SymmyS Awards Show for Outstanding Palindromes of 2012
posted March 5, 2013 2:59 PM RSS | iCal | +googleCal
Sun March 10 at 8:00 PM, The Funhouse Lounge
2432 Southeast 11th Avenue, Portland, OR, USA (Map & Directions)
The first ever international competition for best palindromes of the year will conclude Sunday with a gala award ceremony in Portland. Show is free & all ages, 1 hour long. Comedian Dax Jordan from LA will headline; reigning World Palindrome Champion Mark Saltveit is M.C.
Over 250 entries from around the globe have been whittled to 10 finalists in each of 4 categories; short palindrome, long, poetry, and word-unit. The entries are very original and very strong.
All of the competitors from the World Palindrome Championship are involved along with many talented newcomers found in a worldwide search.
The panel of celebrity judges is a murderer's row of word geeks: "Weird Al" Yankovic! Demetri Martin! Will Shortz! John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants! Comedian Jackie Kashian of The Dork Forest podcast. Journalists Jack Rosenthal and Ben Zimmer! Palindromists Tim Van Ert and Jeff Grant (of New Zealand)!
All of the competitors from the World Palindrome Championship are involved along with many talented newcomers found in a worldwide search.
The panel of celebrity judges is a murderer's row of word geeks: "Weird Al" Yankovic! Demetri Martin! Will Shortz! John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants! Comedian Jackie Kashian of The Dork Forest podcast. Journalists Jack Rosenthal and Ben Zimmer! Palindromists Tim Van Ert and Jeff Grant (of New Zealand)!
Yes, that is true. Tim Van Ert, a somewhat less famous judge (editor of MockOK.com, a leading palindrome website), might well be there. (He lives in Monmouth.)
Here is a nice article in Time Magazine about this event, with a great quote from "Weird Al":
“The writing of a brilliant palindrome is a small miracle,” Yankovic says, “and that, I think, deserves to be honored more than a lot of the stupid and inconsequential things we often celebrate in our culture.”
posted by msalt at 2:23 PM on March 6, 2013
Here is a nice article in Time Magazine about this event, with a great quote from "Weird Al":
“The writing of a brilliant palindrome is a small miracle,” Yankovic says, “and that, I think, deserves to be honored more than a lot of the stupid and inconsequential things we often celebrate in our culture.”
posted by msalt at 2:23 PM on March 6, 2013
More good press:
Portland Mercury (the hipper alt-weekly) http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/BlogtownPDX/archives/2013/03/08/word-nerds-this-ones-for-us-um-i-mean-you
Times of London http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/americas/article3709169.ece?CMP=OTH-gnws-standard-2013_03_08
New York Times http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/08/a-magazine-a-plan-a-contest-symmys/
KIRO Radio (a big Seattle station) http://kiroradio.com/listen/9953257/ a long interview
Visual Thesaurus http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/a-wordy-weekend-from-crosswords-to-palindromes
posted by msalt at 4:00 PM on March 9, 2013
Portland Mercury (the hipper alt-weekly) http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/BlogtownPDX/archives/2013/03/08/word-nerds-this-ones-for-us-um-i-mean-you
Times of London http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/americas/article3709169.ece?CMP=OTH-gnws-standard-2013_03_08
New York Times http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/08/a-magazine-a-plan-a-contest-symmys/
KIRO Radio (a big Seattle station) http://kiroradio.com/listen/9953257/ a long interview
Visual Thesaurus http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/a-wordy-weekend-from-crosswords-to-palindromes
posted by msalt at 4:00 PM on March 9, 2013
The palindromes were entertaining, but Shoehorn was pretty great, too.
posted by aniola at 2:32 PM on March 11, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by aniola at 2:32 PM on March 11, 2013 [1 favorite]
For anyone not there, it turns out that Michael "Shoehorn" Conley plays monthly in Portland with Baby Gramps, a legendary singer songwriter with a long palindrome song. Can't believe I didn't know that.
Also, in the oddest highlight of my showbiz career, Katie Couric tweeted about this show today. And you were there. next year, it will be 4/10/2014. Possible even MORE organized than this one.
posted by msalt at 9:47 PM on March 12, 2013
Also, in the oddest highlight of my showbiz career, Katie Couric tweeted about this show today. And you were there. next year, it will be 4/10/2014. Possible even MORE organized than this one.
posted by msalt at 9:47 PM on March 12, 2013
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by cortex at 7:53 AM on March 6, 2013