Down three for a minute tonight and into the morning, very excited! Anyone want a 2 year old, make it down to none? NOW THAT'S A FEAT! - Lisa
Published writer, compulsive reader, Old School Whovian, Match Game enthusiast, NKOTB fan, data hoarder, and - surprisingly, given that list - married with four kids. Welcome to my take on life, fatherhood, entertainment, and whatever strikes my fancy. Enjoy!
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
Yippee!
The robotic rodent race was won! Thanks to the hubby for going to Toys R Us at the butt crack of dawn, lol. We have succeeded in not paying over retail for those fuzzy little hamsters that have made so many others go broke paying 3-4x what retail was! Sad so many people had to buy them up to make a profit. Hopefully the same thing will happen to them next year when their kid wants the "must have" toy of the year! - Lisa
Barbie - a rejected Journal column
Bratz - a rejected Journal column
On the day my first community columnist piece was published (an article on swim safety on a cold and snowy day; - how’s that for timing?) the Journal-Sentinel ran a column directly above my own. Written by Jonathon V Last of the Philadelphia Inquirer, it traced the messy battle between the makers of the Bratz line of dolls and the Barbie empire.
It was a fine article, one that hit a nerve in my house. We’ve been discussing the mammoth decision against MGA Entertainment, the makers of Bratz, for some time now. To greatly simplify the issue, after winning a court decision in their favor Barbie’s owners at Mattel want all Bratz merchandise removed from store shelves. The action would remove the most serious threat in years to Barbie’s domination of the market.
It also greatly worries the resident seven-year old Bratz fan in my house.
That last sentence is what worries me. Just by admitting, - in print no less - that my daughter likes Bratz I’m inviting trouble. To some people that’s no better than bragging that I let her juggle steak knives (and obviously, for the record, I don’t.)
My daughter has gone to birthday parties where the invitation clearly stated that no Bratz toys would be accepted, and she’s gone to homes where no such toys may cross their threshold. Fine. I have no objection to that. Every parent has the right to decide what is right and acceptable for their own child.
To me and my wife, that line in the sand doesn’t begin or end with a doll.
Bratz’ signature has always been funkier than good ol’ Barbie, and yes, to most critics that difference comes off as sexual. It’s an odd world that spends forty years decrying Barbie as a sexualized and unrealistic ideal, then decides to hold her up as a model citizen, but compared to Bratz Barbie comes off as your sweet Aunt Marie.
Bratz dolls dress funkier, they have more fashionable hairstyles, their tie-in merchandise is colorful and flashy, they’re urban rather than Malibu, and their feet pop off. You read that right. Rather than force tiny shoes on the doll, leaving a hundred lost pair around as a threat to my toddler, the makers of Bratz have the dolls switch out entire foot/shoe combinations.
Let’s see Barbie do that.
Those are some of the reasons why Bratz made such inroads into the market. It wasn’t about sex, and it certainly wasn’t to aspire to the ridiculous hyperbole labeling the doll‘s ‘streetwalkers’. It was because someone finally presented an alternative to their Grandmother’s increasingly bland and predictable Barbie.
As much heat as Bratz takes in the media, there must be a great and silent majority of parents who agree with me on the issue. After all, in 2005 sales of Bratz reached $750 million. They couldn’t all have been bought by ‘bad’ parents.
Who knows. Maybe once Mattel gobbles up the Bratz line it can use some of that revenue to give Barbie a makeover of her own - but, uh, maybe skip the bare midriff
On the day my first community columnist piece was published (an article on swim safety on a cold and snowy day; - how’s that for timing?) the Journal-Sentinel ran a column directly above my own. Written by Jonathon V Last of the Philadelphia Inquirer, it traced the messy battle between the makers of the Bratz line of dolls and the Barbie empire.
It was a fine article, one that hit a nerve in my house. We’ve been discussing the mammoth decision against MGA Entertainment, the makers of Bratz, for some time now. To greatly simplify the issue, after winning a court decision in their favor Barbie’s owners at Mattel want all Bratz merchandise removed from store shelves. The action would remove the most serious threat in years to Barbie’s domination of the market.
It also greatly worries the resident seven-year old Bratz fan in my house.
That last sentence is what worries me. Just by admitting, - in print no less - that my daughter likes Bratz I’m inviting trouble. To some people that’s no better than bragging that I let her juggle steak knives (and obviously, for the record, I don’t.)
My daughter has gone to birthday parties where the invitation clearly stated that no Bratz toys would be accepted, and she’s gone to homes where no such toys may cross their threshold. Fine. I have no objection to that. Every parent has the right to decide what is right and acceptable for their own child.
To me and my wife, that line in the sand doesn’t begin or end with a doll.
Bratz’ signature has always been funkier than good ol’ Barbie, and yes, to most critics that difference comes off as sexual. It’s an odd world that spends forty years decrying Barbie as a sexualized and unrealistic ideal, then decides to hold her up as a model citizen, but compared to Bratz Barbie comes off as your sweet Aunt Marie.
Bratz dolls dress funkier, they have more fashionable hairstyles, their tie-in merchandise is colorful and flashy, they’re urban rather than Malibu, and their feet pop off. You read that right. Rather than force tiny shoes on the doll, leaving a hundred lost pair around as a threat to my toddler, the makers of Bratz have the dolls switch out entire foot/shoe combinations.
Let’s see Barbie do that.
Those are some of the reasons why Bratz made such inroads into the market. It wasn’t about sex, and it certainly wasn’t to aspire to the ridiculous hyperbole labeling the doll‘s ‘streetwalkers’. It was because someone finally presented an alternative to their Grandmother’s increasingly bland and predictable Barbie.
As much heat as Bratz takes in the media, there must be a great and silent majority of parents who agree with me on the issue. After all, in 2005 sales of Bratz reached $750 million. They couldn’t all have been bought by ‘bad’ parents.
Who knows. Maybe once Mattel gobbles up the Bratz line it can use some of that revenue to give Barbie a makeover of her own - but, uh, maybe skip the bare midriff
Gosh Darn It
Spent all evening getting the house ready for a visit from Smiley's speech therapist, only to have her cxl this morning because of illness. Good luck keeping this house clean until the rescheduled appt.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Night and Day
Night and Day is the latest in Robert B. Parker's series featuring Jesse Stone, former L.A. cop and (semi)recovering alcoholic who now heads the Paradise, MA police department.
Two related troubles are enveloping the town this time around. First, the female high school principal stands accused, correctly, of forcing her female students to display their underwear. More seriously, there is a peeping Tom on the loose, one whose activities grow bolder - and more violent - with each incident.
I wouldn't label this book a masterpiece of Parker's, but it was solid and entertaining. The characters seem to have worked their way into Parker's affection, to the point where I think he's finally comfortable exploring them to the fullest.
I continue to marvel at Parker's recent output, both in quantity and quality.
And best of all, there is (finally) a development between Jesse and his promiscuous ex-wife. No spoiler here - but I was pleased.
2.75 out of 4
A Bad Day
Pretty crappy night. Lisa broke her glasses, I lost five pages of newly written text due to gremlins in the computer, it's snowing, and As The World Turns was cancelled. :(
My Best Friends Girl
This movie stars Dane Cook.
What, you're still here?
Huh. I'd have thought you'd have 'x'd out the window at the mere mention of his name. I would.
Cook plays a man who is hired by other men to date their former girlfriends. The idea is that he'll pretend to be a callous, awful jerk and therefore drive them back into the arms of their better-by-comparison ex.
Okeedookee.
His buddy, played by Jason Biggs, hires him to push Kate Hudson into loving him, but of course Cook falls in love. Blah blah, yada yada, boy loses girl, act three begins, more blah blah roll credits.
I admit I'm being a little harsh here. It was an OK movie, but I thought some of the actions - namely his performance at a wedding - would be/should be clear and permanent deal breakers.
Rent it if you have some spare time - and a free movie coupon.
2.5 out of 4
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
My Morning
Took the kids to school, went to Mass (Feast of the Immaculate Conception), shoveled my walk, now writing and working up the nerve to hit the road to get some things done. Or, I may nap. Either/or.
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