The 2007 Weblog Awards

Nominations are open for the 2007 Weblog Awards; they're a little earlier this year than normal. Last year, I had a lot of fun in my run as a finalist in the "Best of the Top 2501-3500" category, and my close 2nd place finish was due to a lot of help from my readers.

As usual, if you want to nominate someone, you can add a comment to the appropriate category (for example, the "Best of the Top 5001-6750 Blogs" category) with the name, URL, and feed of your favorite blog, thusly:

The Stupid Shall Be Punished
http://bubbleheads.blogspot.com/
http://bubbleheads.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Obviously, you'll want to put in the information for your selected blog (including your own), and not just copy-and-paste to nominate me all willy-nilly.

A new feature allows you to "vote up" an already nominated blog by clicking on the "Vote Up" green circley plus sign in the lower right hand corner of the nominating comment. It's a little tricky, so you might want to practice with this one.

Nominations close October 15th, so get your favorite blogs nominated today!

Weblog Awards 2006: Voting Now Open

Voting has opened in many categories for this year's Weblog Awards, including for the highly-coveted "Best of the Top 2501-3500 Blogs" category. You can vote once every 24 hours, so vote early and often. Click on the logo below to go to the voting page!



Coming soon: A completely impartial "Voters Guide" for the 2501-3500 category.

Update: The Voters Guide is here.

Weblog Awards 2006: The Finalists Are Announced

The announcement of finalists just came out for the 2006 Weblog Awards, and it looks like some of my favorite blogs made the list: BlameBush!, CDR Salamander, EagleSpeak, and... me!

I can assure you that I'll run a dignified campaign -- something you won't be able to expect from my competition for the coveted "Best of the Top 2501-3500 Blogs" category (most of whom are probably jihadi sympathizers).

It's An Honor Just To Be Nominated

The results are final for the 2006 Weblog Awards, and there was no change in the results in the highly prestigious "Best of the Top 2501-3500 Blogs" category -- meaning, I finished a very respectable 2nd place. I really can't let this opportunity go by without thanking everyone who helped me do so well -- and also made the whole week a lot of fun.

First and foremost, I wanted to thank everyone who voted for me so diligently and so often. Special thanks goes to Eric at The Sub Report Blog and Alan at IdaBlue who took it on themselves to come up with posts for the "U-Boating of Bubblehead" meme. Thanks also to everyone who "endorsed" my campaign: Ninme, Blackfive, Adam's Blog, Red State Rebels, Noonz Wire, SubSim.com, EagleSpeak, BurstBlog, Huckleberries Online (Idaho's biggest blog) and several others I probably missed. Thanks also to my fellow nominees, who showed amazingly good humor about their portrayals in my "completely impartial Voters Guide". Last but not least, many thanks to my campaign manager, without whose help I'm sure I wouldn't have done as well as I did in the vital teenage on-line strategy gaming community. (That's actually the one good thing about me losing; there may have been some rash words implying that I might come up with a PlayStation 3 for Christmas if I won, and I really don't have any leads on one that costs less than an arm and a leg.)

While it's fresh in my mind, here are some lessons learned I came up with that might help anyone who wants to try to win one of these awards next year -- especially someone looking for an excuse to get to Las Vegas, since that's where they're going to be presenting the 2007 Weblog Awards there next November.

1) Don't be afraid to nominate yourself; I did. On the other hand, it probably didn't hurt that two other people also nominated me. Ask you friends to help you out.

2) The Denizens of Castle Argghhh!!! pointed out that I got more votes than all but two of the blogs up for the Best MilBlog award, even though that's a much more popular category. The lesson learned here is that unless your blog is really, really good (like the nominees for Best MilBlog, and unlike TSSBP), try to avoid the "theme" categories, and go for the Ecosystem ones. There's less chance of fratricide there (two blogs from the same blogging community going against each other), although we did see that with CDR Salamander and EagleSpeak in the 3501-5000 category).

3) The folks at Wizbang who run the awards do check for cheating; while it's possible to clear the cookies and whatnot that they use to prevent you from voting more than every 24 hours from the same computer, they still seem to be able to figure that out eventually. Since they say they don't necessarily disqualify excessive votes from the same IP address, they must use something peculiar to each computer, like Flash serial number. Therefore, if you have a kid in high school with access to lots of Internet-connected computers, you shouldn't be afraid to get him (or her) to have their buddies vote for you in their computer apps class. My campaign manager will have to remember that for next year.

4) At least in the lower Ecosystem categories, total votes seemed to be pretty much proportional to daily site visits -- you just didn't see the several dozen hit/day blogs beating the several hundred hit/day ones. While endorsements from the big bloggers are nice, I didn't notice a big spike even after a huge event like Blackfive's endorsement of me. Basically, pin a reminder to the top of your page, and your regular readers will vote. Everything else is gravy. (On the other hand, if your company lets you send a mass E-mail to every employee, that wouldn't hurt either -- which is how I suspect mAss Backwards probably got his big vote surges the last two afternoons.)

5) Most importantly, have fun. Interact with your fellow nominees. Question their ancestry. Accuse them of pulchritude. Anything for a laugh.

6) Always remember to prepare for next year. A good way to start is getting all your friends to permalink anyone who beat you last year, so they'll move up in the Ecosystem and out of your category. I hope to see mAss Backwards on every submarine blogger's blogroll soon.

Blegging Writ Large

(I'm pinning this post to the top of the main page until voting is complete on 08 Nov. Please vote for "The Stupid Shall Be Punished" every 24 hours.)

This is more than a "bleg" -- begging by a blogger. This is a "super-bleg", because I'm asking you not only to vote for me in "Best of the Top 5001-6750 Blogs" category of the 2007 Weblog Awards, but I'm also asking you to open up your wallets and pocketbooks to support our wounded troops as part of the annual "Project Valour-IT" fundraising drive. Click on the above icon to the right every 24 hours to vote for "The Stupid Shall Be Punished", and click on the "Make a Donation" tab on the icon to the left once before November 11th to help injured servicemen and women get a voice-activated laptop they can use to keep in touch with their loved ones and learn new skills. (If you're a blogger, you can also join "Team Navy/Coast Guard" to help this year's Valour-IT fundraising drive, which runs through Veteran's Day.)

Thanks for your time and help... it really is appreciated.

Update 2335 08 Nov: Thanks to all my loyal supporters, I finished a very respectable 3rd this year. Congratulations to Simply Left Behind on winning! And please -- if you haven't done so, consider contributing to Project Valour-IT; the fundraising drive runs through Monday.

The "U-Boating" Of Bubblehead

It appears that forces aligned with Bruce at mAss Backwards are conspiring to "U-Boat" this humble submarine blogger, all because I've essentially tied him for first place in the prestigious "Best of the Top 2501-3500 Blogs" category of the 2006 Weblog Awards. First, a blogger called "IdaBlue" accused me of beardedness, and then came up with a clearly outrageous story about a medal I received for pulchritrude above and beyond the call, as mentioned in my completely impartial Voters Guide. Hmm... the blogger's name is "IdaBlue", and Massachusetts is a "blue" state. Coincidence? I think not.

Even worse, my good friend Eric of The Sub Report has apparently joined forces with mAss Backwards, first posting wholly unconfirmed rumors of a "Free Beer for Votes" scheme at Subase New London, and then advertising a new book by disgruntled people opposed to my candidacy. I assure you, the dyspepsia this has caused has been seared... Seared!... into my memory.

And now mAss Backwards has apparently turned off comments on his blog. His brazen attempt to Stifle my Dissent and suppress my right to Speak Truth to Power is unprecedented in Weblog Awards history. I assure you my campaign manager will have a strong reaction to Bruce's heinous attempt to re-write history tomorrow or Wednesday -- because it's past his bedtime tonight.

Update 2351 11 Dec: Bruce's comments are back on. What do you suppose he was hiding?

Update 2118 12 Dec: My campaign manager DeepDiver reveals Bruce's evil plan! Plus, more mAss Backwards-inspired "lies" from The Sub Report.

Update 2314 12 Dec: I suppose I should mention some of the other blogs I've been voting for --
Best Humor Blog: BlameBush!
Best of the Top 250 Blogs: Castle Argghhh!!!
Best of the Top 1001-1750: Soldier's Angel
Best of the Top 3501-5000: CDR Salamander (sorry, EagleSpeak, but 'Phib's got a better shot at winning)
Best of the Top 5001-6750: The Bodie Specter
Best Blog: Michelle Malkin (Don't get me wrong, I still like Instapundit; it's just that Michelle's been linking to me a lot more than Glenn has lately.)

Update 2348 14 Dec: Despite all the embarrassing "facts" he's "uncovered" about me, Eric from The Sub Report still decided to endorse me. Now, I can't lose!

Somebody Set Up Us The Vote!

(This post will be pinned to the top until voting is closed.)

This is a bleg -- begging from a blogger. I need your vote. Please vote for The Stupid Shall Be Punished in the "Best of the Top 2501-3500 Blogs" category of the 2006 Weblog Awards. You can vote every 24 hours, so please, vote early and often. If you need help deciding who to vote for, I've prepared a handy Voters Guide. Just click on the logo below to go to the voting site:



Thank you for your support of The Stupid Shall Be Punished.

Current status (as of 2312 15 Dec): Voting has ended -- thanks to everyone who voted so diligently! While the results won't be "official" until probably Monday, it looks like we finished 2nd, with 1,121 votes -- 188 votes behind the winner, mAss Backwards. Of note, our total was almost 750 votes more than the winner got in this category last year. It also appears that we got more votes than the winners of all but the top two "Ecosystem" categories.

I'll try to come out with a "lessons learned" document on Monday.

It's That Time Of Year Again

The 2006 Weblog Awards are here! Last year, we had WillyShake, bothenook, and Alex Nunez nominated from the submarine blogosphere; this year, we hope to have even more finalists. To nominate someone, find the appropriate category and post a comment with the blog's name, URL, and RSS feed (if available). For example, here's what you'd post if you wanted to nominate, say, me in some category:

The Stupid Shall Be Punished
http://bubbleheads.blogspot.com/
http://bubbleheads.blogspot.com/atom.xml

The hyperlinks get automatically added when you post your comment (Typepad does that), so all you'd have to do, theoretically, is copy and paste. For example, I nominated Ninme in the "Best of the Top 6751-8750 Blogs" Category because she has a really, really good blog. To find out where a blog is ranked in the TTLB Ecosystem, either find them on this list, or search around their blog and click on their TTLB link.

Let's start the circular nomination process! Just remember to get your nominations in by November 24th.

Nominations Open For 2006 "Bloggies"

The Sixth Annual WebLog Awards have opened the floodgates on the nomination process. I nominated Ninme for Best-Kept-Secret weblog, because she's really good. I didn't nominate Chapomatic for anything, because he already gets enough traffic. I also nominated A. E. Brain for Best Australia or New Zealand weblog, and Ultraquiet No More for Best Group weblog.

If someone could nominate me for Best Topical weblog, that would be great...

Going deep...

Bored This Weekend?

If you've finished watching the commissioning of the USS George H. W. Bush (CVN 77) on C-SPAN and the football games aren't on yet, why not head over to the 2008 Weblog Awards and vote for The Stupid Shall Be Punished in the "Best Up And Coming Blog" category? Thanks to some key endorsements during the last couple of days, we've moved into the lead, with a 242 vote advantage over the next closest competitor. This is the 2nd closest margin among all the Technorati-based categories, so it should be an exciting next few days. You can vote from every computer to which you have access every 24 hours, so get your kids to vote too! Voting continues until 2200Z on Tuesday, January 13th. Thanks for all your support!

Update 2157 11 Jan: While you're voting for me, remember to vote for A. E. Brain in the "Best Austalia or New Zealand Blog" category; she's currently in 3rd place. Zoe frequently has some really good submarine-related posts over at her place; plus, she's one of the most remarkable people I know.

Year End Personal News And Notes

Thanks again for to all the readers of TSSBP for all your support throughout the year. It's been a busy week here at the Bubblehead house; I wanted to fill you in on what's going on:

1) This morning, I finished my radiation treatments in preparation for the cancer surgery I'll be having in a month or so; the chemo finished up yesterday. Everyone says I came through the radiation treatments (5,040 rads to my gastro-esophageal junction) about as well as anyone they've seen, in that I've been able to eat and drink normally throughout the treatment; one nurse said she's only seen one person through their office (a Marine) also make it through without having to tube feed. I credit the extra shielding I have (although I did lose about 15 lbs of that during the treatments.) I'll be starting back to work on Sunday, and hopefully will get the surgery scheduled in Seattle very soon.

2) Farewell, Faithful Friend: Yesterday, we had to say good-bye to our beloved cat, Hercules. It was a very emotional moment for all of us. A loving companion to our whole family, Hercules blessed our lives more than we could have hoped for, both with his affection and humor. Some of the "Best of Hercules" can be seen here; a more recent picture is here:

Thanks for sharing your life with us, old friend.

3) For the 3rd year running, I've been selected as a finalist for the "2008 Weblog Awards", this time in the "Best Up and Coming Blog" category against 9 worthy competitors (including the blog that cleaned my clock last year). I finished 2nd in 2006 and 3rd in 2007, so hopefully we'll be able to reverse the trend this year. I'll post more information as we get closer to the start of voting on January 5th (and maybe even another "Completely Impartial Voter's Guide"). As always, your support is appreciated; the "competition" has always been a lot of fun.

4) Go Big Red!

Happy New Year to all!

Update 2312 01 Jan 2009: Thanks to CDR Salamander and ninme for posting about Hercules. It means a lot to us.

Navy NUPOC Recruiting Video

Check out this video from the Navy on the Nuclear Propulsion Officer Candidate (NUPOC) program:



I've always thought NUPOC was one of the better programs the Navy has -- students join around their junior year of college, get a $15,000 "selection bonus" and $2,990 to $5,000 a month for up to 30 months (up from $1,000 back in the '80s), and go to OCS after they graduate. I didn't find any recent numbers, but I know that about 10 years ago about 30% of nuclear officers came in via the NUPOC route. I really don't know of a program that pays better for going to college -- plus you have a really good job waiting for you when you graduate.

So what do you think is the best deal -- NECP/STA-21, Naval Academy, NROTC, or NUPOC? And which program provides the best officers? (Being somewhat prejudiced, I vote STA-21/NECP.)

Totally Unrelated Plea For Votes: Remember to vote for The Stupid Shall Be Punished for "Best Up And Coming Blog" in the 2008 Weblog Awards. Click here to vote until 2200Z Tuesday. You can vote every 24 hours from every computer to which you have access. As of Sunday night, I have about a 400 vote lead, so let's keep the momentum going. Thanks again for all your support!



Update 2114 12 Jan: An E-mail from the National Director of the NUPOC program provided some good numbers on accession percentage, and offered some interesting insights. Excerpts:

"...I will say confidently that NUPOC is the best deal available for any officer program in all of DOD, not just the nuclear Navy (with possible exception of some of the medical programs). In all honesty, one of the problems we have when we present the program at schools is that students think it's "too good to be true" and there must be some catch. Of course, the majority of college students are either ineligible or will not even consider military service, but for those who fit the profile it's the best deal out there.
"To answer a question from your post, we get about 1/3 of our sub and surface nuke officers from USNA, about 1/3 from NROTC, and 1/3 from NUPOC. NROTC and NUPOC also provide staff engineers to work at NR, and NUPOC provides all officers for the NPS instructor program.
"Most of our awareness comes from student presentations, career fairs, local advertising, and word of mouth, but we are launching a new initiative that my interest you and your fellow bloggers: A naval nuclear propulsion micro website and facebook fan page. The site will be up at the end of February..."

I'll be really interested to check out those new web sites when they come on line.

Coming Up On The Weekend Push!

Remember, you can (and should) vote for The Stupid Shall Be Punished every 24 hours, from every computer to which you have access, for "Best Up And Coming Blog" on the 2008 Weblog Awards. We haven't been able to close the ~50 vote gap by which Savage Politics is ahead of me for the lead, but thanks to all your dedicated voting I'm about 100 votes clear of 3rd place. (I currently have 576 votes - thanks much!) Looks like it'll be an exciting race through the weekend until voting ends on Monday.

If you're having a hard time deciding who to vote for, please consider these endorsements I picked up from 4 random people I ran across:

"Bubblehead is getting no special snuggling unless he wins this thing!" -- SubBasket

"Ewww, Mom... Gross!" -- Adult Daughter

"Vote for Cancer Guy!" -- Sean Kennedy, noted film critic

"You want an endorsement, old man? How 'bout you put some gas in my truck, and then we'll talk endorsements." -- Robert Kennedy, standardized test expert

Click here to vote!

Update 0726 09 Jan: Thanks to some timely endorsements from CDR Salamander, Chapomatic, Galrahn, and Ace of Spades HQ, among others, we've surged into the lead, about 40 votes ahead of Savage Politics. Thanks to all for the great support! Remember, we still need to keep voting through Monday to hold onto our gains.

Hey, I'm A Finalist Again!

The list of finalists for the 2007 Weblog Awards came out, and it looks like I'm a finalist in an Ecosystem category again! After finishing 2nd in the coveted "Best of the Top 2501-3500" category last year, I'm moving down a couple weight classes to battle for supremacy in the "Best of the Top 5001-6750 Blogs" group this year. Voting apparently starts tomorrow, so I'll fill you in with more specifics as soon as they come out.

Additionally, it looks like submariner gus van horn is a finalist in the 6751-8750 category, and fellow Idahoan (and Marine in her active duty days) MountainGoat is a finalist in the Best Political Coverage category. (I'm proud to say I nominated both of them; unfortunately, a few of my other nominees, including ninme and Adam, didn't make the finalist list for reasons I can't understand.)

Update 0646 02 Nov: The polls are open until Nov. 8; vote for The Stupid Shall Be Punished here! You can vote every 24 hours, so please -- vote early and often.

Update 1016 02 Nov: Edited to add hyperlinks to the polls in the main body of the entry. As of now, I'm just barely in the lead in my category (2 votes ahead of my nearest rival), but gus van horn has opened up a huge lead on his group. MountainGoat Report is up against some really tough competition, but she's chugging along. You can look at the other categories here.

Another Election Already?!?

Yes, it's that time of year again -- time to vote for your favorite blogs at the Weblog Awards. For the third year in a row, TSSBP is in the running; this year, it's in the "Best Up and Coming Blog" category. Voting starts sometime today; I'll have more information when it does. As always, you can vote for your favorite blogs every 24 hours, so vote early and vote often!

Update 1855 05 Jan: Voting is now open; click here to go to the voting page, and please vote for The Stupid Shall Be Punished. I'm currently in 3rd place, but I'm getting my butt kicked by Savage Politics and McClatchy Watch. I need your help!

Do It For The Children

If you feel so inclined, please vote for The Stupid Shall Be Punished as the "Best Up and Coming Blog" in the 2008 Weblog Awards by following these simple steps:

1) Click on this link

2) Click the circle to the left of "The Stupid Shall Be Punished"

3) Check out the other categories, and vote for your other favorite blogs (including A Blog For All in the Best Small Blog category and Argghhh! in the Best Midsize Blog poll)

4) Repeat every 24 hours through January 13th

Thank you very much. My kids will appreciate it, and you'll know you've made an old submariner happy.


Update 0931 06 Jan: Thanks to everyone's hard work, I've moved into 2nd place, but I'm still 50 votes behind Savage Politics (rumors are that they're working with ACORN). Vote for me!

Update 0535 07 Jan: This is turning into a really good three blog race. As of now, I'm in 2nd place, with 301 votes; I'm 37 votes behind Savage Politics, but 34 votes ahead of McClatchy Watch. (Rumors that both of these blogs are fronts for the International Communist Conspiracy should be completely discounted, IMHO.) Today's my "Friday" at work, so tomorrow I should return with more actual blog content, rather than just this pathetic bleg for votes.

Massive w00tness!

The polls are now closed, and it looks like TSSBP won the "Best Up And Coming Blog" category in the 2008 Weblog Awards. The organizers will be checking the voting logs tomorrow to make sure there wasn't any skullduggery, and expect to announce official results on Thursday. I ended up winning by 515 votes, with 29.2% of the total votes cast in the category. Thanks to everyone who voted for me!

(I also won some movie tickets tonight from a local radio station, so it looks like I'm on a roll. I should buy a lottery ticket tomorrow.)

Update 1750 15 Jan: It's official!

No New Content Here!

Have you ever noticed that politicians don't want to say anything controversial during election season? It always torqued me off, but now I'm starting to understand where they're coming from. That's why, during the heart of the vote-whining campaign that is the 2006 Weblog Awards (please vote for me! click here to go to the voting page! vote every 24 hours!), I hesitate to post anything that might upset the voters. Because of that, and because December is normally a good time to post "end of year" reviews, here's links to some of the "Best of Bubblehead" non-submarine posts from the past 12 months:

Dec. '05: This is why I don't cook much.

Jan. '06: One of the things that sets me apart from the other "2501-3500" finalists is my willingness to "go to bat" for the smaller bloggers, as seen in the saga of my wildly successful "SPUD-LIB" initiative:
The SPUD-LIB Manifesto
SPUD-LIB: An Open Letter to Frank J. and Instapundit
Victory For SPUD-LIB!

Feb. '06: Hercules, The Blanket-Molesting Cat. The title says it all.

Mar '06: For March Madness -- A Call For Restraint

Apr '06: A compilation of my "serious essays" on the GWOT -- What I Believe

May '06: An analysis of the surprising result of the Nebraska Republican Governor primary result: Satan Flexes His Political Muscles
(In May, I also wrote one of my most-linked non-submarine posts of the year: Why The Republicans Are Losing My Vote.)

June '06: On the definition of "unilateral": Idaho Democrats -- Against The Mexican War!

July '06: Part of my continuing series of posts mocking and belittling bad science from the moonbat crowd: Depleted Uranium -- Worthy Of Exclamation Points!

Aug '06: More GWOT strategy thinking: Iraq = Gallipoli?

Sep '06: Because this guy got elected, I'm almost sure to get my taxes audited: Bill Sali And The Underpants Gnomes

Oct '06: Mostly election-related this month, but I did call out one celebrity: You Owe Me, Ken Jennings!

Nov '06: I have a "picture": Zamboni In The Boise Burger King Drive-Thru -- A Guy's Perspective

Before the end of the year, I'll try to come up with a list of my favorite submarine posts.

The Completely Impartial Voters Guide To The "Best Of The Top 2501-3500 Blogs"

Just because I'm a finalist for the prestigious "Best of the Top 2501-3500 Blogs" category for the 2006 Weblog Awards doesn't mean I've lost my sense of fair play. To that end, I've put together this completely impartial "Voters Guide" so you'll be able to cast your vote for the blog in this category that's truly the "best".

What is meant by "the best"? Some might say that the best blog is one that has lots of interesting content, well-considered opinions, and engaging discourse. Sure, that's one definition, and if one accepts that, then the other finalists probably have "better" blogs than mine. But remember, this is America. In American elections, "best" equals "loudest", and I can assure you that no other finalist in the "BotT2501-3500B" category will be as loud, obnoxious, or snarky as I.

With that being said, on to the Voters Guide (updated 09 Dec):

The finalists are (in completely random order):

1) Bubblehead -- The Stupid Shall Be Punished: This self-styled "Idaho's first and foremost submarine blogger" has been mocking and belittling those who deserve it for over two years. Before that, he was in the Navy; here's a picture of him:

I can't say what he was getting the medal for; let's just say that the underwater Alien Command Ships won't be bothering Earth for quite a while, if you get my drift.

2) The Random Yak: A finalist two years running, Random Yak is an appropriate nom de blog, given his general hairiness -- as this picture supposedly of Random Yak working off a "bender" attests:


It's said that yaks live in the mountains of Pakistan -- just like Osama Bin Laden.

3) Bruce at mAss Backwards: He's from Massachusetts, but there's no reason to just assume that he likes high taxes and goes to gay weddings every weekend. He apparently has some sort of high-tech job, as this blurry photo said to be of Bruce shows:

4) Viking Spirit: Not much is known of this young blogger, although it's rumored that he was also may have been in the military, as this grainy photo shows:


5) Jack's Shack at Random Thoughts: Jack's Shack is best known for wanting Santa Claus to die; also known as "The Cousin of The Grinch". The reason is unknown; however, this photo purported to show an earlier episode from Jack's life that may explain this disturbing obsession:

I'm sure it will be easy to explain to your children how you voted for this guy.

6) Amanda from Imago Dei: No picture of Amanda could be found; however, we did find a picture of her favorite singing group wearing some of her gear:

Coming soon -- information on the other four finalists:
The Colossus of Rhodey: A Delaware group blog.
Cobb: Clearly a ringer. He's way too good of a blogger to be this far down the ecosystem chain.
Jeff the Baptist: Another Delawarian. (Delawarite?) What's up with that?
Libby at The Impolitic: Apparently the only liberal in the group.

Update 1310 09 Dec: I haven't gotten much information about Cobb or Jeff the Baptist, but I did put together some quick items about the other two finalists.

7) The Colossus of Rhodey: One of the two group blogs in the competition, the CoR consists of Rhodey, Felix, Rube, Gooch, JakeM, and HippieMomie. Apparently bloggers are big celebrities in Delaware (State Motto: "We get all our money from charging people outrageous tolls to drive 10 miles on I-95"), as shown by this blurry photo of the Rhodians with a fan:

My guess it that this appearance caused some contention, since HippieMomie's picture wasn't included with the rest of the group up on the wall.

8) Libby at The Impolitic: A self-styled progressive, Libby nonetheless seems to find time to hang out with famous conservative offspring; she's reportedly seen here with one of the Bush twins:

I Know Famous Bloggers

Head on over to the home of the 2005 Weblog awards, and vote for sub-bloggers Unconsidered Trifles and The Noonz Wire in the 5001-6750 category, and then "A Geezer's Corner" in the 6751-8750 category. Of course, they're running against each other in that first category... you're smart, you can figure it out. (I think you can vote once a day.)

Going deep...