Spread My Blog looks good, even though it's new. There are only 50 free spots on the site. After that, he will charge
My new directory is just for blogs and forums. http://www.currentnewsreport.com As new categories are suggested, will add them.
I have quite a few listed in the directory on my site. I add them as I submit to them so they should all be current. It used to be that the more incoming links you had the better your pr. However, I've been hearing that Google has changed their algorithym and so what they are now looking for are links that are related to the subject of your blog. So if your blog is about physics and you have an incoming link from a blog about Paris Hilton, it may not count towards your pr.