It’s that time of year. Again. ‘All Hallows Eve’. Also known as ‘All Saint’s Day’ or ‘El Día del los Muertos’ in Spanish (especially so in Latin America). It’s Halloween!!! and that means dressing up in spooky costumes and ‘Trick or Treat’.

The kids love it. I can see why though. For me it is mostly about the free chocolate. But for the kids it’s at least equally to do with the dressing up.

The evening’s events began with some early planning. Dani and  few kids in our building decided to make a street map of the immediate area and mark out which houses had been decked out for the occasion. It would be their route map to treats later in the day. Not daft these kids eh? Determined to make efficient use of their time ‘trick or treating’.

Halloween Friendly Houses

The unwritten rule is that any house that has made the effort to decorate with anything related to Halloween is fair game for a bit of ‘trick or treating’. The others should be left in peace

In the morning we spotted one of the houses that made such a great effort last year also. Anyone afraid of spiders may want to look away. Even those of you who are not afraid of our eight legged friends might just get goose-bumps when you see this one. The scale of it is fantastic…

Dressed to Scare?

The kids just love dressing up for Halloween. Even if you don’t particularly like this celebration yourself you have to like the fact that they love it. Personally I quite like it and always did. But it’s much better when the kids are over-excited by their costumes.

No Tricks Required

All in all the group of kids – closely followed by us parents – visited some 20 houses. No tricks were required as each house we called at offered up some sugary treats which the kids grabbed at enthusiastically. If they ate half of what they collected the sugar rush would keep them awake right through the week.

Another good thing about going around the streets is that the kids come across other groups either doing the same thing or having Halloween parties in some of those houses. More costumes to check out and more high pitched screaming with excitement. Not good for the eardrums but great fun.

It was a relatively early start as tomorrow is a school day and most parents wanted to get it out of the way. Sort of…

It doesn’t get dark here now until after 7pm so it definitely felt a little bit odd doing this in daylight. More than that it had been quite a warm day. Not the best weather for dressing up and wearing full masks or face make-up. Very different from a northern hemisphere Halloween.

And then it was over…

And no sooner had it began; it was over. For another year…

Next stop, Dani’s eighth birthday.

 

I had one of those great conversations the other day. While walking back from his swimming lesson. Sometimes I kind of zone out and let him ramble on. But I do need to pay some attention as he asks questions from time to time. He decided he wanted to talk about video games. Yawn! Oh no! I can’t stand them, but will play along…

His two top games these days are Minecraft (an old fave) and Roblox (a relative newcomer for Dani). But he still likes an old one I covered previously – here – called Virtual Beggar. For the record, I really can’t stand Minecraft nor Roblox. The latter seems to be the game of the moment right now with all the kids around his age, and I am sure I need to cover it in a future post. At least Virtual Beggar makes me laugh. Just the concept is nuts. But the conversation started with a question that threw me…

Diligence

“Dad. Do you know what diligent means?”

“Yes.”

“What does it mean then?”

“It means doing or checking things properly. Being careful. ” I thought that was good enough.

“Yes” he agreed; as if he was just testing me. “It means being very careful.”

“Well, yeah. Is there any other kind of ‘careful’?” OK, I thought; where is this one going?

“In Virtual Beggar…” (aha, here it comes) “…I had people working for me. And this one girl, I should never have given her a job. It said that she was diligent so I gave her the job. But she only made me one dollar per hour. One dollar per hour! So I had to fire her.”

“What?! You had to fire her? What the *#&%”

“Yes. I had to fire her. I could make twice that much money myself just from begging!” he said, in one of those tones where they are almost pleading with you to understand their predicament.

“Ah yeah…well…Mmm… Yeah. Fair enough. If you can make more begging well mmm…” What do you say to that?

“But it’s good to be diligent. I don’t think I was very diligent when I hired her though.”

“Ah well lad. You live and learn eh?” – still struggling to take it all in. “Maybe you need to interview them next time. Just to double check and be on the safe side eh? Diligence and all that eh?”

He pulled one of those faces and said, “No. (pause) I’m not going to interview them. It’s only a video game.” As If I had lost the plot. I think I had at that point.

Ah yes. It is just a bloody video game.

Then the subject turned to Roblox. And I switched to auto pilot/semi-conversation mode…

Halloween is coming…

And so tomorrow is Halloween. Dani’s favourite fiesta. This year it should be fine weather (unlike last year’s downpour) and there are plenty of houses near by decked out with all the scary decorations that shout ‘yeas, you can call here for trick or treat’. More on the spook-fest to come…

Back to School

Today saw the great return to school across New South Wales. Although term 4 started two or three weeks ago (depending on which schools you use) only a small number of kids actually went in. The rest remained at home doing their remote classes online. Today, everyone went to school. And the extra traffic on the roads was definitely noticeable.

The lockdown began when the end of term 2 school holidays began. So, all of term 3 and about 25-30% of term four has been done at home for the majority of kids. Wow! That’s way more than the ‘long’ summer holidays!

Let’s hope that the children enjoy being back at school, even if they may not be allowed to do all the pre/post school activities they would like (for a while at least). It’s not right being kept at home to study alone. School is as much a social thing as a learning experience. Especially for the younger kids. How can we expect them to work and socialise together as adults if  they don’t do it as kids.

He’s still going out with that old bag…

Santa Claus that is. And over here they are already well prepared in the shopping centres. As evidenced by this photo taken in one such shopping mall last week.

I couldn’t bring myself to take any more photos of Christmas decorations. It’s just not right having them this early. Maybe this long lockdown has confused people. Normally we get that annual spook-fest over with before people start gearing up for Christmas.  Speaking of which…

Halloween approaches.

While Christmas is being advertised Halloween is not getting a fair crack of the whip this year. That said, I do think people in and around the area are making a good effort this year. There are plenty of spooky Halloween decorations adorning a lots ff houses in the area. More so than I remember from last year. And why not? The kids need to be kids. They need a bit of fun. Maybe it’s a kick-back against the lockdowns and the kids not going to school. Who knows? But I think next Sunday the kids around here will have some fun on Halloween. There will be a post dedicated to that one of course.

Swimming Lessons

Meanwhile the weather has been improving. Well, we are in the middle of spring down here. Swim schools have also been starting again while indoor and outdoor swimming pools have been allowed to reopen. This term Dani is returning to swim classes – outdoors. And what a great setting to be improving his swimming.

Getting the F*ck Out of Sydney. 

At last. This weekend we were able to get out of Sydney. Not out of “Greater” Sydney, but at least out of the fecking city. It’s been too long. For me anyway. A lot of people like Sydney but for me it’s just OK. And it’s only OK if I know I can get the hell out of it at the weekends…

So where could we go and still be in “Greater Sydney”? Well, actually, a place that has been on my radar for some time now. In fact ever since one year and one month ago! When we visited Wattamolla beach in September 2020.

The place? Bundeena in the Royal National Park and a coastal walk to Wedding Cake Rock.

Bundeena

Situated on the south side of the Hacking river estuary the small quaint little town of Bundeena can only be reached via the road that goes through the middle of the Royal National Park. One road in, one out. The only other way to get to it is via the water. A small ferry that runs between Bundeena and Cronulla (on the north side of the estuary). It’s more of a village than a town really. A nice little place.

Wedding Cake Rock

The oddly named geological attraction on the coastal walk out of Bundeena is the main reason most people go there. The name is obvious once you see the rock formation.

The path there is stunning all the way. As famous as this part of the world is for its beaches, most of the coastline is actually taken up with sheer cliffs and crazy ragged rock formations.  When we arrived at the Wedding Cake Rock it immediately looked disappointing. Which sounds a bit unfair, so let me explain.

The rock itself is fenced off. For the protection of idiot tourists who may want to jump on it for a photo opportunity. And let’s face it there are plenty of them out there these days. Way more than ever what with Instagram and all that crap, they all want to star in their own movie. So the fence is there to protect such idiots because the ‘rock’ itself looks like it could fall into the sea – which is some way below – at any time.

That said, you can still get a decent view of it although perhaps not quite good enough for that “money shot”. But in reality none of that matters because the getting there is spectacular enough in itself.

You can see right away how it got its name. It’s almost like layers of icing sugar. But also looks like a stack of old mattresses from one angle. To be fair there are probably better shots available on the internet somewhere but these were the ones we made today.

Even if – or more exact, when – this rock crumbles into the sea, this coastal walk will still be well worth the effort.

The coastal path walk goes on for another few kilometres as far as Marley Beach. We stopped and turned back a little before that. Even so, in the end the round trip came to 11km! More than enough for Dani’s spindly little legs. He was totally knackered!

Then back to Bundeema for a beer and meal form one of the (relatively) many restaurants/cafés. For a day out of the city this was the perfect antidote to the four month long lockdown. And of course any part of the Royal National Park is always worth a visit.

It is getting close to Dani’s birthday. His eighth. Less than a month to go and we are considering presents for his birthday and others maybe for Christmas. Even though the shops have only just reopened here in Oz (after the lockdown) some already have Christmas trees and decorations out. Even I was amazed at that. But that’s not the point here… He will soon be 8 years old and still believes in the fat man with the beard, red suit and (more importantly) the sack of presents.

It’s great in a way. Better than great if I am being honest. But I think he needs to know before finding out the hard way…

How do you tell your kid(s) that Santa isn’t real?

He has known for some time that the giving of gifts at Christmas time comes from the Biblical story of The Three Kings turning up bearing gifts for the new born Jesus.

Whether you are religious or not, that is the simple truth. Being Spanish he knows and celebrates the Three Kings and knows where that comes from. He is also inquisitive enough to wonder, or rather question himself, as to where Santa comes from and why he exists. Understanding one and not the other has already led him to question the Santa story in the past. A ‘problem’ his mum dealt with.

I just don’t want him finding out the hard way and being ridiculed for it. Not having any older siblings he is sure to find out from the kids he plays with at home or school – all of them older than him. Kids can be cruel and if he is not careful he will stumble into a huge pitfall. And why should he be careful? He is a Santa believer! But for sure some kids will pick up on something he says in the next month or two and the game will be up. And he may not forgive us…

It wouldn’t be the first time… 

It’s a bit like the time last year when his class was discussing science stuff and the question of the hardest thing known to man came up. “Diamonds” said one of the girls in his group. “No it’s not” he replied. “It’s vibranium.” Ouch! That’s what comes from watching too many Marvel Comics movies with his old dad.

He was noticeably upset by the whole episode as he explained to me later that day when I walked him home. He had argued with the other kids and even his teacher that “vibranium” was in fact the hardest thing on the planet. Then someone (a fellow super-heroes fan classmate) explained that it wasn’t a real thing. He was obviously embarrassed. I want to save him from that embarrassment again. If possible…

A Couple of Ideas…

We have two plans. First is to watch a movie (or two) where the existence or reality of Santa is questioned. There is a subtle hint towards this in one of my favourite Christmas films Elf. And a more obvious querying in another great, more recent, Christmas movie The Christmas Chronicles. Dani loves both of those too so I will watch them with him and see what questions he comes up with. Then break it to him gently – ish…

There is also a scene in the movie Gremlins – a film he would probably like to watch – where one of the characters explains how she found out that Santa wasn’t real. That may be a more crude way of getting it out there.

The second plan is linked with the first. After breaking the bad news I can tell him that we need to make his mum believe that Dani himself still believes. Then we can buy her a present and label it “From Santa”. It’s that old double bluff thing. He likes that sort of thing. Hmm…maybe he will then be ready to watch The Sting; another great movie. But I am drifting off track a little now…

One alternative – I read about – is to just rip off the sticking plaster, hard and fast. Get it over with all in one go. Santa, The Easter Bunny, The Tooth Fairy, the lot! Expose all of those frauds. But maybe not WWE wrestling though. Not just yet…

It’s an interesting angle but I am going to go for them one at a time. Oddly enough that bloody tooth fairy has hardly earned her (or his) stripes in our house. This kid has still only lost two milk teeth!! That fairy still has some serious money to hand over.

Come to think of it, that elf on the shelf isn’t earning his keep either. Maybe it’s time to blow his cover too.

So, over to you…

Does anyone have any ideas on this tricky subject? Is there a quick and easy way of doing this?

Footnote: There are a few posts on The Three Kings. Such as here , here and here by the way. The donut post is a good one LOL, I had forgotten about that one…

New South Wales starts to emerge from “lockdown” tomorrow. So here is my take on two tales that blend well with what has been going on in Australia recently: The stories of King Cnut and The Emperor’s New Clothes.

Cnut or Canute?

I think the first one is right, but it is pronounced as the second. Anyway, King Cnut was born around the year 990 and reigned in the early 11th century as king of England, Denmark and Norway and what is now part of Sweden. It is said that he was so convinced of his power as ruler of the north sea countries that he ordered his chair to be placed on the sea-shore as the tide was coming in. He is then said to have ordered the rising tide not to come any further onto the land that he was ruler of. Naturally, the tide came in and wet his legs. At that point the king is said to have realised that he and his powers were not as great as he had thought. Supposedly saying something like “Let all the world know that the power of kings is empty and worthless, and there is no king worthy of the name save Him by whose will heaven, earth and the sea obey eternal laws.” Well, you get the point…right?

Cnut attempting – or even pretending – to command the waves of the sea is supposedly a true story. Even if it is an old myth then it’s still a great example of how power goes to some people’s heads. As the old saying goes: Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

I seem to recall mentioning King Cnut in an old post back in February 2019 – Wow! Not long after we arrived in Oz, and just as this scamdemic was gaining momentum. That post was predominantly about Electric cars but is well worth a read if you missed it (click here).

Going naked…

King Cnut actually existed whether the tale of the waves is true or not. The Emperor’s New Clothes however is a children’s fairy tale written by Hans Christian Anderson in 1837. I am sure you all know it but here’s a quick recap…

Two conmen meet an emperor who spends lots of state money on clothes rather than genuine state matters. The conmen spot an opportunity and pretend to be tailors. They offer to supply him the most amazing clothes that just so happen to be invisible to anyone who is too stupid to see them. The emperor hires them, and they set up equipment as if to start work. Government officials, and even the emperor himself, visit them to check their progress. Everyone can see that no equipment is being used but pretends otherwise to avoid being thought a fool. Finally, the ‘tailors’ announce that the emperor’s suit is ready to wear. They pretend to dress him and the emperor sets off on a tour of the city to show off his new clothes. The people of the town feel awkward but go along with the pretence, for fear of being called “stupid”. Finally a child blurts out that the emperor is wearing nothing at all. The people then realize that everyone has been fooled.

And here’s what it means…

It is a cautionary tale about something called ‘pluralistic ignorance’. “What??!” – I hear you cry. Well pluralistic ignorance is described as a situation in which the majority of a group of people privately disagree with what is seen as the norm, but go along with it anyway because they assume (incorrectly) that most others in the group accept it. Put more simply; “no one believes it, but everyone thinks that everyone else believes it”.

The term “emperor’s new clothes” has become an idiom that is familiar to young and old alike. Pretty much everyone knows what the term refers to yet why are so few speaking out at this present time when we have so many obviously artificial ’emperors’?

For what it’s worth, this is exactly where I believe we are right now. Not only in Australia, although it is more prevalent here at this moment. Everyone knows the stories of Cnut and the naked emperor. The majority also realise what those tales mean. So let’s hope enough of them wake up and equate those tales with what is currently going on.

We have politicians who think they have absolute power and can reach a mythical “zero covid”.  There are health/medical “advisors” telling them what they want to hear while simultaneously massaging their own egos and exaggerating the scale of the supposed “threat”. All the while enjoying their new found fame as they appear on TV 24/7. This whole thing is aided and abetted by the media who (for whatever reasons) do not want to stray from the party line. The media never properly question anything. Not even remotely.

There are many who can see right through the whole scam but anyone – like the ‘child’ in the story – who shouts out what is really going on is immediately called a fool or worse. And so they go along with it… And here we are…

Last Words…

In summary: The power has gone to the heads of the state Prime Ministers in Australia. “Zero covid” is a crazy policy and is just like trying to stop the waves. The power grab has been done on the back of mass hysteria of an over-egged “threat”. Yes of course there is a disease but it is not as bad as they have made out. There is so much to argue against it but none of them are saying so. Even though they can see it. In this sense they are effectively naked.

All I can say about them all is: What a bunch of Cnuts! (sic)

If you are as old as me you will remember the old Milk Tray adverts. The man dressed in black, diving into shark infested waters, avoiding stampeding yak to climb a Mongolian castle walls, skiing just ahead of a deadly avalanche, hanging from a helicopter. ‘The Milk Tray Man’, as he became known, performed these death defying stunts and raids like some James Bond type dude. You name it, the Milk Tray man did it.

Why did he do all of those things? Well, they tell you, right at the end of the adverts:

“And all because the lady loves Milk Tray”

To deliver a box of Milk Tray chocolates to a “lady” that we never really see.

The classic ads ran from 1968 to 1984 with the Australian actor Gary Myers playing the daredevil chocolate delivery man. Beats the shit out of Deliveroo eh? (and other such annoying food delivery companies). The same theme of ads returned in the early 2000s and again around 2016 to mark the brand’s 100th anniversary. But I can’t really recall any of the more recent ads. Maybe they are just not as memorable.

Future Milk Tray Man?

What’s all this got to do with being an old dad then? Apart from me being old enough to remember those early adverts…. Well, Dani is building up to his own Milk Tray advert the way he is going. He is getting to be quite an action kid. The latest adventure sport he has been learning is sailing. Over this past year he has skied, surfed and sailed his way around. All things I could only have dreamed of when I was his age. I guess that’s the best part of being an old dad. Your son can get to do all (or at least some) of the things you couldn’t…

But then despite all the action and despite the fact that he really enjoys it all, he would still rather sit at home all day on the bloody iPad playing or watching youtube videos about video games. That’s the way kids his age are these days… I know.

If he doesn’t start to reduce his dependency on that bloody iPad this summer I will help his Milk Tray Man training by throwing him into shark infested waters. Easily arranged in these parts.

Those old ads…

In today’s world, adverts like this would probably be classed as sexist, or some other “ist”. But back in the 70s (and 80s) this series of ads was absolutely top class. It worked too. Everyone knew what these adverts were for. Also they never fell foul to that classic advertising f*ck up. The one where the ads are so good that people remember the adverts but not the product. Oh no! Everyone, absolutely everyone, knew the tag line at the end that mentioned the product.

Here are a few examples if you are not familiar with the ads. Or worse still, you have forgotten them!

 

Audition for the role?

And finally, here is Dani’s new calling card…

What a difference a week makes. Last week when Dani had his first surfing lesson the water was wild and there was hardly anyone on the cold beach. Today was another surfing lesson for the boy but the weather was a whole lot better. It was a fairly early lesson but the place was buzzing. The fine weather brought everyone out.

Surf Lesson

The following photos tell the story of how the lesson goes – generally. The ups and downs of it all…

He has really taken to it. He loves it in fact. Who can complain about that? If he keeps this up he will be just like a local by the end of the summer.

The best part is that you can see he is annoyed with himself when he falls. Then he gets straight back out there. I must admit I am very impressed with his resilience. He has even mentioned getting his own board. That may be one for Santa. Unless we break that story to him… Then he will get it from us.