Well I am blessed with two wonderful sons, who even now when they are all grown up and so many miles away still cause me in any given moment to gush with joy and love. I’ve loved them forever, and they have given me so many moments of sheer wonder over the years. One of the unexpected joys that came with being a father was discovering my second childhood, and as Regina Brett has written;

‘It is never too late to have a second childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.’

Well I made the most of mine. Once I realised what a gift this was I grabbed it with both hands. I LOVED it!! I loved being a kid again – being with my sons on the floor constructing amazing random things first out of duplo and then graduating to lego. Playing in the park, playing with the dog, throwing frisbees and flying kites. Reading comics, playing computer games (until they started getting better than me) and watching children’s television. Wonderful!!

Ahhh too long in exile. I just lapped it up, and this was DEFINITELY one of our favourites shows.

Toby, Max and I LOVED the Muppet Babies. They made our dreams come true, they urged us to use our E-MADGE-E-NA-SHE -ONS. Fantastic. And we did. I remember Max, not even old enough to go to school, unable to sleep (an insomniac even back then), still wide awake late at night as I was falling asleep in my chair, and I would put an illicitly taped recording of the Muppet Babies on the tele and remind him to switch off the TV before he went to bed (does that mean I’m a bad dad?)

Thank you Kermit and Miss Piggy, Rowlf, Fozzie, Gonzo, Beaker, ANIMAL and the rest of the gang. Thanks Tobe. Thanks Max. I LOVED my second childhood more than my first because I got to spend it with you.

x bhavatu sabbe mangalum x 

Long before Simba and ‘The Lion King’ there was Kimba, the white lion. This was another one of the TV shows I watched with anticipation every week way back when. Looking back now I think I was lucky to be living in New Zealand as a child -  for whatever reason we received a number of first-generation anime series on TV.  Can’t quite remember how old I was – though I do recall I had a friend called Kim, who I nicknamed Kimba after the little lion. He wasn’t impressed and one day on the way to school he begged me not to call him Kimba any more. I can only imagine now what my reaction was – having discovered a weakness I probably exploited it for all it was worth.

I think we were in school uniform at the time, so I was probably somewhere between 12 and 15 – some time in the early 70s.  I do know I was a bit of a shit in my early teens. So I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely apologise to all those people, boys back then, who I bullyed, intimitated and for whom I generally made life miserable. May you all be happy – may you all experience joy and love in your lives.

x bhavatu sabbe mangalum x

Another in the occasional series paying homage to animated tv shows from my childhood. This one is one of the earliest I recall. I remember being simply awestruck by the way Harold could create his world. I LOVED this stuff – couldn’t get enough of it.

As I watch it again I am reminded of Max and the Wild Things – Max who created his own world right there in his bedroom. Max,who of course was much braver than his predecessor with the purple crayon, found wild things in his special place. 

I love Max. I love the things he creates out of darkness and light.

Thanks Harold. Thanks Max.

x bhavatu sabbe mangalum x

I don’t know about you, but I watched it the whole way through on my first viewing. I can’t remember what I had been doing, but whatever it was it was put on hold as I watched this poignant, beautiful little story. Don’t ask me what it is about it that makes it so … brilliant, it simply is.

 Thanks Phil for sending it to me. Thanks Adam Elliot for your most wonderful creation. Thanks Harvie!!

x bhavatu sabbe mangalum x

After watching Brains dancing his little heart out I trolled through my favourites on YouTube and dug this beauty out – I knew I had seen some of those moves before somewhere. Watching it again, I laughed out loud. Which is a GOOD thing – I enjoyed having a laugh. So hopefully you will too …

Thanks to PIXAR

x bhavatu sabbe mangalum x