Blogwatch

Yes, Blogwatch has returned from holiday, tanned and at last reunited with its luggage, to find that out there in the blogosphere there's been some ch-ch-changes...

Not So Soft is no more, but do not fear - every end signals a new beginning, and it has been superseded by the all-new Me(ish). Meanwhile, over in Austin TX, Nigel has a new job, and Wan has announced he'll be moving to Japan permanently in less than a month's time - here's hoping blogging doesn't cease. Anna's Little Red Boat is on temporary hiatus, and will be sorely missed.

Now unemployed, Nixon has been making the most of his time and has constructed a graph showing the cost per kilogram of his degree certificate in relation to the cost per kilogram of gold bullion - can you guess which works out as more expensive?!

Prodigious postage galore by Olav, who's been writing about, amongst other things, attending the annual River Cafe Quiz, and being distracted by the back of Charlie Higson's head whilst watching Yo La Tengo and Calexico.

As well as expressing glee at Cameron's squirmings on 'Big Brother' when confronted with questions about homosexuality, Mike's posted his top 30 singles of the year so far. For an antidote to that, and particularly to the uncharacteristically naive optimism of my recent Feel Good Hits Special posting, look no further than Blissblog, where Simon Reynolds pours scorn on the notion that the satellite music channels are in any way interesting and lambasts those who myopically insist that 2003 is proving a great year for music.

Other music-related posts of interest: Steve on Embrace's self-titled 1986 LP - just to avoid any unpleasant confusion, that's the American Embrace, emo pioneers on Dischord Records and featuring Ian Mackaye, and not the wet Oasis-worshipping muppets from Yorkshire; Dead Kenny on the Kings Of Leon's debut LP Youth And Young Manhood - "a cautious, but hairy, thumbs up"; and Matthew on recent gigs by Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks and The New Pornographers - read how he wrote the set-list for the latter...

For Alex, 'Hulk' turned out to be pretty much a hulking great piece of shit, "lumbered with an appalling script"; and Ian Penman's been 'fessing up about his fascination with Warren Beatty.

And finally... Happy birthday to Invisible Stranger and (belatedly) Vaughan!