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From the title alone, you can tell that this blog is one of those special interest sites; while there is a large and well documented collection of sites catering to smoking, this blog offers a new point of view on the subject matter. Most smoking fetish sites are allegedly run by nubile, young, female smokers, who gather their friends and pose collectively with their cancer sticks. This blog, however, is operated by a voyeuristic teenager with a camera and an inexplicable fascination with women who smoke.

The problem with fetish sites is that they, by default, appeal to a niche audience. Celebrity smoking shots (with Tara Reid, Liz Hurley and Eve Longoria of Desperate Housewives all having been featured on the site) might help broaden the appeal a little, but it’s hard to shake the feeling that there’s something alluring in these pictures of smoking women that you’re missing. Given the fact that the vast majority of the entries deal with smoking, women who are smoking, legislation concerning smoking, and the author’s personal struggle with smoking (why he doesn’t smoke, why he finds smoking sexy, why his potential girlfriend could smoke or could not smoke), the casual reader will often find his or her attention waning after, say, the fifth or sixth blog entry.

I suppose, in this site’s defence, there’s something interesting about the innocence of the author’s point of view; the fact that this weblog is written by a teenager comes across very clearly in almost every article. The recurring theme of the inexplicable nature of his fascination with smokers also helps to mitigate the fact that he’s been taking candid shots of random women smoking in public places. Think about it – if this site were run by a 30 something year-old male, some of the content would be downright creepy. As it stands, though, we tend to give the author the benefit of the doubt, if only due to the fact that he is, after all, a teenager.

Occasionally, you will come across an entry where the author struggles with issues like religion. I wish I could say that these personal insights give another level to this site, but, unfortunately, they really don’t. While it’s interesting (for about 5 seconds) to read about the author’s struggles with feelings of guilt for his smoking fetish, or his determination to give up ‘masterbation’ for Lent, the writing on this site just isn’t of a sufficient standard to make these entries insightful or interesting.

Naturally, given that I have no interest in smoking women, my ability to appreciate this site is limited. You’d do well to check it out if you’re into that sort of stuff, but it certainly doesn’t find its way into my bookmark list. All in all, the site could be much worse – there are no annoying popups or flash animations, and the content is relatively accessible. The whole site, though, is far from outstanding.SMOKING WOMEN ARE SEXY

This is an interesting site. It’s got a nice template and sums up the site in the sidebar with “Flirting is the primary focus. Maybe a little dating, a touch of sex, a hint at the world of relationships. But really, it’s about flirting. Adventures and anecdotes, stories and advice. Flirting as an art unto itself.”

It’s written by “Dan” and ostensibly someone named “Alex Arcadia” but I never saw a post by Alex Arcadia, only Dan. And here’s my gripe: It’s a site about flirting that gives not a single clue as to who is writing the site. Dan’s profile turns up empty (as does Alex Arcadia’s). Come on. You’re gonna be flirting, talking about flirting, linking to stories about flirting…we want to know who we are flirting with, Dan. Anonymity is fine, but at least give us a city or state, throw your readers a bone.

That being said, it’s a really fun read, this blog. I’m going to guess he lives in Washington, D.C. (if Dupont Circle, which he refers to often, is in D.C.–my guess), so a flirt in a big city lends itself to good stories. I like his writing style, very succinct, often including photos he takes of people he flirts with and subsequently asks their opinion of flirting.

A favorite ‘flirt on the street’ interview comes from Diana who says of making eye contact, “Don’t stare. Don’t be creepy. Don’t make animal noises.” Dan links to other flirt sites, tries to dispel or confirm flirting myths, and strives to be a source for all things flirting. He does a good job of it, too.City Flirting

“Not another site on dating and flirting”, was an initial thought when going through this blog. On skimming through the posts the answer was a different story. Even though the blog claims that this is about mainly flirting and a little bit of flirting and others, I could find more stuff on dating than on flirting.

Time and effort have been put into most of the posts in this blog. This is not very much evident while skimming or going through the site. However, when you read them carefully you can see links on some words of the posts that tend re-instigate what the author is putting across. These links take us to other sites where we get to read the whole account of the comment the author has put in the post. This is an interesting way of not putting too much in a single post, and is left up to the reader to go to the link or be content with the author’s comments. Even though this may not suit some blogs, it quite suits this blog so that the posts do not tend to be long-winded. Anyone looking for some fun tips or straight-forward information on flirting from the author’s point of views will be interested in this blog. The blog also has a number of links to the side of the blog for the reader to explore depending upon one’s interests. The way the author alternates sometimes between regular posts and pictures to re-iterate a point or just fun is eye-catching.

The design of the blog is not so great. The colors have not been mixed well to be web-friendly. There are too many links on the side of the blog to make too much of a difference – too many links to choose from that could confuse a reader. Too many times have I found myself in a site where there are too many links to choose from and I rarely go through more than two of the top ones.

All in all it is a good site for some flirting/dating related fun reading and a little information/idea to cap it all.
City Flirting

I must admit that I was very excited when I saw Easier Said Than Done on the list of blogs to be reviewed. I’ve been reading this blog since I read its other review on here and I must disagree with the score it got.

This blog is by Nichole, a teenage girl with a pretty average life. She doesn’t smoke, doesn’t drink, and doesn’t cuss (at least not that I know from the blog). Her entries are all different and all very wonderful. She doesn’t update as often as some bloggers, which could be good or bad, depending on how you look at it.

The layout is beautiful, but beware if you don’t like pink or green. I personally like these colors, and the layout is gorgeous! I just happen to know that it’s one of the things that didn’t win her any points on her last review.

There aren’t really any extras on this site except for her forum and her pages, but that isn’t so much an extra as just a fun place to talk to Nichole and some other friends. There are Google ads, which definitely aren’t winning her any points, but they’re hardly noticeable so they aren’t losing any either.

All in all, I love this blog and have for awhile now. I’m very happy that she resubmitted it, because I don’t think a 3 was such a great score for it. Taking into account the Google ads and the somewhat infrequent postings (along with the fact that not everyone likes pink), I think I’m going to have to give Easier Said Than Done a 4.5 out of 5. It’s definitely worth a read, and who knows? You may end up loving it as much as I do.NULL

I love movies and I love weblogs, so a site like this was definitely one I was looking forward to reviewing. The concept is simple – David Wester watches a movie every day from October 1st, 2005 through January 1st, 2006, then reviews the movie for the entire world – or at least this site’s visitors – to see.

In the days leading up until Day One of this project, David takes some time to tell us who he is, why he’s doing this, and even gives us a spin-off of Citizen Kane’s “Declaration of Principles” version of the rules to this project.

Starting with “A History of Violence” on October 1st, David does faithfully watch a movie a day and within 24 hours posts his review of the movie. Per his own rules, these movies cannot be ones he watches on a regular basis. The “bulk of the movies watched will be completely new to me or only vaguely remembered from the years past”.

As with most Blog*spot-hosted sites, this weblog uses a Blogger template. It’s the standard two-column layout. The reviews and other posts are listed in the main column, with the side column containing the archives, external links, and even the upcoming movies he’ll be reviewing. The monthly archives are also joined by the weekly archives that list each movie out on the day it was watched and reviewed. I found that to be an easy way to read each of the reviews.

The best part of David’s daily movies is the fact that they’re not your average movies. He doesn’t stick to one genre and he doesn’t stick to brand new movies. It’s almost as if he hits the video store, throws a dart, and grabs the first movie off the shelf. When you go from “Robocop 2” on one day to “Female Trouble” on the next, there’s definitely a review or two for anyone.

His reviews are good. He’s a film school graduate and an aspiring film director, so he certainly has the background to write these reviews. Using his review of Passion of the Christ as an example, David does a fine job of explaining his thoughts with comparisons to other movies or even by every day experiences. They’re very every day reviews – he doesn’t judge the acting or the musical editing. He reviews the movie – that’s it.

I like the idea of this site. I can certainly commend David for taking the time to not only watch a movie a day, but also find time to write about each of them. For readers hoping to catch a review about a movie, this is obviously a great choice for a site. What will happen when 2006 rolls around and David’s done with this project? I guess we’ll only find out by continuing to visit this site.
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