Ladies and Gentlemen...the envelope please!

Yes, we have a winner in the Official Lowe-Down Design Your Own Cartoon Contest. The challenge: to come up with the most imaginative secondary use for America's favorite gas-guzzling behemoth, the Hummer. Back in May, I drew a cartoon containing four of my own ideas, and we used this as a springboard to launch your imaginations into flight.

After scores of entries came in, a panel of experts consisting of Opinion Page Editor Tony Fins, Senior Editorial Writer Gary Stein, and yours truly, whittled the submissions down to three finalists. Three hundred of you voted, and the winner is:

BOB PROKOPCZYK OF WESTON, FLORIDA!!! Congratulations, Bob!

As promised, I turned his winning idea into an editorial cartoon, which you now see depicted at right.

Bob was kind enough to send his photo, which I have included below. Hopefully, the next time you see him he will be wearing his new Official Lowe-Down Blog t-shirt.

Bob Prokopczyk of Weston, winner of the
first Official Lowe-Down Design Your Own
Cartoon Contest.

Stay tuned for future contests!

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I had a professor in college, one EJ Johnson, who taught the seemingly dull and fusty subject of architectural history with such wit and elan that it ended up becoming my major. This caused no small amount of consternation when I applied for my first newspaper job in Oklahoma ("We ain't got much call around here for an architecture critic, Young Fella. Know anything about the awl bidness?")

Anyway, I mention EJ because it is he who came up with the idea for our newest Lowe-Down Blog contest. The last one, you may recall, was about captions. EJ has proposed a new riff.

Last month, I drew the cartoon that you see posted again here, titled, "Four Things You Can Do With Your Hummer." Since it ran, the continuing meteoric rise in fuel prices has made the concept of owning a Hummer in our society even more absurd and difficult to defend. Here's your challenge: Rack your imaginations to come up with the cleverest fifth idea for what you can do with a Hummer. We all hate 'em, right? Post it on the blog as a comment, where everybody can enjoy it. Here's an example of the type of thing I'm looking for: "A Hummer is sitting at the bottom of the ocean, with fish and seaweed floating around, maybe even a wrecked Spanish galleon. The caption reads, 'Create an artificial reef.'" You have one week to submit your idea.

On Sunday night, June 15th, I will close the window on entries. A distinguished panel of experts (anyone I can snag who happens to be hanging around the office) and I will pore over the submissions, and post the top three picks for a week-long Vote of the People. The ultimate winner of this vote will have his or her concept realized by me in a cartoon which I will post, with credit to the author, here on the blog. As if that weren't enough, we will also publish it on the Op-Ed page of the Sun-Sentinel. In addition, the winner receives an official Lowe-Down Blog t-shirt.

No obscene or tasteless entries, please. Don't forget to use your real email address or I won't be able to notify you if you're a winner (I'll keep it private).

LET THE CREATIVITY FLOW!!!

This just in:
Last month's caption contest Grand Prize winner Gary Pedullo (below) of Deerfield Beach, FL, proudly displays his Official Lowe-Down Blog t-shirt. Post a submission NOW for a chance to win your own!

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