Category: Uncategorized

Hip Hop World is a blog that features news on and video from hip hop artists. The site has a black background with white text and yellow navigation in the sidebar, which isn’t as hard on the eyes as I’ve found in the past.

There is no “about” page listed that I could find, no blogger profile. So I am not sure if our author is an American or International Hip Hop fan. An about page is always key, so we know the profile of the writer and where he or she is coming from. I suggest activating that in the blogger dashboard so we know more about the person taking the time to bring us the news.

The standard three column blogger template is deployed but is slightly out of skew. The header banner (at 804px wide) is too big for the table, and hangs out of the table frame to the right by about fiddy pixels. Because the table is the wrong size for the content, the right navigation column is forced to the bottom of the screen for users at 1024×768 resolution. (I viewed the site on my monitor at home and at work with the same problem).

Seeing as the right panel navigation is incredibly important, I would suggest to the blogger that the size of the table be increased, or size of the photos and videos inside the center column be decreased. A little bit of code-tweaking can fix this problem quickly, and can be done through the blogger dashboard.

The left navigation bar has icons for going straight to iTunes to buy certain artists’ latest recordings. There is a message board to dialog with other Hip Hop fans, which opens up discourse and interaction with a wider community. Unfortunately, the site is too young for that feature to really have gotten off the ground at this point, but I think that if the blog author gets a little more exposure the community can grow.

There are few archives to the site at this point, just April to June. This was just enough content to keep me reading and interested this morning. Also, the site categories are listed out by artist, so if you’re only interested in Ciara or Timbaland, you can go to those categories and read the entries for your favorite artist.

My favorite part of the blog was the biographies, which sound like they were written by the author and not creatively appropriated from Wikipedia or another source. I also loved the header graphic, which is a beautiful mural portrait of hip hop’s current and past, living and gone, performers.

My major complaint with the site, aside from the layout being messed up with the right panel navigation forced to the bottom of the screen, is the overwhelming amount of Ads by Google content. Under the header, in the left side panel, and after every single entry… Way way way too much. The target audience is more interested in reading about hip hop and less interested in the advertising. I know everyone is trying to make money off the web in whatever way they can, but I’d totally pare down on the advertising… at the header of the page and in the entries. Leave the Ads by Google in the left panel of the site, away from the content.

I give the site a 3 rating, because I see potential as it grows. Now, where’s the review on the Beastie Boys’ new release. Rolling Stone says it’s the best ever.NULL

Mary Anne Moll writes from the city of Manila in the Philippines. She is an author and full time writer in addition to keeping the blog. She is also a mom, a writer, a watcher and a reader, and a beautiful woman with a sense of poetic grace that few I’ve come across have exhibited so wonderfully.

Mary Anne’s blog “Sensibilities” began in December of 2005 with a retrospective of the year that passed. It is a standard blogger template with easy to navigate archives and lists on the sidebar of what she currently is reading and working on, and links to the publications she’s been featured in as well as the books she has written.

The blog progresses through the year 2006 and so far into 2007 with entries outlining where she is in writing and in love, where she is as a parent to her son, and her involvement with the Philippine National Police Special Action Force Training School, or Sureshock… which I found incredibly interesting. There are extensive lists of what she is reading, digesting, consuming in literature, and small personal entries about the simplest things, like the gift of good penmanship.

My favorite entry by far was when she cleaned out her car.
http://maryannemoll.blogspot.com/2007/05/two-year-baggage.html
and it made me really consider what we carry around with us in our proverbial trunks in memory.

Her entries are accentuated beautifully by photos, some of her own and some from other sources and as a writer I noted she is very VERY careful and makes sure photo credit is given for each shot, a touch I found refreshing and appreciated in this world of blogs that never credit sources. Nicely done. A lot of the photos are of the PNP Special Action Force because she’s focused on writing for the Force & Valor magazine. Some are just of Manila or Bicol. My favorite pictures were of her mother’s bougainvilleas who lost their blooms all through the house in the December 2006 entry.

I read each and every entry over the course of two days. There were huge spans of silence, and periods of frenzied postings where Mary Anne pours out her heart and soul. In July of this year (2007) she shut down the blog when the man in her life became the man no longer in her life, stating that “Under the weight of so many unanswered questions, and still reeling from the impact of disappointment and loss, I am unable to make sense of things.” The break in blogging seems to have done her well, and we all know that when faced with situations that sometimes lack words, it is okay to not speak. It is truly okay to put the hands away from the keyboard and embrace another part of life for just a little while.

Within three weeks she phoenixed back and has written a few new entries, none of which deal too in depth with her relationship in full but shed light on who she is, from her new glasses to the “Something about me challenge” that she takes to write about. She thanks those who have rallied around her in her time of sadness, and it seems that she’ll be okay. I’m sure she’ll be okay.

I enjoyed Mary Anne’s blog greatly, and will revisit for certain. I give her blog a rating of 4, and look forward to more from Ms. Moll in the future.
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“Thoughts with God” – quite a name for a weblog, don’t you think?

As par for the course for me when it comes to reviewing a site, I took a quick peek at the “about” section of “Thoughts with God”. This is where I learned the author lives exactly 11.6 miles from me, just a few blocks from the Mississippi River. It’s kind of easy to find this out when the author (Jason Witt) leaves his mailing address in the “about” section. Yikes.

There are other brief paragraphs in the about section that give readers some background information as to why Jason’s decided to tackle this topic in a blog-format and where his opinions may have originated. I was more intrigued about the weblog once I read into more about Jason and the purpose behind this site.

The layout is a two-column WordPress template that hasn’t been changed at all, with the exception of a PayPal link at the top of the sidebar. Not counting the default initial post that WordPress automatically implements into every blog that uses their software, the site has just over fifty posts that begin at the end of August 2007.

Each post is several short paragraphs long dealing with things like how we’re effected by God on a daily basis and how people today measure up to the stories we’ve heard and read about the Garden of Eden. Obviously, the posts written for “Thoughts with God” don’t give off a “light reading material” vibe. Religion is a deep subject, and this weblog is no exception to that rule.

I can’t say I’ve read a lot of religion-themed blogs in my days of spending entirely too much time on the Internet, but I can’t say I’ve ever wanted to either. The posts in “Thoughts with God” are noticeably thought provoking, but as a self-titled skeptic, I can’t help but want more information. Are these thoughts just those of the author? Is there written material to back these opinions up? Technically, each post is very well written, and Jason does a great job expressing his opinions through writing.

Every weblog out there serves a purpose of some sort – informational, entertainment, or anything in between. “Thoughts with God” can perhaps provide some religious background to those people questioning religion, or just needing some reassurance on their current beliefs. This won’t be a weblog for everyone, but really, what weblog is?
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“Canvassing my Friends” is a blog created by graphic designer and painter Sarah Ritchie to showcase her wonderful art, and as she puts it: “….to make myself accountable, for my painting, to all my ‘friends’ on Facebook. One by one I will paint my way through my list of friends, using each person as the source of inspiration for one painting – their personality, life story, my memories, our interactions, etc.”

As someone who makes her living through her obvious artistic talents, it surprised me to read that Sarah has felt constrained by a bit of fear in allowing the painter inside of her to emerge. But of course, most creative people have self-doubts regarding their talent and are often reluctant to actively produce.

It is a credit to Sarah that she is confronting this fear, and is brave enough not only to admit it on her website but to push through it by actually producing as she has promised herself, her friends and–through her site–the whole world. At the moment there are nine canvases featured on “Canvassing my Friends”, each one of them inspired by a person in Sarah’s life. While this is Sarah’s way to hold herself accountable in her stated effort to produce more, one has to believe that the world is a better place for her having executed her plan as well.

This is an absolutely inspired format for a website! Just imagine how honored any of Sarah’s friends must feel to have a painting dedicated to them featured on this site. Apparently it’s working for Sarah too, as there are over 100 blog posts on “Canvassing my Friends” already, and the blog is only six months old. Keep going Sarah!

I also found Sarah’s musings on art and creation interesting; it’s a pleasure to read the thoughts of a creative person as they consider their world, and one gets the feeling that Sarah’s written expression of her thoughts on art history and related subjects informs and potentially expands the scope of her art.

Blogging lends itself very easily to presenting the fruits of a creative person’s labors, and it gives them a way to give meta-commentary on their art and their life at the same time. In this way a fuller picture of the artist emerges, one that complements the art without complicating it or diluting its impact. “Canvassing my Friends” is a perfect example of this, and also a reason why Facebook, wonderful as it is to help us reconnect and stay connected to friends, isn’t quite enough to adequately present the work of a person who has a lot more to reveal than what they had for dinner last night.

I hope Sarah continues painting–having created a perfect context in which to present her art, as tributes to/celebrations of friends, I suspect the momentum evident on this blog will continue.

One very small suggestion I would have for the site is to give us a larger photo of each of the canvasses: there are obviously deserving of it!NULL

The Handy Goddess is one of the best concepts for a website that we’ve had submitted for review at TheWeblogReview in a long time. Barbara, the site’s creator and the pink-helmeted head of handy-ness is to be complimented on its stellar execution as well.

One of the site’s taglines is “DIY at it’s most entertaining”, but this is a website that requires two tags to do it justice, and the second is “Campy, Playful, Funny & Constructive”. If you can’t imagine how all these qualities could be contained in one blog then read on.

Apparently Barbara is a mistress of all trades, with a background in fine art and a talent for humor and just about anything one would need done in the way of home improvement, up to and including bathroom renovations, advanced plumbing techniques, finishing furniture, and creating household crafts of every kind.

The site is in a blog format built on WordPress, but by including YouTube-hosted videos on virtually every post, Barbara has turned the site into a real multimedia gem, with very solid production values. Her presentation style in her videos is equal parts campy flirt and solid tips for anyone interested in DIY improvements around the home. Ever heard of that mix before? Neither have I!

I can’t imagine anyone pulling it off better than Barbara does. Lines like: “I guess we’ve got a stripped screw, it gone and lost all of its threads” become double entendre that somehow works in Barbara’s capable hands, but don’t laugh too hard or you’ll miss her instructions on disconnecting plumbing for a sink remodel!

When you have Barbara’s onscreen presence and you’re featuring subject matter that lends itself so well to video presentation, it’s a no-brainer. Site owners are recognizing the value of video not only for improving SEO and the usability of their websites but because video can serve as an additional funnel to your site, letting visitors discover a blogger’s YouTube channel even before they find their blog. For The Handy Goddess, video and pink tools are clearly a recipe for success!

The Handy Goddess works as both entertainment and DIY education, but in addition to that it should serve as encouragement to anyone who thinks they can’t create a website that will attract thousands of viewers by communicating their unique expertise and personality. Barbara has a lot more of these qualities than most though, and I’d highly recommend The Handy Goddess for home improvement tips and campy, playful entertainment.

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