Friday, April 26, 2013

"Les Indices de Bleu"

I've had my younger son more than normal the last couple of weeks - both because his father is off on vacation and because he and a friend of his had a French class project and met at my house several days in a row. While others in the class were doing power point projects, he and his friend elected to make a video of Blue's Clues in French.  robably only the parents of children of a certain age will know what I'm talking about. As it turned out, the writing, staging, filming and editing took many hours. My son played Pierre (their version of Steve) and his friend was Bleu, an adorable cat version of Blue. The film started with them waking up and progressed through a day involving a search for a spoon.
Objects gained little paper faces and became animate, and my house was re-arranged a bit to suit their show.  On the board above, they put up drawn "photos" of the pair of them, two tall, lanky kids, the girl with a pair of cat's ears.  I stayed in the background, tried to be quiet during filming, provided pizzas, and thoroughly enjoyed listening to the two of them laughing and talking. When it was over, they included a bloopers section they titled "Bluz Cluz," starting with the wake up scene, where my son sat up in bed, and then collapsed in giggles at the site of his friend perched next to him waiting to be petted.  I've watched it through a couple of times, and can't imagine it wasn't at least the most entertaining project in the class.
I keep finding the little remainders of the show. Like this lamp that I had to de-face and return to my room.  The salt and pepper shakers, though, still wear their little smiles. And a word about that violin: My younger son bought himself a violin back in November and is teaching himself to play. Mostly his Irish songs. But the other day I heard him playing Pachelbel's Canon and when I went into the living room, I asked where the music was and he tapped the bow to his temple. I asked him how he'd learned the song without sheet music and he said, "Well, I've heard the song before so I know how it goes." The whole playing by ear that my kids have is alien to me.

34 comments:

  1. As a grandpa of a 3 year-old, I know Blue's Clues far too well.
    Looks like a innovative project, good for them.
    My youngest took violin lessons for 2 years.....she practiced at home. When she opened the violin case her cat would get up, hiss and stalk out.

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    1. I was never a huge fan of Blue's Clues. Too slow and over-done. But apparently it struck a chord with these guys.

      The first couple of months I wanted to hiss and stalk out of the room, too. Fortunately, it is actually pretty to listen to now.

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  2. How wonderfully creative. Deserves brilliant marks!
    XO
    WWW

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  3. This is incredible. That boy of yours. He has so many interesting interests and talents. The sketches are beyond adorable .

    Encourage him to do this for a living. Unless he wants to whittle or build homes in the forest or play classical violin . Or any other of many things he takes his time to learn

    I LOVE everything about this post
    Love
    Me

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    1. The sketches were mostly the girl's work. And she is a fun friend for my son because she also plays guitar and so they share some interests. But he still has his heart set on being an engineer. I imagine, though, that he'll always have projects going on the side.

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  4. " I asked where the music was and he tapped the bow to his temple. I asked him how he'd learned the song without sheet music and he said, "Well, I've heard the song before so I know how it goes."

    OH. MY. GOD....that is AMAZING!!!! Your son sounds like he has such an incredible natural talent for anything creative. I know you've shared things about him in other posts and could always sense that he was a special kid. The violin is actually my favorite musical instrument. And I know that it's not an easy instrument to learn and play. So, BRAVO to him!

    Hope you share the video with us on your blog because I would love to see it!

    Have a FAB weekend, girl!

    X

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    1. Some of those stories were about his brother, who is actually more artistically/musically inclined!

      I wish I could post the video but since it has his friend, I really can't/ I don't feel like it's fair to post pictures or anything of others without their consent (the exception is people in public, of course).

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  5. sounds like it was fun to be a fly on the wall for a while. brought back fun memories of the...erm....french orals....we used to have to do in high school. yeah, that's what the teacher called them and of course we were awful about it.

    the playing by ear IS amazing. i have one who can do that too.

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    1. You'd think the French teacher would know better!

      Playing by ear is not a skill I ever had, in spite of my HS band years,

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  6. that is really cool that he can play by ear...and teach himself the instruments as well....fun stuff on the vid as well...ha...my boys used to dig blues clues....

    hey i was gone 9 days...it could be like an eternity...smiles.

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    1. Really, 9 days? Seems like you announced an absence and then came back ten minutes later.

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  7. Several kinds of genius spilling out of that kid. From violin to BLUE'S CLUES take-offs, I'm completely the right kind of parent to appreciate all that he is.

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    1. And synchronicity with the post on your son. We had the kind of boys we needn't have worried about.

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  8. Aren't children a wonder and a marvel?

    We are so magically blessed to have them in our lives.

    xo

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  9. I always enjoy the posts about your boys, both of whom are clearly pretty gifted young people. And what more could a boy-genius want than a supportive mom who allows him to turn the house upside down in the name of art, and provides pizza besides?

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    1. See, I try to tell him he's lucky that way, but I'm not sure he gets it. :-)

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  10. What a wonderful snapshot of life chez vous. I love it when parents can allow themselves time and space to enjoy their kids. As for the playing by ear, I am so envious:)

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    1. I'm so close to him pushing out of the nest that I try to remind myself to enjoy it.

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  11. A search for a spoon? No, don't bother to explain, I'm way out of touch here! That's quite a skill, being able to play by ear. Your younger son has many talents....

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    1. It's a kids' show that involves missing objects and clues.

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  12. No, sorry, I don’t know what you are talking about. It’s probably not just the age but also the ocean between us which stops me following your drift.

    Your boy seems to be a clever chap and pleasant with it. Well-adjusted too.


    PS I felt quite silly after having asked you to become a follower. Sorry, and thanks.

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    1. I don't know if that children's show was outside the country or not. Maybe not. But it ran here from 1996 to 2006.

      And don't worry about it - I always mean to follow blogs I read regularly, but never remember to actually click the button to join.

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  13. I am well acquainted with Blues Clues, as you can imagine. That idea sounds incredibly cool and clever to me. And I am beyond impressed at your son's ability to play by ear. That is so amazing to me.

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    1. I'm sure you are! And I was so impressed both with the idea and their willingness to put so much work into it.

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  14. I'd love to see their film. It sounds fantastic.

    Blue's Clues was great right up until Steve left the show. He made more of a difference than I'd realized.

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  15. This brought back good memories of when I made felt Blues Clues paw prints and would play Blue's Clues with my son. He loved that show. How fun to both make a video when you are a student and to watch a classmate's.

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    1. Iy wasn't actually my favorite show, but my kids liked it and I admit Steve was an engaging guy.

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  16. Sounds like a great video. hope you can share it someday. I love the violin, I often think about taking lessons. How awesome that he can play by ear, I could never do that. Love the Canon song too!

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    1. He first got on YouTube and then printed off some exercises, and learned that way. After about a month he was just playing songs.

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  17. I love the creativity they put into it! It's not really a show they air on the kids' channels now but we have a few books and are familiar.

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    1. It's been off the air for a while, but was pretty harmless as kids shows go.

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