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05/08/2001 "anil dash explains it all"

aka "The a-list part II"

Started up a correspondance with anil dash, and he was kind enough to tell me the story of the a-list and let me share it with you...

Well, story was perhaps overstating it. The fact is, no one's ever canonized an a-list, because no one knows who's on it. Except that Kottke surely would be. And, by extension, Meg. Even more curiously, there are people who are friends with all the a-listers, read by all of them, but *aren't* on the list. Judith's calamondin.com comes to mind.

That site that you saw at a-list.blogspot.com that was quickly abandoned was the work of Joe Clark, who also wrote a screed at
http://www.fawny.org/decon-blog.html

His whining there was prompted by the New Yorker's article on Blogger (well, it really focused on Meg & Jason's relationship) which the article's author has posted on her personal site at:http://www.rebeccamead.com/2000_11_13_art_blog.htm

It was at that point when people really started to pile on, through a
combination of opportunism and jealousy. This can be seen at MetaFilter
at http://www.metafilter.com/comments.mefi/4387

Then the topic clearly burned itself out and people got annoyed by any
mention of it. To me, that's when the fun started: http://www.metafilter.com/comments.mefi/4334

After that, any mention of Pyra or Blogger or any of the people who worked there inciting bitching about the whole thing, with the only common thread being (1) jealousy on the part of the whiners, mostly because their sites get fewer hits and (2) accusations of elitism. Which I consider largely crap (I'm guess I might be biased) because not one of the people who's ever been labeled as an a-lister has ever been anything other than cordial to me, either in person or via email or phone.

Here, then, is my stab at an A-List. There's many more that *might* be listed, but I've erred on the side of exclusion. Which seems appropriate, given the subject matter.

Kottke. This one's a given.
Megnut. See above.
Evhead. I think, by dint of him being the only one who stayed at Pyra.
Haughey. Because of the one-two punch of former Pyra employee status and
MetaFilter
Powazek. He's former Pyra and the {Fray}. That probably counts.

Beyond that, it gets a bit fuzzy. Peterme is considered one, although pretty much none of the others links to him anymore, except out of habit.

Nominees for inclusion would be Zeldman, although he's east coast like me and travels in very different circles. Possibly PB's Onfocus.com, as a former key Pyra guy. But he's very quiet and so's his site, so people tend to overlook him a bit. I think a strong case could be made for Heather's "Harrumph" but no one ever says anything bad about her because everyone likes her. So her a-list status would be pointless.

Judith's Calamondin has been referred to as a-list, which is again strange because, while many of the others in those circles read her site, she's pretty low-profile overall.

I'd probably personally include Brad Graham's Bradlands, as everyone
knows and loves Brad. By the same token, RCB's Rebecca's Pocket. But again, the whole point of the a-list is to bash its members, so neither of them fits the bill because you'd have to be a right bastard to find anything nasty to say about either.

I guess I'd throw in Zannah's /usr/bin/girl/ but she also seems to not engender a lot of antipathy, so she gets omitted, too.

Okay, my brain is empty now, and I can't think of anymore. This concludes my exhaustive study of the subject. Feel free to use this information as you wish. :)

a later note said

Even better, and more simple, check this out: Fan-faves. Ignore the first 2 or 3, and you're set.

First, how many diaries can one read on a regular basis?

Second, I can't imagine a list without lance .

But I didn't even know there was an a-list, so I can't be trusted.

Posted by mike @ 05/08/2001 05:54 PM pst

~~~

Oh, yes, definitely Lance. He just left my brain at that time. Along with a few others, I'm sure.

Posted by Anil @ 05/08/2001 06:58 PM pst

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Oh yes, Christina hosts swanky soirees which lots of fabulous folk attend and gets invited to parties by the tres chic, so she's definitely a-list.

Posted by Dinah @ 05/09/2001 11:08 AM pst

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Anil and I are part of the secret elite society of people who start their sentences "Oh yes,..."

Posted by Dinah @ 05/09/2001 11:09 AM pst

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Once again I failed to make the A-list.

*falls back to the B-list*

Posted by dan @ 05/09/2001 12:53 PM pst

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christina, you were on my a-list before i even knew there was one...back when (to my then weblog-ignorant mind) you were just someone like-minded who posted on sigia and chi-web (and whose art i liked, as i recall). i bow down to your coolness.

Posted by jen @ 05/09/2001 06:16 PM pst

~~~

Now look what you've done, mike! You've turned this into a love-fest. aren't you ashamed (or horrified).

This really was just a exploration of a funky subculture. I first became interested in the cult of personality when webmonkey was at its heyday: names like squishy, nadav, jeff veen, taylor, heidi and josh, and thau used to make me knees weak... and of course they are known only in a small sector of the world-- heck, only a small sector of the online world. Dropping names can be a wake up call.. "oh, i had lunch with Lance Arthur" can provoke an ahh from some and an " oh, that's nice dear" from others (yet another reason to call your mom regularly! Mom will keep you humble...)

Anyhow, thanks for the love, kids. You make me feel so very a-list!

Posted by christina @ 05/09/2001 06:56 PM pst

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the fact that anyone spends even a modicum of time thinking about such things is quite amusing to me. man, don't we have frail egos?

Posted by spiral @ 05/16/2001 05:04 AM pst

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I was not [expletive] whining, Anil [expletive] Dash. It was a reasoned critique. If anything, I pointed out the invisible elephant pushing the air from the room.

A-list bloggeurs' denying they are A-list is akin to Calista Flockhart's claiming she has a healthy appetite.

Posted by Joe Clark @ 05/19/2001 05:26 PM pst

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Woo, congrats! Now for the next big question: who's on the B-list?? ;)

Posted by Martha @ 08/31/2001 09:22 AM pst

~~~

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