Tonight's post is called 'The end of an era' for two reasons. Firstly because today marks the end of my 30 days of Blog challenge that I have been undertaking this past month thanks to Tonia Brown, and secondly, because, sadly, another popular figure from my childhood has today been identified and convicted as a child molester.
I remember well, growing up, watching Rolf Harris appear on many popular light entertainment shows as an entertainer, singing such memorable songs as 'Jake the Peg', 'Tie my kangaroo down, Sport', and of course the ever classic 'Two little boys,' which now, in hindsight, takes on a much more sinister meaning. As I grew older, he was the star of Rolf's Cartoon Show, which came on every evening at the end of the kids hour, and which introduced classic pieces of animation from the likes of Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd et al, while he drew the characters and placed them in a funny little ace e which he would then present to the viewers at the end.
In more recent years, he carved out his own little niche as an artist, at one point even being commissioned to paint the queen, and hosted the show, Animal Hospital which followed the adventures of a small veterinary practice.
Everybody knew his name, many more his face...and to many, he was just an eccentric old man with a peculiar sense of humour whose catchphrase, 'can you tell what it is yet?' could still be heard repeated, decades after he had first spoken it out loud.
When claims emerged that he might be a kiddy fiddler, I was very dubious. Turns out I was wrong. Today a jury found him guilty on 12 counts of child abuse.
I'm struggling to keep my eyes open right now, I'll continue this post with more thoughts tomorrow...after a very busy week last week, I think I need some sleep!
Sparky
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