"They're 2, they're 4, they're 6, they're 8
Shunting trucks and hauling freight,
something something something do,
They're the Really Useful Crew!"
I just read some posts on my friend Jamie's blog (http://roominroppongi.blogspot.com/) and in one of them she quotes lines from a Thomas the Tank Engine song to which (I assume) her 2-year-0ld son listens incessantly.
I don't know that particular song, but reading the blog reminded me of the bits of the song I do know, which is the theme song. Jack, a 2-year-old for whom I frequently babysit, adores Thomas and engines. As you'll see above, I don't remember all of the lyrics. It's a catchy little tune, though, sung by English children with charming little accents. The thing I don't get, though, is that it's narrated by an American. And some of the books use English jargon and some of them use American jargon. Trust me, I've read enough of them (to Jack, who can probably recite them from memory) to notice.
What is it about Thomas? And engines? And trucks? Jack loves them all. When he wakes up screaming in the middle of the night, all he wants to do is "play engines." As you can imagine, that doesn't fly very well with me at midnight. He sure is cute, though, puttering about in his mini-Tevas (he loves to wear shoes!) and chanting in his husky 2-year-old voice, "shunting twucks and hawing fweight!"
I haven't seen Jack for awhile. I usually watch him on Wednesday nights but the last two weeks I've had work events. Last Wednesday was a seminar on rain gardens and tonight I was at a foodie event in Lincoln Park. 20 big-time chefs grilled at the Green City Market. It's a tough life, suffering for Jesus and changing the world through journalism!
2 comments:
Hey Stephanie, I might have to take a crash course in all things Thomas from you when we get back...though Koji is seriously obsessed, with the exeption of a couple of DVDs, all the Thomas we watch is in Japanese. So I'm not sure if I've even heard the theme song you quote here; thus my reference to catching up! I'm sure that Koji is just getting started with this. So even though he's a little young, I'm thinking of taking him to a limited edition summer only "Thomas Theatre" show in the next couple of weeks. Maybe we should get Koji and Jack together?!
"all the Thomas we watch is in Japanese"
lol. I guess that supports my theory that they dub over the original British episodes, whether they be in American English or Japanese!
Yes, I'm sure Jack and Koji would get along splendidly. Does Koji have the set of engines and the wooden tracks (with the expansion)? I can never manage to make the tracks end up coming together. Incidentally, Norm (of Norm & Tosha) introduced Jack's parents to one another long ago, so they're old friends and it's feasible you've met them (and him).
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