Aquatic Experience this weekend

We're off this weekend to a really fun event-- the World Pets Association's third annual Aquatic Experience at the Renaissance Schaumburg.

The event, which happens November 6-8, has a lot of amazing events and exhibitions, including a Gator Encounter, where show attendees will be able to interact with alligators up close in a touch tank.

There will also be a display of adult gators, a live octopus tank, a piranha tank,  many displays of freshwater and saltwater fish from around the world, a Kids Aquarium contest, and a whole lot more, including discussions and q &a sessions with aquatic experts, lots of exhibitors that will have on display products for beginner and advanced hobbyists alike.

They even have an app available for Iphone and Android that will let you plan out your schedule as well as send you alerts during the show.

Tickets are now on sale for Aquatic Experience – Chicago, Nov. 6-8, 2015 at the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center (1551 Thoreau Drive N, Schaumburg, IL). 

Daily family passes are $25 and individual tickets start at just $10. Children ages 5 and under are free. 

Registration for the Kids Aquarium Contest for children ages 5-16 is $5 and includes a 10-gallon aquarium kit plus a wristband for free admission to the show floor with a paying adult. 

For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit  www.aquaticexperience.org.

EAR WORM: There's a Carp in the Tub- Robbie Schaefer

Robbie Schaefer is a DC based musician/songwriter. He's a former radio host of Kid's Place Live, and  currently the director of a non-profit called One Voice, which has as its goal to connect people through the power of music.

One Voice has done a bunch of different projects around the world, including the You Are Beautiful Project in 2014, which aimed to change people's self-images.

Here's the video for You Are Beautiful, which tells more about the project and is an ear worm in itself:
(but sadly, they spelled Campaign wrong on their Vimeo page)


You Are Beautiful 2014 Campiagn from OneVoice on Vimeo.

 One of Robbie's songs that I can't get out of my head has nothing to do with One Voice.  It's a song about a Carp who lives in a bath tub, which means that the occupants of the house can't take a bath.  This seems to happen every week, and by Friday the carp mysteriously disappears, and they can take a bath (but on Sunday they start all over again.)

One thing that I love about this song is that it never explicitly puts together that the carp in the tub is waiting to be eaten.  He talks about it needing to be clean, but the whole killing/eating process is done off camera-- just as it should be.

I am not sure of the genesis of this song.  I assume it comes from his childhood, but I almost can imagine that it's from some other kid's childhood,  I think I remember reading a kid's book about a Chinese immigrant growing up where they kept a fish in the bath tub. (Doing a search I found this one:  Yang The Youngest And His Terrible Ear which features a carp in a bath tub. I also found a Jewish classic:  The Carp In The BathTub.  I guess culture is culture and fish is fish the world over!

The song is compelling, as are most of the Robbie Schaeffer songs I've heard.

Listen to the songs on your own.  They are well worth it!

Click here to listen to a sample of the song via Amazon.

Robbie Schaefer's website:  currently under construction