Month: October 2005

When I read the title of this blog, I must admit that I got pretty excited. Finally I was going to read a blog about the life of a Harley driving, leather wearing roadie; who hopefully had a mullet and for some reason needed to blog in order to reach his inner child. So right off the bat, I was a bit disappointed that I hadn’t yet found such a blog.

Instead I found a personal blog written by a stand-up comedian from Chicago. There was no information in the “my profile” section, and I had to hunt through the archives to find out who was behind this blog. That’s something I would never do, unless I was reviewing a site. I would recommend more personal info in that section.

I couldn’t find his real name anywhere on the site. Personally, I like to know my bloggers by name, especially those who write personal blogs. I have a hard time relating to someone who simply goes by “Thunder Roadie.” Unless he drives a Harley, wears leather, and has a mullet.

The layout of this blog is very simple. It’s just a basic blogger template with absolutely zero additions. There was a single link to “The Weblog Review,” at the bottom of the blog atop a site counter. I found no other out-going links. It was almost refreshing not to have a million things blinking at me and asking me to go visit other places, but a few links to some favorite sites would have been helpful. There were also no pictures to be found anywhere, and I’m a big fan of pictures as well.

The writing itself was well done. I didn’t find any mistakes, and it’s easy to follow and non-offensive. Most of the blogs are about Thunder Roadie’s everyday life. It’s a relatively new blog (starting in August) with two months only having one post. So I’m not sure if Thunder Roadie is writing frequently enough to keep readers coming back. I would also like to hear a bit more about the life that is specific to comedians, and less about things that I read in every other blog.

All of that being said, I hope that Thunder Roadie keeps up what he is doing. Please take this review and all criticism with a grain of salt, and keep blogging the way you want to. After all, you’re not blogging to please anyone but yourself.
Thunder Roadie

“Thunder Roadie” greeted me with your average “click-and-choose,” pre-made Blogger template. Seeing the bland layout constituting of a white background, dark gray text, and orange titles made me hesitate, but when I got past this inhabition, I soon was reading the weblog profusely.

“Thunder Roadie” is what I would call a fairly new weblog, even if it has technically been around since August 2004. The author has taken many hiatuses, and only in the last month or two, he seems to be getting into the feel of weblogging. In fact, the author himself said, on his first post, that he needs to find his “blog-voice,” and while there are hints of a voice in his later posts, sometimes the author falls into a common pitfall: telling the reader everything about his day, or details that wouldn’t interest most readers.

However, some entries showed hidden talent and a definite “voice.” These entries were humorous, light-hearted, thoughtful, and generally a fun read. A good example was “Unspotless Minds,” where I felt my heart-strings tug, or “Who’s My Daddy?” where I found myself chuckling.

“Thunder Roadie” deserves a four because of the honest try the author is giving, and how much he has improved. But, like fine wine, this blog needs to develop a bit more before it can be truly wonderful.Thunder Roadie