The Whiskey Bar is closed

[xray s]

Hope everything is ok with my favorite bartender...

http://billmon.org/

[Calm Like A Bomb]

1. I noticed that a few minutes ago myself.

I don't recall seeing it closed recently. I know he said he was having trouble writing after his return from Jordan. Maybe he's taking sabbatical to recharge.

[DrBB]

2. He sounded really discouraged after Jordan

Posted that BYOB open thread and just left it there for a couple of days, said he was tired, maybe even tapped out on the whole blog thing. He was posting like a madman up until the Jordan trip, and it was some of the best stuff on the web.

I will be VERY sad if he lets it go.

But hey, it's not like anyone is paying his rent for him to do that stuff. And it is a HUGE amount of work. I just hope he comes back. He ranks in the top three of my most-checked blogs. Or did, anyway.

[xray s]

4. I can understand his being tired of it all

All the news right now is so depressing. Sometimes I am hopeful, but then I'll talk to a neighbor or co-worker and they go on a rant that the prison torture thing was no big deal and we shoud just nuke all the "sand niggers" and be done with it. Molly Ivins even mentioned the "F" word (fascism) in her last column, and how all the deceits of the BFEE are examples of how fascism starts. Whoa.

Maybe we are living out 1984.

[scarletwoman]

3. My favorite, too.

:-( I got back from the MN DFL state convention yesterday, logged and found this sad little message:

http://billmon.org/archives/001486.html

BYOB

For some reason I just can't seem to get into the mood for blogging. Maybe it's a lingering after effect of my trip, or maybe it's just because the news has been so particularly, bleakly, Kafka-ish lately. Or maybe, after more than a year of virtually nonstop writing (1485 posts and counting) I'm just running out of steam.

I dunno. But since Whiskey Bar seems to have evolved from a blog into a chat room, here's an open thread to keep the conversation going.
Posted by billmon at May 21, 2004 02:20 PM

Damn sorry to see the lights out there, he's a real gem. Hope he'll recharge and reopen someday...

sw

[charlie]

5. Aw, man

He did say a while ago that the site was becoming so popular, hosting costs were getting out of hand. I hope that's the trouble. :(

[Dudley_DUright]

6. As I recall he had a fundraiser

a few months ago and got an overwhelming response, so I don't think that is the problem. I am sure he will be back posting soon. Travel can really take a lot of energy out of you. Billmon is one of my all time favorites out in the blogosphere. He is up there with Josh Marshall and Atrios.