“We did it! Paid Family Leave just passed the legislature in Washington State and is headed to the Governor’s desk. If the bill is signed as expected, it will make Washington the second state in the nation to pass Paid Family Leave. And this is all because of YOU, the members of MomsRising, and our policy partner organizations! And, we’re not stopping with Washington–we’re working to roll paid family leave across the country, and American families are counting on us.” (via MomsRising email)

POP’S PICK: Hi-ho, hi-ho, it’s off to work I go. Rain or shine I’ll be upstate working on the cabin.

FRIDAY
Mamalu’s
Monkey Can Dance
Come on out for another MONKEY DANCE PARTY this Friday, April 27
from 6pm to 8pm with DJ Jordi, a special guest from Spain.
Mariangela, our very own Bailaconmigo teacher will also be on hand
to get us onto the dance floor and bustin’ out our moves!
$10/family and $5/individual

UrbanBaby
Ned Visits New York
Murray’s Cheese hosts a grape juice and cheese tasting as author Kip Cosson reads from his new tale of a penguin taking in the city sights.
When: Fri., 4/27, 5-7pm; Free.
Where: 254 Bleeker St. (bet. 6th & 7th Ave.), kipkids.com.

FlavorPill
Sterling Ruby: Killing the Recondite and Superoverpass
when: Fri 4.27 (6-8pm) & Sat 4.28 (6-8pm)
where: Foxy Production (617 W 27th St, 212.239.2758) and Metro Pictures (519 W 24th St, 212.206.7100)
With an eye toward the perfect geometric forms of Robert Morris and John McCracken, Sterling Ruby’s gleaming minimalist arch fills the intimate space at Foxy Production. Though perfect in form, the white Formica surface of Superoverpass is marred by careless and inane graffiti.

SATURDAY
TONY Kids
Kids’ ComiCon?
Comic book conventions get a bad rap. Sending your child to the first NYC Kids’ Comic Con at Bronx Community College will not consign him or her to a lifetime of locker stuffings and dating failures. Along with meeting other fans, aspiring young artists at the KCC can create their own sequential masterpieces and take drawing workshops.
Sat 28, 10am-6pm. Community Hall, Bronx Community College, W 181st St and University Ave, the Bronx (718-289-5100, bcc.cuny.edu). Subway: 4 to 183rd St. FREE.

FlavorPill
Sakura Matsuri (Cherry Blossom Festival)
when: Sat 4.28 & Sun 4.29 (10am-6pm)
where: Brooklyn Botanic Garden (1000 Washington Ave, Bklyn, 718.623.7200)
price: $8
We don’t have a meteorological agency to track the sakura zensen, but the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s CherryWatch Blossom Status Map follows the “pink snow” of falling cherry blossoms and fêtes the beauty of hanami with two days of traditional and Japanese pop culture.

DaddyDowntime
Bangin’ in BoCoCa
Saturday, April 28th
10am – 4pm
Free Admission (Suggested donation $5.00 per family)
Funds go to the P.S. 58 PTA including initiatives such as Shakespeare in the school, Science Lab, New Library,
Multi-Cultural programs and Author readings.
P.S. 58 School Yard and on Carroll Street between Smith and Court Streets.
A great day out for the entire family!
Throughout the day, over two dozen school, PTA booths and games including a Dunk booth, Book sale, Raffles, Tiki lounge, Arts and crafts, Volleyball, Bean-bag toss, Spin art, Races, Paint-a-pot, Throw-astrike,
jewelry making and other carnival games.
10am-10:45am
Come See our School performances!
Ballroom Dancing, Hip-hop, Kindergarten Movement
Free Music Performances!
11am Baze and His Silly Friends
12 noon Bonga: Haitian drumming
1pm Audra Rox
2pm Maracatu New York: Brazilian drumming
3pm River Alexander’s Mad Jazz Hatters
Plus check out Fire engines & Police squad cars!
Shop our local vendors & crafts people at their
booths right on Carroll Street!

SUNDAY
FlavorPill
Kim Gordon & Jutta Koether: Dead Already
when: Sun 4.29 (4pm)
where: Reena Spaulings Fine Art (165 E Broadway, 212.477.5006)
The gallery is reconfigured for a series of performances. Ei Arakawa and Eleanor Erdman perform Two Grahams, a work that draws from the choreography of Martha Graham and artist Dan Graham’s bootleg recordings of ’70s punk shows. Performance artist K8 Hardy, founder of queer feminist journal LTTR, and minimalist musician Alan Licht both perform new works. Young composer Stefan Tcherepnin presents a new amplified piano piece, and the Swedish artist/poet Karl Holmqvist gives a reading.

WillyBee’s
Yosi
302 Metropolitan Ave.
This Sunday, April 29th, from 11am-1pm, Willy Bee’s Music-and Brunch Series welcomes a very special guest, internationally acclaimed children’s musician Yosi!
“Rockin’ the World before Bedtime!”
Yosi performs his original and traditional songs at various concert stages throughout North East USA & beyond. Yosi’s shows are whimsical, imaginative and enthusiastic for his young audiences!
CREDITS include…
What’s Eatin’ Yosi?’ has won the 2006 Children’s Music Web Award Best Recording for Younger Children (ages 5-8).
‘Under a Big Bright Yellow Umbrella’ was honored with SIX NATIONAL AWARDS: Dr Toy, Smart Play Smart Toy Award, 2004 NAPPA Honors Award, 2004 Children’s Music Web Award Best Song of the Year (ages 5-8) - “Stinky Blues”, 2004 National Parenting Seal of Approval , 2004 iParenting Media Award, & 2004 Adding Wisdom Award.
Listen at http://www.yosimusic.com.

TONY Kids
High As A Kite
Earth Day comes once a year, and then what? Thanks to this eco-friendly gathering, your Al Gore-in-training needn’t wait until next April to pitch in and stay green. The Third Annual Kite Festival at Williamsburg’s large, sprawling McCarren Park celebrates the splendor of the environment with arts-and-crafts projects that use recycled and reclaimed materials; on-hand experts giving tips on staying green; and, of course, a squadron of kites.
Sun 29 noon–5pm. McCarren Park, Bedford Ave between Lorimer and North 12th Sts, Greenpoint, Brooklyn (718-486-0095). Subway: L to Lorimer St; G to Metropolitan Ave. FREE.

UrbanBaby
Artist Studio Tour
Stop by Church Street School for Music and Art for kids’ activities, including child/parent art displays and musical performances by students and staff.
When: Sat. & Sun., 4/28 & 4/29, 1-5pm; Free.
Where: 74 Warren St., 212-571-7290, churchstreetschool.org.

FlavorPill
Blakkat Mayday 2007
Sun 4.29 (2-6pm) Tompkins Square Park (E 7th St btwn Aves A & B)
For an afternoon of good ol’-fashioned pinko-pagan-raver shenanigans, the Blakkat posse awaits at their annual Mayday park party. If the Goddess smiles on us, the furry, phallus-totem-toting druid girls will be back.
Note: Performers include 808-squelching Atomic Babies, Mayday vet Collin Strange?, and Flavorpill’s own Sascha Lewis.

“You’ve endured enough annoying kids’ songs to fill two lifetimes. Isn’t it time you hit play on some music that both you and the tykes can get into? We’ve listened to ’em all (many, many times); here are our very favorites.

Album: For the Kids
What: Bands like Guster and Cake cover the greats from Sesame Street and beyond.
Why: Worth owning to hear Billy Bragg and Wilco doing “My Flying Saucer” alone.” - DailyCandy

“Kids with religious parents are better behaved and adjusted than other children, according to a new study that is the first to look at the effects of religion on young child development.

The conflict that arises when parents regularly argue over their faith at home, however, has the opposite effect.” -Y!News

I didn’t see the direct relevance of the interview with a child psychologist on NPR regarding the Virginia-Tech shooting. In my silly naive world view children were protected by a forcefield of innocence that not even the media deluge can break. How wrong was I? Big moma came home from a day off teaching elementarty school kids and said a first grader was imitating the gunner’s stance and mock shoot at kids… Need for therapy indeed, whether formal or informal.

+ also published on the PixelSurgeon website

Let us begin with the ending.

Though the new LCD Soundsystem album, Sound Of Silver, is dedicated to life of the somewhat obscure Dr. George Kamen, if you let your fingers trail up the last page of the CD insert you will see that the band gives special ‘thank yous’ to the Arcade Fire, Hot Chip, Liquid Liquid, Black Dice, Tiga, and !!! (chk chk chk) among others. A quick Wiki search for any of these names will give first-time LCD Soundsystem listeners a bit of insight as to what to expect from the much heralded sophomore release.

Unlike Horrorcore, the failed 1980s hip-hop sub-genre in which the group the Flatlinerz led by RedRum died faster than you could say murder, Dance-punk or Disco-punk, a genre of which LCD Soundsystem mastermind James Murphy is a founder, is more likely to be long lasting. The genre blends danceable tracks (think Anita Ward’s Ring My Bell) with lyrics that incorporate social commentary (which call to mind early U2).

As a pioneer in the very young sonic amalgam of Dance, Disco and Punk Rock, LCD Soundsystem delivers all of these elements with aplomb on Sound Of Silver. Yet it is the Punk Rock element that sets the genre apart from other Electronic/Dance classifications, and on one track in particular, North American Scum, Mr. Murphy seems to channel the ghost of every dead Punk Rocker, peppering the song with a bit of backhanded patriotism while setting record straight about the band’s origin.

“Oh I don’t know, I don’t know where to begin – we are North Americans. And for those of you who still think we’re from Englind – we’re not. No,” James sings. And it seems all star-spangled and Fourth of July until he gets closer to the chorus, “Oh I don’t know, I don’t know where to begin – we are North Americans. But in the end – make the same mistakes all over again! C’mon North Americans. Ah ha! We are North American scum.” Delivered a bit faster and with a tad more angst, this song would be classic Punk Rock.

The rest of the lyrics contained in the liner notes, all penned by Mr. Murphy – who incidentally was a former writer for the sitcom Seinfeld – read like social discourse. But for all of the drum kicks, cowbells, electronic blips, synthesized harmonics, and what on one track sounds like a Theremin, you’d more likely find yourself doing a manic version of the Robot than having a deep introspective moment.

Fans of LCD Soundsystem are thankful that Mr. Murphy, currently a resident of Brooklyn’s famed Williamsburg neighborhood, decided long ago to forgo the level upon level upon level of irony that is currently plaguing Brooklyn rock (though the New York borough is yet to be prolific enough to warrant its own musical genre). He instead delivers earnest, meaningful music meant to be enjoyed while Disco-moshing in dark urban dancehalls.

This creative stance might stem from the fact that Mr. Murphy, who is 37, is somewhat of a musical graybeard. He has three former bands – Falling Man, Pony and Speedking – under his belt; runs DFA with cohorts culled from his early collaborations (namely former U.N.K.L.E. drummer Tim Goldsworthy and Jonathan Galkin); and has an accomplished career as DJ/Producer – all of this before the birth of LCD Soundsystem.

The band could not originally be called a band as at first it solely comprised of James Murphy. But once interest in LCD Soundsystem grew with the release of the first single, Losing My Edge, and culminating in 2005 with two Grammy nominations, Mr. Murphy saw the need for a proper live band and enlisted the help of a few like-minded friends. Today while playing concerts Mr. Murphy is joined on stage by Al Doyle (of Hot Chip) on guitar and percussion, Phil Skarich on bass, Nancy Whang playing keyboards and synthesizer and Pat Mahoney on drums. This frees him up to act as lead singer, delivering his lyrics in a matter-of-fact harmonious style.

Mr. Murphy’s ability to carry songs using his laid back tonal range is also evident on the excelently produced Sound Of Silver. And though not as musically jam packed as the self-titled debut double album, this new disc is magnificent follow-up by LCD Soundsytem worthy of critical acclaim. It is comprised of eight masterful dance tracks that get the adrenaline flowing and the hips shaking, plus the brooding last composition, New York, I Love You But You’re Brining Me Down, that winds the listener down in time to do it all over again.

James Murphy’s musical genius, whether with LCD Soundsystem or at the controls at DFA, will ensure that Disco-punk is here to stay. Now if someone could do something about CafJazz.

POP’S PICK: Warm weather is on the way, so I’m off to try and finish that illusive cabin in the woods. Then on Sunday we might join in the Earth Day celebrations in central park.

FRIDAY
DailyCandy
Strange and Unusual Feats Open Call
What: Showcase your best and most distinctive stunt — or just watch.
Why: Ripley’s will be on hand to judge new world records. Get ready.
When: Fri., 1-6 p.m.
Where: Sideshows by the Seashore, Surf Ave. & W. 12th St., Coney Island. Sideshow acts must e-mail david@recordholdersrepublic.co.uk to register.

SATURDAY
FlavorPill
13th Annual Hands on New York Day
when: Sat 4.21 (9:30am-3pm)
where: Various locations
price: (donations welcome)
With Earth Day tomorrow, isn’t it time you did something nice for your Mama? The 13th Annual Hands on New York Day gives you that very chance. Pitching in to polish, prime, and groom the city that spends so much time losing sleep should keep you in good spirits.

UrbanBaby
Youth Service Day
Not-for-profit organization Children for Children heads up a day of volunteer hands-on service projects. Activities, from relay races to fishing, run throughout the day.
When: Sat., 4/21, 10am-4pm; Free.
Where: Hudson River Park, Pier 46 (at Christopher St.) and Pier 84 (at 42nd St.), childrenforchildren.org.

WillyBee’s
PUPPET SHOW!
Penelope and the 3 Strange Sisters
Saturday, April 21st, 1pm
Penelope’s birthday is coming up and she can’t wait to have a party! Join Penelope and her puppet friends as they discover what having a party is really all about. This creative, lively and interactive puppet show features the talents of Renee Goulet, Kristen McGregor and Jackie Pijper. www.penelopesparty.com
302 Metropolitan Ave. willybees.com

TONYKids
Out of Africa
A group of Kenyan acrobats are coming to America. For the better part of two decades, the Jabali African Acrobats have toured the world—from Australia and Japan to all parts of Europe—and demonstrated the myriad purposes a chair can serve besides being a platform for sitting. Sat 21 at 1:30pm. Tribeca Performing Arts Center at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, 199 Chambers St between Greenwich and West St (212-220-1460, tribecapac.org). Subway: 1, 2, 3 to Chambers St. $25.

UrbanBaby
Mother Load
Time to take a load off your mind and see Mother Load, a new off-Broadway show that takes a humorous look at Manhattan motherhood. Actress Amy Wilson, a NYC mother of two, wrote and performs in this one-woman show. The term mother load refers to moms’ unrealistic expectations for the stuff they stay up late worrying about: Ferberizing, floor time, refined sugar, co-sleeping, “muffin tops.”
When: Sat., 4/21 through mid-June, show times vary; $45.
Where: Sage Theater, 711 Seventh Ave. (bet. 47th & 48th St.), 212-279-4200, ticketcentral.com.

SUNDAY
UrbanBaby
Green Apple Festival
Central Park’s big Earth Day celebration features art and music for families, including performances by Laurie Berkner and Brady Rymer.
When: Sun., 4/22, lawn opens at 11am (performances start at 1pm); All ages; Free.
Where: Central Park, The Great Hill (enter from 103rd/Central Park West), greenapplefestival.com.

WillyBee’s
Bubble
Sunday, April 22nd, 11am-1pm
Dave Foster and Mark Rinzel perform a BUBBLE acoustic duo of Beatles for Kids. The duo performs two sets of classics by the Fabs. Have a listen at www. bubbleland.com
302 Metropolitan Avenue. willybees.com

DaddyDowntime
Planet Rock
Check out AudraRox Sunday April 22nd @ 11:30
@ the Jewish Museum of New York
all info & for tickets @ http://www.audrarox.com
We wrote & will cover some cool Earth Day tunes!!

This! Is! Funny! Stuff! Will Ferrell sticks it to all the YouTube toddlers. I don’t want to give away too much, but the elements are: Will Ferrell, rent, a toddler and subtitles (though they are almost not needed). Watch, laugh, look at your toddler, laugh. (via PS)

You’re wearing your fancy jewelry, what your friends call your ‘bling ring’. It was a gift to you from your partner during pregnancy, that debacle that ended 8 months ago. Since then the ring fits a bit loose on your finger, but you still take it out for a spin whenever you need to remind yourself that, yes, the Neanderthal you current share your living quarters with was once a svelt, romantic hunk.

You’re bouncing Estelle on your lap and laughing with your BFF over smoked BBQ at that new hip rib joint in the ‘Burg when BFF sounds the alarm.

BFF: Where’s your ring Sally?
You: My ring?
BFF: Yes, Sally. The ‘bling ring’, it’s not there.

You look at your finger dripping with teething saliva, then at Estelle. Estelle smiles with a twinkle in her eye and sparkle in her mouth and then swallows, resulting in a YoutTube video that currently has gotten over a million hits.

All this could have been avoid if Mr. Caveman had gotten you smart mom jewelry.

[thanks big moma]