Anything Can Happen In...

Anything can happen in the next half hour!

And in that hour, I'll tell you about my trip out with my support worker. I had a lot of stuff going on on my Instagram feed while I was waiting in the ASDA car park for my treats: Gerry Anderson, Truffle Shuffle AND Bluey all responded to my words of wisdom! With Brains of course, the mind speaks for itself when clever people don't have words to express themselves. That's what his voice, David Graham (who I found out was the voice of Grandpa Pig) said.

Once we got to the seaside town, we talked about my new interests with Gerry Anderson. We talked about Thunderbirds, Joe 90 and Stingray, and I showed my support worker my 'Fur Blanket' and 'The Work Desk' stories. While there, I played a new game I invented called 'Anything Can Happen In The Next Half Hour', where I begin the famous Stingray catchphrase and other players have to fill it in. Examples are:

"Anything can happen when you believe in fairies!"

"Anything can happen when Dracula appears..."

"Anything can happen when the balloons you blew up for a party took you away for a fly!"

When we went out for a hot chocolate, I had second thoughts about Parker. Outside his long-suffering personality, does he even care softly for me like he's my grandpa? Well, my granddad died a few years ago, and putting Parker in this role would help me cope with his passing. He cares in this story, so he and his ladyship are still the most caring puppets ever made. I thought about the introductions he made on the Channel 5 VHS releases of Gerry Anderson's series and thought, "He must really stand out from the crowd, the old bloke." I then thought about those Fab adverts with Lady Penelope and Parker....and then, I thought about Lady Penelope caring for me in the jungle, while we are wearing nothing at all. Doesn't that sound exciting? Life is such a grand adventure.

Sure we had a liner in today, but I think it was called 'Vicious Vikings' or some stuff like that, I dunno. Anyway, once I got back, I helped Mum put the new TV up. It was heavy work, and I thought about the time Roo saved Tigger from an avalanche in that god-awful Tigger Movie, then I thought about Pooh and his friends moving boulders from the entrance to the cave, like Aladar and his friends did when they moved the boulders to find the Nesting Grounds when they wandered through the cave in Dinosaur. Even hard work can be put into the back of a honey lover! It was like I was forced into slavery for 100 years, so you know what?

I didn't, moan, once! Hooray! But through all that, I'm still going to use Parker to remember my long-forgotten Grandfather, who passed away when I was only a child. I was too young to understand it then. Now, I do. Granddad, I'm using my new friend Parker to remember you - through his clumsy ways and exceptional comic relief, I see you through his eyes, yet I see a sister through Penelope's.

Granddad may be gone, but through Parker, he lives on.

Gerry Anderson's Joe 90 (1968) - HD Opening Titles

"Mum! Dad! Bingo! Bluey!"

This opening to a Gerry Anderson show reminded me so much of the Bluey theme song that I just had to put it on my blog.

School Life

In the secondary school near where you or I live, there is a secret classroom. One with soundproof walls and brightly coloured paintings, and not a single piece of maths homework in sight. It is located behind a green door which can only be seen by those lucky enough to see it. It is where Furaha and her friends Orko, Optimus and Baby Marvin live.

Once they get up every weekday morning just before the pupils arrive at school for their lessons, Optimus leads them in some simple, gentle stretching to start the morning. Often, they would have to wash because sleeping through the night would mean they would smell bad. Baby Marvin was trying very hard to do his stretching, but always fell over. Luckily, Furaha and Orko were always on hand or paw to catch him.

When the pupils finally are in school, Optimus leads Furaha and her friends in some painting, which they enjoyed so much. Furaha would paint with her paws. SPLAT! SMUCK! SPLASH! She would get a bit messy and covered in paint, but it was worth it. Orko preferred to paint with a brush, while Baby Marvin did the same as Furaha, causing him to get very, very messy indeed. So messy are Baby Marvin and Furaha in fact, that Optimus needed to give them a good bath during breaktime with water in the school tank and bubbles from the washing up liquid in the staffroom.

In the middle of the day, they would spend the day doing some quiet activities, such as cuddling and hugging. They would sit on soft, comfy pillows and hug some teddies, while Optimus leads them in a breathing exercise. Then he would come and cuddle the three friends softly, sharing in love and hugs together, without disruption from the school bell due to the soundproof walls. He would often play with them, chasing them around their classroom home.

Next it was time for lunch. Orko magicked up some lunch for Furaha, Baby Marvin and himself to eat. Furaha had two jam sandwiches, a banana, a chocolate chip cookie and a carton of orange juice. Orko had a large plate of pizza and a cup of orangeade, and Baby Marvin had finger cheese sandwiches, a glass of milk and half a chocolate bar. Optimus, as always, was very careful. He was on an Energon diet. For the rest of the lunch break, the friends would sit around playing board games until the bell rang again.

It was time for the final lesson of the day - mindfulness. Optimus lead the friends in some meditation and deep breathing exercises, followed by some aromatherapy and some body scanning. Then, each of the friends would tell their worries to Optimus, which he would tell them how to resolve with great ease. Yes, Optimus was a wise and truthful teacher, and always knew everything about wellbeing and wonders of people everywhere.

When all the pupils have left for the day, Furaha, Orko and Optimus go out of the door to explore and look around the classrooms. And my, what a grand sight it was. The library was filled with books and reading posters to indulge in some interesting reads, though Furaha and Baby Marvin didn’t like the scary stories muchly. The science lab was filled with liquids which Furaha and her friends could concoct as experiments of their own, though Baby Marvin stayed back because the chemicals in the liquid are too dangerous. The music room allowed them to play all different types of music, and the art room meant they could make the room as messy as it could possibly be, with colourful paints and pens and potato slices.

The best room to play in is the staffroom, because playing in their meant lots of biscuits, mugs of hot cocoa and an opportunity to relax, laugh and talk together. It was the room where friends become friends, and friends become family. It’s a room where everyone can be in complete harmony with each other.

And when the sun finally set, the friends made their way back to bed, tired out from a long day of school living. Snug and safe in their bed, Furaha, Orko and Baby Marvin are cradled in Optimus’ arms, hoping that another day will bring more life lessons each time.

For at school, lessons aren’t just about numbers or words or art, it’s about the values we learn as time goes on, and we still do to this day.

May these wonderful values be of importance to you for the rest of your life.

Our Friends Twizzle & Torchy

Back in 1954, Lady Penelope, Parker, Scarlet, Magenta, Oink and Titan were just kids playing happy little games together in Lady Penelope’s garden near her mansion. Before they got their own shows, two such shows were the first puppet shows to be made by Gerry Anderson: Torchy and Twizzle. This such story focuses on these kids one time, when they first met Torchy and Twizzle.

On that day, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and Penelope was playing croquet in the garden. Once she hit the ball with the croquet bat, it went through the arch-like thingy and she said, “Mmmmmm-hmmmm, this is exactly why I win all the time.” “I must say, milady, you’re ever so clever when it comes to croquet.” Penelope gave a well earned nod, but Titan was shaking his head in the background. “Not fair!” he shouted out of jealousy, “I want to play kings and queens!” “But we always play that game,” said Penelope, “And you always get to be king.” “And everytime you get to be king, you just make a muddy mess and then put the blame on Penelope,” said Scarlet. “Pah!” said Titan, “Who cares if these fools play such a boring game, kings and queens is much better.”

Then, out of the blue… “Tooorch-eeeeeeeeeeeeee!!” Everyone looked around in astonishment. “What the hell was that noise?” asked Magenta. “Ah how should I know it’s just an alien spacecraft,” said Titan. Oink looked scared and went to hide behind Penelope’s legs just as the noise started up again: “Tooooorch-eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!” A huge spotlight shone down from out of the sky, and then, in fizzed two peculiar looking characters: Twizzle and Torchy.

Hello, Twizzle.

“Hello!”

Hello, Torchy.

“Ah, hello there!”

Everyone was in shock at the new visitors, who silently watched with their jaws gaped open as they introduced themselves. “I’m Twizzle, and this is Torchy. Nice to meet all of you.” Penelope shyly had the nerve to introduce herself. “Okay, I’m Penelope, and these are Parker, Scarlet, Magenta, Titan and Oink. Won’t you care to join us for a game of croquet?” “Anyone can play!” said Twizzle, “Watch us!”

Penelope had to explain the rules of the game first, so that Twizzle won’t forget. Then, with an almighty swing, Twizzle knocked the ball. The ball bounced and ricocheted off different trees. “This isn’t golf!” shouted Penelope, ducking as the ball shot past her, but then - BONG! The ball hit Titan on the head, causing him to fall to the ground. He was seeing stars.

“Well done, Twizzle, you finally took a stand to the ‘Game Hogger’ here.” said Scarlet, shaking hands with Twizzle. “Help…me…” coughed Titan, now with a big bump on his head.

“My go!” said Torchy, and he took the hammer to aim. Once he hit the ball, it too bounced around the place, but this time it was so extreme that it didn’t hit Titan this time. It shot past Scarlet and Parker, and then…

BOINK!

Back inside the mansion, one of Penelope’s servants had to tend to Oink and Titan so that they felt better. “Mother, we didn’t injure them this time, it was Twizzle and Torchy.” “Those two mischief makers,” said Penelope’s annoyed mother, “Listen, Penny, I’ll call their parents to come and collect them. You and your friends stay put.”

When their parents did come, Twizzle and Torchy were scolded and spanked ten times by their parents. With sore red bottoms they trudged all the way back home again. Penelope and her friends laughed and laughed until they couldn’t stand up.

“You know,” said Penelope, “I think good friends are the ones I love most. But as for Twizzle and Torchy? Well, we won’t be seeing any more of them again!”

The Work Desk

One fine Summer’s day on Tracy Island, Jeff Tracy was sitting at his desk working on important documents sent over to him from various organisations around the world. The documents were so boring I couldn’t bother listing them by name, so instead, we’ll focus on his abacus. It looked very boring unlike the more colourful ones, because the little beads were coloured green and orange - too boring to even fit on a real abacus. Jeff was writing on the document papers, and he was feeling very tired once he filled the 7th one out, so he went away to bed for a nap. Fortunately, there were no rescues on that day, so he and his sons were free to relax. He was unaware that he was about to have some visitors…

And they did arrive after he left the room. Their names? Bluey and Bingo. “It’s okay, Bingo, the coast is clear.” said Bluey. “So what are we meant to do? Trash the place up?” asked Bingo. “No, I meant we’re going to head over to Jeff’s desk. We need to understand why he has such boring work papers.”

Bluey and Bingo crept up to the work desk, and then began to play with the papers. Bingo began throwing them high into the air as she giggled wildly, while Bluey made some of them into paper aeroplanes. “Wheeeee!” she said as she made one fly around the room. Bingo made one piece of work paper into a puppet. “Boring work stuff,” she said in a funny voice, “Blah blah blah, blah blah blah.” “Yeah,” said Bluey, “Blah blah, blah, blah.”

“Hang on a second mate, what’s this?” asked Bingo. Bluey took a closer look at the abacus on Jeff’s desk. “Looks like an ordinary abacus.” “But it’s really boring,” said Bingo. “Why don’t we just paint it?” There was silence for a moment. Then Bluey said, “Hey! That’s a great idea!” “Painting!” cried Bluey and Bingo.

So the two friends got out some colourful paint pots and got to work on painting the abacus into different colours. It was very messy, and paint got everywhere - on the desk, on the crumpled work papers and even onto the sofas. It was very, very messy indeed, but with all their childlike time and effort, they had finish painting the abacus.

“Hooray!” they both cheered. But then, they saw how messy it is, and got nervous. “Uh oh,” said Bluey, “Do you think Mr Tracy will notice?” “I don’t know, I just-” began Bingo, but then a stammering voice interrupted. “Excuse me!” It was Brains. “D-D-didn’t Jeff Tracy tell you all not to play with his stuff?” “Well, erm, I…” began Bluey, struggling for words. Bingo twiddled her fingers. “You should know better than to play with his stuff,” scolded Brains, “He’s going to go bonkers when he finds out his abacus has been painted!”

In tears, Bluey and Bingo put on their best ‘Double Please’ faces and said, in unison: “We’re sorry…” “Good, and you guys should be sorry, because when Mr Tracy sees you’ve been playing with his-”

“NOT SORRY!” cried Bluey, and she hurled a can of red paint at Brains, who screamed loudly! “R-r-r-right, you guys are gonna get it!” he said, and he threw a can of yellow paint all over Bingo, who shrieked with delight. “PAINT FIGHT!” shouted Bluey and Bingo in unison, and soon a joyful paint fight was started between Bluey, Bingo and Brains.

And uh oh, imagine what Jeff will think when he wakes up from his nap. Just look at the mess! Don’t you think that’s enough mess for one day?

Fur Blanket

The conference hall bells chimed 12AM midnight as an eerie silence made the whole scene as quiet as twilight. The lights were on in every window of the hall, casting a warm glow over the cold night. The scent of barbecue smoke filled the air, creating a warm hush that surrounded the atmosphere like a forever burning fire.

A glisten of pink stood outside the gates - it was Fab-1, and in it were just me and Parker. Penelope was at a press conference, and I was just sitting there next to Parker in the cold, twiddling my thumbs, this close to shivering. Then suddenly, I felt it. My whole body began to shudder with the effect of the chill. I was freezing.

“Parker,” I said softly, “I’m cold.” “I know, me little lady,” soothed Parker, “Penelope will be back any minute now. The press conference is almost finished.” “It just takes forever, as if the night lasts forever,” I said, giving out a big yawn. “And I’m tired too.”

Parker looked around for something to cover me with, then saw Penelope’s soft mink fur coat in the back of the car. He glanced back at me - I was starting to get very sleepy indeed. So he picked up the coat from the back of the car and gently covered it over me, as I snuggled down to sleep on the cosy leathery white seats. I yawned a little, then Parker kissed me goodnight. “I love you, me little lady,” sighed Parker, casting a warm gaze over me. I was sleeping safe and sound, under the light of the full moon, with no danger to overcome me.

It was at this point when Penelope returned from her conference. “Parker, I’m ba-” she was about to call, but was suddenly interrupted by the sight of me sleeping. “Aaaaaaawww,” she sighed softly, seeing me fast asleep. “Sssssshhhhh,” whispered Parker, “I protected her while you were away, milady.”

Penelope took me in her arms while I was still asleep, and gently cradled me, whispering soft, reassuring words. She kissed me on the forehead and placed me in the back of the car, as she got in beside me.

Parker pressed a button, and the seatbelts were fastened for him, me and Penelope. Soon, we were off back to the Creighton Ward manor, peaceful and safe, without a single word to be said, under the cosiest night sky ever seen.