Month: June 2004

All white!! That are the words that come into my mind as the site loads. The writer seems to be very frequently traveling through local trains, because the two latest entries are both train-related.

The writer, as he tells us in ‘About Me’ section, is Britisher who has been living in Tokyo since 1998. The blog is fairly new, starting December 2003 (actually end of December).

The writer has liberally used images, and unlike many blogs where the only function of the images seems to increase the load time, this guy knows how to strike that fine balance wherein images actually do what they are supposed to do: entertain the reader.

Most of the topics covered are Japan-related. Yet the diverseness of the topics is worth an appreciation. One moment he is talking about used-underwear industry in Japan and second we hear his ramblings on Smoking manners.
It should be added that the writer is scantily personal, it appears that his fascination with Japan is still quite strong and he keeps posting in interesting(and sometimes really really funny) facts about Japan.

Overall site design is quite good, though the header screaming “Tokyo Times” seems a little out of place. Apart from that, the design, graphics and the actual writings all blend in quite nicely.

All and all, a nice refreshing blog. If you are looking for some blog where you don’t have to read each and every microscopic detail of the writer’s life, the this is the right place for you. This blog is definitely ‘Out of the Box’.

Tokyo Times

The thing I was happily surprised to notice at first glance was that the site has got an own design, but still gives you a calm and organized impression of the layout. In the corner of my eye I see the headings “today’s quotation” and “word of the day”, which probably indicate that the site is updated daily, or at least frequently. The only way to find out is by reading it.

The reason Keith started this blog is, to quote him, because he ‘wanted to try this technology out.’ This referring to the blog and all that comes in that package. He says he got the idea for starting his own blog after reading several other blogs. This is a thing you notice really quick in his posts because quite a lot of his posts test out certain technology like scripting and what happens if you change for example things in the style sheets. From time to time his post are also about what other sites or bloggers have to say on whatever subject he finds interesting, and off course the blog also contains personal content. And indeed, he updates it frequently, almost daily.

The site uses a “3 columns” design: on the left you’ve got a menu with the more personal things like what books Keith, the author, has read, to what movies he has been, the daily stuff and more.
Then in the middle you’ve got the actual blog with all his posts.
In the right menu there are mostly links to other sites or to help you navigate the site.

I am using the 960 x 720 setting, which looks fine and organized, but I find the 800 x 600 setting a bit crowded. The unique design is also worth an extra plus-point.

It’s not strange that quite some people read his blog: it’s interesting to read about a large range of subjects, and it’s also just as interesting, if not more, to read his opinion about it. It’s rather straight to the point, so it doesn’t take too much time to read it.random thinks

My first impression of this blog was that, even though the layout might be simple, it’s deceptively concealing a gem. I don’t know why, but I got a really good feeling from this site. The picture, which is the only really design oriented one on the site, is very abstract and suggest that the author will be unique. The classic colors also show someone with style.

I read on to find that quite a few of my initial perceptions were correct. First of all, Kai is a 30 year old gay man with a killer sense of humor. The more I read his blogs, the more I liked his site. Every entry was funny and entertaining and it made me wish I had a life that compelling. Another thing I like about his blog is that it can be read by any age group because all of the blogs are addressed with no particular age group in mind. I suppose some of the language used might not be suitable for a 10 year old, say, but to the general webloging community, this is perfectly suitable for anyone.

As I read through the blogs on the first page, I began craving more of Kai’s great stories and found that finding more of these comic masterpieces proved much more difficult then simply hitting an archive button. I found myself looking at a little calendar with the dates of posts linked. This isn’t uncommon but it is usually accompanied by a monthly archive link. Although this was a slightly hassle, I eagerly fumbled to some earlier posts and read on to be even more enthusiastic about his posts. Kai truly is a comedic man but it’s hard to read his comedy when it’s hidden in many clicks of his calendar month changer. I also found, to my dislike, that he blogged a total of one time between his first post at the beginning of September and mid November, when he seemed to start back up again.

The extras on this site are rather generic, with a tagboard, a cute, little Cartman (for you South Park fans), and a Quizilla result. He didn’t have any links to other sites he enjoyed or books of interest but I believe these will come with time. I think this site definitely deserves to be visited, especially since he’s such a funny guy, but I wouldn’t let the back arrow be deceiving when you’re looking at his calendar. It will keep going forever!

Rambling Along

My first impression of this site was generally good. The layout was the same as I had seen in many other blogs, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I noticed the creative way of making two of the letters in the title up-side-down and figured that this would be a very creative site. Even though the title does tell me a little bit about what the site would contain, I didn’t judge a blog by its title and I continued down to the meat of the blog.

I think the posts were well thought out, if not completely random from each other. Sometimes, the posts were about something cool that Keith, the author of the blog, found while visiting other blogs, while other times it’s a cool site to check out. While reading threw his blogs, I couldn’t tell a lot about him. He hids himself in his writing so you have no idea how this person lives their life at all. In that case, if you are interested in finding out about this teacher, your best bet is to check out his “About Me” site, which is conveniently located under his picture in the corner. When I was checking out this “About Me” site, I found a bunch of great pictures lining the side. I was impressed with his pictures, which he calls “Random Pictures”, which subsequently matches the theme of his entire blog. This ties everything together very nicely. He also has two very cute Labrador Retrievers named Judy and Watson, who I would greatly recommend seeing.

The design of this site is very clean and easy to manage. Nothing is cluttered and everything is lined neatly along the sides for easy viewing and navigation. I was very impressed on how many ways your can look at the archives. You can view them monthly, by category, or just check out the newest ones. Although it’s very nice, it does lack color to bring the reader into the blog, but I don’t think it takes anything away from the experience.

When you read this site, you will find a ton of links in his posts so it can keep you entertained for hours on end, I’m sure. I think it’s helpful to understand what he’s talking about with the links to the sites being discussed. I also found that his “About Me” was very informative, although I was a little disappointed that I couldn’t find out who the real Keith was through his posts. He also has some books, DVDs, and movies that he likes, which helps the reader understand his tastes. These all let you know Keith a little bit better, which is essential in becoming sucked into his weblog.

Overall, I was impressed on his ability to find interesting sites to visit and present them in an interesting manner. He gives you just enough about the site to hook you into visiting it. He seems like a very creative teacher with an attractive writing style to match his attractive design. This site is definitely worth checking out at any age.
random thinks

My initial response to this blog is cute. I love the design and the graphics at the top of the site. The first thing I did was stop by and read through the “about me” page, which almost always has a ton of interesting tidbits about the author. Here, you’ll find much more insight into who Keith is. I love the look of this blog and I can’t help but hope that my first impressions of this site mirror the rest of the blog. I have high hopes for this blog as I start on the entry archives.

The first month of archives are pretty uneventful, with a few bits and pieces that are worth reading. As with any new blog the first few weeks usually entail checking code, making sure that stylesheets are working correctly and in the case of Keith, the include for php is working write as well. After getting past the first this first month you run across a few very political entries, which, in my opinion, aren’t meant to reflect one way or another but to just open some eyes. This post of a particular article was very interesting to read. When I started to get more into the blog, as the author seemed to do as well, I found intriguing entries like this one about a cookie’s fortune and his thoughts on what it made him feel. I’m sad that I missed the Binky the Crayon naming, but was glad to share in it after the fact. The blog, for it’s randomness of subjects, is very well written. I suppose that would happen with a blog so aptly named. A recent entry about the Boondocks was a wonderful read, not only because of the author’s insight but the articles that are linked.

The design is good. Very good by today’s standards. The author has taken the time to learn something new, html and css, in order to create his own designs rather than stick to some tried (and died) templates. I love the design because it fits the author so well. Everything is easily accessible and well navigated. There are couple of quirks, for example, the “randomness photo” opens into another window, but the window is not resizable and doesn’t have scrollbars. This only poses as a problem when the image is larger than the new window opened. Otherwise, I love the design.

There are a lot of bonus features to this site. There is a photoblog to see the world through the author’s eyes. You can contact the author without opening your email. He has a list of his favorite web places as well as a separate blog list. There are recent reads, dvd’s and other good things that you’re able to post about while using TypePad. The author also does a quote of the day and a word of the day. These are all worth a look since they change on a regular basis.

The majority of this blog is personal. There are a lot of insight entries, or entries that are just there to share ideas or artwork, pictures or thoughts. He keeps the blog interesting by picking different things to write about. I enjoyed reading this blog very much. Each person seems to approach the blogging world with a different viewpoint on life, and Keith’s thoughts are definately worth a read. random thinks