Groundhog Day is a tradition observed in the United States on February 2nd of every year. It comes from a popular tradition dating back to 1887 that if a groundhog leaves its underground winter home on this day and sees its shadow, it will go back to its den and cold weather will last for six more weeks. By contrast, if it does not see its shadow, spring will arrive early. The Groundhog Day ceremony held in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, centering on a groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil, has become the most frequently-attended ceremony. On February 2nd 2024, Punxsutawney Phil came out and didn’t see his shadow, meaning that we should expect an early spring. Or should we? While Groundhog Day remains popular in the 21st century, studies have found no consistent pattern between a groundhog seeing its shadow and the arrival time of spring weather. In fact, one study found that Phil was right only 39% of the time, which is particularly bad, since Phil could flip a coin instead of relying on his shadow and predict whether there will be 6 more weeks of cold weather correctly around 50% of the time. So does this mean that the groundhog tradition is meaningless? I don’t think so. If Phil is not a good weatherman, perhaps he can be redirected towards something different: instead of the change of season, he could predict which team will win the Super Bowl. If Phil sees his shadow, then the NFC team will win. On the contrary, if Phil does not see his shadow, the AFC team will win. If you look at Super Bowl outcomes from the last 10 years, you will find that the shadow-NFC/no shadow-AFC association occurred in 6 of the years. Since 6/10 is 60%, Phil does a much better job predicting the Super Bowl winner than he does the weather. If my theory is correct, since Phil did not see his shadow in 2024, the AFC team should be more likely to win this year. So, in a game of Chiefs versus 49ers, Phil (and I) will be rooting for the Chiefs. Tune in to the Super Bowl on February 11th this year to see if Phil is right. If so, perhaps Phil should move from Punxsutawney to Las Vegas.
Lessons in Sweetness: A Review of Wonka
All the smells, tastes, and feels of the movie theater do not compare to Wonka, the new chocolatey and valuable movie. I went to see this about a week ago with my grandparents, and I was very surprised that they liked it too! I never saw the first movie, and I haven’t read the book, so I was starting with a blank canvas. I got some chocolate to be in the spirit for this movie and some popcorn, both of which were necessary when watching the movie. The smell of popcorn and candy really improved the movie-watching experience, and the taste was even better. Other than being a good movie that engages all five senses, Wonka shows an important lesson of loyalty and perseverance—in the chocolate-making business and in the real world. Willie Wonka, after moving to a new place, looks for money in chocolate sales. On his first attempt, the police shut his business down because his groundbreaking chocolate is threatening the other businesses in town. He then gets pulled into a hotel that gives him a lot of unnecessary debt ($10,000) to pay off. The people who own the hotel give him a contract to sign, but Wonka does not read the fine print and gets charged for unnecessary things like going up and down the stairs. He decides to hatch a plan to sell his chocolate without permission and has great success. This decision shows that Wonka has a lot of perseverance and does anything he can do to continue his passion. His friends that stay at the hotel help him along the way, showing that they can be helpful in his plans. As well as being entrepreneurial, Wonka shows great loyalty to his friends and allies. For example, in one scene, Wonka was a very loyal friend and portrayed an important lesson to everyone watching the movie. When the people in his town get very irritated because Wonka did not stop selling chocolate, the police banish Wonka from their town using a one way boat ticket to an unknown place. After he realizes that his friends are in danger, he jumps off the boat, swims to shore, and tries his best to get them out of trouble. Wonka shows that friends are more important than chocolate. In conclusion, the new movie Wonka is much more than a movie. It is a life lesson that everyone can use to become a better person. This movie changed the way I value different parts of my life, and encouraged me to be more loyal to the people I know. In addition, whenever I think about giving up on a task, I think of Wonka and how he persevered to keep making chocolate. A well-acted, perfectly-shot movie like this one is a must-see, and people of every age will love it.
My Soup Is Getting Cold and Other Funny Stories about the Stealing of the Mona Lisa
On August 21st, 1911, a person named Vincenzo Peruggia committed one of the most famous art heists in history. He stole one of the most remarkable paintings in the world, the Mona Lisa, made by Leonardo Da Vinci, from the Louvre in Paris. But who was Vincenzo Peruggia, and how did he get away with stealing the Mona Lisa? Vincenzo Peruggia was an Italian man who had moved to Paris. He then got a job in the Louvre, installing protective glass onto new paintings that the museum received. This job gave him special access to the secured art and a way to know how to access all the paintings in the Louvre, without tripping security set for criminals (like him). In his Louvre uniform, a white smock, Vincenzo Peruggia could walk in the gallery when no one else was there, and it was this access to the gallery that helped him steal the painting. After that, he had hoped he could sell the artwork to a wealthy person. But when news of the painting’s theft hit the media and police began offering a large reward for its return, he realized this might be more difficult than expected. When Peruggia eventually tried to sell it in the black market for a lot of money, he was caught instantly. This stunt, which dragged on for almost 3.5 years, helped make the Mona Lisa as famous as it is today. Last summer, I was able to go see the Mona Lisa in the Louvre in person and learn all about it. The experience of it was truly phenomenal: from the bustling crowd in the small room to the far enhanced security around it, perhaps due to fear of another Peruggia. My first thought was the painting is way smaller than I expected. When I looked at the painting for the first time, I felt awed because I was in the room with one of the most valued works of art in the world, and it was just a couple of feet away from me. The painting itself is a portrait of Lisa del Giocondo, an Italian noblewoman, although whether Da Vinci used a different person for the model is very controversial. I observed that Mona Lisa’s eyes followed me around the room, watching me as I explored. There are many stories to be told about the Louvre, like how the workers designed a metal cage to go around the painting in case of a fire, but the theft of the Mona Lisa has to be the most exciting one. Recently, I read The Mona Lisa Vanishes by Nicholas Day, a nonfiction novel about how the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre. The writing style of this book was a narrative and explains the theft of the painting. Although written in the style of a history book, the author made the story engaging and funny. For example, on pages 248 and 249, Nicholas describes Da Vinci’s mathematics notebook in which Da Vinci wrote a short note about stopping his entry because his “soup was getting cold.” Instead of deleting that part from his story, Day keeps it in and writes, “He would go on, you see, but he has to eat.” I learned a lot from Day’s book about the Mona Lisa, and at the same time, I was never tired of reading it. I enjoyed that the book had pictures with each chapter; this choice can help readers envision different parts of the book. I recommend this book to 5th and 6th graders wanting to learn more about art history, or someone planning a trip to Paris who wants to learn more about the story of the Mona Lisa. The Mona Lisa Vanishes by Nicholas Day. Random House Studio, 2023. Buy the book here and help support Stone Soup in the process!
