Here’s an animated short with a title that seems almost obligatory today.
Walter Lantz’s Chilly Willy was another of his popular characters (Lantz also having created the more famous Woody Woodpecker). From 1954, I’m Cold was the second cartoon in the Chilly Willy series.
The legendary animator Tex Avery’s the director of this short, featuring a penguin who lives in Alaska (not Antarctica), and a dog named Smedley.
Stay warm – enjoy.
Good morning.
Whitewater will have a cold Sunday, with a high of nine, and wind chill values between ten to fifteen below.
The Whitewater Unified School District, as with many other districts across Wisconsin, will be closed tomorrow, 1.6.14: “WUSD Closed Monday, 1/6/2014 due to dangerous wind chills. After school & evening activities for Monday are also cancelled.”
The Friday Poll on today’s Packers-49ers game is now closed. The majority of respondents are, as I am, optimistic, with 60.53% predicting a Green Bay win. Kickoff is 3:40 pm, televised on Fox.
What happens when a resident of South Porcupine, Ontario uses a water gun to shoot boiling water into the -41 C air? This is what happens:
(Some comments on YouTube suggest that the video mistakenly describes -41 C as -41 F. The comments are wrong; at these temperatures, they’re about the same numerical value: -41 C is -41.8 F, where the conversion is C = 5/9 (F-32).)
On this day in 1914, Henry Ford announced a new set of benefits and work rules for his company:
Detroit, Mich., Jan. 5. — Henry Ford, head of the Ford Motor Company, announced today one of the most remarkable business moves of his entire remarkable career. In brief it is:
To give to the employees of the company $10,000,000 of the profits of the 1914 business, the payments to be made semi-monthly and added to the pay checks.
To run the factory continuously instead of only eighteen hours a day, giving employment to several thousand more men by employing three shifts of eight hours each, instead of only two nine-hour shifts, as at present.
To establish a minimum wage scale of $5 per day. Even the boy who sweeps up the floors will get that much.
Before any man in any department of the company who does not seem to be doing good work shall be discharged, an opportunity will be given to him to try to make good in every other department. No man shall be discharged except for proved unfaithfulness or irremediable inefficiency.
On January 5, 1855, a Fond du Lac inventor is born:
1855 – King Camp Gillette Born
On this date King Camp Gillette was born in Fond du Lac. He worked for many years as a traveling salesman. After much experimentation, he developed a disposable steel blade and razor. He established the Gillette Safety Razor Company in 1901. Sales for his product skyrocketed. Gillette remained president of his company until 1931 and was a director until his death the following year. [Source: Lemelson-MIT Program]
Good morning.
Saturday in Whitewater will be relatively warmer, with a high of twenty-seven. Sunrise today is 7:26 AM and sunset 4:34 PM. The moon is a waxing crescent with sixteen percent of its visible disk illuminated.
On January 17th (in limited release), the documentary film Maidentrip will make its theatrical debut. It’s the story of fourteen-year-old Laura Dekker‘s 2010 attempt to sail alone around the world:
In 2009, when Dekker first announced plans to sail the world, Dutch authorities prevented her from setting sail for a year. “Of course there are people who say you’re crazy, but it’s a dream. A great, great dream. I want to sail, I want to go around the world. I want to see all the places and not always the stupid same thing,” says Dekker at the start of the film. “I lived my first five years at sea and ever since, all I’ve wanted is to return to that life.” In January 2012, after 17 months at sea, Laura successfully completed her voyage.
An excerpt from the film appears below. It seems a film well worth putting on one’s watch list, certainly for anyone who likes real-life adventure stories.
On this day in 1923, Milton College’s president takes a stand for civilization itself, against the corrupting forces of music and dance:
1923 – Student Dancing Banned
On this date Milton College president A.E. Whitford banned dancing by students in off-campus, semi-public places such as confectionery stores. [Source: Janesville Gazette]
Sunday at 3:40 PM: San Francisco or Green Bay? Odds slightly favor the 49ers, but I’ll say Packers 27, 49ers 24.
What do you think?
Good morning.
It’s a cold Friday, with blowing snow in the afternoon (but otherwise partly sunny) and a high of eleven. Wind chill values will be between fifteen to twenty-five below.
Chicago has some new residents:
On this day in 1861, Delaware wisely sticks with the Union:
…just two weeks after South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union, the state of Delaware rejects a similar proposal.
There had been little doubt that Delaware would remain with the North. Delaware was technically a slave state, but the institution was not widespread by 1861. There were some 20,000 blacks living in the state, but only about 1,800 of them were slaves. Most of the slaves were concentrated in Sussex, the southernmost of the state’s three counties.
After South Carolina ratified the ordinance of secession on December 20, 1860, other states considered similar proposals. Although there were some Southern sympathizers, Delaware had a Unionist governor and the legislature was dominated by Unionists. On January 3, the legislature voted overwhelmingly to remain with the United States. For the Union, Delaware’s decision was only a temporary respite from the parade of seceding states. Over the next several weeks, six states joined South Carolina in seceding; four more left after the South captured South Carolina’s Fort Sumter in April 1861.
I wrote in October, about drug policy, and quoted Churchill’s famous observation about the state of the Allied war effort after the British victory at the Second Battle of El Alamein (“Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning….”)
It’s always been a mistake to describe drug policy as a war, as though some were combatants against their fellow citizens. But Churchill’s oft-quoted description is a thoughtful one, not about time, but about resources and opportunity.
In that way, it affords a lesson not just about warfare, but about peaceful change, too.
In his speech on the victory, Britain’s prime minister was clear about what the end of the beginning meant. It wasn’t a matter of time alone, as if the matter before him were somehow one-third completed: beginning, middle, and end, each of equal duration. (In fact, that conflict was about half over when Churchill correctly sensed the end of the beginning).
Instead, the expression was a description of how the balance between parties to the conflict had changed: never again would one have superior arms, nearly-unchecked control of the skies, etc.
Time didn’t change the balance; a changing balance affected the phase of the conflict.
The real test for an emerging movement, for example, is whether it can reach a point where it, too, has an assured means to speak, and to challenge, existing conventions. It’s a milestone when individuals or emerging groups are assured of a part of the public square.
The easiest – and least honorable – ways to win are to play alone, or to play a rigged game against others. Even a duffer can win under those circumstances.
When that’s no longer possible, when new groups and new voices cannot be silenced peremptorily – when there’s developed a real contest – that’s when one may say that one has entered the ‘end of the beginning.’
Update, 6 PM – Someone asked if this post was meant to be optimistic or pessimistic. Optimistic – very much so. When dark horses, underdogs, or emerging movements are able to take and hold a part of the field, against entrenched authority, good prospects for success – diligently sought – lie ahead.
Happy New Year, Whitewater – our best is before us.
Good morning.
Thursday in Whitewater will be increasingly sunny, with a high of eleven (wind chili values will be between zero and ten below).
On this day in 1920, prolific author Isaac Asimov is born in Russia.
On January 2, 1957, crime strikes – and tellingly surprises – Janesville:
1957 – Teen Girls Burgle American Legion Hall
On this date Rock County deputies were shocked to discover that three local girls perpetrated a burglary at the American Legion Hall in Milton Junction. The girls stole 10 cases of beer, a bottle of vodka and $2.95 in change for a New Year’s party they planned to have at the home of the 17-year-old, whose parents were away. The girls’ parents were “shocked and unbelieving.” The authorities’ surprise was not at the age of the criminals but their gender. [Source: Janesville Gazette]
Here’s my amateur version of the late William Safire’s long-standing tradition of offering annual predictions. The list for 2014, the FW seventh-annual edition:
1. In the governor’s race, Scott Walker will:
A. Win the city and the state
B. Lose the city but win the state
C. Lose the city and the state
D. The election results will be contested with no certain winner in 2014
2. In the 43rd Assembly race, Rep. Jorgensen will
A. Win a close race (less than 3 pt. margin)
B. Lose a close race (less than 3 pt. margin)
C. Win comfortably (between 3 and 7 pts.)
D. Win decisively (over 7 pts.)
3. The Municipal Administration leadership (full-time staff) will see
A. One leader leave
B. Two leaders leave
C. More than two leave
D. No leaders leave
4. Of print newspapers in the area,
A. One will fold
B. Two will fold
C. One will reduce its print edition from a daily to a weekly
D. There will be no significant changes to print or online operations
5. For the Whitewater Schools, the biggest issue will be
A. Academic performance
B. Fiscal challenges
C. Administrative misconduct
D. Teacher misconduct
6. The Whitewater University Tech Park will
A. Attract significant statewide praise
B. Attract significant statewide criticism
C. Receive no more attention than in past years
D. Attract a combination of statewide praise and criticism
7. By 2014’s end, the amount of vacant commercial space in Whitewater will be
A. Greater than in 2013
B. The same as 2013
C. Slightly less than 2013
D. Far less than 2013
8. The public commission that attracts the most attention in 2014 will be the
A. Planning Commission
B. Police and Fire Commission
C. Community Development Authority
D. Tech Park Board
9. After the spring election, Whitewater’s Common Council will be
A. A bit farther to the left
B. A bit farther to the right
C. Unchanged in ideology
D. Deeply split along ideological lines
10. The talked-about animal-sighting of 2014 will be
A. A coyote
B. A wolf
C. A bear
D. An aardvark
Adams’s guesses for 2014:
1. In the governor’s race, Scott Walker will
B. Lose the city but win the state. He’ll lose the city proper decisively, but win the state comfortably. There will be no doubt about the statewide outcome – the results will look something like 2010, for all the controversy since then.
2. In the 43rd Assembly race, Rep. Jorgensen will
D. Win decisively (over 7 pts.) I don’t think he’ll do as well as ’12, but it’s a safe seat for Rep. Jorgensen.
3. The Municipal Administration leadership (full-time staff) will see
A. One leader leave. One leader will leave, and it will come as a surprise.
4. Of print newspapers in the area,
C. One will reduce its print edition from a daily to a weekly. I’ve been predicting decline for years, but no publication has yet folded, as I’ve thought one would have by now. There’s been an unquestionable decline in readership. (For one of local paper there’s ample reason to doubt even the circulation figures they’re reporting to the state Dept. of Administration.) They’ll all go on, but one will at least announce in 2014 a plan to will scale back print considerably, even if they schedule the plan to take effect in ’15.
5. For the Whitewater Schools, the biggest issue will be
B. Fiscal challenges. Chronic budgetary uncertainty will haunt the district, as it will others nearby, despite supposed (actually overrated) legislative tools from Madison to empower local solutions.
6. The Whitewater University Tech Park will
D. Attract a combination of statewide praise and criticism. Different groups will see what they want to see.
7. By 2014’s end, the amount of vacant commercial space in Whitewater will be
D. Far less than 2013. An improving economy will also give Whitewater’s merchants their best year in the last ten.
8. The public commission that attracts the most attention in 2014 will be the
C. Community Development Authority and D. Tech Park Board (about even between them). The Planning Commission’s a disparate group, and will be unable to achieve the consensus needed for meaningful influence. The Police and Fire Commission’s work is of below-par quality, and that’s not about to change; they’ve the benefit, so to speak, only of everyone’s low expectations. Between the Tech Park Board and the Community Development Authority one will see a busy, attention-getting (and rightly controversial) set of proposals.
9. After the spring election, Whitewater’s Common Council will be
A. A bit farther to the left. Over time, Council will grow more ideological.
10. The talked-about animal-sighting of 2014 will be
A. A coyote. Someone will insist that he’s spotted one or more coyotes roaming through town at night, with at least one of those animals carrying ‘outlandish products that fail catastrophically at the worst possible times.’ Perhaps, but I’d expect photographic evidence before endorsing the find.
If it’s not to be a coyote, I’d happily settle for an aardvark. They don’t live around here, and shouldn’t be expected to do so, assuring that there’d be endless speculation about what the discovery meant, whether a city committee of inquiry should be formed, whether aardvarks should be kept as pets, whether if they should be kept as pets they should be licensed, or whether more than two unrelated aardvarks should live in the same pen, etc.
Good morning.
Whitewater’s year begins with about an additional inch of snow today (after a few inches overnight), and a high of thirteen. Sunrise was 7:26 AM and sunset will be 4:32 PM. It’s a new year, and also a new moon, today.
On this day in 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation goes into effect.
January 1, 1836 sees a new territory in America:
1836 – Wisconsin Territory Formed
On this date the Wisconsin Territory was formed by an act of the Michigan Legislature. Brown County lost a portion of its original possession north of the Menominee River but gained the remainder of the eastern peninsula. Territorial officials were sworn on July 4th of the same year. [Source: Sussex-Lisbon Area Historical Society]
Here’s my amateur version of the late William Safire’s long-standing tradition of offering annual predictions. The list for 2013:
1. In 2013, UW-Whitewater will win the following number of national sports championships:
A. None
B. One
C. Two
D. More than two
Adams’s guess: D. More than two. I think three, making 2013 another very good year for the school’s athletics.
Correct answer: D. More than two. Football, women’s gymnastics, and women’s wheelchair basketball. Congratulations to all.
2. The Innovation Express Generac Bus will prove to be
A. A great success
B. A moderate success
C. A failure
D. A failure, and reveal years-long bungling from Janesville Transit
Adams’s guess: D. A failure, and reveal years-long bungling from Janesville Transit. This will prove one grant-chasing mess.
Correct answer: D. A failure…so much so, that the multi-billion dollar corporate beneficiary of the bus publicly disputed Janesville officials’ account even of the program’s origins. There’s more to say about this project in the new year.
3. The Zoning Re-Write initiative will
A. Lead to the collapse of civilization within the city
B. Lead to the collapse of civilization everywhere (as the city is all there really is, after all)
C. Make no progress
D. Be a success
Adams’s guess: D. Be a success. It’s possible to re-write successfully.
Correct answer: Somewhere between C and D, but not a success yet, as it’s still ongoing. So far, though, an attempt to push the committee away from a reformist course proved ineffectual.
4. The Referendum Question ‘Move to Amend’ on the spring ballot will
A. Receive no votes in favor
B. Receive between 5 and 10 votes in favor
C. Win in a close vote
D. Win decisively
Adams’s guess: D. Win decisively. I don’t support the initiative (I think it’s anti-speech), but it will do very well on the ballot.
Correct answer: D. Here was a lopsided win if ever one should see one.
5. The Innovation Center will
A. Prove a huge financial triumph
B. Prove a moderate financial accomplishment
C. Barely chug along
D. Face a financial crisis by 2013 year’s end
Adams’s guess: C. Barely chug along. This is a case of scraping by.
Correct answer: C. There’s more to say about this project in the new year.
6. Whitewater’s plan to combat the Emerald Ash Borer will
A. Be a complete success
B. Be a success justifying the effort
C. Fail
D. Fail completely, with those insects having destroyed all Whitewater’s ash trees, and seizing control of the city’s principal public buildings
Adams’s guess: B. Be a success justifying the effort. There’s no likelihood of complete success in these efforts, but the ad hoc work of residents in 2012 and 2013 will give us a better outcome than many other communities.
Correct answer: B. We’ve fared better than one might have hoped.
7. By year’s end, the amount of vacant commercial space in Whitewater will be
A. Greater than in 2012
B. The same as 2012
C. Slightly less than 2012
D. Far less than 2012
Adams’s guess: C. Slightly less than 2012. I think slightly less, but that will only be evident in the second half of 2013.
Correct answer: C. My rough estimate suggests that we’ve boosted occupancy, and have a slight decline in vacancies.
8. Newspapers serving the Whitewater area will be
A. More in number and more read than ever before
B. The same in number and read about the same as before
C. Fewer in number and less read than before
D. Fewer in number and far less read than before
Adams’s guess: C. Fewer in number and less read than before. If there’s a paywall set up among any of them (and there’s really only one that could even make the attempt), expect overall readership to plummet. This may also be the year one them goes under.
Correct answer: None of these choices – the correct answer would have been ‘the same in number but less read than before.’ Readership is unquestionably down, but we’ve the same number of newspapers.
9. The Whitewater Unified School District’s post-union future will be
A. Mostly uneventful
B. Mostly uneventful, despite efforts from the right to spark controversy
C. Mostly uneventful, despite efforts from the left to spark controversy
D. Contentious
Adams’s guess: B. Mostly uneventful, despite efforts from the right to spark controversy. There’ll be some stirring up of peripheral issues, and those harping on small matters will (predictably) ignore the more important topics of accomplishment and expenditure. We’ll fortunately avoid the sideshow fuss other districts have endured over minor policies.
Correct answer: A. There was no meaningful push here, by left or right, to create a controversy over employee relations, etc. We have escaped, fortunately, the distracting political that have gripped other districts (including Janesville).
10. After spring elections, Whitewater’s Common Council will be
A. More conservative
B. More moderate
C. More liberal
D. There’s still no left or right in Whitewater’s local politics
Adams’s guess: B. More moderate. Over time, the city will become more outwardly ideological, and that change will produce a better politics (of left or right). It will be, however, a gradual process, and with some issues leading to combinations between more modern representatives of the left and right.
Correct answer: B. It’s more moderate.
Not a bad year for guessing, with six of ten correct, and two others partly correct. (Although those two others were partly correct only because the available choices were poorly conceived, so that’s an area for improvement all its own.) Still, a step up from last year’s four-in-ten result.
Tomorrow: Predictions for 2014.
Jeff Koons on Balloon Dog from SandenWolff on Vimeo.
Good morning.
Our year in Whitewater closes with a high of nine and evening snow showers. Sunrise was 7:26 AM and sunset will be 4:31 PM. The moon is only a sliver, being a waning crescent with only 1% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1991, the last institutions of the Soviet Union not previously dissolved finally fade into history.
On this day in 1967, the Packers win the Ice Bowl:
1967 – Green Bay Packers Triumph in “Ice Bowl”
On this date the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys played in what many consider to be the greatest game in NFL history – The Ice Bowl. With the thermometer dipping to a shocking 13 below zero and a wind chill of minus 46, Bart Starr scored the winning touchdown from the 1-yard line with 13 seconds remaining, sealing a record third straight championship for the Packers, their fifth in seven years. Green Bay defeated Dallas, 21-17, to win the NFL Championship. [Source: Packers.com]
