First today, another episode of Charlie and Lola – I Completely Know About Guinea Pigs. Lola and freinds are very excited about the guinea pigs at school. Lotta knows a lot of different types.
“And they like to hide in burrows of other animals.”
Lola is allowed to take the school guinea pig, Bert, home for the holidays. She thinks Bert looks like a girl.
She imagines all the things she might do with her new friend.
Their parents make a very elaborate run for Bert. I’m not sure I approve of the use of videotapes out of their cases.
But Bert escapes from the run, and they have to search to find him.
They try luring him with a carrot.
Bert runs and hides behind the kitchen cabinets. I really identify with this episode, as we had hamsters a couple of times, and they did occasionally escape, and our house is way more cluttered than Charlie and Lola’s flat.
Their dad dismantles most of the kitchen and can’t find Bert. (I’ve never had to do that, although once we had what was probably a rat crawling around in the cupboard under the sink, and I discovered that it had unscrewed the sink drainpipe.)
Lola hears squeaking, and they look, when Lola finds Bert – except he’s really small.
Then the find the actual Bert, and more of her pups, as it turns out Lola was right, and Bert really was a girl.
Media Centre Description: Children’s animation. Join Lola and Charlie, a brother and sister, as they deal with topics that affect their everyday lives. Mrs Hanson has chosen Lola to look after Bert, the class guinea pig, for the school holidays. Lola makes sure she knows everything about guinea pigs, or at least everything except for where to find him when Bert totally and utterly disappears.
BBC Genome: BBC TWO Tuesday 24 October 2006 07:00
The next recording opens with a trailer for Mondovino.
Then, the last episode of Journeys into the Ring of Fire in which geologist Iain Stewart travels the world, to some of the most volatile places on Earth.
He’s in Japan, where he wants to show how the geology of the country has affected the way people live. The islands are mostly mountainous, so the large population lives in the coastal regions, meaning there’s much less space for living. He visits an international lawyer who lives in a single room less than 5 square metres. “Compact and Bijou” he says, possibly quoting Fry and Laurie?
He shows us glacial valleys.
Mt Aso, where sulphur dioxide is bubbling off the hot magma.
Mount Sakurajima is one of the most active volcanoes on the planet, which can erupt up to 200 times a year.
Children in the nearby city have to have volcano drills.
There can be catastrophic flooding after heavy rainfall, so they’ve built huge canals which divert floodwater away from the city.
He gets to play a big drum. “Do you know ‘Scotland the Brave?'” he asks.
He visits Tokyo.
He tries out an earthquake simulator.
He looks at some of the engineering that goes into protecting buildings against earthquake damage.
He goes on a train powered by magnetic levitation (maglev).
He learns about etiquette.
He visits a Pachinko arcade, and posits that the popularity of pastimes like this are a result of overcrowding, meaning they can’t build football fields or golf courses as easily.
He visits a Haiku pub.
There’s a miniature garden on the 11th floor of a skyscraper.
In a technology museum, he looks at the first transistor radio.
Media Centre Description: Iain Stewart tours the perilous and spectacular landscape of the Pacific Rim to discover how the rocks beneath our feet have shaped human history. This edition finds him in Japan, a land of hostile mountain peaks which force the huge population onto a few overcrowded strips of coastal plain. This geological curse has affected everything from living space to etiquette and entertainment. Is the lack of space also behind the Japanese fascination for all things miniature?
BBC Genome: BBC FOUR Tuesday 24 October 2006 19:00
After this, there’s an advert for TV Licensing. Then the recording stops after a few minutes of the current affairs programme The World.
The last recording starts with a trail for Autumn programmes on BBC Four, and the trail for Mondovino. Then it’s a repeat showing for Journeys into the Ring of Fire.
BBC Genome: BBC FOUR Tuesday 24 October 2006 23:30
There’s a trail for Lead Balloon.
And a trail for The Haunted Airman.
Then the recording ends with the start of a documentary about the Hungarian revolution of 1956, Our Revolution.
VHiStory 