Austin the Movie Star

I rented Zathura from Netflix a while ago, and finally had the time to watch it tonight. One of the lead characters, a little boy named Danny, is played by an actor named Jonah Bobo. Which name kept nagging at me, with me thinking, "Wow, that's familiar ..."

Yeah, yeah, it hit me just now. He's the voice of Austin! (In Canada and America, that is.)

So, if you want to see what the boy behind Austin looks like, get a copy of Zathura. Jonah's a cutiepie. If you're a parent, you'll want to just pick him up and cuddle him, he's so sweet. There's a section in the Zathura extras about the cast members, where you'll learn a lot about Jonah, too, if you're interested. Evidently they did quite a search to find just the right kids for the show, and very nice things were said about Jonah's acting ability. But then, we knew that already, didn't we?

Nick Jr. on Sprint PCS

Nickelodeon announced the launch of Nick Mobile on Sprint PCS phones, April 17. Sprint PCS customers will be able to download a "full range of video clips from Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. programming" according to the press release.

There will be short video clips, vignettes and music videos. The Nick Jr. music videos will be about two minutes long. The Nick Jr. clips will be from Dora, Blue's Clues, LazyTown, The Wonder Pets, and yes, The Backyardigans.

Some aspects of this are already available online at the Nick Mobile website. You can check out top downloads, buy wallpaper, ringtones and other items, or do a search to find your favorite character or show.Among the ringtones, the Backyardigans theme is one of the top downloads. The Tasha wallpaper is one of the overall top downloads.

(Interestingly, there are only three Backyardigan wallpapers. One of them is a generic logo, but the other two feature Tasha and Austin. Maybe they're finally figuring out that Tasha and Austin are loved just as much as Pablo, Tyrone and Uniqua?)

You don't have to be a Sprint PCS customer to download the wallpaper and ringtones from Nick Mobile. Be warned, though, that your phone might not be compatible with their system. You can check when you go to buy by scrolling down to the Phone Compatability section of the purchase page.

I am interested in how the Sprint downloads are. Do any of our readers have this? Can you share with the rest of us how it is?

Which Backyardigan are you?

I ran across this quiz and thought it was pretty cute.

What Backyardigan are You?
	I am Pablo! Which Backyardigan are you? Click here to find out.

Backyardigan Party Ideas

People are always asking where they can find Backyardigans party supplies. Sadly, they're still not available. There are people out there, however, who are amazingly talented and have been generous enough to share their good ideas. The links below will take you to various posts about staging a creative Backyardigans party, even without any official supplies.

Tinkermonkey at BackyardiganFans - "suggestion if anyone wants it -- we did a Backyardigans party in March ..."

sduverger68 at Nick Jr. - "Good Luck, I have looked HIGH & low for them so what I am doing for my sons second b-day ..."

Birthday Party Ideas at Nick Jr. - This whole thread is full of great ideas.

My Wife is Great (Duh!) - Skip down to the sixth paragraph for a description of a Backyardigans birthday party.

Nick Jr. Bookclub

This register coupon was handed to me with my receipt when I was at the grocery store the other day. It says:

Special offer on exclusive Nick Jr. storybooks
7 FREE NICK JR. BOOKS
PLUS A FREE BACKPACK
CALL 1-877-266-5745 NOW
Call now to get your 7 free books and
free backpack and 1 more book for only $3.99
plus free shipping and handling!

It seems to be the same offer as here. There is one Backyardigans book among the seven free books (Exploring We Go). It's being done through Scholastic Books, not through Nick Jr.

There was some discussion about this club on the Nick Jr. forum a while back if you want to get an opinion on it.

I find it interesting that they're advertising this through register coupons, though.

Backyardigan Band-Aids Pictures

Well, I finally found some Backyardigans Band-Aids for my children! Here are the pictures, since I know some people have complained that they can't find them, because they don't know what the packaging looks like. (Yes, that is my carpet.)

As the packaging states, there are 20 bandages, in two sizes. There are 10 larger size bandages and 10 smaller ones just right for wrapping around little fingers.




The Band-Aids do have pictures of all five Backyardigans. Unfortunately, I can't give you a detailed description of the bandages, because then I'd have to open them and they wouldn't be sterile any more.

My children are loving them, especially my youngest who has decided they belong to her and only her and tries to carry them around with her all the time. Which is why I'm keeping them out of reach!

DVD Review - Cave Party

I find it interesting that, with only two episodes having the word Party in their title, Nick Jr. wound up choosing both of those episodes to title DVDs. It must be some sort of marketing thing.

Cave Party follows the Backyardigans DVD pattern. Four episodes, one of them previously unaired on Nick Jr. The episodes on this DVD are:

• Cave Party - Tasha and Austin invite Uniqua, Pablo and Tyrone to come howl at the moon with them, and in the process, invent the party.
  
• Race Around the World - Austin is hoping to win his first gold medal, but he keeps coming in dead last against Tyrone, Uniqua and Pablo.
  
• Eureka! - Dinosaur bone hunting scientists, Uniqua and Tasha run into dusty prospectors Pablo and Tyrone.
  
• Castaways - Pablo, Uniqua and Tyrone think they're all alone on a desert island, but Austin is just too shy to let them know he's there.
  

Race Around the World was first aired on Nick Jr. three days after this DVD was released. It is a great episode. Set to zydeco music, it had me off my chair and dancing with my girls in no time! I loved it. It is my favorite Backyardigans episode ever.

The Special Features section again had just one feature, the music video "Go, Go, Go," from Race Around the World. I loved this video! Not only was the music fun to listen to, with a catchy tune that's still running around in my head, they did a great job of putting the video together. It's based on the episode, but short clips from other episodes are included (Castaways, Surfs Up, Viking Voyage, Eureka! and Quest for the Flying Rock.) I felt this video, with the additional clips, really captured the spirit of the Backyardigans and what I love about it so much. There's a real zest for life there, an excitement and enthusiasm that's simply irresistable.

The Previews section had the same ads as last time. The Great Dinosaur Rescue from Go, Diego, Go; Dora the Explorer's Pirate Adventure, Fairytale Adventure and Dance to the Rescue; Blue's Clues/Blue's Room Beyond Your Wildest Dreams, It's Hug Day and Alphabet Power.

New air date for Backyardigans fall season

Well, it seems they're not going to be airing the first of the new episodes in September, after all. A new press release from Nick Jr. gives October as the kick off date.

Very disappointing. Don't they know we're all waiting with bated breath? Come on, guys, I'm turning blue here!

The same press release has other interesting information, though. In talking about the music genres showcased by The Backyardigans, Brown Johnson, the Executive Creative Director of Nickelodeon Preschool Television listed Kenyan Highlife and Jug Band Music. Those must be genres used in two of the upcoming episodes, as they don't correspond to any of the 20 episodes aired so far.

I haven't heard of either of those types of music, so I'm looking forward to hearing them. Do any of you know anything about these genres? If so, enlighten the rest of us!

I'm back, I'm back!

So, we moved, and in the move the monitor got broken.

Hard to get online when you can't see what you're doing. You'd think, with all the time I've spent on this blog, that I could do it blindfolded, but no. It turns out I can't.

But here I am, with no plans to move at any time in the future. Ever.

I really hate moving.