Since my first post about defunct tv was SO lengthy, I had to omit some of my favorite tv shows from yester-year which were so great they warrant a mention and another post.

The Bozo Show – If you grew up in Chicagoland, this show was an icon.  Some people in Ohio have told me it was on tv here too, but I know it just wasn’t the same as growing up with Bozo next door.  First of all, EVERYONE you knew went to see the Bozo show live.  The girl I went with was put on the waiting list when she was in utero, and we were 9 or 10 years old before her mother finally got the tickets that allowed us entry into the show.  But I’m just glad I got the experience, and I’m even more glad that I was old enough to remember seeing Bozo live – it was really neat.  I was really scared of a character named Wizzo though, and I hoped he wouldn’t be there on the day I was…  Ironically, I don’t remember if he was in that episode or not.  My husband went to a Bozo show taping of course, since he was also a Chicagoland kid, but neither of us were on the Grand Prize Game.  There were other characters on the show, mainly Bozo’s clown sidekick, Cookie, and also a puppet dog named Cuddly Duddly.  I think I’m going to have to dig out the tape of the show I was on, just for memories…  So was Bozo aired nationally?  Since it was so hugely popular in our area, it’s hard to say; it’s not like there was an internet back then or like I traveled a lot or had pen pals as a kid to ask.  I would guess so, since lots of people have heard of it, but I’m sure it was nothing like the phenomena it reached in Chicagoland.

Land of the Lost – Saturday morning tv at its finest.  This was a live show about a family who was transported back in time to contend with all kinds of prehistoric creatures like dinosaurs, etc.  While looking up the show on imdb, I learned that there were 2 versions.  One that aired from 1974-76, and one from 1991-92.  I will dismiss the 90’s remake since I wasn’t a big fan.  But as for the original, I barely remember it but I know that I LOVED it!  I must have watched it in syndication however, because I was not around to see it from ’74-’76.  But, when I saw the photos and synopsis of the episodes, I know that’s the show I watched and loved.  Interesting note – they are currently make a movie version due out next year starring Will Ferrell as the dad!  I am a big fan of Will Ferrell’s.  I think he is great in almost everything I’ve seen him in; he’s always funny and surprisingly versatile.  He stars in one of my favorite Christmas movies of all time, Elf.  So I am anxious to see what they do with this remake of a classic tv show for our generation.  I think the movie is slated to be a comedy, but with Will Ferrell as its star, that’s no surprise.  I wonder if they’ll do what they did with the Brady Bunch movies and make it a satire of the tv show?  It was very effective and funny when they did it in the Brady Bunch movies, but it would seem difficult to pull off for many tv shows without being too over the top.  With the cheesy sets and special effects and costumes of the ’70’s Land of the Lost, satire might be a good avenue to explore for the movie remake.  It’d be cool to see the movie set in the 70’s – well, the family gets sent back in time, but if the family were still from the ’70’s…  Guess we’ll just have to wait until 2009 to see!

The Littles – A catchy theme song which began, “We are the Littles…”  It was an awesome Saturday morning cartoon (which of course spawned into toys, lunchboxes, books, and even a few movies) about a family of small people with pointy ears and tails who lived within the walls of a Bigg (literally, this was the surname of the family!) family’s house.  The plots revolved around Tom and Lucy Little, a brother and sister who tried to keep their dopey aviator cousin Dinky out of trouble along with their Grandpa Little.  The Littles had rigged up their own little world within the walls of the Bigg’s home which they entered through a light socket, and it was neat to see how they used normal size objects to make things they needed.  They would often enlist the help of Henry Bigg, the human regular-size kid who lived in the house, since he was the only human to know about the Littles.  Cute show – I could probably find it on youtube or somewhere like that if I looked. 

Shirt Tales – Adorable little animal characters who began as a line of greeting cards were turned into a cartoon.  Their shirts would display different sayings to express their feelings; such as Hug Me, Cuddly, or Dig Me (worn by a mole).   A really cute cartoon which aired on the USA network as part of its Cartoon Express, of which Pac Man the cartoon was also a part; see below.

Pac Man – A cartoon based upon the popular video game.  I don’t remember much about it, but I know I liked it, and it didn’t last long.  I think if I were to see this cartoon today as an adult, it would be dumb, whereas Shirt Tales might be cute.  I haven’t checked youtube, but they both just might be there; it seems likely.

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It is about time to get some shuteye this evening, but unfortunately I’ve gotten my second wind. That never bodes well for getting a good nights sleep. While I was getting sleepy while watching a show with my daughter, just after the show ended, I’m wide awake.

I’m already getting sick and tired of the political season, and we aren’t out of the primaries yet. I’m might be physically ill by the time the general election rolls around.

Baseball news isn’t too good for the teams I follow.. Extra inning losses for both the Cubs and Tigers. While I’m a life long Tiger fan, I follow and root for the Cubs as long as they aren’t playing the Tigers. I guess you would call me a Cub convert.

A sunny warm day and warm evening would be wonderful. I think I’ve had enough snow, ice and rain to last for a while.

I think I learned my lesson about grocery shopping on an empty stomach. I just went in for some milk and potatoes for dinner this evening. I had everything else I needed. I picked up berries, a roasted chicken, some other odds and ends I didn’t need. Oh well, it shouldn’t go to waste. The chicken was very good.

I think I need to find a movie to watch for later this week. I’m not sure what I want to watch.

Oh well, I should try to sleep….

Nothing to do with teaching, but check this link out.  Crazy.

Saudi prince promises £5bn desert spire TWICE as tall as nearest rival being built

Hmm. Mr. Webber’s Phantom of the Opera line doesn’t quite work since this was during the day. How about, “The hills are alive, with the sound of music…” Yep, that works better. If you haven’t guessed by now the position I subbed for today was music. Elementary music. Like most specials jobs in the district I was in, it was a traveling job, but fortunately this time I went to the right school first. The first two classes were great. They were fourth graders and they were really focused. As they were in a unit about stage productions/musicals, they got to watch a video with scenes with a couple of famous dancers if you thought of Billy Elliot, you are dead wrong. In fact, he’s not even real. Did you know there is actually a musical based on this movie by the way?. Nope, not Michael Flatley. At least he’s real, but you are thinking too modern! Go way back to the 1930s-1950s to get this one. Okay, you have them- Fred Astaire and Gene Autry… No wait, not the kind of dancing that involves bullets at your feet- Gene Kelly of course.

Anyway, they saw scenes from a few shows including Ziegfeld Follies, Royal Wedding, and, of course, Singin’ in the Rain. In Royal Wedding, There was a strange scene where Astaire danced not only on the floor, but on the walls and ceiling as well! If you go to the Royal Wedding link and check out the trivia for it you can find out how they did it. These days they would just use computers of course. The kids really enjoyed that scene, as well as Kelly getting wet in Singin’ in the Rain.

I wish I could say that the fifth graders at the other school did as well with this video, but I can’t. There were technical difficulties (the LMC gave me a DVD player that was broken- it wouldn’t play the disc) and the first class just talked and talked, even after I finally got another player and started the movie. The second class was a little better, but still excitable during some scenes. The third class did much better, though not quite up to the fourth graders.

Finally, I had lunch then four afternoon classes with younger grades. No video for them, but instead the second graders worked on a show they were doing- we just went through all their songs on CD. I noticed this show involves the fifth grade as well. At first I wondered why the teacher didn’t have me do this plan with that grade, but remembering how the first two classes went I quickly shelved that question. First grade had yet a different lesson, which we only got partway through, but that was expected by the teacher. Well, that’s it for now.

Originally this post was called “CUBS WIN!!!”  And I followed it up with: gee, I sure hope I’m not jinxing anything by posting this.  And as I was typing that, the dang Brewers scored 3 runs!  Now that I’ve changed the title of the post, the awful half-inning ended and the Cubs are now up with a chance to save the game and have one man on base.  Unfortunately for me, I will have to miss the finale and seeing if the Cubs pull it off because I can’t suspend my entire life for baseball, as much as I’d like to.  I already rearranged my schedule around this game today, and wouldn’t you know it, there were not one, but TWO rain delays, which is why the Cubs are still playing and why I have to miss the end of the game because my poor family has gone without dinner long enough!  So, hope for me and for the Cubs that they pull this off – I must say it’s starting to look good with 2 men on now and NO OUTS – this game has reached a fever pitch as their pitcher is starting to choke and walk Cubs out the wazoo….  OH MY GOSH – FUKUDOME JUST HIT A 3-RUN HOMER TO TIE THE GAME!!!  My daughter can stand in the rain waiting for me to pick her up, can’t she?  It’s opening day!  Is there an emoticon for fingers crossed?!?!?

Well, we have narrowed down our choices for baby names!  (Insert drum roll here) They are:
FIRST NAMES:
Mallory
Lindsay
Evangeline
MIDDLE NAMES:
Autumn
Athina (or Athena as it’s usually spelled; I like the first one better)
Alexandra

We know we want a middle name that starts with an “A” because all of our girls have one.  We’re just not sure which name we like with which middle name.  If you’ve read my previous posts, especially the one called Baby Names, you can see that I’ve given up my ideal name of Frances.  Ok, it’s not my ideal name, that’s why I gave up on it, but I did want to name the baby after my late grandmother.  I just wish she had a name that was a little easier to convince my husband to name our baby and for me to WANT to name the baby.  Anyway, these are the final three so we’ll see how it turns out.  I am the one who signs the birth certificate in the hospital, so I can always sneak whatever I want on there, including Frances if I so desire…  JUST KIDDING!  I wouldn’t do that…  unless they pump me full of some crazy drugs to get through the labor…  then I can’t be held accountable for my actions.  But nothing is set in stone yet; we’re still a few months away – I will site the example of my youngest-for-now.  Her name was going to be Sydney until I was about 7 months pregnant…  then all of a sudden I said to my husband, I don’t think I like that name anymore!  I thought it was the hormones causing my sudden change of heart, but to my surprise, my husband agreed that HE didn’t like the name anymore either!  We think it might have had something to do with our other daughters calling her Cindy – they could not grasp the concept of reversing the sounds.  So anyway, these are the finalists in the name race for now, I will keep you posted on any changes!

And that means that April Fool’s Day is tomorrow…

I’ve always like this day, since I have a very gullible daughter. My tricks on her are infamous in family discussions. I’m searching my devious little brain right now trying to come up with another trick or more that I can pull on anyone of my daughters.

I also have to think of a prank or two to pull on people at work.. Can’t be too bad, or I’ll get in trouble.

Anyone know of any good gags, pranks, tricks?

I’ll post if I am able to pull anything off tomorrow. Be on your guard if I know you… You will never know if a prank is in your future..

Where they’re going. Where they’ve been.  I’ve worn lots of shoes.  I bet if I think about it real hard I could remember my first pair of shoes…   – FORREST GUMP

The preceding quote comes to mind because Disney, our youngest-for-now, got her first pair of shoes yesterday!  She loves them!  She always asks to wear them, even if it’s just for around the house.  But she always ends up just wearing one somehow and losing the other, so I wonder what Forrest Gump would think of that?  At first when she got them on, she just stood there, as if locked in cement.  Her big sister Taylor helped her learn to walk in them – it was adorable.  She was so patient with her without doing too much for her and giving in by picking her up.  Finally, Disney learned to walk in her new shoes and loves them.  Pretty soon she’ll be running around in her new shoes with me waddling behind her trying to keep up!

Seeing her “stuck” there when she thought she couldn’t walk reminded me of my other daughter Samantha, who is now almost 4.  When Sammie was learning to walk, it was summertime, and she was wearing sandals, so she’d be walking, walking, then as soon as she hit the grass – STOP!  And she’d be stuck there too, just like Disney was in her new shoes.  It’s strange how learning to walk is such a huge new experience, yet I’ve never met anyone who remembers going through it…  I think it’s much more fun being on the parent side, this time around, but then again, I can’t really name an experience that isn’t!