December 31, 2006

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2006 Montana Weblog Awards – The Results!

David in Great Falls

Or, as I like to call them, the “Big Sky Bloggies!” We all owe a debt of gratitude to Wulfgar, who organized the entire thing and kept it fun and friendly. Some very good stuff – the nominees and the winners are all worthy. Hope everybody enjoyed the “best of” the Montana blogosphere, and keeps reading throughout 2007 (or better yet – starts their own blog if they haven’t already!). Here are the results from each category:

Best Left Leaning Blog:
A Chicken Is Not Pillage

Best Right Leaning Blog:
MT Politics

Best Independent or Libertarian Blog:
Dave Budge

Best Political Blog:
Left In The West

Blog That Had The Most Impact on the Elections of 2006:
Electric City Weblog

Montana Blog that best represents popular culture:
Better Living Through Blogging

Best Montana History Blog:
A History of Montana By Kodak

Blog That Best Represents a Montana Lifestyle:
Thoughts From The Middle of Nowhere

Most Creative Montana Blog: TIE
Raven’s Nest
Watermark

Best Photography:
Thoughts From The Middle Of Nowhere

Best Written Montana Blog:
A Chicken Is Not Pillage

Most Humorous Montana Blog:
A Secular Franciscan Life

Best Post:
You didn’t think I gave it up, did you?, Great Falls Firefly

Best Series Of Posts:
A History Lesson, Electric City Weblog

That’s just the list of the top vote-getters in each category; to see the complete breakdown of votes, go visit Wulfgar’s place (and give him a hearty cheer).

December 29, 2006

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Seven Wonders of Montana

David in Great Falls

Quite an interesting website that documents the “7 Wonders” of each state, in addition to the 7 Wonders of America as a whole. As far as I know, all of the items listed are solely the opinion of the guy who created the site. What do you suppose made the list for the “7 Wonders of Montana?” Take a look:

Moss Mansion
Bozeman Hot Springs
Museum of the Plains Indian
Our Lady of the Rockies
Flathead Lake
Aller’s Boulder River Ranch
Yellowstone National Park

OK, what do you think? Did they miss something? Do any of those 7 need to be replaced?

December 26, 2006

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2006 Weblog Awards

David in Great Falls

Time is running out: voting for the Montana Weblog Awards ends on Wednesday, December 27th at midnight! If you haven’t voted yet, head on over to Wulfgar’s place and cast your votes!

December 13, 2006

(9) Comments

Chag Sameach* Chanukah**

Walter Greenspan


* KHAHG sah-MEHY-ahkh = A Joyous Holiday
** KHAH-nik-uh, KHAH-noo-kah = Rededication

This year, the 8-day rabbinic Jewish Festival of Chanukah ends two days before Christmas, at sundown on Saturday, December 23. But, despite this coincidence and the misperception that Chanukah is a Jew’s Christmas, it isn’t.

For what Chanukah is:

December 10, 2006

(2) Comments

A Different Kind of Montana Author

David in Great Falls

Montana is famous for some great writers, such as A.B. Guthrie, Pete Fromm, Norman Maclean, Ivan Doig, and many others. But now, Montana is becoming better known as the home of Christopher Paolini, who is likely going to earn more money within the next several months than all Montana authors have earned collectively forever. The reason: his novel “Eragon” will be released as a movie on Friday, and is likely going to become the next “Harry Potter” or “Lord of The Rings” series. About Paolini, who wrote “Eragon” while still a teen:

Christopher Paolini was born on November 17, 1983 in Southern California. Aside from a few years in Anchorage, Alaska, he has lived in Paradise Valley, Montana with his parents and younger sister, Angela. They have two pets, Otis, a black and white cat, and Annie, a frisky cocker/Australian shepherd mix. Tall, jagged Beartooth Mountains rise on one side of the Paradise Valley. Snowcapped most of the year, they inspired the fantastic scenery in Eragon. A few years ago, Christopher hiked to the top of Emigrant Peak and could see the Grand Teton mountain range, 100 miles to the south.

I haven’t read the books yet, but by all accounts they seem to be quite enjoyable. Any Eragon fans out there in Big Sky Country that want to share their thoughts – of the books or the movie?

December 5, 2006

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MT Weblog Awards 2006

David in Great Falls


*BUMP TO TOP* the deadline is approaching – get your nominations in NOW, people!

All Hail The Mighty Wulfgar! Yes, Wulfgar has fired up the ole’ “Montana Weblog Awards” for 2006, and he’s taking nominations right now – gitcherself over to his place and nominate blog in any (or all!) of the following categories:

Heading: Political
Categories:
Best left leaning blog.
Best right leaning blog.
Best independent or libertarian blog.
Best Political blog.
Blog that had the most impact on the 2006 elections.

Heading: Culture
Categories:
Montana Blog that best represents popular culture.
Best Montana history blog.
Most exemplifies Montana lifestyle.

Heading: Creativity
Categories:
Most creative Montana blog.
Best photographic Montana blog.
Best written Montana blog.
Most humorous Montana blog.

Heading: Special
Categories:
Best post. (include a link, please.)
Best series of posts relating to given topic.

And don’t forget – if you’re stumped for nominations, you can always visit The Roster Of Big Sky Blogs for inspiration!

December 2, 2006

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A Good Cause

David in Great Falls


In a true display of bipartisan charity, folks from the right and the left are teaming up for a good cause: Craig and Matt have kicked off a charity campaign for Montana bloggers to donate to the Montana Food Bank. It’s a very easy process, using the FirstGiving.org service; I used the site this week to make donations to the Montana Special Olympics, and it is safe, simple, and secure. So come on all you Big Sky Bloggers – toss a few dollars in the bucket and let’s make the holiday season a bit more cheerful for all!

December 2, 2006

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Blasts From The Past

David in Great Falls

I finally got around to installing a plugin for the Archives, and it looks pretty cool. There’s a link to the Archives up in the header, or you can just click right here to check ‘em out!