Dear Lent Madness Faithful,
Early this morning, at about 8:20 am EST, the Lent Madness website went down. You probably heard the collective weeping and 
gnashing of teeth that rang out all over the globe. Or you may have noticed the uptick in purple votive candle sales that impacted the international markets.
After a lot of hard work, we are pleased to announce that the saintly smackdown is back up and running. Scott and Celebrity Blogger David Sibley (hard core technophiles) were able to remedy the presenting issue. This was particularly impressive since Scott is currently in Rwanda on a pilgrimage with Episcopal Migration Ministries. Also, when it comes to technical fixes, Tim is useless.
Our (soon to be former) hosting company 1and1 shut the site down due to high volume without giving us any notice. The good news is that we are provisionally back up and running and you can now go vote in today’s matchup between Balthazar and Cecilia. . The bad news is that we will need to shut the site down again to switch servers (hopefully on Sunday so it won’t affect voting). We’ll keep you posted.
Update 11:13 PM EST: Because of the high server load, things continue to be quite slow and a bit dicey - but voting is open, and votes are being recorded. Our advice: keep trying to vote!
In order to give both Balthazar and Cecilia their due. We are extending the voting period until tomorrow (Saturday) at 2:00 pm EST. Then the polls will close and all will be right with the world. For the time being.
Now, to assign blame. That’s the Christian thing to do, right? We have several working theories:
1. Hildegard of Bingen, furious at losing such a close battle to Egeria, pulled the plug out of holy spite.
2. Cuthbert’s otters got loose and gnawed through the wires.
3. The Celebrity Bloggers failed in their coup attempt to unseat the SEC.
4. Feral cats, irate that there is no Official Cat of Lent Madness, scratched the server to death.
5. The collective price paid for those who have faltered in their Lenten disciplines.
6. Al Gore.
7. The Wrath of the Archbishops.
8. Those who skip Lent altogether and gorge themselves on Easter Peeps. On Good Friday.
9. The scapegoat from Leviticus 16:10.
10. Needless to say, Scott blames Tim and Tim blames Scott.
Thank you for your forbearance during this brief glimpse into a life devoid of Lent Madness. It was indeed a harrowing vision of Dante-esque proportions.
Tim & Scott
Supreme Executive Committee
118 comments on “We're baaaaaaaaaack...”
I'm with #4 (mine chew wires, yarn, books, whatever), though #7 is also a possibility. They have the technosavvy, right? I miss them but glad you're back.
Treacherous seals
I vote for Cuthbert's otters, because they're cute.
Cats. It's always the cats.
I prefer to think of the continuing 404 problem as a part of my Lenten penance.
Such a relief. I woke up this morning and couldn't get on the site, couldn't even read the rest of the post about Balthazar and Cecilia. It was awful! I thought I'd never be able to vote. But finally I got on and was able to vote and I can continue with my Friday.
#4 has my vote -- AND I love your sense of humor. Thank you for all you do.
I think it was the spirit of Balthazar—a mythical "saint" messing with a[n almost] mythical hosting company!
Ravenous seals
Or not. I still can't read the full Cecilia/Balthazar post. I'm still getting an internal server error on that one. Hmmm.
You can try getting to the post for Ceclia/Balthazar by clicking here: https://www.lentmadness.org/2015/03/balthazar-vs-cecilia/ This morning I had trouble getting to it when I tried to read it by clicking on "read more."
Could not be #7. At least not in Olympia. -- Okay: so we're not an ARCHdio. But the whole point of Lent Madness, I gather, is to be a bit, or more than a bit, zany.
My bishop is tech savy; can't account for the others.
A tip of the biretta to Bishop Greg for putting this in his Lenten resources list. Without him, I'd be clueless.
Thanks for the extension for those who aren't retired and at the computer long enough to wait out the glitch.
Site is back down again...
i think it had to be the irate archbishops who are unable to engage in their color commentary of this years' competition.
I think it was Number Three. Or Daylight Savings Time. Or both.
Or perhaps it was Bede pulling his venerable strings in the afterlife in an attempt to "make history" again--his Plan B now that his first attempt at the Golden Halo has been thwarted by an upstart with a couple of holy otters. (Next time, couldn't we assign The VB a cute little bookworm or something?
Moving on, now that we have spread the blame around, shouldn't we offer the hosting company the Sacrament of Reconciliation, that is, prvided the Never Ever Ever bring us down again without asking first?
Moving on, now that we have spread the blame around, shouldn't we offer the hosting company the Sacrament of Reconciliation, that is, provided they Never Ever Ever bring us down again without asking first?
My cats told me #4 but they don't always tell the truth. Though they are good at lurking. Still can't get to the matchup.
I tried several times earlier this morning and figured it was all my fault...I'm not very techie. Then after my morning hour long walk I tried again and was able to get on and vote...whew! Glad you all fixed things up!!!
Thank goodness. Thought I would have to call my son, the webmaster at the Maryland diocesan center.
Thank you for the periodic updates. Web problems can be soooooooo frustrating. Praying the switch over goes smoothly.
Whew! I'm so glad the problem was fixed. Yes, I like Lent Madness, but I didn't realize how much I look forward to it every day until....it's not there...no matter what I try. Thanks so much for all you do to instruct and amuse us by this means. FYI I'm one of the Lutheran followers of Lent Madness. I truly appreciate it. Me, I like number 8 above, best.
As a book lover it's nice to see the printed page prevailing over the computer...I have the booklet with all bios... However it was frustrating not to be able to cast my vote this morning. But finally this chorister voted for Cecilia!
It seemed to me when I voted early this morning, that all was copacetic--is this mistaken? Am I supposed to vote again? Inquiring minds want to know!
Good for Hildegard! You go gurl! You was robbed!
I don't think it was Hildegard. She wouldn't do such a dreadful thing. I think it was the otters. (Or the Others).
11. Corrosion from all the salt in Margery Kempe's tears (which would have happened anyways, of course, win or lose).
Glad you're back. Question the wisdom of dissing current service provider while they're still (sort of) providing it, but empathize with Schenck, grateful to Sibley, nominate Gunn as miracle worker.
My vote goes to either 1, 2, or 4. Or Solomon, our beloved cat, was reincarnated as we're not sure who just yet. When he was alive, my mother-in-law said he was Jimmy Hoffa reincarnated.
So why ISN'T there an official Lent Madness cat? There are many deserving cats in shelters who would happily and purrily serve.
Maple Anglican, for sure.
You guys are great. This is my first year and I am thoroughly enjoying it!! Glitches happen when Satan tries to intervene, but higher powers have prevailed! Thank you for creating such a fun way to learn new things.
I'm with Christina Lee: gotta be ravenous seals.
Well, now you've done it. I'm still LOL so long and hard after your comments of this morning that I'll be doing penance for the remainder of Lent due to a shameful lack of sobriety. Or is it for an addiction I didn't even know I had? (But secretly...thank you for your efforts and for resuming the madness!)
The irate cats got into the peeps (makes sense, right?) and then gummed up the wires.
P.S. I find nothing unholy about gorging on peeps on any day of the season, as long as they are original yellow chicks. I have no use for pink or blue chicks - what is that?! - or bunnies of any color including white. Also no use for those chocolate dipped peeps - gilding the lily. "God put peeps before us, along with wine, as sure proof that He loves us and wants us to be happy." [apologies to Saint Ben Franklin]
Whatever the cause, thank you for the heroic efforts in getting the site up and running again!
I laughed at the theories to assign blame. I think that the SEC would have laughed (and been gratified) to see how many times this loyal follower clicked the link as I was working this morning, just checking if I would be able to read about Balthazar and Cecelia and vote yet!
Thanks for all of the lifting of spirits and the pleasure that Lent Madness brings.
My first ever LENT MADNESS is just a joy!! Thanks all staff for providing fascinating readings and meditations, and to all commentators too! This morning's glitch gave me pause too, but glad to see all's well again. Blessings all!
He/she who sings prays twice. In honor of choirs everywhere