The Wood Badge Root Beer Song

Rick Seymour, a frequent poster on Scouts-L, recently passed along the words, with fair warning to young readers, to The Root Beer Song, as found in a new Wood Badge PowerPoint: Teaching the Edge. The PowerPoint is available at: http://www.nylt-ysdc.org/edge.ppt.

"The Root Beer Song"

Dough – The stuff that buys my root beer
Ray – The guy that pours my root beer
Me – The guy that drinks my root beer
Fa – a long way to the john
So – Let’s have another root beer
La – A lotta lotta root beer
Tea – No thanks, I’m having root beer
And that leaves me with no dough, dough, dough, dough (repeat)

"We've had CEOs on our board say they want to send their people to Wood Badge, our adult leader training program, because we use state-of-the-art techniques (Chief Scout Executive Robert Mazzuca).

The WB Scribbler adds this news item to the blogsite without comment, though he is sorely tempted.

Over the Hedge: Wood Badge Critters of Another Sort?

Created by Michael Fry and T Lewis in 1995, Over the Hedge takes a skewed look at suburban living from the perspective of the animals that lived there first. The panel on October 24, 2009 has Verne, the best-buddy turtle, reminding RJ as he wakes up that he volunteered to help the Scouts, apparently as a unwitting ringtailed "critter-cam." Oo...Right...the Bling!... the WB Scribbler appreciates the opportunity to feature critters of another sort on the blogsite. Oh, Happy [Suburban] Land! Together Verne, RJ, Hammy Squirrel and a slew of other woodland creatures fight to save their wooded wonderland from the evils of encroaching suburbia but end up becoming distracted by wide-screen TVs, discarded fast food containers and the fun of wreaking havoc on the local homeowners' association. Sorta like a Wood Badge Patrol I know...

--WB Scribbler

Wood Smoke: New Wood Badge Patrol Medallions

The WB Scribbler notes that now available from the Northwest Territorial Mint, Northwest Territorial Mint Wood Badge Patrol Medallions. Each medallion is minted in a bronze alloy with colorful enamel highlights. Wood Badge Patrol Medallions include Antelope, Bear, Beaver, Buffalo, Bobwhite, Eagle, Fox, and Owl. $11 each, they can be ordered directly from the company's website. Mike Maisen, copywriter for the Northwest Territorial Mint, spotted our unsolicited testimonial for their medallions and wrote to tell us about two other items they produce:
· Wood Badge Hiking Medallions: These feature the same Patrol Animals as the Medallions, but made to quickly and easily fix to a Scouter’s Hiking Staff.
· The BSA® 100 Years of Scouting Calendar Medal. This is a great collector’s piece that celebrates Scouting’s Big Birthday.

These are quality items make fine gifts that any Scouter or Wood Badge collector would love to receive. Give Mike a call; I'm sure he would love to take your order!

NWTMint.com ScoutingCoins.com

Toll-Free 800-344-6468 | Direct 253-833-7780 x 1044 | Fax 253-735-2210|Email mikem@nwtmint.com

Wood Smoke: Wood Badge Website Recommended

The WB Scribbler recommends an excellent site on the history of Wood Badge, Colin "Johnny" Walker's Scouting Milestones. The Wood Badge section includes information on early Wood Badge regalia, including a picture of Baden-Powell's original beads. The origins of the beads, the woggle and scarf is covered, and detailed information on the first Training Course for Scoutmasters held at Gilwell Park in 1919 is included.

Go to: http://www.scoutingmilestones.btinternet.uk/woodbadge.htm. Go check it out, sign his guestbook and leave a comment or two.

The Weather Rock Exposed!

The Weather Rock is a prop used to make fun of the intricate technology used to create modern weather forecasts, as well as the fact that their accuracy is still not perfect, or even good, in the eyes of some. Often there is a great deal of fanfare pertaining to the proliferation of the notion that the pilfering of the "weather rock" will result in the insurance of terrible consequences. The joke varies, but in all cases there is a large noticeable rock or similar object, often suspended from a tripod, particularly within scout camps or with related activities. A sign next to it states something like:

• If rock is wet, it is raining.
• If rock is green, it rained a while ago.
• If rock is white, it is snowing.
• If rock is shaking, there is an earthquake.
• If rock is dry, the weather is fair.
• If rock is swinging, it's windy.
• If rock is warm, the sun is out.
• If rock is not visible, it's dark outside.
• If rock is under water, there is a flood.
• If rock is gone, there is a tornado (Run!!)

The Wood Badge for the 21st Century curriculum makes good weather for the course a direct responsibility of the Weather Patrol. The Weather Patrol uses many different scientific instruments to interpret atmospheric conditions, such as insect chirps, the sweat off a duck's back, divining rods, weather socks from a nearby aerodrome, and of course, the weather rock described above. The Weather Patrol sometimes has to resort to importing canned sunshine from Florida in times of prolonged cold, wet and rainy weather. In times of extreme drought, on the other hand, case loads of Bernard's Dehydrated Water have to be reconstituted.

NASA Sent the Weather Rock to Mars

The WB Scribbler recently learned that NASA sent the weather rock, or at least a version of it, to Mars. The 2007 Phoenix Mars Lander included in its meteorological package a low-tech device called a Telltale. The Telltale is a passive wind indicator developed for the Mars lander and constructed at the Mars Simulation Laboratory at Aarhus University. Here's how NASA describes it: "The Telltale consists of a gallows arm that is mounted on the Meteorological Mast of the Lander. The active element of the instrument is an extremely lightweight Kapton tube hanging on woven Kevlar fiber. A mirror is mounted below the active part to enable better direction information. Images of the instrument will show the deflection of the Telltale due to the wind."









--WB Scribbler thanks Wiki, the Internet Encyclopedia and the NASA Mars Laboratory for the above information and pictures. We promise not to get them wet. The Scribbler wonders where the weather forecasting plaque is mounted on the Lander...

Wood Smoke: 1st Gilwell Park Newsletter #2

The 1st Gilwell Park Group recently released its second newsletter, now called The Kudu Horn. Their first newsletter called for suggestions for naming the new Gilwell Park Group's newsletter (your WB Scribbler submitted "The Gilwell Park Scrib Sheet" or "The Gilwell Park Gazetteer") but they failed to win out over "The Kudu Horn" suggested by several Wood Badgers from other parts of the world. Whatever it's named, the newsletter is a great read for those interested in the "home" of worldwide Scouting.

American Wood Badgers who have earned their beads are automatically eligible for free membership in the British 1st Gilwell Park Group. All you have to do is go to their website, enter your particulars and the number of the course you completed, and you're signed up! "Kudos" for The Kudu Horn! (Sorry, the WB Scribbler couldn't help himself!) Go to:

http://1stgilwellpark.org.

--WB Scribbler

Cape Gilwell-On-The-Lea

Official photos from WB Photographer John Morgenstern made available to the WB Scribbler provide a rare window into a little-understood Wood Badge frivolity—the Rocket Competition (Inter-patrol Activity). Before you scroll down, gentle readers, you are warned that some photographs below may not be suitable for way younger, more mature audiences. Despite appearances, no critters were harmed in any launches.

Dihydrogen oxide-fueled rocketry advanced rapidly after the Shuttle Columbia tragedy caused the loss of several of our finest citizen-astronauts. New research into 360-degree recycling of PVC plastics, fluid hydraulics and social implications of critter-labeled inter-group activities, has now brought us to the Wood Badge for the 21^st Century Rocket Competition. Borrowing out-gassing and o-ring bottle-cap technology from the soft-drink industry and applied adhesive research provided by the Duct Tape Institute of America, Wood Badge engineers and erstwhile rocketeers everywhere began rapidly ramping up to launch their streaming two-liters toward the stars.... Oh, Happy Land!

Your WB Scribbler was privileged to be invited to participate in NE-3-188’s launch at Gilwell Field but he almost aborted the mission when it was pointed out he wasn’t suited [up] for the job. Seventy-nine square yards of Tyvek and two rolls of duct tape later, he celebrated the complicated suiting up process by doing a bad imitation of a Smithfield ham-in-a-hardhat in front of Gilwell Hall.

WB Scribbler Suiting Up: "Let's see, one leg goes in this side, the other in the other side... dang, now the zipper's on the back side, ok, the hard hat goes on the top. 10,9...3,2,1. Let'er rip!"

Launch Inspectors Rick Bamberger and the WB Scribbler check the rear exit hole of Tyvek Minnie's (Owl Patrol ? ) rocket for any carbonated waxy buildup before her date with destiny on the launchpad. Two follicle-challenged Launch Controllers (Bud Dorr and Randy Gibbon), throwing caution to the wind, appear in the background without their sun-blocking headgear.

Tom Davis, Emeritus Course Director (NE-3-176), presents the Staffers entry for inspection. (Don't look now, Tom, but I think your substage launch balloon just fizzled!) Members of the Owl Patrol offer up one of their own as a kind of "good luck" token for a successful launch.

Radio telemetry failed to track the Staffers' rocket as it circled the backside of the moon. Upon reentry into the atmosphere, misguided Launch Controllers attempted splashdown in Crumhorn Lake. Unfortunately, their altitude protractor-thingy malfunctioned at the last minute and the rocket came to rest at a higher elevation west of the lake. The Wood Badge Launchtime Band struck up a rousing rendition of The Drifters' 1962 hit "Up On The Roof"...

When this old world starts getting me down,

And people are just too much for me to face—

I climb way up to the top of the stairs

And all my cares just drift right into space ...

WB-NASA Crack Observer Team Conferencing Before Lunch, er, Launch.

Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius

Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius, of cable, cartoon and movie fame, made a brief personal appearance at Cape Gilwell's-on-the-Lea's Self-Congratulatory Staff Dinner, thanks to Gifted Awards Chairman Tom Davis. Before rocketing off on another adventure, the WB Scribbler was able to get a short interview with the carrot-topped character. Look for our exclusive interview coming to a favorite blog near you soon!