Tiny Iron Fists

Growing a Kiwi Crate Garden Kit

Lulu's face in this photo is the reason why I give Kiwi Crate, the crafty, inspiration-in-a-box, a hearty two thumbs up. Thanks to a couple of online specials we were able to order two Kiwi Crates for $20 (normally $19.95/month for one box) and each box has been full of fun.

This month, we received the Garden Crate. Inside were two projects that, "grow with your imagination" including one Window Growing Garden kit and one Designing Flower Pots kit. We decided to grow the vegetables first: "Everything you need to plant, grow, and observe your own beans and squash."

Lulu counted soil circles and deposited the same amount into each window pocket. She then carefully watered the pellets with equal amounts of water and got incredibly animated when the dirt expanded. She then carefully colored in the plant markers and placed them in their respective pockets. From start to finish we had a lot to talk and get excited about.

Now to inspect and water the plants until the sprouts arrive!

I aspire to assemble something as creative for Lulu someday. Science is fun! Sign up today!

LA - Sunday Afternoons for Kids: All That Can Live on a Page (05.06.12)

Sunday Afternoons for Kids: All That Can Live on a Page

Recommended for ages 8–13

Comics, or something like them, have been around since people lived in caves and have been used to tell every kind of story. Learn how to translate your favorite genre to comics with Lee-Roy Lahey, a writer/illustrator of books and a storyboard artist for films.

SUNDAY AFTERNOONS FOR KIDS
The Hammer’s free collaborative workshops, presented with 826LA, are designed for groups of up to 20 students. Reservations are encouraged. Please visit workshops.826LA.org or call 310-305-8418.

ALL HAMMER PUBLIC PROGRAMS ARE FREE.

Parking is available under the museum for $3 for 3 hours.

Hammer Kids is made possible through the generosity of K.A.M.P. (Kids’ Art Museum Project) supporters and friends. K.A.M.P. is an annual family fundraiser.

LA - "Monkey Business" Screening (05.06.11)

Family Flicks Film Series: Monkey Business

Recommended for ages 5+

The puns and gags fly fast and furious in this Marx Brothers film—the perfect introduction to their inimitable brand of anarchic verbal and physical comedy. Monkey Business features the boys as stowaways on a New York–bound ship who are pressed into the service of gangsters on board. (1931, Norman McLeod, 35mm, b/w, 77 min.)

FAMILY FLICKS FILMS SERIES
UCLA Film & Television Archive and the Hammer Museum have teamed up for a matinee screening series of new and classic family-friendly films from around the world.

Parking is available under the museum for $3 for 3 hours.

Family Flicks is co-presented with UCLA Film & Television Archive.

Family Flicks is made possible, in part, through the generosity of supporters and friends of the Hammer Museum’s Kids’ Art Museum Project (K.A.M.P.). Additional support is provided by the Westwood Neighborhood Council.

Explosive Fun: The Erupting Volcano!

This is the second year we've had the pleasure of attending The Growing Place's annual fundraiser, the Dino Fair. And once again, our little Princess Scientist spent all our money on the erupting volcanoes!

If you are interested in creating your own epic eruptions at home, all you'll need are a container, vinegar, baking soda, a bowl, and trash bags or a drop cloth (it's going to get messy)! Line the floor with the protective covering and then add the baking soda to the bowl, sitting in the larger container. Add vinegar, stand back, and watch the sodium bicarbonate and acetic acid react into a messy bubbling mixture of fizz and fun.

Best of all, this experiement is non-toxic so it's great for all ages!

MOCA: Transmission LA. Do You Copy?!

MOCA: Transmission LA is pretty much the most amazing art exhibit accidentally created for children, ever.

No Matter How Lulu Cut It...

Lulu loves cutting new things with her craft scissors. Paper. Cardboard. Pillow covers. T-shirts, etc. So it was only a matter of time before she discovered cutting her own hair. Lulu didn't lose much, this time. It's not even noticeable where she cut her hair from. I didn't get mad. I laughed! But I did ask her if she wanted to go to a hair salon (no) or wanted her hair cut (no). I'm looking forward to how creative the kid might someday get!

Filmmaker Frans Hofmeester's Time-Lapse Videos

Filmmaker Frans Hofmeester shot footage of his children, Lotte and Vince every week, for years, and made time lapse videos for each. The project is impressive and an amazing keepsake for the family. I can only imagine what conversations were had over the years. What a joyful family endeavor!

Vince Time Lapse: Birth to 9 years in 2 min.

Lotte Time Lapse: Birth to 12 years in 2 min. 45.

'Chloe & the Lion' + 'You Are a Lion! And Other Fun Yoga Poses' Book Event (04.29.12)

Weekend BBQ with Team BG

Our Saturday got super lazy as the day slowly turned to night during our barbecue with Team BG. Lulu had a great time playing fetch with Inu, eating corn on the cob, and teaching her cousin Ava a few new tricks. We had fun, just being present.

Outfit: Polarn O. Pyret shirt and American Apparel kids patterened polyester spandex legging.

LA - Ragamala Dance (04.28.12)

Ragamala Dance
April 28, 2012
W.M. KECK CHILDREN'S AMPHITHEATRE, WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL
 
Ragamala Dance
Ragamala Dance performs Sacred Earth fusing two rich and ancient Indian visual art traditions - Warli mud paintings and Kolam rice flour drawings -- with Bharatanatyam, the classical dance of Southern India. The choreography invokes a deep connection to the Earth, celebrating the on-going, ever-renewing cycle of life.

One Love!

I attended the red carpet premiere for the Bob Marley Movie a few days ago and fell in love with the musician and legend all over again. I loved Marley's music the most during my college years and while I knew of how he lived and died, I didn't have much insight on who the man was. This insightful documentary filled in the blanks from young poet to revolutionary and leader.  A few choice quotes from the film:

"My life is only important if me can help plenty."

"My richness is life."

Marley was released today and can be watched on Facebook, iTunes, and On Demand.

Facebook: http://bit.ly/MARLEYonFacebook
iTunes: http://bit.ly/MmovieIt
On Demand: https://bitly.com/MARLEYvod
Theatres: https://bitly.com/MARLEYtheatres

One love!

Nobody Tells You: Lies to Get My Kid Moving

Lulu dressed herself this morning. She didn't want to put on a skirt over her tights. I insisted and she resisted. I finally told her that her bottom was so cute, other people would want to pinch it so she should have an extra layer for protection. She thought about it and then agreed with my logic and chose to wear this skirt.

Nobody ever told me I'd start telling such ridiculous lies to get my kid to move faster in the mornings. Nobody also told me, I'd lie about the weirdest things as a parent (e.g. the Owl Man will get you if you don't hurry up and go to sleep or The Force can see everything you do, so do good). Better yet, nobody told me the lies would work so well (they really do)! What ridiculous things do you tell your child to get them out the door faster?!

"Caine's Arcade" by Nirvan Mullick

"Caine's Arcade" is wonderful short film about Caine Monroy, an imaginative nine-year-old boy who built a cardboard arcade inside his dad's used auto part store in East LA. Best of all, it's a working arcade! And he's about to get more customers than he knows what to do with. Caine is an inspiration to all budding entrepreneurs. His games are simple and fun and his joy for play is infectious.

I plan to visit Caine's Arcade in the next month and will report back shortly. I hope you enjoy viewing this film as much as I did. Big ups to Nirvan for discovering and documenting the arcade and congrats to Caine for bringing his community closer together.

Help Caine's Scholarship Fund: cainesarcade.com

Caine's Arcade Online:
facebook.com/cainesarcade
twitter.com/cainesarcade

Credits: Directed by Nirvan
twitter.com/nirvan

[THANK YOU, BoingBoing for sharing this gem!]

"An Awesome Book!" by Dallas Clayton

After hearing Dallas Clayton recite An Awesome Book! at work a couple of weeks ago, I immediately pre-ordered it. He was mesmerizing... charming... and full of love. And I wanted to share his good vibes with Lulu.

The book and its complement, An Awesome Book of Thanks! are wondrous. They focus on what's really important -- our happiness! As a parent I'm awed by Clayton's childlike sincerity.

And just like Dr. Seuss' Oh, the Places You'll Go!, An Awesome Book! will be my go-to-grab for awesome and adventurous kids!

Eggcellent Easter!

Pre-Lulu, I wasn't much for celebrating holidays at all. It just wasn't something we did in my immigrant household. But now with Lulu in my life, I find myself looking for reasons to get crafty around the holidays. 

I searched for something fun for the family to do for Easter Sunday. And I didn't feel like rolling up to the local Farmers' Market, again. So I took matters into my own hand and decided to teach Lulu how to dye Easter eggs. I called the local drugstore, checked that they had egg coloring kits and sent Silvio out on errands. I asked him to pick up a dozen white eggs too. Our conversation is worth repeating:

Me: Silvio can you pick up a dozen white eggs too?

Silvio: What are white eggs?

Me: You see, there's an animal called a chicken. And an oval object falls out of its butt and that's a white egg.

Silvio: [Unable to keep a straight face] I know what eggs are!

Me: Then why did you ask?

Silvio: Because you were specifically asked for white eggs so I wanted to be sure! Do the boxes says brown or white eggs on them?

Me: Yes. They. Do. [Pissing in my pants]

Silvio left and returned with a beautiful dozen and two PAAS kits.

Someone could barely wait to dye eggs! Pleading doe-eyes greeted me from the kitchen as Lulu patiently waited for our friends to arrive.

Lulu helped me boil perfect eggs and when Miyuki showed up, we quickly got the PAAS-ty started (pardon the pun, I couldn't help myself). The girls had so much fun prepping and mixing colors.

Lulu was very proud of her pinkish-purplish egg.

And her yellow one too!

Coloring the eggs was a messy spectacle. But it was fun for all of us. Lulu loved to double and triple dip the eggs in the different dyes and in the end, gave up using her little egg dipper altogether. She had chubby little Hulk-hands and they were cute.

In the end, the eggs disappeared as quickly as they came. Creating art worked up Lulu's appetite and no more than five minutes passed since she finished coloring her last egg before she started eating them. While I hoped to have enjoyed the colored jewels a bit longer, the fun was in making them.

I'm looking forward to next year's eggcellent adventure already. I plan to hatch a more eventful afternoon. One that might include a ham, creamy chocolates, Peeps, pastel outfits, searching for compostable plastic eggs, adorable baskets with chocolate bunnies, and decorating and dyeing eggs, naturally.

Happy Easter, I hope you had as bright and colorful day as we did!

Cai Guo-Qiang's Mystery Circle: Explosion Event for MOCA, LA Recap

We secured front row seats shared by the press corps, for Cai Guo-Qiang's highly anticipated Mystery Circle: Explosion Event for The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Lulu waited patiently. I waited anxiously.

More about Mystery Circle from MOCA:

Mystery Circle, a site-specific work created for MOCA, will contain four stages of special pyrotechnics. At the moment of ignition, 40,000 firework rockets will form a string of crop circles and launch perpendicular to MOCA’s north wall, toward Temple Street, before falling onto the ground. Amidst a curtain of smoke, approximately 100 spinning pyrotechnic UFOs will sporadically appear from the parking lot grounds, while an imaginary alien-god figure on the left side of the wall is outlined from bottom to top by gunpowder fuses. When the burned fuses reach the “halo” of the figure, mini Titanium Salute rockets will shoot into the air followed by a grand finale. The rockets will create a burned imprint on the museum wall, leaving an outdoor drawing. While Cai’s signature explosion events, Project for Extraterrestrials, have been dedicated to creatures from outer space, his new project at MOCA will be the first time an imaginary alien figure actually appears.

Plenty of Angelenos showed up for the post-sunset fireworks show. 

After much anticipation, the time finally arrived! We experienced Guo-Qiang's site-specific work created for MOCA up close. Maybe too close. When the first humongous explosion ignited, everybody screamed because they were simultaneously scared and excited. People generally expect fireworks to explode in the air, vertically. At blast off, we experienced a wall of 40,000 firework rockets with full visual, auditory, and olfactory senses dialed up on overdrive. Not to mention the heatwave that followed. The spectacle lasted only a minute but it had the crowd chattering all night long. It was an amazing, amazing, amazing event to experience.

[I have a full unedited three minute video too.]

The imaginary alien figure appears on the smoldering firework wall.

After the outdoor exhibition, we toured Guo-Qiang's first west coast solo museum exhibition, "Sky Ladder". Upon seeing this crop circle piece, Lulu pointed excitedly and yelled, "The carpet is on the ceiling!" This made me laugh.

The rest of the evening was spent dreaming about the explosions in the sky.

Visit The Museum of Contemporary Art before July 30, 2012 to view Cai Guo-Qiang's "Sky Ladder".

"The Patter of Tiny Brains" Curated by Doug Harvey (04.06.12 - 05.27.12)

Lulu and I participated in Doug Harvey's "The Patter of Tiny Brains". Our contribution is the recording of Lulu's in utero heartbeats.