GoodyBlog

Gwen Stefani Has Another Boy!

Congrats to Gwen and Gavin! The rockstar couple gave birth to their second child yesterday--and it ain't no holla-back girl. Both mom and son are doing fine. But the burning question is when you already have one kid named Kingston, do you try to top it or go with something more traditional for baby No. 2? Drum roll, please! His name is...Zuma Nesta Rock Rossdale. So, I'm guessing not traditional then? What do you think: Love it or still trying to figure out how to pronounce it?

Friday Night Movies

This Week's DVD Goodies:

Are you ready to rock!?! In a G-rated kind of way? DVDs from two Disney darlings, Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers, are about to take over your TV set. Enjoy the peace and quiet while you can. Your kids are going to play Hannah Montana: Best of Both Worlds Concert Movie and Camp Rock so many times that you will know all the songs by heart. The good news is you will get a break...in late October, when High School Musical 3 hits theaters with a whole new set of tween-y tunes. Don't let all the cute, floppy hair fool you--it's a vicious cycle.

   

This Week's Big-Screen Goody:

The Longshots (rated PG)

 

More Kid-Friendly DVDs:

Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers Collection, Vol. 2

Disney / Pixar: Ultimate Eight-Movie Collection

George of the Jungle: Swinging First Season

Her Best Move

Jane & the Dragon: Dragon's Tale

Transformers Animated: Season One

Veggie Tales: Where's God When I'm S-Scared? - A Lesson in Handling Fear

Wayside School: Season One

Wordworld: Sheep's A Star

      

The Put-Your-Kids-to-Bed-First Picks of the Week (TV Edition):

Dexter: The Complete Second Season

Gossip Girl: The Complete First Season

House, M.D.: Season Four

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles - The Complete First Season

 

Armor for Ears

Outdoor concert season in Brooklyn is definitely a family affair. However, the venue I went to this weekend was louder than most. Just as I was beginning to fret over the eardrums of the cute kids sitting nearby, their parents unpacked kids' hearing protection earmuffs from Peltor, which are made to reduce loud noise by 20 decibels, without blocking other ambient sound. The kids wore them with no complaints and seemed much happier for it. I wondered if they could sense the relief of all the surrounding adults. Truthfully though, I think they just liked the bright colors their earmuffs came in.

Buckle Up, Miley!

We're pretty big Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana fans around here. She's a good role model who doesn't seem too likely to pull a Jamie-Lynn anytime soon. Plus those songs are just so darned catchy! But here's something we're not cheering about: According to Consumer Reports, in her hugely promoted 3-D concert tour movie, she and her dad are shown not wearing seatbelts while driving to a rehearsal. Did anyone who saw the movie catch this? (I didn't see it.) I have to say I don't think your average 11-year-old is going to spot this small moment and try to get out of wearing a seatbelt cuz Miley doesn't... (I hope!) but it's still a pretty big goof that the film's editors and director didn't catch it—and that she apparently doesn't wear her seatbelt. Buckle up, Miley!

The Secret Underground Hannah Montana Society

Anyone who follows this blog knows that my 6-year-old niece has already infected me with a bad case of High School Musical fever. Yes, I am certain that I am the only person over the age of 11 who describes "You Are the Music In Me" to friends as "haunting." (It'd be funny if it weren't true.)

As it turns out, my sweet, little Niecey Botwin was, in true drug pusher form, just starting me out on the soft stuff to get me hooked and comin' back for more: This past Thanksgiving weekend at home has left me with a full blown Hannah Montana habit. (Oh, how did I not see THAT coming?)

"Best of Both Worlds"? Brilliant. My favorite, "Nobody's Perfect"? A timeless masterpiece that I can't get out of my head: "Nobody's perfect. I gotta work it, again and again, til I get it right." I mean, it's spooky. It's like she knows me!

Time to fess up, all you achy breaky parents and former fans of Miley Cyrus's dad, Billy Ray. Mullets unite!! Admit you're a big ol' Momtana … and that you would've killed to have been on Oprah last week when the big O surprised everyone with a Miley/Hannah appearance)!

Photo via.

3 Ways to Repurpose Beloved T-Shirts

1. This mom made a "handme up," by combining her son's favorite (but outgrown) T with one that fits.

Wanna see how she did it? Go check out her tutorial here. I would like to add that if you're a non-sewer you could just wear two shirts (small over large). Not as nifty, but still...link thanks craftzine.
2. Oh how rock and roll is this quilt wisdom of the moon made for here teenage daughter's birthday out of old concert t's?

3. If you don't have skilz to DIY (like me) teensygreen found a company which will make you a beautiful (but pricey) quilt from your beloved shirties.

Sorry about the blurry picture! Go to stitch t to get a them to patch an heirloom together for you.

Any other ideas for what to do with old shirts? Our drawers are bulging with them, but they're too well-worn to giveaway—and have too many memories attached to them to trash. Please share your ideas!

Moo Baa Sa Sa Sa Sandra Boynton!

Last week I had the most fun, fantastic privilege to meet the one, the only, Sandra “Hippos Go Berserk” Boynton. If you have a kid, you have a Sandra Boynton library. I do! And my 2 ½-year-old Will, husband Bill, and I love every book—have most of ‘em memorized. They're whimsical, lyrical, joyful, funny (shall I go on?). The reason I got to meet Sandra was the upcoming release of Blue Moo:17 Jukebox hits From Way Back Never, her fourth album (yep, in addition to the gazillion board books she writes and illustrates, she—and her partner—do magical stuff with music). This new CD is original Fifties-inspired groovin’ sounds that Will and I totally dig. And what’s really cool is that she called up the actual legendary artists of that era and asked them to record the original tunes: Steve Lawrence, Neil Sedaka, Brian Wilson, Sha Na Na, BBKing, Davy Jones of The Monkees….(There’s a cool behind-the-scenes making-of-the-book youtube video.)  Anyway, I had five minutes and asked her a couple of questions:
You started drawing at 3…
SB: Everyone starts drawing as soon as they can; it’s just that kids tend to stop at a certain point because art teachers tend to tell kids who’s got talent and who doesn’t. I just never stopped.
So it’s been your passion since your were a little kid…
SB: Well, music is the first thing I’ve done that I’m a natural at. Drawing is hard for me; it’s gotten a lot easier, but it doesn’t come naturally. I loved drawing as a kid, but I also loved looking at what other people had drawn—Eloise and Maurice Sendak’s Little Bear, in particular. I would study those pictures. I was always drawn to very outline drawings—and animals. I can’t draw people.
Yes, cows and hippos and sheep and pigs…
SB: My animals are very people-like; I don’t think of them as zoological animals but as characters. In fact, the animals in my books are real people in my life. All of the small bears are my younger son—he very much has that gentle quality.
Is there an animal you don’t draw?
SB: I don’t think I’ve done a mosquito yet. And I find penguins very difficult to draw.
So that was my cool five minutes with Sandra Boynton (she has her own website where you can learn more about her—if you’ve become obsessed with her as I have.)

Bet On It (Bet On It) ...

Bet on it, bet on it, bet on it, bet on it, bet on it, bet on it, bet on it, bet on it, bet on it ... Must ... break ... High School the Musical 2 ... repeating ... loop in ..... my ..... head. {Insert sound effect here of a body being sucked from one vortex into another.}

Phew. That was close. Just got back from a double birthday party celebration (my mom's and my own) this weekend, and my 6-year-old niece is addicted to the Disney Channel's ginormous hit movie sequel. And I mean waaay addicted. Like, little Amy Winehouse addicted.

Don't ask me how I successfully managed to escape the first installment of this original TV movie and hit soundtrack, but I did. But the Corbin karma has whopped me on the head this go around. Upon arriving at my brother and sister-in-law's house, I was aggressively hugged and then strapped to a chair in the dark, forced to listen to the entire soundtrack to the sequel twice. At an unearthly loud volume. I think I confessed to some things I did in the 80s, but instead of being released, I was then forced to dance. To one song called "Bet On It" in particular. About 8 times. And then to some Hawaiian themed bonus track called "Humuhumunukunukuapua'a." Then my niece "brought it down" with what she so eloquently labelled as "a really sad song": "Gotta Go My Own Way." Dinner. Cake. A rousing game of Cranium's Hullabaloo. Yadda yadda yadda. Before you knew it, we were all back to watching her favorite scenes from the movie with her own running commentary thoughout, including the blooper reel.

Suffice it to say that when my alarm clock went off this morning, it was playing "You Are the Music In Me" .... until I bolted up in my bed. Phew! Only a nightmare. But, dagnabbit, I soon found myself humming the song in the shower. And if that wasn't bad enough, it was the Sharpay version I was humming. I don't know what upsets me more: that it was her version, or that I simply know who Sharpay is and am familiar enough with her alternate version to be able to hum it.

Am I alone here? Have any of you moms or dads been infected with the HSTM cooties? Can't stop singing their songs? Doing their dances? (Trust me, you haven't lived until you've seen my brother's mad dancing skillz on "All for One." That's right: skillz with a "z.") And be sure to let us know your most embarrassing High School the Musical moment. Anyone been caught singing a tune during a parent-teacher conference or something? Don't be shy. It's all for one on Goody Blog. Your secret's safe with us! ; )

Photo via.

Banana-Fanna-Fo-Fanna ...

Well, I see that Eddie Murphy has finally admitted paternity to the daughter of ex-turned-current Spice Girl Melanie "Scary Spice" Brown. I'm not so much interested in this celebrity drama and feuding as I am in the interesting coincidental cultural reference of the baby's name: Angel Iris Murphy Brown.

Now, I'm sure Ms. Scary didn't intend to name her daughter after the infamous Candice Bergen TV character, Murphy Brown, who stirred up quite a bit of controversy herself by having a baby out of wedlock in a high-profile way. (Dan Quayle, anyone?)

But, again, I'm not looking to comment on the moral or political implications of this naming coincidence. I'm a simple guy. (And it is Monday morning and I haven't even had the coffee yet.) I'm more intrigued by the actual name ... and others that tickle me in that crazy name game kind of way. So I was wondering if anybody knew of any other examples of this.

What are some of the wackiest, oddest, most unfortunate, or interesting name combinations that you know of? Any maiden name/married name combos for the kids that made you chuckle or take note? Ease us into the week with a smile and post your funnies here.

Photo via.

The Preschool of Rock

Okay so there's the lazy parent's approach to having a cool kid—buy her a few hipster t's and call it a day. And then there's the real way to end up with a kid that really rocks: Start her making music early and let her do it loudly—even if it's a great personal cost to your own sanity and well-being. These drums are so cool and even if you're going to end up with a big headache, they are really great looking so there's that. Also, I love this percussion set for when a bunch of kids come over. Link thanks to cribcandy.