Of all the quirks and vile innovations of the Dora the Explorer show, the worst must be the cloying call-and-response that occurs with soul-murdering regularity. It pains me to do this, but as an example, here is a brief snippet of Dora-dialogue, a written record of 2.5 minutes of my life that I’ll never get …
Author Archives: Nathan
Elvis Costello’s Little Killers
We had the kiddies listening to some Elvis Costello yesterday because, well, screw the Wiggles. But it led to a conversation with our five-year-old daughter about what the song “Alison” is really about. For those unfamiliar with the song, here’s the second verse and chorus: Well I see you’ve got a husband now. Did he …
Bar Secrets, Revealed
From the lovely and glamorous designer/translator/DadWagon-spouse Jean, comes the answer to yesterday’s bar riddle. The sign shown here was, in fact, a Father’s Day tribute, from the semi-sleazy bar Touch in Nanjing. Here’s Jean’s translation of the billboard: A father’s love is an unassuming love. It’s an emotion that can’t be defined. Only people who …
Father’s Day: Chinese Bar Edition
I just got back from a somewhat too-short five-day trip to Nanjing, China. I did not, alas, find any turtle prick dumplings (sorry, Theodore). Nor did I see the Great Wall, or any gymnasts, or tiger penis aphrodisiacs. I did see lots of army folks, some powerful exhibitions about the Nanjing massacre, and lots of …