CityMama™

The right to choose...what your kids watch on TV

Last night I attended a presentation put together by PBS and the SV Moms giving parent bloggers a behind the scenes peek at what it takes to create the amazing Super WHY! show (one of Bunny and Wallie's favorites). We met the creator and executive producer, Dr. Angela Santomero, and she essentially stripped the show bare giving us the "based-in-educational-research" reasons why the show was created, why and how the characters were chosen, and explaining the goals of the show and presenting evidence that it really does help children learn to read. (If you've ever seen the show, you know it does.)

We are a fairly PBS-loyal family and I think it's because I am of the (40 whatever) generation that grew up on Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, Sesame Street, Electric Company, Zoom, and 3-2-1 Contact.  (Not having cable helps, too, because PBS is our only "kid channel.") There was no Nick or Disney channel in the 70's, and no cable where I lived, either. The reason why I love PBS is because I trust that if my kids want to watch a show, it's going to be kinder, gentler, and educational-er. Even if I've never watched the show before, I'd feel comfortable letting my kids watch any of their shows without me being in the room.

One of the things I have been thinking about since last night is PBS' attempt to keep the 6+ age group engaged in their programming. They recognize that they are experts on the preschool set and have programming (via their PBS Go brand) that speaks to younger elementary school kids, but increasingly it is hard to compete with other programming (Nick and Disney tween programming) as well as outside influences like what kids are exposed to at school.  One of the they questions they posed to us (paraphrasing) was, "How do you keep your 6-to-8-year-old kids engaged in age-appropriate programs in light of all the media influences they are exposed to."

The no-cable experiment, a month in

About a month ago, we got rid of cable, yes, just as American Idol was getting into full-swing and just before the Top Chef season premiere. I was the person that had a "my show" for every night of the week. The reason was partly a cost-cutting measure, but also because J. and I found ourselves chained to the couch night after night watching TV. And that was starting to become...weird.

So how are we doing a month in? Even though we haven't gotten rid of TV completely—we have an AppleTV,  watch DVDs, and I watch shows here are there online or on Hulu—I admit that I miss the ritual of watching TV at night. I miss flipping to Bravo (my favorite station, more on that later) or seeing what's on the DVR. It's getting better, but I'm being honest, I do miss it.

Watching AppleTV can be expensive since most of the shows are pay-per-view. This puzzles me because you have to pay to watch shows like LOST or Grey's Anatomy when they are free online. Why AppleTV can't just crawl the internet for free shows I don't know. I refuse to pay for shows I could watch for free (well, free + some ads). Actually, that isn't true. When MadMen comes back on I will be paying for that. But that's about it.

Oscars: Can we discuss?

I was oblivious through most of the awards (too much yummy curry dip and sake-tinis) but this, for me, was the best moment of the evening:

She won me over with her big Forest Whitaker hug (I wouldn't have let go), and I thought she was the overall winner for best dress, hair, and make-up. And cuteness.

Side note: what was with all the red? Oscar fashions have gotten so boring. Everyone wears safe black, everyone tries to channel Old Hollywood. I miss a good Cher-Bob Mackie WTF? But, just when you think it's one boring black (or red) dress after another, out comes Diablo Cody with her leopard Dior and red lips to shake up the joint. I don't love the dress when she is standing but when she walked it was so pretty. She is made of awesome:

The more I see Cate Blanchett's Dries Van Noten dress, the more I love it. I adore the jeweled, necklace-y neckline and deep eggplant color. You really need to see it up close to get the full effect which probably made it the wrong choice for the Oscars:

I also loved Tilda Swinton's cheeky speech (though hated the dress) and Nicole Kidman's sparkly (1399 carat), dangly necklace designed by L'Wren Scott. Fabu.u.lous. But her hair? Atrocious.

How about you?

Can't Stop Watching: Andy Samberg + Adam Levine + "Mahmoud"

I don't know who's hotter: the lyrical poet Adam Samberg, that hot slut Adam Levine, or the "very, hairy Jake Gyllenhaal." But what I do know is that this is comedy gold. Check out SNL's musical tribute to gay-hatah Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Chicken Drumsticks Two Ways

I can't resist a good five pound pack of chicken drumsticks. I prefer dark meat anyway, so scooping up a pile of chicken for around five bucks is no big whoop to me (and easy on my wallet).

Drumsticks (and thighs) are the best for shoyu chicken anyway, and once cooked they make great additions to a lunch box or are yummy to munch on at midnight while standing over the sink. Because they are so versatile, I like to cook them all different ways, some fancier and more time consuming, some completely the opposite.  If I'm going to cook a whole package and I am short on time, I will often do two super-easy preparations at once. Like this.

You'll need:

•five pounds of chicken drumsticks, thighs or wings

•1 bottle each of any of the following *two* sauces (I used barbecue and garlic black bean sauce):

• barbecue sauce (my preference is Noh's Hawaiian because it doesn't have that fake smoky taste)
• teriyaki sauce
• chipotle-raspberry sauce
• Jamaican jerk sauce
• oyster sauce*
• hoisin sauce
• garlic black bean sauce* (super yum!)
• chili-garlic-black bean sauce* (delicious mixed with equal parts honey and spooned over chicken)

*These are salty and very flavorful. A little goes a long way, so use sparingly.

Make a couple of shallow slashes through the meaty part of each leg or thigh (not too deep, do not cut all the way to the bone). This helps to speed cooking and allows the sauce to work down into the meat.

Place half the chicken in to a pan and slosh some of your chosen sauce onto it. You could shake it up all together in a bag, but I don't even bother.  This is a very forgiving technique and great if you are in a hurry. The chicken still tastes great, even when the sauce doesn't evenly coat the chicken.

Place the rest of the chicken into another pan. Slosh some of the second sauce onto that. For the saltier sauces like the garlic-black bean,  I spoon 2-3 tablespoons of of the sauce into a bowl. Then I spoon/shmear the sauce onto each chicken leg, applying sparingly. (Put the sauce into a bowl so you don't dip our raw chicken spoon back into the jar.)

Bake at 325º for 50 minutes to an hour.  Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Serves four with plenty of leftovers for lunches, or 6 without leftovers.

Britney Spears at the VMAs: Comeback? Um, yeah, no.

I'm surprised Britney could even stand up with all that Ativ@n in her system, let alone "perform."  I think Sarah Silverman summed it up best:

"Wow. She is amazing. She is 25-years-old and she's already accomplished everything she's going to accomplish in her life. It's mind blowing."

 

Or, you know, horrible.

***

Really funny live blog over at Jezebel.

School Daze

It has begun.

The filling out of the school forms, I mean.

Two giant packets hit our mailbox within the last two weeks. One for Bunny, one for Wallie.  I meant to take them with me on the plane to BlogHer, but I forgot, so when I realized in a panic—during one my busiest work weeks ever—that one was due this Friday I asked J. to take on the tedious task of filling out the forms.  He agreed.

Last night I settled in for a night of watching Rock of Love and J. settled in for a date with some emergency contact forms...

"Whose our pediatrician?"
"What's our pediatric dentist's name?"
"When did Wallie begin potty-training?"
"Is she allergic to anything?"
"How do you spell penicillin?"
"What's her classroom's name?"
"Did you know she can only bring vegetarian food to school?"

Mmmm. Hmmmmmmmm. That's right, ladies. You understand.

But I'm not complaining. He did it. And that makes me completely giddy with glee. Now I just have to get the medical form to the pediatrician, have her fill it out, then remember to pick it up before Friday. Oh, and dig up the immunization card and get that xeroxed.

We live in Silicon Valley. Why hasn't anyone started MySchoolForms dot com? Maybe I'll submit that at TechCrunch 20.

Also, I love how schools hit you up now for the parent council fee and the teacher appreciation gift fee and the school site fee and the just cuz fee...In our packet the papers explaining these fees were in 10-point font and had accompanying spreadsheets. My mind is a blur.  I just scrawled a note across the forms saying I'll read them sometime before school starts and get back to them. I'm not so good with the numbers. And there's other stuff that's taking financial precedence right now.  Like (screw the iPhone) me needing a Crackberry Curve.

I'm also wondering how I'll pick Wallie up at 11:45 and then be across town to pick up Bunny at noon when Wallie, who takes her own sweet time with her footsteps, could easily take 20 minutes walking back to the car, and that's not even counting a fall-down-screaming-don't-try-to-rush-me tantrum or two.

I can't wait for fall.

Now this is a pitch (since we're on the subject)

From: Jr. PR Flack

To: CityMama

Date: Aug. 1, 2007

Hello from A&E Television Networks!

 

We came across your site http://citymama.typepad.com/citymama/2007/06/bounty_hunted.html and love your content on Dog The Bounty Hunter. What a great resource for Dog The Bounty Hunter fans!

 

We wanted to let you and your visitors know about the much-anticipated release of the Ultimate Dog Collection, including the best of seasons 1-3, Dog's new book You Can Run But You Can't Hide, and the brand new The Arrest DVD. This collection will be in our store on 8/3/07.

 

See all the details about this collection at http://store.aetv.com/html/referer_entry.jhtml?vid=AE_OR_msg3_DogCollection&dest=/html/subject/index.jhtml%3fid%3dcat1040002

So now you know.  But what I want to know is this: who do I talk to about getting Dog outta Denver and back to Honolulu? I mean, how else are we going to get to see Leland in a tank top?
 

Live Earth: What a yawner.

Seriously. Who knew the earth could be so boring? 

I tuned in for a bit today and was underwhelmed. Dave Holmes and Karen "Duff" Duffy as hosts? What? Were Gary Collins and Mary Ann Mobley unavailable? They both had that "at least I'm collecting a paycheck" look on their faces and couldn't seem to get enthused about the event, either.  That's bad news.

I was feeling nostalgic since I clearly remember the anticipation I felt leading up to the Live Aid concert. I watched it with ma girlz Cami and Alea on channel 44 which was grainy as hell, but we didn't care.

Remember the crowds at the Live Aid concert? The packed stadiums? The crazy clothes and hair? Shoot we knew what we were doing back in the day. We wouldn't turn up at Giants stadium wearing a Bon Jovi bikini top. Serious effort would have gone into planning the perfect outfit and would have involved lots of hairspray, eyeliner, and many, many trips to Contempo to get it right. 

I like Ludacris, but he performed two "duets" (as part of the weakest set ever) with people that weren't on stage with him: Mary J. Blige and Fergie. Luh-hame.That wouldn't have passed muster at Live Aid where we were treated to Phil Collins performing both in London AND in Philly before the day was done thanks to the the Concorde.

What happened to imagination?

At today's events the (sparse) crowds looked like they'd rather be elsewhere. The first thing I noticed was all the empty seats, even on the floor. Don't these people know how to come together for a cause?  And that lame Madonna song. "Do They Know It's Christmas?" it sho nuff ain't.

I guess that's what happens when politicians plan rock concerts. Al Gore ain't no Bob Geldof that's for sure.

[Edited to add: Did Keith Urban have some work done? He's looking a little tight around the eyes. Looks like being married to Nicole Kidman comes with some "perks"...]

The Bachelor's Bevin Spotted by Me!

On Tuesday I was at the mall in Palo Alto, CA, Bevin's city of residence, and who do I spy getting out of her car? Bevin!

I must say I was giddy. And damn proud of my mad celeb-spotting skillz, yo.  Finally, all those years of reality T.V. watching are put to practical use! Plus the previous night's show was fresh in my mind. I spotted her in a hot-second.

I got Bunny and Wallie out the car and we made our way to Starbucks to meet Lia and Christina for brekkie, and there she was again! Getting a coffee!

Girls, lemme tell you. She looked bummed out.  She had that shell-shocked look on her face of someone whose life has been irreparably ruined by a reality T.V. show. If I were a betting women, my money would be on Tessa to win. Someone that looked like she was crying on the inside prolly didn't get the final rose.

Too bad, though, because she is quite striking IRL. Much prettier than on TV and very petite.

Weird thing was she had a cast on her ankle and was wearing a teetery stilleto on the other foot. Let that marinate for a moment. As if being hobbled by a cast wasn't enough, let's pair that with a high heel. Serves her right for not staying off that ankle.

Guys, she may be looking for a date. If you hang out at the Stanford Shopping Center Starb's you just might get your chance.