Ice Cream Oozes from Within...

(I read an article that says the latest research shows that kids seem to do best when they watch no TV before the age of two. As in zero. None. So I might be killing a few of His Highness's brain cells here. Hope he has some to spare.)

I try to minimize the TV due to my own TV zombie tendencies, but His Highness and I do watch a little bit on occasion. Here in Lompoc we have the phatty-phat-phat digital cable package, with On Demand & everything, and I feel a self-imposed duty to take advantage of it while we can. I mean why not, right?

Anyhoo, our favorite show is Kipper the Dog. This is one of my favorite kids' shows of all time. It's based on a series of books by a British guy with a fantastic pen name: Mick Inkpen. At least I think it's a pen name; either way it is one of the best last names ever. The show follows the ordinary life adventures of Kipper and his friends--Tiger (who looks like a schnauzer), Pig (a pig), and Pig's little cousin Arnold (possibly a Green Acres reference?). They do things any kid might do--play in the park, put on a magic show, and sail boats in a pond, to name a few...

My favorite episode departs from reality a bit. It starts with the four main characters walking home from a fair. They're all carrying balloons, talking about their favorite attractions. They stop at a park bench, and while they're getting situated Arnold is carried away by his balloon. He floats up & over to a fantastic candy mountain, and docks the balloon to have a look around. There are little "volcanoes," for lack of a better word, where ice cream bubbles up & oozes out...which he scoops up with a stalactite cone and proceeds to eat while he bounces around on marshmallows, walks thru chocolate puddles, and jumps across a candy path. Meanwhile Kipper, Tiger, & Pig resolve to rescue Arnold, and have to get more balloons from the fair so they can float the park bench enough to go after him. To be honest, I was a bit jealous of Arnold--I wanna have ice cream in a stalactite cone from a candy mountain! I won't give away the ending, but it's quite an adventure for all.

The first time I saw this particular episode I felt a little troubled. After seeing the characters do such normal things as swimming and exchanging Christmas gifts I had trouble suspending disbelief when it came to floating away on helium balloons and eating pieces of mountain.

Then I remembered I was watching a show about talking dogs & pigs who walk upright and wear swimsuits & goggles to the pool...