Red Pandas Showing 1,801-1,850 of 6,610

[Kazen]

Bethany wrote: "So, will we not know the wheel challenge words until the day it starts?"

Rules have not been released yet so we'll have to wait and see. :)

[Kazen]

Ray (user2637) wrote: "Alas. Kazen has been encouraging me to learn patience (grasshopper) but I want to know too! :D I like to plan.."

lol Happy anticipation is good, strongly laced with patience. ;)

[Kazen]

Bethany wrote: "Well... I guess I'll just have to hunt down a book in my house for each letter!."

If they use the usual spell-it-out rules (which I'm guessing they will basically follow) you'll have some help - you can use not only the title (minus A, An, The) but also author first and last names, audiobook narrator first and last names, and even character names! I may be missing a category or two but again, we'll have to wait for the rules to exactly see what they're including this time.

[Kazen]

Lory wrote: "Im working on finishing a 667 pager.

Last time I looked A kiss of deception was not listed as completed. I finished a couple of days ago. "

Eeep, sorry! That was all me. Thanks for catching it.

[Kazen]

Riah wrote: "
Brave by Natalie Gayle
For Coaching"

Woo-hoo, excellent! Something I didn't know before this challenge - MMA romances are big on the one word titles. In our coaching books: Real, Brave, Mine, Come, Legend, Remy, Jagger....

[Kazen]

Bethany wrote: "Support Sprint--

Graceling by Kristin Cashore
Fantasy
1 hour
137 pages"

Yea support sprints! I put you down supporting Rose, as she's the one who read fantasy. Nice work :)

[Kazen]

Karin wrote: "Completion Post

The Girls by Emma Cline
370 pages
Page Jumping?"

I've heard so much buzz about this book - what did you think? The girls are waiting in the wings for PJ ;)

[Kazen]

Kate wrote: "
July 18, 2016
369 pages
For Chariot


July 20, 2016
304
For page jumping??"

Huzzah, congrats on finishing all your required books!

...and the chariot is done now! And we'll be able to open up bonus! Wooooo!

(That being said I have a bit of data entry before things are official, but the books are there, woot)

[Kazen]

Short notice, but a message from the mods if anyone is interested:

eta: The deadline has passed, so no worries! Putting it under a spoiler.

(view spoiler)[

Special Offer for Slender Loris, Mellow Mammoths, Red Pandas and Snow Leopards!

Starting July 22 is our BOM Sorcerer to the Crown

If you have a team member willing to join the discussion and write DQs we will give you a bonus of 2 Travel Agent Books.

Limit one team member per team mentioned above, you must message the mod account to take up this offer by midday July 21, London time.

The BOM thread is here.

(hide spoiler)]

[Bety]

Finished:

Graceling by Kristin Cashore
471 Pages
For Page Jumping, Heat 4.

[Bety]

Kazen wrote: "Short notice, but a message from the mods if anyone is interested:

Special Offer for Slender Loris, Mellow Mammoths, Red Pandas and Snow Leopards!

Starting July 22 is our BOM [book:Sorcerer to th..."

I was thinking of reading this, but what is a DQ?

[Lory]

Completion postThe Stolen One
For page jumping or chariot decorations. 402 pages I think.

[Kazen]

Bethany wrote: "I was thinking of reading this, but what is a DQ?"

Discussion questions. Have a look at a couple of old Books of the Month to see how they work :)

[Kazen]

Bethany wrote: "Finished:

Graceling by Kristin Cashore
471 Pages
For Page Jumping, Heat 4."

I was just thinking we need a book for this spot - perfect timing! Bwahahaha.

[Bety]

Kazen wrote:

I was just thinking we need a book for this spot - perfect timing! Bwahahaha."


Hmm, should I finish my 630 pager next or go for the 500-550 slot? Decisions decisions...

[Kazen]

Read whichever one excites you more! I find that I tend to read faster when I love the book :)

eta: I'm checking what other people said they're reading just in case, hold on a second...

eta2: Now that I'm looking we have a couple of people going for the 500s, so that 630 book may work nicely :)

eta3: So I guess I'm the master of contradictory advice! Hehe

[Riah]

Kazen- yes! I noticed that in the spreadsheet. Must be a requirement in order to publish a fighting book. Lol

[Ella]

the chariot decorations are fr chariot bonus or part of the initial challenge?

[Ella]

okay nevermind. i found d rules hehe.

[Kazen]

Great news - we've finished our required events, huzzah! :D If you'd like to have a look go to the spreadsheet and check out the Olympic Summary page. (Sprints aren't showing as complete because the mods need to fill that in, but we're done.)

So that means all the bonus is open, yea! Some of it is going to be hard to do in the 39 hours or so left in Olympics (countdown here) so here's a quick breakdown:

Event 1 - Title Relay - complicated with a min of 10 books, so let's skip it
Event 2 - Page Jumping - we're rocking this right now! A couple of spots left but it looks like they're all being read for
Event 3 - Distance - we might be able to put a swing together if someone would like to read a "word" book with stone, iron, lead, or bronze in the title, and we may also need an arm book. So no guarantees
Event 4 - Fight Club - there's still a couple of coaching books left
Event 5 - Chariot - we were able to fill in all of the decorations, yea!

The bottom line - if you have a book, of any sort, that you think you can finish by the end of Olympics go for it! If it's longer we might put it towards Page Jumping, and shorter books could fit in random holes as they pop up.

If you don't have a book you think you can finish by the end of Olympics, that's okay too. Start reading whatever book catches your fancy - we'll be able to put it towards Wheel no matter when you finish.

Support Sprints will be ending when the countdown timer goes under 24 hours, so 15 hours-ish from now.

I'll keep this short so you guys can get back to your books - read like the wind! :D

[Ray (user2637)]

Kate wrote: "
July 18, 2016
369 pages
For Chariot


July 20, 2016
304
For page jumping??"

Congrats Kate! Woot! :) Go team!

[Ray (user2637)]

Kazen wrote: "

Great news - we've finished our required events, huzzah! :D If you'd like to have a look go to the spreadsheet and check out the Olympic Summary page. (Sprints aren't showing as complete because ..."

HUZZAH!!!

I'm truckin along on my 599 pg book for PJ (Feed) and am committed to finishing it by the deadline. Sleep be damned! Haha.

Since we didn't use Omni-sack bonus O2, can we swap it for another one?

[Kazen]

Go Ray, Go! :D

Figuring out the Omni-sack bonus now in the staff room.

[Ray (user2637)]

Kazen wrote: "Go Ray, Go! :D

Figuring out the Omni-sack bonus now in the staff room."

Cool.

I have another question semi-related to the Mod pm about accusing people of cheating.... What happens if a team doesn't read/understand the rules and does something like has 1 member read 2 books in a Distance round? That's technically cheating. If someone mentions it to a mod (or whatever), it's not really an accusation because it's blatantly true! It's fact. Or what if a team doesn't have a member read a Chariot book? That's another rule break / cheat. I've seen both of these things on other team spreadsheets.

We've worked so hard arranging and cooperating to follow all the rules, and then other teams are just ignoring the rules? I'm not going to go blabbing to mommy about it or anything -- just doesn't seem fair / nice.

[Ella]

il finish my mma book in abt a half hour. i have one more short mma book. let me know if i need to do it and il strt it. (i dont know if anyone else is doing one)

[Kazen]

Ray (user2637) wrote: "I have another question semi-related to the Mod pm..."

This was more about following the chain of communication. PMing your own captains about issues - cool. PMing other teams' captains or the mods about issues - not cool. The issues can be there and valid, it's how you go about discussing them.

[Kazen]

Ella wrote: "il finish my mma book in abt a half hour. i have one more short mma book. let me know if i need to do it and il strt it. (i dont know if anyone else is doing one)"

You can always check the spreadsheet to see what's open... we have a spot for you if you want it! :D

[Caly ☯ Crazy Book Lady]

Lory wrote: "Awesome, thanks!

Caly, I just went to McKays! It was huge! but 3 books for 7 dollars isn't too bad.

I will look for books either 500-550 or 550 to 600. I won't start until tomorrow, so if someon..."

Cheers Lory! So glad you got to go to McKays! It can be a bit daunting if you are looking for a book not written by one of their popular authors, but I never go in there and not find something. 8-)

Enjoy the rest of your trip!

[Ella]

Finished
Zel: Markovic MMA by Roxie Rivera
21st july
134 pages
MMA coaching

[Ella]

Now reading

[Karen ⊰✿, Fiction Aficionado]

Ray (user2637) wrote: "What happens if a team doesn't read/understand the rules and does something like has 1 member read 2 books in a Distance round? That's technically cheating. If someone mentions it to a mod (or whatever), it's not really an accusation because it's blatantly true! It's fact. ..."


Sorry, just wandering by ;)
I agree with you Ray, that if a team has put in the incorrect info (can happen quite unintentionally!) then feel free to bring it to our attention and the mod mentor for that team can check it out. I wouldn't see that as an accusation of cheating.
Whereas, saying "I think Ray is cheating", for example, (not that anyone has said that! teehee) is clearly an accusation.
--edit: I should probably also remind everyone that the Omi-Sack bonus may be used by a team to do certain things that are different to the rules, so you may see something you think is wrong, but it is ok--

There have been a few shenanigans and the purpose of the broadcast message was really just to try and steer everyone back to remembering this is a challenge (there is a reason we don't call it a competition) and is meant to be fun :)

[Margaret]

Hi team, I will also read a coaching book before the end of Olympics.

[Ella]

Hi margaret, if u r doing an MMA book then i wont do Submission Moves: An MMA Romance. I think there's only 1 spot so i'll just read something else.. :) is there any other slot opened though?

[Kazen]

Nope, and I just realized something - you can't read both slots in one group :( I'm so sorry I didn't notice that earlier! So maybe that slot can be Margaret's?

[Ella]

i know. if no one else was doing mma i would have done it and then u could just move the books arnd to fit but since Margaret's doing a book i'll read something else.
so does this mean we've covered everything ?? except d relay bonus. :o

[Ray (user2637)]

Karen ⊰✿ wrote: "--edit: I should probably also remind everyone that the Omi-Sack bonus may be used by a team to do certain things that are different to the rules, so you may see something you think is wrong, but it is ok--"

This was part of the reason I asked about the O-S prize that opens a bonus round early. I saw a team that got that prize around the 15th but had books posted there that were finished on the 10th. I was hoping that was allowed as it would make it easier on us! But Margaret replied to me and said no.

But you're right, could be I'm misunderstanding / missing something. I'll just leave it to the spreadsheet & mods to sort out. :) Not really sure I should be helping other teams get more points, haha.

[Lory]

So, is it possible to get a summation of the books for page jumping? For example, there are still open slots in the spreadsheet. I know there are people reading, so I just wanted to find which book would be best once my current one is completed.
I can find a book with one of the words for Bonus 3, if needed.

@Ella
The only other bonus available is the 3rd round where you read a book with an arm or one of the words. I think we have a lot of books that can be swapped in for the distance, but I am not entirely sure how this bonus round works.

[Ray (user2637)]

For Distance, a 3-book Round has to be completed to score. So a word book + an arm book + the specified length book. The bronze and lead rounds get more points vs the other two words. Hope that helps, Lory.

[Ella]

thanks lory. so should v plan out one ? (because v must finish all three types to get points. like ray said)

[Ray (user2637)]

Lory wrote: "So, is it possible to get a summation of the books for page jumping? For example, there are still open slots in the spreadsheet. I know there are people reading, so I just wanted to find which book..."

I've been keeping notes in Excel to help me pick books. Not sure they are 100% correct anymore -- everything changes so quickly! But this is what I have that's not already on the spreadsheet:
501 - 550 Lory??
551 - 600 Ray Feed (599)
601 - 650 Bethany ?? (620)

We probably still have an Omni-Sack prize available that we could use to rearrange the numbers in page numbers (e.g. 154 could become 514), so that might save us. :)

[Ray (user2637)]

Ella wrote: "thanks lory. so should v plan out one ? (because v must finish all three types to get points. like ray said)"

In Kazen's update above (post 1864), she says:
"Event 3 - Distance - we might be able to put a swing together if someone would like to read a "word" book with stone, iron, lead, or bronze in the title, and we may also need an arm book. So no guarantees"

Looks to me like that means we have books available for the # of pgs portion of Distance, thus would only need 2 books. I would love to read The City of Gold and Lead to help out with this but don't think I have time since I still have ~300 pgs of Feed to go. :( I've been saving Gold & Lead for when the bonus opened up, alas.

[Ella]

Thanks ray. I think im going to go ahead and read Stone Devil Duke. There are a lot of extra books with less than 250pages. Now all we need is a whole arm.

[Lory]

Well, I have an arm book.But if I'm reading the 500-550page, I'm not sure I'll have enough time. I'll keep it in mind though!

[Kazen]

Lory, what is your 501-550 pager? It's the only one I couldn't find in past messages, probably because I missed it :P

eta: And are you still reading that 672 page brick book? ;) Hehe

[Ray (user2637)]

Or, looks like some of the books that haven't been used could partially solve this. Ella's Baby and All has an arm, and there are several that fit up to 250, 250-400 or 401-500 pgs. I'm not seeing a 501+ pg book available.

So we'd need a "stone", "lead" or "iron" only, to be able to grab one of the Rounds.

This is wrong. Nothing to see here. :)

[Ray (user2637)]

Ella wrote: "Thanks ray. I think im going to go ahead and read Stone Devil Duke. There are a lot of extra books with less than 250pages. Now all we need is a..."

Okay, if you read this, we'll need to find another arm book b/c you can't have more than 1 book per round. I'm sure there are some arms around though. Off to look! :)

[Kazen]

Ray - all bonus books can only be read after bonus opens. I have to go through the rules for exact wording, but yeah. So books finished earlier don't work for Distance, though we could pop them into Page Jumping or Chariot because the rules are different/we opened them early.

eta: detail

[Ray (user2637)]

Kazen wrote: "Ray - all bonus books can only be read after bonus opens. I have to go through the rules for exact wording, but yeah. So books finished earlier don't work for Distance, though we could pop them int..."

DOH! You're right of course. Shoot. I thought I was on to something there. :( When, exactly, did our bonuses open?

[Kazen]

I think the date we're going with is July 20th. That's for Relay (which we're not doing because woah) and Distance only. No problems in Page Jumping - we opened that early and we only put later books in the bonus. Coaching slots opened after each sprint was completed. And Chariot had supplemental books, not bonus, so those are okay too.

So in practice, we only need to worry about dates with Distance.

[Ella]

Ray (user2637) wrote: "Ella wrote: "Thanks ray. I think im going to go ahead and read Stone Devil Duke. There are a lot of extra books with less than 250pages. Now all..."

Hehe infact this book would have worked for both stone and arm but im guessing it will b easier to find a spare arm than a stone.. So stone it is! ;)