h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

*splish splash*
http://www.h2g2.com/A463998
I humbly submit my first offering to the Peer Review Scheme
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*glub glub*
AquaMarina the Mermaid

Hello, I'm a sub-editor which means if one of the scouts, who seem to have fone missing pick your entry I (or another sub-ed) will edit it before it gets in the "Edited Guide"

I'm not a merman either !

I think this entry is really good and it amazes me that an entry hasn't been written before!

Some general points:
Could you possibly include slightly more on the historical side? There's some very interesting information here: [URL Removed by moderator] which you might find helpful.

Maybe you should include some examples of children's books about mermaids!

Include some info on mermaids depicted in art and music.

Possibly quote an account of someone who claims to have had a sighting of these rare creatures.

If I think of anything else I'll be sure to add it!
- Slash & Burn Editing!

Hello,

Every year there's a Mermaid Parade celebration on Coney Island here in New York City....
[URL Removed by moderator]

Randomly Yours,
Jake

Hello,

Every year there's a Mermaid Parade celebration on Coney Island here in New York City....
http://www.whirl-i-gig.com/mermaid.html

Randomly Yours,
Jake

Oh dear - I apologise on behalf of the Scouts!

I think it's a great start for an entry, but I think it needs some fleshing out. Like Willy said, how about some history behind them? Do you know of any reasons as to why people used (and maybe still do) to believe in them?

As I said, great start!

In defence of us scouts, I'd like to point out that it is not the job of the scouts to give peer review - it is the job of the whole community - and if you haven't received enough feedback, that is a failing of the community, not the scouts. If you'd like to see more reviewing here in PR, then take a lead yourself...

Compare us to the ACEs - it's not the job of an ACE to be friends with everyone, and its not the job of a Scout to review everything. We just aim to give every posted entry at least one piece of feedback in under a week - mission accomplished.



Anyway, this is a good entry - but desperately incomplete - there's SO much more that can be said about mermaids! There's the whole freudian thing {hint: what is the only sex act that a mermaid can do with a man?}, and yes, the history, plus a description of the typical mermaid, plus talking about variants - twotails - ability to form legs, etc. You might link them with sirens, or talk about mermen, merwomen, and so forth. Note that in some stories you have fresh and saltwater merpeople, and never the twain shall meet.

Incidentally, 'mermaid' is pretty universally a female-only term - if you want to talk generally (and I think you should), you should talk about merpeople.

Not forgetting that Mela the Merwomen from Xanth had plaid panties...

And so on, and so on. This is a great start - and what you've got is promising - nice factual stuff that was new to me - but I just feel that you don't do the subject justice. If you like, I can post details of the stuff I'd like to see added in t'assoc'd fora - but you might prefer to do it yourself. Up to you.

In defence of us scouts, I'd like to point out that it is not the job of the scouts to give peer review - it is the job of the whole community - and if you haven't received enough feedback, that is a failing of the community, not the scouts. If you'd like to see more reviewing here in PR, then take a lead yourself...

Compare us to the ACEs - it's not the job of an ACE to be friends with everyone, and its not the job of a Scout to review everything. We just aim to give every posted entry at least one piece of feedback in under a week - mission accomplished.



Anyway, this is a good entry - but desperately incomplete - there's SO much more that can be said about mermaids! There's the whole freudian thing {hint: what is the only sex act that a mermaid can do with a man?}, and yes, the history, plus a description of the typical mermaid, plus talking about variants - twotails - ability to form legs, etc. You might link them with sirens, or talk about mermen, merwomen, and so forth. Note that in some stories you have fresh and saltwater merpeople, and never the twain shall meet.

Incidentally, 'mermaid' is pretty universally a female-only term - if you want to talk generally (and I think you should), you should talk about merpeople.

Not forgetting that Mela the Merwomen from Xanth had plaid panties...

And so on, and so on. This is a great start - and what you've got is promising - nice factual stuff that was new to me - but I just feel that you don't do the subject justice. If you like, I can post details of the stuff I'd like to see added in t'assoc'd fora - but you might prefer to do it yourself. Up to you.

btw, nice bikini...

http://www.h2g2.com/A193051 - entry on little mermaid film

You're entirely right, it is the job of the community and I think it's a shame more people don't come here.

I believe I was scratching at saying you should include more

Although there's very little point including a picture because it'll just get removed during the subbing process.
- Slash & Burn Editing

I believe some short-sighted or wishful/hopeful sailors used to think seals, manatees and dugongs (both otherwise known as sea cows) were mermaids. The manatees and dugongs are mammals of the family "sirenia" I think - you know, sirens! If that's not a dead give-away clue to their identification with mermaids, what is? They're fantastic animals but (I hope this isn't uglyist) they'd make spectacularly unattractive women - unless you'd been at sea a very long time, possibly.

Looks like a promising article.

I can picture it now...


SAILOR 1: Jack? Jack! WHAT are you doing to that seal?
SAILOR 2: I'm er... um... it's a woman!
SAILOR 1: No. It's definately a seal. Look! It's got flippers and everything.
SAILOR 2: That's because she's a very special woman, that er... lives in the sea and... er... she's a magical sea maiden. Yes, that's it.
SAILOR 1: Oh, fair enough. Are there any more?


I'm only making this up, but that could be how it happened. After all, I think the German for sea is "mere" which is where the 'mer' might come from. So maybe they were the fabrication of a very desperate German sailor caught in a somewhat incoveniant situation...

I get the distinct impression you're not taking this entirely seriously, Mr T. Mock if you must, but I bet that's exactly how it all started!

Precisely. Life is often stranger than fiction, as 'they' say (whoever they are).

Believe me, I am trying to get more researchers to come to Peer Review & read entries. I am even giving out the link to newcomers, so they can see the *gist* of the site. The entries...
Hopefully one or two will turn up, and it may become a habit.
~GB~

hmm, any progress being made, AquaMarina?

I doubt Aquamarina will be here before the site goes live!

Are there many entries left that haven't been Scouted yet?

Well, with a good number being lost to HTML-ness, and comparatively few being created by the testers, it's tighter than it would normally be...

Editorial Note: This Conversation has been moved to the new 'Flea Market' Forum.

This is where we move any Peer Review, Writing Workshop or Alternative Writing Workshop Conversations where the original author has *not* posted to h2g2 for three months. This prevents the active Review Forums from clogging up with dormant entries, but in the Flea Market they can be picked up by others and polished off.