(COM)PASSION

A photo gallery of links to poorly written texts about LA attractions beat this AMAZING effort (incredible content on a crucial social issue, slick presentation, great drawings, a do-it-yourself pdf booklet, and spectacular local flavor)? Who is judging this "competition"? Pretty weak.

Matt- If you didn't like our post, you can comment on it and say so.

G-Rad- This is your best post yet. I really want to go to Grand Rapids now... WITH MY OWN POCKET GUIDE! Really awesome.

haha i love it!

This is the perfect example of one of the strongest facets of blogging: bringing useful and important things, like guides, to the Internet. Plus, your design and drawings are very beautiful. Well done, g-rad. You are all extremely talented.

oh man... my guide printed out all blurry. bummer. maybe some resizing will help

sam? do the rest of your computer prints print crisp and clear? we have it sized to fit without stretching or shrinking. very strange. we will look in to this!

Thanks Matthew and Laura! We really like yours too!

Hey Matt, did you even look through the EM post? A lot of them are audio and even one video. Your harsh comment just comes off looking dumb. It's very unappreciated.

Also, Mike & I are judging this competition. Please direct any suggestions to steve@statesrightsrecords.com and kmikeym@kmikeym.com

G-RAD did an amazing job. Props to them. They are an asset to this competition.

Matt while we really do appreciate the complements. it's really just a game. Everyone did an awesome job!

Sorry to offend. Didn't mean to come off looking either harsh or stupid, but apparently I achieved both. I should have just complimented G-rad and kept the comparative comments and my disappointment with the judges to myself. Apologies to anyone I may have offended.

I would now like to visit Michigan just to use these sweet guidebooks. and I totally appreciate your attitude towards veganism and dispersing information about it: nothing but constructive information. I have a nice old-timey-wagon-full of respect for g-rad. stay kind.

Matt,
I don't mean to imply that we discourage criticism for us as judges.

Actually we are totally fine with that and we are always open to more opinions.

I shared with George some of the thoughts that went into the decision today, so maybe ask george or email me and I could share privately.

We love the enthusiasm and support that is shown.

This game is a really intense mix of creativity, positivity, collaboration, HARD ASS WORK, strategy, and competition, and I just worry that our bloggers who put so much work in then to see immediate negativity regarding that will lose heart in this thing (the competition). I am protective over these folks. They are trying HARD to make something rad for us to enjoy.

there are not 12 comments on this page. i'm very sad that i cannot read them. reloading my page is not helping either. no more lemon-juice posts please!

now i see 'em, disregard my previous post. by the way, this project was incredible and i am very impressed with the amount of work that must have gone on to complete this whole thing. damn. oh and matt, i'm very glad you're so excited about your work, keep up the momentum.

I agree with Matt - it's unfortunate that originality and blurring the lines of blogging and real life aren't upheld in this competition.

And Steve - what is up with trying to belittle a dude that has an opinion? dissent is what makes things interesting, not praising photo collages.

This faux all-the-time positivity is getting old. Enough rainbows and unicorns, let the bloggin' (and comments) become truly existential.

P.S. to clarify - i love UB and have watched from season 1. but i still stand by saying that not all criticism should taken as negative or disingenuous (or personally).

I honestly wasn't trying to belittle Matt. He wasn't speaking factually about the EM post. It was about half audio.

I had just read about 5 negative comments that had been left within about 10 minutes, and got pretty defensive of people (all of these contestants) that I feel very strongly about.

Why is the positivity fake, Ben? I don't see why positivity about this experience would be a bad thing.

I also don't agree at all with the implication that without dissent things can't be interesting.

I'm all for criticism. Please bring it upon us (the organizers, hosts, judges).

Whatever. Bring it on.

TAKE IT DARK.

http://www.rainbowridgefarmequestriancenter.com/_borders/Rainbow_Ridge_Logo.jpg

hey dudes. game.

I always like a good vegan guide. Did this idea really come from the chat from the last challenge? That's some good connectiveness going on.

g-rad has a strong vegan contingent:

http://www.g-rad.org/vegan/

it seemed like the safest bet for a shared passion.

Yeah! I'm a huge fan of the vegan blog on G-Rad, and this just adds to that love!

Awesome job, guys. Makes me want to visit Grand Rapids...

There is an Ethiopian restaurant here that I want to go to, but the only other time I had Ethiopian food, it was meat. Can you tell me the names of some good vegan dishes that are commonly found in Ethiopian joints?

dalas v-
well, at loul's we enjoy:
shiro
furfur
kik
alicha
gomen
soy curry
salad
and some other nameless delights
what fair city is yours?

this is freekin funny!

Dalas, I think all the Ethiopian restaurants in Portland have clearly demarcated vegetarian platters.

THANKS TJ!?!

Dalas, and Claire. The only other Ethiopian place i have ever been to (Blue Nile, in Ann Arbor) was very omnivorous - I think Grand Rapids just lucked out to get a place that is totally vegan, and very conveniently located.