F You Friday: Missing Princess.

Missing: One princess.

Answers to: "Soda & Candy", "Princess Soda", "Your Highness", or "Hey look, a shoe sale!"

Last seen: Muttering angrily, clutching Wheaty Bear in one hand and a fistful of Pamprin Max in the other.

Height: 7' in platform wedges.

Weight: Information unavailable*.

Eyes: Dark circles.

Hair: Too damn much.

Use extreme caution when apprehending. Subject is considered armed & cranky, but may be mollified by offerings of cheeseburgers, Snickers Almond bars or Dr Pepper.


*Official Candysoda archive record states: "None of your damn business."

Soda Fountain of Knowledge (Kulcha Edition): The Magic Pudding.

The Magic Pudding is an absolute classic of Australian children's literature, written & illustrated by famous author & artist Norman Lindsay.

The pudding himself is named Albert, and although he does enjoy being eaten, as you can see from the picture he is quite a belligerent fellow. He travels about the Australian bush in the company of the Noble Society of Pudding Owners (Bill Barnacle the sailor, Bunyip Bluegum the koala - that's him looking foppish next to the pudding - and Sam Sawnoff the penguin), trying not to get stolen by Pudding Thieves.

The Magic Pudding is magic because he can change flavors to whatever you like, and no matter how many slices you cut off him, he remains whole. How useful would that be? Also, no wonder I liked this book - it's about food, and all-you-can-eat buffet at that.

The Magic Pudding is as charming as Snugglepot & Cuddlepie, but has the added joy of an unpleasant protagonist in the Pudding. Albert is a bit of a rude bastard. The classic Australian sense of humor is cheeky, impudent and irreverent, but can also be very dry, and this is exactly the tone of The Magic Pudding. I don't actually have a copy of the book, so this is the only decent quote I could find via the internet. It gives you some idea of the joy:

"None of the ordinary breakfast rules, such as scowling while eating, and saying the porridge is as stiff as glue and the eggs are as tough as leather, are observed. Instead, songs, roars of laughter, and boisterous jests are the order of the day. For example, this sort of thing," added Sam, doing a rapid back-flap and landing with a thump on Bill’s head. As Bill was unprepared for this act of boisterous humour, his face was pushed into the Puddin’ with great violence, and the gravy was splashed in his eye.

"What d’yer mean, playing such bungfoodling tricks on a man at breakfast?" roared Bill.

"What d’yer mean," shouted the Puddin’, "playing such foodbungling tricks on a Puddin’ being breakfasted at?"

The Wikipedia page on the Magic Pudding is quite good and has a little more detail, whereas I'm working pretty much entirely off memory here!

Soda Fountain of... Soda?

Dr Pepper Cherry: A Review.

At first glance, we see only that Dr Pepper Cherry has a slightly more crimson-infused hue than its parent soda, hinting at the subtle differences to come.

Dr Pepper Cherry has an exciting yet not overpowering fizziness on the tongue, and a sweet, almost syrupy aftertaste. Top notes of dark, plump cherries and Red #40 proclaim a slightly different terroir from the original Dr Pepper - perhaps a different section of the factory? - while familiar undertones of smooth caramel, ripe plums, sunshine and high fructose corn syrup delight the palate.

While certainly a pleasant beverage, Dr Pepper Cherry varies so little from the original variety that this reviewer was left wondering why they discontinued the infinitely superior Dr Pepper Black Cherry Vanilla only to start churning out this pale imitation.

Soda Fountain of Knowledge (Kulcha Edition): Snugglepot & Cuddlepie

***Cultural Acclimatization Needed: Read this post first.***


When I was a small child, some of my favorite books featured two little blokes who could not have been dreamed of in any country but Australia.

I'd like to introduce you to Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, the most adorable characters in Australian children's literature*.


(They're the two in the front of the gumleaf-toboggan).

Gumnut** hats? Check.

Nuding it up with adorable blossom-skirted girlfriends? Check.

Riding down a gumtree branch on a gumleaf???!!! Check. They are Gumnut Babies, after all.

Although I admit I didn't remember them being quite so fat, Snugglepot & Cuddlepie are ovary-clenchingly adorable.

I would post a ton more pictures here, but I don't want to mess with copyright & stuff. Here is a pretty good site with some illustrations showing their dread enemy the Banksia Man, an adorable gumleaf house, the kangaroo cab-stand and so on.

The author, May Gibbs, did a fantastic job of weaving real Australiana into her stories.
This page, for instance, shows the Gumnut Babies looking at secondhand houses, which are actually cases which are really constructed by real grubs in Australia. We used to see them hanging off the outside walls of the house sometimes. I think the grubs cast off these cases and make new ones as they get bigger.
This page gets its inspiration from a tree called the scribbly-bark gum (here's a real one I found on Flickr). The scribbles on the bark are made by insect larvae burrowing between the layers of bark, but of course in the book, it's really the Gumnut Babies.

The stories might not carry as many levels of meaning for non-Australians, but they're still absolutely charming. I think it's partly because of the era they're from (the first book was published in 1918), but they still work today - they're just adorable and timeless.


*I won't say they're the most Australian, because even though they're totally Oz, they're no match for Albert the Magic Pudding, who will be the subject of a future post.

**For those of you unfamiliar with gumnuts, they are the hard woody fruit of the eucalyptus tree. They come in a few different shapes & sizes, but they're all sort of like little cups.

Soda Fountain of Knowledge (Language Edition): Snuggling & Cuddling

In preparation for my next post, I need my non-Australian readers to be aware that in Australia, snuggling and cuddling are quite innocent and do not have any sexual connotation*. I make mention of this because in the past I have made a couple of (male) Americans confused and defensive by suggesting that one give the other a cuddle.

You might snuggle up on the couch with a loved one, watching Survivor. All you're doing is lying there nice and close for comfort. No funny business is going on.

I think a cuddle is pretty much the same as a hug except longer and more personal. You would probably only cuddle someone you know very well.

Do my Aussie readers have anything to add to these definitions?


*Unless you are saying it in a meaningful voice with much raising of eyebrows. Context is everything.

Sweet scents.

This post is totally stolen from Gwen. Actually I posted some of it as a comment to her post.

But I liked the idea so much I thought it was worth expanding on. Smell is such an important sense. I read somewhere that the smell receptors in the brain are located close to some bits that have something to do with memory, so smell is actually the most powerful sense in terms of evoking memories, which makes sense if you've ever experienced that thing where you smell a certain scent and it just absolutely transports you somewhere else. And I don't mean in that Mickey-Mouse-traveling-on-a-wisp-of-pie-steam way.

Here are some of my favorite smells:

• Crayola crayons - I could sit there and smell a pack of those babies all day

• Frying bacon, which has nearly caused me to faint while walking past a breakfast café

• Frying onions

• Frying mushrooms

• ... okay, pretty much anything frying

• Coffee (even though I hate the taste)

• Cigar smoke (I don't know, I just like it. Any other things you smoke smell horrible and awful)

• Bonfires, especially in the country, also wood-stove fires

• Eucalyptus leaves

• The beach. That sea air smell that stays on your skin.

• Babies heads (I heard that babies heads give off a natural tranquilizer... Breathe deep. I'm just sayin'.)

• YSL Baby Doll perfume in the pink gem-shaped bottle. It smells like lollies and flowers. It's kind of my signature... I wear that, or Chanel No. 5 if I'm being fancy.


Many of y'all gave your favorite smells list on Gwen's post, so I want to hear your stories about a smell totally evoking a different time & place. Oh yeah and keep it clean you guys!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!!

THERE WAS A SLUG ON THE TOILET SEAT!!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!!

I am beyond squicked out right now. It was *this* close to touching me.

Bleeeeuuuuurgh.

Fun Size Over to You: Calling Miss Manners.

When two gentlemen are introduced, they shake hands.

When a lady and a gentleman are introduced, they might shake hands or they might skip it.

But when two ladies are introduced, is it weird to shake hands? I thought not, but I've been given a few withering-wet-fish-style hands by other ladies* recently and I'm beginning to wonder if it's because we're not supposed to shake hands.

What say you, blogosphere?



*Also, Southern women all have freakishly small soft hands. What's up with that?

Fun Size: Jaywalking.

I'm adding a new category for super short posts:Fun Size.
GET IT???? Like the candy.

Like eighty percent of the people I see jaywalking are severely physically disabled.
It's always some dude in crutches or those fancy arm-sticks* hopping awkwardly across the street, or in a wheelchair or one of those Fat Person Scooters dawdling down the bike lane. These are the people who should be the most careful getting in front of moving vehicles!

Has anyone else noticed this?


*I don't know what they're called but you know what I'm talking about right?

sweet tweets

A new addition to the Soda & Candy family was recently discovered by the Husband: there is a little nest full of adorable baby birds snugly tucked up in the crazily overgrown flowering vine that dominates our back fence.

"Baby birds? I seen one." I hear you snort derisively.

But these baby birds are unlike any you've seen before, because not only do they cheep and chirp, they also tweet.

If you can't be arsed going to their Twitter page, you can follow their status with the handy RSS feed I just added to the top of the right hand column over there. Yes, I am a technological genius.

Perhaps the baby birds will try to make friends with some of you via Twitter, but it might take them a while. They can barely hold their own heads upright, so Twitter is bound to be a bit of a challenge.

"Blech! Euwwww... Mountain Dew?! I'll take a crab juice."*

So we watched the season finale of Survivor the other night and as per ushe they revealed at the end of the reunion show where the next season will be located.

***Spoiler Alert****





Samoa.

Oh my gosh how exciting, a South Pacific island loca... no, wait, they've done that about seven hundred times already. Not to say I won't be watching it anyway, but still.

Husband said he wished they'd totally switch it up and go somewhere completely different, which is when we came up with:

Survivor: Manhattan
The survivors have to spend 39 days in the dank, fetid subway tunnels of Manhattan Island.
They must build their own shelters out of indigenous materials like cardboard boxes and discarded Wall St. Journals, and avoid native hazards such as sewer alligators and that really smelly steam that comes out of manhole covers.

Challenges include:
Asking a New Yorker for Directions
Interpreting a New Yorker Cartoon
Building a Trashcan Fire
Eating a Sewer Rat Before It Eats You
Not Being Stabbed By a Hobo





*A million points to whoever can correctly identify this Simpsons quote, and a bonus million if you can figure out how the heck it relates to this post.

"I've been called a greasy thug, too. It never stops hurting. So here's what we're gonna do: We're gonna grease ourselves up real good..."

Warning #1: Heavily opinionated blog post ahead. This is my blog and I am allowed to express my opinion here. I am in no way forcing you to read it or agree with it.

Warning #2: Unlike my last two posts, this one has nothing to do with sweet treats! Sorry about that!

The other day I mentioned people who whine about political correctness.

I mean those people who bitch & moan like "Oh, now I have to watch what I say or the PC police will be after me."

In my opinion, the whole point of "political correctness" is to prevent people's feelings being hurt - inadvertently or otherwise. For example, perhaps you didn't know that a certain word or phrase was upsetting to someone from another culture. Political correctness seeks to provide people with terms they can use that are not upsetting.

I say "seeks to" because we all know there was a point where some of it became a bit crazy, like calling a short person "vertically challenged" (I'm short, and I have absolutely no problem with anyone calling me short. I don't find it offensive or belittling, and I'd be surprised to find anyone did). However, most of the really outlandish stuff was just people playing with the concept and poking a bit of fun at it.

But the reality is that there are a lot of words for a lot of things, and many words and phrases have history and layers of meaning that give them the power to hurt people even when spoken without the intent to hurt.

So to someone who complains about having to watch what they say because of political correctness, I would say - So you would rather hurt and upset people? Really? You hold your ability to tell your dumb bigoted jokes or whatever above the feelings of other people? Honestly, is what is being taken away from you so much more valuable than what it gives to others?

I mean I just don't get it. If I had been using some word or phrase that was upsetting to a whole bunch of people, I would rather know and have an alternative given me so I could stop upsetting them. Like saying "Native American" rather than "American Indian" because duh, they have nothing to do with India and that name comes from the fact that Columbus was a dumbass.

Everyone knows what it's like to be offended and upset and have their feelings hurt. So why are there people that are so desperate to hold onto their ability to blithely do it to others?

"May that ill-gotten doughnut be forever on your head!"

According to this article on The Scavenger, Psycho Donuts, a “mental-illness themed” doughnut shop in California, has upset various mental health activists & professionals with such apparently offensive treats as The Bipolar (topped with half nuts, half coconut shavings) and Massive Head Trauma (red jelly filling oozes from the side). The Scavenger says “The store itself comes with nurses, a padded cell and "group therapy" area.”

I’m not one of those people who are all like “Pshaw, Political Correctness police just want to take the fun out of life.*” In fact I’m more than likely to be offended on behalf of other people.

But I’m with the doughnut shop on this one. Okay, maybe it’s kind of tacky, but c’mon. It’s obviously tongue-in-cheek. I’ve been close to people with mental illnesses. I know it can be devastating and is often misunderstood. These doughnuts still make me laugh. Plus, I think having a sense of humor is a huge coping mechanism, and there are some things in life that you have to laugh at or you’ll never stop crying**.

One of the protesters argues "Imagine a shop that made fun of cancer; it wouldn't be funny."

Well, no, I guess it wouldn’t. But that’s why nobody has tried to start a cancer doughnut shop. People find some things funny and others not so much. There are lines that can be crossed or bent and some that can’t. I think figuring out the difference is all part of being a person and being part of society.

What do you guys think?



*Those people may be the subject of a future post though, because grrr.

**Also, they look delicious (did you see those photos?).

What’s your flavor?

If there was an ice cream flavor based on my personality*, it would be Soda & Candy Sundae: strawberry ice cream with a ribbon of strawberry flavored pop rocks.

And maybe some glitter.

It still wouldn’t be my favorite flavor though, because that is Caramel Caribou – creamy vanilla ice cream with a caramel ribbon and tiny little caramel filled chocolate cups. It makes me wiggle my toes in happiness when I eat it.

What would your personality ice cream flavor be?

What about your favorite flavor?

*Inspired by this post about Ben & Jerry's flavors over at Candy’s Daily Dandy.

The Blogisferia Chronicles: Chapter the Third

Previous Chapters:
Chapter the First
Chapter the Second
*************************************

*Thud... thud...thud*

The walls of Candysoda Castle trembled, and Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper sloshed around in Princess Soda's crystal goblet.

"Strewth! What in Blog's name?!" muttered the Princess. She went to the balcony to see if she could find out what was causing the earthquakes, but the view from her second floor window was filled by two denim-clad knees.

"Scope!" she exclaimed. "Of course... only a giant could make that sort of a racket! G'day mate!"

"Princess Soda, how are you?!" Scope bent down to speak with the Princess face-to face. "I have some news... I am in love! Would you like to meet Cora?"

"Scope! That is tremendous! Of course I must meet her!" squealed Princess Soda, looking around curiously, for surely she wouldn't have missed a giantess, even with Scope blocking the view.

Scope brought his hand round from behind his back and opened it. There, in his palm, stood a tiny, flame-haired pixie (even shorter than Princess Soda, who was rather on the small side), and she was beaming from ear to ear.

"Hello, so happy to meet you!" giggled the pixie, and her enthusiasm was so infectious that the Princess could not help but return her smile.

Cora told Princess Soda the story of how she and Scope had met, with much nudging and winking. Scope chimed in with some unsettling talk about their love having been approved by a deity's robotic messenger, but Princess Soda let it pass.

She was puzzled by one thing, however.

"You two are just adorable! But Scope's so tall, and you're... I mean, how do you... You know what, never mind." said the Princess hastily. "I'm just so happy for the two of you!"

*************************************


Enjoy, lovebirds!

Soda Fountain of Knowledge (Language Edition): Chatting Up

Most of my Aussie vocabulary blog posts are for amusement purposes only, but this one is practically a PSA. I was confused and a little shocked when a friend recently told me that a friend of the girl he's seeing chatted him up, until we established that we were at cultural cross-purposes...


To chat someone up:

N. Amer. verb
To make conversation with someone. Basically the same as chatting to someone, or making small talk.

Aust. verb
To make conversation with someone with the end goal of making a romantic or sexual connection. Synonymous with the N. American to hit on someone.

Mmmm, shoes.

I wrote and deleted was going to write a long, whiny, self-indulgent post, sulking & pouting because hardly anyone is commenting on any of my posts these days...

...but then I got some new shoes and I thought y'all might enjoy that more, so here is a photo!
Awesome, right? I feel about seven feet tall in them.

The Blogisferia Chronicles: Chapter the Second

Previous Chapters:
Chapter The First

***********************
Princess Soda was walking through the Candysoda town square when she saw, coming towards her, a statuesque raven-haired beauty dressed from head to toe in tartan.

"Holla!" she called out delightedly. "What news, Lady Anna?"

"Holla yersel'!" Lady Anna Russell of Glesga smiled down at the diminutive princess. "Blessings of the great Chuck D be upon you! Have you heard about our - hold on a minute."

Lady Anna was a dear, friendly person and a talented poet, but she had an odd personality quirk; a deep, abiding hatred of dwarves, one of whom she had just spotted walking down the street. Her elegant face took on a stormy, enraged expression, and as the dwarf approached them, she sent him flying with a mighty kick.

"Take that, ye wee bastard!" she shouted. "Awa' an' bile yer heid!"

"Now then lassie, as I was saying..." she turned back to Princess Soda, beaming genially. "Have you heard about our friend Lord Londonstreet?"

Lord Londonstreet was a foreign lord with impeccable speech and manners. Princess Soda was very fond of reading his proclamations (especially those concerning the food rituals of his people) but they had been few and far between lately.

"No, please tell me, Lady Anna! What has happened?"

"He - Oh look, there he is! He can tell you himself!"

A fine gentleman wearing a top hat and a monocle approached them.

"Lord Londonstreet, do tell me what has happened to you!" pleaded Princess Soda.

"Your Highness, I've been cursed! Jolly inconvenient, what? An evil wizard has put the Curse of Arr Ess Eye on me. Can't write my bloody proclamations, dash it all! Still, mustn't grumble..."

"Oh no! Londonstreet, I shall ask all my wizards and good witches to look into this matter. A cure must be found!"

**************************


I hope it gets better soon, Mr. Londonstreet.

News from Candysoda Castle...

Having been accused of completely hallucinating the first chapter of The Blogisferia Chronicles, I've made an adjustment: from now on, references to posts by the featured bloggers have been linked where possible. I hope this helps you to understand how much of a genius I am.

In addition, I have also designed the freaking awesome Candysoda coat of arms, which ought to be proudly displayed by those featured in The Blogisferia Chronicles.

Wordsx3 and Me, Amplified, please take yours now!



Everyone else who is in my sidebar can expect to be featured one day, (unless you explicitly state to me in the comments of this post that you do not wish to be involved, party-pooper).

The Blogisferia Chronicles: Chapter the First

All right people, you've been wondering what the super special secret reward was and here it is. The two bloggers who won the most recent Mad Blogs have won the honor of being the first characters to be featured in my new series, The Blogisferia Chronicles. I hope you enjoy it, and if you don't, you can suck it, because I really enjoy writing it!

Here is the first chapter - it's a little long but it requires some set-up; I don't anticipate future chapters being quite this long!!!


*********************
Once upon a time, there was a fairy princess named Soda, who lived in the magical land of Blogisferia.

Princess Soda ruled over Candysoda, a small kingdom within Blogisferia. It was a delightful place with cobbled streets and a fountain in the town square that bubbled all day long with every flavor of soda (or soft drink) you could wish for.

The people of Blogisferia liked nothing more than to share their innermost thoughts, feelings, likes, dislikes, and the minutiae of their daily lives with each other (and anyone else who happened to be within listening distance). They were also addicted to entering competitions and winning awards, which they displayed prominently around their dwellings.

Princess Soda was no exception, often inviting people from all over Blogisferia to visit her and devising competitions to entertain them all.

*********************

One day, Princess Soda was walking in the woods just outside Candysoda Castle when she came upon a knight sitting on a rock. He was rubbing dirt into his suit of armor and banging it with rocks.

"Sir Words... words... words...? It is you!" cried the Princess. "Whatever are you doing?!"

"Everyone thinks being a knight is so glamorous." grumbled the knight. "It's not. It's all interminable round-table meetings and lots of boring hard work. But my damn armor never gets a scratch on it. It comes out looking as shiny as the day I bought it, and that just doesn't help my case."

"Well, never mind about that, Words. What I want to know is, why in Blog's name did you get your horse in such a horrible color?" asked the Princess, to whom such matters were of vital importance.

"Sivvick is a great steed!" said Sir Words defensively. "He runs beautifully, and is very reliable."

Princess Soda regarded the mustard-colored horse dubiously.
"Still, are you sure you wouldn't like me to enchant him into a lovely rose pink, or a mint-green perhaps?"

Sir Words was saved from having to reply by a rustling of nearby branches.

There in the clearing they saw a Gnu. It was gently biting a small cube of rainbow colored jelly and giggling to itself.

"Hello Gnu," said the Princess, "what is your name?"

The Gnu spoke:
"i'm biting on the dessert
i'm a gnu with no name
it feels good to get out of the rain
... was i talking in verse again? sorry about that, mate!"

"'Mate?' Oh snap!" cried the Princess delightedly. "You're from Straya? I grew up in Straya!"

"that's ace! here, have a lamington." replied the Gnu.

"Ta very much." Princess Soda accepted the small cake graciously.

As she took it from the Gnu's hoof, an amazing transformation began to occur, and soon, standing in front of them, right where the Gnu had been, was a beautiful fairy with rainbow-colored hair.

"it's me, amplified!" cried the fairy happily.


**************************************

Mad Blogs IV: Mad Weapon.

Once again you guys all did amazing.

In fact, this time I had to pick TWO winners!

Words...words...words..., a blogger whose cromulence embiggens us all

And...

Currently Untitled, for being super-Aussie and using ace Aussie words!

You are Sweet Bloggers!!!*

Here's your COMBINED winning entry (and the blank version is below it, for those of you who want to see how awesome the other word choices were).

______________________

The plot of the latest Hollywood blockbuster, brought to you by Mad Blogs:

Set on the mean streets of Intercourse, PA, a buddy movie like you've never embiggened.

A cromulent redneck detective, played by Gary Busey is partnered with a bogan detective, played by Nicole Kidman. Detective Rurtaugh has just turned 42 and only has a light year before retirement. Rurtaugh's new partner, Miggs, just lost his wife in a tragic hansom cab accident and is cross.

Together they uncover a huge Wii smuggling operation and end up becoming tragic friends.

Best quote from the movie: "I'm too futile for this double-wide!



______________________

The plot of the latest Hollywood blockbuster, brought to you by Mad Blogs:

Set on the mean streets of city, a buddy movie like you've never past tense verb.

A adjective ethnicity detective, played by famous actor - male or female is partnered with a adjective detective, played by a different famous actor - male or female. Detective Rurtaugh has just turned number and only has length of time before retirement. Rurtaugh's new partner, Miggs, just lost his wife in a tragic mode of transport accident and is emotional state.

Together they uncover a huge noun smuggling operation and end up becoming adjective friends.

Best quote from the movie: "I'm too adjective for this noun!
______________



*And I haven't forgotten about the super special extra secret part of your reward either; all will be revealed in my next post.

Hurry up, you guys!

*hopping impatiently from one foot to the other*

If you haven't entered Mad Blogs yet (it's the post before this one), hurry up!

Go do it now! It might be the last chance you get - I haven't got another one in mind.

As if that PLUS the Sweet Blogger award wasn't enough inducement to GO enter Mad Blogs, I have a super special secret surprise reward planned for the winner.

It's not a physical prize and it's not an award as such, but I am super-excited about it.

If you are as big a nerd as I am, and/or you love attention as much as I do (and really, why else would you be a blogger?), you will enjoy this reward.

So go already!

You have less than Jack Bauer time (ie 24 hours)!

Over To You: Mad Blogs IV

This one rules, I can feel it.

If you don't already know, Mad Blogs™ is the blog version of Mad Libs:

1. I give you a list of blanks to fill
2. You respond with your filler words in the comments
3. I pick my favorite answers after an arbitrarily assigned a predetermined length of time. I guess like four days from time of posting oughta do it. I think I might also just pick the best filler word for each blank, but please post a complete list
   
4. I post the completed Mad Blog™ and a Sweet Blogger award for the winner/s - method of determining winner is at this stage to be determined. It might be whoever posts the most kick-ass set or individual word, or whoever gets the most words used.
   

Here is the list of blanks:
city
past tense verb
adjective
ethnicity
famous actor - male or female
adjective
a different famous actor - male or female
number
length of time
mode of transport
emotional state
noun
adjective
adjective
noun

Over To You: Opinions Please!

You guys, has Mad Blogs jumped the shark?

Is there any way I can improve on the game? Any way that I can make it more fun for everyone playing?

I only have one more ready to go. I feel like participation dropped off pretty sharply after the first one, but I really like doing them so I want to make sure that they're as fun as possible for you guys to make you want to keep doing them!

Suggestions/"you're crazy, Mad Blogs is the funnest game ever!" in the comments please!