King of the Blogs Tournament: Week Two Judging!

Congratulations to last week's victor, Warren at View from the Pew... but alas, he was not allowed to rest easy in his reign, and immediately began defending his crown against this week's pretenders to the throne, the Aggressive Progressive and Cyn Sim.

Without further ado, The Queen's rulings:

Overall Blog/Design

View from the Pew:  I see Warren has been hard at work and taking last week's comments from the judges to heart. The banner graphics on the sides that were broken have now been replaced, and he has an interesting new graphic for the title. The comments and trackback links have been moved to the bottom of each post, which was a very useful comment from Judge Harvey.  I also see a link has been added to Warren's Blogger profile, which is a very good move. We now feel like we know a bit more about Warren without having t o read every singlepost in the archives - not that he doesn't want us to *wink*.  My positive comments from last week still apply.  However, my comments on the overall graphic design still apply too.  It's nice, it's readable... but still missing some "pizzazz".  The new graphic with the title is snazzy, but doesn't really fit with the color scheme and very basic fonts/layout of the rest of the site.  I know what you need!  MORE COWBELL! (Ahem.  Sorry.)  Anyway, I have seen improvements, and that is worth an upgrade in the overall rating: View from the Pew gets a 4.

Aggressive Progressive: Very nice design - a simple, clean look with a color scheme that pulls it all together and a banner graphic that looks professional and displays the author's - or at least the blog's - personality. As for other elements of the blog, comments and trackback are in place, the blogroll gives us a sense of community... overall I'm impressed.  Now let's consider the all-important "about me" information.  The Aggressive Progressive gives us a sidebar section on "Contributors" with links to several Blogger profiles.  I assume each of these individuals is a contributor to this blog... Some of the profiles have precious little information; however since "The Aggressive Progressive" seems to be not only the name of this blog but the screen name of the main contributor, I'll just focus on this one.  I'm going to have to assume that AggPro is male, because the "photo" cartoon provided has a moustache and goatee.  I see the contact e-mail gives us the name "Mike".  OK, Mike.  We know your current profession, and your location, but other than what you write about we really don't know much else about you.  Perhaps you don't want us to.  That's your prerogative.  It's also our prerogative to decide we don't care what you think.  Reading his other posts, I sense a lot of vitriol in this Mike person, and I feel like I'm opening myself up for all kinds of abuse if I make any negative comments relative to the overall tone and content, so I'll shelve my thoughts on that and stick to the technical merits.  I will say, though, that entering a competition where all three judges, both hosts and the commissioner are all political conservatives, with a blog that is so very aggressively liberal, Mike was probably expecting some politically-based bashing in this contest.  In fact, he might even be hoping for it.  I'm not going there.  A few constructive comments instead:  searchable archives would be a real plus.  As a reader, I'd also rather not be assaulted with the Google Ads first thing.  You're probably not getting a lot of revenue from them in any event, so perhaps bumping the contributors links to the top would give this a little more personal of a feel and less "I want this blog to make me money."  The Aggressive Progressive gets an overall 4.

Cyn Sim: Positives: not one, but 4 simple, clean, cohesive designs to choose from.  Working comments and trackback.  Nice, understated banner graphics and color schemes.  Searchable archives.  A real photo.  An "about me" post that gives us a pretty good idea about who Cyn is and what her interests are.  Only one Google Ad to assault us upon our introduction to the site, and it's unobtrusively placed.  A blogroll and other external links of interest that give us an even better feel for Cyn.  Negatives: The "Simple Grey" skin has no banner graphic (or at least it doesn't appear whether I view it in Firefox or IE6.0) and appears to have some spacing issues between the photo and the skin chooser.  Overall, the majority of the content is personal updates that few people but Cyn's friends and family members will find in the least interesting.  I do a fair amount of that myself, so I can't complain too much.  However, for those who are new to my site I do provide category archives and a list of "best of" posts for those who don't care about my electrical problems and what classic novel I am.  I'd like to see more content aimed at people who don't know her personally that would draw them into her world:  amusing stories, perhaps, or exposition about some of her interests.  However, Cyn makes it clear that this site is intended to be merely a journal, and as such, it is what it she wants it to be.  I really like this site, and I really want to like it more.  More thoughtful, storytelling, or interest-sharing posts will draw new readers in, and put the more mundane journal-type entries ("Dishes done" updates and the like) in the context of an interesting person who we want to know.  A good start, with a lot of technical merit.  Cyn Sim earns an overall 4.

Submitted Post

View from the Pew:  Another well written and thoughtful piece. I like the personal touch, bringing your little girl into the post and relating this spiritual lesson to the Veggie Tales Jonah movie.  I now have "Jonah Was a Prophet" stuck in my head. Thanks.  (No really, I love the Veggie Tales.  I won't hold it against you.)  Another 4 for the submitted post.

Aggressive Progressive:  A poor choice for your submitted post.  Aside from a couple of nit-picky spelling/word choice errors (fourth instead of forth, and a missing "T" in "them's fightin' words"), I have no complaints about the writing.  You clearly have a way with words, which  is as it should be given your career field.  However, you have opened  up quite the window on your personality by describing your penchant for picking fights with other bloggers, who do not appear to have done a single thing to deserve it.  This contempt and abuse of your potential future subjects is unbecoming in a contender for the King of the Blogs throne, and I for one have reservations about crowning such a tyrant.  Mike, seriously, your writing is good, but what you're doing here makes you nothing more than a particularly literate troll.  I would not have chosen to comment on this post had you not submitted it as a featured example of your writing.  You would have been better served to submit something that was more thought-provoking and political (such as this post), or more representative of your sarcastic humor (such as this one). Snark is fine - I read Television Without Pity, so I can appreciate a good snarky post.  While I may not specifically agree with your views in either of those posts, I can respect your expression of your thoughts and beliefs, and set my personal feelings aside enough to judge those on their merits.  However, given the post you elected to submit instead, I  rate your submitted post a 2.5.  It would be much lower if it were not for your quality writing.  If you choose to enter this competition again, I hope you will take this as constructive criticism.  Give us something thoughtful, or something funny, but not something mean-spirited and nasty.

Cyn Sim:  See, this is what we should have gotten from illogicology last week.  This is quirky and fun, and the not-so-subtle Britney-bashing earns points in my book.  Ah, the glamour.  You too can look like Britney.  How the mighty pop star hath fallen.  Hee.  I can appreciate a light-hearted post as much as a thought-provoking one as long as it is well-expressed and draws me in.  Thus, this one earns a 4.

Challenge Post

View from the Pew:  The presentation is a little less creative than last week's "press release" style... but also a step up from the "this is the question, and this is the answer" type challenge response, which would get points knocked off for sure.  On the merits of the response, bonus points for the Monty Python and the Holy Grail references.  Good job applying each suggested role model for Kingship to the concept of your reign in the blogosphere.  Humorous, with a good dash of sucking up to the judges and the Commissioner.  And while extending your Arthurian reign analogy to the "once and future king" concept shows humility, you should know that the judges generally consider humility a sign of weakness *grin*.  This fine challenge post earns a 4.

Aggressive Progressive:  OK, what the heck?  I have never in my life seen or heard of King Vitamin.  This must be a regional thing.  Having spent most of my life in the Southwestern US, perhaps it just isn't sold here.  Some explanatory linkage would have been helpful for those of us who have been living in a cave - or maybe just Phoenix - for the last 30-some-odd years. However, I figure Mike just wasn't aware that this Quaker cereal brand isn't sold throughout the whole country, so I'll forgive it.  This time.  The reference to Pat Robertson beating the heck out of the Rice Krispies guys also lost me - if this was a mental adventure of yours, Mike, that is kind of amusing, but if you didn't come up with it yourself, explanatory linkage would be most appreciated.  The Torquemada reference also really needed an explanatory link for those who have no clue about what you're getting at.  Aside from all that, the nostalgic kids' cereal references were a nice touch.  By this post I presume you mean to rule the blogosphere as a benevolent, peaceful King who is tolerant of all manner of "freaks" within the blogosphere and intends to be inclusive and make all feel valued?  (Must I point out how starkly this contrasts with your submitted post?)  But on to the ruling.  A nice, creative choice of kings to emulate.  The format of the post could stand a good shot of creativity, though.  Perhaps done as an interview with Time Magazine, or the transcript of an episode of the Jerry Springer show.  Photoshop attempts, even if not technically proficient, are always appreciated.  Pretenders to the throne, take note.  Just answering the question is not sufficent to wow at least this judge.  The lack of format creativity in this response, along with the lack of explanatory linkage where it would have been most useful, earns this post a 3.5.

Cyn Sim:  I have a feeling Harvey is really going to go for this answer.  Being female myself, I admire your sense of style by choosing the Queen of Bollywood as your exotic role model.  As one who appreciates a good, campy movie where folks break out into dance routines at the drop of a hat (have you ever seen Love's Labour's Lost with Kenneth Branagh?) I am digging the mental image of random dance scenes throughout the blogosphere and resolving international disputes with a good dance competition. Explanatory linkage is provided, which is a plus.  More creative presentation, while time-consuming for a busy student-type, would have been a major plus.  For instance, I can totally envision a video clip of Cyn in said Punjabi outfit, presiding over the resolution of international disputes via dance-off.  Since this was in the "here's the question, here's the answer" format, I should probably go lower on the rating, but this response exhibits the proper confidence and and poise of a worthy successor to the first and only Queen of the Blogs. I call it a 4.

The Queen's Rulings

View from the Pew: 12
Aggressive Progressive: 10
Cyn Sim:  12

I have no doubt my fellow judges will break this tie.  It's going to be a close one in any event.  Congratulations, worthy competitors all.

Comments

[Caoilfhionn]

God help us if Agg pro submitted the Assclowns post, lol--that's about as bad as you can get. Merry Christmas and thanks for stopping by! Nice place you got here! ~Cao.

[Cyn]

Thanks for the in-depth review! You are right about the Simple Grey, there's no graphic for that one (made that one for my mom's 56k modem).

Heh, I almost dressed up in my best Punjabi outfit, but alas, no time. I knew I should have found a way to do it.

Happy Holidays!