Recently I took my daughter to Centre Island and we rode on the Haunted Barrel Works, a ride I loved as a kid. She thought it was more silly than scary but I loved it, my interest in it had not faded over the years.

This site has more information on it.

And I was more than pleased to see that our friend the pirate had made BoingBoing.

I was interested to hear that the ride had been inspired by the work of Bill Tracy.

wanna make your own scary ride? here's a place to buy your own props. they were a little too steep for my budget so I think I will just keep visiting Centre Island.

Or find a scary ride near you!

the image was found on flickr

I thought I'd put my daughter's infatuation with a certain sea-sponge to an educational use.

Stephen Hillenburg, creator of SpongeBob Squarepants, is also a former marine science educator who "saw how enamoured kids are with marine life." (howstuffworks.com)

I sent her to the library to read up on her favourite sea creatures and invertebrates. Then she made cards shaped like SpongeBob characters with their faces drawn on the front and information about the species on the back.



Hopefully soon we will go to an aquarium to meet the real SpongeBob, Patrick, Plankton, and others.

Images are from twerdict.com and treehugger.com

As a parent, I am all for eating in front of the TV. Eating in front of a movie? Even better.

Why not invite some friends over, show a movie, and serve movie-themed drinks and snacks. Above are hotdog cookies intended to be served while viewing Up and blue drinks for Avatar.

You could even have a movie-themed dinner party.


Allrecipes.com has a site with suggestions of movie-themed menus, from the obvious Ratatouille to the more surprising Juno and Inglorious Basterds. The main page lists some movies but if you click on one you will likely find tips for others.

Want to take it beyond food?

Design*Sponge's living in section has fashion and home decorating ideas to recreate everything from Jaws to The Parent Trap to The Graduate.

Life doesn't get any better than this, does it?

images are from getouttoday.com and tasteofhome.com