Howefitz Blog

Before I blow full steam ahead on this post, I want to take you back in time. Through the magic of YouTube, please go back with me to the 1970’s, and a very familiar television show opening. I bet you can sing along…

Now, did you notice anything? Kids? Ok. A big yellow 7 year old bird? Good! Notice anything else? Were the kids outside?! AND they were PLAYING!!!! Keep this in mind as I continue to rant…

Yesterday, Christina Warren of Mashable.com wrote a piece praising Sesame Street and their Elmo iPhone app. Take a look:

I have already reviewed Batman: The Brave and the Bold, but at that time, I had only seen one episode. That was over a year ago, and as I’ve continued to watch the show, I’ve become more enthralled with it’s family atmosphere. Not just in the ‘no one cusses or makes a lot of innuendos’ sort of family atmosphere, but a genuine sense of family among the characters.

I can’t remember a time when I couldn’t hum themes from Sergei Prokofiev’s ‘Peter and the Wolf‘. I would imagine that most children wouldn’t know what an oboe is without it!

I remember as a kid listening to Patrick Stewart narrate it from a cassette I found at the library. Of course, I saw the Disney version more times than I can count, and who can forget the use of the wolf’s theme in the holiday classic ‘A Christmas Story‘?

When I was still living with my parents, I developed a yearly Thanksgiving tradition. I would set the alarm and get up early so that I could watch the entire original Star Wars trilogy before my dad got up and wanted the T.V. for football. Why Star Wars? Because this was before the prequels, so Star Wars still ruled. I’m still not into football, and Star Wars doesn’t have the same luster it once did, so I decided to compile a list of adult-friendly kids’ movies that you can enjoy with your kids this holiday season, or, if you are in to football, here’s some flicks that will distract your kids in another room while you enjoy the game(s).

I am the father of a teenage girl. Twilight? Yeah, I’ve heard of it. Here are my feelings on the phenomenon. Come with me… if you dare!

Since the dawn of teenage entertainment, what could possibly be described as ‘gothic’ has proved to be popular. What was popular while you were growing up?

Teen Wolf (1985)

OK, so not necessarily gothic, Twilight features werewolves as well as vampires, so I had to find an example of a werewolf other than Lon Chaney, Jr.

Monster Squad (1987)

Before this becomes a list of Halloween flicks of the 80’s, let’s focus on the vampires, shall we?

I’m so glad today’s FatherHood Friday theme is ‘Books’, because it gives me a chance to review an all-ages comic book I just discovered called ‘Lions, Tigers, and Bears‘.

‘Lions, Tigers, and Bears’ is the story of a little boy named Joey Price. Joey has just moved away from his grandmother who he’s close to, and is scared of being in a new place without any friends. As a going away present, his grandma gives him a set of four stuffed animals called ‘The Night Pride’. The lions and tigers in the set she says will chase the beasties away.

Look at that face. Poor homeless thing is miserable...

By now, I’m sure you are all aware of the blogosphere’s outcry against Gwen, the homeless American Girl doll.

If not, than essentially what you need to know is that Gwen’s deadbeat dad left her and her mom to live in their car. She meets a girl named Chrissy, who enjoys keeping the bullies from picking on Gwen’s sad plight.

Let's go, Squaddies!

Before my wife and I started having kids, I imagined some day in the distant future, bouncing my son or daughter (or both!) on my knee and trying to figure out how to introduce them to the wonderful comic book characters I knew as a child. The movies are too adult and the cartoons I watched as a kid are just plain old.

I started buying toys. Then, there was a line from Marvel called ‘Spiderman and Friends‘. These featured little kid versions of my favorite Marvel heroes. I snatched up everything from teethers to board books to action figures and vehicles, anticipating the demise of the current Super Hero trend.

Al Roker and Deborah Roberts will join Elmo in talking to kids about these tough economic times. Photo by Gil Vaknin from sesameworkshop.org

In a previous blog post, ‘We’ve Heard the Talk of Wall Street and Main Street, But Who’ll Help Sesame Street?’ I talked about how the Sesame Workshop was laying off some of it’s staff as a result of these dismal economic times. Wednesday night, the Street takes to Prime-Time to help children understand what parents already know.

A brief explanation of the new Adult-Friendly Children’s Book feature: No doubt everyone loves Dr. Seuss, but there’s only so much Green Eggs and Ham that one adult can mentally consume. Here I will highlight the children’s books that I feel are just as note-worthy. And maybe just a bit more off the beaten path…

It’s no secret that I hate Neil Gaiman. He continuously pumps out great work, and I hate him for it. ‘Crazy Hair‘ is another such work. I brought it home to my nearly three year old, and she made me read it. Twice. This was after I read it to myself a couple of times.