Hands up who knows what Whizzpoppers are?
Anyone?
Well, its the result of the downward bubbles that are created when giants drink Frobscottle. Thats the Coke equivalent with the one big difference of having the bubbles fizz downwards instead of up. So, the effect of those downward bubbles is er....not a burp.
Aaron and I have been reading The BFG by Roald Dahl these past few nights and this word has stuck. We were on the way to mass and he proudly proclaims "Whizzpopper!" In the middle of playing and again, he yells out "Whizzpopper!"
Now, is that alright? I don't know. We had a big laugh when we were reading about it and I did say that it could almost be like a secret word that we could use and not many peoploe would know what we were talking about (until I blog about it).
Whizzpoppers are such a source of laughter in this house. Even Adrian finds it funny. All kids do! So, should they really be a source of embarrassment to parents when they're out and about? I didn't know whether to laugh or pretend not to notice when Adrian one day did a downward dog (the yoga pose) and then made a whizzpopper noise. No prizes for guessing who taught him that!
Just like everything else in life's balancing act, we all have to learn to balance what we genuinely find funny in the home and what we can only secretly find funny when we're out. The problem is that people like Adrian don't know that difference and let all our secrets out to the outside world!
My final thoughts on this is that I don't think its entirely right of me to tell them its wrong to laugh at something that :
1) they 'discovered' to be funny by themselves.
2) makes them laugh spontaneously (and also makes me laugh to see the fun on their faces).
3) is really a natural phenomena that average humans encounter about 14 times a day.
Right...now all I have to figure out is how to explain 'home jokes' and 'outside jokes'.
Showing posts with label childhood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label childhood. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Friday, April 1, 2011
April Fool's Failure
I forgot what today was and didn't play any tricks on anyone. Must be a sign that I'm getting older. I've always played at least one lame trick on a family member each year. So, I don't have anything to report from today but I thought I'd share the least 'successful' trick that I've been a part of in the past.
This least successful attempt at a good time was actually one of the most elaborate ones that I remember being a part of. It involved nearly 60 people!
Back in high school, senior physics, chemistry and biology shared two science labs that faced each other. Occasionally, two classes will be scheduled at the same time. One April Fool's day, we had the bright idea for the students in the two classes to swap over. So, we did. And to add more to the trick, we all put our heads down on the bench tops and closed our eyes.
I got swapped over to Mr Cornish's classroom. In my memory, he was a huge giant with red hair and a red beard. I'm not sure if he was really all that big but he definitely had red hair. Anyway, he could not take a joke.
He dropped a big pile of books onto the front bench. BANG! It was LOUD. I'm sure those girls would have gotten a little deaf from it. Then, he went on and on about how we were wasting time. By this time, nobody was laughing and we were all waiting for him to realize that we weren't even his students. Boy did he explode when he realized that!
Till this day, I can't understand why he made such a big fuss. Why was he such a spoilsport? Couldn't he have just laughed and had a good time with all of us? The other teacher wasn't impressed either but definitely wasn't angry about the whole thing.
This least successful attempt at a good time was actually one of the most elaborate ones that I remember being a part of. It involved nearly 60 people!
Back in high school, senior physics, chemistry and biology shared two science labs that faced each other. Occasionally, two classes will be scheduled at the same time. One April Fool's day, we had the bright idea for the students in the two classes to swap over. So, we did. And to add more to the trick, we all put our heads down on the bench tops and closed our eyes.
I got swapped over to Mr Cornish's classroom. In my memory, he was a huge giant with red hair and a red beard. I'm not sure if he was really all that big but he definitely had red hair. Anyway, he could not take a joke.
He dropped a big pile of books onto the front bench. BANG! It was LOUD. I'm sure those girls would have gotten a little deaf from it. Then, he went on and on about how we were wasting time. By this time, nobody was laughing and we were all waiting for him to realize that we weren't even his students. Boy did he explode when he realized that!
Till this day, I can't understand why he made such a big fuss. Why was he such a spoilsport? Couldn't he have just laughed and had a good time with all of us? The other teacher wasn't impressed either but definitely wasn't angry about the whole thing.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Favorite Childhood TV Show
One thing led to another today and somehow, I now have the perfect follow on post from my last one. Moving on from my favorite childhood author, Roald Dahl, let me share with you my favorite TV show - Sha Na Na.
Let me just say that today was the first time I've watched them in....er....thirty years? Richard and I laughed ourselves silly! I actually have no recollection of what they looked like (or that some of them wore gold jackets with no shirts underneath). I just remember liking the music and also that there was a guy showing off his muscles (actually, I'm now not sure what he's doing) at the end of each show. Here's the ending of one of the shows, look out for it:
And for more laughs, you must watch this. This is my favorite after a night of watching them on YouTube.
What did you watch? Did anybody else watch this?
Let me just say that today was the first time I've watched them in....er....thirty years? Richard and I laughed ourselves silly! I actually have no recollection of what they looked like (or that some of them wore gold jackets with no shirts underneath). I just remember liking the music and also that there was a guy showing off his muscles (actually, I'm now not sure what he's doing) at the end of each show. Here's the ending of one of the shows, look out for it:
And for more laughs, you must watch this. This is my favorite after a night of watching them on YouTube.
What did you watch? Did anybody else watch this?
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Favorite Childhood Stories
Aaron is quite the reader at the moment. He enjoys reading as much as outdoor play or playing with his dinosaurs. And finally, he is now old enough to read some of the books that I remember enjoying. We are now reading the first of the books that I have had in my mental list of books he must read. Guess where this is from?
'Give us the recipe, O Brainy One!' cried the audience impatiently. 'Tell us the secret.'
'First,' said The Grand High Witch, 'I had to find something that vould cause the children to become very small very qvickly.'.
'And what was that?' cried the audience.
'That part vos simple,' said The Grand High Witch. 'All you have to do if you are vishing to make a child very small is to look at him through the wrrrong end of a telescope.'
'So you take the wrrong end of a telescope,' continued The Grand High Witch, 'and you boil it until it gets soft.'
OK, in case you didn't see the Grand High clue above, its from 'The Witches' by Roald Dahl. I loved that book and am enjoying it as much now as I did as a child. Aaron is also thrilled with it. He couldn't wait to find out what happened and of course kept asking me if witches were real or not. I can imagine the book being quite convincing to a 4 year old. I only read it when I was around 8 years old. Roald Dahl was my favorite author as a child. I liked all the books. The next one I want Aaron to read is 'The BFG'.
I liked all of the Roald Dahl stories because there was so much craziness weaved into every day lives about children. They were fantasy stories, yet they were not. It was all his stories that inspired me to write plenty of short stories as a child.
The other two series of books that I remember vividly are the stories of The Famous Five and The Secret Seven by Enid Blyton. What I remember of these stories is that the children went on wild adventures and solved mysteries without the help of any adults. They had the freedom to do whatever they wanted. I wanted a life like that but the furthest I ever went on my bike was to my grandmother's house in the neighboring suburb.
Roald Dahl might have been my favorite author but Enid Blyton was definitely the author that I read most of because of the sheer number of books she wrote. Some of the other stories I remember reading were about girls in boarding schools. All the midnight snacks and mischief that they got up to made me want to be shipped off too. I actually very nearly got that wish but just as I was starting to have some secret doubts about it, my parents chickened out. I shouldn't say that, they just thought that twelve was too young to be living away from them.
So back to Aaron and his reading. We're going to work our way through all of Roald Dahl's books and then I'll see if he gets into the Famous Five or Secret Seven.
What did you most enjoy reading as a child?
'Give us the recipe, O Brainy One!' cried the audience impatiently. 'Tell us the secret.'
'First,' said The Grand High Witch, 'I had to find something that vould cause the children to become very small very qvickly.'.
'And what was that?' cried the audience.
'That part vos simple,' said The Grand High Witch. 'All you have to do if you are vishing to make a child very small is to look at him through the wrrrong end of a telescope.'
'So you take the wrrong end of a telescope,' continued The Grand High Witch, 'and you boil it until it gets soft.'
OK, in case you didn't see the Grand High clue above, its from 'The Witches' by Roald Dahl. I loved that book and am enjoying it as much now as I did as a child. Aaron is also thrilled with it. He couldn't wait to find out what happened and of course kept asking me if witches were real or not. I can imagine the book being quite convincing to a 4 year old. I only read it when I was around 8 years old. Roald Dahl was my favorite author as a child. I liked all the books. The next one I want Aaron to read is 'The BFG'.
I liked all of the Roald Dahl stories because there was so much craziness weaved into every day lives about children. They were fantasy stories, yet they were not. It was all his stories that inspired me to write plenty of short stories as a child.
The other two series of books that I remember vividly are the stories of The Famous Five and The Secret Seven by Enid Blyton. What I remember of these stories is that the children went on wild adventures and solved mysteries without the help of any adults. They had the freedom to do whatever they wanted. I wanted a life like that but the furthest I ever went on my bike was to my grandmother's house in the neighboring suburb.
Roald Dahl might have been my favorite author but Enid Blyton was definitely the author that I read most of because of the sheer number of books she wrote. Some of the other stories I remember reading were about girls in boarding schools. All the midnight snacks and mischief that they got up to made me want to be shipped off too. I actually very nearly got that wish but just as I was starting to have some secret doubts about it, my parents chickened out. I shouldn't say that, they just thought that twelve was too young to be living away from them.
So back to Aaron and his reading. We're going to work our way through all of Roald Dahl's books and then I'll see if he gets into the Famous Five or Secret Seven.
What did you most enjoy reading as a child?
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Things My Kids Will Never Know About
This week, I have been completely out of touch with the blogs I usually read. What can I say? Bad days, terrible nights and suddenly colder weather that the kids just seem to be rebelling against.
Anyway, I've been caught up on all those blogs and one particular post stands out. On Wednesday, Bilbo had a fascinating twenty points to determine if you're old or not. Well, I scored 0/20 so I guess I'm not old.
However, I am using Bilbo's post as a springboard for my own today. Here are things from my own childhood that my children will have no clue on.
1. The only type of phone about was the landline phones with a rotary dial designed to send interrupted electrical pulses. It took ages to make a call if the number had too many zeroes in it.
2. TV programs only aired from 5pm to midnight. And, there were only two channels when I first started watching. I think the English programs on the radio were only on at 2pm for a couple of hours and then again for a short time at night. This was in Malaysia and we weren't big on the radio back then so I can't really remember the details.
3. TV was the only place to watch anything. No DVDs, YouTube or illegal downloads. Actually, we didn't even have the old VHS tapes when I started watching TV.
4. The computer monitor was much like a 30cm x 30cm x 30cm solid cube. The screen was black with green or cyan words.
5. The only game we had was a cyan colored Lode Runner.
6. The game was preciously stored on a flimsy 5" floppy disk.
7. There was only one movie shown on a central screen in the front of the cabin during flights between Malaysia and Australia. The earphones were plastic, stethoscope-like things. It was a BIG DEAL...FREE new movies! (With budget airlines charging for everything these days, this particular blast from the past seems to have come full circle.)
8. The 20 cents I got for lunch money each day of Grade 1 could get me either a bowl of soupy noodles, a packet of deep fried noodles or an ice-cream sandwich (Anybody try these? A bread roll with a scoop of ice cream in side.)
9. Nuns are very often the grouchiest teachers on the outside but the most generous and kind hearted ones on the inside. They really do mean well. You just have to remember to end all your sentences with "sister" and stand up whenever they come in.
10. McDonalds was such a treat that we only got it when my father had to go to Kuala Lumpur for meetings. Back then, it was nearly three and a half hours drive away. Aaron and Adrian will not know about McDonalds because we never go there now. We're trying to go against nature and raise two kids who hate junk food.
According to his profile, Bilbo is 58 years old. That makes him about 24 years older than me. Its interesting to note the differences between his childhood and mine. And then, comparing my own childhood to my children's 30 years later. The thing that stands out to me is that there wasn't much change to the 'instant-ness' of life from Bilbo's childhood to mine. But from the time I was a child to now, it seems that everything is instant. There also seems to be so much more of everything material but much less time, even with all the 'instant-ness'.
Anyway, I've been caught up on all those blogs and one particular post stands out. On Wednesday, Bilbo had a fascinating twenty points to determine if you're old or not. Well, I scored 0/20 so I guess I'm not old.
However, I am using Bilbo's post as a springboard for my own today. Here are things from my own childhood that my children will have no clue on.
1. The only type of phone about was the landline phones with a rotary dial designed to send interrupted electrical pulses. It took ages to make a call if the number had too many zeroes in it.
2. TV programs only aired from 5pm to midnight. And, there were only two channels when I first started watching. I think the English programs on the radio were only on at 2pm for a couple of hours and then again for a short time at night. This was in Malaysia and we weren't big on the radio back then so I can't really remember the details.
3. TV was the only place to watch anything. No DVDs, YouTube or illegal downloads. Actually, we didn't even have the old VHS tapes when I started watching TV.
4. The computer monitor was much like a 30cm x 30cm x 30cm solid cube. The screen was black with green or cyan words.
5. The only game we had was a cyan colored Lode Runner.
6. The game was preciously stored on a flimsy 5" floppy disk.
7. There was only one movie shown on a central screen in the front of the cabin during flights between Malaysia and Australia. The earphones were plastic, stethoscope-like things. It was a BIG DEAL...FREE new movies! (With budget airlines charging for everything these days, this particular blast from the past seems to have come full circle.)
8. The 20 cents I got for lunch money each day of Grade 1 could get me either a bowl of soupy noodles, a packet of deep fried noodles or an ice-cream sandwich (Anybody try these? A bread roll with a scoop of ice cream in side.)
9. Nuns are very often the grouchiest teachers on the outside but the most generous and kind hearted ones on the inside. They really do mean well. You just have to remember to end all your sentences with "sister" and stand up whenever they come in.
10. McDonalds was such a treat that we only got it when my father had to go to Kuala Lumpur for meetings. Back then, it was nearly three and a half hours drive away. Aaron and Adrian will not know about McDonalds because we never go there now. We're trying to go against nature and raise two kids who hate junk food.
According to his profile, Bilbo is 58 years old. That makes him about 24 years older than me. Its interesting to note the differences between his childhood and mine. And then, comparing my own childhood to my children's 30 years later. The thing that stands out to me is that there wasn't much change to the 'instant-ness' of life from Bilbo's childhood to mine. But from the time I was a child to now, it seems that everything is instant. There also seems to be so much more of everything material but much less time, even with all the 'instant-ness'.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
I'm Supposed To Be Pregnant, Not Fat
In Grade 2, I think I was about the only girl that I knew, that didn't go for ballet lessons. It was all the rage back then (don't know about now). All my friends went and I often saw them in their pink leotards and their hair done up in little buns. I wanted IN!
So then, my grandmother said that she would take me for lessons. Unfortunately, it wasn't in any ballet schools that I had seen my friends come out of. It was some after school activity at a school that I didn't attend. And, they didn't wear pink leotards. They just wore these white, short dresses. Never mind. It was still ballet.
After the second lesson, the teacher supposedly pulled my grandmother aside and said that I wasn't ballerina material and that it was better if I stopped. More specifically, my backside was too BIG!
I wasn't particularly upset about not going for ballet anymore but the big backside thing.....that was burned into my brain. On top of that, my father thought it was so funny that he joked about my big backside all the time. And that made my brother do it too. And somehow, my other grandmother got in on it too. They didn't do it in a mean way and its not like I developed any eating disorders from it but I'm always trying to see if my backside is getting any bigger.
Unfortunately, it now is. I don't know what it is with this second pregnancy but things are getting bigger, faster. With Aaron, I didn't even really look pregnant until close to 6 months. I'm not even at 5 months yet now and things aren't fitting anymore. Yesterday, I walked out with a couple of rubber bands to hold my pants up because I couldn't do the buttons up.
Supposedly, this is all to do with that bump growing in front but I can't help it, I'm spending a lot of time looking behind. There has been some expansion there too!
It seems to me that there isn't a whole lot of difference between feeling fat and feeling pregnant. I'm so looking forward to starting the breastfeeding. Hopefully it still works to melt away this fat.
So then, my grandmother said that she would take me for lessons. Unfortunately, it wasn't in any ballet schools that I had seen my friends come out of. It was some after school activity at a school that I didn't attend. And, they didn't wear pink leotards. They just wore these white, short dresses. Never mind. It was still ballet.
After the second lesson, the teacher supposedly pulled my grandmother aside and said that I wasn't ballerina material and that it was better if I stopped. More specifically, my backside was too BIG!
I wasn't particularly upset about not going for ballet anymore but the big backside thing.....that was burned into my brain. On top of that, my father thought it was so funny that he joked about my big backside all the time. And that made my brother do it too. And somehow, my other grandmother got in on it too. They didn't do it in a mean way and its not like I developed any eating disorders from it but I'm always trying to see if my backside is getting any bigger.
Unfortunately, it now is. I don't know what it is with this second pregnancy but things are getting bigger, faster. With Aaron, I didn't even really look pregnant until close to 6 months. I'm not even at 5 months yet now and things aren't fitting anymore. Yesterday, I walked out with a couple of rubber bands to hold my pants up because I couldn't do the buttons up.
Supposedly, this is all to do with that bump growing in front but I can't help it, I'm spending a lot of time looking behind. There has been some expansion there too!
It seems to me that there isn't a whole lot of difference between feeling fat and feeling pregnant. I'm so looking forward to starting the breastfeeding. Hopefully it still works to melt away this fat.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
From Greek Warriors to Malaysian School Girls
Aaron and I have started to play a little Hide and Seek. Its more like he hides and then asks me to find him. Anyway, it got me thinking about the games I used to play as a child.
My most vivid memories of Primary School are partnering up with my best friend and playing 'Five Stones'. I don't even know what we called it back then. AND, I only used the stones when I was learning at home. At school, everybody had little 1" x 1" bags of rice and I got my mother to make me a set too.
The game was all about hand-eye coordination. You had to throw the five stones (or bags) up in the air and then try to catch as many as you can on the back of your hand. A point would be allocated to the player for each stone caught. In between each of these point counting rounds, there was another part to the game where you throw one stone in the air, pick up another from the ground and then catch the first stone again. All this with the same hand. The first round would be picking up the stones one at a time. The second would be two at a time for the two pairs and then the single one. Third round was a three and then one. Sounds a little confusing trying to explain it here but it was GREAT fun. EVERYBODY played it. BUT this was how many 'best friends' broke up because they wanted to partner other better players.
Upon doing some research, the origins of the game are ancient and is sometimes referred to as Knucklebones (sheep's knuckles were originally used). According to Wikipedia, Sophocles mentions the game played by Greeks during the Trojan War. Imagine that!
Some ancient explorer must have brought it to Asia. But those would have been men. BURLY MANLY MEN I imagine. Its funny to think that these days, the game is played only by little girls. What an evolution for the game!
My most vivid memories of Primary School are partnering up with my best friend and playing 'Five Stones'. I don't even know what we called it back then. AND, I only used the stones when I was learning at home. At school, everybody had little 1" x 1" bags of rice and I got my mother to make me a set too.
The game was all about hand-eye coordination. You had to throw the five stones (or bags) up in the air and then try to catch as many as you can on the back of your hand. A point would be allocated to the player for each stone caught. In between each of these point counting rounds, there was another part to the game where you throw one stone in the air, pick up another from the ground and then catch the first stone again. All this with the same hand. The first round would be picking up the stones one at a time. The second would be two at a time for the two pairs and then the single one. Third round was a three and then one. Sounds a little confusing trying to explain it here but it was GREAT fun. EVERYBODY played it. BUT this was how many 'best friends' broke up because they wanted to partner other better players.
Upon doing some research, the origins of the game are ancient and is sometimes referred to as Knucklebones (sheep's knuckles were originally used). According to Wikipedia, Sophocles mentions the game played by Greeks during the Trojan War. Imagine that!
Some ancient explorer must have brought it to Asia. But those would have been men. BURLY MANLY MEN I imagine. Its funny to think that these days, the game is played only by little girls. What an evolution for the game!
Monday, November 19, 2007
Fun Monday
I've been reading Fun Mondays on other people's blogs for sometime and they have been fun. So, today I'll give it a go to.The host is Karisma and she has asked for a story:
"I want you to take a trip down memory lane, and keep right on going, right back to your childhood. And I want to hear "THAT STORY". You remember the one? Yes, you do! The one your parents, siblings, extended family or friends, would never let you forget, live down or get over!"
My story is from way back when my brother was 3 or 5, I'm not really sure because we weren't so aware of ages back then. Anyway, he always brings this incident up and each time, its as if he's re-living it.
It happened when our parents left us at home with the babysitter. We must have gotten tired of playing with the large boxes that my dad had brought home for us to tumble around in. Somehow, we worked our way to the bathroom and started using the bath as a slide. Anybody who knew my brother back then would know that he was a daredevil. So, I guess it must have been too boring for him to slide down on his bum because he tried to do it on his tummy. Here comes the part that he never lets me forget.
He must have knocked his chin upon landing on the base of the bath because the next thing I know, he's standing there with blood trickling down his chest. It seems my memory is video only, no audio. I don't remember hearing him crying or saying anything.
Now his version of the tale would be "My chin was hanging wide open down to my neck and blood was gushing everywhere! And what does my sister do? She gets me a band-aid and tries to stick the gaping hole up" I don't know what he expected me to do. I was either 5 or 7!!
Its true, I did stick a band-aid on him. And, he did get 3 stitches (without anesthetic!!) so it must have been pretty bad. But at the time, I didn't see all that much blood and I thought he would have liked the band aid. And I did make the call to our parents.
I think it was the horrible ordeal of having 3 stitches without anesthetic that sticks in his mind. But why stick my face to that evil, why not the doctor's??? I wasn't even in the clinic at the time.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Yesterday, the 1990s, Today, the 1980s.
Yesterday, the cassettes took me back to the 1990s. Today, a visit from an old friend took me back to the 1980s. I've known her since I was 7 and here are some of the memories that the day brought back.
- Our dads were divers and we were often left on the beach for the day while they explored the ocean floor. One of the pretend games we had in the water was 'Hairdressers'. Have you tried pretending to cut hair while underwater?
- After the day on the beach, we had to have showers in a really horrible public bathroom at the Sitiawan Yacht Club. It was always dark, with sand on the ground and water that just dribbled out of the shower head. Sitiawan is a small village in Malaysia.
- Dinner was always at a place called Kampung Koh and we ALWAYS had this sweet and sour fish dish. There was also something else that we always had but I can't remember what it is now.
- Back when we were both 7, I had a horrible habit of always needing to have a best friend and then using the relationship to hurt. I don't know if she remembers it but whenever she didn't play along the way I liked, I think I might have said stupid things like 'we're not best friends anymore'. Childish things....but we were children.
Well, we're all grown up now but I still have something childish to say: We'll be friends FOREVER!
- Our dads were divers and we were often left on the beach for the day while they explored the ocean floor. One of the pretend games we had in the water was 'Hairdressers'. Have you tried pretending to cut hair while underwater?
- After the day on the beach, we had to have showers in a really horrible public bathroom at the Sitiawan Yacht Club. It was always dark, with sand on the ground and water that just dribbled out of the shower head. Sitiawan is a small village in Malaysia.
- Dinner was always at a place called Kampung Koh and we ALWAYS had this sweet and sour fish dish. There was also something else that we always had but I can't remember what it is now.
- Back when we were both 7, I had a horrible habit of always needing to have a best friend and then using the relationship to hurt. I don't know if she remembers it but whenever she didn't play along the way I liked, I think I might have said stupid things like 'we're not best friends anymore'. Childish things....but we were children.
Well, we're all grown up now but I still have something childish to say: We'll be friends FOREVER!
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