I’ve spouted on and on about this year’s 5k competition. There was last year’s embarrassing entry, this year’s long-shot, a surprising win, phony humility, and now, a bitter, bitter twist. Apparently our entry was in the wrong category and we have been bumped from the winners list (see the 5k news page).

As I mentioned before, my goal this year was not to be mocked. I think this is worse. Anyone have any advice on how I should tell my mom?

For the record, I hold no grudges. It was me who put our entry in the wrong category and we had a lot of fun working on our submission. The contest is great, and I was glad to see (and this will sound even more sincere now that I’m a loser) that the judges appear to have picked the winners based on creativity and originality rather than technical wizardry. And the current the5k.org front page is absolutely beautiful.

The lesson learned: Don’t bother. Stay in your basement (look forward to our properly categorized entry next year).

High School was an odd time. The days I remember most are those spent driving my parent’s Saturn to the beach with a Poor Old Lu cassette. The times spent in class and in between have mostly fallen victim to traumatic memory loss – the trauma being boredom and social awkwardness.

Enjoy this high school memory: The valedictorian nomination speech of Dan James, former high school delinquent / honours student, current top 50 CEO. After two other cookie-cutter valedictory nomination addresses, Dan took the stage in the cafeteria, removed the mike from the podium, and gave this, his valedectorian nomination address. He lost by a suspicious two votes.

My favourite part of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series was the frictionless spaceship. You could touch it, but not feel it.

Douglas Adams died this week at age 49. I wonder how long it will take Amazon.com to start peddling merchandise related to the deceased.

After a humbling (read: humiliating) experience in last year’s 5k competition, I enlisted the help of my good friends Nick & Nathan from silverorange with a simple goal: To create an entry that would not be mocked openly (like last year).

Once this year’s entries went up on the5k.org, I was amazed. Our entry couldn’t compare to some of this year’s amazing submissions (two of my favourites where the 5k Chess, and the 3D Dolphin). While our entry was put to shame by the other entries, it was not openly mocked. The goal was met.

Then in a bizarre turn of events the5k.org published this year’s winners and our humble 5k audi tt vr gallery was among them. First shock, then disbelief, then joy, then a king size (fr: GRAND FORMAT) 85g Oh Henry! bar to celebrate. In the HTML Only category we were #2 for Function, and #3 Overall.

How our entry was more functional than a working 5k chess game I’ll never know. That said, it is nice to see the judges steer clear of turning it into a javascript-writing competition. The other winners are not the most technically impressive, but are all definitely very cool.

“Choke”

Granted, I have not actually listened to this song. Nonetheless, I’m sending it out to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“Sounds Familiar”

A song about childhood and growing up, which is good and sad and over before you know it. Will either make you want to build a treehouse or hide in your room for a couple weeks.

I’m following Matt’s example and I shall suggest a fine musical group.

Joy Electric is a fine example of analogue synth pop. It grows on you. I liked it because I spent many hours in front of a Game Boy enjoying the musical score to the Final Fantasy Legend series, and I believe that you just can’t beat a good square wave.

I just listened to an unreleased track of Ronnie’s (he’s the frontman, but sometimes he works with others) at mp3.com and suggest that you go take a look.

Monosynth and Parlor Inventor are my favorites.

Our own Matt brings home the Milton Acorn Poetry award. Congratulations.

If you are not sure whether or not you should be congratulating him, you can read one of his poems at ForgetMagazine.com and decide for yourself.

In my short 18 years as a television watcher, I have come to the decision that M*A*S*H is one of a handful of shows which I consider to be good. I’m sad to say that I’d watch almost anything if I was bored, but not necessarily enjoy it. Steven likes Northern Exposure. Maybe I should watch it, but I never seem to be sitting on the couch when it’s on.

A lot of people also like “All in the Family” but, I get frustrated at the old guy. TLC has good stuff on it like Junkyard Wars and Battlebots, which I try to watch frequently, but, I often find myself missing stories and learning about characters and watching them develop as they do in M*A*S*H.

Apparently there is a M*A*S*H spin-off with Trapper working at a hospital when he gets home from the war. I guess it wasn’t as good, because we don’t get 2 episodes a day of it on Prime.

I’ll finish this with a quote I found:

“It is amazing how the show is enjoyed by people who were hardly on the planet when we made it. Amazing and terrific.” -Alan Alda (Hawkeye)

(The title is one of Hawkeye’s finest lines, when the OR was shorthanded. But, it’s possible that educated should be intelligent I can’t remember.)