music – Page 31 – Wrekehavoc.com

Category: music

my hero zero

Posted on August 14, 2007 by wrekehavoc

BC is worried. BC feels that she learned math and science all in spanish last year and that she doesn’t know the english words for things. she says she knows her times tables — but only in spanish. in short, three weeks til school starts at her new school, and BC is freaking out.

no one should be freaking out as they enter 3rd grade.

part of me kicks myself for sending her to the spanish immersion elementary school. i really thought i was doing a good thing. you always hear the cases of parents availing their families to opportunities that they never had; well, this was one of them. i very much loved the idea of the school. i loved the idea, too, that my kids would be with kids of all sorts of backgrounds, not just kids of backgrounds like their own.

but unless you are either native spanish speakers; are fluent spanish speakers; or are a parent so enthused by the idea of your child going to a school where they speak spanish for one half the day that you are willing to learn spanish; then this model is somewhat flawed. my kid was essentially dependent on one child at her table, one native speaker, who could help her understand what the hell the teacher was saying (since the teacher didn’t encourage interruptions). and if that child had the audacity (yes, i’m being sarcastic here) of wanting to learn herself rather than helping other kids at the table, well, the non-spanish-speaking kid essentially is screwed.

it probably didn’t help that her spanish teacher seemed more interested in being strict than in being understood.

so my kid, who was allegedly gifted in math in kindergarten, is now telling me that she really does well in english and social studies. which, of course, happen to be the subjects that were taught in english in her school and which she liked very much. she doesn’t feel like she’s very good in math. GRRRRRRR! and this global citizen i am trying to raise is pretty dismissive of spanish. “spanish is okay learning it just as spanish,” she says, “but i really don’t want to learn a subject in it any more.”

i can’t blame her.

so this morning, i did what any crazy parent who needed to calm things down (for both of us) did. i put on multiplication rock, including my fave my hero zero (a song i will definitely cover if i ever get the chance to be in a band ;-). we sat and watched it all. and i think we’re going to watch it again and again and again. anything to help her build up her confidence. after all, it’s how i learned to memorize my times tables. (i also made up songs to some of my chemistry formulae as well, but we won’t go there right now.) she said she didn’t care much for the song for 6s, but that’s ok. she’ll learn stuff after a time. she’ll sing them loud 🙂

just like i do this in the car (another song i’d cover in my own band). yep. i can’t wait til we get back to the days when the worst thing in the world isn’t scary math but is the scary embarrassing mom who sings pearl jam at the top of her lungs. with the windows open.

the wonder pets

Posted on August 8, 2007 by wrekehavoc

my 4 year old suddenly has discovered the wonder pets. a year late, of course, but we’re a little slow to watch much on Nick. i hate the fact that they show commercials to the preschool set. hate hate HATE it.

linny, tuck, and ming-ming, too. they’re wonder pets and they eat poo.

no, not really. i’m just losing it watching these things which BS is now TIVOing for hellboy’s watching pleasure. thanks to my friend TIVO we can cruise right over those age-appropriate ads on Nick Jr for things like hair replacement, which all preschoolers seriously need. i suppose the wonder pets aren’t as bad as watching barney (and i remember the vile jurassic entity in his heyday), which made me actually ill. we tried to banish barney from our home when BC was small, but as every friend of hers watched it at daycare, it was impossible. we embraced him, getting some used home videos and a few toys.

the phase passed. thousands rejoiced.

so as a mom, i’ve learned you cannot banish things unless you want them to grow larger than life. i will learn to embrace the wonder pets. i will become one with the wonder pets. i will… i will stop singing every blessed word that emanates from my mouth in a style like the wonder pets do. like: ju-lian. come eat your BREAK-fast!

i can’t stop SING-ing. this is see-weee-us!

the worst was when i tried to sing along with one part. only, too bad for me, cos i got the words wrong:

we’re not too big and we’re not too smart. but when we work together we’ve got the right STUFF!

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO WONDER PETS!

wait a second. we’re not too smart? that can’t be right. i must be hallucinating.

speaking of hallucinations, am i the only one who is wondering whether college kids get together, get stoned, and watch the wonder pets? it SCREAMS drinking game, just like love boat did when i was, er, when i was watching it in re-runs. many. years. ago.

anyway, maybe i can use the wonder pets to encourage certain younger family members to help out around the house. i can grab my trusty broom, hand it to the younger hellboy, grab the dustpan, and sing at the top of my happy lungs:

what’s gonna work? TEAMWORK!

wonder pets. it’s a tv show, a chore-helper AND a drinking game. not that i would ever encourage the latter, of course.

unless anyone wants to come over my house sometime with some mojitos.

she talks to angels

Posted on July 21, 2007 by wrekehavoc

one of the compelling women i think about at times is the subject of the black crowes’ she talks to angels. you never know what she looks like, where she lives, why the singer even knows her. in fact, the singer bemoans the fact that she pretty much lies. a lot. which, of course, makes you wonder why he gives a crap about a junkie. i mean, so many people write off addicts. plenty of people start down the sordid path due to their own idiocy, not knowing that they flirt with an illness, a disease much more powerful than themselves. why is she muse-worthy, i wonder.

i’m reminded of a bit in the film (and yes, novel) trainspotting, thinking about how Renton talks about final hits; and i’m wondering whether this unnamed woman is close to her’s:

She keeps a lock of hair in her pocket
She wears a cross around her neck
Yes, the hair is from a little boy
And the cross is someone she has not met, not yet

Says she talks to angels,
Says they all know her name

anyway, G-d knows that there are other junkies out there in rock; there are even dealers, people in hot pursuit of something not-so-legal (i’m thinking about vocal powerhouse joan osborne and st. teresa), all sorts wandering the lyrical streets.

but of course this one has no name.

the queen and the soldier

Posted on July 19, 2007 by wrekehavoc

today, i’ve got suzanne vega on the brain. those who’ve known me for at least two decades have heard my “famous” percocet/suzanne vega story at least a zillion times. at some point, i’m sure i’ll write it down. but suffice to say, i *heart* vega and her lou reed-ish interpretive songs. like mitchell, she can paint stirring moments in song, and i’m hard-pressed to pick a one.

but since my leitmotif is women [subjects] of rock, i’ll choose the queen and the soldier. a battle-weary soldier confronts a queen, asking her why he and his comrades must fight this battle. the queen, normally imperious, informs him:

The young queen, she fixed him with an arrogant eye
She said, “You won’t understand, and you may as well not try”
But her face was a child’s, and he thought she would cry
But she closed herself up like a fan.

And she said, “I’ve swallowed a secret burning thread
It cuts me inside, and often I’ve bled”
He laid his hand then on top of her head
And he bowed her down to the ground.

all the soldier wants to do is return to his home, his love, his life, but he has the temerity to question authority. and the queen, apparently, is unable to comprehend and is threatened. she might dissolve if she is treated like a human and not like a diety. she tells him to wait; and while he waits, she orders his execution. he is killed, still waiting for her word.

i read this today in light of the Iraqi war. americans who have had the temerity to question the bush administration’s policies have been deemed unpatriotic and unamerican. they have been crucified in the press, vilified in their communities.

and all we want to know is why.

ladies of the canyon

Posted on July 18, 2007 by wrekehavoc

as i sit here, baking cookies (i believe the cookbook calls them ranger crispies) for our little playdate tomorrow, i was thinking about part of a song i love called — you guessed it — ladies of the canyon (from the album of the same name by the brilliant joni mitchell, a singer songwriter whom i adore and who never fails to make BS leave the room, as he thinks her singing sounds like the cry of the wounded wildebeest.)

i’m wondering if the ladies are still alive and well and living their earthmother existences. there’s trina, the artist, sewing lace on widows weeds/and filigree on leaf and vine (i’ll take the category evocative in only 11 words, alex); estrella, the songwriter who is probably stevie nicks’ older sister; and my favorite, annie the homemaking baking machine:

Annie sits you down to eat
She always makes you welcome in
Cats and babies round her feet
And all are fat and none are thin
None are thin and all are fat
She may bake some brownies today
Saying, you are welcome back
She is another canyon lady

are they all people from mitchell’s past? are they all facets of joni? i remember once reading a historical work about of laurel canyon and yet i can’t remember whether my questions were answered.

what a freaky neighborhood. i’d fit right in. well, that is, if there’s room for a poker-playing mom.

[today, i am thinking about some of the women of rock — the women subjects of some of my favorite songs. no reason. it isn’t women of rock day or anything like that. just felt like it. i’ll attempt to write about these ladies in the next few days, and i’m also interested in any suggestions you’ve got.]

top of the pops. at least, in our house.

Posted on May 27, 2007 by wrekehavoc

someone asked julian to sing a song the other day. i forget who it was and why. i do recall thinking they expected him to break into a nursery rhyme or something.

he started to sing this.

this is currently the song that both kids request in the car. just something catchy about singing: take it to the bridge/throw it overboard/see if it can swim/back into the shore.

kicks london bridge is falling down in the ass anyday.

thank you

Posted on May 19, 2007 by wrekehavoc

recently, i had a bizarre brain fart. i discovered the rockabye lullaby series of CDs. some brilliant person decided that people in our generation go insane over listening to children’s lullabye pap. so, instead, they’ve started covering songs by everyone from the Ramones to Green Day to Pink Floyd to Radiohead, adapting them into gentle nighttime treats. (although i will admit i was a bit creeped-out when i heard the lullabye version of Mother.)

i was always the mom who made mix CDs for her babies. next week, BC will do her book report on rock and roll stars she read about in a book; and with the CD playing that we burned together, she will proudly, among other things, tell her classmates that this is the song her mama sang to her every night, alternating between the joni mitchell version and the CNSY one. so i broke down and bought two CDs, one for BC (the Cure lullabyes) and one for jools (led zeppelin lullabyes).

so tonight, we broke open the zeppelin CD, me and my boy. stairway to heaven sounded so mournful as a lullabye, but he liked it. i started to sing along to it. eventually, he told me, “please stop singing, mama.” so i complied. we talked about his trip to the natural history museum and the scary moment when he saw a T-Rex fighting a triceratops. then, the song thank you came on, a zeppelin song i’ve always thought intensely beautiful.

“this song is called thank you,” i told jools. (we’re big on please and thank you in this house, and i thought it would make him laugh. which it did.)

“mama, will you sing some of it to me?” he asked. brave boy that he is. so i looked at my boy in the eyes, and i sang.

If the sun refused to shine, I would still be loving you.

When mountains crumble to the sea, there will still be you and me.

thank you, little one, for giving this moment to me.

ending the week on a happy note

Posted on May 11, 2007 by wrekehavoc

mike mills not wearing his nudie? peter buck cuddling something yellow and shaggy that’s not part of his intoxicated imagination? michael stipe singing with muppets?

c’mon monsters. you don’t have to cry. we can be happy!

top ten favorites

Posted on May 10, 2007 by wrekehavoc

kelly o has put a fun challenge together: what are your 10 favorite songs? i am hard pressed to pick ten. i’ll give it a shot.

norwegian wood
my most favorite song in all the world. don’t know what that says about me, considering its about a man who burns his lover’s house down. pity there’s no actual video, though this one is fun to watch. [see ringo smoke. see ringo fall. fall, ringo, fall.]

gimme shelter
as anyone who reads this regularly, i’ve discussed this one before.

rhapsody in blue
gershwin was a genius. it’s so hard to pick just one song. but this would definitely be it.

as
the video is lame, but the song is great. steveland remains an inspiration.

dancing barefoot
patti smith. mystical, lyrical, emotional.

clair de lune
debussy’s masterpiece. i love it even more with an orchestra, but the you tube videos with full orchestra featured the most ridiculous graphics ever. and besides, this gentleman’s violin playing is sublime.

i never loved a man
re-re is the queen. ’nuff said.

little wing
our wedding song 🙂

knock on wood
sure, amii stewart did a fun disco version of this one, but eddie floyd is the man. pity stax didn’t do more with him. probably the theme song of my life.

tempted
oh, piss off. i would have put “if i didn’t love you” here if there had only been a video. that song, plus this one, helped me survive high school. don’t ask.

harmony
probably the other song that would be my theme song. this is the only clip available of this one, and it cuts off the second half of the song, which is my favorite part:

Hello, baby hello
Open up your heart and let your feelings flow
You’re not unlucky knowing me
Keeping the speed real slow
In any case I set my own pace
By stealing the show, say hello, hello

it’s not exactly one of sir elton’s most famous songs. but i love the words.

okay, okay. so i picked 11. math is hard 😉

runners up include joni mitchell’s woodstock, elvis costello’s you belong to me, gramdmaster flash’s the message, REM’s can’t get there from here, golden paliminos little suicides, sheryl crow’s my favorite mistake and springsteen’s murder incorporated and out in the street. oh yeah. and how could i forget a girl like you, beauty and sadness and alone at midnight by the smithereens? and split enz’s message to my girl? precious by the pretenders? [ok, i’ll stop.]

anyone else want to share?

chills and thrills

Posted on May 10, 2007 by wrekehavoc

i’m ba-ack (along with Broooce, who is softly crooning New York City Serenade, one of my favorites.)

there’s something wildly off-putting about taking a medication that will help save your life but will make you so ill. i thought i had made it through okay, but about two hours after finishing my infusion, i started coming down with a fever, chills, nausea, and a feeling that my head was in a vise. i think i scared my kids, too — i was solo-parenting that night, as BS had to go to a class, and i really, really got chills when i was trying to get the kids to bed. i didn’t make anyone take a bath, and i think i barked at the kids a bit, which probably was The Big Clue that Mommy Doesn’t Feel Well. (i’m not usually the biggest barker in this house.) my kids are pretty good at picking up on such things. thankfully.

jools let me crawl under the covers with him and read stories. his one cover wasn’t working for me — i felt like i needed thousands of blankets to keep me warm. i convulsed into shakes and shivers, something i am sure was frightening to a little boy. but he was tough. he patted me and told me he loved me. i was a bit frightened myself at that point, so i really appreciated that in ways a little nearly-four-year-old will never comprehend.

then, i crawled into BC’s bed to read her stories. i was shaking so much that i couldn’t hold the book up. it was a pretty humbling moment as BC grabbed everything she could and piled it on top of me — her heavy blanket from grandma, her quilt (from me and BS), her towel, her robe — anything to keep me warm. and it worked for a time. the girl is a born empath and caregiver. she didn’t make me read any stories — we just sat and talked. i don’t even remember what we talked about, as she told me i didn’t have to talk, that i could just listen and she would talk about something. i really regret that i have no recollection of the conversation; i felt that ill.

and the only thermometer i could find was the little Dora the Explorer thermometer. (i found others, but let’s just say that i wasn’t putting them in my mouth.) my thermometer, MIA since my surgery, was gone just as i really needed it. Dora would have to do.

mercifully, BS came home from his class early. [G-d is good.] i called the doctor on call, as mi amiga Dora informed me that i was currently pushing 102F, which isn’t earthshattering in and of itself, but for someone who has a tough time battling infection, i can’t risk a whole lot. the doctor on call told me to dose myself with lots of benadryl. if my temp continued to climb, i would need to get steroids at the ER. joy.

lucky for me, the benadryl knocked me out, so i never did discover what my temp was in the middle of the night. but in the a.m., i was still at the 101.something mark. BS stayed home, along with jools. it’s half-day at all elementary schools here, so basically, BS had both kids from 1:30 on. they went to the mulch pile and put mulch on our playground; they played on BC’s playground at school with two friends; and apparently everyone survived. my fever finally broke in the evening, though my head still hurt and my nausea continued.

and so, here i am, today. my temp is relatively normal. i still have a headache. i had to force myself to eat lunch. yes. me. force. food. hard to believe, huh. and the thing i have to come to grips with is that i get to do this all over again, every six weeks, for the rest of my life. i hope it gets easier as time goes on.

Walk tall or baby don’t walk at all – Bruce Springsteen