Following up on last night’s Let’s Make Our Own Fun post, the following contests will be held:
Best Haikus
Best Limericks
Best Dirty Limericks
Best One-Act Plays, 10-minute variety
Best Six-Word Memoirs
Submissions are due one week from Today: Saturday, March 28. 8pm sharp, Balloon Juice time.
Anyone can play, and you may submit in all 5 categories, if desired.
Unless you have extra toilet paper or good dark chocolate, attempts at bribery will not be tolerated.
You may submit your entries in advance by sending them to me via email, or you can post them in the comments in the special thread next Saturday.
Haikus, limericks and dirty limericks are surely self-explanatory, and you can use the Google to learn more about six-word memoirs.
The One-Act Play, 10-minute variety, has special rules, as suggested by BGinCHI:
- It should have both male & female characters, one of which can be an animal.
- Adult themes and accidental violence are suggested, but not required. Extra-light nudity is allowed, but not required. No Cole nudity.
- Winner gets his/her play acted out by Cole, filmed, posted as an Open Thread.
As to the third point for the 10-minute one-act play, I feel certain that BG has already cleared that with Cole. :-)
*****
If I receive enough pet pic submissions, Pet Picture Bingo can start in a couple of days. I have about 10 so far.
*****
The following have been suggested as groupings for entertainment possibilities, with links in the sidebar so people can continue to add ideas and resources, which everyone can easily access as the days go by:
Starting with These
– Aquariums & Zoos
– Free streaming services while stuck inside
– Free online concerts
– Fun podcasts
– Political podcasts
– Books on tape
– Computer gaming thread
– Old-time radio
– Playlist of relaxing music
– Online puzzle sites
– Arts & Crafts (including Avalune drawing animals)
– Fun twitter
Books (by category)
– Biographies
– Fiction
– YA Fiction
– Graphic Novel / Manga
TV shows
– Lighthearted shows
– More violent, stressful shows
Movies (by category)
– Action/Adventure
– Animation & Anime
– Best Bad Movies (ex: Airplane)
– “Chick flicks” (yell at NotMax, not me)
– Classics (say, pre-1960, or a date to be named later)
– Comedy
– Detective/Mystery
– Documentary
– Drama
– Foreign films
– Guilty Pleasures
– Kids Fare
– History
– Literary Adaptations
– Noir
– Romance
– Science Fiction & Fantasy
– Silent movies
– Sitcoms (TV)
– Thriller/Horror
– Westerns
Note from WG: Chime in if you had an idea in last night’s thread and you don’t see it here. I think I got them all but you never know.
WereBear
I’ve got money on Bobby for that playwright prize :)
dmsilev
Computer/console games would be another category to add for entertainment. Lots of possibilities, ranging from the soothing to the challenging.
JPL
That’s way to much work but I will say that Spencer Confidential kinda sucks. That’s okay though in today’s environment.
Baud
But preferred.
Fair Economist
Stellar! I’m so stoked!
Omnes Omnibus
I see I was outvoted. I’ll just say, like HRC, I warned you.
debbie
There ought to be something with a footballish theme as a welcome back to Raven.
Omnes Omnibus
@Baud: Think, man! It’s Cole. For god’s sake, think!
mrmoshpotato
You. all. need. some. OTTERS! and. PENGUINS!
What do BABY SEAHORSES! look like?
Love you all! ❤️
WaterGirl
@dmsilev: Added. Is that different from “computer gaming thread”? (not a gamer, so i am totally ignorant)
WaterGirl
@JPL: I know what all those words mean individually, but I have no idea what that sentence means.
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: I did add “extra-light”, in the hopes of splitting the baby between you (dear god, no nudity!) and BG (light nudity required).
I thought for sure trying to split the baby would work this time!
*nudity vs no-nudity rule can be changed with a majority rule.
WaterGirl
@debbie: Tell me what it should be :-) and I’ll add it.
JPL
@WaterGirl: hah I just read what I wrote.. The list is way to long but don’t waste time watching netflix latest Spencer.
WaterGirl
@mrmoshpotato: What category would Shedd Aquariam go in? I will add it.
Major Major Major Major
Ha, that’s fun!
I posted this earlier but the novel-in-a-day writing project coming up in a couple weeks looks like a fun day too. https://www.literatureandlatte.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=51&t=60963&sid=3ee58354194f9622ce5839fc29e884a2
WaterGirl
@JPL: We can shorten the lists – that was the compilation of nearly all suggestions from last night. In this, we are definitely a democracy.
Baud
@Omnes Omnibus:
Female character required.
Omnes Omnibus
@JPL: I bailed on it within 20 minutes.
WaterGirl
@Baud: I can add that requirement!
WaterGirl
@JPL: @Omnes Omnibus:
As in Spencer for Hire?
Omnes Omnibus
I don’t see how naked Cole in drag make anything better.
WaterGirl
@WereBear: Somewhere, in a corner, gwangung is silently weeping after reading your comment.
edit: maybe we need two sections for that – one for professional playwrights and one for amateurs.
CaseyL
@mrmoshpotato: OMG, teeny tiny baby seahorses! A whole herd of them!
The otter and penguins were adorable, too, but: EENTSY WEENTSY SEAHORSES!
Omnes Omnibus
@WaterGirl: Yeah, but with Marky Mark.
mrmoshpotato
@Baud: Behold my naked forearms and hands!
JPL
@WaterGirl: Also I was being a jerk.. Spencer is really bad though.
Baud
@mrmoshpotato:
?
WaterGirl
@Baud: @Omnes Omnibus:
Edited up top to allow for (female only) extra-light nudity.
JPL
@Omnes Omnibus: This is so unlike me, but I switched to a romcom. Let me mention that Valentine’s Day (the Movie) is not that bad.
Mnemosyne
We’re trying to decide on something stupid to watch tonight. G’s first thought was “Stepbrothers,” but I’m not sure. I may be feeling more “Austin Powers.” ?
Ceci n est pas mon nym
Does the play get extra points if it passes the Bechdel Test?
About the movie categories, I kind of like the extra tags that Netflix adds. A lot of my favorites have “Quirky” as a tag. So can I suggest people identify sub-genres like Quirky Romance, Quirky Comedy, or combos like Comedy Romance Horror Mystery?
Also, who dares classify a brilliant parody like Airplane as a “Bad Movie”?
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: As Spencer? WTF?
JPL
@WaterGirl: But with Mark Wahlberg.
I loved Spencer for Hire and maybe someone who never saw the original series or read the books will like it, but doubtful.
Omnes Omnibus
@WaterGirl: Now, now, that isn’t fair to the ladies or the gentlemen of a gayer persuasion. I am just saying (and I think Cole himself would back me here) no Cole nudity.
Omnes Omnibus
@WaterGirl: I turned it off within 20 minutes. I think I may have mentioned that above.
WaterGirl
@Ceci n est pas mon nym:
We can put something like that in the individual posts that go up for people to suggest their favorites. Unless you want a quirky category that is all quirky movies, regardless of drama, mystery, etc?
debbie
@CaseyL:
My father had an aquarium filled with seahorses. They really are cute little things. Also nice to see a man doing a woman’s work for a change.
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: fixed.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Omnes Omnibus: What if there’s a flashback scene involving a mop?
Years ago I remember actors on some TV show, possibly “NYPD Blue”, talking about a makeup lady whose specialty was body makeup. If you saw her coming for you, you knew that your naked butt was going to be on TV.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@WaterGirl: I wouldn’t mind that personally but I don’t want to create confusion by having 400 different categories.
Baud
@Omnes Omnibus:
Good point. Besides, I think I should hold out for Channing Tatum to play me in the movie.
Mnemosyne
@Baud:
Then you are NOT going to enjoy the new movie version of “Emma.” At least, not as much as I did.
WaterGirl
@mrmoshpotato: Shedd Aquarium & Zoo grouping added.
WaterGirl
@Mnemosyne: Who was the male?
Avalune
Fruits Basket is an anime (well it’s also a manga but that would go under books). We were kind of derailed by talking about haiku in anime and started discussing other anime. So that part actually fits more with the movie category section, is what I’m trying to say here. And where is nonfiction in books? Lol)
Maybe we just have a category for art and craft – which can include doing animals with me if we want but there are a lot of good deals on art classes, or instructors doing free classes etc that could be linked in such a category if we opened it up a bit (course some of those are on instagram TV, so that might be a barrier in some cases but some are also on YouTube etc).
Mnemosyne
@WaterGirl:
Johnny Flynn, who played Mr. Knightley. That’s the nice thing about women directors, they like to spread the wealth like that. ?
WaterGirl
@Avalune: Fixed and fixed, I believe. Check my work and let me know what I should change. Please.
JaySinWA
You want to do all of these on the same day? I would think some pacing would be helpful. Maybe one a day and start earlier for the easier stuff?
WaterGirl
@Mnemosyne: I just googled him. Kind of a cute face, couldn’t tell about the rest of him.
gwangung
@WaterGirl: Ah, no. I know where I rank in the artistic world (one of my dorm mates won a Tony for one of his plays, so I have plenty of experience being outshone….).
Avalune
@WaterGirl: You have computer games listed 2x.
And maybe Graphic Novel/Manga for the book category and add Anime as a category in movies.
Or am I being too picky? I mean anime CAN fall under animated I suppose but sometimes people get prickly about that).
Omnes Omnibus
In other good news, I would like to let everyone know that I finally was able to find Bonne Maman orange marmalade at the grocery store today. There were two jars left. I took one.
Mnemosyne
@WaterGirl:
You could just make it “Aquariums & Zoos” and add the Monterey Bay Aquarium. They have livecams, plus they’ve been doing a bunch of Facebook videos with morning meditations, views of the animals, etc. I can post some links if you want them.
WaterGirl
@JaySinWA: What do you mean by all of these? If you mean the limericks, haikus, one act play etc, then yeah, I thought we might do them all together because I don’t know how many people will actually do it.
The others would definitely not be all together.
Say more about what you mean, please. :-)
Mnemosyne
@WaterGirl:
The rest of him is also cute, at least from the back.
Avalune
Grats Omnes lol! We went to the store – in part because the elderly woman on the third floor was telling us that the food she uses to give her old JRT medication was out and the order still hadn’t arrived, so we went out to get Pebbles some food and treats to tide them over. The only thing we were really after that we couldn’t find today was eggs. Some other stuff was out but nothing we can’t live without for a little bit.
dmsilev
@WaterGirl:
No, it just means that I missed seeing “computer gaming thread” in the list. Sorry about that.
Avalune
@WaterGirl: FYI Philly and Elmore Zoos in PA also have gone that route so probably a generic Aquariums/Zoos would be good.
WaterGirl
@Avalune: dms suggested computer console at #2, and I asked him if that was different than the computer games i already had listed, but he seems to be gone already.
No, absolutely not too picky! I am not an animation, anime, graphic novel person, and i have no idea what Manga even is, so please stick with me til I get it right.
Please check my work again, if you would be so kind. :-)
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: Go you!
schrodingers_cat
This enforced goody goody cheer is reminding me of my Catholic school days. Whatever happened to the snarling mass of vitriolic and intelligent jackals debating politics.
Ella in New Mexico
There is no way any of us are gonna be able to wait a whole week for most of these :-D
Omnes Omnibus
@schrodingers_cat: Fuck you.
WaterGirl
@Mnemosyne: done! please wait to post the links until the thread for aquariums and zoos. :-)
WaterGirl
@Mnemosyne: I do like a nice behind on a guy. (Can I say that?)
piratedan
@Avalune: i would agree, I mean its a bit difficult to lump films like Bambi in with Akira, sure animators were involved with each, but that’s about it.
WaterGirl
@Avalune: I thought you guys were (almost) literally locked in. I guess that’s the grocery store exemption?
schrodingers_cat
Ah that reminds me of the good old days. Fuck you.
Avalune
@WaterGirl: Looks good to me.
I’d argue one category for computer/console gaming is sufficient for gamers. Anyone who disagrees can fight me.
WaterGirl
@dmsilev: Fixed, perfect! thank you
Elizabelle
@Omnes Omnibus: Points for finding the marmalade, and extra points for not hoarding.
dmsilev
@WaterGirl: Sorry for the confusion and the delay in responding (was in the middle of cooking dinner/more stuff for the freezer).
WaterGirl
@Avalune: done!
Avalune
@WaterGirl: Everything non essential is closed. We can still go to the grocery store but not much outside that. I have a feeling we’re going to be moving towards the shelter in place rules which are a bit more limiting in the near future though, so we figured we’d take care of Pebbles and grab a few more things while we still can.
Feathers
If you have TCM, I highly, highly recommend Ascenseur pour l’échafaud/Elevator to the Gallows (1958), which is showing tonight at 12AM EST and tomorrow at 10AM EST. It’s a fantastic French noir film. What makes it sublime and necessary is the score by Miles Davis. Director Louis Malle asked him to do the music. What Miles did was watch a rough cut, take some notes. When the film was finished, he pulled together a quartet. With no prep, they watched the finished film and did a one take improv score. It’s more a mood and Jeanne Moreau than anything else, but a perfect film for a pandemic evening, or Sunday morning. Eddie Muller, head of the Film Noir Foundation, does the intros and they are always entertaining and informative.
Omnes Omnibus
@Feathers: OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!
WaterGirl
@schrodingers_cat:
Wow. If this is coming off as enforced goody goody cheer, then I am doing it wrong!
Or, alternatively, this may not be the thread for you.
NotMax
So much crossover between Animated and Anime it seems redundant to have both, but whatever.
Omission by me from the movie/TV categories which can be added, purty please:
Kids Fare.
Purposely left it out from the suggestions, but if enough interest might add War as a discrete genre as well. Airplane! a bad movie? Phew, tough audience.
WaterGirl
@Ella in New Mexico:
Do you mean the haikus and limericks, etc? Or for the lists of movies, zoo links, etc?
Everything is flexible. I thought maybe we’d do one “list” thread a day so we can start getting those together.
But if people want to start sending their haikus and dirty limericks etc if there are a bunch of them, I could post them as we get enough for a thread.
WaterGirl
@Avalune: dms weighed in to say he had missed the computer gaming in the original list, so we are now back down to just one. :-) i am so not a gamer that I didn’t know if there was a distinction between console games and not. Sad.
Omnes Omnibus
@WaterGirl: More in the spirit of the thread perhaps for someone to ask about the school uniform?
WaterGirl
@Avalune: You were good to take care of your neighbor. The stores were ghastly here yesterday as soon as the Gov said we would start lockdown (shorthand for whatever he called it) today.
Hummus Where The Heart Is
Hey, I heard this was a Family Blog! I may have been misdirected. Or over medicated and beared left when I should have beared right (or maybe they meant bared … deep thoughts, deep thoughts).
Can I apologize in advance to the City of Dallas, given it is the only city I can think of which rhymes with phallus?
WaterGirl
@NotMax: To me, that’s the ultimate compliment. Airplane is the best bad movie ever made! I LOVE airplane. So maybe we have a different idea of what bad movies are?
I will combine Animation & Anime in one thread, and folks who are adding things can just say which it is. Or maybe animation or anime people would know without being told.
NotMax
@Feathers
And a veritable fashion show of egregiously bizarre neckties.
schrodingers_cat
@WaterGirl: Its not just this thread. Every other thread is a respite thread, no politics thread. Or so it seems.
WaterGirl
@NotMax: Kid’s Fare added. Apostrophe, yes?
Avalune
@WaterGirl: Eh I wouldn’t say it’s sad but there can be a fierce competition between people who are considered computer gamers vs ones who are console gamers. As far as this blog is concerned I think it’s more just a matter of some games aren’t available on both.
@NotMax: I know and I was thinking that too (re redundant) but at the same time, as pirate pointed out there is enough of a difference. Gets kind of pedantic like manga vs comics vs graphic novels. We could categorize and sub categorize all day but let’s not!
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: I see an excellent 10-minute one-act play in the backstory of a certain video made with women singing while wearing school uniforms. This could be your moment.
WaterGirl
@Hummus Where The Heart Is: That made me laugh.
Yutsano
@Avalune: Since you mentioned Fruits Basket (which I have time to catch up on now!) it gave me a couple of other good recommendations.
A Place Further than the Universe is a 13 episode original story (not based on a manga or light novel) that is about four girls who go on the ultimate adventure. It’s not dubber yet, but that
s in production. Really good storytelling and very well drawn. Plus PENGIES!!!!
Ascendance of a Bookworm is a unique take on the isekai trope (where a character wakes up in another world suddenly) as a Japanese girl who gets reincarnated in an European style medieval world but keeps all her old memories. No dub released but Funimation is probably on top of it. Between the story and the world building this one is really sucking me in!
Gonna go watch a few things methinks!
NotMax
@WaterGirl
Would vote no on the apostrophe as it is the same as if you were writing Fare For Kids.
Avalie
https://zoo.sandiegozoo.org/live-cams
Live cams for polar bears, penguins, baboons, apes, tigers, koalas, elephants, condors, etc
Avalune
@Yutsano: Oh Thanks for the recommendations!
WaterGirl
@schrodingers_cat: These are not normal times, and some of us need a break from the grim realities and current events. If you’re not one of those people, I would suggest that you go to View by Topic in the sidebar, and pick the category called “Politics”.
You’ll see a picture of Nancy Pelosi schooling all the men around the table. There are surely recent political threads that might have missed the first time around.
Or choose “Election Year” and read some of the argumentative threads from the past year. We really are a full service blog.
WaterGirl
@NotMax: changed!
Avalune
@WaterGirl: Every time I see ole Pebbles I think about how she’d try to make her owner wait at the stairs for Leto every day, being a dog and not knowing he was in a motorcycle accident. So of course I wanted to help take care of the old doggo! We have a lot of older folks in this building and now that Leto is over his bronchitis I wanted to start checking in with them and make sure everyone is doing ok.
randy khan
I’m thinking a one-act play in haiku; sort of like Shakespeare doing everything in iambic pentameter. Although I think that might be difficult.
An important rules question: 10 minutes max, any minimum? Or just within a reasonable range of 10 minutes?
Hummus Where The Heart Is
@NotMax:
I know. I call classic. That and Kentucky Fried Movie? Same guys, right?
Avalune
@randy khan: That would be an interesting experiment.
I’m one to over complicate things and drive myself crazy – so I’m glad it’s you and not me. :D
middlelee
@WaterGirl: Back in the 1960s and 1970s when I watched football with my then husband that was my favorite part. Football players almost all have nice butts. Not nude, unfortunately.
Omnes Omnibus
@WaterGirl: I view myself as reader/viewer/listener/audience. We can’t all be on stage.
sdhays
@schrodingers_cat: It’s not every other thread, but they do seem to bunch up more often recently.
WaterGirl
@randy khan: No minimum. Maximum of 10 minutes, but we’ll give you an extra minute leeway. :-)
edit: I actually have no idea how the # of minutes could even accurately be determined!
sdhays
I just have to say I love that picture.
NotMax
@WaterGirl
Diff’rent strokes and all that but I’d be hard pressed to put Airplane! and, say, Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! in the same category.
;)
WaterGirl
@NotMax: I guess the difference is that I never watch truly bad movies.
Avalune
@WaterGirl: You have to reenact each one – on youtube for us to see and time obviously.
WaterGirl
@sdhays: It’s a good one! I appreciate you noticing. I try hard to find just the right pictures for everything on the site, but no one really seems to notice. But I do, so it’s worth it.
NotMax
@Hummus Where The Heart Is
Yup. Classic is a judgment call. Solidly in Comedy, though.
WaterGirl
@Avalune: Dear Madam,
I regret to inform you that you have not read the rules for the One-Act play, 10-minute edition, carefully enough. It is Cole who has to enact the play, and if the play includes a female, I do not plan to audition for the part.
Like Omnes, I am better at being an audience than being a performer.
Sincerely, WG
Avalune
@WaterGirl: Right wing conspiracy! Emails! Hilary! I blame Obama
But having mentioned Cole – I feel like I would totally like to see a video of him reading children’s stories.
WaterGirl
@Avalune: Add a few more words, or make them rhyme like limerick, or format them like a play, and you might just have 3 entries right there.
NotMax
Linky fix.
@WaterGirl
Tura Satana‘s ghost haz a sad.
;)
WaterGirl
@NotMax: Yep must have missed that one.
WaterGirl
Reminder: send me pet pics, no more than 2000 pixels wide. we need 25 and we only have about 10 so far.
schrodingers_cat
@WaterGirl: I don’t need help with navigating this website.
randy khan
@WaterGirl:
There’s a site for that!
Roughly speaking, 1,800 words is 10 minutes, according to the site.
Word count to minutes
randy khan
@WaterGirl:
I sent mine a little while back. If you don’t get it, I may have done your BJ email wrong.
Avalune
@WaterGirl:
There once was a West Virginian named Cole
Who thought the president a giant butthole
He gnashed his teeth
And begged relief
But the president continued to troll
WaterGirl
@randy khan: Excellent!
WaterGirl
@randy khan: got it!
Omnes Omnibus
@schrodingers_cat: Are you really that literal minded?
JanieM
@WaterGirl:
It isn’t, and you’re not.
By the way, I have several bars of Alter Eco Deep Dark Salted Burnt Caramel Organic Chocolate (70% cocoa). What are you offering?
Although I’m not sure what you could offer me that would make me part with them. And since I’m not even doing my own grocery shopping right now, I don’t know if they’re in short supply
ETA: Or are you a purist, and only looking for unadulterated chocolate? I’m mostly like that, but with exceptions.
WaterGirl
@Avalune: That is most excellent!
WaterGirl
@JanieM: Those do look good! Hang on to your chocolate, you might get desperate. :-)
Happy to hear that I was not, indeed, coming off in a way that was not intended.
mrmoshpotato
@WaterGirl: New category? Fun Twitter?
WaterGirl
@JanieM: As long as it’s good dark chocolate, I am flexible. Not sure about the “burnt” part, but I love browned butter.
I have CBD dark chocolate and some high end dark chocolate chips. And by “some”, I mean that 3 weeks ago I bought three 12-oz packages. So I’m good for awhile.
WaterGirl
@mrmoshpotato: added!
dmsilev
@WaterGirl: I told a coworker on Wednesday that “I have 7 bottles of wine and 3 pounds of chocolate. I’m all set …for the first week”.
JanieM
@WaterGirl: Burnt caramel is its own special wonder. I used to spend about a week a month in Cambridge, Mass., for work, and there is (or was?) an ice cream store there called Toscanini’s. They have a burnt caramel flavor, and if you ask for it they make sure you know what you’re getting into, because it’s pretty strong. But a dollop of their burnt caramel ice cream with some hot fudge sauce on it is the best ice cream treat I’ve ever had. I used to eat Alter Eco dark chocolate straight up, until they came out with the burnt caramel variation. It’s expensive, but one square a day is my daily treat.
Omnes Omnibus
@dmsilev: How will that get you through a week?
WaterGirl
@dmsilev: Ha! I have 4 bottles of wine and 2.5 pounds of chocolate. Clearly I need to up my game!
I do also have brand-new bottles of kailua and rumchatta.
prostratedragon
@Hummus Where The Heart Is: And <em>Amazon Women on the Moon</em>. I just now had to review the Don Simmons sketches. Son of the Invisible Man could do it for you, too.
WaterGirl
@JanieM: Yum. Best ice cream i ever had was this summer at a beach resort town.
Toasted coconut ice cream. Sooooooo good.
dmsilev
@Omnes Omnibus: Careful rationing.
WaterGirl
Closing the computer for the evening, will check back in the am. Goodnight, all.
randy khan
@WaterGirl:
Excellent!
JaySinWA
@WaterGirl: I envisioned a cacophony of posts, but I guess you are envisioning a cacophony of replies to a few posts. I just thought it might be better to do a few at a time and do it over several days. But most all of this is out of my wheelhouse anyway, so I am probably not the audience you should try to please.
WaterGirl
@JaySinWA: Dropped the first thread this afternoon so we can get a good collection of webcams for zoos, aquariums, and wildlife.