View Full Version : New article idea. Please give feedback.
SGT Rock
06-14-2006, 13:48
A new type of article for the WhiteBlaze article section has been submitted and proposed.
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=15507
The idea is to have a section where WhiteBlazers can submit essays, stories, and maybe even a good rant or two (as long as it is in good taste).
One proposal from a couple of users is to bring back the name "Reflections" which is the old title of the reader submitted essays in the old Appalachian Trailways News. The section was a favorite among many, but is no longer since the ATC changed the format.
What we are looking for is some thoughts about the proposal. I think it would fly, but what would be the criteria for what makes the cut for a permanent article and what doesn't. My taste ain't necessarily the best.
Should be about the "gestalt" of the outdoors. Not "nuts and bolts" discussions about gear..but rather about why we hike, what we observe when we hike, special memories, etc. No waxing poetic about stoves, hammocks or lexan sporks. ;)
Just my .02 worth...
SGT Rock
06-14-2006, 14:38
So I couldn't do a humorous love letter to my hammock?
Just Jeff
06-14-2006, 14:43
Long as it's not nuts and bolts...
So I couldn't do a humorous love letter to my hammock?
Hey...we could just link to all of Neo's posts. ;)
Seriously, though..I would think "Reflections" would not be a straight up gear discussion. A love letter to hammocks would be great...a post about the pros and cons of various hammocks would not work IMO.
But it is you and Troll's house. You two set the rules, I'll just be the PITA guest who tries not to ruin the carpeting inthe spare bedroom. :)
DawnTreader
06-14-2006, 14:53
Oh Hennessy
How I love thee
you cradle me to sleep
when the wife and I don't speak
you never hog the blanket
i never hear you snore
I can put you up and tear you down
before they get out the tent door...
SGT Rock
06-14-2006, 15:26
Now that is funny.
How about bringing back "The Ministry of Funny Walks" along with Reflections. Let's draft Felix! :banana
betic4lyf
06-14-2006, 19:41
there would need to be a form of review, as i believe it is likely that not all submisions will be good, and deserve to be saved as a "reflection". maybe somehow add it as a forum of some type, so others can read and rate, and after a set number of poeple have read it and rated it to a certain level, it can become a article.
SGT Rock
06-15-2006, 03:19
How about bringing back "The Ministry of Funny Walks" along with Reflections. Let's draft Felix! :banana
Now that is another good idea.
there would need to be a form of review, as i believe it is likely that not all submisions will be good, and deserve to be saved as a "reflection". maybe somehow add it as a forum of some type, so others can read and rate, and after a set number of poeple have read it and rated it to a certain level, it can become a article.
So let me sum up some of the good ones.
1. Create a "Reflections" Article section for essays and the like.
2. Create a "Ministry of Funny Walks" for humor and the like. The idea of a rant (in good taste with some humor) could go here.
3. No gear reviews or discussions of techniques of stuff. We already have forums for those sorts of things.
4. Peer review and rating system. So the article needs some sort of nomination and rating system. There is already a rating system, so a post would need X amount of ratings of X stars or above.
5. I also think that there is a possibility that a post could be nominated without having originally been written with the intention of becoming an article for either of these forums. In that case it would take someone to nominate it to that position and at least one second before consideration.
Thoughts?
peter_pan
06-15-2006, 06:46
The following is fron a post on 040805...Enjoy!
Why I love my hammock....let me count some ways
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The comments that follow and start this tread were recently written as a response in the thread " learning curve". On reflection their Ode like qualities ( Thanks Sgt Rock) seemed a good start for a thread. You may have some thoughts or reflections to add....eventually this may be tranported to an Article...Enjoy.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mankind generally excells at the things it commits too....Similiarly love grows and is fostered in truely committed relationships.....I know it is just a hammock to some but to others, and in my mind, ones hammock becomes an extention of oneself and our personality and you it....
Throw off the weight of carring your house/tent....
Lighten your pack and your pace....
Get off the hard shelter floor....and, leave it to the mice....
Get off the wet ground... be dry and aired out....freshness is refreshing...
Camp in the beautiful spots: on mountain tops...in the draws where the game abound.... on the hillside close enough to hear the rush of the waterfall...
Stop when you are tired... hammock trees are virtually everywhere...they will call out to you, "Here is a great place. Stop and hangout... be comfortable and be refreshed"...
Wrap yourself in support and warmth of a friend....
Escape the ridgeline thunder storms with the freedom to bail out virtually any where over the side, quickly descend to a safe level...hang your hammock in minutes and re****lly enjoy the light show or simply take a nap....
Your in the home of a friend...if the storm lingers or darkness descends...listen and accept the invitation when your friend says, "stay the night, there is room, your safe here"...
My hammock is my liberator....freedom is my way of life in the woods
Pan
I love the idea.
Specaly if it's stuff like "how deep are the mountains" & similar. Even a good rant or two can be entertaining & enlightning. As long as it isn't something like "Hiker Fred* Sucks, , on ice" :p
*Hiker Fred i'm sure dosn't suck, and is a fictional name, sorry Fred if you do exist.
BTW, the ode to a Hennessy is AWSOME!
Doctari.
A new type of article for the WhiteBlaze article section has been submitted and proposed.
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=15507
The idea is to have a section where WhiteBlazers can submit essays, stories, and maybe even a good rant or two (as long as it is in good taste).
One proposal from a couple of users is to bring back the name "Reflections" which is the old title of the reader submitted essays in the old Appalachian Trailways News. The section was a favorite among many, but is no longer since the ATC changed the format.
What we are looking for is some thoughts about the proposal. I think it would fly, but what would be the criteria for what makes the cut for a permanent article and what doesn't. My taste ain't necessarily the best.
A great idea! Recruit Felix.
Excellent idea! If you find "Reflections" too, pardon the pun, pedestrian, why not name this online literary journal "Peregrination," which the Oxford English Dictionary offers as one of its definitions:
<!--start_def-->3. a. The action or an act of travelling or going from place to place; a course of travel; a journey, esp. on foot. Also occas.: an account of a journey (see quot. 1604).<!--end_def-->
b. In pl. Travels; ramblings; random movements. <SMALL>In quot. 1548 with the implication of idleness or pleasure-seeking (cf. <NOBR><!--open_smallcaps--><SMALL>GADDING</SMALL><!--close_smallcaps--> (http://0-dictionary.oed.com.uncclc.coast.uncwil.edu/cgi/crossref?query_type=word&queryword=peregrination&first=1&max_to_show=10&single=1&sort_type=alpha&xrefword=gadding&ps=n.)</NOBR> n.).</SMALL><!--end_def-->
Since these will, in fact, be accounts of journeys both philosophic and physical, I also include the older denotative meaning from the OED, which also obtains:
1. orig. and chiefly Theol. The course of a person's life viewed originally as a temporary sojourn on earth (cf. sense 4b) and hence as a spiritual journey, esp. to heaven. Now rare. Cf. <NOBR><!--open_smallcaps--><SMALL>PILGRIMAGE</SMALL><!--close_smallcaps--> (http://0-dictionary.oed.com.uncclc.coast.uncwil.edu/cgi/crossref?query_type=word&queryword=peregrination&first=1&max_to_show=10&single=1&sort_type=alpha&xrefword=pilgrimage&ps=n.)</NOBR> n. 1b.
2. A pilgrimage; the activity of making pilgrimages. Now rare
Keep me posted, I might be able to help.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lugnut
How about bringing back "The Ministry of Funny Walks" along with Reflections. Let's draft Felix!
Now that is another good idea.
I have his email address.
SGT Rock
06-15-2006, 15:45
OK, who is Felix?
fivefour
06-15-2006, 16:29
What we are looking for is some thoughts about the proposal. I think it would fly, but what would be the criteria for what makes the cut for a permanent article and what doesn't. My taste ain't necessarily the best.
You could have a "hall of fame" and a "hall of shame" type deal for the articles that make the cut and for those that don't.
OK, who is Felix?
He was a contributing author for "The Ministry of Funny Walks"
Lot of funny stories.
OK, who is Felix?
John Mellenkamp's gardener. Really!
SGT Rock
06-16-2006, 02:07
You could have a "hall of fame" and a "hall of shame" type deal for the articles that make the cut and for those that don't.
Well the idea is to put good articles into a permanent system of links so they don't have to be dug up in searches. A place where someone that wants to spend some time reading can just go and see what is there. They would go into a submission forum and then if they made the cut get a permanent link. For those that wouldn't make the cut, they could stay right in the submissions forum. If anyone wanted to see what else was out there, then they could always hunt through that forum, but I don't see a need to have a whole nother catagory of bad articles.
SGT Rock
06-16-2006, 08:03
Just a thought I had today while hamming through a bunch of copied award narratives and plagerism...
Is it possible that since the old ATN already used "Reflections" and "Ministry of Funny Walks" that we would violate something by re-using those names for article sections?
I am honestly unsure if this is even an issue. I was hoping some people with more experience in the business could give some feedback.
wasn't Ministry of Funny Walks a Monty Python Flying Circus skit originally?
fishinfred
06-16-2006, 08:25
Hey Rock,
Keep it simple and keep it Trail / Hiking related ....like:
-Reflections of a Hike or Hiking Reflections
- Hiking adventures
etc .....
Great reading for those sleepless nights....GREAT IDEA!
Looking forward to your return home!
Travel Safe Brother!
Fishinfred
fivefour
06-16-2006, 08:43
Well the idea is to put good articles into a permanent system of links so they don't have to be dug up in searches. A place where someone that wants to spend some time reading can just go and see what is there. They would go into a submission forum and then if they made the cut get a permanent link. For those that wouldn't make the cut, they could stay right in the submissions forum. If anyone wanted to see what else was out there, then they could always hunt through that forum, but I don't see a need to have a whole nother catagory of bad articles.
ahhh, gotcha ... i was thinking the the articles that didn't make the cut would be deleted.
Just a thought I had today while hamming through a bunch of copied award narratives and plagerism...
Is it possible that since the old ATN already used "Reflections" and "Ministry of Funny Walks" that we would violate something by re-using those names for article sections?.
You could contact ATC. They're sure not using them anymore in their replacement magazine.
SGT Rock
06-17-2006, 04:00
Not a bad idea. I'll think about that.
Skidsteer
06-17-2006, 21:26
wasn't Ministry of Funny Walks a Monty Python Flying Circus skit originally?
Yes, and it was hold-your-side funny. John Cleese performed some outrageous funny walks in the skit.