25 Best Daddy blogs, vote now!

Posted on 03/23/2011 by Portlanddad

Over at the site Circle of Moms there is a vote going on to find the 25 best Daddy Blogs out there. There are a lot of great sites, some with amazing writing, some with cute stories, and some giving a dad point of view on all the products out there. Please go over and vote for some of the dad blogs you like and show then some support. If you are unsure who to vote for may I suggest Bookdads, Luke I am Your Father, and Filets to Fishsticks. Those are a couple of m favorite sites on the list and worthy of your vote as well as your following.

Popularity: 18%

Check me out on these great sites

Posted on 03/16/2011 by Portlanddad

This weekend I was lucky enough to be part of the Sunday Confessions over at Chasing Supermom. This is a local blog worth checking out, especially for the parents (all moms but me) confessing their parental shortcomings. There is a great community there and knowing your not the only one to do all the crazy stuff you do is reassuring.

I also posted over at Fatherfolk, a website for dads to share more than just the family stuff. There is a collection of great writers and diverse opinons here that make for some interesting content. Chris from Book Dads, and I are running this site but rellying heavily on the group. I reposted a story about gambling with public nudity that appeared here a while ago but if you haven’t seen it it’s worth a read.

Popularity: 5%

World Read Aloud Day at the Library

Posted on 03/09/2011 by Portlanddad

World Read Aloud Day.

Your presence matters.

Participate and spread the word virtually on Facebook, Twitter or your Blog!

Raise your voice with LitWorld in honor of the 774 million people worldwide who cannot read. With this global rally we show the world that the right to read and write belongs to all people and we lend our voices to the Global Literacy Movement.

Popularity: 3%

Love is a mixtape

Posted on 01/17/2011 by Portlanddad

I just read the book Talking to Girls About Duran Duran by Rob Sheffield and while I enjoyed this book, it was no where near as good as his first book Love is a Mixtape. Love is a Mixtape tells the story of his love for Renee, a “hell-raising Appalachian punk-rock girl” and the loss when she suddenly died told through the mixtapes he had made for her throughout there relationship. It is heartbreaking and funny and speaks to those of us that make sense of time and place through the music that is important to us. Mixtapes are now mp3 lists or burned CDs but they still play a big part in my relationship with my wife. I have made a mixtape on our anniversary and her birthday every year in what is now an unbreakable tradition. Going back and listening to those mixes bring us back to those vignettes of our time shared and have the power to pull some long forgotten memories right back to the surface.

All that to say I am a fan of the mixtape so when I was reading the beautiful blog Ladaisi I came across this post on a recently created mix that she was enjoying I thought I would answer her question with a recent mixtape of my own. So here you have the latest burned CD getting some play in the car in between kid’s music and NPR. It’s a slow and downbeat mix but nice for driving in the winter rain here in Portland:

Beautiful songs to drive and get lost with

I walked – Sufjan Stevens

Little By Little – Dean Jones

Zebra – Beach House

The High Road – Broken Bells

Vernonia Blues – Horse Feathers

The Orchard – Ra Ra Riot

Goodbye England (Covered in Snow) – Laura Marling

A Lion’s Heart – Tallest Man on Earth

After The Storm – Mumford & Sons

Lua – Conor Oberst and Gillian Welch

Help Yourself – Sad Brad Smith

That is my recent mixtape, do you have one?

*Edit* Check out this great playlist from Marc Limon

Popularity: 10%

El Duderino’s Top 5 albums of 2010

Posted on 01/10/2011 by Portlanddad

Happy New Year everyone! 2010 sure came and went pretty fast, didn’t it?!? I
could of easily posted a top 10, or 20 albums here, but for the sake of brevity, I’ll
make it short and sweet. Here are my top 5 albums of 2010:

1) The National – High Violet. This album does not disappoint from the first track to the last. Matt Berninger’s baritone voice draws you in from the first lines of Terrible Love to the melancholy Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks .

It was really hard to pick this over Deerhunter because I have been absolutely obsessed with them in the last two years. Having said that, it goes to show you how good this album was/is. I think the strength of every song top to bottom is what earned them the top spot, and deservedly so.

Download this: Conversation 16

2) Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest.

Bradford.

Cox.

Genius.

Download this: Desire Lines!!!

3) The Arcade Fire – The Suburbs. This band has not made a single misstep since they broke onto the scene with Funeral. Here with Suburbs, they put out another solid effort and will have you humming Rococo in no time!

Download this: Ready to Start

4) Mumford and Sons – Sigh no more. I usually like to pride myself on being able to find bands days, months, sometime years before than some of my more musically challenged friends; in this case James was the one who turned me on to them right after the album was released. Their sound is refreshingly original and it’s no wonder they are starting to take over the airwaves on this side of the pond.

Download this: The Cave

5) Ryan Bingham – Junky Star. This one is perhaps the most underrated album of the year, by far. Maybe because it’s a theme that strikes too close to home– songs like “Depression” and “Yesterday’s blues” speak of hard times in Americana –- which all of us an relate to on some level. I have been following him since Mescalito (do yourself a favor and get that one, too), and is one of
my favorite new artists. I can’t think of a more talented singer/songwriter that’s out right now.

Download this: The Poet

Don’t hate me, but I just realized that I saw all the aforementioned bands in the last year or two. Another reason why the dream of the 90’s is still alive in Portland – I can see just about any band that I want to see when I want to see ‘em. I’m sure I missed some really great ones, but hey, that’s what the comments are for!

Jesse or El Duderino, if you’re not into that whole brevity thing is the father of The Charge and has been a friend of mine for over twenty years. He wooed his wife with his lovely vocal stylings from the stages of some of the divier music venues of Santa Barbara, California. He has two kids and now lives with his wife in Portland where he is working on his dance quintet, I think he finally found the venue he was looking for.

Popularity: 6%

These are the posts that mattered to me this week

Posted on 01/09/2011 by Portlanddad

There are so many great dads online and I read a fraction of the great stuff that they write but here is a couple of posts I liked this week and I think you will like too:

The Early Morning Chair – by Jared from Lick The Fridge and posted on Dad Revolution. This is just a wonderful piece of writing from a really great writer.
Resolutions Suck! And Other Ways of Handling Failure – Posted by Written Dad at Filets To Fishsticks. Tis the season for new years resolutions and here is a nice piece about the futility of the resolutions and a question of how it could be different. There is also a great comment on this piece that deserves it’s on spot.
Dad’s Wisdom – By Jack B who writes over at The Jack B. Cleaning the garage and letting go of those no longer used treasures from you kids childhood. I love this part “They know secrets about these children of mine. They know stories. They have borne witness to their major milestones. They were there when they first called me by name or took their first steps. They are, were a piece of their childhood.” But you should go and read the whole thing.
Fear Not Citizens – By Seatle Dad who writes the great blog Luke, I am You Father. How a Christmas present gave birth to a super hero, and this kid takes his saving serious.

Those are a couple of the posts I dug this week, I would love to hear the ones that you loved in the comments below. Truthfully I’m just looking for comments of any kind but I would check out the links you passed on. : )

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Popularity: 4%

I will resolve it and it will be so

Posted on 01/06/2011 by Portlanddad

I know that New Year’s resolutions are cliche and a bit out of style but I’m gonna do it anyway. I know that I will likely not keep many of these but I enjoy going back every year to see what was important to me in January and to see if it still resonates in December. So with that in mind here are 5 Resolutions for this year:

1. Be More relational with dads offline and on. I think I can do this by connecting more with the great dads here in Portland that are part of the Portland Dads yahoo group that host walks, Zoo days, and meetups all over the city. Also I would like to have a beer this year with Seattle Dad who has the blog Luke I am Your Father, Del The dad who has a blog but doesn’t update very often, and Chase Reeves who runs the great website Father Apprentice.

2. Find more opportunities to support local business with the help of Supportland. So far I have 20 points from a visit to Posie’s Cafe for Music time but I hope to get all sort of points and checking out some great neighborhood shops.

3. Play more basket ball, and by more I mean play basketball this year. I have always loved basketball and found a sense of clarity on the court but have not played for a while now. With the help of a great group here in Portland called Portland Basketball I am going to play at least a game a week and try to get connected with a team.

4. Find and listen to more great kid’s music. This year the boys and I have found some great CDs that they love and can stand up to the repetitive listening demanded by young kids. The great website Out With The Kids has great reviews and suggestions for music like The Many hands For Haiti Album and Justin Robert’s Jungle Gym.

5. Find a way to bring home an income this year. Wether that is starting up a business on my own or finding a part time job I need to find a way to bring in some money. Beautiful has two jobs and it’s time I had two jobs as well.

Popularity: 4%

Family Fun in Portland: Lan Su Chinese Gardens

Posted on 01/02/2011 by Portlanddad

Today through Sunday January 9th admission at the Lan Su Chinese Gardens in Old Town Portland is free. Normally $8.50 a person this is not a great kid friendly deal because the kids will rush you through and these gardens should really be savored. But when it’s free it is a great family activity and one we took advantage of this afternoon with The Charge and his parents. It was burn your ears cold out but the garden’s were lovely and the kids were given a scavenger hunt card where they needed to find the items pictured on the card. It made the walk exciting, even in the freezing but sunny walled garden. The pond was half frozen over and the fish seemed to be stuck int he frozen area. I tired to get Primo to slow down and contemplate the garden but he was busy rushing around trying to stay warm. If you are in Portland this week make some time to check out this downtown treasure.

Popularity: 21%

Justin Roberts – Stay at home dad video

Posted on 12/13/2010 by Portlanddad

Popularity: 5%

Tis the season for giving back, and beer

Posted on 12/08/2010 by Portlanddad

This past Sunday on a sunny but cold afternoon in Portland I made the ride from our St. John’s neighborhood to Pioneer Square downtown to volunteer. Being the great dad that I am I want to model a life of service and giving to my boys so it’s only fitting that I would take opportunities to do that, especially during this holiday season. I mean the sense of purpose and caring that I get from volunteering pales in comparison to the message it sends to the boys that the world is bigger than the toys in front of you. So in an effort to expand my world I made that cold ride along Willamette Blvd. overlooking the train yards and docks, and down across the Broadway bridge and into downtown. It felt good to be part of the great moving mass of Portland weekends. Seeing others out running and riding and taking in the much needed Vitamin D of a sunny day and being out there myself doing something bigger than me had me emboldened and full.

The bike ride took about forty minutes and after locking up I checked in and waited for my shift to start. There were other selfless souls waiting in the back to get their marching orders for the day and we chatted nervously. Finally we got a t-shirt and a pep talk and were told to go relieve someone on the line and get started for volunteer job serving beer at the Holiday Ale Festival. That’s right, I was working two taps at the end of a row of forty five beers for the last day of the festival. My two beers were both Porters, dark and rich, it was like pouring light molasses into the mug. The two beers I had were very popular and I was pouring almost non stop from 1:30 PM until 5:00 PM but like I said it was for a great cause so I kept my tired legs going.

On either side of me were two older guys that loved their beer and we talked about Winter Sour beers (I hate them, they love them), drunk festival goers, and the abundance of beards along the line. Turns out there is a type that enjoys giving of their time selflessly at a beer festival and I fit it to a T. Slightly over weight, Beard, and ill fitting volunteer shirt to go with some pasty white skin and sheepish grin. After last call, promptly at 5:00 PM we were shuttled back to the staging area and given a $25 gift certificate to Beer Mongers, a great bottle shop on the SE side, and told to wait until they cleared out the tap area so we could go back in and finish off the kegs. I got to sample the Widmer Black Dynamite, an Aegan porter with notes of lemon, black peppercorn, and chocolate, that I was serving all afternoon. It was fantastic by the way. I also tried a sour beer with my bar mates but their enthusiasm wasn’t enough to win me over.

After a couple more beers I got back on the bike and made the ride back to our old neighborhood for a party. It was good to get out and do something for others and not myself. Sure the beer was good and the gift card will be put to good use but I did it for those festival goers. I did it for the glassy eyed thousand mile stares of those beer drinkers that just needed someone to step up and say “Today I will serve you, so you can drink!”