New links added - January 2005 - batch 1

I've just added these 11 blogs to my blogroll; I've been reading most of them for quite a while now and recommend them for your attention. They are in no particular order below:
Brian's Culture Blog (Brian Micklethwait) - writings about this and that, on topics vaguely related to 'culture'; often quite elegantly expressed thoughts. He also writes for Samizdata (quo vadis) and also started an 'Education Blog' (which I don't bother to follow). He describes himself as a 'London libertarian'.
The Candidate - the random musings of a Conservative PPC for the next UK general election, thought likely to occur during 2005.
EURSOC - who or what is 'Eursoc'; your guess is as good as mine and the little (i.e. nothing) that is revealed in the section entitled 'EURSOC Info' helps only to confuse; a WHOIS check reveals that the domain is owned by someone in Budapest, Hungary. Nevertheless what it seems to be is a source of deeply sceptical views on everything related to the EU and 'big government' generally and whilst I often think what is written is questionable, it does make for highly absorbing and quite often illuminating reading.
Nanny Knows Best (Ken Frost) - a UK-based blog devoted to the notion that the state meddles far too much in the affairs of the citizen, a view I tend to share. Ken Frost describes himself as a Chartered Accountant and also publishes as his main website 'kenfrost.com'.
non-trivial solutions - all we know about Andrew is what he reveals in his brief bio; that he is 'a young, male, white, metropolitan Londoner' who is not, ahem, loaded with liberal guilt. Lively and trenchant.
Samizdata - describes itself as 'a blog for people with a critically rational individualist perspective' and the people who write for it as 'a bunch of sinister and heavily armed globalist illuminati who seek to infect the entire world with the values of personal liberty and several property. Amongst our many crimes is a sense of humour and the intermittent use of British spelling'; a fair enough synopsis in my view, and well worth a few moments of anyone's time to keep up with their latest musings.
Stephen Newton’s diary of sorts... - I first came across this blog a couple or so months ago, whilst scanning posts linked to on UK Weblogs; I was hooked on this UK-based blog after a couple of visits. It's difficult to classify, but 'eclectic' probably fits as well as any other word. As well as current affairs he, for example, provides 50-word film reviews and occasional literary reviews. Lively and stimulating.
tottyland - a UK-based blog (in one of our great university cities, from what I glean) devoted to the notion of 'totty' and specifically of the male variety. It's written, of course, by a gay man and provides links to photographs of lots of juicy (but not pornographic) male 'totty', mainly sportsmen. All this is interspersed with saucy commentary of the 'double entendre' kind. My goodness, there is even some serious commentary from time to time - but not too much. What more could a gay boy ask for?
The Indepundit - I first came across Scott whilst he was in Koweit when he wrote 'LT SMASH' as a reserve officer in the US military. I'd day he's definitely right-of-centre, but by no means your usual right wing 'nut', but he is definitely a loyal military man. He often has thoughtful things to say and is well worth reading. He lives in San Diego, California.
The Shower Room - the blog of a young Canadian (of Chinese origin) in Toronto, who is gay, clever and confused. He is pretty uninhibited in how he expresses himself and whilst some of what he writes strikes me as 'unwise' it certainly makes for interesting reading as his love-life seems to veer wildly from feast to famine in a loop.
The Truth Laid Bear (editor 'N.Z. Bear' - a pseudonym of course) - he describes himself as a male [hence 'he') software development manager residing in southern California. His writing usually has style and wit, but with a message worth reading in there. He is the host and author of the 'TTLB Blogosphere Ecosystem'.

More to come in the next few days.