Samson: Electric Boogaloo

I have not seen it (yet), but Sam is crazy for a show called Hip Hop Harry. According to Vicki, it's the worst show she's ever seen.

This carries some weight, given that she's sat through Lord knows how many episodes of the Wiggles and the Doodlebops, much less an adolescence replete with Charles in Charge, Saved by the Bell, Full House, and Small Wonder. [I shudder to think what her TiVo list would have looked like circa 1988...]

Anyway, last night Samson was doing his usual pre-bed stalling, playing furiously with everything in arm's reach, when all of a sudden he lay down on the floor and started spinning around. He went on one knee and did this really jerky wiggly kind of dance and then informed me he was "breakdancing."

Don't get me wrong, I hold no brief against hip hop (at least not the old-school variety). I still have De la Soul and Public Enemy cassettes(!) somewhere in the attic of our house. [And, just between you and me, I was known to wear a Flavor Flav-style clock around campus occasionally during my freshman year. The irony was lost on a few people here and there, but I remain committed to the countdown to Armageddon.]

In any event, this show is apparently an attempt to teach preschoolers valuable lessons using music that bears about as much resemblance to hip hop as Ding Dongs do to black forest cake. All things considered, I guess that's ok. Although it's not like there isn't already a good model out there for teaching kids useful things with well-crafted music. [You're lying to yourself if you don't think that little train engineer helped you learn grammar...]

After breaking it down on his carpet, Samson sat up, smiled, and said "the house is spinning."

Well done, Harry. Thanks.