STOP PRESS!
“Wanna Score?” has now been published!
It can be ordered at https://la-granota.com/list.htm for 2€60 (60¢ per copy going to PayPal and E-Junkie for “handling fees”, 2€ going to Amnesty International).
If you’re interested in contributing to another anthology to benefit ai, we’re now running this one (without a word limit): https://la-granota.com/blogs/index.php/2023/03/11/dragonlitinvasion
This blog was set up to allow people without a Twitter account to submit 20-word wonders to the Twitter game, “Wanna Score?”, which runs from Monday morning (continental European time) to midnight Friday, every week. A special Twitter account has been set up and managed by us… to which each person may submit MULTIPLE entries each week.
Since entries posted HERE (as opposed to on Twitter) don’t take part in the competition element, there is no deadline. But if you post entries using previous weeks’ prompts, PLEASE label them as such!
A different starter is posted each Monday, and entries must be EXACTLY 20 words long. If you haven’t got a Twitter ID, we think that you can find the week’s topic by visiting https://twitter.com/explore and searching for #WannaScore (ignore the list of 3 IDs with variations on @WannaScore – click on “search for #WannaScore”), but we’ll try to post each week’s topic here, as well.
Or you could go to @granota_hut’s profile page, and scroll down the tweets until you find the latest #WannaScore? prompt.
ORIGINAL artwork – including cartoons and original photos – would also be very welcome. But each artwork entry must contain NO words or EXACTLY 20 words – either within the graphic or as an accompanying text.
Almost all of the entries to this game (unless they’re offensive) will be published by La Gr@not@ in an anthology. 100% of sales of the digital edition will be donated to amnesty international. If a printed edition ever comes out, 100% of the profits (after printing and postage costs have been dealt with) will go to ai. Nobody from La Gr@not@ will earn any salary for time and work spent on this project.
Submitting an entry, therefore, implies that you agree for it to be included in the anthology with no payment to you. (You get a free copy if you’ve submitted 6 posts which are accepted.) However, you retain copyright and may subsequently publish your own entries elsewhere.
You may use your real name or a pseudonym, which should be the name you enter below when you post a comment.
Any questions may be asked there, as well.
1&2. The first week’s game (the topic was – fittingly – “Freedom Of Speech”) can be found here… and the second week’s (crazy horoscopes) can be found HERE.
3. We’re now 3 days away from closing time for entries for the 3rd week’s topic, which is to write a 20-word mashup of horror and humour. You can read the entries already submitted here.
Monday, 16th of May, 2022 – Be it by all here known that #WannaScore? was inspired by (read: “ripped off from”) @TheBelleDame1‘s 10-Word Tales For The Weekend, which concentrates on setting literary/cinematic GENRES as its challenge.
4. This FOURTH week here, something like that. 20 words EXACTLY about #DICKENS: lit/film
You may post your 20-worders (not 19! not 21!) in the comments boxes below. Remember that you ARE allowed multiple entries.
To read some of the delights being posted on Twitter (and have access to the full terms and conditions), click here.
5. We enter the FIFTH week, and the challenge is to write a story with one or more animals as the main character[s] (may be heroes or villains). The animals may be borrowed from popular culture (e.g. Lassie, Black Beauty, Eeyore) or products of your own imagination. The Twitter site – including others’ entries – can be seen here.
6. Can it be the SIXTH week already?! Apparently so, and this week’s challenge is to write a Blues lyric of exactly 20 words – or submit a video/audio recording of you singing/playing the Blues (any length. To see Twitter entries (for inspiration?) go here, but entries may be submitted below in the comments section.
7. Due to an OBSCENE case of censorship by Twitter (perhaps in response to a complaint by a visitor [we HOPE that it wasn’t a participant!] to the site), La Gr@not@ has decided to run this week’s edition of Wanna Score? from this WordPress site. (The 3 entries which Twitter deemed “offensive” are the 3rd to 5th verses of Emilie van Damm’s [that is, MY] Blues, which you can find in the replies below. I will, out of my own pocket, pay 2,000€ to anyone who can convince me that there’s anything offensive about it.)
For this week alone, NO entries will be accepted via Twitter, although it will be announced there.
Although many of us aren’t citizens of the USA, what happens there affects us all. No other country has a bigger effect on the rest of the world.
And many hard-held, DANGEROUS beliefs of ignorant Americans today are based on fallacies, such as the one that the “Founding Fathers” always meant for the USA to be a “Christian nation”. Read the quotes in this poster:
Jimmy (our Frog-in-Chief) got the idea for the following when he found that poster on Twitter, but before he read (later that day) about the Uvalde, Texas massacre. Some of you may feel that that event was too recent for this topic to be raised now, but you should remember that mass shootings are a regular occurrence in the USA: if we waited for feelings to calm down after each one, we could NEVER post it!
This week’s WannaScore? Challenge is to either comment on those aforementioned crazy beliefs or invent some spurious historical statements of EXACTLY 20 words which seem to explain the strange behaviour of people in today’s USA.
You may or may not decide to “sign” your entry with the name of a famous, bygone American or institution. This signature will not count towards your word total.
Due to Twitter’s decision that IT has the right to censor anything which IT finds offensive in your replies, it has been decided that this topic needs to be dealt with away from Twitter. Be as offensive as you like about people who worship guns and/or are hypocrites when they spout (for the Nth time) “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families who have lost love ones [bla bla bla]”!
8. Quite simple, quite a short prompt: This week’s challenge is to write EXACTLY 20 about, by, for (or against), on, etc. superhero(es) and/or supervillain(s). Fiction and non-fiction accepted Here on WordPress, multiple entries may be posted in a single reply box, if you wish, but each one should be autonomous (stand-alone comprehensible). Or you may post entries on Twitter. Here.
9. Apologies for the delay in posting this week’s prompt, but Jimmy was caught up in a barney this morning on another website, and has only just e-mailed me the following details:
Anyway, this week (20th-24th of June, 2022) the challenge is to write a message (as always of EXACTLY 20 words) to a long-lost love or a friend/acquaintance with whom you’ve been out of touch for a long time. Accompanying comments and/or URLs may be included, but the 20-word main section must be 100% comprehensible/stand-alone without NEEDING such accompaniment. Again, as always, multiple entries are welcome, and they may be humorous, heartbreaking, tragic, accusatory… whatever. And – as always – original JPGs on the subject may be sent to the address given above, but JPGs should contain either 0 words or 20: nothing in between.
Speaking of accompanying URLs, this lovely song might serve as inspiration: “Ghost” by Indigo Girls.
Here’s the Twitter version, in case you prefer to post your entry/entries there (there’s a friendly rivalry element there, missing from here)… but remember that your entry might get deleted there by Twitter staff, whereas it won’t be, here on WordPress.
10. 27th of June to midnight, 1st of July, 2022 (continental European time)
The recent decision by the Supreme Court of the USA to overturn Roe vs Wade has caused a change of plan here on Wanna Score?
Jimmy was planning to set a light-hearted prompt, but…
This week’s prompt is, therefore, Women’s Rights / Pro-Choice.
Once again, you may either post your entries here or on Twitter, but – if you wish to use strong language, it would be advisable to post here.
11. Meaning the 11th week / 11th prompt for Wanna Score? ! (From the 4th to the 8th of July 2022.)
An ibex (mountain goat) – of all things – inspired this week’s prompt: to write EXACTLY 20 words on vermin of any kind.
You may post your entries here or on Twitter, where there’s an added “competition” element.
12. (11th-15th July, ’22) This week’s subject is witches and witchcraft!
You may post your entries here or on Twitter.
13. (18th-22nd July) This week’s Wanna Score? / 20-Word-Tales challenge isn’t a subject, but a STYLE: alliteration.
The extra points only apply, of course, to entries posted on Twitter, but the challenge remains. The Twitter version o this week’s Wanna Score is here.
14. 25th-29th July The prompt is Josh Hawley, the U.S. Senator from Missouri, who raised a fist in solidarity with an insurrectionist mob, encouraging it to attack the U.S. Capitol building (which it did). Later that day, he was filmed – see one of very many videos circulating on the Net here – running for his LIFE from the very same mob which he’d helped incite to violence. You may leave a comment here (as always: EXACTLY 20 words long, but you may leave a link or supporting comment, as long as the 20 words are stand-alone publishable in our anthology) or on Twitter.
15. 1st-5th of August and the prompt is pirates! And I know someone who’s going to want to post here. And she’s sitting next to me, pushing me out of the chair. Hold on! I have to finish this… The twitter version can be found here. Alright, aright! I’m GOING!
16. Week of 8th-12th August. The prompt is “screwball and/or slapstick comedies“. See what you can do with that! (Read the block below for ideas.)
As [almost] always, you may post your entries here or on Twitter, where there’s a pseudo-competition element (see who gets most “likes”). The Twitter edition is here.
17. 15th-19th August. Much of the northern hemisphere is on its summer holidays… so that’s this week’s prompt. Southerners can either make use of nostalgia, or write us about WINTER holidays. For a peek at what’s going on on Twitter, click here.
18. 22nd-26th August, 2022. This week’s prompt is outdoor, ACTIVE activities, NOT counting competitive sports nor spectator ones. No couch potatoes here!
You can post your entries of EXACTLY 20 words he comments boxes below, or on Twitter. Put some effort into it!
19. 29th August to 2nd September. The prompt is spies/espionage!
Post your sneaky entries here or on Twitter.
20. 5th to 9th September. Water in exactly 20 words. Entries here or on Twitter. Oh, and: CONGRATUATIONS, Adam!
21. 12th-16th September, 2022. (Up to the 18th for schoolchildren, education workers, and participants here on WordPress.) This week, the theme is steam – in all of its manifestations – a prompt suggested by Mark Weaver, whose entry got most likes on the 19th Wanna Score? The Twitter version can be found here.
Due to a technical glitch, the deadline for this week’s entries is being extended to midnight, Sunday (Copenhagen time).
The technical glitch wasn’t cleared up in time, so nobody trying to post entries last week (#21) here on WordPress was getting through. Thanks to everyone involved for sending your entries to our e-mail address! The problem has been fixed now, so… on with the game!
22. 19th-23rd September (+ extension of the weekend for students and school workers). Jay has provided the prompt: dragons!
We HOPE that entries can be posted here! Also on Twitter.
23. 26th-30th September. This week’s prompt – provided by Mark Weaver – is “unfinished“. Post entries here or on Twitter.
24. 3rd-7th of October, until the 9th for people in Education. Georgia Lythgoe (aged 11)) provided the prompt: night.
Entries may be posted here or on Twitter.
25. 10th-14th October (extended to 16th October for anyone in Education). It’s autumn in the northern hemisphere and spring in the southern hemisphere, so you may use either (or both) of those prompts, and may post entries here or on Twitter.
26. 17th-21st October (on Twitter). The prompt is dragons invading famous books and hijacking their plots. Read the instructions in the image below. Please name the book and author! Twitter entries can be read here.
27. (24th October) SciFi in EXACTLY 20 words! Twitter is in another dimension, but can be reached via this wormhole.
28. (31st October) The operating theatre/theater. Twitter operable here.
29. (7th November) The prompt is rain. Twitter version here.
30. (14th November) No Wanna Score this week!
31. (21st November, 2022) Set by Lynda Thornhill, the prompt is sleep and/or dreams. Twitter edition here.
Miss Havisham eyed me absentmindedly, and pronounced “Estella is elsewhere occupied, Pip, so today you must just play with yourself.”
Welcome to the band, Barnacle! Stick around and post as many entries as you wish.
El senyor Squeers necessita URGENTMENT submergir-se el cap dins la cassola de «medicament» de melassa amb sofre. La meva opinió.
Els Germans Cheeryble em semblen molt bona gent. Tant de bo pogués jo trobar feina amb una direcció tan amable!
Thhhhhhhhhhhe slooooooooooooth maaaaaaaaaaaaaaade herrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaas quiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiicklyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaas possssssssssssssssssssssssssiiiiiiiiiiiiiiible tooooooooooooowaaaaaaaaaaaards thhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhe daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnce floooooooooooooooooooor.
But when she arrived, everybody’d gone home.
La gata tan sols SEMBLA mandrosa, dormint sobre el vostre ampit.
Tota la nit és una heroïna, lluitadora, i amant.
[This one’s for you, Wilhelmina!]
🎵Got my Mojo runnin’:
Got it runnin’ nice an’ slow!
No need to speed up, Baby:
Everlastin’ night to go.🎶
🎵Got my Mojo runnin’:
It’s gonna run all over you!
We’re lyin’ here together,
We got nothin’ else to do.🎶
🎵Got my Mojo runnin’:
It’s runnin’ night and day
It’s a’runnin’ for you, Honey.
Come on over here and play.🎶
🎵Got my Mojo runnin’:
It’s runnin’ day and night.
Keep it runnin’, Darlin’.
With the way you treat me right.🎶
🎵Got my Mojo runnin’:
Got it runnin’ all night long.
You are the music, Sweetheart,
The lyrics to my song.🎶
~ Emilie van Damm
(last 3 verses censored by a Twitter twat, 31/5/2022;
restored, 1/6/2022)
A lovely man has set this poem to music, so this is for him:
Dear Duncan,
I’ve seen your videos on Twitter. The tune is nothing like what I had in my head while I was writing the words, but that’s no criticism, believe me! What was in my head was a derivative of some famous or well-worn Blues tune, probably under copyright. I couldn’t write an original tune to save my life!
This is the first time that anyone has put any of my poetry to music, and I’m well chuffed! So THANK YOU!
If I might make some suggestions:
It’s a bit monotonous. Nothing to do with the quality: just that it’s the same tune 5 times in a row. (I’m a fine one to talk! Each verse starts with the exact-same line!)
Do you think that you could add a chorus or an instrumental interlude to break up the rhythm a bit? Maybe after the 2nd and 4th verses? If you write a tune with a different melody/rhythm, I might be inspired to write some words to go with it. Or it could be a guitar solo, if you prefer.
You said something about a 2-minute limit. Is this to do with Twitter rules or with your recording program? If the former, could you maybe post it on YouTube?. That would allow time for a chorus/instrumental without getting you into a rush. Also: I know how to download videos from YouTube, but haven’t a clue how to do it from Twitter.
You perform live, don’t you? This could be an addition to your set, maybe with a spoken introduction explaining the background? Jimmy is convinced that what some snitch and/or Twitter employee found offensive was not the lyrics per se, but the idea of 2 old women (90 and 94) “getting it on”, and that attitude needs to be ridiculed.
The raciest line is “It’s gonna run all over you!” and – the last time I looked – Twitter left that verse alone! Does anyone really think that “Come on over here and play.” is OFFENSIVE?! It wouldn’t be if a 20-something were singing it! Or a man of any age.
Or maybe it was the GIFs I used: all readily available from Twitter’s GIF bank, if you type in “lesbians”. (Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any of 90-year-old lesbians, but Twitter probably deleted them.)
Thanks again, dear boy!
Emilie
p.s. Wilhelmina has been nudging me all this time and telling me to ask you if you’d care to set her 5-verse Blues to music.
Alright, W, see: I’ve asked. Satisfied?
Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.
Firstly, not taken as a criticism (certainly not in a negative way) it has regularly been pointed out my songs lack variety (I think it comes from the lyric-first, drunk poet approach) it drives my mentor of sorts mad..
Secondly, I have to confess I have skin in the game, it properly pissed me off that a lesbian love poem was banned for whatever absurd reason. A significant number of my best friends on this earth are gay women (to the point that when I make a new friend people assume they’re a lesbian until other evidence emerges) so it just fucking outraged me.
I’d be delighted to change things up a little, and try the same with anything else you’d like me to play (fair warning though, it’s likely to get folkier, if you want to hear my main song-writing influence, check out the wonderful Grace Petrie. I’ll go out on a limb and say you won’t be disappointed.)
Finally apologies for any incoherence, I played a set tonight, and there was free beer.
Thank you again for not being appalled at my efforts, and bright blessings to you both
Duncan xx
Oh, yeah, the details.
The twitters have a limit (not 2 mins as it turns out, bit less than my whole video).
I do have a YouTube channel so happy to pop things on there once complete. (Probably with a picture of you two rather than me, if it’s all the same, #visibility).
D x
[This one’s for #7, the political topic.]
To clarify: We mean this amendment to protect the INALIENABLE right of any American to own firearms for WHATEVER use.
[Recently “discovered” footnote to the 2nd Amendment, staring us in the face all these years but somehow never noticed before.]
To the politicians who say – TIME AFTER TRAGIC TIME – “Something must be done!”… but do NOTHING: God fucking DAMN you!
(20 words) [This probably would have been deleted by Twitter.]
To those who value the bribes of pro-gun lobbyists over the lives of young children: May you rot in HELL! [ditto]
(20 words)
Ted Cruz,
It’s no news
That you’re a schmuck,
You awful fuck!
Your brilliant plan?
A national ban
On DOORS?!
(20 words) [ditto ditto https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Cxd2fGkUn4%5D
Uvalde’s mayor called a person stating that something EFFECTIVE must be done “a sick son of a bitch”.
Mirror, please!
(20 words) [ditto ditto ditto https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GGVE4ayeV0%5D
YOUR “thoughts and prayers go out to” the NRA; to 18-year-olds who NEED to prove their significance by killing innocents.
(20 words)
The whole world looks on, aghast.
The time for empty words is past.
You’re not fooling me
With your hypocrisy.
(20 words)
“There’s an oft-overlooked Biblical Prophesy (I can’t remember chapter and verse) which says that America will become God’s Chosen People.”
(signed) George Washington (“I cannot tell a lie.”)
When I freed the slaves, I never meant for those half-animals to have EQUAL rights! God forbid! Why that’s preposterous!
[Abraham Lincoln, in a letter to his friend, the Rev. Doobie Scrollback]
When all else fails, or rather instead of trying anything else, let’s arm the teachers! They can fundraise for ammo.
Signed: A politician who just last week said teachers can’t be trusted to choose their books.
Thank you, Bobbie! One of the most frustrating/infuriating things about keeping an eye on politics is noticing the amount of hypocrisy and contradictions spouted by politicians! This is not confined to one party nor does it apply only to the USA.
Dontcha just LOVE seeing politicians take the time for smiling photo-shoots with naïve supporters whom they’re STABBING in the back?!
https://twitter.com/JimmyHiD1/status/1533480505953370112
Iffen Awmitey God hadna ment fer us to cary arownd assolt riffles, He wudna have give us too strong arms!
sined Tru Patriut, God bless the NRA!
“The Land of the Free
and the ho-ome of the Brave!”
… Where politicians’ votes aren’t free, nor are politicians brave.
https://truthout.org/articles/sinema-opposes-drug-bills-after-receiving-750k-in-donations-from-big-pharma/ (She campaigned on – among other things – lowering drug prices.)
#Politics #WannaScore
Freedom an exception hid.
Sanctioned it, the government did.
Despite the size, commit a crime.
Inmates equal slaves this time.
In hallowed halls of laws,
Poly ticks, their nasty maws,
Upon our liberties the tread,
While children are lying dead.
Teachers shields are backpacks
Filled with hope, anguish and thumbtacks
No new books with gay
But ARs here to stay
I hold public office, child.
Things are rather wild.
Perhaps, when you are voting age,
You will understand my rage.
Despite speechifying
People are dying
Of failed policies
Of government’s fallacies
And they count their gains
While innocent blood stains
Mr. Bernstein’s music asked:
Why do the nations rage?
My childlike understanding, without hesitation, answered:
There there is no equality.
Hated news since Kosovo.
Can’t listen while it’s on, you know.
Tuned out because the lies
Left much to despise
A shooting, a shot
We count who they got
A child, a mother, a pastor, teachers
Now know Heaven’s features
“We the People,” … “in Order to form a more perfect Union”…. “insure domestic Tranquility,” that’s it! Tranquility! Peace for all.
Signed: An Average Citizen, Heartbroken and Tired
Many who believe that carrying assault rifles is a God-given right also believe that the universe is 6,000 years old.
All of those dinosaur bones were planted by a mischievous deity to test the faith of the pure of heart.
[Hey, that came out to exactly 20 words, without planning! So I’m going to sign it “The Reverend Quimby Snucklebunch, Rep. for Poodonk County, Alabama (R), the House of Representatives of these United States of America UNDER GOD”]
US Constitution (Amendments)
Second: Holy Scripture
First: for US, not them!
Fourth: only applies to Whites
Fifteenth: IGNORE or CIRCUMVENT
[Signed] Concerned Citizen, outraged by attempts to take away our right to carry military-grade assault weapons, GUARANTEED by the Second Amendment!
(First Amendment guarantees the right to Freedom of Speech.)
(Second Amendment guarantees the right to bear arms AS MEMBERS OF A MILITIA, raised to defend the COUNTRY from OUTSIDE aggression, and *WELL-REGULATED*.)
(Fourth Amendment prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures and sets out requirements for search warrants based on PROBABLE CAUSE.)
(Fifteenth Amendment guarantees the right to vote, irrespective of race, color, or previous condition of slavery.)
From Colt to shining Colt, our commitment to you is undying (unlike you), you shall freely worship our god, amen!
If I’d been a teacher in that Uvalde classroom, I’d be glad not to survive the carnage of “my” children.
[I sincerely apologise to the families and friends of those two teachers (and those of teachers in other school shootings) who might feel offended by this post. I hope that you know what I mean here. I am not glad that they’re dead: OF COURSE not! But I studied to be a primary-school teacher, and I honestly feel that – if *I* had survived seeing the destroyed faces and torn bodies of “MY” children – I would have felt that Life had been horrifically cruel to me. FAR better to have shared their fate. That’s just my feeling and my opinion. I cried while and after typing this entry (and this explanation) and will wait and reflect for a few minutes before I click on “post comment”.]
[Primer verso]
Dios suyo,
Sé que no existes;
Porque prosperan
Los Crueles, Estúpidos, Corruptos,
Mientras yacen en su sangre
Los bellísimos inocentes.
[Segundo verso]
Dios suyo,
Sé que no existes;
O – si realmente existes –
No eres dios de amor
Sino de indiferencia y crueldad.
[Tercer verso]
En el paraíso
Gozarán los tuyos:
Trump. Cruz, Abbot, McLaughlin.
No habrá sitio para los mejicanos.
Igualito que aquí, ¿no?
[dedicado a Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, y Greg Abbot, quienes hablaron (Abbot por vídeo) A FAVOR de las armas peligrosas en el congreso de la NRA (Asociación Nacional del Rifle) en Houston, Texas – sólo 3 días después de la carnicería – y al alcalde de Uvalde, Texas, Don McLaughlin, quien llamó a Beto O’Rourke un “sick son of a bitch” [“hijo de perra enfermizo”] por criticar que el gobernador Abbot había reducido las restricciones para la compra de un rifle de asalto, y por opinar que Abbot no iba a hacer absolutamente nada por mejorar la situación.]
Harsh stuff, my froggy friend. But we’ll said👏🏻 I assumed you wanted to use the informal tú to speak to this uncaring god, rather than the usted. (Which I know is used less and less en la patria de mi madre. Shocking, how informal son los españoles de ahora). I took a quick run at it, below. Let me know if it works. Take care. And again, bravo you.
Dios tuyo, Sé que no existes; Porque prosperan Los Crueles, Estúpidos, Corruptos, Mientras yacen en su sangre Los bellísimos inocentes.
[Segundo verso] Dios tuyo, Sé que no existes; O – si existes– No eres el dios del amor Sino de la indiferencia y la crueldad.
[Tercer verso] En el paraíso Gozaran los tuyos: Trump. Cruz, Abbot, McLaughlin. No habrá sitio para los mejicanos. Igualito que aquí, ¿no?
[dedicado a Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, y Greg Abbot, quienes hablaron (Abbot por vídeo) A FAVOR de las armas peligrosas en el congreso de la NRA (Asociación Nacional del Rifle) en Houston, Texas – sólo 3 días después de la carnicería – y al alcalde de Uvalde, Don McLaughlin, quien llamó a Beto O’Rourke un “sick son of a bitch” [“hijo de perra enfermizo”] por criticar que el gobernador Abbot había reducido las restricciones para la compra de un rifle de asalto, y por opinar que Abbot no iba a hacer absolutamente nada por mejorar la situación.]
¡Gracias, Hermana!
Ya he incorporado algunos de tus correcciones, manteniendo mi versión original en otros aspectos.
Un abrazo,
Jimmy
If God had meant women to have the right to reproductive autonomy, She’d have given them Free Will.
…
Oh, wait…
251 MASS shootings* in the first 159 days of 2022: more than three MASS shootings every two days! 1,000+ shot.
* “The Gun Violence Archive, which tracks mass shootings, defined as events in which FOUR OR MORE people are shot or killed, counts 251 such incidents in the US so far this year.” ~ https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jun/09/us-senate-gun-safety-pressure-republicans
That “1,000+ shot” means a MINIMUM of 1,004 people shot in “mass” shootings. MINIMUM! Incidents like Buffalo, New York and Uvalde, Texas – as well as over 100 incidents of which you’ve never heard – push these figures higher. And all of the incidents in which “only” three people (or less) are shot don’t count in this statistic.
Yet, once again, NOTHING effective will be done…
It’s all about the Benjamins, baby.
Lives bought and sold
For pennies on the dollar
Weaponized bigotry
For corporate profits.
POTUS joked* about inappropriately touching women** (including minors) and two SCOTUS justices sexually assaulted women.
What could POSSIBLY go wrong?
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMyKg5OyYCA
** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLr6id3Ailw
For non-USA-citizens who might not know, POTUS = [the] President of the United States, and SCOTUS = [the] Supreme Court of the United States.
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
I’ll throw them into cages forever more
[…]”
– from the amended draft of “The New Colossus” by Emily Lazarus, found among her private papers long after her death. Unfortunately the first, far-from-perfect draft had already been inscribed on a bronze plaque and riveted to the wall on the inside of the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal, giving asylum seekers the COMPLETELY wrong impression!
The final draft was destroyed by Emily’s delinquent nephew, and only the fault-ridden earlier version survives: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46550/the-new-colossus
[“When are we going]
to understand the common denominator here is not just criminals, but making it EASY for criminals to access deadly weapons [?”]
~ Ilhan Omar, one of the bravest (and loveliest) politicians in the world.
https://twitter.com/IlhanMN/status/1534572030301028353
That’s it for this week!
See you on Monday?
[And now we’re starting topic #8: Superheroes and -villains]
Lucky for him that The Man Of Steel can fly, because he’d never be allowed through the airports’ metal detectors!
An electro-chemical experiment goes catastrophically wrong. A blinding flash, a vomit-green gas, and the scientist becomes a new supervillain: Murdochman!
#WannaScore
[Dedicated to American farmworkers]
In this country, the superbeings work under a burning sun, on their knees, back bent toil. No capes or armor.
Aquaman swims.
Wonderwoman does wonders.
Catwoman purrs.
Spiderman secretes strong, sticky thread.
Superman makes soup.
So why can’t Batman fly?
Superman is an illegal, undocumented immigrant, evading passport control when he landed in the USA. Send him back to Krypton.
[This is sarcastic. I’m not xenophobic. ALL Americans are immigrants, even First Nations People, who wandered over from Asia thousands of years ago… without passport control.]
[edit]
Sorry, that should have been “ALL Americans are immigrants or descended from immigrants”, and “whose ancestors wandered over from Asia thousands of years ago”.
8. A classical tale for a classical (alleged) villain. Cue the spooky 🎼
Misunderstood. Hungry, cold. A claw reached out from the shadows of the night. “Spare a quart, guv’nor? whispered the vampire.
Lana Lang, Lois Lane, Lucy Lane, and Lex Luthor.
What in L is going on here then, Superman / Clark Kent?!
Superheroes:
Do members of the opposite sex drool over you, but disdain you in your secret identity?
Forget those groupies!
Consider: Superbaby sent from Krypton WITHOUT a lifetime’s supply of Kryptonian cloth. Whenever Superman flies at super-speed, he arrives naked.
I always wanted to be a supervillain, but I had to give up that ambition.
I look SILLY in spandex!
Qui sap quant(e)s superheroi(ne)s caminaven obertament entre nosaltres sense delatar-se durant tots aquells mesos de coronavirus quan tot(e)s portàvem mascaretes?
“Superboy grew into Superman, but Supergirl stayed Supergirl!
Also: there were Superdog, Supercat, but no Supermouse!”
“There’s Mighty Mouse.”
“… Okayyyyyy…”
Remember when high-school Clark Kent would use his X-ray vision during exams to read closed books?
How isn’t that CHEATING?
Time’s up! Thanks to everyone for taking part!
A new prompt on Monday morning (continental European time).
Dear Emilie and Wilhelmina,
You’re not long-lost. And we talk on the phone often.
But I miss having you NEARBY!
We miss you, too!
Hot bed-time cocoa doesn’t taste the same as when you made it and I sipped mine looking into your eyes.
OUR cocoa doesn’t taste the same, either. Isn’t that strange?
I gave you up, wishing you a better life. Now I learn your all-too-short existence was made a living hell.
[In case regulars are wondering whether to offer sympathy: no. This is a work of fiction. I’ve never had a child.]
You left without waking me, leaving just a note on your pillow.
I had to throw the pillow out, tear-sodden.
Escolta “Paraules D’Amor” d’en Serrat:
Els detalls no són exactes com al nostre, però els sentiments hi són tots correctes.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vf92Twk-opM]
Translation:
Listen to [Joan Manuel] Serrat’s “Paraules D’Amor” [“Words Of Love”]:
The details aren’t exactly the same as in our [case], but the sentiments are all correct.
It’s been twelve years, three months, two weeks, four days, nine hours, thirty-six minutes, and twenty-seven seconds.
I don’t care!
#WannaScore
To D
24 years ago, your eyes, smile, face artistically appeared on our child. You never knew what you’d miss.
Please note – if you’ve just popped in for a look at the entries – that you’re still in time to post an entry of your own, as the deadline has been extended to 11 a.m. today, UCT/GMT. (That’s 2 hours, 20 minutes from now.)
Dearest Laura, so much time has passed, and I’ve so much to tell you.
I’ve become a co-writer at https://la-granota.com/blogs/index.php/2021/12/09/the-habit
#WannaScore9
I think, on remembering how badly you wanted another child after I just delivered the last one, you were lying.
#wannascore9
Letters and pictures came from Sydney. Then you moved an ocean crossing and overland. One weekend visit. Never another letter.
Dear Laura,
I, too, have been bitten by the writing bug, and am currently working on a sequel to https://la-granota.com/blogs/index.php/2022/01/25/dragons/
Well, that’s it for another week! We hope to see you again on Monday. Have a nice weekend!
You have a FUCKING gall, calling yourself “Pro-Life” while supporting imperialist WARS, carrying assault rifles, and REFUSING aid to unfortunates!
[Suspecting that Twitter censors might delete this entry – or brand it “offensive” or “violent”/”disturbing” – I’m repeating it here.]
The second USA Civil War HAS begun!
Currently limited to #brainwashing, dismantling #Democracy, and isolated-but-frequent mass shootings… it WILL escalate!
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jun/26/second-civil-war-us-abortion
El cos d’una dona sempre és cosa d’una dona. Cap home ni cap govern no hi té cap autoritat moral.
Conservative Christians pretend that abortion goes against God’s will. But the Bible actually instructs how to carry one out properly!
Five SCOTUS judges handed conservative states the decision on banning abortions… KNOWING that they were condemning innocent women to death.
A clump of cells’ “right to life” is more important – to deranged people – than that of a living, breathing woman.
It’s been said before:
If men got pregnant, the right to have abortions would be enshrined in every country’s constitution.
Two SCOTUS judges who voted to overturn Roe vs Wade were credibly accused of sexual assault and/or attempted rape.
11 minutes to go!
Our computer crashed just before midnight last night, so I’m a bit late in saying that entries are now closed for this week’s Wanna Score?
The following was sent to the e-mail address before the deadline, and signed “Endangered Species”.
Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett: History will SPIT on your names! I do.
Thank you to everyone taking part, and we hope to see you all again next week!
`[Kicking off the 11th week of Wanna Score]
Only pregnant mosquitoes “sting”. (They need blood for developing eggs.)
Humans KILL other, innocent humans for economic gain.
Worse vermin?
I KNOW that mosquitoes, gnats, midges, and horseflies are all essential parts of the food chain.
But I hate them!
When the cockroaches discovered that they could survive extreme levels of atomic radiation, they mind-controlled world leaders into nuclear-weapon proliferation.
You never FULLY appreciate what vermin are until you’ve had a tick or leeches engorging themselves in your bum crack.
Though I will accept as a close second getting stung on the genitals by horseflies, mosquitoes, bees, wasps, or hornets.
Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Mitch McConnell, George W. Bush, Henry Kissinger, Brett “Spoilt Brat” Kavanaugh, Marjorie Taylor Greene:
Scumbags.
Vermin.
Writing as a citizen of the United States, I must admit that my country is an infestation on Planet Earth.
Les meduses s’acostant a la platja. sense els ulls de la Medusa mítica, però – amb picades – et converteixen en pedra.
Prompt #12 – Witches and Witchcraft
Many thousands of women were tortured and executed as witches because they healed a dying child… or “sassed” their husbands.
Mon pare m’explicava que no havia pas bruixes: que eren invents dels fabulistes.
Ma mare em xiuxiuejava “Sí que existim!”
Jehovah, Ra, Zeus, Inti, Allah: you all had your chance to improve mankind.
But failed miserably.
Now it’s Wicca’s turn.
Wicca, we call on you to help us cleanse the world of all those who use their power to oppress.
When they came for me with ropes and scythes, I counted amongst them twenty-four whom I had healed weeks earlier.
My marriage prevents my marrying the beautiful (and wealthy) Widow Crabtree. The Church doesn’t permit divorce,
“Rebecca is a witch!”
Local technological problems have meant that I couldn’t use my computer nor my phone to access Internet until now.
But nobody’s posted since before midnight anyway—
“I now pronounce this bazaar closed until Monday morning.”
Hope to see you then!
13th week: alliteration
Bridgewater Borstal’s badminton B-side beat Bayhampton Baptist Boys Brigade’s best. Bayhampton’s bad-tempered bandmaster, Bartholomeus Baxter, became bug-eyed, bellowing blistering blasphemies
‘Don’t downplay down-under dog danger!’ declared Daniel Diggance, Dublin documentary director (“Damascus Doctor’s Derring-Do”). ‘Dingos do devilishly devastating damage daily.’
Prominent promoter, Peter Plonker, prepares petite porno poppet Pauline Parker’s Portsmouth pier poses.
Perky, pink pectorals provoke palpitations. Parents protest.
Psychotic sociology student, Stanley Stubbins, scorns safe sex. Stubbins’ six-page statement says ‘Second-stage syphilis sends strong, sensual signals.’
Silly sod!
Why worry when warm weather warnings work wonders with workers wearing woolly waistcoats?
Wilder, wet weeks will water Wilhelmina’s wallflowers.
Week 14: Josh Hawley. Here goes:
Look, Jane, look.
See Josh run.
Run, Josh, run.
Funny, funny Josh.
NOT so funny, Dick.
Josh supports violent insurrection.
Josh Hawley – a talentless, fascist buffoon (like his hero, Donald Trump) – clearly wants to become President of the United States.
(20 words)
You can bet your bottom dollar that – IF elected – Josh Hawley would play the same stunt when voted out again.
(20 words)
L’estat espanyol va tenir un cop d’estat fascista quan massa persones “decents” recolsaven els copistes… i després varen ser liquidades!
Hawley doesn’t care about election fraud. He KNOWS Trump wants to establish a self-perpetuating dictatorship… and desires a prominent position.
Does anybody know whether Josh Hawley shat himself when he was running to save his own skin?
MSM doesn’t say.
Instead of losing all dignity by running, Hawley could have held a big sign: “HEY!. I’m a traitorous scumbag, too!”
15th week: PIRACY!!!
After my first-class degree in Law, my parents advised me to go into politics.
I preferred an honest career: piracy!
Living with a former pirate has its peculiar inconveniences. The cutlass always under the pillow took some getting used to.
(20 words)
Living with a former pirate has its special charms. Never being in debt, the presents of exotic jewellery, treasure hunts…
(another 20)
Els pirates somalins, qui atacaven les naus pescadores dels països “civilitzats” eren malfactors segons la premsa, herois per als locals.
Puc canviar això? Per:
Els pirates qui atacaven les naus-fàbriques pescadores dels països “civilitzats” eren malfactors segons la premsa, herois segons el poble somalí.
If there’s one flag which strikes terror into hearts around the world, it’s the “Jolly Roger”… CORRECTION: “Stars & Stripes”!
“1492: discovery of America.”
“No: America was previously inhabited by people living full, happy lives. In 1492, psychotic pirates arrived.”
[Paraphrased from Kurt Vonnegut Jr., this way of looking at the famous date has always been my preferred one.]
The shipless pirates of the West Country went out, when storms raged, to slit the throats of sailors washed ashore.
Week 16 Wacky comedies.
[SLOW FADE-IN]
(Fred hits Mike with hammer. Mike hits Fred with sausage. Fred hits Mike with hammer.)
[SLOW FADE-OUT]
“End”
Have you seen “What We Did On Our Holiday”?
A brilliant, 21st-century screwball comedy.
Laugh? I almost pissed my knickers!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvDcscZXfl8
A long-running screwball comedy: the Democratic Party of the USA trying to win elections by pretending to be Republicans.
HILARIOUS!
Week 17.
HOLIDAYS?! Hummph! I haven’t had a proper holiday in 54 years.
Tell a lie: in 2018, a fortnight in Spain.
During my primary-school-teaching career, every seven years, I took a one-year sabbatical. Chicken-prospecting, bank-robbery, roadworks…
Do those count as holidays?
Week 18: Outdoor activities
I tried to ride a horse once.
And I believe that that’s all I’m going to say on THAT subject.
Floto a dalt, emprant vents i cordes com a guies, corrents termals per a mantenir-me enlaire.
Mare Terra, ets bellíssima!
At 18, friends and I cycled to the Netherlands-Germany border.
War had recently devastated both countries.
War an “outdoors activity”?
Water is Life.
Without water, we are nothing.
Within water, we are wonderful.
Wading, swimming, floating, diving:
We are ALIVE!
Week 19. 29th August to 2nd September: Spies
If not for Moneypenny’s organisational skills, Bond would have been liquidated in no time – the whole franchise one short story.
Are you a psychopath who enjoys torturing and killing?
BECOME A SPY and do that, while being considered a HERO!
Waterson looked back on his life: friends betrayed, atrocities committed under orders.. and for what? Old allies were now enemies.
Els amos m’han inserit dins el laboratori dels seus rivals. El meu repte: descobrir els ingredients del perfum “Mata Hari”.
Collins served HRH as spy in Budapest, retired, apprehended spying on the neighbours’ teenaged daughter, now serving time in Broadmoor.
Week 20: Water
Wading, splashing, showering, diving, swimming. Water can be so much FUN!
Strange, then, that it can also be so dangerous!
Water is powerful. Water is LIFE.
So Man (who aspires to being GOD) has determined to destroy it with pollution.
Sitting in the surf,
Holding each other’s hand.
Oh, how we laughed
When waves knocked us backwards!
A perfect day.
Water: without it we’d be nothing.
So why don’t we treat it with the respect it deserves?!
Because we’re short-sighted.
No crec pas en Déu amb majúscula.
No crec tampoc en déus amb minúscula.
Però sí que crec en l’Aigua!
The trouble with going to plays (and operas) about dragons is that they tend to drag on and drag on…
The headmaster of the school where I was a brand-new teacher had a sign on his door “Here be dragons”
Dragons make wonderful pets, keeping your home warm on cold nights… as long as you feed them the occasional maiden.
Deixa’m oferir-te una mica de consell. Mai no deus mirar un drac als ulls. És molt mal vist pels dracs!
Week 23. Unfinished
I’ve been knitting (over the course of the last thirty years) a cardigan for Queen Elizabeth.*
Now it’ll remain unfinished.
[* This is a piece of fiction! AKA a bald-faced lie]
S’ha d’acabar em van dir. Però no ho vaig acabar, i allí es queda: concebut i començat, però no acabat.
I was writing a piece of flash fiction for a competition, but I couldn’t decide on a fitting woman’s name…
The story had a beginning and a middle – as all stories should – but it didn’t have an end at all.
Franz Schubert wracked his brain for an ending to his 8th symphony, then had an epiphany: he’d leave it unfinished!
The night approaches silently, creeping in from corners, but the day crashes down, screaming blasphemous colours in drunken celestial patterns.
“Help me make it through the night!”*
“Whatever gets you through the night…”º
“OK, then: Saturday night’s alright for fighting!”ª
* Kris Kristofferson ~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5i_vF7DRA0
º John Lennon ~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBUFV2c_vcU
ª Elton John ~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NagnbRHdh-0
La nit parla de tu. Intento dormir, però la foscor xiuxiueja ton nom…
I em dóna la culpa d’haver-te perduda.
(To the tune of “Rainy Night In Georgia”)
A sucky night in Georgia, such a sucky night in Georgia.
Lord, I bet it’s sucky all over the world!
Do not go gentle into that good night,
But scream, kick, and hold your breath
Until your face turns blue.
25, (10th-14th October, autumn/spring)
In the Spring, an old woman’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.
AND in the Summer, Autumn, and Winter!
Season of mists and mellow fruitbattiness,
Closeted friends so nervous about coming out;
Conspiring with them how to do it.
[with apologies to John Keats]
Thermostats keep the temperature constant. He works at home, orders in, only knows it’s autumn when neighbourhood children come trick-or-treating.
He hates this season of falling leaves,
Because fall is when she left,
Fall’s when he fell
Into the abyss.
Eating muscadines and scuppernongs straight from the vines, watching the clouds gather and darken out over the bay, we’re happy.
26. Dragon invasion.
Little House On the Prairie by Laura Ingall
A long time ago, when all the grandfathers and grandmothers of today were little boys and little girls or very small babies, or perhaps not even born, Pa and Ma and Mary and Laura and Baby Carrie left their little house in the Big Woods of Wisconsin.
And then the dragons came.
“Drivers licence?” demanded the Boss Dragon.
“Is this vee-hick-kull road-worthy?” asked his side-kick.
“Step outta the wagon, please!” ordered Boss.