Yep, this is the time of the year when I pick three blog sites that deserve a million hits and call them “Blogs of the Year.” There are three categories: Entertainment, Socio-Political and Personal.  Most of the time, I put so much weight on how often I visit the blog, how well it’s written, and how much it has influenced me.

Why am I doing this? Gaah. I dunno. Because I want to. And I just noticed that most of my favourite blogs don’t even get noticed by any award-giving body, who mostly depend on polls. And it saddens me a bit because hey, the quality of writing is sometimes overlooked and set aside, making it a contest of who’s got the biggest online circle. (Hey, I said sometimes.)

So to recognise noteworthy bloggers who are able to express their experiences and opinions through their excellent writing (be it humourous, emo, sarcastic or fatally nosebleeding), I took the liberty to play God and pick what I think are the bests in Philippine blogosphere. I choose the blog I feature according to my personal taste so there’s nothing you can do about it. Haha.

Anyway, last year’s Blogs of the Year are:

• Entertainment: Berg’s Berg Loves Pizza
• Socio-Political: David Llorito’s Philippines Without Borders
• Personal: Ilaya’s Insert Witty Title Here

I have to admit that I don’t usually find his taste in films delightful, hehe. Most of his reviews are either too harsh, too kind, or completely what-the-heck for me. Hell, he gave The Dark Night 2 stars out of 5. Boy was that sinisterly unforgiving! But we may not have similar takes on movies, it still doesn’t change my opinion of how good his reviews are. I mean, how they are written and how he manages to come up with a thematic review that almost convinces me to cross over to his side. Haha.

The Blog: The author claims, and I quote, “the idea of starting this journal dates back almost two years ago when he wanted to found a magazine that focuses on film criticism during his college days. The magazine never happened, so here is the alternative.”

The Blogger: Richard Bolisay succinctly described himself as “addicted to films, books, and music.” He got his degree in Film from UP Diliman. I just wish that this guy finally starts his own Film magazine. He deserves it.

Excerpts: Parts of his best reviews.

Love of Siam (2007) Review:

…I admit the film itself is not great – - but above average, fleshy, schmaltzy, coolly observant, sensitive, and the controlled handling of the material makes up for the overlong sequences…

When it fades out, there is that painful realization of that distinct human disability, of wanting love and pushing it away, of not only wanting love but needing it, of needing it and pushing it away, of sacrificing individual happiness for the two of you thinking that it will be a better resolution, that if you are really for each other, then fate has its way of bringing you two again together, but what if fate has Alzheimer’s, what if fate is the evil bully who tortured you when you were a kid, what if fate wants you to suffer because he’s Catholic? No matter what, there is nothing more intimate than someone’s head resting on your shoulder, you two are thinking about each other, that same moment, that comfort in strangeness, the future ahead of you no matter how narrow this world has become through the years, and the hell other people care….

And here’s another. (more…)

Berg Loves Pizza is 2007 Entertainment Blog of the Year. Moving on…

Yoshke.com’s first Socio-Political Blog of the Year is Philippines Without Borders by David Llorito.

I owe this blog big time. It has become my Bible for my Foreign Service Exams. It’s become my most frequented site for the past months. It is very insightful, informative, enlightening and persuasive.

The Blogger: David Llorito. According to Asia Times Online “David Llorito is a researcher at The BusinessMirror, a Manila-based daily newspaper.He has more than a decade of experience in socio-economic research, policy analysis and business-economy journalism in the Philippines and recently won the Jaime V Ongpin Award for Excellence in Journalism (Explanatory Category) as well as the Australian Ambassador’s Choice Award 2006.” Wow.

How I Found This Blog: I stumbled upon this blog while looking for materials to read for my Foreign Service Written Exams. Although I have NEVER commented on his blog, I have been visiting it almost every day since then.

What’s so great: I’m a little biased here. The reason I uberlove his blog is that we always have the same stand on issues. As in, on every issue. We share the same political and socio-economic views.

What is not-so-great: Hmm, layout maybe. But for a blog with content this great, who cares about the frakkin’ layout?

That you have it. Yoshke.com’s first Socio-Political Blog of the Year for 2007. Philippines Without Borders by David Llorito.

I’m starting a new category, Blog Picks, on this blog. Every year, I will pick three blogs that are really worth a million hits. Three blogs: Entertainment, Socio-political, and Personal.

Actually, I originally wanted to start this category in January 2008 but what the heck, since I’m bored here waiting for Andre, why not now?

Yoshke.com’s first Blog of the Year is Berg Loves Pizza. Although it sounds like a food blog, it is not. I have no freakin’ idea what “pizza” has to do with his blog. Berg Loves Pizza is a music blog — and a great music blog at that. It features newly released singles and albums and posts what he thinks of them. Aside from embedded YouTube performance and music videos, some tracks are also uploaded, enabling you to listen conveniently. It also provides regular doses of music news and album reviews. I seldom post comments on this blog but it doesn’t mean I seldom visit. I check out this blog everyday, all for the love of good music.

The Blogger: Berg. And I quote, “a twenty-something Cebuano guy sharing good (and sometimes crappy) music to the world… BECAUSE LIFE DESERVES A KICK-ASS SOUNDTRACK!”

How I Found This Blog: I came across his blog while randomly bloghopping through mybloglog.com. Back then, his latest blog entry was a tag, featuring seven facts about him. I read it and commented that we had nothing in common. He commented back, claiming otherwise. We exchanged links. Later, I realised that we share the same taste in music.

What’s so great: Music news. Awesome picks. Great, short reviews. Diverse choices — unlike other music blogs, the music he features varies from bubblegum pop to hard rock to groovy R&B. Another admirable thing he does is that he keeps on reminding his visitors to buy original copies of the singles and albums he features or download legally. Pretty nice guy, huh?

What is not-so-great: I just hope he highlights the local music scene, too.

That’s it. Yoshke.com’s Entertainment Blog of the Year for 2007. Berg Loves Pizza. Have to go now, time for some good music.