The Isaksonian

Here are Miles (2+ yrs ago) and Otis (yesterday) modeling one of Kgordee's snazzy tie-dye outfits for kiddies. They look like they could be brothers, right?

Otis is officially three weeks old! And yesterday he hit an important milestone: his little remnant of an umbilical cord fell off! A bitter-sweet feeling was had by all. Here are a couple pics of the little guy with his big brother and one documenting Otis' cordlessness.

As many of you know, Brian loves Neil Young. This deep affection he has passed onto his kid, who now knows more Neil lyrics than I do. Fewer of you may know of Brian's mysterious and slightly dramatic avarice for Phil Collins' music. Probably because he can't stand listening to Phil's songs, he hasn't really had an opportunity to negatively reinforce this kind of music for Miles. So a recent event has made me wonder about how the music of these Phil and Neil is related. Miles, who again has never really been exposed to Phil Collins, was watching Tarzan with his Grandma Allen the other day. Usually the greatest fan of music from animated features, Miles turned to grandma when a Phil Collins song came on in the movie and said with a look of annoyance (not unlike that of Brian whenever he's stuck in a restaurant and a Phil Collins song suddenly assaults him), "Grandma, I don't like this song." Was he really saying, "Now that I'm a Neil Young lover, Phil Collins hurts my ears"? Do fans of the latter say the same about the former? Is there a mutual exclusiveness here that I don't fully understand? Are there people out there who equally like both musicians? Who knows. Suffice it to say, Brian was supremely proud to hear the news of Miles' gut reaction to hearing one of Daddy's most unfavorite musicians. Since I am a big Neil fan and yet can tolerate some of Phil's music, I'm an example that this phenomenon may be a little more complex. I'm intrigued.