Strollerderby : thomas the tank engine

YouTube for Kids - Tot LOL

JeanneSager — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 18:44:00 GMT

I'm not sure how I feel about a safe space for videos for kids.

I mean, yeah, sure, I'd love to know my three-year-old's clicking on a REAL clip of Thomas the Tank Engine, not Thomas Gets Tanked. But what's YouTube without poorly spelled titles and bad impersonations?

Don't worry, TotLOL has those too. But the site that bills itself as "a community-moderated video website designed specifically for children" has a lot of things going for it. Like no Thomas Gets Tanked, natch.

Oh, yeah, and all videos were submitted, screened and rated by parents - straight from YouTube. Using a TotLOL tool, parents browse YouTube and pick videos they think are appropriate for kids. They submit them for inclusion on TotLOL, and the TotLOL community votes on whether or not they're truly appropriate kid fare.

Plus, since the site is powered by YouTube, once you sign up for a free account you can rate videos and make collections of your favorites. The site includes parental controls plus the ability to watch private videos linked from another user's YouTube account, so you can save shots of the kiddies dancing naked for Grandma instead of spinning out a viral video.

Even without an account, you can search and watch, including the ripped from TV content your kids love (the much more appropriate Sir Topham Hatt Sing Along comes to mind).

The creator is a father of two toddlers (three and one and a half) who are both "avid fans of online videos." Do your kids watch online videos? If not, does this change your mind?

Image: TotLOL

Three-Year-Old Riding Subway Alone Likes Trains

JeanneSager — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 16:35:00 GMT

Remember the shock and furor over the nine-year-old boy riding the subway in New York City all by himself last summer? It could be worse.

A three-year-old who snuck away from his mom in a McDonald's in Queens somehow made it to a subways station, through the turnstiles and onto a train. He made it through seven stations before a passenger alerted police. Ironically, a police detective entering the McDonald's to buy his lunch encountered the boy's mom frantically searching for the child, and the two were able to be reunited within half an hour.

The woman had turned away for a moment to throw out some garbage when her three-year-old made his getaway. Unless you live in a major city, this particular situation isn't likely to crop up.

But it does make a good case for thinking like a child when one goes missing. Little Christian Marquez likes trains, his dad told the New York Times in an interview after the family was reunited. No surprise there - I haven't met a three-year-old who doesn't have an affinity for Thomas and friends. No surprise either that he hopped aboard a train - something he's probably done countless times with Mom and Dad and loves to do.

When your kids run off - in a store or even at home, do you start thinking about their favorite things to do and play with when you look for them? Would you know where to start looking first?

Image: MollyKnight

George Carlin dies

Brett Singer — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 16:05:00 GMT

Comedy just got a little less funny.

Also, Thomas the Tank Engine needs a new narrator.

George Carlin passed away on Sunday at the age of 71. According to Bloomberg News, the cause was heart failure.

Carlin had, in my opinion, one of the weirder careers in the entertainment business. His most famous routine (video below) is the Seven Dirty Words. I'm not going to bother naming them; watch the video, but not when your kids are around. He continued to make incredible use of language throughout his career, especially with regard to what was considered acceptable speech and what was "offensive." "You can prick your finger, but don't finger your prick." Or "Pete Rose has two balls on him."

And he also did children's television. Yes, that's George Carlin's voice on old Thomas The Tank Engine videos. I remember popping one into the VCR and doing a double-take when I realized that the gravelly voiced narrator was indeed also the man who raged against tomatoes ("I don't eat bicycle tires – why should I eat little pink ones?"), baseball ("you go HOME") and one of my favorites, "Become a Schmuck" ("Don't be a schmuck – be a schmuck!") Other kiddie credits include Mr. Conductor on "Shining Time Station" (a "Thomas" spin-off -- maybe he had a thing for trains?), and voice work in "Cars" and "Tarzan 2." His other film appearances were equally incongruous, including "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure", "Scary Movie 3" and "Jersey Girl."

Several years ago I went to a taping of Carlin's television show in Los Angeles. The show only lasted one season, probably because it wasn't very good. It's very tough to take a comic as brilliant as he is and turn him into a sitcom star, especially when the material is not even close to what you are allowed to do on prime time. (Look at Chris Rock's show, "Everybody Hates Chris" – he had to go back to his childhood to make it work.) It was fun to watch them tape the show, although I would have preferred to see Carlin do some stand-up.

Hopefully future generations will dig a little bit deeper than the Seven Dirty Words. That's what he'll be remembered for, and that's one hell of a legacy. But he also spoke his mind despite having unpopular opinions at times, which is something that we always need more of. And his material wasn't all R-rated; the above lines are all clean, and there are more, such as "Where does the dentist go when he leaves the room?" Funny, funny stuff. There's a scroll of Carlin lines on his website.

We won't be able to hear what his thoughts on the 2008 election, but at least we have video. Here are a collection of classic Carlin clips that are COMPLETELY NOT SAFE FOR WORK OR KIDS. Unless, you know, you want Junior to go to school and ask his teachers what "tits" means. Up to you.

UPDATE: there's a YouTube channel/chat room/something or other that seems to have a continuous stream of Carlin videos. Kinda cool. Check it out here.

RIP, George. You will be missed.

Kids TV Haiku

Brett Singer — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 18:00:00 GMT

Toddler decides that 5:30am is the time to wake up. The mind wanders. And this is the result:

Bob The Builder

Bob and Wendy have
Unrequited love which they
Express through machines

Barney

Barney, purple dino
Back to prehistoric times
Annoying weirdo

Sesame Street Part 1

One-third is Elmo
I miss Roosevelt Franklin
At least there's still Bert

Little Einsteins

Little Einsteins show
Tried to exploit DVDs
Bad idea, Mickey

Sesame Street Part 2

Alan at Hooper's
Everyone can see Snuffy
Its not the same show

Pokemon

Pokemon are odd
All they say is their own name
Pikachu is cute

Thomas The Tank Engine

Engines with faces
Perpetually worried
They should really chill

Yu Gi Oh

Something about cards
Why are they always fighting?
Parents are confused

Haiku was originally a type of Japanese poetry with a lot of specific rules, but the simplified American version is just 5 syllables/7 syllables/5 syllables. Try it, it's fun!

image: Wikipedia, and some Microsoft Word Art that I pasted on

Where Do All the Recalled Toys Go?

Karen Murphy — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 15:49:00 GMT

You know all those Date Rape Doras, Lead Poison Barbies, and Thomas the Tank Engine: the Evil Editions and all the other crappy toys that have been recalled? Yeah, well, maybe you culled your toybox and maybe you even returned your items for a refund or whatever, but...where did those toys go from there? Where are they now? What happens when toys have been recalled?

You'd be surprised (cue music for the Island of Misfit Toys).

Not surprisingly, most never make it back to the manufacturer. For one thing, how many of us actually take the damn things back to receive a refund? me, I have an Annoyance Quotient about such things that suggests that the refund/rebate/whatever amount must exceed the amount of annoyance it takes to receive said refund/rebate/etc. More annoyance = a higher necessary refund/rebate/whatever amount. I presume most people have a similar Annoyance Quotient.

So say the toy makes it past the Annoyance Quotient and now it's at the store where it was purchased. Then what? Well, most stores are simply storing the recalled toys in warehouses because they've no clue what to do with them. It'd be nice if someone had a plan for this sort of thing, but no, it's not happening.

Then there are the toys still in circulation. Think you can find recalled toys still on shelves? You'd be correct. In one case, a certan recalled a Polly Pocket LimoScene toy was found for several weeks running on the shelf at a Wal-Mart (though the cash register blocked the actual sale of the toy).

Plus, there's no federal reluation or law preventing reselling of recalled toys. So although eBay, for instance, has agreed not to sell recalled toys, they are sure to still be found there.

Bottom line is still caveat emptor: It's still up to the consumer (that's you and me) to make sure our kids aren't licking lead-laden crap toys.

Photo: mwctoys.com

Things Fall Apart: The Procession of Death Continues!

Karen Murphy — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 14:13:00 GMT

I give up. The bloody carnage of the fallout from all the toy recalls is just too much. I'm not sure I can be persuaded to go on any longer; after all, does life have meaning any more if Curious George is involved? And while you know metal jewelry is bad news, what about if it has a poodle on it? When then, I ask you? Are poodles on the List of Evil now?

I can totally believe that Sponge Bob is in on this. He has "conspiracy theory" written all over him. I never trusted that weird little dude anyway. Something about his googly eyes.

But...teether books! With...trucks on them! How could you, Barnes and Noble?! I trusted you! (why are we encouraging kids to eat books, anyway?) The fact that these charm bracelets are less than charming shouldn't surprise you. You weren't fooled by the angels, were you? After all, jewelry that cost a buck should be toxic. But what about clothes that entrap you with their drawstring? That's just weird.

To recap, here's the whole (latest) list. If you think you own any of these, follow instructions on the individual CPSC page to find out what to do. A big bonfire belching toxic lead smoke would do it for me.

Thomas the Tank Engine and Curious George tin pails and spinning tops

Children's Metal Jewelry (with poodle)

Sponge Bob address books and journals

Teether Books with trucks

Angel charm bracelets

Babble Talk: A Day Out With a Boy and a Train

Alisyn — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 14:55:00 GMT

I have girls, so Thomas the Tank Engine has never really been a part of our lives. Not that girls can't like trains, of course - in fact, my girls love their Brio train tracks and battery operated train engine - but they typically don't go nutso for trains, planes, cars or any other form of transportation, the way their male counterparts do.

Personally, I find Thomas a little creepy - I think it's his face. It's like a John Wayne Gacy painting or something. And Sir Topham Hatt? What's his deal? I don't even want to know. But I admire Katherine Ozment's whole-hearted attempts to experience, with her train-loving toddler son, the Thomas and friends phenomenon with an open mind and a heart full of love. I can relate to the way she and her husband went round and round about whether or not to introduce William to their local "Day Out With Thomas" event, and in the end, decided "how could we not?", because it reminds me of my own family's ongoing too-young-for-Disneyland? conversation. Unlike the Ozments, we have yet to reach a resolution, but thinking about seeing living, breathing "princesses" through my 4.5 year old has cast on a whole new light on the idea.

You really do get to experience childhood again when you have kids - even if you have to force yourself at first. Being a kid is tough, even the second time around.

Things Fall Apart: The I Always Knew Thomas Trains Were Evil Edition

Karen Murphy — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 12:27:00 GMT

Ever since I saw that freaky little Thomas the Tank Engine's creepy googly eyes I knew something was really off about him. And that James! Have you seen him? So proud of his shiny red coat of paint, always thinking he's better than the other engines...

Well, James gets his comeuppance, that cheeky little twit, 'cause his little red ass is being recalled, along with about 1.5 million of his little red friends. The reason? That shiny red coat of paint is chock-full of toxic lead, and so is the shiny yellow paint on some other pieces. The irony here? I've got a huge basket full of these damn trains, and I know we have at least 5 of those pictured. So maybe you do too. Check the recall site for the models affected, and then you can contact the manufacturer for a replacement.

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