Introducing: Kieran Ramone

The class that this space was created for ended about an hour ago but for some reason I'm feeling I need to stay up and put one more out there.  I'd like to keep this going but think this ends chapter 1.  I'm opening this up to any idea that weasels its way into my head after tonight.

My younger sister, a big fan of this medium, encouraged me to post a video here after she saw it.  I'm fairly certain that its entertainment value comes across only to us, as we intimately know the featured talent.  She's certain this is not the case and pushed for it.  Apparently, I'm letting her win this fight.  I've gotta make up for the daily torture she received from me the first 14, or so, years of her life.

There's that unintentional familial tradition, really an equation,  that exists wherein the more children one collects has a direct relation with the amount of pictures taken.  Back in the day, when pictures were actually an object, one that could be held -- placed in books, the first-born in a family was represented in photos so prevalently that if you organized a stack of them them in chronological order and flipped through this stack quickly the perfect child's image would become animated.  Don't judge,  younguns, this is the shit we did before there was video.  If you were to be born the fourth child, in this very same family, and wanted to see your image as a baby, typically you'd have that first birthday party pic and next you'd get to see yourself in your first-grade school photo.   

But Susan, you must know we loved you just as much.  We were just so, so  busy.   

Whatever...  I'm sure it still sucked big-time for adolescent Suse just a wishin' that she could see her own mug as a baby (do you mind if  I call her Suse?  I just feel so close to her all of a sudden).

Fully aware of the phenomena of the "spawn to snapshot equation," my wife and I set out to fight against this trend of neglect.  When Mason and Kieran arrived, we purposefully transformed -- finally reinventing ourselves as parental paparazzi.  We were successful in our new-found roles and I'm confident that neither Kieran or Mason will ever endure pain like poor Susan's.

What we forgot to pay attention to was that this same neglect in fair sibling representation could be easily applied to video!  We have hours of video of Dylan -- often pretty boring stuff.  I literally have seventeen videos shot from the same exact angle of Dylan singing the same exact song (credits tune from "Wall-E") jumping up and down on the same exact spot on the couch, each lasting upwards of four minutes.  One minute clips folks, that's the rule.  Less is fine but never more than a minute.

It's not that we didn't film the twins, it's just that much of the stuff that we do have is often reminiscent of the show Cops or the first scene of "Saving Private Ryan," you know, that shaky and dizzying handheld shit.  The clips also often end abruptly with the camera shot suddenly darting away from it's focus accompanied by a line heard coming from the camera person like: "No! Get Down!" or "No no no.  Derr Tee!   Derr Tee!"

This clip is special as it accurately captured a spontaneous moment.  I often whip out my acoustic in the early evening playing for the kids.  Sometimes they're into it and all three dance like lunatics while other times I'm screamed at aggressively until I stop.

I hope they grow up to have a love of music like their mother and I share.  I sometimes fantasize that one day I'll play and sing alongside my sons.  In all honesty though, if they turn out to be three conservative republican accountants who really dig on polka, well I'll be fine with that as well.

Until next time...

Kieran Ramone