Author: admin

I hate being honest sometimes… but, well, here you go: My first impression on this one was plain and simple “Jesus, not one of *those* again!” – what I saw was a very basic blog using one of the most used (but still boring) standard templates, with a few links and a small archive that somehow told me “this is not gonna last long”. Another major thing that annoyed me is I couldn’t find an “About Me” page, so I had no idea who my host might be (besides what I guessed from the title and tagline).

Anyhow, you know what they say about books and their covers, don’t you? I do, and so I forced myself to actually read the entries by that “girl living on Cape Brenton”. As she states in her first post, there’s a lot of ranting, rambling and raving going on, spiced with a high density of typos.

A lot of the bitching is very personal, and although this is sugar for all slightly voyeuristic blog hoppers, it’s getting a bit old after a while since I often had no idea what she’s talking about (and, as I stated earlier, had know idea who/what) she actually is. It was funny and entertaining at times, but got old soon.

So let’s be done with this: I really think the author could turn this into an above-average, even quite good blog; she’s funny, and there’s things going on in her life that would surely make good stories. This transformation, however, is going to be hard work (especially considering the design issues), and I assume her “blogging-style” just needs to evolve.

Numerical, it’s just a 3 for me now, with the option to make that a 4 or even better when Jamie decides to stop underachieving.capergrl.blogspot.com

I have to say that first impressions of the site came not with the loading of the page, but with the title itself ‘The Mommy Blog’. I’m not a Mommy, and I honestly couldn’t see what there would be for me there if the whole thing was centred around being a ‘Mommy’. But I persisted. This is not the weblog of a typical stay-at-home Mommy, and this is reflected through the entire blog. In one form or another the weblog has been around since December 2002, and is well established with a personal theme, and a good set of visitors.

As I had expected the site mostly consists of personal entries – about her family, her job and random life events as and when they happen. The posts are largely well written and easy to follow – the author writes well, and this is a definite bonus for any blog regardless of the content. Her posts are however sporadic, varying both in terms of posting consistency and quality/appeal of content. Not every post held my rapt attention, but all in all it was an enjoyable and worthwhile read. I couldn’t help but feel that this weblog is going to be more popular amongst fellow working Mum’s, judging by content at least.

The design is beautifully done and is individual, really suiting the style of its owner. It’s a commonly utilised 3 column layout, content in the centre flanked on either side by various internal and external links. There were two main problems I picked up on however. The first being the method of skinning the site, which didn’t work the two occasions I visited this site – Bit of a disappointment, as I was curious about the alternatives to the main theme. The second is the section “I’m telling” which resides at the bottom of the right hand column – the method of showing recent referrals to the site was pushing the fixed column out. Admittedly not a huge problem, but it was a blotch on an otherwise pristine template.

I found the content well written I couldn’t with all honesty say that this was a blog I would visit on a regular basis. I do feel it has appeal, just to a restricted audience. It’s contribution to the weblog world however is an insight into the life of a working Mum, and this if expanded on a little more could really have potential. An interesting diversion, a potentially good 3.5The Mommy Blog

I wasn’t sure what to think about The Mermaid Tavern, as there’s no mention of mermaids, or taverns for that matter. First impressions of the blog weren’t terribly good as I geared myself up to wander through the content. It’s got an old blogspot template for it’s layout which is particularly uninspiring and lacking in the pull to capture the reader’s initial attention. I do believe that something more suited to the blogger’s personality in this case would definitely help the overall feel of the blog.

“The sense of the philosofairy is to never make sense.” You got that right! She doesn’t at first, but therein lies the appeal. I read with a growing interest, evolving from thinking the blog was a little dull and silly to finding it quirky (in a good way) and well written. It’s not a very old blog, indiejade only began The Mermaid Tavern in late February this year, so the reading was quick and easy… and surprisingly entertaining.

So who is the philosofairy? “indiejade” is all we know her as, and there’s a sparse sprinkling of personal information on the front page, though not really enough to quench the thirst for background knowledge that this reviewer had. So I wandered over to first entry which is an anthropological discussion on the people of Oregon and already we can already see the quirkiness come to the fore. Unfortunately there was no more background information about the philosofairy herself (apart from the fact that she likes Chardonnay) as I was hoping, but it’s a good introduction to her personality and her writing.

indiejade takes us through her life as the philosofairy and it’s an entertaining ride, filled with posts detailing the mystery of the manila envelope to thoughts on the economy. Each entry is delivered with a quiet sort of humour, which while it won’t give you the big belly laughs afforded by other humour sites, will certainly leave you smiling if not giggling just a tiny bit.

I’d have to say that this confusing little blog is fun and definitely quirky. I came away from it knowing that there is a very smart and funny individual behind the entertaining anecdotes and analogies. And it’s quirky. If there was ever a word to describe The Mermaid Tavern, it would definitely be quirky. 3/5 for the blog, plus 0.5 for the quirkiness. Thanks indiejade! The Mermaid Tavern

Between the Hedges was not what I was hoping it would be. It was not about gardening. Nor was it about hedgehogs. Nor was it about anything along the lines of a normal news/link blog.

Does the stock market interest you at all? Wall Street perhaps? Do you own shares in a multimillion dollar company? Have you lost money due to an incompetent stock broker. Does seeing “NASDAQ” send shivers of delight down your spine? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you would find Between the Hedges interesting.

For the rest of the common blogosphere, it’s utterly boring. It’s obvious this blogger is writing for a specific audience, that being people with a very particular interest in trading shares and wanting opinions on the goings-on therein.

Out of morbid curiosity I took a peek at the first entry and found the following disclaimer which mentions amongst other things “…The positions and strategies discussed on Between the Hedges are offered for entertainment purposes and are in no way intended to serve as personal investing advice…” I’d personally like to know where the entertainment lies. I read a handful of entries and found exactly the same thing in each one – nothing that interested me – and I gave up in frustration. There are no links to anything newsworthy, no political statements, no fart jokes, nothing. Very dull. Purposeful, but dull.

Anyway, the layout of the blog isn’t offensive in the slightest, a lovely shade of murky “greenback” green and easy to read (if one can understand the jargon) though I was particularly annoyed by the millions of pop-ups generated from all the java applets on display.

Now, whilst I didn’t like this blog at all, I am aware that there are people out there who would like it and find it interesting and even a helpful resource. I will give it a 2.5/5 because it does what it sets out to do, which is providing information about the stock exchange in a coherent manner, but that’s about it.Between the Hedges

The first thing that came to my mind when I saw the name of the blog was suspicion. Celebrity blogs have a tendency of being fake and/or proxy ones. My suspicion grew when I saw that this one was hosted on starblogger.com. TWR has already reviewed Britney Spears’ Blog which also happened to be hosted on Starblogger.com and which was fake for certain.

Even for a fake blog, there is hardly anything worth visiting. The blog started in May 2003. We are greeted with entries as to how Debbie loves Eminem, and all of a sudden there is one entry full of expletives and hate for him. Then the next entry says that the blog was hacked, but the previous entry is never deleted! Now anyone remotely connected to blogging is aware that one can edit/delete previous entries without remotest of complexities.

Even if we ignore that, after five entries in May, the next entry is in October. So much for proper frequency. Again the same pattern follows, two really loving entries later we have another hateful post. Then again the ‘hacked again’ thing.

After October there are all of two entries. One is January; this one is attacking her haters. And the next one is February, called ‘Jewish Parody of The Passion’ this one seems to be a mass spam-like entry in all starblogger blogs, you can see it Britney’s , Eminem’s and Friends’ Blogs at starblogger.

The design is the common Movable Type grey-on-white. No tweaking has been done to the design at all.

Going with the tradition of starblogger blogs, this too is highly non-recommended. I counted the total number of entries: – Eleven. Even if you want to waste your time, I am sure you would have better things to do than visit this blog.

Debbie Mathers : Eminem’s Mom