Citizen Mom

Tanned, Rested and Ready

Oh hello, poopies!
No, Citizen Mom hasn't abandoned you, in fact I'm just back from a few days at the Shore and ready to settle into the summer. Too much news has happened to try to re-cap or snark on it all, but if you've been following my Twitter stream you know where my head's been at, as it were. If it seemed, for a while, that Twitter was killing my blog, it was half my own doing. The instant gratification of social media is addicting in its convenience. And it's been fascinating to watch the hemorrhagic growth of Twitter in the two years I've been using it. 
I'm also fascinated by social media's impact on journalism, though I'm one of those people who thinks it's still way too early to do anything but observe, participate and make reasoned guesses. All these pronouncements make my head hurt.
Right now, I'm lining up things to write about this week (got an idea, suggestion, invitation? citizenmom (at) gmail.com), wondering what to cook for dinner and warming up my blogging muscles with some good old-fashioned blogbuzzdancepop. Mangia!

Passion Pit, "The Reeling." They're at the Sweat Lodge, er, First Unitarian Church on Aug. 15.

A.M. Paper, 'Afternoon Delight'

"Afternoon Delight with John Thornton," in which a dude with seriously hairy back doffs his bathrobe and gets cozy with the Sunday Philadelphia Inquirer. Perhaps too cozy. I'll never hear the words "Trudy Rubin" in quite the same way again.
What, no Santorum?

Hat tip to @ckrewson

YOUTUBE: "Afternoon Delight with John Thornton."

Because The Only Thing Better Than A Sweaty Beard Is A Sandy, Sweaty Beard

As if you even needed one, here's another good reason to spend this coming July 4 in Cape May: As part of celebrations marking the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's sail up the Delaware Bay, the city is holding a beard-growing contest. For "The Frolic Of The Beards," men will be judged in four categories: Most Authentic Henry Hudson Style (pictured, left), Longest, Scraggliest and Best Overall Beard.

It's a throwback to the 350th anniversary to-do; the hirsute fellas pictured above are the 1959 contestants. These guys were all probably locals, but the rules don't specify who can enter, only "males, 18 and over, goatees and full beards." I'm thinking a team of Fishtowners with a summer house could pull off an upset if everybody stops shaving now.

 Details and  contest application are here.

Nobody Puts Dora In A Corner

A big tip o' the tam today to Good Day Philadelphia on this one:

Nickelodeon has released this image of Tween Dora to soothe the fears of parents like me, who were worried our beloved Latina explorer girl was being sexed up too much. The fears were based, in part, on the unfortunate silhouette the network released, which was supposed to keep the mystery alive until the toy's launch later this year, but instead made Boots' best friend look like something on the back of a mudflap. 

So OK, she doesn't look sexy per se, but I'm still unhappy about the message this whole situation sends to little girls. Little-girl Dora is smart, courageous, ambitious, focused on teaching kids about problem-solving. Tween Dora's most important feature seems to be that you can plug her into the computer and change her eye color and jewelry. Oh, and take her shopping!

Yet another reminder to our girls that it's great to be smart and clever when you're a kid, but "growing up" means forgetting all that and becoming just another Barbie.

I'm still hoping for the best from this -- after all, it's important our girls know it's OK to be smart and pretty, and that life isn't all about following Maps and watching out for Swiper. But I am not confident.

PREVIOUSLY: 'Tween Dora: All She Needs Is A Mudflap

REUTERS: Tween "Dora" Won't Be A Bad Girl

YAHOO! NEWS: Soothing Dora

BAD NEWS: It's Like Magic!

Somebody owes the Inquirer's Bob Moran an apology.
No, not somebody: Steve Keeley owes Bob Moran an apology.

For nearly a half-hour, as the verdicts in the Vince Fumo corruption trial rolled in earlier, the Fox29 reporter stood on the street in front of the courthouse reading Moran's liveblog from inside the courtroom, which was streaming on philly.com. Without ever actually attributing his "source," Keeley repeatedly leaned over for a closer look at his laptop, which was perched on the hood of a car to his left, reading details word-for-word on the air. The words popped up on screen, then *poof*! popped right out of Keeley's mouth, just like magic.

Twice, anchor Sheinelle Jones -- possibly hearing me screeching straight across the Twitterverse about the plagiarism-in-progress that was happening -- did try to clarify that the station was getting information from Philly.com. But only once once did Keeley haltingly point out he was reading from philly.com and he couldn't be bothered to say it was Moran's work, despite the fact that every update on the liveblog started with the words "Robert Moran:" That kind of obfuscation takes work, people.

Now that we're all finished debating whether Jon Stewart's a journalist, how about we start asking whether our journalists are journalists. It shouldn't be for me to defend the Inquirer's honor, but the paper pays my husband's salary so one could say it's out of sheer self-interest that I'm picking this bone. Then again, you could say it's because I'm a blogger who's frankly sick of hearing how bloggers are ripping off the newspapers. At least bloggers give the courtesy of a link. Or if you like, say I'm angry as someone who's trying to teach journalism students that they're committing their lives to a worthy profession, one with, y'know, rules and ethics and whatnot.

Does belated, half-assed attribution excuse Fox29 from ripping off the newspaper's reporting even as it was happening? And why have an anchor then keep going back to Keeley asking for more info when she could have been checking the liveblog herself right from the desk?

I know, I know, you're wondering why I'm getting all bothered by the quality of local TV news -- what am I expecting, right? Simple: I actually like Fox29's news operation and appreciate especially how they've embraced Twitter and used it to connect with their audience. They asked for feedback, and to their credit, they paid attention. Well, Sheinelle did, anyway.

Remember "Don't Stand So Close To Me '86"?

No? Perhaps you wisely blocked it out. Seems Bono has, too.

I love U2 and all but I'm pretty sure that when you start talking seriously about wanting to go back and re-work the albums that made you the world's biggest rock band, it means you're officially out of new ideas. From Reuters, via Washington Post:

SOMERVILLE, Massachusetts - Irish band U2 gave a prelude to its upcoming world tour with a brief private show on Wednesday for just 950 fans who got a chance to make news by asking the band some tough questions.

Among the revelations from the banter with the crowd: U2 is considering reworking and re-releasing some early work including its debut album "Boy" released in 1980 that included U2's first big hit "I Will Follow."

"I would love to sing that album again and finish that," said lead singer Bono. He said they were rushed from the studio producing "Boy" because they "couldn't afford another hour."

"The early records, there's some beautiful songs that feel a little bit unfinished to us," he said.

Pressed on what he'd like to change, the Irish rocker singled out his "phony English accent" on "Boy."

Down And Out On Sesame Street

Big Bird might need to start making his own birdseed milkshakes -- Sesame Workshop is cutting back. From the AP:

NEW YORK (AP) — The crisis on Wall Street is plaguing Sesame Street.

Sesame Workshop, the non-profit producer of Sesame Street and other kids' programs, is cutting about one-fifth of its workforce because of the economic downturn.

The company said Wednesday that it's eliminating 67 of 355 staff positions.

Declaring it is "not immune to the unprecedented challenges of today's economic environment," the company pronounced a need "to operate with fewer resources in order to achieve our strategic priorities."

I'd love to tell myself that list of "strategic priorities" has "helping kids learn to read" as its first item, but alas, Sesame Workshop long ago morphed into a "non-profit" media machine. With the economy in the dumper, Elmo's World is now being brought to you by the letters B,R,O,K and E and the Number 0:

Sesame Workshop gets revenue from product licensing and the sale of its programs to PBS and syndication. The company is also funded by government agencies, foundations and corporations.

Total revenue was $145 million in 2008, with operating expenses totaling $141 million, according to the company's website.

BREAKING: Chris Brown Withdraws From KCAs

By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY

AP Music Writer

NEW YORK (AP) -- There won't be any awkward Chris Brown moment at the Kids' Choice Awards - the embattled pop star has withdrawn his name from the ballot. Brown had been nominated for favorite male singer and favorite song for "Kiss Kiss" at the March 28 awards show on Nickelodeon. The nominations came shortly before his arrest for allegedly attacking girlfriend and fellow pop star Rihanna.

READ THE WHOLE STORY

PREVIOUSLY: Tell Brown To "Kiss, Kiss" My Mom Jeans

EARLY WORD: Beer O'Clock

It's a blessed shame, really: You finally get your body adjusted to that lost hour from Daylight Saving Time, and now comes the Manayunk Shamrock Local and the inevitable afternoon drunk that leaves you asleep way too early and then all muddled on Sunday.
Such sacrifices we make to keep tradition alive. The bus runs from 1 to 6 p.m. Saturday, March 14.
Get the details here (ZOMG the Local's on Facebook, yo) from The Parker Pub. Catch me at Spanky's.

PREVIOUSLY: More On Time Than The 35 Bus
PREVIOUSLY: Life Lessons Aboard The Local

Tell Nickelodeon and Viacom: Chris Brown Is Not Welcome At Kids' Choice Awards

I'm on deadline today so am going to keep this one short and sweet: Despite being charged with two serious felonies in connection with the beating of his girlfriend, singer Rihanna, Chris Brown remains nominated for two Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. And he's using his MySpace page to beg for votes.

In response to questions by TMZ, which has been ahead of this story at every turn, the network is falling back on its kids-rule ethos:

A Nick exec tells TMZ Brown "was nominated by kids several months ago, and the kids who vote  will ultimately decide who wins in the category."

This may come as a shock to Nickelodeon and Viacom, but while the kids may pick the winners, the parents still pick what shows the kids watch, at least in this house. And I can say right now that if Chris Brown remains nominated for an award, I will not let my son watch the show and will encourage other parents to boycott the network.
It's pretty sad when TMZ is setting the moral standard on an issue, but there you go. Ironically, Brown is nominated for the song "Kiss, Kiss" with T-Pain, who went to jail in '07 -- for driving with a suspended license.
Some will rightly point out that when Jamie Lynn Spears, then the star of a top-rated Nickelodeon show, became pregnant a few years back, the network didn't ostracize her. True, though it's apples-to-oranges unless you hold getting knocked up in the same regard as beating your girlfriend up.
Which I do not.
I also do not ever recall seeing video of Jamie Lynn Spears leaving a nightclub at 3 a.m., the way we watched the underage Brown do in Miami last week. We already know about the bad judgment Brown showed by putting his hands on a woman, and the potentially worse judgment Rihanna has shown by taking him back. But those are their bad choices to make.

Nick has a chance here to make a better, more responsible choice. And if it can't see fit to, parents will.

UPDATE: As of Wednesday morning, this online petition has nearly 9,000 signatures and other media are picking up the story.

FACEBOOK: Page with Nickelodeon/Viacom info for parents

Ka-ching! Gold, Two Ways

* In the literal sense: Bring your old baubles to Verde Salon on Saturday night and cash in on this  week's trendiest revenue-enhancer! Myya Pavone from Aurum Strategies will be at the Collingswood salon to buy your unwanted gold, silver and platinum. The event runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Your pieces will be weighed against that day's prices, and if you accept the offer you'll get a check on the spot. Call 856-858-0911 for more information and say goodbye to that razor-blade name pendant you got back in middle school.

Aurum Strategies says they're the Original Gold Party People and have been doing this for 25 years.  There are a lot of companies out there offering gold buyback programs right now, so be sure to check out the outfit you're selling to before you take an offer. And do I need to remind you not to send your stuff through the mail?

Verde on Facebook

*  And in the figurative sense: Variety reports today that Dave Kinney, Haddonfield writer, Dad, husband of Monica, Pulitzer Prize winner and all-around quality dude, signed a big-dollar deal with DreamWorks to make a movie of his not-yet-published book The Big One: An Island, an Obsession, and the Furious Pursuit of a Great Fish.

The book chronicles the annual Striped Bass and Bluefish Tournament Derby. Held on Martha's Vineyard, it's the most celebrated fishing tournament on the East Coast and pays a $30,000 grand prize. Kinney observed overly competitive 9-year-olds, cheating scandals and heated rivalries between neighbors.

I've known dude since we were both kid reporters at the Inquirer back in the day, and say enthusiastically that this great thing couldn't happen to a more decent guy.
The next brunch is totally on him, though.

'Tween Dora: All She Needs Is A Mudflap

Say Hola! to 'Tween Dora, Mattel and Viacom's more grown-up version of the preschool favorite. She won't be released until next fall, so visually all we have to go on right now are these silhouettes released by the toymaker, who has apparently never driven behind a tractor-trailer on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.  

I'm not going to go as far as the Packaging Girlhood blog and talk bout how the images show Dora in "the turned out hip pose of practiced lingerie models," though I share their disappointment at seeing a character that began as such an all-around positive turned into just another 'tween princess, just another method of brand extension aimed at maintaining audience as girls age out of the Nick Jr. show.

For 10 years, Little Dora has lived on a beautiful island (supposed to be Puerto Rico) with her Mami and Papi and, later, twin siblings with superpowers. As for 'Tween Dora?

"As tweenage Dora, our heroine has moved to the big city, attends middle school and has a whole new fashionable look. What’s more, she now has a rich online world in which girls can explore, play games, customize, and most importantly solve mysteries with Dora and her new friends. Adding to the play value, Dora’s online world is interactive with the new doll line." [via BusinessWire]

That's right, like any "normal" 'tween girl, Dora is now connected directly into an online world where, through the doll, girls can interact, play games, and oh, change Dora's hair color -- y'know, in case she looks too ethnic. From GearLog, who saw a prototype of the $59.99 doll at the recent Toy Fair:

The doll, which stands about a foot tall, hooks up to your PC and automatically launches into a new online world. From Dora's online room, girls can change her eye color, hair length, jewelry, and more. The really cool part: When you change Dora on the screen the doll changes, as well.

There's a "Don't Bratz My Dora" petition going around to ask Mattel to leave the character alone, with more than 1,000 signatures and some angry comments, but it's a lost cause. Back to the BusinessWire release:

The marketing teams conducted an unprecedented amount of focus-group research and found that girls love the mystery aspect, the technology of the doll, and above all, were very excited to see what a more grown up Dora would look like . . .

. . . “The doll really taps into a tween’s love of fashion and empowers girls to influence and change the ‘lives’ of Dora and her friends,” explains [a Mattel exec].

UPDATE: As of Tuesday night, petition has nearly 3,700 signatures and rising.

RELATED: Paul Westerberg, "Silver Naked Ladies"

MANSCAPE: The Goob, The Bad and The Fabulous

* It wasn't even a year ago we first met the boyishly handsome Republican leader of Louisiana, Gov. RickyBobby Jindal. For about five minutes last April, before anybody knew from Sarah Palin, Jindal was talked about as being a potential VP choice for John McCain. For about five minutes before he delivered the Most Goobtastic Republican Response Evar, Jindal was supposed to be the next Barack Obama. More like the next Erkel.

PREVIOUSLY: America, Say Hello To Gov. Ricky Bobby

* Back in our cheeky coed days, Tina and I had this thing called Dick of the Week, where we'd pick a guy in the news who was guilty of a particular Crime of Man-ity that week and post his picture and a few choice words about him on the door of our dorm room. (Editrix's Note: This was before the blogs, poopies.) Aaaanyway, this week's winner surely would have been Dave Schultheis, a Republican state senator from Colorado.

This credit to his gender cast the lone vote against a measure that would require HIV testing for pregnant women, arguing not that it would be too expensive, or an unfunded health care mandate. No, this exemplar of masculinity believes HIV is exclusively consequence of promiscuity, and the women -- and their babies -- who are infected deserve not only the death sentence the virus can carry but the shame that goes along with. (via Jezebel)

* One of the nicer consequences of the whole Facebook feeding frenzy is that occasionally, amid the blizzard of mind-numbing memes, you reconnect with folks you've known forever but haven't really "known" in a long time. Add to my list Kevin Gatto, a way old-school pal who, like me, fled the brown-and-peach Catholic school uniforms of our youth for a more, shall we say, aesthetically pleasing way of life here in South Jersey. 

Kevin is now artistic director and co-founder of Verde, the Collingswood salon that has been getting a lot of buzz for its focus on environmentally-friendly salon products, practices, even decor.
Check it:

True to form, our care for the environment goes beyond the salon itself. As a part of our guest loyalty program, Verde Salon will be planting trees in the names of our VIP guests as well as offering cash incentives to employees purchasing hybrid or flex-fuel vehicles. Our message will also travel with you as your retail purchases leave in re-usable, organic cotton totes.

Kevin just returned from working at New York Fashion Week, where he styled runway models as part of a team for celebrity stylist David Evangelista. He'll be seeing my mop of hair in his chair soon as well.

The Omlettes Are Delish, But Next Thing You Know It's Goats In The Living Room

I'm going to resist the urge to make any chicken-related puns in this post, which concerns urban egg farming and why those of you living in Philadelphia might give a cluck. DAMN! Oh well.

As the economy continues to wither, people continue to look for ways to become more self-sufficient.  My guess is, this summer anyone with a patch of yard or enough room on the deck for a few good-sized planting pots will have a Recession Garden out back -- the ultimate local-food statement.

I like the idea of urban gardens, especially community ones that encourage group work, but I'm not as sure about the idea of people raising chickens in the city. The upswell of interest in urban chicken farming isn't exactly new, but I hadn't heard of any efforts to make it possible in Philly until now.

 Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, the Old City-based gallery/store, sent me a petition the other day aimed at getting the city's law amended to allow the raising and keeping of up to four laying hens, with required proper waste disposal and sanitation. Usually, when people talk about Philadelphia's ban on keeping and raising farm animals, it's in the context of work animals like horses being kept within city limits.

As I write this, the petition has only 55 signatures, which could mean most people don't know about it, or that the idea of the stunod next door keeping a henhouse behind the rowhouse gives them pause. Certainly, on sheer nom-ability, you can't beat a quiche made with eggs still warm from where you just plucked them from under the hen (RIP Jolly Cackle Farm).

Still, the first thing I thought of when I read the petition was the MOVE house and the menagerie they kept on Osage Ave. I'm sure that's exactly what Philadelphians for Egg Farming is trying to combat, so it's probably best to acknowledge it from the get-go. It's an idea worth pecking into. (see what I did there?)

Nicole Hutnyk, a spokeswoman for Art in the Age, told me via email they've considered that reaction:

"We have thought about this possible reaction and it is absolutely a valid point. Although we are focusing solely on the exclusion of chickens from the legal "farm animal" definition, we also feel strong that additional regulations should be put into place to assure cleanliness, noise regulations, and animal kindness, " she wrote.  "Our petition will hopefully push the city to think about the goals we state initially and see the benefits of this cause. Once we actually make an impact, hopefully, we can get into the nitty-gritty of adopting a lifestyle such as this in a city."

Wood Carving by Bill McWright

WHOLLY UNRELATED: 'Philadelphia Chickens,' by the Bacon Brothers etc.

COOL ISH: Five Step

Mashup of Radiohead's "15 Step" with the Dave Brubeck Quartet's "Take Five." Because the 5/4 time ain't for amateurs, son.
H/t @ckrewson