All right, this time I get to do this. God bless the miracle of copy and paste.

Note to new participants: Welcome, and good luck. Please read all guidelines carefully. Especially, please make sure to read all the entries and vote by the end of the month. The SOTM is not so much a contest as a feedback exchange. If you have any questions, feel free to ask, either in this thread or via personal message. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

~~Vote by replying to this thread with your five favorites in order:
1st choice- 5 points
2nd place- 4 points
3rd place- 3 points
4th place- 2 points
5th place- 1 point.

~~You're not allowed to vote for your own song.

~~Once you've posted a vote, you're not allowed to change it.

~~Voting continues until the last day of the month ends.

~~Anyone who's participated in a SOTM contest may vote.

~~By entering, you are agreeing to read and comment on all the other entries and vote.

~~Anyone who enters but does not both comment on all entries and vote by the end of the month is disqualified and may not participate next month.

~~In the event of a tie, the parody with the most first place votes wins.
If it's still tied, the parody with the most second place votes wins.
If it's still tied, a brief playoff round will be held.
All participants will have the first week of the month to choose one favorite from among the tied entries.
Tiebreaker voting is strongly encouraged but not required. On the eighth day the one with the most votes win

And heeeeeeeeerrrrre's this month's contestants!

1. The Wreck Of That Dude Bode Miller by Cat

2.Avril Is A Poser by Peter Andersson a.k.a K1chyd

DKTOS?

3. I Can Sue For Millions by Scathe

4.Shadow Prancing by Max Power

OS somewhere on this page...

5. O Gawd! I'm A Gay Cowboy by Matthias

OS here...apparantly

6. Me And My Bobsled, You See by Larry Hensley

7. Scurvy by the_conqueror_of_parodies

DKTOS?

8. No More, Yo-Yo by Adagio

Have a MIDI...

9. Fit You by Rick Cormier

Lyrics here Here's his recording...

10. Nickelodeon Idiot 06: St. Snicky by Chris Bodily TM

A Top Of The Pops performance vid here...

11. The Elephant Man by Jeff Reuben

12. Life In The Daft Lane by Phil Alexander

13. Buzzin' In The Hive by Agrimorfee

Sample if you click on the megaphone... Full mp3 (slightly more useful)

14. Please Invest by Stuart McArthur

15. Can't Find Me A Guy by Arwen

16. Tryst With The Sheep by Red Ant

Une mp3

17. You Bettor You Bet by Confission

18. That's The Subway by 2nz

mp3 here...

19. I'm Walking Home by wannabemustangjockey

20. Mister Bass Man by Rex Ungericht

Tell me if any linkes have gone Grade-A screwy ('are broken' in English). Thanx.

Thanks for putting up the voting thread bobpiecheese.

If you could change the link under my entry to this I'd appreciate it:

DKTOS? Right Click this link to save TOS, then play it



I'd link the site itself, except it has very naughty language.

PS: Keep in mind most of the world will still be in April after it is May 1st in Australia, so the contest should remain open until late night on the 1st. Those on the west coast of the US are probably 16 hours or so behind you.

Twit control will not let me comment on my parody (And it's been A LOT LONGER THAN FIVE frickin' MINUTES!). I am rying to add this little note to my parody, but I guess I'm not allowed to (even if I use an alias to post it, etc.) (Bleep), I hate twit control sometimes!  :-\\ >:(

Anyway, here's what I have to say about the "St. Jimmy" recording:

The top of the Pops performance (http://www.idobi.com/media.wml?vid=30355) does not include the lyrics "Are you talking to me/I'll give you something to talk about," which I parodied as "Rest in peace, Stick Stickly/I'll give Nick something to cry about." And another thing, the video plays more than one song, so don't think I cut the parody short of the original song or added lyrics that weren't in TOS. And good luck to everyone in the contest.

I've still got a few parodies left to read before I cast my votes. My problem is that I can't find a recording of any kind (mp3, MIDI, anything) for "You Better You Bet" and It's got me going nuts! I thought there'd be a MIDI of the song a billion trillion years ago! It's such an underrated song, and I have no way of brushing up on it to vote for the parody. I guess I'll have to ignor TOS and rate it as poetry and only sing the chorus, since that's the only part I really know. But I'm really looking forward to reading "I'm walking home."

Again, good luck to everybody! I've seen nothing but great parodies thus far. :)

Very interesting crowd this month...in my choices I have two people who've never won a SOTM contest (but should), two welcome returns to SOTM competition, and just one consistent veteran. Good job everyone!

5 Points to Jeff Reuben
4 Points to Matthias
3 Points to Stu McArthur
2 Points to Arwen
1 Point to 2nz

...problem is that I can't find a recording of any kind (mp3, MIDI, anything) for "You Better You Bet" and It's got me going nuts! I thought there'd be a MIDI of the song a billion trillion years ago!

You'll find it on this page: http://www.dragonslighting.com/index70.html

And may I recommend: http://www.altavista.com/audio/default

That's where I start when I'm looking for songs I don't already have.


On another note: Rex is giving an URL to TOS for his entry (#20) in the intro on the parody's page, I suggest adding it to the list:
http://rungericht.googlepages.com/contests

This month it was difficult to assemble a Top Five, let alone pick a winner, because there were so many great parodies this month (and I knew most of TOSes-es-es  :P). "I'm Walking Home" was a great one, but I don't know how it would stack up to my Top Five:

1 Point to Stuart McArthur for "Please Invest"
-- It's just funny to goof on "Be Our Guest" and the lyrics were so clever, and you used a double entendre that some people (myself included) didn't even catch.

2 Points to Rick Cormier for "Fit You"
-- I don't think Rick would have made my Top Five without his recording. It kinda makes me curious as to what TOS sounds like. I loved the clever lyrics, especially, "At barbecues, you still yearn for your big steaks." Mmm... steaks.  ;D

3 Points to Arwen for "Can't Find Me a Guy"
-- A long song will usually do very well in a SOTM contest. And I loved how the song just kept going on and on into infinity. And Arwen gets extra credit for having enough stamina to write such a long song that takes forever to parody, and is hard to parody successfully. "American Pie" should go in the Guinness book for the Hardest Song to Parody.

4 Points to Pete Andersson for "Avril is a Poser"
With a little help from the mp3, this parody exploded into a great choice for SOTM, but another parody got in the way (as what happened in the February contest; same author, too) of that happening.

5 Points to..... Red Ant for "Tryst with the Sheep"
Once again, it took Jack Attack to conquer the competition.  :) He went far beyond "Dirty Deeds Done with Sheep" territory and evolved it into this masterpiece. What else can I say? This guy can never Jack up a parody.  ;D And this one couldn't have been baaad if it had wanted to.  ;D

Honorable mentions:

Cat did a superb job on "The Wreck of that Dude Bode Miller," but I don't even know who Bode Miller is. I try to ignor anything sports-related, especially The Olympics. I mean, what the point anyway? Nowadays, it's just an excuse to delay all of the other shows.

The two Who parodies were hilarious, but "I Can Sue for Millions" could have used a little more work. I loved the concept of it and the lyrics were great. As for "You Bettor You Bet," the pacing was a bit off on the last two lines of every verse.

I couldn't imagine John Denver being gay. It was a pretty funny parody, though. And I still don't know what a piddle is.  ;D I thought it was gonna be a parody about Brokeback Mountain. That would have been hilarious, too.

Jeff wrote one mammoth parody when he did "The Elephant Man." I loved all of the jokes about Republicans, pachyderms, herbivores, and John Merrick. It's so sad what happened to that poor guy, though.  :( :-\\

Dean Martin singing about Subways was a very original concept. And I loved the execution: The lyrics were hilarious, even if I got lost in the pacing when Dean Van Halen-ized his vocals.  ;D I wish I could slow down the mp3 to make the parody easier to read. But it was a great read.

"Buzzing in the Hive" is a very buzz-worthy paro-bee. I had to picture Prince singing about bees, but the 2000 line threw me off. If it had been spelled out, maybe if would have been easier to follow. Awesome parody.

Wannabemustangjockey, It's cool how I'm not the only person with a Green Day parody in the SOTM for March.

And last, but certainly not least, I give Rex credit for his creativity and goofiness. It takes talent to come up with a parody like "Mr. Bass Man." That was such a fun read, but sped-up vocals tend to leave me in the dust trying to catch up.

Good luck to everybody!  :)

Okay I'll explain this now... The comment I posted on the top of my parody was a joke! A joke people! A joke!!! O Gawd! I'm A Gay Cowboy! IS about BROKEBACK Mountian!!! Okay just wanted to make that clear... Keep on piddeling...

Honorable mentions:

Cat did a superb job on "The Wreck of that Dude Bode Miller," but I don't even know who Bode Miller is. I try to ignor anything sports-related, especially The Olympics. I mean, what the point anyway? Nowadays, it's just an excuse to delay all of the other shows.

The two Who parodies were hilarious, but "I Can Sue for Millions" could have used a little more work. I loved the concept of it and the lyrics were great. As for "You Bettor You Bet," the pacing was a bit off on the last two lines of every verse.

I couldn't imagine John Denver being gay. It was a pretty funny parody, though. And I still don't know what a piddle is.  ;D I thought it was gonna be a parody about Brokeback Mountain. That would have been hilarious, too.

Jeff wrote one mammoth parody when he did "The Elephant Man." I loved all of the jokes about Republicans, pachyderms, herbivores, and John Merrick. It's so sad what happened to that poor guy, though.  :( :-\\

Dean Martin singing about Subways was a very original concept. And I loved the execution: The lyrics were hilarious, even if I got lost in the pacing when Dean Van Halen-ized his vocals.  ;D I wish I could slow down the mp3 to make the parody easier to read. But it was a great read.

"Buzzing in the Hive" is a very buzz-worthy paro-bee. I had to picture Prince singing about bees, but the 2000 line threw me off. If it had been spelled out, maybe if would have been easier to follow. Awesome parody.

Wannabemustangjockey, It's cool how I'm not the only person with a Green Day parody in the SOTM for March.

And last, but certainly not least, I give Rex credit for his creativity and goofiness. It takes talent to come up with a parody like "Mr. Bass Man." That was such a fun read, but sped-up vocals tend to leave me in the dust trying to catch up.

Good luck to everybody!  :)


Hey, what about me? No fair!


Thanks for putting up the voting thread bobpiecheese.

If you could change the link under my entry to this I'd appreciate it:

DKTOS? Right Click this link to save TOS, then play it



I'd link the site itself, except it has very naughty language.

PS: Keep in mind most of the world will still be in April after it is May 1st in Australia, so the contest should remain open until late night on the 1st. Those on the west coast of the US are probably 16 hours or so behind you.


Don't worry, I will (once I know how ;DI'm not used to this stuff). And as for the dead-line? I can't count votes well. You do it.

And as for the dead-line? I can't count votes well. You do it.


Ahem:


All right, this time I get to do this. God bless the miracle of copy and paste.



Doing "this" includes adding up votes, however, I will add up the votes at the end of the month.

Hey, what about me? No fair!


Sorry!  ;D There's only so much time and space and only so many parodies I can remember. Yours was hilarious, too. It was a tough elimination process for me. I had to first pick out my favorites, and then figure out which ones I wanted in the Top Ten. I re-read all ten parodies and then assembled my Top Five until I only had those five parodies left to vote for. And the rest is history. If I could help it, they would all be voted SOTM because they were all so great. And if I overlooked you in the Honorable Mentions, forgive me.  :)

Truce?  :) Good luck to everybody!

My first cut got it down to 15. My second cut got it down to 12. Any 5 of those 12 could have made my final 5, but here's the final cut:

1 point to Matthias' gay cowboy
2 points to Jeff's elephant man
3 points to Phil's daft lane
4 points to Red Ant's sheep
5 points to Arwen's search for a guy

Ahem:

Doing "this" includes adding up votes, however, I will add up the votes at the end of the month.


Uh, what I meant by me doing this was just starting the thread, that's all. Last time I counted up votes, I minused a point from Spaff, and minused 2 or 4 points from Claude Prez.

Oh, and:


Truce?  :)


Fine, truce. Oh, by the way:


Don't worry, I will (once I know how  ;D I'm not used to this stuff).


The idea for that was for someone to tell me how I'm supposed to do that. So...anyone? I need to know. Like, now. Please?

5pts=Arwen (put a new spin on an old chestnut with humor and poignancy)
4pts=Rex (totally clever ideas on a rarely used song)
3pts=Cat (heavily researched saga worth the effort!)
2pts=Chris (THE rock opera parody for the 21st Century)
1pt=Stu (for investing debentures on his dentures!)

Thanks!

5 points = #9 Rick C.

4 points = #13 Stu

3 points = #17 2nz

2 points = #16 Confission

1 point = #15 Red Ant

Thanks, Pat! :)

You're welcome.  :)

An mp3 for #12 can be found on this page:

http://webjay.org/related/dabnotu/pardonme?count=203

An wma for #10 can be found here:

http://webzoom.freewebs.com/rapcitydog/Green Day/ST. Jimmy.wma

An mp3 for #11 can be found here:

zachsilverstein.name/An Innocent Man.mp3

------------------------------------------------------------------

And that'll be the end of my pinkertonery for this month, I already own and/or know the rest of the songs. But feel free to take a stab at this yourself (it's a great comment to leave), this is a good place to start:

http://www.altavista.com/audio/default

1 point for Jeff Reuben

2 points for Larry Hensley

3 points for Stuart MacArthur

4 points for 2nz

5 points for Arwen

Okay, let's get down to business. Here's my selections for this month, and, for the first time eve, why I chose them!

1 point to Stu McArthur. A parody sung from the perspective of a weeny investor-man (dunno what they're called), based on every parodist's 'must-do' OS.

2 points to wannabemustangjockey. A poor sucker who has to walk home because he can't be stuffed getting his liscence or catching the bus.

3 points to 2nz. Another traffic song, but it's just slightly better because it disses the subway system.

4 points to Red Ant. A very naughty song...maybe too naughty...but who gives a damn these days.

And last, but not least (duh), 5 points to Arwen. Most of her points come from actually attempting to tackle the mostrosity known as American Pie, but she nails it as well.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go judge the Wet T-shirt Contest (which I'm in). And, as a heads-up for next month, I shall tackle the monstrosity....actually I already have, I'll just put it in the comp.

        Cya, the_conqueror_of_parodies
                                      a.k.a. bobpiecheese ;D

5 Points To: Can

1st-the_conqueror_of_parodies' suffering from lack of vitamin c
2nd-Burnt out my legs by wannabemustangjockey
3rd-The Miller Light song by Cat
4th-Brokeback Matthias
5th-Confission's gambling problem

Just A Quick Reminder

Today is April 26, 2006. Therefore, you have from today until Monday, May 1, 2006 to get your votes in. Currently, eleven of you (You know who you are, and I don't mean that accusingly   ;D) haven't gotten your votes in yet. I mean, April isn't gonna last forever, you know. So please make sure you get your votes in ASAP.

Keep the votes coming and good luck to everybody!

To avoid any misunderstandings among first time participants: I

So, after much inebriation, I mean deliberation, here are my top five:

5 points: #15. "Can't Find Me A Guy" by Arwen

4 points: #16. "Tryst With The Sheep" by Red Ant

3 points: #10. "Nickelodeon Idiot 06: St. Snicky" by Chris Bodily TM

2 points: #11. "The Elephant Man" by Jeff Reuben

1 point: #9. "Fit You" by Rick Cormier

Great round everyone. I'll be going away for a while, so I think this will be the last one of these I compete in for a while. It has been excellent joining the SOTM and being about to see the great work and improvement of so many authors. Without such contests, a lazy bum like myself would miss out on all these choice works. So I just wanted to thank you all for a wonderful time. I will be leaving for Montana in mid-May to participate in an Americorps program for six months. I'll make some sort of official thread detailing everything when I find out more.

5 points...Arwen   Can

Thank you Rick.

5 points..............15.  Can't Find Me A Guy by Arwen
4 points..............18.  That's The Subway by 2nz 
3 points..............12.  Life In The Daft Lane by Phil Alexander
2 points..............16.  Tryst With The Sheep by Red Ant 
1 points..............5.    O Gawd! I'm A Gay Cowboy by Matthias

5 pts:  #15 Can't Find Me A Guy-Arwen
4 pts:  #12 Life In The Daft Lane-Phil Alexander
3 pts:  #1 That Wreck of a Skiier, Bode Miller--Cat
2 pts:  #16 Tryst With The Sheep-Red Ant
1 pt:  #14 Please Invest-Stu McArthur

5 points - #11. The Elephant Man by Jeff Reuben
4 points - #15. Can't Find Me A Guy by Arwen
3 points - #14. Please Invest by Stuart McArthur
2 points - #18. That's The Subway by 2nz
1 point  - #20. Mister Bass Man by Rex Ungericht





Just A Quick Reminder

If you don't mind me saying: it's a bit pointless putting this in as a reminder in this thread: if people are looking here, then they don't need reminding.

5 points to #9, Fit You by Rick C.
4 points to #11, Elephant Man by Jeff
3 points to #15, Can't Find Me A Guy by Arwen
2 points to #18, That's the Subway by 2nz
1 point to #14, Please Invest by Stu

5 pts = jeff reuben
4 pts = matthias
3 pts = rex
2 pts = red ant
1 pt = arwen

You HAD to know I was going to do this on the last day...it's kind of my thing... :)


5 points for #11. Jeff Reuben
4 points for #14. Stuart McArthur
3 points for #12. Phil Alexander
2 points for #18. 2nz
1 point for #9. Rick C.


Great job to all...I had fun reading everything this month!

Here I am, late as usual...

5 pts to Arwen for a tasty slice of "Pie"
4 pts to Stu for a real Beast of a parody
3 pts to Cat for a real Wreck of a parody
2 pts to 2nz for a song that's subway but not subpar
1 pt to ChrisBodilyTM for showing me how I wasted my childhood years watching cartoons

5 points for #15. Can't Find Me A Guy by Arwen

4 points for #1. The Wreck Of That Dude Bode Miller by Cat

3 points for #7. Scurvy by the_conqueror_of_parodies

2 points for #13. Buzzin' In The Hive by Agrimorfee

1 point for #11. The Elephant Man by Jeff Reuben

5 Points to Fit You by Rick Cormier
4 Points to The Elephant Man by Jeff Reuben
3 Points to Can't Find Me a Guy by Arwen
2 Points to That's the Subway by 2nz
1 Point to No More, Yo-Yo by Adagio

Here are the results for March SOTM:

1st place with 76 points: Can't Find Me A Guy by Arwen
2nd place with 41 points: Elephant Man by Jeff Reuben
3rd place with 32 points: Please Invest by Stuart McArthur

and the rest:

Red Ant 30
2nz 28
Rick Cormier 19
Cat 16
Phil Alexander 16
Matthias 15
the_conqueror_of_parodies 8
Rex Ungericht 8
Chris Bodily TM 6
wannabemustangjocky 6
Peter Andersson aka K1chyd 5
Confission 3
Lary Hensley 2
Adagio 2
Agrimorfee 2

Congratulations to Arwen, Jeff and Stu.

I'm happy to report no DQs this month.

Great round everyone.

Hang on...a quick count and I'm in...10th place?! Holy crap! That's the best I've had so far! Usually I'm dead last or something ;D. Oh well. Wait 'till you see next month's entry. It's based on the song which Arwen based her entry for this month on...will it go as well? Probably not, as my version is about Transformers, and my first TF-based parody got me dead last...but then, the OS wasn't well known, so that's my fault.

Congratulations to Arwen, Jeff and Stu. :)

2 points for #13. Buzzin' In The Hive by Agrimorfee


Thanks Johnny! 8)

Big congrats to our winners! 8)

Here are the results for March SOTM:

1st place with 76 points: Can't Find Me A Guy by Arwen
2nd place with 41 points: Elephant Man by Jeff Reuben
3rd place with 32 points: Please Invest by Stuart McArthur



Well for heaven's sake...thank you ALL so much... :)

I have often said that I am not in these contests to win them...but merely for the enjoyment of participating.  Yeah, basically, that was before I knew how good it felt to win.  Pretty much, now, if I don't win every month, I'm going to throw the biggest fit EVER.  And, that includes months when I don't write anything worthwhile.  Knowing how likely it will be that I have such months, I would like all of you to take a look at your best efforts and PM them to me so that I can start submitting them under my name.  I'm sure I will be able to find at least one worthy contender every month then...

In all seriousness, I'm pretty sure that this was a fluke of a thing...and I'll go back to being in the "and the rest" category in no time flat...but honestly...for today...I could not be more flattered.  I'm glad you all enjoyed my little lost in love lament...you've all made my day!  :-* :-* :-*

Congrats to Arwen :), Jeff :) and Stu!  :)

Congratulations Arwen, Jeff and Stu.

Congrats Arwen, Jeff, and Stu.

Dang, disqualifiied from the Wildcard Round!!!  ;)

Congratulations to Arwen, who took a tough song and ran with it...running away with the competition as well!

Congrats to Stu on yet another top three finish, and to everyone else for making it a fun month of songs to read.

And thank you for all the congrats...I hope to be more active in the coming months  :)

Wow! Finally, Arwen, you've won, and doggone it, girl, you deserved it! Congrats!!! ;D

Big congrats to Jeff and Stu too for their excellent works!

I'm sure someone will know (Jack?) but is Arwen's total a record winning score? - and is the margin-to-second a record winning margin?  She absolutely made the March comp hers, and it's justice to see the gold finally come her way in such emphatic fashion

congrats too, Jeff - I think I underestimated yours, as it wasn't in my top 5, but a more deliberate re-read to the OS has proven to me how good it actually was.

I'm just rapt to have scraped in third after clocking up so many 1-votes and 2-votes.  I really thought I was out of it, so I was blown away to have snuck in by 2 votes over Jack's hilarious "Sheep Tryst"  I also thought 2nz's "Subway" was ahead of me.

Definitely a quality month.  I don't know if anyone's ever mentioned this ::), but each month seems to get harder :(

 

Congrats to Arwen, Jeff, and Stu.  Especially Arwen with  :o 76 points! :o. That has to be an AmIRight record.  No points for me, but I didn't expect any.  I will do better this month though. :)

I'm sure someone will know (Jack?) but is Arwen's total a record winning score? - and is the margin-to-second a record winning margin?  She absolutely made the March comp hers, and it's justice to see the gold finally come her way in such emphatic fashion



While I haven't been around since the inception of SOTM, I'm fairly certain 76 points is a record (AFAIK the previous record was 69 points, set by Spaff) and so is the margin to second place.

I thank all who voted for/commented on my parody, and for pushing it so close to a bronze medal. I had a good month of writing, which made it difficult to choose what to enter - "Tryst With The Sheep" was my 3rd choice.  :-\\ Still don't know if it was the right choice, but I can't complain at all with how it fared.

While I will be participating in April SOTM and continuing to head up the contest for the year, I may be taking a break from writing for a while. Then again, you never know when creativity will strike...

I'm sure someone will know (Jack?) but is Arwen's total a record winning score? - and is the margin-to-second a record winning margin?  She absolutely made the March comp hers, and it's justice to see the gold finally come her way in such emphatic fashion


All the more remarkable as breaking (tripping?) into the habit of winning seems to be hard enough in the first place, correct me if I'm wrong but I think that last year only saw three or possibly four first time winners over the whole year (though Kristof went home with more than one round under his belt).

Congrats to all the medalists and all the participants who continue to raise the LOL factor every month! ;)

At the risk of seeming curmugeonly, ISTM that the biggest reason that Arwen won by such a large amount is that there simply wasn't the competition that there has been, especially last year: IMO it was possibly the weakest SOTM for a while (including my own entry).  I'm not meaning to take anything away from Arwen's masterpiece, which would have stood up well in any company, but some of the rounds last year had an incredible depth of quality, so that it was touch and go whether some seriously excellent songs would even place, let alone win.  IMO we've not seen anything like it so far this year (and that definitely includes January, where a song which is nothing like as good as nine or ten of my last year's submissions won; when last year I didn't even manage a top three).

I know why my personal output ain't been as good so far... hopefully things'll change for the better over the next month or two... but come on, guys and gals: don't let a lack of Spaff and Kristof lull you into a false sense of security - we still need some sidesplitters for this compo.

On-topic: well done you three... a well deserved dumping from the wildcard round all of you.  As for the rest of us: must do better ;)

At the risk of seeming curmugeonly, ISTM that the biggest reason that Arwen won by such a large amount is that there simply wasn't the competition that there has been

(and that definitely includes January, where a song which is nothing like as good as nine or ten of my last year's submissions won; when last year I didn't even manage a top three).



I totally disagree Phil.  You've mentioned this before, and it's always from the perspective that the reason you didn't place last year was because of Spaff and Kristof.  Maybe you should have.  Maybe you were robbed.  I recall a month last year where you didn't even comment (supposed to be compulsory) on the entries.  Maybe that had something to do with it.

But the new entrants this year (I could name 3 off the top of my head, but that would be unfair to the ones I leave out) have more than filled the gap.  I can say without hesitation that I was as thrilled to win bronze this month as I've been to win any medal (including last year's 2 golds and 2 silvers, and 3 in the SOTY top ten) and I consider my entry this month to be equal if not better than all 4, yet it was lucky to win this month's bronze.

It's just your personal perspective Phil, and it's insulting to those of us (esp. the newer arrivals) who see the quality this year and don't share your 2005 frustration.

I can say without hesitation that I was as thrilled to win bronze this month as I've been to win any medal (including last year's 2 golds and 2 silvers, and 3 in the SOTY top ten)...



Yes, Stuart, we get it...you're good...



It's just your personal perspective Phil, and it's insulting to those of us (esp. the newer arrivals) who see the quality this year and don't share your 2005 frustration.



And THAT is just your personal perspective, Stuart.  I can certainly see quality in this year's work...but I don't feel the least bit insulted by Phil's suggestion that we all step up our game.  There's nothing wrong with hoping that each month we all do a little better than we did the month before...

I totally disagree Phil.  You've mentioned this before, and it's always from the perspective that the reason you didn't place last year was because of Spaff and Kristof.  Maybe you should have.  Maybe you were robbed.  I recall a month last year where you didn't even comment (supposed to be compulsory) on the entries.  Maybe that had something to do with it.

er.. there was a month last year where I was *accused* of not commenting 'cause someone didn't realize that the philbo handle and the "Phil Alexander" parody writer were one and the same.  If I've mentioned this before (though offhand I can't think where), it's 'cause I believe it to be true: I don't believe the quality is as high as last year, and I don't believe it's *just* 'cause Spaff and Kristof aren't around: it's all of us.


But the new entrants this year (I could name 3 off the top of my head, but that would be unfair to the ones I leave out) have more than filled the gap.  I can say without hesitation that I was as thrilled to win bronze this month as I've been to win any medal (including last year's 2 golds and 2 silvers, and 3 in the SOTY top ten) and I consider my entry this month to be equal if not better than all 4, yet it was lucky to win this month's bronze.

I'm sorry, but I don't think they have "more than" filled the gap.  At least, not yet.  I mean no disrespect, but that's simply how I see it.


It's just your personal perspective Phil, and it's insulting to those of us (esp. the newer arrivals) who see the quality this year and don't share your 2005 frustration.

You're trying to make it sound like sour grapes: but did I *at any point whatsoever* last year complain about being frustrated in (nearly) always coming fourth?  You're ascribing motive and attitude to me with no evidence whatsoever.  And wrongly.

I wrote in an apology to anyone insulted by my opinion, then on re-reading deleted it: I am stating an honestly-held opinion, based on the extreme difficulty I have had in the past of cutting down a list to five, let alone putting those five in some kind of order... if you or anyone else wants to feel insulted by it, well I guess that's up to you.  Yes, it is my personal perspective: but a) I think I'm right, and b) it's a free country (on both sides of the pond)


PS
And THAT is just your personal perspective, Stuart.  I can certainly see quality in this year's work...but I don't feel the least bit insulted by Phil's suggestion that we all step up our game.  There's nothing wrong with hoping that each month we all do a little better than we did the month before...

Very diplomatic, Arwen :)

Admittedly, I always knew Philbo and Phil Alexander were the same person, but looking at some parody comments dated around 2004, I saw someone called "Know 1 can hear you dream," and I thought "who the hell is that?" It took me far too long to realize that it's our very own K1chyd! I mean, I never knew it was an acronym, I thought it was just a weird combination of letters and a 1, pronounced "kay-one-chid"

Yes, Stuart, we get it...you're good...




Why the sarcastic swipe, Arwen?  How have I offended you?  I thought I'd been very complimentary to you.  I was only making a comment along the same lines as one of Phil's himself....



But seriously, it feels really strange, having been so nearly there all last year (as Spaff pointed out, I finished fourth four times last year, and fifth/sixth most of the others), to have started this year so positively. 



I made it to support my point, which is that I feel I'm writing better than last year but really fighting to get votes.  I didn't enter January, but my Feb entry tanked because of the quality of the competition.  Yet Phil says the quality is not there, based on the fact that Spaff and Kristof haven't entered and 9 of his 2005 parodies, all "better than his January one" missed medals last year.

That's (edited to: "My point") is a fair point to make and back up I would have thought.  I've also commented somewhere about the number f "last place"s I've had in ABC competitions - how about a matching encouraging comment for that?  ;)

er.. there was a month last year where I was *accused* of not commenting 'cause someone didn't realize that the philbo handle and the "Phil Alexander" parody writer were one and the same.  

You're trying to make it sound like sour grapes: but did I *at any point whatsoever* last year complain about being frustrated in (nearly) always coming fourth?  You're ascribing motive and attitude to me with no evidence whatsoever.  And wrongly.



gee Phil, I'm happy to let all this go thru to the keeper, but I guess it irked me when you put down this year's entrants, when I'm having so much trouble matching their standard.  I realise Spaff and Kristof are in a class of their own, but maybe because of the increase in standard this year (I believe) they know that even more time (than they spent last year) would be needed to produce the quality to compete this year.

You have referred to how you always came close last year without getting the chocolates.  I quote again...



But seriously, it feels really strange, having been so nearly there all last year (as Spaff pointed out, I finished fourth four times last year, and fifth/sixth most of the others), to have started this year so positively. 



I found it hard to digest that from someone who didn't follow the suggested guidelines that everyone else followed last year, by your own admission.  This is from your voting post for the September comp, 2005



Apologies for the lack of comments on all, but I'm off in a few minutes and probably won't be able to get to a computer at least till after the poll closes, so I concentrated on reading 'em.



Everyone uses the "too busy" excuse, but I never buy it.  Noone's time is more important than anyone else's (except maybe Brittany's baby).  At the risk of Arwen telling me "yes Stuart we know how busy you are" I own and run 3 different hospitality businesses, and my wife works every afternoon/evening teaching ballet, so I do most of the housework, all the cooking, and looking after our 3 kids and 2 exchange students who live with us. 

But I have never not commented on a parody in any competition, and I've never been late voting, because I just stay up an extra hour or so some nights to do it.  When people say they don't have time to comment (in a whole month), it irks me.

It may also have irked Agri, Red Ant, Cait, Adagio, Arwen, Tim, Rick, 2nz, Johnny D, Mikey, larry, Your Worst Nightmare, and Mystery Goat that their September entries last year didn't have one comment from you, either on release-date or during the comp.  How do any of us know you even read our entries before allocating votes?  The (new) rule is designed to prevent that unsureness and ensuing bad karma from happening and affecting voting.

I have still included you in my votes after that (this month even) but I could well understand any bad karma it may have caused.

I also note that Spaff proposed his rule change for compulsory commenting just after that September comp (a comp I came 4th in, Arwen  :-*)

Congratulations to Arwen  ;D , Jeff  ;D , and Stu  ;D ! 

Especially to Arwen -- awesomely magnificent American Pie parody, m'lady -- one of the Mount Everests of OS's to parody, and you conquered the summit in style!

Why the sarcastic swipe, Arwen?  How have I offended you? 



Oh for Heaven's sake...who says you offended me?  I was only teasing.  It just struck me as a bit funny...that you were listing off all of your previous successes...



Yet Phil says the quality is not there, based on the fact that Spaff and Kristof haven't entered...



Hmmm...Phil said that he's seen a lack of quality...AND Phil said that Spaff and Kristof haven't entered...but I never thought that Phil was implying that Spaff and Kristof ARE/WERE the quality that he's missing.  I don't think that was his intent, anyway...



I've also commented somewhere about the number f "last place"s I've had in ABC competitions - how about a matching encouraging comment for that?  ;)



You realize that you've won more ABC contests than I have, don't you?  I mean, seriously...what am I supposed to encourage you to do?  Keep kicking my ass? ;)

At the risk of Arwen telling me "yes Stuart we know how busy you are"



::)

Well, I was all set to post a rather lenghty reply here but I think I'll pass for now....

...that you were listing off all of your previous successes...



whoops, thought you sounded exasperated with the "we get it" bit - my apologies 8)




Hmmm...Phil said that he's seen a lack of quality...AND Phil said that Spaff and Kristof haven't entered...but I never thought that Phil was implying that Spaff and Kristof ARE/WERE the quality that he's missing.  I don't think that was his intent, anyway...



yes and I was saying the lack of quality is Phil's opinion only, which he's entitled to have, but not entitled to expect us all to immediately share (to the point where he has the right to rally us all to lift our game).  As I said, I don't share his opinion, and have the exact opposite opinion.

re the Kristof/Spaff thing, that was one of two reasons Phil gave for drawing his opinion, and I listed them both, and I think that was his intent - nothing wrong with that either - he was just explaining why he had his opinion, which is a good thing :)



You realize that you've won more ABC contests than I have, don't you?  I mean, seriously...what am I supposed to encourage you to do?  Keep kicking my ass? ;)



Oh for Heaven's sake...who says you offended me?  I was only teasing.  It just struck me as a bit funny....
(hee hee)  (.....er, that "hee hee" was NOT sarcastic, darling  :-*)


:) :) :)

...I saw someone called "Know 1 can hear you dream," and I thought "who the hell is that?" It took me far too long to realize that it's our very own K1chyd! I mean, I never knew it was an acronym, I thought it was just a weird combination of letters and a 1, pronounced "kay-one-chid"


I get that a lot because that's the way it looks upon first glance. It's an old acronym not even originally created by myself and it originates from a sci-fi forum where I dwelled and had my brain hyperrotting away before I found Amiright. (Pronounce it with the hard/spitting type of K as Klingons do with say Q in "Q'pla"). I now wish I had never brought it here in the first place but when I signed up for this here forum the full name was too long for the entry field and it seemed that reusing it was the logical thing to do. But on the other hand I also wish that I had never used the full phrase as my author name to begin with, if I were to start over totally today I would use my own name and that only on both parodies and here, but it wasn't until after almost 200 parodies I realised that. Maybe I've grown too old for this internet funny name and identity thing everyone does at some time, maybe this is the place where I finally found my own identity, maybe it's my chromosomes that makes it hard for me to keep more than one ball in the air at the same time, maybe it's all of the above, whatever it is and/or was the compromise was to change my author name from "Know 1 can hear you dream" to "Peter Andersson a.k.a K1chyd" and luckily Chucky agreed to have the name altered on all my old parodies too, something he has only done for two persons as far as I know (Ethan Mayer used to be "Tone Def" when I first found this place, if I'm not mistaken) after long hard service and different kinds of voluntary help with the site, community and everything. That also being very time consuming for him (it has to be done manually, one parody at the time) he then wanted me to put it in the FAQ that there will be no more such name changes unless he can come up with an easy to use script for it and that everyone has to live with the author name they choose, or start from scratch with a new name. Luckily for you I guess there's really no need to have an acronym for Cat! Maybe when you start winning these comps we'll start refer to you as "Big C", but that's still one letter more than the original name! (And if you start to spend too much time on your ass writing parodies to be that Big C you might end up Big B instead, so be careful). :)

Cat isn't actually my real name, but it is a shortened version of sorts of my real name.

I just use it basically everywhere on the Internet, since it's easy to remember and almost impossible to misspell...unlike my real name, which EVERYONE misspells. And I've always thought of myself as being somewhat feline, also.

Ah, what the hell! Since everybody's busy spilling the beans on what their names mean, might as well join the fun. Mine was based on an attempt by one of my teacher's to give me a nickname (The Conqueror). Bobpiecheese, on the other hand, derives from my little brother. He repeatedly says 'pie' and 'cheese' for no apparant reason. He also has a penguin sticker on his glasses which he calls 'Bob'. Hence, 'bobpiecheese'.