The view from my backgarden last night.
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Month: September 2006
I logged onto my statcounter yesterday morning (yeah, don’t tell me you don’t do the same thing every day…if you’re a blogger you’re a stat-addict…it’s a given) and got the happy surprise of seeing my visitor numbers had more than doubled their average daily amount. Hmm…perhaps a belated surge because of blogday I thought, or someone higher up on the blogging food chain has said something nice…or something not so nice…about my blog.
So I scrolled on down to the External Links section…nothing unusual there…and then down to the Google search results. Aaaah, it all became clear. It seems the demise of a certain crocodile hunter had a lot of people tapping his name into Google and finding their way to this post I did last year. Sorry folks, I don’t think that was quite what you were looking for, but welcome all the same.
Mind you, since you’re here, why don’t I see if I can answer some of your queries:
steve irwin is gone? – Yes, I’m sorry, it’s true: the animal kingdom finally got the better of Mr Irwin when a stingray stung him in the heart while he was out filming the Great Barrier Reef.
was steve irwin in neighbours – Although he would have spiced up the Aussie soap, I’m pretty sure Steve was never a resident of Ramsay Street. I could be wrong…a long lost son of Harold‘s perhaps come to wrestle crocks in Lassiter’s pond?
steve irwin murder – Ah, a conspiracy theorist are we? So who do you think it was? A shadowy government cabal who paid the stingray to bump him off? Hmmm, you might have something there.
steve irwin jokes – You don’t waste any time do you? I guess you’re over the initial grief then?
steve irwin stupid – Oooh…definitely over the grief. A bit harsh in this instance I think but there are some who would agree with you.
film of steve irwin dyeing – Wow, yet another string to his bow. So nice to know he was interested in one of the more traditional textile crafts…hang on a minute…
film of steve irwin dying/watch steve irwin dying – OK, now that’s just a little bit twisted. Considering this was the second most popular search (after the jokes one) I’m starting to think you internet people are messed up.
RIP Steve
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There’s No Such Thing As Bad Weather
Categories
Peanut Butter Cookies
Sunday afternoon has always been my day for baking. I’m no gourmet chef but I love making desserts. This recipe is one I’ve been making since I was a little girl…that’s how easy it is…but oh the cookies are the best. This is an American recipe so you’ll find no mention of oz or kg.
1. Mix the following in a large bowl:
Half a cup of soft brown sugar
Half a cup of caster sugar
Half a cup of peanut butter
Half a cup of butter
1 egg
Half a teaspoon of vanilla essence
2. Pause here to, ahem, sample the dough:
3. Sift the following and stir into the peanut butter mix:
One and a quarter cups of plain flour
A quarter teaspoon of salt
Three quarters of a teaspoon of soda
4. Roll the dough into balls and place onto baking sheets.
5. Criss-cross the balls with a fork. Dip the fork into flour to stop it sticking.
6. Place in a pre-heated oven at 375F/180C and bake for 10 – 12 minutes until they’re golden brown.
7. Snap them up while they’re still warm and have a large glass of ice-cold milk handy.
Yum!
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Pocoyo: The Blog
Luckily I’ve never felt the need for an excuse to watch cartoons, but since Eve has started to pay a little more attention to the flickering screen in the corner I’ve been trying to introduce her to some of my favourites. There are some excellent ones to choose from and my hope is that if I can indoctrinate her with the quality shows then perhaps she’ll never ask me to sit through Barney or BooBah.
One of the best is Pocoyo. It’s a Spanish-made series about the adventures of a little boy and his friends: an elephant, a duck a sleepy bird and a puppy. The animation is 3d and it has a wonderful lighting and texturing technique that makes it look like soft plasticine. The design is slightly skewed, the animation is snappy and there’s a lot of funky dancing but no dialogue, instead it’s narrated by Stephen Fry. I haven’t quite persuaded Eve, but I watch it whether she’s around or not so I was really excited (yes I’m a nerd) to discover that one of the creators, David Cantolla, has a blog.
In it he talks about how hecame up with the idea of doing a show when he saw his daughter Vega watching the Tellytubbies:
I had not really paid much attention to them before that and I have to say that at the time I didn´t understand why they were so successful. However, Vega was transfixed. I felt a huge sense of envy… “those guys are so lucky, they are forming part of my daughter´s memories!!!†… and suddenly I saw it really clearly – I wanted it to be US who were building her memories, her´s and my nieces’ and nephews’ , José MarÃa´s kids and business partners´, friends´ and their friends´. To Make Memories!!! And for them to be different, to give something that had ever been given before, a different view point for the pre-school world, we wanted to see children laughing, and applauding and to see the adults understanding what their children were watching, so that they could enjoy it with them … this was the challenge, and this is where it all began….
He goes on to talk about how he and the other creators came up with the idea for Pocoyo eventhough none of them had any experience in making animation. The artistic influence that Calvin & Hobbes and Little Nemo had on the design and story. How they searched for funding and grew it from that seed of an idea to become a multi-award winning global hit. It’s a fascinating read and a blog I’ll be adding to my links.