DONE

I think that word about says it all...

Now, do I want to do this for a living?.....

Could be fun

Toddler Music notes

So, as much as I said ahead of time that I would NOT let it happen in my house, I have to confess that several "Children's Music" CD's have found their way in to the heavy playlist around the house. The not-so-surprising thing is, there is a LOT of really horrible children's music out there. Where is it written that children somehow wont / cant respond to regular music - it has to be bland, overproduced, and vapid (yes, I mean Barney!)

What I have found, though, is that there are gems hidden in this very rough rough. I will set aside the work my group does, since of course I am biased when it comes to our own work. However, I do recommend a series of CD's released by Putomayo, such as World Music for Little Ears, and Singalong with Putomayo. These recordings feature big name musicians, not doing children's music persay, but rather performing good music that children will enjoy. I can actually stand most of it!

The newest discovery is a couple of CD's done by Sandra Boynton, author of many fun, silly children's books. One in particular, Philadelphia Chicken, is made to sound like a Broadway review, with the big names to go with it. My wife and I have fun placing the songs in real Broadway shows, or re-casting the songs.

However, as good as this music is, I dont recommend waking up with one of the songs in your head, as it is GUARANTEED to be lodged there permanently for at least 28 hours. Yes, I have spent an entire day humming a cute little ditty about 15 pets that have all been named Bob (except for Simon James ALexander the Third...) PLEASE someone tell me they know what I am talking about here....

Quick Update

O.k. - so, the next time I say that I want to create several movies combining live action and animation, somebody slap me and point me towards the geniuses at Pixar! I have pretty much decided at this point that if I am ever going to complete this project anywhere close to on time, I am going to have to rethink my instructional video strategy. I think that at this point I am going to take the work and technology I know from Flash animation and just use them. I have some material I can rework from a previous project (my Nick Beat character) that I can resurrect for these four lessons, and I think the result will be as effective, if not as technically proficient. I would like to follow up on the Chromakey work at a later time, I just think that I reached the point where I had to fish or cut bait, as it is said.

Other than this re-direction, the rest of the project is proceeding well, I just need to find the hours amid the California trips, concerts, and auditorium events (not to mention raising an 18 month old) to get it all done.