Faking It

Not everybody has time to read blogs. Here's a quick cheat sheet to use if you get caught among blog-obsessed blatherers.

Blogs You Can Admit to Reading at Cocktail Parties with Hip New Yorkers

Boing Boing

http://www.boingboing.net

One of the most popular blogs on the Internet, BoingBoing.net calls itself the directory of wonderful things. A stable of tech journalists and authors contributes interesting commentary about technology and culture. The site regularly posts links to unusual, interesting, and quirky websites and blogs.

Chocolate & Zucchini

http://www.chocolateandzucchini.com/

A well-loved blog about food, cooking, and eating by a French woman in Paris named Clotilde. She writes in English, mastered while living and working in California for several years. Clotilde's blog is considered one of the best blogs on food in the blogosphere. She makes all her recipes and restaurant meals sound delicious and satisfying. Reading her blog makes one feel vicariously French.

Gawker

http://www.gawker.com

The snarky blog about the media is required reading for most hipsters. Jessica Cohen and Jesse Oxfeld skewer media types Monday through Friday.

Gothamist

http://www.gothamist.com

This blog is an indispensable city guide maintained by a stable of volunteer contributors. The site posts restaurant reviews, event listings, and rants and raves about Manhattan.

Greg.org

http://www.greg.org

Greg.org is the personal website of the Daddy Types blog. Here, Greg clips interesting news about the Internet, filmmaking, and New York cultural institutions. The site also includes a database of New Yorker articles posted but not archived on the New Yorker.com site.

The Major Lift, The Minor Fall

http://www.popfactor.com/tmftml/

The Major Lift, The Minor Fall is a popular blog run by its mysterious owner who never posts information about himself. Snarky and smart, the site mainly posts news articles and links to other Manhattan blogs with cutting commentary.

Blogs You Can Admit to Reading at a Pool Party with Pretentious Film or Music Industry Types in Hollywood

Cool Hunting

http://www.coolhunting.com/

Here is a blog that records the latest trends in street fashion around the world. The site is dependent on photographs, so it may take some time to load if you are viewing it with a dial-up connection.

Defamer.com

http://www.defamer.com

This funny and snarky sister site of Gawker is for the Hollywood crowd. Mark Lisanti, famous for nicknaming Owen Wilson as "the Butterscotch Stallion," posts jibes about the movie business. A favorite feature is the weekly Celebrity Privacy Watch, in which readers submit encounters with celebrities that week on the streets of Los Angeles.

Dateline: Hollywood

http://www.datelinehollywood.com/

Humorous blog that mocks Hollywood and celebrity culture by posting absurd fake entertainment news stories. It mimics The Onion website in tone and sensibility. While covering the 2005 Emmy broadcast, the site posted an article with the headline "Conan O'Brien Banned From Emmy's Due to Humor" and another one claiming "Former Presidents Bush and Clinton to Host Morning Talk-Show."

Futon Critic

http://www.thefutoncritic.com/cgi/home.cgi

Funny blog that posts recaps and reviews about TV.

Japundit

http://www.japundit.com/index.php

This site covers all the latest films and pop culture projects coming out of Japan.

LA.comfidential

http://www.la.com/blog/weblog.php

LA.comfidential is a blog of a larger website about Los Angeles, called LA.com. LA.comfidential posts celebrity gossip and event announcements.

Perez Hilton

http://www.perezhilton.com

This is a surprisingly accurate gossip site.

Pop Culture Junk Mail

http://www.pcjm.blogspot.com/

Gael maintains the Pop Culture Junk Mail where she posts links to pop culture tidbits found on other sites and in the news. She has a special affection for weird food and bizarre products, and nostalgia for items from the 1970s and 1980s.

Song Fight

http://www.songfight.org/white/

Song Fight is a site that lets musicians upload songs and enter them in competition with one another. Each week the site posts titles that participating musicians use as inspiration to write and record new songs, which are then played for site visitors who vote for their favorite song. Song Fight is a free website where Internet musicians enter their work into competition.

The Superficial

http://www.thesuperficial.com/

The Superficial covers celebrity gossip with a biting wit. Recent posts include a post about Kristie Alley's weight loss and her new commercials for Jenny Craig. In reviewing the commercial, The Superficial notes that Alley managed to chase a small child around the screen without trying to eat him in a kiddie pool filled with teriyaki sauce. These kids are vicious, just the way Hollywood insiders like it.

Tofuhut

http://www.tofuhut.blogspot.com/

The Tofuhut is an MP3 music site that exposes the visitor to great music.

The Wow Report

http://www.worldofwonder.net/

The Wow Report is the blog of the World of Wonder production company. World of Wonder produces documentaries such as "Inside Deep Throat" and "Showbiz Moms and Dads." Is it any wonder that the producers love to find news of the weird and bizarre and post it on their blog?

Blogs You Shouldn't Admit to Reading Among Hipsters

We don't advise blowing your cover as a cool person by telling others in your circle that you read the following blogs.

Band Geeks Anonymous

http://www.bandgeeksannonymous.freeservers.com

Band Geeks Anonymous is a site to share the shame of former affiliation with one of nerdiest institutions from high school.

Italian Soundtracks

http://www.italiansoundtracks.com/index.html

A site that obsessively tracks down and lists soundtracks from various films produced in Italy. The site has sister sites devoted to soundtracks from films produced in other countries.