|
Today in History (1862) - The U.S. government forbids all Union army officers from returning fugitive slaves, thus effectively annulling the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 and setting the stage for the Emancipation Proclamation. On the same day in 1865, the Confederate Congress voted to enlist 300,000 black troops, granting them freedom with the consent of their owners. Lee surrendered a few weeks later. |
It is time
For rhyme
Today's challenge will be
As suggested to me
By a reader who wrote
And I quote:
"I want poems that rhyme. About law. You can make it difficult and make them brief a case in rhyme, but the ultimate topic I leave to you."
And so that is what we will do.
I'll be gentle and give you a topic specific
And hope that the entries don't turn out horrific
Assignment is tricky; but I hope to inspire
Be clever, be witty, or your chances are dire
Your topic is: The Supreme Court. Feel free to treat the topic loosely.
Your deadline: Midnight tonight.
The method of elimination: Each of the 4 of us (me, PG, Nick, and Chris) will choose one entry to save. Those 4 contestants, and those 4 contestants alone, will move on.
Wow. Very clever. Hats off to the reader who suggested this.
One question: will the 4 of you collaberate so that 4 poems are definitely picked? it seems pretty likely that two of you will pick the same poem, and thus, only 3, 2, or perhaps only mine will be selected.
Willy T
Posted by: Willy T at July 12, 2004 11:23 AMMy thought was we'd coordinate so that 4 different people go forward. Like when the judges pick the wild cards on American Idol. :)
Posted by: Jeremy at July 12, 2004 11:36 AMAs I alerted PG, I am traveling until tonight, when I can actually get my posts done; I hope that midnight deadline isn't EST!
Posted by: Mike Mills at July 12, 2004 01:32 PMSurvivor waits for no one.
No, I'm kidding, it's fine. Whenever you can; we'll wait.
Posted by: Jeremy at July 12, 2004 02:54 PMYou can run your contest however you want... but I think at some point you should have some kind of "audience vote." Even if it is only for one of the contestants moving on. Just a suggestion, but then again, you have to do what they do on the real Survivor (or at least I suspect they do) and make sure the contestants you have left will be good for the ratings.
Posted by: Unreasonable Man at July 12, 2004 03:35 PMUm...just so you guys know...I'm not getting naked. Not even for peanut butter.
Posted by: wingsandvodka at July 12, 2004 03:52 PMI think an audience vote with the last two might be cool. We'll see what kind of audience we get. :)
Posted by: Jeremy at July 12, 2004 04:06 PMStop your wimpy commenting and put up some poetry!
Posted by: Chris at July 12, 2004 04:56 PMI'll get naked for peanut butter.
On the subject of an audience vote -- I think it would be great to do the American Idle-esque audience vote. But can we please try to avoid all of the problems that their voters had with jammed telephone lines? We need to prepare for a massive outpouring of votes on the scale of Ruben v. Clay.
Posted by: Willy T at July 12, 2004 05:06 PMSo am I correct to assume that this first assignment has the contestants typing poetry in the nude while eating peanut butter?
Interesting.
Posted by: Sean S at July 12, 2004 05:57 PM