(shhh, she cleared her voice let’s settle back and read… the Winner is about to be announced!)
Dear fellow Wakefield “Doctriners” ^_^
I believe that this was the toughest and funniest contest I had to ever judge – although it was a first for me. I can tell you this, each and every one of your entries has diverted me exceedingly and each in different, yet completing ways. So before I come to the point, I’d like to congratulate YOU ALL for the quality of your writing and review (big word here…not so much the point).
THE CRITERIA were these:
Good – Fun to read – Clever – ‘How cool was that’… as a (secret) judge I assigned stars (5 max) for each criteria. Then, you got “doctrine points” for each comment & like/Google Share your entry collected because the reader is king/queen and has the last word in my world ^_^.
Roger: db(2)+ 1.5 ml He = db(2) – 1.5 ml Co2 (a dead balloon is a dead balloon)
You wrote a very interesting piece that first brought question marks all around my head (you were not the only one having this effect on me though ^_^)… this is a good thing by the way. As I read on, your tone made me think of the main character in a book that I had just finished and liked a lot (“The History of Love” by Nicole Krauss). So I read with a smile on my face all along… I have looked in my own mind to find the file of my own “particularly fond childhood memories” but I do not think it is placed behind my left ear… I could not say since I have not found it entirely yet – just bits and pieces that I wish were as rich as yours. In short, I smiled – even laughed a bit, agreed with you most of the times as I related and wondered about life – longer than my daily dose… I loved the journey you took me on.
Jennifer: What does “a dead balloon is a dead balloon” have to do with Personality Types? Nothing.
You got me laughing just with your title, which is quite unusual with me. What’s with the fear of clowns? I never understood it! I don’t particularly like them either since they never made me laugh… hmm… well, okay… maybe I do get your point here ^_^. Your entry was filled with the type of humor I am very fond of, so thank you for that and for your great choice of music video as an illustration. I loved that concert by the way!
I am such a fan of Lewis Carroll’s stories… I was ecstatic when I read your title and read expectantly your entry. I was not disappointed at all… no surprise here… that is brilliant writing, the kind that keeps you on the edge yet not over it. You created vivid images in my mind and your story had dogs in it which got me melting from the start. Thank you for the wonderful reading! I enjoyed every second of it.
Alright Clark… maybe you’ve got the award of the longest title in the history of writing contests ^_^. Your entry puzzled me in a very good way… which means that your intent of being both amusing and wry is reached, no question. Is information really the reality of Clarks? Yes… maybe, depending on how you define information… could philosophy be a type of information? I’d say that in my book at least it could be. I have to admit that I loved this sentence: “A ‘dead balloon’ is to a ‘live balloon’ as clarks are to scotts and rogers”… made me laugh for one and then think… “the space within and between permits life to exist”… interesting train of thought.
Molly: When a Dead Balloon is not just a Dead Balloon
Do you know how I react when I feel something bad or embarrassing is about to happen in a story? I fast forward to make sure that I am heading towards a good ending, and then I go back to the bit I could not read… your modern fairytale had such an impact on me, which is an extremely good thing. The quality of your writing and your storytelling blew my mind Molly. Beyond that, what you said was quite the message too…
The winner of the Doctrine’s First Annual Post-Writing Contest is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itAOGRiYRLI
Our very own Downspring#1 with 28 Doctrine Points for her great
‘Through the looking glass where a dead balloon is (really just) a dead balloon somewhere over the edge…’
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
^_^
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/Your Friend of the Doctrine & Secret Judge, Clairepeek
About Clairepeek
Wow! Wow….Thank you Claire! I was totally unprepared to see my name underneath the drum roll. (Nice touch btw). I was unprepared because I too thought all the entries were excellent. I thoroughly enjoyed the diversity of thought, imagery and plain old good fun that came through each and every story. Isn’t it amazing how a few words, the same words (“a dead balloon is a dead balloon”), can generate so much?!
As a clark, receiving such positive comments over at GirlieOnTheEdge and reading your reaction to my writing goes a few thousand extra miles. We clarks have a tough time believing we are good at anything. LOL
My pleasure Downspring#1… totally deserved!!!
I am glad to be among those who repeat themselves by telling you that your writing is great. As a fellow clark, I do also conquer with the hard times finding worth in what we do :P Like you, I found it unbelievably amazing to witness such wide range of imagination around the same concept. It was really something to read and experience! ^_^
GirlieGirlieGirlie!!! Awesome.
And thanks, Claire, that’s as good a review as I would ever hope to see. And thanks especially for doing such an equinanimous..equilateral?…equiportional?…( some word like that ) job in judging.
My inner 5-year old has a question. Hey Uncle Clark…can we do it again? Huh? When? Hey Clark, come back…Hey Clark, when? Hey, wait up…I’ve got more balloons…
only if the Contest is one in which the format must be: a video entry with the Protagonist being a sock* puppet, with or without subtitles!
Choice of sock style will be a factor in the final score for each entry.
Hey Roger ^_^!
I had a lot of fun being the judge so how I did my “job” was just a bonus to reading all the entries. There was ONLY great stuff… and I hope just like you that there is going to be a next time.
… say Clark… can I join in the pleading? can we do it again next year?
Yay!!!!!
Congratulations Girlie! Or should I call you Alice? lol
And thank you Clairepeek for your thoughts on my post. Oh, and don’t worry. I promise I won’t send you a death balloon threat just because I didn’t win. Ha Ha. It must’ve been a difficult choice as Girlie said. I too thought all of the entries were terrific!
Oops… gotta go. More balloons to make…
Oh yeah, before I go, Roger did you get the message about checking your spam? Apparently for some reason unbeknownst to me that is where my comments went.
Hey AKH!
Glad I won’t get the death balloon threat though I’d love to know how to make one some day, could come in handy in my dreams :D Happy to see you had fun ^_^ and well… careful with those balloons!
I did, AKH, and got them out of spam. My mom said not to do that with the helium balloons or my voice would stay that way. Wouldn’t you know she was right…once.
Helium baboons??!! did you say helium baboons!!?!
What! I leave for work and you guys throw a party! LOL
Thank you again RCoyne, Clairepeek, and AKH! It was fun wasn’t it!! I am for sure on board with another one. Nothing like being under pressure to produce. LOL
With how many helium baboons?!!
Hey Roger!
Just so you know, you have a comment waiting for your moderation on your contest entry. Since I made a point in commenting on all five, it’ll be only fair that one more comment shows up on your piece ^_^
Helium balloons… hmm, reminds me of a joke French artist played on each other during a charity tour… there were two tour buses and each was trying to impress the other with crazy thing. One evening, after a concert, the artists from bus 1 (or 2 I don’t recall) found their bus full of helium balloons… my question is: how many helium balloons do you need to fill a tour bus?
lol
…suddenly the world is spinning around helium balloons? (or baboons!!?)
I suppose the logical answer is ‘one’…but I suspect that someone is going to suggest that they filled (the bus) with helium animal balloons (…and, no! no one had ever made a balloon baboon!) but if any of you out there try to suggest this animal balloon solution to Claires “riddle” then I will have no choice but to say, “sure you can go the route of helium balloon animal shapes, but you a better include a few hundred thousand helium balloon paramecium ( paramecia?) and other micro-animals!
(no, I have not been up too, too very long with the Contest! It is just that microbes have long suffered as an under-represented class of ‘aren’t these fuckin things so cute, they are helium balloons!’.)
Congratulations! Maybe now that I am home, I will get a chance to read them all. :)
Good to ‘have you back’ lol, yes the variety and range of the entries were rather impressive! Trust you have ‘road trip’ photos to share…(always fun to see alternate realities displayed and enjoyed!)
What do you mean no one ever heard of a baboon balloon? You’ve never been to a zoo?
As for the Paramecium, there exists a classic scottian predator-prey relationship with the Didinium.
(google it…)
Hey Molly!!!
Now that Molly is back maybe now would be a good time for a new post !!