LJ Idol Presents:

It's our last day together.

LJ Idol: Friends and Rivals is coming to a close, with the poll ending tonight: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/941351.html so make sure to get your votes in to choose your next LJ Idol!

***

Usually, at the end of a season I pass the hat. But (1) I did that a few weeks ago and (2) I'm going to share this link instead:

http://www.oneorlando.org/

"The purpose of the Fund is to provide a way to help respond to the needs of our community, now and in the time to come, after the effects of the Pulse tragedy."

***

Throughout the mini-season, and well, over the past few years - there has been a lot of talk about the differences between "Old Idol" and "New Idol", which is really just a new version of the "fiction" vs "non-fiction" debate. :)

On the way into work this morning, as I was drifting in and out of sleep, I was thinking about what I wanted to say in the last Green Room of the mini-season. I was thinking about conversations I had when non-fiction was the "norm". That by talking about it in a piece that was being voted on, that people were "exploiting" their own sexual abuse. That people were lying about being blind/deaf/etc or having multiple personalities.

That people were lying about their past - who they were, what they had done.

There was a lot of that talk behind the scenes.

A contestant was writing first person accounts of her life as a dragon. For some reason no one minded that. :)

Which was the example I always used - that if you tell me "I'm a dragon" I will say "OK, you're a dragon". Because what is it costing me to believe that? Absolutely nothing.

What reminded me of this has been all the talk about gender lately. Some of it in regard to Orlando (well that's been "sexual identity" which is different. But let's just lump it all into one thing while acknowledging that it's completely not the same thing), some from "Great Restroom Debate". Some just from reading what people are talking about, that intersected with the two.

I don't claim to be any sort of expert on how people identify. Far from it. I know some things, other things I've had looked up - and still more I don't even have a very good understanding of once I have - and of course there are constantly new variations and names for things popping up that leave me just shaking my cane and yelling at people to just stay off my lawn.

Here's the thing though - I don't *have* to understand the minutia to still get the overview of "let people live their lives". As long as no one else is being harmed and everyone involved knows what is happening and are consenting - how is anything going on with your life impacting mine?

So tell me your pronouns and I'll use them. Tell me who you love and I'll try to remember their names. (Note: I may fail in both of these, but that's just because I deal with a lot of people. But remind me and eventually I'll get it)

I'll get things wrong. Hell, I've probably gotten most of this post wrong and said something horrible! Go ahead and tell me (I prefer politely, because who wants to be yelled at? :D) and I'll make a mental note to not get it wrong next time.

Some might interpret this as "Gary cares about us", but really it's because you all look alike to me and really the only *true* label on you is "dirty hippie foreigner". Which makes you all equal when it comes to Idol. Everyone deserves the same amount of kickings, and you know you are going to get them!

The final poll is up: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/941351.html and the question has been once again asked if there is a tie, will there be 2 winners?

No. There will be a tie-breaker.

Season 2 of LJ Idol's final actually went into a "tie-breaker of a tie-breaker"! (and was eventually decided by *1 vote*)

It might make for better drama *not* to tell you that. But I have already said it in a comment, so it's "out there" already, just everyone might not have seen it. :)

***

The more I see on social media about the Orlando shootings, the more I dislike people. Not a single person has shifted a single inch - in any direction - from where they were before this. If anything, they've just gotten deeper into their trenches for the moment - and the only thing they seem to see is what they were already looking at. :O

But then again, I'm also in my own "I don't like people" trench. But that's mostly just because of you guys! ;)

It's the final week of Friends and Rivals, and the deadline for the final entries http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/940205.html. Considering the sheer strength of the Final 2, I should be celebrating. Instead, I'm having trouble sleeping.

The attack at the Pulse was very much on my mind - especially the detail of all the phones ringing with people trying to contact their loved ones. Phones ringing to calls that would never be picked up.

I don't really comment much about how I feel about social or political issues. Because honestly - the spotlight isn't on me. It's on you. I want to set the stage so you can be free to talk about them. (and who wants to hear from another cis-gender old white guy anyway? :p)

Being in Orlando that night though - just a few minutes away... had we stayed to get something to eat (like I wanted to do), we would have probably still been in the area when the shooting occurred.

I wasn't at the Pulse, to the best of my knowledge none of my friends were there that night (although some of them definitely go there). I wasn't close enough that I was in any real danger (unless he had decided to come to the club I was at , a few blocks away and a few hours earlier. But "we" weren't his target - unless he decided he also hated Gogol Bordello)

It's still profoundly disturbing though. If something like this *doesn't* rattle something inside of you, you may want to check the gears of your robot heart, because something might need oil.

It's our last few days together!

Last night featured eliminations: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/939959.html
the official announcement of the finalists: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/940342.html and their final topic: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/940205.html

*points to the buffet line* Grab something to eat, and mingle while we wait.

I couldn't have planned this if I tried. I certainly didn't have it as "this is going to happen" on my radar when I started the season.

I called it "Friends and Rivals" and we end up with people who are *actually* friends, who are "rivals" in terms of now competing head to head for the title.

One of them started on a team of "Friends". The other started as a "Rival".

One came back into the game via Second Chance and the other started a second life on LJ under a new identity!

One has never been a finalist before - and the other took second place in Season 9. (our most recent season)!

One actually was one of the people who came up with the idea for this mini season! The other... did not. ;)

One man. One woman.

Both are Well known for being really good at fiction AND non-fiction. (and pretty much anything else they decide to tackle)

There is a ton of LJ history between these two and I am a huge fan of both of them. Not only as writers, but as human beings.

Congratulations to gratefuladdict and prog_schlock for making it to the finals!

Your final topic is up at: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/940205.html

I had a bunch of things that I wanted to talk about today - and then I saw the polls.

Suddenly, that's the only important thing on my mind. ;)

Have you looked at them? Because if you have: we've got a barn burner!!!

I know: "I don't look at the polls Gary"/"Stop trying to make me look at the polls Gary"/"I'm not a slave to the F5... I'm not, I'm refuse to be... I can't... OMG..."

I literally have no idea who is going to get out of this week alive, in any of the polls. (I have some suspicions based on current momentum, but no one is really "outside the zone" of a possibility at this point). Granted, the vast majority of votes tend to happen on the final day of voting anyway.

So right here - right now, I'm given you a platform to state the case *for someone else*.

What have you read that, if they don't make it through this week, you will start overturning cars and setting your neighborhood on fire?

The main poll is right here: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/799452.html
Last Chance is here: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/798994.html

A few words from clauderainsrm:

They say “It comes in threes” and apparently “they” are right.

We lost 3 writers in Last Chance Idol before the poll officially opened http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/798994.html and we are losing 3 more from the main competition due to missing the deadline.

26 weeks into this process can be grueling and take out even the most dedicated writers. All it takes is one bad week, one misstep, and you can be falling off the edge of that cliff.

Which is what has happened to our friends agirlnamedluna, barrelofrain and waltzmatildah

They will most definitely be missed, although I hope we will continue to see them “playing the Home Game” and cheering on their favorites as this season kicks into it’s next phase.

The main competition is divided between two polls: The Redemption Tribe and the main tribe. The Redemption is made up of those who were nearly eliminated, but ended up in the tie. They were “saved” by circumstance have been given an extra spotlight to give them a better chance to “redeem” themselves when they return to the thick of things. Of course, given their smaller numbers, they are also in a greater danger of being eliminated! Nothing is without a price.

The main tribe is the rest of the competition.

We will be losing the 2 contestants with the lowest vote totals from Redemption and the 3 lowest from the main competition.

So it should be interesting!

The poll closes Thursday, Oct 30th at 10pm EDT - make sure to get out there ASAP to read, comment and vote for your favorites!

Good luck to everyone!

( Click here to Vote! )

"Hey Gary, when is the deadline for the main competition *and* Last Chance Idol?"

That's tonight at 8pm EDT!

http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/797204.html and http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/797508.html

So if you haven't gotten yours in yet, get to it!

On the other hand, if you have, are are just sitting around waiting for something to happen... we haven't done this in a little bit (I honestly can't recall if we did it this season. Maybe really early on...)

Let's make today an AMA (Ask Me Anything).

There are things that I *can't* tell you, for the purposes of the game, but if I can answer, I will! :)

So, what do you want to know?

I thought this was interesting: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2014/10/21/357629765/when-women-stopped-coding

***

Also of interest (to me) - and not at all related in any way whatsoever to the idea of a lessening of women in the field of computing over the years - Nope, none at all, was the number of people (both male and female) who replied to Felicia Day's statement about being "doxxed" (just found out what that is!) after posting some thoughts on Game Gate, by telling her how she is their celebrity crush and/or how pretty they think she is.

She works in television. I'm *pretty sure* that at some point there was another human being who thought she was pretty. ;)

I somehow doubt she is going to be reading and go "OMG, I am so flattered that someone thinks that I'm hot when I'm dealing with people putting my personal information out onto the internet. I want to go have massive amounts of sex with them right now!"

I could be wrong though. Based on the sheer number of people who are doing it, maybe it *has* worked before! ;)

***

Something that *always* works is eliminations. They are painful, but they work to move the competition further into the heart of darkness.

We had one such elimination tonight: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/797157.html
There was also a new topic for the main competition: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/797204.html as well as one for Last Chance Idol:http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/797508.html and a Work Room (for both) http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/797925.html