Great Local Blogs

What constitutes a “blog” these days? Webster’s online says it’s “an online diary; a personal chronological log of thoughts published on a Web page.” Here’s a local crop worth checking out:

Hank and Phyllis
Hank and Phyllis Stein’s blog, hankandphyllis.blogspot.com, exemplifies what blogs should do: create a platform for voices not found in the mainstream media. In this case, the elderly. If you think Hank and Phyllis Stein are a couple of fusty old folks who blog about their corns and RV trips to Sun City, think again. They beat out C. J. by a couple of months on the subject of Eleanor Mondale’s relationship with late rocker Warren Zevon.

Lambert to the Slaughter
Brian Lambert brings fifteen years of experience and pent-up candor from his days as radio and TV critic for the Pioneer Press to his virtual perch at rakemag.com/today/media. (Editor's update: Lambert can now be found at mspmag.com/lambert.) Lambert covers both breaking news on the media waterfront and offers witty commentary on the dynamic Twin Cities media scene that’s not found in either major daily. For the local mediaphile, Lambert is a must-read.

Reveille
This labor of love converges the talents of several local music writers and scenesters, most notably Jim Walsh, late of City Pages. Vastly more sophisticated in its graphic layout, reportage, and writing than the average blog, reveillemag.com is where the heavy hitters go for local music coverage.

The Up Take
Chuck Olsen of mnstories.com launched theuptake.com, a citizen-journalism–focused video blog, with coverage of the YearlyKOS (a national lefty political convention). Viewers are encouraged to play assignment editor by posting and rating upcoming events for Olsen and his fellow citizen video journalists to cover. The highest-rated items stand the best chance of getting showcased.

MN Speak
If your appetite is whetted, mnspeak.com does a good job of cherry-picking relevant posts from the local Web scene, including the blogosphere. Much of the posting is insider snark and unreflective, but there seems to be enough critical mass to consider it a reliable barometer of Twin Cities zeitgeist. The whole is generally greater than the sum of its parts.