the olympics.....

are over!

usually, around my house, the olympics come and go at about the same volume year after year after year. whisper. or a whimper at most. this year, they came crashing through in a massive storm of screamin agony and protest.

how can i explain this..... no cable, two year old child - kids cbc pre-empted by 24/7 olympic coverage. as you can imagine, this did not go over well.

perhaps less than well would be an understatement. enter dvd children's entertainment. ok.... so i may not be the best parent on earth - enter additional dvd based children's entertainment. (hell, i am a realist).

but what? barney?! ummm... not likely. and anyone presenting barney giftage had best be aware they will be removed from my family/friends list. bob the builder? turns out a little too old. thomas the tank eng ine? same deal.... lots of narrataion, not quite enough action (besides, it creeped me out a little hearing george carlin doing the voice overs). teletubbies? you'd be running faster than if you had said barney. i'm not that bad a parent (and to tell you the truth, i'd rather watch a temper tantrum than a teletubbies episode).

well, that pretty much left the wiggles. i had heard of them, they seemed to get good magazine and parenting ratings. how bad could they be?

kind of a dangerous way to phrase a question, don't you think?

and therein lies the problem! they aren't bad. in fact, they are quite catchy, and pretty fun. ok.... so they look like they got tossed off as extras from a star trek episode, and jeff reminds me of sulu's brother... and murray is a little intense sometimes.....

but they're real people! and a lot of the people in the videos are family.... and the songs are catchy, with fairly complex layered harmonies on the simple melodies.

and they stay in your head for DAYS!
(click here if you dare for a short sample - actually, you may want to right click & open in another window due to sloppy non-html coding)

and the nibblet? i've watched him shake his head and go 'nonononononononono' when you reach for a baby einstein (really dad, i am almost 2 you know - that's for babies) and smile and start jumping up and down when you grab for the wiggles off the shelf above.

and yes... i find myself humming it under my breath without realizing it. hell... i wound up listening to it at work today. and enjoying it.

would it be any suprise that i was contemplating the purchase of a mini-van recently?

so huzzah! the olympics are over! kids cbc is back, and the homefront is slowly stabilizing again.

and to top it all off... we took home 24 medals, and came in third overall. in with a roar, and out with some clapping and dancing.

maybe by the next olympics we'll have cable......

maybe.

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images & fine print:
closing ceremony (c) reuters
http://www.torino2006.org/ENG/OlympicGames/home/index.html
closing ceremony (c) getty images
http://www.torino2006.org/ENG/OlympicGames/news/news_eng162130.html
the wiggles (c)
http://www.thewiggles.com.au/
(dear wiggles lawyer - if you're offended by the small sample that is here to promote the product, let me know. if you ask nicely, i'll probably even continue to buy your product)