The BLOB. Brightening Your Holiday by Keegan

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1 WMS The BLOB Best Literature On The Block Volume 6 December-January 2013 Brightening Your Holiday by Keegan Interesting Facts by Christina A queen bee uses her stinger only to sting another queen bee. A species of earthworm in Australia grows up to 10 feet in length. Astronauts cannot burp in space. Babies are born without knee caps. Beelzebub is Hebrew for 'Lord of the Flies'. Colgate's first toothpaste came in a jar. Average clouds weigh as much as 100 elephants! Sup Blobert Storytelling Top Ten Monthly Polls Recipe Unusual Foods Monthly Pictorial 5 Students of the Month 6 Celebrity Look-alikes Athlete of the Month Sports Fact or Fraud School News Calendar Collage Brain Teasers Inside this issue: Shining in green, red, white, and many other colors, you often see Christmas lights being streamed from house to house around Christmas time every year. This tradition began in the 18 th century, when candles were used to decorate Christmas trees in upper-class homes. These customs evolved when Christmas trees around the globe began to be displayed publicly with electric lights early in the 20 th century. By the mid-20 th century, lights began to be hung away from the Christmas tree, on houses, roofs, and on lawns. The first illuminated Christmas tree was said to have been established in Queen Victoria s reign in the United Kingdom. In the United Kingdom, electric lights are known as fairy lights, and they became traditionally used after they were first introduced in 1881 to light the Savoy Theatre in London. In 1895, the United States President Grover Cleveland, proudly presented the first electrically lit Christmas tree in the White House. It held over one hundred multicolored lights, each in strings of eight lights. This instigated mounting enthusiasm for electrically lit Christmas trees indoors, and the tradition began to spread rapidly in the United States. Beginning in the U.S. in the 1960 s, it became common to completely outline houses with weatherproof lights. In some areas, Christmas light competitions are held by town councils and offer rewards to the participants. In the United States, Christmas lights have also began being used for other holidays. Halloween has become the most popular. Many people use black lights to create a spooky atmosphere, along with green, purple and orange lights to fit with the theme of Halloween. Easter lights have also been made, normally using pastel colors. Red, white, and blue lights are produced for Independence, along with net lights in a U.S. flag pattern. Many of these lights are also used for Christmas decorations, normally to add more variety to the Christmas tree. Even though Christmas lights are a lot of fun to see and use, they are not always good. Christmas lights have caused extensive recycling issues, which annually amount to 20 million pounds of lights being shipped to a city in China to be recycled. Up until 2009, many of the factories would simply burn the lights, releasing toxic fumes into the local environment, causing health problems. Christmas lights can be great fun, but be careful to use them wisely, and try to save your lights instead of throwing them out, as you could create issues for others across the world.

2 PAGE 2 THE BLOB VOLUME 6 ISSUE 3 Sup Blobert by???? Dear Blobert, I have recently noticed that there are cameras around the school and I wanted to know why? Sincerely, Curious Dear Curious, The cameras have been placed around the school mainly for the students' safety. Sincerley, Blobert Dear Blobert, Around Oregon many schools do not have school on Friday, why don't we? Sincerely, Confused Dear Confused, The reason why we have school on Friday is the school board and administration think that it's best for a five-day week for the students. The pros don't out weigh the cons enough to really think about making a four-day week for the students. Sincerely, Blobert Storytelling With WMS Students by Brett Kevin's friend, Heath, was hunting in Alaska with his friend, Johnny, for grizzly bears. Johnny had fought in the Vietnam War, and often had mental flashbacks of the war. When they were hunting for the bear, they heard something in the brush. Then, Johnny told Heath to lay down in case whatever it was charged them. They then heard it running towards them. At that moment, Johnny yelled at the top of his lungs, "There in the trees," as he started firing into the trees with his pistol. Luckily, the shots spooked the bear and it ran off into the woods. - Kevin R One dark night in the eastern Oregon mountains, Skyler and Max were in Skyler's garage. As they were making their way to the fridge, Max tripped on a dog bed. When he tripped, Max ended up only hitting his tooth on the fridge. After all the agonizing pain went away, Max realized how ironic it was that he only hit his tooth and nothing else on the fridge. - Skyler E.

3 VOLUME 6 ISSUE 3 THE BLOB PAGE 3 WMS Students Top Ten by Maddi Top Ten Cars 1. Lamborghini 2. Bugatti 3. Corvette 4. Dodge Viper 5. Dodge Charger RT 6. Mustang 7. Camaro 8. Cadillac 9. Mini Van 10. Lifted Toyota Top Ten Pie Flavors 1. Pumpkin 2. Pecan 3. Apple 4. Cherry 5. Chocolate 6. Blueberry 7. Lemon Meringue 8. Butterscotch 9. Huckleberry 10. Mincemeat Top Ten Candy Bars 1. Hershey s Cookies and Cream 2. Reese s 3. White Chocolate Hershey 4. Snickers 5. Blue Raspberry Jolly Rancher 6. Hershey Bar 7. Kit Kat 8. Milky Way 9. Twix 10. Payday Top Ten Gum Flavors 1. Mint 2. Orange 3. Root Beer 4. Bubblegum 5. Double Bubble 6. Watermelon 7. Spearmint 8. Grape and Banana Layers 9. Sweet Mint 10. Double Mint Monthly Polls by Maddi

4 PAGE 4 THE BLOB VOLUME 6 ISSUE 3 Lemon Lush by Mary INGREDIENTS 2 (3.4 ounce) packages instant lemon pudding mix 3 1/2 cups milk 1 (12 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup butter, softened 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese 1 cup white sugar INSTRUCTIONS 1.)Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a mecombine the flour and butter using a pastry cutter until a ball into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. PREPARE-15 mins COOK-25 mins READY-55 mins dium bowl, forms. Press 2.)Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. 3.)In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar together until smooth and well blended. Spread evenly over the cooled crust. In another bowl, whisk together the lemon pudding mix and milk for 3 to 5 minutes. Spread over the cream cheese layer. Chill until set, then top with whipped topping. African Horned Cucumber by Mary A fruit with many different names, the African Horned Cucumber is a popular fruit throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Africa. It is known to many as the "blowfish fruit". The fruit has a spiky, hard exterior and a green, juicy inside. The seeds in the strange fruit are covered in a substance very similar to gelatin. The flavor has been described as a combination of cucumber and zucchini. Others say it tastes like banana, cucumber, and lemon. The fruit is used for decoration, smoothies, sundaes, and regular food. The skin of the African Horned Cucumber is rich in vitamin C and fiber. The fruit is only grown in warm weather because it's sensitive to the cold. This plant is grown annually with a height of 1.5 to 3m long with a few pale yellow flowers on it from time to time. Next time you feel the cold surrounding you and need a taste of summer, drive to your local grocer and pick up a ripe African Horned Cucumber fruit.

5 VOLUME 6 ISSUE 3 THE BLOB PAGE 5 Pictorial by Jacob Waiting to see who won a new Big Elephant Listening to Mrs. Bennett t-shirt 8th graders using one of their privileges The new Big Elephant t-shirts

6 January Students of the Month Lyvia P. 8th Hayden S. 7th Emma O. 6th Lucy M. 5th Caressa M. 4th

7 8th Grade Electives Careers and Home Economics

8 PAGE 8 THE BLOB VOLUME 6 ISSUE 3 Students of the Month by Adie Charli 4 th Max 8 th Andrew 7 th Haydn 6 th Zack 5 th

9 VOLUME 6 ISSUE 3 THE BLOB PAGE 9 Celebrity Look-alikes by Adie Dove Cameron Keree G. Bruno Mars Kevin R. Student Athlete of the Month by Adie Brett S. Jessie S.

10 PAGE 10 THE BLOB VOLUME 6 ISSUE 3 Sports by Hannah In this corner, we have Twinkle-toes, weighing in at a solid 2.0 oz. In the other corner we have The Predatoe, weighing in at a whopping 2.8 oz. Let the toe-wrestling championships commence! In Derbyshire, U.K. a new sport emerged, toewrestling! It all started in a pub when two men wanted to see who had the strongest toes. The point of the sport was to get your opponents toe to touch the ground. This sport is based off of arm wrestling. The first round starts out by the two competitors locking toes on their right feet. In the second round, the competitors switch to their left feet. If a third round is needed, the competitors switch back to their right feet. Before the competition starts, each participant must have their feet inspected by a nurse. In the 1970s, the world toe wrestling championships were held in Wetton, U.K. The last world championships were held in Ashbourne, Derbyshire U.K. In 1997, the idea of toe wrestling becoming an Olym- pic sport emerged. Unfortunately, the idea was declined. You would think that toe wrestling would be harmless, but in reality, it is quite dangerous. Competitors have gone home from the championships with dislocated toes, broken toes, and sprained ankles. If you want to try this strange and unusual sport, go ahead, but wash your feet first! WMS Sports by Hannah The courts are heating up as the 2014 girls basketball teams are starting their season. The 2013 girls' basketball season will be starting up soon and all the girls are excited. Whitney R. is very excited about improving her skills and getting to know the other players better. The girls' teams will be playing Helix, Central, and many other teams. The boys' basketball "A" team went undefeated. The 2013 boys' basketball teams have done very well, and they have worked together as a team. Kirk S. said, "Playing as a team is the most important part of playing basketball." Teamwork is so important to basketball. You have to be willing to give others a chance. Remember, the sport involves passing the ball to other people, and you can t do it all on your own. Dylan C. said, Keeping each other alive on the court is teamwork; you have to look out for each other." For Jessie S. the most special moment for him was on Friday, the 13th when he scored his first point. Sportsmanship is the key role to positive representation of your school. Jackie W. said, "Sportsmanship is when the players on opposite teams have a good, positive attitude towards each other." Both boys and girls of Weston Middle School,treat others with respect, have good sportsmanship, and make this a positive year.

11 VOLUME 6 ISSUE 3 Fact or Fraud by Christina THE BLOB PAGE 11 We have all heard this one while storming out the door in our pajamas in a desperate quest to bury ourselves in the field of fresh snow just outside of our homes. "Put a jacket on! You'll catch a cold! cold when it's cold out? It depends on who you ask, but if you ask Robert Bradsher M.D., you'll learn that "cold weather usually makes people she'd scream. So against your will, you ended up waddling out the door bundled in seven layers of clothing, all due to your mother's misunderstanding of colds. In your mother's defense, there's a definite relation between cold weather and colds, but we ll get to that in a second. You see, the "common cold" is caused by the rhinovirus, this friendly fellow: An actual photo of the rhinovirus What your mom misunderstood about our friend, the rhinovirus, is that he is just that, a virus. Viruses aren't even technically alive, so temperature has no effect on them. They're just tiny zombies, trying to find a host. So why do people get a stay indoors, which might increase the person-to-person transmission of respiratory viruses." It should also be noted that when you finally catch that cold, forcing orange juice down your throat does absolutely nothing for curing you. Monthly Ad By Robbie Calling all year-olds! There is a military jump-start program called Civil Air Patrol. This is a cadet program for kids and has an adult program for those parents who want to join. The regular admission price is $35 and that includes your first uniform. This program will excel your knowledge of the military and aerospace. The only local CAP squadron is in Walla Walla, Washington at the old airport. This program is a volunteer program, but is tied to the military. If you are interested in joining, talk to Cody C. or Robbie D. for more information.

12 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 5 National Bird 12 National Pharmacist 19 National Popcorn 26 Spouse s day 6 Bean 13 International Skeptics 20 Martin L. King JR 27 Chocolate Cake 7 Old Rock 14 Dress up Your Pet 21 Squirrel Appreciation 28 Fun at Work 1 New Year s 8 Bubble Bath 15 National Hat 22 National Blonde Brownie 29 National Corn chip 2 Run up the Flag Pole 9 Play God 16 National Nothing 23 National Pie 30 National Inane Answering 3 Festival of Sleep 10 House Plant Appreciation 17 Ditch New Year s Resolution 24 Compliment 31 Backward 4 Trivia 11 Step in a Puddle and Splash your Friends 18 Winnie the Poo 25 Opposite PAGE 12 THE BLOB VOLUME 6 ISSUE 3 January Calendar by Wyatt

13 VOLUME 6 ISSUE 3 Collage by Jacob THE BLOB PAGE 13

14 He was playing Monopoly. Stop imagining. T H E B L O B Best Literature On the Block BLOB Staff Hannah Keegan Jacob Robbie Wyatt Maddi Johanna Brett Adrienne Christina Mary Sponsor: Mrs. Turner Editor: Robbie Brain Teasers by Christina k12.or.us Imagine you are in a dark room. How do you get out? A man is pushing his car along the road when he comes to a hotel. He shouts, "I'm bankrupt!" Why?