The 2009 Lankanosphere Awards - Best Newcomer

Hello again people, we're back with the second 2009 award and, the academics among may have deduced this from the title, we're onto the best newcomer award. Last year it was won by Kalusudda comments, that ever so simple and good idea.

Every time I think of KS I feel a little bit sad and worried. His last post was in July 2009 and he's since disappeared. We know not if he's okay or just busy or what. When I say "we" I actually mean "I", as you might know of his whereabouts and welfare. I hope KS is out there doing his thing, whatever that thing is, with the proviso that it's not too illegal or too immoral.

This year there are only three new Lankan related blogs that have caught my eye. I'm sorry that some people feel excluded, that these awards aren't representative of everything out there in the Lankan blogosphere, but they're just a bit of fun, based on what I, and the guest judges of course, like to peruse. The esteemed nominees are:

1. Go To Sri Lanka - It's a blog, but not as we know it. It's half advert for the motherland (depending on your origins), half holiday snaps and half a ton of google ads splashed just about everywhere you can imagine. There are many blogs that have this effect on me, but the quickest of glances at it makes me want to grab the nearest manbag and jump on a Serendib bound plane.

2. See Chavie Run - This blog, only in existence from February 09, has caught my eye for mushy, incoherent and intangible reasons, which of course I'll now try to explain in tangible and coherent terms. Firstly there's the cleanliness to the eye, a certain sort of BMW look to the blog. Everything's well thought out and appears exactly where it should be. There's nothing hugely radical to the look, it just feels right.

Secondly there's the writing. I don't know this Chavie fellow so I hope he takes this in the way I mean it, but he writes like a girl. There's a depth and sense of feeling to his writing that most men just don't have, except writers. Blokes write on a superficial level, Chavie gets beneath the surface and takes things several steps further. I bet he's got loads of women chasing after him because of his sensitivity and understanding. I like him, just not in a gay way.

3. Cadence - Her blog has been around since May 2009 and it's a bit of everything. There's poetry, recipes, deep posts and shallow posts. It's a Bombay mix of a blog, the kind a chap can dip into, look at what comes out and say "ooh fuck me, I didn't expect to pull out one of those." From what I can gather our Cadence is a girl with courage, in her Dear 16 letter she tells how she went out with a bloke who had a ponytail. I admire women with that kind of strength, I really do. To hell with public opinion, this is a girl with balls.

There are the nominations but sadly there can be only one winner. It is......




See Chavie Run.

I like the variety, the sense of casual talking the reader through his life, that Chavie manages to portray. His moving tag cloud is about as reliable as a Sri Lankan clockmaker, but, other than that it's all good. I may have used too many commas in that previous sentence, I'm not sure though.

Congratulations to Chavie.

The last words are best said by the Kottu Godfather himself, our guest judge Mr Indi. Praise doesn't come much higher:

"Chavie's blog feels like it's smiling. Like a young Cerno, he seems to enjoy what he's doing and doesn't get in too much trouble. In between the hate and hubris of some Sri Lankan blogs, Chavie stands out as someone who just seems to enjoy blogging. The blog is refreshingly
chilled out and his comments as well are good natured and welcome everywhere they appear."

indi