tv-time
These are a few of my favorite tweets…
…from during the broadcast of THE SOUND OF MUSIC LIVE! on NBC.
Dad duties dictated I pass on an opportunity to usher (dressed as a nun, no less) at a local theater where it was being shown. From all accounts it sounded like a great time, including some impromptu sing-a-longs during sound problems. Events like this are always way more hilarious — or awful — when experienced en masse.
So I had to watch it alone at home… And yet, the world watched with me, and laid in to Carrie and company with much gusto and snark. Yes, there were plenty of positive comments about Audra McDonald, Laura Benati, the children, the ratings. But that’s not why God invented Twitter.
While most of the more scathing comments were directed at the lead’s wooden underacting, things snowballed from there as the Twitterverse barreled down the Austrian mountainside, picking up Vampire Bill, Julie Andrews, yodeling and Grumpy Cat along the way.
Without further ado, I present A Few of My Favorite Tweets…
(and yeah, the first one’s from me, after a mere one line of dialog from Maria)
How long till “I was on my knees most of the night” starts trending? #SoundofMusic
— Brent Almond (@DesignerDaddy) December 6, 2013
In positive news, SNL this week will be a must watch! #SoundofMusic
— Scary Mommy (@ScaryMommy) December 6, 2013
Nothing is more relaxing than a nighttime yodel. #SoundofMusicLive #SoundofMusic #SOML
— Amy Bellgardt (@MomSpark) December 6, 2013
how is vampire bill not eating all of these delicious children #soundofmusic
— alfred maskeroni (@digimatized) December 6, 2013
Please stop tweeting #SoundofMusic spoilers! Remember the West Coast.
— MarinkaNYC (@MarinkaNYC) December 6, 2013
There is already a @RealGrumpyCat meme for #TheSoundOfMusicLive pic.twitter.com/FeICwxFdHJ
— Amanda Campau (@AmandaCampau) December 6, 2013
The fashion label Kurt grows up to start definitely has a line called Kurtains. #SoundofMusic
— Adam Gwon (@AdamGwon) December 6, 2013
PUBLIC POLL. Things that are more wooden: a) Carrie Underwood’s acting b) wood #soml
— Jay (@coolmcjazz) December 6, 2013
Von Trapp is all “Imma let you finish” #SOML #theSoundofMusicLive
— Deya (@Alwys_Smthgs) December 6, 2013
Nazis are terrible at hide and seek #SOML
— adri (@prettyjumbles) December 6, 2013
This “What’s The Big Deal About Nazis?” song is my jam. (May not be actual title) #SoundofMusic
— Anna Kendrick (@AnnaKendrick47) December 6, 2013
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So what were a few of your favorites? Leave ‘em in the comments!
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For more fun and frivolity, please visit the Designer Daddy Facebook page to make it one of your favorite things!
Modern Family Love
WARNING: SPOILER ALERT!
We’ve been watching Modern Family since its debut in 2009, because A) It’s pretty darn funny and B) Mitch & Cam.
Papa and I have been compared to TV’s quintessential gay dads quite a few times over the years. (My trainer at the gym once told me “You’re like the big guy, because you’re so, um… funny!”) And their milestones have mirrored ours on many occasions. Like when Lily dropped the F-bomb. And when they thought she dropped the M-bomb. And when their adoption fell through.
The show’s fifth season premiere (“Suddenly, Last Summer”) began with a date stamp of “June 26, 2013,” then proceeded to weave the Supreme Court’s eventful decision of that day into a plot about Mitch and Cam each planning a surprise proposal to the other. Of course hilarity and calamity ensued, with both sets of romantic scenarios being botched. They ended up with a blowout in the Hollywood Hills, overlooking the light-filled city below and stars overhead. While replacing the tire, the couple reminisced about various mishaps and adventures they’d shared in their decade-long relationship. As they both knelt down (on one knee, natch) to attend to the tire, it dawned on them what each other had been plotting. They looked into each other’s eyes and simultaneously said, “Yes.”
And simultaneously, Papa and I both sniffled and said, “Awww.”
While the characters of Cam and Mitch are not without fault (they could certainly stand to be more affectionate), and stereotypes abound, I do appreciate the significance of this storyline on an Emmy-winning, Nielson chart-topping, major network show.
Yet what really made an impact was not just a gay couple proposing to one another, but the genuine portrayal of how this moment might play out between a couple that had been together for so long. A couple that would have gotten married much sooner (had it been legal), yet remained together and built their family their way. Not a lot of precedent for that on TV or in popular culture in general.
Like Mitch and Cam, Papa and I and many other same-sex couples have committed to one another for the long haul, forming our relationships and our families as best we knew how. Often without any support from government, church, family or society as a whole. These hindrances are swiftly falling away, and I couldn’t be more thrilled. And I’m thrilled for the new(er) couples that are meeting, falling in love, and able to get married just as God and Hollywood intended — while they’re still young and hot for each other.
So why is it significant that this TV couple has been together for so long? To the straight, married readers: can you imagine, having been with your partner for 10, 15, or 20 years, planning, hosting and paying for a wedding at this point in your life? Between work, paying bills, caring for a house and raising kids, just setting a date would be an achievement. Am I right?
So I really appreciated how Modern Family’s writers and producers showed this long-together couple — in the midst of a busy, chaotic, and deeply entrenched life — struggle and scheme to make this moment as historic and romantic as possible. And as would be in the real world, they had to take the time life gave them and make it their own, in their own way.
My partner/husband/Papa and I will have been together 17 years in October. (A common joke amongst gays might go, “That’s 34 in straight years!”) In the fall of 2003 we had a commitment ceremony in a lovely Unitarian church, nestled in some woods, surrounded by over 100 friends and family. It was the closest thing to a wedding available to same-sex couples at the time, and it was truly wonderful.
However, we are going to have a legal wedding (albeit much smaller this time around), come hell, high water, work, school schedules or extended family shenanigans. And why are we being wedding hoarders and having another ceremony? Because we can. And because we deserve to. And because the first time around we had family members who chose not to come, who are clamoring to be here this time around. And of course because of JJ. But mostly because we love each other. (And because we can.)
Bath Toys: When to Keep, When to Trash
Thanks to Netflix and Hulu, JJ has been watching bits of TNMT and Power Rangers, which induces lots of karate-chopping craziness, and which I do not love. So I convinced him we should scroll down the cool Netflix “By Character” menu, and JJ re-discovered one of his (and my) early favorites, RubbaDubbers.
Inspired by this welcome regression, your old(ish) pal Designer Daddy has whipped up this handy chart to help you cull that tidal wave of crap bath toys amassing in the tub.
Be sure and click on it to enjoy all its squeaky clean wonderfulness. And because teeny, tiny type.
CLICK TO BIGGEFY
Some of you may be thinking, “But what if I want to CLEAN the bath toys instead of just throwing them out?”
I have a couple of suggestions for you:
A) Ain’t nobody got time for that!
B) My pal over at The Daddy Doctrines did a post recently on cleaning nasty bath toys.
Happy scrubbing, everybubbly!
Fridge Wisdom: Baby on Borg
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I’ve had this one in the queue for a long time. Because it keeps being true. But there’s a new Star Trek movie coming out, so I figure now’s as good a time as any to drop this bit of Fridge Wisdom.
TODDLERS ARE LIKE THE BORG. Whatever you throw at them, they adapt, reconfigure their circuitry, then come at you full strength with a whole new arsenal. more here >>
¡Adios Dora!
Like many other third installments of a trilogy, the finale of Dora The Explorer and The Destiny Medallion was a necessary — and muy disappointing — conclusion to the watered-down joke that started out so promising.
How do you say “LAME” in Spanish?
So what film trilogy conclusion is YOUR least favorite? Tell me in the comments.
Dora’s Back-er: And Gets Even Realer-er
As promised, here’s Part 2 of Dora The Explorer and The Destiny Medallion! Still not as good as the original concept trailer, but it was fun to see Benny the Bull in human form, and the explanation of B.A.C.K.P.A.C.K.’s acronym was worth a chuckle. Yet while Part 3 looks promising with an appearance from Grumpy Old Troll, if The Map never shows up I’m afraid this whole exploration was por nada.
PRECAUCÍON: As with Part 1, this installment is a tiny bit NSFW/NSFT (not suitable for toddlers).
In somewhat related news (and a subject I’m SURE you’ll read more about on this blog in a week or so) our family will be attending the annual White House Easter Egg Roll! This is a pretty freaking huge/exciting/awesome deal. The Mother of all Easter Egg Festivities. Plus, our gal Dora is gonna be there, so that will be muy egg-celente.
If you can’t join us on the South Lawn with Dora, Bo, and various other celebrities, you can at least download the 2013 White House Easter Egg Roll Children’s Activity Book HERE.
Hop on back next week for the (hopefully) thrilling conclusion!
Dora’s Back: And Gets Even Realer
You might remember a video I posted a while back — a trailer for a hilarious (but disappointingly fake) live-action Dora the Explorer movie. Well, it’s one step closer to fake reality, as College Humor has posted part 1 of the 3-part saga, Dora The Explorer and The Destiny Medallion!
While it lacks some of the first-time funny punch of last year’s Infinity Orb, it’s great seeing Dora, Boots and (swoon) Diego back in acción. And I can only hope Horatio Sanz will return as the annoying and abused The Map. (BTW, have you seen him lately? ¡Aye chihuahua!)
ALERTA: this installment is a tiny bit NSFW. And certainly NSFT (not suitable for toddlers).
COME BACK NEXT WEEK FOR PART 2!
from www.geeksaresexy.net
JJ’s Top 10 of 2012
As with any toddler, JJ’s moods tastes shift like the wind. Make that a whirlwind. But these ten things stood out in 2012 as being particularly popular with our breezy little boy…
Elmo’s World Comes Crashing Down
The first posts about Kevin Clash, the voice of Elmo, appeared on my Facebook feed late in the afternoon. Reading the articles was disheartening, depressing and downright sad. And each article (from mostly quasi-reputable sources) was capped by one inflammatory headline after another. It seemed they were all trying to cram as many damning words into a single line as possible: “Sex,” “Denies,” “Underage Boy,” “Pedophilia,” “Gay.”
So I went in search of a more respectable source, one that would stick to the facts. I came upon what I hoped would be such an article from ABCNews. No such luck. Here are a few of the questionable—and some completely irrelevant—phrases peppering the story:
Clash…began using a falsetto voice in 1984 to bring life to the furry red monster.
The accuser…is being represented by…the same high powered firm hired by a victim of Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky, who was convicted of child sex abuse.
Clash spoke to ABC News last year about his passion for puppets… “I have Peter Pan syndrome we call it,” Clash said.
After learning how to sew around age 9…
“‘You sleep with your puppets, you play with dolls,’ you know,” Clash said of being teased as a kid.
Let me state that I have never been that fond of Elmo. I grew up on Bert & Ernie, The Count and Cookie Monster. Elmo is a relative newcomer, and has always seemed way over-hyped and unendingly shrill.
But then last year I saw Kevin Clash on The Daily Show promoting Being Elmo, and was amazed at his energy, his spirit, and his undeniable talent. When I finally watched the documentary I was genuinely moved by this story of an odd, sensitive, creative (and extremely driven) boy that pursued his dream of being the next Jim Henson. Clash became hugely successful at not merely entertaining or educating, but spreading joy wherever he went.
A young Kevin Clash with his idol and mentor, the late Jim Henson
I sincerely hope the accusations are untrue. Yet if the level of hyperbolic coverage surrounding this continues, it kind of doesn’t matter. Kevin’s career as Elmo (and in children’s entertainment) is over, regardless of the outcome. I just can’t imagine the talking heads and paranoid corporate sponsors will allow the truth to win out.
In response to the story, Sesame Workshop is quoted as saying, “Elmo is bigger than any one person…” But if you watched Being Elmo (and you should), you know this isn’t true. Elmo existed for several years before Kevin Clash, but Kevin Clash brought Elmo to life, imbuing him with a toddler’s wonder and loving spirit. It would be a shame for such a lively life to be stifled by the flames of homophobia, fear and sensationalism.
Happy Birthday Son! Love, Your Soon-To-Be (Legally) Married Dads & the State of Maryland
Victory Speeches, Birthday Wishes & Wedding Bells
Exhausted from a very trying week and a half, I stayed up as late as I could to watch election (and Question 6) results last night. I gave up around 11 and trudged upstairs to get ready for bed — and when I came out of the bathroom, the election had been called for Obama. I went to sleep happy about that, but stressed knowing the votes for Question 6 were uncomfortably close.
I woke up around 1am to pee, checked Facebook and started tearing up reading all the posts about the victory for marriage equality in Maryland. And not just general “Woohoo!” posts, but status updates from several friends announcing their intentions to get married in 2013, as well as many, many posts, emails and messages to me personally congratulating our family.
After my 1am nature call/sigh of relief/internal jump for joy, I updated my Facebook status:
Woke up to pee and am now tearing up after checking Facebook and seeing that same-sex marriage will finally be legal in Maryland. Can’t wait to tell Jon in the morning (on his 3rd birthday) that Daddy and Papa are gonna get married!
But at 6:30am (after a very un-fitful night of non-sleep) I was awakened by JJ turning on our light and then loudly whining because Papa couldn’t play with him because Papa had to plunge the toilet and couldn’t find said plunger, so then I had to get up and help hunt for it, as well as appease the cranky (now) 3 year-old and change a very wet diaper. Needless to say, there were no birds chirping sweetly, flitting about and putting wedding garlands in my hair.
But as I was changing JJ’s diaper, I wished him Happy Birthday and told him I had a special birthday surprise for him: Daddy and Papa were going to get married! His reaction was to stare in mild confusion and disinterest. I reminded him he had been to Uncle Baby’s and Aunt Amy’s wedding (which he was too young to remember)… still no reaction. I told him, “You get to be the ring bearer!” <Blinks>
A few minutes later when Papa came downstairs, I asked JJ to tell Papa what I’d told him. I of course had to jog his memory about the whole marriage thing, but when I asked him to tell what he (JJ) was going to do at the wedding, he declared proudly, “I”m get to ring the bell!”
We already have rings, so we don’t technically need a ring bearer. And besides, the image of JJ running around ringing a big, loud bell after his Daddy and Papa say their legal “I Do’s” seems just about perfect.
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Here are a few of my favorite congratulatory messages:
Congrats to Marylanders! Brent & Nick, I am so there when (and if) you decide to get married. Whether it’s a big blow-out like last time or a quiet city hall affair, I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Love you both!! And your little boo-boo too!
My old friend Brent is just one of many citizens of Maryland who can finally get married to the person he loves! Let go of prejudice! Gold bless America!
My [Facebook] feed is pretty good for now. A few people have been negative nancies, but not too bad. I have one friend in Maryland who made me teary this morning because he got up to pee in the middle of the night and saw that gay marriage is now legal in his state… he was so happy that he could tell his son today, on his 3rd birthday, that his dads are going to get married. That made me happy.
HUGS!!!! Yay to your family!!!
CONGRATULATIONS my friend!!! Happy happy joy joy!!
I just found out that my brother and his partner of 15 years are now allowed to get married and have a “legal” family with their son. I love and look up to them both so much. They set such a wonderful example and inspiration not as gays but as people who love and make it work every day. They’ve taught me so much over the years and guided me out of my naiveté, to prevent heartache and prolonged drama that plague so many in our community. They deserve the best life and happiness. When I grow up, I want to be just like them.
