Happy Halloween!

A little Halloween cheer from Yo Gabba Gabba and Shiny Toy Guns (aka the Shinys). Enjoy!

I Walked With a Zombie....With Walking Pneumonia

Actually, I'm not sure if it's "walking" pneumonia. But it's fairly mild pneumonia-- for the Zombie Mummy, at least. For Tigger there, it's a little more serious. Of course, I didn't know this when the husband and I dressed them up for a Halloween party on campus Sunday evening. We thought they were both fighting off a seasonal cough/cold. Oops.

Monday afternoon, on a trip to the doctor's office, I learned the reality of it. Pneumonia. Times two. Lots of medicine to shove down throats. A nebulizer for Tigger, too.

Gah.

Links for 10/29/07

Amazon has a video from the much-anticipated They Might Be Giants CD/DVD set, Here Come the 123's, due for release in early 2008.

It turns out I was right all along about this.

In another installment of "I'm not the only parent who..." I present, "I'm not the only parent who bought my child a shirt at Hot Topic" -- an excellent piece from The NY Times Magazine by David Giffels.

Friday Night Video: Wiggles Audition

Because I needed a laugh, and you probably do too:

We Won't Have to Order Pizza for at Least a Week

One of the many things I love about fall is that it's the time of year that I start baking again, after months of avoiding the oven. Pumpkin muffins, Halloween cookies, pumpkin cheesecake, apple pie, and soon, a slew of different Christmas cookies and treats. I've been busy baking and will stay busy baking from now through the end of the year. Easily. Not to mention the kids' birthdays in March. Remember last year?



And while I've been into baking for nearly 15 years, it's only been in the last five years (or so) that I've gotten very good at cooking. You know, making actual meals, rather than fancy desserts and snacks. But I've been doing some fall cooking, too -- pot roast, soups, chili, lasagna. For some reason, this kind of fall and winter cooking is more fun for me than spring or summer cooking (which usually involves throwing some chicken breasts or turkey burgers on the grill, or whipping up some pasta salad).

Because we're at the start of what I consider prime cooking and baking season, I jumped at an invitation to a night out last week with some other Atlanta area mom bloggers that was focused entirely on FOOD. The fabulous Miss Zoot was our hostess, and Danielle of Foodmomiac (who, it turns out, was living in the Toledo area at the same time I was, working at a firm that did Web design for my old employer, and who -- quite possibly -- was in a meeting or two with me back in 2004) was behind the planning. The event was sponsored by the National Dairy Council and 3-A-Day, and they treated us like superstars.

First, there was wine. And some fabulous hors d'oeuvres (like this one, which I highly recommend). Then they showed us around Super Suppers, gave us snazzy aprons, and explained how we were each going to put together six meals for our families.

Since the event was being held at Super Suppers, I knew going in that we'd be making several dishes. So I was prepared to chop and grate and slice and dice and all that good stuff. But they made it so EASY there. All the ingredients we were using were already chopped or grated or sliced or diced, and each ingredient had a spoon or scoop that was the exact measure of what we needed to put in our dish. It was basically idiot-proof. And there was no actual cooking (although I had told my family that I was going to be at a "cooking thing" all night). I think I made all six dishes in about an hour.

And then they gave us cookies and milk. And more goodies. And when it was time to go, they helped us carry the enormous amounts of food we had made out to our cars.

When I got home, my husband was beyond impressed. He opened the gigantic bag-o-food and marveled at what I had "made" for him. When I told him how easy it was, he was slightly less impressed (with me, anyway), but still salivating over the many containers of food. "This is the best thing that's ever come from you being a blogger," he said.

"Better than when I was interviewed by the New York Times?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah," he said. "We can't eat the New York Times."


More pictures here. Bunches of awesome recipes here. And be sure to check out the other bloggers who were there: Sophie, Amber, Sherri, Kathy, Leandra, Michelle, and Melissa.

Do These Muppets Make Me Look More Fun?

CNN's Anderson Cooper appeared on Sesame Street this morning. NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams is hosting Saturday Night Live this weekend. These two bits of information made me realize that the line between news and entertainment -- which has been fading fast -- has nearly disappeared.

In my recollection (and in some quick online research), it seems that the line began to blur in the early 2000's. It was 2002 when Katie Couric appeared in an Austin Powers movie and on an episode of Will and Grace. (Couric's Today Show colleague Al Roker has appeared in a number of sit-coms and children's shows in the last decade, but somehow this seems more acceptable for a weatherman than for a journalist.)

Over the next few years, big changes occurred at the highest levels of TV news. With news veterans like Dan Rather, Peter Jennings, Tom Brokaw, and Ted Koppel out of the picture, a new generation of anchors and reporters began re-defining the role. Other factors -- 24-hour cable news, all-hands-on-deck coverage of major tragedies and disasters, the popularity of news satire -- influenced this as well.

Do you remember a time when news anchors and reporters were just that -- anchors and reporters? When they weren't viewed as entertainers? When they weren't doing cameos on sit-coms or lending their voices to animated movies? It used to be okay for TV news people to be stodgy, serious, dry, or even dull. But now there seems to be a major effort to make them more fun and accessible.

A few weeks ago, I discussed the branding of news sources (remember the FOX "Fair and Balanced" necktie and the New York Times baby overalls?), and how that made it hard for me to take the news seriously. Seeing Anderson Cooper in a garbage can certainly hasn't helped:


How did this happen? And it is necessarily a bad thing?

Links for 10/15/07

If your kids are big Yo Gabba Gabba fans, you'll be thrilled to find two Brobee crafts online -- a pumpkin carving pattern (we are SO doing this) and a nifty Brobee figure to make out of green foam and pipe cleaners.

It would cost us more to see Hannah Montana in concert than the Police. Unbelievable.

There is now a mathematical equation for determining the degree to which an artist has sold out by allowing their music to be used in advertising. Check out the Moby Quotient.

Southern Culture With the Kids IV

Living north of Atlanta, we're very close to the North Georgia mountains. In fact, we're closer to peanut stands and flea markets than we are to the Midtown theatre district. We're extremely close to one mountain in particular. In an attempt to be more outdoorsy and active, we decided this weekend that it was time to conquer our local mountain, to head to the top, and check out the awesome view.

It was pretty remarkable.



But wait. There's one important thing I should clarify. We didn't hike up the entire mountain. We hiked only a very short distance, after riding a shuttle bus to this spot.

The hike from the bus drop-off was actually more like a walk up a flight of stairs.



And then a short walk up a paved path.



There was no hiking at all, in fact. But the shuttle bus we took to the top wasn't air conditioned. So that was pretty outdoorsy of us, wasn't it?

P.S. While I was on the bus, another blogger was running a 10 mile race. Go say hello.

Minivan Rotation: For Our Children

Once upon a time, someone said, "You know what would be awesome? Little Richard singing 'Itsy Bitsy Spider'. That's what people really need to hear."

And Little Richard recorded "Itsy Bitsy Spider". And it was good.

Then, Bruce Springsteen recorded "Chicken Lips and Lizard Hips", and Bob Dylan recorded "This Old Man". And they were good, too.

These songs were all part of a kids' music compilation, For Our Children, released by Disney in 1991 to benefit the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. This was a seminal moment in the history of "cool" kids' music. For Our Children Too! was released in 1996, but it took a sharp turn into the Land of Easy Listening, with artists like Celine Dion, Amy Grant, Babyface, Faith Hill, Toni Braxton, and Richard Marx.



With the original For the Children CD out of circulation, and kindie rock all the rage these days, someone decided to put together a "best of" album with tracks from both For Our Children compilations. Every Child Deserves a Lifetime: Songs from the For Our Children Series is available tomorrow (Oct. 9). It includes some of the best artists/tracks from the first album (Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Ziggy Marley, Brian Wilson), and a few from the second album. While Barbra Streisand's "A Child is Born" isn't exactly my cup of tea, Little Richard's "Itsy Bitsy Spider" alone makes this album worthwhile -- not to mention that it benefits a great cause.

Friday Night Video for 10/5/07

I don't know much about this video other than a) I really liked "Wichita Lineman" when REM covered it, b) this version is perhaps even better, c) I used to think this song was about a football player, and c) is Glen Campbell still alive? Because here he is with Stone Temple Pilots.

Links for 10/4/07

I'm not the only mom who loves Yo Gabba Gabba! See?

The ladies over at VickyandJen.com are giving away a signed copy of the new Gustafer Yellowgold DVD, Have You Never Been Yellow (way to go with the obscure 70's musical reference). You can enter here!

The Pokey Pup is giving away an Enzo Garcia prize package. You might want to get in on that contest, too! There's no purchase necessary to enter, but if you buy Field Trip with Enzo (now available exclusively at the Pokey Pup), you will be automatically entered. And --AND! -- there's a 10 percent discount on Field Trip when you enter the sale code "field trip". What a deal!

This is the best (and most inappropriate) thing I've ever read about Disney Princesses. (Link is fixed!)

I never would have guessed that my post about babies watching TV would turn into this bizarre series of someone-watching-someone-watching-someone-watching-someone-watching-babies watching TV on YouTube.

Putting the G-A-Y in H-S-M

Sooner than expected, I'm ready to talk more about High School Musical.

As someone who was involved in music and theatre (and musical theatre) from junior high musicals to professional productions in my 20s, I'm fairly certain that if this movie were released 25 years ago, I would have been a HUGE fan. And I guess that compared to most other 38-year-old women, I might be considered a HUGE fan of HSM today. But that's too weird and sad to discuss, so let's move on.

In junior high and high school, a lot of kids are involved in music and theatre because of the social opportunities it provides -- choir tours, band trips, cast parties -- and because of that warm and fuzzy headrush so many of us get from collaborating on a performance that we think is totally awesome (even if, in reality, it was incredibly weak and lame). Also, being a part of the artsy crowd has a cool, counter-cultural vibe to it. We complained about the athletes getting all the school's money and attention when we were the ones with so much more to offer, but we sometimes secretly wished we were them.

So the HSM movies, in bringing together the athletes, the music and drama geeks, and the science nerds, basically plays out every non-athlete's high school dream -- that we all get along, appreciate each other's talents, and spontaneously perform big musical numbers in the gymnasium.

To tell this story in an entertaining way, you need to throw in some cheerleaders, a marching band, a shy suspender-wearing accompanist, an uppity drama teacher, a macho basketball coach, and various other students, teachers, and parents.

But there's one other character in the HSM movies who is very essential to a story about musical theatre, yet rarely mentioned in any of the HSM coverage -- the gay kid.




Lucas Grabeel plays Ryan Evans in the HSM movies, and delivers one of the strongest performances overall. While it's never spoken aloud, Ryan is portrayed as the gay, musical-theatre-loving teenage boy who shows up in nearly every high school drama program. Somehow, most of the parents and other adults who have discussed and written about the HSM movies have carefully avoided the topic of Ryan's apparent queerness. Who has been talking about it? The gay community, primarily. The site FakeGayNews discussed HSM and Ryan's character last year, proclaiming HSM the winner of the "Gay Subtext Emmy":

Although none of the characters is openly gay, the flames burn bright across the screen throughout the movie. The reigning school star is a triple threat who sings romantic duets with his despotic sister, and who has a tendency towards tight pants and colorful hats that accent his stylish wardrobe. In the gayest onscreen occurrence, he shares a brief moment with a sensitive athlete who has been mocked by his peers for his love of baking.

The movie features countless other ambiguously gay characters, including a reclusive composer who mysteriously dons a tuxedo and bowler hat that would make any drag king proud, and a basketball team that is suspiciously agreeable to choreography.

And last month, the blog QueerSighted declared HSM2 "Chock Full of Gay":

On a scale of one to gay, Disney's made-for-TV High School Musical was off the freaking charts. The gay subtext, conveniently ignored by mainstream America, smacked every homosexual in the head who happened to be within the vicinity of the movie.

....Then there's the strange case of Ryan Evans, played by Lucas Grabeel. He is the film's only overtly gay character, though they avoid making verbal references to his sexuality. Instead, he wears a pink shirt and pink beret at the movie's start; he enjoys making curiously fey gestures; he does yoga with his mother; he pouts when he doesn't get to wear his "tiki warrior outfit"; and he gets taunted into playing baseball. His position? Pitcher! So gay.

The only time I've seen the mainstream media go near this discussion was in a NY Times piece about the stage production of HSM, which the author described as "more forthright in its hints that Sharpay’s brother and pet leading man, Ryan (the perky Bobby List), is gay." I have yet to see any parent-targeted media or website address Ryan's sexuality from either a positive (hooray! an openly gay character in a wildly popular movie for tweens!) or negative (boo! what kind of agenda is Disney trying to push on us? What about the children?!) standpoint.

My reaction has been mixed. On one hand, I felt that any movie about a high school musical could never have succeeded without the ultra-stylish, musically and dramatically talented Ryan. But on the other hand, I was disappointed that Disney went with an over-the-top stereotype in order to avoid any kind of thoughtful treatment of this character.

The "show us, don't tell us" Ryan character is the latest example of Disney walking right up to the edge of something, but not taking the leap. (Earlier examples include anti-establishment subtexts in cartoons like Teamo Supremo; or the anti-corporate, pro-environmental messages in certain episodes of PB&J Otter.) By portraying Ryan as flamboyant and fabulous, but never making any direct reference to his sexuality, Disney is able to keep everyone happy, or at least satisfied. Those who want to acknowledge or even celebrate the presence of a gay character in HSM can do so. And those who want to ignore it can also do so. I've been amazed at how many parents I know seem to have gone this route. Personally, I think it's a bit too blatant to ignore -- but some people prefer to keep blinders on when it comes to this matter.



The conservative media, including Focus on the Family's site Plugged In, praised HSM for its lack of bad language and kissing. Never mind the screaming queen with all the cool hats. And its review of HSM2 goes quite in-depth on swimwear and physical contact, yet never mentions the boy playing a pink baby grand piano over the pool while his sister and her friends rock out to the song "Fabulous." Gay? WhatWhereWho?

But if we're left to talking about how rubbing a shoulder or arm amounts to a sexual uptick, it only helps illustrate how relatively prim HSM2 is. The choreography is full of glee and glam, not sex and sleaze. Even at the pool, guys wear typical baggy trunks while girls reliably lounge in one-piece suits or tankinis.

Another item of note is that at the end of HSM, everyone is happily paired up (albeit in a chaste, Disneyfied, “over-the-sweater” way). Even Ryan is subtly paired with the basketball player who, earlier in the movie, confessed his love of baking. Throughout HSM2, I was curious how they would pair Ryan in the big musical finale. With another guy? No. With the sexually ambiguous, cute as a button accompanist? No. He was paired with the chubby brunette girl from the supporting cast. They gave him a hag. (Based on my high school and college experience, I predict she will go on to be his date for a number of important dances, and possibly for a family wedding or two.)

Maybe HSM3 (the theatrical release) will take this further than the made-for-TV movies have taken it. Looking back on the musical theatre obsession of my youth, Fame, I recall that the movie (which actually came first) was much more realistic and adult than the TV series. But it also carried an R rating, which I can't quite imagine for High School Musical 3.

So for those of you who are parents, did any of this register with you? Did it lead to any discussions with your kids? Would you have liked to see Disney go further and acknowledge Ryan as gay? Or were you wishing they hadn't gone as far as they did?


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The Perfect Post awards are up today. I nominated Hausfrau, for this fabulous open letter to her son's first grade teacher. Be sure to check it out, and take a look at the rest of the nominees over at Suburban Turmoil and Petroville.