Now that Melmo is officially live and kicking, it’s time he earned his keep.
Here’s Melmo’s 40YrOldDad Video Debut…
Take it away, Melmo…
Now that Melmo is officially live and kicking, it’s time he earned his keep.
Here’s Melmo’s 40YrOldDad Video Debut…
Take it away, Melmo…
They’re two, they’re four, they’re six, they’re eight, shunting prams and hauling grapes…
The look on every parents’ face. A subtle blend of excitement, awe and what the hell have we got ourselves into? Bleary-eyes and yawns all round. Unspoken nods between Dads that said, ‘Yep, we too rose at the crack of dawn, dressed our kid in their Thomas kit, packed their Thomas backpack with all their Thomas toys and chuffed our way to Emerald just to meet…(you guessed it)…
Thomas the Tank Engine
But the look on Indy’s face was worth every effort to get down there and pit them face-to-face. We’d booked our tickets early (like, 1973), and so glad we did. To hear his ‘ooh-ooh-oohs’ and watch his happy dance as Thomas chuffed into view, it’s like he couldn’t believe his own little eyes. And getting to ride the train as Thomas chuffed us along was a new and exciting experience (for both of us!). I’ve never ridden a steam train before either. And I know Thomas is for kids, but seeing him there in full scale, steam chuffing, even I felt a bit star-struck (as I’m sure every other Dad was, too).
Indy spent most of the ride with his head out the window, like a dog, enjoying the freedom of the wind in his hair (lucky him). Not so lucky for the passengers downwind from us, copping all the dog-drool. (more…)
This week, as promised, a sneak peek behind the curtain at the making of our family-made short sci-fi film…
‘STRYDER’ – The movie.
Click the image to watch the film, then read on and be bedazzled at how we made it (no sequins were harmed during the making of this film).
Click to play
So…How did we do it?
Lying down, standing up, bent over the car seat and squatting on our haunches…basically. (You won’t believe how limber we are).
The whole thing was entirely made and put together using the smallest production company in the world…my index finger! (When I say ‘my’ I really mean, ‘our’, as sometimes it was Mumma’s index finger — okay, this is getting weird), all on my iPad-3. I storyboarded key scenes using a simple app called, Sketches. I kept the drawings so simple that a child could understand them, (that’s my excuse). Funny how if I showed them to someone and said Indy drew them, they’d compliment the crap out of them but if I said it was me, I get the raised eyebrow and the ‘geez, my two year old can draw better than that,’ remark.
We actually filmed in 3 different locations in 2 different states: (Consciousness and Unconsciousness). All the scenes of me in the car, the missile explosions and the Stryder walking up the driveway, were filmed in country NSW, where I was approached by concerned elderly onlookers checking if I was okay. They saw me lying in the driveway and thought I’d been run over. Assuring them I was completely fine, I’m just ‘filming my robot’, did absolutely nothing to alleviate their fears for my safety, but somehow raised concerns for their own? Damn judgemental eyebrows. Bad weather and evading authorities meant we had to flee the state to finish the rest.
PREVIOUSLY on 40YrOldDad:
Indy made his ‘Boscar’-worthy (Baby Oscar – did I just coin a phrase? Dibs on that!), short film debut in a sci-fi short film we shot over New Year’s.
As a treat for you to feast your feast-wanting eyes upon, I promised to bring you a behind the scenes look at how we put it all together (which did include some incense sticks and scotch tape).
I hope you’re eager to peek behind the curtain, but before I do, I need to put something on.
In the meantime, here’s a special encore screening to refresh your mind blowing boggledness of “how did they do that?”, as we proudly re-present…
‘STRYDER’ – The Movie
Click on image to play movie
Never ever ever ever expected this to happen a second time.
Will say more on this after I’ve had a little lay down…
No, it’s not Quasimodo seeking safety from the pitchforks and blazing torches of an unruly mob in Notre Dame, but a safe haven for many indigenous Australian animals (some endangered) set in beautiful bush surrounds of Healesville, and we had a ‘hunch’ (ahem, sorry!) that Indy would just love it.
In a blaze of oohs and ahhs, we trekked our way through the dusty winding tracks of the Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary. It’s an awesome day out for the family with plenty of wildlife on display.
Highlights for Indy, was the Spirits of the Sky birds of prey show, which had raptors, buzzards, owls and parrots swooping overhead so close you’d cop one in the ear if you stood up, culminating in an up-close and personal appearance of a majestic and enormous wedge-tailed eagle. At which point I swear I heard Mick Dundee in my ear, ‘that’s not a talon…that’s a talon!’
Magificent as it was, it didn’t compare to the stunning bird sat next to me with our boy on her lap – Mummus beautificus Wifus 😉 (more…)
This morning we moseyed on down to Westfield Southland for a free children’s activity, Cookie Decorating with Cookie Monster! (Granted, it’s less mosey-like when you don’t actually have a horse, but at least I was wearing chaps.)
And Westfield really went all out, spending the big bickies on the most expensive cookies you can lay your hands on, Marie biscuits. For those of who don’t know, the Marie biscuit is somewhere between a cardboard circle and a drink coaster…yummo.
We iced that puppy up and pimped it out with our selection of smarties, gummi bears, mini-mallows and lolly bananas. Mind you, as fast as they were appearing on the cookie, they were also disappearing down Indy’s throat. Until we spied the hero of the day…
In the blue corner, standing 6 foot 2 inches, 198 lbs, terrifying children at a single blow, the munching, crunching…
Cookie Monster!
It’s the call you never want to get while holidaying in Bali. Life is high, you’re on top of the world and suddenly it hits. That apprehensive voice on the other end of the line calling from home in Australia. Right from the get go, you detect a slight tremor in the voice and a stunted hesitance which can only mean one thing…
What do you mean, dead?
“There was a thunder storm. An enormous power surge. It was very quick, there was nothing I could do…”
Don’t say it. Don’t tell me, I don’t want to hear it!
“I’m really, really sorry, but…your modem got fried. Your internet…is dead.”
Nooooooooooooooo!
“It also blew up your microwave and the central heating has stopped working as well. And it’s totally freezing!”
Not quite the news you want to hear while you’re away on holiday. The trip was costing us enough as it is, but our niece was doing us a favour by house-sitting for us while we were away. So we felt we owed it to her to at least make sure we didn’t come home to a frozen Popsicle gnawing on the leg of a sofa, and sprung for a new microwave, heating and most importantly…a new modem, so she wasn’t completely cut off from the outside world. (Okay, so I didn’t have to go a day without internet access once we got home…stop twisting my arm, you got what you needed).
Today marks the beginning of a very special time for us.
Our 7th Year Wedding Anniversary.
But this year also marks our 11th Year Anniversary of being together.
Hence, 2014 will hereforeafter be known as…
Our 7-11 Year.
And the secret of our eternal youthful outlook on life, is the occasional dip in the fountain of youth down at the Peninsula Hot Springs.
And it was Indy’s inaugural dip into the mineral elixir of life and tranquility. He had his learning face on for a great deal of the time, which indicated to us that he’s taking mental notes and filing this place away in his memory banks of ‘things to always remember’. (more…)
When asked to trial and review “The Greatest Toy in the Universe”, how could I possibly say no? And short of owning my own combat ready Ironman suit or life-size Dalek, this boy’s toy satisfies both my inner nerd and sci-fi geek. Plus, we wanted to make it a momentous occasion by putting together our very own short film with our little bloke in his first ever short film debut, where he gets to exercise his acting chops and see if he qualifies as a fully fledged member of our ‘Funsters’ (trademark pending) family.
So, without further adieu.
The long awaited most anticipated release of the year (so far).
Please enjoy…
November 27th, 2017
November 11th, 2017
October 17th, 2017
September 4th, 2017
August 19th, 2017
THEN YOU SAID…