Category: Uncategorized

My initial impression of this blog was good. Very good. The crisp, clean layout was a very welcome beginning to my time spent here. The second thing I noticed was the incredibly proper grammar. Yet again I’m reminded of how we here, in North America, have butchered the English language. It was obvious from the start that this blog was not written by a North American.

The content of this blog isn’t anything overly new, different or out of the ordinary. However, it managed to keep me completely interested, to the point that I had to force myself to stop reading in order to write my review. iMark, the blog’s author, is witty, funny, observant and descriptive. The combination of these results in a wonderfully friendly reading experience that makes you laugh, smile and think, which is always a welcome side-effect of a blog, in my opinion.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading through the ‘100 things’ page, as well as the ‘interview with an iMark’ page. I laughed out loud on several occasions while reading that one. The option to skin the site was a nice addition, which, admittedly, I played around with quite a bit.

All in all, I found this site to be flawless. No design, spelling or grammatical errors to detract from the content. iMark obviously takes great pride in his blog. A pride refelcted in every little detail. I absolutely loved reviewing this blog, and I will most certainly be returning.

iMark

I was greeted to an eye pleasing aspect upon entering ‘Pharyngula’. Considering the absolute encyclopedic list of information that is crammed onto this page, it was a minor miracle! The backdrop for the page, I at first took to be bubble wrap. But upon investigation, found out I was looking at Zebra fish eggs. Before I went another step, I had to find out what the title of this blog meant. The author had politely provided a link to do just that. Pharyngula, I read, is: “when vertebrate embryos of all species are most similar to one another.” I had just stepped into the world of science…. or so I thought.

The author is a professor of Biology at the University of Minnesota.

As I began to read the most current entry, a curious mix of science and politics emerged. Drawing from a myriad of sources, he weaves an astonishing web of comments on all things scientific and political. The writing was very clear and concise, with a liberal spattering of quotes from all over. He seems to be VERY well read.

There are notes to his students about recent tests and complex biology essays on subjects of interest to the author and his readers. Evolution is a common topic. He writes some very thorough rebuttals to Intelligent Design apologists. If you are interested in the evolutionist’s point of view, this is your blog of dreams.

The author has archives that go back to June 2003. In the archives I found book reviews, excerpts from student papers complete with illustrations, photos of mating frogs and an absolute plethora of scientific information, side by each with some very frank political opinions. If you are of a scientific bent, this website should be right up your alley. And is a rich, if almost overwhelming source of jumping off points to other science related sites.

He is not shy in voicing his opinion, nor does he apologize for his politics. Here is how he describes himself in one entry: “I am a scientist and a biologist. I am pro-evolution. I’m an atheist. I’m a liberal. I’m left wing. I’m, ummm, blunt.”

Now to my rating. If his stated intent was as he describes in an “About Me” section I found, “I created these pages to describe some of my past and current research and to support my teaching.” . . then he has succeeded. For I have never seen quite such an astonishing collection of scientific information in one place.

However. (And I must emphasize the ‘however’ here), if I have one criticism of this site, it would be that both his science and his politics would be better served, were they located on separate sites. I found the transitions between the two subjects quite jarring. Though his scientific analysis was comprehensive in the extreme, and he elucidated his politics clearly, they seemed to fight each other on the page, thus substantially diminishing both in my opinion.
Pharyngula

BIG WARNING: THIS IS AN ADULT BLOG. IF YOU ARE UNDER AGE, DO NOT VISIT THE SITE. IF YOU ARE OFFENDED BY ADULT MATERIAL, DO NOT VISIT THE SITE. TWR DOES NOT AGREE OR DISAGREE WITH WHAT IS POSTED ON THE SITE.

Mandy’s Sex Life. Could this possibly be an adult oriented blog? I think it might be.

The design of the site is a boring template. Weird shades of green, a two column layout, yeah I think I have seen this one before. The page loads to a huge picture (drawn) of a female with some rather interesting things going on.

At the top of the page, there is the premise for the site stating that she started her own adult pay site and this blog was a companion so to speak. Maybe it is giving us an inside look at what is going on with running the adult site?

The blog itself is made up mostly of pictures. The blog is very green (just started in April), and doesn’t contain very many actual posts that require reading. The posts that do require reading are about how horny Mandy is, and what she is looking for in a partner.

The blog itself is just a big ad for her adult pay site. There are a ton of links back to the adult site, a lot of “special keywords” placed through the blog, and a lot of pictures.

Unfortunately this blog was rather boring to me since there was very little content. I was really hoping that it would have been different based on the title, or even more of a behind the scenes look at how to run an adult pay website. But instead, I got a big marketing campaign about why I should go to this adult pay site. This site is not worth visiting, and could be so much more.
Mandy’s Sex Life

Upon arriving at Graham’s Page of Stuph (Stuff) I was greeted by an uncluttered, clean page with some wonderfully subtle graphic enhancements. The page was easy to read with its white, gray and blue color scheme and it was complimented with a functional two column layout.

So? What kind of stuph will you find here? Well, Graham is a ‘musician, dancer, bibliophile, perpetual student, and an employee of Blogger at Google, not necessarily in that order. He has been blogging since September of 2002 and his blog has well over 700 entries… so there is a lot of content here. (For a change..) His blog is about his day to day life. Work. Loss of work. Dance. Books. Music. Piano. Housemates. Cooking (well sort of). Computers. Movies. Family. Blogs. Blogging. Blog Design. Ana Ng (which I like too) Naturally as a musician there are many references to this aspect of his life. He plays the mandolin, piano (and always wants to play the piano more) and has been known to teach music as well. The author is a family oriented guy. There are many references to his family and friends, and he never seems to miss a happy birthday wish.

The writing is very matter of fact. I found my interest varying between the many entries. Some entries were very esoteric but others were exceptional. Especially the entries when Graham was reflective and introspective. Such as these:
eknath, life lessons. There are numerous interesting links (You can come across some really silly links when you spend all day looking at random people’s blogs.) which I enjoyed.

Simply put it, a nice blog about a nice guy.
Overall Graham’s Page of Stuph is a very solid blog. I enjoyed the little touches such as a rotating ‘about me’ pic and custom bullets (even if they are from some template?). Huzzah!
Graham’s Page of Stuph

The title didn’t have me brimming with enthusiasm for this review. Predictable. I then got to the site and it was pink. Oh dear. The welcome statement didn’t indicate that my first impressions were at all wrong. “For those looking for something deep and meaningful, you may want to look elsewhere.” Help.

But hold on you highbrow snob, be objective here.

As well as being pink the design just really doesn’t do it for me. The blog is in the www.deardiary.net format. The first one I have come across and I hope the last. I didn’t get on with it at all well. It just doesn’t look right – whatever right may or may not be, this ain’t it.

The first entry was December 2001 but the archives (index) only allow you to get to August 2003. There is an extended upper panel which allows you to move around the site. I found this journeying difficult and cumbersome. There was also a left side panel with some links to a dictionary, a translator and some drums corps bits and pieces. There are links to her brother’s and sister in law’s sites which are also using this deardiary thing. Allimom and I come from very different mystical spheres…

There are links and a comments facility which you can “show” or “hide”. This is used often and folk appear to be engaged in allimom’s world.

So to the posts. Was I gonna be surprised? Unfortunately no. Allimom writes about her world as a wife and mother. Domesticity and errand running. The trials and tribulations of bringing up three kids with ADHD. Attention deficit disorder in which hyperactivity is present. Blimey… I have an opinion here which I’m gonna skip right over. Hubby was and is (?) a soldier and well behaved (in a moral sense) drunk. He is also a genius…

“Son, what happened last night?”

“Well Dad, you came home after 3 A.M., drunk and delirious. You broke some furniture, puked in the hallway, and gave yourself a black eye when you stumbled into the door.”

Confused, Joe asks, “So, why is everything in order and so clean, and breakfast is on the table waiting for me?”

“Oh, that”, his son replies. “Mom dragged you to the bedroom, and when she tried to take your pants off, you said, “Lady, leave me alone, I’m married.”

The posts really do nothing more than catalogue life in the nuclear family and how that might make a girl feel. Mostly it causes her to threaten to reach for duct tape to stifle her children further than the medication she gives them does. Her brother, father and chocolate also come in the picture from time to time. Brother is a gun lover. Sheeks ;(

The final indignity for me is the constant haunting presence of Mr Wolverine Van Helsing smiling above a row of well built fireman and a couple of Dalmatians. Every page??? Why??? I know certain women have this thing for a “famous hunk.” What does this fantasy do for their mental health?

I am gonna give the site one and a half out of five because she does write well and it does seem to hold some interest for fellow travellers of the “being a mum and having a family” thing. Warning: if you’re not one for hanging over the back fence detailing the minutia of your life steer clear – my pink half of the drainpipe separates me from you…A Day In The Life