As you may recall, Wikiomancy (https://www.wlbott.com/?p=34495), or divining the future via random Wikipedia articles, can provide shareholder value, excellent return on investment, and plausible deniability against all claims.
A few nights ago, Señor Elder UC#4 was engaged in his normal nighttime routine: aimlessly scrolling through random Wikipedia articles. But this night, instead of slogging thru endless eastern European soccer players and extinct species of moths, the Gods of Wikipedia gave us:
This was a childhood favorite as a prepubescent Niño Pequeño Elder of WLBOTT.
A re-reading of this classic (thanks, Austin Public Library!) provided some direct links to the WLBOTT world. We’ll explore those in depth, but first, the nuts and bolts of Homer Price.
Homer Price is the central character in two children’s books written and illustrated by Robert McCloskey, and title character of the first. Homer Price was published in 1943, and Centerburg Tales in 1951.
Characters Homer lives in Centerburg, Ohio. He is a mild-mannered boy who enjoys fixing radios, and who somehow gets involved in a series of outrageous incidents, such as tending an inexplicably unstoppable doughnut-making machine in his uncle’s diner, or caring for mystery plants that turn out to be a giant form of allergy-inducing ragweed. He does odd jobs like raking leaves, and sweeping up the diner or the nearby barber shop. Sometimes he is also hired by his uncle to tend to the labor-saving devices in his cafe and mix doughnut batter. His main job is helping out in his father’s business, a motor court, where Homer also resides.
In the very first story of Homer Price (The Case of the Sensational Scent), N. W. BLOTT is robbed of his prize money. Mr. Blott won a radio contest for creating a new slogan for aftershave.
Homer Price Prophecy #2: Largest Ball of Yarn Contest
Homer’s Uncle Telemachus and the Sheriff are both smitten with the comely widow Miss Terwilliger. They decide to settle their rivalry based on who has the largest ball of yarn. The looser will bow out of the courtship competition in a gentlemanly manner.
And of course, things do not go as planned!
Elder G helps us visualize this Alpha Macho Twine battle:
