By Audrey van Petegem, Contributing Editor
When you put the words road-trip with 2 young children (ages 3 and 5) together, there has to be a 3rd component: the DVD player. So, before our 4-hour family road-trip, to visit friends in Las Vegas, I stocked up on some DVDs. I got the usual Disney and Pixar ones , but I also wanted something a little different that my daughters had not seen before. I came across a DVD series by Global Wonders. The DVDs introduce children to a wide variety of cultures that may be [...]

Wow! I love this woman. Sarah, thank you for being a voice for so many of us who just get to roll our eyes when we see the ridiculous commercials aimed at women. For example:

Sarah’s got a very effective form of soft feminism that mocks the female stereotypes portrayed by advertisers, in a compelling and just perfectly right humorous manner. OK, oftentimes LOL hilarious. Here’s one of her “Target Women” clips that covers pretty much every cliché about women: can’t be single, has to be saved by a man, wants to be married…

Or this one about the trials and tribulations [...]

By Shari Bonnin, Contributing Editor
Shockingly, I was a raffle prize winner at my friend Christine Haynes’ Book signing Party for her book “Chic and Simple Sewing”. I ran up to choose my prize. I saw it; the piece of paper that no one had noticed with a photograph of shoes on it. I grabbed it really quick because I knew exactly what I’d be getting, what I’ve coveted for years, handmade Mohop Sandals! And now that I have them I wonder why I waited so long. I’m such a shoe fanatic, and with these, all I need really, is [...]

Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation (2001) book really got me started in 2001 (read excerpts here). Hardly walked into a McD again unless under extreme duress (when there were NO better choices. It happens). It was the eye-opener that I needed. I’m afraid that Food, Inc. might just push me over the edge and I’ll become a fanatical activist. Still, we should all be informed about a product that determines our survival, don’t you think?
Food, Inc. is now showing in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco with wider release starting next week. I’ll get to see it in a [...]

So simple but so effective. Instead of having to re-read the same paragraph(s) as you search to see where you last stopped reading (because we can’t always make it to the end of the chapter!), just line up the Xmarxit bookmark with the last line that you read, wedge into the crease of the book and you are ready to pick up on the exact line where you left off.

I ain’t no researcher, but the results of this new study sure sound like something I want to hear: “Study suggest probiotics may affect metabolism” …
TORRANCE, Calif. (Jun. 3) Results of a new study published in the journal Molecular Systems Biology showed probiotics have a tangible effect on metabolism — suggesting that the digestive flora may provide weight loss benefits in addition to helping to maintain digestive health.
Researchers from Imperial College London and Nestle Research Center in Lausanne, Switzerland, fed mice two different strains of probiotics, Lactobacillus paracasei and Lactobacillus rhamnosus. Each strain showed a range of biochemical effects [...]

Too bad that this product isn’t released until later this summer, otherwise it would have been a perfect Father’s Day gift idea for those husbands and dads that keep quoting from movies or recalling favorite scenes. Or that have still have an unfulfilled yearning to be in the movies. But, that can be almost anyone.
Yoostar allows users to star in scenes from their favorite movies alongside famous actors. With the proprietary camera, software and green screen kit, anyone can recite their favorite lines and appear in a chosen movie scene. How’d they do it? Actors are digitally “removed” from certain [...]

I love this campaign for the new Kia Soul. Word-free advertisements are always the best way to connect. Here the imagery indicates that the Soul is not just another fish in the sea, another pawn in the game, another… you get it. The accompanying website is pretty cute too. And the car’s ok. Baaaaahhh!

WE HAVE OUR WINNER! CONGRATULATIONS BrendaLea!
You have won the Dr. Moz Father’s Day Giveaway.
The winner was selected at random using the Random Integer Generator. This giveaway CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED but do subscribe via RSS or email to get updates on new giveaways as they get posted. Thank you all for playing!

You remember when we wrote about the cheeky Dr. Moz line of gift items that caters specifically to expecting and new dads? Here’s the article in case you missed it. Now, we are happy to announce Dr. Moz’s participation in our giveaways. They are offering the [...]

Amy Holms is architect by day and a serial hobbyist at every other moment (in between being a wife and mom to twin daughters). Her latest passion (which she assures us is permanent) for glass bead and jewelry making is something that she stumbled onto by accident, upon attending… a knitting convention? One of the convention exhibitors was a lampwork beadmaker who sold his beads to be used as stitch markers (her hobby of choice at the time). From that moment on Amy became obsessed with investigating lampworking as her new “hobby”.
Aren’t we glad she did. As a trained architect, [...]