Happy Friday*, Blogmonauts!

Day 10 of Festive Finds: Happy Holidays Calendar reveals a pair of aeronautical friends, up and away in their beautiful bloon. Bloon is the canonical spelling, present in all Imaginary Friends Games file names, not because we can't spell, but because it makes us laugh.

Hot air balloons occupy that weird grey area of festive imagery in which certain things crop up on cards, gifts, wrapping paper and so on enough that they subconsciously worm their way into the seasonal landscape despite... well, I'm not exactly sure why frosty flights across winter wonderlands in hot air balloons is really a festive thing? I mean, I bet they look awesome from up there.

Neither Fay nor I have ever ridden a hot air balloon, but it is definitely on the list, especially if our balloon flight is crewed by a cool penguin and snowman team. We'd love to make a balloon game at some point (sorry, Fay corrects me here: Bloon game) - so maybe these fellows will make an appearance. I've got a ton of affection for Nintendo's Balloon Fight; not just because it's 1985 Nintendo doing Joust, and Joust rules, but also because, legend has it, Iwata san's momentum code written for Balloon Fight was the special sauce that Miyamoto san and his team added to Super Mario Bros. to invent good jumping in video games.

Hope you and yours are warm and cosy and winding down.

See you tomorrow!

Imaginary Friends Games

(Martyn: Balloon Fight fanboy & Fay,  bloon lover)

*If you're reading this on the day of publication - if not, consider this buffered up for next Friday.