Laws and sausages

That, of course, is a reference to the famous quote "Laws are like sausages; it is better not to see them being made." Turns out that was uttered by Otto von Bismarck, the famous 19th-century chancellor who oversaw the establishment of the German Empire. Amazingly, his extensive Wikipedia entry doesn't feature that quote anywhere. Go figure. (Of course, the nature of wikis is such that I could fix that myself, if I feel like it. Probably I'll just watch a soccer game tonight instead, as usual, but you never know.)

Anyway, I sometimes wonder if "Web sites" shouldn't be added to that list. Some days, the things just don't work quite like they're supposed to, and at a behind-the-scenes level, this has been one of those to some extent. Stories ending up where they're not supposed to? Yep. Key block on the home page not displaying its links properly? Check. One of our bloggers raring to go, but can't get on the system? But of course. So, I redirect the stories before making the site live (which is part of the job, after all) and pass the other two things off to ace web developer Chip, who somehow slots them into the other stuff he has to get done and evauates the problems promptly.

The upshot? We should have a new blog online anytime now, and the home page issue is wending its way toward what we hope will be a seamless fix. Whatever the online equivalent of an apple-chicken sausage with hints of sage and allspice is, hopefully that's what we're serving up here. At least we like cooking; I think I'll try that recipe myself, actually.

(Actually, the afternoon's best blog action here is at the UMass Sports Blog, where Matt Vautour is live-blogging the tournament's first day; he'll be there for however long #3 seed UMass's run lasts. They start tomorrow with a 9 p.m. quarterfinal against either Charlotte or Rhode Island. Check it out.)