Paperclip Art Winners Announced

A bit belatedly, we are proud to announce the winners of the recent paperclip art contest. Unfortunately, although I have photos of all the winning entries, I am unable to place them with this announcement. Therefore, I will do my best to describe them.

                                   Winners:  Single paperclips

        Co-Winner:  Don Smith of Peoria–two separate entries. A beautifully-formed celtic cross, and a flowering plant.

        Co-Winner:  Rick Kinigson (husband of Wrenn), recently moved to Charlotte. A cleverly crafted “Peace” symbol.

                                         Multiple-Clip Category

Multiple Winners, all members of a backyard summer activity camp at the home of Bob and Lucie in Montreal—Charlotte, Juliette, Karine, Mateo, Oumou, & my grandaughter Aria.

Prizes, in the form of crisp $2 bills, and golden-colored $1 coins featuring U.S. President Ulysses Grant, mailed two days ago.

                                          —the Editor

Oldsters and “The Green Thing”

In the line at the grocery store, the cashier told an elderly lady she should bring her own shopping bags because using all those plastic bags weren’t good for the environment and what he called “the Green Thing.”

The woman gently apologized and the young male clerk responded, “It’s a shame the previous generations—like yours–didn’t care about and practice ‘the Green Thing.’ We gotta save our planet, you know.”

“It’s true,”said the senior, “We didn’t know much about what you call the “Green Thing. Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles too—to the store. which sent them out to be washed, sterliized, and reused. We used the same containers over and over.
Back then, we washed the baby diapers and didn’t have the throw-away kind. We hung them on a outdoor clothes line or dried them in an energy-gobbling gas or electric dryer, not having wind or solar energy. Kids got hand-me-down clothes and shoes and didn’t dispose of the old stuff and go out and buy brand-new goods daily.

“Back then, we had one TV, or maybe a radio, in the house. And the TV had a small black and white screen. We walked up the stairs, beccause we didn’t have 20 elevators in big stores and office buildings. We didn’t climb into a gas-guzzling SUV every time we went on a two-block errand. In the kitchen, we blended and stirred food by hand, not electric machines. When we talking about packaging, it was in newspaper wrapping, not cushioned, plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn’t fire up an engine to mow the lawn, or clip the hedges. We used a push mower and hand clippers.

“We took walks and played games outside for exercise rather than going to a health club with 40 machines plugged into elecrical sockets. We drank from a water fountain when we were thirty, not a little plastic bottle of ordinary water that cost a buck. We refilled ink pens and replaced razor blades when they got dull instead of disposing of them and grabbing new ones. It’s true. We didn’t have “the Green Thing back in my younger days.

“We had one electrical outlet in each room. We didn’t need a computer or a little pocket-machine in order to find our way to the nearest beeer joint. But isn’t it sad that our current generation had parents and grandparents who were so stupid and selfish that they didn’t bother with ‘the Green Thing.’?

Please pass this on to another selfish non-conservationist to teach them a good lesson about saving the planet by doing “the Green Thing.” We oldsters really screwed up and are truly sorry for it.”

Rapid Rabbit Chases Rattlesnake Up a Tree

When I grew up in west Texas, there were lots of rabbits (both cottontails like the one in this video) and long-eared jackrabbits. Also, lots of rattlesnakes. But I NEVER saw anything quite like this. Take a look.     —the Editor

Bad-assTexasrabbit.wmv 3750K   Download

WATCH FOR: Sea Horror in South Africa

Theresa and Matt (as noted in a previous blog item) are in South Africa. Johannesburg, actually.

Yesterday on Skype, the fearless dynamic duo reported in just before 5 pm Chicago time on a great adventure on a boat earlier in the day. Look for the story (with several action photos) in a forthcoming blog here and probably on FaceBook. This will come after their trip which will take them to Botswana, a couple of other African countries, St. Petersburg, Russia, and a week in Paris. If you are wondering what the watery tale will be about, think JAWS. They will not return home until about mid-September. As you probably know, Theresa resigned from her school-teaching job for this year to finish her true-life novel, tentatively entitled: “Me and Matt Around the World in a Whole Bunch of Days.” .

                            —the Editor

Can You Spot the 10 Tiny Differences?

We have all seen those little photo games in magazines. There are two photos. They are similar in most respects. Your mission–if you should agree to accept it—is to find the differences, often hard to spot, in the two photos. It takes a sharp eye to catch them all.

Here we have 2 different, but very similar, family photos. See if YOU can spot the 10 tiny differences between the two (above, below, or between) as soon as Ron posts the pix sometime today.

Sorry, no prizes on this one but the answers will be posted in a forthcoming blog item..

—the Editor

Practical Joke Challenge

Not everyone under 25 knows what a practical joke is, but it has a long and proud history among baby boomers and especially we elderly. The dictionary defines a practical joke as “a prank intended to trick or embarrass someone, or cause physical discomfort.”

On an inspiration here from Don Smith, my purpose here is to solicit your practical jokes, one or more, to share for sake of laughter. Just to prime the jump, I will tell you one of mine. Many years ago, when Carol and I were first married, we had watched an Alfred Hitchcock TV episode. In the story, the  husband hated his wife of 20 years and wanted to get away. He read in a magazine that for $5,000 he could obtain an exact replica of himself, with clone-like features, same memories, personality. The only way to distinguish between the robot and himself was that that it had a clock-like ticking sound for a heart beat. The man went to the couple’s secret saving account at the bank to check out the $5,000 and order his clone. Examining the deposits and disbursements he learned that his wife had checked out $5,000 three years prior to the same clone company….and, so HE had been living with her robot all that time.

As Carol and I went to bed and were falling asleep, I got this idea for a (somewhat cruel) practical joke. I told her that “Will” could no longer stand living with her, and had flown the coup months before, leaving behind his clone. Half asleep, Carol wandered off to the bathroom, and before she returned, I placed a ticking alarm clock under my arm in the dark. When she returned  I pursued the matterl She told me to shut and go to sleep, as it was a Sunday night and we both has to work the next day.

“You don’t believe me?” I asked. “Just listen to my ticking heart.” At first she refused but to pacify me rolled over and placed her ear right over the clock under my arm.” When she heard the ticking sound she totally freaked out and didn’t sleep much the rest of the night. I’m not sure she ever forgave me for that practical joke.

Now, won’t you share with us some practical joke, one or more, that you have perpetrated, or have heard about. Should be fun.

===the Editor

White Family Reunion Talent Opening

The website address below will take you to the opening act of the White Family Reunion Talent Show on July 9, 2011 at the Celtic Knot Restaurant in Evanston. Ron leads up with an introduction, followed by a duet (Ghost Riders in the Sky) with Ron on lead vocal with Will chiming in on the chorus and desperately trying to stay on key. This is followed by Declan, reciting the Fuzzy Wuzzy Was a Bear presentation and a bear joke we all appreciated (but didn’t understand). Then Ryan Rose, Declan’s little sister, age 2, wanders into the scene to get a close look at Ron’s guitar. This she does twice as Ron tells about the time HIS little (now deceased) brother ran down the aisle at Dad’s church complaining when Ron was doing a solo that Dwain, age 2 and a half, claiming “That’s my song.” Finally, motherKiera and “Aunt T” Theresa assist Ryan Rose with a song presentation cheered by all in attendance. Other vidoes of Talent Night will follow in future blogs. Thank you for your kind attention and applause.

                       —-the Editor

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9WF1XoziOk

Theresa and Matt Hit the Road Again

Email from Matt and Theresa:

Hello all,
Theresa and I are leaving tonight (August 3) on our overseas trip so I wanted to send a quick note so you had our contact information.

We should be able to check our regular email every few days – so for general communication, please contact us at the following email addresses:

mbedella@hotmail.com
theresakwhite@hotmail.com

I also will have my work blackberry with me, and I will be checking this daily.  So for important messages that you would like us to see right away, please use the following email address, and put “URGENT” at beginning of the subject line (so I don’t miss it among the many work emails!)

matthew.bedella@abbott.com

I will have my cell phone with me, so you should be able to text and call us at 773.879.3801.  I will check voicemail every few days.  Theresa is not bringing her phone with her, so it’s best to call her and leave messages on this number.

Theresa also has a Skype account, so it’s possible to video call us if we set up a time in advance.  The account name is “theresakwhite”

We’ll try to send periodic updates on our trip, and please keep us updated on things at home. 

Bye for now – we’ll miss you all a ton!

Matt & Theresa

Ron Nailed It with this little political joke

Three men were sitting at a table on which there was a plate with twelve cookies .  One was a CEO of a large greedy corporation, one was a Tea Party member and one was a union member.  

The CEO took 11 of the cookies and said to the Tea Party member “I think the union member wants part of your cookie.”

Think about it.

Family Reunion Trivia Contest Revisited

ONE of the many highlights during our White Family Reunion and Talent Show (July 8-10, 2011) was a Trivia Contest. I worked up about 40 or more questions but below are the 30 I actually used. The Friday night winner was Theresa with 17 correct (pretty difficult set of questions). However, because Rick and Olivia didn’t arrive until noon the next day, I let them enter and turn in their answers by the time of the Saturday night at the banquet. And Rick got 18. So I declared Theresa and Rick co-winners. Both won prizes.

Sample question: Name at least three lawyers in the family (Ed, Laura, Larry–Rhonda’s husband). Here were the final questions (with answers)

1. Which family member was born in a two-bed hospital. (A: Lou)
2. Who personally met 2 US Presidents and stood beside a Vice President in a men’s room? (Rick) Name two family members who were born on national holidays
(Bob, Martin Luther King, Jan 15; Barbara, Labor Day, Sept. 2)
3. Who played the trombone with finesse in his university band/orchestra? (Monte)
4. Who lived almost a year in the hometown of Che Gueverra? (Theresa)
5. Who worked for two different railway companies? (Ron
6.   Who was high school class valedictorian and also met and conversed with the later Mother Theresa. (Barbara)
7. Who once played a drum with personal instructions from Bon Jovi? (Olivia; she auditioned with 5 other little girls and was given a bongo drum–& showed how to play it–by the rock star.
8. Who once co-piloted the Goodyear Blimp? (Will)
9. Who competed to be a Cheerleader for TWO different NFL football teams? (Laura)
10. Name at least 5 family members who are fluent in more than one language. (Bob, Lucie, Jeremy, Aria, Theresa)
11. Who in our family is an identical twin? (Lucie)
12  Who has the same name as an Irish Catholic Bishop? (Declan)
13. Who once had 53 boxes of Christmas decorations stashed in his or her attic and that didn’t even count all the other holidays on the calendar? (Susan)
14. Whose birthday is tomorrow (July 9)? This same person—like his step great-grandmother Jewel—has no middle name. (Jeremy)
15. Who walked to a 60-foot waterfall, sat down in the stream and draped his or her legs over the edge while the significant other looked on in horror. (Elizabeth, Brett’s girl friend)
16. Who is named after a novel by William Saroyan? (Tracy, “Tracy’s Tiger.”)
17. Who sometimes works on helicopters (Bryce, acoustics engineer)
18. Who helped elect Russell Finegold of  Wisconsin to the U.S. Senate? (Kiera)
19. Who has the same name as a popular fast-food chain? (little Jack, son of Laura and Bryce; Jack in the Box)
20. Who ate food—on the same day—at all 11 country-sponsored restaurants at Disney’s Epcot Center?  (Brett)
21. Which two family members have the same birthday? (none)
22. Name the family top 2 golfers—in order of handicap (Ed, 0; Ron, 7)
23. Whose eldest child is named after her grandfather White? (Rhonda’s oldest daughter is named Aubrea)
24. What family member was featured in a TV commercial for the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team? (Theresa)
25. Who narrowly missed being named “Japonica” and as an entrepeneur ran a summer kiddie-camp? (Wrenn)
26. What family member was featured on a CBS sports show special during halftime at an NFL football game? (Rick)
27. Which family member was a child star of the children’s TV series, “Romper Room.” (Jacqueline, Monte’s wife)
28. Which family member played football for his state’s championship team (Matt)
29. Which family member has her grandmother’s name–but reversed (Ryan Rose, daughter of Kiera and Ed, was named for the late Rose Ryan)
30. . Whose great-uncle was a battlefield surgeon in the army of Mexico’s Pancho Villa. His nickname: The butcher. (Trish, Tracy’s wife; they live in Phoenix).