[wordless week] a solution to the seven days

There's always one

Now be honest – aren’t we just that wee bit weary of all these Wordless Wednesdays and Snappy-happy Saturdays?

Do you delight in being directed what to blog on, on which day and according to which theme?

Do you yearn to blog alphabetically?

Well, your humble correspondent might just have come up with the answer. Higham proposes that the week be surgically incised into seven equal portions and presented thussingly:

Mammary Monday

This day we all go out on the prowl for gratuitous totty and plaster our blogs with female flesh [or the ladies may indulge in the male of the species, should it be their wont]. Get the blood circulating early in the week.

Twittery Tuesday

“Made the Mall, met Maud and Mavis and lingered languorously over a long limpid lunch.” Makes for marvellous reading and should delight the blog community no end. So let’s all twitter on Tuesday and leave those pesky serious posts for later.

Woebegone Wednesday

Lest you feel this has all been too light-hearted, let’s sink into doom and gloom on Wednesday and post only about the latest deaths, famines, medical conditions and other inspiring fare. The aim is to leave every one of our readers in philosophical mood, still facing Thursday and Friday ahead.

Thurtabulous Thursday

Time to strangle our English and wax lyrical about the huge windfall we just came into or the tremendous travel we’ve just undertaken in a sunny paradise somewhere in the Mediterranean, whilst back home it’s still 10 degrees and drizzling. Sensitivity is the key here.

Furry Friday

This is where we festoon our blogs with furry creatures and loveable little moppets and write of how Woopsy did wee-wees and then mauled a weasel, in intricate detail recounting the usage of the pooper scooper and widdle sponge. A day for animal lovers and to post all those pics of your toddler in hilarious and endearing poses.

Sonorous Saturday

The trick here is to latch onto the latest Bete Noir, say Gordon or Robert, go on and on and on and on about his latest outrage, preferably lifting huge chunks from MSM articles, shoving them into interminable posts and adding the wry and witty analysis: “Isn’t he a bastard?”

For piquancy, we could add variations on the words Guardian, Gordo or Dubya.

Serene Sunday

This is the day of rest, the day we give the alliterated weekdays the shove and simply blog on something intelligent. Well OK – not all that inspiring, I admit. Or else we can go for a drive into the countryside.

Anyway, all in all, it should be a winner, don’t you think?

THE BLOGGERS’ BLOGGER AWARDS 2008

Feel free to copy and paste this graphic to publicize these awards. It would be nice if someone could provide a more professional job for the graphic and actual prize banners.


There is no doubt that Iain Dale’s UK Political Bloggers List is the definitive guide to ratings in the UK and that on the American continent, the Weblog Awards is the definitive guide.

All this is well and fine but there is still a need for a blogosphere peer review in all categories, not just political and the reason there has not been, so far this year is:

a. it’s a lot of damned hard work to set up
b. there has not been, apart from the “Super Blogger” or “Fine Blogger” badges which do the rounds, any definitive guide, since last year, which fellow bloggers would respect and who’s badge bloggers would proudly display.

Last year’s Blogpower Awards filled the gap to an extent but everyone remembers the difficulties which arose there.

As it appears that Blogpower are not running their mid-year awards this year, then it is high time, before people go away for school holidays, to run a peer review which the blogosphere will respect. Who better to launch it than the man at the centre of the 2007 controversy, yours truly.

There might well be a workable formula here:


THE BLOGGERS’ BLOGGER AWARDS 2008
Peer review of the blogosphere, by the blogosphere, for the blogosphere


How the Awards work

1. Names are called for today to fill five spots on a Panel of Moderators who will administer the running of the Awards. Naturally, the higher the status of the blogger on that panel, the more accepted the awards will be.

The way to nominate is to simply comment in the comments section of the post at the site [click on the red title]:

The Blogger's Blogger Awards 2008

with the name of someone you’d like to see on the panel. On Wednesday these nominations can be reviewed and a list drawn up of ten names on which you can comment further. On Friday the final five are chosen and are asked to participate. If they accept, they are given admin rights to the Awards blog.

2. The Panel then decides on categories between them. The idea is to choose categories where:

a. the small blogger is not swamped
b. the smaller countries don’t get swamped by the larger
c. the megablogger has his/her own category to compete in.

Categories are then published at the Awards blog as separate posts, each listed as a link in the first post at the top of the page. Visitors can then come to this page, click the category link and go to that separate window.

3. To nominate someone within a category, simply leave the name and url of a personal blogger of at least one month’s standing without any further commentary. Any commentary invalidates the nomination and it is deleted.

At the end of the stated nomination period, the admins see which ten are the most popular nominated and their sites go into that same post as links for voters to check out.

4. In the voting phase, personal bloggers of at least one month’s standing name the finalist of their choice, again using the comments section of that post. Again, it is transparent and anyone can see the state of play at any one moment.

Bloggers can vote once a day over the stated period [decided on by the Panellists] and because all comments carry dates and times, it’s easy to check that someone votes just once in a day. Any informal votes will be deleted by the Panel.

No Panellist may vote in a category he/she is nominated for.

5. By the end of the voting phase, it will be fairly clear who is out the front and who close on their heels.

So, to return to point one, time for you to:

NOMINATE A BLOGGER OF ONE MONTH’S STANDING FOR PANELLIST BY PUTTING HIS/HER NAME AND URL IN THE COMMENTS SECTION OF THIS POST.

[Please don't nominate at Nourishing Obscurity here.]


Appendix: Some possible categories

Political blogs

North America Left of centre
North America Centre
North America Right of centre
North America Nationalistic

UK Left of centre
UK Centre
UK Right of centre
UK Nationalistic

Rest of the World Left of centre
Rest of the World Centre
Rest of the World Right of centre
Rest of the World Nationalistic

Macropolitical [non-aligned, not country based, not issue based]

Economics

North America Economics
UK Economics
Rest of the World Economics

Blogstyle

Work related e.g. medical
Researcher and fisker
Humourist
Graphics intensive
Daily life/domestic/pets/food
Fashion

Blog readership

North America best little blog [under 200 uniques average]
UK best little blog [under 200 uniques average]
Rest of the World best little blog [under 200 uniques average]

North America best established blog [between 200 and 700 uniques average]
UK best established blog [between 200 and 700 uniques average]
Rest of the World best established blog [between 200 and 700 uniques average]

North America best major blog [between and 3000 uniques average]
UK best major blog [between 700 and 3000 uniques average]
Rest of the World best major blog [between 700 and 3000 uniques average]

North America best mega blog [upwards of 3000 uniques average]
UK best mega blog [upwards of 3000 uniques average]
Rest of the World best mega blog [upwards of 3000 uniques average]

Special

Services to blogging

[the sicilian luncheon] post-prandial report

You’d be forgiven for concluding from the previous post [given that you were at all interested in the first place] that the luncheon today was going to be dire.

Not a bit of it.

Already with memories of Welshcakes’ midnight pork, bacon strip and gherkin rolls, the remaining portions dipped into afresh this morning, we waited for the car to arrive to collect us.

The red Fiat Panda, driven by the student daughter, promptly arrived only 30 minutes past the appointed time; the free form jazz she was playing through the Blaupunkt which she turned up full blast through the rear speakers beside my ears in the back was nevertheless pretty talented stuff and the country lane, between the curving dry stone walls either side, was easy on the eyes.

The property itself was situated halfway between our town and the nearby Scicli, set in rolling hills. We turned onto a side road and headed uphill to the park set on a ledge cut into the hillside, a sprawling complex of house and outbuildings, also in the same lightish but cemented stone.

[Referring to the map below now] we went through the archway, the white clothed long table was just being set for lunch and elements of the extended family were here, there and everywhere, introductions being effected as and when.

Now to describe, clockwise, the complex of images coming at us.

Through the archway on the left was the cavernous kitchen-come-all-purpose room with its light-grey tiled floor and wooden tables; in the wall near where we stood was a Madonna set into the stonework; over the main table was a wood pergola; behind the table, up the little hill, was a terraced garden, each section with its own little stone retaining wall and to the right of that – the steps up the hill towards the yard.

Immediately beyond the main table was a cherry tree in a large tub and various other flora. To the right was the entrance to the little house, presumably where the grandparents or someone lived.

There is no tradition of bringing drinks to guests, even in 40 degree heat but one of the chaps took pity on Welshcakes and me and brought a bottle of mineral water so that was all right. Slowly, the guests arrived and the greater family now joined us, setting places and chatting and a nice crew they turned out to be – warmhearted and friendly.

At this point it would be as well to mention the underlying anarchic and chaotic nature of the Sicilian – it can be seen from the way dishes emerge in no particular order, through to the architecture and landscaping – nothing is even and levelled, everything can be a surprise. Overall, the effect though is pleasant and refreshing, certainly in an exercise like this luncheon.

The food began to emerge.

That’s more Welshcake’s department than mine but I can tell you the first thing up was an enormous pie of chicken and some sort of chicken mash, with a large pan of spicy rice and a fresh green salad as accompaniment.

Now came the white wine and it was quite delish. Outside was close to 40 degrees but where we sat could not have been over 28 or 29, with all the foliage everywhere. There was also an electric “bug zapper” in operation and highly effective it was too.

With me thinking it was all over, they now brought large bowls of what looked like stew in a tomato concoction but neither of us could have eaten much more at that point.

With me once more thinking it was over, they started distributing almonds and the wine changed to possibly the finest Muscat I’ve ever tasted and now it certainly looked like it was all over.

Not a bit of it.

Now came the local chocolate, various sweetmeats we’d brought and some other coconut or pinenut things plus the coffee. Surely that was it?

Not a bit of it.

Now came another round of Muscat and nuts, followed by the bringing of the sweet plums, apricots so juicy one could have cried and watermelon everywhere.

The host now came up nervously to check if he’d provided enough and the hostess did the same some minutes later.

Eventually we were given a lift back to town and that was The Sicilian Luncheon. Sicily is not a particularly rich area, in financial terms, for the average person but it is certainly rich in culture, food and human warmth and that showed through today.

Hopefully this post added to your own recollections of the area and brought back fond memories. For the rest – get down here and join us.

[sunday lunch] this will take some digesting

Well, this is the Higham's first venture outside the town and an interface with an Italian family - mum, dad, fourteen brothers, twenty sisters, husbands, boyfriends, children, grandchildren and various pets, not to mention a probably super lunch.

It's not Welshcake's first venture outside though so I'll rely on her to keep our end up in the conversation. Churlish to say we'd rather be resting in the cool of this apartment when the sun gets high but there it is - 11 a.m. the car will come for us and we'll no doubt report later in the day.

Have a good Sunday lunch yourselves.

[saturday quiz] steal straight from wiki version

Now I did promise this would be harder than Welshcakes' second quiz so here it is - a total steal from Wikipedia:

1. What is the first name of this famous artist?

Il 15 aprile 1874 s'inaugura, nello studio del fotografo Nadar, al secondo piano del 35 di boulevard des Capucines, la mostra del gruppo Societé anonyme des peintres, sculpteurs et graveurs, composto, fra gli altri, da Monet, Cézanne, Degas, Morisot, Renoir, Pissarro e Sisley, polemici nei confronti della pittura, allora di successo, accettata regolarmente nei Salons.

2. First name of this composer?

Gebuer de 22. August 1862, als éischt vu fënnef Kanner, gouf de Claude Debussy als Jong vum Manuel-Achille Debussy a sénger Fra Victorine agedroen. Gedeeft gouf hien eréischt zwee Joer méi spéit, wat deemols ongewéinlech spéit war.

3. First name of the film director of whom this is a part fimography:

2000: Chabrols süßes Gift (Merci pour le chocolat)
2003: Die Blume des Bösen (La fleur du mal)
2004: Die Brautjungfer (La demoiselle d’honneur)
2006: Geheime Staatsaffären (L’ivresse du pouvoir)
2007: Die zweigeteilte Frau (La Fille coupée en deux)
2007: La parure und Le petit fût, Episoden aus Chez Maupassant (TV)

4. Second name of the famous actor, by which he was better known:

William ____ Rains (10. november 1889 London, Inglismaa – 30. mai 1967 Laconia, New Hampshire) oli inglise päritolu USA lava- ja filminäitleja, enim tuntud peaosalisena filmidest "Nähtamatu mees" ("The Invisible Man"; 1933) ja "Phantom of the Opera" (1943).

5. One of Derek Jacobi's roles.


Answers [highlighting required as usual]

Claude [in modern anglicized parlance]

Dedicated to Ellee - she knows why.

Toilet humour?

Toilet humour?

I'm satire by my computer what are you doing?

A plagiarist copied and pasted the above post on a forum. Within 3 minutes the person was sussed out and confronted by another poster who had Googled the first line and found the original source. The plagiarist apologised and claimed that he or she had found it stuck to a toilet door.