{"id":1143,"date":"2010-09-26T10:33:15","date_gmt":"2010-09-26T16:33:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/?p=1143"},"modified":"2010-09-26T20:30:54","modified_gmt":"2010-09-27T02:30:54","slug":"growing-up-does-not-mean-forgetting-how-to-be-joyful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2010\/09\/26\/growing-up-does-not-mean-forgetting-how-to-be-joyful\/","title":{"rendered":"Growing up does not mean forgetting how to be joyful."},"content":{"rendered":"Approximate Reading Time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

Growing up is not about getting serious – it’s about putting the joy and wonder of childhood into context, and remembering to still have fun. That’s not all it’s about but that’s certainly an essential ingredient.<\/p>\n

\"\"

From the U of Saskatchewan Student Newspaper: The Sheaf<\/p><\/div>\n

Fred Penner<\/a> built a great career as a family entertainer, and as a parent, I always enjoyed going to his concerts with my kids – the music was great. He has good songs that EVERYONE can enjoy (not all that saccharine stuff); he has good musicians; and he has a good voice. Without attempting to take anything away from him, I will add that this is a standard of quality we have come to expect from our Canadian family performers (Al Simmons<\/a>, Sharon, Lois and Bram<\/a>,…). He’s actually part of the reason we CAN expect this standard of quality.<\/p>\n

His Christmas album<\/a> remains one of my favorite Christmas albums (ever). It was originally released in 1993 as “The Season” and has been re-released under the name “Christmastime” in 2008.<\/p>\n

So what’s Fred doing now? He’s doing college and university gigs!!! That’s right – and there are plenty of people who were kids in the 80’s who are thrilled to be able to revisit their childhoods and go to another Fred Penner concert.<\/p>\n

How cool is that?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"My daughter was at the concert he did at Mount Royal College<\/a>. She felt like she was 5 again (which for most of us is a reeeely good feeling). Now, she happened to know some of the security staff there and they invited her “backstage” (it was an outdoor concert so backstage was a tent) to meet Fred. Just as we had all suspected – Fred is the same nice guy we all saw on his TV show<\/a>. Even better, my daughter got to sing a song with Fred, just the two of them, just for fun.<\/p>\n

So I repeat,<\/p>\n

How cool is that?!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Only in Canada. Sometimes I am reminded of how happy I am to be Canadian.<\/p>\n

See also:<\/p>\n

Resurrecting our inner child | The Sheaf.<\/a><\/p>\n

Fred Penner finds his place at Hugh’s Room<\/a>, Childhood favourite gains new status as Toronto’s musical granddaddy, By Natascha Malta, Staff Writer, Issue date:<\/strong> 4\/1\/10 Section:<\/strong> Film & Music<\/a><\/p>\n

This one’s from UBC <\/a>I think:<\/p>\n

Listen to how much fun these guys are having!
\nThere is hope for humanity yet…<\/h3>\n

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