Live from The Living Room

Do you wanna download audio of some guy playing guitar in somebody’s Illinois living room? Naw, me neither. But, what if the guy was Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy? Now you’re on to something. Check out The Owl & the Bear for more cool live downloads, including some of my faves Alejandro Escovedo, Tom Waits, Elliott Smith, The Shins, Lucinda Williams, Peter Bjorn & John and Cat Power. Goodness!

Whilst blogging Jeff Tweedy, here's an interview with him on The Onion AV Club.

UPDATE: I have actually downloaded the Tom Waits & the Nighthawks concert from December 14, 1976. In a word --unbelieveable! If you are a fan, you must check this out like now.

R.I.P. Kurt Vonnegut

The above image is from the Wilco Web site. I can think of worse quotes to go out on. In the interest of full disclosure, I have never read anything by Kurt Vonnegut, but I did see him on Bill Maher once and thought he had cool hair. I may have to join the Stash Dauber reading challenge and put Slaughterhouse Five on my list right after Ulysses.

Am I An AlternaDad?

Am I an an alternadad? Preliminary testing indicates maybe not. However, I’m still anxious.

Consider the evidence. I have worked to cultivate my daughter’s taste in:

Godzilla movies

Speed Racer cartoons

Lost in Space reruns

The Ramones and other “suitable” types of music. She loves “Bonzo Goes To Bitburg.”

I have bought my daughter a Waterloo Records t-shirt. We watched Bottle Rocket together so she can begin to have an appreciation of Wes Anderson movies. And, of course, I have “nurtured” her love of Texas Longhorns football has been described as “brainwashing.” While I think it doesn’t reach Manchurian Candidate levels, she knows beyond a doubt, that Vince Young is the greatest football player ever and OU does, indeed, suck.

So, what does this say about me?

The anger surrounding alternadad and hipster parenting derives from the idea that these new parents don't want to "grow up" and act like parents.

Um, guilty. But I've always thought that growing up is overrated anyway.

Instead, they give their kids fauxhawks and inculcate them with a precious taste in music and "film." I agree that this can be irritating, but find me the set of parents who haven't, consciously or not, indoctrinated their kids into a little family cult. And who's more annoying: the 3-year-old who knows Mandarin or the one who loves Devo?

I've always though an appreciation of 80s music is a greater priority than a second language. Guess that let's me off the hook. I think I’ll go pick up a Wilco t-shirt for my daughter to celebrate.