Archive for December, 2008

It’s been a few months since the last time I sent out an open invitation to local bloggers to meet in a casual setting to talk about all things local and internet. I’m thinking about setting something up for the middle of January, possibly on the 14th. I’m wondering if anyone has an idea... »

Although relatively few people other than me are likely to be excited about this, I've finally figured out my ad server software well enough to have rotating ads. What does this mean? It means that I can soon offer EXTREMELY CHEAP local ads on the Spark, that's what. I'm still a few weeks away from... »

Someone please tell me something: Just where did 2008 go? How can 365 days have flown by so quickly? It seems like only yesterday I was trying to remember to write 2008 on the checks that I write to pay my mortgage, and already I am having to prepare myself to remember to write... »

After slowly working my way down the Spark’s “To Do” list, I finally got around to reworking the RSS feeds. These have been updated to work with a post-Google Feedburner.com, hopefully giving me a better and more reliable feed than before. I’ve also added the option to get the Spartanburg Spark’s updates in your... »

Headline: Local brewery RJ Rockers plans major expansion Source: Spartanburg Herald-Journal Story: Click here In a nutshell: Sparkle City’s hometown brewery takes it to the next level. Thoughts: There’s a rule of thumb about revitalized communities that goes something like this: The more microbreweries you have in a given area, the better your town is doing. After all,... »

Who says Spartanburg isn't multicultural? Although pickings were slim on local video uploads due to the holidays, the videos that were there showed a surprising range of cultural variety. We start this week with a profile of Moody Black, Spartanburg's most-noted slam poet. He also organizes the local poetry slams, which are definitely not the... »

The holidays have a distinct chilling effect on local blogs. Bloggers have other things to do — buy gifts, wrap them, cook meals, plan gatherings and so forth — and very little free time to ponder on the internet. As a result, blogs that are normally quite active tend to sllloooow doowwwn. We’re just on... »

Last week, we asked readers of the Spartanburg Spark to nominate their favorite musicians, albums and venues for the first-ever Best Music of 2008 reader poll. And nominate you did! Now comes the fun part. On the left-hand side of the screen, underneath the music listings, are seven online polls covering a variety of... »

It’s Christmas day, and as you might expect, it’s kind of a down period for the Spark. Holidays cause the visitor numbers to plunge on any website, and I’d be kind of surprised — and maybe a little saddened — if people were still checking out the site on Christmas day. After all, today is... »

Stars Fell on Spartanburg, recently published by the Hub City Writers’ Project, advertises itself as a collection of celebrity encounters told through personal essay, oral history, poetry, fiction and song. I confess, I hadn’t heard of most of these “celebrities.” Imogene Coca, Rocky Colavito, Jonathan Frid? Was I supposed to know who these... »

On the first day of Christmas I had just left to do Set up my big artificial tree On the second day of Christmas I had just left to do Making out my list And fixing the lights on my tree On the third day of Christmas I had just left to do Hours of choir rehearsal I can’t find my... »

Headline: Students: Watch what you post online Source: Spartanburg Herald-Journal Story: Click here In a nutshell: Remember two years ago when people were warning that posting stupid things on sites like MySpace and Friendster could cause problems for students or job-seekers? It’s that story again, only local and with Facebook. Thoughts: Sometimes I forget that the rest of... »

With this year drawing to a close, we thought we'd switch things up a bit and discuss some of the most-viewed local videos on YouTube from the past year. We begin with this astonishing video of WSPA reporter Charmayne Brown being attacked while in the process of covering a murder investigation in May of this... »

We have an early Christmas present for all you local blogoholics out there: a handful of newly uncovered blogs from the Spartanburg and Upstate area! The best part? You don’t even have to wait for Christmas morning to unwrap them. We start off with A Scrapbook of Me, a blog about the life and faith... »

2008 is rapidly drawing to a close, and that means it's time to find out which local bands you think were the most relevant this year. As a result, we're breaking from form this week, and asking you to post a comment nominating your favorite band or performer for the first-ever Spartanburg Spark... »