Messages

It's just a matter of training. Look at graphics you like. Try to emulate its style. Publish the results in the critics lounge and you'll receive useful feedback on it.
That's the way to do it.

I remember once when I was at some sort of Halloween party at club, a bit out in the countryside. They had plenty of ultraviolet light going on, so everything was dark except that all white parts were glowing, well you know how it is. So the bartenders wore some sort of spooky makeup, mostly consisting of long white gooey stripes over their faces and heads, almost like toothpaste or something.
When I ordered my bear, a girl walked up to me and started talking about an episode of CSI she'd seen. I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about, but I was anxious to see how well her pick up line would work on me. Eventually she came to the part where they'd investigate a corpse with ultraviolet light, to search for residues of bodily fluids...it was funny, she said, because the bartenders right in front of us looked just like that.
I thanked her for pointing that out and walked away.

[LGM]

Okidoke, here are my votes:

LGM
Dunno why this ended up a favourite, I think it just displays how weird people think and how relationships can be.

KhrisMuc
I think this is an excellent mini-story, you have to read between the lines to get what the story is about and when you get it, it's a nice aha-moment.

The third entry was hard to select, I think many stories were good but could gave been great with just some tiny details changed. Also, I think a few were too blatantly gender stereotype. Well anyhow, I went for
TwinMoon.
Can't explain why more than I sort of like the mood, it's a cute little story.

Well, two new productions by yours truly, one that people might have heard in other versions and one spanking new.
http://www.andail.com/poseidon.mp3
http://www.andail.com/restless.ogg

Sorry that they ended up in different formats, something bugged when I tried to convert the first Poseidon one.

The second one is not entirely finished, it definitely needs something more, like some sort of beat or another instrument etc. But I'm rather stuck so I'm uploading it to get some feedback.

I've intended to start looking for a band soon enough, but haven't had the time yet, so you still have to stand my less than satisfactory vocals and not-so-advanced guitar playing
I sort of like both the melodies, although they differ a lot in style, the first being rather casual singer-songwriter routine, while the other is more medieval so to speak.
Have fun!

The white trash of Britain are the whitest and trashiest people you can find. I'd rather live in Baghdad than in some chav-infested Brittish suburb.
The intellectuals are on the other hand amazingly learned and witty.
Humour and music, as Tuomas pointed out, are their strong points.

Here's what I think you should do:
1. Darken his skin colour.
2. Add highlights to his clothes (bright green on the wrinkles of his pants, and bright brown on the jacket) as well as his skin (which you darkened overall in step 1).
3. Scale down his head slightly. It's too big now compared to his body.
4. Remove the blue from his eyes (just use some dark brown or so), and lower them one notch.

Yeah, the results exceeded my expectations. I've even started a Facebook group based on this activity

Ok, let's focus on Vince's new round now.

I watched him playing the guitar, bent over notation papers scrawled with barely legible text snippets.
“What's the song called?” I asked.
“Linda”, he responded absent-mindedly.
“That's not my name.”
“I know”, he muttered. “I wrote it before I met you.”

One day my name would be on such papers.
When it'd be all over.

[Vince]

This has been drawn out long enough, so I declare Vince the winner.
Clap clap clap.
Vince is now eligible to commence a new writing activity, one of his own design and taste. Number of words may vary, genre, theme and other criteria are optional. 

Also, it's common practice to put a comma before the addressee in a line of speech, for instance:
"What did you eat as a kid to get so tall, Barbara?"

Yeah Vince here too.

Voting will be open for 2 more days. Sorry for the delay, but I've been busy recently.

I don't think I'd go through all the hassle, stress and anxiety to fight my case in the fashion Rick & co have described in this thread. Not for a speeding ticket at least. Especially when all that time you spent can just as well be wasted, seeing how you're pretty likely to end up paying the darn ticket anyway.

Hehe, those categories are meant to be taken rather light-hearted. Hence the quite rpg-esque titles and stuff.

[The Cynist]

As I see it (when it comes to benevolence), there are four kinds of people.
The Cynist
This person simply won't make any efforts to help other people, unless the link to their own well-being is very straight and direct.
The Pragmatic Socialite
This type loves to "be there" for other people in their sphere of friends and family. It's the kind of person who always calls up friends in need, simply because they enjoy - or are addicted to - the feeling of being involved in whatever happens. Also dependent on gossip and intricate affairs amongst people. They often trespass on people's privacy in this pursuit.
The Ego-Feeder
Doesn't require social confirmation or official praise. This type loves the feeling of doing good, and can survive for days purely on their own self satisfaction. Can get depressed if too long time has passed without a conscience boost.
The Theist Reward Hunter
These people believe they'll come to heaven if they've done enough good deeds. Always strive to improve their karma, so they'll end up on the plus side on judgement day.

The current dates (middle/end of August) are best for me. I'm very likely to come if we settle for this date. I know for a fact I can't come if we pick the end of July or the beginning of August.
Just me though. And I'm the second most prominent mittens guest you've ever seen!

What the title says. Not along the lines of "I'm a good husband" or "I raise five kids" or "as a doctor I've saved many lives using my patented life-saving apparatus", no I mean an out of ordinary, self-sacrificing, unexpected and completely benevolent deed.
Preferably you weren't awarded, thanked or even noticed while/after doing it.

Can you come to think of such a deed?

PS: Obviously, the "not even noticed" paragraph is not affected by writing about it in this thread.

But to be fair, Tuomas, all the votes for me were for the same entry. 

I don't want to sound petty, because I think you're definitely a worthy winner. But your response to Tuomas's objection is not perfectly valid, for two reasons:
1. If you contribute with more than one entry, you're simply more statistically probable to strike the potential reader's fancy.
2. If you contribute with more than one entry, you'll establish a psychological leverage over other people, since you'll appear more represented. People might think "The overall impression of his essays is good, so I definitely want him to be among the top five" even though a single entry might not have had that sort of impact.

Just theorizing a bit on the topic, as I said I think you well deserve every vote you got.

yeah I should have been a bit clearer with the rules. But for now we have to settle with those 5 people being the winners of round one. They shall now contribute with one (1) entry each for the final round. Then we will vote again.
Good luck!

Allright, let's close this now. Gonna count the votes later today. If anyone's inclined to speed up this procedure, feel free to count the votes for me.
From a quick look I can only tell that yours truly didn't receive any votes. Hmm, maybe I should write something less obscure next time...

I might chip in a part of my amount, even though I'm not at all sure I'll come, or even likely. You can always use my amount as the prize for the annual quiz.