Strollerderby : kids who rock

Crayons for Kids, from Kids

Shannon LC Cate — Tue, 12 May 2009 00:03:00 GMT

One weekend, 5-year old Matt and 6-year old Emily Leinwand spent a day doing rounds at the hospital with their pediatric surgeon father. The children were dismayed that the kids in the hospital seemed so sad and bored and decided to try and do something to add a little cheer to the situation.

The brother and sister team asked friends and family to donate crayons and coloring books to take to the kids in the hospital. Since then, their project has grown into an organization that serves hospitalized children in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Los Angeles, Boston and Philadelphia. Matt and Emily are now 10 and 11 and have become the CEOs of Crayons 4 Kids, recently interviewed on CNN:

Embedded video from CNN Video

The project collects not just crayons but games, puzzles, books and other toys good for a hospital environment. You can learn more about Matt and Emily and contribute to the project by visiting their website Crayons4Kids.org.

Parents Are the Biggest. Dorks. Ever. And We Love Every Minute of It

Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 19:08:00 GMT

I danced in a grocery store Friday afternoon. And played air guitar. I may or may not have made facial expressions that may or may not have been mistaken for an "O Face." I was too excited to tell. But I definitely uncurled my thumbs and kicked my legs out like Elaine Benes. It was a sad, disturbing display of rhythmic paralysis that could only mean one thing: I'm a parent. And I'm a dork.

USC Daily Trojan columnist Jean Guerrero says such displays of I'll-never-grow-up-Peter-Panisms may just be the cure-all for societal ills. Skip if you want to. Sing if you must. Screw social conventions. Just do it.

I remember the social angst of high school and college. Even throughout my twenties I tried my best to fit in and, sadly, did. But once I had a child, it was like my Dork Flag unfurled itself and started waving in the breeze. I dance in stores. I sing on the sidewalk. I skip daily. Emmeline loves to dance and shake her arms about, so I jump on any chance to see her boogie, such as our Friday afternoon display of disco air guitar.

Proudly wearing a Dork Merit Badge might seem like a big leap for the younger set, as evidenced by the column's call to dork arms. But isn't that what parents do all the time? Isn't that why we're here?

The Future Of BoyBands: Gauchos de Acero

Patti — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 23:30:00 GMT

Don't be fooled by the Pikachu teeshirt or the bunkbed in the corner of the room: Gauchos de Acero are soldiers of metal, and they are not messing around. Never mind that the oldest is fourteen, or that their four year old sister sometimes chimes in on backing vocals. They are hard core, and they're already playing to the bar crowds at home in Argentina. Here they're a YouTube phenomenon, and I don't use the word "phenomenon" lightly: they've had over two million hits on their first video, a cover of Sepultura's "Refuse, Resist". Vice Magazine recently posted an interview with oldest brother and guitarist Emilio, who describes their origins and their hopes for the future.

Here, Emilio shreds on "Tributo a Emerson Lake and Palmer" while his younger brothers drive a pounding rhythm.