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__NOTOC__
<center><big><big><big><big>Wednesday August 10th, 2011<br /><br />
<font color="red">
'''Food, history of food, we are all food experts'''<br />
</font color></big></big></big></big>
 
'''Please enter your suggestions for the August topic [[CZ:Monthly_Write-a-Thon#New_Suggestions_and_Discussion|here]].'''</center>
----
The next '''Write-a-Thon''' will take place on Wednesday Aug 10, 2011!
 
We know that not everybody has Wednesday at the same time though, so to make it fair '''our''' Wednesday lasts 48 hours! Therefore, '''Write-a-Thon''' starts on
[http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?month=7&day=5&year=2011&hour=12&min=0&sec=0&p1=0 Aug 10th, 1200 UTC], when it starts being Wednesday in New Zealand, and ends on
[http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?month=7&day=7&year=2011&hour=12&min=0&sec=0&p1=0 Aug 11th, 1200 UTC], when it finishes being Wednesday in Hawaii.


{{TOC-right}}
== What's a Write-a-Thon? ==
== What's a Write-a-Thon? ==
It's a bunch of people getting together on a wiki at a particular time to do a bunch of writing.  It's like an online party!  Heck no, it ''is'' an online party!  It's also an excuse for infrequent wikiers to show up and party hardy; to exchange ideas with people we might not "meet" otherwise.
It's a bunch of people getting together on a wiki at a particular time to do a bunch of writing.  It's like an online party!  Heck no, it ''is'' an online party!  It's also an excuse for infrequent wikiers to show up and party hearty; to exchange ideas with people we might not "meet" otherwise.


But hey, why not show up in between the write-ins, too!
But hey, why not show up in between the write-ins, too!


== When? ==
=== When? ===
Write-a-Thons happen the first Wednesday of every month. The next Write-a-Thon is '''Wednesday, February 4, 2009'''.  Starts on February 3rd, 1200 UTC, when it starts being Wednesday in New Zealand, and ends on February 5th, 1200 UTC, when it finishes being Wednesday in Hawaii. Save The Date!  Put it on your calendar!  Set yourself a reminder!
Write-a-Thons happen the first Wednesday of every month. It starts on Tuesday 1200 UTC, when it starts being Wednesday in New Zealand, and ends on Thursday 1200 UTC, when it finishes being Wednesday in Hawaii. Save the next month's date!  Put it on your calendar!  Set yourself a reminder!


Any new article you create, and any edit you make to somebody else's Write-a-Thon article during that time period will count, though to be a ''bona fide'' partier, you have to write your new articles when it's that day in your part of the world.
Any new article you create, and any edit you make to somebody else's Write-a-Thon article during that time period will count!


Our [[CZ:Monthly_Write-a-Thon/August_1%2C_2007|first Write-a-Thon]] took place Wednesday, August 1, 2007 and was considered a roaring good time--we had about 30 partiers creating something like 50 articles, and editing lots.
Our [[CZ:Monthly_Write-a-Thon/August_1%2C_2007|first Write-a-Thon]] took place Wednesday, August 1, 2007 and was considered a roaring good time--we had about 30 partiers creating something like 50 articles, and editing lots.


===Extree, extree!  Read all about it!!===
=== So how do I join in? ===
By popular request, we'll be trialling Write-a-Thon II, a Sunday session of the Write-a-Thon to accommodate those who work all week and have trouble making it in to the party room on Wednesdays. 
Joining in is really easy:
 
* First of all, show up on the first Wednesday of the month!
''Soooo''--if you worked Wednesday, if you had a bad day Wednesday and didn't get to come to the party or didn't get to do as much as you would have liked, or if you would just like another opportunity to join in the fun, come on along.  Starts on February 7th, 1200 UTC, when it starts being Sunday in New Zealand, and ends on February 9th, 1200 UTC, when it finishes being Sunday in Hawaii.
* Start a new article. Any new article is fine, although a suggested theme is given each month. Even just a stub will qualify, although the more substantive the article the better. Come back to this page and let everyone know you've started it! The earlier in the day you do this step, the better.
 
* Make a substantive edit (not just a copyedit) to somebody else's ''new'' article! You might need to come back a little bit later in the day to do this, once people have had chance to make all those new articles. Then come back to this page and reply to the person who made the article.
'''Any excuse for a party!'''
* Optionally, but preferably, mention Write-a-thon in the Edit summary of any pages you create or edit for the party! It lets others who may have forgotten know it is here.
 
* Congratulations, you are an official Write-a-thon partier!
:The above announcement was exactly 666 characters long. Coincidence? YOU decide. BWAHAHA! [[User:Howard C. Berkowitz|Howard C. Berkowitz]] 22:51, 5 February 2009 (UTC)
:nyah, hyah, ha, ha ha--'pon my word, you actually ''counted''??  Obviously, Howard, you do not have enough to do.  This can be easily remedied.... [[User:Aleta Curry|Aleta Curry]] 00:40, 6 February 2009 (UTC)
::Ah, but the watchlist counts. 'pon my word, however, brings up one of my favorite dialogues in Parliamentary history:
::'''Lord of Sandwich''': "'pon my word, Wilkes, I don't know if you will die of a loathsome disease or on the gallows!'''
::'''John Wilkes''': "That depends, My Lord, if I embrace your mistresses or your principles."
::[[User:Howard C. Berkowitz|Howard C. Berkowitz]] 00:46, 6 February 2009 (UTC)
:::hahahahahahaha [[User:Aleta Curry|Aleta Curry]] 00:52, 6 February 2009 (UTC)
::::Oh, cummon, Howard, that has also been attributed to various 'Merkin Senators and/or Congersmen.... [[User:Hayford Peirce|Hayford Peirce]] 02:15, 6 February 2009 (UTC)
:::::Then there was the time when bitter enemies John Randolph and Henry Clay were walking towards each other on a narrow sidewalk in Washington next to a filthy gutter, blocking each other's way. Clay demanded that Randolph give way. Randolph replied "I never give way to scoundrels!" Clay stepped deliberately into the gutter and said, "I ''always'' do."
:::::And I can't remember who supposedly said this -- I vaguely recall Thomas Hart Benton? (the politician, not the painter) -- when another senator asked if he was trying to start a fight: "I do not start fights, sir; I finish them, sir. And when I finish them, sir, a funeral follows."
:::::Aussie politicians are so much more eloquent than ours, though. In a debate in the Northern Terrirories legislature some years ago, an MP called the opposing party "a gaggle of hoons." Someone objected, but the Speaker officially ruled that the language was permissible: the member was just having "what most Australians would consider a fair go" at his opponents. (There is, or at least used to be, a newsletter for parliamentary clerks worldwide called ''The Table'', which would publish an annual list of such altercations from around the world, along with the decision as to whether the language used was ruled "unparliamentary" or not.)
:::::Um, what were we talking about? [[User:Bruce M.Tindall|Bruce M.Tindall]] 18:57, 6 February 2009 (UTC)
::::::Ummm...[[great political humor]]?[[User:Howard C. Berkowitz|Howard C. Berkowitz]] 19:01, 6 February 2009 (UTC)
:::::::Then there's [[Sarah Palin|great unintentional political humor]]. [[User:Bruce M.Tindall|Bruce M.Tindall]] 19:03, 6 February 2009 (UTC)
::::::::What's a "hoon"? Strine fer "hound"? [[User:Hayford Peirce|Hayford Peirce]] 19:05, 6 February 2009 (UTC)
:::::::::"Ruffian." [[User:Bruce M.Tindall|Bruce M.Tindall]] 19:40, 6 February 2009 (UTC)
::Of course, there are the Lady Astor-Winston Churchill exchanges.
:::'''Churchill:''' 'Having a woman in Parliament is like having one intrude on me in the bathroom'
::'''Astor''': 'You’re not handsome enough to have such fears.'
 
::'''Astor:''' Sir, if you were my husband, I'd put poison in your tea.'
::'''Churchill:''' Madam, if you were my wife, I'd drink it!'
::[[User:Aleta Curry|Aleta Curry]] 23:02, 6 February 2009 (UTC)
:::Maybe political humor as a W-A-T topic?  Have to watch Churchill, bathroom, and family-friendliness; I can think of one with Attlee and Churchill and the bathroom at the Commons...and one at his home that ''definitely'' doesn't make it
 
:::Famous last words, too, perhaps. Ned Kelly comes to mind, apropos Oz. Mind you, there is a tale of an American applying for an Australian visa, and, in the tiny space available around "Have you ever been convicted of a crime", writing "Is it still necessary?"
 
:::If I was to write about Blamey, I might break down and write the [[Douglas MacArthur]] article I've been dreading. Eventually, I did manage [[Robert McNamara]]. [[User:Howard C. Berkowitz|Howard C. Berkowitz]] 23:38, 6 February 2009 (UTC)
 
::::Is "the one at his home" the one about "being able to take only one at a time"? If so, do you know of any source for that other than Manchester's book? Manchester -- whose work I admire except for this quirk -- had the despicable habit of using exactly one footnote per paragraph, at the end of the paragraph, no matter how many different sources the paragraph used. In ''that'' paragraph, the footnote clearly documented something else, but there was no citation that backed up the "only one at a time" ''bon mot''.
 
::::Oh, and does the Attlee-and-Churchill one have to do with a synonym for members of the House of Lords? If so, then I now know where the chairman of the history department at my father's university stole it from: "Good morning, Mr. High Exalted Chairman!" "No need to be so formal, George, we're all...." [[User:Bruce M.Tindall|Bruce M.Tindall]] 02:13, 7 February 2009 (UTC)


:::::One at a time, indeed; I don't have a citation, but I think I saw it in other than ''The Last Lion.'' The Attlee-and-Churchill dealt with WSC's avoidance of Attlee with the comment "No. It is whenever you see something large, you wish to nationalize it."[[User:Howard C. Berkowitz|Howard C. Berkowitz]] 02:18, 7 February 2009 (UTC)
==Join the fun!==
When you've created your new article (or improved an existing article, for that matter) on Wednesday 6th July, come and list it here! Don't forget to sign your name so everyone knows you've joined in. Then, when you've edited someone else's article come and let them know!
===<big><big><big>List your new articles here!</big></big></big>===
*[[History of pie]] - [[User:Mary Ash|Mary Ash]]
*[[Doenjang jjigae]] - [[User:Chunbum Park|Chunbum Park]]
:::The Greatest Contribution of All Time. (Why is everyone so apologetic?)
*[[Natural_Gourmet_Institute]] - [[User:Pat Palmer|Pat Palmer]]
** Sorry to miss the date--Wednesdays are too busy for me.  I've create an article one day later. It is just a stub; it would have been more, but instead, I drained all my energy battling the article creation template.[[User:Pat Palmer|Pat Palmer]] 14:18, 11 August 2011 (UTC)
*[[Haggis]] - also late, sorry [[User:Gareth Leng|Gareth Leng]] 16:21, 11 August 2011 (UTC)
*[[Mozartkugel]] -- Rather small (and late) contribution. --[[User:Peter Schmitt|Peter Schmitt]] 18:27, 12 August 2011 (UTC)


:Didn't see this! Will be around Sunday - Macauly and Gibbon will get their article! [[User:Denis Cavanagh|Denis Cavanagh]] 22:23, 6 February 2009 (UTC)
==Upcoming!==
 
*August 2011 - (theme still to be chosen--anyone?)
== What are the rules? ==
**Please enter your suggestions for the August topic [[CZ:Monthly_Write-a-Thon#New_Suggestions_and_Discussion|here]].
Rules?  This is a party! There are no rules!
 
Well, OK, maybe there are a couple rules:
* We'll have a Write-a-Thon the first Wednesday of every month.
* To participate, you only have to do two things: (1) start a ''new'' article (even just a stub will qualify, if not ''too'' short - and please remember to include the [[CZ:Subpages|subpages template]]!), and (2) make a substantive edit (not just a copyedit) to somebody else's ''new'' article.  Then you can list your name here as a partier.  Until then, sign in as a porch-sitter, party-crasher, or total party poop.
 
==This month's Party Theme==
 
<center><font color="Blue"><big><big><big><big>'''Thoughts and Books'''</big></big></big></big></font></center>
 
<blockquote>Authors, famous books, revolutionary ideas and theories, and all the meta stuff that can be layered on top of it. '''Tom'''</blockquote>
 
== The Partiers ==
 
* [[user:Aleta_Curry|Aleta]] is here without a [[thought]].  She thinks she'd better wake up in a hurry, and go knocking on some doors.  [[User:Aleta Curry|Aleta Curry]] 22:51, 3 February 2009 (UTC)  Well, Aleta was here earlier, and Joe's precipitous entry got her thinking about other [[stereotype]]s, which led to [[prejudice]], a concept she found hard to express.  Life interfered, but she came back to add her [[thought|thoughts]], so she could be a ''bona fide'' partier before the end!
:*[[User:Anthony.Sebastian|Anthony.Sebastian]] edits [[thought]] by adding to related articles subpage. --[[User:Anthony.Sebastian|Anthony.Sebastian]] 03:04, 5 February 2009 (UTC)
* [[User:John_Stephenson|John]] wrote about a tome known to linguistic insiders as [[The Sound Pattern of English|SPE]], then added a little to Derek's [[Foundation Series]] stub. [[User:John Stephenson|John Stephenson]] 04:06, 4 February 2009 (UTC)
:*[[User:Anthony.Sebastian|Anthony.Sebastian]] edits [[The Sound Pattern of English|SPE]] by adding annotated citation to book.
* [[User:Supten Sarbadhikari|Supten]] ''thought'' of starting something, did start [[thought|it]] and ''thought'' whether there could be any partier helping with making the article on [[Clinical decision support system]] ''approvable''! Then he faintly remembered that a man called [[Leo Tolstoy]] had said ''"I need only three things in life - books, books and books!"'' and it might suit the theme of the W-a-t to populate that page. Finally, he added a few external links to  [[Almagest]] for earning the partier status. Next day he came back to have a look at [[indigenous knowledge]] and added a related article link to [[Ethnobotany]] after defining the latter without starting a page.
* [[User:Howard C. Berkowitz|Howard]] says thinks he wants to prevent Southern sheriffs saying "[http://new.wavlist.com/movies/201/chl-lastwords.wav what we got, boy, is a failure to com-MUN-i-cate]", so he's been bringing in all sorts of [[AN-]] military radios (and other electronic magic). He also touched on the <s>Encyclopedia Galactica</s>...he means...<s>Citizendium</s> Foundation novels. Oh...he'd be extremely interested in [[clinical decision support system]].  He also did complete metadata on [[Robin Warren]] and [[Barry Marshall]], but thinks it's only fair someone see if they can be converted to Australian English before someone gets an [[ulcer]].
* [[User:Paul Wormer|Paul]] is serious (no jokes for this guy) and wrote seriously about history's most serious book on the serious science of  astronomy, the [[Almagest]] (did I forget to mention that [[Ptolemy]]'s work is to be taken seriously?).
* [[User:Louise Valmoria|Louise]] is popping in briefly, whilst in the middle of cracking a fascinating case at work, to discuss [[August Strindberg]], whose ''Inferno / From an Occult Diary'' she has been completely absorbed in for the last two days. More later after the commute home. [[User:Louise Valmoria|Louise Valmoria]] 06:06, 4 February 2009 (UTC) After returning home, confesses that she spent several hours engrossed in a reread of Patrick Suskind's ''Perfume'' and really should be contributing more about ideas and intellectual history ... but has just wandered into the party chatting up [[Leo Tolstoy]]. Where to now? [[Erich Fromm]]'s [[humanism|humanistic]] works ''Man For Himself'' and ''The Fear of Freedom'' were just on my reading list, but Edward O. Wilson's theory of Consilience might hold more interest ... and I haven't redlinked those yet because sleep calls and I'll come back to the party tomorrow. [[User:Louise Valmoria|Louise Valmoria]] 12:01, 4 February 2009 (UTC)
*[[User:Joe Quick|Joe]] finally put his typing fingers to work on the ''thoughts'' that he has about the article he's been complaining about.  What could be more thoughtful than [[indigenous knowledge]]?
* [[User:Pat_Palmer]] has brought her article [[Beyond_Recall]] over from Wikipedia and hacked on it here, since it fits this months theme.  It could use more work (which will have to wait until tonight as I am currently at work), and in particular, a mother article about [[Theodor Fontane]] needs to be started.  Unfortunately, many of Fontane's novels have not been translated into English, or if they have, are out of print, although his works remain widely known and popular to German readers.  And they were extremely risque at the time of their original publication (1890's), dealing with divorce, depression and marital infidelity as they do.[[User:Pat Palmer|Pat Palmer]] 18:48, 4 February 2009 (UTC)
*Knowing that this month's topic was [[Thought]], [[User:Hayford Peirce|Hayford's]] thoughts immediately turned to [[Food for thought]] and from there, naturally, to [[Food]], and from there, of course, to the man who was/is considered to be history's greatest eater, [[Diamond Jim Brady]].  But is it actually true or not?  Read the article in a day or so to find out! (There was more material to digest than I thought, not trying to make Diamond Jim puns, and it will take me a while to finish the article.) I also did some extensive editing on the [[Foundation Series]] article, thus making me a full-fledged Partier, yay! [[User:Hayford Peirce|Hayford Peirce]] 05:21, 5 February 2009 (UTC)
* [[User:Larry Sanger|Larry Sanger]] finally joined the party and greatly expanded [[lampoons of philosophers]], actually a pretty interesting topic.  Then wrote [[truth-seeking]], one of my favorite topics since being a confused, truth-seeking teenager.  Finally, I gave some more thought to [[thought]].
* It took some time. I was in three rather long lectures yesterday, got home and had precisely zero energy left to write anything incisive. But, I present [[Definite descriptions]]. I've also edited a few other things and done some Related Articles subpages. Not sure about [[absinthe]], but I'll down some of this slightly vile highly caffeinated orange-flavoured energy drink that I'm currently addicted to. --[[User:Tom Morris|Tom Morris]] 14:52, 5 February 2009 (UTC)
*Daniel started [[Ecological footprint]] and made some edits to the [[Leo Tolstoy]] cluster. --[[User:Daniel Mietchen|Daniel Mietchen]] 03:27, 8 February 2009
 
==Keen-as-mustard and jumped the gun==
{{Image|Scooters.jpg|right|200px|False starts welcome here :)}}
*[[User:Joe_Quick|Joe]] jumped the gun by a couple of days with [[ecological Indian]].  This is a very sensitive idea for a lot of people, so it would be great if people could read it with an eye for neutrality and clarity.
**Go, Joe!  Engaging and thoughful.  I'll be back to do an objective criticism later, if you insist, right now I'm too busy being impressed.  [[User:Aleta Curry|Aleta Curry]] 00:58, 3 February 2009 (UTC)
*[[User:Derek_Hodges|Derek]] is settling into his new digs at [[Foundation Series|Encyclopedia Galactica]] headquarters and starting in on [[Isaac Asimov]]. As long as we're talking about people born in Russia, how about visiting [[Leo Tolstoy]] -[[User:Derek Hodges|Derek Hodges]] 02:55, 4 February 2009 (UTC)
*[[User:Milton Beychok|Milt]] got a fast start as he [[Concentration‎|concentrated]] his thoughts on the task at hand.
**Starting with Avogadro guacamole, then a main dish of turkey Mole. [[User:Howard C. Berkowitz|Howard C. Berkowitz]] 03:55, 4 February 2009 (UTC)
*Yet another false start, but it is Wednesday in Australia, [[User:Chris Day|Chris]] subpaginated [[On the Origin of Species]].
 
==Rather late and missed the boat!==
Well, I've been ''thinking'' of writing [[Mekong Delta]] for some time, and, with one enormous river with nine Dragon Mouths to the sea, it should be a good place to catch the boat. The main article is underway; it will be more than a stub but will have much more opportunity for additions. As I have time today, I should also add articles on a number of its provinces.
 
As far as edits, worked on [[The Black Spring of Cuba‎]] and related articles, trying to get them to be less of a protest document and more a neutral description. *sigh* one can report on bad things without emotionalizing the presentation. [[User:Howard C. Berkowitz|Howard C. Berkowitz]] 17:32, 8 February 2009 (UTC)
 
== Porch sitters--article creators who didn't edit a new article ==
[[What Is This Thing Called Science]] is a book and it's about thoughts, so [[User:Yuval Langer|Yuval Langer]] really did fit today's theme. [[User:Yuval Langer|Yuval Langer]] 13:15, 4 February 2009 (UTC)
:Yuval!  You're here!  Hurrah! [[User:Aleta Curry|Aleta Curry]] 10:14, 5 February 2009 (UTC)
 
== Party crashers--article contributors who didn't create a new article ==
{{Image|ThePartyCrashers1958 small.JPG|right|200px|Bobby Driscoll and [[Connie Stevens]] in ''[[The Party Crashers]]'' - 1958}}
 
==The shy ones, absent-minded profs, and other modest creatures==
[[User:Ched Davis|Ched Davis]] 11:18, 8 February 2009 (UTC) Not sure what's going on yet, but working on it - afraid I was the one that brought the site down (created a dup entry, and may need help fixing it: I created [[Virus (computers)]] when [[Virus (computer)]] already existed. (note the s in computers).  Never tell the new guy to be bold I guess ;) [[User:Ched Davis|Ched Davis]] 11:18, 8 February 2009 (UTC)
::Side note, I noticed that Larry's Bio got locked down over at WP tonight - wasn't me this time ;) [[User:Ched Davis|Ched Davis]] 11:18, 8 February 2009 (UTC)
:::Hi Ched, and welcome!  Of course you're supposed to be bold! We (okay, okay, not I, but some of the more brill ones) can always fix what goes wrong.
:::What's going on is everyone coming together for a good time all at once.  I'm the M.C.  I'm here on the first Wednesday of the month, unless something happens, as it did this past WaT Wednesday.  This month we tried having a Sunday session as well, and it looks like people showed up to write, though I don't think we had an official M.C. for the day.
:::[[User:Aleta Curry|Aleta Curry]] 22:32, 11 February 2009 (UTC)
 
== The total party poops ==
Deep apologies - today has been a total blitz for me, sorry to have missed the fun[[User:Gareth Leng|Gareth Leng]] 22:18, 4 February 2009 (UTC)
:Oh, what a shame!  I know how that goes--I couldn't be here for long today myself.
:Do you want to try Sunday?
:[[User:Aleta Curry|Aleta Curry]] 10:15, 5 February 2009 (UTC)
::D'oh! Forgot about this entirely, inundated with college work the last few weeks. The IRA still remains on my to do list and hopefully will get to work soon [[User:Denis Cavanagh|Denis Cavanagh]] 22:21, 6 February 2009 (UTC)
 
==Write-a-Thon II==
Well, if we've bothered to have one, why not have a separate section about it, so that we partiers can toot our own whistles or whatever?
 
In any event, [[User:Hayford Peirce|Hayford]] didn't create a new article but continued work on what he started at the regular party event of a couple of days ago, [[Diamond Jim Brady]].  Diamond Jim is such an outsized subject that his article is threatening to become equally outsized, although not, I hope, as a legend says about the size of Jim's stomach when either Xrayed or examined after his death (there's a lot of myth about the man) 6 times larger than normal. Maybe I'll still be working on this by the first Wednesday of March.... [[User:Hayford Peirce|Hayford Peirce]] 03:38, 9 February 2009 (UTC)
 
:Mmmm--yes, we could have a separate section.  I notice some others just continued on Sunday under the regular categories above. [[User:Aleta Curry|Aleta Curry]] 22:38, 11 February 2009 (UTC)
 
==Special Requests==
 
== Questions ==
 
* When drafting stuff to add to [[Leo Tolstoy]], I really wanted to add something about ''The Kreutzer Sonata''. Except, evidently, there are two: the [[Beethoven]] duet (which is stunning and I love playing it and I also want to write about it) and Tolstoy's short story. How would I disambiguate these? Tolstoy's Kreutzer Sonata is a short story, so I can't write 'The Kreutzer Sonata (novel)', but I need pointers into our naming system. Would I title it '... (short story)'? Or something else? And what about the musical composition? [[User:Louise Valmoria|Louise Valmoria]] 12:06, 4 February 2009 (UTC)
** Never mind, I just ''thought'' of it--I can use the composition name (Op. whatever) for the Beethoven. [[User:Louise Valmoria|Louise Valmoria]] 22:46, 4 February 2009 (UTC)
***You could still do [[Kreutzer Sonata (Tolstoy)]] or [[Kreutzer Sonata (Tolstoy story}]] or (short story) or (novella) or (novelette) if it's either of those (I find it hard to think of Tolstoy as having written anything ''short''.  And I'm really, really jealous that you play so well.  I was really, really jealous about Hayford and Milt and the famous tennis players as well (if you don't know what that means, you have to come by the forums more often.) [[User:Aleta Curry|Aleta Curry]] 10:12, 5 February 2009 (UTC)
 
*Does anyone want to try an adjunct session this Sunday?  People asked, I answered, but so far, no takers!  So...where are all of you?  [[User:Aleta Curry|Aleta Curry]] 10:17, 5 February 2009 (UTC)
 
*What clever person formatted the bullets on this list?  I noticed, I noticed! [[User:Aleta Curry|Aleta Curry]] 10:17, 5 February 2009 (UTC)
 
==It's a wrap!==
*This was great!  Number of partiers was back up (I didn't count number of articles) and we had four (I think) pop in on Sunday.  Thanks, everybody! [[User:Aleta Curry|Aleta Curry]] 23:26, 11 February 2009 (UTC)
 
**Howard served [[pickle]] as a savory snack. Various diplomats (that they happen to be dead is nothing a gentleman would say) joined, [[Robert Komer‎]] and [[Nguyen Co Thach]], as well as the [[Khmer]] and [[Dai Viet]]. Events were written to [[syslog]]. [[User:Howard C. Berkowitz|Howard C. Berkowitz]] 23:54, 11 February 2009 (UTC)


==Previous shindings==
{{CZ:Monthly Write-a-Thon/Previous shindigs}}
{{CZ:Monthly Write-a-Thon/Previous shindigs}}
== Official libations==
===2007===
* Inaugural - [[beer]]!
* September - [[champagne]]
* October - we were refurbishing the [[bar]] and only had [[coffee]]!
* November - made up for last month with more [[vodka]] than was good for us and plenty of [[rum]].
* December - [[eggnog]] and [[wine]]
===2008===
* January - [[Whisky]] and the ''Cocktail of the Month'', a [[pharisee (beverage)|pharisee]]
* February - [[schnapps]] and the ''Cocktail of the Month'', the [[caipirinha]] (considered the national drink of [[Brazil]])
* March - [[port wine]] (which should probably live at [[port (wine)]], no?  (Someone put that on their list, please....Oh, *someone* did--thanks, Ro) and the ''Cocktail of the Month'', a [[Dead Aunt]]
* April - [[Akpeteshie]] hot and fresh from Ghana.  And cool [[shandy|shandies]] and [[spritzer]]s if that took your fancy.  Lotsa staggering around the bar after this party!
* May - Was it [[champagne]]? ''No, we were dry, I think.''
* June - Were we abstaining yet again?
* July - [[Sherry]]
* August - [[pineapple]] [[juice]]  Well, that's all right, I guess!
* September - Given the music theme, i assume it was [[pop music|pop]]?
* October - [[Cranberry]] juice.  ''Some nut who shall remain nameless but whose initials are HP suggested [[Drano]], (i.e. what cleans better than Drano?) but....''
* November - [[Spring water]] (''Now Bruce just has to write it!'' [[User:Aleta Curry|Aleta Curry]] 04:00, 3 December 2008 (UTC))
* December - [[Piña colada]] - get some light rum, mix it with pineapple and coconut cream. Instantly warp back to the eighties.
===2009===
* January - [[Bloody Mary]] - because, as Nietzsche said, we should only love that which is written with blood. Controversial enough?
* February - [[Absinthe]] - updates last month, but doesn't it make one forget? (No. Urban legend, except that 50-percent-plus alcohol does do its mite)
==Bonus point winners==
*Just nine new articles to get to 9,400 CZ:Live articles. I guess that will be worth a few bonus points, especially if they are completed clusters too! [[User:Chris Day|Chris Day]] 05:43, 4 February 2009 (UTC)
**Update: Three more articles to go and we break 9,600. [[User:Chris Day|Chris Day]] 16:46, 8 February 2009 (UTC)
***Ended on 9601, thanks to Howard updating all those uncategorized articles. Now we need to work on the word count per article. [[User:Chris Day|Chris Day]] 14:33, 9 February 2009 (UTC)
****Waits for Aleta's screams to hear "Howard" and "word count per article" used in the same sentence. :-) [[User:Howard C. Berkowitz|Howard C. Berkowitz]] 17:23, 9 February 2009 (UTC)
*****Not a peep out of moi! [[User:Aleta Curry|Aleta Curry]] 22:42, 11 February 2009 (UTC)
*Chris gets 500 bonus points for pointing this out.
*Howard gets 2001 bonus points for pushing us over the edge...so to speak....[[User:Aleta Curry|Aleta Curry]] 22:45, 11 February 2009 (UTC)


== Write-a-Thon Theme Suggestions==
== Write-a-Thon Theme Suggestions==
===New Suggestions and Discussion===
===New Suggestions and Discussion===
 
* History of food/foods.  [[User:Anthony.Sebastian|Anthony.Sebastian]] 22:59, 7 July 2011 (UTC)
* How about another Spring cleaning in March 2009? [[User:Daniel Mietchen|Daniel Mietchen]] 08:20, 6 October 2008 (CDT)
* What about red links in [[Special:Random|Random pages]]? --[[User:Daniel Mietchen|Daniel Mietchen]] 10:15, 4 December 2008 (UTC)
::Not a bad idea at all, unless I get swamped with new, untried requests in the mean time. [[User:Aleta Curry|Aleta Curry]] 18:47, 6 October 2008 (CDT)
:::Possibly the theme could be subpages. Some of them need a lot of housekeeping. Or getting some decent images for the articles we do have. [[User:Chris Day|Chris Day]] 19:17, 6 October 2008 (CDT)
 
*What about red links in [[Special:Random|Random pages]]? --[[User:Daniel Mietchen|Daniel Mietchen]] 10:15, 4 December 2008 (UTC)
 
*I suggest "Numbers".  [[User:Richard Pinch|Richard Pinch]] 07:21, 15 December 2008 (UTC)
*I suggest "Numbers".  [[User:Richard Pinch|Richard Pinch]] 07:21, 15 December 2008 (UTC)
* "Hometown Heroes" - write about someone famous from your part of the world (either where you're from, or where you are now).
* "Hometown Heroes" - write about someone famous from your part of the world (either where you're from, or where you are now).
* "Poles Apart" - find the spot directly on the other side of Earth from you, and write about someone or something in the vicinity. (Contributors on other planets, follow a similar procedure for whatever planet you're on. Contributors not on planetary bodies permitted to write about whatever they feel like.)
* "Poles Apart" - find the spot directly on the other side of Earth from you, and write about someone or something in the vicinity. (Contributors on other planets, follow a similar procedure for whatever planet you're on. Contributors not on planetary bodies permitted to write about whatever they feel like.)
Line 198: Line 61:
* All articles must start with the same letter of the alphabet, allowing for diacritics and transliteration (so Å, Á, and あ would all count if A were the letter, for instance).
* All articles must start with the same letter of the alphabet, allowing for diacritics and transliteration (so Å, Á, and あ would all count if A were the letter, for instance).
* Photo stubs - no minimum word length, no theme requirement, but must contain an image.
* Photo stubs - no minimum word length, no theme requirement, but must contain an image.
* Choose a random number from 1 to 500, then go to [[Special:WantedPages]] and start an article on the topic currently at that rank.
* Choose a random number from 1 to 500, then go to [[Special:WantedPages]] and start an article on the topic currently at that rank.[[User:Petréa Mitchell|Petréa Mitchell]] 19:15, 1 January 2009 (UTC)
* How about an alternate weekend date, say the Sunday after the official Write-a-Thon, for those of us who spend our Wednesdays working at places that frown on extensive personal use of company computers?  --[[User:Petréa Mitchell|Petréa Mitchell]] 19:15, 1 January 2009 (UTC)
:There's a current forum thread on this-the proposal was to move the WaT to the weekend.  Your suggestion might pose a good compromise. [[User:Aleta Curry|Aleta Curry]] 21:33, 1 January 2009 (UTC)
 
::I would be a lot more able to participate on weekends.  My weekday workdays are 11+ hours.[[User:Pat Palmer|Pat Palmer]] 02:51, 29 January 2009 (UTC)
 
*What will people most enjoy writing that could lead many different contributors to a short, but complete and interesting article that links to larger articles? Maybe "Events" could be a theme - pen-portraits of memorable sporting moments (see [[try]], or notable historical events - including tsunamis, eruption of Krakatoa, comet collision with Jupiter, the birth of Dolly the sheep, freeing of Nelson Mandela, the sinking of the Titanic, assassination of Martin Luther King, the Mutiny on the Bounty, the discovery of the Americas? Can I suggest asking that every new article should have at least one external link and links to other articles here?[[User:Gareth Leng|Gareth Leng]] 12:31, 14 January 2009 (UTC)
*What will people most enjoy writing that could lead many different contributors to a short, but complete and interesting article that links to larger articles? Maybe "Events" could be a theme - pen-portraits of memorable sporting moments (see [[try]], or notable historical events - including tsunamis, eruption of Krakatoa, comet collision with Jupiter, the birth of Dolly the sheep, freeing of Nelson Mandela, the sinking of the Titanic, assassination of Martin Luther King, the Mutiny on the Bounty, the discovery of the Americas? Can I suggest asking that every new article should have at least one external link and links to other articles here?[[User:Gareth Leng|Gareth Leng]] 12:31, 14 January 2009 (UTC)
::*I like this idea.  Further, definitions and other subpages are preferable, even for stubs. [[User:Chris Day|Chris Day]] 17:01, 14 January 2009 (UTC)
::*I like this idea.  Further, definitions and other subpages are preferable, even for stubs. [[User:Chris Day|Chris Day]] 17:01, 14 January 2009 (UTC)
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:::*Link to at least three other articles, even if they are redlinks in a Related Articles subpages
:::*Link to at least three other articles, even if they are redlinks in a Related Articles subpages
:::*Have at least three other articles link to them
:::*Have at least three other articles link to them
* I propose "childish things" as a topic. --[[User:Larry Sanger|Larry Sanger]] 15:51, 6 May 2009 (UTC)
::Er...you talkin' 'bout me again???  You can always tell who's got a toddler at home, huh, Larry?  [[User:Aleta Curry|Aleta Curry]] 02:57, 7 May 2009 (UTC)
*For this revival, to open it to lots of partiers, suggest theme: '<font color="darkred">Topic of Your Mind's Desire</font>', or, '<font color="darkred">Whatever</font>', or something in that vein, with the proviso that article be consistent with CZ standards. [[User:Anthony.Sebastian|Anthony.Sebastian]] 02:28, 30 June 2011 (UTC)


*Well, next Wednesday is rapidly approaching. Anyone got any firm opinions on what the theme ought to be? My suggestion is "Thoughts and Books", which is broad enough for us to cover a wide variety of different things: authors, famous books, revolutionary ideas and theories, and all the meta stuff that can be layered on top of it. I'm also going to suggest that whatever the theme is, if we could try and decide it before the weekend, then we could set up a page off of the Write-a-Thon page to list pages we'd like to see existing that are covered by the theme. --[[User:Tom Morris|Tom Morris]] 15:26, 29 January 2009 (UTC)
:: Kinds of [[Phobia]]s, or [[mammal]]s, or [[insects]]s or [[arachnid]]s or [[butterfly]]s or [[flower]]s or [[medication]]s or [[symmetry group]]s or [[legends in sports]]. But wait, there are many [[tree]]s and [[automobile]]s and [[computer program]]s, and [[ice cream]] flavors. Sooo many choices, so little time. [[User:David E. Volk|David E. Volk]] 23:48, 11 July 2011 (UTC)
 
Thoughts and books is a great idea, would fit in nicely with what I'm working with at the moment. How about a biography day for the month after? They wouldn't have to be particularly long but we could fill a lot of red links with a few well written and brief bios of important folks... [[User:Denis Cavanagh|Denis Cavanagh]] 17:07, 29 January 2009 (UTC)
 
:That actually fits really well with something I'm working on right now too.  I'm all for it! --[[User:Joe Quick|Joe Quick]] 19:42, 29 January 2009 (UTC)
 
::While it's current work of mine, is there a good place to discuss some issues of writing biography articles in general? Choices in flow?  And, as is fairly nightmarish with [[Ho Chi Minh]], when the subject changed names or had simultaneous aliases? [[User:Howard C. Berkowitz|Howard C. Berkowitz]] 21:11, 29 January 2009 (UTC)
===Future Theme Schedule===
*February - '''Thoughts and Books'''
*March -
*April -
*May -


== See also ==
== See also ==
Line 228: Line 78:
* [[CZ:Weekly Wiki|Weekly Wiki]]
* [[CZ:Weekly Wiki|Weekly Wiki]]
* [[CZ:Article of the Week|Article of the Week]]
* [[CZ:Article of the Week|Article of the Week]]
* [[CZ:New Article of the Week|New Article of the Week]]
* [[Archive:New Draft of the Week|New Article of the Week]]


{{initiatives}}
{{initiatives}}

Revision as of 05:02, 8 March 2024

Wednesday August 10th, 2011

Food, history of food, we are all food experts

Please enter your suggestions for the August topic here.

The next Write-a-Thon will take place on Wednesday Aug 10, 2011!

We know that not everybody has Wednesday at the same time though, so to make it fair our Wednesday lasts 48 hours! Therefore, Write-a-Thon starts on Aug 10th, 1200 UTC, when it starts being Wednesday in New Zealand, and ends on Aug 11th, 1200 UTC, when it finishes being Wednesday in Hawaii.

What's a Write-a-Thon?

It's a bunch of people getting together on a wiki at a particular time to do a bunch of writing. It's like an online party! Heck no, it is an online party! It's also an excuse for infrequent wikiers to show up and party hearty; to exchange ideas with people we might not "meet" otherwise.

But hey, why not show up in between the write-ins, too!

When?

Write-a-Thons happen the first Wednesday of every month. It starts on Tuesday 1200 UTC, when it starts being Wednesday in New Zealand, and ends on Thursday 1200 UTC, when it finishes being Wednesday in Hawaii. Save the next month's date! Put it on your calendar! Set yourself a reminder!

Any new article you create, and any edit you make to somebody else's Write-a-Thon article during that time period will count!

Our first Write-a-Thon took place Wednesday, August 1, 2007 and was considered a roaring good time--we had about 30 partiers creating something like 50 articles, and editing lots.

So how do I join in?

Joining in is really easy:

  • First of all, show up on the first Wednesday of the month!
  • Start a new article. Any new article is fine, although a suggested theme is given each month. Even just a stub will qualify, although the more substantive the article the better. Come back to this page and let everyone know you've started it! The earlier in the day you do this step, the better.
  • Make a substantive edit (not just a copyedit) to somebody else's new article! You might need to come back a little bit later in the day to do this, once people have had chance to make all those new articles. Then come back to this page and reply to the person who made the article.
  • Optionally, but preferably, mention Write-a-thon in the Edit summary of any pages you create or edit for the party! It lets others who may have forgotten know it is here.
  • Congratulations, you are an official Write-a-thon partier!

Join the fun!

When you've created your new article (or improved an existing article, for that matter) on Wednesday 6th July, come and list it here! Don't forget to sign your name so everyone knows you've joined in. Then, when you've edited someone else's article come and let them know!

List your new articles here!

The Greatest Contribution of All Time. (Why is everyone so apologetic?)
  • Natural_Gourmet_Institute - Pat Palmer
    • Sorry to miss the date--Wednesdays are too busy for me. I've create an article one day later. It is just a stub; it would have been more, but instead, I drained all my energy battling the article creation template.Pat Palmer 14:18, 11 August 2011 (UTC)
  • Haggis - also late, sorry Gareth Leng 16:21, 11 August 2011 (UTC)
  • Mozartkugel -- Rather small (and late) contribution. --Peter Schmitt 18:27, 12 August 2011 (UTC)

Upcoming!

  • August 2011 - (theme still to be chosen--anyone?)
    • Please enter your suggestions for the August topic here.

Previous shindings

empty form

Write-a-Thon Theme Suggestions

New Suggestions and Discussion

  • History of food/foods. Anthony.Sebastian 22:59, 7 July 2011 (UTC)
  • What about red links in Random pages? --Daniel Mietchen 10:15, 4 December 2008 (UTC)
  • I suggest "Numbers". Richard Pinch 07:21, 15 December 2008 (UTC)
  • "Hometown Heroes" - write about someone famous from your part of the world (either where you're from, or where you are now).
  • "Poles Apart" - find the spot directly on the other side of Earth from you, and write about someone or something in the vicinity. (Contributors on other planets, follow a similar procedure for whatever planet you're on. Contributors not on planetary bodies permitted to write about whatever they feel like.)
  • Fill in an item from this interesting list of natural objects. Or this interesting list of people.
  • All articles must start with the same letter of the alphabet, allowing for diacritics and transliteration (so Å, Á, and あ would all count if A were the letter, for instance).
  • Photo stubs - no minimum word length, no theme requirement, but must contain an image.
  • Choose a random number from 1 to 500, then go to Special:WantedPages and start an article on the topic currently at that rank.Petréa Mitchell 19:15, 1 January 2009 (UTC)
  • What will people most enjoy writing that could lead many different contributors to a short, but complete and interesting article that links to larger articles? Maybe "Events" could be a theme - pen-portraits of memorable sporting moments (see try, or notable historical events - including tsunamis, eruption of Krakatoa, comet collision with Jupiter, the birth of Dolly the sheep, freeing of Nelson Mandela, the sinking of the Titanic, assassination of Martin Luther King, the Mutiny on the Bounty, the discovery of the Americas? Can I suggest asking that every new article should have at least one external link and links to other articles here?Gareth Leng 12:31, 14 January 2009 (UTC)
  • I like this idea. Further, definitions and other subpages are preferable, even for stubs. Chris Day 17:01, 14 January 2009 (UTC)
Dare I suggest that even stubs can and should be non-orphans? Basic criteria: Howard C. Berkowitz 18:00, 14 January 2009 (UTC)
  • Reachable from the front page or a core article/workgroup page
  • Link to at least three other articles, even if they are redlinks in a Related Articles subpages
  • Have at least three other articles link to them
  • I propose "childish things" as a topic. --Larry Sanger 15:51, 6 May 2009 (UTC)
Er...you talkin' 'bout me again??? You can always tell who's got a toddler at home, huh, Larry? Aleta Curry 02:57, 7 May 2009 (UTC)
  • For this revival, to open it to lots of partiers, suggest theme: 'Topic of Your Mind's Desire', or, 'Whatever', or something in that vein, with the proviso that article be consistent with CZ standards. Anthony.Sebastian 02:28, 30 June 2011 (UTC)
Kinds of Phobias, or mammals, or insectss or arachnids or butterflys or flowers or medications or symmetry groups or legends in sports. But wait, there are many trees and automobiles and computer programs, and ice cream flavors. Sooo many choices, so little time. David E. Volk 23:48, 11 July 2011 (UTC)

See also


Citizendium Initiatives
Eduzendium | Featured Article | Recruitment | Subpages | Core Articles | Uncategorized pages |
Requested Articles | Feedback Requests | Wanted Articles

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