El Bloggo Torcido - Twisted Oak Winery: Take Your Rubber Chicken to Work

It's time to vote! The esteemed panel of Twisted Judges has rendered their decision and we have our finalists, which are presented below.

This year we have decided to present more than just one of the images and videos from each finalist (when available), to give a better representation of their bodies of work (so to speak.) So, when you look at each entry below in some cases there will be a link to go view the rest of their entry.

After you have viewed all of the entries, we need you to vote for your favorite. And as an added twist, everyone that votes and provides us with a valid email address will have the chance to win a $50 gift certificate good towards your next purchase from twistedoak.com!

Each of the finalists were chosen because they made the judges laugh, and because they somehow embodied the theme of personal rubber chicken growth. When you vote, please keep these considerations in mind.

Go to the TYRCTWW Voting Page Now! Voting ends February 17th! Extended to February 18th!

#1: Henrietta the Rubber Chicken Goes to Work by Christine Putman. "Henrietta came to work with me at the warehouse for Alibris, a used, rare and out-of-print book web based company. While here she thought she was Douglas MacArthur surveying the troops and then proceeded to take over everyone’s job, from paperwork to shipping…she made a few friends (mostly guys who like bikini clad chickens) and many enemies. Then there was an accident, we still do not know if there was an attempt on her life or she just slipped when shipping. She was almost sent to Twisted Oak Winery but was rescued by one of those guys who likes chickens..." More pictures and story here.

#2: Migrating Rubber Chicken by Craig Blett. "I’m a wildlife photographer and caught this image on a recent trip to the coast." (No other images for this one, but click on the image to see a larger version.)

#3: Fire Captain Rocco the Rubber Chicken by David McCrea. A bit of fire control, a bit of paperwork, and getting to drive the truck. More pictures and the whole story here.

#4: Vector Control Rubber Chicken by Eric Ghilarducci. "I am a vector ecologist working at a Mosquito and Vector Control District. My responsibilities include the surveillance and investigation of vector-borne diseases in our county. Part of my work requires conducting annual surveillance for mosquito-borne encephalitis viruses by maintaining 5 flocks of 'sentinel' chickens located in different parts of the county. Blood samples from these chickens are tested biweekly May through October for antibodies to encephalitis viruses. Our flocks are part of a statewide network operated in cooperation with the California Department of Health Services and assist us in tracking and controlling the spread of disease. Once the surveillance season is complete, the chickens are given to families interested in providing a quiet home for them.

"My chicken accompanied me to work and learned what it was like to give blood. Thus, joining the ranks of the thousands of chickens before it, doing it's part in the surveillance, prevention, and control of communicable disease. I salute this chicken and all chickens like it!"

Click here to see the video.

#5: Inertia Rubber Chicken by Jennifer Cheng. All Jennifer said in her email was "%@#%!" so you will just have to go with that. This entry is a PDF file which requires the Adobe Reader to view, and you can view and/or download the file by clicking here.

#6: Color Guard Rubber Chicken by Lynn Hirth. Last year's TYRCTWW champ takes her rubber chicken to try out with the marching band color guard. This entry includes a YouTube video and more still photos - click here to see them.

#7: Beauty Salon Rubber Chicken by Lynnell Ford. "We decided to bring our chicken to my salon (Creations Salon in Modesto). We put an apron on him and gave him a pair of scissors. We attempted to teach him how to cut hair but as you can see from our photo it didn't turn out so well for the client... Ouch!" (No other images for this one, but click on the image to see a larger version.)

#8: Gynecological Rubber Chicken by Kathy Anglin. This photo is captioned "Come on guys, I told you I was a @($*%&%&$* BOY!!!" (No other images for this one, but click on the image to see a larger version.)