The Ominous Comma
Blog: The Ominous Comma
Type: Humor
The funny thing about humor blogs is that they usually aren’t. Funny, that is. And I don’t blame the perpetrators; it is, after all, a rare talent to be amusing in print, most attempts ending in a strained and embarrassing jokiness that is painful to read. Of all those that I have begun reading (I rarely finish them), The Ominous Comma stands out as a valiant effort.
I would not say that the blog is hilarious but it has the power to grant an occasional wry smile; and that is success indeed in a genre that is characterized mostly by a painful grimace. The writer, Brent Diggs, has a rather more subtle style than the sledgehammers so common in this arena and his wit tends to the surrealist end of the spectrum. Indeed, it is appropriate that I found a reference to Monty Python buried within a post, a suitable homage to the standard bearer of such humor in the seventies. A paragraph may serve as an example of Brent’s style:
“Doctor Toboggans has been mercifully absent the last couple of weeks, having received a complementary trip to Australia from one of his clients in order to swim with the legendary great white sharks along the Barrier Reef. Unfortunately for us, it seems that the sharks were on a low arrogance diet and so our fine physician has returned to Comma headquarters in one piece, refreshed and ready to inflict more insight upon an unsuspecting world.”
This Doctor Toboggans seems to surface from time to time as one reads and leads me to suspect that the blog is also character-driven, an added benefit to the general surrealism, if true (I have not read extensively enough as yet to decide on this one but the signs are good). All in all, the result is a blog I can recommend.
The design is excellent, surprisingly tasteful for a humor blog. Muted colors, tans and browns, and a simple but clear layout is the basis of a very good-looking blog. It all seems too good to be true – let me see if I can think of a constructive criticism.
Ah, yes, the home page. It is a portal more than anything else, offering a choice of routes into the various categories. And I don’t like this, preferring to know whether what I am reading is recent or an early entry. It’s a personal thing, I know, but I really can’t think of anything else to moan about.
Now that has to be good, doesn’t it?
Mahmood’s Den
Blog: Mahmood’s Den
Type: Personal/Political
Generally, Blog Read’s intent is to discover lesser known blogs of excellence but occasionally we will point at more famous blogs because they genuinely are very good. And Mahmood’s Den is a blog that stands out as deserving of its popularity.
I first discovered Mahmood many months ago and was immediately captivated by his easy style and manner. A Bahraini national and resident, he is cultured, educated, has a superb writing style and is the perfect antidote for those prejudiced against all things Arab. It is a stated aim of his to show others that not all Arabs are determined upon world domination and it is clear that he is succeeding; his blog and other websites have a huge following, no doubt all attracted by his level-headed thinking and openness to new things.
There is a certain laid-back, slightly wry feeling to Mahmood’s blog, perfectly encapsulated in his photograph contained within the header. A man who can smile at the world as he does has things to teach us all. It is easy to be completely at home with Mahmood’s gentle philosophy, to feel welcome in the pages of his blog.
As for design, he gets that spot on too, in common with many Arab blogs and websites. He uses a clean and simple two-column framework with muted, desert colors entirely appropriate to his themes. And the header is a compilation of all that we imagine of the Arab world, cleverly merged into an attractive first resting place for the eye. It is a professional’s blog, a demonstration of how simplicity will always defeat the extravaganzas of color, animation and curlicue so beloved of those trying to make an impact.
This is a blog that should be read by all who have an opinion on international politics today; not because Mahmood has earth-shattering revelations on such high flown things but because he allows us to see the diversity of all peoples and the insanity of some of our prejudices. If his blog has a message it is: we are all human and isn’t it wonderful?
How badly we are in need of that message at times.
Cape Town Daily Photo
Cape Town Daily Photo
Blog: Cape Town Daily Photo
Type: Photo
I am not a great one for photo blogs but this one had an unfair advantage with me. The first ten years of my life were spent in that beautiful city at the southern tip of Africa and so I was interested as soon as I saw the blog’s name.
It did not disappoint me. The photographers have an ability to see interest and beauty in unexpected places and their photographs are a pleasure to look at, although many could have been taken in any city in the world. That is part of what they have to say, however – that, although set in unparalleled scenery and an exotic place for most of us, yet it has aspects that are familiar to us too.
The photos that were identifiably of the Cape were the ones that won me over, however. And, when I came to the post named Snowflake, all my resistance collapsed. When I was very young, my father bought a painting by a local artist and that picture hung on our dining room wall throughout the first twenty years of my life. It depicted Cape Town docks and the Snowflake flour silo loomed large in it. In fact, it was larger than life for my father told us that, before he sold it, the artist quickly made the building larger, so much so that it was, on consideration, out of proportion to the ships in the harbor. This was for composition purposes, for it was not noticeable until you had spent your youth looking at the picture from across a dining table.
Clearly the painting entered deeply into my unconscious mind for the sight of the photo in this blog brought the memories flooding back. And now I have admitted why I chose to write about the blog.
But it has other qualities too, aside from my personal experience. The authors have written about each photo, giving us some background and helping us to appreciate what we are seeing. Too often photo blogs expect the photo to tell all and they become an endless series of meaningless snapshots as a result. Only the very best of photos can stand up to that sort of treatment.
The blog design is simple and unobtrusive, the black background drawing the eye immediately to the pictures, the lack of adornment around the edges adding to this effect. It is a design entirely without pretension or clutter. And I like that.
So there we have it, a snippet of me and a snippet of them. Go take a look at one of the most beautiful cities in the world by clicking on the header up there.
Harry McFry Investigates
Blog: Harry McFry Investigates
The Case of the Missing Family
Type: Fiction
You don’t have to tell me – I know. Fiction published in blogs is almost invariably so awful that I rarely get past the first paragraph. But note that word “almost” there; just occasionally one stumbles upon a rare jewel that flashes through the surrounding dross. Today I found such a gem.
The blog in point is Harry McFry Investigates, a delight at first sight that continues to deliver as one delves deeper. Wryly humorous, it combines the detective genre and, amazingly, the study of genealogy into a thoroughly delicious read. Make no mistake, reading a book on a computer monitor is no mean feat and it takes true dedication or excellent writing to hold the viewer’s attention. McFry delivers and I should warn you that following the advice to begin at Chapter 1 is dangerous; the book is habit-forming (and up to Chapter 137 already).
In part, the author, one Thomas Hamburger Jnr. (hmmm), achieves this through knowing his medium. The chapters are short, just the right length to persuade one to read the next before clicking onward. And the blog design is apt, muted and unobtrusive, allowing the text to remain the central focus. This is a very clever bit of blogging.
It is also a pleasure to read anything written by someone who knows his grammar – I cannot count the number of blogs I have despaired of through their constant misuse of words and the humble apostrophe. Maybe I’m a snob but, if you’re going to publish something to be read by all and sundry, you should at least check to see that it contains no glaring errors. No flies on McFry or Hamburger on this score.
And that really is the power of this blog – it is a complete conception, a delicate balance between fact and fiction, a dweller between two apparently unrelated worlds. The whole thing is just too beautiful for words.
In fact, enough of my pontificating! Do yourself a favor and click on the title up there to enter the mysterious world of Harry McFry!
Burning Windmill
Blog: Burning Windmill
Type: Art
There are basically two types of art blog: the blog created by an artist and the blog made by those who appreciate art. Generally speaking, it is best to stay away from both, the first category tending towards self indulgent display of some pretty awful attempts at art, the second usually amounting to grandiose and long-winded efforts to show everyone how clever and trendy the blogger is.
Burning Windmills fits the second category but is refreshing in its approach. There is none of the usual departure into convoluted language to disguise the fact that nothing of any note is being said; the author, Adam (and that’s as much as I’ve been able to find out about him) writes clearly and with humor, presenting his finds without any need to justify his taste.
And his taste, from what I’ve seen, is pretty accurate. There is a wealth of atrocious art out there to sift through in a search for anything worthwhile, but Adam has succeeded in his quest. Take, for instance, this gem that he offers us in a recent post. And the glory of it is that he has not been able to discover the artist’s real name – I am vindicated in my similar failure regarding the blog owner!
Posts are just right for a blog – neither too long nor too brief. And Adam’s writing style is simple and unconcerned with projecting his ego; he will happily write of walking the doggie and coffee intake. No need for him to explore the way paint is applied or how color affects us, no, he simply tells us how the picture moved him and that is sufficient. There is more than enough technical babble uttered these days without adding to the heap.
The blog is a model of calm, simple and muted design and color, too. Away with the curlicues and wilting roses so beloved of lady artists, the overly complex designs of the intelligentsia, determined to prove themselves a creature apart. Shades of grey, a windmill and a date – ’tis enough and Adam gets to the point. Excellent stuff.
You may not be into art blogs but neither am I (in spite of the fact that I once had ambitions in the art arena myself). But in my daily trawl for blogs to review, Adam’s stood out as a worthy subject; it looked good at a glance and that first impression held. My only quibble would be that I’d like to know more about him; perhaps that’s just my nosiness…
