XDocument xmlStories = XDocument.Parse(xmlContent);

            var stories = from story in xmlStories.Descendants("story")
                          where story.Element("thumbnail") != null && 
                                !story.Element("thumbnail").Attribute("src").Value.EndsWith(".gif")
                          select new DiggStory
                          {
                              Id = (int)story.Attribute("id"),
                              Title = ((string)story.Element("title")).Trim(),
                              Description = ((string)story.Element("description")).Trim(),
                              ThumbNail = (string)story.Element("thumbnail").Attribute("src").Value,
                              HrefLink = new Uri((string)story.Attribute("link")),
                              NumDiggs = (int)story.Attribute("diggs"),
                              UserName = (string)story.Element("user").Attribute("name").Value,
                          };