From Fatherhood to Photography, Computers to Cooking
Today, over on B’s blog, I’m guest-posting a Tuesday Tales review of Rory’s Story Cubes. Before you head on over there, though, here’s a quick video review by NHL. As a bonus, he ad-libs a story after rolling the die.
Disclaimer: We purchased Rory’s Story Cubes on our own and were not compensated in any way for this review. All opinions expressed above (and in the video) are our own.
I have many good memories of my father growing up. One of the big ones involved wrestling. For a time, we were both big WWE (then called the WWF) fans. We would watch Hulk Hogan, Randy “Macho Man” Savage, George “The Animal” Steel, Andre the Giant and many others tangle and try to be the best there was. We even went, on more than one occasion, to WWF wrestling matches when they were close enough. One of my best memories of these was the time that my father (through connections of his) got box suite tickets. We got to sit in nice, comfortable chairs and watch the match through either a glass window, looking down on the arena, or via a television screen. To my young mind, it was like sampling the ultimate in luxury.
I’ll admit that I thought that wrestling was real for much longer than I should have. Perhaps I was holding on to the fantasy to preserve a common interest my father and I held. Or perhaps I was just very naive. (Probably a bit of both.) Either way, my interest in wrestling faded.
Although I’m not a wrestling fan currently, I still have fond memories of wrestling. When I heard of the WWE Defining Moments figures (ARP: $22.99), I was interested in just how realistic the figures would be. There are many different figures including “Macho Man” Randy Savage (from WrestleMania® VII), Ultimate Warrior (also from WrestleMania® VII), Shawn Michaels (The 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania®), and The Rock. I received Macho Man and Ultimate Warrior to review.
The boxes themselves were impressive. They showed off the figures quite nicely and had detailed description of the match they were from on the back. I’ll admit that I considered leaving them in the box for display. In the end, though, I figured that I couldn’t review them properly if I didn’t remove them from the packaging. Besides, NHL and JSL were chomping at the bit to try them out. (I did wind up saving the description on the back of the box.)
Removing them from the packaging, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that they were extremely detailed. Ultimate Warrior’s knee pads and tights, for example, feature images of him and his opponent (Macho Man) from their match in WrestleMania® VII. The figures are also highly articulate. Knees bend, ankles turn, midsections move and heads turn.
My boys, although not wrestling fans (JSL refers to Ultimate Warrior as “the cowboy”), immediately claimed the figures as their own and had some mock-fighting sessions with them.
Of course, the details on these figures is impressive enough that they could be displayed prominently in the display case of any wrestling fan.
Disclaimer: I received the two figures mentioned above to review. All opinions mentioned above are my own.
Comments are off for this article As a victim of bullying myself, I was quite interested in the synopsis of the upcoming P&G and Wal-Mart Family Movie Night collaboration Field of Vision.
Through mysterious footage captured on an old malfunctioning video camera, Sinclair High School’s star quarterback, Tyler McFarland, learns that some of his teammates have been bullying Cory Walker, a troubled new transfer student. Aware that sharing this information with the coach might get his friends kicked off the team and ultimately cost the school the state championship, Tyler must choose what’s more important: winning or doing what’s right.
Here is the trailer:
The story opens to introduce Tyler, his family and community. Tyler plays for his high school’s football team. His sister is a bit of a bookworm, devouring any books she comes across from a small shop owner. The shop owner shows her an old, temperamental video camera. It works, but only when it wants to. More than that, it begins to show her footage of horses and other things.
Meanwhile, Cory Walker starts his first day at the high school. He’s a foster child, having lost his mother years ago and never having known his father. He is a quiet individual who hides a keen mind. It is this keen mind that winds up getting him into trouble with a couple of players on the football team who bullies him for “making him look bad in front of his friends.” Cory’s crime? Answering a teacher’s question when asked to after one of the players couldn’t.
Tyler, the team captain, asks the football players who deny any involvement, but then finds out his teammates were lying when the video camera shows him just what went down. Yes, this camera seems to have a bit of magic in its old circuitry!
Tyler’s then faced with the prospect of just how to respond. A big game is coming up and the football players involved are needed to win. Should he do the right thing and doom his team to losing (thus making himself an outcast as well)? Should he turn them in only after the big game is over? Or should he ignore the whole thing because this kind of thing has always gone on?
As a victim of bullying, I identified with much of Cory’s character. At one point, he obviously knows the answer to a question in class and blurts out an answer without thinking. When the teacher asks him for clarification, he hems and haws, uncomfortable with the spotlight that will likely lead to another bullying confrontation. After the incidents, he is close to tears over the entire situation.
During high school, I felt that way many times. There were many times that I wished that I could just shrink myself down until I’d disappear or hide myself somewhere to cry without giving my bullies more ammunition to use against me.
The bullies in the movie also use a tactic I’ve seen real-life bullies use: Framing the situation to their benefit. They will attempt to dictate what the appropriate responses the bullied individual (or bystanders) can take to their actions. Of course, these “bully approved” actions either solely benefit the bully or come at great cost to the bullied/bystander. This can leave the bullied feeling like they have no choice and no options. Isolation is a bully’s best friend.
Without spoiling the movie, I will say that I found the ending a tad unrealistic, but this is, after all, a family movie and not a hard-hitting expose on bullying. I didn’t really expect plot threads that lingered for years or decades and issues that went unresolved for the rest of the characters’ lives. In a movie like this, everything is tied up into a neat little bow by the closing credits. Expecting that, it was quite entertaining and I would definitely recommend for people to tune in.
The premiere of Field of Vision is on Saturday, June 11 on NBC at 8pm ET/7pm CT. More information is available from their website and Facebook page.
Disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Dad Central Consulting on behalf of P&G and received a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.
Comments are off for this article 
Years back, we had a George Foreman grill. We liked it, but it was very hard to clean. I could clean it while it was hot and burn my fingers in the process or wait until it cooled and have to scrub it more. Eventually, the pain of cleaning the grill made us put it away for good. When I was given the opportunity to review the George Foreman Next Grilleration™ Removable Plate Grill, I was intrigued. Would it show improvement over its predecessor?
I unpacked the grill and quickly figured out how to remove the grill plates. It’s extremely easy. You just pull on the side tabs. The grill plates then slide right off for easy cleaning. They’re even dishwasher-safe (though I cleaned mine by hand).
The big thing with George Foreman grills has always been the fat reduction claims. Specifically:
New results of independent testing show that the George Foreman Grill removes up to 42% of fat from quarter-pound burgers made with 80/20 ground chuck beef, translating to a reduction of approximately 89 calories per burger!
So, did it hold up to the claim? Well, I can’t measure the percentage of fat removed, but here are three photos of the burgers on the grill. The first is of the raw ground beef patties, the second of the cooked burgers and the third of the fat that drained out. (Click to enlarge.)
Now, I can’t measure how much fat or calories that represents, but it definitely was fat/calories that we didn’t wind up ingesting. While I was at it, I also grilled up some hot dogs and salami.
The grill did a pretty good job of cooking everything. I did have some trouble with the burgers, but I think that was an issue of 1) me making the patties too thick and 2) me not knowing the grill well enough to tell just when to pull them off before they overcook. A bit more practice on it (and thinner patties) and I should be fine.
How was the cleanup? As I mentioned before, I opted to wash everything by hand instead of putting it in our dishwasher. (Mainly because the dishwasher was full at the time.) I let the grill cool and used the included plastic spatula to scrape off what little fat/meat bits remained on the grill. Then, I used a paper towel and dish soap to gently clean it. I was finished with both plates, the drip tray and spatula in about five minutes. Quick and easy.
While I don’t think this will replace my charcoal grill during nice weather in the spring/summer, it will definitely augment my cooking options. If it is hot outside, the kids want hot dogs, and I don’t feel like firing up the charcoal grill (or if it is raining outside), it will be easier (and cooler in the house) to toss a few dogs on the George Foreman grill than to preheat the entire oven.
Disclaimer: This post was written for Family Review Network & George Foreman Cooking who provided the complimentary product for review in exchange for my honest opinions.
My boys love the Dinosaur Train television show on PBS by The Jim Henson Company. They also love playing with toys. So when I was given the opportunity to review three Dinosaur Train toys from Uncle Milton’s Toys, I was excited. When I saw that the toys had educational value, I jumped at the opportunity.
Dinosaur Poop
Let’s be honest. Tell any kid that you’re going to let them play with poop at the table, and they’ll look at you funny. But once you take out this product, they’ll be crying for you to open that package quicker.
Of course, the contents are not really poop, but a brown dough-like substance. They come inside of a storage container to keep the “poop” fresh between uses and some pieces of the dinosaur’s most recent meal.
In the case of a carnivore, these pieces are 2 fish skeletons. In the case of a herbivore, 2 plants. An omnivore has one fish and one plant. The pieces can be put together like a puzzle for even more fun.
Once all the pieces have been found, you can flatten the poop and press the fish skeleton or plant into it to form a fossil impression.
You can also get more creative and form poop sculptures.
Of course, this toy can also lead to interesting statements from parents such as “Who wants to play with poop?” or “Keep that poop on the table and not on the floor!”
Hatchers
How would your child like to grow his or her own dinosaur? Hatchers lets your child do just this. Each package contains an egg.
Drop the egg into a glass of water and out hatches a dinosaur.
Ok, not immediately. This is the tough part. The hatching takes about two days. So children get to learn a lesson in patience.
Dino Track Discovery Pack
My boys love games. So it was only natural that they loved playing with the Dino Tracks. Each package comes with three trails. Each card contains a dinosaur footprint on one side and some dinosaur facts on the other. There are also two “egg” cards with suggested games such as follow the trail or try to jump the space of one dinosaur stride. (As you can see, one T-Rex step is just a little bit shorter than JSL on top of NHL.)
Giveaway
Thanks to Uncle Milton Toys, one lucky winner will receive a Dinosaur Train prize pack which includes two packages of Dinosaur Poop and two Dinosaur Train Hatchers. To enter, simply leave a comment below answering this question: What is your favorite dinosaur?
You can also earn bonus entries by doing any (or all) of the following items. Just be sure to leave a separate comment for each item that you complete. (Don’t just leave one comment listing everything you did.)
To enter, please follow the rules above within the comment section. Contest starts today, May 24th and ends at Noon EST on June 7th, 2011. You do not have to be a blogger to enter, but must leave a valid e-mail address for me to contact you for mailing address once the giveaway is over. I will select the winner using random.org and contact you via e-mail. You will have 48 hours to claim the prize. If there is no response, another winner will be selected. Open to U.S. residents only.
Disclaimer: The products were provided for this review by Uncle Milton. The opinions expressed above are my own.
Comments are off for this article When I first heard of Skunked, I’ll admit, I was expecting some kind of odorous twist to the game. Instead, I found out that Skunked looks like this:
Game play is quite simple. Each player rolls the dice and records their score. As you roll again and again, you add to your score until you either decide to stop or you roll a one. If you stop, that round’s total is added to your score. However, if you roll a one, then your score that round is reset to zero and you must put a chip in the pot. Beware of double-ones. That will reset your entire game’s score to zero. Just to add insult to injury, you’ll need to toss four chips in the pot.
If a player reaches (or exceeds) 100, then the game turns into a high score competition. Each player must match or top the high score on their next turn or they are eliminated. The last player standing gets all the chips in the pot. The player with the most chips after three games wins.
B and I played this one night and it was quite enjoyable. Being a geek, I kept score with a spreadsheet program. It let me add up multiple rows quickly and tally up total game scores. (It was late and I wanted to give my brain a rest from math.) We had fun trying to keep rolling higher and higher scores without hitting the dreaded one. (Yes, I hit a double-one once, but luckily it was on my first roll of a game so my score went down to zero FROM zero!)
This is definitely a game that I would play again. In fact, I might try playing this with NHL next time. (JSL could easily roll the dice but is too young to understand the scoring portion.) In fact, I think the fun factor of this game would only increase the more players you add.
Disclaimer: This post was written for Family Review Network & Marina Games
who provided the complimentary product for review in exchange for my honest opinions.
Now that spring is here, we can go outdoors for extended periods of time. This means playtime at the park: slides, climbing, throwing frisbees. What could be better? How about tossing an Aerobie around?
You see, NHL and JSL haven’t quite gotten the knack of throwing a frisbee. NHL’s throws tend to not travel far and JSL’s barely leave the ground. So, while we do have fun, there isn’t any distance involved. Enter the Aerobie Sprint flying ring.
The minute the boys saw the flying ring, they wanted to try it out. I had them wait until we went to the park. Good thing too, because that disc can really fly! NHL was able to send it quite some distance. I didn’t measure, but I’d guess his throws easily topped 30 feet. JSL had more trouble, but he also had a few successful throws. His only went about 10 feet or so, but I’d call that impressive for an almost-four year old. As for me? I got some seriously far throws in as well.
This is definitely something you’ll want to play with where there’s plenty of room. At one point, NHL threw the ring towards me when we were too close to the edge of the park and it almost went into the road. After that, I made sure all throws were directed into the park and not outside of it.
We all loved playing with the Aerobie and it definitely attracted attention. Before long, two other kids in the park joined our game of catch. I’d definitely recommend this for anyone with kids (or even just adults) and a large amount of land to toss the ring across.
Giveaway:
Thanks to Family Review Network & Aerobie Sprint, one lucky winner will receive an Aerobie Sprint flying ring. To enter, simply leave a comment below answering this question: What activity do you and/or your children like doing best in your local park or playground?
You can also earn bonus entries by doing any (or all) of the following items. Just be sure to leave a separate comment for each item that you complete. (Don’t just leave one comment listing everything you did.)
To enter, please follow the rules above within the comment section. Contest starts today, May 3rd and ends at Noon EST on May 17th, 2011. You do not have to be a blogger to enter, but must leave a valid e-mail address for me to contact you for mailing address once the giveaway is over. I will select the winner using random.org and contact you via e-mail. You will have 48 hours to claim the prize. If there is no response, another winner will be selected. Open to U.S. and Canada residents only.
Disclaimer: This post was written for Family Review Network & Aerobie Sprint who provided the complimentary product for review in exchange for my honest opinions.
In brightest day, in blackest night,
No evil shall escape my sight.
Let those who worship evil’s might,
Beware my power… Green Lantern’s light!
If the preceding verse is familiar to you, then you are probably already a fan of the Green Lantern. If not, here’s a quick rundown. The Green Lantern Corps are a galactic police force. They protect and defend the innocent and bring the guilty to justice. They are given rings which they can use (along with their willpower) to create objects out of a green energy.
The two toys that I received to review are the Colossal Cannon and a Kilowog action figure.
Kilowog Action Figure
Kilowog won’t be winning any beauty pageants anytime soon, but this member of the Green Lantern corps is a fierce fighter and has a keen mind. His action figure includes a “blast” green energy construct (which can attach to other constructs) and a Green Lantern ring.
My boys had fun playing with Kilowog, but I’ve got to admit that they were most intrigued by the ring. NHL claimed it as his own and pretended to be a Green Lantern. Of course, he decided to play fair (with some coaching from dad) and allowed JSL to wear the ring a few times. Sadly, the ring was too small for my fingers so I didn’t get to play with it.
Colossal Cannon
This toy, as the name implies, is a big cannon. A child (or.. ahem… grownup) puts his hand inside it and pulls on a trigger inside. This fires off plastic “lantern” projectiles, makes the cannon light up and causes it to make firing noises.
This was a hit and my boys (ahem… and I) kept fighting over who would wield it next. There was just one problem. As you can see in one of the photos, NHL is firing the discs at couch cushions. I rightfully surmised that the cannon’s projectiles could hurt a person and forbade them from using it unless a) it was empty or b) it was pointed at the cushions and away from anyone else.
This worked well until one time when we thought NHL had fired all 10 projectiles. He raised the cannon in the air, squeezed the trigger and out shot a disc. It bounced off our wall and landed without anyone getting hurt or anything being broken. Still, I decided not to risk future breakage and confiscated the discs. I would count this as the only downside to the Colossal Cannon.
Of course, any projectile-shooting toy bears this risk and this can be easily managed by only giving kids the discs under proper supervision. Even without the discs, the Colossal Cannon is fun. Kids can put it on and imagine that they are a Green Lantern firing blasts at bad guys.
Disclaimer: I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Dad Central Consulting on behalf of Mattel and received Green Lantern toys to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.
I’ll admit it. As much as I thought I’d be the parent who wouldn’t let their child watch too much television, my kids love the TV. They have a dozen favorite shows that they absolutely *must* see and are constantly asking us to DVR something else. In addition, they’ve fallen in love with Netflix on our Roku player. NHL, in particular, enjoys picking just which episode of which show he is going to watch next. Of course, we prefer it when their television watching habits are educational in nature. So when I heard about Ameba, I was intrigued.
Ameba is one of the many new channels that Roku provides. Unlike others that show old movies or anime, though, Ameba shows educational programming geared towards children. When we first browsed the selection of shows, I’ll admit that I began to get a little nervous. Nowhere was Dora the Explorer, The Wonder Pets or any of the other “big name” shows that my boys are used to watching. Would they take to these new shows or would they turn their noses up at them?
We looked through the Ages 2 – 5 section for a good program for JSL. After awhile, we found Rainbow Fish. This was a pleasant surprise because they love the Rainbow Fish book. We watched an episode where Rainbow Fish and his friends need to welcome a new girl to their school. A girl who doesn’t quite fit in with the rest of the gang. They both enjoyed this show.
After this, we switched over to the Age 6 – 10 section to find a good program for NHL. I noticed Einsteinabot, a program which appeared to be about numbers and math. NHL loves math so we tried this. Once again, I began to get nervous. The program had a fun song, but the look of the show wasn’t as polished as some shows on Nick Jr or Disney Junior. I needn’t have worried, though. NHL began singing along while JSL danced in his seat. When the episode was over, NHL asked to watch the next one and the one after that.
It just goes to show that kids like fun shows. They don’t care if the show uses the latest animation techniques or expensive computer generated imagery. The shows on Ameba might not have big toy lines behind them like Dora or the Disney shows do, but they are fun and educational. (Of course, the lack of a big toy line might be seen as another plus.)
Ameba costs $9.99 per month (though, for the month of April, they’re dropping the price to $3.99) and you can either get a set top box from them or purchase a Roku box for $60 to play it on. I didn’t test Ameba’s box so I can’t say anything good or bad about it, but I highly recommend the Roku box for ease of use and availability of content.
Giveaway:
Thanks to Ameba, not one, not two, but three lucky winners will receive an Ameba set top box and a 3 month subscription to Ameba. To enter, simply leave a comment below answering this question: What education programs do your children watch or did you watch growing up?
You can also earn bonus entries by doing any (or all) of the following items. Just be sure to leave a separate comment for each item that you complete. (Don’t just leave one comment listing everything you did.)
To enter, please follow the rules above within the comment section. Contest starts today, March 31st and ends at Noon EST on April 14th, 2010. You do not have to be a blogger to enter, but must leave a valid e-mail address for me to contact you for mailing address once the giveaway is over. I will select the winner using random.org and contact you via e-mail. You will have 48 hours to claim the prize. If there is no response, another winner will be selected. Open to U.S. and Canada residents only.
Disclaimer: I was provided two month’s free Ameba service to review. No other compensation was given. The opinions expressed above are my own. Ameba is also providing the giveaway item to my readers.
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the Duncan Hines Apple Carmel Cake Mix and Vanilla Glaze. For the review, I was also given a box of Triple Chocolate Decadent Cake Mix and Chocolate Glaze. I figured it was only fair to review this one as well.
This time, instead of a bundt cake, I decided to make cupcakes. As with the Apple Carmel mix, I was surprised by the filling. It wasn’t just powdered chocolate. It had chocolate chips and chunks inside as well!
During my cooking, I acquired a little helper. Here’s JSL stirring the filling.
When it was all mixed, it took a lot of willpower to not scarf down the filling right then and there. Maybe they should include 2 packets of filling in each box. One to put in the cake and one to eat immediately!
Next, we mixed up the cake batter itself.
The cake mix went into the cupcake wrappers and then the filling gets placed on top.
Here’s the worst part… The waiting.
Soon enough, though, the cupcakes were done. Notice how the cupcake rises around the filling, leaving most of it inside the cupcake.
Next, for the frosting. Like the vanilla frosting before, this was simple. Remove the bottle’s cap, microwave the bottle for 30 seconds, put the cap back on, and frost.
I’ll admit, my frosting method was haphazard, but I still think these look like some nice cupcakes.
Want to take a peak inside? Here it is in all its ooey gooey chocolatey glory.
Of course, cupcakes can look like the most delicious things in the world, but if the taste doesn’t back it up, the appearance is worth nothing. The taste most certainly backs up the appearance. B wasn’t a fan of the filling, but then again she’s not a chocolate fanatic like my boys and I am. They devoured the cupcakes they were given and NHL asked for more.
You might wonder why there’s no photo of NHL eating his cupcake. That would be because in the time it took me to put down JSL’s cupcake, seat JSL, and grab a cupcake for myself, NHL had finished his cupcake. I’d say that’s a thumbs up from NHL. Now, if you’ll excuse me, the remaining cupcakes are calling me and I must try to resist their siren’s call.
Disclaimer: This post was written for Family Review Network & Duncan Hines who provided the complimentary product for review in exchange for my honest opinions.
