics at a time of war leave little, if any, space for humorous writing.

What is your writing style?
I honestly don't know. I haven’t received any training for writing so I just write whatever comes to my mind and feel is worth mentioning...I simply let the ideas decide the shape of the posts.

What do people commonly say about your site?
Things range from "excellent, informative, reliable" to "fake, propaganda, full of lies".

What would you be doing if you weren’t doing your blog?
Pulling and filling more teeth.

Why should someone visit your site?
I think the visitors can answer this one better, maybe because they enjoy our reporting or because they want to know what some guy in Baghdad thinks about the situation in Iraq.

What did you learn from your first love?
There was no such thing,

Are there any blogs, you enjoy reading?
Yeah, there's a bunch of blogs that I read quite often including Instapundit, Mudvill Gazette, The Fourth Rail, Michael Totten, Sandmonkey and many others.

What makes you feel positive about Iraq today?
The resiliency of our people and their love for life.

What conclusions have you come to over the situation in Iraq?
In what respect? Books can be written on this, you know!

If you could invite anyone to a dinner party who would it be and why?
I have made friends with many people through the blog whom I hadn't meet thus far, I'd like to invite those guys if I could.

Tell us about a good deed you have done recently.
Recently? Nothing.

Tell us a random funny story that comes to mind.
hat's funny to me might not be funny to you and vice versa. There are rare times when I laughed at a joke told by a westerner so let's spare everyone the embarrassment.

What advice would you have given yourself 5 years ago?
To spend more time on reading.

Any interesting travel stories?
That would be my trip to the States a couple years ago but I prefer to keep it for myself.

What’s the most incredible thing that ever happened to you?
Nothing significant thus far, but I'm expecting something big quite soon. Will talk about it when the time comes.

Your Site Address : Iraq The Model

Joe Blog's Interview #114 The Cartoonist

Name : Royston Robertson
Age : 39 (genuinely, not in an I'm over 40 and don't want to admit it way ...)
Location : Broadstairs, Kent, UK
Vocation : Full-time freelance cartoonist
Philosophy : is the name of the second track on the Ben Folds Five debut album. It's brilliant.




Sum up what your blog is about.
Back To The Drawing Board – Cartoons and thoughts by Royston Robertson, UK freelance cartoonist.

Why are you doing your blog?
To promote my work, give it another outlet on the web, and so I can talk a little about the process of cartooning.

What's the funniest entry on your site?
I couldn't really comment on that – hopefully one of the cartoons,

What is your writing style?
The key thing I bear in mind is to try to be brief with my entries! There are far to many over-wordy blogs and not enough hours in the day to read them.

What do people commonly say about your site?
That they like the insight into how I come up with gags, the stories behind each cartoon, how it was developed etc.

What would you be doing if you weren't doing your blog?
Drawing more cartoons, ideally.

Why should someone visit your site?
For a laugh.

What did you learn from your first love?
Wow, this suddenly got personal!

Are there any blogs, you enjoy reading?
Mainly cartoonists : Mark Anderson, Mike Lynch, Wilbur Dawbarn, Rod McKie, Drawn!, Chewing Pencils, Matt Buck, and Linkmachinego, which is not about cartooning but always has lots of interesting links.

Tell us about the process you go through creating a comic.
For gag cartooning, it goes like this: Think up the idea. Pencil the drawing. Put pencil drawing on lightbox. Ink on a piece of paper over the top (keeps it looser than inking the pencil lines, I find). Scan. Make any adjustments on screen. Add colour or tone if needed. Add caption plus name and contact details. Hope that it sells …

What is your favourite sketch you have done?
The most recent one. No, forget that, the one I got paid the most for ;-)

Now it's your turn! Ask me one question, anything you like.
Is Joe Blogs your God-given name?

Joe Blogs : Maybe, but I know drawing isn't my God given talent. Check out Royston's Blog, he has been commissioned by a multitude of publications, including Readers Digest, and Private Eye.

Your Site Address : Blog : Back To The Drawing Board Website : Royston Robertson

Joe Blog's Interview #113 Flea

Name : Flea
Age : Old enough to know better
Location : The Annex
Vocation : Musician
Philosophy : If all else fails, read the instructions

Sum up what your blog is about.
Politics and pop culture as seen from Northanger Abbey.

Why are you doing your blog?
My Hyde Park soapbox is not handy for Toronto so I am not left with much choice. I would quite desperately like to stop blogging, actually, but if I did I fear my pineal gland would explode.




What's the funniest entry on your site?
I think my review of CBC logos was quite witty and of interest even to foreigners and those of us who tend not to watch the CBC (excepting Coronation Street broadcasts and the title sequence of Hockey Night in Canada).

What is your writing style?
Seventy-five words per minute on a USB Hansen Writing Ball means I write with more of a flourish than is strictly necessary.

What do people commonly say about your site?
They only read it for the articles. And the totty.

What would you be doing if you weren't doing your blog?
I would sleep in until 7am and quite possibly represent the people of Trinity-Spadina as a Member of Parliament.

Why should someone visit your site?
It is that or I stand outside the front door rattling a tin cup and crying (slowly at first). Trust me, nobody wants to see that twice.

What did you learn from your first love?
Sed fugit interea fugit irreparabile tempus.

Are there any blogs, you enjoy reading?
Oh yes, lots. I start my day with Rantburg, for example. I stroll down my blog roll through the course of the week.

If you could invite anyone to a dinner party who would it be and why?
From beyond the grave: Gwen MacEwan, a poet who explored the Toronto inside Toronto. I would like to thank her for everything.
From the here and now: Christopher Hitchens. All this bourbon is not going to drink itself.

What do you dislike in 21st century culture?
The 21st century has a culture? How fascinating for it.

Tell us about a good deed you have done recently.
So much of good manners and common courtesy takes the form of forbearance. Many of my recent good deeds are in the form of things I have not done.

Tell us a random funny story that comes to mind.
I have a rather clever story about funding research in the UK heating/ventilating and air-conditioning industry but it is a bit convoluted for this context. Suffice to say the British government is the clear origin of Vogon planning permission etiquette.

What advice would you have given yourself 5 years ago?
Quit your job. Live the life you were meant to.

Any interesting travel stories?
I was arguing so vehemently the merits of my hypothetical black-and-blue garden over Vita Sackville-West's white garden that I missed the train station for Sissinghurst. Though I think that was more amusing for those who were present at the time that it sounds in retrospect. I was right, by the way.

Do you have any strong opinions you would like to debate with me?
You can defend single malts while I advance the cause of Irish blends.

Joe Blogs : Single malt is whiskey as it should be, back in the day they used to call it the water of life. So single malt is pure quality. An Irish blend is like decaffeinated coffee, not drunk as God intended.

What's the most incredible thing that ever happened to you?
Noticing spirals in her eyes.

Now it's your turn! Ask me one question, anything you like.
You have an opinion about whether it was an African or a European swallow, don't you? J'accuse!

Joe Blogs : Oh your refer to Monty Python And The Holy Grail! I'd need to know the airspeed velocity and colour of the swallow my friend. What is this the Spanish Inquisition?

Your Site Address : Ghost Of A Flea

Joe Blog's Interview #112 Grumpy Old Book Man

Name : Michael Allen
Age : 68 on 4 May 2007
Location : Wiltshire, England
Vocation : Writing
Philosophy : I try not to worry about things I can do nothing about.

Sum up what your blog is about.
It's about books, the technique of writing fiction, and the changing business of publishing (and printing) in the digital age.










Why are you doing your blog?
It keeps me out of the pub (bar) and (I tell my wife) it keeps my mind off other women. It certainly isn't for the money. Also, and perhaps most important, it enables me to put in front of the (mostly uninterested) world my views on book-related matters. For years it irritated me that I was thinking all these thoughts and had no means of making them public. Blogs give you a platform.

What's the funniest entry on your site?
Any humour is probably inadvertent.

What is your writing style?
I hope it is clear, but it's certainly old-fashioned and English.

What do people commonly say about your site?
Those who read it regularly seem to like it. If I had to guess why, it's because (a) I introduce them to unusual books, (b) I preach that popular fiction is just as good as literary fiction (and often better).

What would you be doing if you weren't doing your blog?
Possibly some more walking in the Wiltshire countryside, and taking photographs of same.

Why should someone visit your site?
If you are interested in writing fiction, the three years of the Grumpy Old Bookman supply a considerable amount of advice on narrative technique. If you like reading, just for the fun of it, you might find some books that you've never heard of before which may prove worthwhile.

What did you learn from your first love?
What first love? My first love affair? If so, I learnt that love is not always reciprocated. Dammit.

Are there any blogs, you enjoy reading?
I regularly read the following, in alphabetical order:
Bookslut
Buzz, balls & hype
Creative Commons
Galleycat
Literary Saloon
Madame Arcati
Maud Newton

If you could invite anyone to a dinner party who would it be and why?
Er... Pass.

What is the greatest literary work of all time?
There is no such thing as a 'great book' as generally understood in the world of literary criticism. For details of why I say that, read chapter 5 of my book 'The Truth about Writing' -- it's available free online. Here's the link: http://www.kingsfieldpublications.co.uk/truth.html

Having said that, I do of course have a list of favourite authors. Here it is :
Margery Allingham, Richard Condon, Ian Fleming, James Joyce, Terry Pratchett, Neal Stephenson, Algernon Charles Swinburne, Thomas H. Uzzell, Kurt Vonnegut, Colin Watson.

Do you count yourself among the adults who read Harry Potter?
No. I read the first one and thought it was pretty good, but I haven't been tempted by the others.

Tell us about a good deed you have done recently.
I do get quite a lot of correspondence from people who seek my help and advice on publishing matters. If I can, I provide that help. But some people you just can't help. One man called me a c**t and a t**t because I wouldn't read his book.

Tell us a random funny story that comes to mind.
I am very bad at remembering jokes, but one that I remember from 50 years ago goes as follows. A Church of England Bishop found himself late for a train, so he ran along the platform, jumped into a carriage, and slumped into a seat, just as the train started to move. When he had settled himself, the Bishop suddenly realised that the only other occupant of the compartment (it was an old English train) was a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. The CofE man apologised for his intrusion. 'I am so sorry,' he said. 'If I hadn't been in such a rush I would have chosen another compartment, and left you to meditate in peace.' 'Oh, please don't apologise,' said the Cardinal. 'After all, we both worship the same God. You in your way, and I in His.'

What advice would you have given yourself 5 years ago?
Don't work so hard.

Any interesting travel stories?
Only the one about the Bishop.

Do you have any strong opinions you would like to debate with me?
Hell no. I am not good at debates. I say my piece, on the blog, and others can kick my shins if they wish, and I never censor the comments. But I don't do debates.

Joe Blogs : I Win!

What's the most incredible thing that ever happened to you?
Getting married.

Now it's your turn! Ask me one question, anything you like.

Any ideas as to how to make any money out of this blogging business?

Joe Blogs : Blogging business is maybe a contradition in terms. Google AdSense might be good. Check out this guy I interviewed, he traded up from a paperclip to a house!
One Red Paperclip

Your Site Address : Grumpy Old Book Man

Joe Blogs Interview #111 Mr Murphy

Name : Gary Lawrence Murphy
Age : 50
Location : NE shores of Lake Huron
Vocation : Handle what comes up
Philosophy : As it comes up

Sum up what your blog is about.
A notebook for fragments of sermons I will never give, on the topic of clinging to our humanity midst a life out of balance.

Why are you doing your blog?
Because, other than my cats, I have no other willing audience. I started because I believed in self-publishing; I kept going because there were things I had to say, and when I start talking like this in real life, people find another seat on the bus.

What's the funniest entry on your site?
The funniest was a post a long time ago where I offered to host an interview with JustinTrudeau; a magazine journalist was only given summary space by her editor, so I offered to host the whole thing on my main website, and then blogged just a brief item to say I'd posted the interview over at the other URL.

The blog posting was deluged by comments, hundreds of them, mostly by women, all of them personal messages to Justin Trudeau!
"Remember me?" and "Call me!" and "You're soooo cute!"

None were including telephone numbers, though.

What is your writing style?
A revisionist stream of consciousness. When a topic takes me, I just write it in, top to bottom, conversationally as it happens spilling out in a boorish style where the only pause is to ask rhetorical or leading questions. Did I mention that I tend to get my own seat on the bus?

I often go back over and grind down awkward phrases, sometimes mashing words or phrases to clear up an intent, sometimes to cool down libelous wordings after my blood pressure returns to normal.

What do people commonly say about your site?
"You have a blog?" or the equivalent "I've read everything you ever wrote" or, most often, "Love your site!" followed by a long list of casino and
pharmaceutical URLs.

What would you be doing if you weren't doing your blog?
Torturing family, friends and neighbours with these same random pontifications. Most often I do that anyway; its a safe thing to do considering none of them read my blog.

Why should someone visit your site?
The side-bar blog-roll is a pretty good collection of jazz, science and technology writers! Other than that, I don't really know what possesses my readership. Misery loves company, maybe?

There is some guy called msnbot who keeps coming back day after day -- I really have to wonder about someone like that.

What did you learn from your first love?
How to lie about where I was last night.

Are there any blogs you enjoy reading?
Whenever I am certain humanity is going to hell in a handcart, I tune in on mark woods, ralf zeigermann or jay manifold because they are my proof of intelligent life out there. When I get to feeling that we are the Invincible Ape, I like to share the gloat in Data Is Nature and The Music Thing. If I dare think I really understand, I'll check out Jack Sarfatti.

If you could invite anyone to a dinner party who would it be and why?
Hard to choose, even sticking with those who are living. I might want to discuss tone science with Marshall Allen or listen to Ran Blake reminisce about Lenox, but I'd probably just be all school-kid fumbles and dumb questions like that time I interviewed John Cage in the kitchen, so I don't know, probably too risky.

How about Tony Blair. Not to talk politics or anything, just because he probably needs a friendly quiet getaway these days and while we maybe wouldn't agree on anything, I think we'd get along ... afterwards we could get hammered and jam on old Kinks tunes before we pour him into a cab to take him home.

Tell us about a good deed you have done recently.
I had a slsk chat request from a Korean tenor sax player asking to help find him a solid but affordable school for his next student visa visit, so I relayed the request on to some mailing lists frequented by some pretty hefty players, summarized the result and sent him back a reply.

Turned out he couldn't afford their recommendations, and decided to return to the berkeley jazz school.

Tell us a random funny story that comes to mind.
You mean besides the one about this guy Joe Blogs who pings me about doing an interview about my blog?

What advice would you have given yourself 5 years ago?
Take the money and run. Wait, no, I did tell myself that. I just didn't listen.

Any interesting travel stories?
Many, but one in particular involved a man I didn't know walking up to me in the Zagreb train station cafe, pulling a wad of money out of his pocket and peeling the bills back to reveal a paper with an address in Dusseldorf, and asking me, in broken English, "You know this man?" I, barely 19, said "No" and he folded his bills and walked off -- when I got back to our table and told my crazy american travelling companion, she said, "Damn. You should have said YES!"

Do you have any strong opinions you would like to debate with me?
heh ... choose your dementia: nuclear waste disposal, digital rights restrictions, global warming, intellectual property, public education, malthusian 'economics', A440 intonation, branded box
malls, the war on x, academic accreditation, internet censorship, the mainstream media ...

What's the most incredible thing that ever happened to you?
Incredible things happen all the time, but for the most incredible it has to be having been present for the birthing of 5 out of 6 children ... although being present for their conception was a bit of alright too.

Now it's your turn! Ask me one question, anything you like.

Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world wide web, why'd you walk into mine?

Joe Blogs : I was parched.

Your Site Address : blog.teledyn.com

Joe Blog's Interview #110 How Eclectic

Name : Martin
Age : 40 something
Location : Yellowknife in Canada’s north
Vocation : IT Manager
Philosophy : Our lives are not determined by what happens to us but by how we react to what happens, not by what life brings to us, but by the attitude we bring to life.






A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events, and outcomes. It is a catalyst, a spark that creates extraordinary results.

Sum up what your blog is about.
It is an eclectic mix of information with my weekly Words on Wednesday, Earth Trivia Tuesday and Quotes on Monday and my thoughts and feelings about various things that are going on in the world and my life.

Why are you doing your blog?
I do it because I like to write and I think I have some thoughts and views that people might be interested in. I also like learning things and my info days do that and I hope I can pass that learning on to others.

What’s the funniest entry on your site?
I think the one I did a couple of years ago about the differences between the way that men and women take showers.

What is your writing style?
I write the same way as I would talk if we were having a conversation. It is easy to understand.

What do people commonly say about your site?
The most common comment I get from people is that is very informative and well written.

What would you be doing if you weren’t doing your blog?
More photography. That is my other free time passion.

Why should someone visit your site?
Because I think they will learn something with my info days. They will also get an idea of life in Canada’s north and my thoughts on other world events.

What did you learn from your first love?
I learned that the first love really can last forever if it is the right person

Are there any blogs, you enjoy reading?
There are several that I read regularly and I guess MasterMaq is one of the better ones with lots of tech and business info mixed in with personal thoughts and events.

If you could invite anyone to a dinner party who would it be and why?
Al Gore. I really like “an Inconvenient Truth” and would love to talk with him about his quest to stop global warming.

What makes a good eclectic blog?
I think a good Eclectic Blog is one that is informative, funny, insightful and covers a good variety of subjects; subjects that are not only about current events but also some strange or bizarre things too.

Tell us about a good deed you have done recently.
I left a positive comment on a blog of a person who seemed to be having some problems and I think she appreciated it.

Tell us a random funny story that comes to mind.
There was this time…na, that wasn’t funny when I think about it after all.

What advice would you have given yourself 5 years ago?
Keep striving to be better in all that you do.

Any interesting travel stories?
I took a flight a couple of years ago that had a plaque inside the door that said that Pope John Paul II had flown on that plane. I mean, is there a safer plane to fly on than one that has been blessed by a Pope?

Do you have any strong opinions you would like to debate with me?
What is wrong with the education system these days?

Joe Blogs : Personally I think education needs to be more directly related to working life. Kids have little if any respect for parents or teachers, but it was the same when I was at school. Parents leave their children to their own devices, and teachers are under pressure to get good exam marks.

What’s the most incredible thing that ever happened to you?
Other that my marriage and birth of my children (those are always the best things), I would say the day that my blog was listed as a Blogs Canada Top Blog. Being recognized makes you feel that your writing is making a difference even if it isn’t.

Now it’s your turn! Ask me one question, anything you like.
I notice that you promote the movie “The God who Wasn’t There” on your site. So, was Jesus a mortal man or a divine being?

Joe Blogs : The advert you are referring to is a Google Advert that I don't personally endorse because I have no knowledge of it. I'm open minded, depends how you interpret the history books, but I can't draw any conclusions.

Your Site Address : Eclectic Blogs