Discussion thread -- October 2015 75-word Writing Challenge

[ratsy]

Well we do have a lot of moose around here...but I don't know who Russ Abbott is. We also have beavers...on our money....

 

[Perpetual Man]

Just got back from a week away, and am painfully aware that I`m behind with the comments. Apologies to those waiting, I`ll get them done tomorrow. (I hope).

Better late than never and all that!

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

holland (noun) -- An experiment with unexpected, dangerous results. ("Historians believe that Ben Franklin's famous experience with a kite could have resulted in a holland and electrocuted him.")

 

[chrispenycate]

And 42! Thank you Parson.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Parson (noun) -- Political satire offered in the form of an allegorical story. ("George Orwell's Animal Farm is an outstanding example of a Parson dealing with Stalinism.")

 

[Saharren]

So, is 42 a desired number because it's a sizable number of entries, or because it's the answer to the Ultimate Question?

And on a side note, now I need to decide what to put up in the critique section first

 

[Phyrebrat]

I'm sure Ursa's copy of Russ Abbott's Bumper Big Book of Puns is looking decidedly dog-eared.

EDIT: just remembered. You're Canadian. You won't have a clue who Russ Abbott is.
EDIT #2: then again, he did a sketch with a moose. So maybe you do.

Name drop alert: I used to have the same agent as Russ Abbott but I never got to meet him (I did meet Roy 'say what you see' Walker who was a bit... Er... Messy, George Michael - before loo-gate, Naomi 'revolting' Campbell, armand Asante and the cast of the Bill - this was in 1994 tho). As you might have realised my name never became recognisable so you can deduce my singing career never took off )

 

[Ursa major]

The Challenge has now been closed to new entries, and voting is open at the following link:

POLL -- OCTOBER 2015 75 Word Challenge -- READ FIRST POST!​

​

(Note that Daylight Saving will have ended for a lot of us, so make sure you don't miss the deadline.)

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Short List

Glen

Cat's Cradle

Kerrybuchanan

Hex

Robert Mackay

TitaniumTi

Starbeast

willwallace

StilLearning

HareBrain

holland

Parson

WINNER

"The Ministry of Language and Linguistics" by DG Jones

As you can see, there were many fine entries this month, and whittling them down to a short list was very difficult. After much consideration, I had to go with this Kafkaesque nightmare.

 

[Parson]

So, is 42 a desired number because it's a sizable number of entries, or because it's the answer to the Ultimate Question?

Ah, you have to talk to one of us aged members to know that context. ..... When the first challenge came out there was wide speculation about how many entries we would have, 12? 20? 24? but the real answer was entry 42. It blew us away. It was amazing that many people entered. We thought that the next month it would have to go down, but no.... 42 again. Since that time it has never dipped below 42 and that has become the magic number of a successful challenge.

Speaking of successful challenges.... I thought that the quality of the stories was outstanding this month. (And I am not one who often utters those words.) ---- I actually thought that the challenge had many of its best stories in the Fantasy realm. (I have never uttered those words before!) There were many stories that could have made my short list, so instead I posted a list of serious contenders.


Glen ---- Broca's
Victoria Silverwolf ---- Love Letters
Hazel Rah --- Muted
Kerrybuchanan ---Vive Quercus Robur
Mosaix ---- Out of the Mouths
The Judge ---- Graffiti Gongorism

In the end the two that left the greatest impression on me were Mosaix's and Glen's stories. One vote, so by a hair. Glen's story of a disease taking language away won the day. I loved the line about how the word succumbing made the author weep.


Victoria, Thanks so much for the lovely review and the much appreciated short listing! I love the idea of the noun you made out of Parson.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

So, is 42 a desired number because it's a sizable number of entries, or because it's the answer to the Ultimate Question?

Parson has eloquently explained the history, but yes, also because it's 42.

 

[Hex]

There were an unusual number of stories this month that I really liked but didn't understand.

But still, that was a struggle. I have now whittled things down to a short list, special mentions, and ***vote***

Jo

Cyprus7

mosaix

HareBrain

TJ

Ashleyne

Droflet

Juliana

Kerry

TitaniumTi

Glen

Victoria Silverwolf

***DG Jones*** (loved this from the moment I read it)

 

[Dan Jones]

Wow, thanks Hex and Victoria, that's a very pleasant surprise to wake up to

I feel like I've already earned my coffee!

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I fear I was in the mood for a smile when I read last night, and my shortlist was Victoria, Kerry, Juliana and Starbeast with the two comedy entries (Ju and Beastie) competing for the vote. In the end, Starbeast edged it.

 

[Droflet]

Okay, that time of the month again. Insert traditional sigh here. Firstly, every entry deserves, at least, a mention. But life is unfair.

Glen: Tragically beautiful. And so close.

Ashleyene: Simple, clever, innovative, hilarious. I'm a sucker for a dog story.

Bowler: Not bad, until the end. That line floored me.

Hex: Moving. And so, so close.

TiTi: Heartbreaking.

Mad Alice: Oh, you clever sausage.

VB: Convoluted, yet smart and worthy of a laugh out loud.

Cul: Diplomatic beer. Wonderful. Cheers.

Ursa: Astounding wordplay. Smart, smart writing.

Very well, so much for the losers. Cough. Seriously now folks, well done to everyone.

Glen got the gold this month. Wow, just wow. (how's that for wordplay.)

And a mention from the multi taloned one. Thanks muchly, Hex.

 

[holland]

The Judge got my vote this month.

Runner-up is DG Jones.

Great challenge, everyone

 

[Droflet]

My head is obviously some place without light. Sorry Glen, great story but my vote went to DG. Sorry for the mix up. I've got an excuse. No really, I do. I'm thick.

 

[Perpetual Man]

johnnyjet – Obtenemos jump'éel ts'áik toma ka tuukulile' ti' le interpretación lak u le t'aano' ka bix u percibe, particularmente uts in u tuukulile' t'aano' tuláakal tu beetaj ti' juntúule'. Le tséel éek'joch'e'en le ba'ala' jach lamentable.

MB – தொடர்பு ஒரு மாறுபட்ட அணுகுமுறை ஆகும் என்று ஒரு பெரிய வேடிக்கை கதை. என்ன ஒரு வன்முறை இருப்பதையும் காணலாம் உண்மையில் மற்றொரு பேசி ஒரு முறை ஆகும். ப்ளடி வலி நீ என்னை என்ன கேட்க என்றாலும் என்றால்!

Mad Alice – Portağal və limon, vaxt demək bir doğum elan və ya bəlkə, daha da əhəmiyyətlisi xəbərdarlıq səs, bir çox səbəblərə görə səsləndi bilər Bells təmiz dil (və ya bəlkə bir bayram - dragons ilə bilir)

Venusian Broon – Մի հետաքրքիր սցենար խաղում է, եւ հարցնում է, իրոք, կարեւոր հարց - ինչ է տեղի ունենում, երբ տրանսպորտային միջոցներ են cobbled միասին տարբեր աղբյուրներից, եթե տեխնոլոգիան հասել է մի կետի, որտեղ տարբեր բաղադրիչներն ունեն տարբեր արհեստական միտքը, թե ինչ հակամարտությունների կարող են առաջանալ.

TDZ – Denean bi espezie hizkuntza ezberdinetan topo egin arte etorri ahal gaizki ulertu zoragarriak dira, ez bakarrik, baina adin-taldeen artean komunikatzeko etortzen diren zailtasunak ez dago bat ere. Nahiko lotsa benetan.

Cul – Не толькі выдатны непаразуменне, што можа прыйсці, калі два выгляду сустрэцца з розных мовах, але ёсць таксама цяжкасці, якія прыходзяць, калі сувязі паміж узроставымі групамі. Даволі няёмка на самай справе.

HB – Un concepte interessant, l'efecte d'una paraula i el significat associat darrere de la paraula podria tenir en una cultura, potser transmetre el llenguatge de l'energia podria tenir, sobretot quan no s'entén realment.

TJ – શું તેઓ તે માટે બતાવવા માટે હોય છે બધા તેમને તેમના નોકરીદાતા ની આંખો માં ઓછા લાગે છે કે જે સરળ સંદેશ છે, ખાસ કરીને જ્યારે જાહેર બુદ્ધિ લોકો તેમના બુદ્ધિ ના ભ્રમ પ્રયાસ કરો અને જાળવી રાખવા માટે પર જશે લંબાઇ? (અલબત્ત તેઓ ... તેને અનુવાદિત કરવાની વ્યવસ્થા નહોતી)

Ursa – Raws li ib tug yuav xav tias yuav tau muab lub sij hawm mus ua si nrog xws li ib tug kev kawm raws li cov lus ib tug tej yam Xyooj yog pub khiav dawb nrog nws lo lus ua si thiab muab ib zaj dab neeg uas nyeem zoo li ib tug sib cav ntawm cov kws txawj thiab xaus nrog ib tug punchline yuav zoo siab rau.

Holland – සාමය අවසාන අවියක් කිරීමට හේතු විය හැකිද? විශාල කල්පිතය ලබා දී ඇති බව සිත්ගන්නා සංකල්පය - කොපමණ වචනවල අර්ථය අපට බලපාන්නේ කෙසේද? ප්රචණ්ඩත්වය සහ යුද්ධය සඳහා සියළුම වචන ඉවත් කරන්නේ නම් එය සාමකාමී පැවැත්ම අදහස් කරන බව, නැතහොත් එය හුදෙක් එහි සිදු කිරීමට වෙන දෙයක් සඳහා විවෘත මාර්ගය දාලා යන්නේ?

and with all these languages flying around it would not seem right to not have one in English:

Parson – There could be sinister overtones in misunderstanding the spoken word. Deliberately doing that in order to ferment an alliance might seem to be expedient for one side, on the other it is a dangerous game for those who might not feel they are, or even understand they are bound by what has been signed.

 

[Dan Jones]

That is one admirable effort, Tim! A Babel of reviews

My head is obviously some place without light. Sorry Glen, great story but my vote went to DG. Sorry for the mix up. I've got an excuse. No really, I do. I'm thick.

Oh Drof, you sure do know how to make a gal feel guilty.

But I ain't no gal

 

[Juliana]

Thank you for the listing, Hex and Jo (and the almost-vote, Jo!).

My vote went to Victoria's story, which tugged at my heart from the moment I read it.

Lots of terrific stories this month and it was tough to come up with a short list. But I eventually did, so mentions to: Ashleyne, Hex, Ratsy, DG Jones, Phyrebrat, TitaniumTi, Mad Alice, HareBrain and TJ.