Category: Uncategorized

First off, I have to warn you about Damn The World. This site is offensive. Not just a little bit either, but full blown, I want to piss off people, type of offensiveness. Now this wasn’t my first expectation with this site, but I did expect a lot of rants when I would get to the blog.

The weblog itself is very new. It just started in September, and well has a lot of ground to cover if they really want to get their name out in the blogging community.

Even with the infancy of the weblog, we have a weblog that does what it is supposed to do; offend almost everyone. Posts range from Boycotting places, people, countries, to Movie Reviews, and well there are worse things that I cannot even mention.

One of the more interesting things about this site, is you have to read the entire post to understand it. Yes, the posts are obnoxious, and talk about things that you normally would not talk about. But, on quite a few posts I kept saying to myself that this couldn’t be true, it just can’t be. And of course the last line of the post explains it very clearly.

The quality of the writing is just average. The authors do like to swear a lot, and use all kinds of phrases within their posts. However that isn’t a bad thing. It goes along with the site and the goal of it.

The design is nothing to worship as it is a basic two column design. The logo unfortunately does not go with the archives, but then again, there are only one month’s worth of archives. Each post has at least one image with a caption of some sort to sort of help set the mood for the post itself. I found a fair number of these funny, but then a fair number of them were repulsive.

Honestly I could not justify giving this site above a 1.5 at this point in time. The site is still too new to be able to do much of anything. Granted, what they have tried to do is for the most part accomplished. While the small amount of entries did their job, they just didn’t do anything to keep me coming back. I have seen sites similar to this one, but they execute the humor and the posts a lot better. This site is not for the weak of heart, and should not be viewed at work, or around little kids. I also cannot say I would visit this site again. For this site to really bring back an audience, they need to put more work into the look and feel of the site.
Damntheworld.com

Christopher Walker likes to make monkeys cry. On purpose. Thus the title of this lovely online journal. This particular predilection is never fully explained, but it’s enough to justify the title.

A young man from the UK, Walker is a writer and web designer. He began Monkeys Cry in June of last year. Walker is a talented writer with a love of language and good ear for a cleverly turned phrase. When I first started reading through the archives, I thought to myself, “This guy takes himself a little too seriously,” but slowly his dry sense of humor began to show up here and there. Walker, like most writers, is an avid reader and many of his entries are concerned with his latest read. He’s a thoughtful and witty critic.

The first half of Monkeys Cry details Walker’s move to Nagano, Japan to become a teacher. His descriptions of the landscape, the people, and the cultural differences he encounters are delightful to read.

Some of the entries are a little cryptic, but deliberately so, and it doesn’t happen frequently enough to be annoying. Instead it serves as an incentive to read further in the hope that these riddles will be solved. A few of the entries are a bit wordy and at times the author’s flowery language borders on pretentious, but the subjects he chooses to expound on are interesting more often than not.

There are some excellent extras to be found at Monkeys Cry. Several lovely photo series taken by Walker in both Japan and Europe are available. Also included are links to Walker’s original short stories and online novel, The Last People. I haven’t read the novel yet but his short stories are interesting.

Visually, Monkeys Cry is lovely. Walker is a talented web designer. He recently started his own design business, Ubik Studios. His journal is simple but not plain and looks great in both Netscape and Internet Explorer. An appealing patterned background and photos that rotate as you move from page to page add visual punch. He’s a proponent of fully accessible design, and for that I could just kiss him.

Monkeys Cry is a sturdy, engrossing journal. Walker takes the time to craft more than just a laundry list of his daily activities. You can tell he puts a lot of thought into each entry. He takes chances with his writing and isn’t afraid to experiment with style. That, combined with a pleasing original design, makes Monkeys Cry a journal worth returning to.
Monkeys Cry

Sometimes when I go to a site there’s just something that draws me in. This time, with this blog I couldn’t shake off the odd feeling of deja vu. The site looks beautiful with the images of flowers along the top. I stopped by the profile and disclaimer to see what she had to say.

The blog itself goes back quite a few years. It’s always interesting, at least for me, to read where the blog began, and often what happened. Though I’ll admit, the first entry I actually read was the most current one, and I was easily captivated by this author. Trinity has a different way with words, and she shares her feelings, without holding back. I have to give it to an author; anyone who can talk about poor eating habits and body reactions in one entry has to be worth reading. Her entry on religion should awaken the masses, but probably won’t. I can’t help but understand where she’s coming from in her story of her “awakening.” So it finally hits me, why I’ve been to this blog before. Remembering Scott.

The design is functional. It works. Knowing how diaryland is about templates, there’s only so much available to each blogger. You’re only able to read the most recent entry when you get there. The archives all work function properly. Actually, the archives are actually laid out nicely, letting you see the actual date and the entry title. The colors are pleasing on the eyes with soft lavender’s and purples.

There’s a profile page, but you don’t get much about Trinity there. You find out some of Trinity’s favorite diarist’s are, as well as favorite books and things of that nature. The only disappointing thing is that there isn’t anything by way of who she actually is, or any personal tidbits that’ll give you a glimpse into who this author really is.

This blog is a good one, overall. It’s a little more personal that some people might want to read. Trinity tells you how it is in her opinion and she tells it well. There are a few grammatical and typo errors, but not enough to make a big stink about it. She tells a damn good story, and I’d highly recommend this blog to others.Trinity Sixty-Three – The Escapades of me

I laughed at the photo of the boy!! It made me smile which is always a good start when you first click onto a journal! Then I noticed the nice neat boxes and was struck by how organised it all looked. Then I saw how long the list of links was and felt abit overwhelmed!!

This is a personal blog with an insight into Lee’s mind. It is exactly as it says, a journal. You can share and read Lee’s thought and feeling on everything from her packing up smoking and drinking, to what she thinks of awards shows!!! Follow her as she turns from nice to a cigarette starved woman on a mission! Her about me page suggests that she values her privacy, but I think that you get a good idea of the woman behind the blog with her entries.

The design is nice and simple. Clean cut and easy to use and read. There is a list of her more notable blog entries, the Apartment Guide is a must!! Then you get a list of her archives, and then a list of her blog categories. You can go in and read all her rants which I found quite good fun!! I just hope her mum sees sense and removes the picture!! There are alot of links though, I did find these slightly overwhelming, but she is obviously just a popular girl!

I think that the categories are the best ever bonus feature. I liked going through and reading Lee’s rants, then going back and reading all the humour entries. I really liked the feature, and it gave me a chance to find out alot more about the author. The clean cut and easy to use design was a feature.

I liked this blog because posts made me laugh, made me think and made me feel in tune with Lee. I liked the way that it reflected my idea of a blog, a personal insight into someone else life. The real nitty gritty warts and all entries of one persons life. I think that I will probably pop back, once every so often, just to see if her mum moves the dreaded photo and to see how the giving up smoking goes!! Best of luck Lee!
Malarkey, Tom-Foolery and Guff

Some blogs just make you laugh, just like some people do, you don’t really know why and you can’t explain it, they simply do. This is how ‘Where the hell was I’ was for me.
Arriving at the site you are greeted with a slightly boxy but certainly not unpleasant design, it’s well structured and organised and everything has its place. I like that in a blog. I spot the first post, noticing it mentioned The Weblog Review, and there was this little chuckle. I’ve no idea where it came from or even why I laughed, I just did – that set the standard for the rest of the site to be honest, frequently drawing a chuckle. The ‘about this’ and ‘about me’ sections of the site give you a lot of background information on both the author and the site, they too sparkling with just a modicum of humor and wit. I venture on to those crucial first posts with the impression that this blog might actually be worth reading.

Right or wrong a URL with Blogspot in fills me with dread, but ‘Where the hell was I’ breaks away and actually produces content which is quirky, amusing with a real modicum of wit. There is no real theme here beyond humor, and humor it seems from this author exists in everything, which is very true. If you can’t see the funny side you may as well quit now, or read this blog, it’ll be educational for you. I particularly enjoy the posts that begin on one topic, and then suddenly without warning fly off at a complete tangent.

The design is familiar, yet has to be commended for its simplicity, well structured and organised, managing to not be the typical generic Blogspot template. It suits the content well, not detracting anything from it. The site is easy to navigate, and the archive system suits the often elongated postings. It’s not the best most individual template I have seen, but I really don’t think that is important here – if what you want from a site is light hearted humor then this is the place for you.

Also worthy of a mention is the links on the right hand navigation, containing some worthy reads definitely worth exploring further.

The author here has managed to create a simple, straight forward life humor type of blog. It’s a break from the norm as far as Blogspot sites are concerned and is definitely worthy of further investigation. If you can see the funny side of life, this is the blog for you. Definitely has some pulling power, a worthy 4.

Where the Hell Was I?