whoa, WAY to get grumpy, Jack!  Good on you for letting off steam.  I'm on record recently as saying there should be more of it.  If you think it, say it. Don't pretend to be happy with things if you're not. As long as you don't hide your grumpiness behind a pathetic pseudonym, where's the harm?  All of us here are "grown-ups" (to borrow Claude's amusing term above) and can handle a bit of passion 8).  We're not delicate flowers

Having said that, I agree broadly with you, but because I value comments WAY more than votes, I kind of assumed everyone did.  I'm hardly even aware of my vote tallies after they pass 10.  So although I ALWAYS leave a comment and have never missed, I don't always vote (maybe 60%).  My rationale for this is dodgy too I admit.  I've always felt that because the parodies I'm reading are entered in a comp, I'm not reading them voluntarily, so the votes are just an extra attention to detail that I don't worry too much about.

HOWEVER, after reading a recent PM from you Jack, I realise that votes DO matter to other people.  So, since then I've endeavoured to leave votes on entries that I haven't already voted on. 

...and I sure hope I did that on your ABC3-B entry Jack!!  I'm pretty sure I did.

...and Jack! please don't quit the ABCs.  Read my intro to the ABC Honour List thread.  I believe the ABCs are great.  I think they're the only chance we get to trot out our favourite old parodies for another whirl.  And the ABCs are really there for the true amiright stayers, as we're the ones who have a range of each letter to choose from.  You're definitely a stayer Jack, so the ABCs NEED (cut to close-up of my pleading face :\'() you.....

over

Try as I did to WILL Kristof to get his votes in, alas the deadline won, and Kristof (for the first time??) is disqualified from the C round - sorry mate :\'(......and forfeits his 21 points


1st place    (GOLD):                    Rex.........................28 points

2nd place (tied)     (SILVER):      Jeff Reuben...............20 points

2nd place (tied)     (SILVER):      Rick Cormier...............20 points


then...

Agrimorfee     19 points
Stu McArthur  15 points
Red Ant         13 points
Johnny D         8 points
Matthias           6 points

congrats to Rex and his wild ways, and also to Jeff and Rick
:)





Congratulations, Rex, Jeff, and Rick !  ;D

Wow! Thanks everyone. I'm going to go celebrate by bungee jumping off the curb.  :D

So close to a third place, yet so far away! (grrr Kristof!), but congrats to our Gold and Silver co-winners!

But all seriousness aside (thank you Steve Allen),
I will admit I haven't always voted while reviewing for contests. If a song I hadn't read before just blows me away as a 555-level material, chances are I will add the vote that at that point. If I'm not so impressed, there will be a comment but not necessarily the vote. My mind at that point is trying to focus on judging the parody amongst others, not so much on its own merit. And sometimes my time is limited.

I am not fussy...votes or comments...one or the other are better than nothing at all.

So, by similar reasoning, anyone not leaving any comments at all (not even a lame ass cop-out "DKTOS") is more deserving of a Grudge Ruling, Am I Right?



Jack, mate....
Just because I was too crap and disorganised to vote in this contest, doesn't mean I'm not going to go back, read EVERY entry, and vote and comment appropriately. Just give me a bit of time, OK? I stand by my comment re. the Grudge Rule, which is why within the next 24 hours I will honour my commitment. So chill out, have a beer and check your entry tomorrow...
Peace, friend.

Thanks for the votes guys. Sorry to have voted so late myself.  :) :) :)

Well...that sucked. I won't be able to enter in the C's, but I will be in the D's. Hopefully I'll do slightly better in the D's...like get one vote...

I agree with Jack's gripe, since I read, comment and vote on every parody I read. While the votes aren't as important to me as the comments, I still value them and, have noticed a real drop-off in them in the year and four months I've been around.

Amiright is changing and, not for the better. A lot of people are writing just for the contests but, the real Amiright is in the daily postings. Not many people go there any more, judging by the lack of votes and comments I've seen lately. If people are reading the daily posts, where's the evidence? It's like a deserted playground to me.

When I first came on, it wasn't unusual to see 14 votes sometimes in one day and a string of comments on a good parody. Go check it out now. If you get half of that, you're lucky. Most get far less.

People are entering SOTM contests now with parodies that have no place in a SOTM round and being as rude and inconsiderate as what is going on at Amiright.

None of this is aimed at you, Kristof. It's been building up around here for awhile now. I appreciate your being back.

I guess I just miss the old days and, am wondering if they'll ever be back.

I agree with Jack's gripe, since I read, comment and vote on every parody I read. While the votes aren't as important to me as the comments, I still value them and, have noticed a real drop-off in them in the year and four months I've been around.

Amiright is changing and, not for the better. A lot of people are writing just for the contests but, the real Amiright is in the daily postings. Not many people go there any more, judging by the lack of votes and comments I've seen lately. If people are reading the daily posts, where's the evidence? It's like a deserted playground to me.

When I first came on, it wasn't unusual to see 14 votes sometimes in one day and a string of comments on a good parody. Go check it out now. If you get half of that, you're lucky. Most get far less.

People are entering SOTM contests now with parodies that have no place in a SOTM round and being as rude and inconsiderate as what is going on at Amiright.

None of this is aimed at you, Kristof. It's been building up around here for awhile now. I appreciate your being back.

I guess I just miss the old days and, am wondering if they'll ever be back.




Thanks for that, Rick...I'm feeling mighty guilty about missing the deadline, but i always try to do my best to comment on others work. <br>
That said, I have to agree with you. A lot of the old stalwarts are notable by their absence nowadays, and Amiright seems to have lost it's sense of community. A lot of the new writers (not all, but a lot) don't seem to be bothered with reading others work, which makes me sad. 2004/5 seems like a golden age now, and (dare I say it) the quality of much that is submitted now seems a bit lacking.<br>
So, to all the true Amirighters...come back! We need you!

Having said that, I agree broadly with you, but because I value comments WAY more than votes, I kind of assumed everyone did. 


I too value comments much more than votes, but I think the only person on the site who would be happy if they got lots of comments and NO votes is Offender. And I need to correct myself in one way as well: 111s do not bother me at all anymore; heck, I've submitted a few pieces (my version of "Imagine" comes to mind) with the hope and intention of drawing 1-votes.

However, part of feedback in these contests IMO is a vote, especially if you know that entry may not make your top 5.


...and I sure hope I did that on your ABC3-B entry Jack!!  I'm pretty sure I did.


Yes, you were one of 2 in this contest who commented on and voted my entry the day it was posted.


...and Jack! please don't quit the ABCs.  Read my intro to the ABC Honour List thread.  I believe the ABCs are great.  I think they're the only chance we get to trot out our favourite old parodies for another whirl.  And the ABCs are really there for the true amiright stayers, as we're the ones who have a range of each letter to choose from.  You're definitely a stayer Jack, so the ABCs NEED (cut to close-up of my pleading face :\'() you....

I'm still undecided about the ABCs. I read your intro; it's great and I think submitting that thread as a news article to AmIRight might generate more interest in the contests.


Jack, mate....
Just because I was too crap and disorganised to vote in this contest, doesn't mean I'm not going to go back, read EVERY entry, and vote and comment appropriately. Just give me a bit of time, OK? I stand by my comment re. the Grudge Rule, which is why within the next 24 hours I will honour my commitment. So chill out, have a beer and check your entry tomorrow...
Peace, friend.


Ahh, Kristof, man I'm sorry I unloaded on you like that. I see you've commented on all entries, and I'm sure everyone appreciates that. I in particular appreciate it, as my parody was a major stretch in type of music for me, style (syllable matching), as well as a dialectic piece, which you do so well.


I agree with Jack's gripe, since I read, comment and vote on every parody I read. While the votes aren't as important to me as the comments, I still value them and, have noticed a real drop-off in them in the year and four months I've been around.


I've noticed this since the beginning of the year, starting with my Jan SOTM entry, which post-contest picked up less votes (a total of 9) than 4 of my other non-contest parodies which were posted in January.

That trend has continued more or less throughout the year. I know I've been writing better this year, yet every single 2005 SOTM entry I had (even the crap ones) did better than even my best 2006 entries.




Amiright is changing and, not for the better. A lot of people are writing just for the contests but, the real Amiright is in the daily postings. Not many people go there any more, judging by the lack of votes and comments I've seen lately. If people are reading the daily posts, where's the evidence? It's like a deserted playground to me.



I know this isn't directed at me, but I'll say that the last 2 months have been hell at work for me. We're on the verge of losing a 1.1 million dollar contract because of severe mismanagement. If we do, I'll be out of a job as the company will more than likely fail. So, all the 55+ hour weeks I've worked in the past 2 months will have been for nothing.

Anyway, I hope to have more free time to devote to AmIRight in the next month or two, but honestly I'm a bit burned out right now. Posting an average of 4 parodies a week for 17 months in a row is not an easy thing to do. Add in editing duties, d/l songs, contest entries, etc. and I probably need a break.


When I first came on, it wasn't unusual to see 14 votes sometimes in one day and a string of comments on a good parody. Go check it out now. If you get half of that, you're lucky. Most get far less.


I remember the first parody I saw with those kinds of numbers: Spaff's "Enter Cupid" with 15 or so votes opening day. I never dreamed when I first started writing that I'd see those kinds of numbers. Heck, for a while I didn't think I'd even see a single 555, lol.

Due to the different types of parodies I write and the OSs they are set to, I never can estimate how well a song will do. For example, I never expect anything more than 4 votes on an Alice in Chains' parody. That is solid DKTOS territory for all but about 5 people on AmIRight.

Back on topic, I agree that many people are getting overlooked big time. I saw a newbie post a "Yesterday" parody a while back that picked up 1 vote (I gave it). That's simply pathetic all around.

Another problem I see is that newbies (and many veterans) either don't comment or don't stick around long enough to enjoy this hobbie. I've lost track of how many newer authors I dumped loads of time into encouraging only to see them not reciprocate one bit (toward anyone, not just me). I'd estimate that only 5% of newbies are going to make the author list, and only 1% will stick with this long enough to submit a bio.


People are entering SOTM contests now with parodies that have no place in a SOTM round and being as rude and inconsiderate as what is going on at Amiright.



On the flip side too many good parodies are not entered into SOTM. I wish more people had accounts here, especially AFW and Alvin Rhodes who consistently write a lot of good material.


Thanks for that, Rick...I'm feeling mighty guilty about missing the deadline, but i always try to do my best to comment on others work. <br>
That said, I have to agree with you. A lot of the old stalwarts are notable by their absence nowadays, and Amiright seems to have lost it's sense of community. A lot of the new writers (not all, but a lot) don't seem to be bothered with reading others work, which makes me sad. 2004/5 seems like a golden age now, and (dare I say it) the quality of much that is submitted now seems a bit lacking.<br>
So, to all the true Amirighters...come back! We need you!


I've lost count of how many good authors, who were very active in 2005, are not around at all anymore. It's probably well over a dozen. I'm also dismayed by how many veteran authors (read: several of the top 10 on the authors' list) never seem to want, appreciate, nor give feedback.

A lot of people are writing just for the contests but, the real Amiright is in the daily postings. Not many people go there any more, judging by the lack of votes and comments I've seen lately. If people are reading the daily posts, where's the evidence? It's like a deserted playground to me.


I remember the good old days when a good new parody never got less than 5 votes and comments on the first day, often more than 10, but I'm not sure it has got to do with the contests. Well not all of it anyway, one factor is surely that Chucky has bumped the Latest Song Parody Lyrics down south on the front page (they used to be on top when I was a Noob) and the not-writing-themselves readers don't find them as easily now. I've brought this up with him in some other thread and he has some good reasons for it, misheard lyrics are far more visited for one, but needless to say "our" section is not picking up speed down there.

As for the contests I think that the rules are pretty clear, but it wouldn't hurt if they were also CLEARLY displayed on top of this thread:

http://www.inthe00s.com/index.php?topic=1709.msg52139#msg52139

this is the thread that gets linked to from the front page of Amright once every month, hence possibly the way some newbies find out about the contests, at worst possibly even before they've found and/or familiarized themselves with the full parody section on the front page (and the way feedback exchange used to be)!

So, by similar reasoning, anyone not leaving any comments at all (not even a lame ass cop-out "DKTOS") is more deserving of a Grudge Ruling, Am I Right?

Like I've said before, it's a good thing I don't carry grudges.

I'm stating for the record now that, if the entrant hasn't gone back and commented on all parodies from the contest in which they were DQed, any pleas of mercy in the future will summarily get a "no" answer from me.

Sorry if I'm coming off as a supreme prick, but I'm also less than thrilled to enter a contest (where 8 of the 10 entrants hadn't seen my parody prior, myself not included) in which I picked up 2 new votes. I'm not saying by any means you have to vote 555 (there are 124 other ways to fill in the dots), but a non-vote is more insulting to me than a 111.

While I'm pretty much destroying any good standing I might have with anyone who read this, I would also like to say that this has been going on for a lot longer than just this contest. I frankly don't see much point in entering these anymore (or even SOTM) if 1/2-3/4 of the entrants can't return me a simple courtesy that I extend to them. sheesh, if you DKTOS that's fine, if you can't or dont have time download songs, that's fine, but you could trust the other 10+ people who rated the pacing as a 5, or even *gasp* give the author credit or benefit of the doubt.

And no, I didn't vote Matthias' entry this round for reasons I already stated (sorry Matthias). That is a very rare exception though.

I'll continue heading up every third letter and SOTM contests, but if you don't see me entering them now you know why.

Oh, and by the way, this rant and problem is not entirely a new one (bold added by me)

EDIT: More bolding added:

And this:

Have a field day tearing me to shreds over this.........


Nobody will tear you to shreds, Jack... ;)  But I want to put my 1/2 penny in, not so eloquently as Jack put it.  Most know that a lot of the parodies I write are serious, therefore not really contest winners.  I used to be able to count on comments and parody votes( I never ask for straight 5's) to give that parody more exposure. Unfortunately, that's not the case anymore.

I don't read all the parodies that are submitted on Amiright, but in a contest, since I like comments and parody votes I comment and vote (with very rare exception). But, I very rarely get votes and comments back.

So, I am also leaving the contests.  I have to for my ego (what?  everybody here has an ego  ;D)

I think I once brought up the idea that the mandatory comments should ALL be done on the voting threads instead of the usual place, the comments fields on the individual parodies. I still think that's an alternative. The way things are going it's definitely an alternative.

That would work if everyone commented and entered the contests...not so in either case.

I would also blame lessning of participation in voting and comments from simple DKTOS. In recent weeks, I have sees very few songs in the New Entries that I have ever heard or heard of. I also look for veteran authors who I can rely on for a good chuckle, and sometimes they just aren't around. It's pretty arbitrary how I approach the site.

I would also blame lessning of participation in voting and comments from simple DKTOS. In recent weeks, I have sees very few songs in the New Entries that I have ever heard or heard of. I also look for veteran authors who I can rely on for a good chuckle, and sometimes they just aren't around. It's pretty arbitrary how I approach the site.


Exactly, Agri...
(And this is where I'm going to get ripped to shreds)

There seems to be two types of writer on Amiright:
1) The True Parodist: Tends to be older (though not necessarily...we've got some very good and committed young writers), OS selection more from the 60s to 80s with a smattering of 90s and current music. Writes about a wide variety of things, takes great care, votes and gives feedback, and sticks around.
2) The Juvie: Usually in their teens. Parodies are often badly paced, with poor spelling, and about subjects dear to the parodist and of absolutely no interest to most other people. OS selection is firmly in the "now": it seems they don't believe music existed before 2005. Rarely read, vote or comment on others work...or acknowledge when someone has taken the time to vote and comment on their own pieces. Don't tend to stick around for very long.

It seems that recently the TPs are disappearing, and there is a Juvie glut on the daily postings...hence there's less for the still visible TPs to get excited about...and the downward spiral continues

Quite a while ago, I wrote a parody called "Newbie Tuesday", appealing for established writers to support up-and-comers for the sake of the site and parody writing in general. While, at first glance, it looks like I'm now being a hypocrite...I don't think so. There is a big difference between Newbies and Juvies...Newbies, with nurturing, can become TPs...Juvies never will. The problem is working out which is which.

Exactly, Agri...
(And this is where I'm going to get ripped to shreds)

There seems to be two types of writer on Amiright:
1) The True Parodist: Tends to be older (though not necessarily...we've got some very good and committed young writers), OS selection more from the 60s to 80s with a smattering of 90s and current music. Writes about a wide variety of things, takes great care, votes and gives feedback, and sticks around.
2) The Juvie: Usually in their teens. Parodies are often badly paced, with poor spelling, and about subjects dear to the parodist and of absolutely no interest to most other people. OS selection is firmly in the "now": it seems they don't believe music existed before 2005. Rarely read, vote or comment on others work...or acknowledge when someone has taken the time to vote and comment on their own pieces. Don't tend to stick around for very long.

It seems that recently the TPs are disappearing, and there is a Juvie glut on the daily postings...hence there's less for the still visible TPs to get excited about...and the downward spiral continues

Quite a while ago, I wrote a parody called "Newbie Tuesday", appealing for established writers to support up-and-comers for the sake of the site and parody writing in general. While, at first glance, it looks like I'm now being a hypocrite...I don't think so. There is a big difference between Newbies and Juvies...Newbies, with nurturing, can become TPs...Juvies never will. The problem is working out which is which.


I'm not going to rip you to shreds, as I agree 100% with this. "The problem is working out which is which."; I have my own less than scientific, and perhaps unfair, method for doing this, but in a nutshell:

1: If I KTOS, I'll read the parody, regardless of who wrote it. Newbies/juvies are at a disadvantage here since I don't know nearly as many 2000s tunes as prior decades.
2: It's a fairly safe bet that someone with a screen name of 'biggestGREENDAYfanever!1111' or something equivalent is probably a juvie.
3: I would think that anyone truly interested in writing parodies could make it to 10 without much feedback. If I see a newbie whose name is highlighted (indicating an author's page listing), and they still aren't getting feedback, I'll spend more time with them as they seem to have the will/drive to continue on.
4: Sticking to 2000s tunes more or less pins one's age at <16.

I'm surprised though that newbies/juvies don't even comment on each other's works much.

And seriously, how hard is the concept of reciprocity? Do newer authors need this spelled out for them? Maybe they (juvies/newbies) think they are going to be the next Weird Al, and there is a whole world of people who do nothing but read parodies on this site. Maybe they don't care about votes/comments. Who knows?

I've read 3 parodies so far today (I knew TOSs); a plagiary, a fragment, and a plea by a newbie who shows promise. Sadly, this isn't really too far outside a typical newbie/juvie day.

I guess I could give up on newbies altogether, but I remember some cool authors encouraging me to stick around.

Regarding DKTOSs, I too usually know a small percentage of songs posted to AmIRight. I probably give benefit of the doubt too much, but there are very few authors who stick around who make major pacing mistakes. So, even if I don't know the tune, if it's funny, they'll probably get 5s from me.