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JBL Charge Bluetooth Speaker: Product Review

The JBL Charge Bluetooth Speaker is a fantastic upgrade from the JBL Flip speaker I had reviewed last year. Photo: Patricia Vollmer.

After last year’s review of the JBL Flip speaker, which is perfect for small gatherings and trips to the park or beach, I never dreamed of having the same capability but with an added charging dock for your mobile devices.

But that’s what we have with the JBL Charge. A ruggedized Bluetooth speaker with a USB port. Through the port, plug in your device’s charging cable and you’re on your way! Read more →

Nickelodeon Debuts New Animated Series, Sanjay and Craig, Featuring a Boy and His (Talking) Snake

Sanjay and Craig swing onto Nickelodeon Saturday morning. (Photo: Nickelodeon)

This Saturday, May 25, at 10:30 (9:30 Central), Nickelodeon unveils a new cartoon series filled with the daily challenges and explorations of Sanjay and Craig, a boy and his pet snake. It also harkens to Nickelodeon’s wacky heritage, featuring a talking snake, Craig, and his twelve year-old boy, Sanjay. Together they evade life’s mundanities by creating fun and chaos while exercising their curiosity. Craig the snake knows how cool he is, while Sanjay is blind to considerations of cool factor or impossibilities.

The show’s creators/co-executive producers are Jim Dirschberger, Jay Howell, and Andreas Trolf, who cite Nickelodeon’s influence on their own youths as a gratifying factor in bringing their creations to Nick viewers now. Naming their favorite Nick shows from their childhoods, they mentioned the Double Dare game show, which inspired an homage in a Sanjay and Craig episode, and Ren & Stimpy and its patented close-ups of grossnesses. The art style is somewhat nonanatomical and exaggerated, reminiscent of Beavis and Butthead and King of the Hill, with bright colors. Read more →

My Neighbor Totoro and Howl’s Moving Castle: Blu-ray At Last! PLUS! GHIBLI GIVEAWAY PACK!

Today is a very good day for fans of Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki. At long last, the magnificent masterpiece My Neighbor Totoro, and the marvelous Howl’s Moving Castle, are available on Blu-ray! And as part of the celebration, GeekMom has a fantastic giveaway pack for 2 lucky readers!

But first, let’s discuss Totoro. Released in 1988, this edition marks the 25th anniversary of the film. Let’s all pause for a second while I cry violently over my keyboard, hitch sobbing, “Where did the time go?”

If you’ve been a fan of the film from the start, then you probably remember the first English dub – where, sadly, the main character Satsuki was unfortunately and cringingly pronounced “sat-SOO-ki.” (Proper pronunciation is “SOT-ski.”) The film was re-dubbed in 2005 by Disney, with real-life sisters Dakota and Elle Fanning playing the lead characters Satsuki and Mei. Around these parts, we prefer this re-recording. I was so glad when the film was re-dubbed, but that’s just me. I know many families with children who grew up watching that original run-and-gun dub session, and are absolutely devoted to it.

For me, well… I used to be the writer for a show called Ninja Warrior, otherwise known as Sasuke. So I’m a little touchy about Japanese pronunciation. It makes me crazy when people say “sah-SOO-kay” instead of “SAH-skay.” This anniversary edition of Totoro contains the 2005 re-dub.

Whenever other parents ask me what movies I recommend for a child’s first feature film experience– Totoro tops my list. Totoro was Vivienne’s first film in a movie theater, and last year I spoke with today.com about the importance of Ghibli in my home life. I’m always surprised to discover that despite knowing the Academy Award winner Spirited Away, many people still have no experience with the many other Studio Ghibli films, much less the wonderful, magical Totoro. It’s always a pleasure to introduce someone to the catalog. Read more →

Seven Things I Love About the X Games

Photo: ESPN.com

I spent most of my childhood unable to do sports. I watched from the sidelines with envy, knowing my deformed foot wouldn’t allow me to jump into the action. Maybe that’s why I love having active kids. At any given time in our house you’ll find ramps being built, new flips being practiced on the trampoline, and skis being loaded and unloaded from our worn out Suburban. I love watching my kids run, board, ski, skate, and jump–all the things I couldn’t do when I was their age.

My boarder, in his Paralympic shirt
Photo: Judy Berna

This is why we are an X Games crazy family. You’ve gathered a bunch of really talented athletes and have them doing extreme tricks on creatively built courses and half pipes? We’ll show up for that.

This week we’ve been gathered around the television, as the X Games hit Barcelona, Spain. As usual, it was a jaw dropping experience. I’ve realized that I love the X Games for many reasons. And if you’ve never tuned in to, or attended the Games, let me tell you why you might think about taking them seriously. Read more →

The Convention T-shirt Makeover

Image: Kevin Bennett

It’s the dilemma of every convention attending lightweight. You arrive five minutes after the rush, and all that’s left in the free T-shirt zone are the XXXL shirts. You want the memento but don’t really need a tent. I used to wear T-shirts all the time, to sleep in, to hike in, to just hang out in but now I very rarely do. I don’t find them especially flattering to this strange post baby body I have been left with. But through sentimentality and just plain awesomeness there are some T-shirts that Goodwill just is not getting! Read more →

The iGo Power Trip 4700: Stylish and Portable Battery Power

iGo Power Trip 4700, Image: iGo

In the never-ending quest to keep all your devices powered while you’re on the road, the iGo Power Trip 4700 is a battery you’re going to want in your charging arsenal. It’s got plenty of power, is lightweight, and comes in fun colors so you’re not stuck with another boring gadget in your bag.

The iGo Power Trip 4700 can charge most smartphones twice before it runs out of juice. This is likely more than most of us need in any given day and means you can charge your own phone and help out a battery-challenged friend.

Star Trek: The Middle School Musical

My husband and I just came home from the movies where we chose to watch Tony Stark ask J.A.R.V.I.S to “drop a needle” instead of watching the Star Trek crew go all dark and broody. However, all was not lost! When I checked Facebook, a friend had linked to Star Trek: The Middle School Musical, which filled my Star Trek void just fine.

The Star Trek: The Middle School Musical video is from the Rhett & Link channel on YouTube. They have other musicals and many videos focusing on the comedy of the geek culture. The channel is worth checking out.

Enjoy.

Is a Robot Takeover Around the Corner?

robot takeover, robot overlords, robots versus zombies,

Dangerous darlings? (CC by 2.0 ricardodiaz11 Flickr photostream)

Zombie fears distract us from a much bigger threat. Robots.

These machines are plotting to become our global overlords, so of course they want us to stay busy preparing for an imaginary invasion by reanimated corpses.

Unconvinced? Consider this. People who most loudly fuel our so-called divides (between liberal and conservative, old and young, mommies who do things differently from other mommies) keep us from noticing the powers-that-be loudly slurping up ever more power. No wonder robots have marked humans as easy prey.

And robots use diabolically clever means to achieve their aims. Read more →

Enter to Win a Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0

Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0, Image: Samsung

Mother’s Day has come and gone so now it’s time to plan for Father’s Day. Enter to win our Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 and you’ll have the perfect gift for the dad on your list!

We’re giving away a Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 to one lucky GeekMom reader just in time for Father’s Day. This mid-sized tablet is small enough to take anywhere and includes an S Pen so there’s none of the frustration that sometimes comes with using a touchscreen device.

To enter the contest, simply leave a comment telling me why the Dad in your life needs a Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 for Father’s Day and a winner will randomly be selected after the contest closes on Monday, May 27th at 12:00 midnight ET. Also, be sure you leave a means of getting in touch with you so I can let you know when you win. Contest open to residents of the continental United States only.

Good luck!

Seven Books American Kids Love (That This Brit Never Knew Existed)

Image: Sarah Pinault

A recent behind the scenes discussion at GeekMom about children’s literature prompted fellow GeekMom Sophie to introduce many of our writers, and readers, to the children’s books that are invariably read by British children, and that British parents have memorized! On the flip side of this, having grown up in England only to be the mother of American children, I have been introduced to a whole host of adventures that I had never been exposed to before. Certain books that are considered classic over here, were completely new to me when I started having children at 28. So if you have international friends, this small selection might be just the perfect birthday present you are looking for:

Where the Wild Things Are © Harper Collins

Where the Wild Things Are – Written in 1963 by Maurice Sendak. This book permeates American childhood. It was one of the first Christmas gifts that my eldest son received when he was three months old, and it was the theme of my youngest son’s first birthday party. Max, a mischievous young boy, is sent to his room. Once there, a forest grows and he sails away to an island full of monsters where he reigns as king of the wild things. It is a story of pure imagination that begins with trouble and ends with a mother’s love. It is what I hope happens to my son when he is being a wild thing! Read more →