Surprising Stuff

The Hillmoor “deck” is about to be reshuffled and the hand finally played.
It is more enjoyable to share the joy of winning, than the sorrow of losing, which is called “the bandwagon effect” and why winning teams have more followers than losing ones. In sports, the losers soon out-number the winners, so over time, some people abandon the winners. Eventually, there is more joy among that part of the fan base when the winners lose than when they win, which is why many sports fans cheer for the underdog. There appears to be more joy for those people in an unexpected win rather than an expected win. It is the uncertainty of not knowing who will win, not who wins, that makes sports interesting, and the presumption is that who will win has not already been decided. Whether the outcome is predetermined or not (like the position of cards in a shuffled deck) it is the ignorance of the outcome (the next card) that creates both uncertainty and the hope for a particular outcome, when neither may actually exist. The more important and the more uncertain the outcome, the greater the attention that it attracts.

The Hillmoor issue is the most important city issue for this decade and it will affect all those that follow. It is not known if the deck is already stacked, or if it is still being shuffled, but in the upcoming comprehensive plan vote, every alderperson will have to put his or her cards on the table for everyone to see, and then the public may speculate about the personal motivations that might lay behind the voting.

The Lake Geneva Public Library will be hosting a Bingo Book Swap on Saturday, January 11th, from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Children ages 4 to 11 are invited to play bingo, and the prizes will be books that the kids bring to swap. Children are encouraged to bring a new (or gently used) book to add to the prize bin. Fun bingo markers will be provided, like M&M’s and marshmallows. There will be many rounds and winners can choose any two books as their prize. Then Tuesday, January 14th, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., the library will offer an alcohol ink painting class. Students will learn how to paint the northern lights with alcohol paints on galvanized metal. Space is limited to ten people so make sure to register early if you are interested.

Cartoon of the Week
by Terry O’Neill

Cartoon by Terry O'Neill

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