Iron & Wine & ...

This post from the Confabulators describing Iron & Wine's mythical partnerships with other Indie Rock bands is hilarious. Especially so since Iron & Wine is Motopop's FAVORITE new band and the bands on this list that I really like (Death From Above 1979, Arcade Fire,...) he does not care for much. I bet he'd love them if these collaborations were real.

My favorite part:

The addition of loud and mosh-worthy DFA1979 (the pit at Intonation was incredible) to Sam Beam’s sleepy jams would make music that you could simultaneously fall asleep and rock out to. Concertgoers would begin sleepmoshing, which would in turn lead to the classification of the group as a dangerous intoxicant.

Do you think the Houston teens sippin on that Syzurrp would be into it?

Spectacle

We went to a lackluster art event on the Stone Arch Bridge this weekend and got me thinking about what makes a good spectacle. The event promised 'follies' and other happenings over a 24 hour period but the best we saw was people dressed in historical garb riding Segways.

I have seen a lot of good spectacles in my life and I started thinking about all the bands that I've seen multiple times in different eras of my life- the kind of bands that if they are playing OF COURSE you will go see them. Some of these may not ring any bells but the names alone are very evocative. Here's a sampling:

High School
Urban Guerillas
The Wallets
Trip Shakespeare
The Replacements
Husker Du
Libido Boyz
Soul Asylum

College
Tikkler
Slack
Smegma
Viscious Wally

College Part Deux/Mid-Twenties
God Bullies
The Cows
Jesus Lizard
Milk
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion

Adulthood
The Soviettes
Anchorhead
Slug
The Jayhawks
Sleater Kinney

There are plenty of other great bands that don't play as much or as memorably. These are a few that go beyond just playing the record and inspire an energy that makes the live show fun.

Parenting on a Stick

I LOVE the Minnesota State Fair. I took the day off yesterday and we went to opening day. We set off at 10:30 in the morning and figured we'd stay as long as Boyo was doing alright. I can't believe how well he did. We didn't leave until 8:45!

Highlights included:

• Getting pictures of him in his John Deere snapsuit sitting on John Deere tractors
  
• Hearing a dad tell his son "Oh honey, that's not where you go to SEE alligators; it's where you go to EAT alligators" about a 'Gator on a stick' booth
• Seeing that a radio station had set up a 'Lactation Station'- a tented in area with chairs where you could nurse
• Playing the State Fair Scavenger hunt that some friends put together where we tried to get photos of things like 'best ZZ Top beard' and 'most food items on a stick carried at once'
  

I didn't see some other highlights since I'd seen them in previous years:

• Pet surgery- live spaying and neutering in the pet building
• Largest hog
  
• Robot wars
  

I was a little dissapointed with my food experience. You have to eat a lot at the fair but I had a hard time matching my food cravings with the food that was around me. I ate plenty anyway but it's much more satisfying when you think "Mmm, I'd really love some cheese on a stick now" and you turn around and see the cheese on a stick booth.

Punk Rock

We've been cleaning the house for a week to get ready for the in-laws to stay with us. Last night they arrived about 9 and we realized the baby and the in-laws would be asleep by ten and we could actually go out and see some music! We quickly perused the shows and decided on The Soviettes, The Marked Men, Birthday Suits, and Mut Era. We got there during Birthday Suits and bought earplugs at the bar first thing- we may like to rock but we're not stupid. This band put on the loudest show I've ever seen for just one drummer and one guitarist. We found out that they are two former members of Sweet JAP so that makes sense.

By the second band Motopop had had a mid-life conversion to punk rock. He was trying to convince me that we needed to start a punk rock band and with each drink he repeats things more so he repeated this A LOT. I don't know if we're supposed to start this band before or after we buy jetskis, buy an airplane, win the lottery, build a three-car garage, or make any of the many other motorized vehicle purchases he has planned. Somehow I think that if we are even in a position to contemplate buying a jetski we don't have much punk rock cred.

The Soviettes were their usual combination of haphazard and awesome and definately have punk rock cred. It's so great to be at a show where women are at least half of the front row. It was also great to have no one smoking since they just recently banned smoking in bars. We walked back to the car at 2am and got gyro/falaffel sandwiches along the way relishing the late hour.

Breastfeeding vs. Conception

On Friday I will have made it to my minimum breastfeeding goal- 6 months. We now have to decide how much longer I can go. Since breastfeeding inhibits conception and it took medical intervention to conceive Boyo what should we do at this point. We made an appointment at our fertility clinic and they prefer that breastfeeding be wrapped up 2 months before they start treatment! We're going to have to do some research here. I don't want to shortchange Boyo for a child we might not even be able to conceive but I will be very happy the day I can stop pumping at work.

Too Much?

After going through infertility treatments and reading about the experiences of many other mamas in waiting on their blogs Motopop and I are very sensitive about trying to conceive. We have been planning to go with a group of friends to a cabin this weekend. Yesterday Motopop asked me "Do you think we should check with someone about whether bringing Boyo will be too painful for Lolly and Bruce?" Our friends have been through 4 rounds of unsuccessful IVF treatments and though I knew they wouldn't tell us not to come I immediately realized we needed to ask. I just got an email back from Lolly saying how considerate we were. I know it would be painful for her whether there's a baby there or not but hopefully we can keep from stepping on toes!

Alone?

I got home yesterday and Motopop had taken Boyo out. This was the first time I'd come home to house with no people in a long time. But I wasn't really alone because the pug and the two cats were there. What did I do with these valuable moments?- Started cleaning. Arggh. It is just so hard to keep up with all of the 'shoulds' now that we have a baby. I used to be able to say "I should take out the trash, I should do the laundry, I should clean the kitchen..." and have the consequences be a lot less severe if I chose to wait.

Baby Sign Language

Boyo is fast approaching 6 months, the time when we can start teaching him sign language. I am hoping that this lives up to the hype. Supposedly babies have the gross motor skills to use signs earlier than they have the fine motor skills necessary to talk. The theory is that the ability to communicate some basic concepts earlier reduces frustrations.

What I love about this is that it dovetails nicely with my general parenting philosophy: teach your child how to solve problems. The first problem-solving tool they have is crying so I try to teach Boyo that I am there to help him solve problems like hunger, discomfort, boredom, etc. But I try to give him the tools to solve his own problems as soon as I can. With this philosophy I try to pick through the theories that are out there and make up my own when necessary. Attachment Parenting is great until it starts interfering with a baby's ability to develop independence.

I also cultivate independence for selfish reasons. I love the book The Three-Martini Playdate. Motopop and I still want to live our lives and have the crazy idea that Boyo will be happier with parent that look out for their own happiness as well as his.

You Can't Always Get What You Want

Overall I have been happy with my decision to come back to work. Motopop spends quality time taking care of Boyo during the day and sells real estate when he gets a chance. We don't have to worry about daycare yet. I'm a terrible housekeeper so I don't have to pressure myself to clean all day. Work makes me get up in the morning instead of sleeping late like I might (Yes, it's unfair. After I feed Boyo at 6:30 he goes BACK to sleep and Motopop gets to sleep til 9:00, 9:30, 10:00...)

And yet as Boyo grows and can do more things I am still wistful about missing those little moments. At least Motopop gets to see them.

4 Parties

I think maybe we are crazy. We took Boyo to 4 parties this weekend. What is confusing to me is that he cries much less with lots of noise, commotion, new people and late hours than if he is just sitting at home on a normal day. Although most parents probably wouldn't attempt this, it seems to have worked out fine for us and I'd do it again. I suppose it will get worse as he gets older and is less portable.

The bars in Mpls have gone no smoking so all I need to maintain my rock n roll lifestyle now is an effective set of baby earplugs or a little decibel reader so I know when music is too loud for baby ears. I am sure that some of the outdoor concerts I have been to this year would fall outside the safe range.

I don't know why my parenting philosophy is so opposite of most people's. Most parents seem to think that they should not attempt to put their children in any environment they might not like. I prefer to do the things that I like- barring any obvious dangers to a 5 month old. If he likes it- great. If he doesn't he'll let me know and we will remove him from the environment/comfort him/etc. He doesn't seem to mind when I'm dancing with him to a Ramones song instead of a Raffi song and I think he will probably get a lot more out of a happy mom that an environment smoothed of all edges.

Time Wasters

Ack! I should be blocked from these sites. Hopefully they are both passing obsessions:

Web Suduko

Celebritrade

Dream Laughs

Some of my favorite things:

• Baby laughing in his sleep

• Dog barking in his sleep

Boyo woke me up at 4:55 am. I fed him and put him back in his bassinet by the side of our bed. As I am drifting off to sleep I suddenly hear chuckling. I look at Boyo and he is chortling and smiling in his sleep. It just blows me away that in 5 short months he has gone from a being that could not even focus on what's around him or smile to a small boy who has his own internal world that can generate dreams that make him laugh.

Our pug dog, Voltron is also quite amusing. It cracks me up when he has dreams that inspire a muffled barking. Sometimes they even startle him awake and he'll jump up from sleeping to run to the door and bark at some imaginary intuder.

I AM Evie Saltine

Since starting this blog I've been grappling with the issue of how anonymous to make it. I have created pseudonyms for my family but do I include pictures? Do I include pictures of the pets and the baby but not of the adults? Should I withhold or change details of a story? I don't have any illusion that I am completely unidentifiable to people who know me. I had a radio show on a public access station for 9 years so I am well aware of the creepy ownership that listeners can feel for you and fully expect there to be some freaks (not in a good way) reading this. They are hopefully outnumbered by the quiet masses that I hope to entertain briefly on their journey through the web.

Yesterday I got to take on a pseudonym in front of hundreds of people. We enjoyed a beautiful summer evening at movies and music in the park with some friends. My friend 'Evie Saltine' had to leave before the night was over and told me "If I win the $100 gift basket you can pretend you're me." She did win and I ran up as Evie Saltine and claimed my prize. I knew the guy that was DJing on stage but he just smirked and I picked up my gift basket and was photographed as Evie.

There are a couple of interesting commentaries on blogging over at Bitch Ph.D. Here's one on blogging anonymously and here's one about the nanny that made the mistake of telling her employer about her blog. Of course I am also thinking about Valerie Plume who's life was endangered by the evil Karl Rove's leak and the reporters pressed to reveal their anonymous sources in that case. Link to a primer on the scandel.

Quiz: Doll or Baby?

Can you tell which of the photos is of a child and which is of a doll?

The one on the left is Izzie, the February winner of a child pageant photo contest in the 0-18 months category! The one on the right is Charli, a doll sold on Ebay for $606.06. Charli is a product of reborning where great efforts are made to create a doll that looks exactly like a newborn while Izzie is a child whose photo has been retouched to match some bizarre glamour-shots-for-tots aesthetic.

Both are adult idealizations of childhood that create something unreal and monsterous. When I look at Boyo I am torn between trying to absorb as much 'baby' as I can because I know it goes so fast and being insanely curious about what he will grow into. It would be great if years from now I could come back and hold him as a baby for a few minutes. My sister once mentioned how cool it would be if you could look at a baby and imagine what they would be like as an adult the same way you can look at an adult and imagine what they were like as a baby. I guess this is what these age maps are trying to get at but they also end up looking creepy.











Thanks to BoingBoing for the pageant photography and age map info.

Baby Weight

I reached a milestone today. This morning the scale read the same as my pre-pregnancy weight. I hope I'm not jinxing this by writing about it but I am frankly amazed that it has been this easy. We are a week shy of Boyo being 5 months old and I thought it would take a lot longer. I have always struggled to stay on the upper edge of a 'normal' weight and took over a year to lose 15 pounds before I got pregnant. I'm still trying to make sense of the factors that have contributed to the weight coming off. Here are some contenders:

• Breastfeeding: I've read this takes 500 calories a day
  
• The Boyo is happiest in his stroller or being carried so we've done a lot of walking
• Running: I starting running as soon as I could, not huge distances but I did make myself run a 5k a couple weeks ago
• Walking and running have both been made easier by the Bob Revolution stroller- a total splurge but the front wheel locks for running and unlocks for easy maneuvering and it's our only stroller
• Boyo does not like to sit. He likes to be in motion so I am more active now
• I've become too cheap to go out to lunch at work so I'm eating healthier during the day
• There is just so much to do. Motopop and I had been used to long stretches of couchsitting and tv watching but now things like laundry and cooking have to be shoved into the schedule somewhere which means more time on your feet
• Prenatal yoga helped me stay in shape during pregnancy

I was worried that pregnancy would make me feel bad about my body but it has had the opposite effect. Before pregnancy being on the heavy end seemed like a personal failure. After pregnancy I had a REASON to be carrying extra weight and my body had accomplished the amazing task of growing an entire person. I felt good about my body even though my stomach was floppy and full of stretch marks.

Since I am still breastfeeding I am not dieting or making an effort to lose weight. I am looking at this period as a chance for my weight to reset itself to it's ideal level. This could be now or it could be ten to twenty pounds less. I would still be in the 'normal' weight range if I lost more but the Boyo's nutrition it the top priority now.

Summer Vacation

I spent the long weekend in beautiful northern Minnesota where trees grow directly out of rocks. Here is a picture courtesy of my cousin:

There are many things growing in my neighborhood as well. There are many beautiful boulevard gardens near my house and one has a very interesting plant. Amongst the weeds growing around a tree in the boulevard there is a marijuana plant. I check on it every time I walk by. I'm waiting to see if anyone notices.

hipster ex machina

Nike stealing Minor Threat cover art (they have since apologized) is just further evidence that I am the 'Target Market' or at least that my Indie-Yuppie peers are firmly embedded in the corporate machine. What's a girl to do now that bands she likes are featured in car ads and television shows?

I came across this thread on what might happen if corporations raided more album cover art via Soviet Panda. Here are some of my favorites.

I especially like these ones because they sabotage the whole point of the original art. I mean, can you imagine "Good Morning, Captain" happening on a cruise ship? I suppose you'd find quiet desperation there somewhere but it's not what you'd want to promote.

Advertising is definately changing. I don't know if the advertisers are so postmodern that they cannot remove self-referential irony from their work or if everything has just been done before.

Advertising has become so desperate that local businesses have begun delving into slogans that have bizarre cultural references like "Nothing but happy endings" and "The proof is in the purple." Did these advertisers consciously pick phrases that refer to illicit massages and the Donner party?

Is It Wrong to Quote Taxi Driver to Your Baby?

In looking over AFI's list of top 100 movie quotes I realized that one of the phrases I say to Boyo most often- "Are you talking to me? Are YOU talking to me?" is directly from Travis Bickle's mouth overlayed with my own motherly treacle.


Travis

Motopop and I have also adopted the seemingly benign "Shuggie" as a nickname for Boyo in his happy state. This also has dark roots- one of the many disturbing/wonderful segments of Wonder Showzen.


Shuggie?

I am hoping that the Brothers Grimm and the composers of Ring Around the Rosie didn't damage children too much since I can't quite stop entertaining myself by embedding the adult material I am used to into baby talk.

Being Your Own DJ

The beauty of online music is that you can act as your own DJ and find the music that suits you best. The drawback is that there is so much out there that you need kindred spirits to point you in the right direction. Although we have some excellent radio stations here, most notably Radio K and the Current, I still find that the music I download is an excellent tool for figuring out what I want to buy and who I want to see when they come through town.

I have also found myself making mixed CDs for my friends when I am inspired by events in their life. In the spirit of sharing great music and composing an interesting mix CD I entered the Summer Soundtrack contest on Salon.com and I thought I would share it with you.

It was inspired by many of our great Minneapolis bands and the increasing quality of Canadian exports.

Hot Summer Music from Cold Places

1. Death From Above 1979 - Blood on Our Hands - You're a Woman, I'm a Machine
From Toronto

2. Sahara Hotnights- Alright Alright (Here's my Fist Where's the Fight?) - Jennie Bomb
From Sweden

3. Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #3 (Power Out) - Funeral
From Montreal

4. Walker Kong - Battleship of Thieves - There Goes the Sun
From Minneapolis

5. Hot Hot Heat - Goodnight Goodnight - Elevator
From Vancouver

5. Metric - Combat Baby - Old World Underground, Where Are You Now
Originally from Canada

6. The Soviettes - #1 Is Number Two - LP II
From Minneapolis

7. Stars - Ageless Beauty - Set Yourself On Fire
From Canada

8. Atmosphere - Trying To Find A Balance - Seven's Travels
From Minneapolis

9. Dosh - Naoise - Naoise
From Minneapolis

10. Valet - Tony Harnes & Johnny Ave VS. Elvis Presley - Life on the Installment Plan
From Minneapolis

11. Pony Up! - Shut Up and Kiss Me - S/T
From Montreal

Cage Match: Tom Cruise vs. Kansas City School Board

Now that I'm a spiritual person following FSM teachings, other religions are starting to look a little strange. I woke up to Tom Cruise on the Today Show and listened to a bizarre debate between him and Matt Lauer over whether Ritalin works for anyone at all. I am so glad that Tom Cruise has such in depth knowledge of the biochemistry of the human brain. That E-Meter must be a lot more enlightening than the 8 years of intensive medical training that those psychiatrists go through.

Learn more about the Secrets of Scientology and how to audit an aphid using an E-Meter. Since the E-Meter is "about the only electronic gadget that is also an official religious artifact" Gizmodo had created the one and only edition of Religious Gadget Thursdays in its honor.