After a long baby-induced delay, we are finally ready to announce the winners of the How to Teach Physics to Your Dog Caption Contest and Poetry Contest. I've obtained a few more copies of the bound galleys from the publisher, so we'll be giving two awards in each contest category: one for each photo, one for Cuttlefish poetry, and one for non-Cuttlefish poetry.
And the winners are:
Photo 1: The award goes to Nick at #25:
Photo 2: The award goes to Eric Goebelbecer at #8:
Honorable Mention: Dave W. at #11 and Konrad at #30.
Let's ask the judges what they thought:
Chad: All three of the entries captioning Photo 1 were using essentially the same joke. I thought that the LOL-osity of the winner picture really put it over the top, though.
Kate: I liked the winner for Photo 2 because it had good visual pacing for the joke punchline.
SteelyKid: Ga ga ga ga ga ga ga. Bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbth!
Emmy: sniffs screen, sniffs keyboard, wanders off to see if any scraps have miraculously appeared in her bowl.
So, there you have it.
Poetry Contest Winners
The Non-Cuttlefish Poetry Prize goes to: Adrian Morgan at #21/23 for:
A dog who seeks morsels organic
Such as bunnies that run when they panic
Must be fast and observing
And strong and deserving
And informed about quantum mechanic
Honorable mention to Sandy Dog at #22 for a pretty good haiku, that lacked only a physics reference.
The Cuttlefish Poetry Prize goes to the Cuttlefish Poet, naturally. Honestly, it was locked up with the first double dactyl entry:
Beautifully, Dutifully,
Emmy the elegant
Poses for pictures, with
Evident ease;Helps with translating the
Quantum-mechanical
Thoughts of her human, to
Bunnies and Cheese!
The "Queen of Niskayuna" song at #18 was really above and beyond, though. I'm speechless. Well, almost.
Let's ask the judges what they thought:
Chad: It was hard to choose between the Cuttlefish entries. I kind of liked the second double dactyl, but splitting "gedankenexperiment over two lines probably isn't really kosher.
Kate: Poetry is, alas, not really my medium, but I can appreciate meeting the constraints of difficult forms, and both the winners made me laugh.
SteelyKid: mum mum mum mum YA YA YA YA YA YA YA.
Emmy: I like cheese. Also, bunnies. I don't really get this whole dactyl thing, though.
So, there you have it. The winners should contact me at the email address under the "Contact" tab at the top of the page with a snail-mail address to which your bound galley copies will be sent.
If you didn't win, don't worry. I've got a few more galley proofs, and will likely run another contest of a different sort in the not-too-distant future.
Humanities & Social Science
Physical Science
Comments
Yay!
Can't wait to read it!
Posted by: Cuttlefish | July 3, 2009 11:03 AM
congratulations to the winners.
have to say, though, that i thought the enjambment of "gedankenexperiment" was a brilliant touch.
Posted by: ecologist | July 3, 2009 11:46 AM
Congratulations to Adrian Morgan and Cuttlefish for their verse. One might distinguish between mere light verse and actual poetry, but that's like Lamb splitting spectral lines in a literary field.
Posted by: Jonathan Vos Post | July 3, 2009 11:58 AM
Woohoo!
I've cobbled together a little blog post, in commemoration.
Posted by: Adrian Morgan | July 3, 2009 1:06 PM
@#3 Jonathan Vos Post--
It is a useful distinction, I think. I try never to claim that I write poetry; I just can't do it. I write verse, or perhaps doggerel. Kate's comment about the constraints of form is the real reason. Constraints of form make the writing of verse much much easier; half the decisions are already made for you!
Posted by: Cuttlefish | July 3, 2009 3:02 PM
@#5: No disrespect intended. I very much enjoyed Isaac Asimov's books of limericks, and appreciate a double dactyl.
The division between Poetry and Verse is perhaps a false dichotomy, related the the putative division between high art and low art.
W. H. Auden is considered one of the 20th century's greatest poets, yet he was mocked for his open appreciation of "Lord of the Rings" -- which was (at the time) considered silly pop fiction, on th edge of pulp.
Issac Asimov's favorite TV show was Laverne & Shirley.
Our blogular host has recently complained that Hugo voters can't seem to distinguish Science Fiction Literature from shallow trope finger exercises.
I want Bob Dylan to win a Nobel Prize in Literature.
Whatever gets you through the night, is alright.
Posted by: Jonathan Vos Post | July 3, 2009 8:22 PM
None taken, JVP--I enjoy some verse and some poetry, and loathe some of each. My decision not to call myself a poet came after hearing all too many poets disparage rhyme and meter when it was apparent they could not master either. On the other hand, modern poets like Simic are astonishing, and to try to cram them into meter and verse would be horrid. On yet another hand (one of the benefits of being a cuttlefish), bad free verse is an affront to humanity, and on still one more hand, bad rhymed verse is ...er... even worse.
Posted by: Cuttlefish | July 3, 2009 9:40 PM