Can You Hear That Music In The Air?

 

A new Me, You, And...adventure awaits tomorrow...

When You Dress In A Cosy Bee Onesie

 

Why This Morning's Bluey Episodes Make The Perfect Lineup

 

• BBQ - Bingo, Bluey, Muffin and Socks wait patiently for lunch to be ready while playing at being in a barbecue themselves and making a salad. Bingo gets into trouble! The episode shows the basics of having a sizzling hot barbecue outside and lazing around while waiting for the sausages and salad to be served. Barbecues are very popular in Australia, as is Bluey.
• Butterflies - Bluey, Bingo and Judo play a snuggly game about the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly. When I first heard of this, I thought it was about Bluey and Bingo playing in butterfly fairy costumes, but I was wrong - you don't need costumes to play in Bluey, just a cosy hammock and lots of sunshine!
• The Pool - Bluey, Bingo and Dad play in Uncle Stripe's pool on a hot day. Everything near the pool looks like a zen garden had been built near Uncle Stripe's abode, and water is familiar to me since I use characters playing in water in my stories, like in Me, You, And..., The 'Hood and I.B.F.Fs.
• The Creek - I've ALWAYS wanted to visit this place, as do you lot. Bluey, Bingo, Mackenzie and Dad escape the confines of modern life and enjoy the sensuality and gentleness of the natural world around them in the creek, from the water to the leaves. Some of you think Dad put the kids in danger, but I think it isn't dangerous because there are no saltwater crocodiles where the friends play, they skim stones, sail boats, make a dam and host a day spa in the water, and it's officially confirmed that Mackenzie is a boy. I'm not kidding, he really is!
• Backpackers - Bluey, Bingo, Muffin and Socks hold tight to Mum and Dad as they act out flashbacks of them going on an adventure around the world in their own backyard in order to not only tell them about other parts of the world, but to tell them how they breastfed them as babies. No, really, Muffin and Socks were breastfed by Aunt Trixie, but you can find out more about how Aunt Trixie breastfed Muffin and Socks when I release the The 'Hood episode 'Breastfeeding'.
• Camping - Another natural episode to go alongside Shadowlands, The Creek and Fruit Bat, Bluey and her family camp out and Bluey befriends a black Labrador named Jean-Luc. They teach each other how to survive in the wild and hunt for food when things become scarce - well, rather, knock down Dad as he's fetching water. My favourite scene in the episode is the differences between the two families having dinner at night - while Bluey and her family have a campfire and roast marshmallows, Jean-Luc and his mum and dad have dinner at the table while Jean-Luc talks about his new friend. Australia is all about diversity, as I've found out while watching videos and seeing websites themed about ABC Kids and ABC Me. This link below may be boring, but you can check out why Australia accepts diversity:

https://kids.kiddle.co/Culture_of_Australia

I Got An Email Back From Gotta Be Done!

 

I got an email back from Gotta Be Done, a Bluey podcast all about nothing but nothing but Bluey! I'm so excited I just want to wag my tail and dance the floss dance just like in Grannies...if I can practise. They're so nice! You know what? The next time I do an episode of The 'Hood, I'll send them an email with my 'Hood related blog entry. How's that? Good! Almost as good as settling in to watch Disney+ on a boring day.

What Your Favourite Max & Ruby Episode Says About You

 

Ruby's Piano Practice:

You're the curious and creative type who not only loves music but is into other things too, such as making a spider sandwich with your toy spider or searching for your toy submarine in the mud. You're so curious you want to find out more about your world, but you still have plenty of time to play on your piano in time for the school concert.

Max's Bath:

You are absolutely messy! You love to get messy eating at the lunch table whilst having your sandwich with extra dollops of jam, and in the bath you like to pour ice cream and grape juice into the bath to make it into bright colours. No matter how many times they try to run the bath for you again, you just keep wanting to make your bath as creative and as juicy as possibly could.

Max's Bedtime:

You're soft and sensitive, and still sleep with a stuffed animal as an adult. You can't get to sleep without your comfort tool, like Max can't get to sleep without his red rubber elephant in the episode, and you always smile when you prepare for bed, taking your glass of milk and hot water bottle to bed with you to get a good night's sleep.

Hide & Seek:

You're a master of disguise and like to escape by finding great hiding places where others can't see you. You insist on hiding all the time to avoid boring chores or other stuff like cleaning the house or having a bath, but others catch you in the act anyway.

Max's Breakfast:

You refuse to try new things. Whatever is offered to you, you just push away, stick your nose in the air and say "No!" You insist on trying the same things for breakfast over and over, as in the episode, Max realizes strawberries are healthier than a sunny side up egg...although I think both are part of a healthy breakfast. You think healthy food, including greasy stuff that's meant to be healthy, like Max's breakfast egg, is bad for you, but I think it's good for you.

Louise's Secret:

On one side, you love to share secrets only with your closest friends and no one else, not letting any secret get exposed by your parents. It's a girl thing. On the other hand, you are noisy and like to disrupt telephone calls with your music or noisy toys. I don't like the noises of my neighbourhood, too, so this is quite relatable.

Max Misses The Bus:

You have a string of bad luck on hand. You miss the bus, you have trouble getting ready for school or work, you spend time playing when you're supposed to be organized - such a rush! So much so that you refuse to go out, and instead stay at home where you belong until the problem is sorted out.

Max's Worm Cake:

Making a worm cake is gross, but this episode tells you that you're into educational videos about planting flowers and like to keep your garden neat and tidy, planting flowers and pulling nasty weeds. You don't like handling worms and dirt, because they may cause germs to go onto your hands, but you always remember to wash your hands after coming in from the garden.

Max's Rainy Day:

You're a late bloomer who is always trying to get ready for the day ahead, but is always late as a result of poor timing on your part. Still, you love playing in the rain and splashing in all the big and little puddles outside! If you're not into Peppa Pig, that is.

Camp Out:

You are fond of the great outdoors, but you know you mustn't share the outdoors without your friends, whether toys, TV characters or real ones, by your side. In the episode, Max lies down the rest, but sees a large rain cloud loom over him...but it's actually Ruby! You seek shelter when it begins to rain, not under a tree because lightning may electrify you, but in your tent to listen to the raindrops patter down on the sides of the tent.

Ruby's Clubhouse:

You love your friends, and you hang out together all the time, every day, anywhere, especially in your garden where you set up a clubhouse using a blanket and pillows. You invite your dollies and love to have tea and cake in there while sharing secrets and not allowing boys into your humble abode. This clubhouse is for you if you're a girl, but if you're a mixed group of girls and boys, it doesn't matter.

Max's Picnic:

You are impatient to wait for desert, and just before lunch you scoff down the last cupcake when your parents aren't looking. You try to control yourself but it's no use. "Max & Ruby made me do it!" you shout when your parents find out what happened.

Max's Halloween:

You love Halloween. You love all the monsters related to Halloween, such as witches, ghosts, mummies, zombies, vampires, fairies, etc.. In fact, for Halloween this year you'd rather go trick or treating as something scary rather than something sweet and innocent like a fireman or a monkey, like Max in the episode, who wanted to go as a vampire rather than a handsome prince.

Ruby's Leaf Collection:

You love catching leaves in the Autumn when they fall down from the trees and blow in the wind. In fact, you collect them all and make picture collages with them in an Autumn-related fashion, or stick them in a scrapbook to remind you of the best Autumn ever.

The Blue Tarantula:

Because of the scary stuff you see sometimes, it makes it hard for you to go to sleep sometimes, like Max when Ruby read him the story of the Blue Tarantula. You're also scared of spiders, mainly big hairy ones like tarantulas - you think of them as gross and unacceptable to pet, especially when they crawl slowly up your arm. Sheesh!

Ruby's Merit Badge:

You specialize in wanting to be a doctor or a nurse, caring for others and performing life-changing operations to save lives. Saving lives means doing a great job in supporting the human race, giving you great rewards like strength and bravery and even the courage to support others in times of need.

Max's Apple:

If you live on a farm, you love to harvest apples come harvest time and, once you've picked them from the orchard and washed them, you help your family chop up the apples, peel and slice them to bake them into a delicious pie to eat at Thanksgiving dinners...if you happen to live in America. They usually have pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving, so having apple pie during Thanksgiving is no biggie.

Quiet, Max!

You try very hard to keep quiet when someone else is asleep. You try to make noise, but you keep the volume on low, so that the person doesn't wake up disturbed, like Max when he tries not to wake Baby Huffington. If you have a baby brother or sister, you have to be extremely quiet. In the Bluey episode 'Wagon Ride' AKA 'Lazy Morning', we see Chloe's mum pushing a pram with a baby dalmatian inside - maybe it's Chloe's little brother or sister? Who knows...

Max Cleans Up:

You like to tidy things up the simple way - stuff everything into the closet. There. Done. If everything stumbles out, you like to messily tidy it back up again - under your bed!

Max's Cuckoo Clock:

You have an attachment to an object that is most likely to get your attention, like Max when he plays with the Huffingtons' cuckoo clock. Perhaps you have an attachment to a show you love, such as Strange Hill High, Scream Street, Transformers Cybertron, Teenage Fairytale Dropouts, Kipper or even Bluey for that matter, or an attachment to a favourite toy - even as an adult! I hate to be stereotypical but disabled adults still love soft toys, kids' shows and looking at videos on Youtube, like me for instance.

Ruby's Jewelry Box:

Wanting to know what's in your sister or mother's jewelry box isn't easy, but you love to pretend you're a pirate, or a treasure hunter, or maybe even Aladdin to try to get the treasure (their jewels) for yourself - but girls like jewels, especially diamonds. Haven't you heard of the saying "Diamonds are a girl's best friend"? Who invented this phrase? I don't know, look it up.

Bunny Cakes:

You love any kind of cake, whether made up or freshly baked out of the oven, but there are two sides of you that loves a different kind of cake: one side of you loves normal, sweet-tasting cakes such as chocolate cakes, birthday cakes, vanilla cakes and maybe even Ruby's Angel Surprise cake with raspberry fluff icing - and maybe even Red Hot Marshmallow Squirters. The other side of you likes cakes made with things like mud, Play Doh or clay - remember! Those cakes aren't good to eat! There's a recipe from Disney Junior for Pop Up Rainbow Cakes from the Muppet Babies, check it out:

Bunny Party:

You and your grandma love to do things the old fashioned way, like Ruby who invites her dollies over to her grandma's birthday party. Your grandma loves to collect china dolls who have been passed down for generations. Check out the Arthur episode 'Clarissa Gets Cracked', it's about D.W. who finds out about her grandma's precious doll which she had when she was a young girl, then read Lizzie Zipmouth, it's about someone who owns a variety of china dolls. I have the book, and I have to read it somehow. You should check it out yourself.

I Want To Know Why Potty Got The Hiccups...

 

What Is An Our School Student's Favourite Thomas Episode?

 The Fogman, of course!

The 'Hood: Waiting For Lunch & Other Stories

 

Inspired by tomorrow's 7:00AM-8:00AM Bluey, I've decided to do a 'Hood DVD that includes the special 'Survival' and various bonus features including the bonus Bluey episode 'Bus', which I like to call 'Some Guys Have All The Luck'. The episodes on the DVD include:

• Waiting For Lunch
• A Snuggly Adventure
• Skinny Dipping
• Soothing Naturals
• Breastfeeding
• Survival

Charades Has A New Name

 Charades has a new name!

Well, it's official: I've now given a new name to the game Charades: Body To Body. Why? Because starting from this Thursday onward, I'll play Charades with Grandma and Mum to guess what I'm doing in two weeks time. This Thursday, I revealed I'll be doing works and blog entries themed around Angelina Ballerina, My Little Pony, I.B.F.Fs (pretending to be an eagle), Caillou and Bob The Builder in two weeks. Mum had a turn, and the answer was Toy Story - there's a Disney charades/body-to-body game you can play at home if you're bored, simply click the link below and get printing and playing:

https://www.darcyandbrian.com/disney-themed-charades-game-for-kids/

Let's see what next week holds in store for me this time!

Videos I Saw At Grandma's Today

 

Love Monster's Hot Chocolate Party!

 

CBeebies fans young and old! I have an important announcement to make concerning Love Monster! After all that ravel with Tik Tak, Andy and Maddie, he's back with new episodes, and on Monday 21st September, he's celebrating with a hot chocolate party at 4:00PM! It's a day of calming things - adventures in the wild, three calm places named Glowbone Island, Unicornia and Pug's Friendship Tree and of course, hot cocoa to soothe the body and soul. I'll finish I.B.F.Fs: The Eagle's Nest before 2:00PM, so this gives me plenty of time to prepare a hot chocolate ready for Love Monster's return to CBeebies. Remember Yay For Rain Day, where Love Monster wore a cuddly, cosy onesie, prepared hot chocolate and built a comfy fort? Well it's like that, except in Hot Chocolate Day, Love Monster and friends taste test hot chocolate - and, it's, GREAT!

Tune into CBeebies Monday 21st September to join Love Monster, grab a mug of hot chocolate and sip along. Keep warm!

The History Of Favourite Things On Disney Junior USA

Everywhere around the world, Disney Junior is about more than magic - it's all about favourite things. Its history is a humble one.

Disney Junior started life as Playhouse Disney. With music videos and other stuff to look forward to in between, your favourite things on Playhouse Disney were PB&J Otter, Out Of The Box and The Book Of Pooh.

Playhouse Disney's Movie Night Monday aired some good movies, like The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, but not only did they air Disney films, they also aired non Disney films which are also your favourite things, such as Care Bears, Wiggles and My Little Pony films.

Then, along came Disney Junior itself. The first favourite thing you ever liked is Guess How Much I Love You, the charming tales of a little rabbit and his father exploring nature together and sharing in the love. You also loved Kate & Mim-Mim, which gave you lots of inspiration for your stories.

The Lion Guard came along a few years later just as you were using the cartoons you loved as a kid to make something based on Warriors, or The Lion King and its sequels themselves for that matter. You borrowed everything from The Lion Guard for inspiration, including moments seen during songs, such as Bunga playing with animals during his 'Zuka Zama' song. The nursery rhymes and lullabies seen between programmes were charming and old fashioned and gave the channel a Little Golden Books-like feel. You loved the tunes, especially Twinkle Twinkle Little Star!

But in 2019 - which is last year - you ditched everything on the channel (except the lullabies and nursery rhymes) for the one, the only, the Aussie sensation about slice of life stories of play and spending time with family and friends - BLUEY! Capturing the same tone as shows of the same genre like Llama Llama, Max & Ruby, Little Bear and Franklin, Bluey stands above the rest like Kion's overprotective father Simba stands above all the animals on Pride Rock. Bluey has a loving and supportive community of family and friends, she never uses tech, she embraces the spirit of play and her parents are good examples of parenting advice for adult viewers, making her adventures relatable and enjoyable. You also thought up alternate names for each episode, like I do.

Looking for your favourite things? The Disney Junior website isn't up, but you can click the link below and head over to their Youtube channel to see lots of favourite things to enjoy, including Bluey, Bluey and more Bluey galore!

https://www.youtube.com/user/disneyjunior/videos

Bluey Episodes Themed Around Nature

I love these episodes!

• Shadowlands - Bluey and her friends are immersed in cool shade, which they play in to keep out of the heat, but they have to cross their new shadowy world if they want to get back to their mums at their picnic. Playing in the shade is cool and comfortable, especially if you're wearing sun cream and want to escape the hot sun. You can imagine along with Bluey, Coco and Snickers that parts of their shady world are things like lakes, ponds and tightropes. Alternate name: Cool Shade.
• Fruit Bat - Bluey drifts into a dream where she is able to fly, eat fruits and hang upside down. The episode represents the freedom of being able to dream anything, including the fun of flying and the joy of being a different animal entirely, as logical explanations tell you that you can be whoever you want. Alternate name: The Night Guardian.
• The Creek - My FAVOURITE episode of Bluey! Bluey, Mackenzie, Bingo and Dad explore the local creek and find a new way to be at one with nature, escaping the basics of modern life and going back to the simple times when playing by the water was the law of nature - in fact, play is the only law of nature. In the cool lake, Bluey, Mackenzie and the others indulge in their own Aussie Garden Of Eden, skimming stones, making a dam and sailing boats on the lake. I love nature, so this is why I love this episode. I want to visit the creek. I do, I really do! Alternate name: Soothing Naturals.
• Camping - Bluey and her family go on a camping trip, and Bluey, looking like she's been abandoned here and left to fend for herself, meets a French labrador named Jean-Luc. Australia is all about diversity, so Bluey and Jean-Luc may look different, but through playing at surviving in the wild and hunting Bluey's own dad they learn to trust each other and each other's instincts, almost as if they're going back to the days when Aborigines roamed the outback. My favourite scene is Bluey's first night in the site, where she's sitting round a campfire eating marshmallows and talking with Mum, Dad, Uncle Stripe, Aunt Trixie, Muffin and Socks, while Jean-Luc is having a proper table dinner with his mum and dad. It's here that you can see a big difference between people in France and people in Australia, but inside, we are all the same, and the joys and challenges of life are universal. Alternate name: Survival.