I Think What the Situation Needs is Some Imagination

I have a confession to make: I'm the one who keeps playing the Imagination Movers at work.

When I first discovered these guys, I thought they were the biggest dorks currently in existence on children's television. And to my defense, maybe I wasn't so far off. However, some number of years later (more like in the last week or so), I have changed my tune drastically. These guys are AMAZING.

I found a couple of their CDs in our collection at work left from a former teacher. I didn't think too much of them, but thought to play one of these CDs anyway spontaneously during one of my classes. I received a lot of good feedback from the families exclaiming how much their kids love these guys, not to mention their music was easy for the adults to listen to as well. So I gave the movers another shot. I mean, if nothing else, they were popular with some the families at work. And then, suddenly, their tunes became a bit more catchy, and it was acceptable to play their music since it was upbeat and appropriate for the 16 month old kids and older without being too obnoxious for the adults. In the last few months, I started using it for free play music here and there, and as of the last few weeks, they've been guaranteed to play during every session of free play time I would find myself work.

With more exposure to their tunes, I was curious about their history, who these guys were outside of the blue jumpsuits and dorky personas, so in the past week, I took it to the most ready and reliable source: the Internet. Sarcasm aside.... WHOA, respect gave me a slap in the face. These guys started with an aim of being positive male role models on children's television that had been lost with the passing of Mister Rogers, as well as the absence others. These guys each have an individual history with backgrounds and experience in teaching, literature, journalism, fire-fighting, religious studies, and building design, to name a few. They are from New Orleans, and three of them lost their homes during Katrina, and the fourth worked as a part of the hurricane search-and-rescue effort. They are all married men, and three of the four are fathers. (One of them is a father of five... geez, did he start having kids when he was 15?!) So, not only are these guys musical and energetic, they're well-rounded, charismatic, family-oriented, humble, and a HUGE inspiration. I think the word "heroes" is very appropriate in one of their CDs titled "Juice Box Heroes". And they are still going strong to this day, touring and entertaining their fans, young and old.

Yes, I am now a fan.

Yes, I recently clicked the "like" button on Facebook.

Yes, I just bought one of their songs on iTunes. And I plan on buying more.

This is one of the first songs I heard (and video I watched) of theirs that initially convinced me of how lame I thought these guys were. This is also the song that has been stuck in my head in the last few days. Who knew going to the farm could rock like this?