How important it is to you to answer comments on your blog posts? Do you think responding to comments is an important part of blogging?
I really appreciate it when someone takes the time to read and comment on one of my posts. And I do read each and every comment. Sometimes, I will simply Like the comment to acknowledge that I’ve seen it. Other times I will simply say “Thanks.” And time permitting, I may respond with a longer comment.
But the point is, I will do my best to read every comment or link-back to my posts and respond with a Like and/or a comment. Because, yes, both commenting on other bloggers’ posts and responding to comments other bloggers have made on my posts are not only important, they are quite possibly the best thing about blogging.
John Steiner, the blogger behind Journeys With Johnbo, has this prompt he calls Cellpic Sunday in which he asks us to post a photo that was taken with a cellphone, tablet, or another mobile device. I thought this might be fun so I decided to join in.
I had to go way back to a photo I took on November 23, 2012, just over ten years ago, for this week’s Cellpic Sunday featured photo. This photo was taken with my iPhone (probably, based upon the date it was taken, on my iPhone 6) atop Strawberry Hill at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. I was facing north, and you can see the two towers of the Golden Gate Bridge and the hills just across the San Francisco Bay.
If you wish to participate in this fun cellphone photo prompt, please click on the link to John’s post at the top of my post to see his photo and to read his instructions.
I get some interesting spam comments on my blog, most of which are captured by Akismet, WordPress’ spam blocker. I generally do a mass delete of all of my spam comments after checking to see if any legitimate comments got caught up in Akismet’s spam-catching net.
I thought it might be fun to select a particularly interesting or unique or outrageous spam comment and highlight it each week.
This week’s spam comment was in response to my Spam Comment of the Week #44.
The very heart of your writing whilst appearing agreeable originally, did not really work very well with me personally after some time. Somewhere throughout the paragraphs you actually were able to make me a believer unfortunately just for a very short while. I nevertheless have got a problem with your leaps in assumptions and one would do nicely to help fill in all those breaks. When you actually can accomplish that, I could definitely be impressed.
Given the post that this comment was in response to, perhaps this spammer is the same one whose spam comment I featured there. He was very complimentary there, though. But apparently I have “fallen very short” since then. Maybe I insulted him.
Anyway, have you read some catchy spam comments that you’d like to share with us? If so, put them in the comments or create your own post and tag it #FSCW.
For this week’s Song Lyric Sunday, Jim Adams has given us the theme of Motown songs. I have chosen the iconic song, “What’s Going On” from Marvin Gaye.
“What’s Going On” was written by three Motown hitmakers: songwriter Al Cleveland, Four Tops member Renaldo “Obie” Benson, and singer Marvin Gaye, who added lyrics and worked on the arrangement. Gaye wanted the Originals to record the song, but Benson and Cleveland prevailed upon Gaye to do it himself.
The song was released in 1971 on the Motown subsidiary Tamla. It was inspired by a police brutality incident witnessed by Benson as well as by the stories Gaye’s brother Frankie told him when he came back from the Vietnam War. The song marked Gaye’s departure from the Motown Sound towards more personal material.
This was one of the first Motown songs to make a powerful political statement. Stevie Wonder and the Temptations were also recording more serious and challenging material, which was a radical departure from the Motown hits of the ’60s. The song had a tremendous impact because listeners weren’t used to hearing social commentary from Gaye. As Jackson Browne said in a 2008 interview with Rolling Stone: “No one was expecting a protest song from him. But it was a moment in time when people were willing to hear it from anybody, if it was heartfelt. And who better than the person who has talked to you about love and desire?”
Gaye wrote this when he could no longer take refuge in his love songs. His marriage to Anna Gordy was in shambles, his duet partner and friend Tammi Terrell collapsed into his arms during a concert and died in 1970, drug use was pervading the inner city culture, and Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, and Robert Kennedy were all gunned down.
“What’s Going On” was nominated for two Grammy Awards in 1972 including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s), but failed to win in any of the categories. It was ranked at number 4 in Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of all Time in 2004 and 2010.
Here are the lyrics to “What’s Going On.”
Mother, mother There's too many of you crying Brother, brother, brother There's far too many of you dying You know we've got to find a way To bring some lovin' here today, yeah
Father, father We don't need to escalate You see, war is not the answer For only love can conquer hate You know we've got to find a way To bring some lovin' here today, oh, oh, oh
Picket lines and picket signs Don't punish me with brutality Talk to me, so you can see Oh, what's going on What's going on Yeah, what's going on Ah, what's going on
(In the mean time) Right on, baby Right on babe Right on babe
Mother, mother Everybody thinks we're wrong Oh, but who are they to judge us Simply 'cause our hair is long? Oh, you know we've got to find a way Bring some understanding here today Oh oh oh
Picket lines and picket signs Don't punish me with brutality C'mon talk to me So you can see What's going on Yeah, what's going on Tell me what's going on I'll tell you what's going on Ooh ooh ooh ooh Right on baby Right on, right on
This, That, and the Other 