Thumbs Up for Rock + Roll!
June 2, 2011 3:07 AM   Subscribe

 
OK, he wins this year's Tour de Cul de Sac, but I bet he'd test positive for GGeT (gogetemtigerol).
posted by pracowity at 3:27 AM on June 2, 2011 [5 favorites]


He sounds like the reincarnation of Wesley Willis.
posted by chillmost at 3:47 AM on June 2, 2011 [19 favorites]


You win this time, chillmost.
posted by timshel at 3:48 AM on June 2, 2011


Joel Osteen can go die in a fire.
posted by bardic at 3:51 AM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]


Also came in to draw the comparison to Wesley Willis. Except you can't ride a bike after haloperidol.
posted by Trivia Newton John at 3:53 AM on June 2, 2011


See, stuff like this works far better for pushing me through a slump than any amount of well-reasoned, 'adult' arguments. Now I feel like, 'yeah, I do just have to keep practising. Cheers!'
posted by RokkitNite at 4:00 AM on June 2, 2011 [6 favorites]


haha, a natural politician / rabble-rouser there!
posted by ruelle at 4:01 AM on June 2, 2011


Child rides bike for first time

Pictures or it didn't happen.
posted by chavenet at 4:40 AM on June 2, 2011 [6 favorites]


Like Aragorn. You will fall off your bike, but TODAY IS NOT THE DAY. Love it.
posted by Namlit at 4:48 AM on June 2, 2011 [4 favorites]


I dunno, this kid proves that failure can be more entertaining
posted by delmoi at 5:11 AM on June 2, 2011 [6 favorites]


Thumbs up everybody! For rock 'n' roll!

I'm totally teaching every child I know to say this, in the hope that it will become the standard exclamation of triumph across the globe.
posted by jack_mo at 5:17 AM on June 2, 2011 [28 favorites]


Tiny Robbins.
posted by phirleh at 5:22 AM on June 2, 2011 [7 favorites]


"I FEEL HAPPY OF MYSELF."
posted by mediareport at 5:25 AM on June 2, 2011 [19 favorites]


I dunno, this kid proves that failure can be more entertaining

Boy, those parents are terrible teachers. Let him try it before shouting hundreds of instructions.

"I FEEL HAPPY OF MYSELF."

That was cute but the dad's response was some actual good parenting: "I feel happy of yourself too." You can mock children, but only in ways they'll never notice. Using their own words without sarcasm or a mocking tone is the best way.
posted by DU at 5:36 AM on June 2, 2011 [9 favorites]


My four-year old son rode his bike in two-wheeled mode for the first time a few weeks back. I'd expected to be doing that soft-focus dad thing where you run along holding the back of the bike, give all the encouragement you can muster, and praise your kid for his first wobbly few feet of proper cycling with a tear in your eye.

No such luck. After an initial push, he whizzed off and did half a dozen circuits of the grassy area we'd picked out in case of crashes. He pulled up next to me, got off the bike and said "Can I have the extra wheels back on now? I like it better with the extra wheels."

He also swims way better than me. I hate him.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 5:38 AM on June 2, 2011 [41 favorites]


Today a cul de sac in a private community, tomorrow A VAN DOWN BY THE RIVER!
posted by any major dude at 6:28 AM on June 2, 2011 [2 favorites]


I didn't realize it until after the clip ended but I had a motet queued up in the background when I clicked the link. Add a little classical music and it gets kinda epic
posted by ibfrog at 6:41 AM on June 2, 2011 [12 favorites]


That was cute but the dad's response was some actual good parenting: "I feel happy of yourself too." You can mock children, but only in ways they'll never notice. Using their own words without sarcasm or a mocking tone is the best way.

I'm not so sure. We regularly adopt our 2 year old's language, even when he's not around, just because his world, reflected in his language is so much more fun than ours. But now I worry that he'll go to school and convince everyone that cows produce milka-milk, carpenters use a bang-bang hammer and a "grown up" (tape measure), his Dadoo plays teh-gar (guitar), and all inanimate objects, when placed in the closet, are taking a nap. My wife and I regularly use his terms now without batting an eye.

"Honey, have you seen the Grown Up?"

"It's taking a nap downstairs."
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 6:45 AM on June 2, 2011 [27 favorites]


My wife and I regularly use his terms now without batting an eye.

My youngest sibling is now 14, and my entire family still uses random terms/phrases that were futzed up somehow by us as kids. Toes = toads, be right back = brack rack, cinnamon = cimmanon, etc. etc. Be wary, for the language substitutions may last forever.
posted by sarahsynonymous at 7:08 AM on June 2, 2011 [4 favorites]


MetaFilter: I feel happy of myself.
posted by fijiwriter at 7:16 AM on June 2, 2011 [2 favorites]


ROCK OVER LONDON, ROCK OVER CHICAGO!

BURGER KING: YOUR WAY RIGHT AWAY.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 7:19 AM on June 2, 2011 [3 favorites]


Must be some kind of culture gap, but I found that kid pretty annoying.

Your parade, I have rained on it.
posted by Jehan at 7:40 AM on June 2, 2011 [2 favorites]


Your parade, I have rained on it.

That's nice dear.
posted by minifigs at 7:57 AM on June 2, 2011 [11 favorites]


That was cute but the dad's response was some actual good parenting: "I feel happy of yourself too." You can mock children, but only in ways they'll never notice. Using their own words without sarcasm or a mocking tone is the best way.

Yeah, good gods man, sure we can use an occasional sarcastic quip or what have you.. but what led your ear to feel his dad was mocking him for that statement? You never reaffirmed or spoke to your toddlers in their grasp of the language?
posted by cavalier at 8:04 AM on June 2, 2011


> I found that kid pretty annoying.

How good of yourself to say that.
posted by ardgedee at 8:26 AM on June 2, 2011


I thought it was pretty cute, even though I couldn't understand a damn thing he was saying
posted by brand-gnu at 8:31 AM on June 2, 2011


ROCK OVER LONDON! ROCK OVER CHICAGO!

TREK BICYCLES! WE BELIEVE IN BIKES!
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:46 AM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]


2nding the culture gap. Came across to me as if adults had prepped the child into talking that way. His enthusiasm was less endearing because of the marketing or self-helpy speak. But I did like the "I feel happy of yourself too".
posted by paduasoy at 9:17 AM on June 2, 2011


Oh my god. I just bought my first real adult bike yesterday and I'm all psyched about it and proud of myself for riding it to work today, so this video seems to be speaking directly to me.
posted by naju at 9:29 AM on June 2, 2011 [5 favorites]


proud of myself

happy of myself, I mean
posted by naju at 9:30 AM on June 2, 2011 [5 favorites]


naju, if you keep practicing, you'll wo OK get the hang of it, and then you can get better and better at it, if you caaaah if you do it.
posted by MrMoonPie at 9:50 AM on June 2, 2011 [3 favorites]


I found that kid pretty annoying.

Well, bless your heart.
posted by hippybear at 9:54 AM on June 2, 2011 [2 favorites]


I'm not convinced that Tim Heidecker isn't the dad.
posted by cmoj at 10:13 AM on June 2, 2011


This made me cringe. The kid may be happy of himself now but this shit is on youtube. I know somewhere in my parent's attic is a VHS tape with footage of a five year old me singing into a spatula stuck in a vacuum cleaner like a mic stand. It may not have 180,000 views, but even seeing it in my mind makes me want to curl up into an awkward ball of shame.
posted by munchingzombie at 10:31 AM on June 2, 2011 [3 favorites]


Big Train is also good for teaching kids how to ride a bike.
posted by Lucien Dark at 10:36 AM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]


Came across to me as if adults had prepped the child into talking that way.

Nah. When I was that age I took in-the-moment prompts and situational cues a bit too literally also. Had I been an extravert, I probably would have responded very much like this kid.
posted by zennie at 10:37 AM on June 2, 2011


makes me want to curl up into an awkward ball of shame.

Yeah, that may be the case. Still, I admit I had fun with that one...

[also: doesn't that ball of shame thingy apply to delmoi's link to a much greater degree? I mean, poor kid, being laughed at and running away in shame and confusion. Calvin and Hobbes all over: no it is in fact not the bike that attacks and hurts you, it's those sickeningly superior and ill-behaved grown-ups.]
posted by Namlit at 10:39 AM on June 2, 2011


OWEN MEANY WANTS HIS BIKE BACK!
posted by doctor_negative at 10:48 AM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]


This kid has a real future writing dialogue for anime.
posted by Errant at 11:09 AM on June 2, 2011


Forty years later, I tracked him down. He was sitting in a 24-hours McDonalds, way in the back, chewing on a soggy soy burger and sipping black coffee from a stained mug.
"How'd ya know it was me?" he said, in a shaky voice.
"You're still wearing that bicycle helmet" I said.
"What helmet?"
Before I had a chance to answer. He grabbed me by the lapels.
"For God's sake, don't tell him where you found me!" Pieces of burger sprayed from his mouth. I worried about collateral damage to my Armani jacket.
"Who are you talking about?"
"Dad."
"Calm down," i said, prying his thick fingers from my coat.
He crumpled back into his seat, and stared off into the middle distance, the fatigued look of a fugitive on his last legs.
"I know he's going to find me. I got no place to go. He's fucking relentless."
I felt sorry for the guy but a job's a job. I left him there babbling. Out in the parking lot, I signaled to the white-haired man who came hobbling over, his eyes alight. He was carrying his video camera as usual.
"He's sitting in the back. You can get one of him eating a burger. Real cute."
He pushed an envelope of cash into my hands before running eagerly into the restaurant.
"Thumbs up for Rock and Roll," I said.
posted by storybored at 11:16 AM on June 2, 2011 [14 favorites]


This made me cringe.

That was kinda my feeling. Everyone is different, but if that kid is me, I don't want to see it. Ever.

There's a new generation of kids, though, and they're all growing up with video cameras in their faces, so maybe he won't care. Or it will get lost in the thousands of hours of footage...

I first saw the video on a friend's FB page and thought, "well, sorta cute in an awkward way, but otherwise an ordinary kid/video." I figured it was a relative of his... then I saw it here. (!)

If you are a parent/guardian/caretaker of a young child (especially a talker, like mine), you get this sort of gold all the time. It's fun, but really nothing special about it. Shrug.
posted by mrgrimm at 11:45 AM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]


I'd like to hire that kid to wake me up every morning with a pep talk. On really bad days he might have to tag-team with Jessica the mirror girl.
posted by queensissy at 11:53 AM on June 2, 2011


I liked the video of this little boy who just caught his first fish better.
posted by ts;dr at 1:16 PM on June 2, 2011 [12 favorites]


I liked the video of this little boy yt who just caught his first fish better.

Adorable.

"He's beautiful...does he like me?"
posted by Deathalicious at 2:53 PM on June 2, 2011


Came across to me as if adults had prepped the child into talking that way.

I'm doubtful; my cousin's kid is around five years old, and is EXACTLY LIKE THIS. Same sort of spazzy seriousness, prone to random speeches, pacing back and forth curling and uncurling his fists... it's uncanny. Some kids are just a little nutty, and a rare few have that nuttiness displayed on Youtube.
posted by sarahsynonymous at 3:06 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]


That was kinda my feeling. Everyone is different, but if that kid is me, I don't want to see it. Ever.

There's a new generation of kids, though, and they're all growing up with video cameras in their faces, so maybe he won't care. Or it will get lost in the thousands of hours of footage...


I dunno... My parents used to record me and my siblings singing Christmas Carols on their old reel-to-reel tape deck in the 70s and early 80s. I remember a particular rendition of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, sung by 7-year-old me, my 5-year-old brother, and with -- this is the funniest part -- poorly timed shouts of just the last word of each line by my 3-year-old sister.

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (REINDEER!)
Had a very shiny nose (SHINY!)
And (NOSE!) if you ever saw it (SAWIT!)


We used to listen to it all the time as we got older and it would crack us all the hell up. I would pay money to be able to listen to it again right now. If I could put it online, I totally would! It's adorable and hilarious! My parents still have the working reel-to-reel player but live a ways away so I don't have access to it.

Then again, we were also the kind of family that would have for real slide shows to look at our vacation pictures, and even invited friends/family over for them. My siblings and I often used a cassette tape recorder to pretend we were reporters or when we made up/sang along with songs and would play them for family.

So I realize other people may feel differently, but I don't think this is A.) the least bit embarrassing or B.) all that unusual/exploitative.
posted by misskaz at 5:21 PM on June 2, 2011 [3 favorites]


I liked the video of this little boy who just caught his first fish better.

Oh wow. That is just too cute for words.
posted by torticat at 8:25 PM on June 2, 2011


Rebuttal.
posted by scalefree at 7:34 AM on June 3, 2011


I liked the video of this little boy who just caught his first fish better.

That was pretty great--get a cute kid on camera (especially doing a "first") and you can't lose. Despite some grumblings, kids are awesome.

But just to buzzkill, there are tons of little kids waiting for grown-ups to do this shit with them. They're just sitting around waiting. I see them.
posted by mrgrimm at 8:28 AM on June 3, 2011


The direct transcription of this is 1000x better than Miss South Carolina's.
posted by herbplarfegan at 9:57 AM on June 3, 2011


DU: That was cute but the dad's response was some actual good parenting: "I feel happy of yourself too." You can mock children, but only in ways they'll never notice. Using their own words without sarcasm or a mocking tone is the best way.

cavalier:...what led your ear to feel his dad was mocking him for that statement?

I think DU was actually pointing out the opposite,....

cavalier:You never reaffirmed or spoke to your toddlers in their grasp of the language?

.... and admiring the fact that the dad was doing just that.
posted by herbplarfegan at 10:03 AM on June 3, 2011


Super cute, indeed. As a father of a 2.5 year old it's really hard to resist the urge to film everything thing he does because so much of it is just totally awesome. My current favorite thing he does:

Each night as part of his bedtime ritual we sing some bedtime songs. Invariably he requests "beatos", which means a Beatles song (any Beatles song will do) or sometimes he asks specifically for "twubble", which means "Let it Be" (i.e. 'when I find myself in times of trouble...').

The best part about this as that before we start singing he insists on accompanying us on the piano as we sing. He doesn't just pound the keys, though; he plays along very delicately and deliberately and in such a way that the whole thing feels like an avant-garde mashup/performance piece.

It's brilliant.
posted by jnrussell at 10:29 AM on June 3, 2011 [2 favorites]


I'm ready for the autotune, just so I can have this as my ringtone.
posted by kidsleepy at 10:36 AM on June 3, 2011


Rebuttal.

Oh, that video is so mean. That reminded me of autistic kids I've met who hate surprises. And his parents took video of that, while laughing at him, and put it on youtube? Even if he's not on the autism spectrum anywhere, that's so wrong.
posted by audacity at 10:51 AM on June 3, 2011 [1 favorite]


Even if he's not on the autism spectrum anywhere, that's so wrong.

Yeah, it some ways there is a fine line between laughing with and laughing at children, but in some ways the line seems obvious. It's possible that Dad just really wishes his son would be happy at nice surprises, but it seems like he knew what would happen and filmed it anyway. Meanie.

Parenting can be damn frustrating and depressing. I don't like to judge anyone, but that just seemed cruel.
posted by mrgrimm at 11:04 AM on June 3, 2011 [1 favorite]


That reminded me of autistic kids I've met who hate surprises.

That reminded me of my son when he's mad about something and wants to throw a damn tantrum to try and get a rise out of his parents. I'm not saying this is either, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was just a regular, testing-the-boundaries fit. Kids are freaking genius social hackers that way.

But when my kid does throw a fit sometimes I have to I try really, really hard not to laugh (even if I have to bite my cheek till it bleeds) and I would never ever under any circumstances share his moment of emotional distress (whether it's feigned or not it doesn't matter) with the entire internet for laffs and/or pageviews. That's worse than mean, it's cynical.
posted by jnrussell at 1:11 PM on June 3, 2011


This kid really needs to meet the kid in this post.

I like it better with a soundtrack.
posted by The Devil Tesla at 2:27 PM on June 3, 2011


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