... but then, we might be a little biased.

The list of finalists for the 2008 National Magazine Awards—the magazine world’s equivalent of the Oscars—is out, and the New Yorker leads the field with 12 nominations.

[...]

First-time finalists include Nerve Media's Babble.com, Bloomberg Markets, Budget Travel, Chow, Domino, Good, Paste, Play and T (the New York Times sports and style magazines), Radar and Condé Nast Portfolio.

Hearty congratulations and best of luck to Ada and everyone at Babble. You know, in a former life, we were at a magazine that won a few of those Alexander Calder-designed awards, known familiarly (if uncommonly) as Ellies. We had tiny offices, and weren't sure just where to put the unwieldy, surprisingly big awards -- so for a while, one of them wound up on our desk. Probably the best paperweight we'll ever have had.

Click through to see the competition that Babble will CRUSH LIKE BORING LITTLE BUGS!

[via Gawker]

GENERAL EXCELLENCE ONLINE: This category recognizes outstanding magazine websites, as well as online-only magazines that feature original content. The award honors sites that convey a distinct editorial identity and create a unique magazine environment on the Web.

Babble.com
Chow.com
NewYorker.com
Runners World.com
Slate.com

(Oh, full disclosure may be in order here: Scanner Bryan works, in his other job, for the Condé Nast company, and has worked for the NY'er.com website off-and-on for many years. But don't let that fool ya -- we just know Babble's gonna wipe the floor with 'em!)