Here’s a selection of the monthly highlights for christian-sauve.com:
1. Mmm. Numbers…
My Prickly "Urchin" web stats engine tells me that…
Report for: christian-sauve.com, July 2003 Total Visitors: 4,819 Total Pageviews: 9,813 (Corrected total: 6,163) Average Pageviews Per Day: 316.54 (Corrected average: 198.81) Total Hits: 13,871 Total Bytes Transferred: 283.0MB Average Visitors Per Day: 155.45 Average Hits Per Day: 447.45 Average Bytes Transferred Per Day: 9.130MB
The "corrected" numbers take out the CSS, robots.txt, PDFs, mis-filed graphic files (ICO, GIF, JPG) and other files mistakenly considered "pages" by the statistics pre-digestion engine. Results are slightly higher than last month, which shall be explained when analysing the referrer keyword logs.
In any case, our top ten most popular pages are
christian-sauve.com/index.html 317 christian-sauve.com/texts/free-movie-tickets.htm 264 christian-sauve.com/reviews/movies-2002.htm 192 christian-sauve.com/contact.html 190 christian-sauve.com/texts/solaris-explanation.htm 189 christian-sauve.com/reviews/movies-2001.htm 142 christian-sauve.com/reviews.html 129 christian-sauve.com/reviews/movies-1980s.htm 104 christian-sauve.com/links.html 103 christian-sauve.com/texts/losing-weight.htm 103
…which is somewhat consistent with last month’s results, except for the spike in requests for the solaris-explanation page. (The DVD came out late in the month; see below) Otherwise, well, movies and dieting tips are still popular. As usual, the contact.html page is logging the usual amount of traffic, very few of which seems directed to my mailbox.
If you care about such things, (I do!), here’s a look at browser statistics for the month (by visitors, last month’s results in parentheses):
Explorer|6 1923 (1840) Explorer|5 846 (911) Netscape|4 628 (519) Googlebot|2 459 (New in Top-5) Netscape|5 363 (315)
Netscape 4.x has now been renamed the browser that just wouldn’t die. (Given Netscape’s own termination in July 2003, we can even call it the zombie-browser.)
2. Where do these people come from?
Our top five sources of referrals (in visitors) were
google.com/search 737 (680) yahoo.com/search 234 (256) msn.com/results.aspx 158 (108) www.google.ca/search 147 (164) yahoo.com/bin/search 120 (84)
Search queries are up overall, hence the slightly higher numbers this month.
There was one interesting backlink of note this month: chuckpalahniuk.net/06survivor.html linked back to my review of Palahniuk’s Survivor, probably because the review itself already links to their site. Très cool, except that I’m linked as "Chris Suave"… sigh.
3. Ohh! Visitor comments!
Busy month for the christian-sauve.com mailbox. Here’s the damage:
1. In April 2002, I wrote a review of Terrence Moan’s The Deadly Frost, an interesting thriller by an author that seemed to have completely vanished from the face of the Earth (and Google). (A suitable portion of the review was spent discussing how terrible this lack of information was, and how books don’t deserve to be forgotten.)
Surprise of all surprises, I heard back from Mr. Moan this month:
You’ll be glad to know that part of the Bush Energy Bill is to facilitate the development of new LNG tanker terminals in the continental US. Maybe that will revive interest in my long forgotten (in some venues – notably Google) book.
By the way, I have been working for the past 10 years (the birth of two children has diverted my attention somewhat) on a novel which features recombinant DNA food additives among other interesting plot elements.
Hurrah for the power of Google, and best of luck on the novel!
2. My efforts to explain SOLARIS (2002) to a wider audience continue to be successful:
Thank goodness there are people like yourself around to make good sense of things us mere mortals can not! To speak the truth, I was perhaps not too far off from many of your points but lacked commitment and belief in myself as to whether I was on the mark or not. Thank you for a very pleasant read and for making the film in hindsight much more enjoyable.
Yay me, I say modestly.
3. I believe that my site features one of the most complete book/film discussion of DIE HARD on the Internet, but that didn’t stop someone from asking…
I was just visiting your site because I am desperately searching for a copy of the book by Roderick Thorp, Nothing Lasts Forever. I am trying to purchase it for my boyfriend as a gift. He too has been looking long and hard for a copy. I’m hoping you can help me locate a copy for purchase. Please e-mail back as soon as you are available. Thank you in advance for your help.
Given that this isn’t the first time this question popped up, I kept my all-purpose answer and should probably stick it in the FAQ section:
Unfortunately, my copy of the book is not for sale. (I’m a collector)
This being said, here are a few things you may want to try:
- While the book is out of print at online bookstores such as amazon.ca or chapters.ca, you can always try the out-of-print online bookstores. amazon.com, for instance, often retails used versions of out-of-print books, and it appears that they’ve got 59 copies available, starting at $6.08USD. Heck, they even have hardcover first editions!
- amazon.com taps into the vast abebooks database of used booksellers, which you can access at www.abebooks.com Direct access to abebooks.com gives you more information on the physical condition of the book, which can be useful if you’re giving it as a collectible. (Looking at their database, I even see a Very Good hardcover for sale for $2.95USD from "On More Book Store", a Sudbury bookstore. It’s entirely possible that you can contact the bookstore directly and deal with them rather than go through abebooks.com)
- Finally, if all online means fail to work, I would suggest a trip to your biggest local used bookstore. Not knowing where you’re located, I can’t give specific recommendations, but in the Ottawa area, The Book Market on Dalhousie would be the best choice.
4. I expected some reaction about my essay on Being Canadian, and if -so far- it has only recently appeared in Search Engines, I did get the fascinating query below:
Thank-you for your informative site. It was (almost) what I was looking for. Being a Canadian who left Canada for the States involuntarily at the age of four, and poised to marry an American born [foreigner], I have been searching for info about my Country of Birth. So that I might choose my citizenship. I’ve never been, you see, American. Yet I haven’t felt very Canadian either. Your Brief History of Canada filled in a lot of blanks. I enjoyed the site tremendously.
My question to you is: Would you be aware of any info available about the literal benefits of being a Canadian nowadays? ie: medical, economic, social. Why should I choose Canadian over American citizenship (besides the obvious reasons like Starbucks and McDonalds).
Yikes! How to ans
wer? I tried the following:
My, you go for the tough questions right away, don’t you?
First: If McDonalds and Starbucks are advantages, or not, well, Canada has’em too. In quantity.)
On a strictly prosaic level, the Canadian government has a rather specific, but not very inspiring web site at
http://canadainternational.gc.ca/ Main_Menu-en.asp
to deal with this question.
Ditto with http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/ index.htmlThe basics are thus: Better health care, but (slightly) higher taxes. Less violence, but (loose) gun control. More polite population, but an emphasis on community rather than individual achievement. A lot of allowance for multiculturalism, but a more diffuse "national character".
So, moving on to the more ethereal considerations…
As suggested, the "Canadian character" is still something in construction, and we can only make educated guesses at what it will become. As someone who never had to choose a nationality, but simply grew into it, I can only guess at the process by which one can select one.
(I’m not a particularly big fan of Ayn Rand, but this Russian expatriate was once heckled during a speech by someone who thought she didn’t have the right to comment on the United States because she hasn’t born in the USA. To that, she replied "That’s right. I chose to be an American. What did you do, besides having been born?" That would shut *me* up.)
My own feeble suggestion would be to try to understand "the national character" of your countries, not based on newspaper headlines or the latest folly from their politicians, but from a historical, social, cultural perspective and then see which one feels right for you.
(…)
Ultimately, though, I would tend to run against the above and point out that culture and/or citizenship are inherently personal, and ultimately subvedient to your own identity. As French-Canadian, I have had to learn that I did *not* have to subscribe to the dominant cultural trends, and that there was no shame in, say, co-opting Japanese animation, Hong-Kong action films, American technology, Italian food and British music as being part of what I stand for. Literally, the choice is *yours*.
And got as a heart-warming reply:
Many, many thankyou’s for your time and consideration. Your generosity represents exactly what it is that Canadians exemplify for me… And why living in America doesn’t mean that I necessarily want to be an American citizen. Just for the record, I meant that Starbucks and McDonalds were part of the CON about being American. I LOVE [foreign countries] and lived there for years, but like you, have determined that no place is really "better" than anywhere else. Just different. Being at peace with all this is my wonderful, lifelong process… Thank you for your timely contribution to it.
In some small way, this is what the Internet is meant for.
4. Search Queries Oddities
(This being the section in which we take a look at the search engine queries used by various visitors to find christian-sauve.com)
4.1 – Top ten queries
>solaris explanation (x37) >free movie screenings (x25) >free movie tickets (x22) >solaris explained (x18) >solaris movie explanation (x16) >how to get free movie tickets (x11) >free movie premiere tickets (x11) >christian movie reviews (x11) >solaris movie explained (x10) >sauve (x9)
So… If I understand correctly, my perfect page should be about getting free tickets to an explained version of SOLARIS? I’m shocked.
4.2 – My name is (what?)
>american history x violence nudity elvis >blog elvis >book reviews with a elvis viewpoint >claudia elvis nudity >elvis bad boys 1995 >elvis book censor where the wild things are >elvis book reviews (x3) >elvis bookstore ottawa >elvis courtship >elvis films 1970s >elvis ghostwriters >elvis jokesbeer >elvis movie ratings (x2) >elvis movie reviews ransom >elvis outing in hollywood >elvis reviews animatrix >elvis reviews of drunken master >elvis reviews of gattaca >elvis sauve (x2) >elvis tremblay sauvé >elvis videogame reviews >elvis mental games >free movies elvis >gattaca and discussion and elvis >good elvis films >jedi symbolism elvis perspective >lord of the rings elvis book reviews >matriarchy elvis >movie reviews on terminator 3 from a elvis stand point >mr. nice guy jackie elvis >on line elvis book reviews >terminator elvis movie reviews >www.elvis rappers >x-men as elvis allegory
Faithful readers of these web statistics (if any) will recall that my site, for an obvious reason, is a real magnet for anyone sticking "christian" in otherwise routine search queries. Following a suggestion from my good friend Eric Laforest, I search-and-replaced all instances of "christian" with "elvis". The oh-so-hilarious results are above. I apologize in advance for the horrible mental images that may spring from "claudia elvis nudity".
4.3 – Let’s all go to the Movies!
After a few months’ lull, the frenzy for SOLARIS explanations takes off thanks to the DVD release of the film:
>explanation of solaris clooney >movie solaris explained (x2) >solaris clooney explained (x2) >solaris ending explained (x2) >solaris ending explanation (x3) >solaris explained clooney (x2) >solaris explained film (x2) >solaris explained movie (x2) >solaris film explained (x3) >solaris film explanation (x4) >solaris movie ending explanation >solaris movie explained perspective >solaris movie interpretation (x3) >solaris movie story explained >solaris plot explanation (x5) >solaris spoilers clooney ending >solaris the movie explained (x3)
Given the DVD’s very recent appearance on shelves, I expect this category to explode by next month..
4.4 – Everybody was cyber-stalking!
So, who’s hot and who’s not?
>angeline jolie nude (x2) >annette benning hair >cradle 2 the grave: gabrielle union nude >early angelina jolie >emma watson naked >francoise yip motorcycle >gabrielle union cradle nude >gabrielle union cradle 2 the grave strip-tease pics >gridlock featuring kathy ireland >jennifer lopez out of sight leather coat >julianne moore's national enquirer. >katie holmes the gift nude video free download >kendra torgan pictures -nude (x2) >kristen dunst nude >lisa ray model canada toronto >naked halle (x2) >nude patricia pearcy squirm >nude rosamund pike >nude scene salma hayek >patricia pearcy nude (x3) >paula garcès nude >reese witherspoon nude which movie >sfx babes tia carrere >shannyn sossamon's hairstyle >shu qi gallery nude
Take your pick.
>colin farrell nude free >cuba gooding junior primal >daniel day-lewis biography >death scene billy zane >ewan macgregor nude scene >hayden christensen naked nude >jason stratham biography articles personal >jet li hairdos kiss of a dragon
Guys too. Sort of.
4.5 – The Perv-a-tron!
>female duel fistfight
??? Ew.
>harlequin romance authors with a good spanking story >romantic fiction stories with spanking
Gee, I wonder if those two queries are related…
>swedish girls fancy englishmen
You’re deluding yourself, bloke.
>the in crowd lesbian scene download
There’s a lesbian scene in THE IN CROWD? Why wasn’t I told before? >
4.6 – Strange, disturbing and wondrous…
>lifeline novel (x5) >novel lifeline (x7) >who wrote novel lifeline (x2) >who wrote the novel lifeline (x5)
If *anyone* can specifically explain this sudden burst of interest for Doug Beason and Kevin J. Anderson’s novel, I’d be grateful…
>james bond movies strut my stuff with the same sophistication
I don’t know you, and yet I can already tell you not to get your hopes up.
>a scientist that makes dangerous gadgets
People use Search Engines to search for the dangdest things nowadays. Have you tried madscientist.com?
>author of a book called skeptic
Craig Holden. Pseudonym of Ben Mezrich. C’mon, pick a tougher question.
>black majik spells for winning money
Twisted. As I said, people use Search Engines to search for the dangdest things nowadays.
Until next time, my name is Christian Sauvé and I remain… obsessed by web statistics.