click here for characteristically prolix & convoluted explanation       

There's also a press release that says things like...

CHICAGO -- NOVEMBER 30, 2004 -- HighBeam™ Research, Inc., announced today that it has partnered with blogger extraordinaire Christopher Locke to help the company develop a new resource for bloggers and aspiring bloggers.

Heh, "blogger extraordinaire," you like it? Yes, I wrote that myself. The release also includes the obligatory quote from the Main Man, naturally...

Patrick Spain, chairman and CEO of HighBeam Research said, "We think of Chris as a 'Chief Blogging Officer' and if we can create the kind of blogging tools that he finds useful, then we are on the right track for creating a great resource for all bloggers. And if we don't, we are sure to find ourselves written up in one of his blogs!"

As you can see from that last bit, I have instilled the appropriate balance of hope and dread in HighBeam's top management. Patrick continues...

"Given Chris' sense of humor and ability to juxtapose the highly credible information he acquires daily on HighBeam Research with his irreverent and opinionated world view, we expect this to be a lively and entertaining blog. It will also serve as a great example for all bloggers and potential bloggers on how to write well-researched, useful and -- well -- fun blogs."

So far, my idea of fun has been to juxtapose Daffy Duck with the Spanish Inquisition, a hugely phallic "launch shot" with a disarmingly demure Ralph Waldo Emerson, and an armed Ted Nugent with a much younger and hungrier looking GWB. Interspersed with all this are my recent obsessions with deadly pre-Colonial plagues, the Blavatskian influence on ur-Impressionist Wassily Kandinsky, and R. Waldo E.'s self-reliant (dare I say self-righteous, self-serving?) take on "the sluggish and perverted mind of the multitude." In addition to actually having lots of fun with this, a primary incentive has of course been our old friend...

If you want to join in with what I'm ...erm... up to here, leave your vital stats on the CBO site, or send mail to cbo@highbeam.com.

More will be revealed...