Pork in the blogosphere

March 13, 2006 by

From step-by-step, finger-lickin’ recipes to the latest high-tech grills, BBQ Junkie keeps Southern Californians up-to-date on developments in the barbecue scene.

The blog was set up by Luis Ramirez in 2005 in an attempt to fire up the online barbecue world.

“I’m a big fan of blogging and an even bigger fan of barbecuing,” he said. “I work at an advertising agency in the Internet department, and this was a chance for me to have my own little hands-on project.”

One of the highlights of BBQ Junkie is its restaurant review section, which Ramirez sees as beneficial to the typical barbecue-loving Angelino.

“Sometimes you get home and just want to grill up some chicken. And, when you don’t have the time to BBQ people need to know where they can find a decent BBQ restaurant in Los Angeles,” Ramirez wrote in a follow-up e-mail.

Ramirez said he surfs the Internet for the latest barbecue news, posting links to sites he thinks would interest Southern California’s barbecue enthusiasts.

“The blog is geared more towards Southern California,” Ramirez said. “But there are some general barbecue topics that would appeal to people all over the world.”

By browsing monthly archives dating back to March, avid barbecue fans can read reviews of Southern California’s barbecue joints, find out where to download barbecue-related podcasts, and can even find out where to pick up a Gucci barbecue set.

The site is offering readers the opportunity to add the blog to their personal My Yahoo! accounts, giving them daily access to new postings without having to visit the blog directly.

“BBQ in Los Angeles is pretty niche, but I am not doing it because it’s the flavor of the month,” Ramirez wrote.

Influenced by his father’s Mexican-style barbecuing and his mother-in-law’s Southern American approach, Ramirez barbecues year-round and said he hopes that he can inspire other Angelinos to experiment with their cooking.

“I’m a guy, and guys like to grill. … It has been a series of trial and error [for me] and this experience is what I hope to bring to my blog,” Ramirez wrote.

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More than a cornfield, downtown art project takes an online form

October 24, 2005 by

Los Angeles artist Lauren Bon and her team of web developers set up NotaCornfield.com to explain the purpose behind what appears to be, on first observation, a misplaced cornfield in the heart of Los Angeles. Earlier this summer, 875,000 seeds of corn were planted in a field just north of downtown Los Angeles in an effort to utilize the derelict area and attract community interest. The website is an online expansion of the project, which was funded by the Annenberg Foundation.

The decision to set up a website to raise public awareness of the 32-acre urban art installation was made early on in the process, said Steve Rowell, the website’s designer and developer.

“We knew that the vast majority of people would not be able to visit the actual site of the cornfield, so this offers another version of the project that is more accessible, both to locals and people in other areas of the country,” Rowell said.

The website also offers interactive features, including a live web cam with an audio feed, for people who cannot visit the cornfield itself.

“The website can’t duplicate the experience of being at the cornfield,” Rowell said, “but it is certainly an alternative.”

Weekly events are posted on the site so local residents can participate in the project through planting, campfire evenings and Halloween night celebrations. All events are free-of-charge and accessible to the handicapped. The website’s blog section then covers the events.

“At the beginning we offered an anonymous response option in the blog section, but there were instances of racial slogging so we decided to take that option off because we didn’t want it to get out of control,” says Rowell.

The project will be completed this harvest, but the website will continue to run.

“There will be a ‘blue-light’ phase, when the empty field will be lit up by blue light. After that the website will keep up-to-date with the drying out process, keep up-to-date on the exhibition process and may continue running in to the summer of next year,” says Rowell.

Filed Under: Sites