Karnival tal-Bloggijiet

Fifteen writers, five languages and 10000 words; it's the very first Karnival tal-Bloggijiet!

The theme was:

A post that embodies the spirit of your blog.

Everyone has their unique writing style, their own reasons for blogging, and their own thoughts to convey. A blog is as unique as its author, and the variety in the bloggosfera is fascinating.

This first Karnival is a chance to show off a post that you are particularly proud of, or enjoyed writing, or are pleased with the way it turned out, or with the response it provoked. Maybe it was a thoughtful analysis of a political situation, a critical review of a CD, a hilarious account of an adventure, or a piece of writing raw with emotion - anything goes, just show us what you're made of.

The response has been great, thank-you to all who submitted posts. I hope you enjoy reading what has turned out to be a very diverse collection of writings. Linguistics, politics, adventures, it’s all here – read on…

The contributors: Fausto Majistral, Bertu ta' l-Anġli, Gakbu Sfigo, Twanny Cassar, Jacques René Zammit, Mark Vella, Kenneth, Sharon Spiteri, Pierre Mejlak, Immanuel Mifsud, Robert Micallef, Archibald, Toni Sant, Lena, and MaltaGirl.

Twanny Cassar is a linguist and translator, and this certainly shows in his blog. The post Logos includes various elements of Twanny’s writings – the way he questions the world, his fascination with words, and his five-language (yes, five) sonnets. Enjoy :-)

Fausto Majistral comments on current affairs and the political situation in Malta with a bold and forthright voice – he tells it how he sees it and isn’t afraid to go against the flow. He began his blog as he meant to continue it, with a clear manifesto in The Purpose of This Blog.

Bertu ta’ l-Anġli is an artist who blogs about art and everything else up to 42. He is able to draw on his own experiences both for his art and for the occasional work of fiction, such as his charming tale The Bears of Melitamalata.

Gakbu Sfigho seems to be the victim of a series of unfortunate events – while this is bad news for Gakbu, it’s good news for us because this means that he can regale us with his tales of misadventure and leave us ROTFL (rolling on the floor, laughing). His aversion to contemporary Maltese spelling gives his blog a unique and strangely compelling linguistic style; for more, here’s the Idiot's Guide to Il Bollettino – Editorjal.

Jacques René Zammit is a lawyer and Terry Pratchett reader, currently residing in Luxembourg. He started off his new blog (the other being the wildly successful Bollettino) by talking about the mentality of The Kinnie Generation and its quest for eternal fame.

Mark Vella is a translator for the European Commission, lives in Luxembourg, and is the person who came up with the word “blogg” (thank-you!). In his blog(g) he writes about music and current affairs, and he shares some memories of Malta in Un Cuore di Panna per Noi.

Kenneth is a student and freelance web designer, hailing from Mellieħa. In his blog he shares updates on computer technology, comments on the state of affairs in Malta especially as seen from a young person’s perspective, and writes hilarious accounts of his adventures such as Zen and the Art of Lightbulb Maintenance: Part 1.

Sharon Spiteri is a journalist, currently studying in Scotland. She writes about politics and culture, and often addresses issues concerning journalism, the main stream media, blogging, and the relationships between them. The Journalist and the blogger -- I is the first in a series of such posts and shows Sharon’s passion for journalism.

Pierre Mejlak is a writer and translator based in Brussels, but his roots are in Gozo. He blogs about music, film, football, books and his adventures. In These Little Town Blues… he gives us some insight into the rivalry between his home town of Nadur and neighbouring Qala.

Immanuel Mifsud is a writer, lecturer and theatrical director. He has been blogging since September 2003 and maintains two blogs, one English and one Maltese, where he comments on current affairs, local politics and Maltese literature. Immanuel has written several posts on the Yugoslav tragedy, and one of them is Iġsma Iħirsa, where he speaks of the unidentified bodies of war victims and their impact on survivors.

Robert Micallef is an economist, editor/analyst and University lecturer. It was through his daily posts highlighting Maltese bloggers that most of us discovered each other, and thus the bloggosfera was born. This post on the untimely passing of Julian Manduca is an example of Robert's writing; in it he gives his own thoughts, links to relevant sites, quotes Julian himself and provides a roundup of related posts on the bloggosfera.

Archibald blogs “dwar kollox u dwar xejn”, but lucky for us with more “kollox” than “xejn”! His blog featured a press release on Pope George Ringo I, something sure to delight Beatles fans everywhere.

Toni Sant is an artistic director for MaltaMedia and is currently residing in the UK. He often blogs about current affairs, his travels, and the media. In Sette Giugno 1919 in context Toni gives an interesting take on this occasion by highlighting other major events that have taken place on this date in the last 85 years.

Lena is a student interested in fitness, literature and her friends :-) and in her blog she comments on what is going on around her. In Another Year, Another Evaluation she takes a step back on New Year’s Day 2005 and writes about what the year 2004 brought.

MaltaGirl is a student who uses her blog to rant about school and write about her daily life, mostly about her adventures. In Canoe Polo at Uni Sports Day she tells what she got up to at the National Pool.

Well, folks, that’s it for now. But wait, that means it’s time for… another Karnival! Stay tuned, it will (probably/hopefully) be posted tomorrow. I do have one question for you though – should the deadline be in one week or two?

Comments

[Jacques]

two. :)

[Sharon]

Great job, Maltagirl... I'm really enjoying the different flavours and rereading some old posts :) Ta for doing this. Looking forward to the next one, for which I will hopefully have time to write a new post.

[MaltaGirl]

Thanks :-) One week or two?

[Jacques]

Ah Yes. Forgot to tell you thanks for hosting us all at Diverse Ramblings, for the great idea and for the summaries of the different personalities...
the questions remain...
who is fausto?
who is maltagirl?
who is arcibald?
who is hazevi?
although I know the answer to the last one.... anonimity provokes curiousity!

[Sharon]

Hehehehe Jacques, I know who the last two are! Maltagirl's identity is not such a mystery, she doesn't try very hard to hide it. And I believe I have an idea who Fausto is. But I'm not going to reveal anyone's identity, so there. They're all safe, I promise :) Jacques, no use sending me emails!! Exit that programme right now!

Issa Maltagirl re the second Carnival, I'm going to be selfish and suggest that the deadline not be any earlier than the end of the month. I'm moving house in 10 days and doubt I'm going to be able to think let alone write. But hey, you could always have a Carnival without me. I won't mind.

[MaltaGirl]

Thanks, Jacques :-)

Sharon, request granted, so no excuses now! Mind you, you are one of the two bloggers who already has something written on the new theme, heh.

[Sharon]

I feel the pressure :-) Just a thought mind you, but is it wise to have the Carnivals so close together? Won't the novelty wear off really quickly? Jien naf... hekk, qed ingedwed wahdi dalgħodu!

[MaltaGirl]

You're right... I was thinking that people would lose interest if they were too close together, lol, but it does feel cramped to have the next one right now.

I've taken down the post for the new Karnival, and set it to publish on Monday 21st June instead :-)

PS I said you introduced the term, not coined it. Sorry but it has been in use since at least the early 1990's ;-) You still get credit for popularising it, heheheh.

[Fausto Majistral]

Congratulations for a job well done. Especially considering that this is a busy time of the year for you. Thanks.

[gybexi]

nice work!