Hello,
everybody, and welcome to Day #7 in the POP CULTURE
ADDICT'S ADVENT CALENDAR! Hard to believe we've made it
through the first week, huh?
There's
still a lot of holiday left to get through...but before I do that, I want to
take time to wish all of my Jewish friends a very Happy Hanukkah! I know your holiday began yesterday, and I
hope that your eight days of celebration are filled with love, joy, and
peace. Mazel tov to you all, and
I hope all of you get what you want this season!
Now,
onto today's blog entry. It's certainly
considered to be a more modern Christmas tradition, and I suppose in some
cases, you probably could use it for other holidays as well. Would you believe that this tradition is
only about a decade old, but has exploded in popularity quite recently? I think it was right around 2012 that it
really became popular, and by 2013, it was very much as big of a holiday
tradition as candy canes on Christmas trees and hot chocolate with marshmallows.
I
am, of course, talking about the latest craze invading households all over the
world - Elf On The Shelf!
But
just what is the elf on the shelf?
Well, it's this little guy!
Isn't
he cute?
Well,
okay. Some of you might think he's just
a little bit annoying, and I'm sure that some people may get a little bit tired
of him getting into mischief all over your homes and apartments. But since the picture book of the same name
was released in 2005 along with the elf toy that accompanies the book, families
have joined in the tradition of making the elf do all sorts of crazy things to
keep an eye out on the children who live in the home - you know, just to see if
they're being good or bad!
And
believe me when I say that the elf on the shelf can do almost anything. The limits of creativity are endless when it
comes to what you can do with your elf.
And
for today's blog post, I thought I'd show you ten creative ways that people
have used their elves to make Christmas magic happen. And, would you believe that I myself have my own elf on the shelf? Mind you, he may not be as cute as the one
featured in the book, but I'm very proud of him!
Before
I get started with this though, I do want to credit the following websites for
the images that I have used for this blog post.
iheartnaptime.net
Huffington Post
itsoverflowing.com
Pinterest
overthebigmoon.com
mommysavers.com
familysponge.com
Okay,
so shall we get started?
1. You know, even an elf on the shelf has to
get a great night's sleep...but given how soft and comfortable that Kleenex box
bed is, I imagine our elf has hit the snooze button at least a half a dozen
times.
2. 97, 98, 99, 100! Whew! What a
workout! I think next week, I'll try
the 454 gram weights!
3. Spider-Man, Spider-Man, can't hop in a paper
sack, my friend. I will leave you in my
dust, I'm the elf on the shelf, and you'll go bust, look out! I'll beat you Spider-Man!!!
4. Our elf on the shelf was inspired to build
all of these snowmen after watching how delightful Olaf was in
"Frozen". If he starts
singing "Let It Go", we'll know to intervene.
5. Something tells me that our elf is fishing
in all the wrong places. Though, I will
say this. That "lake" has the
most crystal blue water that I have ever seen!
6. Who knew that a party balloon and a pair of
briefs would make the perfect elf dirigible!
Just stay away from ceiling fans, and you should be perfectly fine!
7. Even elves get bored hanging around a
shelf. Sometimes they like to team up
together and practice for the Elf On The Shelf Cirque Du Soleil!
8. Sorry, Crackle. You've been replaced. We
were looking for someone a little more...cuter.
9. So, if this is a re-enactment of the nursery
rhyme "Rub-A-Dub-Dub", which one is Elfy supposed to be? The butcher, the baker, or the candlestick
maker?
Oh,
wait. His companions are from the
gingerbread tribe. I think we know what
the answer is.
10. Looks like our elf is exhausted.
So,
those are just ten ways in which the elf on the shelf can make your Christmas
holiday even more magical.
Now,
as I promised, I told you that I have my own elf on the shelf. And, believe it or not, my elf predates the
original elf on the shelf by eighteen years!
Okay,
so maybe my elf looks like he may be a descendant of Grumpy from "Snow
White and the Seven Dwarves", but I made this guy around Christmas 1987 in
my first grade class, and he's managed to survive all this time. It's one of the few things from elementary
school that I managed to keep, but he's still hanging around.
And
believe it or not, he still has some candy inside of him. Originally, they were filled with
butterscotch candies, but for some reason I never bothered to eat one, and that
candy has remained...for twenty-eight years now.
I wonder if it still tastes good? I'm almost afraid to put an almost 30-year-old
piece of candy anywhere near my mouth...
Hi,
everyone! I hope you've enjoyed the
first five days of A POP CULTURE ADDICT'S ADVENT CALENDAR so far. I forgot how much fun these were to write!
And,
coming up on Day #6, we've got a musical treat for you...it's actually
a classic Christmas carol that I don't mind listening to once in a while. In fact, it's a song that I would love to
play over and over again if it meant that I get something for Christmas this
year...something that you can't wrap.
No...it's
not that. I never wanted a hippopotamus
for Christmas.
But
it is something that I think completes the Christmas season. I'll talk more about that in a second.
You
know, since today happens to be Sunday, and I haven't done a Sunday Jukebox
entry in ages, I thought that I would do a music feature for today. And, you know, it seems as though almost
every single artist in the world has put out a holiday album. You have your classic Christmas albums by
Frank Sinatra and Dolly Parton, to more contemporary albums released by
Pentatonix, Michael Buble, and even Justin Bieber.
The
latest pop singer to release a holiday album is Kylie Minogue, whose album
"Kylie Christmas" was released on November 13, 2015. It seems hard to believe, but in her
twenty-eight year career as a singer, this is the first holiday album she's
ever released. The album reached the
Top 10 in album sales in her native Australia, and peaked within the Top 20 in
the UK. I don't know what the sales have
been like here in Canada, but I do know we sell the album as it's featured in
my store.
I've
listened to the album, and it's not a bad effort. She does a couple of duets with talk show host James Corden and
her sister, Dannii. But I want to focus
your attention on one song in particular.
Track #9, to be precise.
For
it is this song that I will be talking about in this blog entry.
Ah,
yes...the classic song "Let It Snow". Depending on who you ask, they either love the song because they
love snow, or they want to throw the CD of the song in a fireplace because they
can't stand snow.
Myself? I love snow - but only in December. Once January 1 rolls around, it can
completely disappear. I've said it
before and I'll say it again...I don't think Christmas can be complete without
a little bit of snow. Last year around
this time, we had a Christmas morning thunderstorm which completely
sucked. The only bright side to it was
that we never lost power. Some people
in my town did for several hours.
And
looking out my office window and seeing all of the green grass still present and
abnormally warm temperatures for December...I don't know. It kind of takes all the fun out of
Christmas. I need to have my Christmas
snow!
I
say, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
Of
course, Kylie Minogue didn't write the song.
She's just one of many artists who have put their own spin on a holiday
classic. Truth be told, the song was
first written a little over two decades before Kylie was even born!
It
was composed by Sammy Cahn and Julie Styne in the summer of 1945 in Hollywood,
California - a place in the world that typically doesn't see much snow. In fact, at the time that the two wrote the
song's lyrics, there was a major heatwave going on in California. Temperatures had been above normal for
several days that summer, and both Cahn and Styne used the weather as their
inspiration for the song.
Only
instead of writing a song about how much they hated the sun and the heat, they
wrote about just how frightful winter weather can be. Believe me, if you are like me and you live up in the Northern
part of the world, you know how hard winter can be. Just ask anyone who survived the major blizzard of 1977. Or anyone who lived through Ice Storm 1998. Or anyone who made it through Snowpocalypse
2011 unharmed. I can tell you that I
lived through two of these, and I survived!
So
when there is a blizzard raging outside, and the snow drifts prevent you from
going anywhere, wouldn't it be nice to just stay indoors by the fire and just
relax and enjoy being safe and warm.
When you're in a safe and cozy place - hopefully with people you love -
they it doesn't matter if it snows outside or not.
(Well...at
least not until the next day when you have to shovel or snowblow it all
away...something that I'll have to get used to doing as a homeowner, I'm sure.)
TRIVIA: The actual
title of the song is "Let It Snow!
Let It Snow! Let It
Snow!". I think most radio
stations and record companies just feel that mentioning it once was enough.
So,
aside from Kylie, who else recorded versions of this song?
Well,
the first artist to record "Let It Snow" was Vaughan Monroe, whose
version first hit airwaves in time for the 1945 Christmas season. It became a huge hit, peaking at #1 in 1946.
Of
all the versions that were recorded, most would cite Dean Martin's as one of
the best and most classic of them all.
I would have to agree with that.
He released his version of "Let It Snow" on his 1959 album
"A Winter Romance".
Jessica
Simpson released her own version of the song from her 2004 album "ReJoyce:
The Christmas Album". I only
include this version because I seem to hear it the most on many Canadian pop
music stations. I'm specifically
pointing towards you Ottawa's Majic 100!
Carly
Simon also recorded a version of "Let It Snow" in 2005...but she
played around with the lyrics a bit by singing the song through the perspective
of the host, rather than the guest. It
ended up being a gamble, but it paid off with a peak position of #6 on the
Billboard Adult Contemporary Charts.
So,
as you can see, many artists have sang about how they'd just rather let it
snow. And, since 1945, it has been a
song that not only is appropriate for the Christmas season, but for the whole
season known as winter. Technically,
you could play this song straight through March and not have it be weird at
all.
Here's
hoping that before Christmas comes and goes, my area gets at least a little bit
of snow. To me, you can't have
Christmas without it.
Well, for someone who grew up and lives in
Canada, you can't.
I'd
like to formally invite you to partake in Day #5of A POP CULTURE ADDICT'S ADVENT CALENDAR. I think it's going to be a lot of fun today, and I hope that
you've brought your wallets because I plan on selling you a lot of stuff for the
holiday season!
Just
kidding!
I
really don't have anything to sell you.
This blog is a non-profit one.
Has been for the last four and a half years, and I suspect that it will
probably remain the same for the next four and a half years or however long
this blog lasts.
Though
I will admit that this blog is all about selling things.
I
don't know how many of you out there were in public school - I'm probably
guessing most of you reading this blog probably were at some point in your
life. And, I'll be the first one to
admit that public school for me was a mixed bag of emotions. Some days I really did want to be there and
had a wonderful time. Others I was so
frustrated and angry that I swore that I would become a third grade dropout.
But
I have to say that the one time of the year that I really liked being in school
was during the Christmas season. In our
school district, the earliest we ever got out of school was December 19th or
somewhere close to that date. Prior to
that date, we would spend the whole month of December doing Christmas crafts,
singing Christmas carols in the gymnasium, watching holiday movies, and
bringing in holiday treats for our classroom parties.
All
of these activities were very nice distractions from multiplication tables, conjugating
French verbs, and doing spelling dictations.
But in order to keep these activities going, the schools would need to
have the funds to pay for the supplies needed for the activities.
That's
where the selling comes into play.
Every
October - just before Halloween - we would receive a stack of papers as well as
a catalogue filled with holiday merchandise that we could sell to our relatives
and friends. And, from what I
understood, every time we sold an item from the catalogue, a percentage of the
sales would go towards the school.
Obviously, the more money that was raised for the school, the more
supplies the school could buy.
Of
course, what made it easier - at least back in my day anyway - was that the
products that we had to sell were quite nice.
These
days, when schools host their fundraising drives, they sell things like Little
Caesars Pizza Making Kits or they sell canisters of fudge. I only know this because I bought some of
these things from people who I work with whose children were selling them for
their own schools. And while I have
nothing against selling frozen pizza or fudge for Christmas fundraising drives,
I have to admit that I miss the creativity that went behind fundraising drives.
I
think the first year I started doing Christmas fundraising was 1988. It should have been 1987, but my evil wench
of a teacher prevented me from taking part for reasons that only she knew. I'm guessing that could be one of the
reasons why she left our school the year after she taught me...or at least I'd
like to THINK that, anyway.
But
back in 1988, I remember being blown away at the selection of merchandise that
was available for purchase through our school.
Chocolates, candies, peanut brittle, gift wrap, ornaments,
decorations...it was like finding the entire seasonal department from Target or
Walmart in a huge catalogue.
And
the prices were quite affordable too.
Oh
yeah...did I mention that back in 1988, I had oodles of contacts that I sold
stuff to?
Let's
put it like this. In 1988, both of my
grandmothers were still alive. And both
of them purchased items from me. My
mother wasn't too keen on supporting the school that I used to get teased in,
but she still bought stuff from me because she loved me. Both of my sisters were old enough to buy
things from me at that time, and I am sure that both of them ordered items that
they thought would look awesome in our living room.
Oh,
and did I mention that my two aunts had connections through their
workplaces? They took my order forms to
work with them and several of their co-workers bought things from me too!
I
don't remember what I sold that first year I did fundraising...but it was
easily over three hundred dollars.
In
fact, I was the second highest seller of fundraising for my school for three
consecutive years running! 1990, 1991,
and 1992!
And
guess what? Some of the items that I
sold my family all those years ago are still around! In fact, I have them on display in my own living room and on my
Christmas tree! Let me show you some of
them!
See
this goose in a wreath ornament?
There's four of them hanging on my tree altogether. Both my sisters bought one, and Mom bought
two. The date on the ornaments says
1988, so that's how I know that they were from the first year that I did school
fundraising. Hard to believe that those
ornaments are nearly thirty years old and they still look like they are brand
new! I guess products had better
standards of quality back then.
Oh,
and these statues were also just as cute.
Just to clarify, I'm talking about the statues with the red candles in
them. I think I sold those back in 1989
or 1990. There were six of them
altogether. There was a mouse, a cat, a
dog, a penguin, a bear, and a reindeer.
And,
somehow, we ended up with one of each! I do think this was planned though. My one sister bought the penguin and reindeer. The other one bought the cat and the dog. Mom bought the remaining two.
By
the way...those candles? Those were the
original candles that came with the statues some twenty-six years ago. Not one of them were ever lit. I suppose we could have lit them if we
wanted to, but somehow we thought it looked better if we kept them the way they
were. I'm finding it a miracle that
they have survived twenty-five Christmases (at least) without getting
broken!
But
again...that was the quality of the goods that we sold back then.
All in all...those statues and ornaments remind
me of when life was a lot simpler...and as long as I have those Christmas
trinkets, I'll always remember those good times.
It's
Day #4 of A POP CULTURE ADDICT'S ADVENT CALENDAR, and while I wanted to make
this entry a Christmas themed one...I can't.
You see, I'm smack dab in the middle of the New Archies Reviewed series of posts, and I didn't want to take a three
week hiatus from that. So, I'm
continuing the series through the calendar.
Though,
I'll try to make a couple of Christmas references in this piece so it's not a
complete loss. Like, for instance,
check out this comic book cover. This
was the first issue of The New Archies Digest from the winter of 1988. I figure that will make the Christmas quota
for today.
So,
last week, Archie did everything possible to do good with a rope. Let's see what this week brings.
Episode 10B:
Change of Minds. Why do I get the feeling that
this is one of those personality transplant episodes?
Oh,
one more note. For some reason, the
speakers on my computer decided to stop working and the source of my video
doesn't seem to want to play on my iPad...so I'm working with a video that has
no sound effects. I think I remember
enough of the dialogue to formulate the story, but there will be some parts
that I'm not clear on.
Such
as...when did Eugene get a pet dog and a budgie? I mean, we've gone through nearly ten episodes without even mentioning
this fact. I mean, we've been to
Eugene's house at least three different times during this series, and it never
came up? I wonder why?
Oh,
wait. Eugene wants to perform an
experiment using the dog as a guinea pig.
Wait, WHAT? You're seriously
telling me that Eugene tests his projects on animals? Oh, you can bet that members of PETA will probably be picketing
his front step the moment they found this out.
Now,
the frustrating thing about watching the video without sound is that I am
drawing a blank as to what Eugene's invention is supposed to do. I'm guessing that it's supposed to be a
translator so that he can understand what his dog is saying. But for all I know, it could be a machine
that makes his dog talk.
But
I'm guessing that nowhere in the instruction manual does it call for a budgie
to fly into the machine at the same time that the dog does. When the budgie enters the machine, he
accidentally pushes a lever that causes something to happen. Bolts of electricity surround both animals,
and at one point, it looks like an electrical current is linked between both
dog and budgie.
Yep...Eugene's in trouble with PETA for sure.
And
Eugene hears a knock on the door (or a doorbell, I don't know), and runs
upstairs to face the music from the angry animal rights activists that he will
likely face.
But
when Eugene leaves, something strange happens.
Both the dog and the budgie start to spin right round baby right round
like a record baby right round round round until they somehow end up acting not
like themselves. For one, the dog can
actually fly and whistle. For another,
the budgie can bark and eat bones.
Hmmm...if
I didn't know any better, I'd say that machine swapped both of their
personalities. Gee...I hope no HUMAN
ends up in that machine.
Oh,
by the way, it's not PETA at the door to arrest Eugene. It's Archie, Moose, and Jughead.
And
Jughead just happens to be eating a four scoop ice cream cone which makes me as
the viewer a little disgusted and Eugene as the spectator to open his mouth
extremely wide. I don't know why Eugene
should be so shocked. This is the same
boy who ate a banana without peeling it and enough hamburgers to bankrupt both
Reggie and Veronica.
But
we don't have time to find out much more about what Archie, Jughead, and Moose
want because all of a sudden, a bird acting like a dog and a dog acting like a
bird come charging up the stairs, with the dog actually gobbling up Jughead's
ice cream cone! You know, I have to say
that the scene would probably be funnier had I had sound, but you know, you
take what you can get, I guess.
The
four boys rush downstairs to Eugene's lab to try and catch the animals to find
out why they are acting so strangely.
But when Moose ends up tripping over his own feet, he crashes into
Eugene and both Moose and Eugene fly into Eugene's machine.
Moose's
foot accidentally pulls the lever, and with a flash of light, Moose and Eugene
quickly discover that the machine doesn't just work on budgies and dogs.
With
a little tornado action, Moose becomes Eugene, and Eugene becomes Moose. And Archie and Jughead become totally
confused.
But,
if you needed any clarification that Moose and Eugene have switched bodies,
look no further than the 87-pound Eugene being suddenly able to lift the very
device that did this to them in the first place, and hear Moose suddenly saying
words without a D-uh and with more than three syllables.
You
know, just for now, let's change their names so we know who is who. For Moose trapped in Eugene's body, let's call
him "Moogene". And for Eugene
trapped in Moose's body, we'll go with "Eugoose" (pronounced like
you-juice).
Anyway,
it looks like Moogene and Eugoose will be that way forever, as Eugoose totally
throws the machine on the ground, blowing it up. Gee, that was smart.
And
it turns out that this switching of the minds couldn't have come at a worse
time! Not only is Moose supposed to be
playing a football game against some team known as the Vikings, but Eugene is
supposed to appear on a quiz show with Archie and Amani! What are they going to do?
Well,
at school the next day, it seems as though people are noticing that something
isn't quite right about Eugene and Moose.
After all, Moose is answering every question correctly and giving MS.
Grundy a nice shiny apple while Eugene is...
...balancing
a fish bowl on top of his head. How
random. Of course, we know Eugene is
really Eugoose...but it makes me wonder if Moose really would distract the
class like that.
Oh
wait...he killed a student in MS. Grundy's class four episodes ago. Nothing would surprise me.
So,
after class is over, it's time for the football practice, and right off the bat
I have to nitpick on something. I get
that this is supposed to be a junior high school, but since when is red an official
school colour? I've read the comic
books for years. I know the school
colours for Riverdale are blue and gold.
The only football team in the Archieverse that wears red is Central
High. And Riverdale HATES Central
almost as much as the kids from Bayside High hated Valley. I know I'm nitpicking here, but having the
Riverdale football team wearing red just seems so...wrong.
You
want to know what else is wrong? Coach
Kleats obviously playing favourites. He
practically shoves Eugene to the bench while fawning over his star player
Moose. I don't know...a good coach
would support and work with his whole team...but I guess since the more
reasonable Coach Clayton isn't a part of this show, we have to deal with Coach
Kleats' old-fashioned attitude.
Of
course, if Moose and Eugene were the same people as they were 24 hours earlier,
nothing would be said. But we're
talking about Moogene and Eugoose here!
And let's just say that the new "Moose" isn't improved. At all.
But
when Eugoose takes to the field and kicks a field goal that seems to land on
Jupiter (it's only a cartoon, it's only a cartoon...), Kleats is now sorry he
every treated Eugene so badly and starts to treat him with more respect. Ah, Coach Kleats. Always so transparent. I
hope Santa Claus drops a lump of coal as big as his house on his head.
(See what I did there? Made a Christmas
reference?)
Back
at Eugene's house, the budgie and the dog are still acting incredibly
crazy. The budgie comes across a cat
and scares the cat half to death with its barking. Wait, Eugene has a cat too?
Why are we now just seeing this menagerie of domesticated
creatures? Maybe those rumours of
Eugene testing on animals really are true!!!
But
just as the dog and the budgie decide that they want to kill each other, they
spin around like Kylie Minogue did back in 2000 and change back to their old
selves. So, we know that the effects of
Eugene's mind switching machine are temporary.
I wonder if this could impact the plot in any way.
Well,
it's time for the quiz show portion of the game, and it looks like it's similar
to Whiz Kids or Reach For The Top, where two schools compete against each other
for the trophy. Mr. Weatherbee and MS.
Grundy are standing in front of a wheel that looks like the one used in the old
Match Game 74 series. Ooooh, I wonder
if the team that Riverdale is playing against is made up of Charles Nelson
Reilly, Richard Dawson, and Brett Somers?
And,
hold everything. Notice how the banner
on the Riverdale side says ELEMENTARY?
Oh, so we're supposed to now believe that this is an elementary
school? Although that does explain why
they have a sandbox and recess...but it doesn't explain why there aren't any
kindergarten kids wandering the halls.
You
know what, I don't care. It's Riverdale
JUNIOR HIGH. That's the only way to
explain why they have a football team and quiz shows.
And
speaking of quiz shows, Riverdale is doing badly. Though it doesn't help that Eugoose keeps pushing the answer
button before MS. Grundy can even read out a question. And after a tongue lashing by Archie and
Amani, Eugoose decides that the quiz show is boring, and wants to spin the
wheel. Hate to break it to you, but
this is not The Price is Right. You
don't win $10,000 by landing on the dollar wedge.
But
if you're suddenly able to spin the wheel with such force that it rolls off the
stage, then you have a problem.
Luckily,
there must be a little bit of the old Eugene still in there as he manages to
land on the wheel and steers it away from the crowd so that it doesn't turn MS.
Grundy into a pancake. That's fine, but
with only two players on the Riverdale team, will they have to forfeit?
Enter
Moogene, who decides that he must fill in for Eugoose. And after answering a ridiculously easy
question that a kindergarten kid could answer, Riverdale wins the game and
earns the trophy...
...which
gets squashed by Eugoose and the wheel of death. But it's a funny sight gag that follows when Moogene folds up the
squashed trophy like an origami creation and sticks it in his pocket.
So,
the quiz show was a complete near-disaster.
Let's see how the football game is unfolding.
RIVERDALE
0, VIKINGS 26. Ouch. Let me guess...Coach Kleats is still being a
jerk again and relying on Moose.
Figures.
We
see the teams about to launch another play - and the other team is in blue and
gold?!? COME ON!!!
Sure
enough, Moogene is doing terrible in the football game, actually trying to
score a touchdown by running in the wrong direction! Fortunately, he fumbles before he can score for the opposing
team, but seriously...put Eugoose in the game!
We know he can do it!
Frustrated,
Coach Kleats decides that Moose is useless, and throws Eugene into the
game. Only Eugene is really
Eugoose...are you confused yet because I sure am!
At
any rate, Eugoose's fancy footwork and no fear leads him to bring the score up
to twenty. It's the last play and all
Riverdale needs is another touchdown to win.
And
right at that moment, Eugene and Moose get so dizzy that their heads are spinning,
and switch back to who they were before the machine scrambled their
brains. This normally would be a good
thing, but now that Eugoose is just plain Eugene, the game is certain to be
over. Especially since Coach Kleats has
now decided that Eugene would be his MVP after all.
Yep,
the game is doomed.
Or,
is it? Somehow, Kleats notices that
Eugene has lost his touch on the field just a minute later and substitutes
Moose in Eugene's place just before the time runs out in the game. Moose just barely scores the touchdown
needed to win the game!
Now,
after all that, you'd think that Eugene would just stop with the inventions and
just focus on dating Amani, but no.
He's just decided to stop testing on animals. Instead, Archie and Jughead inevitably activate another one of
Eugene's inventions...
...and
suddenly they become the newest celebrities to appear in the Chicken Tonight
commercials.
Okay,
so this episode wasn't as strong as the first half of Episode 10...but I did
like quite a few parts to it. It was
nice to see supporting characters like Moose and Eugene get the lead roles for
a change, and to be fair, the storyline did seem believable, even if it really
wasn't meant to be. Though, I think
Eugene being a stronger character than Moose helped a bit.
So, what's on the docket for next week? Archie and Jughead find themselves having a
problem...a rather BIG problem that starts off SMALL.