Really?
There are two yes/no buttons that need to be activated when you set up a blog. Here is the exact explanation of what the choices mean (copied straight from the settings menu):
When both options are set to "NO" it means that the blog is not public. It will not be crawled by any search engines and it will not be listed anywhere. It still has an address that anyone can go to, but you have to go to that specific address.
I have this blog set to "NO" in both cases. In fact the picture above is a screen clip of the actual settings.
This means if I mention anyone by name in my blog, say Abraham Lincoln or Jay Leno, no one can Google those names and find a search reference listing my blog as containing those names. For those who want the maximum readership this is a bad thing because no one finds the blog unless specifically looking for it. I only have 6 subscribers. I really have no idea who besides my family, friends and a few select fans actually read this "semi-daily self-serving homily".
That is why it is puzzling to me that in a blog with over 750 separate entries, which can not be crawled or searched, Howard Stern could find the one essay I wrote talking smack about Jay Leno. Although I was at sea and didn't actually hear Howard's show last Monday... from the commotion it caused, it seems that he read some of my blog on the air.
I feel like I got caught passing notes in class and the teacher read it to everyone. I should have used better judgment than to write it... but I did. I will know better next time.
But I keep coming back to "how my silly story became grist for Howard Stern?" It's like that old joke:
An actor comes home to find his house has been robbed, vandalized and his wife beaten and raped. He says, "Oh my God who did this." The wife said, "It was your agent, he came by and when he saw you weren't her he did this." The actor thinks for a minute and says excitedly, "My agent came to the *house*?"
Howard Stern read my blog??
Well, there you go. The entry that caused the fuss has been taken down. There is a feeling among some of the regulars that I should have left it up... but I'm ready to move on. Writing explanations and clarifications would cause the discussion to make smaller and smaller concentric circles around the issue until it would eventually fly up its own literary asshole.
(Oh I saved the offending rant on my hard drive.... For an original copy send $5 and a self addressed stamped envelope to ---)
As you were,
Jay
I have this blog set to "NO" in both cases. In fact the picture above is a screen clip of the actual settings.
This means if I mention anyone by name in my blog, say Abraham Lincoln or Jay Leno, no one can Google those names and find a search reference listing my blog as containing those names. For those who want the maximum readership this is a bad thing because no one finds the blog unless specifically looking for it. I only have 6 subscribers. I really have no idea who besides my family, friends and a few select fans actually read this "semi-daily self-serving homily".
That is why it is puzzling to me that in a blog with over 750 separate entries, which can not be crawled or searched, Howard Stern could find the one essay I wrote talking smack about Jay Leno. Although I was at sea and didn't actually hear Howard's show last Monday... from the commotion it caused, it seems that he read some of my blog on the air.
I feel like I got caught passing notes in class and the teacher read it to everyone. I should have used better judgment than to write it... but I did. I will know better next time.
But I keep coming back to "how my silly story became grist for Howard Stern?" It's like that old joke:
An actor comes home to find his house has been robbed, vandalized and his wife beaten and raped. He says, "Oh my God who did this." The wife said, "It was your agent, he came by and when he saw you weren't her he did this." The actor thinks for a minute and says excitedly, "My agent came to the *house*?"
Howard Stern read my blog??
Well, there you go. The entry that caused the fuss has been taken down. There is a feeling among some of the regulars that I should have left it up... but I'm ready to move on. Writing explanations and clarifications would cause the discussion to make smaller and smaller concentric circles around the issue until it would eventually fly up its own literary asshole.
(Oh I saved the offending rant on my hard drive.... For an original copy send $5 and a self addressed stamped envelope to ---)
As you were,
Jay
Where do I send the $5 Jay? Oh, and who's Howard Stern?
ReplyDeleteI both read your blog daily and listen to Howard daily. After your Leno blog I thought, "Howard would love this!" First for Jay's lame and unoriginal joke about your Tony Award and second for Jay taking the check. I thought about forwarding the blog to Howard, but decided that you might not appreciate that. It seems somebody did forward it though. I think you have more readers than you think.
ReplyDeleteHoward was very complimentary to you and your talent. He prefaced everything by saying he couldn't be absolutley sure it was from you. I was thrilled that he read it, but sorry it has created a problem for you.
As you are....
Sorry Jay,
ReplyDeleteBoth of those boxes are marked, YES, on my blog. I'm not as famous as you are, but would like to be some day.
I belong to all the social media sites and for some reason Google ranks my blog high on its list for certain words and for certain articles I've written. I have a few loyal warped readers. Go figure.
Anyway, I first started reading your blog back in 2006 when it was still The Hell And Hayes, and first mentioned your blog in November of 06
http://www.ontheroadwithdave.com/2006/11/congratulations-jay.html
I had written about your show as far back as Jan. 06
Soon after, you were on my "Links I Like" sidebar; and it's been there ever since. Now, I'm pretty sure that Howard Stern didn't read my blog to find your blog, but I did "tweet" the article after you published it and I know a few of my other readers "retweeted" it as well. Sorry about that.
I guess what I'm saying is, you aren't as hidden as you think. I'm still glad I found you and know where to look every day.
Dave
I probably found your blog through a link on another vent site some years ago. Most of those aren't hidden.
ReplyDeleteI was delighted, of course, to see that you had one! (And, as I recall, delighted that you were praising Big John and Sparky...which looms in my own memory as the very first radio show I loved)
And, of course, Howard's people could have googled "Leno" and found some other blog wherein someone said, "Well, as Jay Johnson said..." and gone from there.
I love your work...I love this blog. I'm glad I found it. If Howard found it once, he's hooked.
Thanks for continuing to write here.
Besides, it gave me a chance to expose you to Boris Artzybasheff!
Nothing's a secret on the Internet.
Not even secrets.
-Philip Grecian
Yep, Marc Maron said on his podcast* recently that Hollywood is just five people that talk to each other. You can tell your gardener that you think some producer wears dumb shoes and later that day your agent will call you to ask why you're talking smack about people.
ReplyDelete*btw, Jay, I think it'd be interesting if you were to get on one of the comedy podcasts--Marc's WTF might be good; The Sound of Young America; Comedy and Everything Else, etc. These are a new breed of entertainment outlet, but they thrive on examining pop culture and comedy's past, present and future. I enjoy them a lot--it's a great format, esp. since it's free from network restraints--however, they can be very "stand-up" centric, and you'll sometimes catch a whiff of condescension towards ventriloquism. I've been wanting a ventriloquist to get in there and represent. I'd think any of those podcasts (shows) would want to have you on for your Tonight Show and Soap pedigree alone.
The downside (for you, maybe) of upping your profile on 'net-based entities like that would be that your blog would see more traffic.