Kidzapalooza 08

Slash and Perry Farrell rock Kidzapalooza

Big lottery winners Du-Jay (7) and Sagezilla (5)

My children's school has an annual Pastapalooza. King's Island amusement park has a gift shop called Lots a Palooza and variations on the theme have come to generically signify any kind of fest or sale a palooza out there.

I had a nightmare the night before Lollapalooza 08 that everything had been paloozafied and I was forced to pump at gas-a-palooza and shop at Costcoapalooza. I've been increasingly annoyed by the overuse of palooza, but the original namesake is anything but a looza. It has become bigger and better with age, with a record 225,000 rock fans attending the fest this year. That was a capacity crowd of 75,000 a day.

Du-Jay had the extreme good fortune to win the grand prize $400 electric guitar donated by Daisy Rock. http://www.daisyrock.com. It has the delicious name, Rock Candy Classic Diamond Sparkle. We had a blast wheeling it around in the baby jogger and getting compliments on the new arrival.

The kids loved silkscreening tee shirts with an old timey villan rendition of Paul Frank's infamous monkey, Julius. We also screened unbleached tote bags with a rockin' bird design.

Paul Frank flies in art department pros from California to help the kids silkscreen and to temp tattoo all the spawn of the inked parental masses. These amazingly tireless artists totalled 400 t's, 800 totes and a whopping 1,020 tattoos!! Our favorite artist says she intentionally makes wacky faces so people will wonder about her in their family albums.

Du-Jay is gettin' inked by the designer of the Kidzapalooza tee shirts that Miss Sagezilla is modeling. The tees feature a fabulous characature of Lolla founder and Jane's Addiction frontman, Perry Farrell, cavorting with a host of beloved Small Paul characters.

Swag-a-palooza (sorry I couldn't resist):
Paul Frank--3 bird tote bags, 1 Julius and 2 bird tee shirts, 2 pocket mirrors, 4 posters, and a hand full of Small Paul stickers and buttons, 1 all natural lip balm and the ever useful, Paul Frank earplugs

Scavenger hunt, race car track winnings and free handouts-- 1 wooden snake, 1 large super ball with frog, 1 plastic parachuting man, 2 squirt guns

Edibles--4 glutin free giant cookies and daily Probug Kefer all around

Misc--3 photos of the kids as future rock stars on a stage complete with cheering masses backdrop, hip hop CD of MC Sagezilla and MC Du-Jay rocking out on the mic., 2 covers for said CD, bubble art, 4 dayglo orange, battery opp. fans on lanyards, 1 black and 1 white bandanna from myspace and 3 dog tag ankle bells crafts

Raffle--2 Kidzapalooza harmonicas, 1 $400 electric guitar

Of course, it's ultimately all about the music. Fans under 10 and their grateful parents get rock star seating in a special gated section up front. Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, Bill Belzer of Uncle Tupelo, Peter DiStefano and Tor, Perry Farrell and Slash all rocked the kids stage. Homemade Jamz' may be less famous, but we thoroughly enjoyed their kickin' blues on instruments made from mufflers.

Kidzapalooza closed at 4:30 daily, to give parents plenty of time to see great mainstage acts. Friday, the whole family enjoyed Cat Power, The Raconteurs, and Radiohead. Saturday we caught mainstage acts Lupe Fiasco, Toadies and Rage Against The Machine. Sunday we rocked out to Love and Rockets, The National, and Nine Inch Nails.