Visual Aesthetics – 7
Bitchy Old Queen has a lot of graphics – from videos to photos, you can find them all here. There is a good mix of funny and satirical images here, making for a fun experience. However, I didn’t think that everything came together quite well. Perhaps a little work with formatting will do some good.

User Friendliness – 8
I really had some problems with the load time with Bitchy Old Queen. Aside from that, however, it is relatively easy to navigate this blog.

Reading Enjoyment – 9
Bitchy Old Queen has some very strong opinions on certain matters, but it is actually what makes it interesting. You need to be open minded and tolerant in order to enjoy the posts and commentaries.

Useful Info – 10
There is a lot of news and tidbits in Bitchy Old Queen. You can pick up all sorts of news here, especially with regard to LGBT issues. While you may not get all the details, at least you can read about what’s going on – you can always do a Google search if you want more information.

Overall Experience - 8
Bitchy Old Queen is for those whose sensibilities are not easily offended. A fun blog to read if you’re in for some sarcastic wit.

Visual Aesthetics – 7
I like the green theme used in Playlifemania, and the other colors blend quite well. There are also lots of photos and videos which definitely heighten your visual experience. However, I could do without the trace marks on the border of the posts – they take away from the visual appeal.

User Friendliness – 5
While it is relatively easy to find posts in this veritable treasure trove of a blog, I think that putting a date in the archives would be better for the reader. Perhaps a tag cloud would do as well. One thing that really turned me off was the fact that, upon entering the blog, four or more windows suddenly popped up! Another thing, I had some problems with the load time, but this could have been due to the windows opening all over the place.

Reading Enjoyment – 10
Playlifemania isn’t too heavy on text, but makes up for that with the photos and videos. I find it easy to read and my stay entertaining.

Useful Info – 8
There isn’t really much by way of practical information in Playlifemania but you do get a lot of entertainment here. Also, there are trailers of movies.

Overall Experience - 7
As I said above, Playlifemania is an interesting blog to visit. I would highly suggest removing those pop up ads, though. As for readers, brace yourself for a fun read – if you can get past those ads.

Visual Aesthetics – 10
Crazy Sam’s Blogginess uses a 3-column template and everything is arranged in such a way that the visual experience is just perfect. The ads, quotes, and posts come together so beautifully. The posts also have a smattering of relevant pictures – many of them eye candy.

User Friendliness – 10
Despite the immense amount of content, Crazy Sam is able to give his readers an easy time when it comes to finding information. The middle and right column provides a lot of relevant links which make for easy navigation. The pages load up with no problems at all.

Reading Enjoyment – 10
Here is one blog that will surely give you a grand time. The posts are very well-written. Crazy Sam sure knows how to play around with words to produce the effect that the post theme wants to portray, whether it be humor or serious insights. Oh, and the quotes from Will and Grace found in the middle column just cracked me up!

Useful Info – 10
There is a lot that a reader can learn from Crazy Sam’s Blogginess. Though the predominant theme is about the LGBT lifestyle, you will also find a lot of insights for straight people. I particularly like how Crazy Sam writes about movies.

Overall Experience - 10
Indeed, this is a “straight-friendly gay blog.” I can’t recall when I last had such fun browsing through a blog for the first time.

Queer Eye Korea

Living in Korea this European blogger is queer and proud of it. The blog has lots of interesting entries and great pictures. If you feel queasy about seeing man naked as the day they were born just make sure you skip visiting the site on Fridays since it Man Friday there and oh some other days too.

Visual Aesthetics – 9

Very artistic header, great template, lots of really good images but plenty of shocking ones too if you are not of the queer orientation.

User Friendliness – 9

Positives: Fast loading time. Highly readable text. Very organized and uncluttered sidebar. Negatives: No labels and categories to help with topical search.

Reading Enjoyment – 7

Entries are usually short with many of them serving only as captions for the pictures. Longer entries are usually interesting. This blog doesn’t really make for a good read but an enjoyable brief look since there isn’t much to read.

Useful Info – 9

Lots of information here about Korea, especially about its holidays since it is when QEK feels most happy because there’s no work! Even more information (Read: pictures to download) here for the blog’s target audience.

Overall Experience - 8

Definitely an adult only blog. This blog is well presented but since my orientation runs otherwise it holds no interest for me.

Technorati Tags: Gay, Photos, Queer, Korea, Korean Holidays, Naked Men

Hush and Listen

This blog should be called Hush and Look with the plentiful images of naked men. A blog by a gay man who’s managed to reconcile himself with his faith, it is full of poignant poems that speaks to you. A warning to those not comfortable with naked bodies and explicitly erotic language – stay out!

Visual Aesthetics – 4

First thing I did? Cover my eyes. This blog has way too many nude men in various poses some artistic, some questionable, some plain disturbing. Apparently this is a gay blog so the author thinks the images beautiful…and some are (if you’re comfortable with nude art). However the average person will probably find this blog really offending to look at.

User Friendliness – 7

Average loading time. Readable text. There are just too many things going on at the sidebar making it difficult to find what you are looking for. The author has a section for his poems, videos, love notes , random thoughts, etc, which is good but the blog will be much the better if the contents of each section is hidden in a drop down menu to lessen the links. Same goes for his blog roll, which is really very long. The nice thing about the blog roll is that there is an indicator that tells you which blogs have new posts.

Reading Enjoyment – 7

The author is poetic and has some pretty good poems although many of them are quite explicit. Personal posts are sincere and not too long. Surprisingly I did enjoy many of the entries once I got over the shock but the too explicit photos still managed to mar my reading enjoyment many times. Those not used to explicit language will also cringe many times while reading some of his more erotic entries.

User Info – 8

Those who enjoy voting for blogs in various blog communities will find some useful information and links in this blog. Gays and lesbians looking for spiritual fulfillment will also find some posts on this blog helpful as it espouses a group that ministers to homosexuals.

Overall Experience - 7

Poetic but peppered with too many erotic and explicit images and language for me. This blog is definitely for adult eyes only. It is very interesting though how the author has managed to reconcile his lifestyle with his faith. Many struggling gays and lesbians will find this blog an inspiration.

Technorati Tags: Poems, Poetic, Personal, Lesbian, Gay, Blog Awards, Religion

A Handicapped Bitch in Recovery!

A Handicapped Bitch in Recovery! is all about hope in the face of challenges. It’s a blog about its author, Ian‘s fight for his life amid health problems. For almost two years now, Ian chronicles his struggles, his joys, his sorrows, and even his anger. Ian is a survivor, for sure. And it’s great that this blogger gets to share his story of inspiration (in his own way) to the rest of the world through his blog.

Visual Aesthetics – 6

The site uses a modified Blogger theme that’s mostly black-on-white. The copy is readable enough with good contrast. However, readers might get distracted with flashing and marquee text on the right sidebar. Ian is also fond of varying the text’s font size and colors–while this can help as visual cues on what he wants to emphasize, this is not exactly compliant with Web markup standards and can mess up the formatting when viewing the site through a feed reader. The author’s extensive use of images on his blog posts is a saving grace, though, as this helps readers visualize what is being written about.

User Friendliness – 7

As earlier mentioned, the site is easy enough to read with good contrast between the text and the background. Some usability issues are present though. For one, the post titles are too small to easily distinguish from the blog post, and the titles don’t serve as links to posts’ static pages. However, the right sidebar features monthly archives since the first post, and this helps in navigability.

Reading Enjoyment – 8

Ian comes from what one might call an alternative lifestyle. While you would expect it to be difficult to relate at first, I find the author’s writing enjoyable, even coming from one on the more conservative side as I. The blog posts are written in a conversational manner, and not too formal. Being written in English, the site might be asking for a visit by the grammar police, but if you can look past that, you probably would appreciate reading about Ian‘s challenges and how he overcomes them on a day-to-day basis.

Useful Info – 5

A Handicapped Bitch in Recovery! is more of a diary-type blog than a site that aims to provide information to readers. Look to it more for enjoyment and inspiration rather than information.

Overall Experience – 7

Given some themes involving alternative lifestyles, this blog might not be for all audiences. But if you look past that, you’ll see a story of struggle and survival and a story of inspiration. Ian, the author took to blogging as a means to connect to the world. By reading his stories, one would tend to appreciate life more.

Technorati Tags: gay, survival, health

Oxymoronic Existence

Currently on the job hunt, aspiring writer Holden speaks candidly about his colorful life and loves- too colorful sometimes. He’s gay and he’s not afraid to write about it.

Visual Aesthetics – 7

It’s all gray and subdued which is so unlike Holden‘s personality and happenings in his life. There aren’t any pictures or images and there’s no need for them. Holden‘s accounts are so colorful and vivid it doesn’t take much to get a visual on your own.

User Friendliness – 8

The links are aplenty and interesting enough for one to linger on. Pretty helpful indeed for those in the know. The comments are a lively bunch and it seems like he has a steady following.

Reading Enjoyment – 9

Holden‘s love life and exploits are riveting and you find yourself wanting to read from the very start. I even found myself laughing out loud at times.

Useful Info – 7

The sidebar is loaded with links to Holden’s interests. Plus a lively chatbox, friends’ sites, his best reads and other non-entity sites.

Overall Experience – 8

Holden is a writer and his blog is a joy to read. Not only does he cater to his target market to a tee, but his writings also appeal to straights because he is damn funny. Witty and hilarious, racy and sometimes sentimental, Holden hangs his heart out on the blogline and makes no apologies about it.

Technorati Tags: oxymoronic, gay, holden, chat box, witty

Queer Eye Korea

Leone, a European living in Korea, shares his views as an expatriate- an observer of Korean culture and as a fan of good-looking men photographed without their pants. That’s right, he’s gay- well and truly out of the closet.

Visual Aesthetics – 9

The minimalist design works well for this blog. There is a huge black and white image header of an eye, which is immediately engaging and the picture entries with every post are well chosen and properly laid out. Also a very unique use of font, type and spacing. All around, it is stylish and cleverly done.

User Friendliness – 7

As they say, a picture speaks louder than a thousand words- and this certainly holds true for this blog’s overall appeal. The photos, however, do take a while to load, and users will need to scroll down to be able to start reading every time a new image loads.

Reading Enjoyment – 8

The site is not particularly text-heavy, but the best part (particularly for a gay or female reader with a fired up libido) would be the gorgeous guys’ pictures and hilariously suggestive photos.

User Info – 8

Apart from the pictures religiously posted by this author, users can find a decent amount of text and links on topics such as current South Korean political issues and tourist attractions in Korea, as well as information about the gay community.

Overall Experience – 8

The startling imagery and witty comments make this blog worth visiting. However, if feasting your eyes on images of half-naked men is not your thing, then you should probably give this one a miss.

Bend It Like A Banana

Raw, raunchy and proudly gay, Bend It Like A Banana follows the days of a working Filipino student in Norway. This queer-friendly blog with an attitude made me feel like I was cozily having a cosmopolitan with my best gay friend, happily bitching the night away.

Visual Aesthetics – 8

With banana yellow as its predominant colour (surprise, surprise), Banana has a definite Anime feel to it, and lots of fairly large photos all around spicing things up- from the desk where Chas writes his blogs, to Snowflake the camwhore cat, to my favourite, Chas in some fabulous Zoolander-esque poses around the streets of Norway.

User Friendliness – 9

Easy to navigate through the sea of yellow, very friendly to visitors- gay or otherwise.

Reading Enjoyment – 9

Call me a fag hag, but I was immensely amused by Banana‘s rants and raves, nightclub shots and talk of Vaginal Visas. Conservatives might be somewhat offended though by some of the risque language and topics. In this case, stay away or take Chas advice and “Zip it“!

User Info – 9

Unexpectedly, there are quite a lot of interesting odds and ends one doesn’t see too often in personal blogs. Musically there’s Paris‘ latest single (yes, it does exist, and Chas is right, its not half bad), and its hard to quantify the rest, but I can assure you that you’ll find a lot of far-from-boring stuff here.

Overall Experience – 9

Like a banana is frank, unashamed, funny and bitchy rolled into one delightful blog. Wholly irreverent, but refreshingly fun to read. You go girl!