Well, the 2nd unofficial contest is in its last few days. If ya'll are interested in another contest, feel free to throw some ideas into the ring. If I like the ideas, I'll do it again. If I don't like the ideas? Well I'll ignore you. :) Ain't I a stinker? Lyrra "Good, bad - I'm one with the banana" Madril

On the wildlife contest I couldn't find a bear(wasn't going to buy one just for a contest), which I thought wouldn't be such a problem - silly me. Your movie scene idea from last month still seems like a good one. Just to make it harder how about making the render in 16M color that approaches pure black and white without post work adjustments to the hue,saturation and the like.

Hi Possibly not the next one but a future one how about the rest of the creatures Fantasy etc, Stops them getting restless :-) but I like BM's idea but where do I find a.........nah too corny!!! Dave

Well, how about "proverbs"? Sayings such as "A Stitch in Time Saves Nine" and "Look Before You Leap" are commonly known, but others such as "If the Wolf's Ears Are Near, the Rest of the Wolf Can't be Far Away" (rough trans from Old Norse) are worthy of being illustrated too. What I think would be really, really fun would be "Visual Puns", but that is evidence of my own twisted humor. ;^) Hmm... Bikermouse could do "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" featuring the absence of the bear! (sorry, couldn't resist, and I wouldn't buy a model just for a contest, either) Are marketing weasels "stoat-hearted men"? Is "a battery cable" a line with a bunch of sleeping bats hanging from it? How about Dr Frankenstein saying "lend me a hand"? Or a wedding in the woods: "Deerly Beloved,..."? It is a pity that Bloodsong hasn't done those little critters yet... I could do wonders with a mole... or would two of them be a molecular coefficient? I'll go quietly now.

How about a zodiac theme? An image of your family (or group of friends) where everyone is represented by their zodiac symbol? It may sound kinda goofy but it'll be a challenge too. For example my family would be a ram, a centaur, a scorpion and a virgin now I would have to put them in an image together. I do admit some of the models might give us a problem though. (bull, ram, crab, scorpion & goat) Just in case - March 22 through April 21 - aries - ram April 22 through May 21 - taurus - bull May 22 through June 21 - gemini - twins June 22 through July 21 - cancer - crab July 22 through August 21 - leo - lion August 22 through September 21 - virgo - virgin w/wheat September 22 through October 21 - libra - scales of justice October 22 through November 21 - scorpio - scorpion November 22 through December 21 - sagittarus - centaur December 22 through January 21 - capricorn - goat January 22 through February 21 - aquarius - water bearer February 22 through March 21 - pisces - 2 fish facing opposite directions

A self-portrait...... : ) And not to be limited to our 'real' world appearance, either...What is your Cyber world look? Fantasy? Spiritual? Other dimensional?

I'd love to see someone do a Romance Novel Cover contest. :)

Paradox, i likes Paradox, life is a Pardox. That's a neat word "Paradox"

What about a scene incorporating one of those optical illusion thingies - like the picture with with stairs that seem to keep going round and up... gosh i'm showing my ignorance here, if anyone can help me out and explain what i mean...?

lemur01: you mean "Paradox"!!!!!

Hmmmm... yes, I suppose I do. lol

hauksdottir: Look before you leap sounds like an interesting idea. Ah the zen of it. A bearless bear scene. I'm tempted, but unfortionately I have a few things to do in the physical world that will tie me up for a few days. Patricia: I like that Idea, but it needs to be differenciated somehow from the Avatar challenge from a couple of months back. igohigh: I think my definition of paradox is lacking. I always think of two doctors discussing something. (bad pun). I know that something like a mobius bottle is way beyond my ability.

Actually the "NEW" Webster's Dictionary defines PARADOX as simply "Modern Day Corporations".

A tenet or proposition contrary to received opinion; an assertion or sentiment seemingly contradictory,
or opposed to common sense; that which in appearance or terms is absurd, but yet may be true in fact.

And the concise Oxford Dictionary also defines pardox as: "Self-contradictory or essentially absurd statement; person or thing conflicting with preconceived notions of what is reasonable or possible."

Whooooa! They realy know me don't they??! OK, lets go with the Look Before You Leap thing. I'm good at that, especially when factoring in the wind conditions ;p ** http://home.earthlink.net/~igohigh/skydive/skydive.htm **

I think you have unfair advantage there igohigh. But it sounds good to me.

Any other ideas? I figured I'd do like last time, throw out a few possibilites and see what people think.

comedy/tragedy(sp) something from Shakesphere - a theme based on a quote of choice from one of his plays. examples: "Boil, boil, toil and trouble" "to sleep perchance to dream" "hark, what light through yon window breaks ?" or a pair a docs.

The Greek word for punster encompassed all word play and is something like "paronomasiac". It works up nicely as 2 mazes with a circle-slash over them and a yak. You have to figure that the Greeks appreciated oratory and lyric poetry, so the fate meted out to punsters and other manglers of the language must have been fearsome indeed! ::shudder:: We would have begged for hemlock. :p My vote is for visual puns, but I might have a slight advantage there. ::innocent grin:: Something involving clever ideas would yield a more level playing field, since conception and recognition and playfulness would be as important as artistic technique. Carolly

" 'tis the East and hauksdottir has the pun . . . " perhaps something lighthearted would be in order. people's been gettin' awful serious lately. And I still can't find a bear.

oops: quotes should've ended at "and".

That's OK, Bikermouse. One of the nicknames given to me online was "Atilla the Punster", no doubt referring to the carnage in my wake. I've thought of a couple of other contest ideas, which wouldn't necessarily involve puns. ;^) Serge sent out an email commenting on the August vacation which most folks in Europe get. Imagine that you are Santa Claus. Because of seniority(US) or country of origin (Europe) you get a whole month off. In summer. What would you do? Get as far from snow as possible (the painted desert or some place with palm trees) or go to the South Pole and share Christmas with the penguins because you never have enough Christmas? "Santa on Holiday" as an idea gets tossed into the ring. My next feat of brilliance (imagine a magician gesturing towards a tophat on a small table next to him) and pulling out a pink scarf which turns into an elephant wearing nothing but a blush. Elephant jokes! Lightbulb jokes are almost as good (but some of the imagery couldn't be shown in this forum). There are a couple of other joke categories where there are entire books of jokes involving the topic. We'd need to have a free elephant - was Brycetech's cartoon elephant ever free? - and a tolerance for silliness.

Sorry, hauksdottir. I couldn't resist the pun. Santa Claus: Hey Dork and Mike worked hard to get all that extra weight off. Now you wanna put it back on? Elephants: my search turned up one freebe in 3ds format. good idea but unless someone has a freebe posable one . . . Lightbulb jokes: How many Vulcans does it take to screw in a light bulb? none, Vulcans don't screw in lightbulbs.(had to keep it clean.) How many elephants does it take to screw in a lightbulb? one elepant - many lightbulbs. - modified from "Huygen's Disclosure". How many zen masters does it take to screw in a lightbulb? one. no light bulbs. Elephant jokes; Sierra Did that in the "Quest For Glory" series. You would have a unique advantage there.

Ah, but I didn't work on that series. Lori and Corey "borrowed" my art for the Rosella Stone and the stuffed peacock, and we've been friends for a couple of decades, and I hold their miserable existences as Vikings in my grip ::evil game master laugh::, but that is as close as it gets. If Corey wasn't so allergic to cats, they'd be welcome to sleep over when they come to the Bay Area. (Well, they are welcome anyway, but someone else would have to count the spots on the dice for him once his eyes were squeezed shut. Hmmm.... ::secret game master smile::)

Ok then the seach is on for an elephant. Why do I suddenly have an urge for an avacado and garlic sandwich?