The beauty of language

Writing here on the blog gives me an opportunity that is really amazing. Before the internet this mass communication, this international mass broadcasting was impossible.
It is quite a revolution we take part in, the information highway people spoke of back in 1995 is really here and it is really vast.
For me porsonally, this gives me direct acess to the thoughts and feelings of another dad, living in the US with lots of similarities to my life. He also collects cars, hides them in a garage and he also has two sons, one of them with a disability.
I am very happy that this blog helped him find me and sharing things with him on email is an important way for me to deal with things around my son V. And my son A, as well.

So when I started to write in English, it was the right decision. This blog has always had more traffic from the US than from Sweden (Yes, even when I wrote in Swedish!) and since V has such a rare disease my hopes to get to know someone with something that looks a tiny bit similar to what he has, well the hope is bigger in the US, right?

My English isn´t very good, not all the time, I know that. And it makes me write a bit more selldom due to the larger effort it takes to first think, then translate, and then write.

But nevertheless this blog was a success for me when people emailed me from different parts of the world and told me something about their own children. Or their own car collections...

And I have always liked to read and write. I read my first word when I was 3 (according to my mom) and I read Roninson Crouse, the second edition, when I was about 8. Old difficult language. But what a freedom it was to be able to absorb all the stories out there!

And now. The irony. A son with so little language of his own. V knows a few words but almost all of them is a syllable in repeat: MA-MA. PA-PA. DI-DI, BA-BA (The last two is the names of two Babblare - toys made to help kids develop their speach)

But just the other day V took a giant leap. Well, to us it was.

We always read to V and A before they go to sleep. Lately he like to hear about "Mamma Mu och Kråkan" - that is somthing like "Mummy Moo and the Crow" a very funny series of books about the jolly Mummy Moo and the grumpy Crow. And then I tried with V.
- Say Mam-ma muuuu!
- Ma-mmma-mma
- Ma-Ma Muuu!
- Ma-Ma....Ma!

And then...
- Ma... Ma... Moooo!

Clearly two different words! Together. In a sentence!

The very first sentence!

***

I really really think you should listen to this episode of RadioLab ath WNYC - it is about words:

http://www.radiolab.org/story/91725-words/

November Blues for V

Last week I was filing a report. It was - as so many times before - a report about V and his disabilities. We are applying for some extra help. Assistance, you know.

V is quite a handfull. Sometimes it feels like I´m hurrying home from work just to start my next work. Get the kids from Daycare and School. Start cooking. Help V with his iPad (he loves watching Youtube-movies about trains, elevators and Teletubbies but Youtube laggs and buffers a lot and he simply hates that) finish cooking dinner. Feeding my kids, play som games with V, read some books, make the kids ready for bed and then read books before they go to sleep.

Some evenings my wife gets home early, and some evenings I work late. And I know, you are many out there, doing the same insane rituals. But believe me when I say that with a kid with a brain disability - it is a whole different ball game.

So we want help. Someone who can take V for some hours on a sunday. To go play outside, to the park, or just a ride with the bus (he really loves that).
It would be nice for me and my wife, we could relax, breath, recover a bit. But it would also benefit A a lot. We could care for him more, play with him without being interrupted every third minute by a scream or so. If you read my ramblings about the insane ritual above, you notice that I haven´t even mentioned A. That´s because he pretty much take care of himself. He is forced to do that.

So when I was filling in the application form the other night, making sure to put everything that V needs extra help with on paper, it all struck me as very sad.
"V has no friends of his own"
"V needs help and being looked after all the time"
"V har motoric difficulities"
"Although being 4,5 years old, V does not speak more words than dad and mom".

I cried.

Sometimes everything just hit you. And overwhelmes you. And you feel very very small. And that someone has treated you in a extremely unfair way.

But then I dried my tears. Tried to think about about all the good stuff V brought in our life.

And filled in the rest of the God damned application.

Finally some cars I really want!

It is dark now. Both here in Sweden, where the November darkness keeps us under it´s thick blankett. - This month is actually the darkest one since most of Sweden still has no snow.

But the darkness also keeps a tight grip on the Mattel Diecast Cars right now. It has been really a long time since any interesting cars has been released.

Until now!

I´ve place a bid on e-bay on these two beauties!

On my wish list this year - The Team Chiefs I miss:

• #2 Bruce Boxmann
• #4 Otto Bonn
• #5 Petro Cartalina
• #7 Mach Matsuo
• #8 Cruz Besouro

So please Santa! Please me!

Another Disney Pixar diecast car I did not really need (but somehow bought anyway) - Maurice

But it was so shiney. And red! And shiney! And also: I found it on the Amsterdam airport!

A car found in another country on a small toy store is a bargain whatever the price, it is almost like an adventure to go abroad to collect cars! So who cares Maurice is a car in a theme that I do not care for (Palace Chaos) and who cares I do not know anything about the car or the character. It was a new car that I did not already have and it was in Amsterdam, Holland, and it was only 10 Euro! Well only... it WAS 10 Euro...

Mama Topolino - looks not at all like Susie the Little Blue Coupe

First I thought that Mama Topolino was another way Pixar made a small tribute to great works before.
Like they did when Lightning McQueen got the number 95 because the first Pixar Movie, Toy Story, was released 1995. And like they did with all the great racers like the King (same number and car as Richard Petty). And tons of other references that fills the films.
So when I got a close look in this nice diecast, I was pretty sure I´ve seen it before.

The car may resemble a 1963 Renault Dauphine but I thought it was a tribute to the old Disney Car Susie The Little Blue Coupe.

Susie is important for the Cars movie. Originally Susie become famous starring a 8 minutes Disney short film back in 1952. But according to the wikipedia page of Cars, Susie was the inspiration with a capital I:
"From the very beginning of this project, John Lasseter had it in his mind to have the eyes be in the windshield. For one thing, it separates our characters from the more common approach where you have little cartoon eyes in the headlights. For another, he thought that having the eyes down near the mouth at the front end of the car feels more like a snake. With the eyes set in the windshield, the point of view is more human-like, and made it feel like the whole car could be involved in the animation of the character."

But Mama Topolino was no look-a-like to Susie.

 

So no tribute there. But reading some more about the car I found out that:
Topolino is a tribute to the Fiat 500 "Topolino" as well as a Disney in-joke: Topolino ("little mouse") is Mickey Mouse's name in Italian.

See. This is what I like so much with Lasseter and Pixar. Nothing just happens. Everything has a reason. Or more than one.

New Car - Mama Topolino!

Unboxing this beauty soon.

Brent Mustangburger - New Diecast! And another one...

As for the info from Disney Pixar Wika there is one fact that stands out:

My latest find in the local toy store!

Darrell Cartrip and Brent Mustangburger.
They come together in the Cars 2 Movie Moments 2 pack:

Darrell Cartrip is the TV commentary southern gentleman and ex champion car from Cars who gives the race a voice together with Bob Cutlass.

The car is a 1977 Chevrolet Monte Carlo and the flames are irresistable.

According to the Pixar Wika-page "Darrell is based on the real life NASCAR Champion driver Darrell Waltrip, who currently works as a television race commentator for Fox Broadcasting and Speed TV."

He also has a catch phrase in the movies: "Boogity, Boogity, Boogity! Let's go racing boys!"
Does anyone know if Darrell Waltrip uses the same in real life?

The main reason I bought this 2 pack was not because of Darrel Cartrip, I already got that one. But when you look at the one I got and this new one you could understand why I still consider myself a bit more happy with the new Darrell:

The mouth is a legendary bad job in the Disney Pixar Diecast-scene. So no more Clown Cartrip for me!

As for the other car, Brent Mustangburger (what a bad name that is!) - he is a real shiny and fresh looking fellow!

• Brent is based on, voiced by and named after ESPN/ABC sportscaster Brent Musburger. 
• Brent Mustangburger is a reporter for the RSN (Racing Sports Network), which appeared prominently in Cars.
• Brent is a 1965 Ford Mustang Coupe.
• His licence plate is BWM539. It represents the initials and the birthday (May 1939) of his voice actor, Brent Woody Musburger.
• The die-cast model of Brent has brown eyes, although Brent Mustangburger himself has green eyes. 

Yes of course I mean the last one. GREEN eyes! O boy! No wonder they changed it to brown. Green Eyes...

Well... I leave you with the fine lines of a 1965 Mustang. What a car!