Sharanya Manivannan, the South Asian Poetess Extraordinaire, has gifted me with the “Brilliant Weblog Award”. Thanks! This being my first foray into on-line awards, I’m pretty psyched. So here are the details…
The Brilliant Weblog award is a prize given to sites and blogs that are smart and brilliant both in their content and their design. The purpose of the prize is to promote as many blogs as possible in the blogosphere.
The Rules of the Award say:
- When you receive the prize you must write a post showing it, together with the name of who has given it to you, and link them back.
- Choose a minimum of 7 blogs (or even more) that you find brilliant in their content or design.
- Show their names and links and leave them a comment informing they were prized with the Brilliant Weblog Award.
- Show a picture of those who awarded you and those you give the prize (optional).
- And then we pass it on!
Unfortunately, being relatively new to the blogging world, I haven’t explored the blogosphere much. So I don’t have seven entries. But there are five that I read regularly and covet. My choices for the 2008 Weblog Award are:
Soggy Cornflakes
Great Bollywood Gossip blog that I’ve been able to find on-line. Mostly because Tigger, the writer, has a sarcastic and “not impressed” way of writing that offers up such a contrast to the glitz and glam material she covers. The entries are always fresh and up-to-date. Shahid flew off from a bike that Priyanka was driving? Sylvester Stalone starring in a Bollywood film? Read about it here!
Project Why
When people ask me about my trip to India, one of the first things they ask about is the poverty. Was I shocked? What exactly did I see? Was it hard to handle? It is hard to explain in a few sentences the negative side of what I experienced. It’s hard for comfortable stay-at-home Westerners to imagine the level of poverty, corruption, and unhygienic conditions in India. It’s even harder for them to get involved and care. Anuradha Bakshi chronicles and commentates on events that many news outlets have missed, leaving those affected forgotten. You’ll learn much from checking it out.
Benecorpo
I found these guys while at the Outdoor Art Fair at Nathan Philips Square mid-summer. Two Ontarians started this organization as an introspection on ecological disaster, necessity of future generations, and apocalypse. The blog is something very unique and different because it offers up poetry, post-apocalyptic “diary entries”, and the organization’s defining focus: altered photography. These photos offer a glimpse into what our world could look like, after the destruciton of society as we know it. The children’s ones are probably the most stirring. You don’t have to endorse a message to participate and appreciate; who doesn’t like dress-up?
Andy Hobo Traveler
Andy has traveled the world for ten years. He does not have a home. He chronicles his life’s journey on his blog. Reading his entries are refreshing, and he paints some great pictures of daily life abroad. It makes the reader think about life, in general. What are the norms and what is “real life”; does it necessarily entail getting a steady 9-5er and restricting travel to those 2 weeks of vacation? Does it mean having a home-base and interacting with the same people every day? Or can it possibly be living your ultimate goal and passion: traveling the world. On a budget, of course!
Violent Acres
This woman has some serious balls. The blog is sardonic, witty and opinionated, which gets many people going. I read with glee when it comes to mommy bloggers and Violent Acres’ critiques (or, in her case, bashing and burning) of them. There are things on this page that I find myself nodding enthusiastically to, and others I guffaw at as I read. You may think that she goes too far in some posts, such as joking around that she would kill babies for fun all day in one Ann Coulter post, but it’s never to be taken seriously. Because she doesn’t take herself seriously. And that’s why all of the entries are so damn entertaining, and at time thought-provoking.
