Today's 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards nominees of the day are from Pop Culture & Entertainment.

Want to know more about Jersey Shore or who killed at the Golden Globes or what Madonna's face is up to? Check out our Pop Culture & Entertainment category:

The Ampersand
The Ashcan
A Blog Named Soo
Fashionable People, Questionable Things
Lainey Gossip
The Opinion Monster
Songs & Cigarettes

If you now of another good Canadian pop culture and entertainment weblog, nominate it in the Pop Culture & Entertainment category of the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards!

Labels: categories, Pop Culture and Entertainment

Today's 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards nominees of day are from the Political category.

They keep you abreast of advertising issues during the Super Bowl, ruminate about Judy Wasylycia-Leis' mayoral bid in Winnipeg, share pictures from Toronto's rally against proroguing Parliament, talk about the National Film Board of Canada's openness, discuss large corporations and their abuse of copyright, and shake their heads over Stephen Harper's hypocrisy. Drop in and leave comments to let them know you came by:

Broadsides
Endless Spin Cycle
Liberal Arts and Minds
Michael Geist
Through the Looking Glass
We Move to Canada

If you know of an excellent Canadian political weblog, show your appreciation and nominate it in the Political category of the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards.

Labels: categories, Political

Chris Walts and Mike Doyle host The 49th Parallel, which has been nominated in the Podcast & Vlog category of the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards.

Why vlogging in particular?

CHRIS: I think video was a natural choice for Mike and I, because, well, we figured it might help out dating lives.

MIKE: It's true. I was banking on the fame the internet would bring me to take me to that next level dating-wise.

CHRIS: Mike and I have been making videos together since grade six. We both spend a ton of time online, and Mike turned me onto a couple of video podcasts that I now love. I figured it looked like something we could do and be pretty good at, so we jumped right into producing our own video show. I don't know that we could drink beers and write blog posts nearly as effectively.

MIKE: The alcohol really helped with the stage fright too. I think video was the natural choice for us. We don't have particularly amazing sounding voices, so an audio podcast was out. But we are both cute as buttons, so video really showed off out strengths.

What have been your greatest achievements/setbacks so far in your vlog quest?

CHRIS: I think our greatest achievement has been the fact that we have been able to consistently produce a show every two weeks (more or less). Mike lives in Victoria and I live in Vancouver, so one of us is commuting four hours each way for every show. There have been weeks when neither of us has wanted to do it for various reasons, and we have anyway. I'm pretty proud of that.

MIKE: It's been a pain in the behind for sure sometimes. The plus side of it, though, is I've become closer to a good friend I've known since I was six years old. If nothing else, it has given me the opportunity to have a good time with a great friend.

CHRIS: As for setbacks, I think the trickiest thing has been finding our audience. It's tough to get out there and get known, especially when you often talk about Canadian politics. We have a pretty decent dedicated audience, but I think secretly (or maybe not so secretly) you always hope that it is bigger.

MIKE: I've not been recognized on the street yet. It hurts, but I know it will come in time. "Don't stop believin'!"

Have you had any embarrassing moments while vlogging?

CHRIS: I can't really think of any off the top of my head. Editing the shows, I've certainly picked up on a couple of bad acting habits I have and have tried to not do them anymore, but nothing really embarrassing. Maybe the worst thing is realizing that you are talking about your sex life from time to time and then thinking that your parents might be watching.

MIKE: I've caught myself a few times on that. It's interesting how I feel I can be more liberal with my discussions with perfect strangers than I can with my family. As for embarrassing, I think one of our first shows we had a bit of an audience and a bit too much alcohol... I try to limit how many sips I take these days.

CHRIS: That doesn't mean we'll stop doing it though.

MIKE: Can't stop. WON'T STOP.

How does your vlog fit into your creative porfolio? Is this your primary outlet, or do you publish elsewhere?

CHRIS: Right now, I think the podcast is my primary artistic output. I've written a couple of guest posts for Granville Magazine and Miss604.com, as well as having a couple of my own blogs (ChrisWalts.com, Adventures in Traveldom, and Oxymoronic Aquiescence), but I don't update them nearly as often.

MIKE: This is my main outlet for the time being. I'm in school fulltime right now, so my free time is lacking. I think the show is a definite stepping stone to other projects, though. I think one of the best aspects is all the people I've met through doing it. The key to success is who you know after all.

CHRIS: There may be other podcast type shows in the pipeline though so stay tuned ;)

If you were to impart some knowledge to an aspiring vlogger, what would you tell them?

CHRIS: Really I think the best piece of advice anyone can give is if you are thinking about doing it, just go out and try it and see what happens. We weren't sure if we were going to be any good at our show, but we went out and shot episode 0 – the beta test. I cut it together, showed it to a bunch of friends, and everyone seemed to think it was decent, so we went from there. It really isn't expensive to produce something like we do, so why not try?

MIKE: Chris is absolutely right on this one. If you have a laptop with a built in webcam you can get a vlog up and running for practically nothing. As with most things, the hardest part of doing it is simply starting.

How do you feel about the word "vlog"? Are you okay with it, or does it make you kind of want to hurt me for using it so often?

CHRIS: I'm not going to lie. I'm not a big fan of the term. In my mind, a vlog is one person sitting in front of their webcam ranting about something and then posting it to youtube. There are two of us, so I think by default we don't vlog. We also actually shoot dual system (meaning we synchronize our audio and video in post production), and I often colour time the episodes, etc. I think we spend too much time on them to be considered a vlog. I like podcast, video podcast, or maybe webisode. We do often rant about things though.

MIKE: ^^^^ this.

Which blogs/vlogs are your must-reads/watches? Are there other political blogs/vlogs that inspire you?

CHRIS: I read so much news every week; it's actually kind of crazy. We just need to be on top of so much stuff to be semi-knowledgeable about it for the show. I'm on NowPublic, Digg, CBC, and BBC multiple times a day. I also get a ton of news by just watching my twitter feed and seeing what people are talking about. As for actual blogs, I've got TechCrunch, Tech Vibes, A view from the Isle, Hummingbird604, and Mommy is Moody in my Google Reader. I'm also a big hockey fan, so I'm always checking out Hockey Buzz and Spector's Hockey. I don't think that I really watch a ton of vlogs, but I do love the video podcasts over at Revision3. I watch Diggnation and the Totally Rad Show every week.

MIKE: I won't bother repeating most of Chris's links as we have many of the same sources. I spent a lot of time on the road, so I end up listening to podcasts more than watching vlogs. My favourites right now include The Moth, This American Life, Radio Lab, and You Look Nice Today, and, for my british/american comedy news, The Bugle.

Labels: interviews, Podcast and Vlog

Today's 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards nominees of the day are from our Podcast & Vlog category.

The Podcast & Vlog category is reserved for those bloggers who have branched out beyond the written word to audio and video. Grab a cup of coffee, sit back, and watch them strutta their stuff and crash into their passion:

The 49th Parallel
Kyle WiTh

Is there a Canadian podcast or vlog that you never miss? Nominate it in the Podcast & Vlog category of the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards!

Labels: categories, Podcast and Vlog

Today's 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards nominees of the day come from our most recent addition to the awards, the Placeblog category.

I have been blogging for almost seven years, but the term "placeblogging" was a new one to me, so when it was suggested that we needed a Placeblog category, I looked into it. I can't say for sure, but the term appears to date back to 2007, and it perfectly filled a growing hole in the Canadian Weblog Awards. This definition explains it well:

A placeblog is an act of sustained attention to a particular place over time
It can be done by one person, a defined group of people, or in a way that’s open to community contribution
It’s not a newspaper, though it may contain random acts of journalism
It’s about the lived experience of a place

Check out our Placeblog nominees blogging from Annapolis Royal, Ottawa, Northumberland County, and Yellowknife and leave them comments to say hello:

Annapolis Royal Heritage
Greater Ottawa
NorthumberlandView.ca
Yellowknife Online

If you know of a superb Canadian placeblog, take a moment to show your appreciation and nominate it in the Placeblog category of the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards.

Labels: categories, Placeblog

Today's 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards nominees of the day are from the People's Choice category.

The People's Choice category is the only category in the Canadian Weblog Awards whose finalists are decided by the popular vote. For the most part, this is a juried competition, but it only seemed right to give all of you out there on the internet, Canadian or not, a voice to tell us which Canadian weblogs you read and love the most:

Absurd Intellectual
Alice in Paris Loves Art and Tea
A Blog Named Soo
Dinner with Julie
Her Bad Mother
Lainey Gossip
Mr. Teacher Man
Raymi the Minx
Songs & Cigarettes
Swatchless

Do you know of a popular Canadian weblog? Nominate it for the People's Choice category in the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards!

Labels: categories, People's Choice

A recent nominee, David Reevely of Greater Ottawa, brought to my attention that the Canadian Weblog Awards might be in need of a new category:

Thanks for the heads-up, but I'm afraid I've been nominated in the wrong category -- I don't blog on media and journalism. I guess I'm included there because I'm a full-time journalist, but I see other full-time journalists in other categories, from The Ampersand to Broadsides.

There may be a gap in your categories, actually. I don't see anything for people who blog about neighbourhoods or cities or most public affairs, except for "Political," which is pretty broad.

And he was right. There have been nominations which felt awkward to shoehorn into other categories such as Arts & Culture, Media & Journalism, or Politics, but I wasn't sure exactly what was required.

As more nominations have arrived, though, the picture has become more clear, and David put his finger on it for me later in our conversation when he mentioned placeblogging. What is placeblogging? According to this quote from BlogHer:

A placeblog is an act of sustained attention to a particular place over time
It can be done by one person, a defined group of people, or in a way that’s open to community contribution
It’s not a newspaper, though it may contain random acts of journalism
It’s about the lived experience of a place

A site called Placeblogger defines placeblogging this way:

A placeblog is a blog about the lived experience of a place. What do we mean by "lived experience"? The "lived experience" can be the local political news of a place, the social news of a place, the arts news of a place, etc. So, placeblogs are often about political issues, community news, restaurant reviews, music scenes, architecture, visual arts, etc. Any aspect of life in a place that makes it different from other places, or information that tells you something about the lifestyle of the place.

Placeblogging! Of course! This is exactly what a few of the nominated weblogs are doing, and so the Placeblog category has been created to give them a proper home within the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards.

Thank you, David, for helping me to sort out this little category snag!

Labels: categories, Placeblog

Today's 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards nominees of the day are from the Microblog category.

What is a microblog, you ask? Well, microblogs are similar to traditional weblogs — macroblogs, if you will — but the information is usually delivered in a smaller size. Some of the most notable examples of microblogging services are Twitter, Tumblr, Plurk, and identi.ca. Twitter, Plurk, and identi.ca confine updates to 140 characters, and Tumblr focuses on posts that are "short, to the point, and direct."

To date, our Microblog category has a small population of two, consisting of Mathew Ingram and Jason Sweeney:

@mathewi on Twitter
@sween on Twitter

There are more of you out there that do microblogging good. I know it to be true, because I compiled a list of 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards nominees on Twitter, and I found 93 of them! So, if you know of a Canadian microblog that keeps you riveted, nominate it in the Microblog category of the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards.

If you already have a Twitter account or choose to sign up for the service, you can follow the entire list of 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards nominees, or you can pick microbloggers out of the pack, follow them individually, and get to know some of the people who make up our Canadian blogging community.

If you are a nominee who also uses Twitter but have not been added to the list, please let me know so that the list can be as complete as possible. Thank you!

The list of nominees on Twitter will continue to grow throughout the year. A link to the list can be found in the center column under "Connect with Us".

Labels: categories, Microblog

Marc Vandersluys authors The Eagle & Child, which has been nominated in the Religion, Spirituality, & Philosophy category of the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards.

Why blogging?

It's a great outlet and an accessible way to get some writing "out there" without editors mucking with your material. In my context it's a fun way to bounce around ideas.

In the mid-90s I had fiddled around with a website on Geocities where I had published some stuff similar to what I might post on my blog. But at that time everything had to be written in html: background colour, font, font style, formatting, alignment, etc. All that coding was a hassle and got in the way of writing. And in those early years of search engines I had no idea how to get my website into "the system" so that people could find me.

Years later, a friend of mine started recording his travels in Kenya at 20six. Beyond his writing, I was intrigued by this new "weblog" format of reader interaction and preset templates in which I would only have to worry about writing. So I thought I'd give it another go. At the time I didn't know how to get people to find and read my blog, so I sent what was my first and only mass email to everyone in my address book. I said something like, "I've set up a blog where I'll be posting pictures of our kids so that I won't be clogging your inboxes with picture files anymore." But that was just a cover to get people to read. I did one post with pictures of my infant daughter before permanently moving on to other material.

The name of my blog comes from a pub in Oxford, England where J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams and others used to meet together weekly to talk literature and philosophy and who knows what else. I thought my blog could be a place where people could be that pub, except in the ether, as it were.

Originally I had quite an idealistic picture of blogging. I thought it would be an outlet for some of my musings as well as maybe a platform that might one day lead to some "serious" publishing. I realized fairly quickly that that wasn't going to happen.

There are days when I wonder why I still bother with blogging. But I enjoy writing and blogging is good even as an exercise, I suppose. I can't help myself. Plus over the years a little community of regulars has developed, which is nice. I wouldn't want to lose that.

You were blogging for over six years when you chose to pursue your Master of Divinity. Has this shift in your life affected your blogging? In what ways?

In the year or so prior to moving, I was blogging less frequently. Other things started taking priority. I had started working part time at our church and was responsible for preaching a sermon twice a month, which tended to take much time and creative energy. Also, in the last couple of years I have shifted from that idealistic view of blogging to seeing it as simply a hobby and an outlet, so I take it less seriously (for the most part).

But I was frustrated by my decreased blogging and I hoped that the move to a new province, a new town, a new situation, as well as the intellectually stimulating atmosphere of academe would lead to more blogging, but it hasn't. I'm busier now than ever and my writing energy is directed at papers.

Also, by going to seminary I am moving more deliberately towards ordination and eventually serving in the church, so the question of whether what I write on my blog will have a bearing on future work is on my mind more. Of course, I would rather be transparent than keep something to myself just in order to keep or get a job, but the question of editing myself comes up more often now.

What is your personal blogging philosophy? What will you and won't you write about? Why?

I'm not sure that I do have a blogging philosophy. My writing boundaries are set by what I'm interested in.

In some respects there are more things I won't blog about now than when I started six years ago. I can't think of anything specific, but I find myself foreseeing a post turning into an argument and I generally don't have the energy for that anymore, so often I won't bother posting it. Also, I feel like I have less to say these days. More and more I start writing things and then one or two paragraphs in (or five or six) I think either that it isn't going anywhere or, even if it is going somewhere, that it isn't worth posting.

Wow. This is so uninspiring! I should probably be de-nominated. I feel a little bit like this interview isn't going anywhere and that it shouldn't be posted. I'm the Harrison Ford or Robert DeNiro of blogging interviews.

If you were to impart some knowledge to on an aspiring blogger, what would you tell them?

Don't edit yourself once you begin to know who your audience is: family, friends, other bloggers. It is easy to think, "What will So and So think of this? How will they respond?" Try to avoid worrying about what your audience will think. Unless you're writing nasty things about people you know and they start reading you. Then you should edit yourself. But you probably shouldn't have been writing that stuff in the first place.

Write with your own voice. That's the one kind of editing (other than spelling and grammar) that I would suggest. If you find yourself "creating" a voice or saying something that you don't think is you (e.g. for effect), take that part out. Unless you're writing fiction. I think. But I don't know anything about writing fiction.

Write every day. I don't follow my own advice on this one, but I wish I did and had done so from the start.

Also: exclamation marks are solitary creatures. Do not put them together with their own kind.

And finally: write in paragraphs.

Which blogs are your "must reads"? What blogs within your genre do you find most inspiring?

I feel a little like this whole interview has been outside the spirit of these awards. I feel like I should be saying "Rah, rah, blogging!" Instead I'm saying things like, "I don't blog as much as I used to. I have less to say." Zzzzzz.

To that end, I'm not sure any longer that I have must-read blogs. There is simply too much to read out there and I can't possibly keep up with it. I often feel the tension between not reading blogs at all and the pressure to always be on top of "the latest".

Most of the blogs I follow are people I know, some of which are must-reads for that reason alone and probably wouldn't be of interest to anyone who doesn't know them.

One blogger who's reflections I always appreciate is Real Live Preacher, who I guess is in my genre, but lately he hasn't been writing all that much. I also tend to pay attention to what Scot McKnight is writing at Jesus Creed, but he's too prolific for me to follow the conversation there very closely. I don't know how he does it: he's a professor, an author and a speaker, and he manages to have a steady stream of interesting material going up on his blog.

I always look forward to posts on A Mandolyn & Ky, which is nominated in the group blogging category, I believe. I should pay more attention to some of their friends' blogs as well. That whole group of bloggers is so witty. I'm jealous of their wit. Seriously.

But, frankly, I don't read widely when it comes to blogs and my attention span is quite short, so I do a lot of skimming. I'm not proud of this.

Labels: interviews, Religion Spirituality and Philosophy

The 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards nominees of the day today are from the Media & Journalism category.

The Media & Journalism weblogs are the newsies and media professionals among us. They blog Manitoban politics, an interview with Toronto Star reporter Joanna Smith in Haiti, local news, lists of freelance writing jobs, salary caps in the NHL, and the transformation of Legal Aid in Ontario. Check them out, and leave comments to let them know you came by:

Canadian Freelance Writing Jobs
Endless Spin Cycle
mc79hockey.com
MediaStyle
NorthumberlandView.ca
Yellowknife Online

Do you know of an excellent Canadian weblog that fits into this category? Why not nominate it in the Media & Journalism category of the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards?

Labels: categories, Media and Journalism

Today's 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards nominees of the day are from the Lifetime Achievement category.

The Lifetime Achievement category is reserved for those weblogs that have been kicking around since before January 1, 2005. They are the aged ones, the dinosaurs among weblogs, a rare breed, and their authors must be commended for their sheer stick-to-it-ive-ness. Check out these hardy souls and give them a wave in their comments:

dirtyolive.net
JordonCooper.com
randallfriesen.com
Raymi the Minx
Sudobeer
Wish Jar

If you know of a quality Canadian weblog created before January 1, 2005, nominate them in the Lifetime Achievement category of the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards and give them their due.

Labels: categories, Lifetime Achievement

Today's 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards nominees of the day are from the Life category.

Originally, Life was called Personal, but writing about your life on the internet shifts the arena from private to public, so the Life category was born to more fully embrace what it is that life bloggers do. Life bloggers abound on the internet, as you can tell by the relatively long list we're already developing. These storytellers will make you cry with laughter over their latest parenting debacle and cry with grief over the loss of love. Take a look around and leave a comment to let them know you came by:

Alice in Paris Loves Art and Tea
Attack of the Redneck Mommy
Canadian Love Song
Chained Maiden
Chaos Theory
Cheaty Monkey
Cleavage
cribchronicles.ccom
Dang
Do It Myself Blog
Dutch Blitz
Hi, I'm Sadie Shih Tzu
Knitnut.net
Kyle WiTh
Live from Waterloo
megfowler.com
Mommy Musings
Mr. Teacher Man
Notes to Self
Oceanaria
One Thing I Did Today
Praying to Darwin
Raymi the Minx
Spin Me I Pulsate
Sudobeer
sweet | salty
VanderMeander
XUP

Do you know of a worthy Canadian life blogger? Nominate them for the Life category of the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards!

Labels: categories, Life

The 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards nominees of the day today are from the LGBTQ category.

LGBTQ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer, so each of the weblogs in this category are are about LBGTQ issues or are written by someone who identifies as such. Here you'll find pop culture, an ex-pat in Ireland, candid discussions about living with disability, jealousy-inducing updates from the tropics, and social justice. Dive in and leave comments to let them know you came by:

Alfred Lives Here
Any Dream Will Do
Screw Bronze!
Sticky Crows
We Move to Canada

If you know of another excellent Canadian LGBTQ weblog, nominate it for the LGBTQ category of the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards to let them know exactly how excellent you think they are.

Labels: categories, LGBTQ

Today's 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards nominees of the day are from Humour & Comics.

I must admit that this category may yet be split into two separate categories, because comics are truly quite different from straight up humour, but until further notice, they are married together.

So far, Humour & Comics is a melting pot of macroblogs, microblogs, and comics, which makes this category an unpredictable and ever-entertaining ride:

A Blog Named Soo
Eject
Mr. Teacher Man
One Thing I Did Today
The Problem with Young People Today Is...
A Softer World
@sween on Twitter

Do you know of any superb Canadian humour weblogs or online comics? Nominate them for the Humour & Comics catgory in the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards, because we all need the funny.

Labels: categories, Humour and Comics

The 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards nominees of the day today are from our brand spanking new Gardening category.

As these awards evolve during their inaugural year, there will, of course, be some shifting in the number and naming of categories, but I was pretty sure that I had thought of all the basic genres until someone nominated a weblog about gardening yesterday and tried to shoehorn it into Crafting. I all but smacked myself on the forehead over that one and immediately created the Gardening category and its corresponding nominee button.

(PSSST. I also created the Writing & Literature category yesterday, because writing and books are as Canadian as beavers. Onward and upward.)

Canada has some truly gorgeous and inspiring gardening weblogs, and I can't wait to see the others that will surely join these first two pioneers. It already feels a little springier after taking a look at them:

Gardening with Latitude
Greens & Berries

If you know of a good Canadian gardening weblog, take a moment to nominate it to the Gardening category of the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards.

Labels: categories, Gardening, Writing and Literature

The 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards?

There's an app for that!

The 2010 CWA iPhone app is a very simple app that allows users to access the Canadian Weblog Awards weblog entries, Twitter stream, and Facebook page updates from one location. Also, it's free!

So, if you are an iPhone user, you can now access the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards here, there, and everywhere with ease. I do.

Labels: outreach

The 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards nominees of the day today are from our Health & Wellness category.

The following nominees write candidly about their lives with autism, AIDS, mental illness, physical disability, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, etc., and their writing brings their lives home to a human level that is often missing with the usual type of reporting about people living with atypical physical and psychological issues. I am thoroughly addicted to this category at the moment, and as someone who deals with depression and anxiety issues and grew up with an older brother with multiple physical and mental conditions, I cannot believe that I haven't read more weblogs from this genre before.

There is something here for everyone, so take a look around and say hello:

Facing Autism in New Brunswick
Life with a Severely Disabled Child
Living Healthy in the Real World
My Journey with AIDS
Patient Anonymous
Psychiatric Survivor
Rolling Around in My Head
...Salted Lithium
Screw Bronze!
The Seated View
Stranded in Motherhood
This Time ~ This Space

Do you know of a first-rate weblog that fits into this category? Nominate it into the Health & Wellness category of the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards!

Labels: categories, Health and Wellness

Neil Kramer of the weblog Citizen of the Month wrote "Categories", a rumination about the Canadian Weblog Awards, and we're pretty chuffed about it. He's been kicking around the arena of weblogs since March 2005, which means that he is a blogging dinosaur, which means that we like his opinion on the matter:

Schmutzie does it right; she creates a category of family and parenting as an umbrella for whoever writes about family. This could be a mom or dad who write about their family. It could be a gay man raising a child with his partner. It could be a single man who adopted a son. It could even be a woman who is caring for her sick sister. Are we going to say that these sisters are not a family unit, with the same types of problems that any family might have, just because they are not child-rearing. If I moved in with my MIL to care for her, and I started a blog about it, would you discount me from being in the “family” blog category along with your traditional mommyblogging blog?

Check it out. The indirect comparison between us and Martin Luther King doesn't hurt, either.

Labels: categories, press

The 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards nominees of the day are from our Group Weblog category.

The Group Weblog category is devoted to weblogs that are co-authored by two or more people. Weblogs from any genre are welcome, so this is a category with a broad scope. Our four nominated weblogs so far are written by four who keep us abreast of pop culture and entertainment, a funny trio of friends who have been blogging together since 2005, a six-authored journal focused on spirituality and justice, and a duo that gave us a word for what happens when crafting goes bad. They're a grab bag of goodness, so jump in and leave your mark in the comments to let them know you came by:

A Mandolyn and Ky
The Ashcan
Clarion: Journal of Spirituality and Justice
Craftastrophe

Feel free to nominate a weblog into the Group Weblog category of the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards. Share the wealth!

Labels: categories, Group Weblog

The 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards nominees of the day are in the Food & Drink category.

First, if you are the smallest bit hungry, I must caution you to eat something before perusing the following Food & Drink weblogs. They take you on international recipe tours, share the joys and adventures of eating locally, invite you to follow along as they bravely journey through a month of raw food, tease you with photos of Jérôme Ferrer's cuisine, and make it possible for you to cook up delicious food with beautifully photographed, back-to-basics recipes. Oh, and then they make you jealous by doing things like hanging out with Anthony Bourdain. You will be hungry by the time you're done, I promise you. Drop in and leave comments to let these foodies know you stopped by:

2Capricieux
Dinner with Julie
Eat Planet. Discover the World.
Home for Dinner
Living Healthy in the Real World
Suzie the Foodie

If you know of a foodie weblog that deserves some extra notice, nominate it in the Food & Drink category of the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards. Show them some love!

Labels: categories, Food and Drink

The 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards nominees of the day today are from the Feminist category.

From when women first gained the right to vote in municipal elections in Ontario in 1884 to when they were legally declared persons under the law in 1929 to when the equality of the sexes was included in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982, we have a long and proud feminist history in Canada. There are only two nominees in the Feminist category so far, but I have faith in her:

Cleavage
Screw Bronze!

Do you know of a noteworthy Canadian feminist weblog? Nominate it in the Feminist category of the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards!

Labels: categories, Feminist

Jesse Kinos-Goodin is a contributing editor at The Ashcan, which has been nominated in the Best New Weblog, Group Weblog, and Pop Culture & Entertainment categories.

Why blogging? And what drew you to writing about pop culture and entertainment for The Ashcan, in particular?

I think we all blogged because it's just an opportunity to write about whatever you feel like. There are no editors to deal with, no advertisers to please, so you have absolute freedom to pursue what you want. For us that was pop culture and entertainment.

The Ashcan has several authors. How did you come together? And how do you manage your writing relationships in terms of scheduling, style, subject matter, etc.?

We all went to journalism school together, and after being out in the work force for some time we realized, perhaps, how limiting certain journalist positions can be. It was sort of a mutual thing that we all wanted to write more about the things that interest us - and mind you, some of us already were and still are running their own blogs - and a great way to make a quality blog would just be to pool our efforts.

For scheduling we just split it up by days, and for subject matter it was easy because while we're all interested in pop culture, we each sort of come at it from different angles. Plus we all trust each others' abilities as writers, so style has never come up.

Do you think that being a Canadian blogger plays a role in how you discuss your subject matter?

Well, it is nice to try to fit in Canadian content, especially since it's what we know and love. But we don't feel obligated to keep it purely Canadian, if that's what you mean, because a lot of the stuff that interests us is also European, American, whatever. Short answer I would say no, being Canadian doesn't play a role.

If you were to impart some knowledge to an aspiring blogger, what would you tell them?

To just set a deadline for yourself to write a certain amount by a certain day of the week, and to edit. Nobody likes reading grammatical or spelling errors, whether it's in a blog, magazine, newspaper or even washroom graffiti.

Which blogs are your "must reads"? Are there any entertainment weblogs that particularly inspire you?

I would say on a daily basis I check out The Ampersand, the two Toronto blogs (BlogTO and Torontoist), and Gawker. Then there is also The Daily Beast, The Awl, Vulture, Freakonomics sometimes, various Canadian media blogs like the ones on Masthead and Canadianmags, and on our highly incomplete blog roll we have Gordon Gartrelle, Nah Right and Oh Word. I'm sure if you asked Anupa, Jef or Simon they could probably tell you dozens more.

Labels: Best New Weblog, Group Weblog, interviews, Pop Culture and Entertainment

The 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards nominees of the day are from the newly formed Ecology & Social Justice category.

This category took shape this week with @ffantastica's urging, and I'm glad that she spoke up. The weblogs in Ecology & Social Justice remind me to live thoughtfully and well, which is a message I need to hear at this time of year when January is threatening to devour my will. (Ha ha. I kid. (Sort of.)) Take a moment to check out our nominees of the day and say hello:

Knitnut.net
The Mindful Merchant
My Green Conscience

If you know of a good weblog that would fit, why not share it with us and nominate it for the Ecology & Social Justice category in the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards?

Labels: categories, Ecology and Social Justice

The 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards nominees of the day today are our small but talented lot from Fashion & Style.

Each of today's nominees are pieces in my collection of places I like to go to look at beautiful things every day. I like to steal a few moments and imagine wearing these clothes in these places while being as beautiful as these people. Steal a few moments for yourself and leave a comment to let them know you came:

Daily Outfitting
Moetography
Veronicahhh

If you know of an excellent Canadian Fashion & Style weblog, nominate it for a 2010 Canadian Weblog Award!

Labels: categories, Fashion and Style

Why have you chosen fitness blogging in particular?

The Aqufit blog [which is nominated in the Sports, Fitness, & Recreation category of the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards] is really a small part of what eventually will be a larger fitness site where people can choose and find a fitness regime that works for them in a social, supportive environment. Think Facebook for Fitness, but with an Actual Purpose. But fitness blogging is really a natural forte for both Corey and me.

I've been writing various shrapnel on the Internet for over 6 years now, and wanted to progress my writing and experiences to something useful and tangible, rather than just relating my (sometimes interesting but utterly unhelpful) life story.

Corey has found that fitness is a fairly awesome replacement for a lot of bad things he could otherwise be doing to provide that adrenaline shot and feeling of well being that exercise represents. Fitness is a big part of our life and relationship and so writing about it — and garnering experiences and tips from a like community — is exciting for us.

How does the Aqufit blog fit into your creative portfolio? Is blogging your primary outlet, or do you also publish elsewhere/otherwise?

I've been online as tallnlucky, at various domains, since 2003. I've written professionally for Time AOL and Work It, Mom, as well as a few scattered magazines, but now I basically just write at Aqufit and Better Now, with shamefully sporadic updates at Bodies in Motivation, too. Blogging is my primary outlet, but my readers have been pushing me to write a book for years now. It's one of my life goals, and actually I think it will start to happen sometime this year.

I know that there was a recent kerfuffle about a post you wrote about weight. How do you deal with negative comments or reactions to your posts?

God. I stew. I think most bloggers will tell you that you could have 200 comments and 1 that says you have a cold dead heart and foul breath and you will stew and obsess over the latter one. Actually, I've been writing online long enough that my skin is pretty thick. I also welcome constructive criticism and am always willing to consider opposing viewpoints. When stuff really gets ugly (like it did for the post in question) and randoms start diagnosing me with mental disorders and calling me a fitness nazi, etc. I just envision the accusers as sad, lonely people in stained brown socks and mustard lips who really have nothing better to do. Can you imagine having nothing better to do than hurling insults at a total stranger online? You'd have to be pretty lame.

Also, it helps to have Corey on board with what I write. He bought me flowers last week after the kerfuffle and reminded me of all the positive comments I get from people who say that they get something helpful out of my writing. As long as he loves me it doesn't really matter what anyone else says. (puke!) (but it's true.)

What is your best piece of advice for a blogging newbie?

Only write when the spirit hits you, when you feel like doing it: your posts will be better, inspiration is obvious. Find like blogs and network with those bloggers on Twitter, Facebook, etc. It helps to have allies in this blogging gig, because waters can get rough and weird. Write for love first and money second, if at all.

Which blogs are your "must reads"? Are there other fitness blogs that inspire you?

All & Sundry. Sweet Salty. Nothing but Bonfires. Girl's Gone Child. I have a list of about 30 I read sporadically, but I read every update on all 4 of these. Amazing writers, the 4 of them.

Actually, I don't read any fitness blogs currently with the exception of glances at Bodies in Motivation, there's some good stuff there. The lack of really good fitness material online (that I could find) is part of what inspired us to start Aqufit.

Labels: interviews, Sports Fitness and Recreation

The 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards nominees of the day today are from the popular Family & Parenting category.

It was originally suggested to me that one of the categories that the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards needed to have was Mommyblogging, but that label has always rubbed me the wrong way. It seems to embrace only one part of what constitutes parenting and family, especially in a world that acknowledges the diversity of family structures out there, not to mention fathers. So, the more inclusive Family & Parenting category was born. These bloggers write about the complexity of parenthood and family life in a way that would leave most parenting magazines quaking in their boots, so read, comment, and enjoy!

Attack of the Redneck Mommy
Better Now
Chaos Theory
dirtyolive.net
Dutch Blitz
Eject
Her Bad Mother
Live from Waterloo
Maternal Spark
Mommy Is Moody
Notes to Self
Spin Me I Pulsate
sweet | salty
XUP

If you know of an excellent Canadian weblog about family and parenting, share the good reading and nominate them for a 2010 Canadian Weblog Award.

Labels: categories, Family and Parenting

The 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards nominees of the day are from our Ex-Pat category.

What constitutes an Ex-Pat weblog, you ask? Ex-pat is short for expatriot, which is "...a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing or legal residence", so weblogs that fall into our Ex-Pat category are written either by Canadian citizens who were born in Canada that are now living abroad or by Canadian citizens who were born elsewhere that are now living either here or abroad.

The following 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards Ex-Pat nominees presently hail from Waterloo in Ontario, the United States, Korea, and Australia. Give them a read and say hello:

Live from Waterloo
Notes to Self
Mr. Teacher Man
Viper Pilot

Do you know of an ex-pat who deserves some national attention? Nominate them to the Ex-Pat category of the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards!

Labels: categories, Ex-Pat

If you have wondered who this Schmutzie person is behind the scenes here at the Canadian Weblog Awards, that to the left there is me posing ever so sweetly for a vanity self-portrait, and I have a favour to ask of all of you.

I want to start our weekly, and occasionally bi-weekly, interview series that will continue throughout the year. A different nominee or nominees will be chosen every week for a short interview here at the Canadian Weblog Awards, and I would like to have five to seven standard questions upon which we can rely as the bones of a basic interview. Being that I have limited experience interviewing others, I thought that it would be a good idea to ask all of you for your input.

What kinds of things would you like to know about this broad and talented group of Canadian Weblog Awards nominees that we are swiftly accruing? Click on the comments link and weigh in!

Labels: interviews, outreach

The Canadian Weblog Awards nominees of day are from the Crafting category.

Whether creating their own work or highlighting the work of others — sharing a visual feast of notions, knitting robot hats, enjoying friends who make things, and scaring us with teapots — they make me want to drag out my needles and my sewing machine and see what comes of it.

Craftastrophe
{scissor variations}
Swatchless
Yarn Harlot

Nominate a weblog to the Crafting category of the Canadian Weblog Awards and share their work!

Labels: categories, Crafting

Today's 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards nominees of the day hail from the Business & Career category.

Business & Career is a small category as of yet, containing a population of only two, but both blogs managed to pull me in and keep me reading. Both are written by smart, savvy women whose websites I am more than pleased with which to have become acquainted. Pop in and leave a comment to let them know you were there:

IttyBiz
White Hot Truth

Do you know of another Canadian weblog centered around business and careers? Why not congratulate the author for all their hard work and nominate it in the Business & Career category of the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards?

Labels: Business and Career, categories

The 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards nominees of the day are from the Best Written category.

Best Written is, of course, one of our fastest growing categories, because any text-based weblog from any category is open for nomination to it. In fact, at 22 nominees, it is our largest to date, and their authors have been keeping me in heaps of daily good reading. Go through the list. They're a diverse bunch, and you're sure to find something that pleases your palate:

Absurd Intellectual
Canadian Love Song
Centre of the Universe — The Dreaming
Cleavage
cribchronicles.ccom
dirtyolive.net
Dutch Blitz
Endless Spin Cycle
everydayINSIGHT
Knitnut.net
Living Healthy in the Real World
Maternal Spark
Mr. Teacher Man
Nuts & Mutton
One Thing I Did Today
Praying to Darwin
Raymi the Minx
Stranded in Motherhood
sweet | salty
tallnlucky
White Hot Truth
Woman in a Window

If you know of another Canadian blogger who can write with the best of them, please nominate them into the Best Written category of the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards and spread the word.

Labels: Best Written, categories

The nominees of the day today at the Canadian Weblog Awards are from the Best New Weblog category.

Newer weblogs accepted into this category were created after July 31, 2009, so they are the youngest and most bright-eyed among us. I love reading through new weblogs and watching them find their footing and voice, and so I look forward to each nomination in this category like Christmas.

Best New Weblog is only three strong so far, but it is strong. Take a gander and let them know you came by!

Eject
everydayINSIGHT
Swatchless

If you know of a newer weblog created after July 31st that knocks your socks off, take a moment to nominate it for Best New Weblog in the Canadian Weblog Awards.

Labels: Best New Weblog, categories

The Canadian Weblog Awards nominees of the day are from our Best Designed category. For reasons of transparency, I have to admit to you that I am a fan of all four of the weblogs that have been nominated so far, and so are a few other Canadians, if the number of nominations have anything to say about it. This will be an interesting category to keep an eye on, because there is so much diversity with regard to weblog design.

Maternal Spark
{scissor variations}
UPPERCASE
Wish Jar

Is there a Canadian weblog whose design you just love? Why not nominate it for a 2010 Canadian Weblog Award?

Labels: Best Designed, categories

As we mentioned yesterday, the nominees from a different Canadian Weblog Awards category will be highlighted every day, and today it's our Arts & Culture nominees' turn in the spotlight.

To borrow a definition from the Auckland City Council Arts Agenda, the Arts & Culture category is for weblogs that discuss "...all forms of creative expression, from individual to collective, from grassroots to professional and institutional." Check out our six nominees in this category for such things as the Monashee crate label, the surprising truth about IKEA, writing prompts, artist highlights, and an innovative magazine library in Japan:

Absurd Intellectual
Booooooom!
The Canadian Design Resource
Grace Is Over 50
UPPERCASE
Word Grrls

Do you know of an excellent weblog that would fit well into the Canadian Weblog Awards Arts & Culture category? Nominate them for the honour!

Labels: Arts and Culture, categories

Every day, we are going to highlight a list of nominees in one of the Canadian Weblog Awards categories, because the nominees' blogroll can be a bit much to scroll through all at once. It just seems natural to go about it alphabetically, so, naturally, today's first featured category is Art & Photography.

There are 11 Canadian Weblog Awards Art & Photography nominees so far, and there is a lot of eye candy to be found with this talented lot. Take a look around their weblogs and say hello!

Alice in Paris Loves Art and Tea
Booooooom!
Marc Johns
Oceanaria
Raymi the Minx
sweet | salty
UPPERCASE
Watawa Life
Winnipeg: Love and Hate
Wish Jar
Words Are Meaningless

If you know of another Canadian artist or photographer with a notable weblog, consider nominating them for a Canadian Weblog Award.

Labels: Art and Photography, categories

Press release, anyone?

"The Inaugural 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards Bring Out Canada's Best Bloggers"

It has been sent out to a goodly number of university and city newspapers across the country.

Labels: CWA business, media releases

There are now THIRTY-SEVEN buttons for your weblog to show off the Canadian Weblog Awards and/or your status as a nominee.

There are general Canadian Weblog Awards buttons, general nominee buttons, and now nominee buttons to show off the specific categories for which you've been nominated. All you need to do is copy and paste the code for your chosen buttons into your weblog template or into a weblog entry.

Cheers!

Labels: buttons, CWA business

One thing that I have been asked quite a few times over the last several days is why the Canadian Weblog Awards nomination period is so long, running all the way from January 1st to October 31st.

The reason for this is that these awards are to be about more than who places first, second, and third. These awards are primarily about the promotion of Canadian weblogging at its finest, and the long nomination period allows for the creation of an ongoing list of nominees that we can all access and experience throughout the year.

It is an opportunity to find each other, engage each other, and enjoy the incredibly broad range of what each of us has to offer both this community here and the other communities in which we take part. It would be a disservice to have this place only be active for a couple of months out of the year when we have such a rich creative resource to tap into.

With that said, if you know of a Canadian weblog that you believe should be shared with the rest of Canada and the world, check out our criteria and take a moment to nominate it for a Canadian Weblog Award. We would love to see what's going on with our fellow creatives!

Labels: CWA business