A little over a month ago, your boy WLGJr. joined a Photography Competition Group on Flickr.  The group is comprised of just a few friends and the goal of the competition is mainly to encourage us all to take more photos, to give us an opportunity to come together and hang out, and of course to pwn each other photographically, of course.

Every 2 weeks we have another challenge that we must go out and try to execute to our best ability.  It doesn’t really matter who wins, we don’t keep track of that, it’s mainly to keep us shooting and challenging each other.

This is my submission for the Challenge 3: Sequential Sequencing Search for Shots.  As you can tell by the name, we try to have fun with this, and nothing is taken too seriously.  What that crazy challenge title means is essentially we had to take 3-5 photos and stitch them together to tell a story.

What do you think?

Normally three members in the family race each other to the door when the bell rings.

Mr GS  is Gabbar Singh, our Lab.

Sher Khan is Mr SK, the cat who owns us… [not ShahRukh Khan I am afraid ]

Ms Mutt? (Ms M) A dog with a cat’s mind   SK thinks she is his mother, and she is the only one who can walk away with GS’s bone, although she is half his size.

But this morning they sensed who rang the door bell. The Vet is only the only human they are afraid of… and hence THIS 55 WORD FICTION CONTEST.

THE PRESTIGIOUS POLKA DOTTED CUP

But there are some who not need me to tell them all this!  Here’s what our Honorary Judge HRE Hitchwriter has to say in his 364 words judgement

I was pinching myself when I read a DM from IHM !!! She wanted me to judge a contest!! Off late I was in work and wasn’t really scanning the reader but here I am !!!

The best part about judging a contest is you don’t have to worry about the guessing !!! phew…

When I got the DM I read this post of 55’er from IHM and I gotta seriously admit I had no clue !!!! But since I am the only honest guy going around I guess IHM decided that I am going to be playing judge… and I must confess I have not received a single bribe offer thanks to her not declaring who the judge would be !!! Sigh    : (

The winner.. err… first of all … I must say this…

Smita – she is last !!!!!!! what a guess !!!!!!!!!! seriously even people like me who didn’t guess were better I guess !!!!!!!!! Vimmmuu you really need to read her guess… !!!

p.s. had to get vimmmuu involved to get Smita’s eyes off me.. !!! phew !!!

And

Solilo is debarred from all future contests… this lady is seriously bugged with SRK !!! she cant think of anything other than Shahrukh khan so unless we have a contest in which the answer is Shahrukh Khan we wont let her participate !!! sigh !!

The winner well there are too many of them who have their screw loose… I told IHM if anyone guesses it right … they have to be seriously good guessers and the best guessers are ….

Rakesh

Ritu – she was near about there, plus she was willing to give a bribe !!

Suranga

Quirky Indian – boy your aim is too good and precise !

Pins and Ashes – yes your brains are indeed dead ! 

Shilpadesh

Crafty – yes the polka dotted mug is yours !!!! 

Deeps, Parul, Comfortablynam were close but they didn’t spell the VET !!!!

Some were really imaginative… milkman, taxman (I thought that too ), loan shark, insurance agent and what not !!! 

Congrats to all the winners and I await some goodies from ya all !!!!

Holiday Design Contest

http://www.graphicfirm.com/PrintFirm-Holiday-Contest.html

Now’s your chance to get into the holiday spirit early, because PrintFirm is giving its talented customers the opportunity to win a share of thousands of dollars in prizes as well as profiting from their design through royalties. We know you were probably going to design your holiday card anyway, so why not win a stocking full of prizes for it?

Because we’re continually impressed with our loyal customers’ graphic design skills, in just a few weeks, we’ll open up our site for you to submit your own designs for a holiday greeting card. Then you’ll be on your way to winning a share of thousands of dollars in gift cards and free printing!

Beginning Oct. 15, contestants are encouraged to submit their images for holiday greeting cards. Prizes will be awarded in two categories:  Comedy  and  General. Your design will then be showcased on our blog site along with those of other contestants, and online voting will commence.

Contestants may submit holiday card entries through Dec. 12th 2009. Finalist voting will begin a few days later, on Dec. 16th. Winners will be announced on Dec. 20th.

• **Grand prize winner will receive free printing of their 1,000 free business cards for life*,   you’ll earn $.50 every time one of our customer purchases your design through our pre-designed artwork page.
• **Runner-up winners will receive 1000 business cards and a set of Greeting Cards.

“It’s easy to forget those we cannot see, especially our friends deep in the sea.” ~ Zed Xeko

This is a post in honor of Global Week of Action (last week) a week devoted to farmed salmon awareness and other issues. Watch this video from YERT to meet the amazing Mark, Ben and Julie, hear Xeko creator Amy Tucker’s ideas on salmon super powers and learn about keeping salmon habitats healthy.

In honor of our ocean friends, HQ gathered these earth-friendly fish tips:

1. When ordering salmon, ask if the salmon is wild — if it’s not, go for the pasta. When is it okay to eat farm-raised salmon? At this point in time, never. (Other types of farm-raised fish are okay… See tip #4.) Read this release from the Pew Environment Group to learn more about Global Week of Action and keeping salmon healthy for generations to come.
2. Help keep our water and oceans clean. All things are connected, especially water systems. The stuff we pour down the drain and that washes down city gutters eventually makes it into our water system and into the sea. Be mindful of what you put down the drain.
3. Wow your friends with fish facts! For example, the Bullseye Electric Ray featured in Mission: Costa Rica (XCR) produces shocks of up to 220 volts (shocking, we know!) and the Giant Whale Shark, also featured in XCR, is bigger than a Texas school bus. Happily, whale sharks eat plankton and not students.
4. Be a picky eater and know the fish on your plate. If you eat fish, choose sustainable fish. The Monterey Bay Aquarium provides a xekotastic (and free) Seafood Watch Guide. Carry it with you at all times.
5. Become a champion of the sea! Build a Xeko water deck: the Sawfish (XCR) has a whopping 15 Eco-Points and the Pygmy Seahorse, featured in Mission: Indonesia (XIN), is one of the cutest critters (and trading cards) on the planet. Start with the Xekopedia and filter for subtype “fish” and then look up sea turtles and ocean mammals.
   

   The Xeko Pigmy Seahorse (XIN) is less than an inch long when fully grown—that's smaller than your pinky!

6. Ask for turtle-safe shrimp (think dolphin-safe tuna) — sea turtles are some of the most critically endangered species on the planet and many fishing practices kill sea turtles, as well as dolphins, seals, whales and even seabirds, as “bycatch.”  If you’re not sure, follow Mr. Leatherback’s example and don’t eat shrimp.
7. Speaking of Mr. Leatherback… get to know Mr. Leatherback — champion of sea turtles and a Xeko hero!
8. Visit your local zoo or aquarium.
9. Have a beach party! If you live near the ocean, invite friends, bring garbage bags and gloves, and have a beach garbage pick up party.
10. Last, but not least, learn how to swim!

Xeko Pal Orca made from certified organic cotton

Do you have a tip for saving our seas? For a chance to win the a Xeko Pal Orca organic cotton stuffed animal toy, just post a comment with your tip for protecting our oceans and underwater friends.

Be a force of nature!

Keebo and I would like to congratulate Lexi Vargas, Tatiana Starside, Inga Wind and Inaraserra Jewell for winning the Fashion Showdown 2009. They did really great and it was an honor to “The Havana boys” to take part in a contest with those great designers. Also, I’m so very happy that the Havana outfit got good scores! In case you lost the fashion show, you can still watch it at Livestream.

On a different subject, we would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who took part in the Make Him Over Hunt 2. The hunt is over and was a big success for Havana. We had some very positive feedback and it was exciting to have so many visitors looking for their free gift. Also, we are happy that some other bloggers liked the outfit we offered, as seen here, here and here. We hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did.

Once per month Star 102.5 holds a themed Web Contest.  Each is three weeks in length supported by promos, liners and email blasts.  As the sponsor you are mentioned in every aspect of the promotion and are also acknowledged online as the presenting sponsor.  There is also the ability to capture leads.  Some of the ideas and contests are:

• Crummiest Carpet – Listeners submit photos of their awful carpet in hopes of winning new flooring!
• Bad Santa Photos
• Show us your Jersey
• Engagement Photos
• Snow Men
• Superbowl Parties Gone Wrong
• Bad/Ugly Jewelry
• Cupid Cuties

Star 102.5 takes a lot of pride in our live broadcast events and to make them even better we bring out our Prize Wheel.  This is a great attention getter as people line up to spin the wheel for a chance at some great prizes!  As the Prize Wheel sponsor you would receive mentions, logo and the ability to give away products and services!

At ShoeBuy, by creating an account you are placed into a weekly drawing for $100 gift certificate. You also get 10% off your first purchase, and each time you make a purchase within 60 days of a previous purchase you continue to save 10% each time. https://www.shoebuy.com/contest

My recent reflections have been pondering contests and the status of being a “professional” model in Second Life.  I say this because I have been reviewing the most recent posts of the SL Fashion Critique.

If you model in Second Life, you have most likely heard of the Second Life Fashion Critique.  It is the web site of an anonymous person who critiques models in Second Life and their techniques.

Lately this critique has been look at and criticizing the profiles of models in addition to their techniques.  The critique seems to place heavy emphasis on training.  While I think training is important, I think experience (after training, of course), is another valuable measurement as well.  Not only that, but I was taught, in my training, that nothing compares to experience on the runway.

In addition, the critique mentions that they think some models have a “diva syndrome” and that this is indicated, amongst a few other items, by listing contests/titles won in your profile.  The critique doesn’t seem to be aware of, or lacks acknowledging, that most contests require more than just a pretty face.  Most require casting (thus styling and posing as well as overall attitude) and a history of experience.

That’s part of why I think this competition is excellent.  In addition to our history, real life and second life, that was submitted, there are many other phases.  Each piece of this puzzle is helping to put the pieces into place to help find the one they will select to represent the most refined.

What do you think?  Is it wrong to list personal things in your picks?  Does that make you unprofessional?  Does listing titles and/or contests won make you a victim of diva syndrome?   Does experience in modeling count?

Andrew Samtoy

I lived in Spain for a year, mostly as an undocumented worker teaching English. In December, much of Spain goes on holiday until mid-January; thus, except for a few lessons here and there, I didn’t have anything to do. I also didn’t have any income, since I was working under the table, in cash. At the beginning, I took a hard look at my finances and realized that I’d have to live on 3-4 Euros per day. Food isn’t very cheap over there, so it was difficult.

One day I went to the grocery store across the street from my apartment and looked around. I picked through the aisles, and then saw a familiar sight: bright yellow Knorr bullion cubes. I picked up the box and looked at the back: the suggested soup recipe called for chicken, onions, potatoes, carrots and some spices, and the box cost just over a Euro. I put it in my basket, anticipating that I’d use two cubes a day and stagger my purchases of the other ingredients, then…

I paused. I picked the box up again and looked at the back. I could read Spanish and understand it without consciously translating it.

Right now I wish I’d remembered that moment, and what brought me to it. Soup is incredibly cheap, and the one I made – having marinated in the fridge – is truly, heartbreakingly excellent. If I’d made this only, I would have spent perhaps $13 total on all the food I could want, and would have had much more to spend elsewhere. The lesson: that’s what I’m going to do next week, to see how far I can get with very little effort and huge amounts of reward.

We specialize in photographing kids. But something we’ve grown into in the last couple of years is taking portraits of the furriest children…that’s right, pets! Last year the Portrait Shoppe introduced its first annual Paw-traits modeling contest: a chance for your dog (or dogs) to come to the Portrait Shoppe and show off their goods with the chance to win some cool prizes. Well, it was such a hit last year that we can hardly wait to start that up again and see more of those adorable canines! Here are some of the basics about the contest:

1) You must be a dog to enter.

2) Your owner must think you’re cute (or pretty, beautiful, handsome, dashing, etc.)

3) You must come to the Portrait Shoppe to have your portrait taken for the contest.

4) One image per session will be chosen and entered into the contest.

5) You may chose to enter into either the Reality or Imagination category, or you may enter both and give yourself double the chance to win!

6) Winners are chosen based on size (small breed, medium breed, large breed) and category, so there are six category winners!

7) All judging will be by PetSuites of Lexington.

Contest begins Jan. 1, 2010!

If you have questions, please call us and ask (yes, we speak “woof”). Pets truly are simply furry children, we can’t wait to celebrate them this season! We’ll see you soon!

The iPod Profile is a feature on Star 102.5 every Tuesday and Thursday morning where a listener submits five songs off their iPod and Ken and Colleen have to guess the gender, age, occupation, marital status and hobby of the mystery listener solely based on their iPod music.  As the sponsor you receive mentions and award the winner a great prize!

Star 102.5’s Christmas Wish makes the Holidays a little brighter for people in Central Iowa by granting their Christmas Wish.  Each year we ask listeners to share their story of someone special who deserves to be honored in a very unique and personal way.  Thousands of listeners respond from around the state, sending touching wishes for the Star 102.5 Christmas Wish Committee to review.  Your sponsorship will build brand awareness by tying into a heart-warming promotion during the Holiday season.

Moments into the staring contest, Mugsy realizes his opponent has a distinct advantage: No eyelids.

dun blink!

Picture by: dunno source Caption by: Ratchet13 via Loldog Builder

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By Bianca

About a week and a half ago, we were tagged over at Flying Cupcakes, as the most awesomest blog to have ever have existed on the internet ever. Like ever ever.

What?

Ok, maybe not the awesomest blog ever, but it was still pretty cool to get The Honest Scrap thingie. For those who are wondering, I’m the honest and Sylvia is the scrap.

So we decided to go ahead and tag a few other bloggers, who better respond immediately or we are going to use the considerable power we don’t have and get them kicked off the internet forever. We are totally down with resorting to bribery if we have to.

So here are the rules of winning this award:

1) Present this award to 7 others whose blogs you find brilliant in content and/or design, or those who have encouraged you.

2) Tell those 7 people they’ve been awarded HONEST SCRAP and inform them of these guidelines in receiving the award.

3) Share “10 Honest Things” about yourself.

We’ll start with #3, because as you all know, Sylvia and I love to talk about ourselves.

But we are also lazy, so instead of hurting our heads with trying to come up with 10 things each, we decided to do 5 each, and let you guys figure out which 5 belonged to each of us.

I can tell the suspense is killing you, so without further ado:

1. I was in a movie that stars Harrrison Ford

2. I never went to the same school twice until I was in 7th grade

3. I knew how to draw a beer from a tap (beer keg) by the age of 5

4. I’m not a big fan of long walks on the beach

5. I lived in a teepee when I was 3

6. My nickname growing up was “Rocky”

7. I am related to F. Scott Fitzgerald, Francis Scott Key, and Mary Queen of Scotts

8. My first word was ‘Schlitz’

9. My husband used to date Bryce Conway

10. As a child, I was a vegan, anti abortion, anti death penalty and would not allow my mother to buy products that were tested on animals.

We also decided to flaunt the rules by tagging 9 bloggers insetad of 7. Why? Because we can.  No offense to those not on the list!  We love y’all…..

In no particular order, here are our picks:

Sun

Corpulent 

Atchka 

No Celery Please

Fat Sisters

Ivan in NYC

Big Liberty

Sleepy Dumpling

Life on Fats

Win the $10,000 grand prize in Vita-Mix’s Pitch Me! contest! Vita-Mix Corporation created the very first infomercial in 1949. Now, they are looking for the next Vita-Mix Demonstration Star who is best able to sell their powerful machine in web videos and maybe even television! Just grab your camera, your Vita-Mix machine and submit! Go to VitamixTV.com right now for all the rules and details. There’s over $20,000 in prizes. YOU may be the next Vita-Mix star!