Caption contest winners

Thanks for all the terrific entries in our latest caption contest. Since the contest is a celebration of Nate’s new book, I asked him to pick the two winners. So here are his selected winners:

Aniu was a clear winner, with his extraordinary and hilarious list of 50 captions from Dylan’s song titles. You can read all 50 captions in Aniu’s comment – here are a few highlights:

Bob: ‘Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You’

Pope: ‘Tell Me That It Isn’t True’

Bob: ‘Saved’

Pope: ‘I Don’t Believe You’

Bob: ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’

Pope: ‘Idiot Wind’

Bob: ‘You’re Gonna Quit Me’

Pope: ‘Going, Going, Gone’

Bob: ‘Lay, Lady, Lay’

Pope: ‘Lay Down Your Weary Tune’

Bob: ‘Tryin’ To Get To Heaven’

Pope: ‘Up To Me’

Bob: ‘You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go’

Pope: ‘I Shall Be Free’

And the second winner is Kurt, with this delightful caption: “The fact that the former pontiff did visibly shake to the noise emanating from Bob Dylan’s guitar turns out to be the greatest obstacle to his speedy beatification. The proponents of the ‘santo subito’ movement continue protesting that this is in no way a hint of devilish influences, but that the Pope already suffered from Parkinson’s disease at the time and, to the contrary, his calm demeanour during this gruesome torture is paramount to martyrdom and should further their cause decisively.”

Kurt and Anui will each receive a copy of Nate Kerr’s book, Christ, History and Apocalyptic: The Politics of Christian Mission, courtesy of the good people at Cascade Books. (Kurt and Anui, please email me with your shipping address.)

Although there’s no runners-up prize, I’d also like to give an honourable mention to the following captions:

Dylan, unaware that the guest of honor in the white dress was a male, dedicated and then played his most heartfelt rendition of Lay, Lady, Lay. (Ken)

The Pope, bored out of his mind, thinks to himself, “Next time I see him coming I better run…” (Discard)

The new series “Vatican Idol” kicked off with a bang last night as judge JPII appeared bored during Bob Dylan’s performance. The Pope quipped that the folk legend simply lacked the triple threat that the Vatican was looking for: singing, dancing and acting. Dylan was eliminated and Beyonce later advanced after a glowing endorsement from JPII. (Mike)

It may look boring here, but let’s just say that when the dust settled and the after party wrapped up the next morning, somehow JP went home in the cowboy hat and Dylan was wearing the fancy dress. (Chad)

Pope: “This is such a nice reception for Stanley and John. I wonder how they booked Dylan?” (Tim – referring to a previous contest)