Best Post Contest for January 2020! 🎉 December 30, 2019 6:59 AM Subscribe
Ahoy, Mefites! As we approach the mystical year of 2020, it would be wise to remember the words of Pythagoras, who once said "There is geometry in the humming of the comments, there is music in the spacing of the posts," and encouraged his acolytes to engage in heroic feats of typing and linking every year — a holiday tradition Metafilter follows to this day!
And so it is that time comes for the Mefite's Choice Best Post Contest in the month of January. As always, post your own wonderful, interesting, and fun links, and vote for other great posts by flagging with the Fantastic Flag — all month long, as many as you want.
✨We'll have winners every week, and we invite you to offer your own individual awards in categories of your choosing as well.✨
If you want to offer an award, put it in the comments here (including what you want posters to use to tag their post so you can find them), and we can add it to this post. You get to set the terms, and say whether you're offering a tangible or intangible prize.
OVERALL:
Most Fantastic-flagged post of each week (you can only win once, just to give everybody a chance), awarded on Saturdays and on January 31
Most Fantastic-flagged post of the entire month at the end of the month (we usually recognize the top five)
FIRST/SECOND-TIME POSTERS:
If you've been waiting to post, this is your moment! All month we'll be recognizing first- and second-time posters in the weekly award threads, and at the end of the month we'll recognize the most-fantastic'd first- and second-time posts! You can tag your post "FirstPost" or "SecondPost" as applicable, or we'll add that tag for you.
INDIVIDUAL PRIZES, where "best" is up to the prize-offerer's discretion:
Posters, please use TAGS to help the award-givers find your posts!
Award-givers, any user can offer an award! You can send a physical prize, or just highlight great posts, you choose. Tell us in this thread what your category is, what you'd like your award to be, and what tag posters should use, and we'll add it below.
The Categories for Individual Prizes:
Taz is offering an e-book (to be decided) for the best post on little / less known mythology or any aspects of mythology from any era or culture. Please tag your post with "secretmythology."
Frimble is offering an award for the best post in the category of "High Weirdness"; please tag your posts with "highweirdness2020."
Etrigan is offering any in-print wallet game from Button Shy Games (and a recommendation of which one to get, if you would like) for the best post about gaming. Please tag your post with "gamingbpj" (not required to win).
Fizz offers fake points for the best post about Victorian Literature, and wins best tag contest, with associated tag 'viclitforfizz'.
Homo neanderthalensis is offering a custom artistic garden-y sign as a reward for the best post about cabbage family crops. Please tag with “Brassica.”
Rangefinder 1.4 is offering prizes for posts about not-so-famous women doing awesome things, with bonus consideration for diversity and underrepresented people. Please use the tags "awesomewomen" and "representation."
Daisyace will reward the best post about extreme connoisseurship -- a person or a site that goes overboard analyzing what's the best X, for any given X. Prize will be a regifted Chrismukkah present. Please tag with "fivestars."
Mchelly will reward the best post about anything Jewish. Winner will get a mezuzah case, with the winner based on fantastic flags. Please use the tag "MetaGefilter."
Box will reward the best post about libraries (with a broad definition of that term) with a prize TBD. Please tag with "libraries."
Box will also reward the best post made *by* a librarian or library worker with a prize TBD. Please tag with "librarianpost."
Cozybee would like to see art (like drawing, painting, sculpting) posts ... art guides, highlighting of good online art, or good in depth art history discussion, etc. The prize will be a photo of a sketch based on a prompt from you, probably in colored pencil. Please tag your post with "artsy."
spamandkimchi will award a sticker and a magnet of a "kimchi juice" for the best post on fermentation (in which the fermentation process results in something ingestable). Please tag with "fermentation."
spamandkimchi is also offering a copy of Sana Goldberg's "How to Be a Patient" for the best post about health / medicine / human biology / health care / medical trials / home health care. Please tag with "healthcare."
And so it is that time comes for the Mefite's Choice Best Post Contest in the month of January. As always, post your own wonderful, interesting, and fun links, and vote for other great posts by flagging with the Fantastic Flag — all month long, as many as you want.
✨We'll have winners every week, and we invite you to offer your own individual awards in categories of your choosing as well.✨
If you want to offer an award, put it in the comments here (including what you want posters to use to tag their post so you can find them), and we can add it to this post. You get to set the terms, and say whether you're offering a tangible or intangible prize.
OVERALL:
Most Fantastic-flagged post of each week (you can only win once, just to give everybody a chance), awarded on Saturdays and on January 31
Most Fantastic-flagged post of the entire month at the end of the month (we usually recognize the top five)
FIRST/SECOND-TIME POSTERS:
If you've been waiting to post, this is your moment! All month we'll be recognizing first- and second-time posters in the weekly award threads, and at the end of the month we'll recognize the most-fantastic'd first- and second-time posts! You can tag your post "FirstPost" or "SecondPost" as applicable, or we'll add that tag for you.
INDIVIDUAL PRIZES, where "best" is up to the prize-offerer's discretion:
Posters, please use TAGS to help the award-givers find your posts!
Award-givers, any user can offer an award! You can send a physical prize, or just highlight great posts, you choose. Tell us in this thread what your category is, what you'd like your award to be, and what tag posters should use, and we'll add it below.
The Categories for Individual Prizes:
Taz is offering an e-book (to be decided) for the best post on little / less known mythology or any aspects of mythology from any era or culture. Please tag your post with "secretmythology."
Frimble is offering an award for the best post in the category of "High Weirdness"; please tag your posts with "highweirdness2020."
Etrigan is offering any in-print wallet game from Button Shy Games (and a recommendation of which one to get, if you would like) for the best post about gaming. Please tag your post with "gamingbpj" (not required to win).
Fizz offers fake points for the best post about Victorian Literature, and wins best tag contest, with associated tag 'viclitforfizz'.
Homo neanderthalensis is offering a custom artistic garden-y sign as a reward for the best post about cabbage family crops. Please tag with “Brassica.”
Rangefinder 1.4 is offering prizes for posts about not-so-famous women doing awesome things, with bonus consideration for diversity and underrepresented people. Please use the tags "awesomewomen" and "representation."
Daisyace will reward the best post about extreme connoisseurship -- a person or a site that goes overboard analyzing what's the best X, for any given X. Prize will be a regifted Chrismukkah present. Please tag with "fivestars."
Mchelly will reward the best post about anything Jewish. Winner will get a mezuzah case, with the winner based on fantastic flags. Please use the tag "MetaGefilter."
Box will reward the best post about libraries (with a broad definition of that term) with a prize TBD. Please tag with "libraries."
Box will also reward the best post made *by* a librarian or library worker with a prize TBD. Please tag with "librarianpost."
Cozybee would like to see art (like drawing, painting, sculpting) posts ... art guides, highlighting of good online art, or good in depth art history discussion, etc. The prize will be a photo of a sketch based on a prompt from you, probably in colored pencil. Please tag your post with "artsy."
spamandkimchi will award a sticker and a magnet of a "kimchi juice" for the best post on fermentation (in which the fermentation process results in something ingestable). Please tag with "fermentation."
spamandkimchi is also offering a copy of Sana Goldberg's "How to Be a Patient" for the best post about health / medicine / human biology / health care / medical trials / home health care. Please tag with "healthcare."
I'm offering up fake points for the best post about Victorian Literature. Use the tag 'viclitforfizz'
Cheers.
posted by Fizz at 7:36 AM on December 30, 2019 [3 favorites]
Cheers.
posted by Fizz at 7:36 AM on December 30, 2019 [3 favorites]
So I can’t really offer plants or seeds or cuttings to most of you unless you’re decently local, but I’ve started making artistic signs and things for work (Samples) and I could totally custom make you something garden-y as a reward for the best post about cabbage family crops. Tag with “Brassica”, and wow me!
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 8:50 PM on December 30, 2019 [13 favorites]
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 8:50 PM on December 30, 2019 [13 favorites]
And for the goddamn record Johnathan P Wallflower, fart posts do not count as Brassica/cabbage crop posts no matter how you tag them, you excrement minded nightmare.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 9:25 PM on December 30, 2019 [21 favorites]
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 9:25 PM on December 30, 2019 [21 favorites]
That escalated quickly.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 9:37 PM on December 30, 2019 [19 favorites]
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 9:37 PM on December 30, 2019 [19 favorites]
Hooray Best Post Contest!
I will again offer prizes for posts about not-so-famous women doing awesome things! Bonus consideration for diversity and underrepresented people. Hat tip to ocherdraco for starting the awesome women category years ago. Yay!
Use the tags: "awesomewomen" and "representation"
"Not-so-famous" = someone I'm not very familiar with. (So, as much as I'd love to read more posts about the movie Captain Marvel... well, hmm. You know what, if you can make a good post related to that movie that's about not-so-famous women doing awesome things, it qualifies!)
I'll pick a few winners. Prizes: I'll send you a postcard (if you want one). For the bonus winner: I think I'm out of MetaFilter stickers, so in honor of the movie that's been a huge deal to me, the bonus prize this time will be a Funko Pop bobblehead of the awesome Capt. Maria Rambeau in her flight suit (from Captain Marvel of course).
posted by rangefinder 1.4 at 3:40 AM on December 31, 2019 [5 favorites]
I will again offer prizes for posts about not-so-famous women doing awesome things! Bonus consideration for diversity and underrepresented people. Hat tip to ocherdraco for starting the awesome women category years ago. Yay!
Use the tags: "awesomewomen" and "representation"
"Not-so-famous" = someone I'm not very familiar with. (So, as much as I'd love to read more posts about the movie Captain Marvel... well, hmm. You know what, if you can make a good post related to that movie that's about not-so-famous women doing awesome things, it qualifies!)
I'll pick a few winners. Prizes: I'll send you a postcard (if you want one). For the bonus winner: I think I'm out of MetaFilter stickers, so in honor of the movie that's been a huge deal to me, the bonus prize this time will be a Funko Pop bobblehead of the awesome Capt. Maria Rambeau in her flight suit (from Captain Marvel of course).
posted by rangefinder 1.4 at 3:40 AM on December 31, 2019 [5 favorites]
Please vote any mention of 'The Katering Show' and 'Get Krackin'' number one.
posted by h00py at 4:32 AM on December 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by h00py at 4:32 AM on December 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
As I have done for many years, I will be voting #1 Quidnunc Kid for everything.
posted by briank at 5:29 AM on December 31, 2019 [11 favorites]
posted by briank at 5:29 AM on December 31, 2019 [11 favorites]
I'll reward the best post about extreme connoisseurship -- a person or a site that goes overboard analyzing what's the best X, for any given X. Prize will be a regifted Chrismukkah present that didn't exemplify adequate connoisseurship. Tag "fivestars."
posted by daisyace at 6:00 PM on December 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by daisyace at 6:00 PM on December 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
Happy new year to all of you! And that includes the ilks.
posted by Dumsnill at 6:10 PM on December 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Dumsnill at 6:10 PM on December 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
In light of all the awfulness, I want to reward a best post about anything Jewish. Winner will get a mezuzah case from my collection of amazing mezuzah cases that my spouse nixed because apparently the Vilna Gaon once said that the scroll needs to actually touch the wall I can't even. Winner based on fantastic flags, use the tag "MetaGefilter"
posted by Mchelly at 6:44 PM on December 31, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by Mchelly at 6:44 PM on December 31, 2019 [7 favorites]
I’ve started making artistic signs and things for work (Samples)
Oh those are excellent. Very nice, Homo neanderthalensis.
posted by soundguy99 at 10:50 PM on December 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
Oh those are excellent. Very nice, Homo neanderthalensis.
posted by soundguy99 at 10:50 PM on December 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
Please can someone get The Whelk back for this? The Whelk's "Account Disabled" message is bad news - I am hoping it is a vacation rather than a permanent decision. Their posts are one of the big things that keeps me coming back here.
posted by louigi at 12:04 AM on January 1, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by louigi at 12:04 AM on January 1, 2020 [2 favorites]
Meatbomb is veering from tradition this year - instead of the "phoning it in" award, I am awarding a prize for any undeleted post that includes a link to a picture of Tony Danza full frontal nudity.
Prize will be multiple guffaws and nowais. I can send you an mp3 of them if you wish.
posted by Meatbomb at 3:07 AM on January 1, 2020 [3 favorites]
Prize will be multiple guffaws and nowais. I can send you an mp3 of them if you wish.
posted by Meatbomb at 3:07 AM on January 1, 2020 [3 favorites]
I move that Etrigan’s fantastic post about the tragic death of a storied form of narrative expression founded upon feats of athleticism, spandex, and excessive baby oil application be made eligible for the contest. It’s only crime was being too perfect to hold off until January had begun.
posted by Ghidorah at 4:23 AM on January 1, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by Ghidorah at 4:23 AM on January 1, 2020 [3 favorites]
I'll reward the best post about libraries (I favor a broad definition of that term, but be sure to tag posts with 'libraries') with a prize TBD.
I'll also reward the best post made by a librarian or library worker (be sure to tag with 'librarianpost') with a prize TBD.
posted by box at 5:13 AM on January 1, 2020 [3 favorites]
I'll also reward the best post made by a librarian or library worker (be sure to tag with 'librarianpost') with a prize TBD.
posted by box at 5:13 AM on January 1, 2020 [3 favorites]
And for the goddamn record Johnathan P Wallflower
Erysimum, or wallflower, is a genus of flowering plants in the cabbage family, Brassicaceae.
Posted without comment. (Also, I love how varied the brassica are, and this is an excellent competitive post.)
posted by ambrosen at 6:34 AM on January 1, 2020 [8 favorites]
Erysimum, or wallflower, is a genus of flowering plants in the cabbage family, Brassicaceae.
Posted without comment. (Also, I love how varied the brassica are, and this is an excellent competitive post.)
posted by ambrosen at 6:34 AM on January 1, 2020 [8 favorites]
Actually, my husband brought flowers home for new years, and the center bloom is something like this, which the florist told him was a cabbage flower of some kind (he doesn't remember, except for "cabbage flower"). So, we seem to be serendipitously on point for this fun developing brassica theme, apparently.
posted by taz (staff) at 2:42 PM on January 1, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by taz (staff) at 2:42 PM on January 1, 2020 [4 favorites]
Ornamental kale or cabbage! It's Brassica oleracea just like the edible stuff, but it's been bred for looks not taste. Totally edible if you wanna munch it though! It can be a pain because it can get the same bugs as regular brassicas so you'll have to be on top of that, for something that's not even tasty! V. pretty though!
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 4:32 PM on January 1, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 4:32 PM on January 1, 2020 [4 favorites]
I want art posts. (art like drawing, painting, sculpting... Is there a specific term for this? Art like art class art?)
How to art guides, or highlighting of online art that's good. Or maybe some good in depth art history discussion.
Anyway, tag it 'artsy' and I'll draw you a sketch based on a prompt from you, probably in colored pencil, and take a photo of it in decent lighting and send that to you.
posted by Cozybee at 6:25 PM on January 1, 2020 [3 favorites]
How to art guides, or highlighting of online art that's good. Or maybe some good in depth art history discussion.
Anyway, tag it 'artsy' and I'll draw you a sketch based on a prompt from you, probably in colored pencil, and take a photo of it in decent lighting and send that to you.
posted by Cozybee at 6:25 PM on January 1, 2020 [3 favorites]
Erysimum, or wallflower, is a genus of flowering plants in the cabbage family, Brassicaceae.
Posted without comment. (Also, I love how varied the brassica are, and this is an excellent competitive post.)
At the local vegetable market here in Yiwu, China, I saw the strangest thing. Even my Chinese friends did not know what it was. Imagine the base root structure of a cauliflower, but then it is more elongated, not quite like a brussel sprouts stalk but getting there. At the nodes where you would expect florets, there were instead bizarre buds that looked like cabbage, but if you forced them into the form of a rosebud.
I tried to explain to my family about brassica but my understanding was too ephemeral and incomplete.
As I leaned in I could almost hear the strange vegetable whisper "kill me"... What was that thing?!?
posted by Meatbomb at 6:35 PM on January 1, 2020 [2 favorites]
Don't turnip your nose at vegetables.
posted by taz (staff) at 11:58 PM on January 1, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by taz (staff) at 11:58 PM on January 1, 2020 [4 favorites]
The rats at the garden center I work at love ornamental kale and various succulants and grass seed and bird seed and pansy flowers and really enjoy scurrying about early in the dark morning just as gamesmouseship to see how many humans will eeek.
(Yes, multitudes of real live rats because corporate had the brilliant idea of moving the grass seed outside. And then the rats found it....)
(Or we joke that corporate is incessantly cutting worker hours in favor of training rats to take our places....or maybe not joking - could be true.)
posted by mightshould at 3:53 AM on January 2, 2020 [3 favorites]
(Yes, multitudes of real live rats because corporate had the brilliant idea of moving the grass seed outside. And then the rats found it....)
(Or we joke that corporate is incessantly cutting worker hours in favor of training rats to take our places....or maybe not joking - could be true.)
posted by mightshould at 3:53 AM on January 2, 2020 [3 favorites]
it would be wise to remember the words of Pythagoras
‘Don’t even think about a plate of beans’
posted by Segundus at 6:32 AM on January 2, 2020 [1 favorite]
‘Don’t even think about a plate of beans’
posted by Segundus at 6:32 AM on January 2, 2020 [1 favorite]
gamesmouseshipThe same thing we do every night, Pinky.
posted by I'm always feeling, Blue at 7:00 PM on January 2, 2020
The best (or perhaps only?) post on fermentation will get a sticker and a magnet of a "kimchi juice" bottle. Please use fermentation tag. Fermentation can be lactic, alcohol or acetic acid fermentation, but the fermentation process should result in something ingestable.
posted by spamandkimchi at 4:22 PM on January 3, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by spamandkimchi at 4:22 PM on January 3, 2020 [3 favorites]
The best post about health/medicine/human biology/health care/medical trials/home health care/related topics will receive a copy of Sana Goldberg's How to Be a Patient. (I just read this and loved it and want to learn more). "Best" is a totally subjective decision by me.
posted by spamandkimchi at 4:27 PM on January 3, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by spamandkimchi at 4:27 PM on January 3, 2020 [3 favorites]
(spamandkimchi, I added that posters should tag their posts for your second category with "healthcare.")
posted by taz (staff) at 2:40 AM on January 4, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by taz (staff) at 2:40 AM on January 4, 2020 [1 favorite]
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posted by Etrigan at 7:25 AM on December 30, 2019 [2 favorites]