I am not sure how or why I never heard about this one until very recently, but it definitely needs sharing. The kid’s TV series on Netflix called Buddy Thunderstruck is the new favourite for my son. And I love it!

Buddy and his co-stars are stop motion puppets. The style of filming reminded me of the old road safety films featuring Tufty the squirrel. Admittedly only British people over a certain age would get that. For anyone else out there just think Fantastic Mr. Fox – that 2009 stop motion movie.

Premise

Buddy is a bit of a hometown hero in the town of Greasepit. In his own mind however he is a total legend; and that is the key to its comedy value.

Netflix billed the show as the ‘outrageous, high-octane adventures of Buddy Thunderstruck, a truck-racing dog who brings guts and good times to the town of Greasepit’. Yeah. That about sums it up. It is very funny and definitely as much for adults as it is for kids although it is certified as PG (parental guidance)

Buddy is some kind of alsatian-like dog who races trucks and thinks he is above the law and sort of lives in his own celebrity bubble. His mechanic and side-kick is a ferret called Darnell who sports an Elvis-like quiff and sideburns.

Whatever adventures and disasters the two get involved in, Buddy always emerges as the blameless hero. Even when he has brushes with the local law enforcement.

Sayings and Style

With sayings like “Fart nugget” and “I’m going to customise your butt crack” it was never intended for young children. Apparently, it was aimed at tweens (erm, ok) and teens but should appeal to most adults.

It looks like they only made the one series which is a real shame. It is easily the best kids TV show I have seen for quite some time. This line from one of the episodes sums up the fast-paced, mad-capped style of the show: “This is a fight to the death so if there’s any children in the audience put them on your shoulders so they can get a better view.”

There are 12 episodes plus an interactive special to be found on Netflix. Check them out. Even though it is three years old the offbeat nature of the show is a refreshing change in these PC times. I am sure you will have a good laugh…

Yesterday was officially the first day of summer – in Australia. OK, I know it really isn’t the first day of summer geographically or whatever other way you look at it but here in Australia that’s what they do – start seasons on the first day of a month…

Heatwave

Last weekend was the final weekend of Spring and it was the hottest 48 hours in 60 years, according to one news report I heard on the radio. Temperatures rose to about 43 degrees Centigrade (that’s well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit in old money).

We are used to temperatures reaching over 40 degrees (C) during the summer in Madrid but this weekend really caught us by surprise. This spring had been relatively cool with recent temperatures only in the early 20s over the past couple of weeks.

It can get even warmer in Spain if the wind comes off the Sahara desert. In the case of Sydney the hot winds come from the western interior. The hot red centre. Last weekend those winds were enough to push back the sea breeze – apparently. All I know for sure is that it was bloody hot!

Poor Reporting…

In the UK the BBC news reported it as the highest temperature ever!!! Typical BBC lies and bullshit I’m afraid. I am not sure why the media lie about such things. It is a bit like the fires here last summer. Of course there were fires (there are every year) but before we arrived here the news reports in Europe would have you believe that all of Australia was ablaze and the city of Sydney was about to go up too. Nothing could be further from the truth. 

Last Day of School

And so today is Dani’s last day of the school year. He never missed a day and only spent one day at home on the “remote learning” Google App thing – whatever the hell it was called. No other kid attended school for as many days. They used to give out some kind of prize when I was in school for that kind of full attendance. Very few ever achieved it I seem to recall.

Hopefully in a couple of days we will be off to Dubbo and on to Lightning Ridge on another adventure holiday. But first I need to sort out the car… Oh the joys of motoring…