A Tip of Two Caps

I should have posted this before now, but it's been a busy three days 'round these parts. In any case, I wanted to note news from the kidstuneoblogosphere (yeah, I got a feeling that's the first and last time I'll be using that phrase).

First, Warren Truitt from the excellent Children's Music That Rocks website announced that he was going on hiatus due to his library's building being sold and the library being kicked out. "I'll be back...," he promises, and that's a good thing.

Also, Clea Hantman, who spun both kids music and music that kids just dug at (sm)all ages until deciding to focus once more on writing actual books than just mp3 posts, just released her latest book, 30 Days To Getting Over That Dork You Used To Call Your Boyfriend. Clea says, "it is the perfect gift for that 12-47 year old in your life who needs some perking up, some life lessons, some joy. It's filled with activities, nuggets of inspiration and of course, bitchin' soundtrack suggestions!" You can buy it in your friendly neighborhood bookstore or here.

And, thankfully, there's another mp3 blog to go with it -- Getting Over the Dork. Great break-up tunes. Hopefully you don't need it right now, but you never know...

It's Not Quite T-Shirt Weather, But...

I'm really more of a Shirt.Woot! guy, but if you're looking for some cool t-shirt designs in kids' (and perhaps adult) sizes, you need look no further than the results of the Hilltown Families Variety Show T-Shirt Review. Lots of t-shirts and lots of thoughts from tots and, uh, OK, I can't think of another word rhyming with "tots" that makes sense there.

All That And He Blogs Too...

News from Dan Zanes' newsletter last night that he's started a blog called The Welcome Table. Given that his first major post is about his trip to Tucson this past spring to visit organizations doing work along the U.S.-Mexico border (and it's translated into Spanish, too), methinks it won't be like a lot of other kids' music blogs. I knew he'd done some work when he came down for his concert in Tucson, so the background is nice.

Oh, and the presale for his Arizona shows has started. Go, people, go!

A Small Music Review in a Big Music Week

35 posts about music is not such a big deal -- I'm pushing 700 here. But 35 posts in a week? Now that's impressive. That's exactly what the enterprising folks over at Z Recommends have done with their Music Week. There's a healthy list of reviews up, but what's interested me the most is the interviews: Veda Hille from Duplex, Tito Uquillas from the Hipwaders, and Stephin Merritt. And there's more to come -- Jason Trachtenburg, Morgan Taylor (Gustafer Yellowgold), and Uncle Rock. Worth your time.

Oh, and a guest review from yours truly. File under oldie-but-goodie.

Yet Another List of Favorite CDs...

Some people get writing (or quoting) gigs they think are cool and let a lot of people know. (I would, uh, fall into that category. Just want to make sure you guys know about this stuff.)

Then there's Warren Truitt, who writes Kids Music That Rocks. I enjoy Warren's reviews for the sheer passion that shines through. He doesn't review a huge number of CDs, but those he does get some lavish praise. (I'd say that even if his tastes weren't reasonably similar to mine.)

What Warren does not do, apparently, is self-promote. Not a smidgen of his glowing language was used to note that his list of "12 Kids' Albums You Can't Live Without" was the cover story in the July School Library Journal. (Seeing as he's a children's librarian for the New York City Public Library's Donnell Central Children's Room, that's, well, appropriate. Not to mention cool.)

Check it out for some familiar names and some less-familiar ones, too.