Jewel, Rush, and Mink Floyd

As preface to this antecdote, It should be noted that Friday night is a special night in our house. Every Friday night is "slumber party night", Sam and Olivia get to sleep in "The Big Bed" with Daddy and watch various and sundry of their favorite TV shows. this usually consists of about an hour of Spongebob, then the only reality show on TV worth watching, Animal Planet's "Meerkat Manor" (pretty much their favorite TV show) and then usually some sort of animated movie (although sometimes we catch one of the REALLY bad Joel Schumaker Batman movies) until they fall asleep. It is a special treat, and all involved have a good time.

Well, LAST friday, they enjoyed their Spongebob and their Meerkat Manor, and I found Pixar's "The Incredibles" on one of the movie channels (Pixar Superheros--if it had meerkats in it it would, in their opinion, be the perfect movie). I Put Sofia to bed and proceeded to do some computer work, and put on VH1 Classic's Classic Concert--Pink Floyd's "Pulse". About 10 mi9nutes in, two little sets of feet come padding out to the living room. . .

Sam: Oh, a Concert. . .is this Rush?

Daddy: No, son, it is Pink Floyd.

Olivia: I LOVE Mink Floyd

Sam: can I stay out here and watch this Mink Floyd Concert with you?

Daddy: I thought you were watching "Incredibles". . and it's PINK Floyd.

Olivia: I LOVE Mink Floyd

Sam: Well, um. . .I want to stay out here with you and watch this Mink Floyd concert. . .will they do "Closer to the Heart?'.

Daddy: No son, Rush does "Closer to the Heart" and this is PINK Floyd, not MINK Floyd.

Sam: I love Rush.

Olivia: I LOVE Mink Floyd.

So, the three of us proceeded to watch the Pink Floyd Concert. The fact that David Gilmour was playing a red stratocaster "Just Like Daddy's" was not lost on Olivia. They never did "Closer to the Heart", nor did they do "Run Like Hell" which was what I was hoping for. Oh well.

Now, it should be noted, that Concert DVD's are favorite entertainment in our house. . .ESPECIALLY Rush. . .the kids LOVE them. . they know the songs, they know the ORDER of the songs, and the Rush DVD's are one of the most requested entertainment choises in our house. Sam, apparently has been studying these quite profoundly. . .The other day, he asked is he could play my bass. I said "sure" and proceeded to allow him to play for about 15 minutes. After we got the bass (which is bigger than HE is) strapped on, I asked him if he wanted a pick. He said, "no Daddy, I will play with my fingers, just like Geddy (the Bass Player with Rush).

Now, not only did he play with his fingers. . .but he played EXACTLY like Geddy Lee, who has a very specific right hand technique, using his index finger primarily and resting his thumb on the string he is playing to sort of "pluck" the string. It was pretty impressive to see his eye for detail.

This past Friday, we set up for a slumber party again: Spongebob, Meerkats, etc. Again, i stayed out in the Living room, and again, I found a concert to watch--This time a Jewel concert on "Ovation". Both kids got up from Meerkat Manor (the highlight of the week, remember?) to come out and watch jewel. Sam was pretty impressed with Jewel (hey, who can BLAME him), and Olivia was impressed with the fact that it was a GIRL with a guitar singing. She says "Daddy, when I get bigger, can I play guitar on TV. . and SING?"

"Of course you can, sweetheart. . .you can do amazing things if you set your mind to it."

Jewel didn't do "Closer to the Heart" either. . .oh well.