Archive:Monthly Write-a-Thon/May 7, 2008

What's a Write-a-Thon?

It's a bunch of people getting together on a wiki at a particular time to do a bunch of writing. It's like an online party! Heck no, it is an online party! It's also an excuse for infrequent wikiers to show up and party hardy; to exchange ideas with people we might not "meet" otherwise.

But hey, why not show up in between the write-ins, too!

When?

Write-a-Thons happen the first Wednesday of every month. The next Write-a-Thon is Wednesday, March 5th, 2008. Save The Date! Put it on your calendar! Set yourself a reminder!

Any new article you create, and any edit you make to somebody else's Write-a-Thon article during that time period will count, though to be a bona fide partier, you have to write your new articles when it's that day in your part of the world.

Our first Write-a-Thon took place Wednesday, August 1, 2007 and was considered a roaring good time--we had about 30 partiers creating something like 50 articles, and editing lots.

What are the rules?

Rules? This is a party! There are no rules!

Well, OK, maybe there are a couple rules:

• We'll have a Write-a-Thon the first Wednesday of every month.
• To participate, you only have to do two things: (1) start a new article (even just a stub will qualify, if not too short - and please remember to include the subpages template!), and (2) make a substantive edit (not just a copyedit) to somebody else's new article. Then you can list your name here as a partier. Until then, sign in as a porch-sitter, party-crasher, or total party poop.

New! This month's Party Theme

Something you absolutely love. Anything. Long as you love it. (Keep it clean, now, folks!)

(You can also be inspired by some of the theme suggestions, below. Like Derek, who's getting a five-point bonus for combining all the themes in one fell...something. Or add to the theme suggestions for a later Write-a-thon. Inspire someone else. Sky's the limit!)

Create an article, already!

Check it out: Start an article!

Now (this time anyway) easier than ever! Stubs are not only permitted they are encouraged!

The Partiers

• "Oh look, I'm first." said Derek Harkness while keeping to the trend of writing in the 3rd person during the party. He started by fulfilling all the theme requests in one article with the Imperial Palace, Beijing. That's his local tourist attraction and also related to the up and coming Olympics in Beijing. After an new article must come and edit so Derek did a little bit about the population of China.

• Aleta thought she was early, but Derek was already there. Gave him five points for being first in, and awarded an extra five for the stunning combination of themes in one article. Deducted two points because he didn't bring a bottle. Aleta Curry 14:44, 4 March 2008 (CST) Family was the first thing I thought of that I absolutely love. Our farrier missed an appointment, bit of a worry since we've got a pony with chronic laminitis. Decided to tell you all a bit about Jack Russell, credited with originating one of the world's most lovable terriers. Aleta Curry 03:50, 5 March 2008 (CST) Just discovered that in fact, CZ had no lightbulbs! Jeez, Louse! No wonder the poor woman couldn't change one! Aleta Curry 17:18, 5 March 2008 (CST)
  • Hey, did you know bottles played a key role in the creation of the world? My college roommates and I reenacted it once: here. That's me who appears on the left once in a while. Use a fast internet connection and good speakers to get the full effect. :) -Joe Quick 15:45, 4 March 2008 (CST)

Y'know, you should not make fun of the handicapped! "Use a fast internet connection", indeed! Okay, if you leave that long enough for me to check it out at a library, or something....Acutally, I'm supposed to be testing out satellite internet sometime soon...so they tell me.... Aleta Curry 16:31, 4 March 2008 (CST)

Joe, that reenactment is very cool! Nice work with the bottles.Louise Valmoria 06:13, 5 March 2008 (CST)

&$@#( college LOTR geeks. Seriously, as a closet geek and musician who has blowed across his share of empty bottles, that is very, very cool! ROTFL --Larry Sanger 12:41, 5 March 2008 (CST)

For the grand final of the cricket in Australia recently, they ran an ad where a full orchestra was playing the sponsoring beer company's theme jingle on beer bottles at the Melbourne Concert Hall. Loved it. Proud to be a closet geek and musician if people can come up with stuff like that! Louise Valmoria 16:41, 5 March 2008 (CST)

• Louise waves to Derek and Aleta--good morning, partiers! (and thank you, Aleta!) She is starting off her contributions today by a short stub on her actual native language: Chavacano. More to come, especially after she asks her mum how to spell most of the vocabulary. (With an Australian upbringing and schooling, it has always been a spoken language for her) ;) Happy writing, all!Louise Valmoria 17:15, 4 March 2008 (CST) ... continuing on with a quick note on what was once a mysterious monument to her: the Metronome in Prague.

I thought Louise was saying that the Metronome was a mysterious monument to Louise! O-KAY, then! Aleta Curry 18:28, 4 March 2008 (CST)

Louise can learn a lot from Aleta's excellent writing skills ;) How about ... a monument that she had once found mysterious?Louise Valmoria 19:13, 4 March 2008 (CST)

That was generous--are you sure it isn't Aleta's altogether-too-fast first reading of things?? Aleta Curry 19:29, 4 March 2008 (CST)

Not too generous--I might be too fond of riddles, but people often take issue with the way I can write sentences that can be read in several ways ...! Works well in fiction, not so well in an encyclopedia ...

After some delicious creole food (thanks Todd), Louise is now thinking about drinks. In the mean time, as a lover of chemistry and physics, there is now a stub on one of her role models, Marie Curie, and also a bit on one of her favourite languages/the language of her second home, Czech. To help out with the Olympics request below, also something about the 1956 Summer Olympics which were held in Melbourne (a trip to the State Library is required for more research, but it is a start ...) Louise Valmoria 21:57, 4 March 2008 (CST)

Louise is tottering back with some Port wine, just for drinks.Louise Valmoria 23:51, 4 March 2008 (CST)

• Todd was inspired by Aleta and started a stub on creole (food), which he loves a little bit more each time he has some. Hopefully, he will make it in the front door shortly.. and he has arrived at the palace.

Supten wants to know whether anyone may be interested in including creole (food) in the recipe?

• John was also surprised to see so many people showing up early... he got talking with Aleta over in the corner for creole (people), then picked up a manga. John Stephenson 21:14, 4 March 2008 (CST)
• Fortunately there isn't any alarm set to the user page - otherwise Aleta would have dragged Supten at 3 o'clock in the morning. Anyway, another six hours later he managed to scribble a few lines about his native tongue Bangla, by modifying from WP! Then he went to find out whether another write-a-thon article is as empty as the bottle and took a break. (Empty bottles are often broken and put to other use by stronger men!)

Hey, Supten, is that a quote or an adage or something? Or beer wisdom? I really like it ...Louise Valmoria 23:12, 4 March 2008 (CST)

Louise, Supten added a comment on the Bangla page on the most well known form of region-specific humor but coudn't elaborate because of language barriers! Then he added a few links to Marie Curie.

• Josh Knapp has started an article about one of his first loves, the Detroit Tigers. And as a party contribution, he has brought a couple bottles of another of his loves, whiskey! (Yes, he realizes that it was the official libation two months ago, but as he does not see any listing for this month yet, he decided to make a nomination.) Now, since the party has just started on the east coast of the US, where he lives, he plans to go to bed. He plans to make a substantive contribution to another article when he gets up in the morning.

Gareth Leng 04:23, 5 March 2008 (CST) started Growth hormone, not really something he loves, except maybe it would be nice to be a few inches taller. Also added a bit to Marie Curie. Maybe will look in on the whisky later. (No 'e' though). OK hit the bottle instead.

"Well, hope I didn't mess this up", thought Carlos Ferreira, as he submited his very first contribution to Citizendium, a stub on the beautiful Focke-Wulf Fw-190. After concluding that no, it was probably a good thing, he went back to work, before his boss ever noticed what had happened...

Louise welcomes Carlos to the party! Nice one!Louise Valmoria 06:13, 5 March 2008 (CST)

What's a party without music? David Volk brought his bass guitar to provide a little beat for y'all, and being newly married, gave monogamy a try.

• Joe Quick, having visited a number of museums recently for one of his classes, decided to start an article on that topic. One of the museums (the Field Museum in Chicago) had an extensive ethnographic collection, so he thought it was appropriate that he add his two cents to the article on Creole (people). He'll be back this evening to pitch in a bit more.

He came back to upload a photo of some bottles but as he was arranging the shot, he realized what poor taste he has had in liquids recently. It must be the intermittency of his paychecks. He might try again after his evening class.

• Regina Bouillon, one of the latest on this Wednesday, but - thanks to Aleta - alert. I wrote about one of my favourite dishes, Fufu, and added some lines ton an article about one of my favourite countries, Ghana. To make it more exotic, I wrote down the recipe of a German beverage, Dead Aunt.
  • "Dead Aunt," that's the lyrics to the Pink Panther theme song. Who knew it was a German beverage too? --Larry Sanger 12:34, 5 March 2008 (CST)

• Larry Sanger loves Flattop Mountain (Alaska), which used to be a local tourist attraction for him, and which he has hiked a few times (along with most of the other front-most peaks of the Chugach next to Anchorage), but he does not love the Focke-Wulf Fw-190‎, which probably shot down some of his compatriots, but he is not above copyediting CZ articles about it. --Larry Sanger 12:34, 5 March 2008 (CST)
  • Added a fair bit of info to Robert A. Heinlein, one of my favorite sci-fi authors. Anybody up for an article about grok? This is one of my very favorite made-up words. --Larry Sanger 15:17, 5 March 2008 (CST)
  • Hit the bottle like the other sots... --Larry Sanger 16:00, 5 March 2008 (CST)

• Carlos Ferreira came back for more, still dozing on the vagaries of to hyphen or not to hyphen - on the Focke-Wulf Fw-190. Or is it Fw190?--Carlos Ferreira 14:10, 5 March 2008 (CST)

• Derek Hodges started Robert A. Heinlein and would have continued working on authors starting with "H" until he got to the "Hod"s, but his battery is about to conk out. -Derek Hodges 15:51, 5 March 2008 (CST)
  • If your CZ work is done using battery power, it's time to buy a backup battery, Derek! --Larry Sanger 16:00, 5 March 2008 (CST)

• Hayford Peirce cranked up the volume on his computer tracks of Tom Dooley, The Tijuana Jail, MTA, and The Reverent Mr. Black, and wrote a brief article about the semi-immortal Kingston Trio, who are still touring 51 years after their first incarnation. He then added a query in the discussion area of Robert A. Heinlein, whom he was lucky enough to know towards the end of his life, and added a sentence about Cajun food to the article about Creole (food). But now Larry wants him to do a Topic Informant thingee about Mr. Heinlein, and I guess I'll have to figure out how to do that before rewarding myself with a well-merited Mai tai for today's labors....

'bout time you got here! Pass over a Mai Tai, will ya? Aleta Curry 17:18, 5 March 2008 (CST)

Porch sitters--article creators who didn't edit a new article

Yuval Langer just got from his first Ethology... erm... seminar? (The Dr. asked Yuval Langer and the other students questions, so it wasn't a lecture) ANYWAY, he wrote a SINGLE SENTENCE about Monogamy and will continue with Polygamy and Polyandry. He is also asking for help. Monogamy can increase the fitness of the individuals, but where do I find reliable sources saying that? What about the number of humans that fit into the monogamy definition? Yuval Langer is running google searches, but as you might have heard, google does not care about reliability, only popularity...

Yuval, you might try running searches on monogamy and emotional and physical fitness in any academic journal databases you have access to. Other keywords you might use to filter your Google search could be 'behavioural neuroscience', 'sociology', 'statistical evidence' (as a phrase, not individual words ... because how often does your average romance advice site ever use those phrases?? Any psychology-related databases might assist you there, but I advise to start your search from inside an academic search engine (even if it filters only to that publisher's list of journals it's a start). I haven't tried searching in Google yet, but I can imagine the kinds of sites you're getting at the moment ;)

I have read a couple of summary articles about this in the plethora of journals I subscribe to in recent years, and will run a search to help you out ... I do have to run shortly though, so it might not happen during the Write-a-Thon period. Will definitely keep you posted on my findings though. Hope this helps? Cheerio! Louise Valmoria 16:54, 5 March 2008 (CST)

The total party poops

Go ahead, admit it!

I must admit that I slept away the Feb WaT and did not even confess it. So I do it now instead. Which kind of punishment is waiting for me? Regina Bouillon

Well, you can be one of the Citizens who has to change the lightbulb ... seriously, no worries, just jump in and write! Welcome to the party, it's good to have you here this month Regina!Louise Valmoria 16:30, 5 March 2008 (CST)

Questions

• How many Citizens do you think it would take to change a lightbulb? Points for the most creative answer ... Louise Valmoria 17:55, 4 March 2008 (CST)
  • One to just go in there and replace the lightbulb, and another to constantly ask to be updated on the process of the lightbulb changing, request future notification should the lightbulb be changed (or need changing), and when it goes dark. --Robert W King 18:30, 4 March 2008 (CST)

Oh, Lordy! Let's see: One to notice that the lightbulb needed changing,

Ten to agree with him, ten to discuss the relative merits and disadvantages of lightbulb changing....

Two to ask if the lightbulb really wanted to be changed....

Two to say "See?! That's why I voted against lightbulbs during the pilot phase!"

One to propose that a CZ:Proposal for lightbulb changing be written.

Three to demonstrate why they themselves cannot be lightbulb-changing Proposers.

Two techies to suggest that well, as long as there's a proposal anyway, could we not upgrade to CZ Illumination version 5.0?

One decorator to put forward new lightbulb fixtures and chandelier designs.

Another decorator to argue with him.

Three health nuts to point out the dangers of incandescence.

One bold soul to say "to hell with it" and actually *draft* the CZ:Proposal to Change a Lightbulb

Two to point out that the Lightbulb-changing proposal is driverless....

Two to ask if lightbulb changing actually requires a proposal, or could someone just change the lightbulb?

One to suggest that someone ask the Editor-in-Chief

Two to nominate a third person to be the Proposal Driver

One proposal driver nominee to explain in great detail that he does not care to be the driver, but will if no one else volunteers.

Five to debate the current Proposal to Change a Lightbulb.

One to propose an Alternate Proposal.

One to suggest that the new Lightbulb Changing Proposal be merged with the old Proposal to Change a Lightbulb.

Five to state loudly that they would prefer to just sit in the dark....

One twelve-year old to actually go ahead and change the lightbulb.

Aleta Curry 18:44, 4 March 2008 (CST)

This just made my day, lol. --Todd Coles 21:00, 4 March 2008 (CST)

Haha! Is it too early in the Write-a-thon day to declare this one the winner yet? Louise Valmoria 21:12, 4 March 2008 (CST)

How many wikipedians to change a lightbulb? Answer, 200. Of these 199 will change the lightbulb but one will continually revert back to the broken lightbulb stating vigerously that the old bulb is better than any of the new ones. Derek Harkness 22:36, 4 March 2008 (CST)

That's mean.... but all too accurate, alas. J. Noel Chiappa 12:08, 5 March 2008 (CST)

I just discovered that we don't seem to have an article for lightbulb. In light (!) of the fact that Nereo has difficulty joining us on Wednesdays, that we haven't forgotten him ... let's see just how many Citizens actually can change a lightbulb, eh? :D Louise Valmoria 17:02, 5 March 2008 (CST)

• If we were to put music to this write-a-thon, what would be your music of choice? Are we discoing writers here, classical, or living it up to rock and roll? Louise Valmoria 21:12, 4 March 2008 (CST)

(a couple of hours later) ... looks like from Larry's email to the CZ-List that he's a jazz fan. Come on, someone make his day with an article about Fats Waller!Louise Valmoria 23:15, 4 March 2008 (CST)

I think people might have noticed by now that I have David Bowie's China Girl on repeat the whole time I'm at the party. Derek Harkness 06:04, 5 March 2008 (CST)

I'll give you television, I'll give you eyes of blue, I'll give you men who want to RULE THE WORLD! Or is that Iggy Pop's version? Ro Thorpe 16:56, 5 March 2008 (CST)

• Supten piqued my curiosity about another one, while we're thinking of CZ:International and native languages: what's your favourite adage, local or otherwise? Ever visit another country and heard a local bit of wisdom that made you think twice? Louise Valmoria 23:15, 4 March 2008 (CST)

In China, above the teachers blackboards is a saying that translates are "Day day studdy good good up." Derek Harkness 23:27, 4 March 2008 (CST)

• When writing about Something you absolutely love, why do we have to "keep it clean, now, folks!"? Aren't we allowed to write about penis, vagina, clitoris, sex, fellatio, cunnilingus, anal sex, pornography, dildo, handjob, Sadomasochism, masturbation, bukkake, gang bang, orgasm, anal beads, phone sex, cybersex, sex dolls, missionary position, the Kama Sutra, and artificial vagina?--Christian Liem 12:24, 5 March 2008 (CST) - Is this man a Buddhist? - Ro Thorpe 17:00, 5 March 2008 (CST)

- - Oh yes, just not in a prurient way. Basic rule is that this is family friendly, so write about these things, but in a way that you'd be comfortable with children reading. Children have a right to know, and better get their information from here than elsewhere, but nothing exploitative, sexist, offensive to reasonable enlightened people, nothing crude prurient or pornographic. Just basic good sense really. Gareth Leng 14:12, 5 March 2008 (CST)

Is 'family friendly' synonymous with 'child-friendly'? The former always sounds as if we mustn't offend the parents. I speak as an only child, mind you... Ro Thorpe 16:56, 5 March 2008 (CST)

Previous shindigs

• February 6, 2008
• January 9,2008
• December 5, 2007
• November 7, 2007
• October 3, 2007
• September 5, 2007
• August 1, 2007

Official libations

• Inaugural - beer!
• September - champagne
• October - we were refurbishing the bar and only had coffee!
• November - made up for last month with more vodka than was good for us and plenty of rum.
• December - eggnog and wine
• January - Whisky and the Cocktail of the Month, a pharisee
• February - schnapps and the Cocktail of the Month, the caipirinha (considered the national drink of Brazil)
• March - Dead Aunt

Write-a-Thon Theme Suggestions

Go ahead and propose one!

- Local tourist attractions

This would be a way to promote local attractions and let us learn a little more about the places where fellow CZ authors live. We could slant it toward the little-known attractions over Disneyland for example. David E. Volk 08:39, 3 March 2008 (CST)

Olympics!

Robert King reminds us: "Can we please have an Olympics theme for this write-a-thon? They are becoming more and more important as we get closer to the Olympics in China."

What's your native tongue?

In light of the CZ International discussions, how about checking to make sure that there's at least a stub on your native language? And what about the country of your birth or the place you now live? Aw, come on--five sentences will do.... Aleta Curry 22:33, 3 March 2008 (CST)

See also

• Larry Sanger, Why the Write-a-Thon worked, Citizendium Blog, August 9, 2007
• Weekly Wiki
• Article of the Week
• New Article of the Week

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