you know the drill.

CONTENDERS…

Thanks for the bailout… (brian larue)

The YS convention discount at the Sacramento deli (rob)

That’s actually the rebate price, if you could fill out this form you’ll recive your penny in 6-8 weeks. (kevin i)

Ham has dropped to $84 a barrel, and the US economy takes note (brock)

if only my car ran on ham instead of gasoline (jeremy street) (ysmarko: so fantastically random!)

Umm I was in here yesterday and bought two pounds of ham at 2.99 is there any way i could get a refund? Or at least store credit? (rooster)

No really, I couldn’t eat another bite. (jeff moulton) (ysmarko: FINALLY, someone with the monty python connection!! after all, it is “wafer thin”!!)

Call my broker! Sell Sell Sell!!!!!! (jeff moulton)

Sales blow out at the Bob’s Kosher Mart (dan)

The sign that said “seriously cheaper” made Mary wonder about the sign in the deli that said “seriously fresh” and the sign in the women’s bathroom that said “seriously clean”. (othy) (ysmarko: fantastic!)

and the winner is…
this was a tough one, because there are some dang funny responses. brian larue’s “thanks for the bailout…” minutes after i posted the photo was the first in a stream of economy-related comments. jeremy street’s “if only my car ran on ham instead of gasoline” was so wonderfully random. but in the end, it was impossible to beat the final contender; othy, with…

The sign that said “seriously cheaper” made Mary wonder about the sign in the deli that said “seriously fresh” and the sign in the women’s bathroom that said “seriously clean”.

shoot me an email with your book choice, othy!

and, as always, thanks for playing!

you know the rules…

ok, this is annoying. on tuesday morning, i’d decided this contest had gone on long enough, and chose a bunch of “contenders” and a winner, and added them to the post. i added a comment that the contest was closed. all good and well.

then i noticed that adam (our ys communitymeister) had chosen that post as one of the links of the week in the youth specialties update email, and said it was an open contest. i noticed additional entries coming in, and thought – for a couple days – don’t those people see the comment that says it’s closed, and the winner announced in the post?

then, last evening, i noticed that reader “rob” left the caption saying “the reason marko hasn’t posted the finalists yet.” and i thought, uh-oh. tuesday. tuesday was the day my blog got caught in some kind of netherworld between the old server it was on and the new server, and i had entire posts get swallowed into the ether. finally i scrolled down and noticed that none of those updates i’d made were there, and you wonderfully patient people must have thought i was a total dork!

so, how ’bout some contenders?

Yet another example of Youth Specialties leading kids to hell. (dana kidder)

Ken’s church introduces its evangelism plan… (ken macdonald)

“The 21st Century Church; accessible as ever.” (johnny mccormick)

What happens when the church board starts working with street signs. (kyle) (ysmarko: starting to see a theme here?)

“and the sign said long haired freaky people not apply” (brian edwards)

“Lord, I pray that you give me a sign!” (ben v)

this sign was made by the same person that tells us where we can play junior high games in church. (mike)

Welcome to Free Grace Fundamentalist Church (brian aaby)

Tower of Babel. (david taylor, jr) (ysmarko: the first time around, i’d given the award to someone who’s posted the short and witty, “street signs in babel” — but that comment seems to be gone now also, and while this “tower of babel” has the same vibe, it’s not quite as witty.)

When home-schoolers get the chance to lead. (sean)

Designated YS staff parking at Zondervan HQ. (rob)

and the winner is…

i’m goin’ with one of the earliest captions that applied it to the church, ken macdonald’s “Ken’s church introduces its evangelism plan.”

nice, ken. shoot me an email with your address and book choice!