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Mudboy Slim: Here's my third posting listing our entrants to date, which should be current as of the time of this post (11 p.m. EST -- 4 hours until closing).

In the 300-400 (what we have so far), I have selected 2 more finalists (for a dozen so far, Mudboy):
339 (Balata's pathetic post-Rollex house), 374 (Flyer already nominated, schtick continues), 397 ('WVVan's granny's candy store)

Post 301 DaisyScarlett: you're already a finalist with post 136, which is I think better than this one. (LOL -- which is the nicest thing I can say about this one!)

Post 318 Aquamarine's second entry. Very nice!! Music again!! I like the house and the music for the first entry better, though -- both cozier. So I keep you as finalist on your earlier entry -- which, BTW, Flyer is *not* permitted to unilaterally "clean up on aisle three." That's a judges perogative! :)

Post 335 Black and white gingerbread house -- probably not a finalist. But good work practicing posting graphics! Today's thread, jwfiv, was the right place to be practicing that!

Post 339 Balata's pathetic shredded wheat "all my exes are wearing rollexes" house. Hmm, can you plead your way into final-dom? Probably, if you do it humorously. Finalist. The trees are really pretty and I confess a weird partiallity to shredded wheat roofs. (There -- there's something completely arbitrary for everyone to hang their hat on if they loose to prove the undeniably whimsical nature of the judging (hey, we warned ya!). You can say, "Sheesh, I WISH she'd told us that from the get-go!") In post 348, Flyer contends that if Balata gets pity points Flyer should too -- thus sustaining the myth that we're using a point system. Mudboy, weren't we planning on just spinning the wheel?

Post 360 Flyer's absolutely shameless repost of his claim that his dog at the house!

Post 362I can't quite put my finger on it, but for some reason I FreeTheHostages love Humblegunners' "Free the Gingermen" post. With those angry gingerbread men. Still, I think there's be too much of a riot of it won, so despite my personal fondness for it, it's more in the gingerbread men category than gingerbread house category. Perhaps the men are angry because they don't have a house?

Post 374 Flyer reposts humblegunner's gingerbread men and asks us to look in the first row of the men, to note that one of them has their head bitten off, and then Flyer says that Gilligan (the golden retriever) has been there. Mudboy, this is good stuff. One might not call it scientific *proof* that Gilligan likes to eat gingerbread, but I must say the evidence is becoming quite substantial. (Flyer asks in post 383 if we give him "points" for the fact that Flyer had a dog named "ginger" once. Points?? We gots no stinkin' points!) Flyer earns the judge's total respect in post 398 when Flyer notes the rules permit an entry to be a "verbal description" and then adds "I have had a very difficult time getting my description accepted as an entry. I think my flaw was that I gave a written description, not verbal." This kind of fault-finding with the judges' writing, and general disrespect for the judges throughout this thread, is frankly the kind of healthy suspicion of authority that one would hope for in any good conservative. Sure, on one level, it's disturbing that we haven't received any bribes from Flyer. But surely these successful forays into the world of humor count for something?

Post 396WVNan's entry is all-American. Someone did this gingerbread barn obviously with "help" from a child. Complete with silo and landscaping. Very sweet. Many points for Americana. It's not a finalist because we actually like better the next entry:

Post 397WVNan's Granny's Candy Store is closer to a "house" than her "barn," and it's clearly more than just a store. With the warm lights inside, we know that this is a place where the grandchildren feel perfectly at home! Note the artful use of candy canes! Definitely a finalist.