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

Entry: Blood - a poem by Simon Hearnshaw - A956694
Author: spook - U183955

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This is an interesting poem, but it is not the stuff that Edited Guide Entries are made of. Peer Review is all about the Edited Guide. These entries are intended to act as a factual guide to this bizarre world. This poem is a work of art which might go down well in The Post as the h2g2 poem. I suggest you withdraw it and discuss with the author whether he would like to put it into The Post.

this is an entry about the poem. intro, info on author, info on writing of the poem, and exta info. EG stuff.

Sorry! My apologies! I completely failed to notice all the stuff after the poem. For some reason, I thought this entry ended at the end of the poem.

Carry on!

no problemo

any more comments?

anyone?

Hi

I don't really see that this is an informative entry. Sorry if that seems harsh, but I'm just trying to be honest. A poem by an unknown poet(at the moment at least, things may change) and an article on that poet is not really the kind of thing that's in the Guide. Incidentally, am I correct in thinking that Simon Hearnshaw is the author of the article?

This is a well written article. But I don't think it's Guide material. If instead it was about the nature of online amateur poetry as a whole, that would be different.

deemikay

an article on a poem is just the same as an article on a movie or book, so it definitely meets the writing guidelines.

thanks for commenting!

spook

This is going to be a tricky one to argue without seeming___ well, superior. People, please tell me if it comes over that way! It's not my intention at all...

Yes, a poem is like a movie/book/painting etc. But this poem is (as far as the article goes) only available at www.poetry.com. This site claims to have 4.6million poets on it. "Blood" is written by only one of them. Prizes appear to be awarded every day. Prizes of up to $20,000 are said to be given.

A site that offers that would seem to me to be a bit of a scam. I may be wrong, but they can sue me if they like (I've no money... )

I hate to be critical. Honestly. But the poem itself isn't (IMHO) very good. It's not bad. Just average.

This article seems to me to be the same as someone writing about a picture painted in art class at school. Or a film by a group of media students. All very good... but if everyone did this, the Guide would be gigantic and no one would read it.

You never answered my query about who "Simon Hearnshaw" is, and it may not be important. To me, this article seems to be either self-publicity or publicity for a friend. Nothing wrong with that, but the Edited Guide isn't the place to do it.

I am really sorry if this seems harsh or nasty. I may be wrong on all my points. And I welcome any comments from other people. Even if just to tell me I'm a pretentious fool....

deemikay

This poem is at the moment only available on Poetry.com, until it is published in a collection of amateur poetry. i'mnot sure when that is gonna be released tough, but when it is released, i'll be able to update the entry.

the site is not a scam. yes i did write it, and i know it's not a scam since i keep getting invitations to read my poem at poetry conventions in the US (way to expensive to get there though) and it is all really official. i think the money they give away is to do with an official poetry organisation and it requires you to goto these conventions to get the money.

i'm perfectly happy with you not thinking it's not a great poem. everyone has their own opinion on everything.

this isn't just a poem i wrote and decided to puton here, but one that has been chosen to appear in a collection of amateur poetry some time in the future. and the point of the guide is for it to be the ultimate guide to life the universe and everything, which means it shoul contain information on everything, should be gigantic, and the larger it is the more information it olds and the more useful it becomes.

it isn't self publicity. self publicity would be saying "read this amazing poem! It's the best in the world! Go on - read it!" which this entry certainly does not. It shows the poem, so that people can read it, gives information on the author of the poem, gives information about the poem, provides a story of it's writing, and then gives a bit of extra information. if it was about a poem written by, say, William Shakespeare (i know he's not a poet but he did use poetry in his plays), then this entry would be slightly larger as it would have more hisory about the author and infomation about the poem, but apart from that it would be the same kind of entry as this.

famous poety should not be the only poetry to be included in a guide to Life, the Universe, and EVERYTHING.

thanks for commenting!

spook

Hi spook

Just one point: Shakespeare did write poetry as well as plays, about 150 sonnets and several long poems.

I think we've both made out cases plain here. And it's clear that we disagree somewhat on the nature of the Guide. I think we should leave it at that and let the Scouts decide if this is Guide material or not.

But keep writing!

deemikay

- but i was enjoying someone commenting in this thread.

well, i'm a scout, and i'd pick it. i just hope there's another person like me out there...

spook

lol... I'm glad you're enjoying it!

I'll give you one more comment and I'll leave it at that.

You say that the Guide should be gigantic and that the larger it is, the more useful it becomes. Well, I disagree. If the Edited section of the Guide is open to entries on any subject (e.g. my toenail clippings and George W Bush's bowel movements. Perfectly valid by your definition) people will not come rushing to read it. If I had to trail through acres and acres of personalised pap to get a useful article, I wouldn't bother. That's why the Guide is useful, it's well ordered and contains relevant information. And entries are put through Peer Review and Editing processes to ensure this.

As such I would like to introduce Deemikay's First Axiom of Guide Usefullness (fanfare please, ): a reference guide has a finite level of usefulness. If it exceeds this level, the ability to obtain information with ease decreases. {OK, I know it's not exactly scientific.... but I believe it.}

{What is this limit for the Guide? When people stop submitting articles I'd imagine.}

No guide can ever contain info on everything. Your idea of the Guide *is* real life. Get out there and live it!

Now let's stop all this bickering and

deemikay

btw an entry on your toe nail clippings would have to be factual and informative, and i don't know how much information you could give...

"They grow. I cut them off. They grow back. The End."

Not informative. an enty on toe nails could cover that and more, while the poem in this enry is unique. For example, you can write an entry on William Shakespeare, however, you could also have an entry more specifically on Romeo and Juliet, when it was written, why it was written, different publications etc that would not be on a general entry on Willim Shakespeare.

going by that example, i could write an entry on amateur poetry, but that would not stop a more detailed entry on one particular amateur poem, if you see what i mean.

and about having to go through a trail of personalised pap to get to a useful article - this is not personalised pap. anyone who would want information on this poem could find it here. yand you don't have to trail through anything. if you wanted to find an entry on amateur poetry and not this, you would do a <./>Search</.> for amateur poetry, and if there is/was an edited entry on amatuer poetry, it is most likely that it would be on the first page of results, and if it isn't, you'll eb able to tell by the title and simply cick on to the next page.

i don't believe the EG has a finite level of usefulness. for it to be a guide to everything it must include everything, and people will always be able to find what they want through the category system and the search system.

and i truly doubt people ever to stop submitting entries. not while more and more new members keep joining each day.

aah isn't it great to have a good ol' chit-chat now and then!

spok

My head hurts....

-I didn't say your article was personalised pap, I was meaning the sort of articles the Guide would be filled with if you had your way. The internet is full of sites like that. I *did* say that your article was well written. And it is.

-You mention the search facility.... what if you just want to wander around H2G2 for a bit? Random clicks. That's what I love about this site: it is filled with factual, balanced information I can rely on. A site saturated with__ I'll say it again__ personalised pap would not be fun to browse through.

-Okay, an article on toenails would be fine I admit. (I read an excellent half page essay on them by Borges. Good writer, read him.) But if fifty people, one million people, write articles on theirs? There's only so many toenails this poor boy can take!

-Would it be okay if, for example, Jeffrey Archer (shudder) wrote an article about his latest novel in the third person? Or Robbie Williams (double shudder) on his latest album? Not passing judgement, not saying it's for sale. Just an account. Would that be acceptable for the Edited Guide? No, it would be self-publicity. {However, it would be okay in someone's personal space.}

I state my case here: I don't think an individual should write aticles about themselves or one of their creations for inclusion in the Edited Guide.

You, on the other hand, do.

I'm coming over as an ultra-conservative here. Which I'm not. I need sleep... I'm getting old....

deemikay

articles have t be informative, and everyone writing articles on tehir toenails would not be inormative. this entry is.

it would be fine for robbie williams to write an entry on one of his albums ifit was balanced and informative, and the entry would also be moe informative and accurate. when writing this i made sure it was informative and balanced, and contained useful information and links. I would have written a similar entry if this poem was a poem written by a friend, or someone totally different. i put myself in that position when writing.

well, if this is not pesonalised pap, then i guess it should be fine for the EG. personalised pap is not what the EG wants, but a well written entry on something the researcher has done is fine. for example, the peace marches in london not long ago. someone involved with that could write a etailed entry on it, and add in italic+blockquote a few personal experiences from it, and it could be a great entry for the guide. just ebcause they were involved with it, does not make them suitable to write the entry. it actually makes them more suitable cause they have more knowledge and an insider view of it all.

do you see my point?

spook

ps. i hope you enjoy your sleep and you wake up young and without a hurting head!

I've sat back a little from this, just to see how the discussion went, but I have to say I have a few worries about this entry. Firstly, it appears to be an entry about your own poetry. Technically, it complies with the Guidelines, but really it's also cheating - writing about your own work (which, with respect, isn't widely recognised in the same way that writing about an obscure-but-established poet would be) seems to be merely an attempt to get your own poetry into the Edited Guide through the back door, something that, as a Scout, you know isn't what the Edited Guide is about - even Douglas Adams himself didn't write about his own work like this .

I'd be interested to see what other people think, but I'd politely suggest that the Edited Guide isn't quite the right place for this. This is, in honesty, more like a journal entry, explaining the thinking behind your own creative work. Perhaps when the 'Underguide' scheme finally takes off, this would be a better route for it?

Jims

Thanks Jimster... I've been tying myself on circles here. I think I made it clear that I didn't think it was a relevant entry for the *Edited* Guide. Personal Space, fine.

I just want to go and have a rest now.... this has drained me... Never argue with drunks, fanatics or sixteen year olds who write poetry.... (I should know, I was one myself ten years ago!)

deemikay