Concert Memories

Memories, Music, NHL

This year, NHL was able to join his school’s band and choose an instrument.  He decided to select the drums.  Last night, he had his first concert.  The days preceding it were filled with him getting more and more anxious about the big day.

I tried to calm him down with a tale about one of my concerts when I was growing up.  I quickly realized why this wasn’t a good story and shortened it.  I told NHL that I was very nervous and my orchestra teacher gave me the option of not going onstage.  I decided to go through with it and had a great concert.  All this is true, but (for NHL’s sake), I left out the part where my nerves overwhelmed my stomach and I hurled in the hallway.  I don’t think that detail would have helped him any.

Even NHL’s fortune cookies seemed to be telling him to push through.

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In any event, the big day came and NHL went off to his band.  Up first was the orchestra.  While they played, memories began flooding back.  As I mentioned above, I was in the orchestra.  I played violin for many years.  I was actually kind of coerced into playing.  My orchestra teacher at the time seemed overly anxious to get me to join.  He asked me how I would respond if, in a future job interview, I was asked what instrument I played.  Naive kid that I was, I didn’t want to risk my future employment by not being able to play a violin.  (You’d be surprised how rarely that question came up in my job interviews, though.  It’s almost as if employers don’t care whether their web master can play a violin!)

In any event, the orchestra at NHL’s school began to play a tune pizzicato.  This means that they didn’t use bows, but instead plucked the strings during the songs.  Suddenly, my fingers began tingling.  I could almost feel those thin, metal strings digging into my index finger with each note played.

Then, watching the kids’ fingers move, I remembered the anxiety I felt over my finger placement.  There are about 8 different places your fingers could rest on the strings (including one position with no fingers on the strings).  Each finger-string placement results in a different note.  There are also 4 strings.  Which string to play and which finger placement to use is represented by one note.  Just one.  When you look at the sheet music you need to see the note, remember that this means to play this particular string with these fingers in place, get them in place, play the note, and then move on to the next note.  I was never very good at this.  I just could not do all this fast enough.

NHL, luckily, chose the drums.  Although this entails playing the bells (aka the xylophone), for which he does need to hit certain keys at certain points, the drums mainly require him to keep a steady beat.

When his time came, NHL went up with 2 of his drumming classmates and played Mary Had A Little Lamb.  He did a fantastic job and we were all very proud.  NHL realized that his nervousness before the concert faded away and he had a blast.

When you were in school, did you play an instrument? If so, were you nervous before performances?

Introducing Rout… Again

Rout, Social Media, Twitter, Web Development

Remember this blog post back in October?  That was a joke post of mine intended to parody a popular social media ranking website as well as to whet my readers’ appetites before I released my real Twitter application. Then, last week, I happened to see an interchange between CuteMonsterDad and Chris Brogan.  I was inspired.  A few quick codings later, I had a full Rout application.  Now, I could give everything from a +A in Awesome Alliteration to a +Z in Zombie Defense.

Yes, this new version of Rout will actually tweet these random pluses.  You don’t even need to give me access to your Twitter account.  The text is passed to Twitter, which puts it into a tweet ready for you to submit.  In addition, virtually no tracking of these tweets is done.  They don’t contribute to an overall score or anything.  The two “tracking” exceptions are Google Analytics and a recording of the categories “routed.”  The former is to give me an idea of how many people are using it.  The purpose of the latter is to find interesting new categories to highlight on Rout.  (NOTE: These categories have to be approved by me.  This keeps topics that are inappropriate or limited in usefulness from appearing.)

So, go have some fun and give out some Rout: http://www.PlusRout.com/

Aloha Friday: Movies, Kids, and Cursing

Aloha Friday, Movies, NHL

During Thanksgiving, sometime between the end of the meal and the beginning of dessert, everyone split up to do different things.  I sat down and searched for something interesting on TV.  That’s when I spotted it.  Ghostbusters.  Sure, it was on a non-premium cable channel and, thus, censored, but still – It’s Ghostbusters!

As I settled in, NHL and JSL began to inquire to see what I was watching.  At first, they were upset that I wasn’t watching one of *their* programs.  How dare dad not keep the TV glued to Nick Jr even when they weren’t in the room.  But then B told them of Stay Puft.  After that, they kept bugging me as to when the giant marshmallow man would appear.  When he finally did show, they cheered at his appearance and over his destruction and spillage on top of Walter Peck.

In short, my kids were instant Ghostbusters fans.  I had a quandary, though.  Dare I show the full, uncensored Ghostbusters to NHL?  JSL might be too young, but NHL might love it.  On the other hand, I worried.  Not about the violence, but about the cursing.

NHL has heard cursing before.  I’m sure he’s heard it in his school and he’s heard a word or three pop out of B’s mouth.  (I’m a bit of a freak in that I never curse… Well, except for that one time I tried to get a reaction out of my friend by saying the C word which caused him to almost drive off the road.  Reaction achieved!)  But would NHL’s watching of movies with curses cause his language to reach for the potty?  Is he, at 8, too young for movies with salty language?

My Aloha Friday question for today is: How old do you think a child should be before they watch a movie that contains cursing?

P.S. If you haven’t already, go visit FollowerHQ and let me know what you think of my Twitter application.

P.P.S. For a bit of fun, try my other Twitter Application, Rout. It’s a +F in Fun!

Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.

Aloha Friday by Kailani at An Island Life

Aloha #116

Violent Shows versus Baby Shows

Friendship, NHL, Television

The other day, NHL confided something to me.  He said that some kids were making fun of him because he was watching “baby shows” and not shows that those kids liked.  I asked him what made those other kids’ shows non-baby shows. He said that their programs were violent and since he didn’t watch violent shows, he watched baby shows.  I calmly told him that the kids that told him this were wrong on many levels.

First of all, I let him know that he *does* watch some shows that are young for his age.  Notably, Oomi Zoomi, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, and other Nick Jr and Disney Junior programs.  When programs are trying to teach simple patterns, colors, letters and numbers, it isn’t age-appropriate for an 8-year-old.  However, there’s a catch.  I reminded NHL that he has a younger brother.  He can’t just watch 8-year-old appropriate shows all the time.  Sometimes, he’ll need to watch 4-year-old appropriate shows.  This means that sometimes he’ll need to watch shows that are too young for him and sometimes it will mean that his brother will watch shows that are too old for him.

Next, I told NHL that he does actually watch shows with violence.  He’s a fan of Avengers, Batman: The Animated Series and has recently discovered Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends.  These shows aren’t exactly violence-free.  In fact, in many ways, they are more violent than the benchmark show his school friends watch (Power Rangers).

Still, even considering these, I told NHL that he shouldn’t equate violence with age appropriateness.  He likes science shows like Mythbusters (which, though containing some violence in the form of explosions, also has a lot of science), The Looney Tunes Show (which resembles a sitcom with Bugs and company) and Family Game Night (a game show).

In addition, I pointed out to NHL that he isn’t defined by TV.  He has other interests.  He likes video games, music (including some very grown-up selections like Train, Lady Gaga, and Black Eyed Peas), reading, and playing on the computer.

In the end, I let NHL know that he couldn’t let his classmates define whether or not he was “acting like a baby” by a few of his actions.  If they were going to be so narrow minded as to not want to be his friend because he doesn’t like the exact same TV shows that they do, then it is their loss.  However, you can’t let yourself be defined what someone says is a negative aspect of your interests.

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