Winners Winners! weekly contesnt; Tuesday, October 30, 2012

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YAY I have a typo.

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Congrats everybody! Well done for both winners and HM's, keep writing :)

One judge will be off for a week or two, so these are the comments and votes from 4 judges!

However, there sounds to be a site glitch, the votes were correctly in, but we don't have all the right winners on the front page.

If I hear anything from the mods, I will update this, however one of them might just post him/herself regarding this.

till then, enjoy reading the comments!

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VOTES:
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I Know Some Lonely House
by The Queen 10+7

A thunder smelling rose
By Darren 10

One of these days
Yaki 10+4

Privacy
by Britt 10+4

A Widow's Requiem
by The Queen 7

Hypnotizing Moon (Haiku)
Maple Tree 7

Nothing on you (Diminished Hexaverse)
By Meme 7

Words for Him
by The Poetess 4

Your Demons
One Man Clan 4

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COMMENTS:
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I Know Some Lonely House
by The Queen.

The first stanza alone made this for me. The visual the poetess created here was fantastic, and I loved the soft rhyme and alliteration throughout. No clue if it's intentional but this stanza was riddled with poetic devices that was just fun to read. The second stanza is perhaps my favorite, so sad yet beautiful. "but what tales, the moon can tell,
this rickety house cannot," This is a gorgeous piece of poetry as well. The writer here has so many quote worthy lines that I wanted to highlight..I couldn't help but give this one a ten. As for content of the poem, I love the title and how perfectly it fits and goes so well with Halloween coming up this week. It also reminds me of an old man or woman - lonely now with perhaps a spouse no longer there, kids having their own families and lives. Left alone, old and forgotten, with many memories of before. Seriously fantastic.- 10 points

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This is one of the best, descriptive writings I have come a crossed in a while...

Queen has set a picture in my head of a haunted house, with such an eerie feeling, and yet I went deeper within this piece. In my opinion it sets a tone of depressive nature and I can't help but feeling it's the way one feels when depression sets in... The major metaphor left me speechless and I adore the nature tones throughout and also the mysterious and edginess it made me experience. I've fallen in love with this piece!!
Very Nice!-7 points

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Privacy
by Britt

The sensuality and creativeness of this poem left me speechless. I can't express enough how unique this poem is... I could visualize two lovers in a romantic embrace in the wee hours of morning, passionately bonding and it left me as the reader, speechless...

I could feel the dark of night and the beauty of the stars and moon, almost applauding these two... I could visualize the beauty of the moon, silhouetting through the window and highlighting the two lovers and then, almost like a hushing sound... this is the only way I can explain this poem, that's how much I love this poem. The title is perfect...adding class to this very classy and sensual love poem! Beautiful!!-10 points

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Britt, I feel as though you are the only poet I know who can write something in almost a simplistic way, but have you words say so much in creative adorning ways. The use of "Epitome" added so much to the beginning of this poem. You set such a romantic scene that doesn't prepare the reader enough for the jaw dropping moment of your next stanza. "Skies soaking in clouds", that was absolutely refreshing to read. When I read about the sky or clouds I read the same thing from poets, its so hard to think of unique ways to describe what the clouds look like. The end of your last stanza actually showed how divine that moment was between two lovers, if even the universe knows not to interrupt the serenity of that moment. So precious I really fell in love with this piece.- 4 points.

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A thunder smelling rose
By Darren

Darren, you pull in the readers right away with your interesting title. Thunder being personified as a scent is very odd, and made me wonder you would take this. I found this poem to be so overwhelming, but in a great way. There were incredible lines in this, Id like to share which ones struck me.

"that promise of an eternal slumber." I thought this was an amazing way to give power to your statement. Waking someone from something eternal, which would be impossible, but not in this case.

"there is no sound
just a beating heart, quickening
trying to pump my will" - pump my will was so uniquely phrased. It strays from the typical "pumping blood" or just "pumping" in general...I loved this!

"A single suicidal bead of sweat
begins deaths journey"- there is no describing how amazing this line was. Hands down the best line of the poem for me. The way you craft your metaphors is so mind blowing, that literally I want to exaggerate how much I adore it, but I'm lost for words. The only tacky thing I can think of is "Wow! That is so cool".

The ending was just beautiful. The imagery of a finger drawing on a frosted window is actually a really beautiful vivid picture. Also, there is a message in your poem. As much as I do adore EVERY metaphor in here, I almost wish there wasn't as much just so your message could have been recognized more. I know the whole point was to lead up to your point, but your point is so beautiful I just wish you had continued on about it...Over all, I enjoyed this read tremendously.-10 points

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One of these days
Yaki

I really like the origanality of this piece and the style. The flavor of it is nice. Yes it is quite random but the word choice is simple and eloquent. The style is amazing and the piece is short but interesting. Voice is something so important to poems and the fact this piece has first person strong voice from such an object as wonderful. This piece is nice because a reader can translate it to have any meaning to them (choose me instead of that type meaning at least) The third stanza is by far my favorite. It just really stands out to me. Excellent write. Magnificent job.-10 points

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One of these days
by Yaki

This was an adorable piece, the metaphor of tea and coffee was creative, and I just love it!
It's got a simplistic flare to it, but as I read it over and over again, the message took me deeper, way deeper.. I could feel almost like the author was expressing a sense of loneliness and it gave me a feeling of sarcastic tones.

The tea cup is looking out at a sea of coffee cups and letting them know that maybe in time they might see the beauty of "tea".. the beauty within is what I'm feeling here...

This poem actually made me want to drink of cup of tea.. ha ha. On a more serious note it has an inspirational message in my opinion and the beauty of the author's heart and soul can be felt throughout this poem. Awesome!! - 4 points

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Hypnotizing Moon (Haiku)
Maple Tree

For being a haiku this piece is wonderful. Creating something with meaning yet only being limited to so much space makes the word choice difficult and the point hard to make in most cases. However in this piece there seems to be no problem. The sylabls are counted correctly and the words were chosen with such presision it is amazing. Fantastic write. -7 points

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Widow's Requiem
by The Queen

Wow, that's all I can say really. This poem is so full of emotion and descriptions, I found myself reading this poem over and over. Your words are brilliant. You know the poems you could read over and over and never tire? This is exactly that kind of poetry, right here. The thought of a widow brings a certain kind of longing and sadness as is, but the way you interpreted it, it's as though you've experienced this feeling yourself. What a perfect way to convey the loneliness, looking back on what was, what could have been, and how it's still supposed to be. I find this poem goes very well with another poem you had nominated this week and I loved them both. Your style has changed a bit from the shorter, less descriptive poems you've had before. I love this, it leaves so much more for the reader to dig their toes into. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!!! - 7 points

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Nothing on you (Diminished Hexaverse)
by Meme

Poetry is all about creativity and wording to me. You have nailed both here. Excellent job with this form. With this topic. I found this to be flawless.
"You standardized my heart
to only beat for ones
like you, but there is none."- I just felt like this summed up every feeling a woman feels when she's trying to move on. It's impossible. The male has done just this, made us only look for men like him and no one can come close. Hence why they say never compare your new to your ex. Beautifully worded.

"I nurtured your love
in me for years. It
grew as we grew"- as lame as this sounds, this part literally made me say "awww". How true is this? Not even just for you, but for anyone who is in love or been in love, we know what this means .. Love continues to grow and grow as two people grow closer and closer. I loved this.

Meme I felt this was so adorable, so precious, and just amazing that you can say so much in a kind of limited style. Excellent write-7 points

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Your Demons
One Man Clan

THe word choice here is amazing.Though the piece is sorta long, I was interested the entire way through. It is a wonderful piece and the descriptions are truly phenominal. Excellent piece.-4 points

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Words for Him by The Poetess

The footnote at the bottom here makes me sad... because this kind of raw, vulnerable poetry is sometimes what brings out the absolute best in a poet. Sadness, loneliness, anger, pain -- sometimes those bring out the best pieces we can find, sadly.. and here I think this is one of the best poems I have ever read from Poetess. It feels so real, so honest, so heartbreakingly raw that I weep for her. Losing a parent is a terrible experience, one that can shatter your world. The vulnerability in this poem, especially in the beginning, was child like and beautiful in the way it asked those questions you probably don't want answers to, because they hurt too much. This poem brought more emotions out in me than most. I won't go into the specific content of this poem because it's very personal, and what I take away from it isn't quite the same as the intent, so I won't spoil the beauty here... but I hope to see this on the front page... This should represent our site. -4 points

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Ms. Sunshinee

Thanks for the win.................I think!!??

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Congratulations for the winners and Hms =)

Congratulations winners and Hm's :-)

thank you very much for my Hm.. :-)

Congrats to all winners and HMs:)

Congrats to all winners and HM's...and of course the judges and Nana... :)

Congrats to all! :D

Congrats to allllllll and thank you judges for giving me a break from the front page, it was getting exhausting standing there for so long lmaoooooo sorry guys but you boosted my ego!

Those never ending glitches... and never ending lack of commitment... !!

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Congrats ya'll!

glad to see Myryn with 2 prizesss:)

Thanks Sunshine.

So my poem had 14 points and it didn't win

hhahahahah p and q is sooooooooooooo cute.

congrats everyone muah xoxo

Omg you sounded like me!!! I always say "well thats cute" sarcastically....

You totally won baby girl! Youre the shiznit, dont let a glitch get to you, lets have a seperate Yaki party and dance for the little icon that lost its way finding you in hopes it will return..ya know, like rain dancing? but not for rain :) hehehe

However, there sounds to be a site glitch, the votes were correctly in, but we don't have all the right winners on the front page.

If I hear anything from the mods, I will update this, however one of them might just post him/herself regarding this.

^^^^

What happened? The gliche word is becoming very popular right now so...was it the same gliche?..different gliche? I think an explanation is required.

No response?... so I'm asking again...Yaki had 14 points on her poem....how could that posssibly be passed off as a gliche in the system?

The tie breaks I can understand now that the site breaks them but...she had 14 points....clearly a winner over Darren's poem so....I'm just going to come right out here and say.. has Nana stuffed up? . Every second week we have to accept this gliche shite... I'm over it guys...it never happened before....the congrats threads are getting posted later every week...there are mistakes and those gliches....yeah....I know everyone is pissed off about it.. but...guess I'm the only loudmouth willing to put myself up here to voice my opinion...

To be honest right now guys...I'm fed up with trying to bat for fairness on this site all on my own...

Jeez Louise, Hellon, your double posting happened while I was asleep. Gimme time.

I last saw the votes on this week's contest Sunday night, apparently before the 4th Judge voted. At the time I counted a total of 63 points; that's exactly right for 3 judges. I cannot see the votes anymore, obviously, but I take it Yaki was supposed to get a 4 instead of Darren.
Since the site assigned it elsewhere I have to assume either it was a mis-vote by the 4th Judge or a site glitch. The fact is that if the judge had not waited to the last minute to vote we could have corrected the results. Alternatively, if the judge had not voted at all the site would have broken the tie between Yaki & Darren & no hard feelings would have accrued by anyone.

Im not understanding this...Yakki got a 4 after the judging was closed..is this what you mean? and, if so...don't you think the mods need to look into this voting system further? The nomminations were blocked over the weekend in order for the judges to read over them but....still...the results ended up wrong?

No not after the judging was closed, but this Judge voted at the last minute, usually I send reminders for the judges that they should be voting/commenting by Friday night/saturday MAX...but not that it's that perfect all the time.

The judge said they were @ the hospital for emergecncy, health issues, and could not vote or comment before that time, but it was toooo late. Voting at the last minute means : we are unable to be all around to fix wrong votes.

Usually if this happened I or one of the mods re cast the correct vote, to the correct winner.

However for the lack of time, and since the votes by this last judge came very late, it was not possible.

Em...still confused...who actually voted? ..the 4th judge at the hospital or you Nana...but either way can either vote be described as a gliche in the system...you see I had other thoughts in my mind about that excuse...computer issues etc...nothing human...

In that case, either Nana or one of the mods or with such power must have casted their votes too, while assuming that the 4th judge wont be able to make it on time? I hope that wasnt the case of "glitches" in the past.

Thank you judges, and congrats HM's.

Why do you insist in building drama by pretending to be confused. It is very simple. The judge voted at the last minute. The judge may have voted for one poem when meaning to vote for another. This happens when the judge likes a poem, hits "back" & votes for the poem in the position when the screen reverts without taking into account the rearranging of the poems each time you open the page. Careless voting.
No one other than the judges voted.
Had the judge made the same mistake earlier in the weekend, Nana or a Mod could have corrected the results by voting so that the Judges' combined votes as stated in their PMs are reflected on the site. Last minute voting hurt.

I'm not building drama,,,I'm not pretending to be confused....I AM Confused...and...even after your post I'm still confused...never mind...it really doesn't matter anymore...guess..I don't have one of those smart phones that everything can lay blame on when they f*** up ...when I make a mistake....I alone am responsible?

Larry, your explanation sounds sensible but in all honesty, it's still confusing as hell.

C'mon, same mistake time and time again? Excuse me but , have not the judges learn from all of these and still hit "back" and vote blindly without even realizing it isn't the same poem?

Yes, although that is only one of two theories.

The only other explanation is that the site itself applies the vote to the wrong poem occasionally.
We have repeatedly sent PMs & e-mails to Janis to check on this issue. Unfortunately he seems to be on walk-about & has not responded, even though he has checked in.

The only solution is for judges NOT to vote after Saturday so that we have a chance to correct any problems.

The site applies itself...what does this mean? When a member had 14 votes by two judges thats 10+4 the site will just randomly say well...no I'm just gonna pick this one with a 10 by one judge?

"the site itself applies" is what I said. This is the only other explanation we can think of. If you have a better explanation that might help solve the problem, please share.

Can't we make some kind of rule and say there is NO voting past Saturday A.m? Let's say noon for example...

If a judge is late, then screw it they can't cast votes. We will run the contest with 3 judges. Or 4 or whatever the case maybe that weekend...

If you can't understand a simple concept that ALL VOTES AND COMMENTS must be in by Friday night or Saturday morning then you shouldn't be judging....its not hard....

I don't mind mistakes being made, I'm not too picky, sh*t happens, but for judges to be (possibly) making the same mistake, then they need to stop judging because clearly they don't get it. Its too stressful for mods and Nana to be running around last minute. Its not your guys' fault or responsibility truthfully...if its ever a site gliche then you guys step in, but the weekly contest should fall on the shoulders of judges, you guys should not have to keep dealing with this.

"the site itself applies" OK...got it right now...what do you mean?....I know I asked this already but....is the site human all of a sudden??? It preferred Darrens poem so F..off yaki...no way....human error I think?

Are the judges able to see the number of votes other judges casted before theirs? If so, maybe the 4th judge could elighten us?

Thanks site glitch for my win.

The judge cannot enlighten without revealing ID.
I welcome thejudge to PM a mod & let it be relayed.

I agree. No voting late works best.

When you make changes in a complex software system such as PnQ there may be unintended glitches. There is no need to personify the system it is a dumb program. However when Janis made the page randomize each time it is viewed he may have put in a software bug that randomizes a vote occassionally.

No the judges cannot see the votes cast. Only Mods & Nana can see them.

Color me totally confused.

We always see poems up here that don't have the points and no one can explain it. Either someone is placing votes to make other poems win on purpose, or we have the same judge for a year and a half that can't place a vote properly. We had these mistakes even before the jumbled poems on the nomination list. I never had this problem when hosting. I don't recall ever having to come in and 'fix' the votes, we never voted. And I had people turning their votes in thru Sunday evening.

This really is a simple process that's being made way too difficult.

No, the judges cannot see the points. Only the mods and I am assuming Nana. These points should be cross checked every time a judge votes. Since you know who came in late, this fourth judge can tell you if they were a little speedy before clicking the vote and did it in error can't they?

As for having votes in before Saturday at noon, were pushing it back earlier and earlier. Sat at noon for the site is morning for the west coast, and a lot of judges don't have time throughout the week. I don't think we need to push it back any further. Not to mention there are mods on on Sundays and in the evening all the time. They get the votes in the mod account, it takes a minute or two to go check and see the points being added correctly.

I just find it hard to believe we have these issues all the time. It's no wonder people don't want to judge anymore, or even contribute to this thread. We've all given up.

I just feel its way easier for all judges to know that if an emergency comes up, if you get busy and sidetracked over the weekend, whatever makes you unable to vote on time then don't vote that weekend and we'll just go off the other judges....i mean really who cares if there is 5 judges, 4, or 3....if those judges turn in the votes and comments on time, and 1 or 2 were unable to that weekend, there shouldn't be a problem...last minute voting is easy to screw things up so don't vote at all if its Saturday night or Sunday morning. You'll rush and click the wrong thing, you'll make people stay up way late organizing things, double checking.

These problems have spanned the judges terms. It's not one judge who is at fault. In fact we have changed judges where we thought one was being careless.

When you were hosting it Janis had not yet put in the changes. You want to do it for a while?

I do not see any evidence of extra votes. The only ones that could be are if a Mod or nana were voting. Since the mods can see that, it would show up. If you want a statement here it is:

I have not voted except for the purpose of matching the winner to the judges' stated PMs & written votes as coordinated in the mod room.

Anyone else that feels the need to defend their honor may take the stand.

. The only ones that could be are if a Mod or nana were voting^

So the mods and nana can vote ..why is that when we apparently have judges???

Oh, I think I got that!

When Britt, Rab, Colm, Noura, and me were judges this thing never happened as I recall.

Now, after Janis changed the appearance of nominated poems from ordered into randomized, the votes probably are being randomized by fault, too--

maybe if Janis could fix the coding of the randomized appearance... or.... bring it back to ordered, things will work again.

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* Hellon, I guess moderators have the ultimate powers in this site, including the power to vote just like judges. It is encoded that way.

With respect to Nana and her powers, I have no idea... but I don't think she has the power to vote. She can only know who is voting and the number of votes via the PMs she gets from judges. Or can she vote, too? :O

Hellon, the votes available to Nana & Mods have always been there from the beginning.
Sometimes they were used to break ties.
Sometimes a Mod would have to step in when there were not enough judges that week.
Sometimes Nana or a mod would have to correct the problems caused by mis-voting.

Abed, that is exactly correct and is what we have been signalling Janis to correct. If EVERYONE would PM him to respond to the mods' request to fix the problem maybe he won't ignore it.

The poems could remain in the chronological order they were first nominated. That would probably be the most consistently static.
Alternatively, they could be alphabetical by title.

I have asked for a long time to host again, however I am hosting and leading a life group for my church on Sundays and now I don't have the proper time to cross check and compile. Perhaps someone else has the time. It's time for a change. We've tried everything else and kept one variable. Time to see.

Chels, judges can vote Saturday and it still be fine. The site doesnt roll over until monday morning, so people need to relax and not rush. :) if it gets to Sunday and the judge can't vote and there is an emergency, then that's fine and they should know not to vote. But I don't think communication is going on between judges and mods/Nana.

Larry these problems happen all the time, even before the randomizing of the poems. The poem should have the votes next to it before it rolls over, right? So are you saying the vote goes on the correct poem and shows up until it rolls over to the front page, and then the poems no longer have the right votes? Why does it only happen to one poem a week? And poems that have already been voted on and has a comment with it? Why wouldn't it pull a totally random poem, not a poem close to win?

Why do we need a new host? Nana is doing her best and a fine job, everyone else seems to be flubbing up.

I think people have lives outside of pnq we have to remember....I mean what's Nana supposed to do wait til Sunday and organize last minute? Its easier to have it done and ready to post early so she can enjoy her weekend and not wait around or be up all night on PnQ awaiting and stressing for judges to vote and comment.

Perhaps I'm just too picky, but I hate procrastination and that seems to be a problem.

Because we have issues every week, no matter site changes, no matter the judges. We have one constant remaining. It won't kill everyone to TRY something different, right?

If its that stressful that you can't do it a few hours later, you shouldn't do it. Again its being made to be way more complicated than it really is.

I give up. It seems there are only a couple of us who don't like what's happening and are willing to voice their opinion, so I will do what everyone else does :)

No one's messing up anything, we are just trying to detect the problem we are experiencing here :)