Before I get into more RETRO-AWESOMENESS, I wanted to mention that I think most of you are aware that I am a librarian (if you were not, now you are! Hooray, libraries!). A librarian is not a babysitter or a replacement caregiver. It concerns me when people think that the library is responsible for what their children read. That's called parenting and isn't something I'd be very good at.
The university where I received my master's degree has recently come under fire for supporting local librarians in their fight against the removal of some materials from the young adult section of the library. The amount of hate in the world makes me sad.
Thus, RETRO-AWESOMENESS!
First of all, in the spirit of libraries and reading, I present... old-skool Reading Rainbow theme song!
The Boyfriend and I were talking today about particularly excellent episodes of Reading Rainbow. I like the one with the book about the farmer in Mexico who was plowing and then... plowed up a volcano! Oh noes! I think it's called Hill of Fire. That was a good one. I also geeked out over the episode on the starship Enterprise. It might've blown my mind a little bit that Lt. LaForge was also LeVar. HOLY COW!
Reading Rainbow was so cool.
Another program I adored as a kid was Dot and the Bunny. Dot and the [thing of the week] was an Australian TV show that I didn't actually realize was a series until thirty seconds ago. My parents had a free trial of HBO at some point during my early childhood and taped Dot and the Bunny for some reason. I have seen this about 23,875 times and until this evening thought I'd dreamed the whole thing up because nobody else I've spoken to has ever heard of it.
In this particular episode, Dot wanders into the wilderness in search of a joey after a mother kangaroo asks for her help. It's a weird combination of live-action and animation, and is the reason I know the song "Waltzing Matilda." Dot sings a lot of songs and makes animals cry (she might also cry herself, there's a lot of crying in this one), before living happily ever after. I thought it was the greatest movie ever.
I also really dug Square One. Square One was all about math. Apparently watching television shows about math does not make one good at it, because I am math-stupid.
Most of the reason I liked Square One was because of...
MATHNET! One time, Kate Monday broke her leg! Remember? Remember? I felt so bad for her! I think Mathnet was its own show, and they only showed little five-minute recaps at the end of Square One. The first time I saw Dragnet, I thought they were ripping off Mathnet. Oh, silly child.
Then there is 3-2-1 Contact. I remember singing the theme song on my swingset. It was probably really annoying for my neighbors. I'm pretty sure I didn't watch the rest of the show, but this was on after Square One and I really liked the song.
Catchy!
Clearly, I was only allowed to watch PBS as a child. That's probably good. I spent a lot of time outside. On the swingset, playing Mathnet.
7 comments:
Mathnet! I remember that. I'm also math-stupid, so apparently it didn't rub off on me either.
I loved 3-2-1 contact. I even wrote away for one of their little mailer kits. Remember those? At the end of every episode they had an address you could write to for more information on the topic. The one I got was about racial tolerance. I could never resist anything I could get free in the mail.
You know, I do vaguely remember that. I don't think I ever wrote away for any of the stuff, but I'm sure I wanted to. :)
I have to tell you something, I LOVE YOU! Thank you, thank you, thank you. First off, I love libraries and librarians. I think I should have become one considering I love books and have a passion helping others and introducing others to great books. OK on another note, while I have NO IDEA how I would be as a parent, I am a mighty fine nanny. This comes from having 8 nieces and nephews and constantly caring for children throughout my life. Babies just like me more than other adults. Anyway I'm currently taking care of a 10 mos old who has SEVERE separation anxiety, after 7 weeks she finally stopped crying for most of the time we are together, and I'm her favorite person outside of her parents. She literally won't let other people hold her. So in the long hours while the only thing that keeps her happy is me reading stories over and over (which secretly entertains me too, yayy for awesome children's books) and singing I've been desperate and sang any song I can remember from childhood. Yesterday I started singing the Reading Rainbow theme and today I came on here and saw this blog and then read this, "I also geeked out over the episode on the starship Enterprise. It might've blown my mind a little bit that Lt. LaForge was also LeVar. HOLY COW!" THAT EPISODE BLEW MY MIND TOO! I loveddd it, it's one of the only ones I can remember. So thank you so much for bringing that up and for highlighting those other awesome shows. I think our generation watched a lot more PBS than generations after. I still to this day LOVE Sesame Street with every fiber of my being. One of my dream jobs would be to work on Sesame Street. Now that I think about it though I think I was made to be a host on Reading Rainbow, I enjoy reading to kids so much it's a little sad. O well... one day I'll find my calling
Wow.
3-2-1 Contact was friggin' awesome. How have I forgotten about it all these years?
@Natalie - I'm so jealous of people who are good with kids. I like them, and I have more in common with them than other adults, but I'm very awkward around children. As long as they're happy I'm fine, but they get upset and I'm like, "AGH! WHAT DID I DO?! I BROKE HIM/HER!" It's not good. Also, I wanted to be a muppetier for a loooong time. I think it would be a hilarious job. Sesame Street clips deserve their own post, I think. :)
@KP - 3-2-1 Contact was pretty awesome. I should try to find actual footage of an episode, rather than just the theme... I can't remember much else about it!
I'm making my kid watch only PBS for the first 5 years of his life. More than five years would be too much as he might turn into a dork. I didn't watch Square One. Probably because I hated math.
Reading Rainbow was the best. So was Polka Dot Door, but you may be too young to remember that one.
I definitely learned things from PBS, but math isn't something I can learn through a television, apparently. I did learn a lot about books! I never watched the Polka Dot Door, but for some reason it sounds very familiar. Maybe it was on when I was really young!
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