DadCentric

We Have Balls (and a Winner)

Remember when I announced the sweepstakes to win Blu-ray editions of The Hustler, The Comancheros and some other movie (which several people have assured me is quite good)?

Remember I left the first comment because I said, in these random drawings, the person who leaves the first comment NEVER wins?

Well, guess what?

Blu-ray DVD Giveaway of 'The Hustler,' 'The Comancheros' and Some Other Flick

With Oprah out of the picture, who will now randomly give away goodies to the masses?

Why not DadCentric?

"Why not, indeed!" say the fine people at Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.

We have a three-movie package deal for one of you that you can keep for yourself or give to the dad / husband / guy in your life, especially if he willingly straps on a silky thong banana hammock for you any time you desire no matter how much it chaffs his crack! One of them  could win Blu-ray DVDs, still in their minty fresh hermetically sealed-for-your-protection cases, of these movies:

DadCentric's Best Dadblogger Of All Time Ever Contest!

"Best Of" contests are a tricky thing. Some say that only experts should be the judges, that the public simply lacks the necessary gifts of discernment and good taste required to determine which chef, author, writer, director, or star should be nominated for a Grand Prize. Others say that the culture determines the artist's value, and that popularity should count for something. One can make a convincing case for either argument: Jersey Shore never won an Emmy, but then again, Titanic got a Best Picture Oscar. 

We've watched with great interest over the past several days as dads have competed for votes at Circle of Mom's Top 25 Dadbloggers contest. Sadly, DadCentric was not nominated. We're bummed, because getting recognition from a mom-focused site that clearly holds dads in high regard and is not using an easily gamed contest as linkbait is something that any self-respecting blogger strives for. Sadder still, our intern has informed us that we could have easily nominated ourselves, thanks to the contest's Self-Nomination Button. THIS IS WHY WE GIVE YOU FREE M&M'S IN LIEU OF PAY, STUPID INTERN.

So, in the spirit of healthy competition, the cornerstone upon which Western democracy rests, we've decided to put on our own Best Dadblogger Contest. Top Ten? Top 25? Eh. Too complicated. Like Conner MacLeod, we believe that there can be only one. Because honestly, who gives a shit who the 24th Best Dadblogger is? Certainly not the Big Brands, who are poised to hurl stacks of cash, "review copies" of the latest Blu-ray releases, and bags upon bags of sweet delicious M&M's at the dadbloggers who win contests like these. And rather than muck things up with a disjointed nomination process, we're going to keep it simple. None of this "Fill Out A Form And Place Our Badge On Your Site" nonsense.

We'll settle this in the Comments section, like men. If you're a dadblogger, nominate yourself in the Comments below. Don't email your friends to do it, don't Tweet to your followers that oh, there's a really awesome Best Dadblogger Contest going on at DadCentric and boy wouldn't it be cool if someone were to nominate me. Tell us why you think - nay, why you KNOW - you're the best Dadblogger in the Dad-blog-o-sphere. The winner will receive the recognition and prestige that comes along with being named DadCentric's Best Dadblogger Of All Time Ever. And you'll get this awesome trophy:

We'll announce the winner on April 1st.

Do You Want To Win A Windows Phone 7? Of Course You Do.

My To-Do List today: jump on a conference call, write a Windows Phone 7-Sponsored Blog Post About Doing More With Less And Featuring A Windows Phone 7 Giveaway. I did the conference call. 

It wasn't my fault that I'm just now getting to the Windows Phone 7- Sponsored Blog Post About Doing More With Less And Featuring A Windows Phone 7 Giveaway. I'm a Work At Home Dad. Today, both of my kids are at home.

I blame them.

I've yet to achieve Organization. What I need: micro-Internet-mobility: as a WAHD, I'm constantly on the move, preparing snacks, doing laundry, transporting children to and from various educational and recreational facilities.  I have a "smartphone" (no, it's not a Windows Phone 7 - those just came out today, and I didn't get one, so I have no idea if it's smart or not) and back when I was naive I thought my smartphone would be a very helpful parenting tool because it has a calendar and a web browser and acting as a resource when you're having difficulty formulating answers to his sometimes profoundly challenging questions ("Dad, why is it called a penis?" "Hmm, well, I don't...hey, wanna play Angry Birds?") 

But technology can only accomplish so much. I can answer business calls and check emails while helping Zoe pick out an outfit for Barbie or while teaching Lucas the basics of a kick-turn. But Chaos still reigns supreme. Despite having the fruits of years of telecommunications research at our fingertips, we forget stuff. So a couple of weeks ago, Beth had an idea. Simple. Quick. Cheap. All we needed was a spare wall and some paint. Chalkboard paint.

And thus, some semblance of Order was achieved:

Now, about that giveaway, which as I've indicated is brought to you by the new Windows Phone 7 (about which you can learn more here). It's very simple. Once you've memorized the rules to the contest, all you need to do is leave a comment. You need to include a valid email address (don't worry - we won't share it with the Crown Prince of Nigeria). You can leave one comment a day up until Monday, November 29. We'll pick a winner using a sentient computer program called Skynet Random.org, and once we confirm your age (and assuming you're not Bill Gates), the Windows Phone 7 will be sent to you. 

(More disclosure: I'm supposed to get a Windows Phone 7 at some point. I'm sure it will make my life infinitely more difficult, as I will have two smartphones to manage. I'm beginning to think Thoreau was right: simplify! Simplify! Of course, he didn't have Words With Friends.)

UPDATED WITH THE WINNAH!

Congrats to Craig Dorrell - he was randomly chosen by the aptly-named Random.org as the lucky recipient of the Windows Phone 7. Thanks to everyone who read and left comments!

What I Learned From Caspar Babypants and Win a CD!

Caspar Babypants isn't your father's kid music. Unless your father is really cool, then I suppose it could be.  I haven't actually met your father.

However, I did have the opportunity to speak with Caspar Babypants, and your dad should really expand his horizons.  Caspar Babypants' music is fun, catchy and revels in an affectionate and understanding simplicity. Dads like that stuff. 

Caspar Babypants is also a regular guy named Chris Ballew, and by regular I mean he was/is in the popular band The Presidents of the United States of America. You know, regular like a rock star.

Also, regular like a normal person, which is something I appreciate in my rock stars. The guy gets it.

I asked Chris, who is a father of two, how he went from the Seattle grunge scene to the kid music scene.

"It found me," he answered without skipping a beat.

Turns out that his early days in The Presidents were awesome, but they were not his final answer.  Even then he knew that he was still searching for his musical Zen. While loud and exciting The Presidents weren't "sustainable."  The band was an explosion, full of intensity, volume and the required sexual innuendo that is rock and roll, but Ballew knew he was living in the now and yearned for something more accessible and timeless.  He wanted balance.

Major Awards All Around! See, Win Stuff!

Do you like the winning and the prizes? Of course you do.  Well, you're in luck because our bag is full -- not with tea, but fun! Yes, fun. Fragile fun. We have some great stuff to share with the masses (you know who you are), and we think that you'll like it.

The giveaway items are listed below and the entry form is located at the bottom of the post. Please note, I've received all of the items included here from the respective artists, companies or whomever the hell offers me stuff. They have passed "the test" and are endorsed by me, but my views are not necessarily those of DadCentric. I am giving them away because I like them and I think you'll like them and nothing more than that. If you don't like them then don't enter, because only douchebags would enter to win something that they don't like. Also, if you don't like free stuff then stay away from the frozen food section of Costco during the afternoon. They force that shit on you.

Is That a Lobot in Your Pocket or Are You Just Happy to Read This?

When Lando Calrissian wasn't betraying his friends to the Empire he liked to spend his time knocking back Colt 45s with the lovable Lobot. The conversation was always to Lando's liking, what with Lobot being a mute and all, and since Lobot's brain was connected directly to Cloud City's central computer nobody ever had to get up to turn the channel or stop the microwave before the popcorn burned. Burnt popcorn smell lasts for days -- even in the clouds.

That's why the good people at MIMOCO, makers of fine designer MIMOBOT USB Flash Memory Drives, decided to pay homage to Lobot by capturing his likeness forever in flash drive form (no carbonite was used in the capturing of said Lobot likeness).

The Lobot MIMOBOT was introduced at Comic Con in San Diego and Star Wars Celebration V, respectively, in a limited run of 1,000 units. That makes it special!

The thing about MIMOCO is that they're givers. They sent me a 2GB Lobot, which is awesome, and they also provided one for a giveaway. That's for you, people. Use the Force and win this bad boy.

If you would like to win a 2GB Lobot MIMOBOT USB Flash Memory Drive then fill out the form below before 5 p.m. PST on Friday, October 1st. One winner will be picked at random. The winner will be contacted by email. If the winner does not respond to the email within 24 hours another winner will be drawn, and so forth and so on. See how that works?

Where the Winners Are

Remember when we said we were giving away all that stuff and you were like, damn, I want to win all of that stuff and we were all, we'll enter, duh, and then you did? That was awesome.

And now for the winners:

The Reviva Shaving Kit goes to our friend Kevin who waxed poetic about sports, family and facial hair.

The Father's Day Book Collection will soon be in the hands of Heather C.'s husband. Also in his hands, food (according to the aforementioned Heather C.).

The WalletBe Front Pocket Wallet will soon be saving the lower back of Laura Emerson's Castanzaesque husband. We understand he's a keeper. 

And now the rest of you know what a winner looks like. Live right, take chances and aim high, and maybe some day you too can win stuff on the internet!

Here’s the business end of the deal. You may be saying to yourself, “Self, my entry was better than that one,” and you know, you’re probably right, but if we only rewarded the best what kind of example would we be setting? For. The. Children.

All of the winners were picked by a random number generator (my kid) after each comment in each contest was assigned a number. Said random number generator then picked a number between 1 and the final number for each contest. It’s not scientific, but he can count real good.  Besides, it’s fair(ish) and that’s how we did it. Would you rather win on merit? I didn’t think so.

Prizes are provided by the third party discussed in each of the giveaway sections, and they will be responsible for sending out the goods.  If you are a winner, the real kind, not that we’re all winners crap that people are always selling, then please contact us with your name and mailing address in order to receive your winnings. Failure to claim your prize by the end of the month (June, 2010) will result in forfeit of said winnings. A second winner may then be picked at the discretion of the third party offering the prize. This is not a math problem.This is life, man.

Thanks for playing and thanks for reading DadCentric (as seen in Parents magazine!).

Giveaways and Reviews for Father's Day

You think you know what dads want for Father's Day (see, Dad-Zero)? Well, I'm about to blow that ship out of the water. You have no idea.

Actually, you probably have some idea, after all, you're a dad. Or you have one. Or you're involved with one in a biblical manner.  Or you play one on TV.  Or you like free shit on the internet.  Any of the above will do. The point is, making blanket statements about what the royal DAD wants is like saying all kids love pizza or all dogs go to heaven.  It simply isn't true.  Some dogs go straight to hell and they do not pass go.  Blanket statements are unfair and often littered with smallpox, which let's be honest, is pretty fucked up.

That said, here are a few ideas -- reviews and giveaways (marked below) that some dads will really like for Father's Day. Or maybe not.  Actual dads may vary:

Iron Man 2 is for Winners

What do Tony Stark and three (3) DadCentric readers have in common? They're winners! That's right, it's time for the Iron Man 2 Book Collection drawing. The Seattle Stark Players have come out of retirement to put together a little show for the occasion. They hope you like it. I'm more realistic than that.

Congratulations! Please contact DadCentric within one week or your collection of Iron Man 2 books will go to a player to be named later. That's not a threat, it's a promise.