Thursday, January 13, 2011

Orange Wednesday Results: Luminous Beings Are We


I spoke on the phone with Octo and Stan Wednesday night. I can't remember who made the observation -- it might have been each of them -- but it turns out that writing a limerick isn't that much more time consuming than writing haiku. Instead of a metric limitation, it's a rhyme limitation. It's still a limitation, and you're still going to have those moments of angst when you realize the awesome joke you're trying to make might not work in the form you're trying to use it. But hey, 6 people managed 32 posts. So I don't think people found it debilitating.

Add to that multiple style possibilities (thank you to AC, Octo, Freeek, and Stan for working some variety in with some haiku and rhyming couplets and such) and I think this is going to be a high yield format. This one was a bit underattended, but hopefully we'll get a thing or two out of the rest of you next week.

Speaking of next week, I'm having Freeek pick the topic.

Was thinking when Luke kissed his Sis
at the time he was reeling with bliss
when he found out the truth
he knew it was uncouth
Good thing he didn't go for her tits


This limerick succeeds on several levels. For one thing, I love that the punchline was the last line -- hell, it's the last word. A joke works best when the zinger is the last thing you hear. For another thing, the punchword itself is "tits," and when poetry and tits meet, it's poetry.

Speaking of tits, did anyone notice the acrostic I worked into the topic post?

"Alas, poor Dooku. I knew him, Luke. A fel--Oh shit. I dropped his head...fuck...well, fucker's gone now...Christ. It's still falling."

Anyway, this was a really tough choice. For sure, everyone who submitted did something I liked a lot. Octo was particularly prolific, posting these two heavyweights:

Palpatine's future was brightening
Before no one thought he was frightening
Now meetings were short
With all happy reports
Cause his fingers shot all kinds of lightning


There's a fact Luke's been trying to hide
'Cause it's an argument for the Dark Side
Sure, evil he's purgin'
But he's still a virgin
A tauntaun's all he's been inside


He also did a great bit on Hammerhead's lisp, to which Stan replied with:

Hammerhead speaks with a listhp
And he blogs about bagging the chicksth
Octopunk's genius
Is really quite genius
No one holdsth a candle to his thit


which obviously deserves special mention for the rhyming of "genius" with "genius," and also "thit" with...nothing at all?

My favorite of his that was on topic came when he was just getting his feet wet.

Your ancient religion's a joke
The Jedi are all up in smoke
Your devotion is sad
The Empire is rad
Why am I starting to choke?


I liked Johnny's because it managed to be, both literally and figuratively, a blunt instrument.

There once was an asshole named Jar Jar
Whose antics just went way too far far
His eyes would bug out
He always freaks out
I hope he gets hit by a car car


But I want to make special mention of AC, my favorite of whose was this:

harrison ford
too cool for star wars
a real actor
but he did
the holiday special
and that is enough for me
will always be enough


Feeling it, man! First and best example of free verse -- although not the only example: Stan's blue/red poem is classic as well.

Also, are we good with Orange Wednesday? Or could it be Rhymes With Orange Wednesday, which has the added benefit of contracting to RWOW? Either one's pretty catchy.

Anyhow, great stuff for the inaugural everybody. Real excited to see where this takes us.

9 comments:

JPX said...

Congrats, Cat, that one made me laugh out loud as well. I’m sorry I wasn’t a presence in the game but I was (a) battling the blizzard, which unloaded 17 inches onto my house, and (b) I think I’m a bit burnt out from a few years of haikus to come up with any quality work at this time. I like to watch.

Catfreeek said...

Thanks 50P that was a totally unexpected win. I thought sure the battle was down to Stan & Octo. I'm all for "Rhymes with Orange Wednesday" and I have no idea on a topic for next week so I better get to thinking.

JPX~ "blah blah blah burnt out from a few years of haikus blah blah I like to watch" ~I'm not buying it mister.

Whirlygirl said...

Great job, Cat! Like JPX, I enjoy reading, I don't have a poetic bone in my body.

AC said...

thanks for the hm, and yes i noticed your sly and self-referential acrostic. this was a superfun idea, and i loved the variety in structures.

jpx and whirly, free verse means you can plop down any words you want in any order! give it a shot once.

HandsomeStan said...

Limericks and/or rhyming couplets aren't any more difficult than haikus, and sometimes they're easier. My two cents.

From a post-by-post basis, this was a hilarious day. Each new one brought fresh peals of laughter. I also think the new format can allow revisitation of some of the best topics from the past, too.

Congrats, Cat, and well done 50!

Catfreeek said...

I was thinking the same thing Stan, I've been perusing over the old HHD topics.

Johnny Sweatpants said...

Heh, JPX likes to watch.

I'm sorry I didn't contribute more. It's particularly a shame because Star Wars is an endless topic. Looking forward to seeing what the Freeek busts out next week!

DKC said...

Well, missed the whole gig. But read them all and laughed a lot. I'm down with new formats! Great idea, 50!

Octopunk said...

Congrats Cat! That limerick was a serious winner and it totally made me laugh.

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