Kindie rock favorite Justin Roberts’ latest cd Jungle Gym just hit the shelves yesterday. The first video released from the album is for the song Obsessed By Trucks. It’s super lo-tech, but these kids crack me up - so I thought I’d share.
Most kids have a fascination with trucks - enormous machines that rumble, and dig and haul - what’s not to love? As a result you’ll find a toy truck in just about every toy box. While closing up their home in Southern California back in 2006, in advance of relocating to Portland, my father-in-law came across a shoebox of his old toys. [Originally blogged here.] He was a kid in the 1930s and the box contained a sampling of his old cap guns and cars. I’m posting pictures here of my four favorites.
The vehicles are all metal and the paint reflects the worn patina of being well played with. Also note the original white rubber tires, which are now dry and cracked with age. The Greyhound Bus above and the armored vehicle and red truck and trailer below are are marked Tootsietoy. After doing a little digging around on-line, I learned that Tootsietoy is apparently the oldest toy manufacturer in the US. And by the end of 1932, “Tootsietoy” had become a household word, used indiscriminately to refer to almost any small cast metal toy (much as “Matchbox” is used generically today). Of course, as with any cool vintage toys, there are a dedicated mass of collectors. Just check out the listings on Ebay alone.
How cool is this US Army tank - it’s a little bit Bat-Mobile and a little bit tin can. I’m not really one for Army toys, but the design of this one is so far removed from modern tanks it feels more like a 1930s toy designer’s vision of the future.
A holiday weekend favorite, Wind in the Willows was originally posted on 7/8/09.
Kids are pretty resourceful when it comes to crafting something out of nothing. A stick transforms into a sword, a horse, a wand, a baton and the list goes on. Today let’s look at transforming that stick into a whistle. I have three wood whistles how-tos, spanning degrees of difficulty and skill levels. Common sense dictates that an adult handles the knife and cutting responsibilities while kids help selecting and collecting the perfect materials.
First up, a Squash Stem Whistle. Summer squash runs rampant in the garden and this craft makes use of their hollow stems. This is by far the easiest of the three and simple instructions can be found here. Be mindful to scroll down to the bottom of the page and heed the tips and warnings.
Then there’s the “legendary” Willow Whistle. This sweet video tutorial is narrated by a dad who sincerely reminds us that “willow whistles do not contribute to global warming and are made from a renewable resource.” Good to know. This is a particularly cool looking toy, especially when some of the leaves are left attached.
Finally, we look at the amazing Twig Whistles created by a talented UK based woodworker named Treewright. There is obvious skill that goes into the creation of his natural noisemakers which you’ll see in the video below. Intimidated?, not to worry - Treewright makes finished whistles available through his web shop.
And I couldn’t finish this post without sharing an art project called Woodwind created by a student, Anna Kovárová, at Konstfact - the largest university college of arts, crafts, design and art education in Sweden. Anna carved a side-blown flute out of a living oak branch, while still attached to the tree. Her intent is to “return to the tree during the years to come, to play a piece and see how the living material will change the sound.” You can see an artsy fartsy video of Anna playing her tree flute here.
This week we’re honoring the picturesque pumpkin. This is a fruit of legend and lore, found in fairy tales and nursery rhymes, both celebration decoration and autumnal feast. Today, we’ll start at the beginning…in the pumpkin patch.
Perfectly timed for the season is songwriter, performer and early childhood music educator Brian Vogan’s new video release for his song That’s How a Pumpkin Grows. I love the charming animation created by Fashionbuddha Studio in conjunction with creative director and illustrator Alberto Cerriteño. Listen to more songs from Brian’s album Little Songs. And find prints of Portland based Alberto Cerriteño’s imaginative illustrations in his Etsy shop. Via NotCot.
Take a seed from your pocket and put it in the ground
Press it down nice and deep and push the dirt on down
The harvest moon comes in October
And when you look over your shoulder
That’s how a pumpkin grows
That’s how a pumpkin grows
That’s how a pumpkin grows
Now it’s a pumpkin
When we go to the pumpkin patch we’ll have so much fun
Maybe spend round an hour or two ‘til we find the best one
The harvest moon comes in October
And when you look over your shoulder
That’s how a pumpkin grows
That’s how a pumpkin grows
That’s how a pumpkin grows
Now it’s a pumpkin
Considering a pumpkin patch of your own? It’s do-able, but their seeds won’t germinate in cold soil so you’ll have to wait until Spring. Recommended planting times are late May in northern locations to early July in extremely southern sites. A good growing resource is The University of Illinois Extension’s pumpkin site . My favorite part is reading through the list of pumpkin varietals - they have the best names from Baby Bear to Sweetie Pie, Autumn Gold to Winter Luxury, Little Boo to Big Max.
And who knows, if you “take a seed from your pocket and put it in the ground” you might end up with something that looks like this…
“The A.B.C., a German air with variations for the flute with an easy accompaniment for the piano forte” - this was the original title of what we now refer to simply as “the alphabet song.” The song was first copyrighted in 1835 by a Boston-based music publisher with musical arrangement attributed to Louis Le Maire, an 18th century composer. The tune is a variation on “Ah, vous dirai-je, maman”, a folk melody known in France since the 1760s and best known to us as Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. (Trivia! When Mozart was 25 (1781 or 1782) he composed Twelve Variations on “Ah vous dirai-je, Maman.”)
But I think the prize for greatest number of the alphabet song variations has to go to Sesame Street. A long and impressive list of celebrities have shared the Muppet spotlight over the years, singing their letters in just about every style you can imagine. In today’s video heavy post, I’m sharing a sampling of these performances.
The oldest clip I came across was this one featuring Sesame Street cast member Susan singing the alphabet (traditional):
Illustration: Contes, Rondes et Fables pour les petits, published by Louis Bellenand Fontenay-aux-Roses, circa 1935
I was excited to stumble upon The Visual Telling of Stories, an educational site “dedicated to the understanding of the Visual Narrative.” This collection of materials is based upon a now defunct site once run by the University of Brighton (Brighton, England) currently being reconstructed by a former University professor Dr. Chis Mullen. Among the many hidden gems on this site is a grouping of vintage illustrations depicting Aesop’s fable the Fox and the Crow (Sixth century, BCE).
A Fox once saw a Crow fly off with a piece of cheese in its beak and settle on a branch of a tree. “That’s for me, as I am a Fox,” said Master Reynard, and he walked up to the foot of the tree. “Good-day, Mistress Crow,” he cried. “How well you are looking today: how glossy your feathers; how bright your eye. I feel sure your voice must surpass that of other birds, just as your figure does; let me hear but one song from you that I may greet you as the Queen of Birds.” The Crow lifted up her head and began to caw her best, but the moment she opened her mouth the piece of cheese fell to the ground, only to be snapped up by Master Fox. “That will do,” said he. “That was all I wanted. In exchange for your cheese I will give you a piece of advice for the future, “Do not trust flatterers.” The Harvard Classics, 1909–14
This fable continues to be reinterpreted, my favorite contemporary example is the newly released video of The Fox, the Crow and the Cookie, a song by the group mewithoutYou. Thanks to my pal Mimi Kirchner for sharing this video.
The Fox, the Crow and the Cookie lyrics:
Through mostly vacant streets, a baker from the outskirts of his town earned his living peddling sweets from the ragged cart he dragged around.
The clever fox crept close behind, kept an ever-watchful eye for a chance to steal a ginger spice cake or a boysenberry pie.
Looking down was the hungry crow, “When the time is right, I’ll strike and condescend to the earth below and take whichever treat I’d like.”
The moment the baker turned around to shoo the fox off from his cart, the crow swooped down and snatched a shortbread cookie and a German chocolate tart.
Using most unfriendly words that the village children had not yet heard, the baker shouted threats by canzonette to curse the crafty bird. “You rotten wooden mixing spoon! Why you midnight winged racoon! You better bring those pastries back, you no-good burned-black macaroon!”
The fox approached the tree where the bird was perched, delighted in his nest. “Brother Crow, don’t you remember me? It’s your old friend Fox with a humble request. If you could share just a modest piece, seeing as I distracted that awful man.”
This failed to persuade the crow in the least, so the fox rethought his plan.
“Then if your lovely song would grace my ears, or to even hear you speak, would ease my pains and fears.” The crow looked down with a candy in his beak. “Your poems of wisdom, my good crow, what a paradise they bring!”
This flattery pleased the proud bird, so he opened his mouth and began to sing:
“Your subtle acclamation’s true! Best to give praise where praise is due. Every rook and jay in the Corvidae’s been raving about me too. They admire me, one and all. Must be the passion in my caw! My slender bill known through the escadrille, my fierce commanding claw!”
[The cookie drops and the Fox retrieves it. There is commotion in the town as the Baker gives chase. The Crow is humiliated, realizes he's been tricked and continues his song...]
“I got a walnut brownie brain, and molasses in my veins, crushed graham cracker crust, my powdered sugared funnel cake cocaine.
Let the crescent cookie rise. These carob colored almond eyes will see my cashewed princess in the swirling marble sky. Will rest upon the knee, where all the visions cease to be a root beer float in our banana boat across the tapioca sea. When letting all attachments go, is the only prayer we know, may it be so, may it be so, may it be so, oh.”
One of the funniest, albeit unintentionally so, vintage books I have in my library is a little tome entitled A Treasury of Play Ideas for Tiny Tots by Caroline Horowitz. Perhaps in 1947 activities like ‘Button in My Box’ (Place a button in a matchbox: “It will rattle around very gratifyingly and he will keep opening and closing the box to make sure that his treasure is still there.”) would entertain a kid for hours on end, but in 2009 it seems questionable.
The title of the book is pretty self-explanatory, but reading through the ‘play ideas’ one begins to wonder if Ms. Horowitz has actually spent any extended time with children…especially when you begin to count up the number of noise-making activities.
Of course at the end of day filled with kicking rattles, banging pots and shouting through ‘loud voice megaphones’ moms and dads might need to take beat the stuffing out of the ‘biff-bang bag’ (or bury their head underneath it.)
Kids are pretty resourceful when it comes to crafting something out of nothing. A stick transforms into a sword, a horse, a wand, a baton and the list goes on. Today let’s look at transforming that stick into a whistle. I have three wood whistles how-tos, spanning degrees of difficulty and skill levels. Common sense dictates that an adult handles the knife and cutting responsibilities while kids help selecting and collecting the perfect materials.
First up, a Squash Stem Whistle. Summer squash runs rampant in the garden and this craft makes use of their hollow stems. This is by far the easiest of the three and simple instructions can be found here. Be mindful to scroll down to the bottom of the page and heed the tips and warnings.
Then there’s the “legendary” Willow Whistle. This sweet video tutorial is narrated by a dad who sincerely reminds us that “willow whistles do not contribute to global warming and are made from a renewable resource.” Good to know. This is a particularly cool looking toy, especially when some of the leaves are left attached.
Finally, we look at the amazing Twig Whistles created by a talented UK based woodworker named Treewright. There is obvious skill that goes into the creation of his natural noisemakers which you’ll see in the video below. Intimidated?, not to worry - Treewright makes finished whistles available through his web shop.
And I couldn’t finish this post without sharing an art project called Woodwind created by a student, Anna Kovárová, at Konstfact - the largest university college of arts, crafts, design and art education in Sweden. Anna carved a side-blown flute out of a living oak branch, while still attached to the tree. Her intent is to “return to the tree during the years to come, to play a piece and see how the living material will change the sound.” You can see an artsy fartsy video of Anna playing her tree flute here.
A little holiday withdrawal got you down? Valentine’s Day is still a couple weeks off but have no fear my friends, this Wednesday, January 28, 2009 is National Kazoo Day. The kazoo, that most egalitarian of all instruments, where no experience is necessary to become a maestro. This step-by-step kazoo how-to (or kazutorial) illustrates my point.
While similar instruments have been used in Africa for hundreds of years, the modern day kazoo was invented by an African American man named Alabama Vest in Macon, Georgia who partnered with local German emigrant clockmaker Thaddeus von Clegg to manufacture it. Alabama Vent - possibly the best inventor name ever. The kazoo was first introduced to the public at the Georgia State Fair in 1852. And ta-dah! - history was made.
Little did Mr. Vent know that more than 150 years later his instrument would continue to be celebrated by soloists and kazoo bands alike The photograph above shows the National Youth Administration Rhythm Band in 1936 playing their kazoos in Sandwich, Illinois. In recognition of National Kazoo Day you may want to consider forming a band of your own. Plastic kazoos cost on average less than two bucks a piece - an instrument price rivaled only by the whistle. But free is even better - I was tickled to find the following ad placed on the San Francisco Bay Area Craigslist:
CAPTAIN KAZOO and The KAZOOMOBILE will be parked somewhere on CASTRO ST.in MT. VIEW between El Camino Real and the RR TRACKS from NOON till 8:00 PM on WED. JAN. 28, 2009…GIVING AWAY FREE KAZOOS TO EVERYONE !
Kazoobie Kazoos is a great online resource for all manner of kazoos including an electric kazoo or the fantastic examples below resembling the trumpet, french horn and trombone. Apparently, these kazoos masquerading as other instruments have been around for awhile as seen in this YouTube video by a kazoo musician and collector (who plays a mean kazoo and ukulele).
But lest you think of the kazoo as old-fashioned, I give you the following inspired kazoo rendition of Metallica’s Enter Sandman. If your browser doesn’t support YouTube videos you can also view it here.
A heads-up for Junior Society readers in the NYC area, one of my favorite ‘kindie rock’ bands, The Jimmies, will be giving a FREE (the magic word) concert this Saturday, June 21st at Washington Irving High School. These guys (and one gal) are so talented and funny and thoughtful. If you’re geographically impaired, like myself, and too far away to attend check out their website and give a listen to their most recent album Make Your Own Someday. I’ve also embedded two of their videos below the concert poster which can aslo be viewed here.
