Tom McMahon

Crayola 3D Sidewalk Chalk

Crayola 3D Sidewalk Chalk   

 

I saw this on TV, looked pretty neat.

The Avenging Narwhal Play Set With 4 Magical Tusks and 3 Adorable Animals To Impale!

The Avenging Narwhal Play Set With 4 Magical Tusks and 3 Adorable Animals To Impale!

Why Are Fire Engines Red?

Just Muttering has the answer from NostalgiaLand:

Well, to begin with, fire engines have 8 wheels and 4 people riding in them.
8 plus 4 is 12.
12 inches is a foot.
A foot is a ruler.
A famous ruler was Queen Elizabeth.
The "Queen Elizabeth" was a ship that sailed the sea.
The sea has fish.
Fish have fins.
The Finns fought the Russians.
The Russians are red [sic] and fire engines are always rushin' . . .
    . . . which is why fire engines are always red.

Lego: Milwaukee's Miller Park, Complete With A Working Retractable Roof

Lego: Milwaukee's Miller Park, Complete With A Working Retractable Roof

Built by Tim Kaebisch, a student at Milwaukee School of Engineering, where it is on display thru the end of August 2008. An excerpt from an interview with the web site Home Run Derby:

HRD:  Did you have blueprints or schemes to work from?
TK:  There was nothing like that out there.  So it was mostly trial and error.  I started with the roof before anything else.

HRD: Is it all made entirely of Lego?
TK:  It’s 99% Lego materials.  There’s some light string and twist ties in there.  The electronics are all from Lego Mindstorm. ...

HRD: What’s your major at MSOE?
TK:  I’m a Junior majoring in Architectural Engineering, specializing in Environmental Engineering, which includes HVAC, plumbing and fire protection.  I’ll graduate in May 2009.

Do you think he'll have any trouble finding a job? Me neither. By the way, Home Run Derby has a great page of other Lego ballparks as well. (via Cold Spring Shops)

Spelling Tip: Favre Is Your Favorite

1. F A V O R I T E
2. F A V O R I T E
3. F A V    R      E
4. F A V R E

Stickman: A Windows Program That Lets You Create Animated Cartoons

Stickman: A Windows Program That Lets You Create Animated Cartoons

The summary from SnapFiles.com:

Stickman enables you to create animated cartoons, without the need for any drawing skills. Instead of drawing, you can choose from a collection of enhanced stick figures that look like cartoon characters, and can be animated in the same way as stick figure animations, using control points. You can use full color backgrounds and choose from a variety of characters and objects that can be used in your animation. The program also includes a character editor (Elemento) that allows you to design your animation objects. Stickman supports multiple layers, adjustable camera angels, and more.

Safe Baby Handling Tips: A Book By David and Kelly Sopp

Safe Baby Handling Tips: A Book By David and Kelly Sopp

More here. The Sopps also run wrybaby.com

Contiguous State Pairs With Run-On Abbreviations

Contiguous State Pairs With Run-On Abbreviations

Examples:

• Minnesota & North Dakota: MNND
• Wisconsin & Illinois: WIIL

Exercises:

1. Can you find all the state pairs?
2. Can you can travel from coast-to-coast using these state pairs?
3. Can you can travel from Canada to Mexico using these state pairs?

Idea: Use this as a game with kids learning US geography.

Mnemonic: Scarry Is Not Scary

Scarry

Scary

When I saw one Milwaukee blogger criticizing another for his misspellings but then ending his criticism with "scarry" when he meant "scary", I thought everyone might benefit from this mnemonic.

Same and Different: A Children's Coloring Book

Same and Different: A Children's Coloring Book

"A dancing hippo, a magical dragon, happy fairies, and other fantastic creatures populate these pages. The characters look alike, but a closer look reveals subtle differences. With these 30 whimsical pictures, kids can sharpen their detective skills by figuring out the similarities and distinctions. The fanciful illustrations are fun to color, too!"