When I die, bury me with four Duracell AAs in one hand and a tiny screwdriver in the other.

 

Thus shall I be in death, as I was in life.

Studies Reveal Why Kids Get Bullied and Rejected How do you react when your child is bullied? Do you blame the bully or do you ask why your child was a victim of social rejection? (LiveScience) 

 

The Fight for Paid Maternity Leave BLOG: US one of two  industrialized countries without paid maternity leave. Maybe 'No Child Left Behind' should start with maternity leave. (NYTimes)  

There’s plenty of blame to go around, when trying to figure out exactly where DadLabs came from.  Some of that blame should certainly be apportioned to this little book. Before this book came along, all the DadLabs guys were perfectly happy being teachers at a comfy little private school.

But after the publication of the first edition of Filmmaking for Teens: Pulling Off Your Shorts in 2005, Troy and I found ourselves talking to teens about making films, without ever having made one of our own, exactly. We set out to remedy that, brought in Brad and started brainstorming.  How could we use what we’d learned about filmmaking to widen our classroom? What started out as weekly script development sessions for our independent feature soon devolved into beery venting about pregnant wives, colicky newborns and other things our dads never warned us about, then evolved again into strategy confabs on the idea that would guide our professional lives for the next five years: DadLabs.

And now we circle back to the little book.  Because now, five years later, a second edition of FFT: POYS is on the shelves, now sporting revisions and additions that come directly from our experiences at DadLabs. When we were writing the book in 2003-04, YouTube was still a glimmer in Google’s eye. Now, it’s a force that all aspiring filmmakers must reckon with.  And the new edition of the book recognizes that, and all the other bazillion changes that have taken place in the digital and filmmaking world since then.

We also have to take a moment to thank Michael and Ken at our publisher MWP. We appreciate that they have stayed behind the “Little Engine That Could” that this title has become, and we thank them for the opportunity to perform this essential update. Troy and I really hope that this slim volume goes back out into the world and lands in the right hands and does some good.

And we’ll keep tuning in to the academy awards until that day when some Kathryn Bigelow of the future stands at the podium and gushes, “it all started with this little book my mom got for me called ‘Pulling Down Your Pants’ or something.”

While in grad school in Indiana, I tended bar to make ends meet.  I was amazed at the number of times mid-western drinkers asked me if I was from Australia.   "Not that far Southeast but your headed in the right direction,"  was my standard reply.  I guess the local towns folk in Bloomington weren't used to a southern beer monkey.  

It seems that I am also in the drawl minority on the Cast of Dads Crew.  On this week's pod cast #7 we gnawed on numerous topics such as funny accents (mine) bullies, old school electronic games and what morons we were when we were 16.

Give a listen!  

Doctor in MMR-Autism Scare Ruled Unethical: How do you feel about vaccinating your child? Do they help, or do they cause harm? (TIME)

 

Bill Gates promises $10 billion for vaccines: "Don't divert health funds to climate work" -Gates (Reuters)

 

My son is visibly upset after a tough-to-swallow basketball loss. His saves his first words for me until we get into the car.  “Five minutes left in the third quarter,” he says.  This is the moment when, delayed by traffic and lack of familiarity with the game location, I finally walked into the gym. I sputtered excuses as guilt worked me over.

 

Every time my kids come home from school talking about a special meal or event at school, talk about a field trip, or mention parent helpers in any way, I quickly change the subject, guilt flaming.  As parent in a two-career family, I have some glaring weaknesses.  One of the biggest is my track record as a volunteer.  I really want to help out at the school, but finding the time is difficult.

 

I know that busy parents want to find a way to efficiently find those volunteer opportunities that can be slid into a busy schedule.  I also know that managing teams and classroom volunteers can be a daunting task, requiring a lot of time, and in recent days, a lot of tech savvy.

Same sex couples parents: "Same-sex couples are as good at raising well-adjusted, healthy children as heterosexual couples are, a review of 20 years of social science research finds." (Healthday) 

 

Millions of U.S. Children Low in Vitamin D: Parents have more of an excuse to go to the beach with their kids. (NewsForParents) 

During our 45+-mile carpool run this morning the kids and I were listening to the local ESPN sports talk radio show with Erin Hogan and Longhorn Legend Dan Neil.  I enjoy their insight and am a regular listener to the show.  Both Erin and Dan have children and frequently talk about being dads, which is why I was flabbergasted this morning when Erin almost outed Santa Claus, The Easter Bunny and The Tooth Fairy.

 

 

CBS Urged To Drop Tebows' Super Bowl Ad: University of Florida QB Tim Tebow and mother will appear in a 30 second ad during the Super Bowl with the message “celebrate family, celebrate life.”  Many people are upset with CBS saying that the commercial is an advocacy ad about pro life. Read here and find out why. (NPR)

Parental Control glitch gives kids access to App Store porn: Not paranoid enough that your child is looking at porn on their iphone/itouch? There’s and app for that. (Arstechnica) 

U.S. teen pregnancy rate up after 10-year decline: How are you teaching your kids about sex and pregnancy? (Reuters)