Daddy Types: March 2008 Archives

March 2008 Archives

March 31, 2008

Hmm, BabyGap Home Seems To Have A Daddy Gap

Well, that didn't take long. BabyGap Home went live on the gap.com site today, and first impressions: not bad, for a total chickfest. It's definitely a small, tightly edited collection of brands and stuff; the BabyGap flagship product seems...
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Pointing To Parenting, Inc's Pamela Paul

I've been trying to finish Parenting, Inc., the new book about the baby industrial complex and the commercialization of parenting by Time magazine reporter Pamela Paul. So far, I'm about 3/4 through, and my review copy is marked up and...
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The Audacity On Hope: BMW X6 Spied In Downtown LA

Yesterday afternoon, on the way back to our hotel, we got stuck in a photoshoot for the new Lamborghini LP560-4, and I whipped out the phonecam. Meanwhile, from DT's correspondent from the Small World Department, Darren, was apparently staying...
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We Are Freaking Living A Bugaboo Daytrip, People

Thanks to everyone for the tips and suggestions for our Los Angeles trip; we made it safe and sound, with an entirely uneventful, if gear-heavy flight. Over the weekend we had family visits down in O.C., and a trip...
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Noted Control Freaks Flaunt $6 Million Crib Of Death

Cribs stuffed with suffocating amounts of pillows, animals, and blankets? Dangly canopies and ribbons posing a strangulation risk? For bravely pointing out the safety hazards in J.Lo and M.An's People Magazine-styled Twin Cribs Of Death, the editors of Parents deserve...
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Restoration Hardware Baby & Child Will Try To Out-Crate & Barrel Pottery Barn Kids

Whatever happened to Restoration Hardware's Baby? Patty and the trades reported it last Spring, and DT reader Mark wondered aloud about it a couple of days ago. Now according to Chris, Daddy Types' mall correspondent, Restoration Hardware is indeed...
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March 29, 2008

Old Toyseller Coughs Up Two Sweet Antonio Vitali Animals

Clear out a few more curio cabinetsful of these new-old-stock Antonio Vitali animals, and I think a certain retired, Connecticut toy store owner will be able to get that condo in Boca. Of course, with the way the Florida...
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Hey, Now Turn Parentblogging Into A Lucrative Career! Until You Quit In Frustration

Check it out, Parenting.com is looking for an editor! If you can "generate lively, crisply written, accurate parenting stories...on tight deadlines," and want to "Work with Parenting and Babytalk editors to generate and showcase collaborative features and campaings that exploit...
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March 28, 2008

Finnish Government Handouts Totally Killed Local Cardboard Baby Box Market

Finland: it's the little differences. I didn't know it was going to be Finland week around here, but DT commenter hfb ties the whole thing together and brings it all home with by pointing out that cardboard box cradles...
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Whoa, Get Ready For The Launch Of BabyGap Home

And where six babystyles close, more than a dozen BabyGap Home stores take their place. Fourteen, actually, starting with existing BabyGap stores in CA, NY, Chicago, and Dallas. Seems The Gap is getting ready to launch BabyGap Home, a...
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UK Waits Until After Cold Season To Ban Cold Medicine For Babies

It's part of the "special relationship" the US has with the UK: we copy their ubiquitous surveillance state apparatus, and they get our cold medicine ban for kids under two. The BBC reports that The Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory...
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Finnish, Not Finished: Jocular High Chair Concept

Another find from the kids at Turku University in Finland, one that makes me go, "Yhteydenottoihin!" This is the Jocular high chair/stool by Taina Ollikkala and Teea Jäske, which is beautifully crafted out of chromed steel and elm. [No...
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Hotrod Finnish Walker And Crazy Ball Pit Chair From Helsinki Design Week '07

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Hotrod walker, originally uploaded by jyri. It took me a while to track down this...
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It's My Kid In A Baby Box By Andrew Stafford

In 2001, British designer Andrew Stafford created the Baby Box, Archive and Crib, mk.3, which I assume pertains to the third version. [James Goggin is credited with graphic design on mk3, while Paul Elliman and Alex Rich did mk1 and...
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March 27, 2008

Wow. Baby Boy's Wedding Outfit By Issey Miyake

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Family portrait!, originally uploaded by jyri. There are approximately two clothing designers I'd actually like...
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Where's Childsply When You Need It?

Robin Day's Rocking Bird Childpsly Chair, 1999, for twentytwentyone, via For an extremely awesome-sounding collection of affordable, sustainable, kid-related design that's not even ten years old, Childsply is pretty-near invisible on the web. Childsply was the name of a...
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Awesome: Lower Back Tattoos By Toys R Us

What's this? Tramp stamps for sale in the Stickers R Us machine at Toys R Us? I smell a comprehensive cross-platform blitzertunity! Apparently, so does Disney. That other options I can make out are Hannah Montana, Clubhouse Disney, and...
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Awesome: WWE Wresting To Launch Kids Magazine

ProWrestling.com Imagery: Bombshells (1252) Female Celebrities (495) Male Celebrities (3) Shane McMahon, WWE Wrestling's EVP of Global Media/professional son, announced WWE Kids, a pro wrestling magazine aimed at 6-14 year-olds, which is part of the bigger WWE Youth Initiative:Every...
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"Hot Dog: A Program About Stuff" Starring Woody Allen & Jonathan Winters. Huh?

Hot Dog was a children's television series that ran for one season (1970) on NBC's Saturday morning. Called "The Show About Stuff," it was basically the network version of the "How do they make _____?" segments from Mister Rogers...
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March 26, 2008

The CPSC Is A Series Of Tubes! Even When He Loses, Ted Stevens Wins

A couple of weeks ago, Congress took major, nearly unprecedented steps to strengthen the Consumer Products Safety Commission by increasing its budget, but also by giving it greater punitive and regulatory powers. The CPSC Reform Act tightened safety regulations on...
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Transgender Dude Wears The Pants, Carries The Baby In His Family

Thomas Beatie is not the first transitioned female-to-male transsexual to decide to get pregnant and have a baby. He's just the first to pose like Demi Moore on the cover of Vanity Fair and to go public about his family's...
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Kermit The Frog Here, In The Cold, Dead Vacuum Of Space

Kermit the attention-whoring frog was last seen trying to reclaim the irreparably lost cool of his youth by doing a photoshoot for skate emperors Supreme with noted downtown skanktographer Terry Richardson. Then he resurfaced a couple of weeks later,...
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Sweet Kidshouse From Studiomama

More sweet loft modules cribbed from magazines. I was really digging the Lego wall, so grabbed this shot of Nina Tolstrup's painted MDF kidshouse from her profile in the latest issue of Dwell. Only when I got home did...
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Built-In And/Or Wheeled Nursery By Merge Architects

Judging by her firm's online porfolio, Merge Architects principal Elizabeth Whittaker has never designed a plywood loft built-in she didn't like. And that apparently goes for her own kid's nursery, too. The April issue of Boston Magazine features awesome...
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Sunday In The Slope With Dad

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Park Slope Parking Lot, originally uploaded by br_5530. via dt reader sara...
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March 25, 2008

DT Link Roundup: PC, ABC, APC, RR, HR Edition

Some headlines and links from the DT browser tabs: One WSJ dad knows he's ruining his 5-yo son's future by not teaching him more about computers. but dammit, we didn't need Webkinz when we were that age; we blew our...
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Blogpile! Marion Bataille's Pop-Up ABC3D

Popup by Marion BatailleUploaded by jacques_faciale I swear, when I posted about "V is for Viagra: An ABC Pop-Up Book" yesterday, I had no idea that the design/geek blogworld would be getting so aroused at that very moment over a...
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DTQ: Road Trip Tips? We're Coming To Los Angeles

So my wife's got an astrophysics conference next week in downtown Los Angeles, and we all decided to tag along. I think I know my art world Los Angeles, and I know my way around some of Sunset's scene-ier, but...
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"Daddyproof?" Le Sabon, Meet Le Finger

Before you buy a "funny" Onesie, remember that 99% of them are actually about as funny as Jerry Seinfeld presenting as that damn bee at the Oscars. Are you sure the one you're about to choose is that miraculous...
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West Coast Wagons Theoretically Not Just For Celebrity Gifting Anymore

At first I was too blown away by the website's name--My Wholesale Baby--to worry that the authentic ammunition boxes add 15 pounds to West Coast Wagons' custom camo rig. Then I was whipsawed by the sales pitch:From hand painted...
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March 24, 2008

ABC Books Good And Bad

It's a little librarian-nerdy, but every once in a while, I like to get my fix of The Horn Book, the venerable trade magazine of the children's book business. It's like reading KidScreen, the kids TV industry magazine, only slightly...
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Plush Surveillance Camera By Jennifer Lew

Given her creative genius and mad sewing skillz, I don't doubt that plushmaster artist Jennifer Lew would have created a soft, cuddly surveillance camera/computer keyboard mashup eventually. I just thank the New York Times for commissioning it now, to...
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Horton Hears Who, Freaks Out Kid, Gets Dad Thinking

So the kid went to a theater for her first, actual movie over the weekend: Horton Hears A Who. It totally freaked her out. Technically, her first movie ever was John Cassavetes' Shadows, which she watched with me when...
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BPA A-to-Z, Including TXT @ Z Recommends

While the CPSC sits by and does nothing, and the consumer and environmental activist groups go for the big, legistlation-changing headlines, parents who actually want to do something about exposing their kid to Bisphenol-A (BPA) are left in the lurch....
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Two Doctors, Both Alike In BabyPlus Quackery

In Mimi Maternity where we lay our scene... You know what, life's too short and I'm too busy, so while I'd like to retell the entire BabyPlus saga in Shakespearean verse, I'd rather just be done with it. Hopefully you'll...
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March 23, 2008

BabyPlus Prenatal Education System: Meet The New Boss, Same As The Old Boss

After identifying all the published evidence as self-promotional, unaccredited, non-science and the founder/inventor as a credential-faking huckster, I had figured my work with the BabyPlus Prenatal Education System was done. But then last week it turned up again, and the...
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March 22, 2008

Students Design HaPe Bamboo Toys During 3-Hour Tour, A 3-Hour Tour

Last year, the CEO of Swiss toy company HaPe invited a group of Israeli design students to participate in a Bamboo Design Workshop. For a couple of weeks, the students and their professors lived, ate, and slept [with] bamboo...
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March 21, 2008

WooHoo! DIY Crib Of Death Takes Design*Sponge Bronze

Let's all celebrate with mom-to-be Melissa, whose hand-painted, death-slat-equipped, fallout-optimized, mini-crib won 3rd Prize in Design*Sponge's recent DIY Project Contest. I'm sure she'll use the $300 prize money to buy some infill slats. I think we've all learned an...
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CA Regs: Pregs Or No Legs, Everyone Parks For Free

A California state legislator from Orange County has introduced a bill that would grant all pregnant women "temporarily disabled" status for the last trimester, plus the first couple of months after giving birth. This would enable them to join the...
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How Big Is It? How Big You Want It? Awesome Clifford Richards Noah's Ark

When Jenn posted photos of her daughter's room on Minor Details, I tried to break my gaze away from the cool vintage schooldesk to figure who made the sweet rainbow creature painting on the wall. I had no idea...
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March 20, 2008

Whoa, Babystyle Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

I'm looking into this, and haven't seen it reported anywhere else yet, but I hear eStyle, inc., the parent company of babystyle, cadeau, and kidstyle, filed for bankruptcy protection today. Stay tuned. [here, I guess because it's been 36...
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How To Make Buttons And/Or Screw With Your Kid's Mind

In honor of Won't You Be My Neighbor Day [Did you all remember to wear your sweaters? Good, I knew you could.], achingly adorable writer/filmmaker/hipster moll Miranda July takes us on a trip to a button factory. A button...
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Ghodiyu: Think This Indian Baby Hammock Will Scratch My Hardwood Floor?

The NY Times Home Section has a feature on Suchitra Van and Nette Gaastra, two artsy, West Villagers who decided to remodel when their son Sebbe was born rather than give up their 1BR apartment. Think of it as...
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"Tako Kinderwagen Mit Extra"?? Is This Germany's Pistol-Packin' Stroller?

If there's anything Americans love more than a loaded handgun, it's a concealed, loaded handgun. And if you get one for free, all the better. From Reuters: BERLIN (Reuters) - A stroller sold in an Internet auction in Germany...
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Alright, Bloom Otto Table, I'll Bite: What Is "Stylewood"?

I first spotted this design yesterday on, uh, Designspotter. As you can guess from the shape, Bloom Baby's new Otto chairs slide right in under the new Otto playtable, for a nice, clean look. It's designed by Hakan Gürsu,...
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March 19, 2008

Steve Zuckerman's Awesome, Moody, Hippie Songs On Sesame Street

These things are like Pringles; once you open the can and have one, you just can't stop. The kid was really withdrawn and bummin' when she came home from pre-school this afternoon, so we sat down to an episode...
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Recovered: Matt Jones' Unofficial History Of "Pinball Number Count"

Back in 2003, British blogger Matthew Jones pieced together an early unofficial, but informative history of "Pinball Number Count." While the details of it have mostly been incorporated into the Wikipedia entries for the song; the animators at Jeff Hale's...
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WTD: 4-Handed Swami To Count Pinball Number Count Cover Versions

Seriously, that DJ Food remix and The Family Guy are just the tip of the iceberg. At his music blog Fong Song, blogger Fongolia has tallied up at least 17 cover versions of "Pinball Number Count," the classic Sesame...
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House For Sale. Giant, Foam Blocks House For Sale

With a name like Studio Papas, I think I'd love whatever Koen Crommentuijn and Marjan Verboeket put out. The fact that it's House for Sale, or Speelhuis, a set of twelve, giant cold-foam blocks shaped like classic wooden blocks...
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D'Oh! Missed The Thunderball Wallpaper Auction

I'd flagged this eBay listing for posting, and then I totally missed it in the whirlwind of family that descended on us over the weekend: five rolls of Thunderball wallpaper, circa 1965, were sold on Saturday as part of...
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Nickelodeon's ParentsConnect Useful For Dads With No Other Humor Outlet

So I pointed out yesterday that Nickelodeon's executives described "moms" and kids "on mom's lap" as two prime targets for their new $100 million, 600+ games, online marketing push. Which is a little lame, but mostly, it's fine, and not...
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March 18, 2008

Thanks, Nickelodeon! Another Website Dads Need To Know Nothing About

NickJr.com with Delta/AmEx ad, for when you're feeling not so fresh, I guess Viacom division Nickelodeon unveiled the first of 600 new online games designed to strengthen "the brand affiliation" and to deliver young eyeballs to advertisers, including the...
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Hey, Ladiiiiees!!!

This just in from DT advertiser--and pudgy baby nixer--Cookie Magazine:Moms are the real experts, so we know that the most trusted advice is the Word of Mom. Tell us what the best products are for you and your family!This...
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DT Link Roundup: Back In The Day Edition

Clearing the ol' browser tabs: The NY Times used a new Central Park playground as a slightly irrelevant hook for discussing a new book from Rutgers University Press, Designing Modern Childhoods: History, Space, and the Material Culture of Children. Apparently,...
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Sugoi: Japanese Folk Toy Design Database

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } halloweenesque octopus, originally uploaded by peacay. FYI, "sugoi" means "great!" and is used sort of...
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March 17, 2008

Pregnant With Meaning: A Reproductive Reading Of What's Opera, Doc?

This morning I wrote a bit about the origins of the phrase, "the rabbit died," which was a common, if inaccurate, euphemism for a positive result on a pregnancy test, which in post-WWII America was called the rabbit test....
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Win One For The Little Zipper! Creative Playthings Mail Scooter On eBay

Haven't seen one of these turn up on eBay before. It's a Creative Playthings Mail Scooter called the Little Zipper, presumably a reference to the 5-digit Zip Code, which was being promoted for general use in the late 1960's...
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From Kill The Wabbit To Pee On A Stick: A History Of The Pregnancy Test

1978 is the 30th anniversary of the home pregnancy test, which was developed by pioneering researchers in reproductive endocrinology at the National Institutes of Health. "A Thin Blue Line" is the NIH's online history of the project, and it makes...
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March 16, 2008

It's Just A Plant We Sell Out Of Our Day Care Center

Awesome. Last week, police in Manhattan arrested a pot dealer who also ran a private day care center. Now we don't use either herb or daycare, but this seems like a quantum leap of convenience. Instead of rearranging your entire...
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I Hope You Know This Will Go Down On Your Permanent Record: UK Police Want DNA From Kindergarteners

Right headline? I couldn't decide between that and "Gattaca! Gattaca! Gattaca!" From the UK Guardian/Observer's pre-crime desk:Primary school children should be eligible for the DNA database if they exhibit behaviour indicating they may become criminals in later life, according to...
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March 14, 2008

Looks Like I'd Better Talk To The Boss: Cadillac Station Wagon On eBay

Uh-oh, it's put up or shut up time. That 1979 Cadillac station wagon Jalopnik spotted back in December is now online. On sale. on eBay. Back then, I said I'd suddenly felt desperate to buy one, and now one--the...
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Steco Bike Accessories For Your Baby-Filled, Car-Free Life

As if you needed any more proof than the folding process of a Bugaboo that the Dutch are just not that into cars [seriously, I ended up putting the bassinet in the front seat the other day because I...
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The Other Cradle Of The King Of Rome

Of the over 14,000 vintage color slides donated by Charles W. Cushman to the Indiana University library, this 1960 photo of a cradle at Fontainebleau is the only one with a "children's furniture" tag. I did some searching, and...
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The Poster You May Not Want To See In The Nursery

If your name's James, that is. This poster by Ben Hribar was made for some hippie dippie, peace love & understanding exhibition in 2006. It "addresses the disconnect and apathy of the general public towords [sic] their fellow brothers...
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Average Weight Of Ineke Hans Furniture Drops Dramatically

Dutch designer Ineke Hans' Black Beauties collection, begun in 2000, was one of the first significant attempts to make cool, contemporary furniture for kids. The chairs, tables, and rocking toys are made out of heavy-duty, black, recycled plastic--which weighs...
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March 13, 2008

Wow. Shagtastic Lucite Rocker

If you'd given up on your groovy Halston-themed nursery and were about to return that silver metallic op art wallpaper, STOP. Your rocker just turned up on eBay. MODERN LUCITE ROCKING CHAIR 1970'S, $475 bid or $500 Buy It...
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NYT: Jim Carrey Ruins A[nother] Dr. Seuss Movie

In the NY Times, Tony Scott rips Jim Carrey's dismal performance as Horton, but this line almost makes me want to see the movie anyway:All kinds of extraneous elements are added to the story. The Mayor of Who-ville, voiced by...
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Imagineers Set To Screw Up Mary Blair's It's A Small World Ride

When I was little, Mary Blair's animatronic masterpiece, the Disneyland version of It's A Small World, made me want to become an Imagineer so bad, I sent off for the brochure. Instead, I ended up becoming what no kid in...
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Sweet, That Molded Ply Fold-down Changing Table Is By Bo Ekstrom

It's a molded ply world out there--in Scandinavia, anyway. Thanks to DT reader Anouschka, who ID'd that molded ply changing table as the work of Swedish designer Bo Ekstrom. The byBo Nursing Table is, in fact, molded birch laminate,...
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Do they have wireless at jury duty? We'll see.

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Wasting Away Again In KidKupzville

Uh-oh: "If you're a Mom, you're likely familiar with the age-old problem of trying to administer harsh-tasting medicine to a sick, fussy child!" Good thing the publicist added "or a dad" in the press release, or we coulda had...
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March 12, 2008

Two's A Trend! Another Stylish Crib Of Death Photoshoot

Wow, you know what? Celebrities are just like us. If by "celebrities," you mean Brooke Burke [1], and by "us," you mean people whose wildly unsafe-but-photogenic nursery furniture causes online comment riots. Before the whole DIY crib of death...
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Ooh, Will Homemade Crib Of Death Win Design*Sponge's DIY Contest??

Killer crib, dude! Vote now, and help turn Design*Sponge's DIY contest into a potentially lifesaving learning opportunity for everyone about the safety hazards posed by crib slats that are more than the government-mandated 2 3/8 inches apart [head gets...
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Ombelico: Sweet, Belted, Modular Storage By Marc Sadler

Oh, awesome, modular cube-shaped retail fixtures, where were you when I needed you? Milan-based industrial designer Marc Sadler is developing Ombelico, a [presumably] low-cost, flatpack storage and display system, with the Italian manufacturer Alu. It's made from WPC, wood...
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Marion? She's A Man, Baby!

NYT columnist John Tierney's middle name is Marion, which caused him no end of grief as a child:I had vivid memories of playground serenades to my middle name: “Marion . . . Madam Librarian!” (My tormentors didn’t care that the...
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March 11, 2008

Totally Tubular Rocking Horse On eBay

I would love nothing more than to get a gloating email from someone next week explaining what an incredible deal they got on this thing, and how could I not recognize this ultra-rare, tubular steel rocking horse that Giorgetto...
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That's WACK! Lea Lublin And Niki de Saint Phalle's Feminist Baby Art At PS1

"WACK!: Art and the Feminist Revolution," is an exhibition at P.S. 1 that takes a historical, international perspective on artists working in the late 1960's and 1970's who were either involved in or impacted by feminist activism. I'm itching to...
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Freaking Out Children Since The 1930's: The Land Of Make-Believe Map By Jaro Hess

In 1930, Czech artist Jaro Hess' painting, "Adventure in Storyland," which offered a dazzling Grand Unifying Theory of the world's fairy tales, was turned into a poster by The Child's Wonderland Company of Grand Rapids, Michigan. It's been reissued...
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March 10, 2008

Crosley Davidson: "I'm As Happy As A New Daddy!"

"On the hood, you will see the brown extends down the front. It follows the outline of the 'CROSLEY' badge that goes there. I'm as happy as a new daddy!!!!" That's Barry "Bearman" Dennis talking about the new paint job...
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March 20th Is Won't You Be A Neighbor By Wearing A Sweater? Day

I swear, I didn't know about this. Next week, Thursday, March 20th, would be Fred Rogers' 80th birthday. The standardbearers at Family Communications, Inc., Rogers' production company, are encouraging everyone to wear a sweater--I repeat, to wear a sweater--on...
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Porsche 928 Wagen: There IS No Substitute Excuse

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Amelia Concours_20080309 261, originally uploaded by JJ Daddy-O. DT's minivan industry analyst JJ Daddy-o has...
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DTQ: Mister Rogers Merchandise?

Posting may be a little light today. Not pointing any fingers, not playing the blame game, but someone scheduled the kid's hearing test for the first day his wife went back to work. Hopefully, my mom can check out the...
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Vintage Community Playthings Original Maple Airplane

Haven't had a lot of the random eBay finds on here lately, probably because I haven't had as much time for the random eBay surfing as I used to. But I always like to see these giant maple jets...
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Wow. Russian Winnie The Pooh By Fyodor Khitruk

It's like Winnie the Pooh, without the rampant capitalism. Literally. In 1969-1972, Fyodor Khitruk, who is considered the pioneering figure of post-Stalinist Soviet animation, made three short films about Vinni Puh, based on the Russian translation of A.A. Milne's...
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March 9, 2008

Baby Seal Pelt Probably Sounds Adorable In Icelandic

Some of my favorite people are Icelanders, but seriously? Weird weird weird place. On the one hand, the government provides no-strings, no-experience-required travel grants to bands, so they can do some gigs abroad, maybe become the next Bjork. And on...
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March 8, 2008

Going Back For A Day In The Neighborhood

When Google Video first launched, it seemed like no matter what you searched for, the results were always 9-part interviews with public television pioneers by the Archive of American Television. Joan Ganz Cooney can keep waiting, but I picked and...
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The Custom Playmobil Kid Is Not My Son

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Mobison 3-1, originally uploaded by 091. Playmo91 is a mad Playmobil customizer in Taiwan who...
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March 7, 2008

Ausgezeichnet! Phidibus Bassinet Converts To Rocker, Bench, Desk

"Aus 1 mach 4" is right! When it comes to children's furniture, the German penchant for convertibility uber alles is well known. [uh, citation needed] So let's just point out the obvious about the Phidibus 4-in-1 bassinet/rocking bench/bench/desk made...
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Some Aussie Huckster: Look At Me! Txt Msg Baby Names!

XLNT! Next time I want to promote my out-of-my-ass "societal trends, generational studies, and demographic shifts" research by declaring a data-free trend and slapping a totally made up explanation on it, I know where to go: Australia. Or maybe not!...
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Child Learns Calligraphy, Also That Most Letters Start With A Fat, Vertical Line

This has been making the designweb rounds. Apparently, getting shirtless on camera with your uncle the calligrapher is a timeworn tradition in Amsterdam. Bonus monosyllabic Dutch naming bonanza from the credits: Gradus [the kid, admittedly polysyllabic], Job [the uncle]...
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March 6, 2008

Oh My Heck! Extreme Yo Gabba Gabba! Craftiness

If their rabidly crafty fans keep up this pace, Yo Gabba Gabba! may never need to bother putting out actual merchandise at all; instead they can be like PBS painting guru Bob Ross, making mad bank by selling raw materials--paints,...
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HAHAHAHA! "Luke... You're My Father"!

See, it's awesome because really, Vader is Luke's... uh, right then. Major maker geek Steve Lodefink is guestblogging on Mister Jalopy and Mark Frauenfelder's new blog, Dinosaurs and Robots. In other words, Flashlightsabers, Water Rocket Parties and Coconut Shell...
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Davy Lauterbach's Paintings Are Thursday's Child

Balk may be right that he left his interviewing A-game home, but then, Radar's not the likeliest place to be breaking news of new painters. Especially ones whose "gallery reps" are actually fashion stylists. Who've worked for Radar. Still,...
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Oof! BabyMod Olivia Crib At Wal-Mart Looks Familiar

Wal-Mart's got another set of modern-style nursery furniture. The first Modern Nursery collection they stocked from BabyMod wasn't really modern; the manufacturer, Million Dollar Baby [which also makes Da Vinci furniture], just went for a a Netto-in-a-fog look by...
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March 5, 2008

New Honda Accord Tourer In Geneva, Not US, Bien Sur

Beat your head against the wall lately? If not, check out Jalopnik's Geneva Auto Show gallery of the 2009 Honda Accord Tourer with an optional i-DTEC diesel engine and--oh, who cares what else it has? We've been down this...
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I Think We're Gonna Need A Bigger Doodad Shelf

So I got a little sick of bottles strewn across the counter and little rubber valves slipping between the drying rack, and I bought a Skip*Hop Splash bottle rack and brush combo [Wow, $28? Seems a little pricey, but...
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Orange County, CA: Stultifying Suburban Idiocy Producing Rebellious Teenagers Since 1981

"Is Your Child A Tagger?"Your child has large quantities of magic markers in various colors, types and sizes, spray-paint cans, shoe polish containers, or dot markers used to mark bingo cards. ... Your child has or carries a black...
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They're There! Serena Kuhl's Poltergeist Stuffed Toys

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } poltergrab, originally uploaded by serenakuhl. Freaking Awesome. I KNEW I shouldn't have blown off last...
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Before They Were Sued: "Doctor's should prescribe these [Baby Einstein] videos for colicky babies!"

Lost in the over-earnest debate about the supposed educational value of Baby Einstein videos is any sense of the innocent, dewy-eyed days before the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended no screen-based media for kids under 2-yo. before those damn...
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Baby Einstein Tweaks Copy, Dodges FTC Complaint, Drives Anti-TV Activists Cuh-razy

from the Baby Einstein website circa 2004 VICTORY! [Cue crickets] From the tree falling in a forest department, we learn that "The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood is claiming victory after Baby Einstein quietly changed its website to remove...
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This Is Not Your Father's Velcro Diaper Tab

Last time we heard from mad scientist Rob Cockerham, he was cataloguing all the machinery in the delivery room while his wife was doing the real work. [Oops, actually, that was the first time; the last time, he was counting...
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March 4, 2008

I'll Confess! Make It Stop! The Torture Device Coloring Book

Did you know the slippery slope applies to posting about oddball coloring books, too? Once you've posted about a few, you're stuck. And when something like Erik Ruhling's The Torture Device Coloring Book comes along, with its cheesy rhymes...
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USTA Tees Up Slam-dunk Plan To Teach Little Kids Tennis: Move The Goalposts

I'll lift the blogging blackout about the kid's preschool just enough to say that last weekend was the school's fundraising auction, and we bought her some tennis lessons. Then it dawned on me that a handful of tennis lessons with...
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So Close: Adobe Dad Almost Names Kid Seetharaman Narayanan

Kudos to Adobe blogger John Nack, who's celebrating the safe arrival of Finnegan Liggett Nack. Like Photoshop users the world over, the Nacks had Seetharaman Narayanan on their name list, too. Please Welcome Mr. Finnegan Nack [blogs.adobe.com via dt reader...
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March 3, 2008

Morigeau Lepine, Meet JC Le Penney

Sometimes you're the whacker, and sometimes you're the weed. The last time we saw the Quebecois crib powerhouse Morigeau Lepine mentioned on Daddy Types, they were hiding a flatout David Netto knockoff crib in the walled booth at the...
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This Is Not The Bloom Baby Bassinet You Were Looking For

Note to recent graduates of industrial design programs: When you present a concept for a co-sleeper/bassinet made from molded EVA foam and molded ply, check to see that the name is not already being used by an existing baby...
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Hit Or Miss? First-hand Accounts Of Dwell For Target

So the Dwell for Target [oops, make that DwellStudio for Target] bedding collection has been in stores for a few weeks now, and it looks fine; it has nice, Dwell-y design with get-what-you-pay-for quality. But the nursery furniture is...
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Wow. Sixteen Other Animals Puzzle NOT By Enzo Mari

vs. I have to agree with the design gurus at Tokyo's Graphio/Buro-stil on this one: sometimes a copy rises above the level of mere knockoff to attain a remarkable beauty of its own. Like a cover version or a...
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March 2, 2008

Kermit The Totally Washed Up, Whoring Frog Here

It's not that easy being green Having to spend each day with total skank photographer Terry Richardson in the shop window of Colette, propped behind something Nylon Magazine calls a "Supreme skate desk," which could be cool, only I...
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March 1, 2008

Gravitation, The Work-Family Video Game, By Jason Rohrer

I am so glad stuff like this exists; it's really spectacular, in a quiet, off guard way that I never would have imagined. Jason Rohrer created Gravitation, his latest autobiographical video game [?!] out of the sudden, overwhelming response...
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Yes, This Will Be On The Exam: Children's TV Show Character Names

With the news that J. Lo and M. An [doesn't work?] have named their twins Max and Emme, I think it behooves those who already have kids to list up the names of current children's TV show characters, just so...
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DT Advertisers Love Your Kid's Mohawk

Thanks to the Daddy Types advertisers who support the kids' educations without complaining once about their haircuts. If you have a product or a service, an event or an organization that new dads and their posse should know about, consider...
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