Tag Archives: Dog Train

Photo-A-Day

I Need a Nap

I Need a Nap
Photo-A-Day #1421

That statement is not just a song by Weird Al and Kate Winslet (really it is sung by them and is on the Dog Train CD by Sandra Boynton). Today I was very busy at work. I started my day with a trip to the gym, 3rd one this week! Then I had a very long demo to observe, that ran into my next meeting which was a good meeting but there is now so much to do. I am coordinating a presentation that is open to the entire company. This is a high profile project, no more flying below the radar. Gotta put on the big boy pants now.

Today I did try my second can of BluFrog Energy drink. My earlier comments about taste aside I am pretty jazzed about this drink. I enjoyed my second can and it helped me big time to stay wide awake during a 3 hour demo. I was crazy productive to. I wrote a legal pad page size list of action items for the project for work as well as for the blog. I am so excited about my new theme that I have some awesome ideas for the site relaunch. I need to put wheels in motion though because much work needs to be done and I need to be ready when the theme goes live. I do not have a live date yet so all the more reason to do my back end work now.

Speaking of blog work, I have a bunch of interesting things going on in the coming month, there is going to be a Photography contest that will be open to the US and Canada, however for the top prize you have to be in Boston on the weekend of April 18 & 19 as the prize will be a two day pass to Digital Days in Boston. I will have other prizes as well. This will be a big photography contest and should launch during next week.

I installed two new plug ins today. I installed the MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate plug in and even signed up to be an affiliate. I signed up through Darren Rowse because the cost of the plug in was $30 off. I figure that if I am going to get serious about earning some additional income on this blog I need to pay for some proper tools.

In conjunction with that particular plug in I also choose to install the Unique Blog Design plug in called the UBD Block Ad, I learned about it from Life of Justin. I can’t quite get it to work right however, there are supposed to be two columns but I can only seem to get one column. Nate Whitehill from Unique Blog Designs has been great helping me out and offering suggestions. I ended up signing up as an affiliate for them too. I have a blog that was designed by those guys and I love the design. They designed Read To Me, Dad after I won a contest. They were awesome to work with.

On my action item list I put down test out my PoGo. I will try that out tonight. I have a bunch of ZINK Media that is for Blogs, Brews and Belly Laughs but I will use one pack of 10 to do some testing.

Because ZINK.com supplied me with a couple of PoGo units I was able to return the one I bought and use that money with the rest of the money from my Bonus mad money to purchase a Flip HD. I can’t wait for that to arrive. I am excited to see how the Flip HD works, I have heard so many great things about it.

Book, Music, Read To Me Dad, Review

Review: Dog Train

Relaxing with my baby..

I was in Kohls one day and at the check out there were stuffed animals and books by Sandra Boynton. Now any kid growing up in the 80s has probably seen a Boynton sticker. Or maybe it was just because I collected stickers so I could hang out with all the girls in my class.

Sandra Boynton has many books out based on her cartoon character drawings of dogs, and cats and cows and chickens and such. She also has a line of books that come with CDs of amazing music that she wrote as well. The songs are performed by many big name acts and each one is a rocking good time.

So far we only have Dog Train but I am really excited to get a bunch more. Dog Train is subtitled ‘A Wild Ride on th Rock-And-Roll Side’. That subtitle isn’t a lie, this cd rocks. Here is the lineup of performers:

Allison Krause – Evermore
The Bacon Brothers & Mickey Hart – Pots & Pans
Billy J. Kramer – Cow Planet, Cow Planet Episodes 2 & 3
Blues Traveler – Dog Train
Doshie Luther – Wave Bye-Bye
Hootie & The Blowfish – Rock To Sleep
John Ondrasik of Five For Fighting – Penguin Lament
Kate Winslet & “Weird Al” Yankovic – I Need A Nap
Mark Lanegan – Sneakers
The O.K. Chorale – Thus Quacked Zarathustra
The Phenomenauts – (Don’t Give ME That) Broccoli
Rob Hyman & Eric Bazilian – Dragonfire
Spin Doctors – Tantrum
Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme – Boring Song

Each song is fun and witty. The Dog Train, Pots and Pans and I Need A Nap are some of my favorites. I put on the CD and stand Eva up on my lap and we dance. Then I pick her up and dance around the room. She giggles and squeals in a delighted way as I stumble, mumble and fumble over the words.

The book itself is cute, it had Sandra Boynton’s distinct and accessible style of cartoons. Part one of the book is called Look as you Listen. The pages of this section have some lyrics to each song as well as artwork depicting the fun things happening in the songs. You can get the first couple of lines of the song and start singing. If you really want to sing along then Part 2 is for you. Part Two is called Sing and Play Along. In this section all of the lyrics to the song are presented as well as some sheet music for the chorus of each song. And then in Part Three there is a section about the Artists on the CD. There is a mini bio and some photos of each artist and a label showing what song they performed. Also at the very back of the book you can cut out a paper CD insert if you want to display your CD on the mantel.

This book and CD is great for all ages because the songs are catchy and the musicians are great. The book itself was part of a promotion through Kohl’s Cares for Kids and it only cost $5.00. This was an absolute bargain. Unfortunately it is not being sold at Kohls anymore. Dr. Seuss books are there along with Dr. Seuss stuffed animals.

Read to Me Dad Ratings

  • Story – N/A
  • Re-Read-Play-ability – Excellent
  • Illustrations – Excellent – Great Characters
  • Message – Good – Each song is different but overall a good message.
  • Plot – N/A
  • Characters – Excellent
  • Does Eva Like It – She loves listening to music and dancing with Daddy.
  • Recommended Ages All