Below are the choices for San Francisco's limerick, and I will make a few comments of my own for each limerick...and would welcome yours as well. That's what makes it interesting; not the number of votes.

Remember, you don't have to write limericks to vote. Several here live on the West coast, and I'd like to see their votes as well.

Question:
1
The city I love, San Francisco,
Has the Bridge and the wharf and good disco.
Their food's great, it's said
(Like the sourdough bread);
It's organic and healthy - no Crisco!

2
No matter if you can't stand risk, though
It's better if you can dance disco,
But if you hate fun
And can't stand the sun,
You really won't like San Francisco.

3
To lim' SF?—yikes! how 'bout Frisco?
Um.. wrong coast for cop Lennie Briscoe...
I'm sure I can't rhyme
It, I haven't the time
Or perhaps it's my lack of hubrisco...

4
Whenever you're in San Francisco
There are dangers no straight man can risk, so
Before it's too late
Check her Golden Gate -
You might find a man an' can miss go!

5
On TV, it seems folks for their trysts go
To screw atop old San Francisco.
On its Streets you’d find Mike
Dealing crime waves a strike.
All New York had was old Lenny Briscoe.

6
She asked "Where can this clansman miss go,
For some fun times in old San Francisco?"
"A lass from the highlands?"
I said, with a sigh, "Stands
Quite a good chance in our can-can disco."

7
One night when Batman an' Cisco
Were dancin' in San Francisco,
Left sittin' an' sobbin'
Poor Pancho an' Robin
Agreed Cisco an' Batman can disco!

8
My ex-girlfriend adored San Francisco,
My friends thought I was taking a risk. Oh,
They thought she looked cute,
In her black leather suit,
But they balked when they heard she loved disco.

Choices:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

 

If anyone has already voted, please vote again as I had to edit because I'd forgotten a limerick.

Have fun voting!

1,3,5 and 7 all have US cultural references that I don't understand so I'll take another...

Well, for the record, whenever I write limericks for any city/venue, I always look it up online and try to write something culturally appropriate. Some of those Australian references I've used, for example, are not part of my vernacular.

Obviously limited rhyming possibilities, as evidenced by the repeated appearance of Lennie Briscoe, whoever he may be (like Bob I'm in the dark here, despite the fact that I spent 6 years in SF).

I have to comment on limerick 2 though - if you can't stand the sun, then SF is more or less the perfect place to go. To paraphrase Mark Twain, the coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco!

Is it right that I'm not allowed to vote for my own lim?

Not supposed to vote for your own. Just considered bad form.
And welcome to the board.

I had voted at the beginning, before the change in the poll, for #1. However, the software won't let me vote again so number one should have another added to its total.

For UKers, Lennie Briscoe was a long-time character on the TV show Law and Order, while "Mike" refers to actor Michael Douglas, who starred in the TV show Streets of San Francisco.

Lennie Briscoe, for those cross the pon'
Or in OzLand, or N.Z. beyon'
Was a Big Apple dick
Who could solve mysteries quick.
Now tell me, just who's Elton John?

Welcome aboard Michael. Unfortunately hindsight and lack of thorough research is the reason why this ignorant Aussie, thought San Francisco was a sunny place. The image I have is of flower wearing hippies, "If you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair" and they always seemed to be in the sun. Had I done my research properly, I could have written,

No matter if you can't stand risk, though
It's better if you can dance disco,
And if you like fun
And can't stand the sun,
You really will love San Francisco.

I presume the one vote I got was from a similarly ignorant out-of-towner.

As for voting for yourself, it's just bad form but nobody would know if you did or you didn't. On the odd occasion when I honestly thought mine was the best limerick, I simply abstained from voting.

Thanks Proof for clarifying the cultural references, but surely Bob you've heard of Batman and Robin, so nobody needs to explain that reference to you, but even ignorant Aussies like me know that Pancho and Cisco were sidekicks in the 60s Western TV Series "The Cisco Kid".

quote:

Pancho and Cisco were sidekicks in the 60s Western TV Series "The Cisco Kid".

More like 1950s. See this for complete info. And the character goes all the way back to nineteen-aught-seven!

quote:

More like 1950s.

It was 60s for me though. Australia didn't get TV until 1957, and there wasn't one in my household until I was 14 in 1967.

quote:

I had voted at the beginning, before the change in the poll, for #1. However, the software won't let me vote again so number one should have another added to its total.

One time when I picked the town I too missed a limerick and had already voted, so as Kalleh has done I edited it to add the extra limerick, which resets the voting to zero for all options. Then I was able to recast my vote sucessfully, so your experience in this regard is counter to mine?

You only get one vote per poll. According to our records, you've already voted on this poll. Go back and click the results link if you want to see what everyone else is voting for.

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That's the message I got just now when I tried again.

Perhaps that one vote for No. 1 is your vote. Did anybody else vote for No. 1?

quote:

Not supposed to vote for your own. Just considered bad form.
And welcome to the board.

Bob, we did discuss this and came to the conclusion that people could vote for their own if they wanted to. A few of us, though, just didn't feel comfortable doing that. Either way, since this isn't the Academy Awards or anything, it doesn't make that much difference.

I had forgotten someone's limerick and when I went to edit the post (which was within 5 minutes), it said that any votes wouldn't be included in the edit. That, I think, meant that at least one person had already voted, though I am not sure that it was for limerick #1.

quote:

That, I think, meant that at least one person had already voted,

Not necessarily. That message appears every time you go to edit a poll, even if no-one's yet voted.

I was the first, and IMO only, one who voted before the change. After the change was posted I tried to vote again and was refused. At that time, no votes were noted in the poll results even though it said I'd voted. I immediately sent a PM to Kalleh mentioning the problem and telling her to add a vote to #1 once the totals were finalized.

No problem then - well there is a problem them, which we should report to the software developers. Anyone done that before? As a workaround for the future when we accidentally leave out a limerick, after one or more people have voted, we should start a new thread and advise everybody in the old one.

From the voting I'll have to abstain
Tho I'm glad to expound my disdain:
Each flawed little verse
Parlayed bad into worse
As it relayed the SF refrain

Let's start with mine: though Lennie Briscoe
Perhaps traveled once to S. Frisco
On a tour epicurean--
It's trivia obscur-ian—
Tho I do like my new word 'hubrisco'

I almost fell for gay-bashin'
Tho these days it's hardly in fashion
True we all agree
Bawdy lim's are home free
But for me the last line didn't cash in.

And as for those who claim disco
Is still a big hit in San Frisco
Have another few beers
And sleep 30 more years
With Winkle up on Mt Kiscoe

quote:

Originally posted by Greg S:
Unfortunately hindsight and lack of thorough research is the reason why this ignorant Aussie, thought San Francisco was a sunny place. The image I have is of flower wearing hippies, "If you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair" and they always seemed to be in the sun.

In your defense, I thought exactly the same before I moved there. Boy, was I in for a shock! Strange that in the movies and TV shows, they manage to always film sunny San Francisco. If you travel a couple of miles inland it's wonderfully sunny, but that inland heat sucks a dense fog off the sea and deposits it on the streets of San Francisco.

I've never been into a disco in my life and I have no idea if they have them in San Francisco or not. I just tried to rhyme the whole name - which kind of tells you which one I wrote.

Apologies to all those people who attend regular tea-dances, Salsa classes and ballrooms in the city. Sadly none of your venues rhymed.

tsk tsk-- just kidding, bob!
taking pot shots is my new hob
dancing frug and the jerk
down in old Albequerq
I'm an old lady with a big gob

I really am in quite a spot
For there's one that I like quite a lot -
If I put my vote in
That limerick would win,
But to vote for my own I cannot.

quote:

As a workaround for the future when we accidentally leave out a limerick, after one or more people have voted, we should start a new thread and advise everybody in the old one.

Good point. Let's remember that.

There's plenty of disco in SF...though not plenty of sun.

Could we please have a few votes?? Bethree, if you really haven't voted, please do so. You can pick the best of the worst.

Will do Kalleh I promise.

p.s. from the link you posted, I rest my case

"Aunt Charlie's Lounge...
Celebrating and reviving 'bath house disco', Bus Station plays little known gems that were all the rage in the underground disco scene of the 1970's..."

Nope, as I always tell my kids (and they tease me about it), I rest my proverbial case. Not sure where I got that "proverbial case," but my kids think it's funny and that I made it up (which I didn't).

Here are the authors of the limericks:

1. Yours truly's got 1 vote - I loved it, but then I am a little weird. Not sure if Crisco is a homophone or not...Shu said it's not, but what does he know? He's only my husband.

2. Greg's got 1 vote - SF is all about disco and fun...but, having lived there for 1 year, I can attest that Mark Twain was right about the coldest winter being the summer he spent in SF. I had a little trouble with the stresses in this one, but then I am anal about meter. I did like "risk, though" a lot! (And he didn't want me to include this one...see how wrong we can be about our limericks?)

3. Bethree's go no votes? Why not? I thought it was clever...hubrisco? Brilliant. I had a little trouble with the stresses in L1, but remember my meter obsession. I imagine this was #2 for a lot of us.

4. Greg's second one got 1 vote - And a humdinger it is...he integrates 2 well-known aspects of SF, the Bridge and the gayness. I nearly voted for it, but you know why I didn't: the meter.

5. Proof's got 1 vote - Wow...trysts go and Lenny Brisco (Did he and Bethree collaborate? What a great rhyme!). Nice one, Proof. My very stupid question (I am sure) was...who is Mike?

6. Was number 6 yours, Bob? I think you might have deleted the original PM you sent to me. Anyway, this one got no votes...and why not? This one again most likely suffers from being a close second choice. I loved the idea of a lass from the highlands wondering what to do in SF. "Miss go" was brilliant. Again, however, some of the stresses were a little hard for me.

7. Greg's third limerick (he was feeling prolific!) got 1 vote, and indeed it deserved it...simply with that glorious last line. I loved the idea of it, and with a little workshopping (again missing a syllable every so often), Greg will shine with his limericks.

8. Mike Daws is our big winner! And to think I almost forgot to enter this one (he had emailed rather than PMd it to me). I loved the "risk. Oh," and the idea of a black leather suit. I had a little trouble with the meter with L2.

I'll be honest, I have no idea whose limerick I voted for. It has been too long I guess.

Take it away, Mike! I always love it when a newbie wins.

Whilst Bob and I might have had slightly imperfect meter, everybody else had completely imperfect rhymes, because they only rhymed 2 of the 4 syllables.

Where was Richard this time, he usually has an extremely entertaining "blue" limerick?

By the way I'm claiming a moral victory for my grand total of 3 votes.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Greg S,

Kalleh,

I suspect your problems with meter are due to the differences in pronunciation between the USA and the rest of the English-speaking world.

quote:

For UKers, Lennie Briscoe was a long-time character on the TV show Law and Order, while "Mike" refers to actor Michael Douglas, who starred in the TV show Streets of San Francisco.

To repeat what has already been said, for the benefit of those who did not read the entire thread....8-)

quote:

I suspect your problems with meter are due to the differences in pronunciation between the USA and the rest of the English-speaking world.

You are probably partially right, arnie (though a missing syllable is a missing syllable, no matter who is speaking). However, it's not only with the non-Americans. And, remember, it's my obsession. Intellectually I know this is our game and tiny meter problems shouldn't matter. For example, I give the rhymes a lot more leniency when I am selecting winners because I love "fun" rhymes. I thought "hubrisco" was great!

Oh, yes, Proof, now I remember. Heck, I even watched the show.

I'll email Mike that he's the winner and should start the next game.

As you can see, I made a post in Community inviting a few more people to vote.

good game, Kalleh! I like the combination of techno-voting & good old-fashioned criticism.

Can I comment when I didn’t enter? Tell me later...

I agree with Kalleh that a few of these had metre glitches - eg. stress on an unimportant word eg the limericks that used the phrase “in San Francisco” put stress on “in” which is awkward.

In one way I thought the two limericks that didn’t get a vote were the two that had the zing factor. I really liked your quirky ending, bethree - it made me chuckle. Bob’s limerick was great too (and it’s no mean feat to rhyme the whole place name). Unfortunately “highlands/sigh stands” isn’t smooth enough for me and in the first and last lines I wasn’t sure of the beat – I think line 1 would have been easier to read if that first “this” had been in italics.

Re rhyming the whole place name, Greg – it’s never been a requirement. A perfect rhyme starts from the last stressed syl and it’s a bonus if you can get the other syls in too, but not at the expense of the metre eg. “an' can MISS go!” is more naturally stressed “an’ can miss GO”.

My vote was torn between #1 and #5 – and I went for the latter because the disco seemed a bit dated. It was really splitting hairs though.

quote:

My vote was torn between #1 and #5 – and I went for the latter

Stella's brilliant deductions never cease to amaze me.

Oh, I don't know that I agree, Proof. Her deductions might have been a bit more analytical.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kalleh,

quote:

Re rhyming the whole place name, Greg – it’s never been a requirement.

I know it's not a requirement, but I had a lot of fun trying, and was extremely happy with "no straight man can risk, so".

Where is our Michael Daws?

Here I am. Sorry for the delay. Thank you for your votes, both of you. Beginner's luck, coupled with Kalleh's refusal to accept Proof's earlier vote seem to have won the day, but I'm happy to take all the breaks I can get

New challenge now posted!