Month: January 1970

Editors Note: Please note that since the review has been published, the author has contacted TWR to update his URL to the correct one. The reviews were based on the information that was given to us at the time and the thoughts/opinions may or may not have changed since the original time of the review.

First thing to spring to mind was loading time, and not because the site was particularly slow loading but rather the choice of URL the author had chosen to submit meant that at each loading I had to go through what seemed like an age of forwarding messages before I eventually arrived at his new location. Needless to say I was not expecting a great deal by the time I arrived. The site is fairly simple and unremarkable, and I must admit to an internal wince when I read the words ‘my personal interests in Middle East peace’ – I have encountered ‘peaceblogs’ before and while I believe they are as valid as any other blog I do find they have a tendency to be too forceful with their opinions for my tastes, worse still that there beliefs are founded in reasoning which lacks credibility. That said, I headed off to the about me section in search of some background knowledge on the author.

Richard, the author of the blog is seemingly well traveled, and takes a far more active role in world peace that your average blogger ‘I have been interested in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since I was a teenager and have worked all my adult life to promote dialogue and mutual recognition’, it doesn’t specify precisely what Richard does to promote dialogue between these two nations but it was enough to grab my attention, and so I headed off into the archives.

I always like to read archives in chronological order, it allows me to really see the development of the blog over time, and this is where I hit upon my first snag. Richard, or so it seems to be has chosen to list his archives by category only. Now as a rule that’s fine, it allows people to read items which are of interest to them, but not particularly useful for someone such as me who likes to read a blog by month in order to get a fuller picture. I understand that there some archives at the old Blogspot site, but I had difficulty gaining access to them and quite frankly found it almost as annoying as trying to access the site in the first place.

This author writes well, his entries are frequently highly detailed and eloquent and while they may not always be to my personal taste it never fails to be thought provoking stuff. What this site lacked in ease of navigation and individual design touches it made up in sheer quantity and quality of entries. It just concerns me that this site may be missing out on potential readership purely and simply because it isn’t as accessible as it could be. Granted not everyone navigates a site in the same way, but by providing various straight forward means of navigating archives you are at least making every effort to ensure the site is accessible to a wider audience.

The right hand navigational column has within it some hidden gems, and I discovered a link to a gallery which contains some really stunning images, and in my opinion definitely worthy of a look in every once in a while.

Tikun Olam has a lot of scope, its packed full of information, which may not always be to my taste is likely to attract a loyal audience among those who share similar interests and philosophies. With some amendments to design and archive listings this site would have some real potential, although it hasn’t as yet incited that crucial come back factor in me. A promising 3.5Tikun Olam: Make the World a Better Place

My first impressions of “Spinning” were good. Typepad blogs tend to be pretty well put together as a rule and this one is no exception. There is a title bar with detailed description of the blog (which is basically about writing) and some nice graphics. An “About Me” page reveals more on the writing theme, though it was not as in depth or informative as maybe it could have been. Browsing the two sidebars, I found the usual suspects – many links to other sites and blogs (mostly literature based), a webring and archives of various descriptions. The overall look of the site is pretty tasteful and there are a few graphics too which enhance things still further.

The weblog itself has only been going since October 2003 but there is more than enough content here to keep readers busy for sometime. Being a writer, the weblog is updated daily, often more than once. So what is written about exactly in this weblog? Well after reading through the archives for some time, I found that the key to accessing the content really lies in the different categories. The blog is helpful in this respect because each post title specifies which category it belongs to. Not all the category titles are clear at first, but I soon discovered that “Edgar and I” for example refers to the author’s relationship with Edgar Allen Poe, who she considers to be a major influence, “Reality?” is fairly obviously the day- to- day life stuff and so on.

Unfortunately I found the writing itself to be fairly inaccessible though, even once I started paying attention to the categories. Now I hold my hands up at this point and say that it may well have been me that was the problem here- I will be interested to see what the other reviewers have to say about it. The thing is, writing, literature, education and blogging (the main themes of the site) are all things which usually interest me, but somehow I couldn’t penetrate the wordy style of the author and found the posts a bit dry. This detailed and analytical style of prose is (I’m sure) very good practice for “proper” writing, but I think a more chatty, informal style might be more appropriate for a weblog and make it more accessible.

Overall then, this weblog would (I would think) appeal to other writers as there are loads of tips here about how to write and what to write, with some good examples of work by the author. My inability to connect with the writing style meant I found it a hard site to penetrate though, which is a shame.Spinning

Greeted by a generic typepad template with but a few modifications one can be forgiven for wondering whether this would be just another run of the mill blog, but given closer inspection the reader will discover that spinning is anything but. A brief about me gives you a little background information about both the author and the image which resides at the top of the right hand menu. With that brief introduction in mind I headed off to that crucial first posting, and I was gripped from that moment on.

The blog has been in place since October 2003, and from the outset the quality of writing is by far superior to your average weblog. The vast majority of her posts are on the art form itself, with extracts from pieces of her own work. This site serves as a beautiful insight into the life and mind of an author. Every entry is beautifully written and engaging, and I quickly discovered that I had worked my way through her entire archives without looking up once!

There is nothing spectacular about the design, it’s a straight forward typepad template with some minor adjustments and a couple of images. All the links worked, it was easy to navigate, and easy to read. There are some fascinating links in the right hand column which are definitely worthy of further perusal, and be sure to check out Talespinning listed as work in progress.

If you are interested in excellent writing then this site is definitely worth a visit. The site design may not be as individual as it could be, but it doesn’t need to, the writing sells itself. A rare find, and worthy of the first 5 I have awarded.Spinning

Spinning is one of those blogs that you really need to sit down to with a nice hot cuppa and a plate of shortbread – and it really was too bad that I was forced to review the site through the day at work where a nice relaxed hot cuppa and a plate of shortbread just isn’t available.

My first impression of the site was that it was a bit too greyish. It’s a very basic design that doesn’t confuse you but it’s basic almost to a fault. I personally would like to see something that reflects the writer a little more but it’s okay as it stands.

As usual, my immediate action was to check out the “about me” and the first couple of entries in the blog to get an idea of the person behind it, leaving the rest of the blog alone until I’d achieved that particular goal. Well… there’s not really that much in the “about me” section. We have a one-line bio and one that is fairly typical of bloggers world-wide; “A lover of writing and reading.” She goes on to explain that the pencil drawing that appears in the top right-hand corner of the blog is not her but a picture of an oldtime movie star that her mother drew. We’re also given a brief glimpse of her interests which range from reading and writing to computer hardware.

You really can’t garner much from the first few entries (going back to October 2003) anything more about the writer either, but you don’t really need to. The quality of the writing is outstanding and draws the reader in (or at least, it did with me) regardless of the fact that there is very little information about the person behind the blog. This is a sure sign of a great, engaging writer.

While it’s personal, it’s not the mundane retelling of daily life. We don’t have to read what Spinning’s author had for breakfast, or that the car wouldn’t start. The audience gets to read past the obvious and into the interesting. For instance, when I think of the inside of a computer, I think of loads of wiring that I have no idea what to do with whereas Spinning’s writer will say “..fiddling around deep inside the bowels of a computer…” as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

And don’t get me started on her creative writing either, for it’s utterly fantastic. There’s little snippets of writing which left me wanting more and this entry is just one where I really got into the simplistic creativity.

This is a real example of not judging a blog by it’s design – for whilst the look of the site won’t catch your eye, the content will keep you rivetted.

Spinning

My first impressions of “Life in the Crescent” were ones of surprise. I originally surmised that the crescent in question would be a suburban one and this would simply be another personal blog outlining activities of the author’s daily life. However, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it actually refers to “Juniper Crescent” – a web comic (one of three) which the author produces and publishes online. The blog was set up originally as an alternative to the forums, and it is always nice to see something a bit different being done with the blogging format.

The design itself is fairly unimaginative – no graphics or snazzy title bars, but the green colour scheme is very pleasant and it is certainly easy to read, so no real worries there. All the links seemed to be working, so technically it seemed fine too.

As well as producing web comics, the author is also a writer and designer of video games, and although I am not personally familiar with any of the games he has worked on (adventure games), they all got great reviews. Some aspects of his work are discussed throughout the blog, though the majority of the content focuses on the web comics aspects. One of the nicest features is the “Web comic of the Week”, where the author selects his current favourite and states why. Being a web comic producer himself, he clearly knows his stuff and these reviews are always well informed and in depth. They would be particularly useful for anyone (like me) who knows little about the subject and would like an introduction.

Other than that, there are a few personal entries about what he has been up to and various news items which have caught his attention. While these entries tend to be a bit superficial, they nevertheless break up the rest of the content well.

Generally then this is a great weblog for anyone who has an interest in web comics, or adventure gaming. I am not sure if there is enough content here to hold the attention of a general readership, but it is all pleasantly written and inoffensive nevertheless. Incidentally, the comics themselves seem to be held in high regard too and are definitely worth taking a look at if you visit the blog.
Life in the Crescent