Scraping Bottom, Winning Notices, Great Wines

Dredging, Scraping, Splogging
In the ocean it's called dredging. In the blogosphere it's called "scraping" and "splogs" do it. Someone writes some code, they troll the Internet and find blogs or posts with good traffic, then they scrape your content and use it to collect ad revenue.

My blog has been scraped and the bottom-dwellers have set up a fake blog (doh!) with my copyrighted content in an attempt to collect ad revenue from people clicking on the ads there. People might do a Google search and find my content on the fake blog and click on ads there. Those of you who read me here need not worry.

You'll notice I have very little, unobtrusive ads here. I haven't seen any evidence that the pitiful revenue outweighs the objectionable clutter. But then, I'm not scraping content from all over. A couple of clicks here and there and for one piece of code, some a*hole is making money from my content.

Good News Still Coming on "Teach a Man to Fish"
I suppose the good news is that it means our sustainable seafood event was successful and caught attention from high and low. We covered the low, now let's look at some of the good news.

• The Monterey Bay Aquarium's new SeaNotes Blog mentions us as some good news amongst the bad news of the spill in San Francisco.

• The effort also got recognized by Internet Research and Strategy Gurus Sea Change Strategies in this interesting post, Be Remarkable and They Will Come. I am flattered to be so described by this group. I never thought "doing good" was an option, either Mark.
  

Wine Pairings
Last but not least, one of our favorite wine gurus, Andrew Barrow at Spittoon, offers this pairing advice for our Teach a Man to Fish entries:

For Calamari with Pine Nuts: Gavi, Pinot Bianco, Cava
For Ryan Newman's Catfish: Chardonnay
Catfish Bites: Alsace Pinot Gris
Clams: Chablis
Halibut: Viognier
Mussels: Chablis, Champagne
Salmon with creamy sauce: White Burgundy
Sardines: Muscadet, NZ Sauvignon Blanc
Scallops: Champagne, Chardonnay
Fish Soup: Dry Rose

Andrew has a terrific wine site, a fabu foodies blog and more. Really terrific design, top-notch content and he's a good guy to boot. Please check out Spittoon "We spit so you can swallow..." Oh, and Andrew's got beautiful photography throughout his sites, this photo above is his. Gorgeous.

Thanks again Andrew!

October is Sustainable Seafood Month - Teach a Man a Fish

In the US it is actually "National Seafood Month" but since I'm Queen here at the Leather District Gourmet Blog - I get to change the holidays as I wish. It is good being Queen.

And, to celebrate I am hosting my first (dare I add "annual"?) BLOG EVENT!

What is a blog event? You probably have a lot of questions, so here is a handy FAQ I prepared just for you.


1. What is a blog event? Do I have to dress up for it? Buy a ticket? Find a date?
A blog event takes place in the blogosphere only. You may participate completely nude if you like, or in chef's whites, sweats, goofy shorts. No tickets needed.

Dates, well, that's up to you.

2. What does a blog event look like?
Essentially, it's a contest for food bloggers/ home cooks/ chefs/ food writers / whomever to enter a recipe on a theme and a photo of the dish.

Here is a beautiful example of a roundup on a Sugar High Friday blog event (theme: figs) from our friends at Cream Puffs in Venice.

3. Why this, why now?
October is National Seafood Month and I thought it would be an ideal time (especially given my other deadlines and projects) to host my first ever Sustainable Seafood Blog Event.

4. Do you have a snappy name for this event? And what is Sustainable Seafood anyway?
Give a man a fish and you'll feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you'll feed him for a lifetime. Teach a man to fish/cook sustainably and we'll all eat better, longer.

Maybe not so snappy but you get the idea, right?

For a great sense of how sustainability affects our food/fish supply see this Op-Ed piece from Chef Justin North or see Chef Barton Seaver's restaurant site for Hook in DC.

Also check out the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch Program site for info and a free pocket card. Read below about how you can get the sustainable choices guide for your cell phone and how it can bring money to you.*

5. I'm in! Now, what do I have to do?
1. Prepare a recipe using sustainable seafood.
2. Send a photo (100 x 100 pixels) in an email to me.
3. Subject line should read: "Teach a Man to Fish"
4. Include your blog or website; URL of blog/website; your name; country.

Also - be sure to tell your friends about this chance at fame, fortune and fabulous prizes.*

Now, to paraphrase the wise sage, Cartman:

"Get in the kitchen and cook me some fish!"


Other details:
- You can add your email address (see sidebar sign up) to ensure you get updated info on this event.
- I'll be collecting entries for about 10 days to two weeks.
- The "round-up" (where I post all the entries , edit info submitted with them on this blog) will take more or less time depending on how many entries there are and how many other jobs (read: paid jobs) appear in the roundup phase. Sorry, just being honest.
- No, I'm not shilling for a product, a particular aquarium, or sustainable program or chef or restaurant.
- Yes, there are some that are near and dear to my heart. Just ask.
- Statements with asterisk* are not necessarily completely, verifiable. Therefore you cannot sue me if they don't come true for you. Other examples of asterisks that are unprovable: *"This home run ball was hit by the one person who may have been on steroids in the MLB." See what I mean?