Assistant starts out with a standard blogspot template adorned with a nice pic of the band's vocalist, Jonathan Shipley. The template is green and white, nothing out of the ordinary. The right-hand side bar is uncluttered, it includes a paragraph with information on the site and its author as well as links to other blogs and recent entries.

Assistant happens to be a band. Jonathan started the blog in order to document the band's activity but he states it became a personal diary on the way. There are links to give you more information on the band as well as a band website, but this link appeared to be broken. It's something that needs to be taken care of as it is probably the most important link on the blog.

Jonathan has been blogging since 2002 and the early entries were related to band gigs, the process of writing songs, on-stage experiences, their first gig ever and posts of the sort.

From January 2004 onwards, the blog begins to develop a broader nature and Jonathan posts pictures, thoughts on Guardian or Times articles, political posts, one-liners, band stories, etc. He posts on a wide variety of subjects but I found few posts where Jonathan gets personal. Of course I didn't have enough time to go through all the archives as we're talking more than two year's worth.

Jonathan is at his best when he speaks of the band and when we catch those rare glimpses into his life: "flat" hunting, house sitting and Vic, the girl he lives with. His digressions on diverse topics ranging from politics to the art of reviewing are also a good read.

I'm not quite sure where Jonathan expects his blog to go. If he wants it to appeal to a wider audience, then by all means get personal, but if it's just an outlet of whatever is on Jonathan's mind, then it's another story.

Overall, Assistant strikes me as a blog still in development, despite it's years of existence. Jonathan is a likeable, well-read individual. As a matter of fact, he sounds so interesting I really found myself wishing I could read more on his background, personal philosophy, etc.

Anyhow, I enjoyed Assistant and I hope the band finds success. I even added it to my favorites to see what's up with him every once in a while.

This site was reviewed on 2004-08-30 by answer-seeking gal.
They felt this site belonged in the Personal category.
answer-seeking gal felt that Assistant Blog deserved a rating of 3.75.