Winning?

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Yes, it’s that time of year again when I ask for your assistance in promoting my blog in the annual South African Blog Awards, this time being the 2011 version of these wondrous, infamous and occasionally contentious accolades.

There will be other blogs out there vying for your vote, so why should you vote for me?

Here are some reasons you might feel are good enough for you to put cursor to that VOTE button and left-click:

The Sob Story

Always the bridesmaid, never the bride, 6000 miles… has been a finalist for each of the last 26 years in various categories of the SABAs. It’s become such a big thing is our household that the first words that my little boy ever said were: “Dad, have you won a Blog Award yet?”. The first word that my daughter came out with was “Feck“, but soon afterwards she also asked about the Blog Award thing as well.
Admitting consistent failure to one’s children is the hardest thing a father can ever do and I have to do it (and here, I pay homage to my daughter’s vocabulary) every single fecking year.
Your vote can change this.

Variety Is The Spice Of Life

For many years, the Roman Empire was built on the belief that Oregano was The Spice Of Life. Only upon Julius Caesar’s ascension in 49BC did it become apparent that Oregano was actually a herb and was therefore patently ineligible for the title “The Spice Of Life”. Variety, popular among the middle classes at the time, made a bid for the vacant post and – despite not being a spice either – took the label and has never relinquished it since.
In celebration of this fake historical fact, 6000 miles… has been offering you variety like it was going out of fashion.  So far in 2011’s 339 posts (this is 340), we’ve done gardening advice, passed comment on the London riots, infamously got mildly annoyed with Lewis Pugh, mourned the demise of a Cape Town pastime, noted the contents of fruit salad and helped save ickle baby turtles (sort of).
And that’s just a tiny snapshot (2%) of the vast array of variety we’ve brought you this year in honour of  Emperor Julius.
(My sources tell me that you’d best get used to that term, by the way, ok?)

I Pointed Out That Chris Von Ulmenstein Had Parked Illegally In The CTICC Car Park

This, I have been told, is the clincher for many of the food and tourism bloggers out there. But that is not why I did it. I did it because heinous behaviour such as this should be publicised and roundly ridiculed. Irrespective of the danger I was putting myself and my family into, I plunged deep into the truth and was singled out by Ms von Ulmenstein for a Sour Service award. I felt duty bound to respond. Rumour has it that she was going to start parking outside my house until I removed the disabled bay.
There will be, I have been told, bad blood.
A South African Blog Award is all that will take the bitter, bitter taste away.

If you can come up with any other reasons as to why readers should vote for 6000 miles… as their favourite blog of 2011, please feel free to let me know. In the meantime: Vote, Comrade! Vote! And share this post far and wide: twitter, facetube, even by iMessage if you know anyone else on it.

Spread the word.
Share the wealth.
Be the difference.

SA Blog Awards Update

Well, many thanks to both of you loyal readers who nominated me in the 2009 SA Blog Awards. Because of the time and effort you put in (4 clicks and an anti-spam code, I think it was) together with the large lump of cash that I sent through to Glenn Agliotti (no – he’s not a judge, but he has influence, ok?) I find myself a finalist in two categories:

  • Best Original Writing On A South African Blog and
  • Best Personal Blog

I’d like to think that my “composition, attention to detail, advanced levels of subject investigation” in my “diary type blog of a personal lifestory nature” would mean that if there were an award for the Best Original Writing On A South African Personal Blog, I’d have it sewn up already like Helen Zille has the Best White Woman In Charge Of A South African Opposition Party Beginning With D award in her back pocket. Sadly, there isn’t such a category and thus I’m going to have to slug it out with the Patricia de Lilles and Bantu Holomisas of the South African blogosphere.
Of course, this is no bad thing, because this is democratic South Africa, alive with the possibility of finding someone who’ll take a hefty backhander. (I think Brand SA missed a few bits out of that for their official slogan – perhaps wise, but factually inaccurate.)

You can vote by going to the SA Blog Awards site and submitting your vote at the bottom of the page. Or just wait until I stick a widget on here to help you out [I’m currently awaiting widget delivery from the SABA massive]. [EDIT: Widget below] Or do both, from your myriad of email addresses that you really should have consolidated into one handy gmail account. Tell your friends, too and even invite them to tell their friends – start a viral campaign. Remember to use a condom: according to the pope that makes these things spread even faster.

I’m hoping to have some time tomorrow in which to review the finalists and maybe give you some hints and tips as to who else you might like to vote for in the other categories. One which springs immediately to mind (and must be favourite for the win) is blogrollee Po (aka Spindrifting South African SeaMonkey) in the Best Overseas category. So vote for her. And vote for me. Twice.

Thank you for your attention.

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