JAMBOG Awards Coming To You

Well, to six of you.

It's taken a while (no surprise), but the six Participant Awards for JAMBOG are ready to go. Which one will be yours?



Queen of Carrots, Amy Sita, Wendy, Charlessa, Zana, and Joanna... please send your mailing address to the comcast address over to the left (above the picture). Your awards will go in the mail as soon as I'm certain I know where to send them!

-- SJ

JAMBOG: The Awards

And here it is, folks! The final awards of the 2008 Games!

Grand Prize by reader vote (which saves us any accusations of nepotism, *whew*) is Lindsay and her good friend, Donald Trump. Lindsay, you win a $20 gift card to the store of your choice.

Second Place winner by reader vote is the indefatigably clever Rose, with Katy's ongoing search for free ice cream. (Note: Rose has used Katy as her fictional heroine for roughly 10 years and 457 stories.) Rose, we'll treat you to a little something at Bruster's.

Other Prizes, all to receive an official and personalized JAMBOG ribbon, personally created by a JAMBOG official:

• Best presentation: Joanna and her musical
• Best Use of a Completely Irrelevant Object: C and her cake
• Best MacGyvering: Zana and the volatile tea-plus-paint slurry
• Wildest Flight of Fancy: Amy Sita... pretty much the whole thing!
• Best Plot Fudge: Wendy's "security purposes" clause.
• Best Closing Line: Queen of Carrots (who has a long history of closing off her posts with zingers)

Thanks to all of y'all for playing! Join us next year for the 2009 Game, in whatever form our imagination casts it!

-- SJ and DJ

JAMBOG entries

Excellent idea, Kelly, to have readers vote on the best entry. I'd thought of it in passing before, and it just sounds like more fun. Plus less work for us, which I'm always in the market for. ("I love work. It fascinates me. I can sit and watch it for hours.")

Below are links to each of the entries, in no particular order. Read each one, and then vote in the poll to the left. Which one did you like the best? Feel free to comment here on what you most enjoyed. Feel free to do so anonymously if you don't want to risk straining a friendship. :)

On that note, a reminder: Opinions are valuable. Tact increases the value thereof. Please make your opinions priceless.

Meanwhile, Darren and I will be awarding more specialized prizes, to be announced at least by next week. Honest.

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

JAMBOG: A Word From Our Judges

In keeping with the traditions of the Games, we are officially announcing that... We're not going to get to the judging this week.

As you recall, last year the awards were delayed because Daphne was in the hospital with RSV. This year, the delay is because California is wreaking havoc with homeschooling freedoms. Darren would be shut up in the office with the rest of the litigation department, frantically preparing a brief... except that this week, of all weeks, he's on jury duty.

It might even be after Easter before we can settle down and do a proper judging. My cursory skim-overs assure me that the entries are great, and we want to be able to devote all our attention to them.

In not-very-related news, I did finish The Ria Story. Once I get time to catch my breath (see above), I've got a lot of blogging to catch up on.

-- SJ

JAMBOG - Phase 2

It would have been enough fun just seeing what everyone "found" from the list. But wait, there's more!

Welcome to Phase Two!

Below are three scenarios. Your mission: Choose one of the scenarios. Then solve the crisis... using the four items you chose.

Judging Criteria
* You don't have to write it up in story form. (In fact, considering that I'm spending every evening writing cobbled-together scenes and hasty dialogue, I don't really WANT to read anything in story form right now.) Bullet points work just fine. The point here isn't your literary skill, but your, shall we say, MacGyver qualities.

* You don't have to use every item to foil the bad guys. (Obviously, more points if you do.)

* You don't have to use JUST those items. (The fewer extra items, the better.)

* You have to use the specific items you chose.

* Winners announced in a week.

* You do know who MacGyver is, right?



Grand Prize Winner... gets the grand prize. :) Smaller tokens of appreciation go out for creativity and entertainment.

Here are the scenarios.
Scenario #1: The president has just been kidnapped by terrorists. You, as the special agent, are transported to their stronghold. How do you rescue the president?

Scenario #2: You're at a kids' soccer game and stay late to help pack everything up. After you've seen absolutely everyone off, you get in your vehicle and turn the key. Nothing happens. How do you get home?

Scenario #3: You're imprisoned in an old castle dungeon. Guards stand outside your cell. A moat surrounds the castle. How do you escape?

Joanna, Rose, Amy, Linds, C, Zana, QoC, and Wendy... Get cracking!

JAMBOG

It's time again for the Joneses' Annual Midwinter Blues Online Games! (Also known, as of this sentence, as JAMBOG.)

This year's game is played in two phases. Let me pull out my file here where I put the paper... Here we go!

Phase one: Send us money.
Phase two: Come here to read all about our cool vacation to Europe.

Oh, wait. Wrong file. That was from the "Really Gullible Friends" file. Let me try again.

JAMBOG 2008
Phase One: Below is a list of fifteen items. Your job is to collect four of them -- only four, that's all you have to do. Find a picture or description of each item somewhere online, and post the link on your blog. When you've found all your items, leave a link to your blog in our comments section. (If you don't have a blog, you can put your "item links" in our comment section.)

You must be specific. For instance, you can't link to Amazon.com and say you've found "Book." You have to link to one specific book. Which one, of course, is entirely up to you.

Phase One will end in one week. At that point, we'll announce Phase Two.

As before, prizes are involved! One Grand Prize winner (think along the lines of gift cards, not 2008 Mercedes), and smaller prizes for creativity, speed, and making us laugh.

Here are your items:

a Book
a Tool
a Chair
a Light
a Food
a Drink
a Toy
a Picture
a Mode of Transportation
Something Yellow
Something Old
Money
Something Electronic
Something Cold
Curtains

Let JAMBOG begin!

Watch This Space...

...for our second annual Midwinter Blues Online Game.

It probably won't be the same scavenger hunt as last year. Right now what I'm thinking is that it will be a all-out, high-energy race to "Send donations to Sara so she can hire a babysitter, a maid, and a cook." Not that anybody here is going midwinter stir-crazy or anything.

Official announcement soon!

-- SJ

Tying Up Loose Ends

I was strolling through some old posts and came across one that struck a pang to my guilty conscience. It's very typical of both of Darren and me to get something off to a good start, mostly finish it, and leave the loose ends dangling. Loose ends don't look tidy, but if you live with them long enough, you get used to them.

In this case, it's the Scavenger Hunt we did almost a year ago. We fully intended to distribute small prizes to everyone mentioned. But my good idea for prizes didn't work out in the following couple of weeks, and then Life happened, and then... well, loose ends can take on even a decorative effect if you are accustomed enough to them.

But here it is Christmas, a time of goodwill and peace. Not to mention Advent, a time of penitence and conscience-clearing. So I figured it's as good a time as any to make good on old promises.

(Looking over the post again, I see that I actually anticipated myself: I promised prizes "within the 2007 calendar year." Knowing yourself is the first step to fulfillment.)

So Rose, Aaron, Ranee, QoC, Charlessa and Jesse, your prizes are forthcoming. Honest. If we don't get them to you in a reasonable time, I swear to read another Francine Rivers book and write an entirely positive and glowing review. Now you HAVE to know I'm serious.

-- SJ

And The Winner Is!

The judges have decided, the results are in, the Midwinter Blog Scavenger Hunt has an official winner! And that winner is....

But before I get to that, I'd like to thank all of you who participated. And thank you for your patience as we got around to judging the hunts, although it's not like you had a lot of choice. If you'd complained, we'd have fired back a snarky email saying that YOU could take care of a baby in a hospital, and then we'd shove your entry into last place. So it was well that you all demonstrated understanding and sympathy.

Judges always say, "It was a hard decision, but..." They never come right out and say, "Good heavens, I don't know why we had to read through all those entries! Except for the winner, they were all abysmal!" Guess what? We aren't going to say that, either. In our case, it's because we heartily enjoyed all the entries and it really did take quite a bit of discussion to come to a decision.

So, on to the big announcement! The winner is...

But first, let's go to the smaller prizes. For quickest hunting:

Rose
Aaron
Queen of Carrots

Your prizes will arrive by mail within the 2007 calendar year, assuming no more children have health crises.

And honorable mentions for particularly creative or entertaining "finds":

* Rose’s odd-name choice

* Charlessa’s shoe

* Ranee’s green couch

* Most tenuous connection: Rose's "green"

* Best use of resources: Liane’s hairbrush

* Most minuscule hairbrush: Aaron

* Best car and childbirth links: QoC

* Most welcome new acquaintance: Ranee, it was good to meet you

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for, unless you cheated and looked down here first...

The winner is...

Liane!

Congratulations, Liane! Email us the name of a favorite restaurant, and we'll happily award your prize.

As soon as we're struck by inspiration again, we'll do another Fun Blog Adventure, so anyone who didn't get a chance to get in on this one will have another shot. Thanks for participating! Fun was had by all!

-- SJ and DJ

P.S. Congratulations to Aaron and Jesse for being the MANLIEST bloggers among our readers.

Deadline!

Today's the deadline for the Scavenger Hunt. Post a link to your hunt in our comments section by tonight. We'll sit down to decide the winner by this weekend. Remember, there's $20 and other prizes up for grabs here!

Thanks to the hunters who have posted so far!

-- SJ

Scavenger Fun

The midwinter blues are upon us. Everybody seems to be out of sorts, bored, and overwhelmed by Life. We need something fun to do. So the Joneses are inviting everyone to play a game!

It requires no travel, money, or physical activity to join in. It builds community! It's educational! And it's not even a Trivia Game! Wow! What could it possibly be except...

!!!A Blog Scavenger Hunt!!!

(Phew, that's a lot of enthusiasm to drum up in the middle of January.)

Here's how you play:

Below is a list of 13 items. (13 seems to suit the midwinter mood.) Your job is to read through your favorite blogs and find a mention of each item. For instance, "tooth." You could find a post about teeth, or a mention of a baby's first tooth, a phrase that includes the word "tooth," or a picture of a tooth (who takes pictures of their teeth to post on a blog?!). Cut-and-paste a short exerpt that includes "tooth" and add it to your list. Move on. Repeat.

(Please include a link with each item. However, except for pictures, don't post only a link. We have dial-up and tracking down links is a headache.)

Once you've found all of the items, post the list on your blog and let us know in our comments section.

If you are one of those lost souls who does not have a blog, you have two options. A. You can post your list in our comments section, but I think that means you can't use any pictures; B.You can mail us the completed list. Also include a postcard for extra bribe points.

Deadline is January 31.

How to win: The most creative and varied list of 13 items, submitted or postmarked by January 31, will win the prize. (Prize? There's a prize? Yes, indeed. Keep reading. We want to make sure you get through all the rules first.) Since we made up the game, we are the Supreme and Final Judges of what is creative, varied, and eligible.

More fiddlely rules:

1. No using Google or any other search engine to find your items. It has to come from a blog that you've visited within the last two months.

2. It doesn't matter how long ago the item was posted.

3. You're allowed up to 3 pictures.

4. You can use your own blog for up to 2 items.

5. You can use the same blog for up to 3 different items.

6. If you link to a video, make it a short one. We have dial-up, remember.

And now for the prize...

The person who submits the most creative, most varied, and most complete list by the deadline will receive....
A $20 gift certificate to the restaurant of your choice!

And also personal mention on our blog, which is pretty much all you could ask for.

Smaller prizes will be awarded for:
* After the winner, the first three to complete their lists
* A particularly creative or funny item

The scavenger list follows. Happy Hunting!



* A Shoe

* A Tooth

* An Odd Name

* A Car (fancier the better)

* A Frightful Dilemma

* A Discussion of Childbirth

* A Theological Discussion/Debate

* A Funny Line, Joke, or Short Post

* A Train (the engine and cars kind)

* A Hairbrush

* An appeal for money

* A Hobby

* Green