This week in the Blogerati Files, pop (all love) .

Describe your blog in 10 words or less.
Like. Getting. Kicked. In. The. Teeth. By. A. Puppy.

Why did you start blogging? What's your blog's birthday?
The first post was Jan. 12, 2004. But the blog was really only worth reading for a two-week stretch in mid-2005.

How long have you lived in Toronto?
A little over four years now. Each of them more enjoyable than the last. No really.

What's the funniest/strangest thing that has happened to you in Toronto? Did you blog about it?
Well, there was that one time a guy at 7-11 told me he was going to die. I'm not sure anything will ever quite top that. Or maybe I just hope no one will ever try to top that.

This week in the Blogerati Files, Ghost of a flea .

Describe your blog in 10 words or less.
"Ghost of a flea" is a politics and pop culture blog with a gothic twist.

Why did you start blogging? What's your blog's birthday?
The Flea was first published on October 28, 2002. There were a couple false starts with other blogs before that but they have vanished down the memory hole.

How long have you lived in Toronto?
I moved to Toronto from Manchester, England seven years ago and have lived in the Annex for the last six. I had already lived in Toronto for two years before moving to London, England in the early '90s.

What's the funniest/strangest thing that has happened to you in Toronto? Did you blog about it?
I once saw something that looked like a "V" mothership hovering over Casa Loma; this was some time ago. I do not believe I wrote about it at the Flea... no obvious story hook. If it had had a picture of Kylie Minogue on the side I might have made something of it.

Habobo is a Toronto-based drumming group which focuses on the drum and dance societies of the Ewe people of Ghana. Next Sunday February 18th, the drummers play a benefit performance with all proceeds going towards the Stephen Lewis Foundation's Grandmother to Grandmother Campaign.

From the Stephen Lewis web site:

The Foundation was moved to initiate this special effort in response to numerous reports, coming from the projects we support in Africa, about the increasing vulnerability of grandmothers as they labour to hold children and societies together.

Habobo Toronto in Concert
Date: Sunday February 18th, 2007 2:00 PM
Location: George Ignatieff Theatre, Trinity College, U of Toronto, 15 Devonshire Pl.
Tickets: $12 - contact linda.bassil@tel.tdsb.on.ca

Photo by Dominic Morel

This week in the Blogerati Files, toronto.optimuscrime.com .

Describe your blog in 10 words or less.
Music, musings, amusings and self-deprecation from the Big Smoke.

Why did you start blogging? What's your blog's birthday?
I started blogging as a way to keep in touch with my university friends. I was sending out mass emails to friends/acquaintances and started to worry that they were too frequent and/or completely unwelcome. I started to blog so friends could drop in on me and see what was going on in my life at their leisure. My old blog (thebeesknees.blogspot.com) was born on January 3rd, 2004. I made the move to Optimuscrime Toronto on September 26, 2006.

How long have you lived in Toronto?
My whole life, with a couple of interruptions for my edumacation (I lived in Kingston for four years and Montreal for one).

What's the funniest/strangest thing that has happened to you in Toronto? Did you blog about it?
I couldn't possibly blog about all the strange shit that happens in this city. Just yesterday, I was in a Value Village and this man kept proclaiming himself the King of Canada. Loudly. And he told the poor cashier that there were hundreds of rats in the store and he had injured himself on a buggy, but don't worry - he was going to talk to Bill Clinton and George Bush and they would crack down on things. Toronto is a daily adventure.

This week in the Blogerati Files, 2xy.org .

Describe your blog in 10 words or less.
Less thought-provoking than Noah Grey. But sassier.

Why did you start blogging? What's your blog's birthday?
I started doing something similar to blogging in 1999. Then it was full-on, shameless blogging from April 24, 2000 (the day I signed up for a Blogger.com account) onwards.

How long have you lived in Toronto?
Since 1997. So... 9 years.

What's the funniest/strangest thing that has happened to you in Toronto? Did you blog about it?
Last year, I got locked up in a closet at the office, two days before Christmas. And yes, I blogged it.

This week in the Blogerati Files, radicaltrust.ca .

Describe your blog in 10 words or less.
Social media and corporate transparency in the age of dialogue.

Why did you start blogging? What's your blog's birthday?
I started blogging so I could teach myself as much as possible about social computing. I want to know how and why sites like MySpace, YouTube and Flickr start and flourish. I work in advertising, so there's some professional motivation to understand this, but it runs much deeper. These are real communities that are being built. Any time new forms of communication encourage real conversation and community, barriers are broken and bridges are built. That's why I call my blog "radical trust". I'm blogging to learn it, to teach it and to encourage it.

I started my blog on October 2nd 2006. It still has that new blog smell.

How long have you lived in Toronto?
12+ years.