Beats and Beer Friday

It's been a few weeks since I've had Beats and Beer Friday but I've drank/will be drinking too much good beer and listening to too much good music to skip it again this week.

Here are my latest recommendations:

Beats

Big K.R.I.T. - Return of 4 Eva

It is too damn hot outside. It's the kind of hot where you don't even want to be outdoors, you just want to be inside, with the A/C blasting and slouching around on a comfortable couch or chair, cold drink in hand. Big K.R.I.T.'s Return of 4 Eva mixtape is the perfect music for lazy, laid back summer days. With a slow, molasses-like flow and a Southern drawl reminiscent of the late Pimp C (R.I.P.), this isn't your cookie-cutter, four to the floor dance club hip-hop. Big K.R.I.T.'s sample-driven, bass-thumping production (done by the man himself) takes it back a few years to the days of Southern hip-hop originators like UGK, Eightball & MJG, Goodie Mob, etc. It's hard not to listen to this mixtape and not take a trip into the past, and I mean that in the most complimentary fashion.



Recommended songs: R4 Theme Song, Dreamin, Made Alot, Get Right

Return of 4 Eva is a FREE mixtape that you can download here. While you're at it, you can follow Big K.R.I.T. on Twitter and Like him on Facebook.

Beer

Nebraska Brewing Company - Fathead

I know, I featured a beer from a Nebraska brewery last time; but what can I say, I was able to bring back quite a haul of beer from my recent trip to Omaha, and I couldn't NOT write about Fathead because it has easily become one of my new favorite beers.

Part of Nebraska Brewing Company's Reserve Series, Fathead is a barley wine that has been barrel aged. It has a pretty incredible balance of sweet and malty flavors, with just enough of a whiskey note to make it noticeable without being overpowering. It's definitely a boozy beer at over 11% ABV, but in drinking it you aren't overwhelmed with an alcohol taste. Thought barley wines may not be standard hot weather beer, this was an incredible sipper of a beer when I had it recently. I love that it's a 'big beer', but isn't so convoluted with ingredients that it makes the beer muddled and unenjoyable. It seems like the recent big beer trend has made a lot of breweries focus on putting as much crap as possible into their beers. Fathead is big, but simple at the same time. Does that make sense?

Quite frankly, I think I would love to enjoy a bottle of Fathead again while listening to Return of 4 Eva; forget syrup, I've got barley wine.

Check out Nebraska Brewing Company's website, follow them on Twitter and Like them on Facebook.

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A Pacifier Addiction PSA

Pacifier Addiction is no joke. Every day, pacifiers destroy children and their families worldwide. Join me in my pursuit to bring awareness to this disease that is taking over our babies' lives. Watch the video below and learn about the warning signs so you can identify the pacifier addict in your own home. Together, we can make a difference!




Disclaimer: The above video is meant to be satirical and does not reflect my true beliefs. I do not think pacifier addiction is a real problem. I had a binky until I was 4 and I turned out okay...right?!

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Girls: Embrace Your Inner Nerd!

I read a great article today from Brittney Wilson at My Reality Tech called 'Little Girls Need to Learn to Code'. The article talked about the lack of females in the technology world, and noted that by teaching girls about technology at a young age, parents could be setting their daughters up to have lucrative, successful careers. Not only that, but they will be contributing to an increased representation of empowered women in the world of technology. Simply put: Techie Girl Power!

This article got me to thinking; I'm obviously a technology nerd myself. By no means am I a hardcore coder, but I have dabbled in it and through my daily personal and professional life, I am constantly using technology and exploring new aspects of it. Now, I don't intend to sit my daughter down and push coding lessons upon her. Let's face it, web coding is an 'acquired taste' regardless of whether you are a boy or a girl. However, as she grows, if she happens to start displaying some of her father's nerdier tendencies, I will support her every step of the way. And if she ultimately decides she wants to pursue a career in something that might typically be described as nerdy, then I will celebrate it and cheer her on.

Dammit! Another Improper Neutralization of Special Elements error!

There's no denying that over the past few decades, women have made amazing strides in the professional world, and little girls now live in a world where they really do have the opportunity to do anything they want to do. However, there still exists a lot of pressure on young girls to fulfill the standard 'girly girl' mold. For every powerful woman like Anita Borg (founder of the Institute for Women and Technology) that took the 'less-traveled path' in life, there's a dozen cookie-cutter dimwits like Paris Hilton who convince young girls that the important things in life are money, partying, and dogs that fit in purses.

Now, of course, Ava could ultimately have no desire to pursue the nerdier side of life. She has shown a fair share of 'girly girl' tendencies thus far, so as far as I know, she may have every desire to be a cheerleader and yearn for the title of prom queen. Fair enough. As I said, I will support her with every ounce of my being. But regardless of what path she chooses in life, I will always remind her of one thing: You have the freedom to do whatever you want with your life. Pay no attention to what others tell you to do or what others tell you is the 'right' way. If she wants to be a web developer, so be it. Maybe she'll want to be an engineer. Maybe she'll throw everybody off and decide she wants to be a Air Force pilot. A botanist. An artist. The options are infinite, and that's important for her to know.

This blog post serves as my official call for all little girls out there to embrace whatever calling or desire they have inside of them. Regardless of how outside the box or nerdy it may seem, reach out to it with open arms and explore it. You owe it to yourself to do what you love, even if it's not the typical 'girl fare'. Of course, if enough of you start pursuing these careers, maybe the tables will eventually be turned and your love WILL become typical girl fare.

And on the same note, to you parents: support your daughters! It's that simple. Be there for them and give them your confidence and love no matter what they hope to accomplish. Now of course, there are extreme exceptions: if your daughter's goal is to start a successful meth lab, it's okay to intervene and put your foot down. But I digress; the important message is that our daughters have incredible educational and professional opportunities available to them now. Let's do everything we can as mothers and fathers to not only ensure that they succeed, but ensure they succeed while doing something they truly love, regardless of how it might be labeled.

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It's A Mom's Mom's Mom's World

Look Moms, I'm not trying to start anything. In fact, my beef isn't even with you. I love all of you. Well, almost all of you (the ones regularly featured on Nancy Grace are an exception). Without Moms, us Dads would be nothing. In fact, we wouldn't even exist as fathers if it wasn't for your intense physical and emotional labor. But as an involved parent who actively seeks out information, advice and community engagement on the topic of parenting, I've found one truth to be self-evident:

Dads are getting the short end of the stick.

Whether it's online (both websites and social media), in print ads or on television, fathers just seem to get no respect (feel free to repeat this sentence in a Rodney Dangerfield voice). As I continue to dive deeper and deeper into the Dad blogiverse, I've found that we are a strong and constantly growing demographic. There are many fantastic Dad blogs and Dad-centric information sites started by fathers who clearly have a passion for fatherhood and family. But part of that is because we've HAD to do it. Nobody else is providing a venue for us, so we've created our own individual sites to encourage participation, speak our minds and let our voice be heard since nobody seems to want to welcome it.

Let's face it: the big-name companies and brands have shafted us. I'm not going to name names, but if you have ever sought out information on parenting or products for babies and children, you know what I mean. Mom this. Mom that. Mom Central. Mom Gear. Mom Chat. Mommy Blogs. Momoirs of a Geisha. Xavier's School for Gifted Momsters. No matter which website you turn to, there's a special area, if not multiple areas, devoted to the livelihood of Moms. And then there's social media. Oh, the Mom-centric social media universe. It's almost sickening how much fathers are blatantly disregarded, when we could instead be encouraged to participate and bring another important perspective to the discussion.

Papa's Got A Brand New Diaper Bag

So what about Dads? Don't we matter? I have a newsflash for all of you parenting and child-product-related companies out there: expecting fathers have questions too. We are scared shitless of what's happening during pregnancy, even though we may not be carrying the child. And once we have the child? Yep, still have questions. Still looking for answers, still looking for a way to identify and learn as we navigate through parenthood. Why does nobody seem capable or prepared to meet this desire? Additionally, believe it or not, Dads do in fact spend money on and research products for our children. In fact, though I can only speak for myself, I do a LOT of online research about products before I buy them. But few major websites have 'Dad Essentials', or 'Dad Product Corner'. But you can sure as hell bet that they are there for Moms.

And then of course, there are the classic television ads with a father nowhere in sight, or the one that does exist is a bumbling idiot who seems to be barely functional. I'd say that I'm boycotting all the brands that over-focus on Moms and neglect Dads, but I don't think there'd be any products left for me to try. Dads change diapers. Dads dress and feed their kids. Dads play with their kids. Dads even clean the house! (I know, jaw-dropper) As hard is might be for you modern-day 'Mad Men' to believe, there are involved fathers out there that would scream for joy to see a commercial geared towards Dads instead of the run-of-the-mill, cheesy Mom-centric ad.

Look, I'm in Marketing. I get it. The Mom (and especially Stay-At-Home-Mom) segment is the Marketing executive's dream target audience. And you know what, I'm not wanting to take anything away from Moms. I recognize that they make significant household decisions, that they play an integral role in family life and are especially inclined to be involved with brands they use and participate in online communities. But companies and brands better start recognizing that Dads play an important role in our childrens' lives as well, and we deserve a bit of attention too.

I brought up my frustrations on Twitter today to one website in particular. They responded by noting that they do have one blog written by a father on their website. Yep, ONE Dad blog. You know how many blogs they host that are written by mothers? TWELVE. Now does that seem like balanced coverage to you? Look, I'm not even asking for a 50-50 split here. If we could hit the 25% mark and have 3 blogs representing fathers on this site, I'd be jumping for joy.

Maybe I'm being overly sensitive. Maybe as an especially involved, proud father, I'm irrationally expecting my needs to be met by parenting websites and child product brands. But then again, is that irrational? Is it so unfair to expect the scales to be slightly tipped so that fatherhood can be given a little bit more recognition and coverage? I would tend to say no. And I believe there's an army of Dad bloggers standing strongly behind me that would agree.

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Doggie Doo Giveaway Winner!

Thank you to everyone who checked out my recent Doggie Doo review, and an extra special thanks to those who entered the giveaway for a chance to win their own Doggie Doo game! After assigning sequential numbers to each valid entry and using random.org to select a number, entry #15 was selected, which belongs to (drumroll please)...

Cheryl aka @sleepyheadedmom!

Congratulations Cheryl, I will be contacting you shortly to get your shipping information so I can pass it along to the folks at Goliath Games!

If you didn't win, or are just interested in checking out Doggie Doo for yourself, look for it to hit store shelves on August 1st!

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