Content: Free Bird
Introduction: Not the greatest guitar solo (hello Jeff Buckley’s Hallelujah), not the best stadium rock song (hello Bon Jovi’s Living on a Prayer), not the most iconic southern rock song (hello Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Southern Rock), but the best combination of all three, Free Bird is number one with a bullet on the list of “Top Five Songs John is Most Likely to Yell Out at Any Live Concert Regardless of Venue, Genre or Audience.” I’m such a fan that Alicia questioned my “Johnhood” (her word, not mine) for not writing about it yet.
Dream’s Age at Introduction: 2
Reason for That Age: I want Dream to be old enough to really dig the rhythms, guitars and drums of the epic instrumental portion at the end. Babies bounce around to music at all ages (and Dream already responds very favorably to sea chanties, as evidence by his/her reaction to the Portsmouth Maritime Folk Festival we attended a few weeks ago), but I picture Dream fully walking, holding some sort of plastic guitar, and thrashing around with me to the guitar duet and drum work during the last 5-45 minutes of the song.
What I Want Dream to Get Out of It: I hope this begins a respectful relationship between Dream and southern rock, frequently the form of rock music with the most pathos and ethos. I suppose I also want Dream to gain further exposure to my “Johnhood,” but the poor kid is going to get that in spades already.
Be content,
John
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Poetry and Whimsical Loss
Content: Casey at the Bat
Introduction: For anyone who loves baseball and the spoken word, Casey at the Bat is required reading. Originally written in 1885 by a former Harvard Lampoon author for a Hearst paper, its spirit is adequately summed up by Albert Spalding (a late 19th century pitcher, who started with the original Boston Red Stockings club that is better known today as the Atlanta Braves): “Love has its sonnets galore. War has its epics in heroic verse. Tragedy its sombre story in measured lines. Baseball has Casey at the Bat.”
Dream’s Age at Introduction: 4 or 5
Reason for That Age: Dream has no idea what he or she is in for as a sports fan. God help this child if it does not have a deep and abiding love for the Boston Red Sox. I’m a fan of baseball the game, and my favorite baseball team is the Boston Red Sox. This distinguishing me from my wife in a subtle way: She is a fan of the Boston Red Sox, and because they play baseball, she suffers baseball. If the Red Sox played curling, she would watch curling. If they baked, she would watch baking. But because the Sox play baseball, she likes to have baseball on in the background almost every night during the season. So everyone’s life will be a little bit easier if Dream likes baseball and the Red Sox. So Casey at the Bat needs to come into his or her life at the junction of baseball awareness and the ability to listen to a poem for 10 minutes. I think 4 or 5 is a good age for that.
What I Want Dream to Get Out of It: Two things: A greater love of spoken word poetry and an appreciation that you must always try. No matter how good you are at anything, if you don’t try you lose.
Be content,
John
Introduction: For anyone who loves baseball and the spoken word, Casey at the Bat is required reading. Originally written in 1885 by a former Harvard Lampoon author for a Hearst paper, its spirit is adequately summed up by Albert Spalding (a late 19th century pitcher, who started with the original Boston Red Stockings club that is better known today as the Atlanta Braves): “Love has its sonnets galore. War has its epics in heroic verse. Tragedy its sombre story in measured lines. Baseball has Casey at the Bat.”
Dream’s Age at Introduction: 4 or 5
Reason for That Age: Dream has no idea what he or she is in for as a sports fan. God help this child if it does not have a deep and abiding love for the Boston Red Sox. I’m a fan of baseball the game, and my favorite baseball team is the Boston Red Sox. This distinguishing me from my wife in a subtle way: She is a fan of the Boston Red Sox, and because they play baseball, she suffers baseball. If the Red Sox played curling, she would watch curling. If they baked, she would watch baking. But because the Sox play baseball, she likes to have baseball on in the background almost every night during the season. So everyone’s life will be a little bit easier if Dream likes baseball and the Red Sox. So Casey at the Bat needs to come into his or her life at the junction of baseball awareness and the ability to listen to a poem for 10 minutes. I think 4 or 5 is a good age for that.
What I Want Dream to Get Out of It: Two things: A greater love of spoken word poetry and an appreciation that you must always try. No matter how good you are at anything, if you don’t try you lose.
Be content,
John
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Content: Rudy
Introduction: A friend of mine from DC, Ken, went to Notre Dame. He loves Notre Dame. He cries every time he watches Rudy, and he’s not the only Notre Dame alum who does. Rudy is a love letter to Notre Dame. Its music, plot, and dialogue are all crafted to give substance to the mythic image of Notre Dame. Not the actual Notre Dame of today – a fairly well-regarded, conservative Catholic college with a middling Division I football program – but the Notre Dame that the school aspires to be, how it sees itself in a Mirror Erised. (Hey, how about that? A Harry Potter reference in the middle of Rudy!) Every school would love to have a movie like Rudy. It sells Notre Dame better than Notre Dame could ever sell itself.
Dream’s Age at Introduction: 8 or 9
Reason for That Age: To really get something out of Rudy, Dream needs to be old enough to understand a little bit of sports. He or she doesn’t have to like sports, but understanding sports is important. He or she also needs to be old enough to know the flavor of success that comes when you overcome disappointment in achieving it. I don’t mean like getting over Asperberger’s Syndrome to become a world champion ballroom dancer, but feeling frustrated with multiplying 7 and 8 for a while before tasting the sweet victory of 56 is sufficient. And at 8 or 9, Dream will be full of the wizardry and magic that starts to elude us as we get older, but will also be newly capable of feeling inspired in a way that is this movie’s bread and butter.
What I Want Dream to Get Out of It: Ideally, Dream will file this away and use it (consciously or not) when he or she runs into a big problem. I want Rudy to infiltrate Dream’s understanding of the hard work that is necessary to achieve your goals and dreams. I also hope Dream realizes that if your goals don’t require work and dedication, you need to find better dreams.
Be content,
John
Introduction: A friend of mine from DC, Ken, went to Notre Dame. He loves Notre Dame. He cries every time he watches Rudy, and he’s not the only Notre Dame alum who does. Rudy is a love letter to Notre Dame. Its music, plot, and dialogue are all crafted to give substance to the mythic image of Notre Dame. Not the actual Notre Dame of today – a fairly well-regarded, conservative Catholic college with a middling Division I football program – but the Notre Dame that the school aspires to be, how it sees itself in a Mirror Erised. (Hey, how about that? A Harry Potter reference in the middle of Rudy!) Every school would love to have a movie like Rudy. It sells Notre Dame better than Notre Dame could ever sell itself.
Dream’s Age at Introduction: 8 or 9
Reason for That Age: To really get something out of Rudy, Dream needs to be old enough to understand a little bit of sports. He or she doesn’t have to like sports, but understanding sports is important. He or she also needs to be old enough to know the flavor of success that comes when you overcome disappointment in achieving it. I don’t mean like getting over Asperberger’s Syndrome to become a world champion ballroom dancer, but feeling frustrated with multiplying 7 and 8 for a while before tasting the sweet victory of 56 is sufficient. And at 8 or 9, Dream will be full of the wizardry and magic that starts to elude us as we get older, but will also be newly capable of feeling inspired in a way that is this movie’s bread and butter.
What I Want Dream to Get Out of It: Ideally, Dream will file this away and use it (consciously or not) when he or she runs into a big problem. I want Rudy to infiltrate Dream’s understanding of the hard work that is necessary to achieve your goals and dreams. I also hope Dream realizes that if your goals don’t require work and dedication, you need to find better dreams.
Be content,
John
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Find the Pickle Truck
Content: Richard Scarry
Introduction: In high school, my friend Tim was torn between music classes and automotive repair classes. He had interest in both, and really struggled trying to figure out which one he wanted to concentrate on. When Mr. Dugal, our music teacher, saw Tim’s angst over these decisions, he jokingly asked Tim “Why do you want to take these car classes? You can’t find the pickle truck on your own?” This was an obvious reference to Richard Scarry’s extensive bookshelf of Busy Town volumes, which asks young readers to follow a simple story through wonderful drawings of anthropomorphic animals driving trucks and cars. A recurring theme is that readers are asked to find Goldbug (a tiny gold bug driving a tiny gold car), hence Dugal’s typically witty question.
Dream’s Age at Introduction: 1
Reason for That Age: There is nothing even remotely objectionable in Richard Scarry’s books… unless you somehow think that he racially profiles because it’s always cats getting pulled over by the cops. But there is enough narrative and details that it is lost on really small children. I’m not even certain that 1 is old enough, but I think that Dream will be able to grow with them: peering with fascination at the colored drawings when he or she is 1; listening intently to the stories at age 2; and maybe finding Goldbug at age 3. I suspect that Scarry’s books are more popular among boys because of the prevalence of cars and trucks, but the drawings are delightfully whimsical and will be loved by any child.
What I Want Dream to Get Out of It: At that age, I’d like Dream to gain a greater appreciation of books. Ideally, I’d love the child to think back to his or her Richard Scarry books as the beginning of a life time of loving books, similar to his father. I also hope the books are another opportunity for Dream and me to sit down and interact with books over milk and cookies, to lay the ground work to sit and discuss longer books over scotch and soda.
Be content,
John
Introduction: In high school, my friend Tim was torn between music classes and automotive repair classes. He had interest in both, and really struggled trying to figure out which one he wanted to concentrate on. When Mr. Dugal, our music teacher, saw Tim’s angst over these decisions, he jokingly asked Tim “Why do you want to take these car classes? You can’t find the pickle truck on your own?” This was an obvious reference to Richard Scarry’s extensive bookshelf of Busy Town volumes, which asks young readers to follow a simple story through wonderful drawings of anthropomorphic animals driving trucks and cars. A recurring theme is that readers are asked to find Goldbug (a tiny gold bug driving a tiny gold car), hence Dugal’s typically witty question.
Dream’s Age at Introduction: 1
Reason for That Age: There is nothing even remotely objectionable in Richard Scarry’s books… unless you somehow think that he racially profiles because it’s always cats getting pulled over by the cops. But there is enough narrative and details that it is lost on really small children. I’m not even certain that 1 is old enough, but I think that Dream will be able to grow with them: peering with fascination at the colored drawings when he or she is 1; listening intently to the stories at age 2; and maybe finding Goldbug at age 3. I suspect that Scarry’s books are more popular among boys because of the prevalence of cars and trucks, but the drawings are delightfully whimsical and will be loved by any child.
What I Want Dream to Get Out of It: At that age, I’d like Dream to gain a greater appreciation of books. Ideally, I’d love the child to think back to his or her Richard Scarry books as the beginning of a life time of loving books, similar to his father. I also hope the books are another opportunity for Dream and me to sit down and interact with books over milk and cookies, to lay the ground work to sit and discuss longer books over scotch and soda.
Be content,
John
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Pop Rock for All Ages
Content: Beatles
Introduction: Seriously – you need to be introduced to the Beatles?
Dream’s Age at Introduction: Birth
Reason for That Age: Come on! The Beatles are iconic. We’re making a play list for the birthing room, and there’s a decent chance that Dream will be born to a Beatles song. I have no doubt that throughout Dream’s first year, both Alicia and I will sing Beatles songs to Dream and dance around with him or her. It’s not so much that I think this is a good age to introduce the music to Dream, but I know inevitably, Dream will be introduced to the Beatles’ music from birth. I’ve heard from other people who worry that some songs in the Beatles’ catalogue are not appropriate for little kids, but I skimmed their albums and while some are likely over the heads of little kids, I couldn’t think of any that would warp Dream more than Alicia and I intend to.
What I Want Dream to Get Out of It: Obviously, I want Dream to be familiar with the Beatles from a cultural literacy perspective. But I also think that Beatle sing-alongs will be useful in developing early music skills and an appreciation of harmony. I’m really looking forward to the first time I hear Dream’s voice from the car seat singing the words Lady Madonna (or a close facsimile).
Be content,
John
Introduction: Seriously – you need to be introduced to the Beatles?
Dream’s Age at Introduction: Birth
Reason for That Age: Come on! The Beatles are iconic. We’re making a play list for the birthing room, and there’s a decent chance that Dream will be born to a Beatles song. I have no doubt that throughout Dream’s first year, both Alicia and I will sing Beatles songs to Dream and dance around with him or her. It’s not so much that I think this is a good age to introduce the music to Dream, but I know inevitably, Dream will be introduced to the Beatles’ music from birth. I’ve heard from other people who worry that some songs in the Beatles’ catalogue are not appropriate for little kids, but I skimmed their albums and while some are likely over the heads of little kids, I couldn’t think of any that would warp Dream more than Alicia and I intend to.
What I Want Dream to Get Out of It: Obviously, I want Dream to be familiar with the Beatles from a cultural literacy perspective. But I also think that Beatle sing-alongs will be useful in developing early music skills and an appreciation of harmony. I’m really looking forward to the first time I hear Dream’s voice from the car seat singing the words Lady Madonna (or a close facsimile).
Be content,
John
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Introduction to Classic Cinema Part I: The Philadelphia Story
Content: The Philadelphia Story
Introduction: This is intended to be the first in an occurring series of entries on classic Hollywood movies that I want Dream to be familiar with. The first is The Philadelphia Story, probably my favorite from the golden age of Hollywood, starring Jimmy Stewart, Katherine Hepburn, and Cary Grant.
Dream’s Age at Introduction: 11 or 12
Reason for That Age: The Philadelphia Story is a romantic comedy, that in its drinking/hangover scenes lapses into the region of screwball comedy. As was standard for the era, the language and subject matter are fairly family friendly. The only concern I have is that Dream will need to be old enough to realize what too much wine will do to you in order to appreciate the brilliance of those scenes, while at the same time mature enough to have had the “don’t drink” conversation with me and Alicia. I think 11 or 12 ought to thread that needle pretty well. He or she will also need to be young enough so as not to view an older romantic comedy through the jaded eyes of a teenager. The movie is very well written, and if you’re willing to be charmed it is incredibly charming.
What I Want Dream to Get Out of It: Dream should gain a greater appreciation of the wit of films and plays from that era, the 40s and 50s. The stars of that era – the Rat Pack, Stewart, Hepburn, Judy Garland, Nat King Cole, etc. – had a low key approach that seems antiquated today. Frequently, it seems that celebrities today are famous for being obnoxious. I like to think that many of these older movies – and The Philadelphia Story is a great example – demonstrate an alternative. You can be understated and still be talented; you can speak reasonably and still be heard; you can be polite and still be devastating. I’d like Dream to absorb some of that.
Be content,
John
Introduction: This is intended to be the first in an occurring series of entries on classic Hollywood movies that I want Dream to be familiar with. The first is The Philadelphia Story, probably my favorite from the golden age of Hollywood, starring Jimmy Stewart, Katherine Hepburn, and Cary Grant.
Dream’s Age at Introduction: 11 or 12
Reason for That Age: The Philadelphia Story is a romantic comedy, that in its drinking/hangover scenes lapses into the region of screwball comedy. As was standard for the era, the language and subject matter are fairly family friendly. The only concern I have is that Dream will need to be old enough to realize what too much wine will do to you in order to appreciate the brilliance of those scenes, while at the same time mature enough to have had the “don’t drink” conversation with me and Alicia. I think 11 or 12 ought to thread that needle pretty well. He or she will also need to be young enough so as not to view an older romantic comedy through the jaded eyes of a teenager. The movie is very well written, and if you’re willing to be charmed it is incredibly charming.
What I Want Dream to Get Out of It: Dream should gain a greater appreciation of the wit of films and plays from that era, the 40s and 50s. The stars of that era – the Rat Pack, Stewart, Hepburn, Judy Garland, Nat King Cole, etc. – had a low key approach that seems antiquated today. Frequently, it seems that celebrities today are famous for being obnoxious. I like to think that many of these older movies – and The Philadelphia Story is a great example – demonstrate an alternative. You can be understated and still be talented; you can speak reasonably and still be heard; you can be polite and still be devastating. I’d like Dream to absorb some of that.
Be content,
John
Sunday, September 19, 2010
"Talk weird you would if puppet with hand up ass you were" - Star Wars at the Right Time in the Right Order
Content: Star Wars bi-trilogy
Introduction: Growing up, my friend Jenny was fond of saying that there were only three worthwhile wars in all of human history: the Civil War, World War II, and Star Wars. Prior to 1999, many people agreed with Hooper X from Chasing Amy, who called it “the Holy Trilogy.” For many people my age, the original Star Wars trilogy is not just pop culture or great movies. They’re American myth, Joseph Campbell made real and internalized in our hearts and souls. And despite George Lucas’ best efforts to turn an American culture quasi-religious experience into a vehicle for Happy Meal sales, the Star Wars series (and I’m going to include the cartoon movie The Clone Wars in this conversation for the sake of completeness) remains one of the most significant monuments of American culture.
Dream’s Age at Introduction: 5 for A New Hope, and we’ll go from there in the order that the films appeared in the theaters. The prequels will remain just that; they will not become the first three movies of the franchise.
Reason for That Age: The original Star Wars movie, A New Hope, is really a fairy tale played out on a movie screen. It’s Jack and the Beanstalk or Aladdin: A young boy goes on an adventure larger than he ever could have imagined and becomes a hero. Under that classification, A New Hope is appropriate at almost any age.; whenever you start reading fairy tales to your kids, they are old enough to watch A New Hope. But I disagree for two reasons. First, having the visuals to accompany the story is scary for little kids, and the visuals for Star Wars fantastic. Second, I want Dream to appreciate the importance of what he or she is watching. These aren’t just fun movies. They are a cultural milestone and Dream should be properly pumped up to watch them.
As noted above, I’ll start Dream on A New Hope and move on from there, exposing the child to each movie in the order in which they were released, preventing Dream from viewing the movies in their “proper” order. This is for several reasons.
• First, and most importantly, screw you George Lucas. If you are blessed enough to give birth to historically relevant content that affects millions of people, you don’t get to mess around with it after the fact. Da Vinci didn’t get to paint legs on the Mona Lisa; Mozart didn’t get to write The Divorce of Figaro. Lucas doesn’t get to remodel the Star Wars trilogy as a sequel to a vanity project. George, just take a bow and admire your huge contribution to western civilization. Having said that, I recognize that artists retain rights to their work. So be it. I will honor Lucas’ desire to make another billion dollars on Star Wars by revealing the prequel chapters as prequels. (I should add that I don’t think the prequels are as bad as some people do. They are not nearly as well written, directed, acted, etc. as the original movies, but they are fairly entertaining and answer some questions from the first three movies.)
• Second, I’m not sure I could live with myself if I allowed Dream to be in a position to say “I don’t know Dad, the ones with Luke seem kind of lame. Nothing cool happens during the light saber fights.” Dream deserves better than that, and I worry that kids care too much about the computer graphics. By watching the original trilogy first, Dream will realize that its story is vastly superior to the prequels and won’t be taken by their slickness. It’s the rule of primacy.
• Third, Lucas once said that the big surprise of the original trilogy is that Luke is Darth Vader’s son and that the big surprise of the prequels is that Darth Vader started as an innocent child. To a certain extent, I agree with that analysis. But both surprises are blown by watching the prequels first.
Based on how Dream responds to A New Hope, I’ll move on the Empire Strikes Back, etc. Ideally, it’d be great to do these in six to eight consecutive weekends, but it might stretch out over a couple years.
What I Want Dream to Get Out of It: Dream should be ready to engage in intelligent conversation about this major cultural achievement. That’s the most practical benefit. On top of that, Dream should also really love the franchise, getting caught up in the mythological elements of the sweeping epic. If he or she doesn’t want a light saber after watching Star Wars, I’ll be disappointed.
Be content,
John
Introduction: Growing up, my friend Jenny was fond of saying that there were only three worthwhile wars in all of human history: the Civil War, World War II, and Star Wars. Prior to 1999, many people agreed with Hooper X from Chasing Amy, who called it “the Holy Trilogy.” For many people my age, the original Star Wars trilogy is not just pop culture or great movies. They’re American myth, Joseph Campbell made real and internalized in our hearts and souls. And despite George Lucas’ best efforts to turn an American culture quasi-religious experience into a vehicle for Happy Meal sales, the Star Wars series (and I’m going to include the cartoon movie The Clone Wars in this conversation for the sake of completeness) remains one of the most significant monuments of American culture.
Dream’s Age at Introduction: 5 for A New Hope, and we’ll go from there in the order that the films appeared in the theaters. The prequels will remain just that; they will not become the first three movies of the franchise.
Reason for That Age: The original Star Wars movie, A New Hope, is really a fairy tale played out on a movie screen. It’s Jack and the Beanstalk or Aladdin: A young boy goes on an adventure larger than he ever could have imagined and becomes a hero. Under that classification, A New Hope is appropriate at almost any age.; whenever you start reading fairy tales to your kids, they are old enough to watch A New Hope. But I disagree for two reasons. First, having the visuals to accompany the story is scary for little kids, and the visuals for Star Wars fantastic. Second, I want Dream to appreciate the importance of what he or she is watching. These aren’t just fun movies. They are a cultural milestone and Dream should be properly pumped up to watch them.
As noted above, I’ll start Dream on A New Hope and move on from there, exposing the child to each movie in the order in which they were released, preventing Dream from viewing the movies in their “proper” order. This is for several reasons.
• First, and most importantly, screw you George Lucas. If you are blessed enough to give birth to historically relevant content that affects millions of people, you don’t get to mess around with it after the fact. Da Vinci didn’t get to paint legs on the Mona Lisa; Mozart didn’t get to write The Divorce of Figaro. Lucas doesn’t get to remodel the Star Wars trilogy as a sequel to a vanity project. George, just take a bow and admire your huge contribution to western civilization. Having said that, I recognize that artists retain rights to their work. So be it. I will honor Lucas’ desire to make another billion dollars on Star Wars by revealing the prequel chapters as prequels. (I should add that I don’t think the prequels are as bad as some people do. They are not nearly as well written, directed, acted, etc. as the original movies, but they are fairly entertaining and answer some questions from the first three movies.)
• Second, I’m not sure I could live with myself if I allowed Dream to be in a position to say “I don’t know Dad, the ones with Luke seem kind of lame. Nothing cool happens during the light saber fights.” Dream deserves better than that, and I worry that kids care too much about the computer graphics. By watching the original trilogy first, Dream will realize that its story is vastly superior to the prequels and won’t be taken by their slickness. It’s the rule of primacy.
• Third, Lucas once said that the big surprise of the original trilogy is that Luke is Darth Vader’s son and that the big surprise of the prequels is that Darth Vader started as an innocent child. To a certain extent, I agree with that analysis. But both surprises are blown by watching the prequels first.
Based on how Dream responds to A New Hope, I’ll move on the Empire Strikes Back, etc. Ideally, it’d be great to do these in six to eight consecutive weekends, but it might stretch out over a couple years.
What I Want Dream to Get Out of It: Dream should be ready to engage in intelligent conversation about this major cultural achievement. That’s the most practical benefit. On top of that, Dream should also really love the franchise, getting caught up in the mythological elements of the sweeping epic. If he or she doesn’t want a light saber after watching Star Wars, I’ll be disappointed.
Be content,
John
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)