We went to visit our friend Colin and his parents during our trip to America. We did some usual things, like going to the playground, having a snack, playing with toys. But Colin did some amazing things for a four-and-a-half year old that I thought I'd share.
First, he's taken some lessons on the ukelele. While he hasn't stuck to practicing every day, he has been inventing his own songs. Some are just a couple of chords, like his "String 10, String 7, String 5, String 3." At least I think that was the name. Pedants might correct it to "Fret 10, etc." but these are the same people who complain about Alanis Morrisette's Ironic for not actually citing anything truly ironic. I like to think Morrisette is making a subtle comment about how inept pop music is at communicating anything profound. But I digress...another song by Colin is "Rocket in the Sky," which starts with a hummy bit interspersed with some strums. Then the lyrics"Rocket in the sky/Rocket in the sky/.../Rocket in the sky." The song was great and made us all applaud sincerely and not ironically.
Later on, J and Colin went up to Colin's room to hang out. About ten minutes on, we heard them calling us upstairs to see a magic show. Colin was the magician and J was the second magician, much like Penn and Teller. Their stage was the mostly empty space under Colin's bunk bed. J described the first trick, "You think this blanket is just a blanket with nothing in it...but behold!" He flipped the rolled up blanket in the air and out fell a stuffed sea-horse doll. We oohed and aahed. J repeated the trick with a second blanket, producing a small toy. Colin was lead magician for the next trick. He pulled out a foam sword and said, "Look at my foam sword, it seems like an ordinary foam sword, but look at this!" He then drew the sword across his throat. Nothing happened. "You would think FLAMES would have burst forth, but they didn't!" Colin exclaimed. We laughed and clapped again.
The next few tricks all involved making objects disappear. First, Colin had a balloon. He showed it to us and then asked us to count to ten with our eyes shut. When we opened our eyes again, the balloon disappeared! It was later discovered in the box under his bunk bed. Then the two magicians would make themselves disappear for the next trick! Again, we audience members had to close our eyes and count to ten. After opening our eyes, they were gone! L soon discovered them in the box under Colin's bed (it was a pretty big box). The tricks went on in that vein till dinner was ready.
The magic and the music of Colin's home made such a wonderful visit. It was nice to talk to his parents too, though not so blog-worthy.
Alas, only at the playground were pictures taken:
First, he's taken some lessons on the ukelele. While he hasn't stuck to practicing every day, he has been inventing his own songs. Some are just a couple of chords, like his "String 10, String 7, String 5, String 3." At least I think that was the name. Pedants might correct it to "Fret 10, etc." but these are the same people who complain about Alanis Morrisette's Ironic for not actually citing anything truly ironic. I like to think Morrisette is making a subtle comment about how inept pop music is at communicating anything profound. But I digress...another song by Colin is "Rocket in the Sky," which starts with a hummy bit interspersed with some strums. Then the lyrics"Rocket in the sky/Rocket in the sky/.../Rocket in the sky." The song was great and made us all applaud sincerely and not ironically.
Later on, J and Colin went up to Colin's room to hang out. About ten minutes on, we heard them calling us upstairs to see a magic show. Colin was the magician and J was the second magician, much like Penn and Teller. Their stage was the mostly empty space under Colin's bunk bed. J described the first trick, "You think this blanket is just a blanket with nothing in it...but behold!" He flipped the rolled up blanket in the air and out fell a stuffed sea-horse doll. We oohed and aahed. J repeated the trick with a second blanket, producing a small toy. Colin was lead magician for the next trick. He pulled out a foam sword and said, "Look at my foam sword, it seems like an ordinary foam sword, but look at this!" He then drew the sword across his throat. Nothing happened. "You would think FLAMES would have burst forth, but they didn't!" Colin exclaimed. We laughed and clapped again.
The next few tricks all involved making objects disappear. First, Colin had a balloon. He showed it to us and then asked us to count to ten with our eyes shut. When we opened our eyes again, the balloon disappeared! It was later discovered in the box under his bunk bed. Then the two magicians would make themselves disappear for the next trick! Again, we audience members had to close our eyes and count to ten. After opening our eyes, they were gone! L soon discovered them in the box under Colin's bed (it was a pretty big box). The tricks went on in that vein till dinner was ready.
The magic and the music of Colin's home made such a wonderful visit. It was nice to talk to his parents too, though not so blog-worthy.
Alas, only at the playground were pictures taken:
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| Colin and J racing |
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| L in the swing of things |
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