Sunday, January 10, 2010

Here ye Here ye! The Battle of the Bards!!


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Calling all Marauders, Thespians, and Literary Lovers Alike!!
Today Padfoot and Prongs are proud to announce:
The Battle of the Bards
As we affectionately refer to it as, the B.o.B is a no-holds bar, literary free-for-all, where only the best Shakespeare plays can move on, a virtual survival of the fittest for literary lovers. The first ever battle of the Bards will focus on (you guessed it) Shakespeare's plays.

The Contenders:
Representing the 'leftern' conference we have the 'Comedies' - bringing gut-punching lines, upper-cutting wit, and larger than life characters. Weighing in for the 'rightern' conference we have the 'Tragedies'- some will stab you in the back, some will blind you with rhyme, but all will leave you crying in the corner begging for your mommy (or an English teacher).

How it works:
Each week there will be 2 posts featuring highlights from the battling ballads (one pair up from the left and one pair up from the right) and you will be given a good amount of information to help you make your choices when voting. There will be interesting facts, quotes, and summaries for each play. We need any and all literary lovers to crawl out from the wood works to place your vote and aid us in our quest. As the weeks press on, the number of contenders will get smaller and smaller until we reach our final battle and a champion is announced!!

How I can participate:
Like all good competitions, we are giving those playing at home a chance to get in on a piece of the action. Besides coming back each week to place your votes, Padfoot an Prongs are giving you a chance to win some fabulous prizes as well as feed your inner gambler.
To participate:
1.) Simply use the Mr.Linky sign up located at the bottom of the post to register

2.) Then leave either a comment or e-mail (pnpprinting1@gmail.com)
with your bets on the outcome of the bracket. The pair ups have conveniently been numbered for you in the order that they will take place.


Simply type up a short list where you will place a winner with the corresponding number. For instance #1 should contain whom you believe will win between 'Measure for Measure' and 'Much Ado About Nothing'. That should make #15 on the list... Your answer for the Champion.

3. Retweet, repost, recry our post to let everyone know you are loud and proud to be participating!!

Got it? If you have questions don't be afraid to ask. I understand some of us literary geeks have never participated in an activity that suspiciously resembles sports.

The at home winner will be based upon who gained the most points from their bracket guesses. First round correct answers are worth 1 point, 2nd tier-2 points and so on and so forth. A correct champion guess is worth 5 whopping points so think long and hard before submitting your answers.
Predictions are due by the sounding of the trumpet of the first event (Monday Jan. 18th). After that we encourage every one to continue participating and pestering your friends to vote for your choices.

What's in it for me?
If answering that tried and true question isn't enough glory for the average blogger, we have a bit of an incentive for participating.
For those who get their predictions in on time, you will be enterd for a chance to win....
THE GRAND PRIZE
(ooooohhhh ahhhhhhhhh)
That's right marauders. For that lucky thespian who gets the most guesses accurate, at their door they will find a literary package filled with treasures galore. The grand prize includes:

1. A copy of the winning Shakespeare play (plus an assortment 4 plays of your choice).

2. A custom mug featuring the B.o.B logo

3. Any prize of your choosing from the GBI Etsy store

4. Oh and wait for it...... a 20$ gift card to B&N courtesy of Padfoot and Prongs.

4. Other literary mystery prizes that will begin to pop up as the contest progresses, (not just for the winner) so be sure to participate and check back often.

But remember folks, to win this cornucopia of prizes you need to get registered and submit your predictions before January 18th.


VVVV Sign up here VVVV



So now that you have been familiarized with the rules,
let the games begin!!
We hope this event will be a fun, successful way for a community of literary lovers to learn a bit more about the beauty of the written word as well as the beauty of a good beat down. The more people who are involved the more fun that will be had by all! So be sure to tell your friends, your family, your neighborhood 'Boo Radley' and get them to submit their brackets.

Good luck to everyone!!!

-mischief managed-

30 comments:

  1. This is awesome - a good tide-over until the real March Madness! ;) Just sent you an email with my entry - thanks for the very cool contest!

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  2. Haha that was the semi plan. We hoped to get it done right before the real bracket madness begins!! Thanks so much for the submission and best of luck!

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  3. And don't forget folks to e-mail with your submissions!! Some of you have already but there are a few names on the sign up so far that haven't!

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  4. Done and done! This will be great!

    Gabrielle

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  5. I'm so looking forward to the next steps! it was a lot of fun doing...

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  6. Don't forget to e-mail us your predictions guys!

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  7. Too much fun! And just in time for the Super Bowl...I think. That's coming up soon isn't it? I'll get my predictions out to you guys asap.

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  8. Thanks so much Trisha!! Looking forward to seeing your picks!!

    haha yea we figured we could try to make a bracket for those of us who know nothing about brackets in the sports world haha. So glad to have you participating!

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  9. Do we choose all our picks now for the bracket or one at a time as the weeks progress?

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  10. I love this! I just emailed you with my lineup.

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  11. @ English - Yes you do all of your picks at once. So you should have a list numbered 1-15 (15 being the champion, 1 being your winner for Measure for measure vs much ado). Just follow the numbers on the chart picking a winner for each! Looking forward to your submission!

    @Bookshelf! Thanks so much just got it! Best of luck!

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  12. 'Twelfth Night' vs. 'As You Like It'?! Sophie never had it so hard! But I guess the smart choice is to guess the popular pick rather than one's own personal favorites.

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  13. haha we tried to pick some matchups that would really put your brains to the test.

    Ah yes that is a bit of the Catch-22. We encourage in voting every one to vote or cheer for their favorites however your guesses should probably go with what you think is most likley to win (much in the way you might still root for a sports team even though you know they don't have a chance ;-0 )

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  14. YAY! I just won my fantasy football league last week, so I feel lucky....=)

    I'll get you my choices ASAP.

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  15. Huzzah!! Make sure you register and get us your submissions!! Best of luck to you!

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  16. Okay I am in. I don't bet on sports, but would bet on the Bard any day. This will be fun and hits me deep my nerdy, bookish heart. Thanks for setting this up.

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  17. Haha we feel the same way. No real interest in sports betting but throw in some literary names and I know who I'm picking. No problem thanks so much for participating!!

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  19. i didn't link to my actual blog post about joining the contest when i registered- sorry! here is is:
    http://csween.blogspot.com/2010/01/derail-battle-of-bards.html

    watch out, Eli- i'm gonna take you down! :)

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  20. Great event! You bring warmth to my Shakespearean-fan-girl heart.:) Just emailed you my choices, and I want to thank you for coming up with this.

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  21. Such a clever idea! I wish I knew all the Bard's works, but alas I started reading him late in life and am only familiar with a few. Not sure I would fare well in the game - but definitely look forward to watching all the results!

    You are guys are GREAT!

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  22. You girls are geniuses!!!! I have to read this over in more detail as I didn't totally understand it the first time around. I am heading out of town so I'll try to get this in before I leave!!!! I hope I can do it!

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  23. Hmm, what if my favorite is less frequently produced than the other one? Oh, the indecision!

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  24. @ Carolyn - Thanks so much for doing a post!!! We will be putting together a list of other blogs that have posted about our competition and will be sure to add you!

    @fanta - So glad that you like the contest!!! Best of luck!!

    @Molly - Who knows, I would always win the basketball brackets in highschool even though I couldn't tell you what a free throw was from a ...I don't even know another basket ball term haha. It is all pretty much guess work!! Hope you will vote though!

    @Jenners - Haha thank you Jennersss. And don't worry you would be one of manyyyyyyy so far who have had to ask some questions about how the brackets work. We understand that sports/lit nerds don't always go together haha.

    @Jeanne - Haha thanks so much for your submissions! Best of luck to all of you thanks so much for registering!

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  25. Ok so I chose my favourites (or the ones that were drummed into me at school ha ha!), read through a few plot overviews of the ones I don't know anything about and made my choices!

    Thanks for the fun Shakespeare shenanigans!

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  26. @ Kayal! Thanks so much! Best of luck to you

    @ Monique! Make sure you send us an e-mail (pnpprinting1@gmail.com) with your guesses! Glad to see this has inspired you to read over some plots1 We will have pleanty of info on each play next week to help you vote!

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  27. Count me in! My list is on it's way. I am reading Will in the World by Stephen Greenblatt right now so this is great timing. It will be a good refresher to the plays I've read and intro/inspiration for the ones I haven't (yet). I would love to eventually be able to say I've read them all (it's a lifetime goal, not a short term one!)

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  28. @Jane - What a wonderful goal! Ive worked my way through a majority of these but I will have to admit that some of the more random ones that didn't make the 'top 16' I am not sure I will ever make it too. Best of luck to you, looking forward to your predictions.

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