Best Custom Pips of 2014

[Rose]

Best Custom Pips of 2014

This Award for the Best Custom Pips of 2014! Post your nominations here.

Nominated, not Seconded:

Nominated AND Seconded:

[Don Boyer]

NOMINATIONS ARE CLOSED.  This award had NO nominations this year, so no winner winner, no chicken dinner.

[Collector]

Bicycle Excellence Playing Cards by Elite Playing Cards
Bicycle Gods of Mythology (rewards shipped - January 6, 2014)
Bicycle Elegance Playing Cards by Collectable Playing Cards
Bicycle Steampunk Pirates Playing Cards by Nat Iwata
Different deck by Teach by Magic
Celtic Playing Cards by Cultúrlán Enterprises

P.S. Oscar 2014... February... Why?

[Don Boyer]

Bicycle Excellence Playing Cards by Elite Playing Cards
Bicycle Gods of Mythology (rewards shipped - January 6, 2014)
Bicycle Elegance Playing Cards by Collectable Playing Cards
Bicycle Steampunk Pirates Playing Cards by Nat Iwata
Different deck by Teach by Magic
Celtic Playing Cards by Cultúrlán Enterprises

P.S. Oscar 2014... February... Why?

Brother, you don't have to convince me - but where were you during the nomination period?  It lasted for about 20 days...

Now, regarding the Oscars, as large as our membership is, only a portion are active.  The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, the organization that created the Academy Awards) is a MUCH, MUCH larger bunch of people, and they're almost all active.  You can't swing a dead cat in Hollywood without hitting an ad "for your consideration" that's promoting a movie which is up for an Oscar.  With an organization that large, it takes time.

Additionally, each member gets to vote in the category of their own specialty and Best Picture.  So a director only chooses for Best Picture and Best Director.  Actors only get to pick Best Picture, Best Male Actor, Best Female Actor (the term "actress" is no longer used) and the Supporting Actor awards for each gender.

Now, to help facilitate people in their voting, each member can get discs of the nominated movies they're voting on, even if the movie is not yet in retail stores or even still in theaters.  The distribution takes time, and so does the preparation of the discs - each is serially numbered in the movie itself with the number appearing about every half-hour, and the numbers are linked to the AMPAS member who received them.  This way when someone uses an Academy disc to make illegal copies and sell them or post them online, it doesn't require rocket science to track down who that member is - and kick them out of the Academy.  They don't mess around regarding pirates.

Interesting fact: the term "Oscars" came about when, in 1931, the Academy's Executive Secretary Margaret Herrick received a batch of the awards as the Awards Ceremony was approaching.  She commented that it looked like her "Uncle Oscar" (a nickname for her cousin Oscar Pierce).  Some consider that origin as apocryphal, however, and several competing theories include one that says Bette Davis named it after her first husband, band leader Harmon Oscar Nelson.

The official name of the award was Academy Award of Merit, but in 1939 the Academy officially dubbed it the Oscar Award and as of 2013, they officially renamed the Awards ceremony from the Academy Awards to the Oscars.  Since 1950, all Award recipients are bound by a contract that forces them or their heirs to offer the sale of the Award statuette to the Academy for $1 before selling it on the open market - if the winner doesn't sign the contract, the Award remains with the Academy.  Thus, Academy Awards are very rare in the open market, the last one having sold for over $60,000.

I know - the answer is perhaps ten times larger than you were hoping for.  Sometimes, you get the tiger - and sometimes, the tiger gets you!

[Collector]

Bicycle Excellence Playing Cards by Elite Playing Cards
Bicycle Gods of Mythology (rewards shipped - January 6, 2014)
Bicycle Elegance Playing Cards by Collectable Playing Cards
Bicycle Steampunk Pirates Playing Cards by Nat Iwata
Different deck by Teach by Magic
Celtic Playing Cards by Cultúrlán Enterprises

P.S. Oscar 2014... February... Why?

Brother, you don't have to convince me - but where were you during the nomination period?  It lasted for about 20 days...

Two close people in hospitals, one ill, I also was ill. Well, I had some tasks which were more important than playing cards  

Now, regarding the Oscars, as large as our membership is, only a portion are active.  The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, the organization that created the Academy Awards) is a MUCH, MUCH larger bunch of people, and they're almost all active.  You can't swing a dead cat in Hollywood without hitting an ad "for your consideration" that's promoting a movie which is up for an Oscar.  With an organization that large, it takes time.

Additionally, each member gets to vote in the category of their own specialty and Best Picture.  So a director only chooses for Best Picture and Best Director.  Actors only get to pick Best Picture, Best Male Actor, Best Female Actor (the term "actress" is no longer used) and the Supporting Actor awards for each gender.

Now, to help facilitate people in their voting, each member can get discs of the nominated movies they're voting on, even if the movie is not yet in retail stores or even still in theaters.  The distribution takes time, and so does the preparation of the discs - each is serially numbered in the movie itself with the number appearing about every half-hour, and the numbers are linked to the AMPAS member who received them.  This way when someone uses an Academy disc to make illegal copies and sell them or post them online, it doesn't require rocket science to track down who that member is - and kick them out of the Academy.  They don't mess around regarding pirates.

Interesting fact: the term "Oscars" came about when, in 1931, the Academy's Executive Secretary Margaret Herrick received a batch of the awards as the Awards Ceremony was approaching.  She commented that it looked like her "Uncle Oscar" (a nickname for her cousin Oscar Pierce).  Some consider that origin as apocryphal, however, and several competing theories include one that says Bette Davis named it after her first husband, band leader Harmon Oscar Nelson.

The official name of the award was Academy Award of Merit, but in 1939 the Academy officially dubbed it the Oscar Award and as of 2013, they officially renamed the Awards ceremony from the Academy Awards to the Oscars.  Since 1950, all Award recipients are bound by a contract that forces them or their heirs to offer the sale of the Award statuette to the Academy for $1 before selling it on the open market - if the winner doesn't sign the contract, the Award remains with the Academy.  Thus, Academy Awards are very rare in the open market, the last one having sold for over $60,000.

I know - the answer is perhaps ten times larger than you were hoping for.  Sometimes, you get the tiger - and sometimes, the tiger gets you!

First of all, I am glad that you understand my friendly hints and facetious remarks in a right way (I mean all threads dedicated to awards)... as friendly hints and facetious remarks

It was interesting to read about Oscar. So, I got the tiger, R-R-R 

[Don Boyer]

Brother, you don't have to convince me - but where were you during the nomination period?  It lasted for about 20 days...

Two close people in hospitals, one ill, I also was ill. Well, I had some tasks which were more important than playing cards  

I'm very sorry to hear that.  You made a conscious decision to be elsewhere mentally and physically, and it was the right decision to make.

But that doesn't mean the world stops revolving - especially when it's not revolving around you! 

I know - the answer is perhaps ten times larger than you were hoping for.  Sometimes, you get the tiger - and sometimes, the tiger gets you!

First of all, I am glad that you understand my friendly hints and facetious remarks in a right way (I mean all threads dedicated to awards)... as friendly hints and facetious remarks

It was interesting to read about Oscar. So, I got the tiger, R-R-R 

When the hints and remarks become persistent and continue coming, it gets annoying.  This evening I've lost my temper more than once about some of the remarks you've said.  I'd never tell you you aren't welcome here - you are, as is everyone else, with extremely rare exceptions.  But there is such a thing as taking a joke or a little kidding too far - please keep your eyes open for that line and try not to cross it.  The alternative would be for me to ignore whatever you have to say, and that would be a bad thing.

I'm not a very religious man, the closest thing to a religion I'd consider my own being Zen Buddhism.  The kind of inner conflict this creates isn't good.  The clearer my mind and my conscience, the calmer and more peaceful my life becomes.

[Collector]

Brother, you don't have to convince me - but where were you during the nomination period?  It lasted for about 20 days...

Two close people in hospitals, one ill, I also was ill. Well, I had some tasks which were more important than playing cards  

I'm very sorry to hear that.  You made a conscious decision to be elsewhere mentally and physically, and it was the right decision to make.

But that doesn't mean the world stops revolving - especially when it's not revolving around you! 

I know - the answer is perhaps ten times larger than you were hoping for.  Sometimes, you get the tiger - and sometimes, the tiger gets you!

First of all, I am glad that you understand my friendly hints and facetious remarks in a right way (I mean all threads dedicated to awards)... as friendly hints and facetious remarks

It was interesting to read about Oscar. So, I got the tiger, R-R-R 

When the hints and remarks become persistent and continue coming, it gets annoying.  This evening I've lost my temper more than once about some of the remarks you've said.  I'd never tell you you aren't welcome here - you are, as is everyone else, with extremely rare exceptions.  But there is such a thing as taking a joke or a little kidding too far - please keep your eyes open for that line and try not to cross it.  The alternative would be for me to ignore whatever you have to say, and that would be a bad thing.

I'm not a very religious man, the closest thing to a religion I'd consider my own being Zen Buddhism.  The kind of inner conflict this creates isn't good.  The clearer my mind and my conscience, the calmer and more peaceful my life becomes.

Answer in "Best Custom Courts of 2014" thread.