Brilliantly Simple Rock Climbing Cake

September 23, 2011 - 6:31 pm

My friend Laura came up with this brilliantly simple idea for a rock climbing themed cake. Playmobile climbers, M&M holds and frosting safety lines. And what rock climbing cake would  be complete without a zip line? Yep, a couple of tinkertoys and some twine for that one. What a great idea.  Even though it looked incredible, it actually tasted even better than it looked. Belay on? On belay? Chocolate on? On chocolate!

The Loog Guitar

May 21, 2011 - 12:19 pm

This is an awesome kit that I stumbled upon on Kickstarter. The bidding is closed to fund the project, but it looks like designer Rafael Atijas had no problem funding his project – got 437% of his funding goal and, from what I can tell, looks like he’s getting ready to ship out the first Loogs soon. This is a three string guitar made specifically for children – comes as a kit so that you build it with your kids – what a great way to let them see the fundamentals of how the instrument works.

He recommends an open A tuning at the outset, so pretty much everything sounds good, but you can also tune the three strings as a traditional guitar.

And his site says that the shop is “opening soon”. Sign meup Rafael. I think lots of people missed the kickstarter round, but think this is a very cool project and I’d love to get my hands on one!

The Loog Guitar.

Zooglobble: Gustafer Yellowgold World Premiere of “Infinity”

February 2, 2011 - 10:26 am

The Gustafer World Premiere blog party continues with today’s release of “Infinity” over at Zooglobble.  Enjoy!

Zooglobble: Video: “Infinity” – Gustafer Yellowgold (World Premiere).

The Saturday Morning Cereal Bowl: World Premiere Video from Gustafer Yellowgold!

February 1, 2011 - 11:36 am

Kids music podcast The Saturday Morning Cereal Bowl just posted a World Premiere Video from Gustafer Yellowgold’s latest release. Gustafer is heavy on the playlist in my house, so this release has been eagerly anticipated for a while. And it doesn’t disappoint. They are doing a video a week on various blogs. Stay tuned.

The Saturday Morning Cereal Bowl: World Premiere Video from Gustafer Yellowgold!.

(Full Disclosure: I helped produce the ‘Bonus’ feature on the DVD set called “Proof or Foof”)

Squier Stratocaster Guitar and Rock Band 3 Controller

November 16, 2010 - 7:48 pm

The website for the new pro controller for Rock Band 3 is up. Has more details about the instruments MIDI capabilities, and another demo video.

I really want to get my hands on one of these. Its the perfect “dad rationalization” gift for “my kids”. I’m telling myself that its a good thing for the kids, but the truth is, well, dad just really wants to play it.

Considering I’ve been playing guitar for over two decades and still basically suck. I doubt that this controller game combo will really do the trick, but it looks like lots of fun.

Pre-order begins Jan 1, 2011 here.

Squier® by Fender® Stratocaster® Guitar and Controller | Dont Just Play Games—Play Guitar.

Wooden Player Piano Toy

April 7, 2010 - 7:22 pm

Next thing you know, the kids will be using punchcards to make their own symphonies. What a cool, unusual music toy.

Gloggomobil – Naef Spiele @ Kidsmodern.

Cardboard Record Player

March 18, 2010 - 6:04 pm

Unless vinyl makes a huge comeback, our kids are as likely to get hands on with a record player as we are with wax cylinders. This is an awesome concept I’d love to get my kids’ hands on. And it wouldn’t matter if they messed it up.

Cardboard Record Sleeve Doubles as Record Player – Cardboard record player – Gizmodo.

Music: Ultra-Lounge Nursery Rhythms!

September 15, 2009 - 8:11 pm


These aren’t your average nursery rhymes. As the title suggests, they are nursery rhythms. For a break from the your typical nursery music, this collection puts the “O” at the end of daddy, if you dig. Silk robes and martinis for the whole family.

Ultra-Lounge: Nursery Rhythms!

Mellow Fever Review – Gustafer#3

April 26, 2009 - 6:26 pm

mf-3d-72dpi1Great review for my pal Gustafer Yellowgold’s latest CD/DVD set. Oh yeah, and there’s something about a grainy documentary short as well. Someone once told me that I have an uncanny resemblance to Sweetman Masters. Not exactly sure how to take that.  I stumbled upon Gustafer Yelowgold a few years ago at a small venue. Since then, he’s topped my list of indie kid artists. Morgan Taylor, Gustafer’s multi-talented frontman, also hand-draws all of the animations.  Their homepage is here