Daddy Types: June 2006 Archives

June 2006 Archives

June 30, 2006

Ouch. Time Looks At Educational Toys - In 1964

Just when you think this generation's somehow actually different...while researching our new magnifying glass stool, I came across this Time magazine article from 1964 about ambitious parents and the boom of "so-called educational toys":Advanced placement begins in the nursery, say...
[read the full post...]

eBay I Don't Blog About--Until I Win It

I hope no one thinks that I'm just linkin' to stuff on eBay because it makes mad money [it doesn't, although if someone would've bought that AMG E55 wagon...]. No, I like to link stuff that a) is cool and...
[read the full post...]

Prizes And "Rules" For The DT Bizarre Children's Book Contest

So here's the deal--and the prizes. Prizes first, along with a big thanks to the generous providers of said prizes, all of whom you may recognize as current or past advertisers on Daddy Types: a 4-piece custom-made crib set [bumper...
[read the full post...]

On Loving Your Gay Baby

Andy at Towleroad spotted this ad on the subway today. It's from a new campaign by the Ali Forney Center, the nation's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth homeless services center. Apparently the documentary Paris is Burning...
[read the full post...]

Loong, Hard At-Home Dad Article From Esquire

Every time I read an in-depth article about the travails of family life with two little kids, especially when it's about a family barely scraping by where the dad's an ex-Marine who's taking care of the kids while struggling to...
[read the full post...]

DT Bizarre Book Contest: Good Dog, Carl [Yep, Again]

Title:Good Dog, Carl Author/Illustrator: Alexandra Day Reviewed by: Timothy [ed. note: What're the odds? Two reviews of the same book within 30 minutes of each other. So yes, if someone's already reviewed your bizarre book, but you have something else/different...
[read the full post...]

DT Bizarre Book Contest: Good Dog, Carl

Title:Good Dog, Carl Author/Illustrator: Alexandra Day Reviewed by: Jacqueline The Story: Mother leaves baby Madeline home alone to be babysat by the pet Rottweiler, Carl. "Look after the baby, Carl. I'll be back shortly." While the Mother is out of...
[read the full post...]

Andrea Bocelli Made My Baby Cry

Andrea Bocelli, the Great Ruiner Of Weddings himself, was just on Sesame Street, singing a goodnight duet version of his one stinkin' song with Elmo. By the second verse of "Time to. Close your eyes," the kid's lip was...
[read the full post...]

Mark Jenkins' Storker Project

Mark Jenkins is a Washington, DC-based artist whose humorous, absurdist, and ephemeral work inhabits its public settings almost unnoticed. Since learning about Jenkins' Storker Project over a year ago via the always-incredible street art mecca, Wooster Collective, I've kept...
[read the full post...]

June 29, 2006

DT Bizarre Book Contest: The Adventures of Super Pickle

Title: The Adventures of Super Pickle Author/Illustrator: Dean Walley, Mike Strouth [illustr.], Dick Dudley [paper engineering] Reviewed by: Jared Link: Everything Pop-Up! at RobertSabuda.com As a child I loved this insanely weird pop-up book. It literally disintegrated from use....
[read the full post...]

2007 Honda CRV Spy Shot: Maybe It Has A Nice Personality?

Now, a CRV's a chick car, right? Like the RAV4? Then never mind. I'm sure it's very nice. On the bright side, the Subaru Tribeca's probably feeling better about itself right about now. 2007 Honda CRV spotted on the street...
[read the full post...]

DT Bizarre Book Contest: Hippos Go Berserk

Title: Hippos Go Berserk Author/Illustrator: Sandra Boynton Reviewed by: Danielle "One hippo, all alone, calls two hippos on the phone..." Simple premise - Hippo is bored at home alone, wants to party. Makes a couple of calls.... ends up...
[read the full post...]

Buckaroo Style Wants You Buckle Bunnies To Ride Herd On Oprah

From a press blast I recently received here at DTHQ:COWBOY BABY GEAR [1] IS FINALLY HERE! Please tell Oprah about our Rope Art Names and how they make a super special baby gift with personality and flair! YOUR CHANCE...
[read the full post...]

Pregnancy And Sex: Related After All?

Since no one else in the birthing/parenting/pregnancy industrial complex was talking about it, sex writer Susie Bright goes on a long, very open, and very revealing exploration of women's actual sexual experience during pregnancy, during delivery, and after giving birth....
[read the full post...]

US Leads World In Morally Ambiguous Stockpiling Of Frozen Embryos

In the UK, unused embryos from IVF and other fertility treatments are destroyed after five years. Other countries mandate that any embryos created during IVF must be transferred for implantation. In the largely unregulated and privately funded US fertility industry,...
[read the full post...]

DT Bizarre Book Contest: The Thumbtown Toad

Title: The Thumbtown Toad [alibris] [ebay] Author/Illustrator: George Mendoza, Monika Beisner Reviewed by: Bryan The most bizarre children's book I've ever come across is The Thumbtown Toad by George Mendoza (Prentice-Hall 1971). This book scared the bejeezus out of me...
[read the full post...]

Bugaboo Rocks Rad, New, UV Mesh Canopies & Rain Covers

I saw these at JPMA, but there weren't any images available, so I've kept kind of mum. But now that I've been sweating like a madman the last couple of days, it makes me think global warming's made it...
[read the full post...]

DT Bizarre Book Contest: Oh My Baby Bear!

Title: Oh My Baby Bear! Author/Illustrator: Audrey Wood Reviewed by: Shari Baby Bear is dressed, fed, bathed, and put to bed by his parents, but one day they tell him they're too busy, and that he has to do each...
[read the full post...]

Sinus Kids Table & Chairs From Lama Collection

I'm not sure how Lama Concept and Sinus work as brand names in Dutch, but I don't think you'll be mixing these tables and chairs up with any other Sinus kids furniture any time soon. Not a lot of...
[read the full post...]

June 28, 2006

The Mercedes B-for-Bugaboo-Class

I like to check in on Mercedes Benz Canada every once in a while, mostly because they have the Smart and the B-Class, and I want them. According to their own marketing--specifically, the new B-Class microsite, theanswerisb.ca--the B-Class is...
[read the full post...]

2008 Acura MDX Spy Shots

WorldCarFans has spyshots of a very lightly disguised production version of the 2008 Acura MDX, which it reports will go on sale in early 2007. Major changes include big wheel well flares--oh, wait, that's kind of minor--a longer wheelbase, and...
[read the full post...]

UK Gov't Database To Get All Up In Your Kid's Biznazz

I've never been able to jibe Britain's obsession with installing closed-circuit cameras everywhere with any notion of freedom and non-authoritarian government, but apparently most of HM The Queen's subjects are quite able to hold onto the illusion, thank you very...
[read the full post...]

DT Bizarre Book Contest: Little Fur Family

Title: Little Fur Family Author/Illustrator: Margaret Wise Brown, Garth Williams Reviewed by: Eric This may be the strangest children's book I've ever had the pleasure of reading to my 18 month old son 1,000X in a row, by request. It's...
[read the full post...]

DT Bizarre Book Contest: The Lonely Doll

Title: The Lonely Doll Author/Illustrator: Dare Wright Reviewed by: Marjorie Holy moly, is this book freaky. It was originally published in the '50s, and features sinister (to me, though not to my four-year-old!) black-and-white photos and a dreamy, S&M-like feeling...
[read the full post...]

Q. How Does The Media Talk About Adoption? A. Awkwardly

Reporter Sara Kiesler takes a look at how references to adoption are and aren't relevant to stories in the media. And given that a third of the US population has adoption experience "within their immediate families," she has some suggestions...
[read the full post...]

Bizarre Book Contest: Love You Forever

Title:Love You Forever Author/Illustrator: Robert N. Munsch, Sheila McGraw Reviewed by: Steph at MomSquawk "...Then the son is a grown man, living elsewhere. What��s a mom to do? She gets a ladder, climbs into his bedroom window, hoists him...
[read the full post...]

This Is How We Roll: Great Plains Edition

A DT reader from gun country sent this in. He spotted it outside the local hospital. "Hopefully this isn't some newborn's ride home," he says of the Browning Special Edition Polaris Sportsman 700 outfitted with an Oshkosh infant carseat...
[read the full post...]

Block Toys On eBay From Creative Playthings To Naef

This Creative Playthings wooden puzzle box just went up on eBay; it's $6 (+$8 shipping) right now, but it's the kind of thing that can go quite a bit higher, I'm afraid. On the other hand, the auction ends...
[read the full post...]

Rocker From Jacques Tati's Mon Oncle

Jacques Tati's classic 1958 film, Mon Oncle, was a Keaton/Chaplin-esque comedy about the sterile perils of technology, modernity and consumerism and the decline of simpler, dirtier, slightly stupider, but ultimately happier good old days. Tati plays Monsieur Hulot, a...
[read the full post...]

More From The About-Damn-Time Dept.: Threadless T-shirts For Kids

Finally, finally, finally, Threadless, the awesome, kinda open source purveyors of cool t-shirts, has introduced designs for kids, too. So far, there are ten designs, and they're each $17. While I'd be happiest if they made a kid-sized option available...
[read the full post...]

June 27, 2006

Herbie Hancock Takes The Fairlight To The Street

As you school the kid in the finer points of early 80's synth hits like Ebn Ozn ["AEIOU and sometimes Y"], The Buggles, and "Shock The Monkey," you'll need to teach him about the Fairlight, the first digital sampling...
[read the full post...]

Metal Concept Kitchen On Sale At MoMA Store

You thought those books were crazy, these toy prices are INSANE!!! MoMA's online store is having a toy sale, and this steel and plastic [eh] concept kitchen from Groupe Berchet is gender neutral, has a bunch of battery operated...
[read the full post...]

DT Bizarre Book Contest: Kikker

Title: Kikker (Frog) Author/Illustrator: Max Velthuijs Reviewed by: Peanut's Mom I'd like to nominate a Dutch classic - the Kikker (Frog)books by . We've received two as gifts and both contain some rather sobering tales: From "Dit is Kikker" --...
[read the full post...]

DT Bizarre Book Contest: The Velveteen Rabbit, Awkwardly Abridged Version

Title: The Velveteen Rabbit Author/Illustrator: Margery Williams, William Nicholson Reviewed by: Lisa I just read a heavily edited, paperback version of the Velveteen Rabbit, likely purchased from a Mega-Lo Mart (a gift from a well-meaning, but cheap, relative). Can't say...
[read the full post...]

DT Bizarre Book Contest: The Rough Gruff Goat Brothers Rap

Title: The Rough Gruff Goat Brothers Rap Author/Illustrator: Bernice Chardiet, Jon Chardiet, and Jean-Claude Suares Reviewed by: Naomi This is probably bizarre just because it's dated (1993) but my cousin sent it to my two year old daughter and...
[read the full post...]

DT Bizarre Book Contest: Who Needs Donuts?

Title: Who Needs Donuts? Author/Illustrator: Mark Alan Stamaty Reviewed by: Shannon I have to start out by saying I love this book. But, I am a bit weird that way. The main character is Sam, a sweet lovable boy...
[read the full post...]

Philippe Starck/Target Baby Stuff For Sale On eBay

Now that the kid's successfully inaugurated the third and final piece--the toilet booster seat--of the toilet training set Philippe Starck designed for First Years/Target, I can happily point you toward a couple of them for sale on eBay [don't worry,...
[read the full post...]

Q: Yeah, Daddy, What IS Up With That?

Just as veterans of WWII came home and never talked to their families about the horrors they experienced, you should never try to explain to your kid how, back in the 80's, Michael Jackson and Eddie Murphy were the...
[read the full post...]

The Daddle: We've Come A Long Way, Little Dogie

The Daddle is a saddle for giving horsie rides. It's made of stuffed cotton in a beautiful paisley print to match your tie. Or your shawl. The kneepads [aka, "horseshoes for dad"] are sold separately. All I can say...
[read the full post...]

June 26, 2006

Salon Gets All Carson Daly For 'Kindie Rock'

You say Grup Music, Salon says Kindie Rock, let's call the whole thing off. Salon's Scott Lamb takes a look at kids music that parents don't hate, including a bunch of Dan Zanes collaborators [Nick Cave, Natalie Merchant, Lou Reed,...
[read the full post...]

Nest: Kids Furniture So Eco-Friendly, Even The Name Is Recycled

Will and Laura Wear wanted to create design for kids that was both modern and whimsical, cool and environmentally sustainable, and that can be easily recycled [although they'd just as soon you keep the stuff through college.] For their...
[read the full post...]

Thanks To The Baby Bunch, America Now More Like UK Than Ever

You remember how, first they had a king, and then we had to have a king? And how they obsess over David Beckham, and then we obsess over David Beckham? And how they think Bean is funny, and so we--OK,...
[read the full post...]

VW Passat Wagon: The Jalopnik Review

Not to steal their thunder by quoting the last paragraph, but Jalopnik's started one of their 3-part reviews on the new VW Passat Wagon 2.0L, the near-base version of the car that some reviewers think thinks its an Audi:...this is...
[read the full post...]

2006 Daddy Types Contest: Bizarre Children's Books

I got a copy of Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel for Father's Day. it was a book I loved reading as a kid, and now I can read it with my kid. Of course, going through the first few...
[read the full post...]

Team Eisner Buys Team Baby

ex-Disney CEO Michael Eisner's investment company just announced it has acquired Team Baby Entertainment, which makes college sports-themed educational [sic] DVD's for infants and toddlers. Among the officially licensed videos in the series so far:Baby Irish (Notre Dame), Baby...
[read the full post...]

Japanese Love Baseball, But Not Home Runs

Researchers have concluded that Japan's alarmingly low birth rate is caused by an alarmingly lower having sex rate. Well, there's your problem right there [reuters/yahoo via tmn]...
[read the full post...]

The "Throw Your Kids In The Air!" Photopool On Flickr

It's just what it sounds like. Throw your kids in the air! [flickr via dt reader christy, who assures me there was a pile of leaves in this picture, you just can't see it.]...
[read the full post...]

June 25, 2006

In Fact, We've Been Waiting For The Ikea Train For A Long Time

At Ikea last night [doesn't that sound about right for a Saturday night now? What a freakshow], my wife picked up this little train set--20 pieces, really basic, wood but with little plastic attachment nubs, but just $12.99. That's...
[read the full post...]

Stevie Wonder Jams On The Street

This extended funk mix of "Superstition" by a young Stevie Wonder ends with a shout out to Sesame Street. Dig the little cat shakin' it on the fire escape, man. And then there's the Stevie Wonder remix of the...
[read the full post...]

Random/Interesting Kids Stuff On eBay

Whether vintage, hard-to-find, or just a good deal, interesting eBay auctions show up here at daddytypes from time to time. And when they don't, I try to find them myself for your shoppertainment: First off, the Creative Playthings hobby...
[read the full post...]

June 24, 2006

Plable: Play-Under Table, By Yumiko Tanaka

Yumiko Tanaka is a graduate student at the Royal College of Art in London. There, as part of a project to explore the way adults and children play and interact together, she developed the Plable. It's a concept for...
[read the full post...]

Dad Stuff: A Book On How To Impress & Entertain Your Kid

Steve Caplin and Simon Rose published Dad Stuff: Shedloads of Ideas for Dads last November in the UK. Then last month, I guess because depending on how you say it, "shedloads of ideas" doesn't really work as a gifty book...
[read the full post...]

Used Tissue Plush Dolls

Like her toilet paper roll dolls before them, plush artist Heidi Kenney's used tissue dolls are made from 100% polyester fleece and 100% wool felt. And like her other art toys, these tissues aren't intended for children under 3....
[read the full post...]

Daddy Types Advertisers Make Every Day Feel Like Father's Day

A quick shoutout to the discerning advertisers who tantalize us dads and dads-to-be with their innovative and relevant products and services. If you have something enticing for new dads, think about advertising on Daddy Types, too. And if you want...
[read the full post...]

Woodie Chairs: More Sweet Commercial-Grade Kids Furniture

Unlike loft conversions and sweet stainless steel restaurant kitchens with giant Viking stoves, as a trend, commercial and institutional baby furniture hasn't quite taken off yet. Or has it? I'm not sure if anyone has ever bought a chrome and...
[read the full post...]

Kevin Smith: Movie Director, Comic Book Fan, Dad

Now I'm as big a Kevin Smith fan as the next guy. Bigger, even. In the euphoric early days of fatherhood and dadblogging, I called him a "Daddy Types Posterdad." But that was before I actually saw Jersey Girl,...
[read the full post...]

In The 'Burbs, The 3-car Garage. In The City: The 3-Stroller Foyer

A dad-to-be from NYC emails with a gear questionLiving in the city with space limited-my wife says we need three strollers: a snap & go, a jogger, and a pram. I am all for the jogger and the pram but...
[read the full post...]

June 23, 2006

Bunny Clock Is The Master Of Time And Space

The Bunny Clock is a children's alarm clock that uses a sleeping bunny to let kids know when it's time to wake up. Of course, if the kid can see the bunny's eyes are still closed, it means the...
[read the full post...]

June 22, 2006

Dread Or Dreds, What's It Gonna Be?

Why does the kid seriously freak out when I wash her hair? Still? It's been like this for a long time now. From before she could even sit up, and I had to cradle her head and shoulders in the...
[read the full post...]

Pets & Babies: Avoiding Cute-offs And Other Problems

We were not one of those couples who prepared ourselves for having a kid by getting a puppy first. And neither of us is pet people, really, so I really never gave a second thought to the potential risks and...
[read the full post...]

Huggable Urns

Lori Lemons' soon-to-be ex-husband is on trial for first-degree murder in the shaking death of the couple's two-month-old daughter NaKita last October. He told detectives he could not get the baby to stop crying. Mrs. Lemons found a teddybear-shaped...
[read the full post...]

Mutsy Coming To US; Crown Prince Haakon Of Norway Still Checking His Calendar

If you thought that Mutsy strollers were reserved solely for future Scandinavian kings to push around on Spanish beaches, think again. The stroller that Haakon Crown Prince of Norway made famous [around here anyway, never mind that Mutsy's been in...
[read the full post...]

Finally Useful, Pitchfork Gathers 100 Awesome Music Videos On YouTube

Does the kid's musical taste need a little parental guidance? Or maybe a few minutes of music and funny pictures to help him stop crying or to shift gears? Need a quick lyrics refresher for those mid-night bounces back to...
[read the full post...]

Tobi Or Not Tobi? That Is One Carseat Buyer's Question

I just read Jen's story of shopping for a new car seat, and I don't know what's more unbelievable: - that the Maxi-Cosi Tobi doesn't install correctly on cars with either cloth or leather seats [what's left?], - that the...
[read the full post...]

June 21, 2006

A Short Post About Small Rental Cars

After the JPMA convention in Orlando last month, I was all stoked to write about my rental car, the Ford Focus. But I kept putting it off, then last week, a Business Week story came out about how horribly...
[read the full post...]

Longboarding: "For Gnarly Dads Only"

First off, Happy Go Skateboarding Day. You have at least two hours left to celebrate. Second, there's no mention of LATCH adapters for them, but from this article in the coolhunting trend rag known as USA Today, it sounds...
[read the full post...]

And In Other Blade-Near-Genitalia News...

I guess I've lost a bit of sensitivity and awareness in my head, because I totally missed Genital Integrity Awareness Week. Meanwhile, now you know what G.I. stands for. Genital Integrity Awareness Week, March 29th - April 4th, 2006...
[read the full post...]

Your Post-Vasectomy Reversal Boys Can Swim, But What Happens When They Get There?

A study by university researchers in Bangkok shows that post-vasectomy, the incidence of sperm with chromosomal abnormalities such aneuploidy or diploidy [different numbers of certain chromosomes, or a full double set, respectively] increases dramatically. Post-vasectomy? Those guys are out of...
[read the full post...]

Not My Kid

"For a generation, A Prairie Home [Companion] has been the soundtrack of being stuck in the car with your parents." That's from Slate film critic Michael Agger's review of the Robert Altman movie version of Garrison Keillor's radio show. I...
[read the full post...]

Max In The Box Chair-Table Things

I remember when I was a kid, my grandma used to have one of those plexiglass photocubes, and it always mystified me how to open it. Then I grew up and found myself in the CD generation, and while...
[read the full post...]

June 20, 2006

Like A Kid In A Toy Store: Buying A Supermalfi At Yoyamart

So while I get all uptight about the complaints of retail workers and the idiocies of oblivious parents whose kids tear up stores without the slightest sense of responsibility, it occurs to me that I took the kid to Yoyamart...
[read the full post...]

Totshop Throws A TotSampleSale

Got an tip last night, and I debated posting it until I got first dibs by finagling my way into the VIP preview tonight, but the kid and I were too busy popping edamame at Whole Foods, we missed it....
[read the full post...]

Priceless: USB Found In Headless Bear

"No es facil coser una memoria USB al cuerpo de un oso de peluche." Ah, truer words have rarely been tacked onto a flickr photo: "It is not easy to sew a USB memory stick into a plush bear."...
[read the full post...]

Swingo Rocking Toy By Ergo Design. Just Like The Stokke Hippo? Huh?

So there's a secret underground economy in Europe where cool-looking rocking toys are traded out of sight of prying American eyes? What is up with that? I hope Jan from Kidsrepublic doesn't get his Euro design guru card revoked for...
[read the full post...]

DT Reader Snags Convertible Minivan

With his camera always at the ready, DT reader Karl helped expand the daddytypes photopool on flickr last night by sending snapshots of a Dodge Caravan convertible being driven by a slightly crazy-happy boomer along I-70 in Colorado. To...
[read the full post...]

Dutch On Calder; Calder On YouTube

Sheesh, remind me never to play Jeopardy with Dutch. While I was posting my surprised little ramble about Alexander Calder toys, he was finishing up his own awesome, info-packed ode to Calder and his circus on Sweet Juniper. [Not enough...
[read the full post...]

June 19, 2006

Whoa, Alexander Calder Wooden Toys Were Reissued?

While looking around eBay for some expensive wooden toys from Naef, I found some expensive wooden toys from Alexander Calder instead. Now I knew Calder made at least a circus-ful of toys in his early Parisian days, because they're at...
[read the full post...]

Piet Mondrian Modulon: Awesome De Stijl-Inspired Blocks By Naef

Wow. I finally started following up on some of the companies I'd seen mentioned in the latest issue of Baby Mammoth, the dad-friendly but advertiser-challenged baby magazine from Japan. One company they featured about ten times: toys by Naef,...
[read the full post...]

What The Bookstore Clerk Really Thinks Of Kids

Minnesota Nice in a nutshell: smiling, polite, slightly passive aggressive but mute on the surface, but seething with unaddressed, unexpressed rage underneath. Moira Manion, a Minneapolis writer/bookstore clerk did a commentary on Marketplace about toddlers whose parents allow them to...
[read the full post...]

June 18, 2006

Stokke Stokke Hippo

Besides being the land of sun-filled nights and $25 Whopper meals [seriously], Iceland was the land of Stokke surprises. First (and second) were the Super-sized and Happy Meal-sized Tripp Trapp high chairs. But then at the same Fifa baby store...
[read the full post...]

Newshour-Themed Birthday Party For St. Paul 3yo

The birthday boy can identify senators on sight and calls Jim Lehrer "Jimmy Jimmy BoBo." This is what happens when you watch TV during dinner, people. 'Jimmy Jimmy BoBo' Lehrer Makes Birthday Party Newsworthy [washington post via waxy] And...
[read the full post...]

Happy Dadblog's Day!

Did you know that in Iceland, Father's Day is called "the day after Independence Day?" and it's usually celebrated by nursing a hangover and waiting for the tinnitus from last night's Icelandic death-metal concert to wear off? Meanwhile, in the...
[read the full post...]

Stokke Tripp Trapp, Now Available In Viking & Gnome Sizes

On Friday as we searched Reykjavik baby stores for a summer cover for the Maxi Cosi, we wondered--OK, my wife wondered-- if this is what it was going to be from now on, that every vacation was going to consist...
[read the full post...]

June 17, 2006

Sweet Juniper On Sweet Noguchi Playgrounds

Dutch works his blogging magic, writing in fascinating depth on the innovative, modernist playground designs by sculptor Isamu Noguchi. Noguchi proposed many playgrounds all over the world, but few were ever built. In his hometown of New York, especially, Noguchi's...
[read the full post...]

June 15, 2006

Flying, BRB

I'm at the airport, en rouote to Iceland for a little R&R with the Mrs and some mossy waterfalls. I hear Reykjavik's freakin' with baby stores and Danish-style pram gridlock. I'll have some reports, but posting'll be light. Seeya...
[read the full post...]

Daddy Types About Advertisers A Bit Early This Week So You Can Win $25K

Remember back in the day when you had to pay all that money to get access to Daddy Types content? Yeah, that didn't last. You three should watch out for a replacement subscription to La Leche Ledger to show up...
[read the full post...]

5yo Kicks Butt On Dance Dance Revolution

"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." - Proverbs 22:6 [via robotwisdom, the vid, not the scripture, that is]...
[read the full post...]

Finally, Some Indie Stickers

The kid's been a sticker fiend for a while now. I know it seems like a kiddie cliche, but hey, it's a surefire way to keep her quiet and busy for a solid thirty minutes or more, so it's perfect...
[read the full post...]

June 14, 2006

DWR Jax Merchandise Sks LTR On Craigslist

So you really like the nursery gear, kids' furniture and toys at DWR Jax, but you only want to pay about 50-60% of retail? Do the math, folks, that's why they're pulling the plug on the whole venture. But your...
[read the full post...]

Sweeeet Danish Kid Gear From Collect Furniture

Collect Furniture debuted a sweet range of modernist-inspired kids furniture at the Copenhagen International Furniture Fair last month, including stackable chairs and stools--that stool has wheels on the seat, and it turns upside-down into a little scooter--a chalkboard-surfaced frame...
[read the full post...]

Magnifique! Le Nouvelle Honda Accord Wagon

En fait, elle est inspiree par l'Acura TSX, mais le nom est l'Accord Tourer: Aussi plaisante et racee que l'Accord 4 portes, l'Accord Tourer n'a pas grand chose a voir avec l'image stereotypee qu'on se fait habituellement d'un break....
[read the full post...]

June 13, 2006

Polish Twig Crayons, Two Fitty

I mean, two fitty each. That's right, these awesome looking Inntrax crayons are made in Poland from forest salvage, underbrush and branches of birch, willow, and ash, which are then cut to crayon shape, dried, and loaded at each...
[read the full post...]

Solar-Powered Lucky Cat From Japan

The maneki neko is a traditional Japanese good luck symbol. It looks like it's waving, but it's actually doing the Japanese beckoning gesture. Supposedly, beckoning with the left paw means, "come here, potential customers!" and is often seen at store...
[read the full post...]

Solar-Powered Wooden Helicopter

Breastfeeding battles wearing you down? Worried that parenting is basically 18 years of barely being able to control your rage until the brat gets out of the house? How about something magical to cheer up your spirits? Like a...
[read the full post...]

Interesting Trendwatch: Dad=Discipline?

Is it a random coincidence? A lack of vision about any other meaningful role for a dad? A traditional limitation on the way a dad's role is articulated today? Is it the weird, hothouse environment of a press conference or...
[read the full post...]

Mi Abuelita Is Wearing Embroidered Clothes From Tea Collection

So far, our plan to just get the kid a couple of great pieces of clothing each season, mixed with the cheap staples, and the grandma gifts and such [which never seem to stop, so many party dresses!], has been...
[read the full post...]

Schoolhouse Rock on YouTube

I don't know at what age it's appropriate to start teaching your kid about verbs ["Verb! That's what's happening!"] or adverbs ["Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, get your adverbs here"], or whether it's right to even pretend that the legislative process...
[read the full post...]

Dad-to-Dad Talk, In His Dreams

Washington, DC writer W. Ralph Eubanks talks regularly to his father--in his dreams--and has ever since his father died when Eubanks was 18:But the dreams have changed as the years have gone by. At first, I was still Daddy's little...
[read the full post...]

June 12, 2006

WHO: Show Us You're Breastfeeding!

"Breast is Best" is apparently not good enough for the World Health Organization and the Dept. of Health & Human Services, who have instituted a new awareness campaign claiming that not breastfeeding is actually risky, for both a mom...
[read the full post...]

Celebrity Dad Gets New Whips

Guess that Element was too loud after all. And according to Matt's comments in his flickr photostream, even with its vaunted hose-out-ability, it's not as convenient as the Ridgeline for hauling dirt. In any case, it's good when a marketing...
[read the full post...]

One Of These Vintage Cosco Chairs Is Not Like The Others

Maybe one of the things that's so rare about those Cosco chairs is that Cosco actually made something decent-looking at one point. Judging from this vintage ad for sale on eBay, they made a lot of cheap-looking junk in...
[read the full post...]

New Study: You Only THINK The Kid's Allergic To Peanuts

When the kid first started on solid foods, we did the whole "test one grain cereal at a time to see if she's got a sensitivity to it" thing. And when she spouted a diaper rash the week she started...
[read the full post...]

June 11, 2006

Interesting eBay Auction Roundup

I've been doing a bit more eBay perusing than usual lately, and I thought I'd pass along a few interesting-looking auctions [that I'm not bidding on, otherwise I wouldn't be blabbing about it until after I won]. If you see...
[read the full post...]

Family Values My Butt: UC Study Shows Working Class Parents Get Screwed

Considering that the study appears to be largely an exercise in awareness-raising, it was really disheartening to see how little coverage "One Sick Child Away From Being Fired: When 'Opting Out' Isn't an Option" got in the media when it...
[read the full post...]

Offi Oval Bassinet From ICFF

Offi designer Heidi Newell was at ICFF showing off the prototype of a new bassinet [due in six months, knock on molded plywood], which I saw and loved, but which I didn't get pictures of. People are so cagey...
[read the full post...]

Namibia Is For Lovers. And Advertisers.

A big shoutout to the full-lipped advertisers who had the product placements of a lifetime this week here on daddytypes.com. If your company is gut-bustingly pregnant with useful and valuable information or products for new dads, dads to be, and...
[read the full post...]

Homestar Planetarium Not Coming To The US Soon

One of the few things we did to "decorate" the kid's nursery--besides painting a couple of the walls a slightly dark royal blue below the thick, eye-level, wooden mouldings--was to stick glow-in-the-dark constellations all over the upper portions of...
[read the full post...]

Is There A Non-Animatronic Caddyshack Gopher Doll?

When the day comes that she sees it, I want the kid to be well prepared, so she can fully appreciate the greatest golf movie ever made. She's mastered the art of puking in a German car, and she has...
[read the full post...]

A British New Dad Writes (And Writes) About The Pull Of Work And Fatherhood

There's a looong article by a new dad in today's UK Observer. I tried to find the Big Idea nuggets to quote and give a sense of the whole thing, but there's really so much in there, it's like dads...
[read the full post...]

June 10, 2006

CDC: Do You Have A "Reproductive Life Plan"?

Because for many preventitive fetal and maternal health measure, "the horse is already out of the barn" by the time the bun is in the oven, the CDC convened a panel to formulate preconception health standards and recommendations. In a...
[read the full post...]

Unidentified Man Rocks Camo Car Seat Cover

Now we know what unidentified man was cheering about after unannounced baby shower a while back. The car seat itself is a Graco, most likely the SafeSeat. But seriously, I hope you're not basing your car seat purchase decision on...
[read the full post...]

Russian Balloon Art Copyright Pirates

Yoda is just the beginning. There are so many copyright-infringing balloon sculptures at this Russian Balloon Art Faire, that the studios have called Jack Valenti out of retirement to lead a SWAT team of pinheaded lawyers in an all-out...
[read the full post...]

Hippopotamus For Christmas, Elephant For Father's Day

This ad from the World Wildlife Fund was running on Treehugger:"An elephant��s powerful trunk is strong enough to rip up whole trees, yet is gentle enough to lovingly caress a calf. Strong and powerful, yet tender and caring--remind you of...
[read the full post...]

Wagon Spy Shots Roundup: Scion xB, Mercedes C

Spy shots of the wagons that might be in your future, if you're in the wagon market in, say, 2007 or 2008, respectively [via jalopnik]: While driving to the car wash, a Scionlife poster spotted a new Scion xB on...
[read the full post...]

Canadian Minivan Madness: The Caravan Pickup

You know how they say boys and girls play differently? It's the same way with Canadians and Americans. Like, when we take a buzzsaw to our minivans, they get pulverized beyond recognition. Canadians, meanwhile, make nice, neatly trimmed little...
[read the full post...]

June 9, 2006

Eames' Power Of Ten On YouTube

While I wanted to get the kid some Eames' House of Cards to play with from before she could even sit up, I hadn't thought of showing her Powers of Ten, the designer couples' classic math/science film, which they...
[read the full post...]

Weird: Actual DisneyWorld Signs On eBay

As a recovering Disney employee, I've been trying to keep The Mouse's giant, overbranded mitts off my kid for as long as possible. [Actually, the real threat is the Disney Princess Hegemony, but you get my point.] Still, I'm not...
[read the full post...]

"It's product placement at it's [sic] finest."

That's Ronn Torossian, President & CEO of 5W Public Relations, quoted in a press release from his firm:5W PUBLIC RELATIONS SECURES THE TOP CELEBRITY PRODUCT PLACEMENT OPPORTUNITY IN THE WORLD - SHILOH NOUVEL JOLIE PITT Product Placement at its Finest...
[read the full post...]

June 8, 2006

Bugawho? BBQ Pit Made From Vintage Stroller

Is there anything a Bugaboo can't do? Uh, yes, now that you mention it, you can't slow-cook a side of ribs in one. Unlike this 1906 Allwyn Pramelator, which does'em up just right. Seems that over three weeks "and...
[read the full post...]

Vintage Dirty Diaper For Training Expectant Dads

I got this vintage "training diaper for expectant fathers" on ebay a few weeks ago. And it's got a surprising level of raunch and scatological humor that I usually associated with MAD magazine, not the Ward Cleaver era. This...
[read the full post...]

Baby Wants A Nipple, Daddy Needs A Drink

Santa Fe writer/dad Rob Wilder has just published his first book, Daddy Needs A Drink. It's a collection of stories--collected, from what I can tell, from his column in the Santa Fe Reporter--about the haps and mishaps of parenthood. Wilder's...
[read the full post...]

Building A DiaperBridge To The 21st Century

Yikes, if these DiaperBridge people had come out with their folding platform that turns any bathroom sink into a diaper changing table surface with just a few straps and belts [OK, a lot of straps and belts, but stay with...
[read the full post...]

Dads Who Know, Use Facebook Are More Confident, Involved

A study that confirms my own personal perspective? It MUST be true! Rebel Dad has a good writeup of a BabyCenter-sponsored survey that shows new generations of dads [they actually use Boomer, Gen X and Gen Y as the breakdowns]...
[read the full post...]

June 7, 2006

Other Daddies Typing: Sheer Slackitude Edition

It's this weird guy thing, I guess, where I get busy, busier, and then I cut back on surfing and checking in on all the blogs for a week, then two, then... then it's just embarassment at being out of...
[read the full post...]

Nurseryworks Storytime Bookcases Look Mighty Fine

A few months back, we converted the kid's book collection to self-service by moving them all to shelves at her level, and it's been awesome. She pulls books out all the time to have us read to her, she...
[read the full post...]

!!! Caravan Spy Photos!!!

Jonathan at How Bourgeois snapped some photos of a slightly disguised 2008 Dodge Caravan at a gas station, then he recalls his high school punk-in-a-Caravan days, then he invokes the Dodge owner board's most reliable punchline: "HEMI Caravan." It's a...
[read the full post...]

Brooklyn: This Is How We Roll, Part 2

Looks like someone in Brooklyn didn't get their renovations finished before the baby arrived. "My architect assured me that the changes had been made" [justinyc via curbed & gothamist's flickr photopools] Previously: pregnant lady in the house helps the projects...
[read the full post...]

Why The Bugaboo? The Movie

I don't know what rocks better: A) this dad's enthusiasm for his new stroller, which prompted him to make his own live-action approximation of Bugaboo's own animated demo. B) the sweet lofty real estate that is the setting for...
[read the full post...]

BMW RFK? ASAP

I guess the absence to date of any actual spy photos or auto show concept cars has been enough to keep me in the dark about BMW's plans for the RFK [Room Function Concept, which is BMWspeak for minivan....
[read the full post...]

Dan Zane Rallies Brooklyn Arena Protestors Before Naptime

A protest concert/fundraiser by Dan Zanes for the group, Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, was as good a reason as any for a NY Observer reporter to train her bemused, investigative eye on the Brooklyn baby scene. The group is raising...
[read the full post...]

June 6, 2006

Dutch Artist Made This Kid's Chair Out Of Shelf Brackets

I found this cool children's chair, made from standard bookshelf brackets and wood by Rotterdam-based artist Helmut Smits. He doesn't know it, but Smits' latest sculpture is an eerie almost-portrait of me: it's a system for turning Diet Coke...
[read the full post...]

The Phone Number Of The Beast

In New York, of course, 666-6666 is not the number of The Beast; it's the number of Carmel Car Service, which slots in somewhere between an actual, corporate, voucher-based car service and a scary-lookin' liquid air-freshener-filled gypsy cab. But in...
[read the full post...]

Amazon Doubles Down: Pampers & 7th Gen Promotions At Once

And I thought it was tricky when they ran a combined Pampers & Luvs promotion. Ahh, simpler times. Now Amazon's running a now-familiar $99/30 promotion on Pampers AND Luvs AND Kandoo products through June 30th. [Order $99 or more...
[read the full post...]

NPR: Authoritative British Accent Delivers Scientifically Tested Sleep Advice

As every documentary filmmaker knows, British accents are far more believable. So it's worth taking a listen to this NPR story from yesterday [6/5], in which UK psychologist Ian St. James-Roberts [a hyphen like that? It MUST be true!] discusses...
[read the full post...]

Slate Writer Loves The Firm Hand Of Ferber

Slate writer Emily Bazelon was worried that cry-it-out guru Dr. Richard Ferber's new edition of his book was gonna be all backtracky and soft about co-sleeping and stuff. Apparently, she needn't have worried. The book still has charts and timetables...
[read the full post...]

Magazines For Babies, Anyone?

Last fall, a good family friend got the kid a gift subscription to Wild Animal Baby, basically a baby magazine--for kids ages 6 months to 4 years--published by the National Wildlife Federation. Who even knew that babies had magazines? Dads...
[read the full post...]

Niiice. Kristian Vedel Molded Ply Chair On Ebay

Kristian Vedel was one of the first great discoveries [for me] from the Kid Size exhibition catalogue published by Vitra. In the mid-50's in Denmark, he created some awesome kid's furniture, simple curved ply seats and desks that had a...
[read the full post...]

June 5, 2006

Q: What Do You Call Grups With Twins? A: Busy Adults.

Waitaminnit, I'm confused. New York Magazine has a surprisingly snark- and hipster-free cover story on twins and multiple births, actually written by new parents of twins. [In case you're wondering how in the world parents of multiples have the time...
[read the full post...]

Pregnant Lady In The House Helps Your Projects Get Done Quick

Dwell Magazine has definitely been drinking from the baby bar these days; the last few issues have had more kidstuff in them than a babystyle catalogue. The June issue has a story about a Portland, OR, family's renovation of a...
[read the full post...]

Fisher-Price Active Gear: Strollers For Where You LIVE--The Mall

Time was when Fisher-Price was happy to make strollers just for the roundheaded Little People whose faces you'd gnawed off as a child. But you're all growed up now with a kid or two of your own, and corporate counsel...
[read the full post...]

Harlem's Immigrant Problem

mom pushing stroller: "the twins just got into every school from the park to the river. Where should we send them, Alan?" dad carrying a single bottle: "Sarah, forget preschool. With an IQ of 150, let's fast track them...
[read the full post...]

Now I Feel Kind Of Dirty

Braddy Types: Parenting wisdom from the films of Brad Pitt [braddytypes.com] [jumped? or were they pushed? I just saw this on cbb : " I even heard that organizers in the gifting suite industry consider celebrity babies to have...
[read the full post...]

June 3, 2006

Hey, I Didn't Know This Clutch Ball Was Creative Playthings...

Some younger sibling of mine got this--and then passed it along to the others, and I vaguely remember drawing it at some point. But I never remembered that it was by Creative Playthings. Of course, I'm finding that what...
[read the full post...]

Minivan Madness Roundup

I can't bring myself to do an actual Minivan Week yet, but here are an unsettling number of interesting minivan-related tips I got from dt readers jj daddy and, why, they're all from jj daddy. Wonder what kind of...
[read the full post...]

June 2, 2006

Thanks To The Daddy Types Advertisers Who Don't Hide In Their Gated Mansions

But instead, mingle among us, their endearing target audience, and invite us to commune with them right. over. there. in that sidebar. If you're craving a bit of starworship or box office attention from daddytypes' readers, click here, or have...
[read the full post...]

Deutsch Baby in Dutch Tummy Tub

At ICFF, there was a pair of GIGANTIC ramen-bowl-shaped tubs--Dutch Tubs, they're called--right at the entrance. They're heated by wood, which is placed in a coiled pipe thing that sticks out the side. "Crazy Dutch, what'll they think of...
[read the full post...]

I Want Some Hot Pregnant Chick Mudflaps

Can you imagine what kind of stars would have to align for hot pregnant chick mudflaps to take off? Just for fun sometime on the freeway, try and figure it out: whose the typical customer for regular hot chick chrome...
[read the full post...]

Quick Flying Tip: Change Sides

Here's an idea if you're flying with a kid in a car seat, and you have connecting flights: try reserving seats on the opposite side of the airplane for each flight [i.e., put the car seat in A for one...
[read the full post...]

From Grandma's Toy Closet

Last weekend before getting laid out by the flu, the kid and I stopped by my grandmother's house in smalltown, Utah. It was the first time the kid had actually spent more than a few minutes there [we were...
[read the full post...]

June 1, 2006

See? Cariboo Cares. So They Added A Bassinet Changer

Thanks to our trusty Bugaboo bassinet, we missed the whole bassinet-as-furniture boat, but I can appreciate me a Cariboo Bassinet all the same. [Even if it does remind me a bit of the hotel luggage racks that were my...
[read the full post...]

Strange Balloon Molecule Man Has Too Much Fun

A piece of advice: if you're thinking of having a nerd come to your kid's birthday party to make balloon molecules, you'd better have some other entertainment lined up, too. This buckminsterfullerene molecule takes "only" 60-80 minutes, and the diamond...
[read the full post...]

Hasbro Kicks Pussycat Dolls Out Of Corporate Bed

If you're keeping score at home, it's Dads & Daughters: 1, Pussycat Dolls: 0. A week or so ago, the non-profit groups Dads & Daughters and Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood organizes a Letterwriting Campaign For A Trampy Doll-Free Childhood,...
[read the full post...]

LOLOL Namibia Is For Lovers T-shirt

I will have little to say about doings in Namibia here on daddytypes, except to point out that this "Namibia is for Lovers" t-shirt is $15.99 plus shipping. Also, the operative word in the description is "sheer," so unless...
[read the full post...]

Govt: Dads Care, Matter Now

The CDC's National Center on Health Statistics released the latest results of the National Survey of Family Growth [NSFG], which is notable because it's the first round of the study to include men. So, uh, thanks, I guess. The data...
[read the full post...]

Cub Chair For Kids [Not Netto Cub, Either]

Daniel Michalik is a Rhode Island-based designer who focuses on creating furniture using overlooked materials in an environmentally sustainable way. Which sounds a helluva lot sexier than saying he made a children's chair out of crushed up bottle stoppers. But...
[read the full post...]

Cold War Era Folding Rocker By Niko Kralj

The Rex is a line of folding chairs designed in the early 1950's by Niko Kralj [remember, the beauty of buying it online: you don't have to pronounce his name] as the Slovenian Yugoslavian [Tito lives!] counterpart to the Eameses...
[read the full post...]

« May 2006 | Main Index | | July 2006 »