THE ROCK FATHER™ - A Daddy Blog and Website for Parents and Kids that Rock! (Mommys welcome too!)

Shady Dealings? Baby product maker Maclaren USA quietly files for Chapter 7 liquidation...

no-reply@therockfather.com (James Zahn) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 01:37:29 -0600

It's 2am and as I was updating The Rock Father™ facebook page, I happened to see a post in my feed from The Baby Gizmo Company stating that Maclaren USA was going under. Specifically, that Maclaren (famous for inventing the Umbrella stroller) had quietly filed for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Liquidation back in December. Bloomberg Businessweek confirms that ''on December 29, 2011, American Baby Products, Inc. filed a voluntary petition for liquidation under Chapter 7 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Connecticut.'' Maclaren USA is a "DBA" of American Baby Products, Inc. but this story gets a lot more interesting.

Baby Products
Shady Dealings
Recalls
Maclaren USA
Corporate Stuff
Facebook
Retail

Giveaway - OWL CITY: LIVE IN LOS ANGELES on Blu-ray!

no-reply@therockfather.com (James Zahn) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 00:17:18 -0600

Adam Young is best-known as OWL CITY, the multi-faceted musical project that began with self-produced recordings that were uploaded to MySpace a few years back. By 2011, OWL CITY was a full-fledged band with an impressive live show, and with the release of LIVE IN LOS ANGELES, fans can get an inside look a one of his headlining shows from the All Things Bright and Beautiful World Tour. Filmed at LA’s Club Nokia this past July, the full 21 track concert was just released on DVD and Blu-Ray by Eagle Rock Entertainment, and The Rock Father is giving you a shot at scoring a copy of the Blu-ray for Free!

Live Albums
Club Nokia
Adam Young
Owl City
Eagle Vision
Eagle Rock Entertainment
Giveaway
Contest

Review - BEING ELMO: A PUPPETEER'S JOURNEY

no-reply@therockfather.com (James Zahn) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0600

When I first heard about BEING ELMO: A PUPPETEER'S JOURNEY, it was after it wowed audiences and took home a Special Jury Prize at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. This exceptionally moving documentary by Constance Marks tells the story of Kevin Clash, the man behind Elmo, SESAME STREET's most recognizable little red monster. Much to my surprise, the film popped up on Netflix Instant this week, so the little one and I sat down to watch it yesterday.

Sesame Street
Kevin Clash
Documentary
Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey

Listen: DAVE MATTHEWS BAND "Crash Into Me" from Rockabye Baby!

no-reply@therockfather.com (James Zahn) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 22:19:21 -0600

My wife is really excited about this. As a big fan of the DAVE MATTHEWS BAND (can't say I am), she's looking forward to the March 6th release of LULLABY RENDITIONS OF DAVE MATTHEWS BAND by ROCKABYE BABY!. Since the new ''new release" we're expecting in June is another girl, I'd suspect she'll be able to swoon in the nursery to the mellow sounds of the DMB, far away from those college boys in backwards baseball caps, Abercrombie & Fitch button-downs, and GAP cargo shorts. That said, The Rock Father has a stream of Crash Into Me from the new Rockabye Baby! record below. Check it out, and pre-order yours from their official site if ya dig.

Rockabye Baby!
Lullabies
Dave Matthews Band
Music For Kids

Hate to Say "I Told You So" - WONDER! megastore closes it's doors after just four months...

no-reply@therockfather.com (James Zahn) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 20:39:00 -0600

''Ever get the feeling that you've been cheated?'' - John Lydon, SEX PISTOLS

On February 15, 2012 - a mere eight days ago - I posted my review of WONDER!, a 135,000 sq ft. children's mega-store in Deerfield, Illinois. In short, my family and I loved the store - er, the ''experience'' as it was more than pure retail - but the business side of me had some serious questions regarding the operation. Here's what I wrote in the closing portion of my lengthy report...

Corporate Stuff
Shane Christensen
Retail
Illinois
Deerfield
WONDER!

IKEA MÅLA Easel - Art Station on a Budget

no-reply@therockfather.com (James Zahn) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 23:51:55 -0600

After being given an IKEA MÅLA Easel by my friend Scott last year (passed onto us after being used by his two kids), I recently set it up for my little one for the very first time. With a dry-erase whiteboard on one side and a blackboard on the other, my daughter loves it - particularly the blackboard. What I was surprised to learn is that the MÅLA is available new from IKEA for only $14.99, which is why I felt compelled to share my thoughts here on The Rock Father™.

IKEA
Easel
Arts and Crafts

MILLIE COW - Harmless Children's Book, or Terrifying Bovine Demon?

no-reply@therockfather.com (James Zahn) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 21:50:00 -0600

The name Roger Priddy may not mean much to you. Despite selling over 65 million books worldwide and having his titles translated into over 30 languages, he's not exactly a household name. What this author of Children's books might be however, is the Stephen King of the toddler set. At some point within my daughter's first year of life, someone her Auntie Jill bought her a copy of Priddy's MILLIE COW. This over-sized ''board book'' bore a TJ MAXX sticker for $6.99, with an original price of $14.95. While the value was undoubtedly a delight, what was contained within it's pages would prove to be something that was anything but.

Roger Priddy
Books for Kids
Millie Cow

ARCHIE brings their comics to Facebook via Graphicly

no-reply@therockfather.com (James Zahn) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 11:25:09 -0600

As each day passes, I always wonder if my children will be able to experience comic books the way I did growing up. It's no secret that the rise of digital vs. print and the skyrocketing cost of everything has taken a toll on the comic book industry, and it's becoming increasingly hard to find a cool local comic shop the way it was back in the 80's. One of the longest-running comic series' and publishers is ARCHIE, and while their flagship title generally still moves 15-20K print copies a month, they're embracing digital and facebook to reach new readers.

Facebook
Graphicly
Comic Books
KISS
Archie Comics

KENNY CHESNEY gets the Lullaby Treatment...

no-reply@therockfather.com (James Zahn) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 23:40:07 -0600

They won't be Corona bottles you'll be icing while listening to this one, but country-minded parents have something soothing coming their way. The folks over at Twinkle Twinkle Little Rock Star have just issued LULLABY VERSIONS OF KENNY CHESNEY, a twelve-track collection of the singer's greatest hits, reworked into lush, instrumental versions perfect for any nursery. The Rock Father™ has the full tracklisting and cover art below.

Country Music
Kenny Chesney
Lullabies
Twinkle Twinkle Little Rock Star

Kids' Choice Awards 2012 - Looking at the music nominees...

no-reply@therockfather.com (James Zahn) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 13:08:00 -0600

Since I've never covered Nickelodeon's KIDS' CHOICE AWARDS before (in any of my past writing gigs), I have to make the somewhat obvious statement that it looks more like the ''Tween Choice Awards.'' We tend to be a Sprout house (though Nickjr. does have a few good shows), and I like to remember Nickelodeon as being the place for shows like PINWHEEL, MR. WIZARD'S WORLD, TODAY'S SPECIAL, and FINDERS KEEPERS. But, that was 30 years ago and Nick is a different game these days. With the announcement of the nominees for their 2012 Kids' Choice Awards last week, let's take a look at a few of the music-centric categories.

Black Eyed Peas
Usher
Toby Keith
Bruno Mars
Selena Gomez
Katy Perry
LMFAO
Big Time Rush
Rio
Puss in Boots
The Smurfs
Phineas and Ferb
Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated
Kung Fu Panda
Justin Bieber
Nickelodeon
Award Shows
Lady Antebellum
Taylor Swift
Lady Gaga
Cars 2
The Muppets
Music For Kids