...and the mome raths out grabe.

I thought about making this last question really difficult, but judging from the way people quickly dropped out from guessing at the last two, I'll make it a little easier.  Before we get to it, though, I want to mention Lewis Carroll one more time.  If any of you are interested in reading his works there is a fantastic book out there called Lewis Carroll: The Complete, Fully Illustrated Works.  It comes in one large, hardcover, leather bound, gold-edged volume with nearly all of his works inside.  It even has the reproduction of his original hand-written version of Alice in Wonderland as well as a number of his mathematical and logical equations (which are way beyond my understanding).  My mother-in-law got it for me for Christmas a few years ago and the kids and I have really treasured it.  There's something very special about pulling this large important-looking volume off the shelf and hear the wonderful stories about Alice.  Even the kids can tell it's particularly nice...nicer than a semi-toddler-chewed paperback, anyway.  Alright, I've gone on enough.  Here's your last riddle.  Thanks for having fun with us this week.  We'll be sure to do this again next year.  Now, on to...

Riddle #5:

Twenty-four red socks and twenty-four blue socks are lying in a drawer in a dark room.  What is the minimum number of socks I must take out of the drawer which will guarantee that I have at least two socks of the same color?

...all mimsy were the borogoves...

Want another reason to like Lewis Carroll?  He was also left-handed!  Ah, those lefties…so brilliant…so creative…so handsome…

Ahem.

So onto…

Riddle #4

…which is a little more complex. 

It comes from the Shakespearean play The Merchant of Venice.  There were three caskets – gold, silver, and lead – inside one of which was a portrait of Portia, a wealthy heiress who is bound by a clause in her father’s will that forces her to marry whichever suitor chooses correctly among three caskets.  The suitor was to choose one of the caskets, and if he was lucky enough (or wise enough) to choose the one with the portrait, then he could claim Portia as his bride.  On the lid of each casket were inscriptions to help the suitor choose wisely.

Portia explained to her suitors that the casket lids would each contain two statements and that no lid contained more than one false statement.  She had the following inscriptions put on the caskets:

GOLD:

(1)   The portrait is not in here.

(2)  The artist of the portrait is from Venice.

 

SILVER:

(1)   The portrait is not in the gold casket.

(2)  The artist of the portrait is really from Florence.

 

LEAD:

(1)   The portrait is not in here.

(2)  The portrait is really in the silver casket.

 

Which casket contains the portrait of Portia?

Extra credit: In the actual play, who chose the right casket?

...did gyre and gimble in the wabe...

So far so good...I think. Lisa has been on a real winning streak so far. I, however, discovered that that I can rearrange the letters in my name spell "Jane Sparrow Heading." So if I ever become a famous children’s’ book author, I'll be sure to use that as my pseudonym. 

For today's riddle we're going to do an old one that’s still good. It involves lies and truth telling again. The problem is about knights and knaves.

Riddle #3:

There is a certain island in which all the inhabitants are either "knights" or "knaves." Knights always tell the truth and knaves always lie.
You visit this island one day and see three men - we'll call them Moe, Larry, and Curly - standing together in a garden. You ask Moe, "How many knights are among you?" Moe answers but rather indistinctly, so you ask Larry, "What did Moe say?" Larry replies, "Moe said that there is one knight among us." At this point the third man, Curly, says, "Don't believe Larry; he is lying! Nyuk nyuk nyuk."

The question is, what are Moe, Larry, and Curly?

(Hint: the answer is not "The 3 Stooges")

Good luck!

...and the slithy toves...

Happy Birthday Lewis Carroll!

A little interesting fact about Lewis Carroll: he came up with his name by rearranging the letters in his real name, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. Another marginally sane person did that later in the 1960's; Jim Morrison rearranged his name to spell Mr. Mojo Rising. Anyone out there want to give it a try with their own name?

In the meantime here's…

Riddle #2:

When Alice entered the Forest of Forgetfulness, she did not forget everything; only certain things.  She often forgot her name, and the one thing she was most likely to forget was the day of the week.  Now, the Lion and the Unicorn were frequent visitors to the forest.  These two are strange creatures.  The Lion lies on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays and tells the truth the other days of the week.  The Unicorn, on the other hand, lies on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, but tells the truth on the other days of the week.

One day Alice met the Lion and the Unicorn resting under a tree.  They made the following statements: 

Lion: Yesterday was one of my lying days.

Unicorn: Yesterday was one of my lying days too.

From these two statements, Alice (who was a very bright girl) was able to deduce the day of the week.

What day was it?

'Twas brilling...

Tomorrow (January 27th) is the 177th birthday of one of my most favorite authors: Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll. Besides being a brilliant writer Carroll was an accomplished mathematician and a logician. One of his favorite pastimes was writing and solving logic puzzles. 

In honor of his birthday, we here at Meatball and Ravioli are going to make this week “Riddle Week.” Each day we’ll post a new riddle. Be sure to weigh in with what you think is the right answer. We’ll post answer a day or two after we give the riddle…we don’t want to make it too easy.

Without further ado, here it is…

Riddle #1:

You walk into a room and see a man looking at a portrait on the wall. You ask him who the man in the painting is. He answers:

“Brothers and sisters have I none, but that man’s father is my father’s son.”

Who is the man in the painting?

National Hugging Day

Today, January 21st, is National Hugging Day.  In honor of that, here's one of our favorite Shel Silverstein poems:

Hug O' War

I will not play at tug o' war.
I'd rather play at hug o' war,
Where everyone hugs
Instead of tugs,
Where everyone giggles
And rolls on the rug,
Where everyone kisses,
And everyone grins,
And everyone cuddles,
And everyone wins. 

Andrew Wyeth

Today is a sad day for artists.  Andrew Wyeth passed away in his sleep this morning.  He was 91.  Wyeth was an incredible painter and should certainly be counted as an American treasure.

Christmas in New York 2008

The holiday season always starts with Joe's birthday December 23rd. Jeanna surprised him with her homemade cannolis! On the Eve we were off to the Saccente's house to eat (alot) and play Mexican train.

Jessie Dog still loves that wrapping paper!

Then it's off to Grandma's house for Christmas Day!

Christmas weekend at the Sinagras!

Our trip to the Aquarium Christmas week was great!

Once again we had a wonderful holiday with our family. We hope everyone has a happy and healthy new year!

Love, Joanna and Joe (aka Grandma and Papa; Mom and Dad)

Boooorrrriiiinnngggg!

So...uh...not much going on here...
...haven't updated the blog in a while...
...January is a really boring month...

Anybody got anything interesting going on?

Happy January

Well it's January.  The holidays are safely behind us and just when you thought there's nothing to look forward to celebrating...behold!  January's strange and obscure holidays:

January Monthly Observances 

Book Blitz Month
California Dried Plum Digestive Month
Cervical Cancer Screening Month
Financial Wellness Month
Get Organized Month
International Change Your Stars Month
International Creativity Month
International Wayfinding Month
International Wealth Mentality Month
National Be On-Purpose Month
National Clean Up Your Computer Month
National Hot Tea Month
National Lose Weight, Feel Great Month
National Mail Order Gardening Month
National Mentoring Month
National Personal Self-Defense Awareness Month
National Radon Action Month
Oatmeal Month
Thyroid Awareness Month  

January Weekly Observances

Celebration of Life Week: 1-7 
Diet Resolution Week: 1-7 
Silent Record Week: 1-7
Someday We'll Laugh About This Week: 2-5
Dakar Rally 2009: 3-18
New Year's Resolutions Week: 4-10
Elvis Presley Week: 8-11
Universal Letter Writing Week: 8-14 
Cuckoo Dancing Week: 11-17
International Printing Week: 11-17
Kid Film Week: 12-25
National No Tillage Week: 14-17
Slam Dance Week: 15-28
Hunt For Happiness Week: 18-24
National Activity Professional Week: 18-23 
National Fresh Squeezed Juice Week: 18-23
No Name Calling Week: 21-25 
National Nurse Anesthetists Week: 25-31
National Take Back Your Time Week:26-30
National Cowboy Poetry Gathering Week: 24-31
World Leprosy Week: 24-30  

January Daily Observances

New Year's Dishonor List Day: 1
Saint Basil's Day: 1
Z Day: 1
Happy Mew Year for Cats Day: 2
55-MPH Speed Limit Day: 2
Fruitcake Toss Day: 3
Memento Mori "Remember You Die" Day: 3
National Chocolate Covered Cherry Day: 3  
Dimpled Chad Day: 4
Earth at Perihelion: 4
World Hypnotism Day: 4  
Epiphany or Twelfth Night: 6
Three Kings Day: 6
Harlem Globetrotter's Day: 7
I'm Not Going To Take It Anymore Day: 7
National English Toffee Day: 8  
National Joy Germ Day: 8
Positively Penguins Day: 10
National Clean Off Your Desk Day: 12
Get to Know Your Customers Day: 15
Women in Blue Jeans Day: 15-16
Appreciate A Dragon Day: 16
Nothing Day: 16
Do Dah Parade Day: 18
Pooh (Winnie The) Day: 18
Camcorder Day: 20
National Hugging Day: 21
Answer Your Cats Questions Day: 22
National Handwriting Day: 23
National Pie Day: 23  
Snowplow Mailbox Hockey Day: 23
Belly Laugh Day: 24
National Compliment Day: 24
A Room of One's Own Day: 25
Chinese New Year: 26
National Peanut Brittle Day: 26  
Toad Hollow Day of Encouragement: 26
Better Business Communication Day: 26
Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day: 26
Thomas Crapper Day: 27
Freethinkers Day: 29
Fun at Work Day: 30
Inane Answering Message Day: 30 
Inspire Your Heart with Art Day: 31
National Seed Swap Day: 31