I have cold feet about the piece I'd originally intended to post today, and so my son has advised me that I should write about his favourite music videos instead.
We have a daily session after lunch during which I deal with my email correspondence, and Bob-the-Boy watches music videos on YouTube. That is unless Bob decides to give me a haircut with sausage tongs, or he decides that we must sail to the Kermadecs on our sitting-room sofa, or that we need to go hunting in the back garden for feral bulls, and -- if any bulls are discovered -- to assist with their rehabilitation back into society.
As I say, in the event that no other diversions take place then we answer email and watch YouTube. It transpires that Bob has very definite taste in music for a (nearly) three-year-old, and is adept at browsing through thumbnails to find new music videos. Some are viewed for only a few seconds; others are watched repeatedly until Bob's daddy is ready to scream.
The other night we made up a list of Bob's Top Five Music Videos of All Time. We present them here for your enlightenment and entertainment:
Number Five: The Pixies 'Gigantic'
A surprise entry in the Top Five list for such a plain music video, but Bob says that he "likes the lady". It's a testament to the quality of this song that Bob's daddy still enjoys it after (literally) hundreds of repetitions.
Number Four: Elemeno P 'Every Day's A Saturday'
Bob also insists that the main attraction of this video is that he "likes the lady" -- thus indicating that there may well be a genetic factor in the appreciation of female bass players. For some reason, the barbecue scene often reminds Bob of his recent (and only) visit to the barbers. This prompts him to search the cutlery drawer for sausage tongs, and then to re-enact his haircut experience on his father. If I'm good, he gives me a piece of fruit at the end.
Watch on YouTube (embedding disabled)
Number Three: Weezer 'Pork and Beans'
Bob says that he likes this music video because "everyone is happy". Also because "there are lots of fountains" and "people have writing on their hands". When requesting it, Bob asks for "the one with donkeys" -- on the basis that a cartoon donkey makes an on-screen appearance for three-quarters of a seconds at 2m57s into the video. Bob hates to be obvious in his nomenclature.
Number Two: Feist '1, 2, 3, 4'
Although he hates to be obvious, Bob isn't too worried by predictability. He says that he chose this video on the basis that he "likes the lady". Although he does ask the excellent question: "But why is she counting, Daddy?" Bob's daddy doesn't know, but he wishes she would stop. Unlike 'Gigantic' this song has not stood up to hundreds of listens.
Number One: OK Go 'This Too Shall Pass'
One song: two versions. This band are no doubt proud of the fact that they've had 2,201,756 views on YouTube. What they don't realize, however, is that 2,201,755 of those views are solely from our household.
Bob is undecided about his preferred version. He calls the first one the 'Surprise Video' and the second one 'The Video Where Things Fall Over'. Even without access to a computer he can recite the entire chain of events in 'The Video Where Things Fall Over'; it's quite an impressive feat of memory.
Despite watching these videos over two million times, Bob's daddy still thinks they're pretty good, too.
P.S. For those of you requesting more science stuff, I'm now the science correspondent for Nine-to-Noon on Radio New Zealand. You can listen to my first piece here (it's about the science behind the cycle helmet laws and a bit of science history on Project Orion):
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/national/ntn/2010/06/16/science_-_david_haywood
Or as an MP3:
http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/ntn/ntn-20100616-1148-Science_-_David_Haywood-048.mp3
Feel free to discuss that here, too. FYI I've already had email from a NatRad listener saying that they hope I fall off my bike and die, so there's no need for anyone else to mention this point again (even if you feel that way)!