2010 in review

A look at blog highlights from the past year.

In 2010 we discovered that there is indeed life in the local bloggosphere after Endless Spin and Waverly West. The scene continued to thrive, due in part to the addition of some new blogs. Some of the best new local blogs of 2010:

One Man Committee (a.k.a. Cancelbot, a.k.a. Walter Krawec). I have to admit that the pace he started posted at had me concerned that this might be one of those blogs that launches with a flurry and then fizzles out, but in fact he has kept it up for three months now. This, in addition to his day job, which I believe is posting comments on New Winnipeg.

Things That Need To Be Said (a.k.a. bgilchrist001, a.k.a. St Norberter, a.k.a. Brian Gilchrist) had some very good posts, including this one about the small business tax cut. Look for big things from Brian with the provincial election looming. No pressure though.

State of the City (Brian Kelcey) must have been the most successful new local blog, parlaying his web site into TV appearances and an actual money-making career. Imagine that.

A Day In The Hood probably deserves a mention as well, with its peak into life in the North End

DriveGoddess (a.k.a. MizPoint) is a well travelled blogger with interesting experiences to share. Read her blog action day post on water, as an example.

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As for this blog: The start of the new year means it's time for my annual identity crisis, but more on that later. First, some highlights:

In 2010 I did my first interview, with candidate for council Livio Ciaralli. Transcribing the interview was a lot of work, but it was a fun thing to do and I received some positive feedback. I might consider doing a few more this year.

I had my angriest ever commenter:

i hope you burn in hell! ... WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? i wish i knew what store you shopped at cuz i would make it my personal mission to make your life a living hell!

I had some brushes with small and large media this year. Nothing big, but I was contacted by the Uniter and CBC for different things, and linked-to by the Toronto Star web site for a post I did on the census. The Free Press continues to ignore me, but that's okay .. I would ignore me too if I were them. I know they're reading. (Hi guys!!) Actually .. I had a nice chat with Melissa Martin from the Freep one day. Kudos to her for taking the time to talk to me.

My top posts from 2010:

1. Cody Bousquet, Louis Riel, and more graffiti. -- A result of persistent Google hits about Cody, and especially Louis Riel. It is bizarre how many "Louis Riel" hits I get, given that I am miles back in the search results for that phrase. I don't understand.

2. Bucket full of something ... and it's not water -- Helped along by a Reddit referral, this had some good traffic (by this blog's standards). Maybe one of my better posts of the year, and I almost didn't do it.

3. My post from 2008 How to get to Vimy Ridge continues to draw traffic from people (duh) trying to find out how to get to the Vimy Ridge Memorial, and makes France the number 4 source of traffic to this site after Canada, the U.S. and the U.K.. This makes me happy -- that I might actually be helping people get to see this amazing site.

4. About roundabouts -- Posted during the Great Roundabout Controversy, and given a boost by TGCTS and a Policy Frog tweet.

5. Only a matter of time -- Yes, believe it or not, this two year old post about Leah Hextall continues to draw a steady stream of pervs looking for pornographic photos of the CTV cutie.

6. Who killed TGCTS -- a popular subject for other blogs as well, I understand.

7. Why pop music sucks -- This is a weird one. All I really did was repost a video that I found somewhere else, but "pop music sucks" is my number 1 Google hit.

honorable mention: Bipole Disorder: Billion dollar insurance policy was, I think, possibly my best post of the year. Most time consuming anyhow.

Top Google search terms (not including Cherenkov blog, Anybody want a peanut, etc..):

1. pop music sucks
2. louis riel
3. phil sheegl
4. manitoba "falcon cam"
5. how to get to vimy ridge - although there were about 100 other variations on this search as well.

Strange Google search terms:

"seal heart eating bitch" - guess who?
alberta rig worker sexy dance - I have no idea why my site came up with this search, honest.
colleen simard is an asshole - tell us how you really feel.
hey you, want a peanut? - why yes I do, thank you!
ipost my beaver - you what?
mrrrrrummm - not sure if he found what he was looking for. Or if he had a seizure.
sam owns an acre of land and the government dams the river and forms a lake behind the dam, covering sam's land. does the government owe sam anything? - I'm sorry I couldn't help you, after all the effort you put into typing that search.

Top referring sites:
endless spin
hacks and wonks
policy frog
winnipeg love hate
progressive winnipeg

My two top referrers are in suspended animation.

Anyhow, enough fun with Google Analytics ... Back to my identity crisis:

What kind of a blog am I? Is it time for me to finally grow up and become a respectable blog, or would that ruin the whole thing? I have always just posted whatever I wanted to post without much regard for what people thought. It's not that I don't care about you, my valued readers, it's just that I don't care about you. But maybe I should.

So.. what do you want to see from The Peanut? Do you want to see more policy posts? More cartoons/doodles? More photos? More interviews? More Leah Hextall? More profanity?

I won't guarantee that I'll follow your suggestions, but I do welcome your feedback. And as always, thank you for your visits and comments and links.

Happy New Year!