Kamikaze Kitty

Just a warning, this post is about my nasty, evil cat hating side!

Now, I don't hate all cats, just one of my own. Kitty. My arch nemesis. We have a vicious hate/hate relationship that revolves around him howling at me at all hours of the night, waking me up by smacking me in the face with muddy paws, tripping me on the way to the bathroom and the worst of all, taking a number 1 on my paperwork bound for the accountant (very, very embarrassing!!!) and that's just the highlights.

I don't know when our relationship turned so sour. He was an awesome kitten and a proud defender of our home against feral cats in his youth. But now a days, there is definitely a screw loose somewhere and he's taking out his pent up anger and frustration on me. And only me. He tolerates my husband in the way that all cats tolerate humans and actually shows affection to the girls, but when it's just me, and no one is looking, it's all death glares, bared fangs and claws. So it obviously is some vicious plot to undermine my position in the household and perch himself in a place of importance.

Ok so I've been watching maybe just a little too much Kid v's Kat and have had quite a bit of time to think about this, but I found the solution to my problems today on a post on Inhabitots and my mind just ran away with its self.

Now all I need is a tiny leather helmet, goggles and a white scarf and possibly the loan of a jet engine of some type. mwahahahahahahah

Just thought I might add that I am actually quite an animal lover and wouldn't ever actually harm the cat. We will continue to live as mortal enemies locked in a battle of wills. Although he may win the next staring competition and will probably mentally write a scathing retort to my post, I will always be the one with opposable thumbs and the can opener!

The kidness of tiny strangers

There is an ash tree, in a park, near a Lake where a little Elf lives during the summertime. His name is Mr Little Guy and for years now he has been replying to children (and grown ups too) all over the world who leave letters at his door, it's reported sometimes up to 1,500 a year!

image from http://www.trazzler.com/trips/lake-harriet-elf-door-in-minneapolis-mn

Although he retreats to his Castle in the East every Winter, he does leave a forwarding address so no letter will go unanswered.

The correspondence of one tiny Elf and his quest to spread belief in the magic of childhood has captured the hearts of residents in this beautiful Minneapolis town called Lake Harriet. Although the original path to his home has long since been worn away by the many visitors leaving letters and hoping for replies, a new garden has been built, a fence erected to protect the flower patch and a little magic has touched the hearts of all who visit.

 image from http://nickerstories.com/elf.html

Thank you so much Anneliese from Tutus and Muddy Shoes for sharing your brush with a little Elf magic.

Music News: Alphabutt by Kimya Dawson

Following on from my post last week about music that is and isn't appropriate for kids, I can't believe I didn't know that Kimya Dawson has done a kids album! Why didn't someone tell me?

Alphabutt, released after Juno, rings true to Kimya's style of catchy and laugh out loud funny lyrics and pushes the rude boundaries a bit too. The title track is a fast paced alphabet song where Kimya plays on the toilet humour and fart jokes that kids love so much. It moves really fast and kids may have trouble keeping up, I can't believe she sings it all the way through without getting tongue tied, but that is her style after all.

My favourite song on the album is I Like Bears, simply cause it reminds me of the Bear Hunt song (which I can never remember all the words too) and it is just so happy and fun to sing along to. Closely followed by Seven Hungry Tigers for it's pure nonsensical fun lyrics. But there are also a couple of tracks where the subject matter is purely adult focused, such as the weird cravings and neurotic worrying of pregnancy (Smoothie) and Happy Home which champions the importance of staying true to yourself.

For me, this is an album that I'd listen to and sing along with, but not sure I'd love it if the girls were reciting the alphabet this way, but not everyone's going to feel the same. If you love Kimya Dawson you will love this too without a doubt and I think it will be a winner more with grown up listeners than with kids.


You can by the CD or Vinyl from Fishpond or download it in MP3 from iTunes. Click on the iTunes link to hear samples from the album.

Here's a couple of live performaces from Kimya Dawson from tracks on the album.

Happy Home (Keep on Writing)


Alphabutt

Lessons from Sesame Street

Have you noticed lately on Sesame Street all the celebrities that keep popping up telling us about different words and demonstrating their meanings? I don't know if it was just last season that they started this but they've definitely ramped it up for the 40th season let me tell you (seems everyone from Law and Order SVU had a go, and does anyone but me find it unusual that Ice-T would be an appropriate choice?)

Well it appears to be working! In one episode a couple of weeks ago David Beckham and Elmo explained the meaning of persistent. Now my 4 year old tells me she's not being annoying, she's being persistent when she asks for the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over...... if I ever see David Beckham or Elmo walking down the street, we'll be having stern words!

I started looking for the clip on You Tube, but I found this instead, it has no relevance other than the celebrity angle, but I nearly wet myself watching it.... is it just me or are Rickie Gervais just a little scary?

Songs that will make milk come out your nose

It is often my gripe that the music our kids hear everyday on the radio just isn't appropriate for their little ears. I personally have has a "little miss sunshine" moment where my then 3yr old was in the shopping trolley singing at the top of her lungs how her milkshakes brought all the boys to the yard. Couldn't find a freezer section big enough that day to crawl into and needless to say we listened to Radio National everywhere we went for quite some time after that.

It's around about then that my love for Kindy Rock developed. It kinda all stated with Justine Clarke releasing her album and it constantly being played on ABC kids. I was so relieved to have a Wiggles alternative that I went on a mad web search to find more. I now have quite a collection and there are some albums that I've bought more for myself to listen to rather than the girls.

Which leads me to Godrey, Robbie Fulks song about the sickly unemployed amateur children's musician (listen to it here at iTunes). Its on the Bottle Let me Down album that we had in store for a while last year. I'd heard most of the songs before, having a particular fondness for I'm My Own Grandpa, remembering it from it's days on the Muppet Show. I gave the album it's first complete listen in the car on our Easter break. This is some funny stuff. Most of it so very far away from being politically correct, your first reaction is to snort/laugh through your nose (hence my reference to milk coming out your nose), and then check to make sure no one heard you laugh, and then continue to snicker to your self all day whilst you whistle the tune.

There are some other corkers on this album too with Senor el Gato and Don't Wipe Your Face on Your Shirt being the standouts in bad taste humour. But the are all so catchy you can't help but get hooked. The subject content can be a little iffy as far as the kids are concerned, but i doubt they'll put it all together and come out with anything but their own snickering at the toilet humour.

Going Gruffalo Crazy

http://www.gruffalo.com/index.html
Lately it's been all about the Gruffalo from my daughter Abby. She's been reading it at Kindy and will be going to a live performance in June at the local theatre.

Then on Monday the BBC animated feature was on ABC Kids and now the whole family has caught on. It was truly delightful and I haven't seen my two girls enthralled by a TV show since... ever! Its always nice to come across a book to TV translation which captures the true essence of the original... have you ever noticed that this only happens when the original author is in charge of the screenplay... maybe someone should be paying attention?

So today in my rounds I googled The Gruffalo and came across the official website. It is delightfully illustrated (as you would expect) and has so many lovely features including the games and activities page which has kept Abby entertained for a while this afternoon. There are some great resources for a Gruffalo birthday party that I quite like, but I may have a job on my hands talking Abby out of a Little Mermaid party.

The Gruffalo isn't available on DVD in Australia yet, but you can purchase it through the Gruffalo website or Amazon UK if you have a multi region player. Here is the trailer to wet your whistle in case you missed it on the box yesterday...


or this one... http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/mpd/permalink/m5ELK8WKNOX41

This also caught my eye, what a wonderful bedroom scene this would make!


and here's a link I found to a trailer for the live performance. Not sure if it's going to be the same one, but it looks fantastic if it is!