Wednesday 1 April 2009

Preston Blog Roundup

One of the things I did when preparing to start the PWN was spend a day researching (for 'research' read: clicking on things) Preston Bloggers.

There's a fair few of us out there, isn't there? Some of the better known ones are hosted at LEP blogs and from there make it into the print edition (Adventures of a Taxi Driver has a regular slot - Q: is a blog in a newspaper still a blog?) but the 'blogs today' template the LEP uses is basic and there's plenty more out there for someone willing to explore a bit.

I Thought I told You To Wait in the Car is a personal favourite of mine. If you like your writing dark, funny, scary and occasionally scatological, this is the blog for you. A newcomer onto the scene, this blogger is already building a following for his irregular, surreal, ranting posts, predictions and opinion pieces - the sense of humour spills into the sidebar, where followers become 'minions'.

On the other end of the spectrum is Just Testing - an account of an MA Creative Writing course that describes itself as 'chatting shit about yourself and stealing ideas from other nice people'. The sub-title sums up the mix of writing on offer - with insights into the writing process, ruminations on creativity, family life, memories, writerly insecurities, reading experiences and original work. Wish I'd read something like this before embarking on an MA.

The Temple of the Matmos is, in its own words a 'collection of artifacts from the shadier and, let’s face it, just plain better side of your Earth culture and creativity' and would appeal to lovers of classic horror, B-movies and SF. Also covers local events.

Broadgate is Great does what is says on the tin, and acts as a one man/woman/blogger band to promote events and issues happening in and around Broadgate. As a community news portal specific to the Broadgate area, this blog is hard to beat. The writing is clear, informative and characterful, and the look and layout of the blog make the most out of the template and include some amazing pictures of the area.

Miss Mashed, an illustration student from UCLAN wins the prize for prettiest blog - the photographs of her work, designs, craft projects and, my favourite - moleskine project. The blog has the feel of a scrapbook, and although updated irregularly, is well worth subscribing to.

Almost finished, but not wanting to miss out Goodbye Blue Monday who (via a content warning) blogs a cool collection of music, reading and writing - with original poems included, my favourite of which being: When I Want to Make A Good Impression I Tell People About My Parents Having Sex

Finally, I'm going to let Barney Farmer speak for himself, with a quote which sums up a surreal, meandering style that had me laughing out loud as I read... (must also mention the fantastic Flaming Panther post - who knew what Avenham Park was hiding?)
The internet is no place for sexy prattle.

Instead, let me big-up the particularly fine pork pie I just had for lunch. Crisp pastry, sweet meat and oodles of salty jelly. Boiled hooves. Wobble wobble. Delicious.

Got it off Preston Market’s tripe man. Tripe connoisseurs might want to pay him a visit today, actually. The ladies’ tripe looked first rate.


For more, check out the links in the side bar - go exploring, and come back here to tell us about your favourites.

Recommendations, plugs, links and rants about what we've missed out can all appear below in the comments.



2 comments:

  1. Thanks for saying "As a community news portal specific to the Broadgate area, (Broadgate Is Great) is hard to beat."

    I think you're absolutely right; 'Broadgate Is Great' is almost certainly the best blog, about what's happening in Broadgate.

    Can I add that 'Preston Writing Network' is almost certainly the best blog about Preston Writers, and their networking.

    This is definitely a good thing, as at the moment, if you have to live in Preston, Broadgate is about the best place to be, and if you have to be a writer, Preston is now becoming a pretty happening place.

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  2. Thanks for the plug and I think it's fair and librarian-like (which is essentially the same thing) to have the blogs in lovely alphabetical order now

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