Month: January 1970

Sweet And Sour certainly is a blog. And there’s really nothing else to it. It’s written by a guy called Eric (I am guessing, since that’s what he says in his minute “About Me” sort of spiel in the top right-hand corner of his blog). In hopes of gaining some insight to the person that is Eric, I jumped to the very first entry, maybe there’s some more information about him there? Nope. I almost took offense to his labelling of journalling as “juvenile”, but apart from that, there was no hint nor clue as to why this blog was started other than to keep track of things he would otherwise forget.

A good reason for blogging if ever there was one. A logical reason for blogging. A boring reason for blogging.

The blog is a standard Blogger layout, well defined headers, dates, and a song that he’s listening to whilst writing is listed for each entry he makes. The code is clean and the site loads very quickly – because there’s nothing there! There’s one really spffy thing about blogging and that is the control you have over your personal space. This blog is about you, Eric – make it yours! Go nuts with the design – especially since I am assuming you’re an aspiring actor (or enthusiastic about getting a job in the entertainment industry). It’s a pity that many people who write well in their blogs don’t think to create or use a design for their site that really reflects their own personalities. There’s no links showing personal interests, no links to blogger friends. There’s no decent information about him or the characters in his blog that feature so heavily in his life.

It’s bland! I read through entry after entry. Eric doesn’t attempt to be funny, he doesn’t say anything extraordinarily poignant or particularly wonderful. It’s a recording of his day-to-day life, a thing that this particular reviewer (and fellow blogger) doesn’t really appreciate. Readers don’t want a simple recording of what you’ve have for breakfast, or what you’ve done after that last exam. We want to know the nitty gritty. Why are you hanging out with that girl from work? Why are people wanting to take your picture in restaurants and hook you up with their daughters? Eric’s life reads like a typical young man’s life, but you don’t get much more information other than that.

The whole problem with the blog I find, like I said before, is that there’s nothing personable in the design. To really get the whole story with Eric, you need to read the blog from beginning to end. Maybe if it was written with a little more flare I’d get into it more, but I couldn’t. So whilst there was a number of entries I read in depth, it was matched by an equal number that I could only skim through.

However I do have to point out that Eric is well written and there’s nary a spelling or grammatical error to be found, that’s pretty spiffy. The other redeeming feature of Eric, as I found out in an earlier entry in the blog, is that he likes ska music (which can often be described as big band punk rock) – Reel Big Fish. He also likes that gothique classique – The Cure. Good boy. I forgive you.

Overall, this blog has terrific potential to be really enthralling for it’s audience, but it falls short. That’s not to say that it’s an awful read, just a little bland with the repetitive “I did this and then I did that” entries.Sweet And Sour

From the URL alone, I wondered why this site was up for review. It doesn’t sound like a blog but a blog it most certainly is, with the name, bmg://its.bloggingly.delicious, hinting at a quirky site with some tasty content that will make you come back for more. The ‘about me’ page shows that the author is as interesting as the name suggests because it is set out like the transcript of a press conference, with Mike answering questions from his public. This page provides a little bit of background without being too in depth and the style certainly held my interest.

The blog itself has been in existence since January 2003. A mix of diary style ponderings and Friday link-fests, the posts themselves can be quite engaging when they appear but the last couple of months have been a bit lighter than previously. I liked the habit of posting amusing emails (e.g. real car insurance claims and what I’ve learned) on the blog as, although many people will have seen them already, it is a much tidier way to pass on these funnies to others than simply clogging up inboxes with it. I was interested to read about the author’s attempts at giving up smoking also, but the most recent post on a health drink that he is now on did make me think this was a commercial site at first!

The blog is powered by Moveable Type and, like so many others using the same, the design is both clean and simple making it very easy to read and navigate. The colours are well chosen and lend a professional air to the site, but it does look like it could do with an accent colour as well as the shades of blue/grey. Although bmg does not fall into the trap of using an unaltered template like so many blogs, there is still much that could be done with the design. This in no way detracts from the writing though, as the uncluttered design lets the reader focus on the content.

The webcam image on the front page is a nice touch as many readers will like to see the person behind the posts, and I also liked the addition of a guest map rather than the traditional guestbook. In addition, although there is obviously more content on bmg than the blog alone, at the time of reviewing I could not open the pics, movies and old stuff pages. I assume this is just a temporary glitch.

All in all, this is a nice well written site with interesting links that has broad appeal. If the author can keep up with his previous posting frequency, he will entice many readers back for another look.bmg://It’s Bloggingly Delicious

Tony, who posts under the pseudonym TriPolarProduce, appears to be making his first entrance, new as of July 2003 on this site, into the blogging ring found all of the World Wide Web. Hosted by 20six.co.uk, which is apparently yet another publishing “platform for all those looking to publish hassle-free on the internet with a Weblog”, the layout of the site isn’t one that’s been worn into the ground by other blogging tools. The gray, green, yellow, and red colors that were chosen compliment each other, making for an aesthetically pleasant appearance.

A “more about me” section is available by following a link from the main page of the site, and here, readers can learn a great deal more about Tony. The “about page” has a section where authors list their interests and hobbies, which in turn allow one to discover more weblogs with authors that have those same interests and hobbies. While this feature is used readily with other various journal sites, the information provided by Tony does allow readers to get a valid idea of what they will soon be reading.

The archival method chosen for “Where Life Meets Life” is daily, and navigating through the months and days of the journal is done easily by the calendar on the top right hand side of weblog. Starting from the beginning, which for this site was July 29, 2003, Tony jumps right in with a story of what just happened to him a couple of days prior. This particular story, discussing an experience at an Open Mike night, sets the precedence for a good portion of this weblog.

As his “about” page indicates, Tony hosts open mike nights from time to time, and seems to always have experiences he deems worth of sharing with readers. In these writings, readers certainly find clearly written paragraphs describing the details that seem to pull the scene at hand perfectly enough to grasp the concepts or ideas that Tony conveys.

The topics Tony writes about aren’t topics that necessarily fall as common knowledge to most people. He talks a lot about his escapades as an open mike host or an MC, and talks a lot about his plans for his future in the creative/entertainment industry. Reading about the way his ideas unfold, however, is definitely both interesting and somewhat inspiring to any type of reader.

Like with the majority of weblogs, readers will find things they can connect with when reading “When Life Meets Life”, but others will find they have nothing remotely in common with Tony. This is definitely a weblog worth looking into, and at least checking back in with from time to time to see how his success is coming along.

american individual

With a blog being hosted by a .co.uk and a title of American Individual, I immediately thought this would be the blog about an American in the UK. Oh how I was wrong, for the most part.

The blog is written by an American, he just isn’t in the UK. So not too bad, I was half right. Tony is the blog’s author. He is involved with a lot of different things, but mainly the entertainment industry. His fingers are in music, acting, and art, as well as other things. This blog talks all about those.

The design of the site is a standard two column layout, with an original header. The colors he uses to seperate the columns and the header (olive green and a complimenting yellow) are not found anywhere else in the site unfortunately. Because the site is hosted by a company, there is of course an ad banner at the top of the site. I hardly noticed it once I started digging into the blog.

The blog itself is easy to read, but a pain to navigate. The only options you have for reading the archives are a “previous and next page” link at the bottom of each page, or by clicking on a specific date in the calendar. I was really dissapointed that I could not browse an entire month’s worth of archives at a time, and that the calendar function of navigating between months, doesn’t change the posts to that month.

The only extra to this site is an about page which gives a nice little bit of information. I wish that he had links to his Freestyle Records (which I enjoyed reading about the progress of) or to his art. He mentions posting things to other sites, and direct links from his blog to those would be really cool.

Overall I enjoyed my time here. My biggest complaint is about the archive naviagation and how it really isn’t there. The topics of the blog are interesting and will keep you entertained. While most blogs give you the same drivel of stuff, Tony stays away from that, and focuses on specific topics. This is a refreshing new entry into the blogging world.american individual

When I first clicked onto this site, I spent ages wondering what the background pattern was! I was wondering if it was stones or something. I have to admit that it totally distracted me for awhile! I then noticed the contrast between the background and the boxes. It stood out to me. I noticed how tidy the site was and how few boxed links there were. It all felt very compact. I also linked the top drop down menu.

The blog is a real mixture of subjects. Chad is ill at the moment with bronchitis and is feeling quite down in the dumps! He made an interesting survey of what he saw on TV for a day though that made me titter. The posts are made up of sport, some political musings and the story of his court appearance. I did not find out what he actually had to go for though! There is a touch of personnel posts and if you go back through the archives, you can catch a picture of him with a puppy! He also has links to other sites to discover weird and wonderful ways to amuse yourself, including how much you are worth on your own barcode!! There is also some technical posts thrown in as he is studying computer networking.

I personally, as mentioned above, got really distracted by the background. I kept finding my eyes drawn to it, and continuing to wonder what it reminded me of! I was also fascinated by the fact that the boxes moved whilst the background stayed static! I guess that I am easily distracted! The design though is very clean and there is no clutter on the site. The boxes to the right are kept to a minimum and there is a drop down title bar. The “speak” button had me foxed though. It was novel to have a person talking to you, once I had recovered from the shock! I do not have broadband though, so experienced a few problems!

It is hard to tell when the posts were made as there does appear to be any dates on each post. There is a calendar that marks how many days he has posted on that month. I must also admit that the difference in the page designs did make me feel as though I had left the weblog and gone somewhere else when I clicked out! I could not get the graduation or greenbier links to work though…it lists the jpegs for the pages.

The main bonus for regular readers is that you can subscribe to receive the latest updates to C:TOOKIEWANA.EXE. The mixture of the posts on the blog do ensure that there is something to amuse everyone. I am sure that anyone that visited could find part of the site that they would enjoy reading, or find a link that takes them to somewhere that makes them smile.

I can honestly say that there is such a varied mixture of subjects in this blog, that I found myself reading for ages!! I really enjoyed my visit and found some of the posts truly fascinating. I always love to read about people and their lives outside of where I live. Some posts made me laugh, some got me closer to Chad and some just made me sit back and think. I think that this blog has got better as time has moved on. I will certainly be visiting it again. It was refreshing and made a very good read.
tookiewana