The Good, the Bad and the Apple TV

Things were a lot simpler when I was a kid. I loved playing with my Lego and it was as simple as it could gt back then. The Lego dude in the black armour with the mean looking red dragons on its chest and shield was the baddie. The dude in the shining silver (well, actually grey) armour with golden lions on the breastplate and shield was obviously the good guy. Everything and everyone had its role or place.


So, on returning home last summer, I was delighted to discover that my mother had carefully stored away my Lego collection and was even more delighted to see my kids enjoying playing with them. My son was so impressed with his Daddy's 80's (and even some 90's) Lego that he even talks about it to this day even though I've bought him a couple of his own Lego sets. It must be the simplicity of it all. The good guys were clearly the good guys and the bad guys not only looked bad, they were clearly bad-ass.


These days, it's actually quite tough to explain things to kids. Wanting to immerse my kids in the world of Star Wars, I had planned to start from where Mr. Lucas himself intended the saga to start - from the newer Episode I but, after giving it some thought I decided on not doing so. I could only imagine WTF?!? expressions on my kids faces when I try to explain the issues going through a teenage Anakin's mind. Skywalker Senior's clearly one confused dude and his one minute good, one minute bad character and actions would certainly be too much for little children to process so, I stuck with little goody-two-shoes Luke's story first. They can watch Episodes I to III when they're bigger. Plus, I'm doing them a favour anyway by keeping them from the ultra-annoying Jar Jar Binks for as long as possible.

The same goes with cartoons on the telly these days. The good thing is there are gadgets like the Apple TV around. Having bought the thing so that I can enjoy movies in the comfort of my own home while saving a trip to the video rental store, I was pleasantly surprised by how addictive YouTube can be when viewed through the Apple device.


Not wanting to turn my YouTube watching time with the kids into a Barney fest of non-rhyming and annoying songs, I used the good experience with the Lego and thought of the cartoons that I used to watch when I was a kid. He-Man seems to be a hit with the kids and like the Lego, it was also so simple. More of the same please...