Lady Gaga Barbies!!! Graaah!!!!

Don't act too surprised!  This WAS bound to happen.  We've always known that Mattel has carefully chosen the path to complete sell-outness.  That's how they make moolahs.  But this --an entire series of Lady Gaga dolls-- is just too much, even for them.  

But impressive in craftsmanship, nonetheless.

I assure you, this is my last Lady Gaga entry.  It was just so stupefying, I had to blog about it.  Blog over.  Thank you and good night.

Before Lady Gaga...there was Stefani

I don't like Lady Gaga.  I will not go to her concerts nor buy her albums at gunpoint.  But I have an impeccable respect for her...which must sound like I just debunked my earlier statement.

Her songs are undoubtedly catchy and danceable, her looks are nauseatingly outrageous that you can't help but notice her --she is the perfect package of an entertainer, a performer.  A circus performer, more like it.  But in this world where everything goes by fast and things are easily forgotten, Lady Gaga has indeed burned her impression into our tired brains.  She knew how to get our attention.  In that light, she is an expert.  And experts --no matter what their expertise are-- deserve respect.

Specially when I found out that Lady Gaga was never always Lady Gaga.  Before all those weird wigs and outlandish leather and lace and aluminum foil and garbage bag and wire outfit, there was a sweet girl named Stefani Joanne Angeline Germanotta.  A struggling recording artist who held onto nothing more than pure talent (which she had a lot of!  her singing voice and piano-playing prowess were just awesome!) until she realized that THAT wasn't enough.

It's all in the packaging.  The world relies on colors, shock value, visual rape.  The more it disrupts your senses, the more it shakes off the mundane from your life.  With that wisdom and talent, I respect Lady Gaga.  Just don't let her come near me.

Cute and Ingenius!

While hunting for video game walkthroughs, my boys found the Cute Mario Brothers on youtube. And it ain't a game. It's an ingenius short movie flick featuring Super Mario character dolls moved and voiced by a couple of kids. It's basically shot during the kids' play time using a typical handheld camera. It might even be a camera phone since the quality is grainy and blurry. But the original plot line is superb. The imagination of these kids are incredible! Camera work is interesting, too, though a little shaky. The treatment is documentary yet fun. With the funniest of script lines using the kids' voices mimicking ultra fake Italian accents --Mario and his brother Luigi are Italian, after all. The ingenius streak doesn't stop there. Apparently, these boys have been uploading their unique Cute Mario Brothers' short flicks on youtube for quite some time now. They have a hefty reel of episodes! And incredibly, a great number of following. Plus two more, counting my very own two boys. The Cute Mario Brothers have inspired my boys to take their play time to a higher level of creativity. Their camera work when they shoot videos of their own RPG (so to speak) skits have improved as well.
Recently, I've found out that the Cute Mario Brothers' videos are already on other video sites, too. And an instant pop-up when you google Mario Brothers.
2 kids simply playing around --and they're immensely famous in cyber world.
I'll have to check if they're earning big on this endeavor of theirs --because in my book, they should.

The Perfect Rainbow

After chasing Kenji around for almost the entire duration of his football camp (he just wouldn't listen to his coach!!!!), half-dying under the merciless sun, and my patience near overboiling point...this appears in the sky.

Suddenly, all my frustration washed away at the sight of such perfect beauty.  There were no cuts to this arc.  There were no cloudy obstructions.  The ends touched the edge of the horizon as if it was a complete ring that went around the other end of the earth.  It was perfect!  Mother Nature knows exactly how to pull you back to your senses.  

Kenji ran to me and hugged me, saying, "Look, Mimi!  A rainbow!".  And he was still.  Perfectly still.

Unscienced

It's so sad how backwards we are when it comes to science.  It baffles me that in this day and age of PSPs, iPODs, gadget galore --parents would still stuff their kids in the usual mundane summer programs of arts, dance, and theater.  I cannot believe that kids today are not THAT interested in science!  

Now that I have registered Miro into the Lego Mindstorm Robotics Summer Camp, we're back to our old problem which we have also encountered with Gakken:  how to get enough kids to make a class in order for the program to push through.  

It's pretty logical.  No children, no camp.  Logical and dismal.

My Mad Date with Miro

Today was Miro's and my first mom-and-son date (read:  first time to go out without the whole family and goon entourage).

I was worried because I was so sure I'd get lost in the mall, or I'll lose my purse, I'll lose my phone, I'll lose Miro!!!!  ... I get crazy when I'm alone.  But the thrill of independence was just so much to bear!  And Miro was pretty excited.  So we went with it.

Miro chose the Mad Science Mall Invasion as the perfect geeky date theme.  Why am I not surprised?  LOL!

He had fun with all the experiments and explosions.  I had a field day finally getting a photo of him with the mad scientists.  This was his dream come true.  You can tell by that beaming face, can't you?

Aside from being slimed on, dusted on, sanded on, half-frozen by a fire extinguisher, and almost fried to a crisp by a chemical explosion --we actually had a grand time!  I'll definitely go out with him again. :D

That Alaska Kickass Adventure

Does your child have extra energy to spare?  Let it all out in organized sports (aka a mom's one way ticket to parental pain!)!
This summer, we slayed at the Alaska Football Power Camp.  While fabulous as a summer program for your child 6 years old and above, the camp runs for a full year taking a break only during the rainy season --which I question because nothing beats the cinematic beauty of footballing in the rain.

Anyway, Kenji --my little Tasmanian devil-- put his manic energy into full blast at the 2-month camp.  Thus, making the Php5,400 price tag that came with it worth it.

The camp's package came with a swanky uniform --which my son so totally rocked.

It came with unyielding drills under the burning sun.

One-on-one competitions.

Teamwork exercises.

And a well-deserved graduation certificate in the end.

Plus, the beaming satisfaction of self-fulfillment via a shiny medal, a glass trophy, and a fine tete-a-tete with Alaska Football Power Camp head organizer and Spain's football legend, Tomas Lozano.  Oh yeah, he played with Pele!  PELE, man!

Every child with the penchant for running, kicking, and getting sand and dirt all over himself needs to be exposed to football.  And no camp is better!

You can ask Kenji... and the huge grass gash on my knee which I got from chasing him all over the gigantic Alaska playing field (cue 'parental pain').