Callie

Michigan, Arizona, and New Hampshire have yet to be called. I had eight submissions, but Actaeon will win regardless of the results in those states (even though Neb was the only one who predicted Trump winning). Congratulations Actaeon, who have won the meaningless approbation of your peers! I will post the scores and rankings once those three states have been called. Your hypothetical money has been lost.

The election is nigh, and as in the past, I have posted a poll of fellow Spiderwebbers. All questions are anonymous.

I'll just go with zero, thanks.

It is just conjecture because I have no idea with this election. All kinds of things could happen.

Correction: the first debate is in fact on the 26th, not the 30th, so the 26th is now the due date.

Also, here is my admittedly odd map. This makes a total of five submissions so far. Keep it up!

The US is having an election in less than 50 days. In the past I've just posted a poll of who voted (or would have voted) for whom, but this time I wanted to include an opportunity to win the meaningless approbation of one's peers. The premise is simple: you will submit a map or list of which states will be won by whom, and the person with the submission closest to the actual result wins. I thought of a number of scoring methods, but after discussing it on CalRef, have decided to simply have a tentative scoring system of 1 point/state (and DC) for a total of 51 points*. You may make a submission by either posting in this thread, sending me a private message, or telling me in Ligrev's Lounge (CalRef's chatroom). The winner will be determined once the Associated Press calls the results for all contests**. There could possibly be a recount in one or more states, in which case we'd just have to wait. Hopefully we won't have a repeat of 2000. 270towin is a convenient way to submit a map (if you think a third-party candidate will win a state just leave it blank or say otherwise). You may make submissions, or change your submissions until September 26th (the night of the first debate). Note that the scoring I have chosen is tentative. If you would like a different method, say so in the thread and I will change it accordingly if enough people agree. (For example, one idea I had was to multiply the score by a factor of (ECs correct/538). Good luck. *Maine and Nebraska split their electoral votes: the person who wins a plurality of the votes in the state as a whole wins two electoral votes, then one electoral vote is awarded to the winner of each congressional district (for example, in 2008 McCain won Nebraska statewide in addition to two congressional districts, so he received four electoral votes. Obama won one of the districts and won electoral vote). Those two states will be one point as a whole, but the point is split along with the ECs. Nebraska will be .4 points for statewide and .2 for each congressional district. Maine will be .5 for statewide and .25 for each congressional district. **Electors have voted in the past for a ticket they were not bound to (called faithless electors). For example, one elector in 2004 was bound to vote Kerry for president and Edwards for vice president, but voted Edwards for president and Kerry for vice president instead. Since it would be pretty much impossible to predict this, it will not be included in the score, as it has never decided the outcome of an election. If it does decide the outcome of the election, I uh... that would be interesting.

476. Save to the Rhythm - Grace Jones is compelled to retry until she gets what she wants A play on her song "Slave to the Rhythym"; people will reload a save to get different results. Keep it up, keep it up

I live in Nevada, so I'm not sure which one I'm supposed to pick. Other, I guess.

486. Oshioki yo! - Expression of punishment for a small child, from a sailor A play on John Lennon's song "Oh Yoko!"; the name "Yoko" means "ocean child" and IIRC "oshioki" means something along the lines of "punishment". 496. Surfene USA - Negative example of an obscure generational California accent A play on the Beach Boys (who are from California) song "Surfin' U.S.A." to sound like sulfene, a highly reactive and dangerous group of chemicals. There are many dialectal variations in California, so I'm not sure which one it's supposed to refer to, but it is similar to how many Mexican immigrants would pronounce the word "surfin". 500. Changesslarty - So I turned my PDN to face me, but I've never caught a glimpse of how the others must see the faker Lyrics of the David Bowie song "Changes": So I turned myself to face me, but I've never caught a glimpse of how the others must see the faker. Presumably this is a joke about how you change your PDNs often.

I have apparently become less imaginative and more cynical. Whoopee!!!

418. Threnodious Funk - A contradictory artist, maybe A play on Thelonious Monk; a funk threnody would be contradictory 423. Whirlwind deliver them! - Synthpop Job accuses God of laughing God appears to the biblical Job in a whirlwind, but I don't know what the synthpop reference is. 451. Huis Ouvert - David Cameron and Nigel Farage are trapped in an elevator French for open door. Cameron would obviously want to get out of the trapped elevator

I always imagined the many Merrys in X3 actually being the same person trying to prevent me from returning a faulty set of lockpicks, a la the .

And so it came to pass that Galactic Maiden escaped the clutches of putrid mayonnaise, only to be greeted by an even greater horror: an orgy of foot-long shrimp.

—Alorael's Critique of the Critique of Pure Reason Datalinks

1. Name one song that makes you feel really, really happy. Nick Drake - "From the Morning" 2. Name one song that helped you get through a difficult period of your life, or still does. The Velvet Underground - "Heroin" 3. Name one song that makes you feel calm and serene. David Bowie - "Lady Grinning Soul" 4. Name one song that you associate strongly with a good memory. The Smiths - "There is a Light that Never Goes Out" 5. Name one song which resonates with a character trait you want to encourage in yourself. ? 6. Name one song that you find really interesting on a compositional level. (Lyrics, chord structure, sound effects, timbre of instruments, etc.) Sonic Youth - "'Cross the Breeze" (by far the most listened to track in my music library) 7. Name one song that you didn't like at first, that you eventually came to really enjoy. Jeff Buckley's cover of "Hallelujah"

He who dreams with smurfs should look to it that he himself does not become a smurf. And if you gaze long into a Game Boy, the Game Boy also gazes into you.

People tell me unagi is weird, but I rather like it. Tongue meat is delicious. What I find weird is mayonnaise; really gross man. And... ground beef is pretty much blended leftover cow parts. Also, that "process cheese" Americans eat so much of makes me nauseous. I suggest we just find something universally weird, like fried unicorn pituitary glands gently shoved through a spaghetti strainer with a meat tenderizer.

Still makes more sense than Armageddon.

Kill prize, win Dintiradan!

I didn't see any films from this year, although a pack of relatives loudly watched Do You Believe? while at the house. Very disconcerting.

Yup, yup! This is the thread in which we post our favorite examples of album art. The content of the album need not be pleasing to the ears.

I vote for whatever the reptilian denizens of Avernum line their nests with. There could even be adventuring pillower merchants!

I want to be elected to the United States Senate and be caned to death by a rabid wingnut from Oklahoma. That way, I will have accomplished something and become an amusing footnote in history textbooks.

I'm thankful for the brief respite Thanksgiving provides from the upcoming festival of Mammon and accompanying orgy of capitalism.