Wednesday, May 25, 2011

WHERE'S WALDO? LOCATIONS FOR WALDO, HIS FRIENDS, AND THEIR THINGS

This blog entry will catalogue the locations of the following persons and things in Book # 1 of the American re-released Waldo books called "WHERE'S WALDO?"  It is the "blue" covered book seen here:

http://www.amazon.com/Wheres-Waldo-Martin-Handford/dp/0763634980/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1306352231&sr=8-5


The format will be to list the page, its descriptor, and then each of the following with their respective locations:

WALDO
WENDA
ODLAW
WIZARD WHITEBEARD (WIZARD)
WOOF
SCROLL
BONE
KEY
CAMERA
BINOCULARS
WALDO'S LOST ITEM (LISTED BY ITEM NAME)

Directions are as accurate as possible but please allow some leeway when it comes to the cardinal direction that you will be following.  In other words, WNW might actually be NNW if you were following it exactly; the directions were my best guesses without actually using a compass.

Please note the following legend that will be used in this entry:

POSTCARD (refers to the postcard that appears on the upper-left corner of every left page)
N, S, E, W (refer to North, South, East, West)
LLC/LRC (refer to Lower Left Corner and Lower Right Corner)
ULC/URC (refer to Upper Left Corner and Upper Right Corner)
LPG (left page)
RPG or RTPG (right page)
BCE/TCE  (refer to Bottom Center Edge or Top Center Edge of page.  Go along the respective edge to the middle of the page.)
Crease (the crease that separates the left and right pages)



If you have any questions about the location of a particular character/item or if you found this to be a useful resource, please drop a comment and let me know!

And if you happen to be interested in supernatural thrillers and speculative fiction please check out my official website here: http://www.matthewjohnbenecke.com/. You can find my debut novels, The Lion in the Desert and The Walking Ghosts on Amazon.com at the following links:

The Lion In The Desert

The Walking Ghosts



PAGE 1


WALDO2 inches SOUTH of WENDA
WENDA3 inches WEST of fountain
ODLAW1 inch WEST of SCROLL
WIZARD2 inches SSE of fountain
WOOF3 in N, 1 in W of top of fountain
SCROLL2.5 inches S of WIZARD (slightly left)
BONE1.5 in. N and 1.5 in. W of ODLAW
KEY3 in E, 0.5 in N of SCROLL
CAMERA1.5 in E and slightly N of KEY
BINOCULARS5.25 in E of fountain spout
CUP2 in NE of CAMERA (on steps)



PAGE 2: AT THE BEACH


WALDO3 in W slightly N of WENDA
WENDA1.5 in NW of CAMERA (above red & white umbrella)
ODLAW1 in SE of Waldo's signature in Postcard
WIZARD0.5 in S of LRC of Postcard
WOOF1.25 in E of WALDO's face
SCROLL6 in E, 0.5 in N of SWIM MASK
BONE3 in S, 0.5 in W of CAMERA
KEY1.5 in WNW of SWIM MASK
CAMERA1.5 in E of RPC (Near Armored Knight in Sand Castle)
BINOCULARS2.5 in N, 1 in E of SWIM MASK
SWIM MASK2 in N of BCE of Lpg


PAGE 3: SKI SLOPES


WALDO4 in NW of LRC of R pg
WENDA1 in N of center of crease on L pg
ODLAW1 in N slightly E of WOOF
WIZARDabove cabin LLC of L pg
WOOF4.25 in E of top of WIZARD's staff
SCROLL5 in W, 1 in N of WALDO
BONE2 in W, 0.5 in N of ODLAW
KEY2.5 in SW of WALDO between ski poles
CAMERA2.5 in E, 0.5 in N of ODLAW
BINOCULARS2.5 in SE of ODLAW
WALDO'S BINOCULARS3 in NW of BONE



PAGE 4: CAMPSITE


WALDO3in W of BINOCULARS
WENDA1.5in NW of CAMERA
ODLAW2in NNE of WOOF
WIZARD1.25in NNE OF WALDO
WOOF1.75in N, 0.75in W of Bottom of crease
SCROLL1.5in WNW of WALDO
BONE2.5 in N, 0.5 in W of LRC of Rt pg
KEY2.25in S, 0.5in W of WALDO
CAMERA3.5 in N, 0.5 in W of BONE
BINOCULARS1.25in NW of WOOF
TEA KETTLE2.25in N, slightly W of ODLAW



PAGE 5: TRAIN STATION


WALDO3in N, 1 in W of BONE
WENDA4 in N, 1 in E of BCE of Lpg
ODLAW2in W of WENDA
WIZARD1.5in SE of POSTCARD
WOOF0.25in E, 3.75in N of bottom of crease on rt. Pg
SCROLL1.5in E of WENDA'S face
BONE4.5in N, 2in W of KEY
KEY2in W, 0.75in N of LRC of R page
CAMERA3in N, 1.25in W of WENDA
BINOCULARS1in W of WALDO'S head
RED SLEEPING BAG2in NNE of WIZARD



PAGE 6: AIRPORT


WALDO0.5in S of LRC of POSTCARD
WENDA2.5in NNW of WIZARD
ODLAW2.75in W, 0.25in N of KEY
WIZARD2in N, 0.5in W of LRC of RTPG
WOOF3in SW of WENDA
SCROLL2.5in SW of KEY
BONE5in W of BINOCULARS
KEY3.5in W, 0.5in S of CAMERA
CAMERA1.5in N, 0.25in W of BONE
BINOCULARS1.25in WSW of WOOF
SHOVEL3in E of CAMERA



PAGE 7: SPORTS STADIUM


WALDO0.5in S of LRC of POSTCARD
WENDA3in N of BCE of LPG
ODLAW1.5in E of CAMERA
WIZARD2.5in S of ODLAW
WOOF2.5in N, slightly E of ODLAW
SCROLL1in WSW of WENDA
BONE0.75in E, 1.5in N of WENDA
KEY0.5in N of WIZARD'S staff
CAMERA4in N, 0.5in E of Bottom of Crease on RTPG
BINOCULARS3in ENE of ODLAW
BACKPACK1in S, 3.5in W of WENDA




PAGE 8: MUSEUM


WALDO2.5in E of WENDA
WENDA4in N BCE of RTPG
ODLAW1in SW of BINOCULARS
WIZARD1in E, 5.25in N of Bottom of Crease on RPG
WOOF1.25in N of WALDO'S CAMERA
SCROLL4in S of ODLAW
BONE1in SSW of ODLAW
KEY3.5in SSW of WALDO
CAMERA1.5in N, slightly E of WENDA
BINOCULARS5.5in W of WALDO'S CAMERA
WALDO'S CAMERA1.5in W of WIZARD




PAGE 9: AT SEA


WALDO3in E, slightly S of CAMERA
WENDA1.5in W of WIZARD
ODLAW1in NW of BINOCULARS
WIZARD4.5in E of ODLAW
WOOF2.5in S, 0.5in E of WIZARD
SCROLL1.5in N, 2.5in W of BCE of LPG
BONE1in SSE of WALDO
KEY1in S of HAMMER
CAMERA2.5in E, 0.5in S of WIZARD
BINOCULARS5in E, 1 in N of SCROLL
HAMMER2.25in W, slightly S of BONE




PAGE 10: SAFARI


WALDO3.5in E, slightly N of LRC of POSTCARD
WENDA2.5in N, 2.5in W of Bottom of CREASE
ODLAW5in NW of WENDA
WIZARD4.5in SE of WALDO
WOOF1in NW of BINOCULARS
SCROLL0.5in SW of WIZARD
BONE0.25in N, 1.5in W of WENDA
KEY2.5in SSW of BINOCULARS
CAMERA2.5in E, 1.5in S of BINOCULARS
BINOCULARS2in S, 0.5in W of BROWN BAG
BROWN BAG2.5in E of WIZARD's staff



PAGE 11: DEPARTMENT STORE


WALDO3in E, slightly S of RCE of POSTCARD
WENDA2in E of ODLAW
ODLAW2in E of BELT
WIZARD8.5in E of URC of POSTCARD
WOOF3.5in W, 0.25in N of BINOCULARS
SCROLL2.5in N of BCE of RTPG
BONE1.25in E, 2.25in N of LLC of LPG
KEY3.5in N, 2 in W of LRC of RTPG
CAMERA2in NE of WENDA
BINOCULARS3in NW of KEY
BELT0.5in NE of BONE



PAGE 12: FAIRGROUND

 
WALDO2in N, slightly W of CAMERA
WENDA3.5in NE of LLC of LPG
ODLAW6.25in E of LRC of POSTCARD
WIZARD1.5in E of BINOCULARS
WOOF1.5in N, 0.75in W of Bottom of Crease on LPG
SCROLL2in WNW of CAMERA
BONE0.75in N of WENDA
KEY2.25in N of BCE of RTPG
CAMERA1.5in N, slightly E of KEY
BINOCULARS4in NE of CANE
CANE1.5in ESE of WENDA

The Return of the Jedi

Okay...so I'm not REALLY a Jedi but I DO have a cache of mindtricks at my disposal...so...yeah.

It's been well over a month since my last entry and I suppose that warrants the question: Where have I been?

From a metaphysical standpoint, I haven't really gone anywhere; I've been where I always am, I just haven't been writing.  So maybe the better question is, "Why haven't I been writing?"

Though it's true that I had been going through a tough personal situation that greatly impeded my ability to get into the proper writing headspace...that was only part of it.

I did travel for a bit (to be explored in a forthcoming entry about my first experience traveling with a toddler)...but that was only a week, which doesn't account for the other five or six that have occurred since my last entry.

I was in search of something...a few somethings, as it were, but none of which were "myself" in a self-actualizing sense.

Truth be told, there isn't any one particular reason as to why I took a hiatus (though, perhaps, I might just have needed a break)...but if I were forced to home in a single grand unifying theory I would have to say that it was...

this sumbitch right hea!


That's right.  Waldo.  This prick stole so much of my life over the past two months it is INSANE.

It all began with one of the newest of the Waldo books.  Sometime last year I had noticed at Borders that they had re-released the original Waldo series with a few new books thrown in.  The titles were altered, the standard stock of characters were placed into the original three books, and a few insanely difficult books were added to the library thus bringing the grand total of Where's Waldo? books to 7.

I was breezing through one of the books when I got hung up trying to find the key...that goddamned key.  At first, I spent a few hours searching fruitlessly for the tiny black opener of doors.  I grew frustrated and threw the book aside.  I tried to convince myself--in vain--that I didn't care...that I could go forward with the rest of the book and come back later (my approach was always to find the basic things and not to move on to the next page until I had found them all).  After a few more days of searching (and squinting), I finally gave in and moved on.  I would do a new page, then go back and look for the key.  I wound up finishing the book...without finding the key.

By that point, it had become not unlike a needle in my brain.  I went on to the final Waldo book knowing, in the back of my mind, that I had left something unfound in a previous one.  Every time I found the key in a different puzzle I cringed.  Finally, after a month or so of searching, I had an idea: why not look it up on the Internet?  SURELY there would be a site...or, more likely, tons of sites dedicated to cataloguing all of the locations of all of the things in all of the Waldo books...right?

Wrong.  BIG TIME.

So, though I was desperate to find this friggin' key and left ultimately without the aid and succor that I had hoped for, I was forced to take more innovative approaches.  I used a magnifying glass (which ultimately helped me to find the key), I took a high resolution 12 megapixel picture of another puzzle and used Photoshop to erase the wrong Woofs (ironically, I found the correct one thanks to some Internet help), and I basically did everything I could to find all of the missing persons and things throughout the Waldo books.

Backtracking a moment--shortly after finding my initial Internet search fruitless, I had the idea of cataloguing the locations of all of the major things across all of the Waldo books.  Though it seemed like a tall order, it served a few purposes.  To those of you who are sitting there with that obnoxious half-grin wishing to ask me "Where do you find the time to do this?" or some other hackneyed half-assed attempt at wit, I can say only that there is always a method to my madness.

For one, there are MANY people who enjoy puzzles and who don't simply give up when they can't find a solution.  These are the people who develop more resolve the more frustrated they get.  Many of these people likely enjoy Waldo books.  Though there is a certain amount of satisfaction that is derived from finding everything on your own, there is also nothing more frustrating than being UNable to find something, so, for these people, I am providing a wonderful thing: peace of mind.

As a second point, I am filling a void in the Internet; it's not every day that one gets to do so.

And, ultimately, (here comes the madness method) I will drive traffic to my site.  I have no way of gauging how popular Waldo is right now...but with the cyclical nature of all things pop culture, I am confident that, sooner or later, he will see a resurgence in popularity.  When people find the Where's Waldo? books anew, they will undoubtedly get stumped at one point or another and will turn to the Internet to find assistance.  Hopefully, they will find my site and, upon finding it, will explore the other non-Waldo related entries that I have up.

So, the next seven entries will be devoted, in order, to the re-released versions of all seven Waldo books.

Happy hunting, folks!