The Clog just got some new neighbors. And by “new neighbors” we mean the Internet neighborly equivalent of Gatsby’s mansion or, like, the Taj Mahal or something.

Yep, the Gray Lady has moved in next door and has set up shop, tap tap tapping away at the Bay Area blogosphere. In addition to recently launching its Bay Area Report–a new section dedicated to covering the Bay Area that has been cause for just a touch of controversy due to its possible effects on a certain local publication–THE New York Times has started a Bay Area blog.

It will both do original reporting and highlight stuff from “regional media, bloggers, student publications and Twitter.” (Emphasis is ours.) So, um. What’s up New York Times?

Image Source: Rich Anderson under Creative Commons, edited by Evante Garza-Licudine
Bay Area Blog [NY Times]

While you’re chilling in your parents’ house or nose-deep in summer school, you can pretend that you’re off in some exotic, paradisaical, fragrant or politically tumultuous land. No ticket necessary.

Image Source: Nick Fradkin, Daily Cal
Anywhere But Berkeley [Website]

Should you accept your mom’s friend request?  How should you respond when your dad’s ex-co-worker’s girlfriend’s brother writes on your wall just to say hey and to tell you that from the looks of your pictures, you really know how to have a good time? So many possibilities for awkwardness, yet so many possibilities for hilarity to ensue!

Enter “Oh Crap. My Parents Joined Facebook,” the new Tumblr blog where you can send in horror stories (or screen shots) of your parents or older otherwise loved ones actin’ like fools, trying to navigate their way through this newfangled series of tubes, and the people at OCMPJF will make fun of them for you. Ah, sweet catharsis through empathy.

Speaking of old people on Facebook, head on over to  Tom Bates’s page and wish him a happy birthday while you still can.  He turned the big eight seven-one today.

Image Source: [klf]photography under Creative Commons
Oh Crap. My Parents Joined Facebook [Blog], via Laughing Squid
Tom Bates [Facebook]

Some English professors may profess to know nothing about blogs, but that didn’t stop the English department from launching its new blog. In fact, the blog is an effort to draw more people into the community of dusty-Anglo-tome lovers in face of statewide budget cuts.

In an e-mail to English majors and “friends,” graduate student John Lurz explained the seed behind the idea:

To make sure that we can preserve (and enhance!) the kind of educational opportunities and environment that we offer to our students, the English Department is engaged in its own development campaign (…)

Development is a two-pronged effort.  On the one hand, we certainly hope for donors, large or small, willing to contribute to the department’s funds, and there is a link called “Give to English” on our website. But, on the other, we are simply attempting to build community between the department, our current students, our future students, our alumni and our friends at large.

At least it will be a well written blog, right?

As it stands, the blog is still young and reads like a society page without the snootiness. There are profiles of different students, reports on research experience, blurbs on new professors, and the occasional event announcement. We know how it is to get your legs as a blog, so we wish the department the best of luck.

In the meantime, we’ll be waiting for Gawker sightings on professors and Twitter updates from comment-worthy lectures.

Image Source: Kakapo31 under Creative Commons, edited by Christine Borden
UC Berkeley English Deparment [Blogspot]
Related: An Esteemed, Time-Honored Annual Ritual Commences

This week we received an e-mail from Diana, a marketing/PR coordinator for Yardbarker.com. For a moment we thought we happened upon a great tip, even better than learning of Nate Longshore’s blog:

Marshawn (Lynch) just put up his first post (on his Yardbarker blog) the other day, and, well, it’s pretty awesome. As a Cal alum, I think the students would really enjoy checking out his blog, so I’m writing again to see if we can work together to get the word out to them.

Intriguing … Diana continues with her forthrightness:

It would be great to give Marshawn some attention in the Daily Cal’s blog, as well as in the paper itself (publish an excerpt each time he posts).

Wait, what was that? “Publish an excerpt each time he posts”? Can we please liveblog every time he scratches his butt or picks his nose too? Lynch was a great player for the Bears, but somehow we don’t think his “awesome” posts are that newsworthy:

whats good yardbarkers what it do its ya local neighborhood running back outta OAKLAND….in buffalo playin for da bills…if u looked at da headline reading DAMN its cause ive been out 4 da past two weeks and its been hurting me not to b out der wit ma teammates even if we losing….i just cant wait til i can get back out der wit ma bra bras (teammates)

Sorry, we just can’t get over “bra bras.” Neither could someone else on Yardbarker, someone who decided to bleach out any bit of personality from Lynch’s post and “correct” it:

Good afternoon, everybody(everyone, friends, people, etc.). How is it going? I am Marshawn Lynch, the running back for the Buffalo Bills out of Oakland, California. I decided to title this article DAMN because I have been out for the past couple weeks and it is starting to irritate me. I realize right now we are not doing that well but my team needs me and I want to be out there. I cannot wait until I can go back to practice and be with my teammates.

LAME, we say. Bring on the awesomeness! (Just don’t run it in the paper.)

Image Source: Linda Zhu, Daily Cal
DAMN [Yardbarker]
DAMN by Marshawn Lynch Re-Written With 3 Semesters of a College Education [Yardbarker]

It’s for your own good, really. You wouldn’t want lazy bloggers during the ASUC elections now would you? Maybe you’ll see us in Cabo, West Palm Beach, or on MTV. Then again, more likely not.

Now go get yourself a drink and start the fun.

92510 is somewhat offended that one would mock the number of Facebook friends Ilana Nankin has rather than make fun of one of the men running:

bq. Well, Chris [Catalytic Triad author], how about lambasting one of the guys instead?

Do they need more bread and butter? We say let them eat cake.

Still, it seems there’s too much penis in the politics for 92510. We guess the vibrator-racers of SQUELCH! aren’t vagina-friendly enough.

Then there’s more hating and they link to candidate Justin Azadivar’s Beetle Beat without mentioning that he is running himself, kind of.

In any case, it’s amusing to see elections get attention outside of Cal, although one might wish the campus’s better face to get the limelight instead. Actually, scratch that. ASUC elections are the soap operas of student life, and oh, we friggin’ love to hate them.