Whine and Cheese

I've had several emails and comments this week that suggested I needed to take a look - soon, very soon - at a couple of artists who I haven't yet covered. "Where is Ralph's World? Where is Lunch Money?" you asked.

Well, I'm happy to report that a copy of Lunch Money's Silly Reflection CD is on the way to me right now. And I will review it very soon.

As for Ralph's World, that's another story. I've been putting off Ralph for a while. One reason is that it would be hard to write about Ralph Covert without talking about the Bad Examples, his grown-up band that dates back to the late 80's. I loved the Bad Examples. And I still do. We have a copy of their album Meat on cassette. My husband saw them play live in Iowa City in 1987. Their album Bad is Beautiful is one of my favorites. Ralph Covert and I....we go way back.

So I've been avoiding Ralph's World like crazy. Until today, I think had successfully dodged ever hearing a single note of a Ralph's World song. I like Ralph Covert the way I know him, thank you very much. Why mess with such a good thing?

Also, the Bad Examples' music is a grown-up thing that belongs to my husband and me. Maybe I'm a little reluctant to share that with my kids. Kind of the way you don't want them to eat the good cheese, so you give them Kraft slices or cheese cubes and keep the Gouda and Havarti for yourself.

But I need to listen to Ralph's World, don't I? I need to share my good cheese. Because I'm beginning to think that no conversation about children's music will be complete without mentioning Ralph. I've just been so worried that his children's music won't be as good as I would want it to be or expect it to be. I was worried it would be like Cheez Whiz - cheese product, as we call it around here, instead of actual cheese.

Well, today I finally got up the nerve to check out the Ralph's World site. I saw some videos there and heard some songs. I really liked "We Are Ants". I went to Amazon to hear more sound samples. All of what I heard sounded so much like the Bad Examples. Like fine cheese. I'm not sure why, but I was very surprised by that.

So I will be listening to some Ralph's World and reviewing some CD's. I may even enjoy them with a glass of Merlot. Soon, very soon.

Chicka Chicka Check This Out

When our oldest son was first learning his ABC's, our favorite alphabet book was "Chicka-Chicka Boom Boom", a catchy, rhythmic story about all the letters of the alphabet trying to fit atop a coconut tree, then all tumbling to the ground. It's one that I always enjoyed reading, and one that never failed to entertain my son.

So I was excited when the sequel - "Chicka Chicka 1, 2, 3" - came out in 2004. And now I'm even more excited. Both of these award-winning books have been adapted to music and video, and are available on DVD from the Scholastic Video Collection.

The DVD Chicka Chicka 1, 2, 3...and More Stories About Counting includes three other stories, "If You Made a Million," "How Much is a Million?" and "Millions of Cats." (These are strangely appropriate this week, with the news about Warren Buffett donating his fortune to several foundations. I watched the press conference on this yesterday with my son, and wow, what a "teachable moment" that was!) All stories stay true to the original books, with eye-catching visuals and dramatic narration. "Chicka Chicka 1, 2, 3" is the only story-turned-animated-music-video, but the other stories include subtle background music that complements the narration.

This DVD is also available in the Chicka Chicka 2-Pack (Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and Chicka Chicka 1, 2, 3). Both were released Tuesday.

The Scholastic Video Collection offers many other great book-to-video adaptations, including favorites such as "Bark, George!" and "Corduroy." Two recent releases that we have enjoyed are The Dot...And More Stories to Make You Feel Good and I Love You Like Crazy Cakes...And More Stories About Families. All three stories on The Dot DVD celebrate creativity, which meant they went over extremely well in our home.

"I Love You Like Crazy Cakes" tells the true story of author Jane Dyer's journey to China to adopt her daughter, and it's narrated by the lovely Mia Farrow, who herself has adopted many children from overseas. Scholastic's treatment of this story is simply beautiful. The DVD includes other stories about families, including "Five Creatures," which was a favorite here.

One of my favorite parts of these DVD's is Scholastic's opening sequence. Curious George, Harold and his Purple Crayon, and characters from "Where the Wild Things Are" and numerous other classic children's books appear, gathering in front of a movie screen in the forest to "watch" a story. Also, all DVD's have a read-along bonus feature, so you can choose whether or not you would like to have the words shown on the screen.

Of course, these video adaptations are no substitute for actually sitting down and reading to your children. But there are times when you need some audio-visual childcare assistance, and these stories beat Sponge Bob cartoons by a mile.

Nobody Crosses Barbara Walters!

Star Jones Reynolds quit "The View" yesterday. On the air. I thought it was all planned in advance, and that the other co-hosts were acting surprised. But it turns out that even Barbara herself didn't know Star's resignation was coming yesterday. And that is why this morning, Star Jones Reynolds was erased from "The View". See here for video from Best Week Ever.

Barbara knew this resignation was coming, though. In fact, it was one of those "we'll give you a chance to quit...before we fire you" things. But Barbara didn't like how it all went down, from the surprise on-air announcement to the interview Star gave to People magazine. So instead of going along with Star's announced plan to continue on the show into July, Barbara unceremoniously dumped her. Overnight.

Star who?

What a Myers-Briggs dilemma this will be to try to assemble a new group of five women who will spend an hour together on live TV each day without imploding. Again, should they call me, I will pass.

The Big List of Children's Music

Updated July 10 2007. Again, welcome NPR visitors! The list below hasn't been updated in a few months, but you can find my latest music reviews here, and my list of 20 Kids' Albums for Parents Who (think they) Can't Stand Kids' Music. While you're here, be sure to check out the main page. Thanks for stopping by!


Since the music reviews on this site are scattered among various other topics, I've organized them in one nifty place for easy reference. I'll keep this in the sidebar so it's always easy to find, and I'll update it frequently so new reviews are included.

Below is a complete listing - with links - of all my children's music reviews, and other posts about children's music or certain artists. Some are not reviews at all (like my post on Girl Authority), but I've included them so you know where I stand on such things. These are organized alphabetically by artists' names. If you're looking for a certain artist or album that is not listed below, be sure to check Zooglobble, where you'll find much more of a completist approach to the children's music genre (and less rambling about The View or American Idol).

AudraRox
Review of I Can Do it By Myself!

Baby Loves Jazz
Review of Go Baby Go!

Beethoven's Wig
Mini-review of Beethoven's Wig 3 here

Parker Bent
Hey Kids, Get Bent: Review of I Am Your New Music Teacher

Laurie Berkner
Dear Laurie Berkner: Initial Observations

Jamie Broza
And Now For Something Completely Different: Review of My Daddy is Scratchy

Charity and the JAMBand
This Mom Will Rock Your Socks Off: Review of Rock Your Socks Off
Parenting: An Artistic Life: Guest post from Charity Kahn

Daddy-a-Go-Go
Rawk Out: Review of Eat Every Bean and Pea on Your Plate

Dev2.0
Dev2.0 Guest Review

Ellen and Matt
New Music Monday: Review of Best Friends

Frances England
Frances Rocks: Review of Fascinating Creatures

Erin Flynn
Nursery School Funk: Review of Dreamers of Dreams

Erin Lee and Marci
Review of Snowdance!

Farmer Jason (Jason Ringenberg)
Anarchy in the Pre-K: Review of Rockin' the Forest with Farmer Jason

Rebecca Frezza
Season to Taste: Review of Tall and Small

Jim Gill
Deja Vu, Mr. Gill: Review of Moving Rhymes for Modern Times

Girl Authority
She Bop: Thoughts on Girl Authority

Greasy Kid Stuff
Rockin' the Suburbs: Review of Songs from Inside the Radio 1 and 2

Monty Harper
Reading Rewards: Review of Paws, Claws, Scales and Tales

Ginger Hendrix
The Other Hendrix: Review of Macaroni Boy... at Cool Mom Picks

Eric Herman
Review of Snow Day!

Sam Hinton
Better Late Than Never: Mini-Review of Whoever Shall Have Some Good Peanuts

The Hipwaders
Get Hip With the Hipwaders: Review of The Hipwaders

The Hollow Trees
Unplugged: Review of The Hollow Trees

Hullabaloo
Donny and Marie Said it Best: Review of Sing Along With Sam

Jack Johnson
The Best Week Ever for Kids' Music (Curious George soundtrack discussed)

Kaleidoscope Songs
Mini-review here

Mary Kaye
Spin Your Web reviewed at Cool Mom Picks.

KidzBop
The Best Week Ever for Kids' Music (discussed, not reviewed)
Kidz These Days and Their Crazy Music: Review of KidzBop 10

John Lithgow
Review of The Sunny Side of the Street

Lisa Loeb and Liz Mitchell
Lisa, Lisa: Review of Catch the Moon

Milkshake
Review of Play!

Mr. David (David Alexandrou)
Great Adventures in Music: Review of The Great Adventures of Mr. David
also reviewed at Cool Mom Picks

Elizabeth Mitchell
Better Late Than Never: Mini-Review of My Little Bird
also reviewed at Cool Mom Picks

Open Season Soundtrack (Paul Westerberg)
I've Been Replaced

Princess Katie and Racer Steve
Don't Try This at Home: Review of Songs for the Coolest Kids
also reviewed at Cool Mom Picks

Purple Stripes
Purple Stripes and Assigned Reading: Mini-Review of Self-Titled EP

Putumayo Kids
Get Your Feet Wet: Review of Folk Playground

The Quiet Ones
British Invasion: Review of Let's Make Some Noise

Raffi
Mini-review of Quiet Time here

Ralph's World
We Took Our Kids to a Rock Concert Last Night: Review of Live Show
Whine and Cheese: Thoughts on Ralph Covert and Ralph's World

Justin Roberts
Neptune and Uranus Should Hardly Detain Us: Review of live show/Not Naptime
She's Having a Meltdown: Review of Meltdown!

Kid Pan Alley
Kid Pan Alley: Nashville reviewed at Cool Mom Picks

Lunch Money
Silly Reflection reviewed at Cool Mom Picks

Brady Rymer
Mentioned here
Review of Every Day's a Birthday coming soon!

The Sippy Cups
Kids Rock for Peas reviewed at Cool Mom Picks

SteveSongs (Steve Roslonek)
Let's Just Call Him Steve: Review of Marvelous Day

They Might Be Giants
They Might Be Fabulous: Review of Here Come the ABC's

Trout Fishing in America
Fish on the Menu
Review of My Best Day

Uncle Rock (Robert Burke Warren)
Review of Plays Well With Others at Cool Mom Picks
An Interview with Uncle Rock

Various Artists/Compilations
All Together Now: Beatles Stuff for Kids of All Ages
The Bottle Let Me Down
Bright Spaces 2: Reviewed at Cool Mom Picks
Martha Stewart Baby
Don't Be Ridiculous: My Thoughts on classical music for kids
High School Musical: Discussed here and here
You Don't Know Jack: Review of Jack's Big Music Show on Noggin
Mary Had a Little Amp
For the Kids. Or Maybe Not: Thoughts on Mother Goose Rocks
Old Town School of Folk Music Songbook Volume 1

Wee Hairy Beasties
Review of Animal Crackers

Wilson Lake and the Rock Bass
Toledo Rocks: Review of Wilson Lake and the Rock Bass
Pirates of Ohio: Guest Post from Tom Jackson

Carnie Wilson
Please Pass the Estrogen: Review of A Mother's Gift

Yosi
All You Can Eat: Review of What's Eatin' Yosi?

Dan Zanes
Dan Zanes, I'm Ready: Initial Observations
Catch of the Day: Review of Catch That Train!
An Interview with Dan Zanes
The Full Report: Dan Zanes and Friends in Concert

For the Kids. Or Maybe Not.

Yesterday, I found myself in Borders' bookstore by myself. BY MYSELF! What an unusal circumstance. So after browsing the bestsellers and talking myself out of buying Ann Coulter's new book, I strolled over to the kids' music section and did a little research on the questions I pondered here.

And look what I found: Mother Goose Rocks. It's sub-titled "Make-believe superstars sing pop music parodies of well-known kids' songs!" Worst kids' music ever, I thought. I jotted down the title, thinking this will make a great post.

This morning I found the Mother Goose Rocks website, with info on all FIVE of their CD's. Each song is a parody of a pop artist, but instead of singing their own songs, they're singing songs like "Teddy Bear Picnic" or "The Wheels on the Bus." Hilariously bad, I thought.

The make-believe artists' names are obvious jokes - like Wink 123 (Blink 182, get it?), Dave Math Shoes (Dave Matthews, heh, heh), or Green Week (Green Day, OMG stop!) - but a few were harder for me to decipher - for example, April Cansing or The O'Brothers. Having to think that hard to figure them out made them decidedly un-funny.

"Come listen to this," I called to my husband, as I glanced though the listing of songs on their site. "Do you want to hear something awful?"

I clicked on the very first track, "Mulberry Bush" by Gwen Stuffunny, which was a spot-on parody of "Hollaback Girl." We laughed. Then I clicked on "O, Susannah" by John Senator. It was a perfect parody of any John Mayer song. We laughed harder. I played "This Little Light of Mine" by Stung. By then we were laughing about the fact that we were laughing. I am loathe to admit these parodies are really well done.

These track samples are worth checking out if you (the adult) want a good laugh. Go here. Try them.

But please do not mistake this for a recommendation to BUY this music. Especially for your kids. I repeat, I DO NOT RECOMMEND BUYING THIS MUSIC FOR YOUR KIDS. They will not get the joke. And they very likely will not recognize what has been done to these familiar songs. You may as well be listening to Top 40 artists, as far as they're concerned. Or KidzBop.

Oh, and Mother Goose Rocks also has a DVD with animated music videos of these songs. Don't buy that for your kids either, unless you want to try to explain to them why the U2 parody (ME2, get it?) of "Head, Shoulder, Knees and Toes" features animated versions of George W. Bush, the Pope, Tony Blair, and Oprah on stage dancing with Bono.

But do go here to see bits and pieces of it. By yourself. This looks more like something from Robert Smigel's TV Funhouse than a DVD for kids. Did I mention the Pope? Dancing to "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes"??

Go. Watch. Laugh. But don't say I didn't warn you.

Saturday Morning Treat

Salon.com has a fantastic article about children's music this morning. Like most Salon.com articles, it's long, but click past the ads and read, read, read. It's great stuff.

"Kindie Rock" is the name of the article, as well as possibly the hottest new term for cool kids' music. Scott Lamb gets it. For the article, he interviewed artists like Dan Zanes, John Flansburgh (from They Might Be Giants), and Justin Roberts. He also included links to some kids' music blogs - Zooglobble, ((sm))all ages, and The Lovely Mrs. Davis (thank you, Mr. Lamb).

I do, however, disagree with Lamb when he calls Laurie Berkner "the Ani DiFranco of the under 10 set". For a refresher on my views on Laurie Berker, see here.

There is a buzz about kids' music that has been getting progressively louder over the last several months. Lamb's article has upped the volume a bit further, helping cool kids' music become more of a cultural force. Perhaps it won't be long before more of the cool/good/indie (whatever you'd like to call it) kids' music will be as easy to find as that Disney Princess CD or KidzBop.

Parenting: An Artistic Life

Today, I am super-pleased to share with you a guest post from Charity Kahn of Charity and the JAMBand. This is the first in a series of guest posts for this summer - from children's artists and others. Enjoy!


It was probably more my children’s childhood than my own that drove me to finally and irrevocably accept my fate as an artist.

Simply put, my kids drove me over the edge.

When you invite children into your life, you open the doors to chaos. The two extremes of living with and responding (or reacting) to this chaos, in my experience, are as follows.

Some days, you choose to dive into the chaos and embrace its gorgeous and horrible fervor. You attempt to exist on your child’s level, in her or his brain and heart and soul and belief in The Now. You remember how to play, remember to love mud and mess, remember to cry when you’re sad and scream when you’re angry and laugh so hard you fall to the ground when you’re happy. You remember to wonder and be awe-struck, and even sometimes omniscient. You remember to ask “why?” and “how?” and “what is that?” even when you think you already know. You remember to notice the little things, like the counterintuitive spellings of seemingly most of the words in the English language: “Mommy, why isn’t ‘potty’ spelled ‘p-o-t-e’?”

The other extreme reaction to this entry into the netherworlds of the human psyche becoming a parent brings on is to run screaming from that place, as fast as you can. Run screaming from the lack of control you learn you apparently have over anything at all. Run screaming from the collapse of the illusion of “grown-up-hood” in the face of these heathen balls of fire and randomness in our spaces and faces. Run screaming from your own emotions, those that are so cunningly and repeatedly and adroitly brought to the surface the minute conflict with one of your children arises. Run away, shut it down, cut it off, nip it in the bud, bury it, demand order.

Neither of these realities is sustainable 100% of the time. In truth, most of us inhabit both of these extremes, plus everything in the middle, on a daily basis. And we’re painfully aware of this roller coaster. But with the roller coaster and with the awareness of it begins the magic, and the art. Sometimes art is a mirror of life’s happenings, beautiful or tragic. Sometimes it’s an attempt at healing, handling, and integrating deep and intense and broken feelings, experiences, and memories. Sometimes it's simply a desire to bring something fabulous, amazing, and spectacular from the world of imaginings into the material world. But the desire and need to create it can emanate from both these extremes, from the places where parenting brings us.

I suppose leading "an artistic life" is a semantic distinction. After all, life is art, and we are all on our life paths, so we are all artists. But there’s a particularly magical place where our children can lead us. It’s the place where art is made. It’s a place something like the border of the Mandelbrot set, exactly where chaos and order intersect. Where control and intention meet inspiration and fantasy. It’s the place we inhabit when we are being the most real and authentic as humans and as parents. It’s the ultimate meditation. It’s ours to embrace. It’s a gift. And it’s a place to which only our children can draw the map.

So if this whole crazy parenting life has got you alternately confused, in deep touch, morose, elated, terrified, grounded, and ultimately feeling like your nerves are alive and singing, sometimes in painfully beautiful harmony, sometimes in ear-shattering dissonance, then you must be doing it right. And that is the art of it. So take it and run with it. Bring the energy into your soul and set it free, set yourself free. Allow your kids to bring you a second life. As humans, that may be all we’re entitled too.

Thanks, kids. I owe ya one.

- Charity

copyright 2006 Charity Kahn

This Just In!

Children's music artist Brady Rymer is doing a free concert tonight (Thursday) in New York City. It's at Washington Market Park at the corner of Greenwich and Chambers Streets (as if I have any CLUE where that is) in Tribeca. At 6:30 pm.

Did I mention it's free?

I haven't covered Brady Rymer here yet, but I've heard enough of his Every Day is a Birthday CD to be able to recommend him to you now. Especially a free concert in the park. What a fun way to spend a summer evening. Tell your friends.

And I just read that getting around New York City with kids and strollers is no problem at all. But those of you who live there are probably pros at that.

Here's a little bit of fine print: In case of rain, the concert will be held next Monday evening, June 26th, same time, same place. For more info, call 917-279-0742. Also, if your kids are really small (babies, toddlers) and you plan on sitting anywhere close to the stage, I highly recommend earplugs.

New York readers, go! Go see live music with your kids! Report back.

Young Fresh Fellow

Superman Returns opens in theaters later this month, and the hype is building. This morning on the Today show, Matt Lauer interviewed Brandon Routh, the handsome, young Man of Steel.

"You're freaking Superman," Lauer gushed, like a thirteen-year-old boy meeting Michael Jordan.

He went on to ask Routh what it felt like the first time he put on the Superman costume - the suit, the tights, those shorts-thingies - and it started to sound just a little bit inappropriate. Lauer, get a grip. Maybe he was just excited to be interviewing someone who's not Britney Spears.

Routh, who was born and raised in Iowa, is being touted as a super-fresh face, but his bio suggests that he's about as fresh as an American Idol fifth-runner-up from three seasons ago. He didn't arrive in Hollywood just last year, fresh off the farm. Routh headed there circa 1998, after his freshman year at the University of Iowa. His credits include MTV's "Undressed," "Gilmore Girls," "One Life to Live," "Will and Grace," and Christina Aguilera's "What a Girl Wants" video. He was chosen for the Superman role back in 2004, and since then has "kept a low profile to help build anticipation for the film."

Was this to make Routh seem like a fresh face? Or does being from Iowa make him innately fresh? If so, I'm a fresh face, too. And so is Ashton Kutcher. Fresh as a daisy.

The best part of Lauer's interview was the bumper music - REM's "Superman," another not-so-fresh thing (it's from 1986), but one of my favorite songs. With the opening of Superman Returns more than a week away, we will likely have many more opportunities to hear this song and see reporters gush over Hollywood's not-so-fresh "It" boy.

We're Countin' Em Down

Seeing so many new artists entering the children's music market, I was curious about how record sales compared between some of the artists I've reviewed. It didn't take long for me to find Billboard's Top Kid Audio category, which can be viewed online (the top 15, anyway....to see more than that you must be a paid subscriber). Interesting stuff there.

It turns out that the High School Musical sountrack is at number one. Still. Or again. It will probably be there for a while. The whole High School Musical franchise is genius on Disney's part, although I'm not sure of its artistic merits. But a movie that makes being in a high school musical a super-cool thing is probably okay with me. It's like a cleaned-up version of the movie Fame for tweens - they just had do take out the drug problems, eating disorders and sexual identity crises. So then, how much like a real high school musical is it?

Also in this week's top 15 - Kidz Bop (I'm not surprised), The Baby Einstein Music Box Orchestra (okay, sure), the soundtrack from the new movie Cars (it's called Lighting McQueen's Fast Tracks) and a whole bunch of other Disney goodness - Radio Disney, Disneymania, the soundtrack from Disney's That's So Raven, Disney Princess: The Ultimate Song Collection, and Disney's Disney Disney: Songs About Disney (ok - I made that last one up, but you get my point).

Disney clearly dominates Billboard's Kids Top Audio category, with seven - count 'em - seven of the top 15 albums this week coming from Disney's label. That doesn't count three other albums - two from Baby Einstein and one from Dan Zanes - that have ties to Disney. (Baby Einstein is owned by Disney, and Dan Zanes has four videos that air on Playhouse Disney.)

So this got me wondering....can a children's music artist be successful (at least in terms of Billboard rankings) without Disney? And this led to another question. If Billboard rankings, including the Kids Top Audio category, are determined by both airplay and sales, how much of that airplay comes from Radio Disney? Can any of you readers in "the business" shed some light on this?

I guess this is one of the reasons I like to highlight a lot of indie-type artists in the children's music genre - because their music can be hard to find if you're browsing at Target or Sam Goody. Many of them aren't even available on Amazon.com.

We are lucky to have a fantastic locally-owned record store in our little college town, where I can buy artists like Justin Roberts and Ralph's World. But when I found myself at Target a few weeks ago, needing a last-minute children's birthday gift, I was stunned at the lack of variety in their children's music section. I was lucky to find a copy of They Might Be Giants' Here Come the ABC's (also on the Disney label), amid the other Disney, Nickelodeon, and KidzBop titles there.

So, do retailers need to do a better job of seeking out and carrying independent children's music, or do the indie artists and their labels need to do a better job of getting in the stores?

The Friday "View" Smackdown

My Sitemeter is quickly filling up with people searching for some interpretation of what transpired on "The View" this morning. Because I mentioned Sandra Bernhard here and shared my opinion of Elisabeth Hasselbeck here, I'm getting lots of hits on this. So I figured I'd better come up with something to say. Quick.

What exactly happened between Sandra and Elisabeth this morning? While I did not see it live, I watched the clip on the Best Week Ever site, and it's pretty incredible. I can barely understand a word of it after Elisabeth's "Who you callin' honey, honey?" but Best Week Ever describes it quite well.

My favorite part was when Joy Behar tried to walk off the set. And then came back, probably because a producer told her to.

Or maybe my favorite part was seeing Star Jones playing the role of the reasonable one, in the absence of Meredith Vieira.

But it might have been Barbara Walters screaming, "The views Sandwa is expwessing awe not necessawiwy the views of this show!" Is it that disturbing to you, Babs, to stand by a woman who is anti-war and pro-choice? I've never seen her lose her cool like that before. Just wait till Rosie O'Donnell gets there.

Have you clicked on Best Week Ever yet? Aren't you at least curious by now?

You know how I feel about Elisabeth Hasselbeck, don't you? It's not that I don't appreciate conservative viewpoints. I am, after all, the most objective of the Myers-Briggs personality types (that would be INTJ for those of you who aren't hip to the psych labels). But I cannot stand Mrs. Hasselbeck's shrill, uninformed, talking-point-laden yet flimsy arguments. She is like Ann Coulter's younger, less articulate (but prettier) sister. Add in that she is a Survivor alumna and married to an NFL quarterback, and my opinion of her plummets yet further. Oh, and her dirty-icky-bad views on breastfeeding didn't help matters either.

So to Sandra Bernhard, I say, even though I don't particularly care much for your comic stylings, go for it! You have won my admiration by laying the smackdown on Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Huzzah and kudos, Sandra!

When you are a man, sometimes you wear stretchy pants in your room

A few weeks ago I posted about Jack Black's new film, Nacho Libre. Since then, I've been surprised to see this movie marketed to kids on Nickelodeon and Nick.com. On one hand, it made sense. Kids love Jack Black. And this meant Jack Black had hosted the Kids' Choice Awards for a reason. But on the other hand, a movie about a Mexican wrestler? For kids?

It turns out the movie is getting some great reviews, and might be very appropriate for kids. The New York Times likes it. Common Sense Media likes it, giving it a "green light" and four out of five stars. And because the movie is a joint production of Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Films, it seems to be geared toward young audiences. Common Sense Media says it's good for ages 10+; the Nick Jr. website says it's perfect for ages 10-12; and my husband and I are still discussing whether or not our 6-year-old (going on 18) will get to see it in the theatre. I've let him play some of the Nacho Libre games on the Nick Website, so he's very aware of it.

Because I like and trust a lot of what Nick has to offer, and because I think Jack Black is amazing, I might set aside my "issues" with wrestling (have I mentioned my husband has done academic research on professional wresting and spends hours upon hours watching wrestling on TV and sometimes even attending live events?) and go see this movie. Regardless of my issues with wrestling, and my indecisiveness about whether or not our son will see Nacho Libre, I think this movie will be a huge hit with kids and with a lot of adults. It bring together Jack Black, Mike White (who wrote School of Rock, Orange County, and several episodes of Freaks and Geeks), and Jared Hess (who wrote and directed Napoleon Dynamite). I'm very interested to see what these three great comic minds have created.

The New York Times reviewer speculates that Black may be the "missing comic link between a smarmy-pants like Vince Vaughn and a 'what-me-worry' naïf like Will Ferrell," but I see his relationship to these comic actors differently. I suspect that Black, White, and Hess are outsiders to the Vaughn-Ferrell-Piven-Stiller clique, kind of like the slightly nerdy and not-so-athletic guys from high school who are now grown up and ten times more successful (and better looking) than the high school studs. Have you been to a high school reunion? This is what happens.

Don't get me wrong. I think Vaughn, Ferrell, Piven and Stiller are all brilliant, and I especially like Will Ferrell, and I loved Anchorman. But I think Vaughn may turn out to be our generation's Burt Reynolds, and I don't know if that's going to be a good thing for him in 15 or 20 years. That fight scene in Anchorman is very Cannonball Run....can you see it now? Also, I heard many years back, from a college friend who worked at a low level on the Hollywood food chain (pardon me while I gossip) that Vaughn is a pretty high-maintence guy who doesn't treat underlings very well, and that has always tainted my view of him.

But I digress.....back to Jack Black and Nacho Libre. Black did several video confessionals for the movie, and you can see them on the Nacho Libre Website. Here is one of my favorites. Also, Black just became a father, so this Father's Day weekend is a biggie for him. Maybe now that he's a dad, Black's band Tenacious D will follow the trend of so many other musicians-turned-parents and record a children's album. I'll keep you posted.

Get Hip With The Hipwaders

A 2005 self-titled album from The Hipwaders has been a new favorite around my house. This Bay-area trio takes original approaches to some familiar topics for kids, while bringing a unique and energetic sound. They have all the necessary ingredients for a successful kids' album - high energy, a smart sense of humor, and a sound that merges the wholesome goodness of kids' music with the hipness and sophistication of parents' musical tastes.

The album starts with "Come Along With Us," which one could easily imagine kicking off their live performances. Early tracks like "Messy Room Song" and "It's an Earthquake!" show off some amazing twitchy guitar playing with lots of chromatic runs, and establish the Hipwaders' jangly power-pop sound that continues throughout the album. At times I heard the influences of The Byrds and Nick Lowe, and on tracks like "Silly Robot Dance" I could hear Franz Ferdinand and Television. Even with these eclectic and sophisticated sounds, the songs are consistently kid-friendly, both musically and lyrically. Some songs go beyond just fun and include educational or enriching lyrics (such as "Stand Up to the Bully" or the hilarious public-service-announcement woven into "It's an Earthquake!"), but the tone never turns didactic or preachy.

A couple of tracks - "Kelly the Clown" and "Jelly Beans" seem to be utilitarian in nature (perhaps to introduce a certain clown performer and to reference the Jelly Belly Factory, a venue where the Hipwaders have been known to perform), but they fit nicely into the album. "Volcano," a favorite here, includes a Kukla Fran and Ollie shout-out, which sounds like an island chant.

By the final few tracks, the album begins to mellow a bit. "Time In Time-Out" has a very Justin Roberts-y sound, which I love; and "Valentine" is a sweet and catchy number that leaves you feeling all warm and fuzzy at the end. These two tracks are like a couple of bedtime stories at the end of an exciting, fun-filled day, and work well to help listeners wind down at the end of this 18-track album.

I'm not the only who likes The Hipwaders. They've been recognized by XMKids as a 2005 Best New Artist Nominee and this album was awarded a 2006 Parents' Choice Award from the Parents' Choice Foundation. You can learn more about the Hipwaders here. Or listen to samples and buy their CD here.

....And I'd Like to Thank the Academy

I wanted to quickly holler "thanks" to a couple of people for giving me some very kind linky-love in the last couple days.

First of all, thank you, Dan Zanes. You are awesome in so many ways, and I appreciate the mention in your latest Dan Zanes News e-mail! It was such a thrill to open that e-mail yesterday and see my name. If any of you readers are Dan Zanes fans and want to sign up for his e-mail updates, just click here.

Today I had another nice surprise when I noticed traffic coming from the Toledo Free Press. I tracked back and found Lisa Renee Ward's column, Blog It, Toledo! And there I was! Thank you, Lisa Renee. Any of you readers who are political junkies might especially enjoy Lisa Renee's blog, Glass City Jungle, but if you're not familiar with Toledo/NW Ohio politics, brace yourself. There is some truly bizarre stuff that goes on around here.

In the mail yesterday, I got more music from the Oh Hey, Oh Hi, Hello guy, Mr. Jim Gill. He wasn't even looking for a review - just sending some of his older CD's that he thought my goofy son might enjoy (including the disc with "Oh Hey, Oh Hi, Hello"). How cool!

While I'm throwing out props, I'd also like to thank Blogger for working today, my 14-month-old for napping so well this morning, and the nice elves at Keebler for making these delicious E.L. Fudge cookies. Thank you, one and all!

And I know I've been promising this for a few days now, but I really am going to get back to posting some more reviews. Soon. Very soon. Maybe even tonight. First up, The Hipwaders. Stay tuned.

Undercover Mom

For the first time in three years, I took a trip by myself last weekend. It was uneventful for the most part, but I realized during my three-hour layover in Cincinnati on Friday that traveling without my children is not as wonderfully relaxing as I thought it would be.

I missed my children, I missed my husband, and wandering around the airport for those three hours I realized that I missed my stroller. I didn't realize what a significant accessory that stroller is in my identity as a mother, not to mention all the practical purposes it serves. Pulling my wheelie suitcase around behind me, I had no cupholder for my Diet Coke, no basket down below for my purse or my book or other odds and ends, and nothing to walk behind, which left me feeling incredibly exposed.

I saw other moms pushing their little ones in strollers, or holding hands with their pre-schoolers, and it struck me that no one here knows I'm a mom. I didn't have a spot on my shirt, I didn't have a diaper bag, I didn't have a Gameboy or a Star Wars action figure in my purse, and - most of all - I didn't have my children around. I could eat lunch wherever I wanted (rather than having to find a place that served chicken nuggets), I could use the restroom entirely alone, and I could shop in gift shops where there were lots of fragile things on the shelves.

Just before boarding my connecting flight, I saw a mom nearby traveling alone with a newborn and a three-year-old. She was struggling to keep both kids settled while trying to put on her Baby Bjorn and prepare to board, and I wanted to offer to help her, but I worried that she might mistake me for some sort of desperate baby-napper. Sure, I could have told her that I have two children of my own, but would she have believed me? If one or both of my kids were with me, I wouldn't have hesitated a bit to offer my help, because there's nothing creepy about one mom helping another mom.

Returning home, I was looking forward more than ever to seeing my boys, and my identity felt completely restored when I spotted my older son, Walter, waving and yelling "Mommy!" as I came down the escalator at the airport. My cover was blown, and once again everyone knew that I was a mom. After hugs and kisses all around, I handed my husband my wheelie suitcase, grabbed Walter's hand, and began pushing Ralph's stroller out to short-term parking.

It Was Better Than "Cats"

I am pleased to present a guest post from my husband, the esteemed Dr. Davis. The Tonys are on tonight, and he's on a bit of a rampage.

The Tony Awards are on TV tonight, and as always, I’m feeling conflicted about it. (This year it’s especially true since it’s on opposite the ECW pay-per-view, but that’s for another post…) As a guy who teaches theatre and who has been known to bust out my mad directing skills on occasion, I’m obligated to watch it in order to keep up with “advances in the field.”

On the other hand, what you’ll see on the Tony Awards has little to no resemblance to the vast majority of theatre that happens everywhere else in the world. The productions that are honored at the Tonys all happen within about 2 square miles in midtown Manhattan, and exist solely to turn a profit, while most regional and community theatres are non-profit organizations. Now nobody is more in favor of artists getting paid than me, but oftentimes, producers will emphasize an element of a production that will attract attention and draw an audience – crashing chandeliers, celebrity stunt casting, Abba – and let the creative end suffer.

The notion that New York City is the “theatre capitol of the world” is an idea that’s about 50 years out of date. The growth of regional theatres, such as the Goodman in Chicago, the Alliance in Atlanta, and the Seattle Rep, to name a few, as well as community theatres springing up everywhere, has made quality theatre available to damn near anybody who lives someplace with more than one stoplight. Couple this with the theatre departments which exist at pretty much every college and university, and the need to travel to Manhattan to see theatre is a thing of the past.

Also, a lot of the actors you’ll see working at regional or community theatres have the same training as those you’ll see during the Tonys. There’s a good chance that the woman who runs your community theatre or teaches acting at your local college graduated from the same MFA program as that tall dude who’s nominated for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical. For whatever reason, she decided not to go to New York and chose instead to create theatre where she lives. Geography doesn’t necessarily determine the quality of a theatrical production. In other words, a production is not inherently better simply because it’s in Manhattan. It just means that it’s in Manhattan.

So the punchline is this: go see a play where you live. Professional theatre, community theatre, academic theatre, whatever. As I always tell my students, “theatre makes you smart.” No matter how far you are from those two square miles in Manhattan, chances are there is great theatre in your community. It’s your job to go find it.

Jennster!

I'm going on a brief sabbatical over the weekend, but I shall return on Sunday, rested and relaxed, with more reviews, observations and baby boomer mocking.

In the interim, head on over to Jennster and say hello. She brings the funny about motherhood, relationships, planning her upcoming wedding, the importance of shopping at Target.

Go read her - I'll be back Sunday.

Right now, I've got a plane to catch. Seriously.

A Treatise on Pop Culture

My family and I are fairly active consumers of media - television, music, books, movies. We take great joy in introducing our children to certain elements of popular culture, probably more so than most parents. Beyond being consumers, we are also students of popular culture. At the university where my husband teaches (and where I worked for more than five years), Popular Culture is a field of study. My husband, whose academic discipline is closely related to Popular Culture, has done academic research on topics such as professional wrestling and Patrick Swayze's movie roles.

We have several friends who do not have cable or satellite television, and who avoid television the way we avoid bright sunlight. (No we're not vampires, we're fair-skinned Irish folks who burn easily.) We have friends who adamantly oppose the way licensed characters are used to market to children - from Sponge Bob fruit snacks and Dora lunchboxes to Buzz Lightyear pajamas and Bob the Builder shoes. We have friends who are baffled by some of the children's music that we love.

Although our approaches are different, we respect their parenting styles, but I sometimes wonder if they really respect or understand ours. When friends see us actively consuming media and popular culture, then remark that they don't let their children watch television or listen to certain music, I can't help but feel a teensy bit defensive.

A recent email from a reader got me thinking more about why my family is so passionate about popular culture and media, and why we choose to expose our children to so much of it.

I think the first and most important thing to note is that word choose in that last sentence. This is an active choice for us, not something done out of ignorance or laziness. Let's look at perhaps the most major component of popular culture - television.

We don't flip on the TV every morning and leave it on all day, regardless of what comes on. We have a DVR (similar to Tivo) which allows us to plan ahead, record the shows we have agreed our six-year-old can watch, and, whenever possible, view them back by fast-forwarding through commercials. We are fairly selective about what he gets to see, although the logic of our choices may not be apparent at first glance.

We have allowed our six-year-old to see bits and pieces of grown-up television as well. Just the other day we let him watch part of a classic Seinfeld episode (the one where they get lost in the parking garage) because he's very interested in comedy. Parts of it were over his head, but he asked a lot of questions about why certain things were funny, and he closely studied the physical comedy. We have allowed him to see a few bits from "Saturday Night Live", parts of David Letterman (have you ever seen the "Surprise it's a Tuba" bit?), and entire episodes of "Myth Busters" on TLC. Using the DVR, we are able to have incredible control over what we choose to show him. There is a great deal of discussion about what we watch, along with much encouragement of critical thinking.

You might have the impression by now that we watch a lot of television at our house. While my husband and I do, our children do not. Our six-year-old watches about an hour per day during the week, and maybe three hours per day on a very lazy weekend. Our one-year-old does not actually watch TV, but he is exposed to it - maybe half of the time - when our older son watches (and yes, I know that isn't ideal, but it's something I'm willing to live with). Also during the week, our children are indirectly exposed to about an hour per day of television news, although they are rarely in the room to see and hear it.

Beyond television, we listen to a lot of music. We buy CD's, download songs, attend live performances, and sometimes play and sing our own music. We read a lot - books, magazines, newspapers, blogs. We see some movies, but not many. We go to a lot of plays - some for children, some for grown-ups. We watch, listen to, and read a great deal of news.

Part of our choices about popular culture and media come from our interests and passion, but another factor is our desire for our children's cultural literacy. The line between "high culture" and "culture for everyone else" has been blurred and, from my point of view, is nearly gone. I think that to be culturally literate, it's as important to know that Ryan Seacrest is the host of "American Idol" as it is to know that F. Scott Fitzgerald was the author of The Great Gatsby. I realize that many will disagree with that view.

Even more than cultural literacy, I believe the experience of popular culture in childhood is an important part of one's generational identity. For baby boomers, shows like "Leave it to Beaver" and "American Bandstand" might be considered part of the zeitgeist, along with The Beatles, bomb shelters and Woodstock. For my generation, it was "Sesame Street" and "Schoolhouse Rock", John Hughes movies (and their soundtracks), early video games like "Pong" or "Frogger", and the introduction of MTV.

I don't want my sons to be at a loss when they are adults chatting it up with their law school or medical school buddies (I have dreams, okay?) and they start talking about their favorite Sponge Bob episodes (becuase you know that when they're in their 20's, our sons are probably going to still be laughing about Squidward and Patrick and the Krusty Krab). I want them to get the joke when someone says, "Dawg, that was a little pitchy for me." I want them to understand how "American Idol" changed prime time television and the music industry - because it is having a major impact on both of these, and in 10 or 15 years we will see very clearly what it has done.

We love popular culture, and, for better or for worse (I believe for better), we are passing that on to our children. Popular culture for us is a lot more than television - it's books, plays, music, and current events. It's also toys and fashion and food and experiences. For me, it's fascinating to watch popular culture from a critical perspective, and it's fun to immerse myself (and occaionally my children) in it from time to time.

As I mentioned earlier, there are some folks who avoid television the way we avoid the sun. We have found that sunscreen works incredibly well for protecting us from the sun's damaging rays, while allowing us to enjoy the outdoors. Donning your critical thinking caps (and making sure your children know how to put theirs on as well) can protect you from some of the damaging effects of too much television and media. I suggest giving it a try - there's a lot that you're missing.

Clue Number 2,763....

....that our children are being raised in a university town.

Yesterday, I reminded my six-year-old that he only has two more days of school, and I tried to get him excited about being a first-grader soon. "What happens when you're done with kindergarten?" I asked him.

"Summer vacataion!" he replied.

"And what about after that? What will you be in the fall?"

"A grad student," he said.

There She Goes

This weekend I had a chance to watch a bit more of Katie Couric's final day on the Today show, which had been sitting on my DVR since Wednesday. I was a tad sentimental about her departure from the morning gig, because she had started on Today the same year I graduated from college.

For all of my adult life, she had been part of my morning routine. From my first summer out of college when I was working as a temp (did I mention I could have been the poster child for Gen X?), through four states and five jobs and marriage and kids, Katie Couric was a constant. Even though in recent years I've tended to favor Soledad O'Brien on CNN, I would still often flip over to NBC for the opening headlines and first 5 or 10 minutes of the Today show.

So I, as much as any somewhat-loyal Katie fan out there, was interested in watching Today bid her farewell. But even I was taken aback by how enormous and overdone this farewell was.

The show opened with the usual run-down of the day's headlines. It happened to be a terribly violent week in Iraq, so it went something like this: Death! Destruction! And now, what we've all been waiting for, a tribute to Katie, consisting of wacky clips pieced together with cheesy music! Roll tape!

There were numerous Katie montages throughout the three-hour show. Katie on the air, Katie's personal life, how Katie's hair has changed over the years, Katie reporting from a gazillion different locations, Katie with oodles of celebrities and world leaders, Katie's co-workers telling what she's really like. To paraphrase Jan Brady, it was Katie, Katie, Katie!

The producers pulled in dozens of the most obvious songs ("Hungry Like the Wolf" because she's so hungry to get the story - get it?, "Manic Monday" when showing her morning routine, "Baby Love" when reflecting back on her pregnancies), to make this the most awesome cheese-fest I've seen and heard since my own college graduation week (when our class sang "I Hope I Get It" from A Chorus Line as part of our Senior Show, a sadly appropriate song for 1991 college grads with such a crappy economy). My favorite song, by far, was "There She Goes" by Sixpence None the Richer, which the producers evidently didn't realize is about heroin. Yes, heroin. Let's take a closer look at the lyrics:

There she goes / There she goes again / Pulsing through my veins / And I just can't contain / This feeling that remains.

Not about your female co-anchor. Not about your old girlfriend. That's about heroin.

So this humongous send-off made me wonder how many other TV personalities would receive this level of recognition upon leaving their post. Oprah? Definitely. David Letterman? Oh, yes. But what about Mary Hart or Pat O'Brien? What about Judge Judy, Susan Lucci, or Ty Pennington? Will there be clips and music for them?

And with the incredible number of celebrity baby boomers in the U.S., will there be Couric-level tribute each time one of them retires or dies? If so, will we need a cable channel dedicated entirely to airing these heartfelt tributes and tearful farewells?

It seemed like a surprisingly big deal to me when John Ritter passed away unexpectedly a few years ago. Granted, he was quite young, and his death was sudden, however, for a B-list celebrity who was best known for a sit-com that aired more than 20 years ago, the prime time special in his honor seemed extreme. Did that set a precedent for the rest of the baby boomers? Will we see similar prime time specials when Peter Tork, Anson Williams, or that guy who played MacGyver kick off?

Maybe the reason Katie got such a big send-off is because she's leaving the world of wacky morning hijinks for the ultra-serious world of Evening News. Once she takes that spot at the CBS anchor desk, we can't really play these clips of her dressed as Peter Pan anymore. Or that time she went snowmobiling with Matt Lauer. And maybe the Today show just wanted to give us one last look at the Wacky Katie Couric before she transforms and re-appears as the very Serious and Distinguished Katherine Couric of the CBS Evening News.

Or maybe they just like silly clips and cheesy music.

Deja Vu, Mr. Gill

When I first popped in the latest CD from Jim Gill, I was looking forward to hearing something brand new in children's music. I had heard great things about Gill from a few of my readers, so expectations were high.

After receiving a copy of Jim Gill Sings Moving Rhymes for Modern Times last week, I gave it a listen. I realized quickly that this voice was familiar to me. And the humor was familiar. The first track, "Hello, I Must Be Going" was an old Marx Brothers song. My husband will love this, I thought. And I was loving it. But I contined to be distracted by the familiarity.

Had I seen this guy in concert? Did he have a video on Noggin? I flipped through the liner notes to look for clues. I took a closer look at his picture as I continued to listen. I laughed at the lyrics, which are incredibly clear and easy to follow. My six-year-old began to follow the directions on "Jump Up, Turn Around" as he passed through the room where I was listening (yes, I listen to some of this music without my children).

By the time I reached track seven, it struck me how I knew this voice. I Googled the phrase "Oh Hey, Oh Hi, Hello" and there was Jim Gill. He was the voice behind one of my son's favorite songs from back in pre-school. I'd heard my son sing that song a hundred times, and I had heard the CD in his classroom often enough to recognize Gill's voice. If you don't know this song, it's a perfect comedy routine for a four-year-old. I used to make my son sing it for relatives when we would go visit.

So I'm listening to the "Oh Hey, Oh Hi, Hello" guy (as Jim Gill will now forever be known in my head), and I found myself enjoying the music more and more. Many of the songs call for movement - jumping, clapping, dancing - and the instrumentation reflects this physicality extremely well. Songs like "Rhythm in My Fingers" and "Backwards Day" get listeners singing along.

Although the music is fairly soothing and mild, Gill's lyrics inspire lots of active participation. The instrumentation is somewhat "old-school" - more of a jazz combo than the rock-pop sound that has become prevalent with so many other artists. His distinct sound and style make him a standout in the ever-growing field of artists recording music for children and families.

Moving Rhymes for Modern Times is the fifth CD from Gill. He has been recognized by the American Library Association and the Parents' Choice Foundation. As a child development specialist, Gill knows how to reach audiences through music. Read more about him here, hear samples here, and shop for CD's here.