OK folks. There have been a number of requests for exceptions to allow bloggers to enter the who otherwise are disqualified by the current rules. There have been some interesting suggestions (most notably one to allow blogs that received 0 votes to resubmit for another try).
I may run next week as a “catch-up” week of some kind, and open up entry back to the original start date for the first week in some way. But for this week, I’m keeping the contest rules the same, to give a fair shake to the genuinely new crop of blogs who have submitted their entries.
I will, however, offer up an alternative contest for this week for those disgruntled soles amoung you who feel you didn’t quite get a fair shake. I call it The Not-Quite New Weblog Showcase: I Coulda Been A Contender.
Rules are as follows:
1) Entry is open to anyone who got hosed by Blogger permalinks (or lack thereof); who missed the entry deadline due to overuse of controlled substances; whose dog ate their blog post (but it was a really good one), or who otherwise feels they have been cheated, gyped, duped, denied, rejected, scammed, swindled, or just plain ripped-off of the Showcase victory that they know in their heart is rightfully theirs.
2) To enter, simply create a post on your blog, link to this one, and describe, in your own words, why your blog just plain shoulda won, or, alternatively, just plain shoulda been allowed to enter the contest. Comparisons to great scandals in American history are suggested. Insults directed at myself are encouraged, and will be judged by creativity and degree of difficulty.
3) Seriousness is discouraged. Any blogger whose entry is deemed to be overly serious will be summarily disqualified, obliged to write “Blogging is for fun” on the chalkboard 100 times, and will be forced to wear a silly hat.
4) Judging will occur whenever I damned well feel like it, but probably sometime this weekend. Judging criteria will be based on whatever I’ve had for breakfast that morning, but may possibly include numerology, Tarot, and a divining rod to select the winner. Or I may just pick one that I like.
5) All submitted entries deemed to be not completely worthless will be exerpted in a roundup post on the main TTLB page here. The winning entry will (for real) be posted in a special box on the Ecosystem page — not quite where the true Showcase winner goes, but somewhere prominent.
Get crackin’, slackers! I look forward to some world-class whining and complaining!