Here, two items that have been stuck in the ‘well, that MIGHT be a good idea’ phase of development for longer than I’d care to admit. Out the door and into the world. Let’s see what happens.
First up, the Country Music Start Page. This is basically a selfish personal project made public.
See, Google is phasing out its iGoogle personalized home pages next year and I wanted something like my own set-up to keep using after the transition. From there, I gave some thought to how to make it useful to an audience wider than myself, which led to ever-renewing New Release and Video of the Week feature areas at the top.
Hopefully, it’s a one-stop place to get a quick view of what’s happening around the country music blogosphere. Go take a look and see what you make of it. Ideas for new sites or sections are welcome.
How could it be made more useful to you?
The second thing is a free Fake News e-book.
None of the stories are new. Some do date back nearly 4 years, which is long enough to seem new to folks who haven’t been here since our early days. That’s kind of the point, actually. Intended as an orientation gift for new email subscribers, I didn’t want to offer it to them without also making it available to you, the longtime faithful.
So, it’s 25 pages of some of my favorite self-written satirical news items. Might make a nice refresher course or keepsake? I don’t know. But for the next 24 hours or so, current and non-email subscribers can view or download it HERE. After that, you’ll either have to sign up for a new email subscription or bug me personally to get a copy.
Anyone who has ever bugged me personally will tell you that I am one mean, mean man, so it’s probably best to act quickly if you’d like to check it out.
More cool projects in the works, but for now I’m just glad to have these two out of my head.
Awesome Stuff Department: Gretchen Peters Retrospective
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Unveils 2012 Lineup
The Best Music Deal of the Year
CMW in The Nashville Scene
A freelance writer and humorist with an abiding love of country music, C.M. Wilcox's cutting, clear-eyed take on the genre has drawn the attention of Country Weekly, The Washington Post, and The Tennessean in the years since this site began. He lives near Sacramento and can be reached by email at CMW (at) countrycalifornia.com.
Wow, thanks for the e-book. It’s good to go back and read some of those old ones; they really are excellent. And weirdly accurate, some of them.
Country Music Start Page – instantly bookmarked!
Thanks for the ebook! I’m getting a huge kick out of all those posts from my pre-blogging days.
The Country Music Start Page is awesome and extremely helpful. I may make it my homepage.
The Fake News primer is a hoot. I’m definitely having a grand time rereading the old classics.
I am one mean, mean man
Ain’t that the truth.
This guy’s the Jack Reacher of country music bloggers.
I have no idea what that even means, but I’ll take it as a compliment.
Glad people seem to be enjoying both items.
Nice!
Loving the e-book. Thanks, C.M.!
Love both items. The Start page is fantastic, what a great thing to be able to look at each week. In my ”
favorites” list! The e-book is great also, although I have seen some of these, the older ones do feel new in a way. Thank you so much!