Mr Mom Mum

Wifey's been quite sick these past 24 hours, so I've been playing Mother And Father In One. It's interesting to see what a single parent has to deal with - and me with only one child!

Because Wifey's got some kind of gastro bug, we don't want Sweetums (or me, for that matter) getting it, so I'm doing all feedings, nappy changes, play times, cuddles and what-not. It's very tiring through the night, but it's mostly enjoyable (if a little constant and interrupting) during the day.

Sweetums loves it when he's lying on his playmat (or changing table) and I make him laugh. All I have to do is smile at him, and he's off. (It must be something about my face.) He's been very patient with me while I boil the water for his feeds (and then while we wait for it to cool), and is captivated by both the TV (which I'm now calling "the light and sound box", but won't be changing the title of my TV blog to emulate this) and the Baby Sesame Street book, "Clang-Clang! Bang-Bang!"



Our copy of this book has a built-in rattle
(not pictured here) that equally amazes Sweetums.


So what have I discovered about being a single parent? Well, for one thing, it's very hard to find time to blog! But apart from that, your sleep is severely spasmodic (and I don't have to deal with being physically drained - in more ways than one - through the miracle of breastfeeding), your work is never done, and it doesn't take very long at all to jump from one 'need' to the next.

At least when Wifey and I are both up-and-about, we can share the load and look after Sweetums in 'shifts' of sorts. When you're on your own, there's no such luxury.

Let's here it for all the single parents out there, especially those with a house full of kids! Well done to you all. I'm glad I'm not you.

Wifey returns to active duty as of tomorrow morning. I'll be sleeping in.


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Muppet Question # 13 Answered

On Thursday, 27th April, 2006 at 3:58:05 AM, SBR emailed me and said ...

I thought I'd play the Muppet question game. So here it is: What are your views on the Disney corporation's purchase of the muppets?



I know it's been a long time since you asked this question, but I never intended to let it slide. I hope you'll agree that I've been doing my research.

When I first heard the news (so many years ago now) that after many, many failed attempts to buy The Muppets, the Walt Disney Corporation had finally been successful in bidding for the franchise, my blood ran cold for a second. I knew that the potential for Disney to simply 'bury' The Muppets once they had them in their possession was very real. But I also heard that Brian Henson (Jim's son and Chairman of the company) was assuring Muppet fans that the sale wasn't going to spell the end for The Muppets ... but, rather, a new beginning.

I got a lot of encouragement from reading this article:

TV.com: Do you collaborate with Disney very closely, or do they completely decide how to use the Muppets?

Brian Henson: We transferred control because they are a much bigger company; we mainly wanted to keep the characters alive in the theme park area. They are very slow and choosy, and right now they are kind of working on what they want to see the Muppets do. Right now nothing is in production.

TV.com: Do you still do the actual puppetry if there is a production?

Brian Henson: There is actually no "us and them." We trained all of the puppeteers, and some work here and some work there. So there really is no us and them. ... I have tried to bring the Jim Henson Company back to creating new and original characters and allow Sesame Workshop to be the franchise supporters for the Sesame characters and Disney for the Muppets, so Henson can get back to creating new and cool stuff.

So there you go. If Brian's not too concerned, I'm happy enough to trust that he knows what he's doing.

Not to sound patronising (because it's a good question), but I guess I don't want to be one of those people who rabbits on and on about their favourite show long after it's wrapped up permanently, whinging and complaining like some sort of geeky loser.

*looks around self-consciously*

*coughs*

But the thing is, Disney has already made new things possible, even if it's just releasing two Muppet TV movies that went straight to DVD in Australia (Kermit's Swamp Years and Muppets Wizard Of Oz). But at least they were produced! New Muppet merchandise has been scheduled (although details are sketchy at best), certain characters have made appearances on various American TV shows (such as Saturday Night Live, Good Morning America, and the US version of Renovation Rescue; Extreme Makeover: Home Edition - in addition to landing lucrative and high-profile sponsorship deals such as a series of TV ads for Pizza Hut during the Superbowl) to re-introduce them to the public eye (Miss Piggy even conducted a live-via-satellite interview on Rove Live in Australia), a regular comical film-reviewing video file began airing online featuring critics Statler and Waldorf discussing the week's cinematic releases (in their own special style), and a new six-part Muppet series parodying America's Next Top Model (entitled America's Next Muppet) has now been in pre-production for over a year - but has yet to surface. While this might sound like it amounts to a hill of beans in practical terms, at least things are being discussed, floated, and - sometimes - eventually made.

I'm not at all 'anti-Disney' (I know it's not cool to like Disney these days, but I do), although I'm aware of the dangers inherit in such a gigantic corporation buying out these relatively small characters so they can possibly 'warehouse' them and continue to plug their own stock characters, having effectively eliminated some of their competition. But I know that the Henson family was adamant that certain requirements were drawn into the contract to ensure that The Muppets didn't simply dissolve into 'retirement'.

And anyway, once Disney paid for The Muppets (and they paid a goodly price!), they then had a vested interest in revitalising the characters' careers and making them stars again ... for Disney's own benefit!

The fact that there's been a Muppets 3D show in Disney theme parks for years now hasn't hurt, either.

It all looks good to me, and The Muppets have been given a new lease on life by Disney's attempts (whether or not each attempt has been successful) at bringing them back.

I say it was a great day for diehard fans like me when Disney bought The Muppets. It meant that new stuff was produced and they got out there in the media again. Let's not forget that Kermit turned 50 last year, and a big fuss was made of this event (particularly in America). The frog even travelled the globe, making 50 stops around the world (sadly none were in Australia), and the US Postal Service released a set of commemorative stamps to mark the contribution Jim Henson and The Muppets have made to popular culture.

I'd say that it's been a good thing, and until I see evidence that Disney is deliberately (or carelessly) 'shelving' the characters for some reason, I'll continue to expect that even more good stuff is to come.


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AWOL 4 A Week

Hi-ho. Wifey, Sweetums and I are off to Queensland for a week from tomorrow morning. We'll be holidaying with my family from Sydney, who haven't seen Sweetums since he was a few days old (he turned 10 weeks old yesterday).

I won't be around to approve comments left next week, but I'll be back again with a special Christmas message on or before the 25th.

In the meantime, have a great week. Take care of yourself. Look after each other. Who let the dogs out. Etc.


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www-d'oh!-com

Below you'll find the contents of an email you may very well have seen before, but it makes me laugh out loud each time I receive it. Working in 'the industry' of website maintenance, I find it drop-dead hilarious that people could choose these domain names and not think of the possible (and often obvious) ways they'd be misread.

I guess some of them may have realised perfectly well what would happen, but actually looked forward to the amusement it would bring them, ... but most of the below are accidental - you can just tell.

And yes, they're all real. Click on them and have a look if you don't believe me. This is a family-friendly blog, so I wouldn't link to smut here.


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All of these are legitimate companies that didn't spend quite enough time considering how their online names might appear ... and be misread.

These are not made up. Check them out yourself!


1. You can find the name of the agent who represents any celebrity by conducting a search on the 'Who Represents?' website.

2. This site is a knowledge base where programmers can exchange advice and views: Experts Exchange.

3. Looking for a pen? Look no further than Pen Island.

4. Need a therapist? Try Therapist Finder.

5. There's the Italian Power Generator Company (perhaps where Gianluca gets his power?).

6. And don't forget the Mole Station Native Nursery in New South Wales.

7. If you're looking for IP computer software, there's always this company.

8. The First Cumming Methodist Church website is a worry.

9. And the designers at Speed of Art await you at their wacky website.


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Crazy Brothers

This video is very amusing. With thanks to Her Radicalness.

The tall kid looks like a young Bill Gates.


(UPDATE: I've removed the embedded video because it was bumping my sidebar off the bottom of the screen on some computers. You can still view the video by clicking on the above link.)


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Muppet Question # 12 Answered

On Tuesday, January 24, 2006 at 3:13:14 PM, Sublime-ation said ...

Elvira? Why can't we have a Muppets tag? I remembered on the weekend how my fave album as a kid was Sesame Disco, and I think it had the Muppets on it to...or was that another album?



A Muppets tag ... hmm, I like it! ... (But will anyone else?!)

As for Sesame Disco, I do indeed remember this album. It was actually a follow-up album to the original Seasame Street Fever LP release (which featured Robin Gibb from The Bee Gees - whereas Disco did not).




Although the cover shown above was misleading in regards to which characters actually appeared on the album, the only Muppet personality to make an appearance was Kermit the Frog (who, as he also appeared as a regular bit-part character on Sesame Street, could not technically be said to be moonlighting as a star of The Muppet Show). In fact, from all eight songs listed on the album, the only character soloists to feature at all were Kermit, Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch and Big Bird. This means that only Jim Henson (Kermit), Frank Oz (Cookie Monster) and Caroll Spinney (Oscar the Grouch and Big Bird) were required to voice those characters in song. I'm sure the vocal talent available or willing to sing on the album went a fair way towards determining which characters made an appearance.

So despite appearing on the cover artwork, Bert, Ernie, Herry Monster, Prairie Dawn, Count von Count and Grover did not sing any songs on the LP.

Therefore, to answer your question accurately, I'm not sure if you're simply recalling the presence of Kermit on the album and presuming that he was there as one or more of The Muppets. Cookie Monster, it must be said, sounds very similar to Fozzie Bear (although Cookie speaks in broken English). So I wonder if your memory is (or perhaps if your childhood 'ear' was) deceiving you.

Alternatively, you could be thinking of another album. If so, I really can't help you, there. However, please feel free to browse through this list of albums that Sesame Street has released over the years, to see if you can find the one you're thinking of. All the best.

x


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Attention: Adam

In the wake of the second-ever Bloggolympics hosted on Adam's blog (whereupon I lost my title to Cherry!), I have a challenge for Adam.

Dude, you want to be really awesome?

Why not follow the Bloggolympics with the Parabloggolympics? The bloggers participating wouldn't be "special", but the options sure would be! It wouldn't just be rock, paper or scissors anymore! Check it out:


I call it EXTREME Rock, Paper, Scissors

It's just like extreme sports, but in Rock, Paper, Scissors. So whaddaya think? I reckon it's got great potential of the following:

- enlarging your participating audience
- enlarging your readership
- harvesting goodwill between the nations
- sparking controversy
- doing our heads in, trying to come up with the best 'play'
- driving you absolutely nuts
- upping the ante
- escalating the economy
- solving world hunger
- baking me a cake
- going too far

I look forward to hearing what you have to say on the topic, Adam.

Come on, Aussie!


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Not My Job

My boss just sent me an email saying, "I hope this is not the kind of work we can expect from you in the future."

Flashes of my former workplace came back to me, as my heart skipped a beat and I wondered what I'd done to fall out of favour with her so soon ...















... and then I saw the attachment:




I love this place!


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