If you've ever seen television or been the recipient of junk mail, you are probably familiar with the lingerie chain Victoria's Secret. In addition to selling teddies and thongs, they sell apparel aimed at the college set. Their brand, Pink, has licenses with many colleges to sell hoodies, t-shirts, tote bags and that sort of thing.
Now, one college campus seeks to remove such gear. University of Minnesota has decided to remove themselves from the 33 other colleges who sell gear through the Pink Collegiate line. At this time, Victoria's Secret is still offering the merchandise. Instead of dealing with the colleges directly, VS made a deal with the Collegiate Licensing Bureau.
Although the site I sourced has an opinion on this, University of Minnesota hasn't explicitly said it feels the ads are too racy. The school was concerned about their reputation however. A representative quoted stated the school did not feel it was in their best interests to have Gopher gear sold through the apparel giant.
Spontaneous dancing is one of those childhood traits that you can easily take for granted and miss desperately when kids start getting self-conscious. Matt Harding has become an unlikely internet celebrity through amazingly touching videos of himself doing his signature (and endearing) primitive dance move all over the world.
I'm not sure whether it's the childlike quality displayed by Harding,or getting even a split-second glimpse at some of the amazing places all over or the world, or the reminder that anything is possible that makes me cry when I watch it, but I do.
Share it with your kids, it's a great reminder that you can a friend to dance with (even a whale!) no matter where you are.
It's a parental nightmare -- a kid who really has to go and no bathroom in sight. A reader of the Consumerist web site wrote about an experience she and her daughter had: "I explained she had diarrhea and couldn't hold it and told them she was about to go on the floor. They refused again and never offered me any alternatives. I begged them to have a heart and that she was 5 but by that time she had lost it all over herself and me."
What makes it worse is that the manager, when she later called to complain, laughed at her and suggested she sue "if it makes [her] feel happy". Now, there are always two sides to every story and we're only hearing one here. Some have suggested that there are insurance issues to consider and that the store may not have even had a bathroom at all. Still, that wouldn't excuse the manager's callous response afterwards. It seems to me that the manager missed an opportunity to turn an irate customer into a happy one just by showing a little sympathy and concern.
It is not often that I have the opportunity or the desire to visit a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory store; reading this story certainly hasn't given me any added incentive to do so. My heart goes out to the mom and the little girl who suffered this embarrassing situation. It's also a good reminder to always keep a change of clothes in the car -- for you and your kids, just in case.
Depending on who you talk to, Summer officially started yesterday evening. In short order, the street fairs and other summer festivals are set to make their debuts, if they haven't already. Amidst all the fun, thrills and excitement, the lights and sounds--and smells--of the fairs, there's another main reason people of all ages travel to such things: The food. It's deep-fried, a lot of it, it's greasy, and it sure is tasty. It also presents some precariousness for a parent of a child with a serious food allergy. After all, who knows what exactly is in that stuff? Most of the time, we'd rather enjoy it and not know.
Dr. Amal H. Assa'ad, a member of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology warns parents to inspect every molecule of food their children may come in contact with, and recommends children with severe allergies such as peanuts and tree nuts carry an Epi-pen with then at all times. I would add to that, from personal experience (I have one of these life-threatening allergies) that you SHOULD ALWAYS WEAR YOUR MEDICAL EMERGENCY ID BRACELET. As my CPR instructor noted, if my throat is closed up and I can't speak, and I'm not wearing my bracelet, no one is going to know I have a nut allergy and to give me the Epi-pen shot.
I hate to say this too, but parents should consider packing and bringing snacks they know are safe to any event, whether it be a potluck or a street fair. Sure, the food is tempting, but most of the people selling it didn't make it, don't know what's in it--oils, for example, are known to be terrible allergens but most servers don't know if what they're serving was made with peanut oil or soy oil--and don't understand how severe the consequences can be when the provide misinformation. Bringing your own food is sure to be healthier, too. Dr. Assa'ad also recommends that parents who suspect a child may have any sort of allergy get it checked out immediately. Honestly, as a kid, I never did. I just had the reaction and we thought, ok, we'll avoid that FOREVER. It's not a great way to navigate through the endless purveyors of things that smell delicious, but could be deadly.
Some of you may have read recently that the famous chimp Cheeta didn't receive enough votes to earn a star on the Hollywood walk of fame. Tinkerbell, however, animated fairy from Peter Pan, did. She is the most recent cartoon character to be considered for and receive the coveted star.
The Walk of Fame Committee (yes, there is one) for the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce choose the recipients of the stars based on the votes, and their choices are then ratified by the Board of Directors. The recipient of the star must agree to attend a ceremony and shell out $25,000 to the Trust to cover things like security. I assume Tinkerbell's estate will handle all of this.
Other stars of the living kind to receive the star this go around are Ben Kingsley, Hugh Jackman and Harry Shearer, as well as the Village People, The Miracles (you know, Smokey's backup group) and Shakira. Her hips are probably the real recipient, but Shakky will accept on their behalf.
As our economy continues to tank, so another alarming trend seems to rise. Consumers, parents readily included among them, are resorting to shoplifting. Recently a man in Massachusetts was apprehended with his daughter attempting to steal shrimp and baby formula.
No longer is it a case of the simple thrill of the five-fingered discount. Experts weighing in say what we all know to be true too well: salaries aren't rising at the same rate as inflation. This, in turn, leads to temptation. What's being stolen has changed, too. More often, regular grocery items are being pilfered.
According to the National Retail Federation, among the 116 retail stores surveyed, 74% felt the incidents of shoplifting had increased from 2006. Retail theft is responsible for $4.5 billion per year, which means increased prices for non-shoplifting customers in the future. When you have a family to care for and feed, I can see how tempting it might be to swipe an extra can of ravioli. if you're caught, though, are the penalties worth the risk?
Strange question to ask, but the answer might surprise you even more--a lot. Other than the fact that both are viewed by female audiences, have television programming with big turnout and are being released from silver screen to the big screen, both brands are proving that women of all ages are taking back the cineplex.
In a recent New York Times article, the relationship between the two is explored, along with thoughts about the upcoming release of the American Girl movie, titled "Kit Kittredge: An American Girl" after one of the American Girl characters who tries to make it as a young reporter during the Great Depression. Abigail Breslin, who was recently nominated for her work in Little Miss Sunshine, stars. Among the movie's producers is Julia Roberts. By all accounts, along with the fan base created by the television programming and the characters (they're never referred to as dolls), the movie should be a rolling success.
The American Girl movie, along with Sex in the City, should also provide direct competition to summer blockbusters and action films which are traditionally seen as male-oriented. The products (the, uhm, dolls) are marketed to and beloved by girls between the ages of 7-12. If the movie can win them over, then there's sure to be a sequel, even a trilogy. More than that, the girls who love American Girl characters can be consumers of the brand for life. They can grow up to be the same women who flocked to the Sex and the City movie in droves! Unfortunately, to my knowledge, there are no Sex and the City dolls on the market, but goodness knows they'd sell like hotcakes!
Are you planning on seeing Kit? Are you taking your daughter(s)?
It cost us a fair bit of change when we visited Disneyland last year, which is a big part of why we haven't been back since. Now, we can save all that money and avoid the hassle of crowds and cross-country travel by visiting Disney World in Florida virtually. Last week, Google and Disney announced that the entire Disney World park would be available within Google Earth, a free mapping software that lets users virtually explore the entire planet.
Disney has built an "interactive, three-dimensional tour of Walt Disney World Resort that brings you one step closer to a true park experience." According to Jay Rasulo, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, the virtual tour of the park is the "next best thing to being there." Guests can fly down Main Street to the Cinderella Castle and through the rest of the park.
I'm not sure I could pass it off as a substitute for a Disney Vacation, but it sure sounds like a great planning tool, especially if you've never been there.
A New York lawyer is suing Delta airlines for a cool million for allegedly destroying what was supposed to be a fun family vacation and return to their ancestral homeland of Argentina.
In the suit, Richard Roth claims he deserves monetary compensation after he, his wife, mother, and two teenage children were stranded in a Delta airport for three days. The group was without their luggage for five days, and racked up a bill of over $21,000 in hotel rooms that went unused at their final destination as well as for replacement clothing and other expenses, and received rude treatment from Delta employees.
According to Perez Hilton, who seems to be on the cutting edge of celebrity happenings as well as fashion, rap star and sometime actor LL Cool J is set to design a line of clothing. Like many a star before him, Mr. Cool J has endeavored to create a line of clothes, this time for department story Sears. the only difference? His line is for CHILDREN!
According to LL, since he was raised by a "matriarch" and has a wife and three daughters, he knows what women are looking for. At least in terms of clothing. I think he knows what I'm looking for, too, but it has more to do with shirtless than shirts. On the very downside of all this, LL wants to make the clothes "relaxed and sexy." Sigh. LL, women may want to look sexy, BUT NOT CHILDREN!!!!!!!!!!!
The line should incorporate elements from LL's personal life, including tattoos and lyrics to his songs. I can't trump what Perez has to say about the song "I Need Love Girl" (you'll have to check it out) but all I can think is: What next? A onesie that says "Doin' it, and doin' it and doin' it well"???
Ah, the hidden dangers of watermelon. When I was a kid, and I'm sure you've heard this story too, I was told that if I ate watermelon seeds a watermelon would grow inside my stomach. Although that story appears to be untrue I will say I've been eating a lot of watermelon lately and my stomach has expanded exponentially, but I feel that is due to the pregnancy. For one little girl, though, watermelon brought on a whole new surprise--and a bad one at that.
Megan Templeton of Barboursville, West Virgina, was taken to a local hospital after she was bitten by a scorpion at Wal-Mart. This kind of event is going to do NOTHING for Wal-Mart's publicity! The inch-long stowaway scorpion stung Megan after she picked up a seedless variety of watermelon.
No word on whether scorpions prefer seedless watermelons, but it should be noted that Indiana Jones recently informed me the smaller the scorpion, the more deadly its sting. It was a good thing the 12-year-old was immediately taken to the hospital. At first, her father didn't believe her--that story was right up there with the watermelon seed story of my childhood--until he saw it wriggle under a box where it was later captured by Wal-Mart employees.
When you absolutely have to get out of the heat and humidity this summer, a cool, dark movie theater is a tempting choice for a much needed time out, especially with this summer's line up of fun-loving movies.
But if you go, you might want to make sure you have an extra couple of dollars in your pocket. In addition to the arm and the leg that theater owners already charge for popcorn and other so-bad-but-oh-so-good movie treats, they'll be bumping up the price of popcorn by about 25 cents a bag this year.
Concessions are already so expensive that we rarely indulge in them. Instead, we make sure the kids are already fed and then, if the day calls for it, hit the ice cream store on the way home. If you're a die hard popcorn fan, you could also cut your ticket costs by waiting for your favorite movies to hit the budget theaters. Either way, it's unlikely that concession prices are going to drop (do prices ever drop anymore?) so if you're going for the full experience, plan to dig deep!
We joined some other friends of ours who also have a baby and used the same sitter. In addition, we ordered out dinner. And, yes, instead of spending way too much on popcorn, drinks and snacks we snuck in some contraband we picked up along the way. All together, the evening cost each couple involved total of about $75 (this is a pretty good deal since if we had each gotten our own sitter the price would have been $15 an hour per sitter). Given the price of gas and everything else these days, I couldn't help but wonder, was it worth it? This is not to mention all the time and effort that went into planning, traveling and waiting in line. Just what is worth getting a sitter?
The answer may not be so obvious. We hadn't seen these friends in a long time. It's really hard when you have small children to find time to get together for double dates. Scheduling can be very trying, and more often than not getting together boils down to random chance. And this only works out if the sitter is available. That said, anything that gets people out of the house is a good thing. Maybe where you live movie tickets aren't $11 each (like they are in New York City), and maybe you're not paying between $12 and $15 an hour for a sitter, but the price can still add up.
I think dinner and a movie with some friends is worth it. Attending the opening of a gallery or a hitting a concert is certainly an idea. Anything that will keep you out late and forces you to do some sort of planning is worth it. My rule is that if I have to get dressed up--or at least change my clothes--then it's worth getting a sitter. Obviously anything that is not child-friendly or kid-appropriate warrants a sitter. Even just having a quiet dinner with your significant other can be worth it, romantic or otherwise. Heck, I've often thought about hiring a sitter just to get some housework done...or to sleep. Yes, it's crossed my mind. On more than one occasion.
So what about you? For which activities do you think it's worth it (not just necessary) to get a sitter?
One of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me was "This fits you perfectly." We were playing a game at a company party where everyone had the name of a famous person taped to the their back and then had to go around asking others questions to figure out who they were. I was Indiana Jones. While I'd always fancied myself an adventurer, a la Dr. Jones, that others saw me that way too was quite a compliment. So it probably comes as no great surprise that I have been very excited about seeing the latest film in the series, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
Last night, I shanghaied my thirteen-year-old niece, dumped my kids on my wife, and swung on over to the movie theatre. First off, I'll answer everyone's most pressing question: is it as good as the first three? The short answer is yes. While I felt the atmosphere was not as "retro" as the earlier films -- it is set much later, in the late 50's -- the action is all there, along with Indy's signature wit and creativity. There were some plot points that were predictable, but I don't think that took anything away from the film -- this is not something you go to see expecting a deep and complex plot. Indiana Jones is, pure and simple, adventure. Distilled, concentrated adventure, with a great hat.
But what about kids? Can a teenager, born nearly fifteen years after the original movie was released enjoy this latest film?
Ah, summer. It's nearly upon us. As adults, many of us think back upon that season with a sense of nostalgia--the time off from school seemed to last forever, and whatever did we do with all of it? For others of us, though, summer brings back some memories that are not so great. For those of us who were 'pudgy' or 'husky' or whatever they were calling it back then, summer meant a lot of bad things: shorts, bathing suits, and, for a few of us the dreaded fat camp.
For one author, fat camp couldn't have been more real. Writer Stephanie Klein, known for hot memoir Straight Up and Dirty, growing up overweight meant spending summers at fat camp. In her new book, "Moose: A Memoir of Fat Camp" she recalls losing 30 pounds one summer.
Klein describes her experience at camp as humiliating, saying the children were weighed on meat scales and at truck stops on truck stop scales, and that there was barbed wire around the perimeter to keep kids from sneaking out. On the plus side, she made new friends, including those of the opposite sex.
It's a parental nightmare -- a kid who really has to go and no bathroom in sight. A reader of the Consumerist web site wrote about 
It cost us a fair bit of change when we visited Disneyland last year, which is a big part of why we haven't been back since. Now, we can save all that money and avoid the hassle of crowds and cross-country travel by visiting Disney World in Florida virtually. Last week, Google and 
A New York lawyer is suing Delta airlines for a cool million for allegedly destroying what was supposed to be a fun family vacation and return to their ancestral homeland of Argentina.
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When you absolutely have to get out of the heat and humidity this summer, a cool, dark movie theater is a tempting choice for a much needed time out, especially with this summer's line up of 
One of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me was "This fits you perfectly." We were playing a game at a company party where everyone had the name of a famous person taped to the their back and then had to go around asking others questions to figure out who they were. I was Indiana Jones. While I'd always fancied myself an adventurer, a la Dr. Jones, that others saw me that way too was quite a compliment. So it probably comes as no great surprise that I have been very excited about seeing the latest film in the series, 
