Just a quick reminder… You've got until Tuesday to submit your candidates for "Best Absurd Use of ActionScript To Describe a Literary Work." We had a lot of fun with this last year, and I hope to see more great submissions this week. See last month's announcement for rules and guidelines.

Thanks, and we look forward to the vote!

Thanks for the great submissions this year! The submission window is now closed! If you still want to show off your work, however, feel free to send it to us (or better yet, wait until next year's contest!) Thanks!

It's that time of year again: The 2006 ActionScript Poetry Contest is on! What's an ActionScript poetry contest?

To quote last year's entry rules:

Translate your favorite poem (any poem, but remember: "Nantucket" is not an accepted ActionScript keyword), and post it here in the comments section of this article before March 21 (which is UNESCO's official World Poetry Day). Once the deadline has passed, the judging will begin.

Judging will be based on several factors, including public reaction to the poem (as noted in comments here), its poetic appeal, creativity and the ungodly whims of our nameless, faceless panel of judges. Extra credit will no doubt be given if the "poem" actually does something in ActionScript, or if it somehow manages to retain some sense of poetic integrity.

Please include a link to the original poem in the comments of the script, so that the less literary among us can also figure out what's going on. And as always, keep in mind that this is not a call for Flash animations interpreting literary works, but a real, honest-to-goodness, geekfest in which the code itself becomes the poetry.

As inspiration, check out last year's entries or the original ActionScript Jabberwocky poem.

And to see what it takes to win, here's last year's winning entry, as penned by Ammocell:


   // El Dorado
   // Edgar Allan Poe
   //
   // Translated by Ammocell 
   // Original poem can be viewed at: 
   // http://www.mat.upm.es/~jcm/poe–shadow.html
   // ========================
      
   var elDorado = new Object();
       
   var knight = new Object();
   knight.bedight = ‘gaily’;
   if( sunshine && shadow ) {
      knight.gallant = true;
   }
   while( knight.journeyed > knight._x + 1000) {
       knight.singing[’song’] = true;
       knight.search( elDorado );
   }
       
   while( ground.spot != elDorado ) {
       knight.grow(age++);
       knight.bold = true;
       createEmptyMovieClip(’shadow_mc’, 1000);
       knight.heart.setMask(shadow_mc);
   }
     
   if( length ) knight.strength = false;
   shadow = new Object();
   shadow.pilgrim = true;
   knight.meet(shadow);
   knight.query(shadow, elDorado.land[where]);
       
   shade = shadow;
   knight.search = knight.seek;
   shade.reply = function() {
       if( knight.seek == elDorado ) {
           knight.ride = function() {
               moon.mountains._y++;
               shadow.valley._y–;
           }
       }
   }
   


For his prize-winning efforts, AmmoCell was awarded an ActionScript Jabberwocky T-shirt which we're sure he treasures daily (assuming it arrived). This year's winner will receive their choice of a custom T-shirt featuring their own poem on the back or the classic ActionScript Jabberwocky digs.

The submission window closes March 21, and judging will begin immediately thereafter. We look forward to seeing what you can do!

The contest begins… NOW! Just leave your entries in the comments form below. To make sure the code formats correctly, please add the tag [code] (in square brackets) at the beginning, and [/code] at the end.If they look screwed up; don't fret — we'll straighten it up asap. Thanks!)

The judges have spoken, and their message is clear:

poetryWinners.push ({poet: 'Ammocell', poem: 'El Dorado'});

Damn, I'm a geek…

Regardless, congratulations to Ammocell, who is the crowd's favorite in the first annual Turdhead.com ActionScript Poetry contest! His winning ActionScript translation of Edgar Allen Poe's "El Dorado" is presented here for all to gaze upon, and we're rushing him the Grand Prize, an ActionScript Jabberwocky T-shirt, as we speak. Congrats, Ammocell!


   // El Dorado
   // Edgar Allan Poe
    
   // http://www.mat.upm.es/~jcm/poe–shadow.html
   // ========================
      
   var elDorado = new Object();
       
   var knight = new Object();
   knight.bedight = ‘gaily’;
   if( sunshine && shadow ) {
      knight.gallant = true;
   }
   while( knight.journeyed > knight._x + 1000) {
       knight.singing[’song’] = true;
       knight.search( elDorado );
   }
       
   while( ground.spot != elDorado ) {
       knight.grow(age++);
       knight.bold = true;
       createEmptyMovieClip(’shadow_mc’, 1000);
       knight.heart.setMask(shadow_mc);
   }
     
   if( length ) knight.strength = false;
   shadow = new Object();
   shadow.pilgrim = true;
   knight.meet(shadow);
   knight.query(shadow, elDorado.land[where]);
       
   shade = shadow;
   knight.search = knight.seek;
   shade.reply = function() {
       if( knight.seek == elDorado ) {
           knight.ride = function() {
               moon.mountains._y++;
               shadow.valley._y–;
           }
       }
   }