John Hodgman and MB synchronicity

Remember blog synchronicity? The phenomenon that occurs when the same thing comes up on your blog independently, like references to dwarves or The Grateful Dead or twinkies? Today we had MoDo synchronicity, because she was everywhere, dismissing men as unnecessary and Scooter Libby as really unnecessary, but even better, today we have a special treat: MB synchronicity. MB synchronicty is defined as when the same thing pops up all across our beloved mediabistro, from blog to shining blog to homepage and back. Today, that has happened with John Hodgman, author of "The Areas of My Expertise" and subject of today's MB feature which explores his famous "Little Gray Books" lectures, his infamous preoccupation with hoboes, and previous career as a literary agent (we've never heard of "Hook Man Speaks" but we're sure he had a whole lot to say. Arrrr, matey!). Any of this sound familiar? It should, otherwise you're not reading enough Fishbowl, and that's very sad. Hodgman and his Little Gray Books were recently the subject of a glowing Fishbowl post, as well as the source of our obsession with the acoustic version of "Baby Got Back" by his sidekick/player of mood music Jonathan Coulton. Aha! But wait, there's more! Hodgman was also the subject of a recent GalleyCat post when our bookish brethren in blogging discovered that Hodgman's hobo obsession had taken on a life of its own on the internet, inspiring a full-on Flickrpage of illustrations matching his 700-plus painstakingly-rendered hobo names (oh - we should remind the gentle reader that Hodgman likes hoboes. Not quite a fetish, but if the bindlestick fits...). Hodgman was amazed and flattered, telling our GalleyCat cousins: "Here is the internet the way it should be: un-schemed, honestly undertaken, and fueled by pure enthusiasm by strangers." But wait, there's more! For what is MB synchronicity if not the unschemed, honestly undertaken pure enthusiasm of strangers? And rarely does it get much stranger than Claire Zulkey, Lady and Mistress of mbToolbox, who interviewed Hodgman back in August about, well, all sorts of things including but not limited to remote-controlled zeppelins. But wait, there's... actually, that's it, though we do have four wonderful other blogs: Fishbowls DC, LA and TV (aka TVNewser) and the stylicious Unbeige, all of whom are feeling a little left out. Don't worry kids, you can link to this post. Fun! There's one last element of synchronicity here: not only are three of MB's bloggers Canadian -- Unbeige's Eva Hagberg, GalleyCat's Sarah Weinman, and me, FishbowlNY's Rachel Sklar -- but back in the 70's, Canada was also home to an inspiring, family-friendly TV show called -- ready for it? -- "The Littlest Hobo," about a wandering German shepherd who was forever on the road (I used to get so upset. Why didn't he want to stay with the nice family?). Here's the theme song, in Spanish, because that's how we roll in Canada. Coincidence? I think not. Tal vez ma&#241ana, ya llegue a ese lugar; hasta ma&#241ana, seguir&#233 mi caminar. The point is, MB synchronicity is COOL. No, Hook Man, I don't want to shake your hand. Pitching a Former Literary Agent: John Hodgman [MB] Hodgman's Hoboes Come Alive On Flickr [GalleyCat] Baby Got Little Gray Book [FishbowlNY] Pop Quiz: John Hodgman [mbToolbox] Related: Littlest Hobo in Spanish (complete with adorable video of Hobo trotting down the road with his tongue flopping. AW.)

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John Hodgman and MB synchronicity

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