It turns out that many FlynnFiles readers have sites of their own. In an effort to generate interest in these sites, and to allow readers to vote for their favorite of the bunch, I post links to sites that readers submitted in an earlier post. I encourage you, the readers, to check out each site and vote for your favorite in the comments section below. Feel free to provide colorful commentary about what you saw on those sites as well. Those with sites listed, you may vote for your own site too (but only once), and feel free to encourage your own readers to vote as well. I'll feature the top two vote-getters in a blog post next week, and then we'll have a run-off. The winning site will be featured in a post, where I'll analyze it and discuss why I think it won. Here are the sites that you can choose from:

The Atavist, O'Donnell Web, Willington World, Sponge Daddy, Stationary Bandit, Harold Wachtel, Bow Tie Crafts, Billy's Blog, Are You Myth Guided?, Error Theory, The Nightfly, The Last Angry Men, and Borg Blog. Readers, tell us which one is your favorite in the comments section below.

Well here are some criticisms meant to be helpful.

The Atavist has a great name and a quote by Chesterton on his masthead which rocks, but he doesn't seem to update it often.

WillingtonWorld has some funny material and I like getting some commentary from across the pond but it is really hard to read, the color scheme should be changed to make it easier on the eyes.

The Wachtel homepage . . . is that for real? Too funny!

Sponge Daddy's site isn't technically a blog but I am fascinated (as an outsider) by professional bowling and stock car racing. More of both is fine by me. To be clear Sponge says nothing about racing but I would be interested in more posts on his bowling exploits, actual games, tourneys, etc.

Bowtiecrafts is an incredible site. Great idea! I want to start a site dedicated to playing card house designs.

Billy should title his posts better so you know what you are going to be linked to instead of having to click on everything to understand his comments.

I am in NY so I can't vote for someone blogging from Jersey Nightfly.

Both Error Theory and The Last Angry Men are blogs by people as wordy as I am which probably isn't a good thing.

BorgBlog is very well done, I like its style and tone and look forward to seeing him in a Catholic church one day ;)

But my vote has to go to Stationary Bandit for having a readable site with good length and diverse posts. The real reason my vote goes to him, however, is b/c he took note of Edmund Burke's birthday and blogged on it, that is sweet.
(I am simply ignoring the fact that he seems to be a Rothbardian libertarian/classical liberal)

Brian, thanks for the input. I will do so in the future. However, due to a bad episode with my health and lack of a sponsor, I have not bowled professionally since September of 04. Each tournament costs $500 minimum, not counting equipment we have to buy. So I am working on those things.

The idea is once I go on the road full time I will update my scores on a daily basis! Thanks again for the input.

And Dan, thanks for the mention!

Be well,

Sponge

Thank you for the advice! I always enjoy constructive criticism. I don't know how to follow through on your suggestion, so stop by and give me an idea. I'll put it into action.

And, thank you Mr. Flynn, for linking me.

Willington World from an objective and neutral standpoint of course is.....well, it's simply amazing.

Tough choices, but Borg Blog gets my vote. And extra cool points for Stationary Bandit for having a brilliant name.

Brian - I was born and raised on Long Island, and you can meet me at Mass any Sunday. Not to, ahem, persuade you one way or another...

...the rest of you, however, should VOTE FOR ME. "I loved it. It was much better than Cats. I am going to visit his site again and again..." [/mindtrick]

But to be fair, I can't vote for myself. It just feels cheap; besides, I need to post a bit more often. (Maybe if I get myself fired?) Here's the contestants, in no particular order:

Error Theory- now that's epic posting! I don't mind. After all, I do read TMQ on NFL.com every Tuesday.
Bow Tie Crafts- Gotta love the Web: a site exclusively dedicated to crafts projects involving bow ties, both fabric and pasta. I liked the new cravats for Beethoven.
MythGuided- ALL CAPS IS BAD, BAD, BAD. Also seems to be frolicking through the catnip.
Stationary Bandit- Unfortunately, I know so little about the preferred topics that I can't give any sort of quality opinion. I may as well admit my troglodity and step away.
The Nightfly- again, I post too little, but I try for variety when I can. The running gags may be too cute, but they come from trying to entertain while getting my point across.
Sponge Daddy- it's going to take a lot of time to see it all. First impressions: 1. It's a busy space, and hard to focus in on any one thing; 2. The first page has a great explanation of the layout so there's good hope of mastering it all. It's also nice to see the effort to make an interactive site. Very good stuff.
Angry Men- "Three days? But I'm mad NOW!"
The Atavist- That is a nice quote. I can really get behind the "no time to post" deal.
Mr. Wachtel- I see that we share many interests. I hope to see this man at the US Amateur East chess tournament in Parsippany, NJ next month. One suggestion: re-name the website "The Official Home of Harold K.W." to soak up some rockstar vibes.
Willington- you, too, will like to hit it.
BorgBlog- definitely not what you expect from the title. I'm pleased to call them fellow Blogspotters. Good variety and a nice picture of the family.
And finally, my winner, in a close contest, O'Donnell Web- I truly hope that your daughter also gets her pony. I also appreciate that I think of Rachel Weisz from "the Mummy" everytime I visit this site. (No, that was O'Connell. Does it matter? Rachel Weisz...)

I notice, by the way, that a lot of us are nor'easterners. Should we organize around a central location (such as, oh, say the Omega Diner?) sometime in the sunny spring and pal around?

Willington World..Yipppppppeeeeeeee

I like all the sites, in fact, but I am voting on two criteria. First, it is a necessary condition that it be updated relatively often (Atavist, as nice as it is, is eliminated here). Second, it must have intesting and intelligent discussion. That leaves two co-winners: Willington World, and Stationary Bandit (in spite of what seems to be a misunderstanding of the young Burke's satire). I was amused and engrossed by both.

A special award must go to Bow Tie Crafts. Most amusing thing I have seen yet this year, for sure.

One vote for willingtonworld. The commentary is incisive, the color scheme is pleasing to the eye, the posts are thoughtful and the moderator kicks a$%!

The silver medal goes to the Atavist. The blog exhibits almost limitless potential--the narrator just needs to post more frequently.

Yes, I don't update often. And actually, if you look, I don't really update at all with any substance. It's hard because, as someone as such I am, I hate everything. I hate the liberals, and Kerry, but most of all I hate Bush, and the 'conservatives' that throw their much weight behind him. It's not a very popular position to hate everyone, and while I don't mind that exactly, YOU DON'T REALLY GET IT, I HATE EVERYONE. No one does it right. No one you read, no one you think highly of, no one, at all. It's very depressing if you think about it for a bit. So maybe, one day when I'm really high on my horse and drunk off my ass, I'll tell you all exactly how it is and how it should be, but not before that time, and not before I've had that much to drink.

Bow Tie Crafts wins hands down!

I'd have to go with Willington World, with a close second going to Nightfly, third could go to anyone else because frankly, some of them are strange and just don't strike my fancy, but I applaud anyone who has taken the time to set up a blog or website and sacrifice time in a day to make people laugh, cry, get pissed off, or any feeling that may occur.

This is a no brainer! Wilington World is far superior to all these other blogs. They all gave it their best, but the uncanny amount of integrity, humor, and pure gusto that Willington World is constructed of, puts it head, neck, shoulders, and a bit of the sternum above the rest. Bow your heads in shame other blogs, you have lost the battle, and the war for that matter.

Hey Flynnie, I didn't know that Axl Rose blogged on your site?

I have decide to endorse the Nightfly, for purposes entirely unrelated to this big beige sack full of unmarked, non-consecutive reasons.

-Armstrong Williams

Sponge Daddy,

Sorry to hear you haven't been competing recently that is too bad. I hope you are able to get back out there soon. I had no clue that it cost so much to bowl, clearly you have to be dedicated.

I will keep checking back on it.
Good luck!

Cool Nightfly. I was just kidding about the Jersey comment anyway, heck I am from Georgia and am only living in NYC b/c I have to for school. Actually my girlfriend is a Jersey girl.
I was just checking your site out again and noticed you used the word "bathetic" in a post. That sort of 10 cent word appeals to me, good site!

My vote still stands though . . . Stationary Bandit for readability/variety/updates/ and Burke.

First, thank you to Nightfly for the vote. The horse fund has done ok - she has made a few hundred bucks from the site - not bad for somebody who turns 9 next week. I worked for several venture funded dot coms that never showed a profit of a couple hundred bucks! I'm in the process of redoing the site, turning it into more of a real blog - sort of a "Diary of a dad of a horse crazed little girl." Hopefully that will generate traffic to the site that leads to sales for her.

My favorite was the bow tie site. That is exactly what the web is all about. One person sharing a very quirky hobby with the world. I love it.

My second favorite was Modblog - I like the one liner approach. I frequently don't have the time or patience to read long missives, no matter how good they may be.

Wow! I'm floored that people are enjoying bowtiecrafts! I submitted the site only because my buddy (and loyal Flynn Files reader) encouraged me to do so. (Her blog is http://rohmerecycles.blogspot.com/, btw :))

The blog began as a joke to needle the intolerant lefties of the internet craft forums. Unfortunately, Bush-Bashing and vilifying conservatives are prerequisites for becoming a 'hipster' crafter.

I'm abstaining from voting because everyone here deserves a hand. :)

As a member of the Federalist Party, their can only be one winner SPONGE DADDY. Willington World is hilariously bad at times, but always entertaining. And one question for Are You Myth Guided? Are You Insane?

However, congratulations to all the blogers.

Be well,

Max

I cast my vote for Willington World - it is by far the gayest blog on the net.

I'll take the bold step of voting for myself, and I'll tell you why we're worth a look, in the process.

We're new, so our voices really haven't had a chance to assert themselves in our writing. When they do, however, you'll see that they're unique, and well-defended.

James is a devout Christian studying to become a bio-medical engineer. Somewhere in between, he managed to find time to become incredibly well-versed in politics and revisionist history. His writing is concise, sharp, and articulate. Plus, he'll debate anyone, anytime.

I'm a historian first and a political philosopher second. I like to back my arguments with literature and classical philosophy. I get worked up easily, and view everything in terms of the ebb and flow of Western Civilization. I, too, welcome all comers who wish to critique my points.

We're long winded because we're thorough. And we're thorough because we don't like being wrong.

Thanks for telling us about your website, Anthony. Could you now tell us the name of your website?

The Last Angry Men. I figured since it asked me for a URL in the form, it would appear somewhere near the comment. My mistake.

My vote is for The Last Angry Men, these guys blow me away. They are bright, true conservatives. I didn't truly know what a conservative was until I saw their blog. Their beliefs are not constrained by any current political party and they submit their spin unapoligetically; critical of 'neo-conservatives' and large government. I learn more than a few things everytime I read it.

May I invite you all over to my blog for a moment - I covet your suggestions on your recommended beers, as I revel in one of my favorites in A Hearty Toast to Boddington's Pub Ale.

Sincerely,
Eric Langborgh
Editor of Borg Blog

P.S. My early favorite is "The Last Angry Men," too, though I have a reservation. I hope to list that and my pros and cons for all the rest right here in the next day or two.

I'm voting for "The Last Angry Men" because as an education major with limited political interest, its intellectual diversity appeals to me greatly.

bowtie crafts! bowtie crafts! bowtie crafts!

can that count for 3 votes.....hardee har har.

Okay, here are my thoughts on the various "blogs" in "competition," with my pick for best blog at the bottom:

• The Atavist - In a word: "potential." I love the masthead graphic. However, this blog is seldom updated (every post ever submitted fits on one page) and therefore is not up-to-snuff.

• O'Donnell Web - The whole page seems to meld together to me; therefore, difficult to read (my eye keeps bouncing around). If he focused on the homeschooling tact the blog might have potential. But it lacks enough focus or substance to interest me.
• Willington World - This seems to be getting lots of votes, but other than the attractive colors and plethora of pics, I'm not sure I understand why. Every post seems to run into each other - including the comments, apparently. Again, not enough substance and too much personal, unsubstantiated opinion. Fails to break the "who cares? threshold.
• Sponge Daddy - It is a website; not a blog. Therefore, disqualified.
• Stationary Bandit - Not bad. Regular postings in bite-size pieces are appealing. Given the author’s economic expertise, this blog does break the “who cares?” threshold. The downside? A bit dull. The layout and color scheme may be exacerbating that sense.
• Harold Wachtel - It is a website; not a blog. Therefore, disqualified.
• Bow Tie Crafts – Gets points for originality, but I wonder how much material can be added before it gets hopelessly redundant. Evaluating blogs is quite subjective, as so much depends on what topics fly with what people. This one doesn’t do it for me, though apparently it does for others.
• Billy’s Blog – Text is flying at me from three directions! Too many columns of information in the layout. Difficult for my eyes to find a place to rest and concentrate. I can’t figure out what the point is.
• Are You Myth Guided? - It is a website; not a blog. Therefore, disqualified.
• Error Theory – This blog is pretty easy to navigate and has a clear focus (republicanism. Even when I disagree with some of his conclusions I appreciate and identify with many of his premises.) Too often is too long winded (rambles), though. Looks as though he has been blogging about as long as I have, so still “learning the ropes.” Though in some ways he is admittedly further advanced than I am at this stage.
• The Nightfly – Whoa! Kinda looks like mine! ;o) Not half bad. Good variety.
• The Last Angry Men – This one is very well done. Attractive layout and background that is pleasing to the eye. It easily passes the “who cares?” threshold as the authors write with authority and substance. Some posts might be a tad long, but when it is as informative as it is that is fine. The blog is brand new, but as it proceeds I think it will take an even better form.
  Which leads me to my one major complaint: the title. Who wants to associate with “angry men?” We want to be optimistic. We want hope. I think there are more effective ways to convey a reactionary position without coming across immediately as so negative. The tone of the title immediately places a ceiling on the amount of influence this blog can achieve. They are brand new, so it isn’t too late to change the title. I hope they will, as I will continue to follow this one.
• Borg Blog – Written by yours truly, I am abundantly aware that many of the weaknesses I pointed out in other blogs may apply to mine. Like many, I’m sure, my main purpose for having a blog is to keep a running personal journal (though certainly not a diary). It is a repository of my thoughts that I can come back to often.
  However, I do have a clear focus – seeking to give glory to God in all things and to manifest my enjoyment of Him. As such, my writings, even when discussing current issues of events, are farther-sighted in their stress and objectives.
  My hope is that for the few who come to my blog - mostly friends and some strangers – that they will be inspired to think about issues in a new way, and to think through the ramifications of all aspects of life – i.e., how it all matters eternally. Yes, there are some exceptions, notably my posts on baseball, but that is due to my two goals laid out above that usually coincide but sometimes work cross-purposes. Still, it’s a blog, so that’s okay!
  I guess one important measure of how “good” my blog is is how well what I just wrote above comes through in looking at and reading my blog. In other words, is the intended purpose somewhat self-evident? And then, of course, am I achieving my objectives?
  Do I pass the “who cares?” threshold?
  I don’t know. I wouldn’t pretend to have the expertise of the writers of “The Angry Men” or “Stationary Bandit.”
  But for what its worth, I have worked the last four years for the Bill of Rights Institute, during which time I’ve done much research and writing on the state of civic education and knowledge in our country, and have written numerous biographical essays on America’s Founding Fathers. Before that, I worked for Dan Flynn at Accuracy in Academia for two years. I “got my start” raising hell against the leftists on the campus of Penn State University as a member of the Young Americans for Freedom.

In conclusion, my choice for best blog comes down to three factors: Is it informative, is it interesting, and is it readable. Thus, “The Last Angry Men” win hands-down, in my book. (Although if I could vote for it “Flynn Files” would be my winner).

Here then is my ranking of the blogs:

1. The Angry Men
2. Borg Blog
3. Error Theory
4. Stationary Bandit
5. The Nightfly
6. The Atavist
7. Bow Tie Crafts
8. Willington World
9. O'Donnell Web
10. Billy’s Blog

DNQ: Sponge Daddy, Harold Wachtel, Are You Myth Guided?

Sincerely,
--Eric