Competing with Myself for iGene Awards (and Winning)

The topic for the 114th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is: The 5th Annual iGene Awards! It’s the brainchild of the ever-creative Jasia at CreativeGene. That means choosing your own best blog posts in five categories ... a very subjective choice. On Jasia’s website after February 1st, you will see the results—submissions from a spectrum of GeneaBloggers. It’s an opportunity to see the best of your colleagues in case you missed some goodies over the past year. This is my first time participating; it’s frankly unnerving to review one’s own opus (50 posts in 2011) to see if any make the cut. Colleagues have set a high bar in past performances.
   


Here in downtown eighteenth-century York, spotlights are swooping, the glam is arriving, and the orchestra is tuning up. I be nervous, so I am incognito. Pass the free wine quickly (included in the outrageous ticket price). Deepest regrets from George Clooney and Kenneth Branagh who would have been here to present my awards but the yo-yo weather arbitrarily stranded them in Toronto South (otherwise known as Los Angeles).


Best Picture
What was I thinking? Not that many genea-photos last year! The photograph of great-grandfather Otto Freibergs was not lost; it was his identity that was FOUND. Here is where I sneak in a non-2011 biography of Otto. Old family photos are in limited supply, whereas more current family photos are quite abundant. Therefore special mention goes to The Big Lake They Call ...  which totally ignores any people living or dead. I promise to do better this year because I want to win again.

Best Documentary
The winner is Frasers Part 15. Not just because it has spectacular scenery in exotic Quebec and mythic Scotland. I am totally convinced that if you say DON’L and DAN’L in Highland -accented English they will sound the same. Even more so if you say them in the Gaelic. The post reminds me that most research posts are part of a larger work-in-progress, and the ongoing flux makes intermediate conclusions—if any—temporary. If this is not swiftly nominated for Hot Docs or the Sundance Festival, it will go straight to DVD.


Best Biography 
Biography did not have strong contenders over the required period. I declare a tie, to tepid applause (pulling my hat down to my chin). Dougall: A Reverend is a frippery based mostly on online research because Rev. John was a curiosity, not a serious study: not anywhere on my family charts. Also featured is George Porter Farewell. The post is a summary of a same-name question that extended over a series. Reading the whole works, using the embedded links, would be a chore unless you want the full complicated flavour.

Best Comedy
The judges had skimpy material since humour is generally reserved for my other blog. The Annual Letter wins by a whisker, or rather by a cocktail. My apologies to those left in suspense about driving in a nightgown. All will be auspiciously revealed on my other blog. In due time. With literary licence, of course. The Great Big Fat Family Tree was runner-up here, but really ... apart from a magnificent new acronym, it sounds stale-dated to me, as genealogy debates go.

Best Screen Play
No contest! Unanimous votes were cast for Camel Adventures: Wadi Rum. Helen Mirren will play ME, of course, Meryl Streep notwithstanding. I definitely want that gorgeous guy from Incendies to be the camel handler—the one who got shot right away by her brothers. The director has to be Doug Baum, my Texas Camel Corps friend, who understands all the nuances of desert culture. And can do the heavy lifting. Ideally, we would get Zou-Zou to play the lead camel. The movie will be filmed on location in south Jordan and have no full-frontals. Bring your family. 

No animals will be harmed in this production. In fact they will have more fun than we do. 
 
Whew. Good thing it was just me I was up against. This blogger sends out a big Thank You to the iGene Academy and all those bloggers who inspire me to do better. 


© Brenda Dougall Merriman 2011