Learning with Phineas and Ferb Songs: Robot Riot

Disney, Educational, Music, Phineas and Ferb

As I mentioned earlier this week, the boys and I loved the new Phineas and Ferb movie.  I even bought the soundtrack and have been listening to it nonstop.  One thing I like about Phineas and Ferb songs is that, though kids enjoy them, they are intelligent enough for adults as well.  In fact, there are many words/phrases in the songs that kids just won’t know the meaning of.  Instead of simply leaving your kids in the dark, why not use the songs as a teaching opportunity?

With this in mind, let’s look at one of the new songs from Phineas and Ferb: Across the Second Dimension: Robot Riot.  (Lyrics are courtesy of the Phineas and Ferb Wiki.)  One quick warning, though, the following might have spoilers for the movie.  So watch the movie first!

It’s gonna be a mechanized melee
A bit of a big bot brawl
When we get through you’re gonna know it’s true
The more metallic they are the harder they fall
And don’t mess with me ’cause I’m a whole lot of trouble
when I’m backed up against the wall

Right at the beginning, we have four words to go over: mechanized, melee, brawl, and metallic.  Mechanized, you can explain, is a reference to the robots.  Anything mechanical – with computers or gears inside – can be said to be mechanized.  A melee, involves a bunch of fighters on each side battling in a disorganized fashion.  In the context of the movie, Phineas and Ferb’s friends, using all of their previous inventions, battle the Norm-bots for control of the Tri-State Area.  They aren’t using any kind of organized tactics, they’re just all destroying as many robots as they can.  Brawl is a similar word, meaning a large fight.  Finally, metallic means made out of metal (referring again to the Norm-Bots).

We’re gonna kick some robot chassis
So you better tell your robot nation
Say your robot prayer, ’cause you better prepare
For an automaton annihilation

Notice those last two words?  “Automaton” and “annihilation.”  Depending on the age of your child, these words might be new.  You can explain to them that automaton is another word for robot and to annihilate something meant to destroy it.  While you’re at it, you can explain that “automaton annihilation” is an example of alliteration – the repetition of a sound over a series of words.

You think you’re gonna take us down
Well, mechanical man you just try it
You gonna ride that rail out of town

This is a Robot Riot!

I think you know what I mean
This is a Robot Riot
I’m gonna break you down
And sell you for scrap metal
But I’ll keep enough to build myself a trampoline
‘Cause you’re momma was a blender
and your dad was just a washing machine

This is a Robot Riot!

I’m gonna rip you up, I’m gonna break you down
I’m gonna take you to a chop shop down town
You know that you’ll be dreadin’ this android Armageddon
I think you better check your fluids ’cause I know you’re sweatin’
You know you’re gonna lose and sing the robot blues
You’ll blow a fuse and take a robot snooze
I will deactivate ya, because I kinda hate ya
Don’t wanna beat around the bushes, gonna decimate ya

Here we have the phrase “chop shop” as well as the words android, armageddon, and decimate.  Children might not recognize that “chop shop” is a kind of operation (usually illegal) that takes a car and rips it into pieces.  Android, like “automaton” from earlier, is another word for robot.  Armageddon is a word that usually describes the world ending in a violent fashion.  In this case, though, it means that the end of the robots is going to come violently (as Phineas and Ferb’s crew rip them to pieces).  Finally, decimate means to destroy on a grand scale.  Considering the thousands of Norm-Bots streaming out of the portal, defeating them would truly be a decimation.

This is a Robot Riot!

Oh man it’s on!
I’m gonna rip you up
and put you back together
In a new configuration just to mow my lawn
‘Cause your sister is a fridge,
and you know her light is always on
This is a Robot Riot!

Robot Riot Robot Riot (Look Out!)
Robot Riot Robot Riot

This is a Robot Riot!

You better listen up
I got some breaking news
I’m gonna melt you down and pour you on some baby shoes
I’m really on a mission
I call it demolition
And when I’m through you’re gonna need more than a new transmission
No matter how you strive.
You’re gonna take a dive
I’m gonna mess you up and devastate your hard drive
I’m gonna shut you down, I’m teaching you a lesson
Rip out your CPU and show it to you still processing

Here we get into some computer terms (hard drive, CPU, processing), an automotive term (transmission), a phrase that might bear explaining (“pour you on some baby shoes”) and the word demolition.

You can explain what a hard drive (the place a computer stores items) and CPU are (the “brains” of a computer).  You can also explain that processing means performing a series of operations.  In the context of the song, this means that they would rip out the robots’ brains and show it to them while they (the brains) were still working.

A transmission is the part of the car that transfers power from the engine to the wheels.  It is stereotypically a part of cars that needs to be fixed at great expense.  A robot that is so broken that it needs “more than a new transmission” is pretty much broken beyond repair.

The phrase pour you on some baby shoes” refers to the custom some people have of coating their babies’ first shoes in bronze or other metals.

Finally, the definition of the word “demolition” (completely destroying) might not be known to kids, though the action would be familiar to any kid who built a block tower and then knocked it down.

This is a Robot Riot!

I’m gonna rip you up, I’m gonna break you down
I’m gonna take you to a chop shop down town
You know that you’ll be dreadin’ this android Armageddon
I think you better check your fluids ’cause I know you’re sweatin’
You know you’re gonna lose and sing the robot blues
You’ll blow a fuse and take a robot snooze
I will deactivate ya, because I kinda hate ya
Don’t wanna beat around the bushes, gonna decimate ya

This is a Robot Riot!
(I’m gonna rip you up I’m gonna break you down I’m gonna take you to a chop shop down town)

This is a Robot Riot!
(I’m gonna rip you up I’m gonna break you down I’m gonna take you to a chop shop down town)

This is a Robot Riot!
(I’m gonna rip you up I’m gonna break you down I’m gonna take you to a chop shop down town)

This is a Robot Riot!
(I’m gonna rip you up I’m gonna break you down I’m gonna take you to a chop shop down town)

Alright!

In the end, you can both enjoy the songs from the Phineas and Ferb TV show and movie *and* use them for educational opportunities.  When you’re done, your child will enjoy the songs even more as they understand some of the terms/concepts that might have escaped them previously.

The Continuing Adventures of My Super-Boys

Computers, Geeky Pursuits, Internet, JSL, NHL, Superheroes

Last year, I sat my boys down on the HeroMachine website to let them make their own superheroes.  Since it’s been so long, I decided to let them back on to see how they would make their heroes this time.  As with the last time, I guided them through the setup.  I might have nudged them here or there but the general look and feel of the superheroes was up to them.  For example, I might push to make tops and bottoms match in color, but if they decided to change the color palette, I wouldn’t refuse their superheroic demands.

I also purposefully didn’t show them their superheroes from the previous year.  I didn’t want them to simply recreate their old heroes.  I wanted to see what more recent influences might being to their heroes.

Let’s start with JSL.  Last year, he made this hero:

  

He named his superhero “FireGuy.”  So what did he make this year?

Agent Super JSL Buzz Lightyear

Meet Super Agent JSL Buzz Lightyear.  Breaking down the name first, the “Super” part comes because, to JSL, a superhero must, obviously, be names super-something.  I’m not sure why he thinks that.  Most of the superheroes he knows don’t have names that begin with “Super.”  “Agent” comes from Agent P, from Phineas and Ferb.  We had recently watched the Phineas and Ferb movie so he wanted to be a secret agent.  Buzz Lightyear comes from his favorite Toy Story character.

The shield is based on the one that his favorite superhero, Captain America, has.  The color scheme incorporates his favorite colors.  I’m not sure if there was a particular rhyme or reason behind the rest of the outfit, though.

Next up, was NHL.  Last year, he made Disco Man, so named because he had “disco eyes.”

 

This year, NHL made Toolguy/Mathman/Cordman.  Yes, you read that right.  This superhero has three names.  I tried to get NHL to shorten it, but he was adamant that it needed to be all three and include the slashes.

Toolguy_Mathman_Cordman

The name is based off his love of building things, his love of math, and the fact that his superhero has a whip.  The head was based loosely on Hulk.  For the body, NHL insisted that his superhero was part-robot and so it needed to be grey.  In retrospect, I wonder if this comes from Perry the Platyborg from the Phineas and Ferb movie.  It was interesting that NHL picked out the same tail that he chose last year.  He also chose the same eyes at first, but then changed his mind.

Have your kids used HeroMachine?  If so, what kinds of superheroes have they made?

A Day Off and Expenses Pile On

Stress

As B wrote about yesterday, we’re going to be a bit “selfish” and go on a vacation that’s just for us.  It’s quite overdue.  While being a parent is important, it shouldn’t be your entire identity.  If you pursue being a parent to such a degree that you forget about being a couple with your spouse or being an individual, you’ll wake up one day to find your marriage in shambles and/or your life without any purpose (aside from your kids).  We don’t want our lives to head down this path, so we’re going to make time for us.

Sometimes, though, people just need time to themselves to decompress.  In summers past, B has either worked (in which case NHL was in daycare) or NHL got sent to a summer camp for some portion of the day.  This year, for a variety of reasons, NHL and JSL were with B every day… all day, every day.  By the end of some days, I think B would have welcomed the arrival of men in white coats coming to bring her to a nice, padded room.

Saturday, B broke down.  The boys (as seems to happen far too frequently) were being pains and she couldn’t take anymore.  We discussed matters and I offered to take the boys out for the day on Sunday.  (It was too late to take them out that day and NHL was being sent to him room so taking him out would be rewarding bad behavior.  Besides, Saturday is Shabbat and I don’t drive that day.)

Sunday, I got the boys ready and out we went.  We ran a few errands, did some grocery shopping and went out to lunch.  Meanwhile, B stayed home and did laundry.  No, this wasn’t an adventure out of the house, but it was quiet.  The bicker-free time helped her unwind and de-stress.

Of course, the stress levels weren’t helped by the universe sending more expenses our way.  The new HD TV is working fine and a coworker managed to repair my laptop for free, but this past week three new expenses cropped up.  First, B’s car needed some expensive (but necessary) repairs.  Then, on Friday, I went to mow the lawn.  I pulled the starter cord (which has been broken for a year now, but I’ve jury-rigged to avoid repair costs) and nothing happened.  The motor revved, but didn’t “catch” and start up.

I tried a few more times, priming the engine more, adding more gas.  Nothing seemed to help.  I sighed and put the mower away thinking we’d need to spend about $200 on a new mower.  (This one is just 7 years old.)  Luckily, I was able to fix it yesterday after having purchased a new spark plug (and spark plug wrench) for about $7.50.  Thank you, Sears!

Then, Sunday morning, as I was making breakfast, our microwave went.  It didn’t just stop working though, it began emitting blue lightning inside of it.  No, we didn’t put any metal inside.  It was sparking all on it’s own.  Needless to say, we shut it off and unplugged it.  Thankfully, B’s parents have a microwave they can give us. 

We dodged those last two expenses, but at times it seems like the Universe keeps sending stress our way just as we manage to shed the old stress.  That Disney vacation can’t get here soon enough.

Phineas and Ferb Go 2D

Disney, Phineas and Ferb, Television

455px-Phineas_and_Ferb_Across_the_2nd_Dimension_official_poster Friday was the long awaited day.  No, not anyone’s birthday.   It was the premiere of Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension.  The boys had been looking forward to this movie since the commercials first began airing.  They are huge Phineas and Ferb fans and the prospects of a Phineas and Ferb movie excited them.  (NOTE:  If you haven’t seen the movie, I’ll try to not give away the ending, but you really should watch it before reading this.)

As the movie opens, Phineas and Ferb begin to have just another ordinary summer day.  Of course, in this case, “ordinary” means “building a pair of giant Platypus shaped launchers and a giant shuttlecock they can ride in to propel themselves across the city.”  Something goes wrong and they crash into Doofenschmirtz’ latest inator.

Phineas and Ferb fans know, of course, that Doof and the boys never really meet.  There are a few close calls here or there, but the evil scientist and the boys are from two separate identities that Agent P/Perry the Platypus possesses.  Perry is forced to hide his Agent P identity (as revealing it would mean being taken away from the Flynn-Fletcher household that he loves so much).  As such, he can’t stop the boys from helping Dr. D (as they call him) from repairing his Otherdimensioninator and opening a portal to another dimension.

This dimension contains a warped world where Doofenschmirtz rules with an iron fist, the boys are conformists who don’t know what summer is, Perry is a cyborg working for Doofenschmirtz and Candace secretly runs the rebellion.  The Evil(er) Doofenschmirtz is intrigued with the idea of a whole new Tri-State Area to conquer and the boys seem unable to return to their home dimension.  This sets up the bulk of the plot.

Meanwhile, Perry’s cover is blown leading to something amazing in a cartoon aimed at kids: actual emotional progression.  Phineas goes from angry and hurt to accepting.  The progression never feels forced.  The emotional resolution is very touching as well.

Of course, there’s action too.  Tons of action.  Candace-2 takes out a dozen or so Norm-Bots (the evil robot minions of the second dimension’s Doofenschmirtz) with some help from Perry and the boys.  Our gang is forced to confront a Goozim (giant, hairy beast the size of a two car garage… if not bigger).  And, of course, there’s the ending battle back in Phineas and Ferb’s home dimension against thousands upon thousands of Norm-Bots in which…

Well, you’ll just have to watch to see what happens.  I’ll just say that the boys and I were practically jumping up and down on our couch with excitement during this scene.  I believe this annoyed B quite a bit but it’s an amazing climatic action scene.  Did she think we’d sit unemotionally still?

We’ve already watched it two or three times.  (Thank you DVR!)  I purchased the soundtrack and the boys and I rocked out to the songs from the movie.  I might even pre-order the movie on DVD for them.  I always recommend the Phineas and Ferb series to people and this movie is no exception.  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll blare “Robot Riot” a bit.

Aloha Friday: Delicious Desserts

Aloha Friday, Dessert, Food

As I posted yesterday, I had quite the delicious dessert for my birthday dinner.  I’m still drooling over the cake-enrobed, ice-creamy, fried deliciousness.  Here it is again in case you missed it.

P1040368

If you’ll excuse me, I need a mop to clean up all of this drool.  While I do that, here’s my Aloha Friday question: What desserts make you drool?

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 #99

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