modern day dad

Can We Please Stop Praising The Baby Dangler?

Enough of the Michael Jackson tributes already. Almost every morning I turn on the Today Show on NBC, and today was the first morning since his death that the news has been at least fifty percent something other than Michael Jackson related. On Saturday morning I even switched over to a business show on Fox News (to get a break from the wall-to-wall "king of pop" coverage on NBC), and what do you suppose they were talking about? Michael Jackson's money.

Sure, I loved (and love) Thriller as much as the next guy, and no one can deny he was the amazing performer everyone says he is. But at what point do we separate the art from the artist? I think it's safe to say that most people believe, including myself, that the guy was a (albeit never convicted) pederast.

And even if you're one of the people who believe he never touched a child in an improper way his entire life, he's the same guy who DANGLED HIS INFANT SON OVER A HOTEL BALCONY. And now I have to listen to Al Sharpton on the Today Show tell me what a devoted and amazing father he was.

Is this the person we need a moment of silence for in Congress?

Tauntaun Sleeping Bag, Boy-rettes and a Pink Plastic Octomom Sculpture

Even though last week was my kid's spring break from school, I've managed to write about some pretty interesting stuff over at Babble in the last month or so. Some of my favorites are:

The Tauntaun Sleeping Bag. The Empire Strikes Back's favorite beast of burden made into a kid's sleeping bag. And I thought they felt cozy on the outside.

Boy-rettes. Alterna-hipster boys with long hair need something cool to keep their long hair out of their eyes. And while I know I shouldn't have a problem with this, I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a part of me that this didn't rub the wrong way.

The Kata 3N1 Camera Bag. Easily the best camera bag for parents I've ever tried. If you've got a DSLR and kids then you need one.

The Snuglette. It's the Snuggie - the blanket with arm holes - for kids. With an equally bizarre television commercial.

Octomom Scultpture (pictured). This is just nuts. And creepy. And funny. And art?

Morrissey's New Dad Pose

Can someone tell me what exactly is going on with the album art to Morrissey's new album, Years of Refusal? As a childhood devotee of the Smiths (and fan of Morrissey's solo work), the idea of him with a baby is at worst weird and at best kind of funny. And while this was pretty much my initial reaction to the actual image, it got me thinking about whether or not there was some deeper meaning to the whole thing.

Stereogum had a butterfly/caterpillar theory to it (revolving around the apparent jeweled butterfly and "caterpillar" on the baby's head and Morrissey's arm respectively) that was kind of crazy. Mark Beumont at the Guardian's music blog had a fairly well thought-out post about it too.

But I guess what it really comes down to is, "Who the hell knows?" The kid is undoubtedly cute (jeweled butterfly on the forehead and all) and though some might call Morrissey's pose "defiant" I would probably use the word "uncomfortable."

Actually, "defiantly uncomfortable" might just be the best way to describe Morrissey's work yet.

Leveraging? Collateralized Debt Obligations?? The Crisis of Credit Visualized

I think it's safe to say that most of us, if not all of us, are a little confused as to just how the hell things got so bad with the economy. Check this video out by Jonathan Jarvis. It does a rather good job of explaining things visually without over simplifying.

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

[via perpendum.com via bitterkenny]

Photo Projects For Kids From Photojojo

Photojojo is one of my favorite photography resources on the Internet. Every now and then I get a great email from them with a cool idea for photographic projects, tips or general inspiration. And one of the more recent emails was all about photo projects for kids.

Face it, if your kid has a cell phone, then chances are he or she has a camera too (and if they don't, then they almost certainly have on one their cell phone). The photo ideas for kids from Photojojo include playing with perspective (as pictured) and my favorite, create a kind of photo time capsule for yourself.

Anyway, it's pretty cool. Check it out at Photojojo.com

Princess Stickers for Mature Adults Only

File this one under close calls in the Modern Day Dad household. As you can see, this sheet of Disney Princess stickers is clearly recommended for adults 55 and up. Luckily, I was able to grab them from my kids before they finished using them.

Stay-at-home Dads are going to hell? I guess I'll see you there!

A friend of mine sent me this clip from YouTube of a crazy Christian preacher saying that, and I quote, "You call yourself Mr. Mom, God calls you a bum."

I think my friend wanted me to join in her shock and anger, and although I appreciate the sentiment, honestly my first reaction was laughter. And then I kind of got bummed out because there were so many people in the congregation agreeing with him. It's just odd to me (but not surprising) that people actually think this way. And it's funny that someone would preach it.

If choosing to stay with your kids because you can afford it and you'd rather do that then send them to daycare makes me a bum, then feel free to send me a hand-out via PayPal.

Or at least click an ad.

Modern Day Dad at CES 2009: The Consumer Electronics Showcase.

So tomorrow I'm heading out to my sixth (can it really be six?) CES - the consumer electronics gadget extravaganza here in Las Vegas. And like last year I'll be blogging about a lot of what I see over at Babble.com. In fact this year I even got a special "Blogger" pass which, as far as I can tell, gets me free lunch in the blogger lounge (while supplies last), extra attention from exhibitors, and the slightly condescending looks from those holding orange "Press" badges.

Oh, and I got a free bag which, even though it says "CES" all over it, is pretty sweet.

I'll be looking mostly for anything related to children, parents, parenting or (of course) dads. If you've heard about anything that I should check out, please leave a comment and let me know. This show is so massive, it's going to be hard to even get to the stuff I'm planning, let alone find stuff I never even thought of before.

Wish me luck.

[Check out my posts from CES 2009 over at Droolicious on Babble.com]