When I skimmed through “the bone”, beginning to nit pick at little details I wanted to point out in my review, the first thing I noticed was the abundance of quotations. Not necessarily profound or remarkable quotes from people worth quoting, just lots of quotes. I also noticed the use of the word “Huzzah!” more than once. It made me smile. I mean, how can you not smile when you imagine someone in front of his or her desktop exclaiming “Huzzah!”?
The layout was simple. An olive toned header, featuring the first and most notable quote paired with an off white background and a right side bar for links and the archive, which goes back to mid-2002. A bit unimaginative but clean and to the point. This blog is more about the entries than the design.
Christopher Rieder posts on many different subjects. He is very clear on his political views yet doesn’t force them upon his readers. He is very literary and it shows throw both the linguistics of his posts and the content of them as well. He also possesses a very unique taste of music. An example being that he thoroughly enjoys They Might Be Giants. When to me, that’s only the group that sings the annoyingly catchy theme song to Playhouse Disney’s new show “Higglytown Heroes”.
The weekend I spent reading his blog, his Sunday post was a critique of America’s patriotic songs. It was wonderfully written, and with experiences from his music class and other references to back up and point out his views. It wasn’t something I’d normally be interested in reading, and probably wouldn’t have read if I wasn’t reviewing, but it was amusing, and I’m glad I did.
Overall, I found this weblog to be dull, and not one that I would find myself revisiting. Yet, I can see how others would easily begin linking to it, and making it a daily read. It’s smart, well maintained, informative, and likeable. Yet to me, it’s just not very interesting. It’s one of those blogs where everyone who comes across it will probably have a different opinion. It’s definitely worth a visit in order to see what opinion you yourself will form.
the bone