The Yackandandah Limericks are as follows:

Question:
Limerick A

Young Mandy was from Yackandandah.
A bold thief, she cunningly planned a
Heist, but was caught
And the police said, "You ought
To give us the jewels back, Amanda.

Limerick B

In Australia the blokes will meander
To the village of lush Yackandandah.
At the Gum Tree cafe
They'll bring you a tray
As you sit on their lovely veranda!

But take care as you visit this village
Whose greenery's perfect with tillage.
With legends so scary
And ghosts...I will nary
Go down there without feeling chillage!

Limerick C

Said a Kiwi (I think it’s a slander)
“You’ll get bored if in old Yackandandah.”
But there’s things to do in it
Like ... give me a minute --
Just ignore that NZ propaganda.

Limerick D

The town born of gold, Yackandandah,
Has a beautiful old Jacaranda
That grew from a sprig
To be so bloody big
It uprooted a whole back veranda.

Limerick E

If you're wanting to see Yackandandah
Don't listen to tourist propaganda.
The place is so boring
They've even banned snoring
(It's in the Town Clerk's memoranda).

Limerick F

Though I'd already left Yackandandah
I thought that I'd go back and stand a
Round of cold beer,
Though I've found that good cheer
Can result in too much flack and candour.

Limerick G

A whore in the town Yackandandah
(To her patrons she's known as Miranda)
Just couldn't afford
To pay for their board
So she met them all on the veranda.

Limerick H

My boyfriend just loves to philander
In the streets of sublime Yackandandah.
He's a dolt and a cad;
I'm annoyingly mad!
His good name I am planning to slander!

Choices:
Limerick A
Limerick B
Limerick C
Limerick D
Limerick E
Limerick F
Limerick G
Limerick H

 

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

For the record, I had submitted two. However, since I put it in the same thread with my other, Greg must have missed it (I've done that myself). So here is my second one:

My boyfriend just loves to philander
In the streets of sublime Yackandandah.
He's a dolt and a cad;
I'm annoyingly mad!
His good name I am planning to slander!

Damn! I knew there was another one. I think I should edit it and add it in. There has only been 2 votes cast so far. Editing it will reset the voting so those people who have voted will have to vote again. Sorry!

I have added it in now so voting has now been reset.

I see that the standards are very high again. As usual I won't vote for my own.

'Twas a year in which financial blunder
By money men tore us asunder.
May 2010
See us come back again
And good luck from Greg S down under.

Only 6 votes so far but maybe people are away and that is all the votes we'll get, but you guys would know a lot more than me about that?

Just one more Post and I'll be a fully qualified Member! Yippee!

To my mind there are four main problems with this poll system:

1. The format is confusing with the poll titles being below their limerick, and the limerick titles above it.

2. Authors have to decide whether to vote for their own submission (which is giving them an unfair advantage) or to vote for another limerick which isn't as good as theirs (thus giving another author an unfair advantage).

3. Not enough people vote for the results to be statistically valid (which is also why (2) above is more of a problem than it otherwise would be.

4. Authors get no detailed feedback.

1. Yes. Nothing we can do about it. We are intelligent people. We can cope.
2. People are honourable. They don't generally, here or elsewhere, vote for themselves.
3. Statistical validity. Why do we need that? It's a game.
4. At last something we agree on. There is no reason however NOT to post comments after the polling, is there?

Bottom line? It's a game. And only a game!

Hey! said she with the feeble voice of a mere voter, having submitted nada... I just placed a vote for "G", re: Miranda the puta, but poll results show "G" as 0% vote.

pls pencil in my vote Mr Greg?.. only one that made me chuckle :-)

quote:

Originally posted by bethree5:
Hey! said she with the feeble voice of a mere voter, having submitted nada... I just placed a vote for "G", re: Miranda the puta, but poll results show "G" as 0% vote.

pls pencil in my vote Mr Greg?.. only one that made me chuckle :-)

Limerick G has two votes; that's what I mean about the confusing format.

In fact, I reckon the whole thing would be very much better were a larger number of non-contributors to vote, thus reducing the "own-vote" problem.

quote:

In fact, I reckon the whole thing would be very much better were a larger number of non-contributors to vote, thus reducing the "own-vote" problem.

I don't disagree with that. How do you propose to implement it?

By the way, the '"own-vote" problem.' only seems to exist for you, Richard. As Bob says, it's only a game. Please get over it and stop banging on about it with each new vote.

quote:

I don't disagree with that. How do you propose to implement it? Confused

I have no idea how such a thing could be implemented and never suggested that it should be.

quote:

By the way, the '"own-vote" problem.' only seems to exist for you, Richard.

And Bethree.

quote:

Please get over it and stop banging on about it with each new vote

Not every vote; just twice to date. And seeing as though it would be very easy to put right, it seems worthwhile mentioning it so that the next person to use the system could put it right.

quote:

And seeing as though it would be very easy to put right

Are you sure the software isn't to blame? I don't think anyone is doing it deliberately, especially since Greg S is polling for the first time.

Re: Bethree5. She didn't complain about voting for her own lim since she says she didn't submit one.

Richard,

quote:

stop banging on about it with each new vote.

quote:

Are you sure the software isn't to blame? I don't think anyone is doing it deliberately, especially since Greg S is polling for the first time.

The problem is that the limerick titles precede the titles in the limerick listing but follow them in the poll. The simple cure would be to change the position of the titles in the listing.

quote:

Re: Bethree5. She didn't complain about voting for her own lim since she says she didn't submit one

Bethree's complaint wasn't about her limerick but about the fact that she thought that her vote for limerick G hadn't been counted, whereas it had. Her confusion was due to the way in which the votes were entitled.

And as we have mentioned, we know all this. This is an area of the software which is, I believe, not under our control. Groupee/Eve/Social Strata or whatever they are called this week are the only ones who can change it.

What cannot be changed must be endured.

quote:

And as we have mentioned, we know all this. This is an area of the software which is, I believe, not under our control. Groupee/Eve/Social Strata or whatever they are called this week are the only ones who can change it.

Read what I wrote. We can't change the poll but we can change the way in which we reference the limericks we list. If the titles, A, B, C etc., were to follow, rather than precede, the limerick to which each referred, then they would be listed in the same manner as the poll.

The software is clearly to blame for the confusing display of the results, but it is not confusing anyone when voting and it keeps the tallies correctly. Therefore as long as the Poll conductor can overcome the confusion to announce the winner correctly there is no real problem with it. Furthermore an incorrect announcement wouldn't stand for long in this Forum anyway.

I was never exposed to the old system, but I don't see anything wrong with this one. It's good fun and I'm still here even though I joined to try to flog a few books but haven't managed one sale yet to any of you. And now I'm a fully-fledged member.

quote:

And now I'm a fully-fledged member.

So now we can start picking on you.

It's not looking like there's going to be more than 7 Votes cast, but my inclination is to be guided by you more experienced Wordcrafters as to when to announce the results. Personally I'd like to see a couple more votes at least, but I wouldn't want to get picked on just yet.

quote:

I was never exposed to the old system, but I don't see anything wrong with this one.

The old system was the one that awarded you your winning place in the last round.

Quite simply it is that the person setting the challenge judges the submissions him or herself and decides on the winner. Most in this situation also make comments about each submission, but this is optional. The disadvantage of the system is that not everyone enjoys, or is good at, judging and giving feedback; the anonymous poll system gets around this disadvantage - but has disadvantages of its own as has been discussed.

quote:

The old system was the one that awarded you your winning place in the last round.

No it wasn't. That was the current system.

The old system was simply that the poster of the place name judged the best limerick received. The winner then had to choose a new place and judge the next competition.

Ah. Apologies. Since I chose the place (Brighton) I assumed that I had also done the judging (since I have never set up a poll and have always done my judging personally). But I had forgotten that I had to leave the judging job to you, Arnie, as I was on holiday.

But regardless, the "old" system was as it has been described by both of us.

As whether the "old" system or the "new" system (or both systems) will be used in future has never been discussed. For myself I would prefer the poll system were there a decent number of voters; as it is, with hardly any more voters than authors, I prefer the individual judging system.

I prefer the new system. Even with only a few voters, it's preferable to the old way, which had only one voter.

FWIW I have no preference.

I am still awaiting some commentary on when the result of this game should be declared. I will not do so until one of you suggests it's time and at least one other agrees.

Greg: I would suggest that you decide on a date to suit yourself and announce it. Then, once you reach your date, simply count the votes.

Typically we tend to leave the game to run for about two to three weeks - but that's not even cast in plaster, let alone stone.

I am late to this game because of family obligations. However, I did vote originally (I believe mine was the second vote), and I am 100% certain I had voted for C. But C has no votes, doesn't it? I must have made a mistake with my vote then, but to whoever (not whomever, correct?) wrote C, it should have at least one vote.

Hmmm, I must have been mistaken because I just tried to vote for C, and it took the vote. Since you can't vote twice, I must have gotten waylaid and didn't vote. Sorry for the confusion!

No you weren't mistaken. As I said in an earlier Post I edited it to add your second limerick into the Poll, but doing this resets the voting, so I had suggested that the first two voters would have to vote again, which you have now done.

This game should be decided the Chicago way: Vote early and vote often.

The Australian way wouldn't work. Here voting is compulsory and you get fined if you don't!

quote:

The Australian way wouldn't work. Here voting is compulsory and you get fined if you don't!

I though it was only the old Communist countries that had that system in place. Mind you, as there was often only one party to vote for, it seemed a bit silly.

Mind you, I would suggest that one of the principles of democracy is that the people can vote for whichever candidate they wish - or no candidate at all if they prefer. Of course, I suppose there would be nothing to stop an Australian voter simply leaving a ballot paper blank if that were his or her preference.

Yes you have to get your name ticked off at the Polling Booth to avoid the fine, but what you do with the ballot papers after that is up to you.

Richard's Brighton Poll got 10 votes, so at 8 votes for this one and being the time of year it is I am thinking that's all there will be. I will give it 4 hours and declare the Poll, whether or not there are any more votes, at 6:00 pm Melbourne time today. Then we can start the new year with a new game.

Ah, sorry I hadn't read that post, Greg.

quote:

The Australian way wouldn't work. Here voting is compulsory and you get fined if you don't!

Wow. I hadn't known that law existed anywhere. If that were the case in the U.S., I feel sure we'd only have Democrats in office, which to me would be a good thing, would be annoying to Republicans.

It is with some degree of embarrassment that I have to announce that I am the winner of this game with the "Jacaranda" limerick (D) polling 3 votes, just pipping Richard's "Miranda the whore" limerick (G) with 2 votes.

Entries were:
A - Bob Hale (Amanda)
B - Kalleh (About the town - 2 verse)
C - Proofreader (Kiwi propaganda)
D - Greg S (Jacaranda)
E - Richard English (memoranda)
F - Bob Hale (flack and candour)
G - Richard English (Miranda the whore)
H - Kalleh (philandering boyfriend)

Personally I liked Kalleh's 2 parter because she had clearly done some extensive research on Yackandandah and incorporated it in her limerick. I was very surprised that Bob's "flack and candour" limerick didn't get a vote as his was really the only one in the group that got two prefect rhymes on the full 4 syllables of Yackandandah.

So I guess it's my turn again. I promise the next game will be a much easier 2 syllable town. By the way Jararandas are very common in Australia and their beautiful lilac flowers are in full-bloom at Christmas time. The last few flowers on the one in my next door neighbour's front garden are just about to drop off.

quote:

I was very surprised that Bob's "flack and candour" limerick didn't get a vote as his was really the only one in the group that got two prefect rhymes on the full 4 syllables of Yackandandah.

Yes, it was a great limerick, I agree. The problem with the polls is that you vote for the one that grabs you right away, while others are very, very good as well. I think if we all had 2 votes we'd all see some very different results.

quote:

I think if we all had 2 votes we'd all see some very different results.

Or if we had a few more voters. As it is we get only around 2% of the Wordcraft population

quote:

As it is we get only around 2% of the Wordcraft population

How do you determine the Wordcraft population, Richard? The active user count has varied over the last few months from 25-30, with 28 last month. That means that 8 votes is around 28%.

According to the main index page we have 666 registered members. 8 out of that population is 1.2%. The highest voting turnout was, I think, 12, which is 1.8%. Of course, many of that 666 don't post, but even if the true population is as low as you suggest, that still means that only a quarter of our active members vote.

quote:

According to the main index page we have 666 registered members.

Yes, but they all don't post. As the welcome wagon lady here, I can tell you that many new registrants never post even once, even though I try to encourage everyone. Other boards have that same experience. Plus, while I don't post under any other name, and never have, I do have about 5 or 6 names in the system because of our Halloween costume parties. Others do as well. Some have quit posting (sob, sob!), while a few have even died, but they're all still in our system.

So, arnie is correct. And I don't think a quarter of all our regulars is bad at all. Remember, some here just don't like limericks.

Even if 100% of the regulars voted, I don't think the votes would change much because the winners are usually that...winners. However, That's only one limerick from all of them. I think if we were to have first and second choices (and I am not advocating for that...I am just musing...), then we'd have a higher distribution of votes. But, then, I may be crazy.