Topic, Due 28/7/06 - Love for the Flag
With the passing of the Football World Cup it's been hard not to notice the outpourings of national pride by every man and his dog and an overwhelming sense of patriotism washing over entire nations. Except for America which remianed steadfast in its admiration of glorified rounders.
Patriotism, national pride, partisanship or just an excuse for beer-bellied skinheads to air their swastika tattoos. Discuss.
Again, another short one: 750 words so make each bullet count. Due date 28 July 2006.
posted by Schrodinger's Cat @ 9:06 pm
11 comments
11 Comments:
This might be extremely interesting (for you) if only we had a French contributor. But I can't imagine why we'd let a Frog write here. Damn.
Hello, assorted bastards.
This is all going rather well. I like the writing and, moreover, the reading of the screed herein.
I would however posit two minor changes.
1) We're setting rather meaty time periods. I simply do not need 2 weeks or more to write something this length. The original Word War was conducted in real time, in a few hours, and consistently produced beautiful monstrosities.
I find for anything that comes from the front of the brain, it is much better for the composition to be moving quickly.
Suggested: one week for -1000, ten days for +1000, but always at the discretion of the topic setter. Of course I understand you are busy men... any objections or better ideas?
2) Does anyone know anyone else with the inclination and capacity to write here? I think it would be great to have another writer, and brilliant to have a woman if at all possible.
I agree with what you've said. The original word war was fast enough to have several done in one sitting, and produced much in the way of ugliness. Things being as they are (lives to lead, jobs to do, empires to build and so on) I don't think the same will work here, but yes, shortened time lines will help keep this thing rolling.
I know of a couple of people who could contribute some. There's Copley, a Science Honours student of some kind. He apparently dreams of a race of atomic supermen. The other possibility is Hélène, Slobs' sister. She is very clever indeed and I will ask her if she wants to write if you like (although she may very well tell me to fuck off).
Another thought occurs : for the purpose of getting new and interesting writers for this war, why not invite an individual to submit an entry? If they do a good job, then we could invite them to write again another time, and if they consitently put in a good effort then they could join the War on a more permanent basis. This may also help to keep things fresh. A blog-based webcomic I used to read used this way of doing things to good effect for quite a while.
Now that's a spiffy idea.
Imperalist four-toothed lager-swilling pimpled geezer? Miserable yankee Jew swine? Your opinions?
More contributors is a good idea and the "trial" submission also strikes a resonant chord.
Unfortunately, I don't know anybody with sufficient wit, intelligence or, more importantly, time on their hands to contribute.
Regarding the length of deadlines, I reckon a 10 day maximum would be attainable but it's difficult for me to write more often than that, particularly when I have to study.
Hélène has graciously agreed to join in the next war. She's a friend of mine from Adelaide and a most capable human.
1. I'm fine with the time limit, except for one thing: I'm travelling right now, and for this reason don't have as much access to internet-capable computers as I'd like. But, other than that, the only time I've given more than a week was when it was my turn and it was finals week, and I honestly have trouble believing that more than a week is necessary for anything we've assigned, no matter how busy the schedule. And I also figure that it shouldn't really be the limit-setter's concern if people have to miss a deadline (more on that in the next).
2. As the Doctor knows, I've been thinking about this for a while now. I've got a friend I might ask who may do (would be a very different style, but that's at least part of the point), but wouldn't be likely to make all the deadlines. Then again, I figure having a large stable of writers makes the absence of any one given entry less noticeable - so any of us can miss a topic without much problem, making the shorter time limits less noticeable. I still can't think of a good woman, either for this site or in general.
Point two outlines a good scenario.
I still think a week for me is too short - the only time I get to study is at weekends or of an evening, which is also the only time I get to contribute.
My studying is currently nil until the next phase starts so deadlines are not a problem at present. However, it's going to get pretty intense in the coming months.
But! Missing the odd assignment wouldn't be too bad, I suppose. Particularly if their are plenty of us to contribute.
We could use a 'different' person. In case you hadn't all noticed, you are all hideous, messy creatures who write pure hate and I am the only happy lambkins here. So fire 'em up if you can and let's try them, Jew.
Cumboy, the last thing anyone wants to do is marginalise you. You are the only literate Englishman in the entire world. If you need ten days minimum, then we make it ten days. My initial point is merely that we do not need well over two weeks for small topics. But as you are all no doubt well aware, I am a hyperactive neophyte and thus want to mash everything up as well as possible for as often as possible.
The guy I'm thinking of might not be available for a little while, but I'll look into getting him.
I also don't want to marginalize the cumboy, a traditionally downtrodden sector of the population. On the other hand, there were two remarks going through my head when the Doctor and I had the discussion that led to his reviving the wars: namely Stravinsky on how he feels that greater limitations foster more and more genuine creativity and Bukowski on how he was never a real writer until a weekly column forced him to write x amount of words a week no matter what. So I definitely still want the limitation to be one that will make us sweat; but if it has to be ten days, then it has to be ten days.
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