pick of the day

23/11/01 today's pick:- "Morning Pages" by "Funky_Seagull". the first piece of Funky's i've read. reading Funky is like surfing on a wave - grammar gives to feeling, syntax to street-speak and it just doesn't matter because you're way up there with him. He's an 'up' Brett Easton-Ellis, and a lively tonic for a gloomy morning. now. (i turn to my computer). data-entry.

23/11/01 Cheers chant - I like this 10 story random generator 'pick of the day' thread a lot...hehe. * gets out his surfboard to surf the paper waves * Right I have 3 picks today. the first is by fey_mouse and is called 'Shells' http://www.abctales.com/abcplex/viewStory.cgi?s=8550 A moving account of how she goes to meet someone she's been writing intimately to - for the first time. She draws an interesting parallel between her situation and a snail. A great poem. the second is called ' The Woman In The Woods' by barry_wood. http://www.abctales.com/abcplex/viewStory.cgi?s=5251 A dark story this one. A bit of a thriller kind of vibe. It spooked me it did. Very well-written. I don't want to spoil it for anyone though by saying too much about it. As it's a difficult one to describe without giving away the plot. The third is a poem called,'Understanding The Driller Killer' by adrian_parker. http://www.abctales.com/abcplex/viewStory.cgi?s=5323 Another dark one but funny. Suffering from the curse of noisy neighbours myself; I can understand where he's coming from. Though I doubt I would take it to such extremes.

Summer Factory gingermark http://www.abctales.com/abcplex/viewstory.cgi?s=12057 Great! a cherry picked poem today. This poem really captures the humdrum of the working life and it has a good comparison of workers to the products that are sold. All cogs in the same money-making machine.

"Chaplin Moustache" W_H-Audenary

i've just read 'A Town Called Basildon' by ralph dartford and i found it very illuminating. i would urge everyone else to read this piece.

Thank you Ms Linsi for mentioning Mr. Audenary's contribution to this 'Site of Scribes'. You may have seen the same piece entered earlier this evening under the title 'Die Rechnung'. I am afraid the poem may yet be re-posted with other titles. The fault lies entirely with myself. I forgot to give Mr. Audenary his Ecstacy tablet this evening. Consequently, he has been listening all evening to Long Playing Records by a Mr. Radiohead without the benefit of mind numbing pharmaceuticals. The poor chap is completely addled.

well then sir, he is indeed a man after my own heart!

My randomly generated 10 weren't that great today - I even managed to generate one of my own! :0) Anyway out of the 10, two stood out: Easy(slow like honey) by jennifer http://www.abctales.com/abcplex/viewStory.cgi?s=4260 I have always liked the naivity of this poem and especially love the line: "But I've young blood diluted with dreams" An excellent piece of writing from a girl with bags of talent! I Promise... by Nancy_am http://www.abctales.com/abcplex/viewStory.cgi?s=12202 Not sure why this wasn't cherried but it definitely shows nancy's true qualities as a writer. She beautifully creates the feeling of how frightening love can be.

I can trumpet this one, because it has (apparently) already been story of the day. (I missed it that time around, so others may have done too) Johnnygriff's "Jamie's Wishes" - funny, sharp, touching and involving two old people in a Coen-brothers type story of retribution, justice and burying cars in the desert. Simply wonderful.

for f's sake, Andrew, Johnyygriff's one of my hot contenders for the pick of the day prose slot. quit drawing attention to him!

Sorry Chant - could be worse, I picked one of Robert's mere days before he had to submit his selection.

My favorite today was: Post Orgasmic Chill jay1814 http://www.abctales.com/abcplex/viewStory.cgi?s=9055 his poem cuts straight into the emotion it's trying to stir up with very vivid imagery. and it's about sex, too!

her, i mean, sorry about that

I hope your upped the star rating! I regularly do this - maybe we should all post our favourites from 'random' as that way we get to go back and see the good stuff we may have missed. Good idea chant.

What a great idea chant! Out of the randomly generated 10 I read, I found 3 to be my favourites. 1. Eve by Fecky. Whilst being off uni due to having the cold, this story made me laugh - which is no mean feat when I am ill and feeling sorry for myself! 2. Twelve by muzzy_star. This fits in well with the festive season and is very concise and to the point. 3. Ethics by Fey_mouse. A worthwhile point made by fay. Her usual use of excellent language shines through once again! I have to say that the 'random story' option is an excellent one. Through this I have found such wonderful writers as Nancy_am and anthony_dickens. Would urge everyone to have a go at randomly reading 10! Sarah.

I'am with ya chant... gonna join you in this mate; and read ten random stories a day, and post the one I like the most in this forum... on my way to the random story generator now... good idea man.

A very worthwhile thread - these aren't random, but they are some that have interested me this week :- Dogstar - Distractions Tyson - Time and time again Beef - Merrilee Stevew - Death by a Thousand poems Anjali Paul - The witch with the iron head And most of all Stevo - Icicle (this is the piece I have read most this week, trying to decide whether to cherry it - whether I do or not, I think people ought to read it. )

just read it andrew. i vote yes to cherrying it.

Have been badgering Andrew to cherry "Icicle" - its bloody good.

seemed to get a lot of stories today. of them, i liked two in particular - The Witch with the Iron Head by Angeli_Paul, a very assured piece of writing with skilful intimations of hell at the end. and Fathers Eyes by Fred Jackson, not my kind of thing and with the perennial "the body or what was left of it" line that all crime writers seem contractually obliged to put in, but still well-written and, most importantly of all, full of psychology and social commentary. hard to choose between them as they're so different. i think i'll go for Fathers Eyes . because i can.

yeah that poem by stevo-'Icicles' is really good. 'The witch with the iron head' I enjoyed that story a lot. Right heres my pick of the day 4 2day: hard to choose between these two. So I'am gonna post them both. 'The fly' by microchrist. http://www.abctales.com/abcplex/viewStory.cgi?s=831 and ' The Strong Silent Type' by simon66 http://www.abctales.com/abcplex/viewStory.cgi?s=7535

Okay I read another 10 today (gold star for me). :-) They weren't the best ten I have ever read. But out of them my favourite was 'Saying I love you' by connor_white. I have never read any of this guy's work before, but I have to say that it is very good and I urge you all to take a look. The link to that particular poem is: http://www.abctales.com/abcplex/viewStory.cgi?s=5030 But have a look at the rest of his set too.

Just to say that I've used the random button as my normal method of cruising the site since the day I first tuned in. How else, when there's thousands of pieces on the site, are you going to discover the hidden gems and the.. mm.. not-quite-so-brilliant things? (In your own opinion, anyway. No-one else need ever know.) It's an excellent system.. who'd get far beyond A otherwise - and then we'd all end up calling ourselves aaron aardvark or something, just to get read. Come to think of it..

ok, heres a couple from my ten random this morning: A suspension of hostilities, Simon 66 http://www.abctales.com/abcplex/viewStory.cgi?s=1997 (yes, really it randomly appeared, I can see you all rubbing your chins in disbelief) This is a fabulous short, funny, heartwarming and slightly surreal at times..I've already forwarded it to several people to read. "The Hangover" by Jean Reid...funny verse, cleverly done... the hangover Dying with Mahler, Sue Pearce http://www.abctales.com/abcplex/viewStory.cgi?s=5932 good one. Thought provoking. Must admit, had a look through more of her set, and Vegetarians Lament is bloody funny too, l can identify with that.....

18/11/01 Heads by Dogstar. not the Dog's best piece by a long shot and, for me, better without the second 'verse', but still significantly superior to anything else i read today.

Okay my 2 picks for the day are: 'Going for Gold' by reinardina http://www.abctales.com/abcplex/viewStory.cgi?s=9703 This is a humorous look at a shallow young lady attempting to lure a very prosperous young man! 'It's not your fault it's raining' by fey_mouse http://www.abctales.com/abcplex/viewStory.cgi?s=8765 My random story option seems to always generate at least one of fay's pieces. Luckily enough she is one of my fave writers on the site. I admire the way fay can take a very ordinary subject, like the rain and turn it in to so much more. I just hope fay is going to start paying me for all this publicity! :-)

26/11/01 I chose two poems today that got me thinking: 'Witch Hunt' by davver http://www.abctales.com/abcplex/viewStory.cgi?s=7297 A parallel between the old medieval witch hunt and today's media fuelled finger pointing. Got me thinking: throughout history people have always needed some kind of a scapegoat: someone to point the finger at for the problems in our world. 'The Computer' by jnitram http://www.abctales.com/abcplex/viewStory.cgi?s=8078 A poem that parallels a computer's inner workings with a human being's inner workings - but despite their similarities there is a subtle difference between the two.

Here are my favorites out of the ten I read, I only read poems that came up though. no stories: "The wrong end of things" by nobodyknow- It's the fifth one I've looked at and the only one I thought worth mentioning so far, oh well that's what I get for being so picky. I like the disjointed angst of this raw poem, I think it fits the subject. "My Little Demon" by flipper- This poem was funny and amusing. I always like the use of the word "shat" (past tense for @!#$) in poetry. "I DREAMED A DREAM" by tjdaniels- at first I thought this was going to be a corny love poem, and it ended up being a corny love poem, but I like it. Not the thing I usually go for, but this one's well written and I like the message. That's it. I'm signing off. I was somewhat unimpressed with most of what I read. I didn't get one cherry picked poem, though, so maybe it was just bad luck- Mike

hey Mike! saw your posting so thought i'd go and have a look at your stuff. read your 'new poems' collection while drinking a Stella and listening to System F's Insolation and i have to say they did the job very nicely. there's talent there, a raw, twinkling bit of light in the universe. then checked out your web page. not that it's any of my business, but i'd lose the 'ironic' shameless self-promotion page. it doesn't show you off to your best advantage in my opinion. rather, your poems do that. and quite a view it is.

My pick of the day is Strolling by Ian Speirs (ian) www.abctales.com/abcplex/viewABC.cgi?ABC=2615 I love the imagery and wordplay. I especially like the lines "Savouring the solitude of togetherness"- great paradox, and "Returning home to the applause Of the approaching waves"- interesting metaphor. This is a well-thought out poem.

all poems today, late for work.. however: bamboo days "rhombus10 spirit level "stephen Murphy" kept awake in drunken sleep by desperation "beef" ...and that one is particularly good......made me a bit later as I went to the rest of the set....liked them very much, and will come back later.....

My pick for today is 'The Teller' by sooz. A story about a woman living in Morecombe. She works as a fortune-teller. She dresses up for the part. In wig and gypsy style costume. But she can't tell peoples fortunes, is just very clever at playing her customers. Conning them out of their money. However something wierd happens to her... is it post-natal dpresion? Or is it something a bit more surreal? Worth reading, is well-written and I enjoyed it. http://www.abctales.com/abcplex/viewStory.cgi?s=2272

19/11/01 not a great crop today. i liked Parallel Harmony by nancy_am best. some of it was very good, some of it slightly puzzling. it's about seeing someone you like on the street and imagining that in a parallel universe, or some other time, you were/are lovers. i was puzzled by these lines though. "i pass you every day on the street and we don't even notice one another." i don't understand the use of the first person plural. i would have thought that for one of the characters, the narrator, a good deal of noticing was going on. a delicate piece though. for myself, i've always tended to think that if i fancy someone who doesn't immediately fancy me (ie. the spontaneous two-way connection), i've made some kind of mistake, and try to divert my feelings before they get too unmanageable.

My favorite of today: "Empty pockets..." by microchrist http://www.abctales.com/abcplex/viewstory.cgi?s=5883 He really gets his point across in this prose poem. Who wouldn't want to read 21 lines about absolutely nothing? It's dadaist minimalism at its best. With a lot of feeling and honesty.

Force of Indifference/ Liana Hemmett (liana_hemmett) this is the first in a dozen randoms explored today to give me something to get my teeth into... I really like the lines that go...    I want to feel the air again    filled with pollution    poison and politics. i'm a sucker for desire edged with self-annihilation and that's the kind of reading i'm taking from this. likwise with the concluding lines...    I'm missing    The force of your indifference. This really tickles me... to yearn for or even just to identify something that is of itself unattractive yet between it and you a meaning exists. Cool.

Blind - abforbing. I like this poet enormously, this ia an excellent one. For some bizarre reason its been 2 *'ed, and deserves much more imho..... If I had Kissed - Cloo. I've read this before, a while ago..it's very very good, recommend you definitely check this one out. Two Snipers - Ian Speirs. Snapshot of war, without cloying sentimentality. I read my ten faithfully this morning, and unfortunately pulled up some really odd stuff...this is all I can recommend today. Mind you, three excellent randoms out of ten isnt bad I suppose......

20/11/01 a bit of an odd mix today. lots of poems and one piece of prose that, though competently written, just seemed to go on and on. today's favourite: Silly machines by EdClayton - a description of an absurd dream. precisely written and amusing in a restrained, unlaboured kind of way.

yeah me too got an odd mix today as well. I decided to choose - ' A Second Chance' by moonstone. She has a second chance interview at the university. She is excited and waiting for her train. She goes to the cafe to get herself a coffee. And ends up getting into an uncomfortable conversation with a homeless guy. He keeps telling her to bugger off. But she timidly stays; and learns the tragic fate of this angry man. http://www.abctales.com/abcplex/viewStory.cgi?s=577

Okay my picks of the day come from Nancy_am and justyn_thyme. 'Dharma and Greg' by Justyn_thyme http://www.abctales.com/abcplex/viewStory.cgi?s=10382 This is a very informative and entertaining review which I think represents the true essence of one of my favourite programmes! :-) 'Stillness' by Nancy_am http://www.abctales.com/abcplex/viewStory.cgi?s=8869 I know I am well documented as being a HUGE fan of Nancy's writing but this really does represent one of her best pieces. This poem is so alive and the language she uses illustrates the stillness of the poem beautifully. Excellent work, Nancy! :-)

Some fine picks today. Cloo's piece is well worth checking out, very true and real, but still shot through with a poet's eye. I don't like Dharma and Greg, but I cherried Justyn's piece anyway, because the review was so thoughtful - it talks about American TV and American attitudes in broader terms and is really worth a read. Ed Clayton I like - try Lonely Strand.

My pick of the day is: First Impressions by Jennifer Pickup (jennifer)www.abctales.com/abcplex/viewStory.cgi?s=3731 I looked at more than ten today because I wanted to keep searching until I found something I really liked. I think this one's a realistic and entertaining depiction of an initial meeting in the dating scene. Being a male who has to go up to random girls at bars and start conversations with them about anything, I see exactly where the male character here is coming form. The writer is female and yet she doesn't seem to be taking sides. Very cool. Her characters are realistic and I'd like to see more of this drama.

I just read Easy (Slow Like Honey) also by jennifer and was thoroughly impressed. Sexy sweet imagery. This is poetry at its best. I found something to do today. I think I'll just go through and read all her stuff.

I've been trying to use the random buttob but I just get the same piece coming up over and over again.(and the one I got stuck on today was mediocre) What am I doing wrong? Do I need to press refresh or something? Using an Imac.

You don't like Dharma and Greg, Andrew?!! Shame on you! :-)

i've read A Second Chance by Moonstone before, Funky, and liked it too.

Ahhhh, Dharma and Greg!!! I appreciate the mentions, ickle and andrew (even if andrew doesn't like the show itself). I was wondering if anyone watches this show. My reason for writing the piece is evident from reading the review itself, so I won't repeat it here. I like the show because of the cultural issues I describe in the review and because I find it funny, sometimes LOL funny. Frasier is a much more sophisticated and funny show, but it doesn't have the same cultural significance, at least not in my view.

As a student, I will watch just about anything that appears on daytime t.v.!! But I do like Dharma and Greg very much and your review let me see it in a different light. So well done you!

Kick up the arse Andy Barrett Bloody excellent. Had to trawl a long time this morning before I found anything worth recommending, and as I am a poorly girl, I'm going back to bed now....

21/11/01 got a very good selection today. for me, two stood out. Jezebel by raina-clay which strikes at that point where desire and love never quite seem to meet - a good mix of feeling and honesty. and Last Child by Liza an exposition of a post-apocalyptic life, naive rhyming couplets tell a disquieting tale, had me thinking of Yeats's 'Second Coming'.

When I watched Dharma and Greg (pre reading Justyn's review) , I assumed the hook was an I dream of Jeanie / Bewitched / Small Wonder sort of deal - an ordinary guy who has a girlfriend who must pretend to be normal but really has weird powers or is an alien or a robot. I watched all episode and saw no sign of her having powers or being an alien. I guess my point is that in England, she wouldn't be considered a quarter as weird as the way they seem to think she is in the program. She was cute though ! Justyn - question that I've always wanted to ask. Why do all American radio stations start with a 'W' ? Why ? Is it that the licencing guy has a Jonathan Ross speech impediment, "Wadio" ?