Post by TheLuckyOne on Jul 18, 2008 12:45:04 GMT -5
Hey, gang! Grab a seat, here's the story: in my college days, a friend took it upon himself to create an X-Men playlist. Being a decade older than me, Canadian, and a progressive rock fan, he filled it primarily with semi-obscure alternative songs from the '80s, one per character. I liked the idea and, in those wonderful days before the Napster crackdown, I downloaded every song, burning them onto a series of 3 CDs. I can't say it's all gold, but there's some solid music in there that I never would have heard otherwise.
Now, what does that have to do with you? Well, it's the focus of our latest contest, where you have the opportunity to win valuable* prizes, including the chance to make me review a film of your choosing. Here's how it works: I randomized the playlist and will be posting the entire thing, songs and artists. It's then up to you to guess what song represents which X-character. You get one point apiece, and whoever ends up with the highest total wins. Simple, right? If you're no X-expert, never fear: some song/character connections will be obvious, so even someone who knows nothing about the X-Men beyond names could guess them. Others will require basic familiarity with the characters or some good old-fashioned research, and for a few, the song title alone might not be enough… you may have to listen to the lyrics or overall tone of the song to correctly identify them. Even then, some are tricky, but don't worry - I'll be doling out hints along the way.
Ground rules: you get one guess per day, that's it. For our purposes, "day" will begin at midnight eastern time, so you can make one guess at 11:59 and another at 12:01 if you want, but if you make two guesses within 24 hours of each other, expect the second one to be ignored, even if it's right. Also, there's a 10-day duration to the contest. After a week and a half it's over, even if not all of the characters have been identified, and whoever has the highest score will be declared the winner.
What are the prizes, you ask? First place wins the chance to make me review any comic-related film of your choosing. Doesn't have to be a superhero movie, it just has to have been a comic at some point. (The only stipulations are that it must be site appropriate, and if it's impossible for me to find, you might have to send me a copy; if so, I'll send it back afterward.) The two runners-up will each receive a comic book movie on DVD, pre-viewed but still perfectly functional. Additionally, all three winners will get some X-related comics and any other cool swag I can think to throw in there. And, of course, the fun of playing. Isn't that what it's really all about?**
Finally, a couple of clues…
-Bear in mind that this playlist was compiled in late 1999/early 2000 and doesn't include characters who were brand new at that time, so choose accordingly. Stacy X, the hooker X-Man (you only wish I was kidding) who first appeared in 2001, would not be a smart guess. Likewise, some characters have undergone changes in status quo since then.
-This friend and I were fans of not just the X-Men proper, but also some of the spinoff teams… the good ones, anyway. In particular, he was partial to the "classic" incarnations of the New Mutants and Excalibur, as well as the second iteration of X-Factor and a few X-Force characters (mostly the ones who already existed before X-Force started).
-I've taken out Professor X and Magneto. Both were more mentors than actual team members, plus my friend chose multiple songs for each. For similar reasons, I've left out Moira MacTaggert, Sabretooth, and Mystique. (If you're curious, their songs were "She Blinded Me With Science" by Thomas Dolby, "Criminal Mind" by Gowan, and "The Way I Feel" by Robert Plant.)
-Yes, staff members may participate too.
-NEW RULE: if you want to participate but will be away from a computer for 24 hours, you may PM me your guess ahead of time and I'll post it for you after midnight of the day in question, as well as whether it's right or wrong. You may only do this for a single day at a time... please don't spam me with a list of 5 guesses to cover the rest of the contest. Also, please only do this if you actually will be away from a computer, not just because you can't be bothered to post - remember, PMing your guess ahead of time keeps you from adjusting your thought process based on other people's wrong answers in between when you send it to me and I post it.
-And the disclaimer: I didn't compile this playlist, my friend did. Whereas I'm a completist and would have included anyone who was on the team for five minutes, he didn't necessarily feel the need to do so. There's at least one or two characters who many people would consider "real" X-Men that he left off. Conversely, there's at least one character included who was only an ally of the team in question (and girlfriend to one of them), not a full member; because of it, I'll award two points to anyone who gets her. If that all strikes you as random… don't blame me, I didn't put it together.
-Ditto if you think the music sucks.
So, clear as mud? Great, because here comes the playlist. Good luck!
*Ten dollars is a value, right?
**No. Bragging rights. Never forget that.
-D
Now, what does that have to do with you? Well, it's the focus of our latest contest, where you have the opportunity to win valuable* prizes, including the chance to make me review a film of your choosing. Here's how it works: I randomized the playlist and will be posting the entire thing, songs and artists. It's then up to you to guess what song represents which X-character. You get one point apiece, and whoever ends up with the highest total wins. Simple, right? If you're no X-expert, never fear: some song/character connections will be obvious, so even someone who knows nothing about the X-Men beyond names could guess them. Others will require basic familiarity with the characters or some good old-fashioned research, and for a few, the song title alone might not be enough… you may have to listen to the lyrics or overall tone of the song to correctly identify them. Even then, some are tricky, but don't worry - I'll be doling out hints along the way.
Ground rules: you get one guess per day, that's it. For our purposes, "day" will begin at midnight eastern time, so you can make one guess at 11:59 and another at 12:01 if you want, but if you make two guesses within 24 hours of each other, expect the second one to be ignored, even if it's right. Also, there's a 10-day duration to the contest. After a week and a half it's over, even if not all of the characters have been identified, and whoever has the highest score will be declared the winner.
What are the prizes, you ask? First place wins the chance to make me review any comic-related film of your choosing. Doesn't have to be a superhero movie, it just has to have been a comic at some point. (The only stipulations are that it must be site appropriate, and if it's impossible for me to find, you might have to send me a copy; if so, I'll send it back afterward.) The two runners-up will each receive a comic book movie on DVD, pre-viewed but still perfectly functional. Additionally, all three winners will get some X-related comics and any other cool swag I can think to throw in there. And, of course, the fun of playing. Isn't that what it's really all about?**
Finally, a couple of clues…
-Bear in mind that this playlist was compiled in late 1999/early 2000 and doesn't include characters who were brand new at that time, so choose accordingly. Stacy X, the hooker X-Man (you only wish I was kidding) who first appeared in 2001, would not be a smart guess. Likewise, some characters have undergone changes in status quo since then.
-This friend and I were fans of not just the X-Men proper, but also some of the spinoff teams… the good ones, anyway. In particular, he was partial to the "classic" incarnations of the New Mutants and Excalibur, as well as the second iteration of X-Factor and a few X-Force characters (mostly the ones who already existed before X-Force started).
-I've taken out Professor X and Magneto. Both were more mentors than actual team members, plus my friend chose multiple songs for each. For similar reasons, I've left out Moira MacTaggert, Sabretooth, and Mystique. (If you're curious, their songs were "She Blinded Me With Science" by Thomas Dolby, "Criminal Mind" by Gowan, and "The Way I Feel" by Robert Plant.)
-Yes, staff members may participate too.
-NEW RULE: if you want to participate but will be away from a computer for 24 hours, you may PM me your guess ahead of time and I'll post it for you after midnight of the day in question, as well as whether it's right or wrong. You may only do this for a single day at a time... please don't spam me with a list of 5 guesses to cover the rest of the contest. Also, please only do this if you actually will be away from a computer, not just because you can't be bothered to post - remember, PMing your guess ahead of time keeps you from adjusting your thought process based on other people's wrong answers in between when you send it to me and I post it.
-And the disclaimer: I didn't compile this playlist, my friend did. Whereas I'm a completist and would have included anyone who was on the team for five minutes, he didn't necessarily feel the need to do so. There's at least one or two characters who many people would consider "real" X-Men that he left off. Conversely, there's at least one character included who was only an ally of the team in question (and girlfriend to one of them), not a full member; because of it, I'll award two points to anyone who gets her. If that all strikes you as random… don't blame me, I didn't put it together.
-Ditto if you think the music sucks.
So, clear as mud? Great, because here comes the playlist. Good luck!
*Ten dollars is a value, right?
**No. Bragging rights. Never forget that.
-D
"If I'm going to be desensitized into a mindless stock animal, I may as well do it with a cushy ergonomic seat and magnificent THX-certified sound. -Kevin Murphy