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Are you that special person who - weary from trudging the endless superhighways - just longs to camp next to a glorious oasis of the mind? Do you desire to explore new frontiers, splash in shared ideas, fill your belly with the refreshing fruits of inspiration, and bask in the gentle rays of fond reflection?

Well, you can fuck right off. This, my friends, is not that place. This place is... The ShadowLands.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Happy birthday to us!


The ShadowLands turns one year young today.

Astoundingly - in more ways than one - we are also expecting to welcome our 100,000th visitor in the early hours of today.

For those of you not familiar with our history, The ShadowLands was born out of the fetid Silence of the Lambs style basement that was the comments section of Tim Blair's old website.

When Tim decided to move his blog to News Limited, where instantaneous commentary and our regular casual vile slander would not be allowed, we commentary folk knew that things would never quite be the same again. During discussions about this move, one commenter by the name of Deborah Leigh said:

But I like it here in Shadowland.
and that's where the name for this blog came from. So thankyou, Deborah, wherever you are.

Others to make the move from commentary to blogland at this point included kae, Paco, and latterly Daddy Dave - a diverse group of outstanding bloggers. Other supporters such as BOAB and Tizonas have been quietly producing excellent original stuff long before we even thought about it.

Thanks also to all our linkers, including of course, Tim Blair who gave us the platform to jump from, Andrew Bolt who has boosted our hit count, as well as many other blogs offering us links and support such as Theo Spark, Small Dead Animals, RWDB (and Dark Roasted Blend, who gave us that way distorted hit count in March).

Thanks also to our stellar cast of contributors including John Butler of the John Butler Trio, Cate Blanchett, and Professor Tim Flannery, just to name three.

I estimate - since I can't be arsed to count - that there have been about 3,000 comments made here - yes, seriously. Extra special heartfelt thanks to all our brave commenters.

12 comments:

Boy on a bike said...

Careful, your hit count might overtake Timbo at this rate.... and then things will get interesting.

Could the Shadowlands one day emerge as the inheritor of the original Tim Blair crown?

WV - weewace. Race run by small people.

kae said...

Great post, Margo's.

Happy Birthday... I'd sing a song, but I can't be arsed to turn on the BIG PC - and sit, shivering, in the cold, and finding the mic... y'know.

WV: anticagg
Not sure, but it sounds like something that goes with a tinfoil hat.

daddy dave said...

great stuff, Margos.

blogstrop said...

I'm thrilled to be one of the A-list commentators gang including John Butler, Tim Flummery ... hey, wait a minute!
WV: extes: items held in a small box and buried with chinese imperial court eunuchs. Or an archaic plural of exit?

Egg said...

Congrats on a great year, MM; enjoyed your contributions on 'The First Australians', in particular ...

Paco said...

Happy anniversary! I wish you many, many more!

Anonymous said...

Happy birthday MM

infidel tiger said...

Congratulations! The Shadowlands is a sheperd amongst the sheep, a light upon th ehill and most importantly of all - a bloody good read.

Michael Lonie said...

Pleased to see you again Margo's Maid. I did not know unitl today that you had given in to the Dark Side of the Force and set up a blog of your own. Tim's new site isn't nearly as much fun as the old one. No parties, no Sumerian Mead, no utes on the barbie, no minions waxing our black helicopters for us. Now if I could just find out what Wronwright did with the Tardis...

kc said...

Happy Anniversary, Margos! Always enjoy reading here!

Michael Lonie, most of the parties occur at Paco Enterprises these days - had a dandy not long ago, when he & the Mrs left HQ unattended...

As for the Tardis & the mead...check with Andrea before she leaves MouseTown!

RebeccaH said...

Happy blogbirthday, MM! It's good to see the old Blairite tradition of roguery and casual vile slander being carried on around the blogosphere.

May you stay forever young!

WV: flayful: when Blairites feel frisky.

richard mcenroe said...

I've taken the liberty of linking to you. Happy blogday!