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I admit to being fascinated by Red Kite's blog, Adventures in Records Management. It's a very interesting glimpse into the working life of a civil servant responsible for data management. For those working in the same field or affected by such issues, there's some pretty solid info in there, but Red Kite also has a wry sense of humour and a deft touch with words, as evidenced by his latest post.

Wine, wit and the sommelier

Grazza, who works at the Michelin-starred restaurant the Arkle at the Grosvenor Hotel, has been spilling his Tales of a Sommelier.

If you're a wine fan, you'll love reading his detailed tasting notes - mostly of bottles many of us could never afford and can only dream of sampling. There's also lots of behind-the-scenes gossip about the reality of life as a leading sommelier, told with wit and sparkle (just like my favourite Champagne). He offers a very interesting glimpse into a world inhabited by few and envied by many.

Sifting through duds and dross

I've been spending spare moments hunting for Chester blogs. A "Chester" search on Blogger.com indicated that there are around 200 registered bloggers in our fair city. That sounded very promising and so began the task of checking out each and every one.

Sadly, it has quickly become clear that as many as 3 out of 4 bloggers have only registered a profile but no blog, or a profile and one sole blog entry. And then there are the blogs that exist but are so badly written (as well as illiterate) that they are not worthy of inclusion.

At the moment it feels like searching for the proverbial needle. But there are some gems out there and they are gradually being added.

Democracy on the web?

I thought it would be interesting to have a look at the blogs of Chester city councillors. There is an increasing trend towards openness on the internet by our institutions. For example, a number of police chiefs are blogging these days, as are some MPs.

Chester City Council has a fairly good website, as council websites go. A recent innovation has been to set up a special political website where councillors can blog about what they are doing on behalf of ward constituents, and there's also a BBC news feed on recent political news.

Unfortunately, while Chester City Council has 60 elected councillors, only 6 have blogs. And of these, only 2 are actually blogging, in the sense that they are keeping their local residents updated as opposed to posting a "welcome" blog then falling silent. So, just 3.3% of Chester's councillors are blogging - how are they faring?

John Price's blog is pretty impressive - he represents Blacon, an area of Chester that has a difficult reputation, and it's good to see that he is proactive, using his blog to give advance notice of local meetings and to report back on hot issues. Richard Short is also posting fairly regularly. A shame that the others who signed up have not followed through their commitment. But it's an interesting attempt, nonetheless, and if I find any more council blogs from around the county, they will be added.

Welcome to the Chester blog roll

Friends, Romans, Cestrians! Lend us your eyes...

Welcome to what I hope will offer a comprehensive home for all the Chester blogs. I'll be using the Deva Station to explore our city's finest blogs, list them on the links and - hopefully, one day before too long - create the first Chester Blog Awards...