Terra Extraneus

“Tulsa’s Blogfather,” Michael Bates, is the stand-out among the “B’s” of Oklahoma bloggers.

In a previous post, “Oklahoma Blogs: 10,000 to A,” I assigned myself the arduous task of surveying the 301 blogs listed in the Blog Oklahoma directory — blogs written “in or about Oklahoma.” I began by surveying the 16 blogs whose names begin numerically or with the letter A. Today I move on to the 17 “B’s” on the Oklahoma blogroll.

Several of the “B” blogs appear to have bitten the dust. At least five of them haven’t posted a thing since October or November 2005. I discussed the high attrition rate of blogsites in my previous article, citing Perseus Development Corp.’s description of an abandoned blog as one that has not posted in at least two months. That describes two-thirds of all blogs, according to Perseus, and several on the Blog Oklahoma directory. One blog I checked had not posted since 2004. Blog Oklahoma should consider some minimum standards and some spring cleaning of its blogroll.

A couple of still-active blogs caught my eye. One is Black Ice Highway, written by a New Mexico truck driver named Keith. In addition to writing about the trucking life, Keith uploads photos of I-40 traffic which he takes while driving his rig at 75 mph. You’ve been warned. Another is BlogOklahoma.us, which is dedicated to finding, photographing and commenting on historical sites in the Sooner State.

WORD OF THE YEAR: PODCASTING
The Bart and Cindy Podcast Show is one of six podcasts on the Blog Oklahoma list. Bart and Cindy have been putting up podcasts three or four times a month since May 2005. Who in the heck are Bart and Cindy? Good question. Don’t search their blogsite for an answer, because they aren’t telling.

I was able to dig up some info about B&C by searching the Net. The phone book lists Bart and Cindy Vleugels at a northwest Oklahoma City address. Bart moved to Oklahoma in 1993 from his native Belgium. He is a videographer, audio engineer, and does commercial voice-overs. I can’t turn up anything about Cindy Vleugels. In the one B&C podcast I listened to, Cindy refers to her former days as a TV reporter, but she doesn’t give any details.

What is The Bart and Cindy Podcast Show about? Well, it’s all about Bart and Cindy. What they watch on TV. Where they went over the weekend. What’s going on in Oklahoma City. “Cindy’s new dress.” An extremely casual 20 to 30 minutes of Bart and Cindy talking with each other and cutting up a lot.

Podcasting is one of the hot trends of the blogosphere. The New Oxford American Dictionary declared “podcasting” 2005’s “word of the year.” (“Blog” was Merriam-Webster’s “word of the year” for 2004). One significant feature of podcasting is its “time-shifting” capability. Rather than needing to tune in on your radio at 1 p.m. sharp to listen to your choice of radio blowhards, you can select from thousands of podcasts available online, download them to your computer or portable player, and listen at your leisure.

Podcasting gives anybody the ability to put themselves out there on the audio market for those looking for something to listen to, in direct competition with traditional broadcasters. It gives people like Bart and Cindy their shot, and gives us more choices.

By the way, you don’t need an Ipod or MP3 to listen to a podcast. You can listen on your computer. Just click the podcast button and Windows Media Player or some similar software should open up and play the podcast for you. Personally, I prefer reading to listening, but podcasting is hot and getting hotter.

THE TULSA BLOGFATHER
Michael Bates’ Batesline is by far the best of the Oklahoma “B’s.” Bates, 41, of Tulsa has been writing Batesline since May 2003. He has been called “Tulsa’s Blogfather.” Batesline was voted Best Political Blog in the 2005 Okie Blog Awards. It is among the top 1000 blogs on the TTLB Ecosystem, receiving more than 750 visitors a day.

Batesline is a mix of politics and faith, with a big focus on Oklahoma, especially Tulsa. On his “top five” list Bates includes Ronald Reagan and Martin Luther, which tells you a lot about his politics and his religion.

Michael Bates is an MIT alum who works as a software engineer. But it is his involvement in Tulsa politics and his rising star as a writer that has made him a well-known Tulsa personality. In addition to his blogsite, Bates writes a weekly column for Urban Tulsa Weekly magazine and does a weekly radio spot on a Tulsa talk radio station.

Bates was an unsuccessful Republican Tulsa City Council candidate in 1998 and 2002. Bates calls Tulsa’s city leaders the Cockroach Caucus, and has become a leader of the opposition against Tulsa’s Vision 2025 economic development plan. He has an ongoing feud with the Tulsa World (a Vision 2025 supporter). The World (which Bates refers to as the Tulsa Whirled) warned Bates to stop reproducing World content on his site, and even warned him to stop linking to content on the World’s site. The World’s over-reaching requests drew national attention. That was in February 2005. Surely since then somebody at the Tulsa World has been informed that blogging has arrived and is here to stay.

Bates also has managed to get into a fuss with Oral Roberts University, which is nearly as powerful in Tulsa as the Whirled World, calling attention to political endorsements made by Richard Roberts and faculty members at ORU, which is a non-profit religious institution.

In other words, if he thinks the cause is right, Michael doesn’t mind being a troublemaker. I think I like him. I like his blog, too. One caveat: the content is mostly local Tulsa politics, and that is likely to be of less interest to the rest of Planet Earth. But if you use the category list — which includes blogosphere, bookshelf, culture, education, faith, family, music, technology, and whismy – I think you’ll find something you like.

I’m adding Batesline to the Terra Extraneus blogroll.

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Terry Hull is working his way through all 300+ blogs listed on the Blog Oklahoma blogroll. For other reviews of Oklahoma blogs, see:
> “Oklahoma Blogs: 10,000 to A.”
> “Oklahoma Blogs: Time for Chase to Make Some Cuts.”
> “Oklahoma Blogs: More Blogs Filed Under C.”
> “Oklahoma Blogs: D Is for Dave World.”