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Best of the Bad

Posted on 08/27/2004 8:01:10 AM PDT by jim macomber

I am told these are the 10 winners of last year's Bulwer-Lytton contest (run by the English Dept of San Jose State University), wherein one writes only the first line of a bad novel.

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10) "As a scientist, Throckmorton knew that if he were ever to break wind in the echo chamber he would never hear the end of it."

9) "Just beyond the Narrows the river widens."

8) "With a curvaceous figure that Venus would have envied, a tanned, unblemished oval face framed with lustrous thick brown hair, deep azure-blue eyes fringed with long black lashes, perfect teeth that vied for competition, and a small straight nose, Marilee had a beauty that defied description."

7) "Andre, a simple peasant, had only one thing on his mind as he crept along the East wall: "Andre creep... Andre creep... Andre creep."

6) "Stanislaus Smedley, a man always on the cutting edge of narcissism, was about to give his body and soul to a back alley sex change surgeon to become the woman he loved."

5) "Although Sarah had an abnormal fear of mice, it did not keep her from eeking out a living at a local pet store."

4) "Stanley looked quite bored and somewhat detached, but then penguins often do."

3) "Like an overripe beefsteak tomato rimmed with cottage cheese, the corpulent remains of Santa Claus lay dead on the hotel floor."

2) "Mike Hardware was the kind of private eye who didn't know the meaning of the word "fear," a man who could laugh in the face of danger and spit in the eye of death - in short, a moron with suicidal tendencies."

AND THE WINNER IS...

1) "The sun oozed over the horizon, shoved aside darkness, crept along the greensward, and, with sickly fingers, pushed through the castle window, revealing the pillaged princess, hand at throat, crown asunder, gaping in frenzied horror at the sated, sodden amphibian lying beside her, disbelieving the magnitude of the frog's deception, screaming madly, "You lied!"


TOPICS: Political Humor/Cartoons
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Perhaps these are last year's, I don't know. Or maybe even posted before but...what the heck - good for a laugh.
1 posted on 08/27/2004 8:01:10 AM PDT by jim macomber
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To: JulieRNR21; Jeff Head; JohnHuang2; Squantos; Dubya; hosepipe; blackie; Reb Raider; areafiftyone; ...

For the writers, readers, and fans of the written word...


2 posted on 08/27/2004 8:03:46 AM PDT by jim macomber (Author: "Bargained for Exchange", "Art & Part", "A Grave Breach" http://www.jamesmacomber.com)
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To: jim macomber
6) "Stanislaus Smedley, a man always on the cutting edge of narcissism, was about to give his body and soul to a back alley sex change surgeon to become the woman he loved."

LOL

3 posted on 08/27/2004 8:04:29 AM PDT by Samwise (John Kerry is a pseudo-French elitist, ketchup-swigging gigolo, wannabe-hero, billionaire doofus.)
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To: jim macomber

"With a curvaceous figure that Venus would have envied, a tanned, unblemished oval face framed with lustrous thick brown hair, deep azure-blue eyes fringed with long black lashes, perfect teeth that vied for competition, and a small straight nose, Edwards had a beauty that defied description."

4 posted on 08/27/2004 8:10:39 AM PDT by VisualizeSmallerGovernment (Question Liberal Authority)
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To: jim macomber
I love this contest (Also known as "A Dark And Stormy Night" contest) You can go HERE to see all of the past winners.My all time favorite is from 1985:

The countdown had stalled at T minus 69 seconds when Desiree, the first female ape to go up in space, winked at me slyly and pouted her thick, rubbery lips unmistakably--the first of many such advances during what would prove to be the longest, and most memorable, space voyage of my career.

5 posted on 08/27/2004 8:11:06 AM PDT by PaulJ
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To: jim macomber

LOL!!

Those are great!


6 posted on 08/27/2004 8:12:44 AM PDT by nuconvert (Everyone has a photographic memory. Some don't have film.)
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To: PaulJ

LOL!


7 posted on 08/27/2004 8:13:23 AM PDT by nuconvert (Everyone has a photographic memory. Some don't have film.)
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To: jim macomber; Samwise; VisualizeSmallerGovernment; PaulJ; nuconvert
Join the fun over here on my thread from July! Tons more material.
8 posted on 08/27/2004 8:15:06 AM PDT by Xenalyte (Gimme a dollar.)
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To: jim macomber

Thanks, Jim.......this gave me a good laugh.....I was tempted to alter this one as a description of Michael Moore:

Like an overripe beefsteak tomato rimmed with cottage cheese, the corpulent remains of Santa Claus lay dead on the hotel floor."


9 posted on 08/27/2004 8:17:22 AM PDT by JulieRNR21 (One good term deserves another! Take W-04....Across America!)
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To: jim macomber
Honorable Mention:

"I finished off the Christmas eggnog as I eased my boat into Camobodia."

10 posted on 08/27/2004 8:18:22 AM PDT by Semper Paratus
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To: jim macomber

The next morning the princess found out that a slime/smelly frog had taken her to bed.


11 posted on 08/27/2004 8:20:33 AM PDT by Grampa Dave (https://www.swiftvets.com/swift/ccdonation.php?op=donate&site=SwiftVets)
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To: PaulJ
Thanks for the link. Now I gotta go back and read some more.
12 posted on 08/27/2004 8:20:35 AM PDT by Graybeard58
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To: jim macomber

LOLOL! Thanks for the chuckles!


13 posted on 08/27/2004 8:23:22 AM PDT by Alamo-Girl
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To: jim macomber
I wish I could fit this in as a tagline...

"Like an overripe beefsteak tomato rimmed with cottage cheese, the corpulent remains of Santa Claus lay dead on the hotel floor."

14 posted on 08/27/2004 8:23:35 AM PDT by Chad Fairbanks (I think the mistake a lot of us make is thinking the state-appointed shrink is our friend.)
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To: jim macomber

Lightning criss-crossed the sky like the varicose veins on the leg of an old lady.


15 posted on 08/27/2004 8:30:51 AM PDT by coloradan (Hence, etc.)
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To: PaulJ

ROFLMAO!!


16 posted on 08/27/2004 8:32:54 AM PDT by jim macomber (Author: "Bargained for Exchange", "Art & Part", "A Grave Breach" http://www.jamesmacomber.com)
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To: coloradan

Ewwwww.... ROTFL


17 posted on 08/27/2004 8:36:15 AM PDT by Chad Fairbanks (McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag filled with vegetable soup.)
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To: Xenalyte

Not Bulwer-Lytton material but I had a friend in years past who repeatedly said he always wanted to hear a joke that started, "These three Popes walk into a bar..."


18 posted on 08/27/2004 8:37:04 AM PDT by jim macomber (Author: "Bargained for Exchange", "Art & Part", "A Grave Breach" http://www.jamesmacomber.com)
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To: jim macomber
5) "Although Sarah had an abnormal fear of mice, it did not keep her from eeking out a living at a local pet store."

I don't know why, but I find this hilarious.

19 posted on 08/27/2004 8:37:08 AM PDT by KC_Conspirator (This space outsourced to India)
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To: jim macomber

My best one is "It was nearly midnight before we scraped Uncle Harry off the dining-room table."


20 posted on 08/27/2004 8:39:59 AM PDT by Xenalyte (Gimme a dollar.)
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