I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: DAN ZANES-Night Time (2002).

I’d only ever heard of Dan Zanes as the guy from the Del Fuegos (who probably got the biggest boost of their career when Juliana Hatfield sang about them in “My Sister”).  But once we had our first child, everyone told me to check out Dan Zanes’ “kids” records.  Night Time is one of our favorites.  It’s often played at night (obviously) as a good bedtime CD.

There a few rousing tracks on it but mostly it works as a mellow disc, perfect for winding down the day.  Zanes’ “kids” music is absolutely not just for kids (well, one or two tracks certainly are), because he uses his rock roots to play good roots rock (and folk).  Another fun thing about this disc (and most of his discs, in fact) is that he has a whole host of cool rock people to sing with him: Aimee Mann, John Doe (from X), Dar Williams and Lou Reed!

So, while you get a few traditional kids song (“Pay Me My Money Down,” “Rattlin’ Bog”) you also get a few traditional songs that work well for kids, but are fun for adults to sing along to (“Side by Side,” “What a Wonderful World,” “So Long (It’s Been Good to Know Yuh)”).  There’s also originals by Zanes (the fantastic “Night Owl,” “Smile Smile Smile” and the gorgeous closer “Linger for Awhile”) and some nontraditional songs (Zanes likes throwing in “world” music titles) like “Que Fortunidad,” and “Siyahamba”.

And it all sounds great.  There’s a horn section on a number of tracks, bringing a very rich texture.  But he also uses solo guitar or even mandolin.  And Zanes’ voice sounds fantastic.  He’s slightly gruff sounding, but in an endearing way.

I don’t know if I ever would have listened to these discs if it weren’t for having kids; but even if you don’t have kids, don’t let the “kids” label scare you away.

[READ: October 17, 2009] Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days

I was thrilled when this book came in the mail.  (Yes, we do order some books to keep).  I’ve enjoyed the whole series quite a bit, and there was so much hype about this book (it was ranked #1 at Amazon.com!) that I was very excited to get it.

This book’s title is something of a double meaning.  Dog days of summer, and also the animal itself (a dog features in several panels).  And so yes, the story takes place over Greg’s summer vacation.

The first half of the book I didn’t find quite as enjoyable as I wanted.  It’s not bad by any means, but a lot of the conflict from the other books is absent.  Because it’s summer, there’s no school conflict and for reasons that aren’t explained, Rodrick isn’t really in the story that much (maybe he’s on tour with Löded Diper) [which, yes, is still funny].  And Greg has a fight with Rowley, so they don’t speak for a while.

In many ways these are exciting developments because there’s a lot of newness in the storyline.  But, like a soft pillow, I missed my favorite conflicts!

Having said that, the major conflicts are quite good.  Greg plans to spend the whole summer inside playing video games.  But his mom wants him to go outside and get sun (and apparently wrinkles, like her), so they wind up frequenting the pool.  There’s some delightful toilet humor (literally…thank you Manny).  And, of course, the always funny trying-to-be-cool-in-front-of-a-girl-as-well-as-your-mom jokes.  (The photo in particular is awesome).

The Rowley fight happens because the boys start a business together (but of course they don’t know how to do anything). This fight gives us some bonus time with Fregley (which is never a bad thing).

And then there’s Greg’s dad.  A lot of this book shows us interaction with Greg’s father.  I really enjoyed the bit about, “Li’l Cutie” the Sunday comic that they hate (as I have had a similar relationship with a single panel cartoon that you are mysteriously drawn to even though it sucks).  It was nice to see them “bonding” over it (especially after the threat of military school in the past).  I also liked the part of the story that leads to the dog scenes.  It’s fun to see Greg’s father get riled about something other than Greg.

But I found the laugh out loud bits came towards the end of the book.  The entire back-to-school-clothing sale sequence was hilarious.  Especially when Greg’s dad does the shopping.  The simple drawing of Greg’s father shopping was worth the price of the book.

And when Greg finally does get to hang around with Rowley again–on a Rowley family trip to the beach–I was in tears of laughter.  Rowley’s family is just fantastically awful.  I couldn’t even pick a favorite scene from that vacation.   It was all fantastic.

Oh, and the recurring joke–the hand that you see on the very first page–has a great payoff at the end.

So, yes, I did really like the book.  And, I’m already looking forward to #5.