Blog #1: bnlblog.com
Barenaked Ladies keep a blog! All five members, plus their drum tech Tiny and security dude-slash-tour manager Fin, post to it on occasion (some more than others). For a while, due to an inside joke started on the blog, there were even posts by drummer Tyler's alter ego, Stewart, although they appeared to be written not by Tyler, but by singer Steve.
The technical overview...
Filter, notebook, or journal?: Throw all three into a bowl and stir. I'd say it's less of a filter than the other two, because when someone posts a link, they tend to give their opinion. (Exception to the rule. A bit of opinion is given, but I think it could be a slight challenge to find it if you don't know the band members' personalities.)
Entries vary in length and cover a wide range of topics, depending partially on who's posting. Although they will all post about touring and album work (aka what one might assume a band's blog would be about), Steve is most likely to post links and discuss books and politics, while guitarist Ed can be found posting about video games and his family. Bassist Jim likes to post about environmental issues, and Tyler talks about drums and uses his sarcastic sense of humor. I really enjoy multi-instrumentalist Kevin's writing (although he hardly ever blogs, grr), which mixes a poetic style with dorky humor.
Genre: Overall, I think I'd have to say personal. It covers such a wide range of genres - music, political, tech, personal, borderline professional - and everyone posts about what they want. So... yeah.
Purpose: Self-expression, giving info, and reputation building are all listed on the assignment sheet, and all are covered with this blog. The band members post about what they want, they provide links and information, and all of this helps promote themselves as a group of non-egotistical normal guys. They also have a Q&A section for fans/readers, which helps further build reputation by reaching out to the public. I had a comment to Steve answered once - I suggested he listen to the Current while he was in Minneapolis promoting his solo album, and he responded that he listened, loved it, and wished there was a station like that in their native Toronto - and let me tell you, it's pretty damn cool to be able to interact with one of your favorite bands like that. Mainly, their purpose is just to connect - to provide fans with an inside look at their lives, their jobs, and their interests.
So now I'm supposed to discuss other stuff about the blog. Hmm, I already seem to have done that. I guess I could add that BNL puts a picture at the top of their blog. Something from tour or the studio, the band being random, something completely random. Image archives are here. Yes, I am aware that they don't seem to know how to crop images as to avoid stretching. But that's okay, they're still cool.
The assignment sheet also says
...bloggers often state their purposes in their description, or a colophon, or on the sidebar. Then you can consider how the blogger is fulfilling the stated purpose in some of the postings.
BNL puts what I guess you could call a description in the header of the page. Hit refresh, and you get a new description. None of these really have anything to do with the blog, but instead showcase the band's sense of humo[u]r. Morgan, don't say you didn't ask for it:
--blog-erific
--got blog?
--I smell blog!
--if I had a million bloggers.
--feverishly fun.
--you found us! our apologies.
--for people who want to know.
--monotonously droll.
--0% value - guaranteed!
--the last stop on the internet.
--all things idiotic.
--may cause projectile flatulence.
--did you hear about the plastic surgeon who hung himself?
So, yes. BNLblog gets a big thumbs up from me. Go visit.
Two more of these things to come. Wahoo.
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