Fed up with “clip-art” temporary tattoos for her kids, designer Tina Roth Eisenberg (swissmiss) founded a temporary tatoo company of her own. I think I’m going to surprise my better half with this “Mother” one and tell her that its not temporary. Hmm, wonder how that will go down. She has pulled together some great design talent to make a nice collection of temporary tattoos that are fun, whimsical, and smart.
I’m a big fan of covering pretty much anything with chalkboard paint. Naef’s Colorum are a set of wood cubes that come with a set of crayons to add to the fun. Would be fun to make instant picture puzzles and try to solve them.
I wrote out some of my impressions about Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark after having seen the second night of previews, but for my dad blog, I wanted to do a quick post and make a heartfelt plea to the producers on behalf of parents of younger Spider-Man fans.
My four-year-old son Charlie loves Spider-Man and has been pointing out the various advertisements about the show. I attended the second evening’s preview of the show to scope it out for its appropriateness for my son. The ticketmaster website says that the show is for 8 and up, but I wanted to know what that really meant. Minutes into the show – with a mock suicide by Arachne – that this is definitely the adult-sized version of Spider-Man. MJ’s abusive father, Uncle Ben’s death, vivid violent imagery, and the generally dark aesthetic make this a show amazing for adults, but terrible for young kids.
That doesn’t mean that parents won’t take their kids to the show. On the night I was at the show, I saw at least a couple of kids that could have been around three – out for a special night with their dads. One particularly cute kid wore his Spidey costume and a very cute smile. Happily he seemed unphased. I just hope he doesn’t have nightmares about a life size Arachne dangling over his bed as he sleeps – or any number of the sinister villains that unleashed their havoc on the world. Anyway, only a parent knows what their kid’s reaction would be to dark subject matter. I just know that its going to be a very long time before either of my kids.
Luckily, I do think the show will run for long enough for them to enjoy it – after all, the producers have to make back that 65 million smackers they sunk into the production. Speaking of the producers…
MY HEARTFELT PLEA TO THE SHOW’S PRODUCERS:
Would you consider staging an occasional “kid-friendly” Turn Off the Dark: Light – a shorter version of the show that really just hits on awesome stunts and let’s them see Spidey brought to life in the setting of a simpler, less intense, story arc. I know lots of parents that would be willing to pay full ticket prices for the ability to let them see that. The kids would get a glimpse of the technical wizardry of the show and the parents (myself included) would not have to listen to their little Spidey Superfans saying repeatedly, “When am I going to be eight again?” Kids can be so relentless.
There is one “Dad Hack” to the show, but its an expensive one. Buy us full-price tickets and dip into the show for about sixteen minutes from the time that Peter Parker discovers his powers and bounces around his room, leaving before the Green Goblin gets too much like Jigsaw from the Saw horror movie franchise.
I’m sure the producer’s have done their research, but when I went to see The Lion King, there were A LOT of families there with kids who were under eight. All I ask is that you think about it.
This is a fun physical project. The project is basically Guitar Hero meets hopscotch. An interesting an unexpected match up that makes for a fun art installation. A bit too much work for my living room, but a cool project nonetheless. There’s video below as well.
Josh Cooley who is a Story Artist at Pixar Animation Studios has been posting these hysterically inappropriate takes on famous film scenes with the Golden Books from kids treatment. Well, he’s planning on putting a bunch together into a book. He’s going to sell some high quality prints via his Website as well. He has a bunch of them up on his site – link below. (via DaddyTypes)
I had a chance to check out the Impossible Project Space on Lower Broadway. I arrived just wanting to pick up a few rolls of film, but found they had a wide variety for a bunch of shooting situations. Because I’m doing a Polaroid project with the kiddies, I opted for their White Label brand ($13/roll).
They also have a few different reissues of Polaroid cameras and even a Polaroid track jacket (for the truly Polaroid passionate).
It’s worth a visit to see the range of Polaroids presented from a mix of international artists like Grant Hamilton, Jake Chessum, Laura Watt, Heather Champ and 20 others.
The curators are super friendly and, naturally, passionate about all things Polaroid. It’s worth a visit if you are in NYC and ready for some instant gratification.
425 Broadway – take the elevator to the fifth floor. Take the stairs down. The elevator is really sluggish.
I just came across this wonderful blog of dadhood inspired graphics by Gabriel Solomon. This one explaining the powerful lure of the screen to kids was particularly funny. But he’s got loads that are on point. Definitely worth checking out.
I had the good fortune of attending one of Shantell Martin’s interactive music and light extravaganzas recently at Soho House. The talented illustrator used a tablet, projector, and sketching program to create a unique music and light extravaganza that had the kids jumping. Thanks Shantell! While this performance was for kids, she does a lot of events around town for adults. She’s worth checking out. More pix and videos on her site: Shantell Martin – Illustrator.
If you have some blank wall space and some photos. CanvasPop is a great way to turn photos into hangable art. They offer some cool filters, and the option of dividing your photo into two, three, or four panels. Their prices vary, but a 20×24 canvas (.75″) is a reasonable $99.
(via Uncrate)
Patrick Runte has a series of classic videogame-into-real-life photos that depict Pong, Pac Man, Space Invaders, Tetris and others. Some of the photos are not entirely kid friendly, so be careful if surfing with the kiddies. (via Notcot)
Posted via web from Chad
