I rate everything from restaurants to concerts to architecture on the same five star scale. Note that my stars mean something different than the stars awarded in the Mobil travel guides. The scale is:
| ***** | Indicates the absolute best in a given category. For example, to say that a concert gets five stars is to say that I can make an argument it is the best concert I have ever seen. As you can imagine, this is a very rare rating. | |
| **** | Superlative. Excellent in every way. No flaws worth mentioning. The only thing separating a four star from a five star is a certain je ne sais quoi. A rare award. | |
| *** | Definitely above average. Has at least one exceptional quality that makes it stand out from the crowd. | |
| ** | Average. Nothing that great about it, but nothing that horrible either. The vast bulk of all items rated will end up in the two star category. | |
| * | There's something wrong here. Does not mean that the item beign rated is horrible or should be avoided, but there is definitely at least one major flaw. | |
| <zero> | Something so horrible it almost cannot be conceived of. Avoid at all cost. Usually indicated by a rating of "-". | |
If there is one thing I can't stand, it's grade inflation in reviews. You will find that four and five star ratings are very rare. And I take care to avoid giving out too many three star ratings as well. You don't get an above average rating just for showing up around here. I definitely do not believe in pulling punches or glossing over shortcomings, but nor am I afraid to wax poetic when describing something that is truly magnificient.
Just Say No to Frames, Ads, and Animated GIF's