If this doesn't convince you to wear your seatbelt, I don't know what will:
Have a happy - and safe - New Year.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Monday, November 1, 2010
It Shall Be Held on the First Blue Moon After the 42nd Shooting Star, But No Earlier Than Right After Ethel Gets Her Yearly Haircut...
Election Day is almost upon us here in the United States. This year, it's to be held tomorrow, Tuesday, November 2, 2010. How do I know when Election Day is? Well, you would think I know this because of the four-hundred-thirty-two-thousand-three-hundred-seventeen (mostly negative) pieces of campaign ads that jam my mailbox.
Or the four-hundred-thirty-two-thousand-three-hundred-seventeen TV ads (mostly negative) that bombard me from my TV screen.
Or even the four-hundred-thirty-two-thousand-three-hundred-seventeen robo calls that hog my phone line. (Full Disclosure: I can't say the phone calls are negative, because I hang up as soon as I know it's a robo call.)
But, none of those things are why I know tomorrow is Election Day.
I know tomorrow is Election Day because it is so noted in our country's laws: 1st Tuesday after the 1st Monday in November.
Whaaaat?
One may wonder (and legitimately so) why on Earth the crafters of the Constitution and its many additions/amendments/laws/etc came up with such a convoluted way of assigning the date for holding national elections. Wouldn't a simple, static month/date designation suffice? Well, yes, if this weren't Government. But it is. So it won't.
Despite the notion that "It's the Government, Stupid," I needed a better explanation, so I went digging (as you regular readers knew I would), and here's what I found:
Why November?
National elections are widely believed to be held in November because back when the United States was a mainly agrarian society, this was the month when harvest was over, and so more folks would be free to get out and vote. Another reason was that holding elections in November, rather than later in winter, meant better weather for travel.
While these things probably had a lot to do with it, there is a more legislative reason. The United States Constitution stipulates only that the Electoral College (electors of the US President and Vice President in their respective states) should be chosen on the same day nationwide. It does not say that this has to be a particular date. So, in 1792, a law was passed mandating that presidential elections be held anytime in the 34 day period before the 1st Wednesday in December, which is the designated day for the Electoral College to meet and cast their votes. And that 34 day period, of course, places Election Day roughly in November.
Why 34 days before? So there was enough time to count the votes before a new congressional session began. Why the 1st Wednesday in December? No idea. That's another post for another time.
Does your head hurt yet? Keep reading. And have your headache med of choice handy.
Now, this 34 Days Before thing seemed fine and dandy, except that people began to realize that states which voted later in that 34 day period could be influenced by the candidates who won and lost in states which voted earlier. And this problem continued to grow as communication methods improved. Which brings us to:
Why Tuesday?
This one has a practical explanation, and a convoluted one. Of course.
The practical explanation is: people used to have to travel quite far in order to vote. Traveling by horse was the conveyance of choice (and necessity) in the mid-1800's. So, people needed time to travel. Then there were those who did not want to travel on religious rest days such as Sunday. So having an election on a Tuesday meant travel days of Monday and Wednesday, with a day in between to rest your horses, and no religious rest days involved.
The convoluted explanation is: to eliminate the influence problem of the 34 day window, Congress came up with a bill in 1844 to designate one single Election Day for all states, on the 1st Tuesday in November, in years divisible by 4.
Why divisible by four? Again, no idea. (Although personally, I think it's all a super-secret plot cooked up by headache medicine makers in order to send us running for the pharmacy shelves, thereby shooting their profits through the roof. Maybe.) Anyway, keep reading, 'cause we're not done yet. I haven't gotten to the part where the bill became a law. But not before it was tweaked.
Did you remember a glass of water to wash down that headache medicine?
OK. So Why the 1st Tuesday after the 1st Monday?
This one is also a two-parter.
Firstly, it's part of that whole reluctance-to-travel explanation: November 1st was and is a Catholic holy day (All Saints Day). Also, shopkeepers did their books for the preceding month on the first of the month, and would be reluctant to disrupt business to go vote. So if the 1st Tuesday fell on November 1st, or on the 1st business day of November, a significant number of citizens would opt not to vote.
Secondly, it's part of that whole "It's the Government, Stupid" thing. See, some smart soul (or someone with entirely too much time on his hands) discovered that the bill as it stood would render some years as having more than the prescribed 34 days from the 1st Tuesday in November through the 1st Wednesday in December, as set out in the 1792 law. And so, between the traveling issues and the business issues and the previous law, the obvious solution was to amend the bill to "1st Tuesday after the 1st Monday in November," which was voted into law in 1845.
But, wait. This isn't a presidential election.
No, it's not. But it is a National Election Day. It's just that, this time, we're electing congressmen and such. See, there is later legislation about the election of members of the House of Representatives (1872)*, and then after that about the election of Senators (1914). And somewhere in all of this legislation, it was noted that these elections would be held every two years, in even-numbered years. But further than that (for instance, why we're voting for governors tomorrow, along with the congressmen) I cannot say. Yet.
Besides, I'm all out of ibuprofin.
- - -
*One source told me 1872, and one told me 1875. I haven't been able to find which is correct through my online research, but if you can point me in the right direction, please let me know via email or comments. All sources I used are below.
Sources:
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Innocence Lost?
October 31st is...Carve a Pumpkin Day. (What? You thought I'd say "Halloween?" Well, yeah, but that goes without saying, doesn't it?)
So, October 31st is Carve a Pumpkin Day. Here at Chez Wheedleton, we usually carve our pumpkins a week or so before. This is not a usual year, however, because we have yet to carve our pumpkins for 2010. And today, as I perused a giant cardboard bin full of large, bright orange pumpkins just screaming to be carved, I thought back to Wheedleton Pumpkins Past.
Pre-children, my husband C and I carved pumpkins every year for Halloween: silly faces, mostly. (OK, I carved. He watched and lamented his lack of pumpkin-carving prowess. But he did at least pull out the guts.) Post-children, we still did silly-faced Jack-o-Lanterns, but per the kiddos' requests, came to add a slew of Disney character carvings to our artistic repertoire.
When they were old enough to wield a pencil with some authority, our Small Offspring would enthusiastically wave their masterpiece drawings inches from my face, then scrutinize my work very closely to be sure their design's integrity remained intact: black cats with arched backs, happy ghosties, Halloween-y words and phrases, and whatever else caught their fancies.
As those Small Offspring grew, the design requests got more intricate - like the kind where you carve both the front and the back, so that when you put the candle or light inside the pumpkin, the light shines out through the front picture, plus a design is illuminated on the wall behind the pumpkin through the back carving. Very cool. But even with an increased Coolness Factor, they were still the silly, friendly Jack-o-Lanterns of yore.
And then came last year. When pumpkin carving night came, Handsome Boy pulled out his paper with his design ideas, which were more-or-less friendly-Halloween themed. Lovely Girl had other ideas. She had jabbered on about them for weeks, and furthermore insisted that 2009 was the year she would carve solo. But when Handsome Boy saw her design, and saw that I was allowing it, he was beyond thrilled, and asked if she would share.
She said yes.
So 2009 found Chez Wheedleton with just one pumpkin on display. But what a display:
Barfolamew (the Barfkin) was awesome: a total hit with Trick-or-Treaters from tiny to tall.
But oh, I miss those little, smudgy drawings, clenched in tiny, hopeful fists...
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Those Wily Librarians
Lovely Girl came racing up the sidewalk after school the other day, just bursting to tell me about...her library book. (Yep. Her library book. We here at Chez Wheedleton are Unapologetic Book Fiends.)
Specifically, she was bursting to tell me about choosing her library book: See, she was perusing the shelves, just meandering, until a book, any book at all, caught her eye.
And then, she saw it.
Was it a title she'd been eagerly looking for?
Not this time.
Was it the fantastic illustration on the cover?
Nope.
Was it the shiny gold lettering on the spine?
Sort of.
This is the title as she saw it that day, sitting innocently on her school library bookshelf:
Lovely Girl snatched that book up without even cracking it open. She couldn't get to the check out desk fast enough. In fact, she didn't even notice that the book is by an author she loves until she got home and pulled it out of her backpack to show it to me.
Sticker placement coincidence?
Fellow potty humor enthusiast?
Or a very clever librarian?
We may never know.
- - -
The full title of the book pictured above is The Telling Pool, by David Clement-Davies. The Third Crusade? Arthurian legend? Ancient magical pool? Enchantment? A boy who must defeat an evil sorceress and save his father? Awesome!
I called dibs after she's done reading it.
(Oh, who am I kidding? I see a bookstore visit in my very near future...)
Friday, October 8, 2010
Book Review: Here Be Monsters! The Ratbridge Chronicles, Volume 1, by Alan Snow
"I saw these men hunting cheese and I went to have a look, but my wings broke and the hunters took them, and then I escaped and was trying to get back down underground when they blocked up my hole."
"But what were you doing aboveground? And what wings? I don't understand," said Willbury.
Arthur decided to tell Willbury all. "I was gathering food." His face grew red, but he continued. "It's the only way we can survive. My grandfather is so frail now that I have to do it. And he made me some wings so I could get about the town easily."
"Your grandfather gave you wings?"
Summary: Young Arthur is a resident of Ratbridge. Or, rather, a resident under Ratbridge. He's not sure why he lives below ground, except that his inventor grandfather says that they must. They share this underground world with curious creatures: boxtrolls, cabbageheads, rabbit women, and the rather fearsome trotting badgers.
One day, Arthur gets caught above-ground on one of his nightly forays to the surface world to gather food. The rather nasty Snatcher, his grandfather's old nemesis, has stolen the machine Arthur's grandfather built for him to be able to fly about, and he doesn't know how to get back home.
But Arthur is not without friends. He is helped by the kindly retired lawyer Willbury Nibble, and the underlings who live with him: the boxtrolls Fish, Egg, and Shoe, and the shy cabbagehead Titus. Then there's the pirates-turned-laundry-workers, talking rats and crows, and oh! we can't forget The Man in the Iron Socks. They are all determined to get Arthur back home safely.
Arthur and his friends soon discover that something stinks in Ratbridge, and it isn't just the cheese: Someone has begun hunting Wild English Cheeses again - an outlawed sport. And mysterious goings-on are afoot at the old Cheese Hall. And all the entrances to the underground world have been sealed up. And the boxtrolls and cabbageheads are all disappearing. And the underlings' tunnels are starting to flood. Grandfather is worried, and they all know Snatcher is the root of this mystery. Somehow. Whatever will they do?
For Teachers and Librarians:
Here Be Monsters! fits into many literary niches: fantasy, adventure, a bit of steampunk, mystery, and humor. Use it in conjunction with social studies and history, as it touches on industry, factories, invention, law and order, family groups, a fictional town based loosely in 1800's England, and the big one: pirates! Use it in art classes to study pen and ink drawings, as the book is crammed with over 500 of them. Science classes will find discussions of electromagnetics, mechanical and steam-powered machines, and environmental concerns tied to depletion of natural resources and its resultant aftermath. But most of all, it is a book that will have your students laughing at the antics of the characters, commiserating with their setbacks, and cheering with their successes.
For Parents, Grandparents and Caregivers:
Here Be Monsters! is a book both you and your kiddos will enjoy. It is full of humor, fantasy, mystery, and adventure. It's a great introduction into the steampunk genre, if you've been wondering what that is. And it's a really fun book, with odd characters like wild English cheeses, boxtrolls, cabbageheads, and seacows (interpreted quite literally, and bearing only a passing resemblance to the manatees you might be thinking of).
Arthur is a sweet kid who loves his adoptive grandfather, and wants to do what's right, and is able to find friends to trust when he ends up in a rather tight spot. You'll find themes of family, loyalty, friendship, trust, mystery, adventure, and much more. It's very different, and yet not, and it will give you and the kiddos plenty to talk about. But most of all, it's fun!
For the Kids:
Here Be Monsters! has some very odd creatures: boxtrolls, and cabbageheads, and wild English cheeses, and vicious trotting badgers, and even pirates-turned-laundry-business-owners. It has a boy who can fly, and talking rats and crows, and dastardly villians with names like Archibald Snatcher, and stinky cheese. Lots of stinky cheese. Now, I ask you: who doesn't love a story with stinky cheese and flying boys and laundry-washing pirates? If you like fun, and adventure, and mystery, and inventions, then this is the book for you. Oh, and did I mention the pictures? It's full of over 500 drawings to go with the story. What are you waiting for? Go find it, and read it.
For Everyone Else:
Here Be Monsters! is definitely a book for the young-at-heart. Besides the funny stuff, it also has little bit of steampunk, a big dose of fantasy, plenty of adventure, some classic mystery, a decidedly English flavor, and a variety of things to make you think. Maybe you'll even learn a little bit of something new by the time you're done. Give it a try.
Wrapping Up:
Here Be Monsters! Find it. Read it. Have fun with it.
Title: Here Be Monsters! The Ratbridge Chronicles, Volume 1
Author and Illustrator: Alan Snow
Pages: 544
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Publisher and Date: Atheneum, 2006
Edition: 1st United States edition
Language: English
Published In: United States
Price: $17.95
ISBN-10: 0-689-87047-7
ISBN-13: 978-0-689-87047-7
Author Spotlight: Alan Snow
Alan Snow has worked in a wide variety of situations: design of a children's museum in Japan; design of a project robot; mixing flavors into yogurt; forestry and tree surgery; box-maker in a factory; car design on a Third World jeep project; laborer in a bed factory; sound engineer for Reggae and Indie bands; and work in animation, film, and computers. He has even had a hand in the creation of wedding dresses...and inflatable ball gowns.
Mr. Snow attended art college between 1975 and 1979, where he studied fashion design and illustration. This schooling proved helpful not only for creating those inflatable ball gowns, but also for his more bookish pursuits: he has been illustrating since 1983, and has both written and illustrated over 160 books for children.
Of all of those books, Here Be Monsters! (2006, Atheneum) is Alan Snow's first novel. But this book has its own story: it was first published in 2005, in England, by Oxford University Press, in three parts: Pants Ahoy!, The Man in the Iron Socks, and Cheese Galore. When Snow's novels made it across the pond to the United States, they were merged into one big, 544 page, 500+ illustration-filled book: Here Be Monsters! The Ratbridge Chronicles, Volume 1.
Alan Snow was born in Bexley Heath, London, England, in 1959. He currently lives in Bath, England, and has one daughter and one son.
Sources:
Backflap of Here Be Monsters!
Friday, September 24, 2010
Wonderful Weirdos of Literature Series - Installment #3
Welcome to the third and final installment of the first annual Bugs and Bunnies Wonderful Weirdos of Literature Series.
Wondering what this is? Click on the link back at the beginning, and all will be revealed. Then come on back to this post, and we'll continue.
* * *
Back, then? Alrighty. So, in this inaugural year of the BnBWWoLS, Installment #1 contained books I've reviewed in full, with brief summaries and links to the full reviews. Installment #2 consisted of books I've read, but have not yet reviewed (though I hope to get that remedied in the future).
Which brings us up to date for today, and Installment #3 - more books I've read but not (yet) reviewed. However, there is one bonus: there are links to two authors below, which will take you not only to their author spotlights, but also to reviews I've written of other books of theirs.
Right, then. Off we go:
Chester is a child of habit. He always cuts his sandwiches just so, always gets out of bed on the same side, and is a stickler for double-knotting his shoes. Wilson is practically a carbon copy of Chester, making their best-friendship a no-brainer. The days go along perfectly predictably for Chester and Wilson, which is just the way they like it.
And then, Lily moves into the neighborhood. Lily, who talks backwards to herself (out loud), never leaves the house without donning a disguise, and always arms herself with a loaded squirt gun. Lily wants to be friends with Chester and Wilson, and sets upon a very determined friend-making campaign - in her own way, naturally. Can these two order-and-structure loving friends survive the free-wheeling unpredictability that is Lily?
King Bidgood has his own ideas about how to rule his kingdom, and much to his faithful Page's chagrin, he has gleefully decided to do it all from his tub. The members of his court, at the Page's frantic requests, try all manner of strategies to lure the king out of the bath. He cheerfully obliges each suggestion, with one caveat: they must join him - fully clothed, in all their courtly finery - in the tub. They battle in the tub. They lunch in the tub. They fish in the tub. They even dance in the tub. But the only ones to leave that tub are some very soggy, frustrated courtiers. Is there anyone who can convince the king to leave his bath?
As you're reading this very fun tale, take the time to linger over the pictures, which add even more to the story.
WeThis is the story of a boy who has weird parents, and they cause him no end of embarrassment. They call him "Honeycakes" at the bus stop. They pack weird things in his lunch box. They dress weird. And that's just the shortlist.
The boy wishes his parents weren't so weird. Sure, they have some redeeming qualities, his parents: like tucking him into bed, and getting him treats to eat, and playing games with him, and reading spooky stories with him, and...hmmm. Maybe his parents aren't so bad, after all. Even if they are weird.
Weirdos From Another Planet, by Bill Watterson
Precocious six-year-old Calvin and his stuffed-tiger-best-friend Hobbes are at it again in this compilation of comics, frazzling Calvin's parents, incurring the wrath of his babysitter, Rosalyn, frustrating Calvin's teacher Miss Wormwood, and infuriating Calvin's classmate Susie with just about every adventure they embark upon.
From Calvin's crafting of ghoulish snowman scenes, to Calvin and Hobbes' harrowing downhill wagon rides, to Hobbes' subtle pokes at Calvin's somewhat gullible nature, to the many zany schemes Calvin and Hobbes cook up together - which never seem to turn out like Calvin thought they would, Bill Watterson guides you through the world as Calvin sees it. You will be laughing, and crying, and thinking long after you've finished reading these comics.
Young Arthur is a resident of Ratbridge. Or, rather, a resident under Ratbridge. He's not sure why he lives below ground, except that his inventor grandfather says that they must. They share this underground world with curious creatures: boxtrolls, cabbageheads, rabbit women, and the rather fearsome trotting badgers.
One day, Arthur gets caught above-ground on one of his
nightly forays to the surface world to gather food. The rather nasty Snatcher, his grandfather's old nemesis, has stolen the machine Arthur's grandfather built for him to be able to fly about, and he doesn't know how to get back home.
But Arthur is not without friends. He is helped by the kindly retired lawyer Willbury Nibble, and the underlings who live with him: the boxtrolls Fish, Egg, and Shoe, and the shy cabbagehead Titus. Then there's the pirates-turned-laundry-workers, talking rats and crows, and oh! we can't forget The Man in the Iron Socks. They are all determined to get Arthur back home safely.
Arthur and his friends soon discover that something stinks in Ratbridge, and it isn't just the cheese: Someone has begun hunting Wild English Cheeses again - an outlawed sport. And mysterious goings-on are afoot at the old Cheese Hall. And all the entrances to the underground world have been sealed up. And the boxtrolls and cabbageheads are all disappearing. And the underlings' tunnels are starting to flood. Grandfather is worried, and they all know Snatcher is the root of this mystery. Somehow. Whatever will they do?
* * *
And that, my friends, is that. If this is your first time at the Wonderful Weirdos of Literature Series, I hope you'll click the link in this sentence, which will take you to the main page, where you can catch up on all the fun you haven't seen yet. If you've been here all along, thanks so much for taking this trip with me, and I hope you had as much fun as I did. But whether you've just found the series, or whether you're quite familiar with it, I hope you're looking forward to next year's BnBWWoL already.
I know I am.
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