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I am all in favour of making the readers work. I think they should be tested at regular intervals so that honour can be paid to those who really pay attention as distinct to those who skim through looking for possible naughty bits.
One way would be to give short excerpts from, say, 12 popular author's works and see if they can be identified. No monetary prizes, unless it be the offer of a half price Hatbox membership but those scoring over 9 could be given a gold star, those over 6 a silver, whilst those with less than 2 be made to stand in the corner and have board rubbers thrown at them. Consideration might be given to adding bonus points if the story titles were correctly identified.
Hugs,
Fleurie
Board Rubbers = ?????
RAMI
Dear Fleurie:
Board Rubbers? Is that UKish for Erasers is American? Or does it men something else? My clean and clear mind does not want to think of anything naughty.
By the way, it is a good idea for contest.
RAMI
RAMI
The Joys of a Classical Education.
Dear Rami,
When I was at school there were large wooden blocks of wood that had one side covered in thick felt. There primary purpose was to provide masters with something to throw at inattentive boys. This served a dual purpose as it sharpened up the boys' reactions as they became adept, at least those who survived, of swaying out of the way. The masters, usually Latin masters in my recollection, were also able to exercise their throwing arm so that they would be more effective when they had to teach us the elements of cricket.
The missiles, allegedly, had the secondary function of cleaning the blackboard.
Board Rubbers
Think schools. Blackboard rubber == lump of wood with a bit of felt nailed to one side used for removing chalk from a blackboard. If you got one thrown at you, you'd know it.
They don't use chalk any more in schools, probably 'Elf and safety. If you remember board rubbers, you've been out of school a while.
Penny
I disagree
They were still using chalk boards when I graduated High School in '05, and we had 'em at college, too. As far as I know, most of the classrooms at my old school still have at least one chalkboard, and I had a physics teacher who was strongly against marker boards -- how would he annoy the students if he didn't have that abrasive board to scratch, after all?
Melanie E.
They were...
...in the process of "systematically" replacing half the chalk blackboards (which, there, were all green) in the classrooms at the University of Utah while I was there this last stint (through '06). Not always the useful half of them either. Maintenance seemed to have this bizarre formula that they used to determine which of the six panes of blackboard (three sets of two) would get replaced. This frequently resulted in the instructors having to bring with them both dry-erase markers and chalk (the same maintenance people were frequently horrible about making sure that supplies were in the rooms like they were supposed to be).
I actually had one professor throw an eraser at me because I had managed to start snoring in his class. >.< Softly, both snoring and the toss, but... ^^; What can I say? I was out of caffeinated beverages that day, and hadn't had time to sleep the night before, and a subtle point about clitics in Italian was just too uninteresting for words. Also, including the professor, there were five people in class that day. >.<; Fortunately, he's a pretty good friend, and was my adviser for the linguistics program, so I didn't get in too much trouble, beyond the glaring white mark on a black shirt. ^^;
The whole chalk or eraser throwing thing, though, really is alive and well in Japan. I actually saw it happen once on a school visit, to the >extreme< embarrassment of the student, the teacher, the class, and our host/guide. ^__^ Sometimes it's fun being something that other people can't figure out how to act around.
-Liz
-Liz
Successor to the LToC
Formerly known as "momonoimoto"
Whiteboards
Can be cleaned with a cloth or rag, but I've also seen ones designed similarly to old-style blackboard rubbers. But then you have added fun when the teacher uses the wrong sort of pen, and you have to grab some solvent to remove their scribblings...
Some IWBs (Interactive Whiteboards) also come equipped with a similar device, so it can be used both to wipe physical pen marks and 'virtual' pen marks as well.
Promethean boards can't be written on conventionally, but have a magnetic stylus that 'draws' on the board. Unfortunately, the little plastic insert which makes contact with the board surface is easily blunted or damaged...for example, throwing it in the general direction of inattentive students. I was once a school ICT technician, and knew whwnever I got a call from the maths department that their boards weren't working properly that they'd been getting frustrated with their pupils...again...
--Ben
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
My only question
How would you decide which "popular" authors to choose? After all, what is popular for a serial as far as hits would be unimaginable in a single-shot story, because of the amount of front-page time that such stories have. So, are you judging popularity by number of hits, number of votes, number of comments, or just personal impressions of popularity?
Just wondering. I know of at least two or three authors who would be definite inclusions in such a quiz, though :P
Melanie E.
Only question's answer.
No criteria for popularity. Just regular contributors, hopefully with a distinct style, whom regular readers could be expected to have come across. It doesn't need to be twelve. Put, say, twenty in a bag and draw out x numbers. Erin might decide or Sephrina or anyone who is acquainted with the regular contributors. If the author is willing to have his/her work included they could perhaps themselves chose a paragraph/twenty lines that they think best illustrates their own writing.
You could even have subdivisions. Sexy excerpts, romantic excerpts, horror excerpts etc. so all readers were catered for.
It is not a competition for authors. There is no need to make public the names of those who had the greatest or least recognition. Not that such would signify much anyway.
Just an idea.
Naughty Bits?
The stories here have naughty bits? Where?
:)
Penny
PS you forgot the pointy dunce's hat.
Incorrigible optimists.
I didn't say there were any naughty bits. But some people just never give up hope.
PS Sorry about the pointy hat omission.
Hmmmmmm
Your contest is a wonderful idea. The idea of 50% off Hatbox pricing is masterful.
One question -- I try to make sure every story I write is a bit naughty. . .is that the same as naughty bits?
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Alas Angela ....
.... I fear that being a bit naughty isn't at all the same as having naughty bits. Being a bit naughty applies to something that overall is vaguely titillating. Having naughty bits is having the odd passages that are quite filthy. Something really worth looking for. Worth trawling through the acres of carefully constructed, perhaps immortal, albeit clean and boring, prose that surrounds them in the hope .... You and I with our refined sensitivities may find such difficult to comprehend but there are some debased souls out there who ....
Ah me. So unlike the home life of our own dear Queen!
Hugs,
Sorry Charlie,
Why am I suddenly seeing the image of Charlie the tuna ---
Sorry, Charlie, we want Tuna that taste good, not tuna with good taste...
Hugs,
Kristy
20 Questions
Twenty questions sounds like a great idea on 2009 stories. Have each author who wants to participate to turn in two or three questions and have a group of authors select the best questions, to make up how ever many the test needs.
Love,
Paula
Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.
The Coda
Chapterhouse: Dune
Paula
Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.
The Coda
Chapterhouse: Dune
Attention deficit BigClosetactivity disorder
Let me get this right.
I mis-spend countless hours of my middle-age searching the TopShelf for the burgeoning geniuses of TG fiction's naughty bits... or... I should rephrase that: searching for naughty bits, that's to say, in the fiction of the burgeoning geniuses of the TG world's most illustrious and generous writers...
...and now you say I have to *concentrate* too?!!
XX
AD