Daddytypes.com

In the words of the bard, This was a triumph. I'm making a note here: HUGE SUCCESS. It's hard to overstate my satisfaction.

Bugaboo has released what amounts to its first throwback edition, a 2012 Cameleon outfitted in one of the classic, single color Frog fabrics, navy blue, with an off-white lining. It's like it's 2002 all over again, only with extendable handles and better suspension and stuff.

I tell you, we liked our Cameleon, but when we were hitting the stroller zone the second time around, I found myself jonesing for the Frog. I looked pretty long and hard on Dutch auction sites for a nice vintage Bugaboo, from the days even before they were sold in the US. Instead of the circles logo, they had this kind of New Mexico-ish, petroglyphic snowflake. That's what I wanted. Old School.

But you could never really tell the condition of used strollers; hapless Dutchmen were unsure about packing and shipping; and then, of course, there were the performance improvements, like the front suspension, which were hard to give up. So we soldiered on.

I'd by this one in a second, though. It really is the best $800 stroller in the world.

The Navy/Off-White Bugaboo Cameleon is a limited edition, available while supplies last, only at Giggle. $979. [giggle via publicist]

Fort Standard was founded like yesterday by designers Gregory Buntain and Ian Collings, and already they have a tableful of awesome, crystal-faceted balancing blocks handmade from salvaged hardwood and finished in a range of tasty colors, and white.

Fort Standard Balancing Blocks, bag of ten, $85 [fortstandard.com via ro/lu]

The past and the future once again meet in the present, with generally awesome effect.

Because while it seems normal that you can now instantly find and buy a copy of Charles Wareing Endell Bardsley's suddenly indispensable 1888 book, Curiosities Of Puritan Nomenclature, it still feels like a small miracle that you don't need to. Because thanks to the University of California's Digital Library initiative, the entire book is available for immediate and profitable study.

Bardsley apparently spent 12 years collecting and scouring the church registries of England to create what seems to be the first definitive history of the adoption of Biblical names in the country.

It suddenly makes sense that the proliferation of scripture names like Adam,, John, James, etc. followed the release of "mystery" plays, which dramatized key Bible stories for the masses. And that more obscure scripture names only came into wider use as English translations of the Bible became available. And that hilarity occasionally ensued when, "the parents [would open] the Bible haphazard, according to the village tradition, and select the first name the eye fell on." And also when they wouldn't: It was but a year ago a little child was christened Tellno in a town within six miles of Manchester, at the suggestion of a cotton-spinner, the father, a workman of the name of Lees, having asked his advice. "I suppose it must be a Scripture name," said his master. "Oh yes ! that's of course." "Suppose you choose Tellno," said his employer. "That'll do,'* replied the other, who had never heard it before, and liked it the better on that account. The child is now Tellno Lees, the father, too late, finding that he had been hoaxed.And here's another one:There is, again, a story of a clergyman making the customary demand as to name from a knot of women round the font. "Ax her," said one.
Turning to the woman who appeared to be indicated, he again asked, '* What name?" "Ax
her," she replied. The third woman, being questioned, gave the same reply. At last he dis-
covered the name to be the Scriptural Achsah, Caleb's daughter -- a name, by the way, which was somewhat popular with our forefathers. No wonder this mistake arose, when Achsah used to be entered in some such manner as this :

** 1743-4, Jan. 3. Baptized Axar Starrs (a woman of ripe
years), of Stockport.

" 1743-4, Jan. 3. Married Warren Davenport, of Stockport,
Esq., and Axar Starrs, aforesaid, spinster." -- Marple, Cheshire.

Axar's father was Caleb Starrs. The scriptural relationship was thus preserved. Achsah crossed the Atlantic with the Pilgrim Fathers, and has prospered there ever since. It is still popular in Devonshire and the south-west of England. All these stories serve to show the quarry whence modern names are hewn.Now that you mention it, Hewn is a pretty great name itself.

Read or download or do whatever you like with Curiosities of Puritan Nomenclature (1888) [archive.org]

God bless the Puritans and their Biblical baby naming strategies. Or as they might put it, God, please don't damn their infants to a fiery hell for only having a two- or three-word scripture phrase as a given/baptismal name.

Sarah Marshall has a great set of Puritan naming highlights at The Hairpin, culled from Pastor Charles Wareing Endell Bardsley's 12-year labor of love, Curiosities of Puritan Nomenclature, published in 1888.

Repent Durant, Helpless Henley, and is Fight-the-good-fight-of-faith White a cousin to the first Pilgrim born in Plymouth, Peregrine White? Ask God-only-knows Burns.

Your 2012 Baby Name Guide: Puritan Edition [thehairpin via the awl]
Previously: The Peregrine White Cradle

For a moment there, Funny or Die thought comedian Ahna Tessler's short comedy video, which included the new mom of twins breastfeeding, was obscene or whatever, and took it down. But when the Times started asking about it, they decided it was hot instead. And certianly hotter than some random beer ponger's junk. Which is now linked to by the paper of record, btw.

Breast-Feeding Video Prompts Harsher Response Than Intended [nyt]

I barely missed it the other night, but DT reader Rolf sent the link along today. And sure enough, Maurice Sendak's interview with Stephen Colbert is as funny as hell:

It'll be sad when he's gone, which, wow, I wish him all the best and health, too, but maybe we should prepare ourselves for the possibility that the blurb for Colbert's forthcoming kids' book, I Am A Pole (And You Can, Too!) is the last thing Sendak writes.

Grim Colberty Tales with Maurice Sendak, Part 1 [colbertnation]

Wow, among the interesting items Andrew scouted out at Cologne specialty auction house W.G. Herr's most recent sale: this sweet, Swedish, molded ply rocking horse.

The label said it was a special edition made in 1970 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Nässjömöbel, a venerable furnituremaker which has been apparently wiped from the face of the Internet except for this horse. It's like the end of A.I., where the aliens just find the robot kid buried in the car or whatever.

Schaukelpferd, Nässjömöbel, 1970, sold for EUR200 [herr-auktionen.de via aapc]
1970's Nässjömöbel rocking horse, etc. [an ambitious project collapsing]

Previously: related: Brio molded ply rocking ox, also from Sweden, c. 1967
Lost Eames molded ply rocking horse

Sometime ago we began a thing where the kids can opt to have their dessert in the bathtub.

That usually only happens when it's what you'd expect: popsicles or a lollipop.

Not Raisin Bran, which is what K2 insisted she really, really wanted for dessert. In the bathtub.

I really have no idea sometimes.

I'm getting chills watching this. It's a 3-D printed record that plays "Still Alive," Jonathan Coulton's song for the credits of Portal. On a vintage Fisher-Price record player. The future, the past, the virtual and the real, all have collapsed into one $41.87 Shapeways order. Wow, $41.87?

3-D printed record - 'Still Alive' [youtube via @jonathancoulton]
'Still Alive' Clockwork Record designed by Pittance, $41.87 [shapeways]
Wow, vintage Fisher Price record players aren't exactly cheap, either [ebay]
Related: Gifford Children's Choir singing my two favorite versions of "Still Alive"

In an interview with the SF Chronicle about playing the mother of a school massacrer in Lynne Ramsay's adaptation of Lionel Shriver's novel, We Need To Talk About Kevin, Tilda Swinton makes some sober observations about pregnancy and parenting:Q: It's like an act of atonement and it seems as if she's been atoning for something ever since Kevin was born.

A: And I think before it. I think one of the things is her ambivalence about pregnancy. She never speaks of it and you feel that she never even really acknowledges it herself, but you see her in that locker room with all those other pregnant women who are all kind of in their bodies and feeling the experience and you can see how disgusted she is. That's a real syndrome for so many women, even for women who eventually actually fall in love with their babies quite soon. It's a chunk of change, that pregnancy thing. There's a lot not to love about it, but she has this terrible shame about it, largely because she's living this life that is so isolated and so self-determined within which you get the sense that there is no place for chaos. This is a recipe for disaster. If you're going to encounter becoming a parent, if you're not up for a bit of chaos, let alone a lot of chaos - and I speak as the mother of twins - then you are riding a kind of really dangerous horse.News you can use, from the new Daddy Types!

UNCOMFORTABLE REVELATIONS UPDATE Given the film and the book, I suppose it makes sense, but the marketing strategy for this project turns out to be having Tilda Swinton make highly disturbing comments about parenting to increasingly prominent film critics.

Tilda Swinton on 'We Need to Talk About Kevin' [sfgate.com]
We need to talk about Tilda [rogerebert.com via dt hero dt]

HAHA, all this time everyone's been getting all worked up about Caitlin Flanagan and her pretend-housewifery, and her imaginary teen oral sex epidemic fearmongering, and have been ignoring the real menace II society: her husband, Rob Hudnut.

Hudnut turns out to not just be an executive at Mattel, but the executive producer, the big brain, actually even the lyricist, behind the Barbie DVD series. A decade and 100 million DVDs later, The Awl is only making this vital connection now??Maria: Here is a quote from Variety:

"We are great believers in the power of little girls," says Rob Hudnut, Mattel executive producer. "We believe they deserve the best entertainment that we can give them. [...]

Illustrating the painstaking nature of the production, Hudnut recalls, "It was the job for six months of one 'Nutcracker' animator to keep Barbie's dress from going over her head. The company has made a serious financial investment in ensuring these movies are the quality that girls deserve."

David: That actually arrives unpacked, doesn't it.

Maria: Barbie's skirt, stubbornly floating over her head! Both Hudnuts trying frantically to keep the damn thing down.The Battle For Planet Flanagan [theawl]

During my formative literary and journalistic years, when I discovered it as source of inspiring, vital writing and reporting, as well as outrageously smart, outrage-inducing statistics, devastatingly presented, Harper's Magazine was led by Lewis Lapham. At one point, I hoped for nothing more for my writing than that it might be excerpted, even, in Lapham's magazine.

And now Lapham's Quarterly has published exactly the kind of ogling pointlessness that made me finally walk away from a book project with a major publisher. And it's so slapdash. I mean, it's like they transcribed a random issue of Us at the dentist's office.

Named By The Stars - Children of the rich and famous [laphamsquarterly.org]

Not sure why, but since checking my twitter last night, I've been worrying that maybe DT's drifted, and that maybe it's missing the big parenting issues, the burning dad questions. That maybe it should really focus on the news new dads can really use right. now.

Or maybe right after posting about freaky baby album cover art from an obscure 1990s colabo EP isn't the best time to ask the question.

In 1999, ahead-of-the-curve appropriationist musicians Negativland did a colabo with their one-hit wonderin' mates, Chumbawamba, remixing THAT SONG with audio of Alexander Berkman's 1932 manifesto The ABC's of Anarchism, the Sex Pistols, and the Teletubbies.

Unfortunately for the band, the EP didn't come out until everyone was totally sick of THAT SONG. Which is too bad, says previously mild-mannered-seeming artist and veteran political hairblogger Peter Huestis, who designed the awesome album art several job changes ago, because it is, "one of Negativland's most entertaining and 'listenable' releases." And I heartily agree.

It's a sign of how kid-clueless I was at the time, and how hard I've apparently worked to block THAT SONG from my brain that until this moment, I had no idea what the original Chumbawamba album cover looked like, either.

Wow, the guy who designed it, Michael Calleia, also did the logo for Stinky & Minky, a wacky, little SoHo [north of Houston, but whatever] store which was one of the first/only places to find vintage kids clothing. You really do never know.

Digital Graveyard: How to design a CD cover for Negativland, 1998-99, Part One; Part Two [sparklepony]
Buy The ABC's of Anarchism for very little money via amazon [amazon]

We try to keep each Playmobil set intact and separate from the others, but I think I see a couple of invasive species in this garden.

Delta, Just, Spin, Glendale, Cement. While none are required, of course, Each of video artist/savant Ryan Trecartin's baby name suggestions would be enhanced by one or more diacritics [offer not valid in all jurisdictions]. [via @ryantrecartin]

Woo-hoo, this is awesome. Though I think Adam Brown, the new dad under the kid above--and behind Fatherhood Is--is underestimating the extent to which his non-Internet-famous twin will resent his sister's Internet fame.

Then again, with a new dad blog that's so smart and funny right out of the gate, I'm sure both kids will build up enough Internet fame to fill their future revenge memoirs. Stay tuned.

Fatherhood is confounding the baby with new sounds [youtube]
Fatherhood is learning a few lessons about the Internet and why you may not want your baby on it [fatherhoodis.com via dadwagon]

There are no details on Richard Prince's collection website about what's going on here, but you know what they say: the first Velvet Underground album only sold 10,000 copies, but everyone who bought it's kids made their own covers.

Richard Prince's Own Collection | Books [richardprince.com via karma]

Oh, man, I seriously haven't given two synapses worth of attention to The Wiggles in years until just a few minutes ago, when I was reminded of them by the four blockhead toy dudes in that Antonio Vitali car.

And lo and behold, it turns out Greg, the original Yellow Wiggle, has apparently just announced he's coming back after his illness-induced, five-year hiatus. And they made the announcement by totally sacking that other dude who took over for the Yellow Wiggle and kept the money-minting franchise going since 2006.

And then Anthony, the Blue Wiggle, puts his asshole hat on, and explains the sudden dumping to Melbourne's Herald Sun this way:"I don't want to speak for the guy ... I don't know how he feels."

"What Sam does now is Sam's thing. His contract has come to an end.

Sam was just doing a job. He was a hired hand ... I haven't spoken to him."Yeah, capitalism and all, but sheesh, what a tool. Also, apparently, the guy's name was Sam.

Ex-Wiggle Sam Moran Thrown Under Big Red Car [heraldsun.com.au]
Previously: BREAKING: Greg Wiggle Diagnosed with Darrin Stephens Syndrome
FLASH: Where's Greg? Wiggle To Stop Wiggling
My last, best Babble piece, c.2007: The Wiggles Industrial Complex

Maybe someone with their Antonio Vitali retrospective catalogues handy can tell us for sure, but I think this sweet, signed toy car is from the US toy collection the Swiss designer launched after he did his work for Creative Playthings [and Childcraft? Am I remembering that right?]

Or maybe they'll keep their traps shut until they can scoop up this rather fine-looking example for their own selves. We'll know soon enough.

Antonio Vitali Wooden Toy Car Signed - GREAT Condition Creative Playthings ? MCM, currently $9.99+9 s/h, auction ends Jan. 29 [ebay via seller liz]
Sorry to stick this in your head: Big Red Car by The Wiggles [youtube]