The Weblog Review

When Original Something first came up on my screen, my initial reaction was: green, very green. Isn’t green supposed to soothing? Well, Original Something isn’t soothing, but it is a charming blog of a very cool and eccentric guy called Jon.



Jon’s writing is the major draw to Original Something. He has a certain je ne sais quois that makes me smile. From doting on the cancelled TV show “Sports Night” to Luke and Owen Wilson’s doped-up looking countenances, Jon’s quirky entries make me realize that life and the web can be a load of fun. But Jon does have depths, as his July 8th entry on his thoughts about life shows.



Design wise, Original Something leaves something to be desired for. It is a very plain (and green) blog, but the layout is comfortably navigable, and besides, he plays the guitar and has songs available for download! If the layout, color scheme, and design were cleaned up a little, Jon would have a truly great blog on his hands.
Quo Vadimus

Unfoldedorigami is a beautifully designed blog. The colors are soothing and the layout is simple but elegant. You can immediately see that the one line description on the front page, “an artist’s blog,” is very apt. It is both a well-written and well-designed blog, something that is sadly too lacking on the web today.



The writing itself can be divided into two types: personal and creative. The personal entries are extremely interesting, giving us glimpses into the varied artistic endeavors of the person behind the blog along with their everyday life. The creative entries, though substantially less in number, are even better. Within these entries you can find short stories, poems, and even Quicktime and Flash videos, all showcasing the artist’s talent (though I am sorry to say that I was not able to view the videos; a dial-up connection just doesn’t cut it).



Unfoldedorigami is hosted at diaryland.com, and while that does present some limitations, the blog integrates them well. It is streamlined, only providing us with the main journal, an archives section, and a guestbook. This minimalistic construction punctuates the grace of Unfoldedorigami, as, of course, does the name.



Unfoldedorigami is worth visiting, and I only wish there were more of it. It chronicles the life of an artist I’d like to know more about.
unfoldedorigami

Although NOTD is mainly a site that reviews movies, it’s called News Of The Day. I could be wrong, but I’m guessing it’s because Kenny (the brain behind the site) also has set forth a daily personal log of sorts. NOTD is a collaborative effort of 8 young men, who mainly review movies and goof off on a regular basis. With a heavy emphasis on goofing off.

Kenny’s daily log is a funny one, usually recapping his travels or daily observances, and features his very intelligent commentary (Note to the weaker-minded: There ARE pictures!). The posts made in and around the front pages of the site by the other staff, are frocked with the genuine humor and insight that you would not ordinarily get from a newspaper or traditional movie review…so, I was interested enough to move further.

The reviews the guys do are pretty objective, and of course, silly as well. You needn’t be one of their crowd to understand them, either. I’d say the group blog area in itself is worth the visit to the site, and I’m sure they’d be glad to hear that.

The layout on the main page, I’m guessing, is the more recent of the handful that make up NOTD’s design. The webmaster has kept the previous templates where they lie, in the older parts of the site (as do some bloggers). Sometimes this doesn’t work for blogs, and in NOTD’s case, it initially threw me off a bit. The navigation formula remains intact, so I guess its not that scary after all. I’m not sure if the recent move of the blog’s ‘power’ to Greymatter has affected NOTD, I just wondered why the archive page appears to be missing nearly a year’s worth of entries (mid-June ’01 to March 02′). Everything else seems to be intact and all the other content I’ve read was great, so I let it slide.

I especially liked the graphic on the front page. It seems to represent the mindset of the average NOTD staffer, by saying that they deviate, yet manage to provide a kind of harmony. They make something fit even if it doesn’t belong, like the styrofoam cup that’s too big, on a hot coffee press. Cinderella’s glass slipper in a bowl of Jell-O. Watching a porno with Mom. But I digress. My point is, this brings me to summize that NOTD combines elements which perhaps don’t belong together: movie reviews, news, a personal/group blog, a ‘Smiley Cam’, and rampant male adolescent humor. But somehow, some way, it works.

Overall, I’d recommend the average weblog reader to stop by and check out a funny weblog entry or two, or peruse through the movie reviews. If you think the Sunday Comics are boring, you find Leonard Malten to be a schmuck, or are just looking for something new and fun, put down your issue of Stuff and run, don’t walk, to NOTD. I’m sure you’ll find some peace of mind, as well as fellowship, there.

*Sniff* I have. 5 out of 5.News Of The Day

“My Views on the News” is exactly what the title implies or in the words of the writer “weird news + weird brain = my blog” and a great site it is.



The layout at first put me off when the site loaded up. The background is newsprint, but it’s covered up by another background of black and red, which really doesn’t look all that great. However the content of the site is exceptional.



The author Annie was is a former newspaper reporter who has interviewed well-known people such as former first lady, Hilary Rodham Clinton and Doc Severinsen and traveled around much of the United States and outside of the country. In addition to traveling and reporting, she is also a published poet and photographer and won a journalism award for her work.



Her blog consists of links to articles with her views on them ranging from odd news, to mainstream stories, both in net and real life news. She often will explain a bit about what the story is giving you a bit a background and then explaining her thoughts about it which can be sarcastic to serious. I really enjoyed reading her input on the different articles and even reading the crazy stuff that’s out there that people report on.



In addition to her site, she also has links to a short bio page and the main page has links to different weblogs and sites containing different topics such as news, search engines and weblog-oriented sites.



This makes cool site and in her words, “I don’t have an editor telling me what I can or can’t say. It’s liberating. It feels good.”My Views on the News

With the ‘neal curley dot com’ website, Neal has created a combination journal/photolog under the motto of “if I were famous you would care.” This is just his response to the myraid of weblogs out there that don’t have any purpose and kind of blend in with everything else, just like his weblog. He is “almost” fifteen years old, and he has been writing on his very own domain which he received on his fourteenth birthday. Neal’s hobbies include web design and photography. This weblog is a pleasure to read, contains lots of navigational pathways leading one to just about every corner of the site.

This is about the life of a typical high school teenager who is into web design, travelling, blogging (of course), business, film and television production, photography, politics, ad infinitum. Most of this can be found somewhere on his extensive site. Neal considers the purpose of blogging to be nothing more than “random and odd observations of life, photos.” What really stands out is Neal’s work with high-definition digital media, and this is what makes his weblog shine. There are nice high-quality pictures of nature and cities, sharp and colorful. Philadelphia in black and white. There are also links to other fine photo sites he has created. I especially enjoyed the galleries called “Sunny in June” and “August in New York.” The links to other websites he has created (seven no less) add even more color, mostly covering his various adventures and experiments in the world of modern photography.

There are plenty of links covering a broad area of interests. You get the feeling of reading, listening and watching, with an occasional oddly fascinating section of bizarre items and funny pictures taken from various news sources. You can also take part in various polls (he tries to impress you with his Latin by calling them “vox populi”) and for the poll “If I was a confusing Chinese proverb, I would be…” I went for “When walking through a melon patch, don’t adjust your sandals.”

The drab grey background, while allowing the text entries stand out alright, is not deserving of the photo galleries which yearn for a more professional-looking backdrop. Try to fix this Neal and your site will be even better.

The ‘neal curley dot com’ website is smooth going. Neal pursues his creativeness with both feet on the ground, and the entries are updated on a regular basis. A natural progression from here to there, with colorful pictures to spice up your mood. Nice going Neal, cannot wait to see what you have to offer for your fifteenth birthday.neal curley dot com