All right, all right, here’s something else to chew on: Reuters evidently isn’t sure whether Osama bin Laden was responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks, and moreover, they feel the need to put the word “terrorists” in quotes when referring to the Moscow hostage-takers. As if there’s any doubt that those bastards are terrorists. What else would they be? Choir boys? C’mon, people!

“My world” has a new daily hits record, and with almost six hours left in the day, it seems destined to shatter the old mark and perhaps reach triple digits for the first time.

The record-breaking 83rd hit came at 5:57:24 PM — less than 19 hours after the old record of 82 was set last night. (That number, in turn, eclipsed the May 28, 2002 mark of 80, which had lasted almost five months.)

Somewhat anticlimactically, the record-breaking hit came from, of all people, me. I had intended to visit “www.blogger.com,” but accidentally typed “www.brendanloy.com” instead, and quickly saw that I had logged the site’s 83rd hit. But the record would have fallen anyway; hits #82 and #84 both resulted from Google searches for the Rally Monkey, the site’s 26th and 27th Rally Monkey-related hits today.

This record may not last much longer than yesterday’s mark of 82 did. Even if a new surge of random search-engine traffic doesn’t wipe out the new record tomorrow, Wednesday — my 21st birthday — seems a likely candidate for a record-breaking day, since I plan to send a mass e-mail to my friends late Tuesday night encouraging them to visit my newly updated site. The traffic resulting from that e-mail, combined with the generally elevated levels of search-engine hits “My world” has been receiving in recent days, could easily set a new record.

By the end of the day today, “My world” may break the traffic record that it set yesterday. As of 5:00 PM Pacific time, the website already has 71 hits, meaning it needs only 11 more hits in the next seven hours to equal yesterday’s record-setting total of 82 hits. Depending on the amount of traffic this evening, the website could conceiveably shatter the record and reach triple digits. We shall see.

Meanwhile, it has been determined that the record-breaking 81st hit last night came from none other than Andrew Long, my conservative Republican friend and fellow Angels fan (he introduced me to Angels fandom, really). Andrew logged onto the website at 11:07:14 PM, presumably to check out my latest blog posts after the Angels’ world championship victory.

Oh, by the way, 25 of today’s hits have come from web searches for the Rally Monkey.

UPDATE, 5:09 PM: Six direct hits from Blogger.com, caused by the posting of this news item, and another “Rally Monkey” hit, have pushed today’s total to 78 already. A new record now seems almost certain.

UPDATE, 5:15 PM: It is also worth noting that October has easily surpassed July as the busiest month in “My world” history. July’s total was 784; October already has 915 hits, and with three days and seven hours left — and a mass e-mail set to go out Tuesday night — it seems very likely to break 1,000.

I haven’t found a video yet, but for all you Rally Monkey-crazed web surfers, here’s a profile of your favorite simian.

As of 2:40 PM Pacific time, this website has already received 53 hits today — its fifth straight day of 50 hits or more. Nineteen of today’s 53 hits have resulted from searches for the World Champion Anaheim Angels’ mascot, the Rally Monkey.

“My world” has received 69 “Rally Monkey”-related hits since the jumping primate first appeared on this page. Forty-six of those hits have come in the last 43 hours or so — that’s more than one per hour — since the Angels’ stunning, monkey-spurred comeback-for-the-ages in Game 6.

Here is a rundown of all the “Rally Monkey”-related hits:
1 - Oct. 17
3 - Oct. 18
0 - Oct. 19 (World Series Game 1)
4 - Oct. 20 (Game 2)
3 - Oct. 21
4 - Oct. 22 (Game 3)
0 - Oct. 23 (Game 4)
4 - Oct. 24 (Game 5)
4 - Oct. 25
8 - Oct. 26 (Game 6) (all 8 hits came after 8:00 pm)
19 - Oct. 27 (Game 7)
19* - Oct. 28

*as of 2:40 PM PST

I’ll be 21 on Wednesday. Less than 48 hours to go! Hooray!

On the day when the Anaheim Angels won their first world championship, the Rally Monkey helped spur a record-setting day in “My world.”

This website received 82 unique hits Sunday — including at least 19 from web searches for the Rally Monkey — to set a new daily record for hits in a day. The old record was 80, set on May 28, 2002, my parents’ 25th anniversary.

“My world” almost broke that record on Friday, but finished just short with 78 hits. It would have fallen just short on Sunday, too, if not for the extra hour provided by clocks’ “falling back” early Sunday for the end of Daylight Savings Time. The record-tying 80th hit, at 11:00 PM, and the record-breaking 81st hit, at 11:07 PM, both took place during the 25th hour of the calendar day.

Regardless of that technicality, there can be no doubting the recent surge in hits — there were 61 hits on Saturday, in addition to Friday’s 78 and Sunday’s 82, for a three-day total of 221. The sudden traffic swell is difficult to explain, especially since weekends have generally seen less traffic than weekdays throughout the history of “My world.” It is possible that the frequency of my recent blog postings has caused this website to gain clout generally in various search engines. (At least 55 of Sunday’s hits came from search engines.) If so, the record set Sunday may be quickly broken this week.

In addition to the 19 Rally Monkey hits and two other hits from World Series-related searches, there were nine hits from searches related to Sept. 11, five from hits related to the sniper shootings, and two from searches related to the Russian hostage crisis. There were also 18 hits from other, unrelated searches, such as “high school homecoming,” “krispy kreme newington,” and “muhlenberg college stripper.”

All-time busiest days in “My world” history:
1. October 27, 2002 - 82 (Searches for “Rally Monkey,” and other search engine hits)
2. May 28, 2002 - 80 (Mass e-mail announcing photos re: my parents’ 25th anniversary)
3. October 25, 2002 - 78 (Searches for “duck in a noose,” and other search engine hits)
4. November 30, 2001 - 74 (Mass e-mail announcing launch of “My world”)
5. September 10, 2002 - 68 (Mass e-mail announcing website update re: 9/11)
6. September 11, 2002 - 65 (9/11 webcam commemoration, and 9/11-related searches)
7. October 26, 2002 - 61 (No known reason for surge in hits)
8. July 11, 2002 - 59 (Mass e-mail announcing general website update)
9. July 10, 2002 - 55 (No known reason for surge in hits)
10. March 11, 2002 - 49 (Mass e-mail announcing opening of NCAA Pool signups)