Best of Blogs a hit with Crackpot

The only blog contests I've ever known about are those sponsored by bloggers I know and they're usually coterie popularity contests that I vote in because some other blogger I know asks me to vote for their weblog. But the German newspaper Deutsche Welle is sponsoring an international Best of the Blogs contest that's very well organized and tres fun to cruise.

Finalists in nine languages are competing for honors as Best Weblog, Best Multimedia Blog, Best Podcasting Site, a special award from Reporters Without Borders and Best Journalistic Blog in each of the contest's languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Persian, Portuguese, Russian und Spanish).

Click this banner (opens in a new window) to take a look at the nominations.
Go ahead--If Crackpot says its cool, you know it's chillin'

When you get there, click on one of the languages to see the blogs in each language. Each candidate has a page with nice snapshot and synopsis (in English or any language you choose from the drop-down) of each blog. It's fascinating, even if you don't read all the languages, to see the quality and variety of some blogs you might not know to look at otherwise. In English, the Afghan Election Blog and Baghdad Burning (by by a Sunni Muslim sister) are amazing.

A rainy day begins for me. Have fun wherever you are. I think I'll cocoon and watch the Bush administration unravel on CNN. A little more interesting and consequential than watching grass grow. Right now I'm watching a business story about the China Construction Bank's IPO, which was underwhelming.