I don’t have time for a Five Things Friday post today so I’m just dropping by to share one more example of why Sesame Street is so incredibly AWESOME!
This weekend promises a day alone with my boys which may or may not include a trip to the craft store, a night of Karaoke with the girls (song list suggestions welcome) and a whole lot of catching up on stuff around the house.
And, because I have to include a photo… A preview of one of our weekend activities perhaps? (that’s a very colorful Death Star he’s painting, by the way).
Five Things Friday is a regular blog post where I share a collection of things that inspire me each week. Some weeks are focused on a particular theme, while others are a hodge podge of random stuff from around the web.
I remember watching Sesame Street as a child. It was the same American version of Sesame Street that exists today – there was no special Aussie version. Of course I watched it before Elmo and Abby and the animated version of Bert and Ernie (and WAY before people lobbied for their marriage).
My kids have only recently shown interest in Sesame Street and I am thrilled. The one thing I’ve realized over the years is that Sesame Street is not just for the children. Sure, there’s a lesson or two in there, but the real genius behind Sesame Street is that they know how to appeal to the parents.
So I’ve gathered my five favorite (mostly recent) Sesame Street moments that appeal to three-year-olds and thirty-year-olds alike.
1. A Celebrity Lullaby Ricky Gervais sings a lullaby to Elmo and my five-year-old rolls on the floor in laughter.
2. What I Am by will.i.am
Just try not to have this song running through your head again and again (and I mean that in a good way)
3. True Mud
Blame this one on my recent discovery of HBO’s True Blood. It’s almost the same as the show, but with more rhyming and without the sex. The vampire speed entrance is genius.
4. Cereal Girl
A parody of Material Girl by Madonna.
5. Law and Order Special Letters Unit I am just amazed at how muppets are so closely able to resemble their human counterparts. I guess you know you’ve really made it when they make a muppet in your likeness.
Bonus: Smell Like a Monster
How do you tease a new season of Sesame Street? Only by copying one of the most successful advertising campaigns in recent memory. The kids won’t understand it of course, but I doubt they made this one for the kids.
There are many reasons why I love taking photographs, but at the top of the list must be the feeling I get when I look through the contents of my camera and am instantly transported back to the moment when the photos were taken. These photographs definitely live up to that promise. We sang, we rapped, we tried to hit the high notes and the low notes (often unsuccessfully). Most of all, we had a fun night thanks to great company and few inhibitions.
Just a few of my favorites from the evening – all taken using my much-neglected flash. I really need to pull that thing out of the bag more often.
This exact conversation that occurs with Samuel at least 10 times a day lately. (no wonder the kid gets away with murder).
“Mummy?”
“Yes”
“I love you”
Oscar fever – and, after tonight, having miraculously seen 7 of the 10 best picture nominees, thanks partly to a couple of marathon aeroplane trips in the past 12 months. (ran out of time for The Fighter, 27 Hours and True Grit. In fairness, I’ll probably NEVER see 27 hours).
Thomas “reading” his Star Wars book to us each night and practicing during the day so he can read it to his friends at school.
Flavelsome Beats – plugging my baby brother’s latest gift to the ears.
Glee! Mixing my love of TV with my love of musicals. It’s perfect!
Dancers among us. Mixing my love of Musicals with my love of…well…life.
Feeling completely inspired after a couple of GREAT photo sessions – one at the Portland art museum with a group of coworkers (just for fun) and one for Iron Bartender last night (also fun, but for charity). A few of my favorites from the Portland museum are shared below.
Australia Day is the official national day of Australia, commemorating the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove in 1788 and our separation from England (oh, wait…).
Of course if I were in Australia right now I’d be celebrating with beer and a BBQ, but since we are yet to have the President proclaim the day as a national US holiday (I’m working on it), I will take this moment to share a few educational facts about the country of my birth.
We pronounce it AL-U-MIN-I-UM because we spell it that way. Same goes for AEROPLANE.
The toilets DO flush in the opposite direction, the moon appears upside-down and summer is in winter.
THONG is not a dirty word. (Please check in with me if you would like to be schooled on words which are, in fact, considered dirty in Australia but perfectly acceptable in the United States).
There are more than 150 million sheep in Australia and only around 20 million people.
In 1954 a man named Bob Hawke made it into the Guinness Record Book for downing 2.5 pints of beer in 11 seconds. Bob Hawke then went on to become the Prime Minister of Australia. (true story)
Birthday celebration for my good friend LeeAnn – and what could be more appropriate that a girls’ night out at Karaoke. My song list included my official Karaoke go to, more than a little Queen, THIS old favorite (that most of us had forgotten about – the perfect anthem) and some Robbie Williams education for my American friends. Drink list included Jalapeno-infused sake – enough said. Now onto the blurry-from-low-light-but-still-telling-the-story, photos.
Nicole Ishida Photography 
