Bloggie, bloggie, bloggie, bloggie etc.

It’s Bloggie Nomination time again and I’m up for two awards this year – Best UK / Irish weblog and – gulp – lifetime achievement. And of course, typically, as soon as lots of people start linking to my site I can’t think of anything whatsoever to say – total stage-fright. Given how slack I’ve been on my site this year, and how little I feel that I’ve managed to contribute to the ongoing debates and discussions around the web, I have to say I’m surprised by the nominations. But it’s a nice feeling anyway. Thanks guys.

I’d like to say thank you to all the drunk people who nominated me in the first place. And to all the care-in-the-community folk they found to do the first-round judging – you guys are the best! Now all I need to do is to hope that the entire community of webloggers neglects to take their lithium before they vote. And with sublime confidence that this is precisely what will happen, I say to my design inspiration and creative motivator Derek Powazek and to my arch Gaybolian nemesis Ernie – bring it on!

But it’s not all good news. Neither Ernie nor I are up for the gay weblogger award this year. Other notable absences include Sparky, Bravo and Simon. So now the torch must pass to How to Learn Swedish, SistersTalk, Tranniefesto, Troubled Diva and Hot Toddy’s Toaster Oven. It’s up to you guys now to keep up the tradition of bitchy ironic gay gang-fighting that we’ve established over the last four years. It’s always been the most fun award to contest, even when the nominees aren’t strictly gay.

So basically, I actually really like the Bloggies. I may as well just say it out loud. I mean, it’s clear that there’s a bit of a self-involved culture thing going on and yeah a block of the same people get nominated every year – but it doesn’t take itself too seriously, the weblogs are interesting and often beautiful, and most importantly it’s a set of awards that have emerged from within the culture of webloggers itself. It’s not been imposed from outside, it’s not about the weblog nation dancing for the ‘real people’ and it’s not being judged by the criteria of another medium. I think it’s cool. And Nikolai always makes the site look so nice. So in the spirit of discovery and investigation, here are my top new finds and nods to the classics that I’ve come across from flicking through some of the nominees:

• Boudist
  Up for best New Zealand / Australian weblog – beautiful design, enthusiastically written. Also currently suffering from stage-fright.
• Weblog Wannabe
  Up for best Asian Weblog and Lifetime achievement, Firda’s been there since almost the beginning and her site gets more and more beautiful as time passes.
• Noodlepie
  Also up for Best Asian Weblog – and currently featuring some incredibly evocative pictures of a seafood street-stall. Mmm. Cockles.
• Benn loxo du taccu
  Interesting audioblog from West Africa references an expansive range of music.
• Near Near Future
  An awesomely insightful and cutting-edge glimpse into emerging and pervasive technologies that’s up for the Best European Weblog award. Must win!
• Hick’s Design
  A beautiful site that’s in the Best British and Irish Weblog category with me.
• Going Underground
  Fascinating – if unattractive – weblog about the London Underground that everyone based around London should be reading.
• Siteway Weekly
  Up for best non-weblog content of a weblog site, featureing beautiful and classic design structures meshed with awesome illustrative work.
• Tasting Menu
  Slightly inelegantly designed, but rich and thorough insight into the experience and tasting of food.
• The Food Section
  Well assembled and thorough food news and restaurant review weblog.

PS. Vote for me!