Posts About ‘Everything & Anything’

Do Not Shake Hands With That Man

Tuesday, March 8th, 2011

The story you are about to read is true. No names have been used in order to protect the protagonist from public humiliation and shame.

Every one of the 500 seats was filled in the large conference room of a midtown New York City hotel. We assembled there to see and hear from the CEO of one of the Top 5 media companies in America. We expected, and were given, insights into the current state of the vastly changing media landscape. From the top dog. The big cheese. The capo di tuttti capi.

This guy is good. Central casting, as they say, for a big time corporate CEO type. Impeccably dressed. Erudite. Certain of his authority and stature, but politically savvy enough not to say anything that might be remotely problematic for a publicly held company, particularly in front of a media-heavy crowd.

It was only by sheer coincidence that after his presentation we ended up together in the Men’s room at adjoining urinals, to take care of pressing business. One couldn’t help but notice that after conducting his, he completed the job with a vigorous shake. Let’s face it: no self-respecting CEO wants to end up with those embarrassing last few drops dotting the front of his perfectly pressed pants.

He never, not even for a nanosecond, considered washing his hands. Did not make a move toward the sink. Didn’t even glance towards it. Instead, he calmly tucked, zipped and proceeded outside.

At that moment, the CEO came face-to-face with a throng of waiting underlings, eager backslappers and assorted minions, who were thrilled by the chance to congratulate him, i.e., kiss his high power ass.

And every one of them, to a man, shook his hand.

Founders Note – February 2011

Tuesday, February 1st, 2011

February is a notorious month of suck on multiple levels.

Winter has been around for several months and the cabin fever begins to set in. Mix in the sappy cards and stale chocolates of Valentines Day, the end of Football for another year and did I mention the foot upon foot of snow we are buried under? Maybe it is because of all of these things (and a couple more too) that people seem to be cranky and on edge more than usual.

One of the things that I love about the Internet is it allows everyone to have a voice. Sure, many of those voices I want nothing to do with and even some I hate that they have an outlet to spread their message, but at the end of the day I’m a guy who completely believes in the First Amendment giving everyone the freedom of speech.

As my Dad told me more than once when I was growing up, “To each their own and if I don’t like it I can tell them to fuck off.”

That is how I try to approach life every day. It is how as the Founder of this site I look at what my authors write. As long as it is not blatant hate speech or one of the rare things that will offend me, I’m ok with them voicing their opinions.

Clarence and I read every post before it goes live. Have some gave us pause? Yup. Have we ever rejected a post? Not yet.

Our philosophy is that it is up to each of us to decide what we read and how it effects us. If a post sparks debate isn’t that a good thing? Isn’t opening up a civil conversation around a topic that people might not agree on a good thing?

I believe that as long as someone is writing from the heart and not writing to be a raging asshole that it is an ok thing for them to do. Yes, I still look at this on a case by case basis and sometimes it is harder than others to allow something to go public when I don’t agree with it, but I always lean back in my office chair and wonder if it is truly going to hurt someone or might it just challenge people to realize that their opinion is not the only one and to actively engage with the author in why they disagree.

When I first sat down to write this monthly note, I did not have any intent of going in this direction. I wanted to talk about how as men we have to remember that this month shouldn’t be about roses and heart shaped boxes. I wanted to write about how romance, sex and relationships are about a lot more then those trivial things that will get focused on this month. But, situations and occurrences forced me to go in this direction.

We are all humans. We all have our own opinions. We all say things differently then others do.

The trick is to realize this, dig down deep and push forward in the best possible direction.

It is the only way we are ever going to come out on the other side in a better place.

Photo by Kris Krüg

Welcome to 2011

Sunday, January 2nd, 2011

Magazines have always had a Letter from the Editor section, so Clarence and I thought it made sense that we should have one here at Digital Dads as well.

We’ve thrown some names around for it, but have not settled on one yet so if you have a suggestion be sure to leave them in the comments below. But, for now, at the beginning of every month I’ll check in to share with you some commentary on where we are in the world both abroad and closer to home here on the site.

2010 was a hard ass year for a lot of people. By now, I’m sure you’ve seen at least one of the video montages every news channel has pulled together to look back at the year. When you see oil slicked waters, crazy ass women from Alaska, unemployment numbers, earthquake devastation, foreclosure signs and more dead soldiers it is enough to get you down. Every time I watch one of those videos it feels like someone kicked me in the nuts for the fun of it. Yes, there were also shots of miners chanting in celebration, Drew Brees holding his son aloft like a Superbowl trophy and the unveiling of the iPad to make us smile. But, for me the good sure didn’t seem to balance out this past year.

Will 2011 be any different? What does this year of the rabbit have in store for us guys?

If you are hoping for predictions or resolutions you’ve come to the wrong place because we know that most of those are utter bullshit.

Digital Dads has a big year ahead of it.

  • We’ve added to the team with amazing writers and we’ll continue to expand out stable of talent. I really want to get someone in LA and New York on staff since we are always getting invites to events in those cities and would love to have someone on the ground to attend.
  • We are going to be at CES, the Detroit Auto Show and SXSW in the first quarter. The plan is to cover a lot more events in 2011.
  • Product reviews are going to start appearing more regularly. We’ve never done many of them, but with so many companies wanting guy’s opinions on products we figured we better start giving them. So expect to see a mish-mash of quick announcements and in depth reviews of products we love or try out.
  • I want to add weekly sex and music columns. Hmmm….that might make an interesting single column. *grin*
  • More photography and video here on the site.

My crystal ball is still cloudy for 2011, but you can see that we’ve certainly got a lot planned.

I’ll check back in on February 1 and we’ll see how the first month went.

My charge for each of you reading this? Kick ass and take names. Life is too short to pussy foot through life. Go get it.

The Art of Shaving

Tuesday, October 19th, 2010

One of the first true signs of manhood is when you learn to shave. I have fond memories of using a toy razor when I was little right along side my Dad shaving and years later doing something similar with my son. It is one of the true guy things that every male does on a regular basis.

I’ve always wanted to get an old fashion shave. You know the type. Hot towels and a straight razor. Thick leather chairs and smooth music on the radio. The kind your grandfather probably did himself at the sink, but most of us have never tried.

So, when the team from The Art of Shaving asked me if I wanted to get the full experience for free while I was at Blogworld in Las Vegas how could I say no?

The Art of Shaving - Las Vegas

This particular location is located inside of Mandalay Place which is a massive row of shops connecting The Luxor and Mandalay Bay hotels.

I showed up early before they opened and was greeted at the door by Joe LaSpisa. I knew instantly that he was the type of guy that you want to give you a shave for the first time. He had an air of authority about him. You had no doubt that he knew what he was doing the moment he shook your hand and said “good morning.”

The Art of Shaving - Las Vegas

As Joe sat me down, I of course began chatting with him because I wanted to hear his story. Starting at the age of 13 in Italy, he has been a barber his whole life. His family left Sicily and moved to Chicago where he owned his own shop most of his life. Looking for a change they thought about going back to Italy, but ended up settling in Las Vegas where he has been shaving people like me for the last six years. His card reads “Master Barber” and after fifty years that is certainly fitting.

I thought I might be a bit nervous about having a complete stranger dragging a blade across my face, but as I laid there with a hot towel covering my face listening to Frank Sinatra over the sound system, I found myself completely relaxed.

Once my face was properly warmed up a shaving oil was applied that Joe promised me “makes all the difference and once you try it, you’ll never shave without it.” After that my face was lathered up with warmed shaving cream and the real fun began.

Instead of big banana strokes like you see in the movies, Joe shaved me with short, precise strokes. You could tell he had done this thousands of times and proceeded in the same way he had his whole life. After going through it all once, he lathered me up again for a second pass. He kept feeling, rubbing and checking to make sure that every spot was up to his standards before determining it done.

After a quick trim of the back of my neck and rubbing a bit of aftershave on my face, a freezing cold towel was put in place. I tell you that first thing in the morning was quite a shock as I still hadn’t had any coffee.

The Art of Shaving - Las Vegas

It may have been a free shave, but Joe didn’t treat it that way and I made sure to tip him appropriately. After all here was a man who had mastered his craft and he deserved to be rewarded for it.

The entire shave took about 45 minutes from start to finish and I’m not sure there is a more manly way to spend that time first thing in the morning (OK, I can think of one thing that trumps it *wicked grin*). If you ever have a chance to do this, don’t hesitate and do it. I’m still not sure why I waited this long to get something like this done.

Thank you to The Art of Shaving and to Joe for making a half asleep Friday morning a memory I’ll never forget.

Disclosure: http://cmp.ly/3

A Night on the Town Thanks to Infiniti

Tuesday, October 5th, 2010

With everything going on in most of our lives it is hard to find the time for a night out of the house with the whole family. So when the team from Infiniti contacted me to see if I’d be interested in taking the family to see Cirque du Soleil’s OVO in it’s Boston Premiere and to drive one of their cars to the event, I instantly said yes.

Now, I need to say up front that I’m not much of a car guy. While I can appreciate a good looking car and the power under the hood, I honestly don’t care that much about that stuff. If it gets me safely from point A to point B I’m happy. I do wish we had more environmentally friendly cars and all the progress we are making towards that makes me very happy. But, I am in no way a gear head or a “car guy.”

Infiniti has a long running sponsorship with Cirque du Soleil as their official car sponsor. They gave me for free an Infiniti M56x to drive for 4 days and tickets to the show for my family and four tickets to give away to our community in return for sharing my thoughts on the car with you all. Seemed like a very fair trade to me.

For all the car fans out there, here are the details of the car directly from their site:

  • Powered by a 5.6-liter, 420 horsepower V8 engine with Direct Gasoline Injection, the all-wheel drive M56x is matched with a seven-speed automatic transmission with manual sport shifting.
  • A variable valvetrain is included for improved power and economy; and Infiniti Drive Mode Selector and Hill Start Assist are there to help deal with varying road conditions.
  • Climate-controlled leather front seats with 10-way power adjustment and power lumbar are standard. Safety features include six airbags, front seat active head restraints, individual tire pressure monitor, and rearview monitor.
  • The M56x features Vehicle Dynamic Control stability control, traction control, advanced ABS brakes, Bose Premium audio, bi-functional (HID) xenon headlights, and a hard drive navigation system with XM NavTraffic.
  • Available features include Bose Studio Surround Sound.

As you can imagine it is a fine piece of automobile machinery and plain and simple it is a LOT of fun to drive.

I’ve never driven any other luxury car so I can’t compare it to them. What I did notice right away when I sat down in the car was how it felt like I was completely engulfed by car. It is shaped to surround the driver in a very comforting way. I imagined that if I ever was in a crash that I would be safely protected. Everything is geared towards the driver with many controls directly on the steering wheel and all within easy reach without taking your eyes off the road.

Infiniti M56x Test Drive

And while it may not be the most important feature of the car, I’m a big time music guy so the sound system in the car is down right impressive. With speakers in the headrests, doors and all around, you feel the music as much as hear it. Crank something with a heavy bass line and you will literally feel it in your heart. I love that feeling.

Infiniti M56x Test DriveOf course as me and the kids jumped in, we had to take it out and play with it for a while. That is when we discovered what we called “the magic button.”

Shown here you can see how there are several driving modes that you can switch the car between. When popping it into Sport mode you instantly notice how the car jumped off the line and hits highway speed faster than any car I’ve ever driven. This combined with the handling made for some fun times on the windy roads that lead to our house. The car handled like a dream around corners and over bumps. Thankfully we kept all four wheels on the road.

I’d be curious to see what the Snow button does. I’m assuming that it is similar to a setting I have in my car where it does not let the engine rev to fast and keeps it in lower gears to prevent sliding and spinning in icy conditions, but I’m not sure. The Eco setting keeps it from revving as much and gives better gas mileage and I found that I used this while driving around town. Kept me from getting in trouble when taking off the line at lights. *grin*

You’ll also notice that the M56x has both heated and air-conditioned seats. I can’t fully express how awesome this is. On a hot summer day, having the seats cooled might be the nicest feature I’ve ever experienced in a car. Ahhh….

From a family stand point, it easily held all four of us, but Emily didn’t like that she didn’t have too much room once I put my seat all the way back and she was behind me. Sure, there is room, but I guess she has gotten use to more of it in our current car. We were pleasantly surprised by the ample trunk room which we thought would be sacrificed on a luxury sedan, but was not. You can easily fit a weekend worth of bags and kid stuff without worry and it passed the grocery shopping test with flying colors.

Infiniti M56x Test DriveOne thing about this car that I fell in love with and would love to see adopted on all cars is the concept of key-less use. Instead of an actual key you get a little key fob that you attach to your key ring and keep in your pocket. Get near enough to the car with it and the doors unlock. Ready to go? Just push the start button and you are on your way. While this may seem like a novelty, when your arms are full of groceries (or kids) this is an instant life saver and I found that when I returned the car I missed having this.

Overall, the entire driving experience with the Infiniti M56x lives up the “luxury car” name. While I’ve never driven a BMW, Mercedes or Lexus, I now get why people love them. The smooth ride, excellent handling and overall wow factor is pretty damn impressive.  While I’m still not sure I could ever justify the price of the car (the model we tested starts at $60,000) I do understand now what makes a car that expensive so nice to drive.

Of course, I don’t want to forget to talk about the other part of our night out and that was getting to see OVO. What did we think of the show?

That’s an easy answer. We LOVED it!!!

I had never seen a Cirque show under the big top and it is a totally different experience from when you see one of their big shows in a permanent location such as Las Vegas. You are so close to the action and there really isn’t a bad seat in the house. The kid’s mouths were open the whole time as performance after performance left them speechless.

As a bonus, I contacted a friend who works for Cirque, to see if Emily could interview any of the staff about the show. A week later we went back during the day and she got to chat with a woman from the costume department. You can watch Emily Explains It to see the interview.

The one thing I missed in this show was that the storyline was lacking and loosely put together. It was more a collection of performances around a rough theme than any concrete plot from start to finish. But, with that being said we all had a great time and I’m psyched that the winners from our contest could join us at the show. They all had a great time as well based on the conversations we had at intermission.

Digital Dads Goes to OVO

Thank you to Infiniti for making this night out possible. My entire family had a great time and loved being able to do this and fit it into our schedules. If you have a chance to check out OVO, it is a family friendly event that I promise you’ll have a good time at. If you get a chance to drive an Infiniti M56x, I can promise that is a fun time as well, but I can’t promise that it’ll be fun for your wallet since you may want to buy one as soon as you take it for a spin.

Cast of Dads 31: Silent But Deadly

Tuesday, September 21st, 2010

Sunday nights in the fall are a great time to record. While some of us might be sitting down to dinner, some are out looking for their kids and some are just enjoying a nice cold beer. No matter what we might be doing, we all sat down to record another fun filled episode of Cast of Dads.

Episode 31: Silent But Deadly

Topics discussed on this episode:

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the show and have them subscribe to either our direct feed or via iTunes. Also, please leave us a review in iTunes!

Cast of Dads is a group of podcasting and blogging dads who gather to gab about fatherhood. The cast of dads includes C.C. Chapman, Jeffrey Sass, Max Kalehoff, Michael Sheehan, and Brad Powell, who collectively represent 13 kids from the youngest of babies to full grown adults. Each of them brings a unique perspective to being a father.



I’m a Dad & Damn Proud of It

Thursday, September 16th, 2010

Crossing posting this on CC-Chapman.com and Digital Dads.

Earlier this week I gave a speech at the Boston 140 Conference about being proud to be a Dad. It is a talk that I’m very proud of and you can watch the entire eight minutes of it below. (Special thanks to Jeff Sass for filming it.)

I spoke from the heart about something that I’m really going to spend a lot of time on in the coming months and that is helping the marketplace realize that men are an important part of the equation that they’ve forgotten about for far to long. Dads are more active then ever and are buying products every day that no one seems to want to pay attention to.

For a long time I fought the term Daddy Blogger. I didn’t like it because it seemed like such a silly small bucket to put people into. I create a lot of content about a lot of different topics and this felt so confining.

But, last weekend as I gathered with a dedicated group of like minded men in Atlanta I realized that I have no reason to hate the term because I can help define what the term means.

When someone currently uses the term they are most likely talking about a guy who creates content only about being a dad. But, I think it is much more then that. A Daddy Blogger could be anyone who is a dad and is creating content online. Sure, they might not focus completely on being a parent, but with most guys, talk of kids and the crazy things that come with being a parent will sneak in.

I want to see more guys stepping up and being proud of being a dad. I want to see brands realize that there is more to being a dad then only changing diapers and buying gadgets.

Brands need to work with someone who understands the parenting space and specifically knows how to work with dads. I want to be that guy and plan to do plenty of dad consulting with companies to develop smart and strategic campaigns that will reach their goals. As you can see in my talk, I’m very passionate about this and I’ve got the business sense and marketing experience to back it up.

I love that every single Mommy Blogger has helped pave the road ahead. They’ve worked really hard to raise awareness to the buying power of parents and I can remember years ago telling clients that moms online were a force to be reckoned with. I’m now here to have those same conversations about dads.

I’m a dad. I’m damn proud to be a dad.

I’m also a business man with many years of online experience and marketing expertise. I can’t wait work with clients to talk to dads, get them engaged and talking about those clients and becoming advocates for those brands.

The road ahead looks great to me. Sure, it may look like the road less traveled to some, but those who know me, know that I love that path.

Get in touch and lets do some great things together. Dads, be proud of who you are. It is the coolest job in the world!

Photo Credit: Steve Garfield

Help Bring Noor and Ramsay Home

Friday, September 3rd, 2010

The worse nightmare of any parent is having something happen to their kids. We all think about it. We all worry about it. We all assume it won’t happen to us.

This is why when my friend Colin Bower shared with the world what he is going through trying to get his boys back I was heart broken and instantly wanted to do what I could help to raise awareness about it and get those boys home.

What is going on is that two American children, Noor William Noble Bower aged 8 and Ramsay Maclean Bower aged 6, were kidnapped from their Boston home on August 11, 2009 by their mother, Mirvat el Nady, a British and Egyptian citizen.

Colin went to pick up the children from the mother’s residence on Sunday August 17, and received a call from an Egyptian mobile number. The male caller was unknown to the father and spoke English with an accent. This man told the father he would not be able to see or contact his children again if he did anything about the fact that his children were missing. The father asked many questions, but the caller did not give any information as to the condition, whereabouts, or any further detail regarding the children. Colin hung up and called the police.

According to US Immigration official records, the mother used Egyptian passports in the name of “Power” to travel to Egypt with the boys to Cairo on August 11, 2009. There is a US federal warrant outstanding for the arrest of Mirvat el Nady on charges of kidnapping and an outstanding international Interpol red notice has also been issued.

The mother has not allowed the boys to speak with their father since kidnapping them, despite ongoing pleas by Colin and others to her family, friends, government and now the press. Colin does not even know where the boys are, but has been to Egypt five times this year and now has an Egyptian court order to visit with his children.

Regardless, the mother did not comply with the court order, which is a crime, and still refuses to divulge her or the children’s whereabouts.

Can you imagine going through this? I know I can’t.

All of us in the dad community have been doing what we can to help Colin out. He was a guest on Digitial Dads TV: Episode 5 sharing his story and we talked about it a bit on Cast of Dads 30 this week.

The one part that I hadn’t thought about until Colin was in studio talking with me is that the reason he finally went public with this is because he realizes that his oldest son is probably starting to get online and the hope is that he is looking for himself and his father. By having lots of content, posts, etc online the hope is that he will see it.

We need to bring these boys home. Their rightful (and legal) place is with their father here in the United States. This woman needs to be locked up and never seen again for doing such a horrible thing.

YOU can help by going to http://www.HelpBringNoorandRamsayHome.org and finding out the latest information.

Please use whatever channels you have to share this story so that we can all bring those boys home immediately.

A Crumpler Hike With the Kids

Thursday, August 26th, 2010

A couple of months ago (yes, I’m behind on my writing), I was about to go in for knee surgery. I wasn’t sure how long I was going to be off my feet so I wanted to sneak in a quick hike while the weather was so nice. While we couldn’t hit a mountain or anything like that, I found a new trail near our house around a lake and the family set off.

Pre-Surgery HikeOutdoor activities like this are important and fun time for a family. The opportunity to teach about fitness and the outdoors alone make it worthwhile. Plus, as someone who grew up hiking and camping I really want to pass this onto my kids and it is a free activity that anyone can do.

I also wanted to take this opportunity to try out a couple of Crumpler backpacks that the company sent me to review. They sent me a blue Baby Anchovy for Dylan and a pink Baby Pea for Emily. Having no personal experience with Crumpler outside of their yearly samples in the SXSW Gift Bags, but knowing that many of my friends swear by them I was curious to see how they performed and what the kids thought of them.

The hike was great and my knee held up quite well. Since it was mainly flat it wasn’t challenging to any of us and the trees just starting to bloom and the breeze coming off the lake kept it chilly enough to minimize the complaining. If you’ve never taken your kids for a hike you’ll realize that they enjoy complaining about the heat, the hardness and being bored more than anything else. Start easy and someplace with a lot of things to look at and discover. On this trip we discovered an old abandoned stone fireplace and chimney that lead to a lot of fun theories of who might have used it.

Water Reading?Both backpacks are smaller than I would have imagined with the Pea being almost too small to carry anything of value. My daughter did fit in a water bottle and a couple of snacks, but anything more and it would have been too full. The good thing about this though is that even your youngest child could wear this and carry some of their own items to get them use to carrying their own share of the needed things for the hike.

The Anchovy is small as well, but has easily three times the space of the Pea. Dylan may of had more room, but this is way to small to be a school backpack for anything other than a couple of notebooks and maybe a lunch. Even then it would be a tight fit for sure. I’m sure it would work fine for a child up to first or second grade, but after that might not be big enough to carry everything they need.

That being said, the quality of both bags is rock solid. I LOVED how the straps on the Anchovy are one big piece of the same fabric as the actual bag. I had never seen a design like this before and since the bags are not cheap ($50-$60) I was happy to see such great design and craftsmanship. This alone made me check out the whole product line in more depth.

By giving each kid a pack of their own it let them determine when they needed a break. They didn’t need to ask me to get out a water bottle or a small snack. They would just sit down and get it out themselves. One important part of hiking is that each person needs to learn their own pace and I believe this helps children get use to it. Of course their pace sometimes can be too slow and you have to nudge them a bit, but that is also part of the fun of family hiking. (should I have put fun in quotes? *grin*)

In the end we had a great day in the woods enjoying nature and the backpacks performed perfectly. Since that day the Anchovy has been used many times for different activities, but the Pea has been shelved as just being too small for this age. Younger toddlers it would be perfect for, but mine are a bit too old for it even though both found it very cool looking.

Thanks Crumpler for letting us test these out and share our honest opinions with you and our readers. An extra thanks for giving me also a great reason to get the whole family outside.

Disclosure: http://Cmp.ly/2

Father’s Day Gifts: Something Different

Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

While we all love the homemade gifts and cards our kids give us and those first few ties and coffee cups were great, but a surprise gift is always something we love.

This Father’s Day consider ordering from one of the following companies to find that unique gift that is perfect for the special dad in your life.

Red Envelope

Red Envelope Custom Pint GlassesWe talked about this company for Mother’s Day because they are great for the last minute shopper who wants something creative, but needs it fast. I’ve personally ordered from them many times over the years and can highly recommend the products they sell as top notch.

They recently reached out to us and offered to send us something for free from their Father’s Day Gifts. I chose their personalized pint glasses since I’m a lover of beer. They were bigger then the typical pint glass and nice and heavy as they should be. Any dad who loves a frosty beverage or has dreamed about owning their own bar would love to receive these. They have a large variety of gifts for every type of Father, so be sure to swing by for a visit.

Uncommon Goods

I talked about this company on Cast of Dads recently and am a huge fan of their offering. Their tag line is “find anything but ordinary” which fits the variety of items that they carry. I’ve ordered many holiday and birthday gifts from them over the year and people are always amazed at what they end up getting since it is far from the same old same old.

They have a Father’s Day Gift page as well and one quick scroll through it will show you what I mean by unique. Where else are you going to find record coasters or whiskey rocks? They work with a lot of independent artists and charities as well, which is just yet another reason I’m such a big fan.

2modern

A new company on our radar that certainly appeals to a certain type of guy. This isn’t a site for everyone, but if your dad enjoys reading magazines like Dwell or GQ then they should enjoy everything available here.

On their for him page you can find many modern items including a Magis – Voido rocking chair or a cherry wood ipod case. None of their gifts are inexpensive, but they are sure to make an impression. I know I found a couple of items that I’m certainly going to put on my holiday wish list.

While these are just three companies offering a variety of different Father’s Day gifts we hope you find something. Got something else that you think would make a unique gift? Let us know in the comments.

The shoe cables a repent reward near the visible.