any of you kids know where the world’s largest tin-can pyramid is? We’re here to film it and witness it for the
Rankin Book of World Records
.”
“Never heard of it,” said Bruno quickly.
“Oh, a hoax, eh? Any of you know this guy Walton who phoned us?”
“Never heard of him either,” said Bruno.
“You know, Jack,” said the second man, “Tupper expects us to come back with a story. Why don’t we do something on these kids?” He went for his equipment.
“Good idea,” said Jack. He turned to the band. “What do you kids call yourselves?”
Cathy stepped forward. “We are Elmer Dynamicdale and the Original Round-Robin Happy-Go-Lucky Heel-Clicking Foot-Stomping Beat-Swinging Scrim-Band,” she said evenly. “Would you like me to repeat that?”
“If you think you can. How about doing a number? Get this Dynamicdale guy up front.”
Bruno pushed Elmer and his microphone out in front of the camera.
“Okay,” called the cameraman, “introduce yourselves and let ’er rip.”
Cathy leaned towards the microphone clutched in Elmer’s hands. “Hi, fans!” she shouted. “He’s Elmer Dynamicdale, and we’re the Original Round-Robin Happy-Go-Lucky Heel-Clicking Foot-Stomping Beat-Swinging Scrim-Band with the music of the future, our own invention, Science Rock! Here’s Elmer with our biggest hit,
Euclid is Putrid
!”
Bruno began waving his arms and the band started again with even more enthusiasm and noise than before.
Cathy kicked Elmer, which seemed the only way to get him started.
“Geometry!” bawled Elmer. “The square on the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides! Another wonderful geometric fact! And over three hundred ways to prove it! The median to the base of an isosceles triangle is the perpendicular bisector of the base! And the triangle doesn’t even have to be isosceles for the angle bisectors to be concurrent!”
“Wow, Jack, what do you think of them?” asked the cameraman, shouting over the racket.
“Those lead singers are getting weirder every day!” Jack shouted back. “Zoom in on Dynamicdale! Look at the faces he’s making! This’ll get a good laugh on the six o’clock news!”
“When a transversal crosses parallel lines, co-interior angles are supplementary!” Elmer sang out. “Similar triangles have proportional sides! Wow!” Now he was so excited that he was strutting around in front of the band, waving his microphone wildly. “Congruent figures have equal areas!”
“Okay, okay!” shouted the cameraman. “We’ve got enough! You can stop now! Please stop!”
Nobody heard. The din had completely drowned him out.
“The diagonals of a rhombus are perpendicular!” howled Elmer.
The two TV men ran for their truck, loaded their equipment and drove away in haste. The noise began to die out.
“Keep playing!” bellowed Bruno. “There’s a car coming! It must be the developer!”
The racket swelled again.
A long, midnight-blue limousine pulled up and parked at the mouth of the driveway to Macdonald Hall. A uniformed chauffeur jumped out and opened the rear door. Out stepped the developer, a short, squat man in a grey business suit. He held his ears and winced. Encouraged, the band played louder.
“The sine of any angle equals the cosine of its complement!” yowled Elmer, who was now well into trigonometry.
Both men approached, waving their arms in a plea for silence. The din faded.
“Hello, sir,” said Bruno with a wide, toothy grin. “How may we help you?”
“You can tell me what you’re doing here,” said the short, fat man curtly.
“We’re having our band practice, sir,” explained Cathy. “Practice makes perfect. That’s what our music teacher says.”
The developer looked sick. “Do you do this often?”
“Three times a day,” said Bruno cheerfully.
“Usually at night,” Cathy added.
“We’re usually louder,” added Bruno, “but a lot of the kids are
Rankin Book of World Records
.”
“Never heard of it,” said Bruno quickly.
“Oh, a hoax, eh? Any of you know this guy Walton who phoned us?”
“Never heard of him either,” said Bruno.
“You know, Jack,” said the second man, “Tupper expects us to come back with a story. Why don’t we do something on these kids?” He went for his equipment.
“Good idea,” said Jack. He turned to the band. “What do you kids call yourselves?”
Cathy stepped forward. “We are Elmer Dynamicdale and the Original Round-Robin Happy-Go-Lucky Heel-Clicking Foot-Stomping Beat-Swinging Scrim-Band,” she said evenly. “Would you like me to repeat that?”
“If you think you can. How about doing a number? Get this Dynamicdale guy up front.”
Bruno pushed Elmer and his microphone out in front of the camera.
“Okay,” called the cameraman, “introduce yourselves and let ’er rip.”
Cathy leaned towards the microphone clutched in Elmer’s hands. “Hi, fans!” she shouted. “He’s Elmer Dynamicdale, and we’re the Original Round-Robin Happy-Go-Lucky Heel-Clicking Foot-Stomping Beat-Swinging Scrim-Band with the music of the future, our own invention, Science Rock! Here’s Elmer with our biggest hit,
Euclid is Putrid
!”
Bruno began waving his arms and the band started again with even more enthusiasm and noise than before.
Cathy kicked Elmer, which seemed the only way to get him started.
“Geometry!” bawled Elmer. “The square on the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides! Another wonderful geometric fact! And over three hundred ways to prove it! The median to the base of an isosceles triangle is the perpendicular bisector of the base! And the triangle doesn’t even have to be isosceles for the angle bisectors to be concurrent!”
“Wow, Jack, what do you think of them?” asked the cameraman, shouting over the racket.
“Those lead singers are getting weirder every day!” Jack shouted back. “Zoom in on Dynamicdale! Look at the faces he’s making! This’ll get a good laugh on the six o’clock news!”
“When a transversal crosses parallel lines, co-interior angles are supplementary!” Elmer sang out. “Similar triangles have proportional sides! Wow!” Now he was so excited that he was strutting around in front of the band, waving his microphone wildly. “Congruent figures have equal areas!”
“Okay, okay!” shouted the cameraman. “We’ve got enough! You can stop now! Please stop!”
Nobody heard. The din had completely drowned him out.
“The diagonals of a rhombus are perpendicular!” howled Elmer.
The two TV men ran for their truck, loaded their equipment and drove away in haste. The noise began to die out.
“Keep playing!” bellowed Bruno. “There’s a car coming! It must be the developer!”
The racket swelled again.
A long, midnight-blue limousine pulled up and parked at the mouth of the driveway to Macdonald Hall. A uniformed chauffeur jumped out and opened the rear door. Out stepped the developer, a short, squat man in a grey business suit. He held his ears and winced. Encouraged, the band played louder.
“The sine of any angle equals the cosine of its complement!” yowled Elmer, who was now well into trigonometry.
Both men approached, waving their arms in a plea for silence. The din faded.
“Hello, sir,” said Bruno with a wide, toothy grin. “How may we help you?”
“You can tell me what you’re doing here,” said the short, fat man curtly.
“We’re having our band practice, sir,” explained Cathy. “Practice makes perfect. That’s what our music teacher says.”
The developer looked sick. “Do you do this often?”
“Three times a day,” said Bruno cheerfully.
“Usually at night,” Cathy added.
“We’re usually louder,” added Bruno, “but a lot of the kids are
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