Tweet
Well Kobepalooza (the LA Blogger Bash) is officially over. It happened without the participation of Kobe himself, and since those in attendance are notoriously camera shy, Kobe gets to make his appearance in the photo above, taken in happier days after he became jealous that Sean Hannity had been nominated for a Nobel Prize and he had not. (He thinks the fact that he had to stay at home is jive, considering he started the ball rolling with his “coffee with Kobe” series, but he does not yet understand that white carpet and big poodle feet do not go together).
Many thanks to SteveAudio and his lovely wife Pam for letting us all invade their home. In attendance were TBogg, Kevin Drum, Skippy, Arianna Huffington, Elton from BusyBusyBusy, John from Crooks & Liars, Greg from The Talent Show, RJ Eskow from Night Light, Ezra Klein, Leah from Corrente, Pamela Leavey, Ellen Nagler, Brian Linse, Scoobie Davis, Mark Kleiman, Joseph and Alex from Martini Republic, David E., their various spouses, fiances and companions, and people I know I must be forgetting and for doing so I deeply apologize.
When everyone arrived I thought oh God, this is going to be a disaster, everyone is uncomfortable and what was I thinking inviting a bunch of socio-phobic people who like to sit behind a computer to a gathering with others like themselves. Of course that wore off and it soon turned into a shout fest. I had a ball. Nobody was who I expected them to be, except Ezra Klein who was exactly who I expected him to be. John from Crooks & Liars? I’m counting down the days until he takes O’Reilly apart on tee vee. Trust me, he’s got star quality written all over him.
And of course the first question I asked Arianna was about the Roger Ailes dust up on the first day of the Huffington Post over the blog roll. I had to race home and tell Roger immediately. I’ll leave it to him to pass along as he sees fit. But it’s a good one.
Digby was in Mexico but sent his best and counseled that we LA bloggers “gotta knock that chip off those Philly bloggers’ shoulders.” It was a damn good start.
20 Comments
Support this site!
Subscribe to the newsletter
Advertise on Firedoglake
Send
us your tips
Make us your homepage
About Firedoglake
Jane
It was a blast… I had no idea there were so many LA Bloggers. I’m with RJ, we should do this every quarter rather than once a year.
It was hard to keep track of everyone who was there. I’m a name tag hater, but Skippy had a good point… it would have made things easier, especially for the first event. I know I missed talking to a few there… next time!
Thanks firedoglake. You’re very kind.
BTW — Roger’s post is in the works. Shoud be a dilly.
Gary I had no idea, we literally invited anyone we knew about who was even close to LA. You will definitely be on the list for the next one.
Hey I’m a west coast blogger. How come no one invited me? Jerome Armstrong agreed to guest blog at my place. Geez.
Kevin & Brian didn’t come ’til tragically after you’d left, Skippy. There were still people hanging out when I left at 8 pm. Long day, but lots of fun.
Ellen — I spend part of my time up in Oregon, part in LA. The best of both worlds.
hey i had a great time, too jane.
but i didn’t know kevin and brian were there. next time we all have to wear name tags with (a) our real names and (b) our blog names and (c) how we feel about the israel/palestine situation.
It was fabulous, darling, fabulous.
No, truly, it was a marvel that you got us all together and for us all to find out just what really good people we are, after all.
I vote for John, too, for some kick-ass on the cable shows.
As if you and I didn’t have enough to talk about already, I’ve got a black poodle, too. Kobe is a standard, yes? So’s Bizou (or Beeze, or ZouZou, or Sweet Pea, or Pup).
You’re moving to Oregon? I can’t bear it. Just as we’re on the cusp of a beautiful friendship. Now you gotta come up Friday for the J-J Dinner, for sure.
You were missed, Steve, and definitely most heartily welcome to any future bash.
Jane:
Sorry I missed this bash and the chance to meet the rest of you. I hope to make the next one.
Oregon? Don’t tell me you’re going to Portland too? First Gus Van Sant puts it on the map, then Steven Bradford closely followed by (my future husband) Todd Haynes! It’s just too much.
You’re on, RJ. Brian Linse offered his place, too. It would be nice to do once again before I head up to Oregon.
Jane, it definitely was a blast. I don’t want to wait a whole year to do it again. How about once every quarter? (We can do it at my place next time.)
Thanks again. Bloggers, like spider plants, need to be exposed to sunlight regularly.
Sorry, David, my bad. I changed it.
Joel — if I’d known, you most certainly would’ve been invited!
You live in LaLa Land?
I’m stuck here down in the OC.
We’d have one in Tulsa, but everyone would bring their shotguns.
It was an absolute blast, Jane! Great meeting you and quite literally everyone else. John is a stitch. He could save MSNBC, if someone in charge had the guts to hire him.
I suspect that the _This Space For Rent_ that Ross posts at is not the _This Space For Rent_ that you’re linking to in this article. The only person to posts to that TSFR is me.
Hey Jane its MJ. Email me @ mjmucklestone@yahoo.com
You met Arianna Huffington?
I used to have a crush on her, but I haven’t been blogrolled there, so I now refuse to even acknowledge her big, corporate-as-hell blog.