Happy BlogDay 2008! (And The Top Peruvian Food Blog Is...)

Happy BlogDay 2008!

If you're not sure what that is, you can read about it here.

This is a two-part post: the first has my BlogDay 2008 recommendations; and in the second, I reveal the top voted Peruvian food blog in the 20 Blogs Peruanos, 20 Peruvian Blogs, contest.

To bloggers and blog readers around the world: it's great to have a day to celebrate blogs and blogging. Blogs, and the digital media revolution in which we are living, truly represent a a change in the way people communicate, providing the ability for anyone with access to a computer to be creative and have his or voice be heard. Blogs allow us to read stories, share visions, and obtain perspectives on the world we might otherwise never know. Blogs connect people in the most disparate parts of the world, ultimately fulfilling our ancient need for self-expression.

Today, on BlogDay 2008, I searched for five blogs that interested me and gave me new information and a new window through which to view the world.

This year, I wanted to focus on the global nature of blogs, so I chose one blog each from the Americas, Africa, Asia, Australasia, and Europe. All are in English. All have interesting links worth exploring.


First, right here from home, LA Taco, is a blog "celebrating the taco lifestyle." What does that mean? Mostly, lots of photographs of Los Angeles, ranging from Bruce Lee's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame to a low-rider exhibition. It's very much a documentary of urban LA life, street art, culture, sometimes interspersed with posts about tacos.


I found Cuckoo's Call, a blog from India about "journey, enlightenment and song", because I was interested in reading about the Untouchable caste. Thanks to this post, I learned about a new film from India titled India Untouched: Stories of a People Apart. Nila Kantha Chandra also discusses corruption at the Calcutta Zoo, Indian society, politics, and poetry, and has some other captivating blogs at the profile page.


Sukuma Kenya is digital journalism from Nairobi. This blog believes "the mobilisation of minds, hearts and the application of imagination can build out of chaos and destruction something new, transcendent and meaningful." They denounce the salaries paid to the wives of Kenyan politicians; review Coming of Age, a Kenyan film about growing up during the Jomo Kenyetta era, and discuss Kenyan society and politics in general.


Babasiga is a blog about "Fiji stories, Labasa, South Pacific culture, family, migration, [and the] Australia/Fiji relationship". Written by Peceli and Wendy, who currently live in Geelong, Australia, they explain "Babasiga (pronounced bambasinga) is the dry land of the Macuata in northern Fiji - our place in the sun in Fiji. The town is Labasa and our village is Vatuadova and the beach is Nukutatava. We are part of the Wailevu Fijian tribe with relatives in Mali Island and Naseakula village." Recently, they've posted about daily goings-on in Suva, girls taking automotive courses at secondary school, and the Methodist choir competition, all illustrated with photos.


Lastly (but not least), from Lithuania, I recommend Laimikis, which in Lithuanian means "lucky catch" and is so titled because "laimikis is people on the streets of Vilnius [and] street people from other towns and ... countries, a concept of street photography based on three principles: 1) the people of your town are no less exotic than personages from overseas; 2) every of them has his/her own story, which is much more interesting, than the comments of any expert; and, 3) street photography is a communication with passers-by and the way to pay a compliment, overcoming usual urban alienation." I love these type of blogs, with loads of pictures of places far away, where I can once again confirm, despite our outward differences, we really are all just the same.

That's it for BlogDay 2008!

OK.

And now.

Finally.

The winner in the Food Blog category of the 2008 edition of 20 Blogs Peruanos, 20 Peruvian Blogs, is ....... Cucharas Bravas: Inspectores Culinarios!


Cucharas Bravas: Inspectores Culinarios (meaning something like: Intrepid Spoons: Culinary Inspectors) is an attractive, smart, and contemporary blog written in Spanish in which Pierina and Freddy review restaurants in Lima and Peru, and write about the general state of Peruvian cuisine. They have received numerous accolades (in fact, I believe this is the second year in a row they have won this prize) and have been featured in the Peruvian traditional and online media. I voted for them!

This blog, Peru Food, made it to the short list of top three most voted Peruvian food blogs, which was an honor in and of itself. Thank you to all who voted for Peru Food.

Pierina and Freddy have done a great job with their blog and deserve all the credit and recognition they receive.

Kudos and congratulations to Cucharas Bravas!

Click here for the Peru Food main page.

TAGS: Peru, Peruvian, food, cooking, cuisine, cocina, comida, gastronomía, peruana