Some of you may have been trying to contact us or have not been receiving your confirmation emails recently.  Unfortunately we’ve been having some mail problems.  It all seems to be sorted now though, we hope :/

If you have any questions, feel free to email us at info@thebigwordproject.com.

Details

• Wordee - Pamela Poole
• Word - Francophile, Francophilia, Geeks, Serendipity, Splendor and Chanson
• Website - Francophilia.com

Hungover in Paris

Oh god I am dying.  Thank God I arranged to meet Pamela in the evening.  It was a heavy one last night with a load of Irish guys, very messy indeed.  So anyway, I got to meet Pamela in Paris and we decided to go to a wee wine bar down a nice dark alleyway [The sun was hurting my eyes] in the Latin quarter for a pint or two.  Pamela was great!  Pamela is a kind of Internet celebrity, featuring in her own comic strip ‘Geeks in Love‘. It’s pretty much a measuring stick for geekiness.  If you laugh i’m afraid you too sir are a geek

I’ve never before or since met such a self confessed francophile.  Pamela has been living in France for a few years now and loves everything about it.  We had great chats about all things French, from the language to customs.  (I made the mistake of ordering a drink at the bar, apparently you have to wait for the barmaid to come to you.)  We took a wee look at politics, the Internet culture and then got on to the real important stuff.  Eddie Izzard!  There’s a certain sparkle that people get in their eyes when the find another eddieizzardite, followed by a round of ‘covered in bees’, ‘cake or death’ and ‘death star canteen’ talk.

Thanks Pam

Pam blogged about out little meetup on her Frog Blog.  She called me ‘adorable’, aw  :”)  Pam is an absolute legend on the internet, spinning a lot of blog plates simultaneously, but still having time to buy a whole heap of words on The Big Word Project.

I totally forgot that Low Rider was playing in the background of our interview.  How much cooler does that make it?

Was great meeting up with you Pam, hope to run into you again someday, maybe when Im not so hungover :p

Word of the day

Rescues -  To set free, as from danger or imprisonment; save

Ironically Kyle was the first to redefine a word on TBWP - superheroes

Word of the day

Congratulations - an expression of joy in the success or good fortune of another

Details

• Wordee - Barbara Slade
• Word - Croatian
• Website - Sutra.hr

Big Yellow Building

And she wasn’t lying.  It is very big and very very yellow!  Barbara Slade is the next Wordee I met, in Zagreb - Croatia.  Barbara said she would pick me up outside the striking building after she finished work and drive me to Jarun lake for a beer or two.  Was my first female Wordee planning to kidnap or kill me?

Only one way to find out!

I turned up early to the National Theatre to wait for Barbara and to pass the time I decided to constantly get squirted by a kid’s water pistol.  Actually wait, now that I think of it, it was his choice.  Just as I was about to throw him in the fountain, my phone lit up with the words ‘Wordee - Barbara’.  I answered and Barbara said she was at the other side of the Theatre.  After a bit of ‘No you’re going the wrong way’ and ‘No, your other left’, I located a stunning Croatian lady waving at me.  Barbara’s driving was interesting.  It was clear that her accelerator foot knew exactly where she wanted to go but the rush hour traffic and ‘granny drivers’ were holding her back…while I was holding onto the seat for support.

(Only messing B…kinda).

No Iron?

We arrived at a beautiful lake surrounded by an array of pubs and after we carefully picked one, we sat down to discuss a range of topics including cultural differences, crime, Croatian economy, adventures in Vegas, jobs, beer, relationships and ‘are Irish guys aware of a new invention called the iron?’ - Barbara making fun of the fact I was in a very wrinkly tshirt.  Come on!  I’m backpacking around Europe, I have no time for Irons!

Our topic of discussion moved on to Croatian law and how it was more relaxed for certain crimes and also how the verdict all depended on who committed the crime.  Eventually Barbara uttered the words: “Because I am a woman and you are a foreigner, I could kill you right now and probably get away with it.”  This led to me thinking ‘have I told people back home I’m currently in Zagreb?’

Barbara’s great

But Barbara was a great Wordee and a great ambassador for the word Croatian!  And she didn’t drown me in the lake after all. I had lots of fun meeting up with her and after we drank some mysterious green drink we got a free little lighty up thingy. (Only way I can describe it).

A friendly taxi drive took the above photo outside the National Theatre after we came back from the lake.  I went back to my Hostel where the rest of the guys staying there were watching ‘Hostel Part 2′.  What a movie to watch in an already dodgy hostel?!  We were even more freaked out when the phone in the hostel rang at that part where all the phones are ringing around the world.  You know the part I mean.

Thanks again for meeting up with me B, looking forward to getting another mysterious drink with you sometime!

We’ve been shortlisted in the “Most Innovative Website’ category, sponsored by iQ Content.

Check out the rest of the nominees.

Worth a look, although they couldn’t answer our query.

1. Daycare
2. Osmiridium
3. Sailor
4. Kitty

The words were randomly selected by our ‘Randomizer’ and each will receive a $50 iTunes voucher.

We had some great feedback from the competition and thanks to everyone for giving us your reasons for buying words. Reasons ranged from “it’s the name of my business” to “helping to promote my website” and to simply “why not?”.

We’re glad we can give something back to you guys! Thanks

Interview number 4 with Jay Martin, who redefined ‘cargo’ and ‘polyamory’ in Cologne, Germany.

Details

• Wordee - Jay Martin
• Word - Cargo and Polyamory
• Website - gyokusai.com and polyamor.de

Human Wikipedia

First of all I must say, Jay is one of the smartest guys I have ever met!  No matter the topic of conversation (and we covered a lot of topics during the day) he was an expert, from George Orwell to Japanese inventions.  I think he may be the closest thing to a Human Wikipedia.

I have now made it to Cologne in Germany, leaving behind the lovely rain of Amsterdam for the…well…cloudiness of Cologne.  Still I cant complain, Cologne is a great place with 1.49Euro for 6 beers.  You couldn’t beat that with a big stick!  Myself and Anna (my newly recruited camerawoman) waited for Jay outside the train station on the steps of Cologne Cathedral.  I enjoy this part as it’s fun guessing what my next Wordee will look like. After a few wrong guesses a man started to make a beeline for us.  We thought this might be him.  ‘Paddy?’ He said.  (I guess we were right.) ‘Jay!’ I said.  After a firm handshake and a bit of small talk we headed to a small cafe on the square for a coffee.

Deep

Jay, Anna and myself had a great time discussing the world, religion, relationships, 1984, politics and language to name a few of the topics.  I must say some of the discussions were pretty deep, which was a welcome change from the last week of discussing complex issues like ‘which bar will we hit tonight?’ and ‘Will drinking this kill us straight away?’  Over a few coffees we learned that Jay is an accomplished writer and a member of the German Writer’s Guild.  Impressive stuff!  He told us all about his new novel, ‘Cargo’, a science fiction story. By the way Jay if you are reading this, I could make a great Alien if it gets made into a movie.  Just keep it in mind ;).

Jay redefined two great words as you can hear in the interview above and taught us a lot about the German language among other things.  I really should have been taking more notes I fear as my German is not so hot now

Willy Wonka

We then met up with some friends and we went to the chocolate factory!  Yes Cologne has a chocolate factory!  But don’t get too excited, its not that impressive.  I think we had built it up too much in our minds to be like Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory and the fact that there was now 5 of us just made it more anticipating.  We all made it out alive though and we went to a Chinese restaurant for dinner.  Jay joined us and was able to order for us in Chinese.  He never failed to surprise us!

Goodbyes

So it was great to meet Wordee number 4!  Jay certainly has a love for words being a writer and we’re really happy he is part of The Big Word Project family Hope to see you again soon as I am back to discussing ‘Which bar will we hit tonight?’…

With an upcoming presidential election the candidates have been receiving their ’support’ from TBWP.

McCain

McCain, Palin, Tired

Obama

Socialist, President, Imp, Elect, Charlatan

So going by TBWP to date, Obama’s looking good.

Bush

Even the current President of the United States has a lot of support from TBWP

Bush, Douche, Fail, Idiot, Moron, Wanker, Lies, Lier

What words would you use to describe the candidates?

Word of the day

Presidency - the office, function, or term of office of a president