milk factory blog

Monkey See, Monkey Do

It's fun watching the "monkey see, monkey do" stages that kids go through. Today, I caught Oliver copying me as I coughed and it reminded me of these little monkeys...and a little trick Ella showed me (she has learned to do the "hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil" poses - can you be more adorable?!).

From Phrase Finder:

HEAR NO EVIL, SPEAK NO EVIL, SEE NO EVIL --"...Said of people who don't want to be involved. The origin of the proverb is unknown. The proverb is often represented by three monkeys covering their eyes, ears, and mouth respectively with their hands. The seventeenth century legend related to 'The Three Wise Monkeys ' is said to have read, 'Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.' The saying was carved over the door of Sacred Stable, Nikko, Japan..." From "Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings" by Gregory Y. Titelman (Random House, New York, 1996).

Hiroko Matsuda posted, You can see a photo of the carved monkeys at: http://www1.sphere.ne.jp/oh-world/oh-world/oasis/toshogu/monkey2.htm

Here's additional information from “How Did It Begin: A fascinating study of the superstitions, customs, and strange habits that influence our daily lives” by R. Brash (Pocket Book, New York, 1969) : “It is a fallacy that the Three Wise Monkeys, who hear no evil, see no evil and speak no evil, are indigenously Japanese. It is true that they have had their domicile there for many centuries. But originally they came from China and were introduced into Japan by a Buddhist monk of the Tendai sect, probably in the 8th century A.D. The monkeys were at first always associated with the blue-faced deity Vadjra, a fearsome god with three eyes and numerous hands.

Their characteristic gestures of covering their ears, eyes and mouths with their paws were a dramatic pictorial way of conveying the command of the god. This shows an early realization of the psychological fact that a striking picture is more impressive and lasting more than a spoken message. Nevertheless, the story has been told in various traditions in prose and poetry. It dates back to at least the 7th century and is part of the teaching of the Vadjra cult that if we do not hear, see or talk evil, we ourselves shall be spared all evil.

In the folk etymology and by a play on words the very names of the three monkeys – Mizaru, Kikazaru and Iwazaru – express their three gestures and thus anyone by merely referring to them immediately proclaims their message.”

Did You Know?

The world's first pizzeria, Antica Pizzeria Port Alba in Naples, Italy opened in 1830 in and is still in business. The modern Pizza was created by Naples baker Raffael Esposito. In 1889 he created a pizza for King Umberto and the queen, topping the pizza with red tomatoes, white cheese and green basil to depict the Italian flag. He named it in honour of Queen Margherita - who also became the first person to have ordered a take-away (take-out) pizza. Today, more than 5 billion pizzas are sold annually.
Pizza is closing in on the hamburger as the world's second most popular fast food. About 5.5 billion hamburgers are sold annually.

mmmmm...pizza!

Did You Know?

Did you know that a snowflake's descent can be quite slow - easily several hours - since even the heaviest flake falls no faster than one mile per hour?

Did You Know...

African clawed frogs were used for pregnancy tests. The frogs were injected with a woman's urine. If they laid eggs, the woman was pregnant.

Europeans used to predict the sex of an unborn child by dropping a frog near the expectant mother. If the frog landed on its back, she'd have a girl. If it landed on its belly she'd have a boy.

--Posted in the frog section of the Vancouver Aquarium

Mothering

Both at-home and working mothers can overmeet their mothering responsibilities. In order to justify their jobs, working mothers can overnurture, overconnect with, and overschedule their children into activities and classes. Similarly, some at-home mothers,... can make at- home mothering into a bigger deal than it is, over stimulating, overeducating, and overwhelming their children with purposeful attention.

ATTRIBUTION: Jean Marzollo (20th century), U.S. writer. Your Maternity Leave, ch. 3 (1989).


The Columbia World of Quotations.

Do You Know...?

...why supermarkets make sick people walk to the back of the store to get prescriptions while healthy people buy cigarettes at the front?

I did it again!!

To take part of a quote from a popular blond singer "I did it again!" Add an "Oops" at the beginning of the quote and you may know who I am talking about. If you don't know and want to find out, check in tomorrow.

This is just to let you know that I was able to log on to the site in less than 5 minutes!!
Yes, it is another good day!!
Have a great day!

Did You Know?

The lungs of an average adult, unfolded and flattened out, would cover an area the size of a tennis court.

Source: coolquiz.com

Babies

"Babies are such a nice way to start people"

Author unknown

What is a Baby?

"A baby changes your dinner party conversation from politics to poops."

The Columbia World of Quotations

http://www.bartleby.com