You don't have to be a Pro Bowler to go to Hawaii - A Contest!

In honor of the most useless sporting event of the year, taking place next weekend in Honolulu, HI...OWTK proudly presents a CONTEST! in honor of something much more important - the delightful new record from the musical machine that is Putumayo Kids. With their staccato-like release schedule, Putumayo Kids is performing like a seasoned DJ - mixing in slow numbers with upbeat tracks, keeping the crowd interested and on their toes. Needless to say, I am quite impressed with the way Putumayo Kids has begun 2008.

On the heels of the highly impressive Celtic Dreamland comes the next installment of their Playground series. Hawaiian Playground is a collection of traditional Hawaiian and Hawaiian themed ditties that's just screaming to be used as the soundtrack for a luau-themed summertime kid's birthday party.

I first heard about this record a month or so before it was released when Spare the Rock played Joe McDermott's "Come to Hawaii", then announced that it was to be included on the forthcoming "Hawaiian Playground" disc from Putumayo Kids. Having a sweet spot for both McDermott's music and that of the islands, I was immediately excited for the day when the record would arrive in my mailbox. When it did, the ten songs didn't disappoint.

There isn't a weak track in the bunch. You can slip Hawaiian Playground into your CD player and groove out for 30 minutes to a mix of traditional and more modern sounding (even one that sounds a bit like music from another island, one in the Caribbean) tunes. McDermott's "Come to Hawaii" is indeed the anchor of the record, setting the narrative with it's clever lyrics about pretending to be on one of Hawaii's islands while you "eat pineapples fresh from a can."

Like the rest of the records released by Putumayo, the artwork and presentation is top-notch and like the rest of the Playground series this CD is perfect for the whole family.

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So here's the contest. Simply leave a comment on this post (or send OWTK an email at outwiththekids_at_gmail_dot_com if you're not the commenting type) and be entered to win a Putumayo Kids CD gift pack containing both the Hawaiian Playground and Celtic Dreamland CDs. What better chance do you have to be whisked away to both Ireland and Hawaii? Your comment, which can be as simple as "hello", but must be entered by February 2nd, 2008. Winner to be announced at halftime of the Super Bowl during a flashy 2 million dollar ad for OWTK (yeah, right) - really, I'll just announce the winner right here on OWTK during the 2nd half of the big game. Good luck!

Putumayo Kids also provides a very comprehensive learning guide and a map of the Hawaiian Islands. Nice tools to initiate and/or enhance a conversation about the music indigenous to the 50th state.

Listen to a sample of each track here.

This contest is a part of the HUGE Bloggy Giveaways taking place right here. Head on over for your chance to win some awesome swag.

Gustafer Takes to the Stage!

Morgan Taylor, the brilliant mind and voice behind Mr. Yellowgold broke this big news to me after the last show at World Cafe Live in Philly, but today it became official - Gustafer Yellowgold is hitting the Great White Way. Starting Saturday, March 15th and running through May 3rd, Gustafer Yellowgold's Mellow Sensation (what a perfect name for anything Gusty-related) will be on the off-Broadway stage each Saturday at the DR2 Theatre (103 E 15th St.)

The show is going to be similar to the normal Gustafer Yellowgold live performances but with an expanded narrative, magical theatrical lighting and sound effects to enhance the experience. Also, Gustafer website gems Marina Eel Chow and Crunch O' Pine Pinecone Cereal ads will be worked into the stage show. That is worth the price of admission alone, those faux-advertisements are a riot.

Tickets are reasonable $20 per person. I sure hope to get the OWTK 4 in the house for one of these special gigs this Spring.

New Site Launch

A few years ago, my mom would practice "mousing" on the ancient PC in their basement. Six months ago, I gave my parents our old Dell desktop. Today they have gmail, an iGoogle homepage with widgets, RSS feeds and all that jazz, and a digital camera. Now, they are taking the next logical step in their technological evolution - they're starting a blog!

The site is called Philly50.com and it is a joint venture between them and their youngest son (that's me). The idea is pretty simple - dine at one of the 50 best restaurants in the Philadelphia region each week over the course of the next year. Sounds fun, no? The idea came to my dad, already a man in love with eating out and eating well, as he perused the new Philadelphia Magazine's foodie rankings. They hope to deliver a real-life, any-given-day-of-the-week look at what are considered to be the 50 finest eating establishments in an excellent restaurant region. They'll consider all aspects of each restaurant's charm - it's food, naturally, it's location, it's service, atmosphere and even it's bathrooms.

Stay tuned for more info...we hope to go live with the first restaurant review in early February.

It sucks to be the Mouse

Ouch. The Mouse is down for the count this weekend. She's been diagnosed with RSV and a double ear-infection (which is approximately one ear away from the rare triple ear-infection). She is 8 months old on Monday and this is the first major, prescription-drug-necessary illness - so we're luck for that, naturally - but the confluence of these two sicknesses have rendered her a snot & puss-filled, weak & sad little lady.

We've got a loooong night ahead of us.

Lullabyes for Irish Eyes

It's not totally cheesy for this entire post to be in green, is it?

Ever since it arrived in the post, the new Putumayo Kids Celtic Dreamland record has been a mainstay inside the Mouse's CD player. This means that I have become intimately familiar with the record, as I'm Mouse's bedtime bottle man. I can therefore, without hesitation, call Celtic Dreamland my favorite nighttime/lullaby disc ever.

There is something entirely peaceful and evocative about the cuts on the Celtic Dreamland disc. I feel as though the Mouse and I are snuggling inside a dreamy cottage (maybe this one here, in Galway) on the Ireland coast, not in her smallish room in our suburban American home. I believe that is the highest praise one could pay any music, to be able to transport the listener to another place/time/emotional state. I feel that it is even more a compliment when discussing lullaby or bedtime tunes as it is within that restful, dreamlike place that the mind becomes most willing to be moved to another continent, to another world where smiles abound, love always wins-out and the laundry is already folded and neatly organized in drawers and closets.

Putumayo Kids Celtic Dreamland accomplishes that task with ease each and every night. Do yourself and your kiddies a favor and pick up this classy and utterly delightful record.

To hear samples and to buy the disc, visit the Putumayo Kids site here.

You could also pick up the disc from the good folks over at The Pokey Pup - OWTK's favorite kid's record store.

Family Values (I wish I was a Swede)

The next time some Republican yahoo is pontificating about how important family values are and how they will work, with the grace of God, if elected to solidify the family unit in America, think about the fact that the Family Medical Leave Act provides exactly ZERO paid time off and only 12 whole weeks of job-protected leave (and that last part only applies to larger organizations and companies, some of which may fork over some paid time inside that 12 weeks - if you're so lucky).

At the same time, those crazy socialists up north in Canada grant 14 MONTHS of paid time off after child birth and across the pond in Sweden, a couple is able to share in 18 freakin' MONTHS away from work (at 80% pay) to raise their newborn baby. Amazing how much family matters in this country. Maybe we should just keep praying that everything will work out with our kids when we drop them off at daycare at 12 weeks old (or younger if a family cannot be without one of it's paychecks for that long - which I imagine is most of 'em these days.)

In fact, according to a 2004 study by Harvard University, only 5 countries out of 168 fail to offer some form of standardized paid maternity leave. The grand ol' U.S. is one of those special five, along with Australia, Lesotho (?), Papua New Guinea and Swaziland (which sounds totally made up). Sweet.

Is there a problem we face as a country that cannot be traced back, in it's infancy, to family/home life? Too many homicides and gun-totting crazies? Maybe if they had a better education, yes, but what about if they had a better home as a child? Take it all the way back. Think about everything that ails us as a nation and try to find something that doesn't have it's roots, even just a seedling, in childhood/parenting/the way we were raised...and by whom (parents or daycare providers juggling the attention and needs of a dozen children at once)

Twenty to twenty five years ago middle class families had just one parent working, most of them it seemed. Now, to stay afloat almost every kid has both parents away from the home for 8+ hours a day from birth, just about. Is this because we crave too much stuff and need two incomes to fund our Hummer, Nintendo Wii, HDTV, Dining out habits? Probably. Would we function better if we, as a nation, WANTED LESS in general? Probably. But, the corporations wouldn't like that very much, nor would their stockholders. Pervasive and non-stop advertising helping American kids and adults alike feel inadequate if they don't have the latest and greatest widget surely plays some role in this complex puzzle of economic failure at the family level...right? But so does the fact that we as parents in the Unites States are not provided the opportunity to nurture our children from birth and enjoy their early moments at home.

What the hell kind of Family Value is that exactly, Mr. President and members of congress? Maybe some of that war budget could be better served to subsidize family maternity leave in the coming years? Might not protect us from the new terrorists our actions in Iraq have given birth too, but it might just protect us from ourselves.

Thoughts?

EYEBALLS!!!!

The Bear is infatuated with the word EYEBALL. She has a funny way of saying it too, more EYEBAWWWWL then eyeball. It's hilarious. TOOTH is a distant second in the favorite word area.

20+ years ago, I remember my parochial-school-best-friend's annoying little sister announcing "guess what my favorite word is? GRAND" and a recall thinking, in my too cool 12 year old mind, how stupid it was to have a favorite word.

Well, it's not soooo stupid anymore. It helps that EYEBAWWWL is at least 10x cooler than GRAND.

Your youngsters have/ever had a favorite word?

Ellis Paul - Live in Philly

The Mrs. and I were lucky enough to be in the audience for the Ellis Paul show on Saturday morning at World Cafe Live in Philly. He played most of the tunes off his debut kid's record, the impeccable effort titled "The Dragonfly Races", sprinkled in a couple Woody Guthrie numbers, including a faithful rendition of "This Land is Our Land", and one Pete Seeger tune. It turns out that this was only the 4th or 5th children's show Ellis had performed, so he was still feeling out his way on stage in front of a mostly knee-high crowd. Despite his relative inexperience in that department, he did a fantastic job interacting with the youngsters, leading them in some sing-along/dance-along bits and seemed to please a fairly packed house.


Here is a short clip of Ellis Paul performing "Road Trip" - the standout track from "The Dragonfly Races" - with some on-stage help from his friend Rachel.




The Bear would have loved the show (especially the chance to hear "This Land is Our Land" played live). We were sans children on Saturday because of the Christmas gift we received from my one brother and his wife. They gave us, as well as our oldest bro and his better half, lunch in center city and tickets to see the matinee performance of RAIN - The Beatles Experience at the Academy of Music. Minutes after we said hey to Ellis, we bolted for Broad Street. Never one for cover/tribute bands, I must admit that RAIN does one hell of a job recreating the music of the Fab Four. I can only imagine how much money they must have to fork over to the weird-one Michael Jackson for the right to perform and make money off The Beatles catalog. I didn't pay for the tix, but I still feel dirty for helping to indirectly line his pockets.

Le Grand Muzzy

So I'm flipping through the new Parenting magazine, reading all about Mom's and their interaction with their children (why isn't this rag called "Raising Kids Without Dads!") and there is a huge Ad for Muzzy, a two page spread! Yikes, that is probably a fairly expensive advert. Anyway, it reminded me of our own interaction with the big green space oddity...and what a perfect time to replay an OWTK classic (tongue planted firmly in cheek).

My review of French MUZZY

But first, a funny Muzzy television ad from what has to be the early eighties.



I now realize that I never followed up with the real life application of Muzzy. Well, I probably did during my blogging from France, but never succinctly. The Muzzy lessons clearly helped the Bear be a charming little American girl in Paris and Provence. She was able to order her own croissants and say hi and goodnight to shopkeepers and friendly Parisians and generally "get by" - just like her parents. The DVDs actually helped the Mrs. and I just as much. It was well worth the money and the little bit of time spent in front of the workbook and DVDs.

Sleeping with Cloud b

You have probably seen a Cloud b product at some point, even if you don't recall the encounter right now. They are the inventive company (with the snazzy packaging) behind the Twilight Turtle - a fantastically cute illuminated sleep aid that is available in all those cool, quirky magazines and the finer independent toy retailers. I am in love with the idea behind Cloud b's unique and nearly-exquisite line of kiddie sleep aids. Unfortunately Cloud b's execution with their entire product line leaves something to be desired as does their hideous, almost non-existent 'customer service' (using that term very liberally).

Over a year ago you may remember me discussing the Twilight Turtle in passing on these pages. The Turtle was OWTK's introduction to Cloud b and the Bear relished sleeping under the starry sky each night for about 2-3 months until the turtle passed away - not even fresh batteries could bring back her bedtime buddy. After a few months passed, she began asking for the turtle again so I decided to check out Cloud b's website and discovered a variety of other sleep aids including two brand new products (as of Fall 2007) - I bought 'em all with the intention of test-driving and reviewing them (making the assumption the first Turtle short-life span was a fluke).

The Twilight Turtle & Twilight Ladybug (new!)

The original Turtle and the new Ladybug perform wonderfully and have over a long stretch now. We have used both nightly for the past 3 months. The lights go out after 30 minutes so the battery life is excellent (I yet to replace them). The mouse sleeps under the Turtle's green or blue stars (the third color option, amber, is so dim it is never used) every night. The Bear staked claim to the Ladybug and it too is still going strong after several months although she no longer uses it every single evening. The two stuffed animals with hard shells travel very well, easily fitting into a suitcase and they look great sitting on the edge of the bed. You will need an elevated flat surface for optimal performance - having the animals on the floor will yield unimpressive results (stars are too fuzzy and wide). During the summer months we positioned the original turtle atop the Bear's rotating tower fan which provided a slightly dizzying but very cool planetarium effect as the night sky moved above her. Highly Recommended.

Sleep SheepLike the Twilight Turtle and Ladybug, the Sleep Sheep is a real winner. The Sheep is attached to the side of Mouse's crib very securely with the extra strength Velcro (a very well made product - the Velcro has remained tight and sticky after constant use). We predominately use the sound of rain but the ocean, with it's crashing waves, is equally as enjoyable. The same cannot be said of the heartbeat sound, a bit too robotic, and the rather unsettling whale sounds. The sheep is highly portable, we often will take it in the car and attach it to the backseat headrest for evening drives. Also like the Twilight, the Sheep looks great in any nursery. Highly Recommended.

Cuddle Cub

Here is where it all falls apart. The Cuddle Cub is one of the new offerings from Cloud b. It's a terrible product. The idea is nice (which is why I bought it) - a sleep aid for toddlers to snuggle while they sleep, all the while being soothed by a soft vibration or a reassuring heartbeat. Sounds perfect, right? Well, the Bear was excited too...for about 90 seconds. The Cub got tossed to the curb faster than any toy I've ever seen. The heartbeat is loud and obnoxious and the vibration is as clunky as a coin operated motel bed. Aesthetically, the cub doesn't fair much better. The Cuddle Cub looks great in a picture but in "real life" seems lifeless. The stuffed animal has almost no neck to speak of so it's head has no choice but to flop down or back - it looks pretty silly. The heart shaped box inside the cub is also a problem. The stomach pouch is not centered - you cannot push the box into the center unless you un-stitch the cub's innards. As a result, the hard gut of the cub is mishapped, uncomfortable and kinda freakish looking.

It's a shame that the cub is so poor, because the rest of the line is rather lovely (including a Lavender Lab not reviewed). It's really a shame that Cloud b's customer service/return policy is so useless and unresponsive. I completed the return form online within days of receiving the package only to receive one "do not reply to this email" email acknowledgement and emailed twice (even stating that I was planning on reviewing the entire line). I've heard nothing since and will probably not buy a single thing from them in the future thanks to that unresponsiveness. Why even have an email address or offer returns? Poor consumer interaction can be the downfall of an organization and while it doesn't appear to be hurting Cloud b right now (their products are showing up in more and more places/mags), I cannot get passed how lame it is to ignore numerous emails and can't help but think that it will catch up with them eventually.

Don't hesitate picking up the Sleep Sheep or Twilight Turtle/Ladybug for your youngster, they will probably adore them as much as the Bear and Mouse do, just pray nothing goes wrong with their little friends. For a company promoting snuggling and comfort, they sure leave this writer feeling pretty cold and alone.

Thin Chicken and a Bowl of Warm Chocolate

On Friday, when I picked up the Bear and Mouse from their grandparents, my mom sent me home with a platter of frozen, breaded chicken - the thinnest you'll ever see. She prepared it and then, like everything else in her house, it went into a deep freeze - unsure of it's purpose or the role it may someday play in their lives. I decided to turn the 6 low-self esteem pieces into slim chicken parm with a side of penne. Never a big fan of Italian food - red sauce specifically - I have seen the light recently thanks in large part to the fine folks at Rao's in NYC. They make and distribute the best marinara and vodka sauce money can buy and a red with prosciutto and onions that is heavenly (and I'm not being paid to say that - I pay $7 a jar for the stuff like everyone else). As a result, we have been leaning on the relatively easy pasta dinner a couple times week over the past month or so - sometimes mixing in crumbled sweet sausage, sometimes peas and chicken (with the vodka sauce). I knew Rao's could make the flat chicken delicious.

After nap, we surprised the Bear with chocolate fondue - in a cool metallic red 100th Anniversary of the Hershey Kiss fondue pot (seen here courtesy of my iPhone). I picked this pot up on clearance for $7 last week at the local supermarket. We dipped strawberries, Nilla wafers, graham crackers, leftover oatmeal raisin cookies and pretzels. Sublime. I made the chocolate sauce with semi-sweet morsels (Toll House, of course), a dash of heavy cream, a 1/2 cup of milk and a few spoons of sugar (cause the morsels just weren't sugary enough). Against the easy-money odds, the Bear is not out of her mind tonight. I was prepared for choco-craziness, but nothing like that at all...yet. Hmmm.

In other exciting news, the Mouse is now doing the inward-facing hand-clasp thing that parents like to call waving. She is also clapping and just tonight began to use a sippy cup (okay, she held it for the first time and dribbled water onto her bib - but it's a start!) She is quite an amazing and fun little lady with a heart-melting smile.
I was not initially on-board with the idea of #2, afraid that we would mess up the great thing we had going with #1. I was also scared to death of something going wrong during the pregnancy. #1 was so smooth and easy for the Mrs. that I feared the law of averages crashing down onto her and us. Fortunately I was wrong. To see the Bear as big sis, to give her a built-in-best friend for life (hopefully) and to have a chance to correct our mistakes during the first go-around eventually won-out and I'm so damn glad. I just thanked the Mrs. the other night, after I snuggled the Mouse and put her to sleep, for talking me into expanded the family. Hard to imagine life without the Mouse nowadays.

The Mrs. and I started to discuss vacations for 2008 last night. We will surely hit Sarasota again, opting for, in all likelihood, a rental home/condo instead of a hotel room this time around. Looks like a nice place 1/2 block from Lido Key Beach can be had for less than $800 a week during the summer months (off-peak down in the Gulf Coast area). We are also considering a drive up to Boston for a long weekend. Long range...We have, in the back of our minds, a trip to France (again) planned for Summer '10 when the Mouse is 3 and the Bear 6. I'm afraid though that the stinkin' dollar will kill those dreams - $1.50 to buy a Euro now? That is almost 40% more than our first trip abroad in 2003 and 20% more than our 2 week stint with the Bear 15 months ago. That's nuts!

That concludes a rather rambling post, my apologies for that.

Bonne Nuit a Tous.

Birthday Party Season

The start of birthday party season is upon us. For years now I have dreaded these days, when the schoolmate b-day invitations begin to roll in. I was always miffed when Charlie Brown would moan about the fact that he was never invited to a party - personally that would be the sweetest thing ever. I recognize a part of growing up is attending birthday parties, eating cake, being merry, blah blah blah, but when there are 20+ kids in a class and party politics require that everyone be invited to every party it can be a drain on the family time social calendar and on the wallet. Secondarily, or maybe this is my primary fear, is that this means I will have to now invite non-family members to the Bear's 4th birthday extravaganza in March and that those folks that do not know the Bear (or us) very well or at all will arrive with gifts of an undesirable kind (dolls that end in the letter Z or princesses from a company starting with a D - for example...you know the stuff all girls are supposed to be into). Can you write "No Shitty, Slutty Gifts please" in the invite? I am weighing my options.

The party tomorrow is from 2-3:30 (meaning that the household must be football fans as the playoffs start after 4pm - I already like these people) and at their home, which is nice. For the gift, we decided on the Squiqqles book I reviewed here, along with a snazzy 24 pack of watercolour pencils and the 1st Gustafer Yellowgold DVD (read my interview with Morgan). I couldn't help myself with the Gustafer purchase 'cause #1 it helps out the band and #2 it is just so cool and unique...which is more than one can say about those Z's and D's. I wanted to package Justin Robert's "Meltdown" and Francis England's "Fascinating Creatures" discs with the Squiqqles Book as the gift but I thought of it too late to order from the artists themselves and I simply refuse to pay $18 for a CD in a big box stores. I did pay $17 for Gustafer in B&N but it's a DVD/CD combo so I felt like that wasn't too insane (plus it's only $2 more than the band charges in person).

Hopefully the Bear's friend will dig it all - the Bear is on record as telling us that this girl likes art...so there you go. For the Bear's party, we are definitely probably holding it at World Cafe Live during the Justin Roberts show and we without a doubt are not inviting the whole damn classroom even if it means we are destined to be "those people" - after all that is who I always dreamed of becoming.

A Gift from her Teachers

The Bear's two preschool teachers gave all the kids in the class (she has since moved on to Pre-Kindergarten) a really inventive holiday gift - a mix CD of songs selected specially for each of them. The Bear's song - "The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow" from Annie and the liner notes comment: "Our optimist with a true love for music. Here she comes Broadway!" The Bear loves dancing to the lead track "Kung Fu Fighter" and grooves to most of the other tunes as well.

An awesome present! Similar to the idea we had for her first Birthday party giveaway.

A little battle sprouted up but luckily was diffused somewhat quickly Sunday afternoon. We wanted to swap CD players (The Bear's for the Mouse's as Bear's has the repeat-all function) because we were thinking that the lack of continuous music is part of the reason the Mouse takes naps in 20 minute increments (earning the new nickname - RoboBaby because she seems generally unaffected by the lack of sleep). At school the Mouse sleeps like a champ under a cloud of rather loud, never-ending lullabies in the mass-crib room. Sunday's nap after the switch: 2 3/4 hours. Hmmm...the Bear is not getting that thing back! Sunday marked the first time ever, I think, that the two of the took long naps at the same time. A beautiful thing.

Medeski, Martin & Wood "Let's Go Everywhere"

Any word on when is Wolf Parade's kiddie-rock record is coming out?

I joke, but it does seem like there is a mad dash to jump into the genre - maybe because it's one of the only making a buck with physical CD sales these days. Or maybe because it allows often serious artists to have some fun with their craft and their audience. Whatever the reason, we should all be glad that Medeski, Martin and Wood - those purveying of fine jazz/funk - decided to put together an album for little folks and release it to the masses. Their entrance into the world of children's entertainment is a stunning 15 track disc entitled "Let's Go Everywhere".
It will be released on Little Monster Records tomorrow January 8th, 2008.

The story of how "Let's Go Everywhere" came to together starts with a play date and ends with what will undoubtedly be considered one of the coolest kids records released this year. The music is top notch and tight, as anyone familiar with MMW's adult music would imagine it to be, while at the same time playful and lighthearted. What is quite interesting to this parent and music reviewer is that a good portion of the tracks are essentially instrumental pieces, albeit mostly upbeat dance-able numbers. I am curious to see how the disc does with more mainstream American families that would probably not consider instrumental music for their own listening pleasure (short of being relegated to serve as background cocktail party music - ugh). Hopefully this disc finds it's way into thousands of minivans as well as mini coopers 'cause this is as much a record for little kids as it is for the little kid in all of us.

The presence of numerous instrumentals should in no way give you pause - this CD is super fun. You should really consider buying this disc immediately. There really is no reason to give it a second thought.

Within 2 minutes (1 minute into the hip title track) the Bear (now age 3 3/4 for those keeping score at home) was dancing around the room, shaking her tiny tush with feather boa 'round her neck and magic sceptre in hand. The music is infectious and groovy and will be a big hit with any kid fortunate enough to have the CD added to their family's music collection.

Standout cuts include "The Squalb"- a spoken word story of what that stuff inside our pockets actually is (if you thought "lint" you're mistaken), "Where's the Music" - a very cool jazzy ditty. It's one of those instrumentals, save for children shouting the title of the track every 30 seconds or so and also serves as a great song for musical chairs (kids still play that game, right?) since you don't even have to man the stereo or iPod. "Pirate's Don't Take Baths" is probably the funniest song on the record and will be the one in heavy rotation on XM Kids, Radio Disney, Spare the Rock and other kid's music programs - and rightfully so. You'll understand why when you sample "Pirate's Don't Take Baths" along with Where's the Music" right here.

MMW is the special guest at Levon Helm's 1st Kid's Ramble of 2008 as well as Mr. Helm's musical guest for his adult Midnight Ramble on 1/12/08. Both shows are sold out (unfortunately, for this writer who didn't get tickets in time). We purchased Helm's Dirt Farmer package getting us an autographed copy of "Dirt Farmer", a long sleeve hooded tee and a pair of tix for any Ramble this year. Words simply cannot describe my excitement to see Levon play...at his cozy home studio (holy crap!). To see MMW up there in Woodstock as well would have been a special moment.

I don't see any all ages/kids performances lined up yet, but hopefully MMW will tour a bit for the wee ones, behind this incredible record.

Buy "Let's Go Everywhere" today directly from Medeski, Martin and Wood.

Hello Art Lovers

There are many art and art-related books available for the toddler (and even infant) set.
Here is a brief glimpse of a handful of the finest.

Vincent's Colors
Words and Pictures by Vincent Van Gogh
from The Metropolitan Museum of Art

This book delivers on an interesting concept. Van Gogh's actual words (albeit only six or so per page) are used to present sixteen of his famous paintings to children. Throughout his life, Vincent corresponded with his brother Theo, explaining in blunt simplicity, his work. Text is pulled from those letters to accompany his art here and while the words are few, it is still very neat to know that you are reading Van Gogh's own thoughts and descriptions of some of his most well-known paintings. A nice introduction to some amazing art for toddlers.

Bijou, Bonbon and Beau (The Kittens Who Danced for Degas)
by Joan Sweeney
Illustrated by Leslie Wu

A simply lovely book telling the tale of three adorable kittens and their mother who take up residence in a famous Paris theater - the same one frequented by Edgar Degas. Leslie Wu's work on this book is magnificent, replicating Degas' pastel stylings, adding an authentic Degas-esque touch to an already compelling story. Bijou, Bonbon and Beau is perfect for cat lovers, little ballerinas and art enthusiasts (amazingly enough, the Bear qualifies as all three!)

Small Stories of Great Artists
By Laurence Anholt

These 4 books served as the Bear's introduction to fine art and the artists Van Gogh, Picasso, Da Vinci and Degas. Each of these Anholt classics are available in traditional form but are presented here in mini-me format, a compact and neatly organized collection of great stories with a nice decorative case (pictured here). The books "Degas and the Little Dancer" and "Piccaso and the Girl with a Ponytail" are by far the favorite in our home, so much so that we drove to D.C. to see Degas' famous sculpture "Little Dancer Aged Fourteen" a few weeks back. Even my mom liked these books. So much so, that she ordered them from Amazon.uk as a Christmas gift for a co-worker's daughter (while the standard formats of these four books are readily available, the "small stories" collection is available from only overseas sources. We bought ours in the Louvre last year.)
In short, these books are terrific. You will not be disappointed with your purchase!
Check out this ebay UK auction for the set signed by Anholt!

Art up Close
by Claire d'Harcourt

Art up Close is actually an iSpy-like puzzle book rather than a story about art. Inside this over-sized edition you and your child will work on finding highlighted items/sections that exist inside the 23 works of art that adorn the pages. This book is challenging (but not overly difficult), fun and really gets your family looking closely at art and all the amazing details that exist in these works of art. Very, very cool item.






Squiggles
by Taro Gomi

A fun and creative coloring, painting and drawing book. Inside are 200+ pages of faces, vases, streams and scenes waiting your child's imaginative touch. The book uses a thick paper to allow multiple artistic formats - crayon, paints, pencils, etc. This is not your everyday coloring book, it will spur on the creative process in a way a blank or character-laden coloring sheet will never be able to. One caveat - when the Bear employed the use of a new set of Elmer's Paint Pens, the paint did bleed through several pages (it still bled through at least one page when she was careful not to use too much paint). It would seem that watercolor paints are probably the intended medium here.

Good Mornin' - It's Kathy Seldon's world, we are just living in it

The Bear is head-over-heels in love with Singing in the Rain. She loves Kathy Seldon (Debbie Reynold's character) but for some reason has to leave the room when she nails Lina Lamont in the face with that cream pie. Weird. She just gets upset at that part of the film.
Happy Weekend everyone...this clip is bound to cheer ya up, should you need help in that dept.




The furniture for our new room was delivered yesterday, after the carpet came on Wednesday. We spent a good portion of the day out there, in the as yet unfinished space. We broke out a space heater to warm things up a bit and got to have lunch on the bar table. It was tremendous. After 4 months of waiting, things are finally coming together. It ain't even close to perfect, but it feels like home out there. We nailed the carpet decision - a multi-colored/flecked berber that hides everything (the Mouse christened the carpet with a few tbsp of spit up and after it was wiped up - you'd never know she had - Awesome).

A Crappy Start to a New Year

My day job is beating me down this year. 2008 has me working nearly 12 hour days and seeing my kids for a total of 3 hours the past two night. This sucks...big time. To quote Robbie Robertson (since I am on a Band kick this week) - "A good damn impossible way of life"

On the bright side, the new addition to the OWTK Chateau has carpet now and tomorrow will have furniture. So, maybe by Spring we can actually use the space.

Off to bed. Hope your 2008 is treating you better.

Uncle Wiggly and other Tidbits from New Year's Day

Holy Crap...two posts in one day! I'm on pace for 730 posts this year...

The OWTK 4 had a nice New Year's Day. Surprisingly, I saw almost no football...I guess the bowl games at the end of a bizarre college football season did not hold enough interest to get me to flip on the day's games. Instead I, along with the Mrs. and the Bear, was a cooking and baking machine. We made a batch of chocolate chip and a batch of oatmeal raisin cookies, and also made the Mouse three batches of food for the rest of the week: Pear-Raspberry-Kiwi, Potato-Corn-Carrots-Peas, and Sweet Potato-Onion-Carrot. We love making baby food, trying to make at least one veggie and one fruit per week, then supplement with Earth's Best or Organic Baby jarred food. Oh! I also made pancakes (from scratch - I don't do pancake mixes) for breakfast, turkey clubs for lunch (using Niman Ranch Bacon - wow is this stuff good!) and chicken saltimbocca for dinner (chicken with prosciutto and fontina cheese) with rice. So in between cooking, I was doing dishes like a mad man.

The Mouse pulled herself up for the first time this afternoon, at age 7 months and 3 days. She has been doing the army crawl for the past couple weeks and is moving fast now, but has not yet crawled on her hands and knees. Maybe she will skip that whole step and just start walking. That'd be cool. This was the year of the board game as Christmas gift (the Bear got 5 from her family members!) and the yet unopened ones are serving as little sleds/boats for the Mouse. She loves climbing on top of Dr. Seuss' Green Eggs and Ham game and staring at the colorful box from above it. Pretty cute stuff. Days like this make me wish I could spend every day at home with my kids, they were both adorable pretty much all day. The Bear even rolled the Mouse into her room while in her walker and spent a good 1/2 hour alone with her - reading books and playing peek-a-boo.

After Mouse hit the hay, the three of us played Uncle Wiggly - a fun little game like Candyland but instead of colors you work the counting thing. The Mrs. beat the Bear by one. I was 39 spaces back just waiting to pounce. I had them both right where I wanted 'em!

A nice start to a new year. Thanks for hanging out with OWTK in 2007...we hope to see you around for another 365 days.

So Much for Tradition...

The Mrs. and I have spent the prior seven New Year's Eves together, in front of the television watching great music. No, I am not referring to the pop tarts du jour that litter the national New Year's Eve broadcasts each year. Our tradition avoids all that as we watch the finest rock and roll concert film ever made - The Band's "The Last Waltz". While the format has changed from VHS to DVD, some things never deviate - such as my inability to stay awake past midnight.

December 31st, 2007 was no different. Kids in bed, the Mrs. and I on the couch talking, laughing, making fun of a variety of characters that passed through our lives over the previous twelve months and gearing up for the rock show and my eyelids feeling The Weight (get it!) of a long day at work.

Typically, we will start the film around 10pm, so that it ends just in time for us to watch the ball drop, kiss and crawl into bed. Last night, however, I got interested in the funniest football game - the Orange & Blue Tigers of Auburn taking on the Orange & Blue Tigers from Clemson. I kinda root for Clemson, as does the Mrs. ever since I bought her a Clemson sweatshirt years ago after doing some work down there in South Carolina, so we wasted an hour or so watching 'em. By the time we started the picture, my eyes were fluttering. I ended up seeing just the first song on the DVD (which is actually the last tune they played on Thanksgiving Day 1976).
How lame I have became.

Here's a glimpse of The Band performing "Up on Cripple Creek" during "The Last Waltz"



It's 2008 - the year of the potato! And the year we finally get a new President!
Eat some French (or freedom) Fries and celebrate!

Happy New Year!