Category: Uncategorized

I couldn’t help but drop my jaw when I saw this site. It’s actually quite beautifully designed, and while a blog isn’t only what it looks like I’d like to have hopes that the content will complement the design.



As I always tend to do, I started to read this blog from the humble beginnings. I’ve read many good blogs, I’ve stumbled along many other’s that are mediocre blogs, and a number of really bad blogs. This one falls, without a doubt in my mind, into the good blogs category. The first few entries draw in the reader. You find out much more about the author and the tiny bits of his life. The entries read like short stories with an ending that is short and sweet. It leaves you pondering, wondering what you’ll read next. This author’s entries are scattered with all kinds of subjects and while his mind wanders, he generally stays on topic. His entries are interesting and keep the reader involved.



As I said earlier, the design is beautiful. I had no problem being able to manuever through the site and read everything I needed to. The archives all work, and that’s always a good thing. The grey’s work well with the content of the site. This is also a blog that’s designed to be able to be viewed in lower resolutions as well as higher resolutions.

The author offers a small about me with general information. Nothing extravagant, but informative. He also offers some pictures so you can see who you’re reading about. He has a few webrings that he’s a part of and few outgoing links, but not many. There’s not a lot of extras, but the content definately make up for it.

This blog is not meant for the overly religious or homophobic. He talks about cute boys and various different people he’s in “love” with. This author definately talks about his life, often in details, and sometimes in metaphors. He open and candid with his reader and the reader should approach this blog with the same openness. Go, read, and enjoy it for what it’s meant to be, a glimpse into the life of another.And the Universe Giggled

My initial thoughts about this site were that I would be entering the blog of a hippy and it would be all psychedalia and good karma- after all, mythic flow has that sense to it. This was certainly an erroneous assumption, but in all honesty I am not entirely sure what I found instead.

At first I thought the layout of the site was ridiculously simple, with just a titlebar and the posts, until I discovered substantial linkage starting at the bottom of the page (though to be fair, it starts at the side of the page in the archives). Unfortunately I could find no information about the author or what the point of the blog was amongst the many, many links to be found. I did find another blog by the same author, but I ignored it as I still hadn’t got the hang of this one. The archives could have been easier to navigate too, though this maybe the fault of the blogging system (the name of which I could not ascertain) and thus out of the author’s control. The template isn’t though, and it could do with a bit of rearranging really.

Anyway, being none the wiser from my intial poke around, I had no choice but to crack on with the posts themselves. My first impressions of the writing style were good- the articles were generally amusing and the subjects covered on the front page included sport, religion, blogging and the author’s Mum- a good combination I thought! Some links were included in the postings too which all seemed reasonably appropriate.

Once I got in to the archives though, I seemed to lose my way with it all somehow. Again, knowing nothing about the author to begin with, I could find little in the posts to establish what the whole “feel” of the blog was meant to be- a link to an author profile was sadly defunct. In strictly personal blogs this doesn’t matter as you simply learn about the author’s life as you go along, but there were very few personal entries to be found. Instead there were a lot of theological and political debates, all written in a very academic style. Some were interesting and engaging I admit and the comments helped, but I also must confess that still other’s went over my head completely and I missed the point altogether.

Unfortuantely I found this weblog too inaccessable to give it a higher score, both structurally and in regard to its content. It won’t take much to get it on track- but an About Me page is a must. Once it is clearer what the aims and direction of the weblog are, it will be more enjoyable to explore what are undoubtedly the interesting viewpoints of the author. At the moment though, it is just a collection of random and sometimes difficult posts waiting for a good home.mythic flow – methinks

Seeing so many blogs over the course of being a reviewer you see a lot of the same layout again and again. It’s always such a pleasant surprise to see something different, something new, something that hasn’t been overused. My first reaction to seeing this blog is almost the equivalent of deja vu, only a pleasant form of it. There’s a beautiful piece of art that the author is using in the title area along with the navigation. The green is a nice change of pace and I can’t wait to head to the archives to see what is brewin’ in the past entries.

The oldest of the entries explains that the author, nicknamed Riri, doesn’t speak (or write) perfect English. You learn that she moved from France to Canada and is making the adjustment while having kids, a husband, injuries and a life. The author writes with much feeling as you can tell from the entry about the many cats she’s had through her lifetime. Be forewarned, reader, that these are pretty heart wrenching stories and may bring a tear to your eye. You read about the movies her children are addicted to in this entry, and I have to say, her kids have some good taste in movies. In more recent entries Riri starts to add a word of the day, which is often fun (and I read them myself anyway). She starts to open up a little more letting us see a more political side to her. You, as a reader, get a chance to see her family, find out what she did with her day, and get a holiday greeting.



The design is pretty and functional. She’s a webmistress out in Canada and has worked on a couple of other projects you can find in her archives. The design is simple by means of graphics, but simplicity can be a good thing. Like I said before, the green can be a nice change from the gamut of colors that are often overused in the blogging world. There aren’t a lot of images to wait for download, which means the reader using dial-up can get straight to the content without having to wait forever for large images to load.



There are a lot of extra links in the sidebar. Webrings, a blogroll and weather pixie are quickly becoming a standard in blogs, so it’s only natural to see them on this blog. There are some new blogs that I haven’t seen as of yet in her blogroll which were kind of nice to peruse and see what interests the author. In the sidebar, as well, are a few snapshots of her and her family. Sometimes it’s nice to get an opportunity to see who you’re reading about. Riri also has a 100 Things in the navigation at the top where you can learn a little bit more about her.



Overall the blog fits into the category of “general” as she writes about so many different things. You’ll see how much she loves her kids and how she seems to enjoy planning for different events. She sometimes writes about the things going on here in the states and what we’ve done recently regarding the war, but she keeps the political references to a minimum (meaning you won’t be inundated with huge diatribes of her take on the whole war situation). Her blog is a relatively interesting read and worth a look.Riri’s Brain Dump

Weapons of Mass Distraction is certainly an original, intriguing title for a weblog. I naturally expected it to focus on current events, and was correct in this assumption. I initially found the layout creative and aesthetically pleasing, though I was naturally miffed to discover the site’s navigation was cut off on my screen.

We have here a Canadian news blog which discusses news pertinent to Canadians. As an American, many of the topics were, well, foreign to me. However, I did not find this the least bit alienating. In fact, I was all the more interested. WMD is a news blog, no doubt, though it is pleasantly interspersed with what one could call editorializing, and the author seems to enjoy taking an online quiz now and then.

In essence, we have a very accessable news blog that readers of non-news sites might use as a bridge to new material. We have here the pundit-ish links to news sites accompanied by the author’s thoughts, but we also have subtle strokes of the personal weblog, with pleasantly humanizing diversions from this format. Readers quickly come to trust the author, whom they can easily feel a connection to.

I was especially charmed by the author’s occasional feature, “Saskatchewan or Mars,” which challenges the reader to guess which locale the photo shows. Equally charming is his occasional digression from news into discussing the downfall of porn magazines and various bands. This blog isn’t very old, but the quality of it’s content makes it absolutely adorable. With another six months on it, it would indeed be a very high-quality read. To the author of this site, I say: Blog early, blog often.

The site loads quickly, and opens with a large sketch of the human head, showing the blood vessels and muscles in blue over a black background. The rest of the page eloquently continues this color scheme, with fairly legible white text. Unfortunately, though, the site appears optimized for large resolutions, and in order to view the navigation, I had to change mine. I could not help but think that, were I not reviewing this site, I would not have bothered with it. I recommend the author review his stylesheets and fix this error. I also recommend adding biographical information, which is almost always a plus with any blog.

I recommend that Danny of WMD keep writing in this digital topos koinos of his. While this isn’t a trove of news, it needn’t be. I suggest readers look at it as a bridge between the world of personal journals and the world of the pundits. All in all, Weapons of Mass Distraction succeeds fabulously at being one man’s outlook on an information-drenched world.
Weapons of Mass Distraction

Going into Natural Physique Development I was expecting to see a weblog about daily training and nutrition. Unfortunately that isn’t what I got when I arrived.

Gavin has decided to post about his physique development dating all the way back to 2000. Unfortunately for us the reader, there are only two posts total: one for 2000 and 2001 and one for 2003. There is a promise of another update in March which will include more photographs of his development.

The design of the site is pretty lackluster. As I said, there are only a couple of posts so they are all on the front page. The small part that shines through on this site is the tips for training and eating. I was glad to see that he was including things for the daily reader to learn.

Now normally I would critique a site on what is there. This time, however, I have to critique on what isn’t there. I really wish that Gavin would update this weblog more often. Even a once a month update would be better. I would like to see work out routines and nutritional variances. I want to see all the things we know we should be doing listed.

Overall this weblog takes all of five minutes to read. While there isn’t anything that is a must read, you might want to check it out if you got some extra time. I am giving Natural Physique Development a 1 because the idea for the weblog is a good one, but the execution is just not there.
Natural Physique Development