(courtesy Penguin Books Australia) Miranda Hart, known for her whimsy and goofy good humour, would like us all to get a little serious for a moment. Or perhaps a lot, and you can trust her, it’s for a very good reason, one which came to define her life in ways Continue Reading
60th birthday movie review: Wicked: For Good #AndyAt60
(courtesy IMP Awards) When your parting gift to audiences at the conclusion of the first part of Wicked is the delivery of the scene stealing, future defining showstopper song “Defying Gravity”, where colours are nailed to the flag (no prizes for guessing which ones) and entreaties are made by both Continue Reading
Happy 60th birthday to me … my 60 favourite TV shows #Andyat60
(via Shutterstock) There was a time, believe or not, when TV terrified me. Way back in the mid-1960s, when Mum and Dad were missionaries in what is now Bangladesh, we lived in a number of small hinterland towns where TV was NOT; so, the first time I encountered it was Continue Reading
A celebration of me, Grover #Andyat60
(courtesy Sesame Workshop) Grover, sweet, loveable, funny, silly, thoughtful blue-furred Grover has been my favourite Muppet since I can remember loving any Muppets. I can’t remember when I first encountered him, but it would’ve been in the early Seventies when my family and I had just returned to Australia from Continue Reading
The short and the happy Benny’s Birthday short of it … over and over and amusingly over again … #AndyAt60
(courtesy IMDb) SNAPSHOTBenny wakes up seeing that it’s February 8, meaning that it’s his birthday. But he’s not in the mood and shuns it, until the Minions wake him up saying “happy birthday!”, Benny sees that the whole place is in a birthday party style. The Minions take him to his cake with one of Continue Reading
Happy 60th birthday to me …. my favourite (roughly) 60 songs #Andyat60
(via Shutterstock) I can’t imagine a time when music wasn’t a major obsession. Granted I never took up the guitar or drums and joined a band, and my efforts to learn the piano were dismal at best (right Mrs. Noble?), but as a listener I was devoted beyond all reason. Continue Reading
Movie review: Ocean with David Attenborough #AndyAt60
(courtesy Oceanfilm.net) To be honest, this reviewer put off watching Ocean With David Attenborough for quite a few months because life was, and is, super stressful and who needs to find out more about how supremely comprehensively humanity is trashing our oceans on top of the litany of other environmental Continue Reading
Revealed! The Jim Henson Hour: “Secrets of the Muppets” #AndyAt60
(courtesy IMDb) SNAPSHOTJoin Jim Henson and his dog, Jojo, for an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of The Jim Henson Creature Shop in this rare 1989 documentary episode of The Jim Henson Hour. In “Secrets of the Muppets,” Jim reveals the innovative techniques that brought the Muppets to life, including the integration Continue Reading
A lifetime of reading … my 60(ish) top books #AndyAt60
(via Shutterstock) Reading has always been a lifeline for me. My childhood, while full of love from my parents, was marked by unending bullying, which began as I stepped on the school bus and only stopped as I stepped off that afternoon, and judgement and censure from not all but Continue Reading
Retro comic book review: Scooby Doo … Mystery Comics #1 #AndyAt60
A curious thing happened in late January 1990 as I prepared to move to Sydney, by overnight Kirklands bus no less, and tried to sort out my belongings at my parents’ place. I decided to throw out, for reasons that completely escape me now, almost all my ABBA collection (since Continue Reading