What first impressed me about this blog was the simplicity of the design. A graphic of a strip of lawn tops the page just below the one line tag: “Poking pop culture’s soft white underbelly with a sharp-witted stick.” It gave me the (accurate) idea that the blog would contain the author’s reflections on pop culture.
The blog contains the author’s opinions and reviews of movies, tv and music, combined with some personal anecdotes and a few political rants. I agree with the author’s politics but these posts don’t seem to . On the front page (as of July 2005) there is an exceptionally long and comprehensive overview of Randy Newman’s career, complete with descriptions of all his albums and links. It was an interesting and well-written piece. Digging into the archive a bit, I found a few other “Complete Idiot’s Guides” to different artists. These entries are different from his other posts and might be gathered together in the sidebar for ease of reading. The music reviews are interspersed with reflections on politics and an amusing tale of bad roommates (I found this the most engaging piece on the blog). There are also occasional time-limited downloads from the author’s extensive MP3 collection.
I enjoyed the author’s self-deprecating sense of humor and no-nonsense writing style. Almost all of the posts are well-written and well-thought out. You know where you stand in relation to the author and what his perspective is (at least after reading a few posts). He does not purport to do anything other than offer his own well-honed opinions, but he does so without reserve or second-guessing.
The design is simple, easy to understand and emphasizes content. The sidebar has a search box on top followed by categories, archives, links, and a flickr badge. (There is something called “Themes” on the sidebar that appears to be a heading but nothing follows it.) The content is on the right and takes up about ¾ of the page. The design is intuitive and easy to navigate. An “about me” section might make it easier to get oriented. You do have to register if you want to leave non-anonymous comments (why?). There are two Google ads placed unobtrusively at the bottom of the page. I found html problems through March 2004. The entries show the html language rather than hyperlinked or formatted text. These issues are resolved after April 2004 but it makes reading the archives a cumbersome task.
This is an interesting site with an emphasis on popular music. Music posts are interspersed with personal stories. Movies, tv and politics are touched on but music is the main focus. If you read the blog regularly you will get to know Jeff, the author, and something about a few of his favorite musicians. I recommend the blog.
jefitoblog