Blogscapes

Welcome to Blogscapes’ new look! I realise that it’s probably been a year or so since the blog got a new look, and so why not? Given society’s penchant for revamps and makeovers, I thought I’d give the blog a little make-over of its own.

So, readers, you have not come to the wrong place - it’s still Blogscapes but with a different look and feel.

Do expect more changes too, as I plan to go through my blogroll and update it. Guess that’s part of regular housekeeping too.

Well, I hope you like the new look. Do drop me a line with your feedback!

9-april-2008

I caught the matinee performance of  We Will Rock You  last Saturday at the Singapore Esplanade Theatre, and had a really good time! Yes, the music was loud! The place really rocked and Mig Ayesa really rocked as the lead protaganist, Galileo Figaro.

I recall watching Mig on the reality TV show about INXS looking for a lead singer, and remembered that he had a really good voice and great presence on that show. Thus, it was a real treat to see him in person.

I must admit, though, that initially I wasn’t too taken with his portrayal of a geeky young boy, I mean he’s no 18 year old!  But when he sang, he really sang and he really rocked the house! Even on a Saturday afternoon! Mig was able to reflect the different layers and nuances of his character and that was matched by his ability to flex his voice and manipulate the wonderful sounds he created. No wonder the audience gave a standing ovation. Of course the rest of the cast were great  too.

I guess you can say that I’m a Mig fan now. Wanting to find out more about Mig, I decided to check the Internet. Guess what, instead of official Mig sites or We Will Rock You sites, I found many blogs devoted wholly to him! One of them was called Mig Ayesa, Rock Star Extraordinaire and is a great gateway to other Mig sites. I shall not replicate the links here but it has a pretty extensive blogroll to many other Mig sites, including Mig’s Myspace site. You get to read his blog (well, I’d like to believe that it’s him and not his publicist) and also write to him!

And you know what, I’ve now got Mig on my MySpace network (well, it’s the extended network, but hey, it’s still my network)! And there’s also the Mig music site where you can go to listen to his latest tracks as well as watch his music videos. You can also read about Mig’s experience in Singapore. There’s also Mig’s Youtube channel and you can subscribe to his videos. Mig is also on another community channel, Gather.com.

You know what, this guy is a whiz at using new media!

New media really works as a great marketing tool too. Not that we mind as we get to read and hear more about Mig and his music! Rock on, Mig! 

Eversince I’ve started this blog, I’ve been experiencing an increasing sense of belonging to a community: the blogging community. According to Wiki’s definition, 

“a community usually refers to a group of people who interact and share certain things as a group“ [bolding by me].

Previously, when I was just surfing the Web and reading others’ blogs, I was just a reader. However, when I started writing my own blog entries, as well as posting comments on other bloggers’ blogs, I began to experience a sense of belonging to the blogging community.

What do I mean by that? True to the meaning of community, I feel that bloggers do ”interact and share certain things as a group”. When you read each others’ postings and leave comments or email each other, you are interacting and sharing information, expertise and experience. 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that being a reader is a bad thing, but what I’m saying is that one can be more involved by interacting and contributing to a blog and it doesn’t necessarily have to be your own too.

I must say that bloggers are a pretty helpful and friendly bunch of people. When I leave a question or a comment, so far, I’ve yet to not receive a response. I’d get a direct reply to my question. But often, I get more than that! The bloggers I’ve interacted with so far have given me feedback, helpful tips and encouragement, which is pretty important to novice bloggers. I’ve even been invited to a podcasting group meeting in North Carolina!

I always get a kick when I see that someone has commented on my posting and I’ve never failed to respond to them! That’s how you engage in conversations with others on the Web. And isn’t the Web and blogging all about engaging in conversations and making connections? It amazes me how much collective potential there is out there, and it’s all made easily available, thanks to new media such as weblogs!

Sometimes the support may not be so obvious but is still important. The interaction and support may also often come in the form of trackbacks, and links in blog entries, which help to spread your blog message, and increase your site traffic.

I guess there seems to be this tacit understanding of shared purpose, to want to help spread its other blog message and help chalk up blog stats!! Also, having gone through some experience of starting a blog and maintaining it, there’s this reflective sharing of a well, shared experiencel. That’s probably why there are so many blogs out there on blogging, such as this one! 

A quick search online can easily throw up many links to blogs on blogging  . Recently, I came across Blogology101 which shares some useful tips how to write a great article! 

Of course, one of the best things another blogger can do for another blogger is to put his blog on the blogroll. The blogroll is a list of links deemed useful by the owner of the blog and by putting the link there, you are allowing readers to gain easy access to the other blog. In other words, you are helping to refer relevant traffic to that relevant blog.

I’m pleased to say that I have put the blogs of some bloggers I have come across on my blogroll. i’m also pleased to say that my blog has been put on other blogger’s blogroll! How exciting!