it's calendar time

Hi guys,

It is about time to start thinking about the calendar for the end of the year.

Aside from starting with more time, what ideas do people have to make the whole thing more fun/workable for everyone?

I have a few thoughts, but I want to know what you guys think first.

I guess the other big question is: Are you up for doing it again? Is there interest?

It was a lot of fun last year. And I'm not saying that just because one of my photos is in it.

Perhaps we should have a themed calendar this year? Although last year's non-themed calendar turned out very nicely.

A themed calendar is a great idea.

won't be around much until at least the end of August. Now once we get back from Maui I should have some photos to choose from and to post for everyone.

Its what brought me over this way. And I've enjoyed the calendar no end. Aways wondered if we sold enough to earn our keep :-)

Looking forward to doing it again!

the mechanics of setting up the funds transfer and whatever were a bit too cumbersome and the time too short for Skinner and gang to accomplish that. So it just was sold at cost. I'd be interested in knowing how many, if anyone can find that info.

whoever administers the cafepress store for DU would just have to mark up the calendar in their store. Maybe it was a question of how much to mark it up? :shrug:

that when the calendar was put up DU did not have a store there, or it went to another individual's store, or both. This time around it might be prudent to assure that DU has an account and that the calendar gets put there directly, rather than trying to build a a Rube Goldberg work-around.

and, while he couldn't give me exact numbers, he made it clear that we should definitely do it again.

As I understand it, there wasn't enough lead time to to set up selling the calendar at a profit, etc, so the calendar was sold at cafepress' cost, in the DU store. (I hope that sentence makes sense!) Hopefully, we can get all the pictures picked sooner this year, so that there will be more time on their end to get it up and out before the holiday shopping season.

oops, wrong place :blush:

I suggest "animals"--but think we'll need a separate poll to chose two cat photos for two months--and limit the kitty-crazed from making it a cat calendar. (I do think cats deserve two dedicated months just because they are so dang popular. :))

Water could also be a really interesting theme.

At first it might seem to favor landscapes, but the "you and me" refrain offers a lot of flexibility, and many small clauses offer a lot of interpretive opportunities. Hosting and voting would be pretty complicated, since the themes are not related to months and the number is more than 12.


From: http://www.arlo.net/resources/lyrics/this-land.shtml

THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND
words and music by Woody Guthrie

Chorus:
This land is your land, this land is my land
From California, to the New York Island
From the redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters
This land was made for you and me

As I was walking a ribbon of highway
I saw above me an endless skyway
I saw below me a golden valley
This land was made for you and me

Chorus

I've roamed and rambled and I've followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
And all around me a voice was sounding
This land was made for you and me

Chorus

The sun comes shining as I was strolling
The wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling
The fog was lifting a voice come chanting
This land was made for you and me

Chorus

As I was walkin' - I saw a sign there
And that sign said - no tress passin'
But on the other side .... it didn't say nothin!
Now that side was made for you and me!

Chorus

In the squares of the city - In the shadow of the steeple
Near the relief office - I see my people
And some are grumblin' and some are wonderin'
If this land's still made for you and me.

Chorus (2x)

©1956 (renewed 1984), 1958 (renewed 1986) and 1970 TRO-Ludlow Music, Inc. (
BMI)

Do you envision the photos being named things like "That sign said - no trespassin'" or "I've roamed and rambled"? If so, it would be good if we could get permission to print the lyrics in the calendar so people would have context for the shots.

The Monsters have destroyed so much and caused so much suffering and fear and hate. I would like something that reaffirms our pride, our courage, the beauty and strength and diversity of our land and people.

At first it seemed that song could be a template, but I think the copyright stuff and the rigidity of such an imposed structure would be better reasons not to follow such a tight script.

I do like explicitly linking the photos to our history of resistance to inhumanity and working for traditional human values and social justice as expressed in song by our troubadours. Maybe "fair use" of phrases from our long history of truth tellers.

Maybe a couple. "This Land Is Our Land." And "We The People."

(fix trivial typo)

Seems where ever "I roamed and rambled" I saw "a ribbon of highway" while "the sun came shining." I would actually work to get lyric permission to use this, at least explore any cost it might entail.

Of course the advantage of "We the people" is that it's in the public domain, so we could use that up for free. But it just doesn't have the evocative imagery of Guthrie's song. :(

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

are in the public domain

http://blog.librarylaw.com/librarylaw/2004/08/ithis_land_is_y.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Land_Is_Your_Land

The law library blog was particularly helpful. We can use the full text, citing the original 1945 manuscript b/c the copyright expired in 1973 and wasn't renewed by Guthrie. The copyright text cited by Cons, above, was filed as an original copyright in '56, but Guthrie himself filed a copyright in '45 so copyright law follows his original filing. (Sorry, Arlo).

too bad I did not shoot any horizontals...

think of that lyric. Great shot of highway ribbon! :hi:

See this thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=280&topic_id=27704chknltl

(edit because it's always something)

When I click on it, I get "Invalid Topic ID, The page you requested cannot be displayed because the topic ID syntax is not valid. The topic ID must be an integer number." Will you report? I'm always looking for good ribbon of highway photos. :hi:

a lot!

but I do think it will require changes in our photo selections. I have a few ideas for themes and changes, but I'd like to hear everyone's ideas (especially about themes) first.

My thought is, if we are going to run this as a theme calendar, then maybe we should treat it as a curated collection rather than contests that everyone votes on. That is, have a small selection committee (about 3 people) who decide what should be in the calendar based on submissions. Something like this would also cut down on the amount of time we would need to submit and choose photos, avoid poll fatigue in GD and the Lounge, and would streamline the whole process, I think. (Trust me, all those polls last year was enough to exhaust everyone involved, and afterwards, I was a bit burned out, so I would like to avoid that this year!) It would also mean that we would have a calendar where each month related to the next - it could be a progression, or tell a story of some kind, which I would really like.

I have to apologize now if I get too pushy running the calendar, but I guess I really feel like the it is my baby, and I want to make sure we get the best possible product that we can.

The calendar was a HUGH endeavor last year, and you handled it magnificently.

I like the idea of a selection committee to avoid poll fatigue, but don't think the judges should be from the Photo Group. Maybe ask people we know have artistic abilities but either don't shoot photos or don't participate in the Photo Group any more? I'm thinking... CaliforniaPeggy (artist), lwfern (doesn't post here any more), Heidi (mixed media artist), maybe Raging (if our resident professional photographer wouldn't be submitting anything)... we could also find judges in the Artist Group. Of course they'd have to have the photos sent to them blind, so that they won't be biased by any personal feelings they may have for any of the DUers submitting, just like in a poll. (Always tricky since they can come into the PG to see who posted what, but perhaps we can assume the honor system. :))

Part of me is really resistant to getting rid of the polls. It just seems so... elitist to have a select group of people decide what everyone else will see for a year. But I definitely understand the expediency of it.

then turn the winnowed batch over to the jurors?

The idea of a jury would be to limit the number of polls posted. Maybe the answer is to have multiple people post the polls so blueraven doesn't get burned out posting polls again. Of course part of the problem last year is that there were 10 entries for each of the 12 months, so there were 12 polls--Burnout Central, for sure! With a themed contest, we would only need to run it like a regular contest and just pick the top 12 from what would normally be the prelim round.

...that being said, we have to be very thoughtful about the theme we pick because some contests haven't gotten enough participation, and others haven't had 12 photos good enough for a calendar, imo. :hide:

The theme has to be open enough to encourage lots of different takes, and hopefully compelling enough to inspire people's best work.

I'm sure we'll get plenty of interest and participation.

:rofl: