I figured the best way to work this was to go through each track:

1. Party Rock Anthem -

Lucy: I like how it sounds with kids singing instead of an adult.

Bing: (Bing started singing along instantly… And shortly after was dancing)  I like it because their are girls are singing and the voices change.  Everybody is shuffling.

2. Moves Like Jagger

Lucy:  It sounds like the same people (She means Maroon 5… then I asked “What are moves like Jagger?”)  I don’t know, is it a move?

Bing:  I liked it, I just did.

3. The Edge of Glory

Lucy:  I like how it sounds with kids, I just like the way it sounds.

Bing:  I like that in the back it says “en-en-en-en” (??? – he’s 5)

4. You Make Me Feel

Lucy:  I like the girls robot voice.

Bing: That’s boy and girls… I like that.

5. Good Life

Lucy:  I like how they all sing together on the “Good Life” part.

Bing:  I like that they say “it’s going to be a good night.”

6. Stereo Hearts

Lucy:  At the start their were three people and they all had their own parts, I liked that.  I like this song.

Bing:  I like the “ohh ohh” part.

7. Without You

Lucy:  Don’t know this song, but I like it so far.

Bing:  I like it.  (This is the first song they weren’t already familiar with.)

8. Fly

Lucy:  I don’t know this song… I’d like to fly.  The rapping part is good.

Bing:  I like it it… It says “to flyyyyyyyyyyyy.”

9. Hello

Lucy:  I know this song and I like it.

Bing:  I liked it .
OK, at this point they are running around and dancing, so we’ll get an overall review at the end of the remaining tracks.

10. We Found Love

11. It Will Rain

12. The One That Got Away

13. Good Feeling

14. Mr. Saxobeat

15. It Girl

16. Someone Like You.

Lucy: I like how the kids sing better than the adults.  I would tell my friends at school to get this CD.  I know all the songs expect 2 or 3 of them.

Bing: I just liked it all.

Dad’s turn, As I watched the kids I could tell they were really enjoying these versions of the Top 40 songs they already enjoy.  As a parent I like that I know these versions are safe for them to listen too… We’ve all had to quickly turn off a song because of content.  Most importantly, it’s not totally annoying to listen to for adults… It is not the nerve trying, stuck in your head til it hurts Wiggles song or Barney ballad.
Kidz Bop 21 gets three thumbs up from the Heine’s.

Rock on, Jack

On Sunday evening my Grandfather passed away quite quickly.  It has already been a rough year on my family with my Uncle passing unexpectedly back in June.

When I was a little kid I was afraid of my Grandfather, he was never mean, he was loud and it scared me.  He wasn’t the kind of Grandpa who went out in the yard and tossed a ball around with you… But that was OK because I wasn’t the kind of kid who did much tossing.  He was the life of the party and the center of attention, if he was in attendance everyone knew it.  His loud, boisterous laugh closed every episode of Night Court over my Uncles production company vanity card… It is a laugh that can be heard throughout many episodes of the show as my Grandfather was very proud of his son and the show and would often attend the live taping.  He, as well as my Grandmother, were always supportive of my Mother…  I never once heard either one of them say anything negative about her or any other gay person for that matter.  In recent years he had been sick and frail, needing an oxygen tank at his side, unable to go out much. It would always break my heart a little to see him like that, as scary as it was for me as a small child, I now missed that strong, loud man who filled the room…  It is that Charles Weege that will live on in my memory.

As many of you know, my kids birthday’s are a day apart.  This year Lucy turned 8 and Bing 5…  And as always it was a challenge to figure out what to do, a challenge that is exacerbated by being out of work.  Although as I began to think about it I realized that I have been unemployed over 3 of my kids 8 and 5 years.  My only goal was to make sure the kids had a great, fun birthday, so I agreed to throw a party with my Ex (I really didn’t have much choice, she had already told Lucy they wouldn’t get to have a party if I didn’t participate).  The kids had a great time, their school friends were there, so you can call it a success… Even if it was horrible for me.  You sometimes have to do things for your kids and I never mind, but when you throw a divorce into the mix those sacrifices can be extra trying.

We did have a great day at the Huntington Library with family for the kids birthday!  They love the Tea Room there (I know it sounds weird, but they really enjoy it).  The gardens are amazing and they can spend the whole day running around them, if you’ve never been it’s worth checking out.

We’ve had some issues with the pod downloads, we are working on diagnosing and fixing the problem, sorry for any inconvenience.  Stench has a new job producing at KDAY radio here in Los Angeles… I’m so excited he has a gig and hope it goes great!

I know I’ve been slow on the posts, I’m going to try and stay on top of it!

Rock on, Jack

It has always felt like a small town to me.  I take my kids to the same restaurants my Mom took me to… Many of which still have some of the same employees.  When I walk the streets I often run into friends or get a honk from a passing car from someone I know.  To sound really cheesy, there are a bunch of places where people know my name… And not because many years ago I was on the radio, but because I have lived here for many years before that.  It may not be demographically a small town, but is socially and emotionally a small town to me.

Now back to the quirks.  One of the strange things about Burbank is that there is a flock of green parrots that fly around town.  The story I have heard is that there was a fire at an arboretum or an aviary… or somewhere they have green parrots, and the only way to save the birds from burning alive was to release them.  This story does not explain why they ended up in Burbank?  It’s not exactly jungle like here?  All I know that for long as I can remember I have encountered this flock of birds randomly around the city, somewhere in a box there are photos I took of them for a high school photography class assignment.

You always notice them, they squawk loudly… not like the tweets of the little brown birds that fill our cities trees or the coo’s of the doves I see picking seeds from our lawn.  They’re loud, like the birds at the zoo, their cries break through the normal sounds of the city.

Tonight as I walked my borrowed dog (I’m dog sitting for my Mom’s girlfriend) they flew overhead as I walked down Magnolia past the Mom and Pop shops, small restaurants and sporadic new businesses squawking loudly… even the dog noticed.  We watched them fly into the suburban sunset.

We returned to my apartment just after sunset, still warm from the day’s heat, empty of life except for two beta fish, scattered toys still strewn about from the kids last visit.  The dog, lied on the floor still panting lightly from our walk.  I sat on the couch, in front of an empty TV screen, feeling alone looking at the toys that seem joyless without small hands wrapped around them.  Sometimes my new normal of only being a part-time parent strikes me, I miss having my kids daily, being a full part of their lives… And they mine.  Then I heard that squawk, right outside my window, from a tree right across the street…  I felt at home, someplace familiar.  No matter how alone I am I will always have my small town.

I tried to think back to when my parents divorced (Again, under vastly different circumstances and in a much more amicable fashion) and I can’t remember wanting my parents to spend time together… But I’m sure that’s just because I’m old and it has escaped my aging brain.

I think at least for Lucy, there is some comfort having the two of us in the same room… Even if she knows her Dad doesn’t want too.  There is still some place in the back of her little mind that remembers when we were all together and things were not as strange as they are now…  It is kind of sad to witness.

Anyway, that was just on my mind.  Kids, Grandma and I went to Mc Donald’s for lunch yesterday… where Bing proceeded to spill a container of chocolate milk on me.  It could have been anything else, but why milk?  I hate milk, it grosses me out… and it was hot yesterday which made it even more disgusting.  Do you have those weird things that gross you out that other people just don’t get?  I have a few… Milk, Mayo, Finger Snapping (I know, weird… But I hate that “bone on bone” feeling! Insert your own joke here).

It looks like I have a date Saturday night… And he’s big, hairy and sexy!  Stench and I are going to Alina’s birthday party.  Should be fun, I haven’t been out in a long time, and it’s been even longer since I’ve been out with Stench!

It is Shark Week.  Bundchen wants boob law!  Toe type tapps troopers.    parts is parts.  The wrong way to fill your tank.  This is sad. I’m going home and re-watching.  Do you have gray pride?

Rock On, jack

The best way to start your adventure is to look up your cities mass transit website to see what your options are (Here in L.A. – http://www.metro.net ) and then throw some snacks, extra diapers, baby wipes (no matter how old your kids are, these always come in handy) and your sense of adventure into a backpack and hit the streets!