Officially it’s this blog’s third birthday on Friday 11th, the start of a week of celebrations with a top prize for readers.
I’m going to map the current food and drink blogscape and conduct and Aussie version of Leena’s survey of blog readers.
Tonight to celebrate I eat and drink at the Royal Mail Hotel in Dunkeld on my way to catch up with my favourite pole dancer in the Coonawarra.
My first post on 11 July 2005 intended to make this blog on ethical consuming. At the time there were about 30 food bloggers in Australia. My second post on the 13th was of a similar ilk about that year’s G8 summit and a certain whisky brand. And it wasn’t until the 18th of July that I really decided that I would be writing about food after I posted about the awful farty smell that eminated from out of Subway.
Those were the days before I rediscovered photography (2,237 pics of mainly food uploaded to Flickr) which wasn’t really until I bought my Ricoh GR Digital in December of that year (I now have an Olympus Digital SLR too). I had no idea what macro mode was and actually used flash in restaurants. It was thanks to advice from bloggers such as Helen from Grab your Fork, that I honed my technique (although few pics are up to standard for print publication).
During that time I think I’ve managed to encourage a few people to start blogs and I think there are a couple of hundred people regularly blogging about food and drink now in Australia.
Blogging has done a lot for me in making connections with a diverse group of people. It also led to my current column in the Herald Sun Extrafood and reviewing for The Age Good Food Guide. It’s now a part of my life, provides a support network for somebody who freelances at home and I suppose it’s impossible to stop now that it has entangled itself so far into my life.
This is my 679th post and I’d like to thanks all the readers who have visited and contributed to the 3,821 comments.
I promise to try harder. Back very soon.
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{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
Happy Blog Birthday for tomorrow! I can’t remember when I first discovered your site, but I’ve been coming back ever since
Well Done Ed. Keep on blogging, your site is a daily visit for me.
Have a loverly lunch in Dunkeld but remember if that high table food, though fancy, does not fill a boy with a country appetite, make Kermonds hamburgers a stop in Warnambool!
Happy birthday
Thought of you today. Had lunch down your neck of the woods at Ciccolina. I would really like to be a woman who lunched, more than I do. See you at the meatless meet.
Keep up the good work Ed. It’s been great to have met you through our mutual enjoyment of food and blogging.
Well, it’s officially the 11th, so happy blog birthday, darl!
You were one of the inspirations for me to start blogging myself. It’s been an honour to meet you, fun to hang out with you, and you continually inspire me.
Keep up the GREAT work!
pg
does this make you the Godfather of australian food blogging?
Congrats.
Three years, eh?
Time just flies…well done!
Congratulations and keep it coming. I love that there are so many food obsessives in melbourne and you really have helped them come together and inspire new blogs…
Happy 3rd birthday, Ed! You really are an inspiration for me, both as a new food blogger and as a freelancer, so thank you for all that you do & don’t even think of stopping any time soon.
Now, make a wish!
Jen
Happy blogiversary mate. Will open the bubbles tonight in front of a roaring fire and give a toast to your blog. You have showed everyone how to be a fearless blogger, unafraid to point the finger at anyone or anything. Well done for having such a great blog that really is the epicentre of Melbourne food blogs.
Happy 3rd. From somebody who has only been blogging for a month thanks for your inspiration and fighting for the food bloggers.
Congratulations. My aborted attempt at food blogging ended when I realised I didn’t have the stones to take a camera into a restaurant and let it rip. I shall leave it to the professionals… well done.
Happy blogday!
Big, juicy, unctuous, crunchy, fizzy, minimalist, theme restaurant congratulations!
Happy 3rd Ed, it’s been a blast. Please remain mildly grumpy. It’ll be interesting to see how the next year unfurls for restaurants, what with cost increases and ye old recession apparently just around the corner…
Peace bruvva
Congrats on 3 years, keep it coming…
happy blog birthday ed! keep the food coming!
Happy Blog Birthday Ed. Your posts are informed and entertaining and help me decide where to dine next.
Happy three years of blogging. I always enjoy your posts. Now how about a photo of the pole dancer?
Thanks everyone. Promise to remain grumpy and I may just have a glimpse of the pole dancer in my upcoming shots from Coonawarra. Gobbler, sorry but I couldn’t drag the missus on the two hour burger detour. Next time.
Congrats and ha, how far you’ve come indeed
From reading your traditional media Tomato magazine, to moving to your rants online and to The Hun, it’s been a rollicking ride. With your encouragement I too began to blog and have now posted over one hundred of my own addresses to the air in cyberspace. Thank you and congratulations my friend.
Thanks Helen. i think we all have for sticking at it if nothing else.
Sticky, glad to have inspired you and youare a big addition to the scene and have good reason to celebrate 100+. We should catch up again soon.