Today I’m adding some links to a few new sites. These are permanent features of the right-hand sidebar. Since I’ve started blogging I’ve become aware of many great websites. I’ve also sifted through a great many dull, boring and plain silly offerings. So today I’m trying to offer some diversity. A large number of blogs have the same old links to sites that, in my opinion, are quite poor. I’m trying my best to avoid this problem here and I’ve been “auditioning” the new links posted here for some time in order to mimimize the chance that you will be sent off on a wild goose chase to some dreary outpost of the web; -having said that I must emphasize that the content of all sites, other than my own, is outside my control and if you are offended or find they didn’t meet your expectations don’t come whining back to me.
General Interest
Schpaa has a lot of hilarious movie clips and animated cartoons. Some are a bit off colour though so as I said above, please don’t come back to complain. Personally I recommend the film clips of “Why Arabs shouldn’t shoot guns” (#9), “Extreme Rally Crash” (#61) and "Zazoo Condoms" (#69).
Science News: The content is self-evident -all sorts of interesting news about scientific discoveries and breakthroughs.
Smoking Gun: This site is well known for its political exposés.
Arts and Entertainment
Now here's an eclectic mix:
Jazzcat: A great Jazz site.
I’ve posted two martial arts sites. They may not be your cup of tea but I’ve had a lifelong interest in this stuff and these two blogs are sincere, well-written and have lots of photos. Mingshi’s kendo blog is an attractive diary of a young martial artist living in the UK. I can relate more to iaido (sword drawing) than kendo but note that I still struggle with the same issues she does even after years of practice. Uchi Deshi describes the day-to-day life of a full time aikidoist in San Diego. Having trained for 5 years in this city myself (although not at the same dojo) this blog brings it all back to me. And, unlike Mingshi’s blog, I note the author is of similar age to me which makes it easier for me to empathise.
Mo’s Musings: Mo is the mirror image of me, geographically speaking. An American ex-pat living in England.
Larry Ayers: A gentle account of life in the country by a maker of stringed musical instruments and technology whizz. Nice photos of flowers and generally soothing. I just hope he doesn’t kill himself on his motorcycle.
Onionbag: Whimsical and humourous blog about life in South London. Lots of photos. My only criticism is that it paints too idyllic a picture. This is London without traffic congestion, Chavs, larger louts, Lewisham and dog poo.
Soapy Goldfish: A strange and funny site. It’s easier for you to read it than me to describe…
Mostly Political
The political sites are mostly American and somewhat left-leaning. I don’t know why but Brits seem more inclined to humour while the Yanks take their politics very seriously. So I offer the following:
Axis of Evel Knevel: Clever and funny! Some pictures. The author, David Noon, likes cats too.
Daily Kos: Superb news site with strong lefttward leanings. Professionally written.
Juan Cole: Informed comment by a Professor of History.
Lawyers Guns Money: Another semi-professional site. Entertaining and progressive.
Majikthise: Analytic philosophy and liberal politics from Lindsay Beyerstein. OK, she nicked the name from Hitchhikers Guide but she’s very good.
Shot by Both Sides: A British site, I think. Tagline, “He’s drunk, he’s mean, he works for the bad guys”. I don’t know who “He” is though.
Smirking Chimp: A very good site. Very professional. No prizes for guessing who provided the inspiration for the name.
Part 2 of the Green Mini story tomorrow, I promise...
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