Here’s an easy activity idea: When grandparents, other relatives, or close friends come for a visit, videotape them reading stories to your child. You’ll soon compile a nice alternative to commercial videos for those times when your child insists on watching something. It’s a nice way to keep a family connection even when relatives live […]
Google has released version 4 of their amazing 3D mapping software, Google Earth. If you haven’t played around with it, I highly recommend giving it a try, especially if you have kids who are learning geography. “Fly” around the earth and see both satellite views and road maps. Overlay landmarks and geographic features. See 3D
The Heart of the Game, a new documentary about a Seattle girls’ high-school basketball team, opened yesterday in Los Angeles and New York. The film, an official selection of the Toronto Film Festival, looks fantastic, based on trailer and reviews. One of those worth getting a sitter for, rather than waiting for Netflix. It captures
Speaking of entertainment that we consider “part of our personal LGBT experience,” k. d. lang has a new album that’s been out for just over a month. Reintarnation is a compilation of 19 songs from the first ten years of her career, plus one previously unreleased track. I’m not generally a country-western fan, but k.
The June 20th Advocate features results of a reader survey about “experiences as LGBT Americans.” One item looked at entertainment that readers considered “part of their personal LGBT experience,” and listed Queer as Folk, The L Word, Madonna, Cher, Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand, and Christina Aguilera as possible answers. Yeah, right. I saw Judy Garland
An extensive study titled “The Media Family: Electronic Media in the Lives of Infants, Toddlers, Preschoolers and Their Parents,” by the Kaiser Family Foundation, looks at television use among families with children six months to six years old. Among the findings: One third of children under six have a TV in their bedrooms. This rises
Scott Sherman recently interviewed me for his wonderful podcast, The Gay Parenting Show. If you’re not a regular listener, I urge you to hop over for a visit. My part is about 24 minutes into today’s show. You can also enjoy Scott’s discussion of his own family and their major upcoming event as well as
Here’s my latest rainy-day activity for a train-obsessed pre-schooler: Google Video, search: “locomotive”. You’ll find lots of short videos (many under three minutes) from around the world, showing all kinds of engines. Also works with fire trucks, horses, and pretty much anything else your child may be into. While there are good reasons to limit
Are children today exposed to too much media, too young? A group of experts convened by the National Institutes of Health discussed the matter today, and came to no firm conclusions. Most seemed to agree that content, limited quantity, and parental involvement were central in ensuring children get the most out of any TV or
The West Wing is no more. The show had declined since its Aaron-Sorkin-written prime, but the acting was still solid, even when the script was weak. (The final episode was particularly disappointing, consisting mainly of the characters taking meaningful glances around empty rooms.) Maybe I kept tuning in, though, because it gave me an hour-long
