Anita Mui's Fashion Show Soundtrack Delights DJ B

DJ B is often drawn to library CDs housed in big, DVD-style cases, so I wasn't too surprised when she picked up the Anita Mui "With" CD (accompanied by bonus video CD). The first time she listened to it she immediately asked me to join her, saying, "I wanna dance with you." After a quick turn on the dance floor she adjusted the volume and said, "gimme some snack and TV," before turning it off completely. The second time I attempted to play this, Miss B was in the other room and when she heard the music she screamed, "Be quiet!" and walked in to where I was to turn off the CD, yelling, "I want you to be quiet. I don't like the music on."

Things couldn't have been more different last week when DJ B asked to listen to this CD in her room. As the music began, she smiled and shook her hips. Doing her best "America's Next Top Model" imitation, she pranced across the "cat walk" in her room. She clapped along to the music, laughed, and placed her hands on her hips. She grabbed a skirt from her chair and put it on top of her head like a hat. She then put a ballet skirt over her hands and began flapping her arms with it on.

After her facial expression changed into a strange grin, she began shaking a skirt in the air before putting it in her teeth. She then started pulling clothing out of her bag of dirty laundry, including a nightgown which she held over her face while she danced towards me. She continued layering on various items of clothing and completed the look with sunglasses and ballet slippers. She threw an inflatable space shuttle into the air, tucked a jump rope into her ballet shoes and danced with conviction.

DJ B then propped her sunglasses atop her head and silently sang along to the music with her arms on her chest and a scarf around her neck.

Although I was happy to see that the music by this dearly departed Hong Kong actress inspired Miss B to new levels of performance, I breathed a sigh of relief when she grew bored of the Asian pop-fueled fashion show before she hit the stinkiest part of her dirty clothes pile.

Latin Pop in DJ B's Jail Garden

The library is about to come after us for overdue CDs, so it's about time to share DJ B's take on Paulina Rubio's album "Ananda," which she so carefully selected from the shelves of the San Francisco Public Library. Do you think it was the hot pink cover art that appealed?

The music elicited smiles from Miss B who began dancing immediately to the Spanish-language pop. She jumped up and down while wearing 2 leotards and ballet shoes and invited her father to join her. Father and daughter shared a dance and then Miss B did a quick solo spin. She danced on her tip toes and shrieked, "I like this one! I'll show you how I dance."

A giddy grin spread over DJ B's face as she enjoyed the music. As the second track began she approached me, patted my knee and said, "I'm gonna stop it for a minute because I like the other one." She stopped the CD, started it up again with the first track, and resumed her happy dancing as she sashayed across the room. She kept repeating track one and would not start dancing until she heard the music, saying, "I have to dance when the music hears my ear."

She treated us to an elaborate performance before propping up the CD, saying, "I want to see it while I'm dancing." She then asked us to set up a curtain over our entertainment center so that she could have her own stage from which to make a grand entrance. After we set up the curtain she asked, "Do you want to see my shadow? This is my garden." After inviting me behind the curtain, she said, "Pretend we're in jail. It's a jail garden."

From there the performance devolved, but it was clear that DJ B found much inspiration in Paulina's Latin pop.

The Dearly Departed Teen Girl Group Huckapoo Speaks to DJ B

Last night I finished a big CD reorganization project and massive cleanup in our attic. Ever since, DJ B has been fascinated by the spacious music loft and has been interested in pulling CDs from our collection. The first one that she noticed was a promotional CD that I'd picked up at a youth culture conference in 2004. Huckapoo is (or perhaps was) a Spice Girls-esque teen girl band and the CD was a magnet for DJ B with its bright pink anime-style cover.

As the music started, DJ B smiled, saying, "you have to dance with me." She added, "I like it. It's good ballet music," as she shook her hips and pranced around on her new dance floor. She twirled and delighted in sliding across the floor, telling me, "it's slippery, so I can skate." She closed her eyes as she swayed to the music, danced on her tip toes and told me, "you're the purple ballerina and I'm the pink ballerina." She then announced, "I have to spell my name Stagia, so I can be on the stage." She lifted a shoulder in a half-shrug and then dramatically grabbed some plastic keys from our donation pile and began to dance with them. She stomped her foot, scrutinized the inserts in the CD case, and resumed her dancing. When the CD ended she said, "I want to hear this one again."

So, with her embrace of Huckapoo my worst fears are being realized. Some day soon my little girl may be one of those pre-teen Radio Disney-loving popsters and I will be unable to stop her. Although I'm a bit horrified that she's enamored with the saccharine pop of Huckapoo, at least I know that she still has an interest in a wide range of sounds. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this continues for a lifetime.

P.S. If this isn't creepy enough, take a look at this New York Times article from 2004 and this New York Magazine piece from 2005, which talk about the creation of the now defunct pre-fab band Huckapoo.

eVonne Hsu Gets Miss B Dancing Again

Wouldn't you know it, DJ B selected yet another Asian pop release on one of our recent public library jaunts. eVonne Hsu's "Chosen One: '02-'05" is a double CD with a purple spine and no front label art. The back cover has a picture of Hsu, which perhaps caught Miss B's eye. Although she's a star in Taiwan, Evonne actually was born and grew up in Texas and that's where she was apparently discovered.

When we initially played the CD, operatic vocals started everything off, although the music itself was more pop and rock. Miss B said to me, "let's dance together!" before she became fixated on her purple pen and started to draw all over my notebook. Turning from the page she again implored me to dance and then said "dance slowly," while she demonstrated some running moves decked out in her Cinderella dress. She then held her hand up over her eye, as if she was surveying a landscape. The music got a bit more dancy with electronic elements and this caused Miss B to grab a scarf from her dress-up box. Eventually she wrapped up her Cinderella shoes in scarves before waving me off, saying, "go away."

The next time that I tried to play this CD, Miss B screamed, "I want a movie. Not music!" She then stomped to the CD player and turned it off.

DJ B Works Through Her Grief over Michael Jackson with Art

Miss B continues to come to terms with the media frenzy surrounding Michael Jackson's death and her own growing realization of the concept of mortality. She sat in front of the morning paper today, pointing at his picture and said "Michael Jackson." Then, while his music boomed out of our TV from Sirius XM's "Michael Jackson Tribute" channel, she took pen to paper and drew the picture above. DJ B said:

"I'm drawing a picture of Michael Jackson. I'm going to mail it to him. He'll love this picture. He has curlies [her word for curly hair]. He has a sad face."

She's so profound.

DJ B Mourns Michael Jackson

We're a bit out of sorts in the DJ B household, having just learned of Michael Jackson's death. Luckily we have MTV, which is hearkening back to the olden days and is playing non-stop Michael Jackson videos right now. As soon as we turned on MTV, Miss B was glued to the screen. When the songs were interrupted by talk or commercials, she kept shouting, "more!"

But the strongest reaction came just now when an old Jackson Five clip came on from American Bandstand (their first visit on the show). Miss B began to dance for the first time, clearly understanding the infectious pop perfection of those innocent early years. I think she was also inspired by their rocking dance moves. After I rewound the Tivo and we viewed it again, she implored me to dance with her. Miss B just smiled and smiled, imitating the fabulous 1970s maneuvers, including the tricky circular disco hand move (what is that called anyway?).

I think watching this Jackson 5 video and Miss B's enjoyment of it makes me feel the saddest of all over Michael Jackson's early death. What a cute kid, with so much potential at such a young age. It's too bad his life got stranger and stranger and that his final years were marred by controversy.

Vietnamese Ballads are Baby's Favorite Music

Recently DJ B and I made our first visit to the remodeled main branch of the San Francisco Public Library. It was gorgeous, with a huge children's area and an enviable Audio-Visual room. When Miss B and I entered the AV Room to search for CDs it was like entering a musical mecca. It was a huge room, with CDs on shelves and in record store-like bins. It made the random nature of our CD selection process a bit more challenging, as the sections were divided by genre. Luckily, I didn't realize that until after I had steered Miss B down one particular row; so she selected something out of the first row that we hit. We'll have to go back and explore some more, because after picking one CD, DJ B transitioned into full-on meltdown mode.


So, what did she pick? Tuan Ngoc's "Nhung Tinh Khuc Yeu Cau" release from the Vietnamese section of the library. The first few times that I tried to play this at home, DJ B stopped the CD immediately. Today, however, I placed it in the CD player while she was happily making music with one of her instruments. As the music started, she continued to jump and dance around. She then began some dramatic slow dancing, with leg extensions, twirls, fancy footwork, and grand emotional sways with her eyes closed. The album, full of slow Vietnamese ballads with male vocals inspired her to do slow, measured dance moves.


As she listened, she grabbed her baby doll and rocked her in her arms before dancing while holding the baby. By the third song, DJ B said, "This is baby's favorite music," as she continued to dance. She'd stop occasionally to feed her baby milk. Then she said, "It's your turn to dance, mommy. I need to write about it." As I took my place on the "dance floor," Miss B sat down and asked for a piece of paper so that she could write notes. As she jotted down her observations, she asked, "What are these dances from? I think they're from New York." She then started to play with brightly colored tissue paper, placing it on the floor and then dancing while waving 2 hot pink pieces. Suddenly she stopped the CD, saying "no music" and removed it from the player. She handed the CD to me and said, "I didn't like it." She could have fooled me. Miss B then got on the floor, saying, "I have to snuggle in my little patch" and curled up on top of her tissue paper nest.

Despite what she said, I think DJ B dug this CD. How can you really go wrong with this suave Vietnamese superstar? I can hardly wait to return to the main branch of the library to find more Asian pop gems.

Butterfly Dancing to Colbie Caillat

I managed to convince DJ B to select some new CDs from the public library, so indeed there is still life left in this project! The first album to catch her attention when we got home was Colbie Caillat's CD "Coco." I had never heard of this artist, but from the opening notes I felt like I was in an episode of "The Hills" (my only barometer for mainstream pop hits). And, indeed, this must be a popular CD, as it's one of the few that we've checked out that's had a "hold" placed on it by another library patron, meaning that we can't renew it. (Yep, apparently she's a MySpace sensation with her acoustic/soul/folk stylings.)

When we played the CD, Miss B smiled at the cover, then lifted her leg like a ballerina doing an arabesque and then began doing leaps across the room. She continued to dance and grabbed a pink blanket as a prop, which she waved, spun, and dragged while galloping to and fro. She then invited me to join her, saying, "It's your turn to dance with me. Stand up. Now it's your turn to do Aurora dance." Miss B demanded that I dance with her and said, "Close your eyes." She danced on her tip toes, did some slow maneuvers, and then channeled a butterfly, saying, "You're the green butterfly and I'm the pink butterfly. Put your wings out. C'mon little butterfly." At this point we both were dancing with blankets (aka wings). Miss B nuzzled a bit with me, flapped her arms as if in flight, then turned down the volume, saying, "It's time to go to bed butterfly. It's time to go to bed little buddy. Little butterfly is getting tired."

For DJ B, this was satisfying music for butterfly dancing. And that's high praise from a 3-year-old.

DJ B Says No to Taiwan TV

It's important to remember that DJ B hand-selected each of the items reviewed on this blog from the library, so she was initially intrigued by something that she saw on each and every CD that's been part of this project. Yet, what happens after we get home with the CD varies tremendously. As she's grown weary of this project, it's become more and more difficult to get her to allow me to play any of these CDs for her.

Sweet Relationship OST (a soundtrack CD for a Taiwan TV show of the same name) looks like a DVD, as it's housed in a long box. I think Miss B was disappointed that it wasn't actually a DVD because every time I put it in the CD player she takes it out immediately. Yesterday she said, "I don't want you to listen to music right now. It's not music time."

Well, OK.

Cuddling and Quacking to Bette Midler

DJ B is now three.

As the lengthy delay in posting might suggest, she seems to have grown weary of the CD review project and instead is focusing on playing dress up, watching way too much TV, and writing her own songs (themes this week have included ballerinas, firefighters, monsters and our dead cat).

Before the library comes after me for our overdue CDs, I'll attempt to recap her latest two selections. Way back in January Miss B was drawn to a Bette Midler CD at our local branch of the San Francisco Public Library (imagine that?). Initially, "Bathhouse Betty" wouldn't even play in our CD player (too well-loved already?). Finally, we got it to work on a boombox and Miss B smiled and said, "I want to sit on your lap." During a ballad she cuddled with me and then said, "put me in the crib, mom...tuck me in." I did what she asked and she closed her eyes, pretending to sleep, before jumping up and saying, "I'm dancing in my crib!" She quacked and started to dance to the disco-tinged song "I'm Beautiful." Sounds like a strong endorsement, right? Well, the next two times I put the CD on, Miss B wanted nothing to do with Ms. Midler. The love affair was fleeting...

Cantopop Mesmerizes DJ B and Me

Miss B selected yet another mysterious Cantopop album from the public library. As far as I can gather, the 2003 album (perhaps "Loving Knot") is by Hong Kong artist Priscilla Chan. It features two CDs, one of which (pictured above) contains a video of the song "Tomorrow is Another Day." As soon as DJ B realized there was a video on this CD, she became obsessed. We've watched it repeatedly and now I can't get it out of my head. It's actually quite beautiful, with a French flavor to it, portions in English, and a very nostalgic video featuring Priscilla wandering through a dusty, cobwebby room full of vintage furniture and an old phonograph. Her voice is captivating.

While watching the video, Miss B was very intrigued, asking, "What is she?" Later she said, "I love this video!" and asked, "Does she have a fancy dress?" It took a lot of coaxing to listen to the CD sans video, but when she did she was quite pleased. During one song featuring piano, she said, "I wanna dance to this one" and then started to dance on her tip toes. She gathered up her ballet slippers, saying, "These are my special shoes." She continued to dance, quickening the pace, before inviting me to join her and giddily requesting the video again, saying, "I wanna dance with the video and start a move." After watching the video a number of times, she actually started to re-enact scenes from it.

This was a gorgeous album that DJ B and I could both enjoy. Yet again I'm amazed at the obscurities available at the public library, as this release was impossible for me to find online. So, our enjoyment of it will be short, but sweet.

Cantopop Rules for Headbanging and Air Guitar

It's quite often that Miss B is drawn to Chinese CDs at the public library. I'm not sure if it's because there's a big selection, or if there's something in the aesthetics of the packaging that's appealing to her. Either way, Miss B is usually riveted by the majority of Chinese pop music that she hears. The hugely popular Hong Kong singer Kelly Chen's CD was no exception.

When we first put Kelly Chen's Grace into the CD player, Miss B was eager to listen to it. She quietly played during the first song, but then got a very serious look on her face when track 2 began. She rocked her feet, put her fingers in her mouth, and then began dancing wildly with a big smile. She asked, "Is this my music?" Suddenly her dance moves changed into a style new to her, but familiar to me in that junior high school dance sort of way. Miss B started to shake her hips and her arms with a scowl on her face. At this point I couldn't hold back my laughter, and she laughed back at me, realizing that I was amused by her.

By track 3 I heard hints of metal and Miss B kept up the energetic moves, kicking her feet and stopping to point at pictures in my CMJ magazine. She then started to talk nonsensically to a picture before she began singing into an imaginary microphone.

When her father got home, DJ B wanted to put the CD on again. As the music began, she ran around the room like she was in flight, with her arms in the air. She swooped, and ended a dance with a grand, dramatic pose. As the more rock-oriented track 2 began, she again sang into her imaginary microphone with a strange, serious expression on her face. She transitioned into a fast dance, shaking her shoulders before putting on a rock-star face. She held both hands in front of her like she was motioning for us to "Stop!" and asked us to dance with her. By the third track (kind of a disco/metal tune), she was waving her fingers over her chest as if playing an air guitar. She rocked out in true head-banger fashion, stood in place scowling, then screamed, "Go away everybody!"

Celine Dion's World Tour Infiltrates the Library

I was a bit dismayed when Miss B chose another Celine Dion CD from the public library ("Taking Chances"), as it was pure torture the first time around. But, once again, my budding DJ B seems to have a knack for predicting when something will rear its head into the public consciousness (like her penchant for Chinese music during the Beijing Olympics). Or, as we'll learn later, it may just be that the marketing demons have infiltrated our lives.

After she requested that we play this CD, the first thing Miss B did was to walk away dejected after she couldn't remove the "booklet" (cover art) from the CD case. She came back with her Panda robot and rocked him, saying, "Panda is singing." It wasn't until the 5th track ("Shadow of Love") that DJ B seemed to notice the music. She bounced and rocked out a bit while shaking her head to the beat. She then asked me to join her in a dance, saying, "go mama!" Next, she requested that her father be her dance partner for track 6 ("Surprise Surprise"). Miss B stretched her arms into the air before pretending to be Sleeping Beauty as she said, "King kiss me."

I was hoping to quickly get the CD back to the library before a repeat listen, but today I was thwarted while watching "Mornings on Two." As I drank my latte and read the paper, Miss B started to scream and pointed excitedly at the TV, saying, "that's the CD on there! the black one." I was surprised to see that she was responding to a commercial for Celine Dion's "Taking Chances World Tour 2008." I wondered if she really recognized the music, since it had been over a week since we'd listened to the CD. Thanks to Tivo we were able to rewind and investigate further. As we scanned through the ad, Miss B danced along to the music, then pointed to a CD on the screen, saying, "Just like the one we have." She asked me to get the CD, saying, "can we match it?" So, I tracked down the CD from her room, and, indeed, it was the very same one being promoted on TV. At this point Miss B was beside herself with excitement and said, "I need the CD on" before she took control and popped the disc into the player.

It's an awfully strange coincidence that DJ B selected the Celine Dion CD from the library on the heels of her world tour. I wonder if Ms. Dion's promo folks are loading up the library shelves to help build the hype. Is Miss B just a vessel for their marketing message? Is she a hapless victim of multiple impressions? Don't worry. We will resist the urge to attend Celine's November 23rd appearance at San Jose's HP Pavilion. But you can still go. Don't forget to buy a T-shirt. That's where they earn the big bucks.

Canto-Pop Whips Miss B into a Frenzy

It's the rare library CD that prompts an immediate, enthusiastic response from Miss B and once again, the culprit is Asian pop. As soon as we slipped "The Easy Ride," the CD from Eason Chan's 2001 concert at the Hong Kong Coliseum, into the player, DJ B began dancing wildly. She closed her eyes, stretched her arms over her head and lifted her leg into the air. She then said, "Help me spin around, mama. Help me spin around fast."

She took a quick break from the dancing to read the enclosed booklet. After spotting the second CD, she asked to take a listen to that. While listening to the live concert recording, Miss B would pause to clap along when she heard applause. Her dancing continued, and she told me, "it's princess music." We continued to play this and dance as it grew closer to the time when Miss B's father would return home. As he walked in the door, he was a bit taken aback by the loud, dramatic Canto-pop and the sight of Miss B grooving to the tunes with closed eyes.

The next day we played this again and DJ B danced for a little while before turning off the CD and telling me, "For later. When dada comes back." Clearly this is music that deserves an audience and Miss B caught on to that instantly.

Celine Dion Disturbs DJ B's Parents

One of the most cringe-worthy CDs that Miss B has selected from the public library thus far is Celine Dion's "The Collector's Series Volume One" from 2000. Initially DJ B was drawn to it when we were selecting music that she thought her grandpa would enjoy, but her interest didn't go beyond the cover art, as she had me stop it before the music even started. The next time we tried it, she didn't get much further, ejecting the CD after only a few seconds on her first listen.

With Celine's due date looming, we attempted another listen yesterday. Miss B looked at the booklet and swayed a bit when the music started. After grabbing my cell phone, she ran off with it, pretending to talk to her imaginary friend. She then yelled, "I want Pocoyo!" (her new favorite TV show) and before we had even reached the end of the over-the-top Atlanta Olympics Opening Ceremony version of "The Power of the Dream," DJ B declared: "I all done" and ejected the CD. I can't say I was disappointed in her distaste for the over-produced (just count the number of engineers listed in the liner notes!) pop.

Today, just for my poor husband's benefit, I played a bit of the CD again. This time Miss B didn't even look up from her reading material. The strongest reaction in the household was from my husband, who said that it was "unnerving" to hear Celine Dion playing in our house. I have to agree.

Hall and Oates? Miss B Can't Go for That (No Can Do)

The other CD that Miss B was drawn to when she visited the San Francisco Public Library Bookmobile was Daryl Hall & John Oates' "The Collection," a CD set of "3 original album classics." As with the De La Soul pick, this release was chosen by Miss B based on the spine of the album since she couldn't see the cover artwork on the packed CD shelf. I surmise that this one stood out because it was larger than other CDs since it's a 3-CD set. Again, this album was in perfect condition and had probably never been checked out of the library before. I talked to our branch librarian about this and she clued me in to the fact that most items in the Bookmobile are in excellent condition, as the library doesn't want to be trotting around a bus full of grimy books and CDs. Good to know!

I have fond memories of making fun of Hall & Oates when I was a teenager, so I was curious to see how Miss B would respond to their mainstream '80s pop. The first thing she said when checking out the CD was, "There's no booklet!" She spent a lot of time searching through the case, but it turned up empty. I have to say that I agree with DJ B, that is disappointing for a 3 CD set to not include a booklet.

The first CD she put in was "Voices," which she listened to for a matter of seconds before ejecting. Next she tried "H20," and found it worthy dance music. She danced in circles, swayed side to side while eating some crackers, and generally enjoyed the release until track 8. She then proclaimed, "I don't like this" and moved on to other things.

The next day DJ B tried the final CD "Private Eyes." She was wearing last year's Halloween costume at the time and was game for a little bit of dancing as the music started. She quickly grew bored, tried the other CDs again, and, finally pronounced again, "I don't like it" before removing the CD from the player.

So, in response to the stupid joke from my high school days, "Who do you like better: Hall or Oates?," Miss B's answer would have to be "neither."

Indie Pop Makes DJ B Say "Ehhh"

On a recent trip to the public library Miss B picked up a well-loved CD in a broken case, held together by rubber bands. The 2005 self-titled release by music critic fave Clap Your Hands Say Yeah initially prompted little reaction other than DJ B running to me to request a hug. She then grabbed the mangled CD case, saying, "I want the booklet." After scanning the liner notes, she ran and sat on a plastic storage bin positioned by the CD player. More excited by her new ballet shoes, she ran back and forth trying them out. After a few songs, Miss B started to dance to the music and then lifted one leg very high into the air, then moved her arms. Perhaps she was imitating the moves on the cover art? She then proclaimed, "I want some milk."

Later on, while eating lunch, we listened to this CD some more. Desperately in need of a nap, Miss B started to throw a tantrum and screamed, "I don't like this music" through her cries.

I guess one has to be in the right frame of mind for indie rock.

DJ B Tortures Her Parents with Bad Chinese Pop Covers

So, on the same library trip in which Miss B selected the delightful album Qi Yuan, she also picked out a few other Chinese releases. She wasn't even watching the Olympics, so it's an odd coincidence that suddenly she was drawn to this music.

Her 2nd choice in Chinese music was categorized by the library as Ye Qianwen's "25 Zhou Nian," but emblazoned on each of the 2 CDs is the name Sally Yip. After a bit of research I learned that Sally Yip aka Sally Yeh is a Hong Kong pop singer and this album from 2004 translates to "25 Years of Sally Yeh."

After DJ B requested this album for play, she swayed a bit to the music before donning her silver glittery shoes for some dancing. She grabbed her favorite mouse pad/dance floor and grooved for a bit on it, before tossing it to the side so that she could do some more extensive ballet maneuvers. She pointed her toes, waved her arms in the air, posed in place, then asked her father to dance with her. During a break between songs she raced to her toy piano to play until the music resumed. As the pace of the music picked up, Miss B ran in circles going faster and faster and her dance moves grew increasingly dramatic. As a cover of the Madonna song "La Isla Bonita" began, Miss B smiled broadly, giggled and said, "I'm laughing at you guys." She then made robot faces, told me the music sounded like "stars," then twirled before rolling around on the floor.

While all this was going on, Miss B's father and I realized that we were hearing lots of Western pop covers---from Madonna to Celine Dion's Titanic theme song. Despite DJ B's manic glee upon being exposed to this hybrid of Chinese and Western pop, her parents were a little cheesed out.

The Blankies Teach Miss B a Lesson

Image from The Blankies website

With The Blankies' "Learn" album we reach the end of our first trio of promotional CDs. When Miss B saw the case, she pulled out the cover art and wanted to open it. She seemed disappointed that it was just once sheet (perhaps she was spoiled by the massive book in her Verdi CD?). She barely gave this a chance, saying "I want the other one" after only one song.

However, days later she was asking for "The Blankies," so leave it to Miss B to be entitled to her ever-changing opinion. As for me, I kind of liked the sweet poppy sounds and boy-girl vocals of the Blankies, and was reminded of the minimalism of classic K bands.

In addition to the educational lyrical content, this CD taught us another lesson when I went to listen to it this week. I popped it in the player and it started skipping on the first track. When I looked at the CD it was full of scratches, no doubt by my resident DJ B. This was a sobering reminder to me that, yes, indeed Miss B is still a 2-year-old DJ in training and we need to work on those "CD handling" lessons again. Can someone write a song about that, please?

Miss B's Not Feeling the Mainstream Pop

When I saw Miss B's third CD selection from the library this week, I cringed. I love the female voice and am a huge supporter of female artists, but the major label compilation "Women & Songs," just screamed cheese from its purple and pink album cover full of the faces of Cher, Jewel, Kelly Clarkson and Faith Hill.

On first listen, DJ B clapped her hands and danced a bit to the anthemic opening track by Christina Aguilera ("Beautiful"). She asked for her dress-up skirt, put it on, and continued to dance to the second song, Faith Hill's "Cry." She grabbed her headphones (I would too), pulled some books from her shelf and said, "I'm just reading some books." At this point she was oblivious to the music as she settled into her literature.

Yesterday we again listened to the CD after Miss B said, "I wanna do 'Women and Songs.'" She listened to the first 9 tracks, while sitting on her yoga mat perusing the liner notes.

Overall assessment: the mainstream pop ladies are simply providing background music for Miss B's book time.