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Christmas - you spend months gearing up for it and in a flash it's all over! Marianna seemed to have a blast, at least, and it's now full steam ahead for her birthday on Wednesday. That means the tree and all the trimmings will be coming down tomorrow, and it'll be like Christmas never even happened.

(Well, if you ignore the mountains of new toys everywhere.)

It's kind of terrifying to reflect on the fact I have a (soon to be) five year old child. It seems like, not yesterday, but last year I was finishing uni and trying to figure out what the hell I was going to do next...

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Deal of the Week -

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I pretty much took a week off from the blog, though I did post the End of Year Fandom Meme and a lyric sheet for Seren Fechan yn y Nen (Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star).

For next year I've been trying to be way more organised - aka organised at all - about blogging. I've already planned out about 300 posts and have even finished writing some of them. The hope is I'll be able to keep the same momentum without having to invest so much time into 'content creation'.

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Song of the Week -

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Another year, another end of year fandom meme. (If you want to do it yourself I've got easy copy / paste at my masterlist post.)

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Which TV shows did you start watching this year?

Too many...

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Which TV shows did you mean to get into but didn't this year? Why?

So many things I never got around to. And a few I chose not to - I've not seen the last few episodes of Gotham and have no intention of correcting that. No Man's Land was a plot hole too far for me.

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Which TV show impressed you least this year?

Smallville.

I don't understand Anthony's penchant for rewatching stuff, and I definitely don't get his completist need to see it all the way through. When a show becomes irredeemably bad, just drop it. There are so many series I have never seen the ending to for precisely this reason. I guess the problem with Smallville is that you wouldn't just be dropping it before the end. You'd be dropping it straight after the beginning...

It annoys me because the idea has such great potential, but then the execution sucks. Senator Kent, seriously. Then there's all the niggling questions which never get revolved, like: Why is Clark such an idiot? Why is Lana such a drip? Why does nobody think it weird a 22-year-old Lex Luthor is hanging around the local high school and wandering around the boys' locker rooms? Perhaps it's better that we don't know...

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Your favourite TV show of the year?

Star Trek: Discovery. Michael should be the most annoying Mary Sue to hit our screens since Wesley Crusher, but somehow it just works.

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Your favourite film you watched this year?

I actually made watching some films part of my 32 by 32 Bucketlist - and up to the Christmas season I had watched a grand total of seven. Thankfully the relentless festive TV scheduling has now bumped that figure up to 25. The best has definitely been the new live action Aladdin though. I was a bit dubious about Will Smith as the genie but Disney had it right - perfect casting.

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Your main fandom of the year?

Star Wars, probably.

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Your favourite book read this year?

It sounds really bad but... I've hardly read any published fiction this year. It's mostly been biographies and true crime. And the occasional UFO-centric release...

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Favourite male character of the year?

Colin Robinson (What We Do In The Shadows)

I'm not even sure exactly what it is that makes Colin Robinson so hilarious to me. Maybe it's the very idea of an energy vampire hanging with the supernatural versions. Perhaps it's the Office(UK)-esque to camera segments. I just know that Colin getting off at the absolute mind numbing mundanity of the city council meeting was one of the best things I've seen this decade.

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Favourite female character of the year?

Hailey Yarner (Bletchley Circle: San Francisco)

She's so kooky and loveable! Chanelle Peloso really excels at those kind of characters - I thought she was great in the Cinderella Christmas Story too.

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Your biggest fan anticipations for the coming year?

I'm looking forward to new Star Trek!

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Your favourite album or song to listen to this year?

Redfoo.

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The fandom you haven't tried yet, but want to?

I don't have any - but am open to suggestions. :)

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Your biggest squee moment of the year?

Baby Yoda. That is all.

Also I hope the reveal is that it's Yoda's self-love child. Because what SW canon has always needed is its favourite puppet to pull a DBZ Piccolo and hock up an egg containing his own reincarnation...

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Your best new fandom discovery of the year?

Ghosts. It's a sitcom by the people behind the Horrible Histories show, and they really capture that whole kids telly charm without it being too sanitised. Basically, it's what Ghosts of Motley Hall would be if they made it today.

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Your biggest fandom disappointment of the year?

Just the usual - why do people not write  the fanfic I want to read??

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Three more sleeps! It's been a full on week of Christmas stuff for Marianna: school nativity, xmas dinner, visiting Santa, class Christmas party... At home we finished wrapping everybody's presents, writing out cards, and - more randomly - making star bracelets and necklaces.

Advent comp wise the results have been less than stellar. I've won a magic pass code for portable north pole (check out my review in the blog posts of the week section), a Barcelona FC 2020 annual, and some books for the school. That last one is actually quite impressive; it's about £550 worth of activity books, working out to three each for a class of 35 kids. It doesn't really benefit me, as such, but it'll make me look generous as chair of governors, at least!

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Deal of the Week -

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On the blog I posted about Marianna's school play, my five favourite tv chefs, a tutorial for making miniature jigsaw puzzles, and a review of Portable North Pole.

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Song of the Week -

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Anthony has kindly given both me and Marianna his cold so I'm currently typing through a fog that has nothing to do with the state of my glasses! I finally had my appointment with the doctor this week and basically told him that I felt like I was cracking up. They've switched my antidepressants over from 200mg of Sertraline to 20mg of Fluoxetine (the less loaded name for Prozac), so we'll see how it goes.

I got some stronger painkillers too because my back is still screwed. (It was a lot better, then I tripped over Marianna and fell down the stairs...) They haven't been that successful to be honest - it took me 15 mins to walk to the polling station on Thursday. I.e. the school which is two minutes from my house. At least it was worth it for the local result, but nationally...

We're living in a world in which Donald Trump and Boris Johnson, two men unfit to run a jumble sale, have been democratically elected. It's no wonder I'm manically depressed.

So, yeah, current affairs suck so I'm going to focus on finishing the KonMari process at home. Take control of your space, take control of your life. Hopefully!

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Deal of the Week -

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On the blog I posted a guide to Make It Pop dolls, lyrics sheets for the Welsh versions of Jingle Bells and We Wish You A Merry Christmas, a picture of my redone noticeboard, and a run down of five terrible prime ministers. On Thursday I just posted an election poster - not that it did any good, of course!

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Song of the Week -

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... aka, the inside of my head right now.

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Deal of the Week -

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On the blog I wrote about my five favourite board games, my top ten tips for starting a blog, an introduction to Fugglers, a guide to the Twinkle Toes Girls dolls, and 101 ideas for random acts of kindness.

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Song of the Week -

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I love the idea of random acts of kindness, but so many of the lists are full of things which would push me so far outside my comfort zone (free hugs, turning up unannounced on a stranger's doorstep with food they could hate / be deadly allergic to, you know the type of thing...) that it just totally overwhelms me. So I wanted to put together a list which concentrated on much more manageable, doable, and anonymous acts that could still make a real difference.

Where I've already written posts explaining the idea in more detail, I've simply linked them up here. :)

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★ Send a card. That link has plenty of organised schemes to help you out if you're not sure where to start.

★ Donate to your local foodbank.

★ Get yourself a reusable water bottle and help save the planet from waste plastic.

★ Support awareness days by wearing the colour, posting with the hashtag, buying the cupcake, or whatever else the desired action might be. You can keep tabs on upcoming days via sites like Awareness Days or Go-Givers.

★ Gender doesn't matter, be a gentleman and hold the door open.

★ Donate your old prescription glasses. Specsavers, along with thousands of independent opticians, have collection points for Vision Aid, a charity which distributes them across Africa.

★ Like - and share and comment. A little positivity on social media can go a long way.

★ Return your trolley, or even someone else's, to the collection point.

★ Send someone a care package. It could be someone you know personally, or via a scheme like Support Our Soldiers.

★ Leave a nice note in a library book.

★ And if you liked the book, review it on Amazon and / or Goodreads.

★ Don't want anything for your birthday or Christmas this year? (Or have the kind of annoying relative who insists they don't no matter how many times you ask?) Get charity donations in your name, or a present that will help someone else - eg. Good Gifts offer everything from toys for children in refugee camps to the planting of ten metres of hedgerow in the UK, plus a little keepsake as a thank you.

★ Take your unwanted stuff to a charity shop.

★ Clear your nearest footpath of snow / wet leaves / litter / whatever else might be blocking it at this moment in time!

★ Do you love to knit, sew or crochet? There are so many great causes looking for crafters, just check out all the info on it at Loving Hands and Making For Charity.

★ If you drive, stop for someone to cross the road, or let someone out at a junction.

★ Offer work(wo)men / sales(wo)men / post(wo)men / etc a hot or cold drink, depending on the vagaries of the British weather system.

★ Share your sweets. (Maybe even your last Rolo...)

★ Post your old mascara wands off to Plastic Freedom in Southport. They're sorted and redistributed to animal charities who use them for removing fly eggs and larva from animal fur.

★ Let your better half have a lie in.

★ Help out a noob on your favourite online game.

★ Channel your inner Greta Thunberg and use public transport.

★ Test your vocabulary with freerice.com; for every correct answer the World Food Programme will donate ten grains of rice to people in need.

★ Compliment a stranger - online or in person.

★ Save water. Turn the tap off when brushing your teeth, don't overfill the bath, and check out your water provider's website - chances are they offer a range of freebies like save-a-flush bags and tap inserts to help you in your quest.

★ Leave a few coins along the edge of a wishing well so others can make a wish.

★ Tidy up a neglected grave or memorial spot - it might be breaking someone's heart that they're no longer well enough to do it.

★ Give a busker some change.

★ Raise money for charity while you surf the net. If you use Chrome install the Tab For a Cause extension which raises money with every new tab opened, and on any browser you can use charity focused search engines like benelab, everyclick, and goodsearch.

★ If you find something that's missing, hand it into lost property.

★ Carry an extra pen so you can lend it out when needed.

★ Get involved with the kindness rocks project - paint a rock and leave it for someone to find.

★ Smile!



★ Donate your old towels and bedding to an animal shelter.

★ Go on a litter pick. Or just pick up the first piece you see and bin it.

★ Run (or walk) for charity - from fun run to marathon.

★ If you see someone snapping a group pic, offer to take it for them so they can be included.

★ Leave a positive message on a mirror - post it notes are your friend.

★ Talk to the shy one in the room.

★ Improve morale at work - an anonymous packet of good biscuits or decent hand soap in the loos can make a surprising difference.

★ Enjoyed the service? Tell the boss and / or write a positive review online.

★ Help secure the next scientific breakthrough - by donating your computer power. BOINC runs harmlessly in the background while you're browsing the net or streaming your favourite cat vids.

★ Offer shelter under your umbrella next time it rains.

★ Make your favourite person breakfast in bed - even if that's yourself!

★ Let someone go ahead of you in the queue.

★ Don't allow gossip to go unchallenged, if you've something nice to say - say it!

★ Help a small business out and buy local.

★ Write a letter to a soldier, or a prisoner, or anyone who could do with knowing somebody out there is thinking of them.

★ Give blood.

★ Play to your strengths - if you're tall, help someone reach the top shelf at the supermarket. If you're strong, help someone struggling with their bags. If you're tech savvy, give the person jabbing helplessly at the self serve a hand... You get the idea!

★ Put some loose change in the charity bucket.

★ Tell a special someone you love them.

★ Make a Morsbag and give it away.

★ Say thank you.

★ Take a deep breath and hold off posting that angry email / social media comment. You might think differently once you've had chance to calm down.

★ Give someone the benefit of the doubt.

★ Call home. Or, you know, a friend or family member.

★ Send someone flowers.

★ Help out the person short of change for their bus ticket / shopping / etc. Not only do you help them, you help the rest of your fellow humans by moving the queue along.

★ Hold the lift.

 ★ Compliment the chef.

★ Share your favourite story by reading it aloud for the net via LibriVox or similar. Or leave a copy of the book for someone to find. If you want to really go for it, you could set up your own Little Free Library.

★ Pay it forward at a cafe or other store.

★ Feed the birds.

★ Make someone laugh.

★ Like your local amenities? Use them or lose them. Okay, that sounded kind of harsh, but your local library, museum, community farm, etc, etc, rely heavily on footfall figures so why not pay them a visit and see what's new.

★ Leave a little extra change in a vending machine.

★ Offer to babysit.

★ Recycle!

★ Endorse a friend or colleague's skills on LinkedIn.

★ Become an organ donor. (Or, if you live in Wales, don't opt out of the system.)

★ Plant a tree. If you don't fancy getting your hands dirty check out online solutions like treedom, onetreeplanted, and ecosia which do the hard work for you - for free, in some cases!



★ Give up your seat on the bus / train / etc.

★ Leave a tip.

★ Signal boost a good cause.

★ Donate your used stamps for charity.

★ Forgive - even if you can't forget. Nobody learns anything from Cancel Culture, except to double down and deny their transgressions at all costs.

★ Do a favour without expecting one in return.

★ Go to a community event. Turnout is often less than stellar - especially if the weather sucks - so it will definitely make the organiser's day!

★ Listen - even if you have heard it all before.

★ Run an errand for someone.

★ Switch to energy saving bulbs.

★ Write a fan letter to your favourite writer, actress, singer, or whoever. If they inspire you, let them know.

★ Buy a raffle ticket.

★ Put the kettle on and make the teas.

★ Have some spare time you don't know how to fill? Check out Zooniverse and help with data classification for all kinds of research projects from improving eye health for diabetes patients to tracking the criminal careers of Australian prisoners between 1850 and 1940.

★ Make someone a mixtape - or, you know, a playlist.

★ Go visit a friend or relative.

★ Have a coupon, voucher, discount code, etc, you're not going to use? Give it away or post it online for the taking.

★ Sign a petition.

★ Donate raffle prizes, baked goods, etc to your next local fundraiser.

★ Take part in a Christmas gift appeal.

★ Give someone a lift.

★ Put your neighbours bins out - or put them back after refuse collection.

★ Sponsor a child.

★ If you spot a problem you can't fix it, report it rather than simply walk on by. This could be anything from notifying the police of dangerous behaviour through to telling the store assistant there's a slip hazard or tweeting the council about a flytipped mattress. You're not heaping pressure on, you're actually making peoples' jobs easier.

★ Local newspaper letter pages are always doom and gloom. Send them a letter outlining what you love about your area.

★ Adopt an animal... in one of those distance sponsorship packages.

★ Save a tree and opt for paperless.

★ Give yourself a break - you deserve kindness too.

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It's December 1st, and you all know what that means... advent competitions have started!! I'm trying to be more focused on stuff I actually want this year, but then I say that every year and still end up frantically going for all the low entry stuff I figure I might have a good chance of winning. Either way I'm going to be using the Competitions Database Advents Board as my starting point.

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Deal of the Week -

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On the blog I wrote a guide to Jakks Pacific G.I.R.L. Force dolls, tutorials for miniature craft paper packs and stickers, a review of personalised bottle labels, and a countdown of my five favourite Christmas carols.

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Song of the Week -

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The Christmas tree is up! I'm kind of loathe to have it done before December, but Marianna wanted it and we'll have to take it down quickly after xmas ready for her birthday so I relented. My collection of tree decorations now includes a metallic alligator in a tutu, retro style mini santas, and a rubber ducky in a Christmas hat. Kitsch, galore!

This week has been mostly school stuff. I had a meeting with Jane McCarthy from Estyn on Monday, then Tuesday was school governors at Maendy. I also had another meeting there this week, and we had Marianna's belated parents' evening. It was good to hear that she's playing well with the other kids, and is coming out of her shell a bit.

She's firmly on track for expected level +1 and, possibly, +2 which would be awesome. The most important thing is that she's enjoying school and loves going. :)

Other than that I've gone out as little as possible. I think Anthony's telling people I still have a chest infection, but I suppose it's easier to talk about physical stuff rather than mental. If it hadn't been for purdah I would have definitely had to be signed off sick for a bit. As it is, I'm hoping I can get my head sorted while there is not much on and be okay for 2020...

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Deal of the Week -

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On the blog I wrote a post about International Men's Day (November 19th), a guide to Bandai's Locksies dolls, and a Mini Mart review of Even Tinier store on Etsy. I also posted some scans of Anthony's various appearances in the newspapers this month and a review of Snatch app. For my Friday Five series I wrote about my favourite cryptids.

I've been carrying on with my refer-a-friend collection too. I've got 242 offers on my pinterest board now.

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Song of the Week -

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Marianna has been home all week, again, because the infected stye on her eyelid still hasn't cleared up. It's a lot better than it was though so it's back to school on Monday before we all lose our minds. Fingers crossed the other kids will refrain from poking it this time.

I haven't been able to get out much with Marianna home and grumpy, so I took the opportunity to start to Konmari my life. I don't think my folding is ever going to be up to Marie Kondo standards, but I really like the idea of having more control of my space and, ergo, more control over how I feel in it. So far I've piled up a third of my wardrobe and about a tenth of my books to get rid of.

Now I've just go to try and get to grips with the spare room...

In other news, Anthony is still binge watching Smallville. I'm not sure how much longer I can take it. Seriously, it's awful. I like the concept of it - young Clark meets Lex Luthor and shapes their future destinies - but the execution, ugh. The first season isn't so bad, disregarding the fact Tom Welling makes as convincing a 15-year-old as Olivia Newton John did a high school senior in Grease, but it just gets steadily worse.

My personal headcanon disregards everything after like S03:E09 as one of Lex's fever dreams in Belle Reve. (I mean, Senator Johnathan Kent? Really.) It wasn't stellar before that point or anything, but I thought Michael Rosenbaum did a great job in that storyline.

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Deal of the Week -

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On the blog this week I wrote an explainer of Purdah, a guide to ELLE Magazine dolls, a review of One Sixth Scale Props on Etsy, and my top catchy ad jingles for Friday Five.

I also reviewed the secret message advent calendar from Morse Toad. They have a fab Smile loyalty program which inspired me to get around to something I've been meaning to do for ages - updating my referral code Pinterest board. I have 150 discount codes on there at the moment!

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Song of the Week -

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The only Welsh language advent calendar I've ever seen was the kind with nothing but little pictures behind the windows. Cute, but not really destined to endear me to a chocolate obsessed four year old! And, I mean, sure I could make one myself from scratch but that requires the kind of organisation and forward planning that eludes me at the best of times, let alone in the run up to the Christmas.

I was psyched, then, to come across the perfect compromise: chocolate advent calendars with personalised messages.



The process was super easy. All you need to do is write a note to tell the recipient who it's from - in this case, llawer o gariad oddi wrth Siôn Corn (lots of love from Father Christmas) - then fill in the message you want spelled out in chocolate. The toughest part was coming up with something that exactly matched the number of available characters. Eventually I went with:

❤NADOLIG★LLAWEN★IAWN★MARIANNA❤

(Very Merry Christmas Marianna)



You get 30 characters as some days have double chocolate allocations. They are the 5th (character #5 + #6), the 6th (#7 + #8), the 15th (#17 + #18), the 19th (#22 + #23), the 21st (#25 + #26) and the 23rd (#28 + #29) in case you want to use any of them for Welsh's double letters - eg. the 'LL' in Llawen.

(As an aside, I went through my entire school career without working out how to consistently make that sound. It wasn't until my mid-20s that I came across the advice to press the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth and hiss. It really works!)



There are three different shipping options so I went for the mid-range 48 hour tracked. Our calendar arrived on Thursday, beautifully wrapped and ready for action. I love that it's kind of narrow, shaped to fit easily through a letterbox, and naturally we had to conduct a little taste test. For science. Thus I can confirm that the top notch Belgian chocolate definitely hits the spot.

Want to try it for yourself? The Morse Toad Secret Message Advent Calendar is available now for £12.95. Or, use the code CHOCPOST15BL to get 15% off, bringing the price down to £11.01. (Yeah, I totally just googled that...)

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Make sure to sign up to their Smile rewards scheme before you order too; you can earn 'gold toads' for purchases, following on social media, etc, which can be exchanged for free extras or discount coupons. :)

FIVE CATCHY AD JINGLES

TV advertising arrived in the UK in 1955 and the accompanying jingles have been burrowing deep into our brains ever since...


#5. Shake n' Vac

Glade's Shake n' Vac hit stores in 1979 though, thanks to strike action at ITV, the ad didn't make it onto screens until 1980. Jenny Logan reprised her role as the original Shake n' Vac dancer in 2010, but many others picked up the slack over the years. YouTube has ads from 1982, 1988, 1989, and way too many people conducting their own re-enactments!




#4. Club

Club launched in Ireland prior to WW1 and quickly won over Irish and British tastebuds alike. The 'if you like a lot of chocolate on your biscuit' jingle first aired in the early 1970s and in 2012, according to Wikipedia, it was voted the seventh catchiest jingle ever in the UK.




#3. Um Bongo

Nestlé introduced Um Bongo in 1983, expanding into Portugal in 1988 where it proved popular enough for Portugese company Compal to acquire the brand in 2003. There's now a full length version of the tune, complete with cool animated vid, though your chances of finding anybody drinking it in the Congo remain minimal at best!




#2. Milkybar

Nestlé's Milkybar, known as Galak across most of Europe, has been around since 1936. The Milkybar Kid was introduced in 1961 and has been extolling the goodness / good taste in the bar ever since...




#1. McDonalds

It's been off the air for decades but the 'Makes Your Day' campaign is still a classic. And hella catchy!





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We've just come back from the Remembrance Parade in Cwmbran. I usually go to the one in Pontnewydd, but because purdah (the pre-election period) has started I was asked to lay a wreath at Cwmbran on behalf of the council as my role as chair makes me technically apolitical. Anthony laid one at Pontnewydd as his charity (as chair of Cwmbran Community Council) is Pontnewydd British Legion.

Anyway, I had already told Marianna she could come with me this year so she was scurrying along to keep up with the march, bless her. I didn't realise the Cwmbran parade is like twice as long as Pontnewydd's! Still, she was very good and managed to keep quiet during the two minutes silence.

Purdah has been wrecking havoc on my entire diary, to be honest. Most of my meetings have been cancelled and we'll be gearing up for lots of leafleting in the next few weeks...

On the blog I've posted about Marianna's Santa Letter, a review of Helen's OOAK Miniatures on Etsy, a guide to Beautiful Blessings Dolls, my 2019 Children's Christmas Gift Guide, and Five Tragic Silent Starlets for my Friday Five series. I'm also running a giveaway for a Dr Who doll, check it out HERE.

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Song of the Week -

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Happy belated Halloween! Marianna felt brave enough to go trick or treating this year, so she dressed up as a skeleton witch and we went around ten or so houses. She didn't want to do anymore after that but, to be fair, she had already managed to amass half a carrier bag full of sweets. Then we went around to my mum's for a Halloween tea party. Marianna wasn't too sure about her costume.

Aside from that it's been a fairly quiet week. I've been laid low with cold/flu something awful so all the stuff I hoped to get done over half term is still waiting for me... Hopefully next week will be more productive!

I had some good news, blog wise, with the new Tots100 ranking putting me at #100. Let's hope I can keep it up! This week I posted a Halloween playlist for kids, my top five Halloween cartoons, a think piece about where this blog is going, and 30 Kids TV Shows of the 1930s.

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FIVE HALLOWEEN CARTOONS


#5. Swing You Sinners

I dunno what the Fleischer Brothers were smoking in 1930, but this was definitely the result of it!



#4. Minnie the Moocher

Betty Boop and Bimbo run away from home in 1932 then take significant amounts of those hallucinogenic drugs. At least that's my take on how they come to be serenaded by a ghost walrus while ghosts relive their experience in the electric chair...



#3. The Haunted House

Mickey Mouse gets more than he bargained for while sheltering from a storm! Released on December 2nd 1929, it reuses animation from The Skeleton Dance which had premiered that August.



#2. Spooks

Flip the Frog had his own turn in the haunted house in 1932. (Flip, all but forgotten today, was Ub Iwerks' first solo project after falling out with Disney in 1930.) The similarities run deeper than subject matter - Iwerks was the primary animator on Disney's The Haunted House and animated almost all of The Skeleton Dance himself.



#1. The Skeleton Dance

First of the Silly Symphonies series, Disney's The Skeleton Dance - released in August 1929 - is a masterpiece. (And creepy enough that the Danish censors banned it for being too macabre!)




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Halloween is one of my favourite times of year and the endless themed novelty songs definitely has something to do with that. So, here are 30 tracks perfect for your little ghouls and ghosties! (I've gone for lively and upbeat tracks for this playlist, the kind of thing a sugar hyped kid can get into even if they've never heard it before...)