Archive for June, 2009
Jun
16
The family and I recently traveled down to Los Angeles to visit lullaby world headquarters, attend a wedding, and meet with some people. One of said people was Matt Logelin, the blogger who captured the world’s attention (and dare I say heart) with his candid reflections on life with his daughter Madeline after the sudden death of his wife Liz. Matt and my wife have become e-bros over the last few months, and we sat down to talk while our kids romped in the grass, hit each other in the face, and got Thai food in their hair. The whole conversation would take hours to read in full, so here’s some highlights.
Is there any music you won’t play for Maddy?
Patton Oswalt has this great routine about, if he ever has kids, he’s going to hide all of his records and just play them the worst easy listening trash, so that when they rebel against his musical tastes they’ll just listen to the indie rock that he really likes, and then when they’re old enough they’ll discover his secret stash and just be like “whoa.” I remember my Mom’s record player was just Bette Midler — the Beaches soundtrack. My grandfather was listening to old country music, which I didn’t appreciate at the time but we bonded over later — he picked up all of the American Johnny Cash records. I’m hoping that Maddy will do the discovering thing. We went to Amoeba Records, it was the first time she was in her stroller, and this Rashaan Roland Kirk record was playing and she was just rocking back and forth, really enjoying it.
Have you taken Maddy to any concerts?
Just one, accidentally — I ran this 10K in downtown LA, over by USC, and Nike was sponsoring a party afterwards with Kanye West playing. I had no idea! Luckily, I have this huge blue headset for her that blocks out most of the volume. I was going to take her to a show a few weeks ago at Spaceland, too.
When do you think you’re going to let Maddy read the blog?
It depends on if I keep it up. If I keep it going, I see it being part of her daily life, but if I discontinue it I’ll probably end up telling her some time in the future, so she can read it if she wants. I mean, when she’s in school somebody’ll be able to search her name and find all this crazy stuff. I’m sure her high school boyfriends will read it. I try not to reveal too much, try not to embarrass her. I’ve certainly thought about stopping it. If I’d known how big this would get, I never would have done it. And now I have these people writing me that want to know how to make their blog “famous.” All of these social media people are following me on Twitter and I kind of find them annoying. People think that this is some easy guaranteed money. But it all just happened organically – it wasn’t like “gonna make a quick buck, go on Oprah, get a book deal.” If that had been the case, you would have never heard of me. But on the other hand, in some way I’m helping people now – which was not my intention either, but people try to get advice, ask questions – ”My friend’s baby died, what should I do for them?” And my only advice is don’t throw anything away in the house. As much as it freaks me out, it’s kind of an obligation now, with the Foundation – people donate because they’re invested in the story, and to keep people interested sometimes I feel like I’m pimping my daughter out a little bit by telling my story. But people did help me get through this situation, and now we’re going to do this for other people.
How did the Liz Logelin Foundation get started?
When the blog started to get attention, I started being connected with all of these people who wanted to give things to me, but — look around — I have everything I need. I have more than Maddy needs. You don’t want to hurt people’s feelings by turning down a gift they’re giving you, so I tried to find away to just pass it on to someone who needed help more than I did. When you think about it, in times past in a small community, when somebody died, people would bring them dinner and help them out. With the community of the Internet, people want to do something for each other, so they started sending me gift cards, things like that. I realized I could use this attention to do for other people what they’d done for me.
You just signed a book deal with Grand Central – can we talk about what the book will be like?
It’s a more conventional narrative — it’s a lot different from the blog. There were concerns all around with publishers worried that people would say “Why should I pay for this when I can read it online for free?” If I just printed my blog, the book would be as thick as a phone book. I never had any intention of people reading this — if I did, I would have used punctuation and proper grammar. The plan is to, depending on which way it goes, have the book deal with the first year after Liz died. It’ll be mostly chronological, but every chapter there’s flashbacks to Liz and I. Some of the significant events I wrote about on the blog but didn’t get very in-depth. The blog is more of a daily account, “Today we ate Thai food and Maddy spit up.” With the book I can be more evocative, more in-depth. A perfect example is a story I sort of touched on in the blog when I went on a trip to Bamff with Liz’s family. It was a really dark night for me, I was with Liz’s parents and they didn’t really know how to deal with me, we kept dancing around things, I wanted to talk about it and they didn’t, so we were sort of figuring out how to mourn together. Every time I’d try to go off and be alone they’d come up with some excuse to come with me. So I hatched a plan to just get out of the car at a red light and walk away when we got back to the city. The car stopped, I said “Hey, I’m getting out of the car by myself and I’ll be back later,” and I walked to a bar and got piss drunk, one of the few times that I’ve done that. People have questions all the time, and I try to answer them in the comments section, but here I can go in-depth about Liz and bring her out, too. And on a selfish level I want Madeline to know her mother through this. Ultimately she’ll be proud of it, I hope.
Jun
15
What a wild coincidence that the week Rockabye Baby! Lullaby Renditions of Queen was released brought a hilarious Queen-related news story. Milan Bandic, the mayor of Zagreb, Croatia, announced during a news conference that he wanted to make Zagreb an attractive performance destination for musicians, and called for David Bowie to perform there — “and Freddie Mercury can come too.”
The news that the Queen frontman died eighteen years ago came as a shock to Bandic, who was recently elected to his second term. This is just another in a long series of public gaffes for the Croatian politician – from attempting to bribe a police officer while driving drunk to falling asleep during the Zagreb City Assembly. Well, he may not be a great civil servant, but at least he has good taste in music.
Jun
12
Is there anything more fun than a new baby? In this new weekly feature, I’ll present some must-have baby items for new parents, based on my experience and those of my parent friends. If you’re putting together a registry for your new one, or you have a friend expecting, we’ll give you everything you need.
The first year of your baby’s life, you are going to become a very horrible sleeper. Especially before they adjust to a diurnal schedule, newborns are awake and asleep whenever they damn well please, and either Mama or Papa has to be up with them, come hell or high water. And, for the most part, you can’t really do anything with them but hold them, change them, burp them and comfort them. As much as you love your little new addition, this can get real boring, real fast, especially at three in the morning. One thing that kept us sane? Netflix. The ubiquitous movie delivery service gave each of us something to feed our weary eyes during those late-night vigils, helping us feel a little more like adults and less like caregiving robots. For a baby shower gift, consider giving a year’s gift subscription to Netflix – the three-disk plan is good to run with. Make some suggestions for the queue in the card and sit back knowing that you’ve done a truly good thing.
Jun
10
Hooray for Father’s Day! Get 15% off your entire order at www.rockabyebabymusic.com, now through next Wednesday, June 17.
Under pressure to find the perfect Dad’s Day gift? What about our newest album, Lullaby Renditions of Queen, or any of our other awesome Rockabye Baby! CDs? Dads tell us they love our series for letting them share their favorite music with their little rockers. Even Kirk Hammett loves playing our Lullaby Renditions of Metallica for his little one!
Now through next Wednesday, take 15% off your entire order and make a new dad’s day!
Enter promotional code RBFD09 at check out
Want to make sure your order arrives in time? Order by June 16 and select Priority Shipping to receive by Father’s Day.
Jun
10
Queen is still hot off the presses but all of us at Lullaby World Headquarters are already hard at work on our upcoming CD, Rockabye Baby! Lullaby Renditions of Aerosmith. We’re really excited about this one and not just because Steven Tyler has written liner notes for the album. Sweet and soothing versions of Cryin’, I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing, and Walk This Way will have your little one dreamin’ on and on.
Back up, you say?
Not buying the cool, collected act? Okay, you’re right. Here’s what we meant:
STEVEN TYLER WROTE LINER NOTES FOR OUR ALBUM! Wooooooooohooooooo!
Says the legendary Aerosmith frontman of our forthcoming lullaby CD:
“I have a grandson who I can’t wait to play these for. Our fans, who have been with us for years, are now parents and grandparents themselves. I know they’re going to love this album. ”
You’ll have to read the rest when the album comes out this fall!
Jun
09
One of the greatest things about music is its ability to be used as a window to other cultures and languages. Especially in the pre-verbal stage, kids are really open to all sorts of different vocal sounds, and it’s great to expose them to as many as possible. We’ve always been big fans of Africa’s music in our household, with my wife spending a summer in Uganda assisting a group of ethnomusicologists as a younger woman, and here are some of our favorite artists from the continent.
Kanda Bongo Man – The Best Of
Congolese soukous music is some of the most exciting, infectious dance music ever performed. Anchored by complex, lilting guitar figures, chanted vocals and driving percussion, it’s guaranteed to get even the most surly little bottom wiggling. Kanda Bongo Man is one of the country’s most venerable performers, and you can’t go wrong with anything he’s recorded.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo – Gift Of The Tortoise
South Africa’s most famous vocal group has released a score of albums, but this collection of traditional Zulu songs is one of their most accessible. 1994’s Gift Of The Tortoise was nominated for a Grammy and features cuts like Kanje Kanje and Thekwane, all laced together with narration from Gcina Mhlophe.
King Sunny Ade – Odu
The Nigerian juju master is one of those African artists who has found success on the world stage, and for good reason – his ludicrously infectious music takes from a wide range of influences to create a unique hybrid that is energetic, intense and fun.
Seprewa Kasa – Seprewa Kasa
One of the most engaging features of African music is the variety of unusual instruments at play. One such device is the seprewa, a gut-strung harp used in Ghanan Highlife music. This 2008 release features guitarist Kari Banaman playing with a number of seprewa masters to knock out an unstoppable plate of danceable jams.
Fela Kuti – Zombie
The Nigerian music legend Fela Kuti was one of the most politically volatile musicians of all time, with his uncompromising music bringing him in conflict with the powers that be over and over again. Zombie, one of his greatest albums, was a veiled attack on the Nigerian military oppressors in the guise of an irresistible Afrobeat album. Like most of Fela’s records, it contains just two long songs, but both are absolute classics.
P.S. It’s the last day to enter to win our new Lullaby Renditions of Queen CD! Contest ends today at noon, pst.
Jun
08
To launch our new blog and the More Lullaby Renditions of the Beatles CD, we decided to give away deluxe Rockabye Baby! gift sets to ten lucky folks.
Thanks so much to everyone who entered the hide & seek contest. We were overwhelmed with the love for Rockabye Baby! expressed in the comment stream.
Congratulations to the big winners:
Renee Hutchinson
James Mac Donald
Shelli Pruger
Karla Bohnovic
Lani Caraway
Kresta Schlesman
Nicola McDonald
Sage Elbot
Jessie Thomas
Amber Williams
All the winners have been notified and the gift sets are on their way! If you didn’t win this time, don’t worry. There’s still time to enter to win our newest release, Lullaby Renditions of Queen.
And remeber to check back here often, because we love to give stuff away!
Jun
05
Be a champion! Enter to Win 1 of 10 Rockabye Baby! Lullaby Renditions of Queen CDs
Under pressure to find the coolest baby gift in the universe? Look no further! We’re giving away 10 copies of our newest CD. Enter here.
The contest ends Tuesday June 9 at noon pst, so enter soon.
Also, be sure to check out our new Queen-themed print & play activities and go radio ga ga goo goo with our exclusive sneak peek of two tracks!
Now, we nap (another one bites the dust…)
Jun
04
Is there anything more fun than a new baby? In this new weekly feature, I’ll present some must-have baby items for new parents, based on my experience and those of my parent friends. If you’re putting together a baby registry for your new one, or you have a friend expecting, we’ll give you everything you need.
This week’s baby shower gift pick is the Miracle Blanket. Sleep is one of the most precious commodities for a new parent, and anything that can keep the little one sawing logs for even fifteen more minutes is a very valuable investment indeed.
I loved the Miracle Blanket – sure, it looks something like a psychiatric restraint, but this oddly-shaped swaddler was the absolute best thing for my son when he was little. Since new babies have absolutely no motor control, they tend to smack themselves in the face when they’re sleeping. By swaddling them, you prevent accidental thwacks and let them make the most of their downtime – by association, letting the new parents make the most of it as well.
P.S. Don’t forget to enter to win our new Lullaby Renditions of Queen CD!
Jun
03
We cosleep with our son Henry, for a variety of reasons – the bed is big, the marriage is strong, and it helps him feel confident and safe, especially since we just moved across the country. But he is interested in having his own bed, and we wanted to get him something that wasn’t just an Ikea toddler crib.
Our solution? One regular-sized kids mattress and the Great Plains Indians Teepee, which we set up in the corner of his room. Since we erected it, it’s been the center of his play life – he goes inside to read books and to play with puzzles, and when it’s time for a nap we walk him over, lay him down, give him a quick cuddle and he’s out. Sure, it’s not textbook parenting, but it works for us.
P.S. Don’t forget to enter to win our new Lullaby Renditions of Queen CD!
