Comments on: It was Crooked Timber wot won it

By: Brian Weatherson

Brian Weatherson — Sat, 06 Dec 2003 16:53:03 +0000

Well, yes. I thought every blog on the list (except perhaps Tim Blair, I can’t remember if he was listed) was a foreign blog. But somehow none of the American blogs got listed in that category. How do you classify a blog’s nationality anyway? Is Road to Surfdom an Australian blog or an American blog? Is Crooked Timber an English-Irish-Welsh-Hungarian-Australian-French-Canadian blog, or some subset of that? Who knows? More pertinently, who cares?

By: emma

emma — Sat, 06 Dec 2003 15:51:14 +0000

Brian: thanks for the vote. I wonder, too, why there’s a best female-authored blog category, but I think best foreign blog might be an even bigger eyebrow-raiser.

By: drapetomaniac

drapetomaniac — Sat, 06 Dec 2003 12:00:27 +0000

Making it seem like something extraordinary that the dear creatures can actually write a bit. I think the idea is that the poor dears are insufficiently read a bit, and so a special category would draw attention to their accomplishments. Or at least, I have seen arguments to that effect in the 'blogosphere'. I must say, I had a similar reaction to yours but I looked at my blog links list and I have zero single-author blogs by women and three group blogs with women, so I feel slightly less entitled to such a reaction. The lack of chun-related options renders this contest meaningless, I’m afraid. If it's not too unctuous, I agree. In many of the categories, all the options were unappealing to me, and I was disappointed to see that the blogs I think are far, far, far, far better were not listed. Cosma Shalizi, Abu Aardvark, Brian Ulrich, Brian Leiter, Juan Cole and the Uncertain Principles physicist being obvious, well-known choices, never mind more obscure favorites like the biz journalist in Madras, the Trini literary critic or the pop culture maven in Chicago.

By: David Weman

David Weman — Sat, 06 Dec 2003 01:33:32 +0000

Best foreign blog is pretty strange category. Isn’t that missing the point about the blogosphere? We’re all on the Internet. Everything’s sort of global and interconnected and so on. Not that I’m complaining! I’m getting much too worked up about this; I just love contests. Currently it seems like that charming blog, M;erdec in France is going to win our category. There’s a strong rightwing dominance in almost all categories. Some of them… LGF; Allah is in the House as best humor blog… Eh. There’s eight days left thouhg; a little to start calling winners. AFOE!

By: fyreflye

fyreflye — Fri, 05 Dec 2003 20:41:12 +0000

I was happy to vote for CT, which was winning in its category at last viewing. I have duly noted elsewhere the absence of Chun or any other culture blogger . If they have to have a girls-only blogger vote how could they not have nominated Virginia Postrel? Instapundit was lurking in third place for best right-wing (i.e. “anti-fascist”) blog the last time I saw the results, outpolled by the by a genuine conservative, D. Drezner.

By: Brian Weatherson

Brian Weatherson — Fri, 05 Dec 2003 18:16:26 +0000

Well I was just pleased to be able to promote a good philosophy blog, but the category is a little absurd. Especially since the best estimates I’ve seen suggest that most blogs are written by women. Of course if you only ever hung about in the very small corner of the blogworld dominated by political blogs, you may not get quite that impression.

By: chun the unavoidable

chun the unavoidable — Fri, 05 Dec 2003 18:14:56 +0000

The lack of chun-related options renders this contest meaningless, I’m afraid.

By: Ophelia Benson

Ophelia Benson — Fri, 05 Dec 2003 17:59:25 +0000

Why does it have best female-authored blog? Are females so heavily outnumbered by males in bloggoville that that’s necessary? If not, surely that kind of thing has a ‘dog walking on its hind legs’ kind of effect. Making it seem like something extraordinary that the dear creatures can actually write a bit.