My Favorite Band/Musician: 30 Days About Me

I can't really say that through the entirety of my life I've had only one favorite artist. There are many that I love; how can I pick just one?

When I was a child it was pretty much all about Donna Summer, Fleetwood Mac, and The Beatles. The soundtrack to "Urban Cowboy" and "The Jazz Singer" were always on the top of my playlist, too.

Through my teen years, I was crazy in love with Bono. U2 was, bar none, the greatest band in the universe to me. But after "Joshua Tree" they changed their style and it was never the same for me. I wanted the angst, not the pop.

I learned to appreciate Earth, Wind, and Fire, Joni Mitchell (at the top of my list; she is a genius), Led Zeppelin, and jazz greats like Lee Morgan, Dave Brubeck, and Erroll Garner at that time. My mom took me on a musical journey away from pop and toward everything great. She's a music encyclopedia with great taste.

In college my roommate introduced me to the Indigo Girls (and she learned about Joni from me). I was developing a taste for folk that I carry to this day.

Nowadays, I have such eclectic tastes that if you put my iPod on shuffle you'll hear Jay-Z, Rubinstein, Justin Timberlake, Iron and Wine, Zero 7, Luciana Sousa, Yassou N'Dour, Coldplay; the list goes on and on. Oh, and the Beasties Boys! I LOVE the Beastie Boys.

I've always dreamed about owning a radio station that plays everything, all genres, just as long as it's good music.

How about you? What is your favorite band or artist? Is there someone sort of obscure but great that you love? Tell me about them - I love to discover great new music!

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My favorite song: 30 Days About Me

I've decided to participate in 30 Days About Me Sponsored by A Daily Dose of Toni. If you'd like to participate, just know that I'm a day behind, but you can click on the link above and join in!

So, when I read the first question, I thought it would be nearly impossible to answer. My favorite song? Of the gajillion I like? Then it hit me so hard up the head that I couldn't believe I didn't think of it immediately. When I was a child, I played my mom's "White Album" by The Beatles constantly. And I played "Blackbird" so much that my mom bought me my own copy of the album for fear that I would destroy hers. To this day, whenever I hear it, I stop in my tracks. The song is beautiful, the words send me:

Blackbird singing in the dead of night

Take these broken wings and learn to fly

All your life

You were only waiting for this moment to arise

Black bird singing in the dead of night

Take these sunken eyes and learn to see

all your life

you were only waiting for this moment to be free

Blackbird fly, Blackbird fly

Into the light of the dark black night.

Blackbird fly, Blackbird fly

Into the light of the dark black night.

Blackbird singing in the dead of night

Take these broken wings and learn to fly

All your life

You were only waiting for this moment to arise,

You were only waiting for this moment to arise,

You were only waiting for this moment to arise

Incidently, my favorite Beatle is George. With the exception of this song, he wrote all of my favorites (Here Comes the Sun, et al), and I think he's a little dreamy, in a 70's sitar-playing hippie sort of way.

What Are the Odds? And a Giveaway!

Do you find it difficult to find good children's music that both you and your children will enjoy? You may be happy to know that Meredith LeVande of Monkey Monkey Music (a 2005 Parenting magazine pick) will be releasing a new CD on August 31. What Are The Odds is a blues infused CD with touches of 80's New Wave and a few lovely ballads. These are songs that you and your kids can sing and dance to, while at the same time learning odd and even numbers ("What Are the Odds?"), poetry ("Frogs Eat Butterflies" after Wallace Steven's 1922 poem of the same name), and unity ("Circle").

I really enjoyed this collection of songs, and found Tim secretly finger drumming to a few of the catchy tunes. Meredith's voice reminded me at first of the early girl group singers, like the Shirelles, but then seemed to morph into early 80's new wave pop sounds (Belinda Carlisle and Jane Wheadon come to mind). I tend to love the ballads, like "Willow Tree in the Wind", but also found myself bopping to "In The Garden."

Meredith LeVande is committed to writing children's music that is not only fun and catchy but truly kid appropriate. She says "I find it fascinating and somewhat disturbing that many parents are so conscious of their kids' nutritional diets, but pay very little attention to their children's media intake. I think there's a definite corporate movement to force kids to grow up quicker in order to turn them into consumers." These are great songs that one can find no fault with; I find it refreshing when an artist strives to keep our kids innocent and, well, kids.

Overall, a great collection of songs that both you and your child will enjoy.

What Are The Odds
Ages 2 - 7
Release Date: August 31, 2010
SRP: $14.99
Run Time: 46 minutes

Right now, Waldmania, the PR firm that generously sent me this great cd to review, is offering to give away a CD to a lucky reader! I will be choosing a winner by random number generator next Thursday, the 29th, at noon.

To enter:

1. Leave a comment below.

2. Become a follower and let me know in another comment (if you are already a follower, this counts, too!)

3. For another entry, blog about this giveaway and in a separate comment let me know and supply the link.

4. Tweet about this giveaway and leave the link in a separate comment box. One tweet per day = another entry (just let me know about it in another comment!).

Good luck!

The Magic of Readeez

Will (my three-year-old computer geek) is sitting at the Dell eating Fiery Tortilla Chips (the boy likes anything savory or hot), downing the water, and watching Readeez clips on YouTube. Wait - you haven't heard of Readeez?! Well, you must!!! It is only the coolest reading tool to pop out of the blog-o-sphere since, well, I guess since ever!

Readeez was conceived by an uber-cool dad who wanted to find a way to teach his daughter, Isabelle, to read phonetic syllables. So he came up with these short, cool clips that remind me of the glory days of Sesame Street - you know, when Mr. Hooper was still alive and The Pointer Sisters sang "The Pinball Song" and Prairie Dawn sang songs about friendship that made my mom cry.

So I've included the three Readeez clips that get played the most in this household. They are loved by mommy, toddler, and the 12-year-old too cool for his britches boy. They are all under 2:30 minutes. You will thank yourself for watching them. Then you will head to YouTube and watch the rest of them, cuz they are that good.

Cool Sesame Street feel. And I think at this point, Will has watched this one 15 times tonight. Really. And I don't mind at all.

Catchy, can't get it out of your head song

The absolute favorite. Your one-year-old can sing it with you, as well as your 16-year-old. Will breaks out in this one at Wal-Mart All.The.Time!

Ten Little Isabels, Sandy Beach, Boomba Boom (the one with the Disoriented Zebra, which cracks Will up to no end), Love's Enough (mommy's favorite), and Tonight and Every Night (the one that makes the parents cry) are other faves. Oh, and Readeez has Bible and Math offerings, too.

So check it out, and I dare you not to become hooked!

p.s. happiness is a rockstar

Morning

Morning has broken, like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning
Praise for the springing fresh from the word



Sweet the rain's new fall, sunlit from heaven
Like the first dewfall, on the first grass
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden
Sprung in completeness where his feet pass



Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning
Born of the one light, Eden saw play
Praise with elation, praise every morning
God's recreation of the new day

lyrics by Eleanor Farjeon

Photos from We Heart It and Beauty In Everything

The Smithsonian Picture

My mom and I refer to this picture as the Smithsonian picture. It reminds us both of those pictures of familial bliss that you would see in a museum about the 1950's. The story goes that my grandfather had a friend who occasionally took pictures for Life magazine. My grandparents wanted a family photo. This treasure was born.

Pictured (from left to right) are my aunt Crystal, my mom Cheryl, my uncle Howard, my aunt Chelsea (as always wearing the perfect 1950's ensemble), my grandpa Howard (in his Clark Kent phase), my aunt Carol, and my Grandma Rosie. My grandpa's organ, which he played endlessly, also features prominently. My grandpa's music was the soundtrack of our family's life.

My aunt Carol is the keeper of the organ now. Being the only piano player in the family, I have the piano. I actually downgraded from a Baldwin to his custom made Amish piano so that I could have it standing in my living room. Will gets a lot of use out of it; it seems he had my grandfather's ear and can play without the aid of sheet music. I'm a lifelong pianist and can play Beethoven, Chopin, Poulenc, and a little jazz, but to me, none of it sounds as sweet as my grandfather with his shaky fingers playing "Fascination."