CREEPY

Advice From A Cartoon Mermaid

I have quite a few friends with daughters. Almost to a person, they prefer their kids to watch stuff like Toy Story or Up! instead of the unrealistic fantasy crap that Disney spews out on a regular basis. They also make sure that their children play outside and read. A LOT. Of course, all my friends are cool. DUH.


Here's Belle's take-


Thanks, Chemgal!

Olde Timey Space Toys

I really, really want the housewares from the exhibit. Saturn shaped bedside lamps!

Out-of-focus Man-in-the-moon teapot!

Lt. Uhuru? How is this even remotely like Lieutenant Uhuru? It looks more like Flip Wilson. FAIL.

For the enterprising future astronaut, preferably with loaded friends and relatives:

My brother had this. "Look at me, I'm tiny and I'm flying to the moon!" But first, let me slam it into my sister's face a few times..(true story)

Okay, this is more of a historical flight thingy, but still. I have no idea what it is. It looks like it might scare small children, so I included it.

THE END.

Tomorrow, we are touring barbecue joints and bungee jumping off the St. Louis Arch. Not in that order.

Barbie Foosball

What I want to know is- how long before one of those heads pops off? Two seconds? Maybe it's just an art installation. I really don't know.

I Love Toy Trains

And Never Getting laid.

Wacky Packs are Back

I was reading my buddy Billy's blog (say that fast ten times) and came across his post about a new book that has come out. It's all about those goofy stickers we used to collect like trading cards back in the seventies. The artwork and humor were strictly Mad magazine style and I had a notebook covered with them. For some reason I kept getting the same cigarette one over and over and no one would trade me for something else. Little bastards.

Buy the book here!

http://www.toppsonlinestore.com/servlet/the-222/Wacky-Packages-Book/Detail

Barbie Comes Out on Top

A federal judge in Los Angelos has ruled that the creator of the Bratz dolls, Carter Bryant, developed the idea for them while working for Mattel which makes Barbie. Oopsy. Now he can't make any more of them and they have to be off the shelves after the holiday season is over.

I never really liked them. I thought that they looked cheap and of poor quality. And I never bought one for any child. It was always Barbie. And my first Barbie wasn't even a Barbie, it was her mod cousin Francie who had smaller boobs and a Twiggy swinging London wardrobe. AND real eyelashes. AND she was twist-and-turn.

Now she's in a landfill somewhere.

*sigh*

Which Witch

This was my favorite boardgame until I became a teen, no surprise because Halloween is my favorite holiday. I taped the bent cardboard back together several times and glued the little kids back to their stands once or twice. I always knew it would be a surefire hit whenever my friends came over to play. What I didn't know were how many versions there were internationally.

http://homepage.mac.com/planetpm/whichwitch/information.html

Spirograph

It's another fabulous classic toy. Made by Kenner!

My boyfriend and I gave this to a friend's 7 year old daughter a few months ago and she loved it. Her dad plays with it too.

If you have a computer obsessed kid, they have a software version as well. And it's free.

http://www.softlookup.com/display.asp?id=15497

More Gift Ideas

Supposedly this is going to be a big year for classic toys. A lot of them have been reissued and some never went away. I realize that kids want the newest and the coolest but if your kid is already cool they'll love the retro stuff too.

Oh, and the flags on tinkertoys suck. It takes about a week and then they're busted.

What I Want for Christmas

This isn't my not-so-subtle hint for anyone to buy me anything this year, I swear. I just have a thing for classic toys that I played with when I was growing up.

Loved, loved, loved Colorforms, especially my Barbie ones. It was a bitch trying to keep carpet fuzz off of them, and you'd always lose something small, like a shoe or purse, but they were still great. Or your brother would write obnoxious things on them and laugh at you while you cried. At which point you'd wish he was dead and even fantasize about the many ways you could pull it off, glue in his Spaghettios, dropping dad's air compressor on him from the roof, or maybe he'd just get lost in the woods one day and a band of gypsies would kidnap him ......oops, where was I?

UPDATE: I found them on Ebay for 20 dollars, the exact barbie ones I had as a kid. I love the internet. *sigh*