Time once again to put Carpmas to bed (and protect it from the spammers).
Before we go – I would like to share photos of the Carpmas gift I got (remember folks, gifts are not necessary) from my Junior High pal Sheryl who now lives in Norway.
A classic Seuss story – with a fish named Otto and a hero named Mr Carp:
I had to cook for a crowd (of four – double my usual Carpmas audience) so I decided on an old staple of the North American diet: The Tuna Noodle Casserole.
I used All-Dressed potato chips instead of bread crumbs for the topping.
Here is the photo evidence:
The tune for this year’s Carpmas Carol is Howard Blake’s “Walking in the Air“. If you are not familiar with the music then please watch the linked YouTube clip below.
(it’s a favorite of mine)
I’m feeling a little bit blue today and really have nothing funny to share. So I will post this photo of cookies and hold a caption contest instead:
I like Poetry Day to be collaborative so I encouraged contributions (collected under a Facebook status post) – asking for words that rhymed with “carp”.
My composition, using all the words – but in an un-even rhyming pattern (ironic – because I’m weird like that) is pictured below.
And a contribution from the lovely Michelle:
Photo of the Carpmas Card given to my friend Jackie from her good friend Lori
(see… the joy… it’s spreading!)
Carp story submitted by my nephew Noah, who has experienced some koi-goldfish tragedy recently.
He claims this is a work of fiction, although I know he is drawing upon very painful moments in his own life to bring truth to his writing. He uses themes that are universal – joy, sadness, life, death, hunger and satiation. The toilet, as a symbol of journey, is ingenious.
We are a little lacking in the contributions to CarpArt Day this year. This piece was stolen from another blog.
(GASP! – oh… wait… that’s from my other blog… that’s okay)
Celebrate Carpmas AND at the same time — demonstrate the theory of Persistence of Vision OR, more accurately, Phi Phenomenon or Beta Eye-Movement OR in Layman’s Terms (and I love the Layman) an optical illusion that prequels early animation toys of the nineteenth century.
Huh?
Observe:
Collect: glue stick, hole punch, two rubber bands, card-stock cut into a 100 mm x 80 mm rectangle, a paper picture-drawing of a carp (on 90 mm x 70 mm paper) and a paper picture-drawing of a platter (on 90 mm x 70 mm paper)
You can color-up you picture-drawings to make them pretty if you wish...
Glue-stick the paper to the card stock — try to centre the drawing as much as possible. IMPORTANT - the image/picture on the rear-side must be pasted upside down in relation to the frontside.
Punch holes through either side and loop in some rubber bands....
Pinch the rubber bands between your fore-fingers and thumbs and twirl. If you twirl at the right speed you should see the illusion of the fish and the platter as one image:
Some other Carpmas themed thaumatropes to try:
Fish… in a lake or pond
Fish… in a bath tub
Fish… in an oven
Potato… in a pot
Or conversely, if you would like to try a more traditional thaumatrope design:
Bird… in a cage
Fish… in a tank
Rider… on a horse
Hat… on a head
Etc… Etc… Etc…
Observe the joy on the faces of the Sugar Cookie School – they await the warmth found within the oven. They are not afraid of what lies ahead – they have each other. That’s why the rule must be maintained. You can’t eat just one…
