It was roughly noon today when Miss Starrett, as well as another unnamed voter, voted, and brought the vote count of the Hunter-Taylor campaign two votes above the Gelenyse-Bertilson's tally, thirteen, which had earned them the lead for a day or so.
Mr. Bertilson didn't seem excited.
"It's bound to happen! The real excitement will be in the finals, when people actually care who wins, and they're going to be half as hyper as I am right now," Bertilson said, without appearing hyper in the least.
"Bottom line, though, we're showing up at the polls...and there's a flippin' good chance we'll win this round, and probably hammer the next, too!"
A mild cheer arose, quickly calming down as people hurried back to their hot chocolate.
!Noah!
December 13, 2009
December 11, 2009
GELENYSE-BERTILSON FINALLY REVEALS PLANS, BERTILSON SAYS, TOO LATE, AND THIS GAME CAN BE PLAYED BY TWO!
Around an hour ago, the Gelenyse-Bertilson campaign, by the bugle of Miss Bertilson, announced its "Great Big" plans for Islas' reform and/or livening. An excerpt.
"To intrigue our voters and prove to the opposition that we really have deep things in mind (though perhaps not all the time), the Geleynse campaign has decided to release one of our schemes for the future of ISLAS."
Mr. Bertilson offered point-by-point criticism.
"Well, first of all, as you said, this is the second day the elections have been open. I'd guess that at least a third of all votes are cast at this time. Personally, the idea of releasing information after the polls open seems ridiculous. However, given that this race is merely to eliminate a candidate who will be eliminated, I think we can forgive that. In essence, this election is a minor, unimportant milestone three will come to, and two will pass.
"More importantly, however, this approach, bringing serious, actual action that truly affects real life...it's never happened before. I was there in 2008, and I'm here now. We debated about what the public policy should be, world policy, etc, but never something we would actually be able to do which would take positive action in the world. Don't get me wrong, that's not a bad thing! However, there was nothing to make clear to anyone that this election was to make any actual change in the world. I believe, when announced, everyone believed this was an election merely for the sake of fun. GB is attempting to make it much more than that."
"One of our strongest supporters, Erin Blake made the suggestion that we ISLASers collect money to donate to a charity. It would bring us all together and help us to make a habit of giving. It would help educate us of the evils that are out there and that, as Christians, we need to fight."
Mr. Bertilson offered further comment. "Call me a die-hard senseless opponent of change, but to change the general focus, the main goal of the election to the goal of changing the world in one way or another, however good an idea, should not happen in the middle of the election."
"Either, once we have found a suitable noble charity, we could donate money, or clothes--or maybe make things if the charity accepts non-monetary donations."
"I personally find nothing wrong with this idea. However, I myself have considered myself a miser in varying degrees, throughout my life, not to mention the minute amount of money I usually have in my bank account or in my pocket at any given time.
"I hate to have to say this, in fact, but having government policy that encourages giving, however wise that might be in real life, doesn't seem like a good idea here. I sincerely doubt we'd manage to scrape up a thousand dollars (or objects of similar value) in a single year. That said, if this were to work, if we were to find someone to match our donations, if donations were not made public in any way, even the totals, I think, this might be a good idea that could go forward. And, please, people, if the Republic is elected and we end up initiating a similar or identical plan, you cannot complain. Otherwise, the goal of adding this policy to your ever-vague campaign platform is not for the sole reason of making Islas a more useful, productive, and meaningful organization in the real world. If you complain in that case, your goal is to win the election, first, and to do Islas good, second."
Though some of us had fallen asleep by this time, our eyes were wide open when the stunning silence ensued. Mr. Bertilson tried to look around as if he'd done something anyone could have. Our faces couldn't have portrayed anything but awe for five straight seconds. Then we got back to work.
!Noah!
"To intrigue our voters and prove to the opposition that we really have deep things in mind (though perhaps not all the time), the Geleynse campaign has decided to release one of our schemes for the future of ISLAS."
Mr. Bertilson offered point-by-point criticism.
"Well, first of all, as you said, this is the second day the elections have been open. I'd guess that at least a third of all votes are cast at this time. Personally, the idea of releasing information after the polls open seems ridiculous. However, given that this race is merely to eliminate a candidate who will be eliminated, I think we can forgive that. In essence, this election is a minor, unimportant milestone three will come to, and two will pass.
"More importantly, however, this approach, bringing serious, actual action that truly affects real life...it's never happened before. I was there in 2008, and I'm here now. We debated about what the public policy should be, world policy, etc, but never something we would actually be able to do which would take positive action in the world. Don't get me wrong, that's not a bad thing! However, there was nothing to make clear to anyone that this election was to make any actual change in the world. I believe, when announced, everyone believed this was an election merely for the sake of fun. GB is attempting to make it much more than that."
"One of our strongest supporters, Erin Blake made the suggestion that we ISLASers collect money to donate to a charity. It would bring us all together and help us to make a habit of giving. It would help educate us of the evils that are out there and that, as Christians, we need to fight."
Mr. Bertilson offered further comment. "Call me a die-hard senseless opponent of change, but to change the general focus, the main goal of the election to the goal of changing the world in one way or another, however good an idea, should not happen in the middle of the election."
"Either, once we have found a suitable noble charity, we could donate money, or clothes--or maybe make things if the charity accepts non-monetary donations."
"I personally find nothing wrong with this idea. However, I myself have considered myself a miser in varying degrees, throughout my life, not to mention the minute amount of money I usually have in my bank account or in my pocket at any given time.
"I hate to have to say this, in fact, but having government policy that encourages giving, however wise that might be in real life, doesn't seem like a good idea here. I sincerely doubt we'd manage to scrape up a thousand dollars (or objects of similar value) in a single year. That said, if this were to work, if we were to find someone to match our donations, if donations were not made public in any way, even the totals, I think, this might be a good idea that could go forward. And, please, people, if the Republic is elected and we end up initiating a similar or identical plan, you cannot complain. Otherwise, the goal of adding this policy to your ever-vague campaign platform is not for the sole reason of making Islas a more useful, productive, and meaningful organization in the real world. If you complain in that case, your goal is to win the election, first, and to do Islas good, second."
Though some of us had fallen asleep by this time, our eyes were wide open when the stunning silence ensued. Mr. Bertilson tried to look around as if he'd done something anyone could have. Our faces couldn't have portrayed anything but awe for five straight seconds. Then we got back to work.
!Noah!
TWO TOP ISLAS ELECTION CONTESTANTS NOW EQUAL, BERTILSON SNORES
Around the newsroom today, most people were being rather quiet, mainly because Mr. Bertilson was snoring softly the entire time. It wasn't a particularly pleasant snore, but the guy looked so peaceful.
It was earlier today that we woke up from sleeping on our desks and the floor that we found both Gelenyse-Bertilson and Hunter-Taylor at twelve, while Mr. Denhoed's bandwagon still maintained a single vote.
Mr. Bertilson kept snoring.
!Noah!
It was earlier today that we woke up from sleeping on our desks and the floor that we found both Gelenyse-Bertilson and Hunter-Taylor at twelve, while Mr. Denhoed's bandwagon still maintained a single vote.
Mr. Bertilson kept snoring.
!Noah!
December 10, 2009
Header Update (again), Recap of Headers Since Last Count
In this instance, it's more to show off and, possibly, let someone see one of them they've never seen before. Here goes...
Updated version. Fades to black fine, but I really liked the contrast better on the other one. Reorganized the words a tad.
The first 9/11 one. Blahish.
The second 9/11 one. Getting there...text visibility was probably decreased from the former, depressingly.
THE REALLY RECENT STUFF (EXPANDED FORM)
The result? A preliminary, fairly boring (in my opinion) header that, being an original version, needed improvement.
Thus,
This one's using the Microsoft font, Calibri (bold). I also added some shading using Inkscape, which was a fantastic improvement, and increased the readability of the background text significantly. The shading on the blog title font is especially interesting, because I duplicated the original, blurred it, changed it to black, and increased the transparency a bit. The result was pleasing, but a friend thought the Capture It font of the former was its heart and soul, so...
I have to say I'm not fantastically proud of this one...I think the shadow, in specific, is kind of annoyingly far away from its, uh, thing, but, overall, I think it's a good improvement. I think I'll probably update this one again tomorrow or so.
Well, depressingly, that's all for now. I hope you enjoyed it! (if you'd like me to explain what I did in more detail, feel free to ask for it, but I dunno if I'll ever do it...)
UPDATE! ANCIENT HISTORY!
Seriously, I just dug this up/remembered it now! These are some of the earliest headers I ever made for CSAM.
Possibly the first ever render for CSAM. I was into fixed-width fonts at that time, and felt like including the accents. Cogito se ad Morti...not sure where I got the original, but Gabriel set me straight a little bit later, and that's how we're here now.
Significantly better. I moved the horizon, for some reason...and changed EVERYTHING to red, except the horizon thingy. Lined up the one thought at a time thing, but the fade to black thing wasn't being kind to Mr. One over on the left. Changed the fonts, fixed the grammar.
Increased the font size on the thinking myself to death bit, and changed things with the heartbeath thing so it wasn't fading to black before it should.
Now, people, don't complain I put up too many intermittent steps. There are a lot more, and I don't complain at all! Anywho, I hope you enjoyed that.
(EDIT) the edges of the three last pictures are a complete fluke. I seriously have no idea how that happened. Then again, that was more than a year ago.
!Noah!
HUNTER-TAYLOR TAKES SLIM LEAD, BERTILSON EXUBERANT FOR THE FIRST TIME! (O_O)
No more than ten minutes ago Hunter-Taylor took the lead by one vote, placing the vote count at eleven, one, ten, HT, DD, and GB, respectively. Mr. Bertilson was literally hitting the ceiling one out of every two minutes.
"This is just what we're going to be seeing for the rest of the week," he said, managing to go one minute and six point two seconds without doing all necessary to render himself seriously injured in the head, "the HT campaign has always seemed so promising. I have to confess, though, that I thought of the consul thing probably within a week of when Mr. Jaramillo did. Mildly unbelievable, if you ask me."
Our sources also told us, today, that Miss Roorda's non-participation in this election so far is because of a much more drastic action. We were told by a creditable source, today, that Miss Roorda has "retired" the Islas forum and will, essentially, not appear there any longer.
"I honestly don't know why one would do that! She may be a good deal older than most of us, and she may have more in life to do than pontificate wildly about the differences between lemonade and orange juice, but, still! Aren't we worth the few hours a day she spends obsessively reloading the main page of Islas? Even better reason to stay, if she doesn't!"
Our hearts rent asunder, we contemplated the loss in silence until the next vote came in.
STAY TUNED. WE"RE ONLY GETTING STARTED.
!Noah!
THE HANGOVERER"S GUIDE TO HANGING OVER!!!
I realized, within the last sixty seconds, that I hadn't posted this on my blog. Uh, this blog. Whatever. Anyway.
IT'S FINALLY HERE!
THE HANGOVERER'S GUIDE TO HANGING OVER!!!
Edition One, unrevised
This 3-step guide to Hanging Over is concise, quick, and helpful to the everyday Hangoverer-wannabe! With this guide, most humans learn to Hangover within an hour, some even in minutes!
This guide comes to you free of any charge, and is not copyrighted in any way, shape or form!
The Hangeverer's Guide to Hanging Over!
Hangovering is a new way that assures maximum hangover potential, ranging, in the worst cases, from an indescribable desire to wed an orangutan, to the best case, in which Caps Lock stays on 24/7, and your voice becomes not unlike the noise which one might hear upon droping lead sheets on gravel. This effect has been desired for ages, and the way is now shown, free of charge, and has a warranty unlike any before it!
Step 1: Before you Hang.
First, you must compose yourself and not panic. This is, of course, a very unusual and complicated step, but it is necessary.
Step 2: Drink the Milk.
Pour at least ten (10) ounces of good, fresh, cold milk into an everyday generic glass. It doesn't have to be glass, though. And, yes, goblets do ruin the effect. Drink the milk. Don't worry about the milk, getting drunk doesn't hurt. Also, remember that glasses oughtn't be thrown across a room, especially after they've been Drunk out of.
Step 3: Get Drunk.
This step is obviously directed toward the Milk, and will usually be followed naturally. In rare cases, the Milk refuses, in which instance scolding on the part of the Hangoverer towards the Milk might become necessary, which has, in all living memory, solved the problem.
The result is a fine combination of the inability to turn off Caps Lock, and the type of voice Death is credited for. These effects usually last for more than six hours, and are potent except for the last ten seconds!
Notes:
In the case of a Hangover, non-caps letters indicate emphasis, meaning that such things as "lol" would be the Caps'd equivolent of "LOL". This is often referred to as the Reverse Case Effect, for reasons not obvious to the sane mind.
This is a written production by Twiddling Thumbs Studios
THE HANGOVERER'S GUIDE TO HANGING OVER!!!
Edition One, unrevised
This 3-step guide to Hanging Over is concise, quick, and helpful to the everyday Hangoverer-wannabe! With this guide, most humans learn to Hangover within an hour, some even in minutes!
This guide comes to you free of any charge, and is not copyrighted in any way, shape or form!
The Hangeverer's Guide to Hanging Over!
Hangovering is a new way that assures maximum hangover potential, ranging, in the worst cases, from an indescribable desire to wed an orangutan, to the best case, in which Caps Lock stays on 24/7, and your voice becomes not unlike the noise which one might hear upon droping lead sheets on gravel. This effect has been desired for ages, and the way is now shown, free of charge, and has a warranty unlike any before it!
Step 1: Before you Hang.
First, you must compose yourself and not panic. This is, of course, a very unusual and complicated step, but it is necessary.
Step 2: Drink the Milk.
Pour at least ten (10) ounces of good, fresh, cold milk into an everyday generic glass. It doesn't have to be glass, though. And, yes, goblets do ruin the effect. Drink the milk. Don't worry about the milk, getting drunk doesn't hurt. Also, remember that glasses oughtn't be thrown across a room, especially after they've been Drunk out of.
Step 3: Get Drunk.
This step is obviously directed toward the Milk, and will usually be followed naturally. In rare cases, the Milk refuses, in which instance scolding on the part of the Hangoverer towards the Milk might become necessary, which has, in all living memory, solved the problem.
The result is a fine combination of the inability to turn off Caps Lock, and the type of voice Death is credited for. These effects usually last for more than six hours, and are potent except for the last ten seconds!
Notes:
In the case of a Hangover, non-caps letters indicate emphasis, meaning that such things as "lol" would be the Caps'd equivolent of "LOL". This is often referred to as the Reverse Case Effect, for reasons not obvious to the sane mind.
This is a written production by Twiddling Thumbs Studios
I wrote this sometime last year, I think...and, obviously, I'm somewhat proud of it. Otherwise, you wouldn't see it here. *wonders if he posted MFWG...not without trepidation...*
!Noah!
GB PULLS AHEAD (AGAIN!), BERTILSON STILL DOESN"T LOSE HEART!
Amazingly, when Gelenyse-Bertilson pulled ahead to seven votes, today, Mr. Bertilson didn't seem all too amazed, let alone worried. Hunter-Taylor was at five, and Denhoed-Denhoed still had a mere one vote.
"I have to say, I think the voters of the GB campaign are probably, in general, more active Islas members--I have no doubt we'll see the HT vote count much, much higher by the time the seventh day comes around," he said, looking mildly contemplative, and slightly pensive, too.
"It perplexes me, though, that Denhoed doesn't have more than one vote right now. I expected him to have two, perhaps three, but he's only got one so far. Miss Roorda isn't the sort of lady you'd expect to vote this late. Perhaps she thought she might rethink her decision. Who knows?"
Our whitened fingers hung to the last moment from his words, not giving up until the last echo had died.
STAY TUNED.
!Noah!
HT GETS TWO MORE VOTES, BERTILSON SAYS IT WAS INEVITABLE
About twelve minutes after the hour, Hunter-Taylor gained itself another two votes, brightening up Mr. Bertilson.
"I knew it would happen! Hunter-Taylor's got much more support than the few dozen minutes would have had us believe. I have little doubt we'll win!"
Mr. Bertilson's optimism and exuberance couldn't be missed. The Macbook was still undamaged, but the speed with which he ran around with it, jumping, occasionally, would worry anyone.
Stay tuned! We might have to finish up this commentary sometime for the day...I don't feel like doing this allll week long, for some reason.
*EDIT* GELENYSE-BERTILSON AND HUNTER-TAYLOR GAIN A VOTE EACH, COUNT IS 5, 1, 4! (GB, DD, HT)
!Noah!
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