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Dark and Stormy Night Contest Subject
the English Department of San Jose State University, | the English Department of San Jose State University,

Posted on 02/21/2005 4:43:50 AM PST by Vaquero

Subject: Fw: "Dark and Stormy Night Contest" winners

For you lovers of good writing, listed below are the 10 winners of this year's Bulwer-Lytton Contest, aka the "Dark and Stormy Night Contest" run by the English Department of San Jose State University, wherein one writes only the first line of a bad novel:

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 seeking out a living at a local pet store."

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

3. "Like an over-ripe 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: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: and; contest; dark; night; stormy; subject; topten
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To: Vaquero

LOL..thanks!


21 posted on 02/21/2005 6:42:26 AM PST by CarolTX (Onward through the fog)
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To: MetalHeadConservative35
"The night was sultry...."

-Throw Mamma from the Train

22 posted on 02/21/2005 6:48:48 AM PST by Dead Corpse (The neighborhood is pretty dead at night, and I'm the one to blame....)
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To: wingblade

change-of-pace ping


23 posted on 02/21/2005 6:51:18 AM PST by hoosier_RW_conspirator ("Our inventories are steeped in capability." -- AVatian)
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To: shibumi

Like the moth-ridden Victoria's Secret lingerie that bulged beckoningly from the top shelf of the dust-laden hope chest of her youth, Helen Thomas understood the need for eternal optimism in the face of a Republican administration.


24 posted on 02/21/2005 7:00:28 AM PST by small voice in the wilderness (Quick, act casual. If they sense scorn and ridicule, they'll flee..)
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To: shibumi
Posts 13 and 14 are showing potential writers at work.
25 posted on 02/21/2005 7:06:10 AM PST by investigateworld (Another California Refugee in Oregon)
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To: Vaquero

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

HEY! I would have read that one. LOL


26 posted on 02/21/2005 7:11:15 AM PST by kitkat (Our Founding Fathers are PROUD of Pres. George W. Bush)
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To: investigateworld

It was a dark and stormy night in Texas as the winds of Carla lifted the cold silvery sheet iron from the barn roof and flung it toward the outline of a trench coat...........


27 posted on 02/21/2005 7:19:24 AM PST by Republican Babe (God bless America.)
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To: kitkat

In my universe Stanley would have been a rabbit that lived on the median of the Long Island Expressway.....If I ever write it, I will send it to you first, for review.


28 posted on 02/21/2005 7:23:04 AM PST by Vaquero
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To: Vaquero
disbelieving the magnitude of the frog's deception,

Never, ever trust the French.

29 posted on 02/21/2005 7:23:23 AM PST by Drango (NPR/PBS is the propaganda wing of the DNC.)
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To: Drango

"the life of a frog...that's the life for me" Bart Simpson


30 posted on 02/21/2005 7:24:48 AM PST by Vaquero
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To: Vaquero

There are all old ones.


31 posted on 02/21/2005 7:25:55 AM PST by Alouette (Learned Mother of Zion)
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To: TheGeezer
How is it that I can envy terrible writing? The sun oozed over the horizon is delectably bad. LOL!

It is a horrible line. I believe if that is the best the writer has......they don't have much.

32 posted on 02/21/2005 7:42:51 AM PST by processing please hold (Islam and Christianity do not mix ----9-11 taught us that)
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To: shezza

Aren't these the names you and J choose if I had twins? lol


33 posted on 02/21/2005 7:50:05 AM PST by N8VTXNinWV
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To: N8VTXNinWV

ROFLOL!!!!


34 posted on 02/21/2005 8:32:31 AM PST by shezza
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To: Vaquero

Those were laugh-out-loud good! Thanks for posting this thread.


35 posted on 02/21/2005 8:33:35 AM PST by shezza
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To: Vaquero

***In my universe Stanley would have been a rabbit that lived on the median of the Long Island Expressway.....If I ever write it, I will send it to you first, for review.***

Only if it has a happy ending. We enjoy watching the rabbits who live under our Colorado blue spruce tree and don't want to see them squished by a car.

By the way, have you ever read Paul Gallico?


36 posted on 02/21/2005 8:52:40 AM PST by kitkat (Our Founding Fathers are PROUD of Pres. George W. Bush)
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To: Vaquero

Do you have a link for this? Thanks.


37 posted on 02/21/2005 10:34:37 AM PST by Lorianne
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To: DainBramage
Carpet had become a familiar taste to her.

LOL...yes, that's been rumored for several years now...

38 posted on 02/21/2005 10:37:08 AM PST by ErnBatavia (ErnBatavia, Boxer, Pelosi, Thomas...the ultimate nightmare Menage a Quatro)
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To: investigateworld; Delmont; SortaBichy

I'd try an entry, but my specialty is the "glistening honeypot" department...


39 posted on 02/21/2005 10:38:44 AM PST by ErnBatavia (ErnBatavia, Boxer, Pelosi, Thomas...the ultimate nightmare Menage a Quatro)
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To: Republican Babe

Good start, I'll be thinking up my entry!!!


40 posted on 02/21/2005 7:41:01 PM PST by investigateworld (Another California Refugee in Oregon)
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