I tried. I really tried to watch the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympic Games with an open mind, not dwell on my memories of the last time I tried to watch the Olympics on TV and gave up in exasperation after the commentators ruined event after event with their constant criticism and banal remarks. Nope, this time around I was going to be open minded and enjoy the coverage. After all, London’s my…Read More
How Does TV Affect Your Kids?
A guest post… Are you a parent of young children? Do you sometimes worry about the types of shows your children are exposed to on television? Do you ever wonder if television is having a negative influence on your children? If you have ever worried about the effect television is having on your kids, read on for a short discussion of the negative, as well as the positive, aspects of TV. First, it is important…Read More
Top Science Fiction books: How many have you read?
When I’m not parenting and doing all that work stuff that helps pay the bills, I’m a pretty avid reader and even prefer analog. You know, that paper stuff. I’ve been an enthusiastic reader since I was a kid and by the time I graduated high school I had pretty much read through the entire sci-fi and mystery sections of the local (relatively small) library. Then I’ve had brushes with various science fiction authors in…Read More
Who is the World’s Greatest TV Dad?
There’s a pretty interesting discussion happening at Man of the House around the topic of who is the World’s Best TV Dad and it’s gotten me thinking about the topic quite a bit. As I’ve written about before, I believe that modern culture does a disservice to us Dads by portraying us as clueless morons who want to avoid anything that might be domestic work or responsibility, while still having our pin-up sex partners. Watch…Read More
Reality TV Show Casting Call!
Generally I am not a big fan of reality shows as I know from the inside that they’re manipulated and designed to create drama and interest rather than the actual boring humdrum reality of our day to day, minute by minute lives, but sometimes things do come along that are a bit different. This casting call, from an LA-based freelance casting associate, does sound kind of interesting, with its emphasis on ” America’s most outgoing…Read More
“Imagination Movers” and the quality of children’s music
Somehow, I’m not entirely sure how, I have landed on the promo list for Disney Music and every month or two get a music CD aimed at the 3-7 set. Most of them are pretty good, but I have to admit that the latest disk they’ve sent us is quite astonishingly good and very worth a listen. The disk is Disney’s Imagination Movers: For Those About to Hop and it’s songs from the hit Disney…Read More
Review: “State of Play” with Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck and Rachel McAdams
This review has moved over to my movie blog: Review: State Of PlayRead More
Interview with former AMC TV host Bob Dorian
A while back I wrote an essay comparing the two primary classic movie channels on cable/satellite, Do classic movies need to be censored? AMC versus TCM. In the article I talked about former AMC host Bob Dorian and lamented his departure from the channel which, I still believe, was the beginning of its downfall. You can imagine my delight when a few months later I noticed I’d gotten a comment from Melissa Dorian, AMC host…Read More
Are movies too violent, or is cinema just evolving?
This article has been moved over to my movie blog and can be found: Are Movies Too Violent, or is Cinema Evolving?Read More
Film Review: “Eagle Eye”
This article has moved over to my film blog: Review: Eagle EyeRead More
Good adventure books for 8yo boy?
It’s very exciting to see my son G- learn how to read! Six months ago he was proud to sound out rudimentary street signs and newspaper headlines, and now he’s leaped straight to “level 4” beginning reader books, skipping the first three levels. Important caveat: my kids are in a Waldorf school, and the Waldorf educational approach has them starting reading later than more traditional pedagogical approaches, it’s typically not until 2nd grade that they…Read More
I’m a movie geek, I admit it
So here’s something weird: I’m a huge fan of the cinema, both for the classic films and the latest big productions. I average a movie a day and have seen thousands upon thousands of movies in my life. I have seen about 95% of the American Film Institute’s Top 100 Films, for example (I blogged a while back about having seen only 89 of them, but have seen more since). Go to the Internet Movie…Read More
AudibleKids: Fun new site for kid’s audio books
I dunno about you, but my kids really enjoy listening to books on tape / audio books, and so I was pretty excited to see that Amazon.com’s new acquisition Audible.com has launched a site specifically focused on children’s material called AudibleKids. What’s interesting is that the material is broken down both into categories (Animal Stories, Biographies & History, Classics & Poetry, Fables, Fairy Tales & Myths, Fiction, Mysteries, Nonfiction, Parenting & Teaching, Sci-Fi & Fantasy,…Read More
Michael Medved and I are pretty aligned on favorite films
I’m actually in Las Vegas today helping organize Blogworld Expo, and one of the things happening tonight is a screening of The Kite Runner movie in advance of its national release. After the film, we’ll have film critic and nationally syndicated radio personality Michael Medved conducting a Q&A with The Kite Runner’s lead actor, Khalid Abdalla! Very cool. More cool is that I am hoping to grab a beer with Michael afterwards, so I thought…Read More
Fun magazine for 2-5 year olds: Tessy & Tab Reading Club
A few months ago we were approached by a small children’s magazine publisher and asked if we’d be interested in receiving a complimentary subscription to The Tessy and Tab Reading Club, their twice-monthly magazine aimed at very beginning readers in the 2-5yo age group. Given that K- is 3 (though she’ll be 4 in January!) we thought we’d give it a whirl. Three months later I can report that K- just loves the magazine, and…Read More