Blawg Review Nominations

Shirley Temple: 

Golly gee, Mr. Disney!  What are all these little statues for?

Walt Disney: 

Well first, Shirley, I need to ask you politely to take your dimpled mitts off of that large statue, because that one's mine.  Heh, heh.

But as for those little ones: you and I have been asked to hand these out to the seven legal weblogs that Declarations & Exclusions is nominating for the prestigious title of 2007 Blawg Review of the Year. 

As the Anonymous Editor of Blawg Review has explained in the Official Rules, this year's winner will be selected by the votes of all those weblogs that have hosted, or are scheduled to host, one or more editions of Blawg Review.  Each host can nominate however many he or she chooses from Blawg Review editions 89 through 140, and the edition receiving the most nominations by January 14, 2008, will be declared the winner.

Shirley Temple:

Jeepers!  It's sort of a Blawgers' Choice Award, isn't it, Mr. Disney?

But doesn't Colin Samuels always win in this category?

Walt Disney [nervously]:

Heh, heh.  He certainly does, Shirley.  But this year when he wins, it'll be the result of free and fair elections -- which, as we all know, makes everything okay.

So, shall we find out who the nominees are?

Shirley Temple:

Let's do it, Mr. Disney!  And like I always say, everyone's already a winner when it comes to Blawg Review!

Walt Disney:

You bet, Shirley!  So now, here's two-time Blawg Review host George Wallace, the non-anonymous editor of Declarations & Exclusions -- and of its sibling site, a fool in the forest, itself the home to two editions of the April Fool's Blawg Review Prequel -- to announce his nominations for 2007's Blawg Review of the Year.

[Muffled, courteous applause]

George Wallace:

Thank you, Miss Temple.  Thank you, Mr. Disney.  And thank you, Anonymous Editor of Blawg Review, wherever you are, for overseeing another terrific year of Blawg Review.

I have to admit I have sometimes been remiss this year in reading each edition as it was published, but the invitation to proffer nominations in this category gave me the impetus I needed to go back and visit or revisit every one of the eligible editions.  And I must say, it really drove home to me what a profusion of talent, imagination and gumption the legal blogosphere contains.  Miss Temple is right: they are all winners already.

[Wild applause]

All right then.  The hour grows late and we all want to get to the big Blawg Review afterparty, and some of us probably need to be in court in the morning, so here we go.

[Portentous rumbling from the scary orchestra]

Declarations & Exclusions is proud to nominate, in reverse chronological order, these hosts and their editions of Blawg Review as the best of the best in 2007:

• Colin Samuels for Infamy or Praise: Blawg Review #137, completing his trilogy of editions inspired by Dante's Divina Commedia; 
  

• Eric Turkewitz for New York Personal Injury Law Blog: Blawg Review #134, inspired by the New York Marathon;

• A dual nomination to Diane Levin for Online Guide to Mediation: Blawg Review #130 [northern hemisphere] and, in New Zealand, to Geoff Sharp for mediator blah...blah...: Blawg Review # 130 [southern hemisphere], spanning the globe to bring us the constant variety of legal weblogs;

• Anne Reed for Deliberations: Blawg Review #127, inspired by the jury system and all that it entails;

• George Lenard for George’s Employment Blawg: Blawg Review #124; Labor Day Special Historical Edition, truly a labor of love by a lover of Labor;

• David Gulbransen for his collegial and eleemosynary "Course Guide" edition of Blawg Review #122; and

• Kevin A. Thompson for Cyberlaw Central » Blawg Review #93, a product of the vast Illuminati conspiracy.

Let's congratulate them all, shall we?  Thank you and good night!

[5 minute standing ovation, followed by effusive rioting in the streets as the scary orchestra plays on. . . .]