I think it should be “The Troubles, with Tribbles” retelling the story of the conflicts in, and regarding, Northern Ireland with self-multiplying furball aliens. I think it would be a successful Off-Off-Broadway production, with the right script. So get on it.

Right now.

I’ll wait.

Did you remember that it’s a musical?

No?

Then go write the songs too! What am I paying you people for? Wait. I’m not paying you. You’re not even paying ME!

Something is definitely wrong here.

I definitely expect a piece of the profits from TTWT.

Until then though, you can refresh a poll: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/573331.html

A few words from clauderainsrm:

It’s been a strange week. So, of course, that was going to continue to the poll itself.
This week features two announced sacrifices. Which, sort of takes the fun out of it! Why would you tell people they would be safe? Especially since so many people guessed that the tribes would be broken up along topic lines!

Which, they totally were.

Fortunately, both sacrifices are coming from the same tribe. The Disappear group. So it really only saves one person!

My instinct would be to go for the throat of the biggest group. But since they are already losing two members, I decided not to do that.

Instead, since they will not be feeling the pressure of “will I be leaving this week?”, I’m throwing out an additional duty on them. Each member of that tribe, needs to send me (clauderainsrm@gmail.com) their top two entries, from someone NOT in their group by Monday,June 4th at 8pm EDT. The person who receives the most votes, will receive an immunity good for until the Top 25!

In addition, the person with the most votes in that tribe, will receive a bye that must be given away, also good to the Top 25. Sure, it doesn’t directly benefit them, but they can be someone else’s hero! Which never hurts!

Obviously, the two sacrifcing are not eligible to win the bye.

For the other tribes, they will be losing the person who wrote the entry with the fewest votes. Which means, ultimately, we will be losing five contestants this week.

In the past, contestants usually managed to split themselves up fairly evenly. This time, that wasn’t the case. Which should certainly make for some interesting results!

So make sure you get out there and read everything, and comment to them, and support your favorites!

The polls close Monday, June 4th at 9pm EDT.

Good luck to everyone!

( Click here to Vote! )

The deadline is tonight at 7pm EDT. Note the earlier time! So make sure that you (and/or your favorites) have finished their entries, unlocked them (so people can actually read) and posted to the thread http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/571850.html BEFORE you go off and comment about the JCPenney Father’s Day ad campaign!

I’m sure you have something to say (other than “It’s better to burn out, than fade away”) about it. Mostly because you people have something to say about pretty much everything!

And when I say “You People”, I mean “You Damn Hippie Foreigners Who are Attempting to Ruin the Lives of Good, Honest ‘Mericans!”. So, it’s not intended to be offensive in the least. : ) I’m merely identifying you by name and classification! :D

Happy Birthday to our own Destiny and of course imafarmgirl!

I hope that Destiny has a great day and that Sarah

**JAWS malfunction. Please reload page**


That should mess with her head for a bit! ;)

While she is figuring out what to do, the rest of you can proceed to the Topic post: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/571850.html
The Work Room: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/572119.html
Or the Home Game thread: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/572520.html
Depending on where you are, in the context of Week 29, at the moment!

There are plenty of topics to choose from this week, http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/571850.html

So, if you are Home Gaming any of them – and anyone can! – well, this would be a good place to link those entries! :D

Have fun!

I take a couple days off from LJ and suddenly there is a ranking system!
What does it mean? I don’t know. Is 360 place in community rankings good or bad? I have no idea.
237 Social capital? Do we want more or less? I’m not sure.

How do you “improve”? Beat me. But I want to. So, figure out how to get us higher, or lower – whichever is better, on those charts!!
That is your mission!

Why? Because now it’s out there and we need to win! :P

I’m not even sure what “winning” entails, just that social ranking implies that we need to do it!!! ;)

***
The new topics went up last night http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/571850.html

Causing a Work Room to generate: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/572119.html

And a Home Game thread. (well, I haven’t posted it yet, but I will in a couple of minutes). You didn’t get to 10 last time, but it was close enough for me to give it another try… especially with 4 different topics to choose from, I have every faith that the thread will be used this week.)

So, between that and figuring out how to improve Idol’s social standing, I guess you have your hands full today!! :D

The new topics are up. http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/571850.html

Which one are you going to choose? Why? What do you think you will be able to do with it that you don't think you can with the others?

***
One of the biggest surprises for me (other than the storm) last week was in saying "Bring Your A-Game" some people seemed upset that they had to "bring their A-game" yet ANOTHER week, as if they shoudn't be doing their best every single week. Everyone has bad/tough weeks. But doing your best work every week should be the norm, not a special event!

Another head scratcher was that, it felt like people reverted to bad habits we haven't seen since early in the competition. The main one being trying to fit the words in the topic into the piece. Trust me, if you can deliver on the piece you want, people are smart enough to figure out the connection. If they can't, without resorting to beating them over the head with it, chances are you need to get a second look at the piece, stare at it from the side and see what it is that you need to change.

I believe that every one in this competition has the chance to shine. But not if you trip over your own heels. I know what pressure can do to a person. But hopefully those surprise days off to rest will come in handy, to recharge you for the march to the finish!

Idol may pause, but it jumps back up, grabs a couple of the nearest people by their throats and drags them, screaming, to next week!

Which means there are new topics.

Four different topics. You pick ONE to write.

Simple, right? *waits for you to nod* Glad you agree.

Gobsmacked, Disappear, Appropriation, Leviathan

are your choices. Let me know which one you are picking when you link them.

The deadline to link your entries back to this thread is Thursday, May 31st at 7pm EDT

Have fun!

Removing all superstition from the mix, and relying only on good, hard science – I have no choice but to come to the conclusion that your votes angered the Gods, who did not want such a result to ever be posted.

So, ten minutes before the vote would have been final, they lashed out with a storm that knocked out my internet, and by appears to have fried by router (it’s no longer receiving or sending information, they couldn’t remote in last night in order to fix it. That will require someone coming out in person. On a holiday weekend.)

There are a few questions that I know you want to know:

(1) “How many people were going to be eliminated.” 7. Only because I set the cap at 8. Otherwise there could have been 9, maybe 10, depending on where I set the hypothetical maximum.
(2) “Was I one of them?” Yes. Yes, you were. ;) OK, that really depends on who is asking me. If you want to know, I’ll tell you in private.
(3) “Were any of those 7 people you, Gary, had on your “Yes” list?” 4 of them were. On the other hand, the rest of my “yes” list looks like what would have been the “top” of the poll. So, go figure… you people have *some* taste, I guess… :P
(4) “Can we find out where we would have ranked, in your usual vague terms?” Yes.
(5) “Can we find out where we would have ranked in Gary Only voting?” Yes. But be warned, you may not like the answer and if I start getting the endless follow up “BUT WHY????” I’m going to shut it down. Unless of course YOU are going to be cross examined for everything YOU didn’t vote for this week and every other week. I have a list. :D
(6) “Are you feeling cranky this morning, Gary?” Yes. Very much so. I’m sorry for lashing out like that. But it’s been a bad 12 hours or so.
(7) “When is the new topic being posted?” The appointment to get my internet back up is on Monday. I figure this is a sign from the Idol Gods that you are supposed to go out and enjoy your Memorial Day weekend with friends and family. The new topic will be posted late Monday.
(8) “That really sucks”. That’s not a question. But I do agree. I’d much rather be eliminating you people. ;)
(9) “Why does George Martin like saying “Number 9”? He just does.
(10) A special “Thank You”/kick to the hippie goes to spydielives who was able to post a message to you guys. I would have done it myself, if I could have. But I figured hearing about it through channels was far better than leaving you refreshing all night and getting frustrated!

Today is the last day for people to get in their votes for Contestant Only voting. So, if you are one of those slackers, you need to get on it! http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/570851.html

This is actually the first time in, well, I believe EVER that I ended up assembling my own actual list of where people would fall under “Gary Only Voting”, as opposed to just having it in my head.

While I was definitely pleased by the number of “yes” votes I had, there was quite a few signs of burn-out that I saw in even the strongest pieces, and some people that I think missed the mark. (Although it’s “missed the mark” compared to what I know they can do/when put side by side. They are still good pieces, amazingly enough) Some of those are still doing well in the voting (it’s not over yet), to which I have to say that my tastes have never entirely matched those of the voting public, regardless of who that public is…. I think it’s time for Gary Only Voting to become a “thing”! :P

(OK, probably not. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t continue to scare you with it!)

In a case of real life and Idol schedule matching up well, I have made a bit of adjustment to said schedule – to include something that’s never happened before. Some will like it – others will be really annoyed. Which means it’s just like every other thing that’s ever happened in Idol! ;)

All I can say now is that it’s coming in a couple of weeks. So those of you left standing at the end of this round, well… you might want to hold onto the handrail.