Entries for this week's challenge are now closed. We'll announce the winner online on Friday, Oct. 7, and return with a new challenge online and in the paper Monday, Oct. 10.
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Sept. 23: The new winner
The winner:
"I’m the N.C. governor and I’ve come to say, 'If you want to relocate, I am willing to pay.'"
-- Michael B. Stein of Charlotte
The runners-up:
"Introducing, N.C.'s newest subsidized cash crop!"
-- Justice Robert F. Orr, Raleigh
"Dole out incentives!"
-- Douglas Cox, Albemarle
“Don’t forget – we’re a ripe to work state.”
-- Phil Clutts, Harrisburg
"This'll show those Banana Republicans in the legislature!"
-- Loyd Dillon, Charlotte
"Day-oh…Day-oh, Goodrich gone and I want to go home!"
-- Wade Davis, Charlotte
"Politicians have to ripen in a certain way!”
-- David W. White, Charlotte
Thank you for all your entries. Here's a selection of some of the other better lines we received this week:
"I'm exercising my Carmen Miranda rights."
"Taxpayers will experience Chiquita sticker shock."
"Too many corporate incentives drive taxpayers bananas."
"They want a whole bunch."
“The new North Carolina State Seal!”
"Looks like Chiquita is on the Dole."
“Orange you glad I’m Governor!”
"I'm Bev Perdue and I've come to say, I cannot be unduly influenced in any way."
"I'm an unappealing governor and I'm here to stay..."
"North Carolina will not play second banana to anyone."
"Let's not slip on this one."
"Charlotte has so much apeel."
"If you don't like Cincinnati, split."
"The nearer your destination, the more you slip sliding away."
For a history of the banana and the political and cultural manipulations necessary to make it one of our favorite fruits and an industry for which states are willing to shell out millions, give Dan Koeppel's Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World a read. A fascinating NPR interview with the author can be found here, where, among other things, he talks about the history of the Chiquita Banana song and how Miss Chiquita taught us how to eat and store them in song and dance ("Because they come from the equator, never put them in the refrigerator!").
Your new challenge: Sept. 19, 2011
Welcome to You Write the Caption, the Charlotte Observer cartoon caption contest, an opportunity to test your wit and win a prize. Each Monday, Observer editorial cartoonist Kevin Siers will post a political cartoon that needs a caption and invite readers to write one. To learn more about our contest and see our caption writing guidelines, please click here.
Submissions must reach us by NOON, Wednesday, Sept. 21.
Enter as many times as you wish. To submit your caption on-line, just click here to e-mail us. (Or address your e-mail to caption@charlotteobserver.com)
Please include your mailing address and daytime phone number.
To mail your caption to the Observer, address it to You Write the Caption, Editorial Department, The Charlotte Observer, P.O. Box 30308, Charlotte, NC 28230-0308.
Sept. 16: the new winner
The winner:
"I’m not Ron Paul. I’m Mrs. Paul."
-- Guy M. Long III of New York, NY
The runners-up:
"Bark and purr all you want. The real winner is going to have to know how to swim upstream."
-- Anne Monroe, Charlotte
"I'm not sure I like these media feeding frenzies."
-- Moses Luski, Charlotte
"Political debates are a pet peeve of mine."
-- Kenneth Irving, Kannapolis
"I alone have the experience for a tanking economy."
-- John Divine, Charlotte
"I was born to de bait!"
-- Rodney Robinson of Linconlton, with variations from many others
Thanks for all your entries. Here's a selection of some of the other better captions we received:
"The further right you go, the more fishy it gets."
"Can't we all just get along?"
"Perhaps we should return to the goldfish standard."
"You can stop with the joke about how the third-party candidate doesn't have a leg to stand on!"
"Homeland security is my top priority!"
“Neither of you would be my pet candidate.”
"I was expecting a dog and pony."
"I'm accustomed to the scrutiny of the fishbowl."
"You harp. I carp."
Your new challenge: Sept. 12, 2011
Welcome to You Write the Caption, the Charlotte Observer cartoon caption contest, an opportunity to test your wit and win a prize. Each Monday, Observer editorial cartoonist Kevin Siers will post a political cartoon that needs a caption and invite readers to write one. To learn more about our contest and see our caption writing guidelines, please click here.
Submissions must reach us by NOON, Wednesday, Sept. 14.
Enter as many times as you wish. To submit your caption on-line, just click here to e-mail us. (Or address your e-mail to caption@charlotteobserver.com)
Please include your mailing address and daytime phone number.
To mail your caption to the Observer, address it to You Write the Caption, Editorial Department, The Charlotte Observer, P.O. Box 30308, Charlotte, NC 28230-0308.
Sept. 9: The new winner
The winner:
"Babe? He's a RED ox now!"
Michael Ernandes of Charlotte
The runners-up:
"The Tea Party has hired me to make a few small cuts in your budget!"
-- Mic Elvenstar, Charlotte
"Yes, they did give me the axe."
-- Lewis Shilane, Joplin, Mo.
"Sorry, but I'm not big enough to do that kind of budget cutting."
-- Mike Tuggle, Charlotte
"If you're interested in tall tales from Minnesota, Michele Bachmann is the master."
-- Charles Randall, Cherryville
Thanks for all your entries. Here's a selection of some of the other better lines we received:
"Big Labor would like a job, please."
"You get smaller and less effective with every new jobs plan you propose."
"So you need some help with the budget, eh?
"Can you guess who's on the chopping block?"
“Congress is more splintered than anything I ever cut!”
"The difference between 'word' and 'work' is more than a 'k.'"
"You're living a tall tale!"
"Sorry. You're just not cutting it."
"You seem less sharp everyday."
"I'm here to give you the ax."
"Nope. Big cuts only."
"The buget's too big to fell."
Your Labor Day challenge: 09/05/11
Welcome to You Write the Caption, the Charlotte Observer cartoon caption contest, an opportunity to test your wit and win a prize. Each Monday, Observer editorial cartoonist Kevin Siers will post a political cartoon that needs a caption and invite readers to write one. To learn more about our contest and see our caption writing guidelines, please click here.
Submissions must reach us by NOON, Wednesday, Sept. 7.
Enter as many times as you wish. To submit your caption on-line, just click here to e-mail us. (Or address your e-mail to caption@charlotteobserver.com)
Please include your mailing address and daytime phone number.
To mail your caption to the Observer, address it to You Write the Caption, Editorial Department, The Charlotte Observer, P.O. Box 30308, Charlotte, NC 28230-0308.
Sept. 2: The new winner
The winner:
"You're myth taken!"
-- Loyd Dillon of Charlotte
The runners-up:
“Well, I’m a DIS-centaur!”
-- Phil Clutts, Harrisburg
"Thank you for the Nag's Head road repair estimate, Gov. Perdue."
-- Douglas Cox, Albemarle
"Diogenes warned me about you."
-- Bill McGloughlin, Charlotte
"I assume you know what 'assume' stands for."
-- Dale Stout, Colorado Springs, Colo.
"The farther we go, the behinder we get."
-- Joe Coviello, Mooresville
"It's all Greek to me."
-- From many readers
Thanks for all your entries. Here's a selection of some of the better lines we received:
"Can anyone else make heads or tails of this?"
"Your conclusions are based on myth-conceptions."
"If you can pull that off it would be the deal of the Centaury"
"I'm a little horse from shouting down your false claims."
"An ordinary Democrat would turn tail and run."
"Your economic predictions lack horse sense."
"That is based on a Gallup Poll."
"Those projections are half crazy."
"And that's a half-assed economic projection!" (with variations, from many, many readers)
“During inflation I became a Dimetaur!”
"That chart will stirrup dissension."
"You're just trying to jockey for position."
"I'll get down off my high horse when you stop holding that graph sideways."
