My Top Ten Posts of January 2011

At one point I got into the habit of posting some interesting "statporn" every month, gleaned from Google Analytics. Unfortunately, for some reason, it hasn't worked since I changed the template of the blog last Summer. That's also when my LibDig thingy and Tweetmeme thingy disappeared and I am too technically stupid to work out how to replace them. Perhaps a friendly geek might like to offer some practical support?

Anyway, I'm kind of reliant on Blogger's inbuilt stats thing which isn't that great. However, it does tell me that the top ten stories of the last month were as follows:

1. Daring to whisper the D Word as I see reports from Oldham East and Saddleworth

2. Violent Metaphors have no place in political debate

3. Does anyone think about the kids when tabloids print intrusive stories?

4. Things I would rather do than accept Ed Miliband's invitation to join the Labour Party

5. Scottish Tory Leader Annabel Goldie in "bullshitters" shock.

6. Why I'm not going to Oldham East and Saddleworth

7. Nick Clegg on Andrew Marr - gorging bankers, Ed's dinosaurs, VAT, Coulson and disproving prophets of doom

8. Hero of the Day - Bob Russell MP lambasts "callous cretins" who took away constituent's DLA

9. My Coaltion Reshuffle

10. Anyone care to convince me that NHS reforms are more than all kinds of scary?

Caron's Statporn - June 2010

One of the biggest surprises about this month was that the high I'd reached in May was almost maintained, with only 114 fewer absolute unique visitors despite 13 fewer posts and the election being over. In June, 5154 people visited my blog so thanks to all of you. That doesn't count the people who read it on RSS feeds and the increasing number who read it via Facebook.

Part of that was due to one particular post - my review of the Doctor Who episode the Pandorica Opens which by some margin was the top story of the last month.

The rest of the top 10 is as follows:

2. My wee spat with Tom Harris MP

3. The one about Lewis Hamilton's earrings. Again. Move along, there is nothing to see. Read some of my cutting edge political stuff instead, for goodness sake.

4. My view of Mr McAveety's troubles.

5. Why some women have real reason to fear the World Cup


6. The one when Jo Swinson and Duncan got engaged. Awwww!

7. Genesis of the Daleks Revisited

8. Value Added Fairness from the Liberal Democrats to counter VAT rise

9. Take that, Gina Ford. A tale of parenting by instinct.

10.Danny Alexander Rocks the Commons over Labour's "inheritance tax"

I'm glad my blog was a port of call for the person searching the internet for hallucinogenic lipstick. Please let me know if you find some.

My First Ever Statporn - May 2010

On the first of every month I see lots of other blogs unveil their stats for the previous month and I've never done it before. What's prompted me to do it today is not entirely that I've had the most successful month on my blog ever, by a long way, with, according to Google Analytics, 5,268 absolute unique visitors, but what they read.

Here's me, thinking that it would be the discussion of the election, the subsequent forming of the coalition or something political at least that would have been most popular but no. Well, actually, it was the post about what the Lib Dems would do to tax credits that was the most popular, but hot on its heels, much to my disgust, was the one about Lewis Hamilton and his earrings.

Here are the top 10 stories from May 2010:

1 Liberal Democrats and Tax Credits - the truth exposed

2 F1: Boy with the Black Earrings

3 Tory Candidate Philippa Stroud prayed for gays to be released from demons And this woman is now a special adviser to Iain Duncan Smith! It figures, I guess, but, yikes.

4 Why I support David Laws

5 Did I miss Labour's Holyrood Democracy Riots? on the 55% dissolution issue.

6 "There is no money left" jokes Labour as Lib Dems promise social justice.

7 Excited about Elephants in London. I want to go see them!

8 Sorry guys - I lost. That tweet from Willie Rennie that still brings a tear to my eye.

9 Digital Economy Act - ask your MP to take action..

10 New MPs warned that they could lose their seat. Hmmm. Weird Commons rules take precedence over will of people? I doubt anyone's going to test this one, though.

It occurs to me that you may have seen some of these already seeing as they were the most popular. Maybe I should add in another few of my favourites:

Sehar Shabaz - an injustice too far - the coalition has to stop this sort of thing happening.

Digital Economy Act - get your MP to get behind EDM 17 - on Julian Huppert's efforts. He's going to be an awesome MP.

Middle Aged Men in Suits - the story of the election and things to come?

Some Friendly Advice for our new Lib Dem Ministers.

Has Livingston Conservative Candidate breached Data Protection Act?

I take great pride in the fact that a fair number of people searching for UKIP Bad end up on here. Otherwise the searches are pretty predictable. I'd never have thought there were so many ways of writing Lewis Hamilton's earrings! I'm quite intrigued by the fact that someone looked for "Graeme Morrice - Livingston - Black Dog". Graeme is my new Labour MP and I have no idea as to his domestic/pet arrangements but I wonder where that one came from. "88 year old comic Caron" made me smile too. I did look in the mirror the other day and wonder when I turned into a hag, but 88 is a bit unkind. There was another one "Caron to cut welfare benefits". Whoever wrote that really doesn't know me at all. And then there was "Clegg - Livejournal - Jaffa Cakes".

It's been probably one of the most exciting months since I've started blogging. Even though I've had more time, I still haven't written half the posts I've wanted to. As unemployment and life as a struggling writer beckons, I hope that'll change.

How can a "dirty weekend in Glasgow" lead here?

I don't really indulge in too much statporn. It just gives me a headache. Every so often, though, I like to have a wee look to see who my readers are and how they are finding this blog. I suppose I must be a little bit geeky to even know this, because I wouldn't have had a clue a few months ago, but my counter has a page which tells me, when it can, the website which referred the reader to me. From that I can see that my posting of Bishop Gene Robinson's Inaugural prayer and the the Tony Benn on the DEC Gaza appeal have been amongst recent favourites.

I was somewhat perplexed, though, to find that someone had typed "dirty weekend in Glasgow" and got here. Utterly bizarre!

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