Category Archives: media

If Your Child Has an iPod, Read This: You Spin Me Right Round Baby

media, Parenting

Remember this tune?

Here are a few of the lyrics from the Dead or Alive version:
“You spin me right round, baby
Right round, like a record, baby
Right round round round…”


You know you’re humming along.  Admit it.  You are, aren’t you?

Have you heard the refrain on the new version by Flo Rida?  When I first heard my son and his middle school friends singing the chorus, just the “You spin me right round baby right round,” part, I thought, “Oh, look, everything really does come back.”

And then my girlfriend asked me if I knew Flo Rida had changed the lyrics.  Huh?

Ah, yes, why would Flo Rida touch a song that wasn’t about oral sex?  Here, his chorus:


“You spin my head right round, right round
When you go down, when you go down down
You spin my head right round, right round
When you go down, when you go down down…”
Better yet, he pays her:
“From the top of the pole I watch her go down
She got me throwin my money around
Ain’t nothin more beautiful to be found
It’s goin down down…”
There are so many things going on here that I don’t know where to start and if I climb up on this high horse I may never come back down.  So here’s what I have to say in as few words as possible:

  • If your child has an iPod, it would behoove you to know what’s on it.
  • If your child doesn’t want you to touch his or her iPod, you better start listening.
  • Women are degraded endlessly in an incredible number of currently popular songs.
  • Sex, oral sex, paying for sex, doing drugs, selling drugs, stealing and general depravity seem to be the main themes.
  • I don’t care if they “just like the tune.”  It’s the old “junk in,” “junk out” philosophy.
  • I know you don’t have time for this.  I don’t either.  But making time is probably a great option for both of us.
  • This is not harmless; if it’s on their iPod it’s playing over and over in their head a bazillion times a day (yep, that’s a scientific number).
  • Google the title, artist and lyrics if you want to know more.
  • Hang tough.  You’re the parent. 

And you know, back in the day, Madonna was considered racy.

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NYTimes, I Thought You Loved Me, Too

humor, media, NY Times, Thinking Thursday
~ Thinking Thursday ~
random ruminations about life, news, and other noise

Ah, it’s been the happiest of relationships.  A give and take of sorts.  You give and I take.  But, apparently, that hasn’t been enough for you.  So you’re restricting me.  Putting me on a diet.  A NYTimes diet.

Forget about the happiness it brings me when I find a single moment to peruse your (online) pages.  Forget about the many times I’ve referenced you, like when I weighed in on the virtue of using butter vs. margarine, or the ludicrousness of giving kindergartners homework, and even the foolishness of texting while driving.  You just don’t care about these things.

You only want me for my money.

And so, beginning next year, I will have to peel hard earned dollars from my pocket to access your thought-provoking words and article miscellany.  For you, I suppose, I’ll consider it.  Perhaps I’ll give you my Starbucks money.

I guess we’ll have to see who treats me better.

May the best brand win.

photo credit: LizBaller

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My Son Won’t Put Down The Remote

media, Midwest Parents, Parenting
This lament isn’t uncommon among parents, and I’m always a tiny bit baffled by it.  After all, we control the remote, right?  Our kids can’t use it without our permission, overt or other.

Ten years ago, we removed the television from our family room area.  We still don’t have one on the main floor of our house.  Horrors, I know!  We are crazy, Amish-like even, right?  

Except, no.  Our kids love American Idol and crack up over Simon’s outbursts.  They watch football on weekends and see just about every stinking movie that’s made.

I don’t have a problem with watching TV.  In fact, I enjoy it.  (For the record, we have two.)  But the reality is that TV takes time.  It’s time my kids aren’t building Legos or playing outside or reading a book.  It’s time I’m not reading a book, for that matter. 

Parents ask me quite often how we manage without a daily diet of PBS and Nickelodeon.  The answer is simple.  Truly.  My kids don’t know any different.  

To find out more, and for tips on how to control your kids diet of television, see my post over at Midwest Parents – I’m there all week!
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