[Mikitivity]

Welcome to the 2006 International Democratic Union Cheese Festival!

The basic rules of this year?s festival can be found at:
http://s10.invisionfree.com/IDU/index.php?showtopic=463

This portion of the festival is dedicated to focusing on the Cheeses manufactured outside the IDU itself, but imported to IDU nations. This year the following cheeses have been submitted to this festival for you all to sample. Please select the cheese you most like. The winning cheese will have the right to label itself as the Best Cheese Imported to the IDU in 2006.

Cheese (Country of Manufacture)
* Par?gel (Yelda)
* The NewTexas Stinky Cheese Bomb (New Texas)

{Descriptions of the Cheeses are posted below. NSWiki links to the cheeses and countries are provided above. All festival participants who want their entries to be added to NSWiki are encouraged to do so or can ask Mikitivity for help to do so.}

Anybody can vote once in this poll, and you can still vote for the other two IDU Cheese Festival categories: Best IDU Cheese and Best Cheese Related Product! Naturally festival attendees are encouraged to sample as much as they like to make the hard decision on which cheese is the best!

IDU members that wish to import these cheeses or that already do should reply so that the nations bringing these cheeses to the IDU can better estimate the demand for their products.


The votes will be tabulated Friday Feb. 19, 2006 (i.e. the voting will last until then). Replies are allowed (but only after the posts for the five cheeses have been made).

[Mikitivity]

Nation: Yelda
Home Region: The Pleiades
Entry Category: Best Imported Cheese to IDU

Nation(s) Imported to: Mikitivity

Par?gel
An interior-ripened cheese that is rindless, smooth and slightly bright-surfaced with a cream to yellow colour depending on type. It has very small and irregular openings distributed in the mass. The texture can be supple and flexible. Par?gel has a buttery aroma and can be somewhat sharp in the stronger varieties. It is typically aged about three months, though when the cheese is older it becomes more salty and tastes like hazelnut. The samples we have provided for this competition are of the older, stronger variety.

History
One of the oldest continuously produced Yeldan cheeses, Par?gel has been made in its namesake village for at least 700 years. Although its area of manufacture has extended since then, it is still only made in a tightly controlled area within 50 km. of Par?gel.

Exports
Almost all of the importing/exporting for the Pleiades Region is handled by international trading conglomerates in the nations of Generic Nation Product, Libertarian Chaos and Fort Smith. This includes cheeses. Only the very finest cheeses are exported directly from Yelda and they carry the "Fine Yeldan Cheeses?" label. Regular cheeses (which are really quite good, actually, but more of a "supermarket" quality) are shipped by one of the trading conglomerates and are simply labeled "Yeldan Cheese. Product of The People's Democratic Republic of Yelda". The samples of Par?gel cheese you see before you were hand crafted by Cheese Masters in the village of Par?gel and proudly wear the label, Fine Yeldan Cheeses?.

In addition to this, our official entry, we invite you to sample all of our Fine Yeldan Cheeses? which will be available throughout the duration of the festival.

[Mikitivity]

Nation: The Incorporated NationStates of NewTexas
Home Region: Texas
Entry Category: Best Imported Cheese to the IDU

The NewTexas Stinky Cheese Bomb

The NewTexas scientists at the NewTexas Munitions Corporation (motto: Unique weapons for unique situations?), an Incorporated NationState of NewTexas, are some of the biggest cheese fans in the entire nation. This entry is submitted by them to represent NewTexas.

History

One day the scientists at NMC were sitting around the lunchroom munching on cheese and when Xavier opened his lunch pail and produced the foulest smelling cheese that any of them had ever smelled. Everyone's eyes immediately began to water and the putridness was overwhelming. Xavier, oblivious to all this, gleefully proclaimed that he had discovered the "best" cheese in all of NewTexas. A small group of Xavier's scientist friends, collectively know as "The Cheese People", immediately saw a potential in the most odiferous product.

The Cheese People



The scientists decided to harness The Power of Cheese and proceed to create a military application centered around Xavier's cheese. Xavier explained that he had purchased the cheese in the poor part of town and it was a brand marketed exclusively to the peasants of NMC City. The brand name made it perfectly clear who the intended consumer was:

NewTexas Bourgeois Camembert



The scientists were most excited by the idea and immediately head to the poorer parts of town looking for other "materials" for their new brainchild. No one disputed the stinkiness of the peasant fondues whose smell had been likened unto the "boiling of possums". It was discovered that the peasants used a particularly foul "cave-aged" Gruyere and samples were immediately commandeered for the project:

NewTexas "Cave-Aged" Gruyere



After man long weeks of searching and testing the volatility was just right. Not only was this a "tasty" treat, (actually only Xavier thought that), but it also had the potential for weapons capabilities. In particular, it was designed to be used by SWAT teams as a non-lethal room-clearing device.

Traditions

News of the Stinky Cheese Bomb spread around the NationState and the locals jumped on the opportunity for creating lasting traditions immediately! It became standard to give one's most beloved their own "personal slice" of the stinky cheese as a symbol of their love on Valentine's Day. Necklaces, bracelets and charms quickly became bestsellers overnight:

Stinky Cheese Charm



Children in Halloween quickly became enamored with the foul-smelling product. A whole new industry was formed complete with cartoons, superheroes and Halloween costumes for the kids:

Stinky Cheese Man



Ingredients

Beyond the known ingredients of Bourgeois Camembert and "Cave-Aged" Gruyere, little is known about the ingredients.


Demonstration

The NewTexas Stinky Cheese Bomb is truly a force to behold in action. No description would do it justice without a picture of the devastation this weapon can cause:

The NewTexas Stinky Cheese Bomb



We are currently exporting The NewTexas Stinky Cheese Bomb to the IDU nation of The Confederated City States of Mikitivity. If any others would like to enjoin the services of the NewTexas Munitions Corporation, feel free to contact Big Tex at the Corporate Headquarters of The Incorporated NationStates of NewTexas.

Respectfully submitted by NewTexas

[Mikitivity]

Both Par?gel and NewTexas Stinky Cheese Bomb are imported to Mikitivity. However, the NewTexas Stinky Cheese Bomb is not traditionally traded on Feb. 14 for two reasons: (1) ewwww, and (2) Feb. 14 is *not* a holiday in Mikitivity.