Celebrating 50 years of "Green eggs and ham" by Dr Seuss.
Showing posts with label Dr Seuss. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dr Seuss. Show all posts
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Cat in a hat in a tree
Commemorative "Cat in the Hat" pen with artificial bonsai tree.
These sit beside my work computer every day. I figure, why not share them?
"It's fun to have fun but you have to know how..." (The Cat in the Hat/Dr Seuss)
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Happy Easter from Happy Tree Friends
I hadn't heard of these bizarre little guys until a few years ago when the action figures of the TV show started turning up in the comics & collectibles shops. I noticed this link to Youtube on Kelley's hilarious blog, Magneto Bold Too!
Meanwhile, my happy tree friends and I went off to Hog's Breath Cafe and the movies, to "see" the voices of Jim Carrey, Steve Carrell and Carol Burnett in the animated "Horton Hears a Who", based on the popular old picture book by Dr Seuss about the elephant who meets, and tries to save, the tiny population of a speck of dust. A lot of fun, probably funnier that "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (with live action Jim Carrey and lots of Whos), and heaps funnier than "The Cat in the Hat" (which, despite its talented cast was a big flopperoo storywise).
Sunday's magic number: 91.7 - Disappointingly higher than last week, but I guess I'm paying for the always-wonderful meal and wine at the Meat and Wine Co on Thursday night... I went for a big walk last night to equalize today's amazing Mars Bar Sundae, which was my Easter junk food treat.
Meanwhile, my happy tree friends and I went off to Hog's Breath Cafe and the movies, to "see" the voices of Jim Carrey, Steve Carrell and Carol Burnett in the animated "Horton Hears a Who", based on the popular old picture book by Dr Seuss about the elephant who meets, and tries to save, the tiny population of a speck of dust. A lot of fun, probably funnier that "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (with live action Jim Carrey and lots of Whos), and heaps funnier than "The Cat in the Hat" (which, despite its talented cast was a big flopperoo storywise).
Sunday's magic number: 91.7 - Disappointingly higher than last week, but I guess I'm paying for the always-wonderful meal and wine at the Meat and Wine Co on Thursday night... I went for a big walk last night to equalize today's amazing Mars Bar Sundae, which was my Easter junk food treat.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
The Cat in the Hat turns 50, how's that?
On Friday 2nd March, at precisely 2.36 pm, school students all over the nation (and perhaps the world?) will celebrate the 50th birthday of the famous book character, The Cat in the Hat in a nationwide read-aloud. Famous for its rhyme and repetition, the original book by the late Dr Seuss (Theodor "Ted" Geisel, aka Theo LeSeig), contains only 236 different words. This wonderfully wacky picture book, and its sequel The Cat in the Hat Comes Back, influenced children in many parts of the world to develop good reading habits over the past fifty years.
Happy birthday, Cat in the Hat. Have a purr-fect day!
(The photographic evidence)
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
On the second day of Christmas
Okay, this is really weird.
A few years ago, I was wandering through the Christmas Cave here in Penrith, one of those popular warehouse-looking retail/wholesale outlets that had just opened up in Penrith for the first time. The place had some very reasonably priced, larger-sized plastic Christmas baubles, especially made to go on outdoor Christmas trees, ie. because the garden had lots of blue flowers in it at the time, I bought a package of metallic blue balls.
It was a bit of a challenge getting enough baubles up into the higher sections of the huge pine tree in the backyard. Essentially, from chair height, it entailed grabbing a fist full of foliage, pulling it towards me, looping the bauble into place, then letting go. Unfortunately, I managed to launch at least two baubles, as if on a Medieval catapault, over the back fence and into the neighbouring yard. (The neighbours did eventually toss them back over.)
The decorated tree looked amazing but, after a few weeks of the hot Penrith sun, most of the baubles had lost their metallic sheen on one exposed side, so the next Midwinter Christmas, I had to place them other side out. Of course, whenever the wind blew, they'd rotate around to expose their faded sides. By the time of the next outing, the were more plain aqua than shiny metallic blue and I needed to purchase some glittery gold plastic shapes to supplement the decore. These new ornaments have lasted surprisingly well over the years, although last year I seemed to be missing one faded blue bauble and one glittery gold bonbon shape when packing everything away.
That was also the year I stepped back from my chair to admire my work after decorating the tree, only to end up in the pool: clothes, watch, wallet and all. I limped about with a sprained ankle for the rest of November, all of December and most of January. The things we do in an attempt to celebrate Christmas with a little flair.
Anyway, after last year's soggy debacle, I was rather reluctant to go climbing for my Midwinter Christmas in July, and I still didn't find time to paint the round baubles with some strong, outdoor-resilient glue, and smother them in new glitter, in time for this Christmas, either - and then we had one day where it absolutely bucketed down with rain for most of the day - so it looked like the backyard was going to be decidely less festive this year.
Then, yesterday, as I was making breakfast, I looked out to my decoration-free yard - and, hanging high in the tree, was a lone glittery gold bonbon ornament glinting in the morning sun! It was one of the missing trinkets from last Christmas season. Hidden for an entire year, the massive downpours of rain we had on Christmas Eve had exposed it from wherever it had been, lost inside the tree. Another miracle of Christmas, I guess!
I had an immediate urge to race out with the chair - or maybe a stepladder this time - and put up the rest of the outdoor decorations, but I noticed the pool smirking at me, and recalled the pain of my ankle the year before.
But wait, there's more! This morning I went out into the yard and my eye was distracted by a flash of blue: sitting beneath the pine tree is a single blue Christmas bauble! It, too, has spent at least a year, lost in the densest part of the tree, and had chosen Christmas Day to drop back into sight.
Truth is stranger than fiction, and bizarre coincidence is alive and well in Penrith... Either that, or it really is a sign that God has a sense of humour. (Some of my crueler "friends" have told me that the vision of me falling into the backyard pool while decorating my pine tree last year was the real proof that God has a sense of humour.)
Above left: For 2004, the goofy-looking horse (left) came from a specialist Christmas shop, probably the one in Leura in the Blue Mountains.. At right, a miniature picture book of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" by Dr Seuss (bought from Angus & Robertson to use in class that year), plus a last minute addition: a Grinch-as-Santa ornament, found at the Parramatta Collector's Fair - several years after searching for one (especially popular after the Jim Carrey movie came out). Better late than never.
Above right: For 2003, a tiny teddy bear ornament, originally attached to a Christmas gift from my cousin, Christina. The glamorous giraffe in the shoe, seemingly inspired by "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert"(?) is applying lipstick. She came from the specialist Christmas shop in Leura in the Blue Mountains.
A few years ago, I was wandering through the Christmas Cave here in Penrith, one of those popular warehouse-looking retail/wholesale outlets that had just opened up in Penrith for the first time. The place had some very reasonably priced, larger-sized plastic Christmas baubles, especially made to go on outdoor Christmas trees, ie. because the garden had lots of blue flowers in it at the time, I bought a package of metallic blue balls.
It was a bit of a challenge getting enough baubles up into the higher sections of the huge pine tree in the backyard. Essentially, from chair height, it entailed grabbing a fist full of foliage, pulling it towards me, looping the bauble into place, then letting go. Unfortunately, I managed to launch at least two baubles, as if on a Medieval catapault, over the back fence and into the neighbouring yard. (The neighbours did eventually toss them back over.)
The decorated tree looked amazing but, after a few weeks of the hot Penrith sun, most of the baubles had lost their metallic sheen on one exposed side, so the next Midwinter Christmas, I had to place them other side out. Of course, whenever the wind blew, they'd rotate around to expose their faded sides. By the time of the next outing, the were more plain aqua than shiny metallic blue and I needed to purchase some glittery gold plastic shapes to supplement the decore. These new ornaments have lasted surprisingly well over the years, although last year I seemed to be missing one faded blue bauble and one glittery gold bonbon shape when packing everything away.
That was also the year I stepped back from my chair to admire my work after decorating the tree, only to end up in the pool: clothes, watch, wallet and all. I limped about with a sprained ankle for the rest of November, all of December and most of January. The things we do in an attempt to celebrate Christmas with a little flair.
Anyway, after last year's soggy debacle, I was rather reluctant to go climbing for my Midwinter Christmas in July, and I still didn't find time to paint the round baubles with some strong, outdoor-resilient glue, and smother them in new glitter, in time for this Christmas, either - and then we had one day where it absolutely bucketed down with rain for most of the day - so it looked like the backyard was going to be decidely less festive this year.
Then, yesterday, as I was making breakfast, I looked out to my decoration-free yard - and, hanging high in the tree, was a lone glittery gold bonbon ornament glinting in the morning sun! It was one of the missing trinkets from last Christmas season. Hidden for an entire year, the massive downpours of rain we had on Christmas Eve had exposed it from wherever it had been, lost inside the tree. Another miracle of Christmas, I guess!
I had an immediate urge to race out with the chair - or maybe a stepladder this time - and put up the rest of the outdoor decorations, but I noticed the pool smirking at me, and recalled the pain of my ankle the year before.
But wait, there's more! This morning I went out into the yard and my eye was distracted by a flash of blue: sitting beneath the pine tree is a single blue Christmas bauble! It, too, has spent at least a year, lost in the densest part of the tree, and had chosen Christmas Day to drop back into sight.
Truth is stranger than fiction, and bizarre coincidence is alive and well in Penrith... Either that, or it really is a sign that God has a sense of humour. (Some of my crueler "friends" have told me that the vision of me falling into the backyard pool while decorating my pine tree last year was the real proof that God has a sense of humour.)
Above left: For 2004, the goofy-looking horse (left) came from a specialist Christmas shop, probably the one in Leura in the Blue Mountains.. At right, a miniature picture book of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" by Dr Seuss (bought from Angus & Robertson to use in class that year), plus a last minute addition: a Grinch-as-Santa ornament, found at the Parramatta Collector's Fair - several years after searching for one (especially popular after the Jim Carrey movie came out). Better late than never.
Above right: For 2003, a tiny teddy bear ornament, originally attached to a Christmas gift from my cousin, Christina. The glamorous giraffe in the shoe, seemingly inspired by "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert"(?) is applying lipstick. She came from the specialist Christmas shop in Leura in the Blue Mountains.
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