Gotta Be Done - A Bluey Podcast

Spy Game (aka There Is No Kisser, Consent Is Everything)

From shoveling food into our children to it coming out the other end, Spy Game is the Bluey episode tackling all the issues close to our heart/daily horrors. 

We consider an international incident sizzling over trans-Tasman sausage skills, and all the features of New Farm Park in Brisbane that make this episode so very @bluey_locations friendly. Mary remembers a childhood full of useful passwords, and Kate needs a horticultural expert - are the jacarandas ever not blooming in that beautiful city??

Finally, we debate the origin of man - well, the origin of the one man who went to mow, at any rate. Wuff!

++

Gotta Be Done is ex-journos and Melbourne mums Kate McMahon and Mary Bolling, as we deep-dive on every Bluey episode, with plenty of detours into mama life, childhood memories, and everything else we're bingeing, too!

Follow us on Insta at @blueypod @marytbolling @katejmcmahon or on Twitter at @blueypodcast - and use #blueypod to join in.

Keepy Uppy (aka Unqualified to Parent with Ceiling Fans)

It's a new year, it's a fresh start - and dammit, we're not letting the 12 Days of Bluey go! Enjoy as we splutter our way through a recap of Australia's most favourite Bluey episodes as voted by you - and the fact that small children don't exactly share our excellent taste (RIP Bike). 

But the upside - an excuse for Keepy Uppy, which came in at #6 (not to get all mathematical on you, but that's practically top five). 

We consider all the different ways that balloon use can distribute bodily fluids around the house, and Mary gets conspiracy-theorist about how Big Plastic dreamed up balloon arches (what are they for?!) 

Plus so much Kate love for the true hero of this epic (and perhaps the true reason for the #6 spot?!), Lucky's Dad! It's great to be back!

++

Gotta Be Done is ex-journos and Melbourne mums Kate McMahon and Mary Bolling, as we deep-dive on every Bluey episode, with plenty of detours into mama life, childhood memories, and everything else we're bingeing, too!

Follow us on Insta at @blueypod @marytbolling @katejmcmahon or on Twitter at @blueypodcast - and use #blueypod to join in.

BONUS EP (aka Masterful Musical Bluey!)

So we're meant to be on a break (it's Gotta Be Done!), but Mary couldn't resist the chance to chat all things Bluey music, and hear a seriously smart takes on why it sings to us all. 

Dr Liz Giuffre is an expert in music and sound design in film and tv, and the University of Technology Sydney senior lecturer reckons she could write a whole book about the music in Bluey. (Please do!) She's also a mum who found Bluey through her daughter's tv habits, and is hanging on for dear life amidst a sea of truly terrible toddler viewing. 

Liz recently launched Bluey into academia with her paper about how the show uses music to help hook an adult audience, presented at the Children's Media Symposium on the Sunny Coast. Get ready to grapple with diegetic and non-diegetic music, leitmotifs and more - basically, a behind-the-scenes on how and why the Bluey score works on so many levels.

Okay, now we're really on a break - see you all in the new year! (Which happens to be when large Bingo plushies are finally dropping - Jan 24 people!)

++

Gotta Be Done is ex-journos and Melbourne mums Kate McMahon and Mary Bolling, as we deep-dive on every Bluey episode, with plenty of detours into mama life, childhood memories, and everything else we're bingeing, too!

Follow us on Insta at @blueypod @marytbolling @katejmcmahon or on Twitter at @blueypodcast - and use #blueypod to join in.

Verandah Santa (aka And to All a Good Night!)

SPOILER ALERT! We know every episode of Gotta Be Done is spoilers galore, but there's high risk you haven't actually seen Verandah Santa yet BECAUSE IT JUST DROPPED AT 6AM TODAY! (In Australia, that is - get ye to ABC iView, Aussies!) But if you have already done the early wake-up and delighted in this long-awaited Bluey Christmas episode, we invite you to strap yourselves in, kids!

It's the most wonderful time of the year - but if we're honest, Verandah Santa feels like a bit of a lone festive highlight amidst the shopping centre madness, packed schedules, and constant Santa-based threats we're doling out to our kids. 

Yep, the true meaning of Christmas can be hard to find, but of course Bandit and Chilli have a learning moment for all of us - even if we're struggling to see past their extreme seasonal decorating efforts.

Hope the season is a kind one for all our beautiful Gotta Be Done family, with minimal hits to the balls, and plenty of pavlova to go around! (Oh, and that the tunes are as good as Verandah Santa's Joff Bush-Emma Dean-Joe Twist-Jazz D'Arcy medly of perfection, too!) We'll be back to recapping in 2020, thanks for all the love and listens this year, and can't wait dive back in from January!

++

Gotta Be Done is ex-journos and Melbourne mums Kate McMahon and Mary Bolling, as we deep-dive every Bluey episode, with plenty of detours into mama life, childhood memories, and everything else we're bingeing, too!

Follow us on Insta at @blueypod @marytbolling @katejmcmahon or on Twitter at @blueypodcast - and use #blueypod to join in.

Fairies (aka A 6ft1 Fairy Named Gareth)

There's a new chaotic force on Gotta Be Done - but are fairies really to blame?? Gareth from Celtic Punkcast joins us in the wagon, and shares his Fairies wisdom on everything from building a fairy ring and knocking on wood, to Irish dancing, tunes, and more!

Not sure it reduces the confusion though - for Mary, this Bluey episode is up there with Donnie Darko for creepy unresolved plotlines, while Kate's spotting equally confounding chemistry between Heeler neighbours Wendy and Lucky's Dad!

The first of a few new voices to be getting on Gotta Be Done (even though taking turns can be difficult!), thanks for the fun Gareth - are you not entertained?! 

++

Gotta Be Done is ex-journos and Melbourne mums Kate McMahon and Mary Bolling, as we deep-dive every Bluey episode, with plenty of detours into mama life, childhood memories, and everything else we're bingeing, too!

Follow us on Insta at @blueypod @marytbolling @katejmcmahon or on Twitter at @blueypodcast - and use #blueypod to join in.

Blue Mountains (aka Googly Eyes the Peak of Parenting Organisation)

Okay, seriously. Has anyone ever organised a family event to the extent that they are up a mountain, with a picnic, and a picnic blanket, AND there's googly eyes and felt-tip pens for post-lunch games? We ask ourselves the question (the answer will shock you!)

Yep, it's Blue Mountains, and yet again, Chilli is over-delivering on both game-play and life-lessons. Can we ever compete?! (Luckily it's not a competition, unless the competition is to sneak Dad-insults into the narrative. In which case, game on!)

Plus, Mary shares some terrible parenting (lollies from a stranger, anyone?), Kate wonders if fairytale characters used to be a bit more black and white, and we appreciate the baddy-redemption narrative, despite the implications for stranger danger. It's a jungle/blue mountains range out there!  

++

Gotta Be Done is ex-journos and Melbourne mums Kate McMahon and Mary Bolling, as we deep-dive every Bluey episode, with plenty of detours into mama life, childhood memories, and everything else we're bingeing, too!

Follow us on Insta at @blueypod @marytbolling @katejmcmahon or on Twitter at @blueypodcast - and use #blueypod to join in.

Teasing (aka Peekaboo As Your Child's Worst Nightmare)

After a start that's more confusing than the name Sharalanda, we're away with some Teasing - or as Kate sees it, easy-games-to-play-with-kids 101! 

But when is it okay to tease your (our) kids, and when is it too much? Mary analyses the child development theory (or pop-psychology clickbait, you decide), and we wonder whether kids know what sarcasm is (duh, nooooooo!) Can Bluey-style teasing can actually build resilience? And, what are parents being belted for this week - being under-involved in kids' sporting activities, or over-involved? (Spoiler: we can't win!)

Plus, get on board in Kate's new obsession with Joe Brumm's hometown of Winton, via Total Control on ABC.  

Oh, and we completely forget to mention the score for this ep got Joff Bush nominated for an APRA-AGSC Screen Music Award. And it's awesome. Volume knobs up, people!

++

Gotta Be Done is ex-journos and Melbourne mums Kate McMahon and Mary Bolling, as we deep-dive on every Bluey episode, with plenty of detours into mama life, childhood memories, and everything else we're bingeing, too!

Follow us on Insta at @blueypod @marytbolling @katejmcmahon or on Twitter at @blueypodcast - and use #blueypod to join in.

Bob Bilby (aka The Hunt for Bingo Heeler)

Is Bob Bilby the most Bingo episode of Bluey so far? And why is it so hard to find a bloody Bingo on the toy shelves?? And why would schools think us parents want to spend a high-pressured weekend setting up snapshots of a bleeping puppet when we can barely get our kids to look good in a photo?! Especially when we've got five different Kmarts to visit looking for Bingo!

We're asking all the tough questions for this too-cute tale of screen-time perils (don't think we haven't noticed that you're making us watch it on a screen, Ludo!) - even the Heelers laundry layout is lined up for interrogation.  

Plus, why daycare drop-off has us forgetting our own names (in poetry form), where to find for-real-life Bob Bilby, and finally a piece of music-plus-animation that rivals Bluey for brilliance! (Well, technically it is Bluey - with some creative assistance from listener and genius Tim.) Enjoy! 

++

Gotta Be Done is ex-journos and Melbourne mums Kate McMahon and Mary Bolling, as we deep-dive on every Bluey episode, with plenty of detours into mama life, childhood memories, and everything else we're bingeing, too!

Follow us on Insta at @blueypod @marytbolling @katejmcmahon or on Twitter at @blueypodcast - and use #blueypod to join in.

BONUS EP (aka Plushies and Cookies and Books, Oh My!)

Like any great party, this episode is all over the place. 

You're going to be shouting "what did you say?" over the noise. (Sorry, new mics are on our Christmas wish list!)

There's a couple of really amazing outfits. (Hi Bluey, hi Bingo!)

Some random guy keeps relating everything back to movies. (The world of Bluey is just like Hurt Locker, Terminator, and Gremlins, according to Ludo Studio co-founder Daley Pearson.)

And when it's all done, there's always one annoying person who won't stop talking about it. (The party is the Bluey toys and books launch event, and that annoying person is Mary.)  

So, fill your glass as we take you into the throes of Bluey-mania at this Sydney soiree, and please be prepared for screaming. (Thanks for having us, Ludo Studio, BBC and ABC, Penguin Books and Moose Toys - and for chatting above the chaos, Daley and Charlie!)

(Also, here's the ABC Sydney program with James Valentine interviewing Joe Brumm. Enjoy the pristine sound quality!)

++

Gotta Be Done is ex-journos and Melbourne mums Kate McMahon and Mary Bolling, as we deep-dive on every Bluey episode, with plenty of detours into mama life, childhood memories, and everything else we're bingeing, too!

Follow us on Insta at @blueypod @marytbolling @katejmcmahon or on Twitter at @blueypodcast - and use #blueypod to join in.

The Adventure (aka Ooh, Ahh, I Lost My... Mainstream Education)

Everyone loves a good adventure, but have you ever been on one that involved Beyonce, Wonder Woman, and getting pulled out of grade three because of schoolyard rhymes? Well strap yourselves in kids, Gotta Be Done's take on The Adventure has it all!

Mary starts with a detour for Megan Washington worship (Take 5 episode and TEDx Talk included!) while Kate opens up about past tales of heroism (Raymond the Champion Farter, anyone?) We both wonder if the new generation of girl power fairytales are changing games in the playground, and can't believe Chloe's Dad's rookie drive-home mistake. 

It's great to be back after the week break, thanks for the week off folks - those damn electricity bills keep coming! 

++

Gotta Be Done is ex-journos and Melbourne mums Kate McMahon and Mary Bolling, as we deep-dive on every Bluey episode, with plenty of detours into mama life, childhood memories, and everything else we're bingeing, too!

Follow us on Insta at @blueypod @marytbolling @katejmcmahon or on Twitter at @blueypodcast - and use #blueypod to join in.