Has J-Ko called it a day?

January 4, 2002 4:30 PM

Has J-Ko called it a day? Anyone know what's up with kottke.org? Could he really be gone for good? Is he redesigning? What's up, J-Ko! Your fans await your next move with breathless anticipation...
posted by msippey (68 comments total)

I checked there earlier today and it was a 12/31/01 entry w/ no indication of changes coming, just some rant about spam from anti-spamming services. What's the 'lorem ipsum' bit? I don't speak Latin.
posted by msacheson at 4:34 PM on January 4, 2002

lorem ipsum. It's a fraction of Cicero.
posted by dhartung at 4:36 PM on January 4, 2002

Isn't 'lorem ipsum' from the powerpoint sample pages? Does it actually mean something?
posted by phatboy at 4:38 PM on January 4, 2002

Isn't 'lorem ipsum' from the powerpoint sample pages?

It's a nonsense phrase, taken from Cicero but misquoted, that is used as filler for empty pages by designers.
posted by j.edwards at 4:42 PM on January 4, 2002

Late last night, both of his sites were down for like an hour; I'd suspect he's doing some maintenance or redesign or some such.
posted by skyline at 4:52 PM on January 4, 2002

Since lorem ipsum is traditionally used as a place-holder until the real content is available, I would assume Young Master K is in the midst of a redesign.

Maybe something else to shake up this tired old world?

posted by Monk at 4:52 PM on January 4, 2002

I guess redesign.
posted by timothompson at 4:53 PM on January 4, 2002

"Look, Jason Kottke took a dump! Let me rush to Metafilter so I can be the first to post it." Geez.
posted by owillis at 4:55 PM on January 4, 2002

Ah, one of my favorite fact resources has the straight dope about lorem ipsum....

'...McClintock recalled having seen lorem ipsum in a book of early metal type samples, which commonly used extracts from the classics. "What I find remarkable," he told B&A, "is that this text has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since some printer in the 1500s took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book; it has survived not only four centuries of letter-by-letter resetting but even the leap into electronic typesetting, essentially unchanged." So much for the transitory nature of content in the information age....'
posted by warhol at 4:57 PM on January 4, 2002

there is a great lorem ipsumish thread a little while ago, too lazy to search for it though, lack of coffee working here.

owillis, pick a tangent, any tangent...we can turn this into a real discussion about something, we just need fast typing and a little faith.
posted by th3ph17 at 5:05 PM on January 4, 2002

Actually, that Straight Dope about lorem ipsum was quite interesting. I've learned something today. ('J-Ko'... :::snicker:::) ^_-
posted by SenshiNeko at 5:15 PM on January 4, 2002

Oh, it was msippey who posted this. I heard he's a longtime Kottke fan. I think he knew J-Ko back when he had the gradated yellow box design.

Seeing as this is 2002 and we're on Metafilter, there could be some tongue-in-cheek going on.

Tangent: Has anyone seen the Vanilla Ice interview in Salon? Word to your mother.
posted by timothompson at 5:28 PM on January 4, 2002

<voice style="vizzini">Inconcievable.</voice>

He can't take his site down so soon after winning that Yahoo! award.
posted by riffola at 5:38 PM on January 4, 2002

Vanilla Ice has a kangaroo!

That's *much* more newsworthy.
posted by keli at 5:41 PM on January 4, 2002

System Process Error jko-1

MetaFilter has exceeded it's "all hail Jason Kottke" quota for the week. Ref. This thread. Ref. This thread.

Sorry for the inconvenience. Please discuss pancakes. Thank you.
posted by benjh at 5:44 PM on January 4, 2002

*cough*

Since when did MetaFilter become a hub for reporting on the the POTENTIAL closing of weblogs? Did I miss something?

WHO CARES!?

If he's gone, he's gone. Even if he's not, the fact he has said nothing but an obscure latin phrase is hardly grounds for a post on it.

Get over it. Come back when there is something of interest to post.

Now, I'll be over in the corner, waiting for the Sensitivity Police to tell me I'm being cruel and mean. I'll also be waiting with an "I don't care", so save a few minutes of typing and don't bother.
posted by Dark Messiah at 5:44 PM on January 4, 2002

(note: all sarcasm meant in good humor.)
posted by benjh at 5:45 PM on January 4, 2002

but if kottke leaves us, the terrorists win!
posted by mcsweetie at 5:46 PM on January 4, 2002

do kangaroos like pancakes?
posted by th3ph17 at 5:48 PM on January 4, 2002

Kangaroos love pancakes, kittens, and porn.
posted by keli at 5:49 PM on January 4, 2002

Qaughtkei who?
posted by Hildago at 6:02 PM on January 4, 2002

I thought about making a MetaTalk thread about how even I'm beginning to get annoyed by J-Ko threads in MeFi, and if it's starting to bother even me, someone who thinks MeFi should be filled daily with threads about whatever MeFi participants want to talk about at the moment regardless of the consequences, well hell if it's bothering even me there should be something done about it. But I realized nothing really would be done about it, and talking about latin or pancakes isn't going to save this thread, so I just surfed on and wasn't gonna say anything more about it. Who cares?

But dangit! Kangaroos do not like kittens! I put my foot down on that blatant misuse of facts, Keli. It's widely known that Kangaroos spurn kittens, believing them to be forces of The Devil. Haven't you ever heard of the Kangaroos against Kittens Who Don't Eat Enough Salsa Ate My Balls tribunal in Sydney Australia? I had a link to it awhile back but seem to have misplaced it.
posted by ZachsMind at 6:24 PM on January 4, 2002

Who's Kottke?

Honestly. Never gone there. Is he/she important?
posted by mr_crash_davis at 6:38 PM on January 4, 2002

Don't you people know *anything?!* That IS his redesign! So clean. So minimalist. So browser-friendly. So PURE!

Look at that fabulous Netscape 1.0 gray. Look at that insanely saucy retro-usage of Times Roman. And he's using a * seven-syllable * sentence -- clearly meant to inspire haiku...

Kottke new design.
Home of fine lorem ipsum.
Swoon, metrocake, swoon!

Get with the program, people: This IS the future of DESIGN!
posted by metrocake at 6:41 PM on January 4, 2002

Someday they'll build cities around lorem ipsum.
posted by youhas at 6:45 PM on January 4, 2002

Design is law! *ducks for cover*
posted by insomnyuk at 6:49 PM on January 4, 2002

Zach, I suggest you check out The Kitten and the Kangaroo - A Bedtime Story.
posted by keli at 6:56 PM on January 4, 2002

I am geoff. Keymaster of Gozer, Volguus Zildrohar, Lord of the Sebouillia. Kottke, are you the Gatekeeper?
posted by geoff. at 6:59 PM on January 4, 2002

When you've got the readership and A-Listitude of Kottke, shutting down so mysteriously without giving a clue as to why (even in the source code) is just another publicity stunt.

"Watch this, Meg! Gray background and lorum ipsum. The kids won't know what hit 'em."
posted by jpoulos at 7:04 PM on January 4, 2002

For all those fearing kottke withdrawal, the
inside links still work fine.

Get your full dose of kottke here.
posted by ssheth at 7:18 PM on January 4, 2002

Salon: Do you still cut your own hair?

V-Ice: It's low-maintenance now. I like not having to deal with it. Just wake up and fuckin' whatever.

My new motto in life is "just wake up and fuckin' whatever."
posted by Hankins at 7:33 PM on January 4, 2002

Or, get your overdose of Kottke here.
posted by dchase at 7:57 PM on January 4, 2002

He's still webloging away here.
posted by matt324 at 7:57 PM on January 4, 2002

Case!

btw, I thought kottke was supposed to be the new sippey?
posted by dchase at 8:06 PM on January 4, 2002

I read that Vanilla Ice interview, and about halfway through, the following thought snuck into my head:

"Hehe...guy seems pretty cool."

The implications of the preceding thought for myself, for Mr. Ice, and for the world at large are, to say the least, terrifying.
posted by Optamystic at 8:12 PM on January 4, 2002

Kottke says it's ok to like Vanilla Ice.
posted by colt45 at 8:25 PM on January 4, 2002

Look, Jason Kottke took a dump!
oh my gaaaaaaaaaawd! tell me everything!
posted by quonsar at 8:49 PM on January 4, 2002

Why ya'll player hatin' the Kottke?
posted by Optamystic at 9:02 PM on January 4, 2002

I'd much rather try to figure out how V-Ice ever made $180 million. He was flossin', not investin'.
posted by keli at 9:05 PM on January 4, 2002

Oh, I like Kottke. It's the eternal "Kottke-watch" that's getting on my nerves...

"Today on 'Kottke-Watch: Jason uses GREEN!'" :D
posted by metrocake at 9:08 PM on January 4, 2002

I'd much rather try to figure out how V-Ice ever made $180 million.

I'm guessing he got phat royalties from David Bowie and Queen bitin' his fresh beats.
posted by Optamystic at 9:13 PM on January 4, 2002

Oh yeah. Freddie and Bowie should be kissin' his ass, right there wit Suge and Snoop.

Fuckin' whatever...
posted by keli at 9:27 PM on January 4, 2002

Who gives a shit?
posted by canoeguide at 10:25 PM on January 4, 2002

Jason's cat died. I saw it, I'm very sad. Show some consideration, michael, I thought you were a friend.
posted by bryanboyer at 10:40 PM on January 4, 2002

eh, intermo was a mangy feline anyways....
posted by msippey at 10:42 PM on January 4, 2002

captain kangaroo loved buster brown shoes, and busta rhymes loves pussy, and the pussycats were led by josie, and the outlaw josey wales said "dyin' ain't much of a livin' boy", and osama bin laden may be dead or alive, and saddam hussein is alive, and looks like tom green's dad, and mr. green jeans was captain kangaroo's helper guy, so...
posted by blackholebrain at 10:53 PM on January 4, 2002

This thread just makes me wanna go to audiogalaxy.com and download everything Pink Floyd ever recorded.
posted by ZachsMind at 11:21 PM on January 4, 2002

Jason's cat died.

meg had been threatening that for a while, but i can't believe she really went through with it.
posted by judith at 11:23 PM on January 4, 2002

Someday they'll build cities around lorem ipsum.

Thank you. I needed that.
posted by donovan at 11:28 PM on January 4, 2002

y'know what's really worthwhile? getting annoyed that you have to read 2 lines of text about a person once or twice a month.
posted by chrisege at 1:13 AM on January 5, 2002

Blackholebrain has much to teach us all, I think.
posted by dong_resin at 1:49 AM on January 5, 2002

in that vanilla ice interview i wish they would've asked him what "H to the Izzo. V to the Izzay" by Jay-Z means. is that some sort of rapper's pig latin? maybe ice has an inside track on wtf it means b/c i've been baffled since the first time i heard it. if anyone can bridge the black/white rap divide it's ice ice baby.
posted by suprfli at 2:25 AM on January 5, 2002

chrisege, twice a month let me make the post "MC Sweetie cut his hair!" on Metafilter, and after a couple of years, I want to see you say that again.
posted by kv at 4:12 AM on January 5, 2002

Why...that's Calvinist!
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 4:19 AM on January 5, 2002

Suprfli: "Hove," aka, "Hova," aka "H to the izz-O, V to the izz-A" is Jay-Z's lil' nickname. Check out the tracks on his last album. You can download the intro Hova track off audiogalaxy to hear all of the third-party self-references.

As for the "some sort of rapper's pig latin," the "-izz " was made popular in Frankie Smith's Double Dutch Bus (Dizzuble Dizzutch). I'm too young and honky to know if this is the origin of the "izz" language, but it's certainly one of the earliest I remember. Check it out. Anyone have more information?
posted by Hankins at 8:09 AM on January 5, 2002

Hankins, isn't the "Hove" or "Hova" from "Jehovah," for God? Heard that summer. Well, at least he's humble.
posted by Sinner at 8:45 AM on January 5, 2002

"Heard that summer."

Heard that somewhere.

I'm dumb.
posted by Sinner at 9:03 AM on January 5, 2002

Sinner: Good call, I hadn't thought of that. I've only recently gotten into Jay-Z, particularly because of the lyrical smackdowns currently going on between Nas and him. It's interesting to me how people-filled planes can be flown into buildings, essentially affecting the way many people think about their daily lives, yet there are still (and always will be) people who want to talk smack about who 'owns' a damn street corner. That MTV article talks about how Jay-Z wants to be considered the "King of New York," so "Jehovah" certainly fits the bill there.
posted by Hankins at 9:19 AM on January 5, 2002

i've been trying to research the origins of "izzy" speak. It's quite popular and it has it's own transformation, to get to the appropriate result. Recently though, there has been a sort of breach: in the movie "the wash" snoop said, "shizzy with my izzy" which, I think, means, "touch my penis" and then i heard that jay-z was saying that too. but i think that jay-z bites snoop a bit anyway...

Hankins: when was that song written?
posted by goneill at 10:17 AM on January 5, 2002

i've never been a big supporter of jay-z or nas (though they have been known to drop a nice rhyme or two.), but the beef going on has me entertained, as well. which is kind of good i guess, but my interest in rap has faded over the past couple of years.

is he h-to-the-izzo, m-to-the-izzo?
for shizzle you phony, the rapping version of sisqo
posted by lotsofno at 10:23 AM on January 5, 2002

oh, and gonill.. i'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with penises of any kind... from hearing a snoop song that came out early last year, i think he was doing a variation of "the shizzle my nizzle" (the sh*t my n*gg*.), which also kind of harkens to cash money's "project b*tch," where rapper lil' wayne says "off the heezy, for sheezy."
posted by lotsofno at 10:26 AM on January 5, 2002

goneill: do you mean Double Dutch Bus? I found this about the vinyl copy: Produced by: Frankie Smith , B.Blount. Released in:1981. Frankie Smith has an album out called Children of Tomorrow, which was produced in 1994, but it seems the original Double Dutch Bus was from 1981. If you find out info on the origins of "izzy" speak, please pass my way.

Lil' Bow Wow 4-Eva. Where mah doggz at?
posted by Hankins at 10:30 AM on January 5, 2002

somewhere, somehow, some graduate student has written a paper on this. I'm sure attaining his/her phd...

i'm sure that the aforementioned graduate student is on metafilter...

to said graduate student: "if you are and you aren't responding you can "shizzle my nizzle"" whatever that means!!!
posted by goneill at 10:55 AM on January 5, 2002

without a doubt snoop is the "izzy-speak" master. i've heard interviews where all he does is talk in izzy to my schizzny about the pizzo. it's more confusing than Putty Tang but it's interesting and funny as hell. it's good to see that i'm not the only one who is interested in the origin and meaning of it but finds it entertaining.
posted by suprfli at 12:29 PM on January 5, 2002

I've spent most of the afternoon trying to interpret the izzle-ing in the middle of Double Dutch Bus. All I can guess is Uncle Willie was liquored up right good on some grape Mad Dog while he talked to the Fat Albert kids.
posted by keli at 12:48 PM on January 5, 2002

I used to be a pretty consistent Jay-Z hater, but when I heard his new album, The Blueprint, unplugged, I went out and got a copy and was pretty impressed. he is one clever MC! and the shizzy is trizzle, b'lee dat my nizzles!
posted by mcsweetie at 1:55 PM on January 5, 2002

My cat's breath smells like cat food.
posted by adamv at 3:46 PM on January 5, 2002

and as quickly as he disappeared - he's back.
posted by stevengarrity at 5:31 PM on January 5, 2002