The annual screening of the Wizard of Oz

As a child, my favorite movie by a large margin was "The Wizard of Oz". I grew up in Australia, and I think I was long confused about the "Oz" of the movie and my own country, often called "Oz" too. But it didn't really matter to me where it was, I just adored watching Dorothy (especially when she had her red slippers), the Lion, the Scarecrow and the Tin Man, dancing along down the Yellow Brick Road. Whenever I saw a path made of yellow paving bricks - and they were pretty common where I grew up - I would dance along this yellow brick road myself.

One of my mother's friends, who sometimes babysat us, must have had a soft spot for "The Wizard of Oz" too. It soon became a tradition that whenever it was shown on TV - about once a year, and of course we didn't have video recorders or DVDs back then, so we just had to wait until the TV network showed it again - she would come over and watch it with us.

We would all sing along to "Follow the Yellow Brick Road" and "We're Off to See the Wizard", but when it came time for Judy Garland's big solo, the room would be quiet. "Over the Rainbow" is one of my all time favorite songs, and today it's one of my favorite songs to play on the piano and sing along with. But the best time to hear "Over the Rainbow" is definitely when watching it in "The Wizard of Oz". That's a really happy memory for me.