Saturday 29 May 2010

Perhaps you could do me a favour [updated]

I wonder if you could do me a wee favour.
You see, the entries for the Air New Zealand Best Blog Award are due in round midnight on Monday, and since other blogs are agonising over entering enlisting the help of their readers, I wondered if I might do the same.  (As David Lange said when a round of applause brought the lights back on at an official function, “Many hands make lights work.”)
Vere simply, the entry requires me to send the judges (and I quote), the
“four best samples of work in the calendar year 2009 that define your blog.”
So the question is, which four?
Which is where you come in. Perhaps you could let me know in the comments either which four posts from 2009 you liked best; which touched you, enlightened you or infuriated you the most; or just which ones these five judges* are likely to like.
Ta.
And speaking of Round Midnight, here’s Joe Jackson** making a surprisingly superb fist of the Thelonious Monk/Cootie Williams standard. Think of it as a “thank you” for your help. :-)
* The five judges are blogger Tim Selwyn, spin doctor Matthew Hooton, marketer Ricardo Simich, new media type Regan Cunliffe, and media maven Martin “Bomber” Bradbury.
** By the way, the rest of the Thelonious tribute album on which this features isn’t bad either.
  1.  LEAKY HOMES, Part 1: The myth of deregulated building
  2. Just the facts, ma'am
  3. "No Future" - punk's past
  4. It’s Bastille Day!
  5. Can good art be political art?
  6. ANZAC DAY REFLECTION: War! What is it good for?
  7. Stimulunatics
  8. Justice still not being seen to be done 
  9. It's Easter, which means... 
  10. Freedom for me . . . but I’m not so sure about ye
Problem is, customers, which six do I leave out?

18 comments:

Shane Pleasance said...

Peter, it's a challenge for me to find best posts - the field is just too big - there is little time and I would dearly like to see the blog represented.

I might suggest you create links to perhaps your favourite, most popular or controversial top 20 or so.

Julian said...

PC

Hard to choose, but let me provide a few showing the variety of topics covered in your blog.

Top Four

1. LEAKY HOMES, Part 1: The myth of deregulated building

2. Just the facts, ma'am

3. "No Future" - punk's past

4. Early childhood crisis very easy to fix


Other good posts which could come in for consideration:

It’s Bastille Day!

Freedom for me . . . but I’m not so sure about ye

LEAKY HOMES, Part 2: What’s going on inside your walls?

Can good art be political art?

ANZAC DAY REFLECTION: War! What is it good for?

A kerfuffle in a falafel food hall

Stimulunatics

Justice still not being seen to be done

Minimum wage rise: everybody loses

Wealth is not riches

Jobs Summit, 1: The Problems

Shop owner cleared . . . but to police he’s still a criminal


Julian

Anonymous said...

The Anzac Day post.

As far as an 'a ha, so that's what it's about' moment I would say your post on that woman architect who designed the Opera House in the Middle East that looked like a sand dune. That remains one of the most amazing things I have ever seen - and the first time I was inspired to research an architect.

Keeping Stock said...

PC - I've done a bit of a short-list of mine today to sort out some of the wheat from the chaff, and sheesh, did I write some crap last year!

I'll be posting the short-list tomorrow, and anyone who wants to can give some feedback

Sam said...

Deffo the Leaky Homes series. A fantastic document of central planning gone wrong and the need for freedom.

Lou Taylor said...

Ditto the leaky home series as top of the list.

Oswald Bastable said...

I'm way down the list, coming in at around 50th in the rankings, so I thought I would pick four that would wind up the lefty judges the most.

May as well have some fun...

Pablo said...

PC: I have pretty much decided not to enter because I think that the nomination process is flawed, but if I could nominate another blog yours would be it. The mix of aesthetics, music, politics and economics is first rate (BTW--years ago I hosted a jazz show in Chicago and Washington DC that included a "In the Mood for Monk" segment. Thus your reference to the Monk tribute album was particularly nice for me).

All of this said in spite of the fact that once we move beyond art, architecture and music, our world views are, to say the least, a wee bit different.

Good luck with the comp!

Miguel said...

What does blogger judge Ricardo Simich know about blogging? What a fucking joke.

Simon said...

I would go with posts that are up relevant to the head lines of today. Your free speech and Japanese prints posts etc are good but would apply regardless to the headlines are so would not go with them.

If you selected anything from 2009 on the Fed Reserve, stimulus, climate change, Keynes government spending, leaky homes or civil war in Pakistan would relevant to what the judges are currently reading. (Include the racism of Maori seats for the new super city for a couple of the judges.)

This would probably shut 4 of the judges up for 2 minutes as well.

http://pc.blogspot.com/2009/10/nz-in-print-its-gone-beyond-satire.html

Anonymous said...

your expose series of the leaky house syndrome

Anonymous said...

Leaky homes -part1 would be the best choice.

http://pc.blogspot.com/2009/11/leaky-homes-part-1-myth-of-deregulated.html

Dave Mann said...

Your free speech and economics articles are really top rate Peter, but I think any examples which define your blog MUST include one of your art posts... perhaps that one some time ago now featuring the excellent artist with his pictures of boats (sorry I'm writing this on a mobile phone and I can't search the archives). Also, Anzac day this year was a corker.

Peter Cresswell said...

Thank you everyone; I am humbled by your praise, and your interest.


Doesn't make the job of choosing four any easier though. :-/

NZ Bloggers Union said...

PC

We look forward to your entry. Unlike some bloggers who appear too afraid to fail, to actually enter, we are sure that is not the case here. Julian has pretty much done all the work for you.

Miguel

I am sorry we overlooked you for the Judging panel this year. Perhaps with your recent Ph.D in Blogging from the University of Whogivesafuck, the organisers can consider you next year.

Simon Tuck said...

Keep your dignity and refrain from entering any contest where IHC all-star Bomber Bradbury is a judge.

Richard McGrath said...

The leaky home series is a standout for me - I posted copies to friends and family.

Miguel said...

NZBU, I think you need to get people who are not virgin to be on the panel of judges. Martin “Bomber” Bradbury is a virgin, so that should disqualify him to be on the panel. Why? The main reason is that he will be biased towards picking female bloggers only and that’s from what my PhD study data have showed.

I can offer him a free visit to my massage parlour in K'Rd. After his visit, he would then be a well qualified person to be a blogger competition judge.