Kirk blAug

I had not gone on an early morning run in far too long. However, today I actually got out of bed when my alarm went off at 5 AM. Therefore, today I exchanged my usual habit of going back to sleep for a nice run . One of my favorite parts about the early run is that I get to hear the world wake up around me. The birds start doing their morning songs. The mammals begin to make their mammalian noises. Rabbits and squirrels are running around searching for breakfast. It is a beautiful thing. Once upon a time, I ran with technology affixed to my body. I would attach my iPhone to my arm and listen to music or podcasts on my run. I understand that some people prefer to hear their "pump up" jams for motivation, but this is no longer for me. Now I prefer the sweet music of the world around me.

Do you know someone who does not mind giving away free music? According to the music industry that idea is just stupid. Someone should always be squeezing profit out of music. I know my cousin Jon does not mind giving out some music from time to time. He gave me a whole tape's worth of MP3 music from his band Bus Gas. I loved it. A good chap, that cousin of mine is. Another group that likes to give out free music is the birds. The ones in the trees. The ones that sing as you are walking through the woods. Sometimes I pay the birds for their music though. I pay them a convenience fee for coming to my house to sing by putting bird seed out. Sometimes I feed the ducks at a pond too. The genre they play is called waddle-hop. I like the idea of pay it forward or sideward or upward or whatever-ward-you-want-ward. The way I do not like payment is through IOUs that come with restrictions and allow for hording and inflating and holding fees and expenditures. Those sorts of payment are

Before his nap today, Jupiter picked out Man Gave Names to All the Animals , written by Bob Dylan and Illustrated by Jim Arnosky, as his story. This is a book we picked up at the Kirkwood Public Library the other day. I normally let Jupiter choose some books from the shelves, but on this occasion he had already put his full attention into the dollhouse and a new friend he found who was playing with the dolls as well. Instead I, being keen to his storybook tastes, went ahead and picked out a few that I thought he would enjoy. I was in a bit of a hurry that day since it was getting close to lunch time and I had to bike back home with the boys to make their meals. Because of this, I did not even notice that Bob Dylan was the author until just before reading it to him this afternoon. The words are the lyrics to the famous Bob Dylan song of the same name. Arnosky's introduction mentions that he asked Dylan if he could paint what what he imagines when hearing the song and make a children

Earlier this week I came across this comic from The Oatmeal . It is worth looking at. Go ahead and read it , then come back. I will wait. Okay, back? Good. I thought it did a pretty good job of describing one reason that piracy is growing, so I shared the link on Facebook and Google+ with the following comment: This is why piracy exists. The studios continue to drag their feet at offering competitive or reasonable methods to acquire the media. The studios are just as guilty of the loss incurred by the artist if not more so than the customer who pirates. The artist is also responsible for finding a reliable distributor who is not going to make it difficult for customers to acquire the content. Piracy happens because it has the competitive advantage, not monetarily, but by ease of access. Then later that same night I came across Andy Inatko's blog post commenting on the comic . I thought he had made a few good points in his commentary. His post is also worth the read and I suggest

Jupiter has been wanting to make music lately. When he shows an interest in something, I typically look for ways to foster it. In this case Chris and I found a music class aimed at three and four year olds. It is called Music by Leaps and Bounds and is a once a week 45 minute session. It includes singing, dancing, playing simple instruments, learning about different variations in notes, and more. Jupiter's first day was yesterday. He was a little bit apprehensive at first but by the end of the session he seemed to be enjoying himself. I was supposed to leave for the first 30 minutes of the class and come back for the last 15, but since I had never left Jupiter alone in this sort of environment before, he asked that I stay this time. After class I asked if it would be okay if I leave next time and he said it would. He has so far learned about making long sounds with the triangle and short sounds by hitting two wooden sticks together and it seems that they add new instruments and dy

In preparing for the newborn who will be here within the next couple of weeks, I have rediscovered a collection of music that any rock music loving parent of a newborn should have. Rockabye Baby! takes some of your favorite rock classic rock music hits from various artists and turns them into lullabies. When I first discovered these awesome albums when Jupiter was brand new, I was so excited to introduce him to artists like Nine Inch Nails , Radiohead , Bob Marley , Pink Floyd , The Smashing Pumpkins , and much more . He still seems to enjoy it. In fact, I happen to like listening to instrumental music quite a bit and listen to it even when he is asleep, so I recommend it to non-parents as well.