I got an e-mail from Chris Blake, an LA musician whose latest album Wave features a gentle song called "Lullaby," sung from the perspective of a parent to a soon-to-be-slumbering child. If you had told me that a sweet lullaby song could feature the word "TV" as the last word, I'd probably have laughed -- hey, I was wrong.
The video features home movies from a half-century ago or more, and, yeah, it's manipulative, but it works. Makes you wonder if the digital video/YouTube explosion will make these kinds of things more common or less wistful in the future.
Anyway, a peaceful 3 minutes or so.
Chris Blake - "Lullaby"
A Little Bit More About That New Robbert Bobbert CD...
I know, I told you just last week about how Robbert Bobbert -- aka Robert Schneider from Apples in Stereo -- is releasing his debut kids music CD Robbert Bobbert & The Bubble Machine on January 20th, 2009.
But I found some album art, and thought I needed to share. Todd Webb posted some album art from the book accompanying the album, and it's cute enough to merit the click-through.
Really, that Bob Schneider there in the center is a hoot.
Concert Recap: Family Music Meltdown 2 (Austin, September 2008)
Well, it's been a little while, but the good times of Family Music Meltdown 2 are still in my memory and before they leave my memory, allow me to recap an excellent night of Austin-based kids music. It ended with a whole bunch of kids rockin' out with Joe McDermott and his band, but before we got there...ACL Fest (Austin Kiddie Limits) 2008: Final Thoughts
Well, it's been more than a week since I arrived in Austin for this year's Austin City Limits Festival, so it's probably time I wrap up all my writing on the topic and move on to something else. (Is there some other festival this weekend?) For those of you looking for the week's notes, look no further than my archives. To conclude, a few big-picture thoughts on the festival as it was, along with some on how it could be.
ACL Fest is an exceedingly well-run festival.
I mean, when the worst things you can say about the weekend is that the sounds from sets occasionally bled into one another (Alejandro Escovedo had his amps turned up, making the Swell Season set not quite as hushed as it might have been) and that there could probably be a few more water fountains, well, then, you done good. Sets started on time, shuttle buses were plentiful, there were lots of things to do, and the grounds were about as immaculate as you could expect. (Seriously, they decided to give t-shirts and other swag away to people who brought recyclables back in big plastic bags. What a genius idea -- I'm not sure I saw a single stray can or plastic bottle the entire weekend.)
Cybils Nominations Are Open!
As I noted a couple weeks ago, I'm proud to be serving as a judge for this year's Cybils Awards, helping to choose the year's best in children's and young adult books, in particular, fiction picture books. I do, after all, read, sometimes even with the stereo off.
Starting yesterday, people were able to nominate books in a whole range of children's book categories, and already people have left more than 50 comments on just the Fiction Picture Books category. I expect a lot more to be nominated by October 15 when nominations close. (My work starts on January 1 when the finalists are announced.)
So if you've got a great book for kids -- fiction picture books or otherwise -- go to the website and nominate 'em!
ACL Fest (Austin Kiddie Limits) 2008: The View from Miss Mary Mack
So I've been writing a lot about the 2008 edition of the Austin City Limits Festival and about the Austin Kiddie Limits stage in particular, but I thought I'd let Miss Mary Mack have a few words about her experience...
Zooglobble: So who was your favorite musician or band?
Miss Mary Mack: Uncle Rock. [That's her rendition of Uncle Rock there on the left -- that's Robert's 9-year-old son Jack, who accompanied him on stage, wearing his big hat on the right.]
