My kids ask a lot of questions. Often these questions don't really have a clear-cut answer. For example, this morning I was asked:

"Who invented breakfast, lunch and dinner?"

I'm thrilled my son is curious about the world, but this is one of those times when I feel it is my right as a father to enjoy the time-honored tradition of making shit up.

For the last few years, when faced with a weird "Who invented..." question, I've stuck with a simple formula:

First Name + Initial J + Name of Item = Inventor

"Dad, who invented shoes?"
That would be Alfred J. Shoe.

"Dad, who invented milk?"
I believe it was Franklin J. Milk.

In the case of: "Who invented breakfast, lunch and dinner?"
I went with, "Oliver J. Meal."

Awhile back my (then-6-year-old) son let me interview him about the latest Cloud Cult album. At the end of the interview I asked him if he had any questions for Craig of Cloud Cult. He did.

Here are Craig's responses to those questions (following the original transcript of the chat with my son).

It's nice to see someone else mess with my kid's head for a bit, instead of me having to do it all. Thanks, Craig!

ME: What would you say to anyone who wasn't sure if they should buy the album?

MY SON: You should! It's such a good album. You should hear Pretty Voice and you should hear Alien Christ. And the rest of the songs. Oh boy, they're great. I just love them.

ME: What is the best song on the album?

MY SON: I think all of them are great. Even the songs on the old albums.

Who is a better band - Cloud Cult or the Wiggles?

Cloud Cult. 'Cuz they have more rockin' songs and crazy instruments.

Who is a better songwriter -- Craig or Raffi?

Who's Raffi?

Exactly.
Okay, what is the meaning of 8?

The Meaning of 8 is the album.

No, I know that. I mean, what do you think the actual meaning of 8 is?

The MEETING of 8 would be people talking about the number 8.

Let's try it this way -- Does the number 8 mean anything special?

Yes -- for a Magic 8 ball. You ask it questions and it will answer them. Questions about your life. And some triangle will pop out and it has the answer. It's a ball that talks to you.

And if you asked the 8 Ball what album you should buy, what would it tell you?

Listen, that's not a question about life.

All right, give me a question about life.

Like -- Will my pen pal ever visit me? Or, let's see... Will I ever go to the beach again?

What if the question was -- Is it a good idea to buy this album?

Yes!

Do you have any questions for Craig?

Yes...

Finally, here are my son's questions and Craig's answers:

THE BOY: Which album would people like to buy more? The new one or the old one?

CRAIG: I think most people are going to like The Meaning of 8 a bit more, but I think there are some people that prefer Advice from the Happy Hippopotamus. Then there are 4 older albums besides that. We change our sound a lot from album to album, so it really depends on what your mood is. My favorite so far is definitely the one that is coming after The Meaning of 8.

Where did you get the lyrics for Alien Christ?

I sat outside under the stars all night, working on the lyrics, and just let the story unfold. The story wrapped up just as the moon was setting. There was actually a totally different version of that song originally, but I decided I didn’t like it, and changed all the lyrics last minute.

What is making that sound that Mommy thinks is an alien guitar in the song Shape of 8?

Your mommy got it right. It is most definitely the voice of an alien.

If you had a Magic 8 Ball, what would you ask it about your life?

When the aliens from The Pleiades come back to pick me up and bring me back home, should I bring lemons with me, or will they already have some there?

What color is your car?

That’s the best question I think anyone has ever asked me. My space car doesn’t have a color, because it’s mostly invisible.

The Meaning of 8 is on sale now and available for immediate download at cloudcult.com.

Go treat yourself. It's good. My kid wouldn't lie. And for the record, he thought Craig's answers were hilarious.