DADDY DJ
What’s rocking the crib
Congrachoolations National Train Day winners!
A big, rootin’-tootin’ thank you to everyone who entered the National Train Day / B. toys giveaway! Here are the winners:
Morgan M. – Stackadoos
Brandi H. – Elemenosqueeze
Bill S. – Train Day swag
Winners have been notified by email, and have 30 days to claim their prize before another name is drawn. So check your spam filters, folks! 
For some extra fun (and to get people to enter… hello, free toys aren’t enough?!?) on Facebook I had folks post their favorite train song. It was such a great collection of tunes (several of which I’d never heard, or not heard in 30+ years) that I wanted to share them, along with a few (okay, twenty) of my own favorites, in what I’m titling:
The Great Train Collection!
Volume 1 (Reader faves)
C’mon N’ Ride It (The Train) – Quad City DJ’s (C’mon n’ admit it… you love this song, too)
Long Train Runnin’ – The Doobie Brothers
A Peanut Sat On a Railroad Track (One of the oldies-but-goodies from childhood. This version has additional hilarious verses about other foods getting pulverized.)
Peace Train – Cat Stevens
Midnight Train to Georgia – Gladys Knight & the Pips
Marrakesh Express – Crosby Stills & Nash
Chattanooga Choo Choo – The Andrews Sisters
Casey Jones – Furry Lewis (Thanks to Bill Steber of The Jake Leg Stompers, who performs lots of train songs!)
Love Train – The O’Jays
Train – Goldfrapp
The Trolley Song – Judy Garland
All Aboard – The Nat “King” Cole Trio
Down By The Station
Trains – Jill Sobule
My Baby Thinks He’s A Train – Rosanne Cash
Morning Train (Nine To Five) – Sheena Easton
City Of New Orleans - Willie Nelson
Choo Choo Ch’ Boogie – The Manhattan Transfer
I’ve Been Working On The Railroad – Pete Seeger or, if you must The Chipmunks
Volume 2 (DD’s faves)
Conjunction Junction – Schoolhouse Rock (An all-time favorite, and so educational!)
Cross the Tracks (We Better Go Back) – Maceo & The Macks
Jumping Someone Else’s Train – The Cure (coolest train song, ever)
Big Rock Candy Mountain – Harry McClintock
Crazy Train – Ozzy Osbourne
Ticket to Ride – The Beatles (It’s debatable whether this is really about trains, but it’s my blog so I agree with Paul.)
Golden Train – Penguin Prison
On A Train – Yuksek
Freight Train to Nowhere – Mark Heard
Last Train To Clarksville – The Monkees
Orange Blossom Special - Johnny Cash
The Loco-Motion – Little Eva or, if you must Dora the Explorer (sorry, I draw the line at Kylie)
Locomotion – Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
Trans-Europe Express – Kraftwerk
Trains And Boats And Planes – Dwight Yoakam
This City Never Sleeps – Eurythmics
Zoo Station – U2
Train Song – Mindy Smith
People Get Ready – Eva Cassidy (original version by The Impressions, written by then member Curtis Mayfield)
You can hear the whole playlist on Spotify.
(PS: For an unbelievably EXHAUSTIVE list of train-related songs, go here.)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Oh yeah, and here are a couple of pics from our ‘lil Train Day adventure to Gaithersburg, MD. There wasn’t a whole lot to it (Hopefully Union Station is repaired by next year) but JJ loved it nonetheless. Plus he got a cool hat out of it.
No, I can't read yet. So?
The Little Engineer That Could
Did anyone else make it to a Train Day celebration? Send me some pics and I’ll post them here. You can also post them on the Designer Daddy Facebook page or share them on National Train Day’s gallery page.
DDQ&A: Dicken Schrader
If you’re wondering “Who the heck is Dicken Schrader?” you’ve obviously not seen this video:
That’s Dicken (a video producer from Bogotá, Colombia) with his kids Milah and Korben — also known as DMK — rocking one of their three Depeche Mode covers. I’m a lifelong Depeche Mode fan (as is Papa) and the night I came across this video we sat in bed watching and laughing so hard at how incredible it was. In addition to being amazed by the video’s cleverness and creativity, I was equally intimidated by this dad’s dedication to raising some seriously talented offspring. Dude has set the bar seriously high. I hunted Dicken down and he generously agreed to do a DDQ&A about all things DMK.
Q&A with designer dad Dicken Schrader
Tell me briefly about how DMK got started.
It just happened very naturally. My kids grew up listening to whatever I listen to, a lot of it being Depeche Mode and other electronic music. They really get into the melodies and love trying to emulate them on our keyboard. When we did our first video, “Shake the Disease,” we never thought we would do more than one, but the kids loved doing it and we just kept on going.
Why Depeche Mode?
Depeche Mode is my all-time favorite band since I was in high school. It was the band that really got me into music and it has been the soundtrack of my life ever since.
Looking chronologically at the 3 videos you’ve done, it’s great to see the increased involvement and musical skill of the kids. How old are Milah and Korben, and how do each of them contribute to DMK?
The kids are getting better and better with each video — their musical abilities growing steady. Milah is 8, loves to play the recorder and is about to take up flute. She’s very responsible and helps me keep Korben in line when we’re practicing. Korben, 5, is a little keyboard virtuoso and is amazing at keeping a beat. He’s also the diva of the band, the one most likely to throw a fit in the studio.
JJ’s Top 10 of 2011
I can’t believe another year has zoomed past, and with that a toddler that’s learned to zoom quite a bit on his own! To recap, here are a few of JJ’s favorite things from 2011…
Advent In An Hour: Dec 24
Every year for the last ten or so, I’ve made a mix of Christmas music for the drive to my parents’ house. This is JJ’s third Christmas — and he’s become quite the verbal and musical sponge — so this year’s mix is geared mainly towards him. A Christmas Mix 101, as it were.
Track list:
1. Jingle Bells - Frank Sinatra (Bonus points for Old Blue Eyes teaching JJ how to spell “Jingle Bells.” And sorry Babs, but your version’s too frenetic for a toddler. And don’t watch the link if you’re prone to seizures…)
2. Welcome Christmas – from How The Grinch Stole Christmas (starts at 5:30 on the clip)
3. The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late) – Alvin & The Chipmunks
4. Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer – Burl Ives
5. Little Drummer Boy – Peggy Lee
6. Frosty the Snowman – Dan Tyminski
7. Here Comes Santa Claus – The Puppini Sisters
8. The Friendly Beasts – Sufjan Stevens (If you don’t have Sufjan’s Christmas box set, you must. I’d buy it again for the packaging and sheet of stickers alone.)
9. Linus And Lucy – Vince Guaraldi Trio (“Christmastime Is Here” is probably more recognizable, but it’s a little depressing. And nothing beats the Peanuts gang’s wacky dance party.)
10. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town – Fred Astaire
11. All I Want for Christmas (Is My Two Front Teeth) – The Nat “King” Cole Trio
12. Feliz Navidad – José Feliciano (part of JJ’s unofficial Spanish immersion program)
13. Mele Kalikimaka – Bing Crosby with The Andrews Sisters (…and his Hawaiian immersion. I wonder if the Obamas sing this at Christmas?)
14. Over the River and Through the Woods – The Chipmunks (Grandma literally lives over a river and through some woods. Just wish I could find a less annoying version of this ditty, which by the way was originally a Thanksgiving song.)
15. Carol of the Bells – The Bird and The Bee
16. Dominick The Donkey – Lou Monte (In honor of JJ’s Nonno Dominick, whose birthday is today!)
17. Christmas Is Coming – John Denver & The Muppets (Can’t wait to teach JJ to sing in a round!)
18. Joy To The World – Nat King Cole
19. You’re A Mean One Mr. Grinch – Thurl Ravenscroft
20. Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy – London Symphony Orchestra (In honor of Daddy’s favorite Christmas character)
21. The First Nöel – Annie Lennox
22. Sleigh Ride - Relient K
23. Let It Snow – Michael Bublé
24. Hark The Herald Angels Sing – Vince Guaraldi Trio (Everybody now, “Loo, loo, loo…”)
25. Jingle Bells – The Singing Dogs (Cordi perked up for this one)
26. Silent Night – Sixpence None The Richer
27. Twelve Days Of Christmas – John Denver & The Muppets (It wouldn’t be a Christmas road trip without something from this CD. JJ applauds at the end of this classic gem every time.)
What songs did your family grow up on? Any others you’d recommend?
Advent In An Hour: Dec 17
Since I was busy all weekend singing with the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington I am posting those days retroactively… and basing the Advent doodles on some of the songs we performed…
In memory of Peter Fox, who passed away on January 2, 2012, 16 days after this post was written…
Recently a member of our chorus fell gravely ill. As part of our efforts to wish him well, we sent a video of ourselves singing “Merry Christmas, Darling.”
Merry Christmas darling
We’re apart that’s true
But I can dream and in my dreams
I’m Christmas-ing with you
One of the many comments made about this person over the weekend struck me in particular: “No matter who else was around, whenever you were speaking with him, you felt as if you were the only person in the room.”
I don’t know him well, but from the few conversations I’ve had with him, I can echo the sentiment wholeheartedly. The comment has added impact because this man seemingly has it all: great talent, good looks, a Donny Osmond smile, etc. Someone with the potential to be quite intimidating if he wanted to be, yet he chooses to wield his charm for good purposes.
So over the course of this very tiring weekend of rehearsals, concerts, celebrating, and holding out hope for our chorus brother, I was reminded of two things:
1. What a great community of friends and family I have in GMCW
2. When you take the time to talk to someone — no matter how intimidating or good-looking or popular or grumpy or aloof they may seem on the surface — people are generally pretty decent. I know I can’t be best friends with all 250+ members of my chorus, but every time I’ve made the effort to say hello or get to know one of them on even the most basic of levels, I’ve left pleasantly surprised and feeling a little more connected.
So whether you’re with family, friends or going it alone for Christmas, find a way to stay connected. If not in person, then over the phone, through email, Skype, Facebook, Twitter, or even by commenting on a blog.
Logs on the fire
Fill me with desire
To see you and to say
That I wish you Merry Christmas
Happy New Year, too
I’ve just one wish
On this Christmas Eve
I wish I were with you
Advent In An Hour: Dec 12
As this is JJ’s third Holidays, we’re going full-bore, introducing him to lots of traditions so he can be good and indoctrinated in all things Apple Christmas by next year. Aiding in this process have been three awesome iPad/iPhone apps…
1) A Charlie Brown Christmas ($6.99, on sale for $4.99 for a limited time) is not only a great way to familiarize our son with everyone’s favorite Holiday special, but it’s also an interactive storybook. Its subtle, pop-up style animation is also peppered with little surprises (exploding snowflakes!) and as a gigantic, nostalgic bonus, it’s narrated by Peter Robbins… the original voice of Charlie Brown!
2) Toca Hair Salon (FREE) is a goofy little app akin to Wooly Willy (but way more involved), where you can trim, blow dry, color, accessorize and even grow hair on both Santa and a freaky-looking Christmas tree. Santa skeeved JJ out a bit, so we’ve been spending more time with Mr. Tree. Worth the download time just to see the blow dry effect!
3) Christmas Song Machine ($2.99) is a fun way to teach JJ to sing along to several Xmas favorites including “Jingle Bells,” “Silent Night,” and “We Wish You A Merry Christmas.” The voices (sorry kids, you’re no Sinatra. Or Muppets, for that matter) can get a little grating after a while, but nothing a little eggnog can’t remedy.
DDQ&A: John Foster
I can’t remember exactly when I met John Foster, but I believe it was (appropriately) at a baby shower for a fellow designer. I’ve always admired his work, being so saturated with whimsy, sarcasm, and color. Three of my favorite things! Plus he’s a bona fide design superstar, from right here in little ole’ Montgomery County! Be sure and check out his site as well as the ever-expanding library of his books. Can I please be John Foster when I grow up?
Q&A with designer dad John Foster
Tell me briefly about your design business: how long in business, what kinds of clients you have and/or work you specialize in.
I have a little studio in Rockville, MD just outside DC called Bad People Good Things, which I set up roughly three years ago. I have been designing for almost 20 years now. My work is based around entertainment, advocacy, and food and beverage. I work for Fortune 100 companies as well as mom and pop shops, cutting edge record labels, innovative publishers, national arts organizations and tiny start ups. They just have to have a good product/message and be good people. I also am a writer, with several books to my credit (New Masters of Poster Design: Volume Two is out any day now!) and weekly columns. Mixing my writing in with my design work has been the biggest thrill with my current set up. Turns out that I am really good at both disciplines.
Almost all of my work is external – meaning that it has to compel someone to buy a product, donate to a cause, fund a program, join in a movement, attend a performance, etc… so it is a testament to my ability to stay relevant and current visually as a communicator that I am so busy. No hiding for this guy.
How long have you been a dad? How many kids? Ages?
I am from a big Irish Catholic style family so I changed millions of diapers before ever having one to call my own – haha, but I just have one 10 year-old daughter, who more than keeps me busy.
Mixtape: Road trip to Gramms’
Gratuitous baby in a car photo.
This past weekend, JJ and I took our first trip alone (sans Papa) and being the music nerd that I am, I made a mixtape. Below is the track list, along with some snarky commentary and a few sound/video clips:
I made the mix in kind of a rush — which is how I do pretty much everything these days. (Any thoughts from you seasoned parents at what point I can NOT watch my child for more than five minutes for fear of him pulling the TV down on his head, or something equally dramatic and horrific?) Anyhoo, the songs had to meet at least one of the following requirements: 1) the song includes a word or action JJ knows or is learning, 2) the song is already familiar to JJ, or 3) the song is generally pleasant and not full of screaming/profanity. So yeah, no Marilyn Manson.
But most importantly, the music would NOT (with the exception of 2 or 3 tracks*) be “children’s music.” I know, I know… there’s a lot of hip kid’s music out there that parents can enjoy, too! — but I already have the theme song to every show on Sprout and Nick, Jr memorized, so my car is a battleground I’m not willing to cede just yet. I think I’ve still got a couple of years months, so cut me some slack…
Without further, rambling adieu:
more here >>
DDQ&A: Kevin McFadin
Kevin McFadin is the husband of a former co-worker of mine. He and his wife Dawn are both incredible illustrators/designers and together own and operate Fan Works Design in Richmond, VA. He also wears a few other hats, which I’ll let him tell you about…
Q&A with designer dad Kevin McFadin
Tell me briefly about your design business and what kinds of clients you have.
I’ve been running the shop with Dawn since 2002. Before that I was an AD in Alexandria [VA] and up until then I was the staff illustrator at a couple of newspapers. I still pursue illustration, inside and outside of the shop.
Getting up and running out of the DC Metro area many clients are, of course, associations and non-profits. We’ve worked with organizations based out of Richmond, such as Southern States and Child Fund, and helped some start-ups here in town when we were starting up ourselves.
I also volunteer/DJ at WRIR 97.3 FM, the independent radio station here (the largest LP station in the country) and volunteer on the Marketing Committee. So I offer up what I can when they need it: posters, logos, CD packaging, ads, etc. It’s an amazing place, amazing people and a real oasis.
How long have you been a dad? How many kids? Ages?
Renny turned 9 in June. She’s it… she sets the bar pretty high.
Father’s Day Gift List!
This post was originally written for The New Gay (hence the gay dad slant). But I think you’ll find you can substitute the word “designer” for the word “gay” in most of these gift ideas. Hey, good taste is good taste!
+ + + + + + + + + + ++ + + + + + + + +
The New Gay Dad
Just like there’s every kind of gay, there’s every kind of gay dad. Unfortunately, every group also has its stereotypes. And thanks to Modern Family, every two-father family apparently consists of a couple of well-off suburbanites (one queeny, one slightly less so) and an adorably exotic child, adopted from a distant land. You think I’m joking? We have at least two friends who refer to our son as Lily. Mainly because they can’t remember his name, (it’s Jon) but still…
Certainly there are worse stereotypes to be had, but with Father’s Day coming up, I felt it was my duty to represent a wider array of gay daddies, so that not all of us end up with the same (high-end and fashion-forward) necktie.
For the Leather Daddy
The chaps and harnesses may be gathering dust, but leather-lovers can still look studly in these subtle — but still butch — assortment of belts. Suitable for trips to the pediatrician or a (rare) night on the town.
Burberry, $495 Bluefly, $54 Nieman Marcus, $128 FCUK, $38
For the Foodie Father
Every Dad’s Day gift list has to include a grill, so why not show up the breeders with a tasty, tricked-out O-Grill 3000? This James Bond-sounding propane grill is compact, has a push-button igniter, and comes in six delicious colors. Pair it with an All-Clad BBQ tool set, and Dads will be serving it with style.
O-Grill 3000, $172.80 All-Clad BBQ Tool Set, $119.95
For the Musical Daddy
Give your fave gay dads a handsome (and high-quality) way to drown out Dora, Elmo, and the goddamn Wiggles with a set of headphones or earplugs from Urbanears. Particularly nifty are the Bagis earplugs, as the earpieces snap together around your neck for when the kiddo needs to be heard. Four different models. Thirteen fabulous colors. Musical genius.
Available at Urbanears or Amazon, $40-$60