Daddy Types: February 2012 Archives

February 2012 Archives

February 29, 2012

Wheels Falling Off The Maclaren?

Dude, this is not sounding good. While trying to find out what's been going on with Maclaren USA and its bankruptcy liquidation, I've been hearing from customers and retailers who deal with them, and current and former Mac employees, some...
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Just Some Good Old Boys, Never Meanin' No Harm

Do you know there's a channel that shows all old dukes of hazzard episodes? It's keeping me up very late— David Netto (@DavidNettoSays) February 29, 2012 Looks like David Netto is adjusting well to life not designing cribs for Maclaren...
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Death Star Pancake

Alright these ridiculous Star Wars pancake molds caused such a massive disturbance in the pancake Force, I had to do something. So I made some Death Star pancakes. Here's how: 1. Make pancake batter. I used Bisquik, because I'm...
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These Are Not The Star Wars Pancake Molds You Are Looking For.

Seriously? Is it a coincidence that Boing Boing points to the Williams-Sonoma Star Wars™ Vehicles Pancake Molds just days after Jason Geyer revealed another epic collection of horrible-but-failed Star Wars product licensing ideas? Because I am really not seeing...
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February 28, 2012

Unidentified Local Modelizer Impregnates Breastfeeding Icon

EXCLUSIVE* *Except for everyfreakingbody else:EXCLUSIVE: Uma Thurman expecting her third child with businessman boyfriend Arpad Busson [dailymail.co.uk]...
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February 27, 2012

Jaguar XF Sportbrake Minus The Twitter

Just days before its debut in Geneva, someone has leaked bootleg scans of brochure photos of an undisguised Jaguar XF Sportbrake wagon online. Given that the previous "spy shots" of the car featured its own Twitter handle printed on...
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RIP Jan Berenstain

Daddy Types is sad to relay news of the passing of Jan Berenstain, at the age of 88. Our thoughts are with her family, and we take comfort in knowing that Mrs Berenstain has joined her late husband Stan in...
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Whoa. David Netto Tweet-Resigns From Maclaren

I have resigned as creative director of maclaren nursery today and am disassociating myself from the company.— David Netto (@DavidNettoSays) February 27, 2012 Guess that answers the question of which side of the bankruptcy table David Netto is sitting...
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February 26, 2012

Maclaren Group: It's Not Us! We're Fine! Just Some Paperwork!

Alright, so there is some movement in the Maclaren bankruptcy story. A couple of other sites picked up the story of Maclaren USA's Ch 7. liquidation filing, including BabyGizmo who, on Friday night, was as shocked as DT was:We just...
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Rachel Hulin, 21st Century Hidden Mother

Thanks to Snorri, we can now see how photographer Rachel Hulin made her Flying Baby pictures: exactly as we thought she did, with a tripod and careful masking in Photoshop to erase her baby-holding self. Which is interesting and...
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February 24, 2012

The Children's Literary Group

Wow, This glimpse at ur-Yuppie parenting is only one of the many gems in Maria Bustillos' piece on 1970s child publishing prodigy Alexandra SheedyIn June of 1977, when Sheedy was fifteen, a piece on "A Young Writers Salon" appeared in...
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Kenner Daddy Saddle, aka the Ur-Daddle

Back when I was a boy, our daddy saddles were made of plastic and didn't have cutesy names and urls. Vintage Kenner ad [likecool.com, thanks dt reader rolf]...
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DT Friday Freakout

Here are some headlines from the worlds of science, safety, politics and parenting, all balled up into one big freakout to ruin your weekend: A shorter Babble: "Helicopter Parenting: Am I the reason why my son's so difficult?" Yes. [babble...
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February 23, 2012

The Deam Guide To Airstream Living

You may remember Christopher Deam from such blog posts as "guy who created plexi-walled cribs for his twins" and "molded ply guy whose wife started Dwell." Anyway, he also has been doing Airstream trailer renovations, which look awesome, perfect for...
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Maclaren Creditors Meeting Today At Noon

As I am clearly reporting about Maclaren USA's business restructuring and stealth bankruptcy liquidation solely for my own amusement/outrage, I will point out to myself that the bankruptcy court in Connecticut has set a creditor's meeting for today, at noon....
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Rocking Elmgreen & Dragset In Trafalgar Square

I'm so stoked for my boys Elmgreen & Dragset, who just unveiled their sculpture on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square today. Powerless Structures, Fig. 101 is a giant kid on a rocking horse, cast in bronze. It looks...
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February 22, 2012

What Do You Make Of This?

David John just tweeted it in passing, but suddenly, I look at Alvar Aalto's classic 1937 Tea Trolley, and I want to see it in kid gear. What could you make of this molded birch strip, tray, solid wheel,...
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DTQ: Who Made These Paintings On The Cover Of Dwell Asia?

First off, Dwell Asia is apparently a thing that exists. Published, presumably, under license by a local magazine company. But what I want to know is, who made those superhero-ish, Mexican wrestler-ish painting/poster/images in the Singapore [?] house that...
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Sorry, But It Is NOT All About The Fresh Beat Band

Look, my kid likes Fresh Beat Band, too, but I'm under no illusions that dropping three bills on VIP concert tickets and t-shirts has anything at all to do with her. It would all be about me, every last minute...
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You Got A Better Explanation For This Kid-Sized Ferrari 330 P2?

Literally no one has commented, written, blogged, or tweeted about Maclaren's secret bankruptcy scheme to get out of a decade's worth of amputation lawsuits and business obligations, so whatever, here is a WTF kid-size Ferrari. Apparently, in the 1960s, there...
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I Am A Book Deal (And So Can You! If You're Stephen Colbert)

For those keeping score at home, the total elapsed time between Stephen Colbert pitching his parody children's book about flag pole identity politics to Maurice Sendak and the announcement of his actual, in-real-life book deal is 29 days. Hachette will...
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Gooood Evening, J.F.! Pixar Alums Making AI Toys

ToyTalk is a startup working on web- and mobile-enabled, AI-powered toys. A Huggable Siri. 2017 cannot get here fast enough. Ex-Pixar Geeks building Siri-style Line of Toys [readwriteweb]...
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February 21, 2012

The Flying Series, By Rachel Hulin

We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog program, Art Direct The Hell Out Of Your Kid: Rachel Hulin is apparently [and needlessly] cagey about how she makes her Flying Series photos of her kid. The answer is tripod...
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Wow, Why Has Maclaren Quietly Filed For Bankruptcy Liquidation?

Well. On December 29, 2011, Maclaren USA, the premium umbrella stroller company, quietly filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Connecticut. The company's US headquarters is in Norwalk, where its owner, private equity investor Farzad Rastegar, lives. Chapter 7 is...
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Cutlets Upcycled Toys From Brothers Dressler

Cutlets are small wooden toys handmade from unique scraps of birch ply left over from larger furniture production, which are sanded and hand-rubbed with kid-safe finish by the noted Toronto conceptual upcycling woodworking twins at the Brothers Dressler co-operative....
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Dad Props

Amazing what you can do when you art-direct the hell out of your child... fb.me/Q4OcWM0g— Dadwagon (@dadwagon) February 21, 2012 "Nagano starts with a concept and prepares outfits and props." Portraits of a Daughter on 'Magic Road' [npr.org via dadwagon]...
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February 20, 2012

Lisa Larson Boardbooks And Kids Stuff

So I gather that Lisa Larson is the ceramic Kay Bojesen of Sweden? Or maybe the Marilyn Neuhart. Either way, her decades of crunchy, crafty modernist designs have a Japanese following strong enough to support new spin-off merchandise. Like...
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Not The Elimination Communication We Were Expecting

When we first heard from blogger John Biggs, he had just had his first kid, and was Daddy Types' first guest blogger. He posted a bit, then mentioned something about writing about his experience with elimination communication--and then life intervened,...
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February 19, 2012

No, It Was Probably Which DadBlogs He Read

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NYFW

image: outside Mara Hoffman, by Samuel Nemir Olivares, see the full size pics at NYT This kid's rockin' the look, this one's rockin' the haircut, this one's doing that Lucas Haas Amish kid from Witness thing, and this one's...
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February 17, 2012

Holy Mother

You know, David Lachapelle, fine. Courtney Love, whatever. £37,250 at auction in London today, ridiculous and probably manipulated, but I can ignore it. The thing that really kind of gets under my fingernails like a bamboo skewer about Lachappy's...
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DT Friday Freakout: Sleep Edition

Because you've got enough to freak out about already, Daddy Types collects headlines from the worlds of science, health, and parenting designed to freak you during the week, and compiles them into one big, weekend-ruining list, the DT Friday Freakout:...
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February 16, 2012

I'll Be Your Memory

With 2.5 years of dadhood under his belt, and twins on the way, Coding Horror's Jeff Atwood has given some thought to this whole parenthood thing:Being a new parent is both terrifying and exhilarating, a constant rollercoaster of extreme highs...
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DT xB

Well that was kind of fast. After poking around for a couple of months, last week, with the blog discussion still going on, I stumbled across a craigslist post of a very interesting-sounding Scion xB, a 2006 with barely...
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Not Molded Ply Creative Playthings Doll Stroller

I've been meaning to post this for a couple of days now, but truth be told, with an opening bid of $375, I kind of figured it wasn't going anywhere too soon. The eBay seller of this unusual [not...
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Kid Ply Awesomeness By Gidon Bing

What's a sculptor with a talent for magemono, the Japanese art of wood bending supposed to do when he has a kid, and discovers nearly the entire baby gear industry is aligned against him, determined to drive him nuts...
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February 15, 2012

New York Public Library To Children: Drop Dead

Oh, wait, no, they're not going to reopen the Donnell Children's Library across the street from MoMA after all. New York Public Library Revives its Overhaul Plan [nyt]...
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What Is This Massive Black Taxicab-Looking Thing?

Whoa, what is this thing? I spotted it the other day in DC, and my first assumption was it was a London taxi, brought to the US, like the few in Manhattan, as a self-conscious real estate agent's limousine....
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'Breast Like In Appearance'

This just in: entertainment industry promotes fake breasts for babies.Move over boring baby bottles, mimijumi has hit Hollywood! On this week's episode of Celebrity Wife Swap, soap opera star and model, Anthony Sabato Junior fed his youngest son, Antonio III,...
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Antonio Vitali Single Mom Play Set

In her research on Creative Playthings' forward-thinking approach to toy design, Dr. Amy Ogata noted that "[Antonio] Vitali's designs put the visual and intellectual emphasis on the form and the natural grain of the wood, reinforcing the company's ideal...
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February 14, 2012

DTQ: What's Your Car Seat, And How Is It?

You might not know it from around here, but being a dad's not all strung out Muppets, molded plywood and vintage station wagons. Sometimes a guy just wants to know which infant car seat to get. Actually, two guys want...
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Requiem For A Dream With Puppets

Skelemo's 60-second remake of Darren Aronofsky's Requiem For A Dream is probably the greatest video misuse of puppets since SadKermit's cover version of NIN's "Hurt" Fake Film Fest - Requiem for a Dream (in 60 seconds...with puppets) [youtube via...
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February 13, 2012

WTF Macrame Bassinet

Scandinavian hippies will surely swear that this macrame cradle is totally strangleproof. And that after generations of snowbound living, their babies are born with sufficient lung capacity to breathe right through afghans and pillows. Those living below the Arctic...
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GRRM's Fairy Tales

Maybe the alphabet block animation in the title sequence is the first clue that this video of Game of Thrones creator George R.R. Martin reading nursery rhymes is not exactly for the smallest audiences among you, but more for...
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Heir Club For Men?

Wow, and I guess at some point you have to recognize the reality that, as businesses parenting blogs have more in common with hair salons than Facebook. And that for every Vidal Sassoon [Dooce] and Supercuts [Babble] there will be...
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DT Monday Meds Mayhem

I try, but sometimes, some things really can't wait until the DT Friday Freakout. Like this study showing that acetaminophen causes asthma. And that kids with asthma or at risk for it are recommended not to take it. It's apparently...
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February 12, 2012

Once You Have Black: OG 1964 Chrysler New Yorker Wagon

OH MAN, AM I GOING ABOUT THIS ALL WRONG? I mean, Friday morning, literally within minutes of finding a great-looking 2006 Scion xB, practically unused-- a parking garage find, if you will--DT reader and senior wagon correspondent jjdaddy-o sends me...
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February 10, 2012

One Of Those Things People Sometimes Blog About

Jenna Gabert's story about losing their baby just shy of 24 weeks into her first pregnancy is pretty straightforward and really well done. Also, very sad. One of those things no one talks about [thehairpin]...
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DT Friday Freakout: Diet Coke Edition

I don't know about you, but for me, this week's roundup of headlines from the worlds of science, health, and parenting is a Super Double Big Gulp of freakout. I'd drown my freakout in Diet Coke, but, well: Diet sodas...
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February 9, 2012

Orifoamy: EVA Kids Chair By h220430

2012 is the 24nd year of the reign of the current emperor of Japan, so Heisei 22 is 2010. Which is where Satoshi Itasaka and Takuto Usami took the name for their Tokyo-based design firm, h220440. The EVA Kids...
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DT Thursday Trade Roundup: NickMom

From KidScreen, the go-to media resource for the juvenile entertainment content and licensing industry comes the phrase, "increasingly influential mom demographic":In its efforts to offer content to an increasingly influential mom demographic, Nickelodeon has announced its development slate for...
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February 8, 2012

Bricked Out Lego Loft

Finally, some more data on building with Lego. A while ago, we had a new radiator cover made for the kid's room, and I had a mind to cover it in Lego bricks, like Simon Pillard and Philippe Rosetti's insanely...
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DTQ: I'm Buying Another Car?

DT Short Answer: Yes. After some nutty estimates on the cost of restoring our 1985 Mercedes diesel coupe, and after some frank analysis from one of the younger guys who actually works on our car regularly, it's sadly clear we...
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February 7, 2012

'Like The Kill Shot In A Korean Movie'

Basically, I'll follow Tom Scocca wherever and whatever he writes, so if he's going to do a no-holds barred account of the deeply weird moments of the childbirth process as part of Deadspin's Blood Week, I'm there. He says the...
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Beaded Baby Mayhem: Sacrifice By Liza Lou

Alright, now that we've covered 150,000 baby products in one fell swoop, where were we? Ah, kid-related contemporary art auction oddities. You may know Liza Lou from such elaborately beaded sculptures as Kitchen, the life-size, 168-sq ft replica of a...
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Huh, The Disney Baby-Free World DOES End In 2012.

We interrupt this completely esoteric posting stream to bring you this important announcement: HOLY CRAP, THE DISNEY BABY JUGGERNAUT! RESISTANCE IS FUTILE:I wanted to share some exciting news from Disney Baby as the brand announced its expansion into Mealtime, Bathtime,...
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Bisphenol A By Damien Hirst

image via sothebys.com, © Damien Hirst/ Science Ltd, 2012 Photography Prudence Cuming Associates There's a rather insane art exhibition on in the world right now, 331 of the existing Damien Hirst Spot Paintings are on view in all eleven...
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Doctor, Doctor! Rodney Graham's Juddy Children's Trolleys

Through the Forest installation shot, 2010, Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Basel, via hauser & wirth Vancouver-based conceptual artist Rodney Graham's interest in the relationships between texts, literature and music and art were on full view in "Through The Forest," his...
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Go Figure

When I was a boy we had five TV channels and one toothpaste. Now we've got five toothpastes in one bathroom alone, and my kids don't know what the hell a TV channel even is....
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February 6, 2012

More Gerhard Richter Overpainted Kid Photos

It's kind of a Gerhard Richter madhouse in the upcoming contemporary art auctions in London next week. The big man's big show at the Tate really flushed out the merch. But this little triptych of overpainted photograpsh of Richter's...
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Letterpress Year You Were Born Cards, By Double Bravo

Double Bravo Design Studio's sweet little Year You Were Born Card for New York lets you fill in the kind of vital info that the mainstream, non-city-specific baby books leave out. Things like Nearest subway stop, Number of hot...
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Infantcore

Last fall, artist Nate Page pulled the windowed facade of the Echo Park gallery Machine Project back 25 feet into the space, creating a temporary "sidewalk alcove" he called Storefront Plaza. Which turns out to be the perfect place...
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Le Tigre Mom

You may remember the Wall Street Journal's "you're doing it wrong, America!" parenting blog from such vaguely masochistic competitive parenting advice books as Tiger Mom. Now it's France's turn. Pamela Druckerman's article about her new book, Bringing up Bébé, is...
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Change Of Plans

That thing where you're on the way to preschool dropoff, and the kid double power pukes all over the car and your schedule. #shouldabeenatweet...
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February 5, 2012

Like-A-Car: The Foljambe Hobby Auto

Thanks to his dedicated efforts as the founding editorial director of the Chilton automotive publishing concern, and as the instigator for and vice president of the Philadelphia chapter of the Society of Automotive Engineers, Eugene S. Foljambe had already...
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Hi, I'm Stealthie! Alright Then!

Richard Hogg's Stealthie is the kind of thing that'd happen if the hipster-kawaii art group Friends With You did colabos with the Military Industrial Complex instead of edgy, underground mall developers and AOL. Make it so!:Stealthie is a Northrop...
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February 3, 2012

Blue Ivy's Got 99 Problems, But A Drawn Out Trademark Application Process Ain't One

From TESS, the US Patent and Trademark Office's Trademark Electronic Search System: Word Mark BLUE IVY CARTER Goods and Services IC 003. US 001 004 006 050 051 052. G & S: Fragrances, cosmetics, skin care products, namely, non-medicated skin...
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Metamorphokit (1971): Build It Yourself Modular CalArts Dorm Furniture

Good googly moogly, all this work on DIY/modular/industrial/plywood/Bauhaus bedroom furniture and I'm only finding out about Metamorphokit NOW?? I am clearly doing it wrong:Dubbed Metamorphokit by the designers [CalArts faculty member Peter de Bretteville and Toby Cowan], it was...
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February 2, 2012

OK No, OK Go: Stop With The Primary Color Misinformation.

"When you're seeing any other color, they're all made up of red, yellow and blue"? No, OK Go, no they are not. If They Might Be Giants can embrace the progress of Science, recognize the error of their original...
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W[elsh] T[oddler] F Rockclimbing??

I hate this kind of story, or at least posting about it, because it feels like the only point is to provoke WTF outrage. And also because people are already freaking the hell out all over the Facebook, and the...
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No Singin' Cats Here

I'm sure it's beautifully done, but really, I'm only posting about Ithys Press's new letterpress edition of one of James Joyce's two stories for kids, The Cats of Copenhagen, which is actually the first time it's been published as...
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Thank You Bear Is Still Awesome.

I still can't get over how pitch perfectly cute and awesome Greg Foley's Thank You Bear is. Such great books. And there's a little website, too? I didn't know Bear was pixelated! ThankYouBear.com [thankyoubear.com]...
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February 1, 2012

Chipotla FTW!

Alright, maybe one more. This xkcd list of girl names is pretty outstanding. Nothing against Chipotla, but if I could spell "[sound of record scratch]," it would've been my top pick. xkcd.com/1011 [xkcd via rolf again, like I said,...
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Wednesday WTF: Babies And Bootydancing Edition

Really, what needs to be said? It's 8:30AM, and I think my blogging work is done here today. [via likecool.com, thanks (sic) dt reader rlf, whose google reader is a thing of terrible beauty] Previously, 2005, the lost beginning...
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