Daddy Types: June 2008 Archives

June 2008 Archives

June 30, 2008

What To Expect When You're A First-Time Expectant

I was talking with a baby gear company executive last week, and when she offhandedly used the term "first-time expectants," I stopped to quiz her about it. It's pretty obvious what and why the concept exists--if I were selling piles...
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Feeling Pretty Good At The End Of The Day

We were at MoMA the other day, the kids and I, and when we'd had our fill of watching Spiral Jetty--the kids' first visit is in a couple of weeks--we got up, turned the corner, where another dark, grainy...
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Wal-Mart Seeks To Destroy Our Milk Crate Way Of Life

The milk crate's days are numbered. Record collectors, bodega-haunting codgers, and playroom shelf-building dads of the future will curse the name of Greg Soehnlen, the Robert Oppenheimer of milk packaging design, whose square milk jug stacks tighter and four...
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June 29, 2008

What A Tool: 25th Anniversary Sterling Silver Leatherman

Wow. This 25th Anniversary Leatherman Charge has a sterling silver handle and comes in a limited edition of 999. Even if I didn't have a fine, broken-in Leatherman, this would make no sense at all. But I still totally...
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Ay Caramba! Baby Cabezas Gigantes

Brought to you by Antonio Lopez Garcia, not Goya....
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June 27, 2008

DT Friday Freakout: M-I-C, Vitamin C Is A Trademark Of The Disney Corporation Edition

Oddly, there's no alarming research to freakout over this week. Which only means we're not looking closely enough: The CPSC recalled 320,000 Jardine cribs sold at Toys R Us, Babies R Us, Geoffrey's World, and KidsWorld. There have been multiple...
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"Please Wait In Father's Waiting Room"

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } waiting, originally uploaded by superbomba. you've come a long way, daddy. via fffound, thanks andy...
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Antiques Backroadshow: Vintage Vinyl In Goldsboro

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Olde Country Store, Goldsboro, NC, originally uploaded by daddytypes. Full of Wilber's barbecue and looking...
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Alec Soth's Dog Days, Bogota

Alec Soth is a photographer of the studied mundane, a Minnesotan inspired by folks like Robert Frank or William Eggleston, whose images create a sense of overlooked place. When he and his wife went to Bogota, Colombia to pick...
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June 26, 2008

Unidentified Local Man Has White Bavarian Bull Leather Car Seats

Next time I get a Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe, I'll remember to have Bespoke re-cover my kids' car seats covered in matching Bavarian bull hide, too. image detail via pacific coast news online [celebuzz via my wife, who...
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Dada Types

The kid just told me this joke: "Knock knock." "Who's there?" "Sun." "Sun who?" "Trashcan!"...
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More Silicone Please, Not Just Awesome Squishy Bowls

When I saw Josh Guyot's cast silicone Squishy Bowls on MoCo Loco last week, I had a feeling they'd be awesome for kids, not just for their original target market: fetishy backpackers willing to pay a premium for just...
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Garden Gnomes Not Included: Sweet Community Playthings Tractor On eBay

Dayton, Ohio bidders will have the advantage on this awesome, old Community Playthings ride-on tractor. Though it's just under 11 inches high, all that maple lumber and those chunky Firestone tires will cost a bundle to ship. Maybe when...
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June 25, 2008

Daddy Rhymes

I just got my copy of Ogden Nash's The Bad Parent's Garden of Verse; it's pretty wordy. But here's one short, sweet, cautionary poem for dadbloggers:My Daddy I have a funny daddy Who goes in and out with me And...
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That's Right, The Right Start Is Seeking To Buy Babystyle

An anonymous commenter just left an unconfirmed comment about the future of babystyle, so take it for what it's worth:I heard through the grapevine that The Right Start is supposed to buy Babystyle on July 8th. There is a court...
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June 24, 2008

"Odin, We Have A Problem."

I get so flippant and casual, so comfortable in the sheer, blessed, lucky ease of my life. Then the kids go to bed, and I pop open the computer to find as stark a reminder imaginable of the fragility of...
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Hey Denver Minimalists! Craig's Got Your Changing Table!

If your top four criteria for a changing table are [in no particular order]: minimalist/industrial-style sweet maple ply construction cheap, maybe $40 or so, and at least a mile high DT reader Ariel has found the Craigslisting for you: Very...
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Gloucester Mayor Waves Hands, Says It Wasn't Necessarily A 'Pact'

If you think that the high school principal calling a group of "seven or eight sophomore girls" trying to getting pregnant and raise their kids together a "pact" causes a media headache for the mayor, you're right. So far, no...
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Ja, Teutonia IS In The US Now

A few people saw a comment by the North American representative for Teutonia strollers in the tire gunk post yesterday and were all, "Whoa, Teutonia's in the US??" The answer is a definitive ja. Teutonia is the original Mercedes...
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June 23, 2008

Tryon Toy Makers: For Kids By Kids

Didn't see that one coming. While getting in touch with my North Carolina roots by poking around the special collections at UNC-Asheville, I stumbled across the archives of the Tryon Toy Makers, a company founded in Tryon, NC during...
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Ben Bernanke, Ben Bernanke, What Do I See? Philip Anderson Illustrates The Fed

I saw this in the paper this weekend, illustrating an article about the Federal Reserve. It's awesome, as if Eric Carle illustrated The Economist. The actual artist, Philip Anderson, has a very nice-looking portfolio, but I can't find any...
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Giant Foam KidsCars Not Available In Green

I gottalotta nerve complaining about the Internet's short-term memory when I can't remember if I've written about these giant upholstered, padded foam KidsCars before. It seems like I have, if only because polyurethane is an odd material for a...
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June 22, 2008

Wilber's Barbecue, Hwy 70 Bypass, Goldsboro - NO

Oh wait, it's not NC Men's Room Changing Tables? Never mind. Nice hush puppies, though....
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June 21, 2008

Florent, We'll Miss You! But Check Out These Awesome Maps--And Morellet Guerineau??

Last weekend we took K2 for her first visit to Florent. Also her last, because Florent's closing in less than two weeks. I'd planned on many years of boring brunches where I'd explain to the kids how daddy and...
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June 20, 2008

The Internet Laughs At The Same Jokes And Has The Memory Of A Gnat

At least judging by the number of people who've sent this to me and the many places I've seen this discussed. And it's not like I'm pretending to be the first person to notice these Lego snacks; I only...
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Will These Lifelike [sic] Wall-E and Eve Robots Come To The US?

Whoa, these laptop-size Wall-E and Eve robots were at the Tokyo Toy Fair. Do you think Takara Tomy will bring them to the US? Next week? Tokyo Toy Show 2008, or check out the video directly on YouTube [kilian-nakamura...
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DTQ: Stroller Detailing Tips?

I've been wondering about the fine art of stroller detailing lately, and how little I do it. Does anyone actually read the manual and follow the maintenance instructions, and clean their stroller? I think the last time I actually washed...
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DT Road Trip & Head Count

In her new book, ARE WE THERE YET?: The Golden Age of American Family Vacations Susan Sessions Rugh says Ford had an ad campaign selling their cars as "America's schoolhouse on wheels." Which reminds me that I have to finish...
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DT Friday Freakout: A Very Special Episode Of Zoey 101 Edition

Ho-ly crap, just one link today, folks. The rest can wait: Time Magazine reports that "nearly half" of the 17 pregnancies this year at Gloucester High School turn out to be part of a pregnancy pact, a group of under-16...
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Neal Pollack's It's Just A Meso-American Hallucinogenic Plant

Neal Pollack writes in Salon about doing salvia [salvia divinorum, a still-legal-in-some-states hallucinogen that provides a very short, very intense high] a couple of times a year, in his basement, after the kid's asleep. Neal's right that salvia videos are...
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The Relationship of Neo-natal Stroller Hurdling And Your Becoming A Doctor Like Your Father

In order to bring a more people-y focus to what is by definition more of an "inside people" publication, the editors of the American College of Physicians' Annals of Internal Medicine invite readers to submit photographs. Of people. I'm...
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American Post Office, @)#($* YEAH! Children In The Mail

And I'm proud to be an American Where at least I know I'm free To mail children via parcel post by sewing stamps to their clothing. But then the Postmaster General did stand up! And changed the regulations about...
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June 19, 2008

Get This AP Profile Of Caroll Spinney While You Can

My wife saved the free newspaper from the subway the other day, which contains a fluffy but interesting AP profile by Ellen Simon of Caroll Spinney, who has played Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch since the first season of...
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Wow, Sweet Vintage Kids Clothes, Err, Vetements

Seriously, is it me, or are there just next to no good places to get vintage kids clothing? There was one rack of kids stuff at a vintage store in Huntington, mostly old t-shirts and Tufskins. [here it is on...
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June 18, 2008

Now We Know: VW Jetta TDi SportWagen Drops In August For $23,950

Jalopnik has the press release, which doesn't mention what those dealer adjustments'll be for the first few months. Jalopnik also has this insane Sprocketsian tribute film, The SportWagen of Sorrow. The only thing it's missing is a cameo by Nick...
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Redemption Song? 'World's Worst Interviewer' Still Has Harp, Spot On God's Buddy List

Here's a hypothetical for you: Let's say you're a producer for ABC/NBC/same diff, and you perpetrate what is hands-down, the cringingly worstest celebrity interview ever with, I don't know, pick a name--Holly Hunter. And though only like a thousand...
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Hate When That Happens: K2 Just Pooped Herself Awake

must be the banana. and yes, I'm just practicing my twitter....
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Israeli Au Pairs Not The Next Tibetan Nannies After All

That's the conclusion one American Jewish dad came to after his family burned through--Oy, the tsuris!--three Israeli au pairs, with no success. The problem: their "Israeli attitude" [his quotes]. Though they praise their "indigenous charm," American Jews apparently have the...
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War & Sweetpeace: Graco Rocking Robot Single-Armedly Tackles Nation's Reading Crisis

Thanks to CBS News, we all know there's a reading crisis in America. An NEA survey shows that barely half of adults read a book in 2004. Reading proficiency is dropping dramatically in every age group. [Except for 9 year...
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June 17, 2008

Sweet, Church-Tested Folding Climber From Community Playthings

Demand for this awesome, folding Community Playthings climbing gym must have dropped off some time after the Planet of the Apes trend faded away, because it's no longer in production. Fortunately, this one is available for pickup in Rochester,...
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Fusentaro

The kid likes the one-legged jump roping. Me, it's this one here, with the stilts and the glazed donut. That's my favorite video of Japan's own Steve-O-in-a-balloon, Fusen-taro. [風船太郎, Balloon Boy. The last two characters, -taro, are used in...
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So THAT's What's In Crinkly Books

Sheesh, NonToxicReviews makes me feel so unproductive. I don't know what you did last weekend, but Mr. Stinkhead created PDF's and howto's for two awesome DIY kid's books in the course of just three days--and the one day he...
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Scrubs For Bubs

My First Scrubs are available in sizes 0-6 months, all the way up to 8 years. In blue and green, also pink, but not, inexplicably, in those crazy psychedelic paint brush patterns the nurses wear. They can be monogrammed,...
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Iowa City Bugaboo Daytrips, Anyone?

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Iowa City Flood 6/10/2008, originally uploaded by onanov. DT reader Carl emailed:I was just searching...
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June 16, 2008

Kids Twitter The Darnedest Things

Finally, a perfect use for Twitter. DT reader Ben is documenting his 3-year old daughter's words of wisdom in less-than-144 character bursts. Here are some samples, nearly at random: "Astronauts don't ride motorcycles. They fly in the sky. They come...
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Sweet Gilbert Rohde Playpen Now A CPSC-Certified Objet

When he persuaded D. J. de Pree on the moral imperative of his streamlined designs, Gilbert Rohde brought modernism to the Herman Miller Furniture Company. Though he apparently didn't bring an urgency to produce modern children's furniture. Because even...
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DT Renegade Craft Fair Round-up

Staging the Renegade Craft Fair in the Pool at McCarren Park Pool is a great way to crystallize the cultural divide that is Williamsburg: you walk through thousands of Hispanic families camped out under every tree in the park,...
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You Can't Make Money Flipping Ikea In New Zealand

In the country of the Ikea-less, the guy reselling Ikea basics with like a five-dollar markup is king. New Zealand is such a country, and Mocka is such a king. Seriously, how weird is this? Mocka offers free shipping...
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June 15, 2008

Obama Explains Why They Don't Call It Baby Daddy's Day

Barack Obama got his Cosby on this morning, criticizing men who don't take responsibility for helping raise their children in a Father's Day speech at Apostolic Church of God in Chicago. If you just read the prepared text of his...
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Have You Seen Me? Or Maybe Several Of Me?

Just as we planned, the kid adopted one of my mother's flannel blankets with a hand-crocheted edge for her snuggly comforting thing. I say planned, because we kind of pushed it, because they were always right at hand, and...
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June 14, 2008

Ratha Yatra 2008: This Is How Hare Krishna Roll

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Hare Krishna dads celebrating Ratha Yatra on Fifth Avenue, originally uploaded by daddytypes. So we...
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Whipper Snippers Haircuts & Toy Store, 106 Reade St [W Bway & Church Sts] - YES

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June 13, 2008

Jean Prouvé Nursery School Chair

I guess I haven't followed the development of the Jean Prouvé market as closely as I'd thought; otherwise I might have known that TECTA, the German manufacturer of some early Prouvé furniture--and the contemporary re-issuer of others--also produced a...
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DT Friday Freakout: Food, Or The Lack Thereof Edition

Whew, for a while there, I was wondering if there wasn't going to be anything to freak out about over the weekend. I shouldn't have worried. Because the NY Attorney General delivered by announcing going after two drugstore chains--Rite-Aid and...
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NYT On Navigating The AHD-to-GTWD Transition

Well, it's taken her a few years, but NY Times writer Lisa Belkin is apparently getting on board with the reality that men are somehow involved in many work-family balance situations. She has a short [for her, 1400 words] but...
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RIP, Thomas Creat-- Wait, David Mitton Animated The Thunderbirds!

David Mitton, the children's TV producer who brought The Rev. Wilbert Vere Awdry's bedtime stories of Thomas the Tank Engine to lucrative, oddly animated life, has died. But Thomas Schmomas, the guy also did The Thunderbirds! That means Thomas...
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June 12, 2008

We'll Wrap Up Our Own Nostalgia, Thanks, Strawberry Shortcake

So there was a big licensing expo in New York this week, which apparently resulted in a phony trend story in the NY Times about companies redesigning their old licensed character properties to milk a new generation of nostalgic parents:...
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That Explains The Lukes, But Where Are The Lauras?

A study in the works at Harvard shows that Brazilian telenovelas have an impact--in Brazil, anyway--on lowering fertility rates and on baby name choices. From the abstract:We focus on fertility choices in Brazil, a country where soap operas (novelas) portray...
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Hey Little Girl, You Want Some Gummi Lighthouses?

No need to post the photo; it'll be all over the web by lunchtime. Gummi Lighthouses: When Candy Design Goes Terribly, Hilariously Wrong [joydevilla via waxy]...
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Sheesh, How About We Share Reading This Insanely Long NYT Article On Shared Parenting?

I think any parent who's juggling kid, work, and family responsibilities will say the same thing when they see this weekend's NY Times Magazine cover story, When Mom and Dad Share It All: Day-um, when am I going to read...
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Phil & Teds: The Real Slim, But Not Shady

It's the city parent's dream: a double stroller the size of a single. Just not if you use it when the sun's out. While the sun canopy on the Phil & Teds has certainly improved over the years, it...
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A Hard Manny Is Good To Find

Sexism has been much in the news of late, at least on this side of the pond [damn, but I hate that phrase.] So when you read Judith Woods' account in the UK Telegraph [I know, I know] about her...
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June 11, 2008

Prouve/Corbu/Perriand Kid's Room? But Where'd That Dog Come From?

Though the picture's from Elle Decor, not Interior Design, I think this is Florence Lopez's son's "lacquered Jean Prouvé bed" with "a cork bulletin board that Le Corbusier and Charlotte Perriand designed for two French universities" over it. I...
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Wigs And Cigs And Writing Gigs

If the Theresa in this photo is the Theresa I think it is, let the record show she did not, in fact, grow up to be a lounge singer like her parents wished; she's a writer who works for a...
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Vintage Barbapapa Doll: How You Say, "Mangy"?

Sometimes vintage is truly the best: like with furniture. And sometimes, it ain't: like, uh, with gnarly, black-furred, stuffed dolls from popular 1970's French children's book series. Better to buy your Barbapapa plush dolls and fondue pots new, like...
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Mathieu Mategot Kids Chairs, S'il Vous Plait

Mathier Mategot was the other mid-century designer, the one who wasn't Corbusier, Perriand, or Prouve. Left Bank interior designer Florence Lopez put these sweet 1950's painted iron kids chairs ["inspired by Mathieu Mategot"] in the window of Luco, her...
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Does "3-in-1" Count As A Kids' Product Line, Method?

From a Salon.com article about NY Times consumption reporter Rob Walker's new book, Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are:"The only thing less plausible than paying a premium for high-design dish liquid simply because...
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Honda Accord Diesel Wagon? It Is NOT The Little Differences

Holy crap, Honda. Diesel wagon with a standard 6-speed manual transmission? Forget Europe, this description of the 2008 Honda Accord sounds like it's from freakin' Bizzaro World:standard? :Honda unveils the new Accord for Europe, with a sportier design, a...
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Rad Mod Play Table & Stools At Hi+Lo Modern

Here's where I'd normally suggest that buying this sweet, vintage table and stool set for just $80, and installing it in your kid's room. But they're only 1 1/2 inches high, so you'd probably store them in your kid's...
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John McCain's Hat, Integrity, $25

Looking to help John McCain earn $50 the easy way? You can buy a "Dads For McCain" cap and his integrity for just $25 apiece. Oh, sorry, it's just an Integrity t-shirt. Too bad it's not a fragrance: John...
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Daddy, Where To Cartoons Come From?

Over the weekend, two major comic artists, Art Spiegelman and Gary Panter, discussed their inspiration at a symposium organized by NYU and The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art. Via Artforum's report:The letters L, S, and D rolled off their...
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For Those About To Rock: Plush Guitars & Band Members By The Grateful Thread

Awesome. Nicolas Worth and Jami Gigot are designers in London who have just launched The Grateful Thread, a little collection of crafty rock&roll-themed products, which includes some plush/stuffed creations. Chief among the offerings are the stuffed guitars they're life-size...
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June 10, 2008

Freakin. Awesome. Banaue Filipino Like-A-Biker Gang

So you want to talk about wooden walking bikes? Kevin Kelly's got a small but amazing collection of photos of Like-A-Bike-like wooden bikes from all over the world. [If you're a bike entrepreneur looking for a way to out-maneuver...
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Don't Call Them Token: Dadbloggers Rap On NPR

Tuesday is normally Mocha Moms day on Tell Me More, NPR's daily talk show with Michel Martin; it's as if The View were just about parenting, and just happened to be black. It's also the kind of chitchat that gets...
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Magical Baby Butler Somehow Frees Up A Hand

Through some unexplained miracle of strap technology, the ingenious Baby Butler enables you to free up a hand while you're giving the kid a bottle. With that free hand, you can do anything you like, say, read a children's...
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Camo Mercedes Wagon Can't Hide In Monaco

Monaco has its own internal logic when it comes to cars. When my Citroen 2CV still had Marseilles-area tags on it, I would get pulled over every fifteen minutes. But after I installed my bamboo sunscreen on the roof,...
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June 9, 2008

Marcus Walters' More Deluxe Alphabet Poster

Last summer, artist Marcus Walters created an alphabet in anticipation of his daughter's birth. Now that he's a seasoned dad, he knows what kids really want is to see the alphabet on the walls of their nurseries, preferably as...
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Chris Burden's Massive Erector

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Rockefeller Center, originally uploaded by peterjr1961. What My Dad Gave Me by Chris Burden is...
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June 8, 2008

DT Friday Freaked Out: Extra Art Edition

Whoa, Azerbaijani dad-to-be working as a museum guard who should have been talking to someone instead of slashing a painting by one of my favorite artists with his keys:A former Carnegie Museum of Art guard charged with vandalizing a...
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June 7, 2008

Plastastic! Puur BabyC Cradle And/Or Something By Dripta Roy

It's not clear to me if Dripta Roy's babyC is as big as a cradle or as small as a car seat. Puur Design Studio's website describes it as both an "alcove-shaped environment" and a "light and versatile" product...
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D'Oh, They Moved The Grange House Without Us

I realized this morning as I was showing the kid the NY Times' animation of how the National Park Service is lifting Alexander Hamilton's 206-year-old country house up and over the church next door, then driving it around the...
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Kid's Wall Unit From Shipping Pallets

As this awesome wall-mounted shelving/desk structure demonstrates, Wouter's "palletsized research" is really paying off. I just hope he reclaims some sandpaper while he's at it. Pallet-based construction and design by Wouter, featured on The Raw Foundation [rawprojects.org, via andy]...
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Found: That Jean Prouvé Swing Set

I didn't think much of it at the time, but once the kid came along, I always wondered where that 1960's Jean Prouvé swing set Patrick Seguin showed at Sonnabend in 2003 ended up. The answer is on art...
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Speaking Of Pooh, Or The Five-Wiper

The one-L lama, he's a priest, The two-L llama, he's a beast, And I will bet a silk pajama There isn't any three-L lllama.* * The author's attention has been drawn to a type of conflagration known as a three-alarmer....
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June 6, 2008

Oakland In Da Rebel Alliance!

This awesome shirt by The Girl and Rhino is currently not available in either kid or infant sizes! Sorry to mess up your weekend. The AT-AT Tee, $17-22, when it's in stock [thegirlandrhino via dinosaursandrobots] update: weekend saved! they...
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Shpadoinkle

There aren't many songs from Trey Parker and Matt Stone's early epic, Cannibal: The Musical that you can let the kid watch [Unless you want to explain whorehouses, hanging the bastard, and of course, cannibalism at bedtime]. But what...
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There's A Rocker Sale At Modernica!

If you're not going to Genius Jones' big Bugaboo Event in Miami tomorrow, you can make the one-day-only Warehouse Sale at Modernica in LA instead! Or join in online, where a Fiberglass Rocker made from Eames and Herman Miller's...
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Freakout Friday: All Week Long Edition

Sheesh, after sitting on some of these alarming findings all week, I am freaked out: Childhood cancer rates are highest in Northeast, study finds. higher by like 7%, too: 179/million vs 166/million average. Must be all that liberal health care...
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Except There Are No Brooklyns

I know the big issue is really the pre-K admissions trauma, but still this is a useful snapshot of Williamsburg kid names circa 2004. Half the list could be from any yuppie enclave anywhere in the country:Ms. Yourke added: “I...
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June 5, 2008

99 Laufmaschines, Or Seriously, Stop Inventing The Like-A-Bike!

Do we need to lay it out on a timeline for you? Because I haven't seen so many people inventing the exact same unique toy since, since--well, I guess those plush people do it all the time. BUT STILL!...
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This Week In Like-A-Like-A-Bike News

The Like-a-Bike knockoff scene is suddenly hopping for some reason. To wit: A retailer recently commented on the original DT post about the Skuut--the one that busted them for knocking off the Like-A-Bike in China, and the one which called...
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Which Vaccination Kool-Aid To Drink?

Is infant vaccination a tough decision for you? Strident arguments about pandemics, irresponsible hippies, governmental conflicts of interest, auto-immune disorders, and autism got you down? Everyone sound like they're just peddling a party line of some kind, and you don't...
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Uhh, Plush Naked Hitler Doll

Yeah, for about half a second, I thought it was because the artist and the gallery were German. But then I figured that plush naked Hitlers and cuddly [kuddly?] KKK dolls would be seriously disturbed anywhere. Bimbo dolls by...
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Knit Snakes. Why'd It Have To Be Knit Snakes?

From the introduction to Nina Braun's exhibition at Helium Cowboy Gallery in Hamburg:Nina Braun has always cut her own path, irrespective of social guidelines or standards. Through self-teaching, experiences and experiments, she has built the fundament she needs to...
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June 4, 2008

Papa Pillow For Metrosexual Dads

Now that we all wax our chests regularly [wait, right? right??], an entire generation of infants are at risk of growing up deprived of the vital kinesthetic imprinting that comes from falling asleep on dad's hairy chest. Fortunately, recent...
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Itay Ohaly's Papa Chair

Israeli industrial designer/woodworker/far east culture researcher Itay Ohaly calls this piece, "Papa Chair/happy family." And it is, at least until Papa stands up. Itay Ohaly's portfolio site [ohaly.com via mocoloco] Previously, and in inspiring shades of green: PS Trivas...
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Is There Really A Changing Table In Park Slope's New Sex Toy Shop?

When you're attending the grand opening of Toys in Babeland tomorrow on Bergen St, between 5th & Flatbush Avenues, would you mind checking out the alleged changing table in the rest room? The NY Daily News' lede sounded definitive at...
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June 3, 2008

Whoops, More Store Closing Sales At Babystyle

That's what this blog needs: secret shoppers. One of Chris Moseley's blog operatives has learned that the North Park, TX location of Babystyle is set to close, making it the seventh store to close as part of the company's Chapter...
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Wow, Charley Harper's ABC's Boardbook

If you're a fan of Charley Harper's trademark 'minimal realism,' but you're not itching to drop a thousand dollars for a vintage copy of his magnum illustratus, the 1961 Giant Golden Book of Biology - An Introduction to the...
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William Wegman Alphabet Wallpaper Border

See, the dogs not only sit still while the artist dresses them up in little outfits, they also sit still while he poses them in the shapes of all the letters of the alphabet. Then the images are turned...
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Nuna High Chair From Holland, Not Ork

Nuna is a new Dutch kids' product company that just debuted its first product, the Nuna High Chair. As befits a £195 high chair, it adjusts and adapts to remain useful, if not necessary, through age 6. From the...
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Volvo V100 To Target Non-Existent R-Class Market

Poor VW. If only the Phaeton had a place for the bichon--and if only gas were still $1.25/gallon--they'd be a premium luxury brand now, too. If my Google translation is to be believed, the brain trust at Volvo feels...
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Holgate Soda Set One Bottletop Shy Of A Six-Pack

I like this cool set of wooden bottles, tinted in the colors of six common wine cooler flavors. They're made by Holgate, one of the earliest US companies to develop educational toys. Unfortunately, one of the bottle stoppers is...
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Fit To Be Freed

I guess if I keep kicking the family car decision down the field long enough, I could get my beloved Mercedes A-Class--in the form of the new Honda Fit. which'll go on sale as a 2009 model later this...
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June 2, 2008

Montgomery Schoolhouse Rocks

Montgomery Whohouse? I've been following the items eBay seller Creative Magpie has been putting up for sale from the inventory of her mother's 1970's toy store. In the last couple of days, several very fine-looking wooden toys have turned...
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NYT: C-Section Now, See Your Insurance Jump And/Or Disappear Later

Some insurance companies consider Caesarean deliveries to be a pre-existing condition, since they increase the likelihood of another C-section. The result is higher premiums or denial, but only for individual policyholders. So a giant, multi-tentacled, unaccountable bureaucracy wants to dictate...
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On Waldkindergarten

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach... - Henry David Thoreau I'd say I must have...
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SPY SHOTS: Unidentified Local Engineers Test Next-Gen Bugaboo Bee

The sweet spot for spy photographers in the auto busines is Death Valley, where manufacturers from around the world converge for high-temperature testing. For professional strollerspotters, the place to go is the Los Angeles Zoo. There's been no official...
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June 1, 2008

Blogger Dude Gives Dude's Perspective On Etsy

It's becoming nearly impossible for me to surf Etsy anymore; there's just too much stuff, and too much of it is crafty schlock [different strokes, I know, but hey.] Fortunately, dad, cyclist and blogger Matt Haughey met Bre Pettis, who's...
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Peter Simensky's Plywood Milk Crates For Artware

I forgot another great find from ICFF, but then catching up with the latest from the premier milkcrate lifestyle blog, Milkcrate Digest, reminded me. Pittsburgh artist Lacey Volk had made a plywood version of a milkcrate, which was nice....
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