Category: Uncategorized

I had no idea what I’d find on Blue Penguin Killer, so my mind was open to just about anything. The first thing that caught my eye was the black background, which I generally dislike. Black is hard to read. At least these guys are using a decent font.

This blog is written by a “staff” of two, BPK and Evil White Guy. Evil White Guy has recently started writing here. After reading a few random posts, I was convinced that these guys are a couple of 14 year olds based on their rampant use of profanity. There is no “about” section, so I had to dig a bit to find out for sure. Evil White Guy mentions his wife, so I guess he’s at least of legal marrying age.

There is a rather recent post that attempts to explain the blog. The writers are attempting to satirize events much like the writers of South Park. Even in the early days though, the profanity in South Park wasn’t as prevalent as it is here. As BPK explains, “If myself (BPK) or Evil White Guy thinks that you, your thoughts, your ideas, your writing, your movies, your actions etc. are stupid, then you can expect to get verbally treated as if you were a 12-year-old redneck that was [doing] his mom when all of a sudden his jealous redneck father walked in on the scene after drinking too much moonshine at the still hours before.” Yes, that’s pretty much how all readers are treated. That is frequently the level of writing proficiency as well.

BPK goes on to tell the reader that the blog’s purpose is to make people laugh. Unfortunately, there is not much that is comedic here unless you are a young teen who giggles at curse words. I’m sure the authors are trying to be irreverent in an “angry guy” kind of way, but it comes off as them trying too hard. Let me also say that I am no prude. Profanity can and is used effectively on many blogs. Unfortunately when it’s used constantly, as in almost every sentence, it’s just boring. An interesting example is the post titled “To All Of Those,” (April 17, 2004) where BPK basically tells everyone and everything to f-off. I guess you have to have a certain sense of humor to find this stuff amusing.

The blog itself is functional and the design is minimal. The archives go back to February 2004, though the posting is pretty light. Some months only contain one post. It is not until October that BPK begins posting on a regular basis on this site. November posts are nonexistent, so I assume Evil White Guy was brought in to keep the site regularly updated. There is no common thread to any of the posts. The “staff” just spouts off about whatever comes to mind.

This blog is not for the faint of heart. If you are looking for humor, you should probably look elsewhere. I can only imagine the interesting words BPK and Evil White Guy will use to describe my review. Then again, how many times can you call someone an m-fer before it gets old? In October BPK posted about a blogger he particularly dislikes. He bashed her because as he says she, “has a low self-esteem problem and can’t handle a negative opinion geared toward her work.” I wonder if he can?
Blue Penguin Killer

A nice, clean, well-organized blog, Travel the Home Exchange Way is written by Lois Sealey and is an excellent source of all things ‘house swapping.’

Lois began the blog in late 2004 and using two other home swapping sources (Home Base Holidays and Home Swappers Newsletter), she regularly compiles useful links and information on the subject. After a request from a reader, she began including photos of houses that are available for holiday swap. She also posts homes ‘wanted’ in certain parts of the world and lists things you should know before doing a home swap. I think any and all of this information would be invaluable to those looking into this type of vacation.

This is a very short review for this site, but suffice it to say more informational blogs like this are needed for niche markets such as the home exchangers. What a great way to get information and be able to leave feedback on your experience. Well done, Lois.Travel the Home Exchange Way

Doing Time intially sounded like a prison blog, an insider view, from a prisoner’s perspective. What you actually got was another basic template, plain black background, which I think works really well for site, especially since the writing is what draws you in. There isn’t much in the way of “about me”, but the links all work and some are quite funny.

The Trashman writes very well. His accounts, whether they be true or not, are very entertaining for the reader and wants to make you read more. For a blog that is fairly new (started July 2004) I believe this is a rare find. Doing Time stands out because it’s got the twist that many other blogs are lacking. It’s entertainment. Purely.

The purpose of the blog I believe is for the author to tell his humorous events in written form. He does it well. His latest entry Happy Valentines Day definitely puts a smile on your face, it will even elicit a laugh or two. His links to various other pages work, the one to Save Toby had me laughing very hard indeed.

I believe that the Trashman enjoys his blog as much as the reader’s like reading it. I’ve given it a 5 because of the uniqueness of the blog in it’s content. There are not many blogs that are both humorous as well as well written, thought out and stand out.
Doing Time

My initial impression of the Wacky Southern Housewife’s blog was that some work was needed on the template. Although the color scheme and idea was good, it looked a bit under-done. I decided to move on to the writing before I paid too much attention to the template.

I started to read the stories written by our author who simply asks us to “call [her] Scarlett”, obviously making reference to Gone With The Wind. I dug back to the beginning posts which start roughly a year ago and saw a slow transformation into the “Southern Housewife” persona that writes today. Initially posts were simple and about technical issues but progressively got better and funnier. The usual self-deprecating posts about the lack of readers litters the initial months but eventually things of substance were written.

The writing style is more like conversation than essays or short stories like many blogs but still nothing extraordinarily different from a lot of personal blogs already out there. Some of her stories are worth reading and are quite funny but the majority of them are the usual daily antics with her kids.

Overall I enjoyed the stories but felt they weren’t especially eye catching. Probably most noticeable to me was the template and lack of real order on the sidebar. I’m a “less is more” type of person so the random smattering of icons and buttons on the side seemed to distract me more than necessary. The writing has a lot of potential and probably only needs some simple proof-reading to take care of the flow problems that bothered me.

Scarlett’s blog is definitely a personal blog with you’re normal “stay at home mom” ranting.wackysouthernhousewife

From the title itself, I knew that this was going to be about Iran. Duh.

And I was right. After the first few entries I read, my hunch was proven right.

The entries itself aren’t really entries. They were bits and pieces of news articles and the links where it came from plus more articles and more links. But hey, it’s cool. The fact that this blog is out there to help anyone who needed some information about recent news in Iran is good.

The layout was alright. It was the usual blog template but I always believed that the words mattered more than the look. And this one wasn’t so bad. I especially liked the banner it had. Very strong and powerful.

Overall, I liked it. I haven’t really been current with the events and whatnot from Iran and this blog is very helpful. Regime Change Iran