At some unknown future point in another venue, I’m going to point out all the good the local musicians do for the community.

That spirit of giving was on display last week – a full month after Christmas – when a number of bands and assorted one-off impromptu groups gathered to help raise money for Ava DelRicco, a toddler who was seriously injured in a December auto accident just a piece up the road from the Pour House in Ocean City. Since then she’s been recovering at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore.

So as the Pour House mascot looked on approvingly, we were treated to almost 10 solid hours of musical entertainment from the various bands and DJs Skip Dixxon and Bigler.

And the order of presentation was fairly interesting, as a couple of the bands already had other gigs planned for the day but felt in their heart they needed to come and participate.

So you had a more experienced group who would otherwise be one of the headliners leading off. Paul Lewis and Y-Not had an evening engagement across the Bay Bridge so they were the first band in this instance. They also made one of the more popular donations to the silent auction, which I will get to in due course.

They were one of the few bands who played some originals as well, which was a good touch considering many of the participants specialized in covers of various rock genres.

And by the way, the Sons of Patriots motorcycle club came in as a group right behind me as the event started – about a dozen or so to help fill the room nicely to start the show.

I think the next group has a collective mancrush on Sublime, since there were two of their covers I heard in their set.

Sunny Side Up began as half of the youthful group The Hooplas, which, as you may recall, made their debut at the 12 Bands of Christmas back in December. They picked up some vocal help for the latter part of their set.

The place was beginning to fill up quite nicely at this point, and it was heartwarming to see the community support.

That open mike feel to the event was a recurring theme. But I also learned an old musicians’ trick, thanks to Bryan Russo.

That guitar case isn’t carelessly laid on the floor. It’s by his foot with a microphone inside so when Russo taps his foot it becomes his bass drum. Very multitalented and smart.

Brian brought a bluesy feel to the event with his attire and his playlist, which also featured a number of originals. He also announced that he would donate a portion of the proceeds from the CDs he had for sale at the event to the cause.

He was the one-man band at the event. But we’re not quite done with Bryan yet.

As Russo was clearing out, Blake Haley made a request: to play a song. He wasn’t on the bill but wanted to make his presence known, too.

And since Bryan hadn’t completely packed up and left he helped Blake out with his song.

Next up was Easy Action, a group of classic rockers who reset the stage with a more traditional feel.

As I said above, it was an open mike night of sorts. So Witches Brew singer Susan Witchey stepped in to help Easy Action with vocals on a couple tracks.

Her band didn’t participate either, but she stayed most of the night to support the cause.

Then it was time to put the host to work playing his drum set.

Livin’ the Dream did their normal hard rock show, with the obligatory tribute to KISS as part of the set. And Susan helped out with a song or two on their set as well.

This picture is in there just because I like it.

I’d heard this lady’s name mentioned a number of times but last week was the first time I’d seen Lauren Glick play.

Her band dug back to the era of the late sixties and early seventies for most of their covers, with a country-tinged set.

But that’s what brought people to the dance floor.

After another one-song cameo by the Bob Blair Project (sadly, I have no photo of that) we next heard from Familiar Soul.

And they played some familiar songs that kept the party going, as the dance floor was filled during their set, too.

After Familiar Soul played, I saw an opportunity for a little calm before the storm.

This may be the only month out of the year you can take this shot at 7 p.m. on a Saturday night without a truckload of people in it.

I decided to do something a little different with the Phantom Limbs. Here’s each member of the trio separately.

In the frenetic manner that this trio plays their mosh pit of originals crafted from surf, punk, and rock, it was almost easier to get individual shots, although the group one came out okay as well.

Next up was the hard-rockin’ Dust n’ Bones, with a more modern rock playlist than most of their predecessors on stage.

The last three groups had more of an up-to-date playlist than the earlier groups. High Test came from across the bridge to play the show.

And the Prince George’s-based band probably made a lot of fans with an active show. I was sitting when I took this – the singer was standing on two chairs.

Closing out the show was Vivid Season. We know they bring the hard stuff.

But before they played, we had the conclusion of the silent auction. As I noted up top, Y-Not helped out with this PRS guitar and also donated several other items as a package.

Despite their playoff failure, Ravens items were in high demand, too.

Here’s a look at some of the other items up for bids. There were two other smaller tables, too.

You could even wear your support.

The really good news is that, between the $5 cover charge, the pair of 50-50 raffles, the silent auction table, the various other raffles they had, and straight cash donations, the event raised over $7,000 for the family.

Even better news is that there will be a “sequel” event on March 10, with a venue to be announced. With as many people as there were at the Pour House, they may need a bigger place.

To review, last month current state National Committeewoman (and onetime MDGOP Chair) Joyce Lyons Terhes announced she would not seek another four-year term in the post. To date two contenders have announced their intention to seek election – former YRNF Chairwoman Nicolee Ambrose and former state party Chair Audrey Scott. Anyone who’s paid attention to this space has seen me rake Audrey Scott over the coals for her participation in a rally supporting an increase in the state’s gasoline tax and, secondarily, for locking up the Transportation Trust Fund to prevent it from being raided every time Martin O’Malley needs to balance his budget. (The latter I’m fine with, but not the gas tax increase. Correctly prioritize what we have first.)

Audrey Scott, though, has a lot of backers who don’t mind that misstep with six members of the MDGOP’s executive board, six of the 24 local county Chairs, 24 of 43 Delegates, and 5 of 12 Senators on a list of endorsers Audrey has on her Facebook site devoted to the race. On the other hand, Ambrose has fewer elected officials supporting her (only Delegates Donna Stifler and LeRoy Myers, Senator J.B. Jennings, and U.S. Senate candidate Dan Bongino have expressed their support for Ambrose) but far more “likes” on her campaign’s Facebook page (143 vs. 17 for Scott.) Perhaps that’s a generational thing, but in any case the votes which will count are coming at the party’s Spring Convention April 27-28 – over three months from now.

(This upcoming state convention will also feature the election of ten Delegates and ten Alternate Delegates to the Republican National Convention. I unsuccessfully ran for this in 2008 but will take a pass in 2012 since I have something far more important to attend to that month and money enough for just one trip. We also elect a National Committeeman but thus far I’m unaware of anyone who will challenge current officeholder Louis Pope.)

So again we have a situation where a group of party regulars and insiders favor one candidate, while those on the periphery of power tend to favor someone else. Since the advent of the TEA Party in 2009, those on the inside have won each time so far (Bob Ehrlich over Brian Murphy is one example) but the margin seems to be getting closer as time goes on. At the last convention, Heather Olsen and I had the majority in challenging the insiders’ usage of Rule 11 in the 2010 campaign but it wasn’t quite enough of a majority to change the bylaws. We haven’t decided yet whether to try again this time.

That’s not to necessarily say that Nicolee Ambrose is the choice of the TEA Party faction of the MDGOP but she has been cast to represent those who aren’t happy with the party’s direction, particularly at a national level. For example, she feels an open primary would be a good idea but has the sense to know it should be an internal decision made by the Central Committee. I happen to think the primary should remain closed, a position which Scott agrees with.

So the narrow target audience now has those pieces of information to work with. But those who think the Maryland Republican Party needs to step up its game should be active, too. The members who sit on the county Central Committees are those you elected to represent your interests at the state level and if you think either Ambrose or Scott would be better suited for the job, by all means have your say in the matter. Personally I can see assets and liabilities with both contenders, but there are a number of factors I’m considering and how they handle key issues matters to me. And I wouldn’t be opposed to additional people jumping into the race, just like I think Louis Pope should have a challenger or two to keep him honest as well.

If activists want to push the party in a more conservative, pro-liberty direction, this convention and the upcoming April 3 primary election will be the times to have your say. After that, you’ll have to wait until this fall when we elect a new slate of party officers – that comes courtesy of a 2011 rule change which shortened the terms of the officers from four to two years, reflecting what the national party does.

So let’s get to work.

There are serious economic handicaps about living here which have always existed more or less, but at the time of my arrival they were held somewhat in check by the state government in place in the fall of 2004. Sure, Bob Ehrlich was no doctrinaire conservative but most of his ideas for revenue enhancement were limited to increasing user fees, and Maryland participated fully in the national economic boom which was taking place during the Ehrlich era here. Unemployment for the state was just 4.4% when Ehrlich took office and 3.6% when he left – the rate never exceeded 4.6% during his tenure. Obviously things are different now, and Maryland reflects the national situation in that respect. Oddly enough, though, the other three places I was considering were among the hardest hit by the recession, so while Salisbury never quite reached that exhilarating height this fact made the low point easier to handle.

However, things aren’t being helped along by the state government now in place. While they claim to have cut spending, the overall state budget has increased significantly since current governor Martin O’Malley took office. In late 2007 a package of tax increases was passed in a Special Session in order to address a $1.7 billion structural deficit – this package included a 1 penny per dollar increase in the sales tax, income tax rate increases on wealthy filers, a jump in the corporate tax rate from 7% to 8.25 percent, and a $1 per pack rise in the cigarette tax. There was also an effort to extend the sales tax to computer services (dubbed the “tech tax”) but public outcry persuaded the General Assembly to return in its regular 2008 session and rescind that expansion of the sales tax; it was replaced by another surtax on wealthy income tax filers. Meanwhile, that 2007 Special Session also spent a large chunk of those new revenues on expanding Medicaid funding.

So where am I leading you with all this? There are two stops I want to make.

First of all, the fifteen freshman Republican members of the House of Delegates are now a year older and a year wiser in the ways of Annapolis. They found the way to make a point was to do a polling question about whether Marylanders are taxed enough already; however, this question was not included in the polling data Gonzales released for its latest Maryland Poll.

Still, consider me one of the 96 percent:

It’s a little cheesy, but the point gets across just fine. Didn’t we go through this just four years ago?

And imagine the effect on average Maryland residents. Although he is an above-average conservative blogger and journalist, Robert Stacy McCain is also a Free State resident who says the the idea of the “app tax” may be the last straw:

I’ve lived in Maryland more than 14 years, ever since I moved up here to work at The Washington Times in November 1997. My friends have often asked, “Why Maryland? Their taxes are so high. You should move to Virginia.” And there was always a reason, or at least a plausible excuse.

For years, the commute to the Times office on New York Avenue, and the availability of a more direct bus/rail connection than could be found in Virginia, was the best argument to stay in Maryland. Then our daughter enrolled at Highland View Academy here in Hagerstown, and we moved into faculty housing on campus, where my wife subsequently became the food service director or, as she prefers to call herself, The Cafeteria Lady.

Frankly, however, the best argument for staying in Maryland now is inertia. We’ve lived in this house for seven years, and the mere thought of having to pack everything into a moving truck — my office library alone would take days to pack — is enough to give me a headache.

Nevertheless, O’Malley’s lamebrain Internet tax might make me do it. Because in all likelihood, as we witnessed in California last year, if the state tries to tax online sales, Amazon will pull out, and I need that Amazon money.

This past year, I finally figured out how to promote Amazon sales the way they should be promoted, and my commissions on associates sales during the Christmas holiday season exceeded $1,000 a month for the first time. Maybe some people don’t think $1,000 a month is a big deal, but for an independent blogger like me, that was a spectacular financial windfall. And if that corrupt idiot swindler O’Malley causes me to lose that income, I’m outta here.

Gonesville. Arrivaderci. Hasta la vista.

Now ask yourself: how many people in your life do you know who have threatened to move to Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, or even Florida because the situation in Maryland is almost unbearable? We know a bunch of millionaires moved somewhere when they were placed in the tax man’s crosshairs, and given the War on Rural Maryland being waged by Annapolis the entire poultry industry may be next to leave, slowly bleeding the Eastern Shore economy dry. On the other side of the state, O’Malley and his environmental henchmen are thwarting the promise of new employment brought by the energy industry. The two westernmost counties in Maryland are atop the Marcellus Shale formation and also among the three jurisdictions which grew most slowly in the last decade, with Baltimore City’s overall population loss taking that dubious prize.

We live in a society where roots are becoming a thing of the past. While the mobile nature of our culture has a hand in this phenomenon, it seems almost like we are retreating to mankind’s hunting and gathering roots in order to find a place to thrive. With its poor business climate, Maryland – or at least the part outside easy commuting distance to the seats of government – is becoming an economic desert.

We only have ourselves to blame, and nearly three long years until we can change the situation for the better. Mark the dates of June 24 and November 4, 2014 well because that’s when we can act to move Maryland back to its rightful place as the Free State. Until then we can either hang on and hope for the best or watch the state disappear in the rear-view mirror, like thousands of productive citizens may just decide to do if Martin O’Malley gets his way.

I think I’ll hang on and fight for a little longer.

I’m certainly not going to be the first to bring up this point, but who knows? Maybe I can be the last.

For several years, the story has been that those on the far left have had a wealthy benefactor (or group of several) who pays them well to advance a particular narrative within the media – many claim George Soros is one such patron. Whoever it is, this person or group invests their money and those far-left website writers grab enough to make a decent enough living off spewing bilge about Republicans in general, and the pro-liberty and TEA Party movements in particular. On that point, Zilla notes:

Unlike the well funded left, Conservative bloggers get no support from any big organizations, there are no blogger Sugar Daddies for Conservative bloggers, not even from the right.

These stories go on to compare the huge money being raised for national political campaigns, of which only a small portion will go to the eventual GOP nominees, to the funding which would be necessary for the creation or expansion of a credible conservative news source. (Remember, there are already a number of conservative news outlets, but they tend to be small potatoes compared to the big guys in television and print media.) Just as one example, based on the September 30 FEC numbers for Presidential hopefuls, Tim Pawlenty – who bowed out of the race last August – still raised (and spent) over $4.5 million on his failed bid. Even at that early stage, GOP presidential campaigns had raised over $90 million. Consider that as you read on.

I daresay that $50,000 a year invested in an erstwhile conservative muckraker would do far more good for the conservative movement than having to spread it around as drops in a bucket to a dozen Congressional candidates (because individual donations are limited by law) or even into a PAC or SuperPAC that may decide to support a RINO not of your choosing.

Awhile back, I had to make a choice. While I’d love to do this website on a full-time basis along with the writing work I currently do for other clients, the money is just not there to do it as the situation currently stands. Yes, I have a reasonably decent audience for a website which is only updated once or twice a day – if you look at other websites with comparable Alexa numbers locally you’ll find they’re updated a lot more with content taken to some degree or another from other sources. On the other hand, I do more original writing and that takes a lot more time and (dare I say) thought. I’d stack my work up against pretty much anyone else out there.

But that choice also means I’ve not recently found myself in that same situation the Vails and Zilla found themselves in. I’m blessed to have a roof over my head and food on the table, partially through my outside efforts and with a little bit of help from everyone from my advertisers to those who pay me to write to the people who actually hit my tip jar every so often. To all them I give my thanks on a regular basis.

Still, I would love to have the opportunity to cover Maryland and national politics on a full-time basis and expand my audience by creating more content. In theory, I could probably have several more posts a week, cover more breaking stories on a local and national basis, and perhaps even enlist the services of other professionals when needed. My website has primarily been a DIY operation from day one, but it could be improved with more professionals working in areas where I’m not as strong – for example, it’s not easy to write and take pictures.

There’s no doubt in my mind this situation isn’t unique to me – a fact plain to see by the amount of pixels already devoted to the subject. As I stated a couple months back when I celebrated monoblogue’s sixth anniversary, one of my goals was to have 6 to 10 advertisers on my site. It wouldn’t pay all my bills by any stretch but it would be a help.

I really don’t have a need to ‘bleg’ people to hit my tip jar, but it’s always there if you feel the desire to assist me in my efforts. I’d rather sell the ads, though, because then I feel like I’m providing more of a service that way.

The way I look at it, God gave me talent in certain areas and shorted me in a few others to balance things out. For example, I’d have loved to be a professional baseball player but I couldn’t lay off the high fastball, the curveball in the dirt, or throw strikes on the black to save my life. Thus I was the guy who sat on the end of the bench until my junior year in high school, when I couldn’t play anymore due to other commitments on my time. Marketing myself is another skill which doesn’t really come naturally, but enough people have convinced me I have talent to give me the confidence to secure some nice writing jobs.

My best estimate is that, in America, there are 150 million adults in this country who are conservative in some way, shape, manner or form. It doesn’t matter if they’re men or women, black or white, gay or straight, or how they worship – somewhere they hold an agreement with at least some part of conservatism’s core beliefs. Of that group, maybe 10 percent pay close attention, so we’re down to 15 million. In turn, out of that subset, perhaps 10 percent have something to give to the conservative cause so we’re down to 1.5 million. Finally, only a tiny fraction of that group have the talent, patience, and wherewithal to express themselves well enough to have some sort of audience – I’d say that would be 1 percent of the last subgroup, or maybe 15,000 people. And my guess is that figure is representative of the number of significant conservative bloggers out there. That’s about 300 per state, if you do the math – needless to say, some states have more than others but I think 300 is a fair average.

So let’s say a number of wealthy patrons decided to undertake such a project. I assure you that if we in the conservative new media would have the funding necessary to add that missing link to the movement and enable people like Robert Stacy McCain, the Vails, Zilla, and the rest of us who have the talent to uncover the excesses of the statists, bring them to the attention of the general public, and provide cogent comment on real, pro-liberty solutions with the guidance on how best to achieve them, our team would quickly smash the dominance of the what Rush Limbaugh has called the “drive-by media.” After all, most Americans really don’t want to hear how bad our country sucks and that its best days are past, otherwise Air America would still be a thriving enterprise.

Would there still be bloggers who need to rely on the goodness of others to get through their personal financial setbacks? Of course there would, for any endeavor is fraught with risk. But there are those out there who can prove that a rising tide indeed lifts all boats. It’s time for people to step up to the plate and think about the political movement rather than the movement politician.

Update: I’m happy to report that Robert Stacy McCain found his way home and then to Florida to cover last night’s debate in person. And Marianne (Zilla) managed to do well enough with her appeal to not only stave off the electric company but pay a few other bills. “(W)hile it will still be a struggle, at least we are no longer hanging off the edge of a cliff by our fingertips,” she wrote.

And I had an interesting conversation with a friend about this as well, so it was a win-win all around. So how about a proactive strike at my tip jar, or even better: consider advertising on this site.

I couldn’t figure out how to embed this “Made in America” video, but I found it interesting when I watched it. I’m generally in favor of free trade and against strict protectionism, but if the difference is as small as they claim then buying American is worth it. Perhaps the claim of using 5% more American products would create 220,000 jobs is a bit dubious, but I’m sure it wouldn’t hurt.

Our nation needs to take steps in regaining its onetime prominence as a leading manufacturer. But it’s interesting to note several of the companies prominently mentioned have at least one plant in a right-to-work state. I can’t ascertain whether these are all non-union shops, but chances are fairly good – given that only about 1/10 of the private-sector workforce is unionized – that these good, honest American jobs don’t come with the union label.

Not that Maryland is making any quick moves to join the ranks of Virginia and other right-to-work states – this year, HB91 hasn’t progressed beyond first reading. But the group New Day Maryland pointed out to me a couple other bills of interest in the General Assembly this term to keep an eye on, and I thought I’d pass along the word.

House Bill 23, the Dedicated State Funds Protection Act, would prohibit the fund-raiding Governor O’Malley is almost as well known for as his constant zeal to raise taxes. And House Bill 43 would allow appropriations bills to be subjected to the same referendum process as those bills not dealing with appropriations. (The last remaining legal straw opponents of the in-state tuition for illegal aliens referendum are grasping for is that the bill is an appropriations bill, although it’s not.)

Both these bills have a hearing scheduled for 2 p.m. on January 31. I presume written testimony is acceptable, too.

Of course, if you would like to provide more than testimony in writing and want to be a bulldog for individual rights and liberty in a state which isn’t as free as its moniker might claim it is, you may be interested in an upcoming event.

A “Citizen Watchdog Training Seminar” is being held on Saturday, February 4 at The Gathering Place in Clarksville, MD. For only $35 per person ($25 for students) to cover the cost of lunch and materials, participants will receive training in several areas:

• How to be an information activist
• How to use investigative reporting tools and skills
• How to impact the state and local government budgetary process
• How to hold elected officials accountable using social media

Sponsored by Maryland CAN and the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity, this seminar should be an interesting look at how to become a better citizen activist.

Citizen activists of another type are what Obama For Against America looks for. This is an excerpt from a recent e-mail I received from them:

Supporters of the President are organizing house parties in thousands of neighborhoods across America to watch the State of the Union on January 24th.

But I checked a little while ago and there wasn’t one planned yet in your neighborhood.

The State of the Union is one of the best chances we’ll have this spring to bring new folks into this campaign and our organizing work. We’ve got to make the most of it. (Emphasis in original.)

I have news for Jeremy Bird, who sent me the e-mail: you likely won’t have one in Salisbury and if you did it would be hosted by the same insufferable twerps who regularly tell us they know what’s best for us. If I were to throw a party for the State of the Union show, it would be for the response:

Tea Party Express, the nation’s largest tea party political action committee, is announcing that Herman Cain will be delivering the Tea Party State of the Union response at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on the evening of January 24, 2012.

(snip)

Sal Russo, Chief Strategist of the TEA Party Express, added:

“We are enthusiastic that a successful conservative governor like Mitch Daniels of Indiana will be giving the Republican response. I know that both Governor Daniels and Mr. Cain will contribute important ideas for the future of our country.”

I guess the only way to otherwise make the SOTU interesting would be to make a drinking game out of every time President Obama blames Republicans or a do-nothing Congress – unless you were taking shots of diet Pepsi, I wouldn’t advise driving afterward. Normally I just read it afterward because I have better things to do with my hour, but I would be interested in hearing what Herman Cain has to say.

Returning to items of state interest, the Eighth District Congressional race got a little more star power:

Nationally recognized investigative reporter and international religious-freedom advocate Ken Timmerman announced he will challenge incumbent Rep. Chris Van Hollen in the 8th District of Maryland, vowing to rein in out-of-control federal spending, promote jobs through growth, and maintain a strong national defense adapted to the challenges of tomorrow.

“In just three years, the Obama administration, eagerly assisted by Chris Van Hollen as Chairman and Ranking Member of the Budget Committee in Congress, has racked up a breath-taking $5 trillion in new debt, and now they are asking for $1.2 trillion more,” the Montgomery County conservative said.

“The scandalous enactment of Obamacare, with its special interest waivers and the potential bankrupcy of our health care system, is a poster child for everything that is wrong with Congress. Chris Van Hollen had a chance to work toward getting our fiscal house in order. He failed. Now he needs to go,” said Timmerman. (Again, emphasis in original.)

Obviously the best-selling author will have an edge in name recognition, but he also has some political history – Ken ran before and lost, finishing fifth out of eight in the Republican U.S. Senate primary 12 years ago. Granted, this was before he wrote his most successful books.

(And, as an aside to prove the fact some people just can’t get enough of seeing themselves on a ballot, two other contenders from that particular 2000 race are running again – George English is also in the Eighth District race as a Democrat and Robin Ficker is running for the Sixth District Congressional seat as a Republican.)

Speaking of national politics, you may have noticed that from time to time I point out items from or link to the Maryland Juice website. Something I just found out is that David Moon, who writes that website, is also the press contact for the Demand Progress group. While I normally don’t agree with their aims, Demand Progress was front and center on the SOPA/PIPA protest, and for that they deserve a pat on the back. As I said the other day, I don’t mind having people on the other side with me when they’re in the right.

Lastly, I want to debut a new feature that is probably appropriate for this irregularly-scheduled segment.

From time to time, I find new websites to link to but they may not necessarily be apparent to the average reader who sees my site daily because I just place them on my existing link lists.

But over the last month or so I found a couple good sites and I thought this was as good a venue as any to showcase them, so here goes. On a local level the Easton Savvy website looks promising, while Jen Kuznicki is an up-and-coming conservative writer and Mark Levin follower from Michigan.

Something I’m going to try and do more often is quality control on my links, pruning ones which don’t update all that much (thus, losing my interest) and finding new venues which look promising. So read and enjoy them after you go through what I have to say.

Update: Since I pruned a few links this evening, I also added a few and changed some around:

• The former Confederate Yankee site is no more, but CY co-writer Bob Owens has his own site now.
• She doesn’t post every day, but Zilla of the Resistance looks like a worthwhile read.
• It used to be Crisfield News, but now Patty Hancock has her own name on the site.
• I also moved the Maryland Society of Patriots site off the Free State bloglist and into the Political Links section.

I’ll probably add more in the coming days, but the Zilla blog gave me something to think about. I’ll post my thoughts on it tomorrow so stay tuned.

Until late Sunday afternoon it looked like the music-based website would cruise to its third straight title in my Best Local Blog contest. But supporters of Delmarva Progressive dropped well over a half-thousand votes on the poll and enabled that site to snatch away the victory.

With a record 1,001 votes cast, the results came in as follows:

1. Delmarva Progressive, 788 votes (78.7%)
2. afterthegoldrush, 205 votes (20.5%)
3. Chesapeake Journal, 8 votes (0.8%)

Chalk it up as a rare liberal victory about these parts. In fact, the 1,001 votes ended up as a figure just a few tallies higher than the total of all nine preceding rounds (six first-round battles and three semifinals.) It’s a definite surprise given the fact Delmarva Progressive only picked up 10 votes in its semifinal – but it is what it is.

So congratulations to the crew over there for winning the contest, and moreso thanks to all who voted.

Drawing the curtain on this year’s contest does allow me to share a couple other thoughts, though.

First of all, the other day I was speaking to a blogging friend of mine from another part of the state who commented on the lack of websites in her area, particularly in comparison to the number of websites in this region. Obviously many of us deal with politics here but there are a number of other interests represented as well – just look at the contenders I had as evidence. If I were to classify the eighteen websites I selected this year, seven deal mainly with local news, three cover politics, and three could be described as personal journals. There were also blogs which covered sports, local history, music, food, and a fairly miscellaneous site as well. And I’m sure I don’t link to every single local website – there may be another couple hundred out there I don’t know about or just don’t get updated frequently enough for me to link to.

As for the contest itself, I based the original concept on the Mobbies, which is a similar popularity contest among Maryland-based blogs conducted by the Baltimore Sun. For the first two years of the contest’s now-three year run this site was among those nominated in the political category. (The political category disappeared in 2011, swallowed up into the formerly-separated news category.) For a site based on the Eastern Shore, I thought I placed rather respectively when I competed.

In my opinion we have a thriving local blogosphere, but one where civility and useful information is on the endangered list. Maybe a local media outlet needs to step up to the plate and have a contest similar to the Mobbies but concentrating on the Delmarva area. It would be a way to reward worthy websites and encourage the general public to visit them, and perhaps it would be an incentive for others to clean up their act.

Like it or not, the blogosphere is here to stay, and it’s up to all of us to determine its direction. Needless to say, I had my own personal favorites among the eighteen I featured but I left it up to the voters to decide who moved on. There’s a logical next step which should be taken, though, and it should feature those sites Delmarva can be proud of.

After hearing from Martin O’Malley for several months before the General Assembly session that we should have a increase in the gasoline tax, the flush tax, or a host of other tax and fee increases, Governor O’Malley instead chimed in his support for the second sales tax increase of his tenure. Certainly we’re no stranger to sales tax increases as the tax on alcohol went up 50 percent last summer, from 6 cents per dollar to 9 cents. It’s almost like he floated the other ideas as trial balloons in order to make the “added flexibility” of a sales tax more palatable.

“I think we should remember that no one in our state lost their house, lost their job, or lost a business because of an additional penny on the sales tax,” O’Malley whined in speaking with reporters. Maybe he should come to Salisbury and ask local business owners about the effects of the sales tax when compared to tax-free Delaware. His assertion may be technically correct, but certainly we’ve seen many lost opportunities with the differential between what we can charge and what can be charged in Delaware.

As I recall from a discussion with former Governor Ehrlich in 2010, each penny of sales tax contributes roughly $600 million in revenue to the state. (I say this because he wanted to repeal O’Malley’s 2007 one-cent increase.) But the number isn’t static, and reduced economic activity overall may mean a projection of even a half-billion dollars of additional revenue would be too rosy.

Moreover, there’s nothing that says O’Malley would refuse to sign any other tax increases which come across his desk as it’s become his “recurring theme” according to Maryland Business for Responsive Government. As it stands now, his only goal is to make Maryland a Potemkin village of prosperity in time for the 2016 presidential election, and certainly he has figured in his plans that the media will be in his pocket – so no one will come and see the Salisbury business owner who is losing his business to the competition in Delaware, the truck driver who was being pounded by the twin gales of toll increases and a higher gasoline tax perpetually indexed to inflation until he decided to park his rig for good, or the jobless breadwinner in Western Maryland who would be a perfect laborer for the natural gas industry – if only they could start extraction.

Instead, they’ll talk to the crony capitalist who uses his Democratic Party connections to live off the back of the taxpayers, of course glossing over that fact and portraying him as a successful businessman who thinks O’Malley would be the best thing for the country since sliced bread. And for politically correct bonus points they’ll speak to the gay couple who is now “married” thanks to Martin O’Malley. It’s where the state seems to be heading despite our objections. Elections matter, and O’Malley fooled enough people into believing “a fee is a tax” to forget that a tax is a tax, too, and we’re paying a lot more of them since MOM took over Government House.

And while we’d like to think that we can keep the Democrats from voting in any and all tax increases presented to them, the sad reality is that too many people will be used to paying the piper by the time the next election rolls around so they’ll just shrug their shoulders and point to the pork project their local Delegate or Senator took credit for in the district through a few budgetary crumbs. Seems to me that’s the way Norm “Five Dollar” Conway – he who thinks handing over Abe Lincoln to the toll booth operator every time you cross the Bay Bridge is a-ok – continues to be re-elected; he’s head of the Appropriations Committee, don’cha know. Well, for most hard-working Marylanders, that and five bucks might get you a Happy Meal.

It seems to those of us who practice fiscal conservatism out of necessity that the only people who aren’t doing without in this day and age of austerity are those in government.

For example, our County Executive Rick Pollitt would like to raise property taxes by 7 cents per $100 of valuation, or $70 per year for the owner of a home assessed at $100,000. While that may not seem like a lot, consider that it’s on top of the property tax they already pay on homes which have lost perhaps 1/3 of their value over the last three years. Additionally, if that 7 cent increase takes effect the personal property tax would be raised a staggering 17.5 cents per $100, further crippling already-struggling county businesses. All this to build a new middle school, an edifice which could put our county tens of millions of dollars further into debt when the school it will replace and other county schools are seemingly left to rot in the hopes the state of Fairyland will grant their wishes for more new school buildings.

Simply put, there are a growing number of us who have had enough. But the problem is that we’ve been the silent majority for too long.

I want each of you to speak out. They’re used to hearing from me in this forum, and they obviously figure that my platform isn’t big enough to make an impact. Well, it’s time to prove the naysayers wrong. We can all make a difference, and although I know it’s hard enough to just make a living these days (even on a day my work paid off and I picked up a new advertiser) we need to remember what President Eisenhower once said:

“Politics ought to be the part-time profession of every citizen who would protect the rights and privileges of free people and who would preserve what is good and fruitful in our national heritage.”

While it’s probably more of a full-time profession for me as a politically-based blogger and member of my county’s Republican Central Committee, there are many of you out there who just need a little push in the right direction to become activists. Kindly review my Maryland Model and let’s see if we can pull off some Tebow-like miracles in the political arena!

You might notice I’ve taken down a few links. I have a (somewhat flexible) policy of linking to sites which are regularly updated, but after they go about three months without a post I delete the link. I figure it doesn’t do either of us good to link to what is essentially a dead site. But if you have a site you think I should link to, let me know and I’ll review it to see which category it will fit into. Who knows, maybe I’ll make up a few new ones while I’m at it.

The other update I wanted to add this afternoon was that I’ll begin the semifinal rounds of my Best Local Blog poll sometime this evening. I actually had a tie in one round so I decided to add two wildcards; those two were the highest second-place finishers. So the seeding for the semifinals is set:

1. Delmar DustPan (367 votes, won round 4)
2. Right Coast Conservative (143 votes, won round 1)
3. Sussex County Angel (23 votes, won round 3)
4. Delmarva Progressive (20 votes, won round 6)
5. afterthegoldrush (15 votes, won round 2)
6. A Chesapeake Journal (4 votes, tied for win in round 5)
7. Random Thoughts of a Citymouse (4 votes, tied for win in round 5)
8. The Other Salisbury News (162 votes, second in round 4)
9. Delmarva Shorebirds Blog (66 votes, second in round 1)

So I have the matchups set to be as evenly seeded as possible; as I said they’ll commence later tonight or tomorrow. As it lays out one of these battles will feature a rematch of the opening round with a new opponent tossed in.

And this time it will be win or go home, as each of the three winners advances. So bloggers better round up their troops and make sure to enlist their support!

It seems like this Christmas has been more muted than past renditions, but maybe that’s just me. Sure, the economy is in the tank and a lot of people aren’t working but there have been times where the stores I’ve worked have been busy – and times where it seemed more like an average day in July based on the number of people walking around the store. As always, though, everyone is looking for the deal.

(By the way, thanks to those who used my Amazon affiliation to purchase their items. It’ll make me enough for a little stocking stuffer for myself.)

I couldn’t tell you if my perception is reality or not since I don’t add up the sales totals. I suppose if I see a lot of “Going Out Of Business” signs in 2012 I’ll know there was a lot of coal left in retailer’s stockings. Lord knows we can’t burn it anymore so there’s got to be some use for it.

Of course, a turning away from the material at Christmastime – whether caused by economic doldrums or not – isn’t all bad. We still have family and the original reason we celebrated the holiday to begin with as items to fall back on. Besides, the stuff we buy is generally of a fleeting amusement – things which may eventually find their way to the back of the closet, break down, or otherwise fall from usefulness in a short time. But family is hopefully much more long-lasting.

As has been the case over the last several years, for your holiday listening pleasure I bring you my friends from Semiblind doing  ‘O Holy Night’. (You may have to goose the file and start Windows Media Player to get it to play, but it’s worth it.)

Merry Christmas to all of my friends and readers.

I suppose it’s more of an attitude I sense than anything, but people are seemingly more on edge now than at any other time I remember. Sure, the holidays are always a stressful time, but the advent of the Occupy movement has shown that there’s a fairly short fuse out there and one helluva powder keg not too far away.

Now don’t start believing I’m turning into one of those survivalists who will stockpile seventeen months’ worth of food and water, building the underground bunker to ride out the unrest sure to come. I don’t think it will get THAT bad, but something just doesn’t feel right about society today. It seems there are too many desperate people out there.

And maybe that’s because we as a society have forced the hand of some of those people.

I was talking to a friend of mine the other day who works for a retail establishment, and he told me that one interesting category of items being stolen at a rampant pace was pet food and supplies. The theory was that people can’t use their Independence Card (i.e. food stamps) to purchase these items so somehow a small bag of dog food for Fido or cat treats for Mittens finds its way out of the store without being paid for.

(By the way, is calling the card one swipes in place of receiving actual food stamps an “Independence Card” the ultimate in irony? I know, I know, it’s a self-esteem thing so no one has to have the stigma anymore of getting out the book of food stamps and handing the cashier that funny money. Now it looks like any other debit transaction. But truth in advertising would make the card be known as the Dependence Card.)

The question then becomes – is what I’m hearing and sensing a symptom or a disease? Are we trying too hard to maintain our social status by cutting corners and violating age-old Commandments or is this Exhibit A of the entitlement mentality gone too far? If I don’t have the money to buy something, I do without – is that now an old-fashioned attitude exhibited only by fuddy-duddies who don’t live in the here and now? After all, to some who would be Occupiers, that retailer is just greedily ripping off both the average worker by not paying them a so-called ‘living wage’ and the consumer by trying to make a profit.

And I’m sure there are those who relish the thought of civil unrest to bring about change. To some on the Left, the Occupy movement was a warmup exercise to what really needs to be done, while those on the right remember Jefferson’s lamentation that the “tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” Personally I’d like to keep all of us intact because a civil war would be pretty nonproductive from the standpoint of maintaining our American lifestyles, flawed as they sometimes may be. Unlike the last time we scuffled amongst ourselves, we’re not exactly isolated from the rest of the world anymore and who knows what other nations and interests might jump in to tilt things one way or the other.

Obviously we can’t stop the hands of time, and 2012 is coming our way whether we like it or not. From what I understand, we hit the end of time next year – at least as far as the Mayan civilization was concerned, since their calendar stops near the end of the year. (Of course, my 2011 calendar stops when New Year’s Day arrives, so I’m not overly concerned.) And there’s always those who read into Biblical prophecy that the end is near – I seem to recall a lot of that around the turn of the millennium. We’re still here.

But my concern is the shining city on the hill we call America. Indeed, we live in interesting times and I don’t see that changing any time soon. Call it a hunch.

Those who say the next election will be the most important of our lives – well, they may have a case this time around. With the wrong result, that sense of urgency and dread I get may be manifested in ways we haven’t imagined.

Okay, so it was only nine bands who show for the annual 12 Bands of Christmas event. Still, The Pour House in Ocean City was the place to be for local rock, as those nine local bands wailed through the night. And unlike previous events, there was a nifty prize to be had:

The reason the autographed Paul Reed Smith guitar was being raffled off (at $25 per chance) was to raise funds for Melanie Davis, a 9 year old Pittsville Elementary student who was hit by a car in October, with the family racking up over $150,000 in medical bills so far with her care. They also had a 50-50 drawing and passed the hat, collecting a few hundred dollars more. It’s amazing how many shows I go to which are like that – the local music community is always happy to lend a hand.

Before the hat was passed, though, we heard the Phantom Limbs and it was good.

As always, they entertained with their mashup of punk, surf, and jam music – so much so that they only played four lengthy originals in their set.

But the crowd was gathering while the Phantom Limbs jammed to see the next band play.

These guys had to play early or else the bar would be in trouble – none of them are over 18 yet. But The Hooplas showed talent some bands with much more seasoned players couldn’t match, and it will be interesting to see what happens as they mature in the local music scene. All I know is that these youngsters packed them in, apologizing for not knowing all that many cover songs. Fellas, I don’t mind a bit – keep doing those originals!

…was next. As opposed to The Hooplas, they did all cover songs but picked out a heavy set which included a reasonable version of ‘Master of Puppets’ that got me screaming out the lyrics. “Taste me you will see…more is all you need.”

Apparently this singer doesn’t always sing for them, and I can’t recall who he normally sings for. (I want to say Lime Green?) But Slackjaw played a couple songs as a three-piece, too.

Livin’ the Dream also played part of their classic hard rock set as a three-piece. They put the host to work back on the drum kit, as you can see here and in the next photo.

But midway through the set they picked up the second guitarist to play some Van Halen and other classics. Yes, there was a KISS song too – ‘Detroit Rock City.’

We reached the midway point with another hard rock cover band, Dust ‘n Bones.

While they played a solid, workmanlike set I wonder why they don’t play their namesake Guns ‘n Roses song. Maybe next time I see them.

One has a bad leg, another has a surgically-repaired wrist, and they’ve gone through more drummers than Spinal Tap lately. Yet Semiblind keeps on playing as they remain a staple of Skip’s events.

But Jim Hogsett’s wrist held out and Michele Hogsett managed to stand through the whole half-dozen songs they played, gamely going through several of their newer cover songs. Semiblind doesn’t just play standard classic rock anymore, as they can toss out some country, funk, or Top 40 too. They are perhaps the most versatile band playing about these parts.

We took a short break to draw the 50-50 winner and hear a little bit from this friend of Skip’s.

Tim “Thunder Walrus” Yarosh is a comedian of some repute, although I wasn’t familiar with him. But perhaps I should check him out further since he was kind of a funny guy. (That or he may threaten to stay at my house.) I won’t dislike him simply because he didn’t draw my 50-50 ticket. Nor will I blame him for messing up the sound, as I’ll explain a bit later.

After the brief bit from Yarosh, we got back to music. A band which apparently hadn’t been playing around here of late was Abby’s Cage.

Just by a close listen I thought maybe they weren’t quite as tight as a couple of the other bands, but that would come back as they return to the fray. And Abby’s Cage liked the hard stuff, too.

Yet most of those who stayed waited to hear We Might Collide, a band making their debut at this show. The six-man band could be construed as a local supergroup of sorts as it includes three former members of the popular local band Lennex and two others from the late Baltimore-based band Fourth Element. Both of these late, lamented groups were talented enough to write a number of good, original songs – some of which I own on CD.

And they played all new material, too. So when I figured out that these guys shouldn’t have been that rusty, I had to concede that the last bands in this 9-band show suffered from a lack of sound quality – the mix didn’t seem right to me. Perhaps it sounded great in the stage monitors that the bands hear themselves from, but on my end it seemed too muddled together. So I’d rather not judge either Abby’s Cage or We Might Collide based on this show.

The sound was really off by the time Witches Brew, the final band of the night, took the stage. I couldn’t even hear the drums on the first song and the overall sound detracted from should have been a better effort to close the night.

I know Witches Brew can play their Judas Priest covers better than they sounded, because I’ve seen them enough – they’re also reliable veterans of Skip’s shows. But I have to chastise the fans as well.

Sure, they probably came out to see We Might Collide. But it always annoys me that so few stay around to see the last band, which gets to play to a half-empty bar but works just as hard as the other bands do. To me, it’s just common courtesy to stick around. Maybe that’s just me, and of course I wasn’t looking to get smashed or pick up someone. I just wanted to hear some good tunes and support local music. It’s what I do.

So the next time Skip has one of these shows – probably Spring Luau 2012 – come out and stay for all the bands. You won’t be sorry.

As I embark on another year of monoblogue and celebrate the achievements of the last, I’m reminded of something I wrote five years ago this very day:

On my previous blog site, my best week readership-wise was 197 readers (according to my Site Meter) but generally I would get between 30 and 50 readers a week. I was hoping for 100-200 a week from monoblogue…

Sheesh, did I have low goals or what? Since that point, I have had over 250,000 readers – and that’s the ones my Site Meter and other tracking systems caught. If you add in the places where I’ve had my works reprinted and republished I daresay I’m well into seven figures. Judging by the decline of my Alexa numbers (lower is good, and I reached my all-time low today of 333,458 for world rank and sit at a near-record 57,457 for U.S. rank) I figure someone has to be reading this space.

Getting an audience isn’t that difficult, though – the trick is keeping them. Once I had over 5,000 readers in a day (my Rushalanche) but most of them have drifted away. Not for lack of trying to keep them, though.

I normally don’t share a lot of readership information (although my Site Meter has been open for most of the time I’ve had it) but when I checked the other night my analytics showed that just under 56% of my readers were “new” while the other 44% or so were “returning” visitors. Presumably, if I had 1,000 visitors in a given time period, 440 of them had visited previously.

However, I also checked the trailing three months and found the percentage of return visitors had increased from 42% to 44% – not huge, but encouraging. Obviously I don’t want 100% return visitors because that would mean my audience had reached a saturation point but I think something in the 50-60 percent range would be healthy. So that’s my first goal for the next year. I don’t doubt readership will jump – I have a mostly political site and it’s an election year – but I want them to be a base for even bigger things in the years to come. So they have to be regular readers and a foundation to build around.

The second goal for 2012 is to fill out my advertiser base.

Unlike some other sites, I really don’t want ads to line both sidebars all the way down the page because, frankly, it looks terrible for the site layout and it’s not fair to the advertisers at the bottom who may never be seen if I write a truncated post. But I would like to first of all maintain my loyal advertisers – thanks goes to John Robinson and the Robinson Family of Businesses, Marty Pusey at The Perfect Dress, and Muir Boda of Sby4Rent.Com – and add three to seven more. I think 6 to 10 advertisers is a reachable goal, and given the fact my readership extends well beyond the local area it may be a good opportunity for national or regional clients. I don’t charge a ton for space, and perhaps it means I don’t monetize this site like I should, selling myself short. But I’d rather have plenty of business charging a little than no business charging a lot.

Oh, by the way, I’m also an Amazon.com affiliate so if you have Christmas shopping to do, by all means do it through monoblogue.

My third goal is going to be the most difficult to achieve. You see, for most of the last three years I wasn’t working outside the home, although that was certainly not by design or choice. When the local building industry went away, so did that fulltime job. And though I have accomplished a small amount of success as a freelance writer for various outlets, it’s not an easy market to break through in because millions of other people around the world fancy themselves as pundits, too.

So now I have a good job but it’s one which frequently necessitates I work for most of my day outside the home, therefore it’s not as easy for me to create plentiful content. Still, in looking at my monthly posting numbers I’ve found that I’ve put up nearly 500 posts over the last year so I get at least one in per day. Surprisingly, I’ve never cracked 60 posts a month or 600 in a calendar year so my pace isn’t that bad right now, and more importantly it’s manageable with my schedule. Granted, there will be times I’m a little behind on the news but my bread and butter is commentary anyway so if you can put up with 450 to 500 posts a year we’ll be just fine. That may violate the idea some bloggers have of writing no fewer than 2,500 words per day but I’d rather write 600 good words than 2,500 words of fluff. (Some take the easy way out and copy and paste to get to a certain number of words or posts, but I don’t – hence the phrase up top “mostly original content.”)

My last goal, though, is probably the most important for my goals in the long run. You see, everything I have built here comes because I have taken the high road, stuck to the facts and reasoned opinions, and stayed away from making this a personality-based site. Unfortunately, from time to time I get caught up in the various personality battles which occur in this small town, no matter how much I try to stay away. I am getting better at this, though, and perhaps it’s a sign of maturity on the part of all the local blogging participants that the “blog wars” are more or less behind us. By no means do all the local website owners like each other, and as a group we ain’t going to be singing “Kumbaya” by the campfire anytime soon, but the differences of opinion seem to be a little more civil.

Admittedly, I don’t think I’m ever going to be everyone’s cup of tea – certainly some readers probably can’t figure out why I do Shorebird of the Week or Weekend of local rock on a political site, but that’s what keeps me from getting burned out.

And Lord knows I don’t often pull my punches when I write, but I don’t lose sleep over my content and that’s what’s important. For a website, respect is the toughest thing to build and the easiest thing to lose.

With that, I start anew on another year of this website. As always, I’m hoping to make it a better year than the last one and there’s a lot of writing I want to get to before the next year closes on monoblogue, including wrapping up a manuscript I’ve been working with off and on over the last three years. It may be ready by year’s end, so if you know something about publishing I’m all ears.

In closing, I want to give thanks to my readers and my supporters. I’m not always on the winning side of the fights I pick and choose, but (as it were) I’d rather die on my feet than live on my knees. There’s plenty of fight left in me and battles everywhere I turn, so there’s no use waiting on me to give up this ship or not having fun in the process.