Blogger Preschooler and I were making pancakes on Sunday morning when “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” came on the air. Stephanopoulos was interviewing President-elect Barack Obama, and Evan noticed.
“That’s Roback Obama,” Evan said. “Who’s that man he’s with?”
“George Stephanopoulos,” I replied.
“George Steph — Steph — Stephanuffagus,” Evan said. “He’s got a funny name!”
Lovin’ it — Obama’s name isn’t odd to him, but “Stephanapoulos” is.
We finally made it back to the Pershing Square’s “Downtown on Ice” rink — the site of our engagement — last week for some nighttime ice skating.
Well, Evan and I did. Maria was more than happy to watch. The Blogger Preschooler, meanwhile, seems to be getting the hang of it. Being so low to the ground probably helped.
We almost didn’t make it inside — even though it was a Tuesday night, and we were there for the final skate of the evening (at 9 p.m.), the rink was sold out. The guy at the booth said ticket sales wouldn’t resume until people started turning in their skates, feeing up space on the ice.
I get it — the Pershing Square rink is tiny (it is outdoors in Southern California, after all, and a big rink couldn’t be sustained). And apparently, with schools out, the crowds were huge all week.
I told Evan the news. The disappointment on his face was heartbreaking. I then asked the guy in the booth whether he’d put us on a waiitng list. “I’ve never done this before,” the guy said, as he wrote down the number “2″ on a slip of paper (apparently one other person was in front of us). Sure enough, before long people started turning in their skates… and we were able to join in.
“Downtown on Ice” continues through Jan. 19.
– A few days after the 2008 election: “Dadda, I saw a magazine at school with ‘Robama’ on the cover. It was all about ‘Robama.’”
– Noticing my thinning hairline: “Daddy, you’re hair’s gonna look like Grandpa’s soon!”
– A few days ago, as we were walking down the aisles of Target, Evan suddenly screamed: “EVERYONE! TARGET IS CLOSING IN FIVE MINUTES!” It was the middle of the day. Not sure if anyone left the store, confused, after hearing the 4-year-old’s stern announcement.
As Franklin Avenue readers know, we’re big fans of driving up the Angeles Crest Highway to play in the snow during the winter — especially since the white stuff can be found just 45 minutes away from our Franklin Avenue HQ. (That remains one of my favorite things about L.A. — it could be 70 degrees at home, but we’re still less than an hour away from snow.)
And after Monday’s downpour and freeze, I’m assuming the snow is ready for us should we decide to head up next weekend.
But for people who don’t want to make the Angeles Crest drive, there’s another snow option in L.A.: The man-made variety. Evan’s preschool threw a Winter Festival on Saturday.. and brought in the big guns for the occasion. In this case, the Union Ice Co. — very busy this time of year — came in to create a snowy wonderland for the kids:
The fun part of the job: Blowing snow onto bales of hay to create a snow ramp to slide down.
Here’s how it works: Massive blocks of ice, shaved down into snow.
Kids wait in anticipation.
Testing out the new snow.
The finished product — yep, it was quite a hit with the kids.
Total cost of the man-made snow? About $1300.
It was a big movie weekend for the Blogger Preschooler, who couldn’t get enough this past weekend of “Wall-E” and “Cars” on DVD. The beautifully made “Wall-E,” in particular, made a big impression on Evan — and me too.
That led to our Sunday visit to the AMC Burbank Media Center 6, where we caught an early matinee of the new Disney animated feature “Bolt.” (FYI, the AMC Burbank Media Center 6 costs just $6 for all shows before noon on the weekend and holidays.)
This was big: Evan’s first official theatrical movie experience. We took him to a children’s short movie festival at the REDCAT earlier this year, and before that took him to a premiere screening of “Handy Manny” at the Arclight when he was a 2-year-old.
Until now, however, the Preschooler wasn’t high on spending a long time in a dark theater. Also, some of the Disney and Pixar animated features weren’t his cup of tea — those villains (such as the sharks in “Finding Nemo”) can be pretty scary.
But the relative tameness of “Wall-E” and “Cars” gave Evan the confidence to tag along as we took him to the movie theater.
Verdict? He managed to watch the entire thing — not a foregone conclusion, and there were moments where he told us he was ready to go. (Now, of course, he is raving about his first movie experience — forgetting how he tried to talk us into leaving!)
The movie itself? Decent, better than many animated features. As the first animated Disney film under Pixar’s John Lasseter — who now serves as Chief Creative Officer of both Pixar’s and Disney’s animated studios — “Bolt” retains some of the look, story and heart of a Pixar pic.
But it’s no “Wall-E.” Or, for that matter, “Cars” or “Finding Nemo.”
The story is simple: “Bolt” is the most famous pup on TV, saving his master — a pre-teen girl named Penny — from evil. The rub: The real-life Bolt has been led to believe he really is a superhero canine, and not a modern-day Lassie. He somehow escapes and, while making his way back to Hollywood, slowly realizes that he’s an ordinary dog. John Travolta is fine as Bolt, while Miley Cyrus — and her husky, Brenda Vacarro voice — seems like an unusual choice for Penny.
Meanwhile, it’s Disney employee Mark Walton who steals the movie as Rhino, the fan boy hamster whose Comic-Con-style adoration of Bolt is the highlight.
(Flickr pic by Consumatron.)
Just a week after I wrote that Trader Joe’s famed tamales had gone missing (apparently their old supplier had stopped manufacturing them), they’re back! We picked up several of the chicken and cheese variety (Evan’s favorite) and breathed a sigh of relief. When all else fails in finding something for our preschooler to eat, the tamales do the trick.
The last time I visited the Statue of Liberty, it was the spring of 1992. A bunch of us had hit the road from Northwestern, driving to New York for what was (for most of us) our first experience in the Big Apple.
We didn’t have any firm plans back then. We just showed up at Castle Clinton at Battery Park, got our tix and hopped on the boat. A short ride later, we were climbing up the steps inside the statue, making our way to the crown.
View from the boat.
More than 16 years later, I was back for the first time during our recent trip. And yes, things have changed. It’s post-9/11, after all, and the Statue is obviously a prime target for nutsos. The security just to get on the boat was just as intense as flying. And we soon discovered that the closest we’d get to Lady Liberty would be the walkway surrounding the statue. Tickets to the statue pedestal (“monument access”) are available — but must be requested in advance (a limited number are available the day of, but I assume those go fast). And obviously, no one’s getting inside the statue these days.
Lady Liberty’s got back!
In the end, just making it to the island and looking at the statue from below was fine. We would have had to go through a second round of security screening just to get up to the pedestal… and really, the view both of Liberty and of Manhattan were just fine from down below.
Tix to get to Liberty Island are $12 for people over 13 (with a discount for seniors), while kids 4-12 are $5. Thankfully, that meant that the Blogger Preschooler was free.
I say thankfully, because ultimately we only stayed on the island for about half an hour. Really, once we took our photos, that was about all there was to do. With the BP eager to make it back to Manhattan, we cut our visit short. We didn’t go to Ellis Island (which I did visit in 1992) — sometimes, when traveling with a little kid, you gotta know your limits.
(Photo by LA Times.)
Apparently all of our fun, weekend trips on the Metro Gold Line are making an impression on the Blogger Preschooler (or, the Kid Formerly Known as the Blogger Toddler, who was Formerly Known as Blogger Baby — take your pick).
Today, while Evan was playing with the toy trains at Swork, I got a kick out of hearing his narration.
“The next stop is HIGHLAND PARK STATION.”
And, my favorite:
“The next stop is ARROYO STATION. Stand clear, the doors are closing.”
I went ahead and asked him what his favorite train destination was.
“Chinatown… no, no, Pasadena!”
The MTA oughta put this kid on the payroll.
As promised, a recount of our trip to Yo Gabba Gabba. Last month, I managed to secure a visit to the top-secret set, where shooting for season two was winding down. Evan, clutching his Brobee doll, and cousin Jordan, grabbing a Plex toy, joined me on the trip (providing a good alibi — uh, yeah, I’m visiting the set purely for their enjoyment).
Once there, we were ushered in by Kelly Kimball, from “Gabba” producer Wildbrain, who showed us around.
The boys were a tad hesitant at first, but everyone went beyond the call to make us feel welcome. Visually, there was much to see: Gabbaland, countless props, costumes, and of course, DJ Lance and the Gabba characters.
Also, the boys are still talking about Christian Jacobs, the co-creator who happens to also be Aquabats lead singer MC Bat Commander. Evan seemed to get that Christian was an Aquabat, even out of character. I tried to get Evan to sing his rockin’ version of “Pool Party,” but shyness prevailed.
And now, my report:
Plex, Muno, Brobee and Toodee. They like to dance and have fun.
Deep inside a massive warehouse off the busy 60 freeway in Industry, Calif., the hippest show ever to hit the juice box demo is winding down its three-month season two shoot.
Grabbing a microphone to amplify his voice inside the massive, converted stage (that once housed a dairy plant), “Yo Gabba Gabba” co-creator Christian Jacobs is helping guide host D.J. Lance through a song about an art show.
Lance, who has replaced his trademark fuzzy orange hat with a beret for the scene, is encouraging the “Gabba” characters – a green monster named Brobee, a cat/dragon named Toodee and the red Cyclops named Muno, among others – to display their art projects, via song. Toodee’s entry isn’t, well, all that good – but Lance still cheers her work.
Foofa and Brobee strike a pose.
That’s the underlying theme of the Nick Jr. series: Keep trying, don’t give up, play hard, share with others, hugs are fun… and “don’t, don’t, don’t bite your friends.”
The messages aren’t that different from Mr. Rogers or “Romper Room” (well, except maybe for that biting one). But the delivery sure is.
Foofa, Plex and Brobee.
“Yo Gabba Gabba” attracted hipster parents and their Ramones T-shirt-wearing offspring last year by mixing life lessons (Brobee scarfs down green beans and sings about the party in his tummy) with indie rock (The Shins, Cornelius), cutting-edge animation and cuddly, off-beat characters – all set to a dance beat. (Wildbrain, which is behind another Evan fave, “Higglytown Heroes,” produces, along with The Magic Store.)
Decked in large Run DMC glasses, a striped jumpsuit and that oversized cap, host DJ Lance begins each episode by opening up a colorful boombox and bringing the shows character’s to life. In between songs about sharing and being nice to everyone, segments range from Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh demonstrating how to draw and rapper Biz Markie demonstrating his beat box skills.
Muno and Foofa : Future “Dancing with the Stars” contestants?
The brainchild of Jacobs (also known as Aquabats frontman “MC Bat Commander”) and Scott Schultz, “Yo Gabba Gabba” was named one of 2007’s top ten new series by Time magazine and has earned Emmy and TV Critics Assn. award noms. Of course, the show’s campy, frantic antics haven’t won over everyone.
My name is Muno, muh-Muno, Muh-muh-muh-muh-muh-Muno!
“Our goal has been working to really connect with both parents and their kids,” Jacobs says. “But my favorite is the one parent out of ten who finds out what I do — and you see their face drop, as if to say, ‘Oh, you make that show? I want to kill you.’”
But for the generation of Gen X parents raised on “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse” and Krofft puppets, “Gabba” has also developed a cult following – and oh yeah, their kids are watching (and humming along) too. The show’s even a hit among teens and college-age kids who aren’t exactly in the Nick Jr. demo.
At this summer’s ComiCon – not a popular toddler hangout — DJ Lance was mobbed by teens and adults.
For season two, set to bow in September, Jacobs and Schultz have attracted a who’s who of hip celebs and bands to visit Gabbaland: Jack Black, Andy Samberg, the Roots, MGMT, The Ting Tings and “The Office’s” Melora Hardin (who teaches the “Gabba” gang how to conga) stop by.
In one recurring segment, “30 Rock’s” Jack McBrayer will offer up a joke of the day, while in one episode, Amy Sedaris plays the tooth fairy.
“We’re really trying to outdo season one,” Schultz says. Adds Jacobs, “We went a little crazy this season and had less time to do it in. It’s just been a whirlwind and we’re coming up for air. Plus, there’s no air conditioning here, so it’s like a battle in the desert.”
At least it’s most colorful desert ever, complete with a skateboard ramp, empty costumes (is that Muno’s extended family sitting over there?) and production assistants wandering around, passing out red velvet cupcakes. DJ Lance is right – Gabbaland is awesome.
As we mentioned earlier this month, YGG! merchandise is starting to make its way to Target, Toys R Us, Walmart and other retailers. Party party!
1. Perfect Breakfast: Lately, we’ve been into this yogurt and granola mix for breakfast. It’s a Trader Joe’s combo: The market’s French Village Vanilla Nonfat Yogurt, with its “Granola & the 3 Berries” mix (honey sweetend whole grain oats and whole grain wheat, wih freeze-dried raspberries, blueberrys and strawberries). It’s so easy to prepare and best of all, Evan loves it.
2. Olympic Fever: Yes, we have it and as the Summer Games end, I’d like to direct you to Jenny’s site, ljcfyi.com. Jenny’s currently in Beijing and blogging all about it. I’ve read her blog for years and got excited when the company she works for sent her there to write all about it. (Pic by ljcfyi.)
3. Wall Decals: We’re thinking of re-doing Evan’s room and I ambitiously told Mike that I would paint some wall graphics on the wall. He correctly doubted me, ’cause I never have time for anything like that, but then I was trolling Design Sponge the other night (I make time for trolling) and saw these wall decals, my problems were solved. Trains or cars would be perfect for the room but since they have none, Evan may have to settle for the airplane.
