"The Beat" Blog-Roll

So if you look down and to the right, you might notice a new feature here on "The Beat."
Yep, I've started a blog roll with my faves titled, appropriately enough, "My Faves."
I've been meaning to do this for some time, but I was finally sprung into action at the behest of Jordan Hung, a DJ/journalist/blogger who happens to a former student of mine in the Mosaic journalism workshop, class of 2007.

Jordan's blog "WEYO!WZERS" is a very nice, up to the minute news blog detailing prominent hip-hop happenings and cool recommendations on music and culture. I'm really proud of Jordan: not only is he on his way to a promising journalism career, but he has exquisite taste in music. By all means, check out his stuff and support young.

A few notes on the others in the blog roll:

I had to give some shine to my fellow Herald bloggers, John Devine with "PrepNation" and Dania Akkad with "D-Tour."

John-John (as I like to call him) is the preeminent high school sports journalist on the Central Coast. From North to South county and everything in between, John is a relentless prep sports guru who offers more insight per story inch than anyone in the area. Plus, he helped me land my gig here at The Herald, so I owe him that much. Give his blog a view.

D-Tour chronicles my homegirl Dania and her trek to Syria to explore her roots and, perhaps, attempt to interview the person responsible for the suicide bombing that killed two of her family members. D-Weed is a former Herald staffer and good friend. Her reports from the front lines are exciting and emotionally wrenching. I'm very proud of her work (as is the entire newsroom).

Rounding out the roll call, The Sound of Young America is the coolest podcast dedicated to all things awesome. Jesse Thorn is a UC-Santa Cruz grad whose primary focus is comedy, but he throws in all kinds of fun stuff along the way (a recent interview with members of the super cool band The Hold Steady is just one example of the awesomeness that runs rampant through TSOYA). I fudged and got his website addey wrong last time, so be sure to check out www.maximumfun.org for all the skinny.

And finally, Tom Breihan is a former Village Voice music blogger who is transitioning to a new gig with CNET. His old blog, Status Ain't Hood, provided lots of pilfering material for "The Beat" (hey, if you're going to steal, might as well do it from the best). Tom's a really funny, honest, humble, opinionated writer and his stuff is pretty spot on. "Dip Dip Dive" is his personal blog, but when he launches his new deal, I'll add it to the roll.

This list is a work in progress, and I'm sure I'll add more in the coming weeks and months. Feel free to make suggestions in the comments slot. Paz.