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Robert Downey Jr. Brings Georgia Boy Bionic Arm (DaddyTube)
The line between Robert Downey Jr. and Iron Man is growing slimmer every day. Here is a video of the actor bringing a Georgia boy named Alex Pring a real bionic arm.
It’s OK if you get a little misty-eyed. We’ll wait.
The important bit here is that a group called The Collective Project made a bionic arm for a child, Alex, who was “born with a partially developed right arm,” according to the video. The arm was made by Albert Manero, “a college student who builds and donates low-cost, 3D-printed bionic limbs to kids around the world,” according to the YouTube video. Here’s a quote from the Fox 5 DC story where we found this:
“The arm doesn’t have a lot of supernatural powers, but it makes life easier on Alex both physically and mentally.”
The two then compare arms, with Downey pulling his out of a case with the Stark Industries logo.
Which brings us to what we were talking about when we said the line between Robert Downey Jr. and Iron Man is getting slimmer every day.
Remember in 2012 when we posted that Robert Downey Jr surprised kids at Comic Con? (Heck, remember 2012? I’m not sure I do.) Here’s what we had to say back then:
…Marvel could easily drop this footage into ‘Iron Man 3‘ if they want to. … Have the kids shouting out “IRON MAN!”, people cheering when Downey Tony Stark shows up… Free idea from me to you, ‘Iron Man 3? filmmakers. I’ll take a special thanks and perhaps a repulsor ray if you’ve got an extra one lying around.
(They didn’t take my idea. Maybe for Iron Man 4, or a future Avengers movie.)
The second best thing about this new video (the first, of course, is the kid getting the arm, because that’s actually real-life awesome) is the moment when someone off-camera asks Alex, “Do you know who that is?” “Iron Man,” Alex replies, to the delight of everyone in the room (and us home viewers). But then comes the follow-up:
“What’s his name?”
“Robert.”
Downey does nothing to correct Alex, nor does anyone else. In Alex’s 7-year-old mind, Robert Downey Jr. is Iron Man. To Downey’s credit, he’s a good enough actor that playing the super-rich Avenger has not hampered his film career; he can play other roles just as convincingly as he always has. But if he keeps this up, he might have to change his name to Tony Stark. Or maybe Marvel will just change Iron Man’s name to Robert Downey Jr. Both are about as likely to happen as me turning into Thor. But this particular blurring of fact and fiction is fun to watch.
On a more serious note, huge, massive, supremely large shout-outs to Albert Manero, who is apparently making bionic arms for kids who need them (it’s OK if that makes your head explode a little bit), and to Mr. Downey Jr., whom we like both on and off screen. And best of luck to Alex, a young man growing up in very interesting times.
‘Iron Man’ surprises boy in Georgia – DC News FOX 5 DC WTTG.
Related articles (Note: Some of these are offsite links; DaddyTips takes no responsibility for outside content.)
Brett Singer TV Appearance Tomorrow on Fox 5 DC
I will be appearing on TV tomorrow, via Skype, on Fox 5 DC. Those not in DC can stream it live on MyFoxDC.com. My segment is scheduled for 9:15am.
Logo of the Fox Broadcasting Company (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The topic? Apps for paranoid parents, which I wrote about for Parents.com here.
Again, to watch me, Brett Singer, in all my DaddyTips glory, visit MyFoxDC.com tomorrow, Friday March 13, around 9:15am and click on the “Watch Live” link.
Vaccination Nation Continues
File this under “things that shouldn’t be a debate but are.” With no medical or scientific evidence to support a link between vaccines and certain undesirable medical conditions such as autism, many parents insist that they know better. Or at least that someone else knows better. (Usually it’s someone on the Internet.)
The making of a DNA vaccine. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Many parents are asking doctors to “spread out” the vaccines that their children receive, according to the L.A. Times.
Personally I don’t know if spreading out the vaccines is such a terrible thing, but according to the L.A. Times, citing an article in the journal Pediatrics, “87% of the doctors [surveyed] agreed that when parents delay some or all of these vaccines, they are putting their children at risk of being sickened by a preventable disease.”
In spite of their concerns, many doctors are doing it anyway.
So. To sum up. Most doctors (in a particular survey, at least) think that spreading out vaccines is dangerous. But if a parent is noodgy enough, they’ll do it anyway.
This is not good medicine. I’m not saying that doctors are always right. Far from it. (Oy, the stories I could tell you.) But if a doctor truly believes, based on all of the information available to them, that their patients, who in this case are children under 2 years old and therefore can’t decide for themselves, should be vaccinated in a particular way, they should not be swayed by a parent who complains loudly enough.
Other doctors are taking a hard line on the issue, refusing to treat children who have not been vaccinated.
Considering that measles is making a comeback (see the Related articles links below), and that Rand Paul and other politicians have made anti-vaccination a political issue as well as a medical one, I think it’s safe to say that this issue won’t be going away anytime soon. Which is annoying because, to the best of my knowledge, the entire anti-vaccine campaign (such as it is) dates to the Lancet study which was shown to be COMPLETELY WRONG in 2010. (More on that here if you’re interested.) And yet, five years later, we’re still talking about it.
Grrr.
As I said before — zero deaths. That’s the goal. And it’s an achievable one. How? Science! Cue music.
Doctors often delay vaccines for children to appease parents – LA Times.
Related articles (Note: Some of these are offsite links; DaddyTips takes no responsibility for outside content.)
Mike Francesa Says Parents Should Relax About Fandom
Remember when I wrote about raising kids to be fans of perpetually bad sports teams? (If not, I helpfully linked to the article for you. I’ll expect a thank you note in the mail.) Today on WFAN, Mike Francesa took a caller to task about the same issue. Basically, he told the caller, a father and fan of the Jets (I think it was the Jets) that parents should relax about fandom.
(Note: the image above has nothing to do with the story except that it is a sports image, and neither person appears to be relaxed.)
The WFAN host’s point, which I basically agree with, is that people take this whole “I’m raising my kid to be a fan of a perpetually bad sports team” thing much too seriously. Or, as Aaron Rodgers put it — RELAX.
Francesa went on to describe some of the favorite Yankee teams of his childhood, which he described as not being very good but he loved them anyway.
I am also a Yankee fan, and here’s where I have to respectfully… not exactly disagree with Mr. Francesa, but add to his point. When the Yankees lose, it doesn’t hurt the way it does when the Mets lose. The same is true for the Giants and the Jets. Even when the Jets WIN, fans find it painful. The first two years that Mark Sanchez was the Jets’ starting quarterback, which were also the first two years’ of Rex Ryan’s tenure as head coach, they made it to the AFC Championship Game. That’s one game away from the Super Bowl. I watched those games, and the ones that preceded it, with a lifelong Jets fan. You know what? Even the games they won, I could feel the tension. There’s always a sense that something bad will happen. I don’t know why, but I’ve seen it firsthand and discussed it with other Jets fans. They agree. Barring another Super Bowl win (and it is worth noting that the Jets at least HAVE a Super Bowl win in their history, something many other NFL teams do not), I don’t know that it will ever not be at least a little bit painful to be a fan of the Jets.
Does that mean raising your kid to be a Jets fan is somehow bad parenting? Of course not. That’s silly. In my experience kids pick up on fandom naturally — if you’re a Jet(s fan) you’re a Jet(s fan) all the way, and your kids prob’ly will be the exact same way.
Related articles (Note: Some of these are offsite links; DaddyTips takes no responsibility for outside content.)
OMG Rand Paul – UPDATED
I hate politics. I hate writing about politics. It leads to nothing good… for me. But this CNBC Rand Paul interview hit me too hard for me to keep my mouth shut.
English: United States Senate candidate , at a town hall meeting in Louisville, . (Photo credit: Gage Skidmore / Wikipedia)
2/3/15 UPDATE: Vox.com points out that Dr. Paul’s statements regarding autism and vaccines are “even more bogus than you think.” Original post is below.
It started with this gif:
Gif of @SenRandPaul to @CNBC‘s @Kelly_Evans: “Shhh … Quiet — calm down a bit here, Kelly.” http://t.co/s5ljtYzsiN pic.twitter.com/ESj5sbvhrO
— Eric Bradner (@ericbradner) February 2, 2015
Shush you silly woman! The man is talking!
Now for the interview itself.
Paul tries to have it both ways about vaccines. This is not atypical of politicians on either side of the aisle. In fact, he says something that as far as I know is perfectly reasonable, which is the idea of spreading out vaccines instead of giving them all at once. OK. Sure. Why not?
But then he perpetuates the notion that vaccines are the sole cause of “normal children” (his words) turning into, well, I guess not normal children, because of vaccines. That puts him into the excellent company of Jenny McCarthy, MD. (Note: Jenny McCarthy is not a doctor. Rand Paul is.)
Then there’s this gem, which I haven’t seen anyone bloviate about yet, so let me be the first.
“The state doesn’t own your children. Parents own the children.”
Excuse me? “OWN?” I OWN my children? Am I missing something? I’m responsible for my children. But they are not, to the best of my knowledge, a thing that I own, like my television.
This is the song that comes to mind. It is called Politicians by a band called The Exploited. I’ll skip to the chorus.
Defensive? Sen. Rand Paul on voluntary vaccines – CNBC (Video)
Related articles (Note: Some of these are offsite links; DaddyTips takes no responsibility for outside content.)
End of Game Super Bowl Fight Totally Classless
I don’t use words like classless often, because the word is judgy in a way that I don’t like to be. I’m not against being judgmental; I’ve said many times that accusing someone of being judgmental is, in fact, judgmental. But what happened at the end of the Super Bowl tonight was absolutely classless.
The San Francisco 49ers’ Super Bowl XXIX trophy on display at the 49ers’ Family Day at Candlestick Park. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Seattle Seahawks had lost the game, largely due to what basically everyone is referring to as the #WorstCallEver. (For those who weren’t watching, that refers to throwing a pass that was intercepted by Malcolm Butler instead of giving the ball to Marshawn Lynch at the goal line.) The Patriots were backed up into their own end zone, trying to avoid a safety, which would have given the Seahawks one last chance to win. The ‘Hawks jumped offsides, the Pats got five yards, and were a kneeldown away from victory.
Then this happened.
That’s just not cool. I’m sure the players were pissed off. They lost the Super Bowl. I’m not going to pretend I know what that feels like; I have one career sack and it was in high school during the Junior/Senior football game. (For the record, sacking the quarterback was really fun.) There are hamsters with more athletic ability than I do. Hell, there may be pieces of furniture with more athletic ability than me. But if by some chance I ever found myself on the losing end of a big game, even the biggest of all big games, I really, truly hope that I would show more class than these guys did. Good sportsmanship.
What does this have to do with parenting? Kids watch these games. Much like I prefer to avoid using the word classless, I also mislike the phrase “think of the children.” But here, I’ll say it. It’s not about being a role model. It’s about not acting like a big baby when you lose. Not throwing punches. No temper tantrums. Behave yourselves, guys.
For the record, here is a tweet from Seahawks star player Richard Sherman.
Thank you God for giving us the opportunity…. That's all you can ask for….Thank you everyone for the support all year
— Richard Sherman (@RSherman_25) February 2, 2015
See? That’s classy. And Sherman was far from happy. Can I get a gif? Yes. Yes I can.
Super Bowl Fight! Super Bowl Fight! (Gawker)
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Cool Space Images of Saturn
In our ongoing effort to get more excited about space, here is a link to some cool space images of Saturn.
(This isn’t a picture of real space travel. It’s Captain Video and His Video Rangers. Old TV show.)
This quote from writer Jesus Diaz sums it up nicely:
I don’t know about you, but all these photos taken by a camera 746 million miles (1.2 billion kilometers) away from us blow me away.
Two-mile-high structures rising on Saturn’s rings. (via Sploid)
