Nintendo Kids Corner at E3 2014: Feels like she's livin' a Teenage Dream

We were lucky enough to attend E3 this year as guests of Nintendo, and even though the event was called Kids Corner my 15-year-old was crazy excited to attend. She'd been wanting to check out this mythical gaming mecca for years (attendees have to be at least 17 and affiliated with the industry) so just getting to set foot inside was a dream come true.

Also, she's been a gamer for years and the only system we've owned is Nintendo, so it was sort of like the mothership calling her home (cue the five-note sequence from 'Close Encounters Of The Third Kind'!

Talk about standing out in a crowd

With the majority of marketing aimed at young kids and their parents, it's great to see brands paying attention to the teen market who – hello – make many buying decisions on their own, have their own money to spend, and maniacally share information with their friends via social media. Know any five-year-olds who have a Tumblr, Twitter, Vine, SnapChat, Instagram and Facebook account? I DIDN'T THINK SO.

Plus, teens do things like this without your help:



And who would've thought that with an entire convention center filled with teen boys and costumed video characters, the people she was most excited to see were these guys:

Reggie Fils-Aimé, President and CEO of Nintendo (who knew he was like a rockstar for hipster gamers?)

Tsunekazu Ishihara, CEO of the Pokémon company (standing here with his faithful employee.)

And then there was this holy-grail, meta moment - when she got to play Mario Maker with the creator of Mario (as well as Donkey Kong and Zelda), Shigeru Miyamoto! For us older folks who have a hard time grasping the enormity of this, imagine playing Operation with Milton Bradley himself.

Okay, Mr. Miyamoto – I'mma let you win.

Along with meeting all these gaming celebs, all the kids (and parents) got a chance to play a bunch of the newest Nintendo games that are about to be released. One of my daughter's favorites: Pokémon Art Academy, that teaches you how to draw all of your favorite Pokémon. Brilliant new video game, or genius method of scoping out future Nintendo employees? My kid's on board either way.

Then there was probably the highlight of her day - getting the chance to play the new Super Smash Bros. on the humongous screen at the Nintendo booth - and then winning a medal! She said, and I quote, "Best thing that's ever happened to me, and totally going on my college resumé."

Crushing you.

And if you doubt how seriously people take this game, check out this guy's attire:

RESPECT THE SATIN ROBE.

Another game that we both loved: Splatoon, that lets you use giant water guns to mark your turf and do battle. I liked that there was an aggressive way to play the game (taking down your opponents) and a passive way (marking your territory with your paint color.) I chose the passive way, because I'm a lover not a fighter (and because I have terrible aim and suck at shooting games.)

Not to take away its street cred, but this game is mom-approved.

I could go on, but I don't want to spoil the excitement for when these games hit the streets and you get to experience them for yourself. Here are the upcoming games, and their release dates. Get your satin robes ready, people.

Splatoon – 2015
Mario Maker – 2015
Pokémon Art Academy – October 2014
New Super Smash Bros. – October 2014
Mario Party 10 – 2015
Fossil Fighters Frontier – 2015
Mario vs Donkey Kong – 2015
Kirby and the Rainbow Curse – 2015
Captain Toad Treasure Tracker – 2014
Yoshi’s Woolly World – 2015
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I participated in the Nintendo Kids Corner event at E3 2014 as an invited guest of Nintendo. I received free product and access to the event, but was not otherwise compensated. All opinions, blurry photography and corny captions are my own.
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Party like a YouTube star

A couple of weeks ago Rigel and I were invited to a party and we took the girls with us. Not only that, but it was at a restaurant called Pink Taco, located on the Sunset Strip. You might be asking yourself, "What kind of crazy people take their teenagers to a party in the middle of Hollywood at a Mexican joint with a name that is slang for lady parts?" We asked ourselves this, too, but their tasty yet strong margaritas made it hard to answer our own questions.

But this wasn't just any party, it was a party being thrown by the awesome people at Nintendo, part of their sneak peek weekend to intro their upcoming Wii U system. But besides that and the excellent guacamole, there was another reason we had to come: there were a few celebrities Kiyomi wanted to stalk meet and Kira - well, she just likes a good party.

I've got to tip my hat to Nintendo, because they really do have a beat on the teen market. While other brands are busy catering to young kids, or adults with young kids, or babies still in the womb – Nintendo manages to get into the teenage brain, sort through all the Cheeto dust and find what they really want.

Case in point: The celebrities they had at this gatherings were YouTube stars, and if you know anything about anything you know that these young, talented, hip personalities are like superheros to teenagers and are going to take over the world someday. (Sorry, you old, tired celebrities that don't have YouTube channels.) When Kiyomi found out she was going to be in the same room with a few of these dudes, I believe her exact words were, "MY LIFE IS COMPLETE." I think the only time I've ever uttered those words was when I discovered I could buy Pringles at the gas station.

(Seriously, if you want to impress your teenager and up your hipness quotient without squeezing into a pair of skinny jeans and putting on a beret, memorize these names and check out their YouTube channels.)

Adam Robertson
Jimmy Wong
Joey Graceffa
Luke Canard
Alex Carpenter

There were more there, but these are Kiyomi's faves. She made cards for each of them, proving the apple doesn't fall far from the social media tree:

(This one was for Michael Aranda, who wasn't there that night. If you're reading this, Michael, your card's waiting for you.)

These guys were all so super sweet to my girls, taking the time to chat and take pictures.  But here's the thing about teenage girls who aren't yet YouTube stars – they don't like having their photos posted on the internet. So here's the only one I was allowed to show, Adam Robertson laughing along with Kiyomi's arms. We're hoping Adam makes a YouTube video of Kiyomi's arms and it goes viral and her arms become superstars:

One of her faves, Jimmy Wong, wasn't at the party but when he received his card (via the spectacular Justine Hanks) he sent Kiyomi an email and a photo. See? Super sweet.

Jimmy Wong has a special place in my heart because he made this video last year in response to that racist rant by that awful UCLA student. I wonder what she's doing now? I'll bet she's not partying with Nintendo. *evil laugh*



I asked Kiyomi to sum up her YouTube celeb encounters and this is what she said: "Meeting all those YouTube people was super cool!!! They were all really nice and friendly and THEY'RE A LOT TALLER IN PERSON WOW." There you have it. Nice AND tall – what more could you ask for?

The next morning we headed out to Siren Studios in Hollywood to actually try out the Wii U and a few of their new games. Sadly, the YouTube guys weren't there but there was still plenty of things for my girls to swoon over. You can read all about our day and our experience with the Wii U over here. Check it out before the Nintendo Wii U is released on November 18!

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Making me cry daily

Here's a short movie that Kiyomi made. The first time Rigel and I saw it, it made me want to cry (and Rigel, too.) Mostly out of pride, and partly because of the emotion she manages to evoke with the music and images. Also, I wasn't expecting something so polished since she set it up with "So, you wanna see my movie I made that kind of blows?" How can you not get emotional after that?



Production note: That round frame with the photo of the Eiffel Tower is what sat on top of our wedding cake some 18 years ago. More crying.

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Kiyomi made a film about pancakes why?

Kiyomi and her friend Maya made this cute little stop-motion film about making pancakes. Why pancakes? Because pancakes are awesome and tasty.



They used a still camera, painstakingly moving their props around in small increments and then shooting it frame by frame. It took them forever, much longer than it would take you to make a batch of pancakes in regular time. I think they even ate those pancakes, in spite of the fact that they had been touched and prodded for hours. Because you should never waste a good batch of pancakes. Why? Because pancakes are awesome and tasty.

But her next stop-motion film will be much, much easier. Why?...Read more...

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Man in brown costume dancing kills

I can't stop watching this. And I don't care what my girls say –  this is funny as hell. I tried to explain it, but they don't seem to understand – this is DOMO. DANCING. They just gave me the same look as the woman in the photo, rolled their eyes and then went back to their homework. Kids these days.


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One thing off my bucket list

Rigel and I have been trying to get the girls to sing together forever now with no success. In the rare times that they happen to belt out a few bars just for fun, we can tell that they harmonize really well and have encouraged them to perform together. We've even tried blackmailing them, but apparently the threat of showing up at their school in our underwear doesn't hold the weight it used to. They just say, "Again?"

Unfortunately, like most things we suggest that would require them to stand close to each other for more than five seconds, asking them to even sing a short tune together is met with screams of "OMIGOD NO" and "NEVERRRR!" Sometimes they throw in retching noises and grab at their throats just for effect.

In fact, back on May 20 on the eve of "Armageddon" as we were waiting to be picked up in that handbasket, we were sitting around contemplating what our last earthly wishes would be and I laid out my list. Along with firm thighs and a chance to sip a martini poolside with George Clooney, I told my girls that hearing them sing together was one of my main requests.

Kiyomi didn't even ponder my words for a second before she said, "Well, good luck with that," and Kira wasn't any more sympathetic - she just shrugged and said, "So sad the world will end without that happening for you, MOM."

Last Friday was the last day of their summer camp and all the kids put on a concert. The girls' favorite part about the session is that they all break off and form their own music groups, and get to perform a song they wrote.

Imagine our surprise when we saw the girls take the stage together:



Of course, when Rigel and I brought up the fact that they had fulfilled our lifelong dream, Kiyomi said, "Yeah, by the time we realized what was happening we were horrified but it was too late." No matter - I can cross that one off my bucket list and finally concentrate on my thighs.

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Like one of my home movies, only better

Check out this video of an unsuspecting Filipino grandmother reading Go The F**k To Sleep to her grandson. This is one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time, and before you go and start saying it's perpetuating some stereotype just let me tell you that my mom would have read it the exact same way and had pretty much the same reaction. Except after every page she would have added, "That baby would sleep if they would just feed him more."



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Day 14 of the sickness and boy is my sjövik tired

For the past fourteen days neither of my girls have been at school on the same day because of this cursed, hideous cold that's been going around. As a result, I'm pretty exhausted and bleary-eyed and only have the energy for the most vital of tasks, like looking at videos on the internet.

Here's one called Can't Get It Up, about the horrors of trying to assemble a piece of furniture from Ikea. If you've ever wanted to throw yourself off a building because you spent five days putting together an Anjůk toothbrush holder, I think you'll relate. Although you have to admit all is forgiven once you've had their meatballs.



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Not just for spinning old Duran Duran tunes

Chances are, if you're old like me you've got a turntable sitting around your house somewhere. It's probably hiding underneath your Hammer pants over next to your Sony Walkman.

But did you know that old relic is good for something other than playing your old vinyl records while you fling your feathered bangs around and sing, 'Hungry like the wolf'? Check out this video of how some clever person with lots of time turned theirs into an animation device similar to a zoetrope.

(I can't seem to get the embedded ad out of this video, so make sure you hit 'stop' at the end once the screen goes black to avoid being yelled at to shop at K Mart.)

[via Yahoo!]

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Just a reminder to check out the LG TextEd BlogHer Engagement Program homepage, where this week's topic is Setting Ground Rules for Your Teen’s Mobile Phone Use.

(And remember – for every comment left on any of the posts in the program, 50 cents will be donated to DoSomething.org, up to $5,000.)
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Thank you, anonymous Chinese woman

Who says Asian chicks are wimpy? This woman in Shanghai was so pissed at having her car towed that she drove off with the tow truck attached.

She is officially my new hero. No, I'm not displaying a flagrant disregard for authority, just living vicariously through an Asian sister standing up for herself. Because me, I would have cussed the guy out, put a pox on his children and then slunked off to Starbucks.



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Something to do to avoid doing laundry

Sometimes when I get tired of doing chores I sit down at my computer and watch videos. I tell the kids I'm 'doing bills' or 'working,' and they fall for it everytime. Rigel's getting a little suspicious, though, and I'm going to have to come up with a better explanation for why there haven't been any clean towels for two weeks and why I told the girls that in some countries clean underwear was a privilege, not a right.

But sometimes doing the laundry would get in the way of finding things like this!

BP Spills Coffee



Hey, a girl needs her diversions. Also, it's not like I'm off at the yacht races or anything. 

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tags: bp oil spill | tony hayward yacht trip | bp ceo

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Please forgive me for this

I thought long and hard about posting this, but in the end I decided that a video of a tortoise having sex with a Croc was just too good not to share.

Especially entertaining are the sounds he makes (seriously, I had no idea tortoises made any noise) and the expression on its face. Also, I've never owned a pair of Crocs and now I don't think I ever will.



[via BoingBoing]

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This mouse is mighty

I'm kind of obsessed with this video right now, of a mouse that runs through an unbelievably elaborate obstacle course. Maybe I'm just jealous because I can't even get my cat to bury its own poop.

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If you saw this thing you wouldn't be laughing

Last week as the girls and I were getting ready to leave for an errand, I was attacked by a wasp. For those of you who think I'm exaggerating (and I've been known to on occasion) let me just say I'm not embellishing in the least here, this thing was as big as my palm and its head was the size of a marble. I could see its hairy legs kicking around, and I swear as it came at me it hissed, "Get ready to die." I think it may have even been carrying a teeny knapsack filled with tools.

The girls were already in the car and I was locking the front door when the brazen attack on my life occurred. I think I shouted out a few obscenities as the bird-sized creature flew towards me intending to kill me, ran in a serpentine pattern to confuse it and leaped into the van just in the nick of time. It's all a blur, but I think I remember having to pry its claws off my back. The girls were plugged into their iPods and examining their fingernails, but I do remember them glancing up momentarily to show they cared. Actually, I think they may have only looked up because they were hoping I hadn't dropped my purse in the melee, which would mean they wouldn't be able to have their daily tall-mocha-frappuccino.

Even worse, we could see from the car that the wasp was building a mud nest right near our door. It was pretty ominous, and not wanting to put my children's lives in danger, I called Rigel and informed hm that we wouldn't be returning to the house until after he had gotten home from work, sprayed the nest and wrestled the cat-sized wasp to the ground. Sure that might not be until 9pm, but I was willing to wait it out as long as it took for the situation to be made safe. For the children.

And wait we did, for an hour or so at Starbucks. We finally got the 'all clear' call from Rigel signaling that he had used every toxic chemical available to annihilate the beast, and the nest had been demolished using a combination of heavy machinery and an ancient Mayan chant known to dispel evil. You can't be too careful with these things.

During the whole ordeal, Kiyomi kept ribbing me, apparently amused by the fact that I had run from what she called a "teeny tiny thing." (For the record, she was afraid to get out of the car as well. Not that I'm ratting out my kid in order to make myself look less ridiculous or anything.) Then she asked me what I would have done if we had gotten home before Rigel and the wasp had gotten into the house, and without hesitating I said, "I'd call 911." I was joking of course, since everyone knows you don't need an emergency crew to show up to kill a wasp - that's what husbands are for.

Besides, I just found this video, that shows what happens when you make frivolous calls for help. This woman dialed 911 three times because some of her cows had gotten loose. She tells the emergency operator:

Yes, this is a damn emergency. I got seven fucking cows out loose!


The woman was eventually issued a citation for misusing the emergency call system, and rightly so. I mean, it's not like she was being attacked by a wasp or anything.

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tags: i hate bugs | exterminators | things that can kill you

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I Think About Denise Richards So You Don't Have to

My latest post is up over on MamaPop, and in it I ponder the enigma that is Denise Richards. Why is she so famous? Who asked her to sing? Did she really ask for Charlie Sheen's sperm? Some may call it an obsession, but I just call it the musings of a concerned citizen.

You can read more, and listen to Denise sing over here.

Let's just say she's no Susan Boyle.

And speaking of Susan Boyle, surprising voices and Britain's Got Talent, take a listen to Greg Pritchard.

Let's just say he's no Denise Richards.




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tags: greg pritchard | britain's got talent | susan boyle | denise richards

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12-years-old and already on tour with a rock band

I've written here before about Kira's intense obsession with the Ting Tings, an English band that got its big break when they were featured in an iPod commercial last year. We took the girls to see them in concert, and since then Kira's frenzy hasn't died down one bit. She spends an unhealthy amount of time chatting online with friends about the band, checking out their website and making lists of all the Ting Tings merchandise she's going to try to con us into buying for her. Lately I've been begging her to find something else to do, like hang out on the corner and chew gum like all the other kids at her middle school.

A few weeks ago she saw a bulletin on the Ting Tings MySpace page asking for original videos that the band could use on their upcoming European tour. They've done things like this in the past - used art as a way to get audience members and fans to participate in their shows. Kira was determined to enter, and came up with an idea for a video that involved our garage door and a huge stack of Post-Its. She asked Rigel to help but turns out he was merely a cameraman - at one point I think I heard him trying to tell her where to stand and she went all Christian Bale on his ass so he backed off.

Today Kira got an email from the lead singer herself, Katie White, telling her that they loved her video and that they would be using it on their tour, and that she would get a credit every night at the end of each show.

She's over the moon, of course, and we're so very proud of her. Here's the video - sorry for the poor quality, but I put some music to it and unfortunately my iMovie skills aren't up to speed. Kira assured me it was okay for now, and besides she's not paying me that much. Yet.



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tags: the ting tings | ipod commercial | itunes

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And Another Thing

There's no particular reason for the title of this post, except for the fact that it's something I seem to be saying a lot these days, and I'm finding that it's a really effective way to move from one topic to another completely unrelated topic without having to explain yourself or sounding crazy. It's especially useful when you're trying to make a point, and then would like to squeeze in another point while you've got that person's undivided attention and don't want to waste time having to initiate another conversation. For example, when Kiyomi tells me she's forgotten her homework again, I can say something like, "Please remember to check your backpack before you leave school. AND ANOTHER THING, that room of yours looks like something exploded in there." See? Homework and room cleaning - totally unrelated but delivered in one short, concise lecture. That's called effective time management, my friends, and leaves me with more time to blog.

And another thing, I have a winner for my Disney Interactive giveaway! It is Catherine of On The Banks of the Rio Grande, who as you'll see in the comments could use some luck right about now after she let her husband cut her hair. Catherine, please email me your address so I can send you your Nintnedo DS and XBox gift bonanza.

And another thing, you have to watch this amazing video that I can't stop watching over and over again. I've heard it said that video posting is the lazy man's blogging and that repeated posting of videos really shows a lack of creativity but this one is so well done I had to share it. And another thing, I'm totally lazy and lack creativity.

And another thing, it's time for another cup of coffee now.

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The Doghouse

If you haven't already seen this video, it is definitely worth watching. It's kind of long, but totally worth it and may be something you might want to watch with your husband or boyfriend or significant other. Hell, you can even watch it with your cat, if he is in fact prone to giving bad gifts.

Not to spoil the surprise, but the video does turn out to be a diamond ad for of all places JCPenney. Not the first store I think of when considering making a big jewelry purchase, but I do have to give kudos to their ad agency for coming up with something this good. I may head over there to take a look at their ruby cuff links after all.

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I'll be posting the name of the winner of the Disney Interactive giveaway tomorrow, December 12.

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Cleaning Out My Camera, Part I: Plushies Revolt

I decided to take a break from my strenuous life of napping and coffee drinking and clean out my camera. Rigel bought me this huge mega-chip and it holds around forty-years worth of photos, but it means that I can just keep shooting and shooting and never download them. I realized how dangerous this is, though, when I was at Disneyland and thought for a millisecond that I had lost the camera - there goes all the photos from every single Christmas of my children's lives, not to mention the Beatles farewell concert.

I came across this video that I shot when I took the girls to the AnimeExpo a couple of months ago. I wasn't sure what they were marching for, and wondered what injustices had occurred in order to bring these anime characters together in passionate protest. What exactly were they asking for? Equal rights for plushies? A cap on the price of felt? I never did figure it out, but I'm pretty sure that parasol is considered a weapon in several states.

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My Nose Would Start To Itch

I'm sure most of you have already seen this, in which case you can stop reading right now and go back to sipping your coffee and surfing porn. But I was amazed by the whole thing, not so much for its grand scale and its artistic merit, but because I really can't imagine standing still for that long without sneezing, or coughing or starting to drool onto my shirt.



Don't try to tell me you weren't thinking the same thing.

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