The simple joys of a 90s comedian

Hi name is Bean... A comical character from the early nineties who had a brilliant three season TV series and two follow up movies. I have been lucky enough to find the TV series at work so of course I just had to borrow it and bring it home for my family to enjoy. The five of us have all watched the two Bean movies and loved the silliness of this style of humour. I have been happily surprised that the TV shows are just as funny and just as silly as my wife and I both fondly recall. Our lounge has echoed with the sweet sound of happy tears as we have all enjoyed this classic comedy.

When life gives you lemons

It seems the age old saying "When life gives you lemons..." has had a recent upgrade. We have had a rough couple of weeks where it hasn't just rained but flooded. My wife and I have been seriously struggling with Master 12 (almost 13) on his next leg of his educational journey. As if this is not enough we have had a serious shock with another family member... Enough to call in the reinforcements and have a few catch-ups with some amazing friends.

The apex of this stress has resulted in a great night last night where all of our lemons we have been dealing with have been turned into an epic, late night session of home made beef burgers and a few glasses of champagne. What a brilliant night shared with an intimate group of close, special friends.

Those of you who have shown you care over the last few weeks (you know who you are)... Thank you... Truly thank you for being there when we have needed you the most... You are indeed true friends...

After quite a wait a fitting end to an entertaining family favourite

I have a confession to make... I am a terrible Librarian... I love my job, love serving the community and visitors from interstate and overseas and I think I'm fairly good at it... What I need to admit though is I've now seen all three films in the How to Train Your Dragon trilogy and I have not read a single one of the multitude of books in our children's area at work. Me! Mister "The Book is ALWAYS better" is yet to read a single word from this series. From watching the third (and definitely final) film of this wonderful trilogy I am now keen to start from the beginning and work my way through.

On to the movie now... After the wonderment of the original and then the shock happening in the sequel I was completely put off from watching the TV series. It works out I didn't have to... I have a son who watched it all religiously and then wanted to debate with me whether or not certain weapons or dragon breeds or characters would appear in The Secret World. I felt ready when the Law family took our seats and the screen went dark, ready and a little excited. I was sooooooooooo not disappointed. What a brilliant film, a cleverly progressed storyline (I can only assume was partly concocted from the television and then seamlessly continued), lots and lots and lots of dragons and a REALLY cool villain...

I found the whole family were entertained throughout the entire running time of the film (great pace), a nice mix of drama and humour and the ending was so perfect it brought a tear to my eye. If you have not seen this or any of the other films in this franchise do yourself a favour… Watch them in order (and the TV series if you want) and enjoy the magic of Vikings and Dragons with your kids or if you can't then do it with your inner child at least. Enjoy! We sure did...

A day at the beach

There is nothing like a day out with family. It is especially special when the sun is shining and it is not very windy. Turning this weekend into an extra especially special one is a trip away to Sellicks Beach. We love this beach because the waves are not too big close to shore and generally the water is calm. We can also drive the car onto the sand making it easy to get everyone and everything right on the shore for beach time fun.

I fondly recall many a visit to Goolwa beach growing up. My Grandparents had a house they had built themselves only twenty meters from the start of the dunes, about half way along Dent street. Many an Easter, Christmas or anytime at all we would spend catch-ups with my Mum's side (the Boogs) where it would be me, my two brothers and our nine cousins hanging out. I'd try to ride the waves (when there were any) with the rest, more often than not getting dumped by the random cruelty of the ocean and a lack of coordination while many of my cousins far more agile than I would take their boogie boards from the thrashing surf safely into shore.

I was pleasantly surprised to find a number of boards in the shed of our weekend escape and eagerly packed them to take with us today. My thoughts of unlived grandeur were short-lived however as three boards and five kids does not leave much time for a dad/uncle to have a go. Instead I got to proudly watch the next generation of Law/Crook tackling the waves bravely and winning.

There truly is nothing like a spontaneous escape that just all falls perfectly in place. We may need to make this a regular occurrence... Hang Ten dudes!!!

A trip to the local pool

The last few days it has been hot... Over forty degrees Celsius but not too hot in the house yet (thanks to air conditioning) that we all need to bunk down in the lounge. This afternoon my darling wife thought a trip to our local pool to cool off was the best idea. As always you were 100% right gorgeous. The five of us all had a wonderful afternoon and the water was cool... After my initial hesitation to commit to a family trip out for a swim all it took was a handful of jaunts in the humidity was suffice to convince me to go... Once I hit the water I was happy we'd taken the trip. My highlights would have to be splashing around all five of us together, flying down the big slide with our youngest a trio of times, each more danger-filled than the one before and finally the highlight of the price (a family of up to six is only $20)... Next heatwave I know exactly where the Law family is headed to cool off...

The Tenacity of a Crab

It seems December is the time for my rediscovery of writing competitions. I have put my hat in the ring for the December edition of the First Friday of the Month comp (55 hours to write a short story of 500 words or less)... I though I had a red hot chance but alas this comp has had the winners announced and I did not even make the shortlist. In true Cancerian style I am now eagerly awaiting the first Friday of January (there is nought like Cancer's tenaciousness... I will win this... At least one time next year...

Meanwhile I have also discovered there is an end of December writing comp too... This one is for a novella (between 20,000 and 50,000 words). I have already discovered a month (November to be exact) is not long enough for me to write 5,000 words let alone 20,000... I have discovered in my pile of old stories a parody I wrote years ago which I am hoping will be 20,000 at least with a few tweaks and a few extra scenes...

I consider myself to be a good writer, at times even a great one... I cannot wait to discover the next monthly writing challenge that January has in store... Hopefully (fingers crossed) I have some luck with the end of December...

100 views or more... Thank you for your interest over the years...

To all the followers who have been keenly reading my blog, whether you are a first time viewer or you have been there since the very beginning in late March 2014... Thank you... I am happy to see some of my posts have hit over fifty views with my original post poised on 99 and one of my short story posts my most viewed (128 views for The Woman Who Vanished posted on the 16th of September 2016). I was happily surprised to see a more recent post about celebrating 15 years of life together as husband and wife with my gorgeous bride Ms H has scored 100 views, so many wonderful friends taking part in our wonderful day and so many others finding out what went on via FB posts and my blog. I wonder what 2019 will have in store and if I'll get to whip up another 100+ viewed post. As we lead into the crazy Christmas home stretch I suppose only time will truly tell.