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Will Truman

Will Truman is the Editor-in-Chief of Ordinary Times. He is also on Twitter.

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35 Responses

  1. Avatar North says:

    Hmm I don’t know a lot about kids but I have a question.
    Once Lain realizes that Dora will get to her destination with or without Lain’s assistance will that not simply mean that Dora has achieved her goal and that Lain has outgrown her? Success essentially?Report

  2. Avatar Chris says:

    The six-year old still hasn’t figured it out. He will run to the screen to point to the answer, and because they allow enough time for younger children, he gets really frustrated with Dora’s seeming incomprehension.Report

  3. Avatar Notme says:

    First the character’s name is Swiper and second he is a fox. As a father, ive had to watch my fair share of Dora. I perfer the Octonauts.Report

    • Avatar Will Truman in reply to Notme says:

      Thanks for the correction. I actually caught the fact that it was Swiper and not Swipey this morning, after I wrote the post. I didn’t realize it was a fox. Learn something new every day!Report

    • Avatar Glyph in reply to Notme says:

      Creature Report! Creature Report!
      (Creature Report!)

      Dora is just awful. The animation, the stories, Swiper’s inconsistent characterization.

      If you’ve seen “Dora and Friends” and wondered what happened to Boots, this is pretty funny:

      http://www.rantsfrommommyland.com/2014/10/dora-and-friends-so-where-hell-is-boots.html

      I imagine he’s at a bar right now, on the outskirts of some jungle town, drinking and bitterly slurring his words about how he’s going to write a tell-all. The he starts drunk tweeting about how much he misses her:

      actual twitter account: https://twitter.com/WhatAboutBoots

      Isa and Benny the Bull are there, too and they’re trying to talk some sense into him but they get it, man. They gave that girl the best years of their lives and now no one at Nick Jr will even return their phone calls. Diego stops by the bar and orders a drink. He’s not happy either. He didn’t get a spot on the new show and they basically replaced him with a “Diego-type” named Pablo who Dora’s not related to (if you get my drift).

      As it gets later, they start to put a plan together. Swiper has underworld connections and a certain moral ambiguity that makes him useful to know. Besides, he’s unemployed with a criminal record. He has nothing to lose. By dawn, the plan is set. They’re ready for their sequel – Dora and Friends 2: Boots’ Revenge.

      Report

    • Avatar Hoosegow Flask in reply to Notme says:

      Tico is the squirrel.

      I actually miss watching Wonder Pets and Yo Gabba Gabba with my daughter (thought I think I enjoyed the latter more than her.) I remember far more of the songs and catch phrases than she does. She now prefers to spend her TV time on live-action shows.Report

    • Avatar Will Truman in reply to Notme says:

      We have a couple little books of a Thomas ripoff. Not Chuggington, though. Starts with a K.Report

  4. Avatar Mike Dwyer says:

    I remember wanting to participate with the Captain Power show but alas, did not have the toy. We DID get to play along with Bill Cosby when he did Picture Pages, thanks to my mom ordering the books, but were still upset our pens didn’t make the same cool noise.Report

  5. Avatar dragonfrog says:

    I get almost as much peace when Kiddo is running around the living room, unpacking all the things, as I do when Dora is on in the next room. The shouting! The constant! Shouting! Every! Word! Emphasized!

    I realize this is an issue within me, and if I could accept the shouty voice acting with equanimity, I could actually take advantage of it. But I’m not there yet.Report

  6. Avatar Saul Degraw says:

    I had a friend in grad school who stood at 4’11”. She once had a job dressing up as Dora and going to various events.Report

  7. Avatar DMM says:

    You hate a child’s program with a Latino lead. I’m shocked. Worried that Lain might get the wrong ideas about people who aren’t white?Report

  8. Avatar Mad Rocket Scientist says:

    Dora & Diego (Diego more than Dora) are a big hit with Bug right now, as is Octonauts, Paw Patrol, Fireman Sam, Umi Zoomi, and whatever else looks like fun on Netflix & Amazon.Report

  9. Avatar Chris says:

    We spent much of the weekend watching Larva, which is a South Korean cartoon (but with no dialogue, so language isn’t an issue) that consists almost entirely of fart jokes with two work-like larval creatures. To a 6-year old, it was pretty much the funniest thing possible.

    Also, if you’re looking for a movie-length distraction on Netflix, Thunder and the Magic House was a big hit, though I haven’t actually watched more than 10 minutes of it myself.Report

  10. Avatar dhex says:

    octonauts and dino dan are pretty tops (though the mystery of dino dan’s dad is interesting to watch a kid unravel, and has unsettling implications if you think it through too hard) but the kid is starting to migrate away from “little kid shows” to stuff like batman, avengers, etc.Report

  11. Avatar Richard Hershberger says:

    PBS Kids. It is the best programming on TV for young kids. My daughter was reading at about a second grade level of proficiency when she entered kindergarten. The wife and I did the whole reading a book at bedtime thing, which gave her the idea of reading a book as a desirable activity, but it was PBS Kids pushing phonetic reading in a surprisingly engaging way that gave her the actual skill set.Report

  12. Avatar Mo says:

    Am I the only one that originally read this as “Captain Planet” instead of “Captain Power” and wondered if it was going to be about how Dora has a less lame power than her older brother Ma Ti?Report

  13. Avatar Jim Heffman says:

    And to bring it around, J Michael Straczynski (the Babylon 5 guy) was the chief writer for Captain Power.Report