Thursday, January 12, 2006

A Rush of Blood to the Head

MG had this cunning plan where we1 have a food/restaurant review blog collectively.




To be included in this very select group, all you have to do is to just mention the possible existence of this food blog anywhere, in anyones blog and you're in. The key word here is exclusivity.

So far, the (possible) bloggers are elaine and subl.

Some administravia.

The alternatives are :
Using blogger.
Pro :
Easy/familiar to use.
Con :
Hard to maintain.
Hard to organise.
ie. if we use the comments as reviews, comments are not editable after it has been submitted.

Use of a Wiki
Pro :
Easier to organise/manage. The logistics part of it is good.
Con :
Small learning curve involved.

But more importantly, we need to come up with a cool name. Off the top of my little head, I can think of
melb_gourmand
melb_palate

I prefixed it with melb but we dont have to.

My thoughts, we go with blogger cos it's easier to setup initially and see what logistical problems we encounter and I'll migrate it over to a wiki later.

This is roughly how it *may* work (using blogger).
Each blog entry is for a specific restaurant. I guess you might need to be added to list of "bloggers" to be able to edit the entry or add to the entry. I dont see using comments as input to reviews workable as one cannot re-edit comments. Perhaps a prefix of the blog title with the cuisine type, so as to ease searching? Hmmm, or maybe one could post in a comment, then an administrator puts it into the main post? See, I told you it was clunky.

These are just random thoughts, BTW.

What do we get out of this?
I have no idea. Maybe it's a really bad idea.

Our motto? How about "Just because we cant cook doesnt mean we dont know good food". Alright, that's *my* life motto and we dont have to use it. Yes, yes, I know most of you can cook well. I was just referring to self, where each meal is like eating fugu. Anyway, come up with an alternative. I need ideas.

Inspiration? The Superparma site.

Soooo, express your interest and your thoughts and your ideas. Basically, to quote New Order, Express Yourself.

Addendum
The site is currently at http://letmeeatnow.blogspot.com/.

1Yes, you too.

21 comments:

sublime-ation said...

I thought it was N.W.A who said Express Yourself?
Oh well.
You make me giggle.
OK, so I think go Blogger, I'm scared of learning to use new one, it took me long enough to learn how to use Blogger! So that, then change is a bon idee.
I would love a really good excuse to go to restaurants more often. I'll have a responsibility as a reviewer to not cook (not that I do, anyway).
As long as I don't earn a bad moniker, i.e Shut 'em Downes.
As far as names go, let me think.
MG, your'e always full of good ideas?

ChickyBabe said...

Sounds like a good idea to a foodie like me. I look forward to reading it!

Chai said...

subl : NWA? Nursing Womens Association? U mean Nursing Mothers Association. Yes, yes, I know NWA, was just trying to be, ummm, clever?
Yes, shut-em-down is a good blog name, esp. for a restaurant review site. What about burpers. OK, maybe not (I'm in free form here).

cb : Unrealistic expectations are what we look forward to (not) meeting. I too can hardly wait.

Steph said...

What a top idea. I seriously HATE going out to eat and the food is SHITE. The only reviews i trust are word of mouth ones. So this is a great idea. I'll read it too.

sublime-ation said...

How about Sausage?
Just trying to keep that one going ad infinitum in your comment threads.

Chai said...

subl : sausage it is then. Henceforth, let it be known that we, the food bloggers shall be known as, "the sausages". (Bummer, I used the word known twice. Editor? Where is the editor?)

scar : Attention everyone *tinkle of spoon on crystal wine goblet*, my muse, scarlett. *insert wild applause here*

For all interested, the blog, for now, is at http://letmeeatnow.blogspot.com

And for the curious, my attempt at going to see Good Night, Good Luck was disastrous. Wish you were there.

sublime-ation said...

Awesome name bro!
(sorry I've been watching BroTown: choicest cartoon of the moment).

Chai said...

Hee hee... It's just a starting point.
Feel free to change it to whatever you think it's better. I'm easy. NZ animation! It's all happening there right now.

GS said...

thanx for the invite..have emailed you back :)

Melba said...

ok. i've been busy but much has been going on here.

i like the word sausage for the blog. but i don't want to be "a" sausage.

and also i am a good cook. so i don't think there should be any emphasis on "we are crap cooks but we like our food". it should just be "we like our food."

i think anyone should be able to contribute via comments but there is a core group of people who are keen to put a little time in, to control the flow of output, either the feature cuisine type or the specific restaurant.

like steph said the word of mouth thing is what we are trying to generate. and what do we get out of it? knowing what are the great restaurants in melbourne, and perhaps elsewhere, and being able to share that knowledge. i propose now, no sellout for fucking ad banners or anything like that. they are so ugly.

this has to be all about food, and all about aesthetics too. but not in a precious way.

and i think stick with blogger like sublime said.

what i don't get is the invitation bit.

chai my email is:

melba_grrrl@yahoo.com

Melba said...

and actually, chai it was your idea first. i just said it's a great idea, but you thought of it first.

Chai said...

mg : regd sausages, it was just a joke for subl's benefit. Yikes, I'm already beginning to feel like Capt Bligh. And I thought it'd take at least a week.

outspoken : Have emailed u the invite. U'll need to click on the accept invite button, if u havent already.

ChickyBabe said...

I've just been re-reading your fine print.

"if we use the comments as reviews, comments are not editable after it has been submitted." - There is a way to edit Blogger comments as long as they're your own (ie, on your blog not someone else's blog).

If that is of interest...

Chai said...

cb : Pray tell, sister chicky.

scar : You mean these *arent* the droids we're looking for? [U may be a bit young to get the reference. No matter.]

ChickyBabe said...

I'll email you the details.

Susanne said...

Hey Chai, cool idea for the restaurant site. I don't think I'll make it to Antony and the Johnsons because it's pretty expensive. I think I'll go to the St Jerome's Laneway festival instead.

Justine said...

Maybe it was C.W.A?

Thanks for the invite, Chai. I'd love to swing past now and then :-)

Chai said...

cb : thanks for the info!

just and suss : what u mean good idea? U're expected to write reviews!

Chai said...

Ouch.... I guess I cant even say it was uncalled for. Damn! Cant think of any way I can lash back. You, you, you... sausage.

Jay said...

Well I can't wait to read it, then I'll have no excuse to eat poorly when I visit.

Chai said...

[in a booming voice] Auburn, the council has convened, and the decision has been to keep this one a Melb/Vic restaurant thingy.

[back to normal voice]. I mean anyone from anywhere can put in a review of any Victorian rest. ie. limited to Victorian restaurants but no restriction of blogger location.

But we thought it would be an equally excellent idea to set up one for NSW/Sydney restaurants. I'm sure Chicky and Steph etc would participate, and we'd exchange links to each other. In fact, it would be great! How does that sound!
Let me know if u would like me to set one up and then I can hand you the keys!

jay: and if u need a cheap tourist guide, please consider!