the Wry Baby Blog

You can keep your pleading, drivers licence-less, hot dog-less, puppy-less, sleep deprived pigeons. The funnest kids book out there (and I mean WAY out there) is Who Needs Donuts by Mark Alan Stamaty.

The 1973 story of a youth who leaves home to pursue his love of donut collecting to find an older seedier hippie version of his future self only to lose his new found mentor to love. And then he rescues a homeless woman living in a coffee factory…look, the plot works when coupled with the extra detailed ink doodles that only a madman can throw together. Trains coming out of a brownstones upper floor windows. Abe Lincoln with donuts on his head…okay, you’ll just have to either take our word for it and spring for the pretty hardcover rerelease (just $11.53 at Amazon) or go to randsinrepose to read a great 2003 email interview with Mr. Stamaty (coincides with the rerelease of his book).

OMG. Keep saying this when you read this book - “Every blade of grass. Every blade of grass. Every blad of grass. Every blade of grass. Every blade of grass. Every blad of grass. Every blade of grass. Every blade of grass. Every blad of grass. Every blade of grass. Every blade of grass. Every blad of grass. Every blade of grass. Every blade of grass. Every blad of grass. Every blade of grass. Every blade of grass. Every blad of grass.”

This song is really, really, strange. I can’t tell if it’s the meanest song ever, the worst song ever or the funniest song ever.

Here are the lyrics in case you don’t believe your ear holes:

The girl that I intend to wed,
Just bought a gift for me and said,
“I bought this ’specially,
For all your friends to see.
Open it up, go ahead.”
“Aw-oh, that’s awful swell,” I said.

I kissed her on the cheek and then.
Began to read the note within.
“In these you’ll look real smart.
Because they match your heart.”
And so I took ‘em out,
Clown shoes!
Oh, what’s it all about?

Oh, no, not clown shoes!
[ Find more Lyrics at www.mp3lyrics.org/pIxd ]
Maybe I’m in for some mighty bad news.

She laughed at me,
And called my name.
And all my friends,
They did the same.
Thought she was sweet and swell.
And look how hard I fell.

And now, I know I was wrong.
So I’ll go and put my clown shoes on.
So I’ll go and put my clown shoes on.
So I’ll go and put my clown shoes on.

[Written by: James M. Smith
Performed by: Johnny Burnette-1961
Appears on: The Best of Johnny Burnette-1992, Original Johnny Burnette-1998,
25 Greatest Hits-1999, Johnny Burnette Sings & The Johnny Burnette Story
(Double Album)-2003, et al.]

I’ve so got pirates on the brain. It all started when Cost Plus World Market asked us to design some fun hooded towels. We did a Princess towel for the little ladies and the funnest ever pirate hooded towel for little buccaneers. Now my world is all piratey!!!

I recently found that coolest Pirates of the Caribbean vinyl figure, the worlds worst pirate accessory and now, the world’s best pirate haberdashery! Captain Jack’s Pirate Hats are the best pirate hat replicas you’ll find this side of Port Royal. For how crazily well-crafted these hats are, they come in a huge number of styles. Most of his pirate hats are handcrafted from wool felt and treated with either acrylic (a dull matte finish) or an oil/wax treatment (for maximum weatherproofing), but there are also cashmere, straw and sea grass styles to choose from. Ahh, but that’s not the only reason we’re obsessed with Captain Jack’s Pirate hats.

These exquisite hat stands are also available to display your awesome pirate prize! Ranging from $175 to $325, they are every bit worth the booty in their attention to concept and detail. Guess what’s going on wrybabydave’s Christmas list this year?

And while Captain Jack’s flippin’ awesome pirate hats will make an excellent gift for Dave and Dad, why not let all adventurers in your family play pirates with our Pirate hooded towel? Captain Jacks hats can be found at captjackspiratehats.com and they range from the insanely acheivable $80 to the super fancy $225 (with lots of choices in between). Our pirate baby hooded towels at Cost Plus World Market for just $19.99.

Walt Disney is our #1 influence over here at the fun baby clothes fun factory. And I’m the first to snap up any piece of ephemera that pays proper tribute to the imagination and attention to detail he put into every inch of our favorite of his creations, Disneyland.

The best part? This puppy is 16″ tall! The bestest part? Although it’s amazingly detailed, there are two points of articulation and the sword in his chest is removable!! Only 250 made and this news is at least a week old, so’s I don’t know how I managed to score one.

I came across this vinyl tribute to the classic Disneyland attraction while doing my monthly blog visit to Vinyl Pulse (I always wanted to make a Mysterio Predicts vinyl figure!). I snapped up the Black Gold version pictured above as it was the only one available from Span of Sunset.

And apparently there are (were? Will be?) others! I need to put on a Drooly Bib to contemplate owning them all.

Span of Sunset also has this Pirates figure, it’s based on Shag’s Disneyland drawings. It’s cute!

Got Pirates on the brain? Don’t forget to pick up Wry Baby’s fun Pirate hooded towel & washcloth set for the Holidays. Made exclusively for Cost Plus World Market by the fun loving folks at Wry Baby!

Wry Baby Pirate towel only $19.99 here. Fun Wry Baby Pirate washcloth set only $14.99 here.

Who could resist?

Okay, you can probably guess who we’re behind today, but we try to be even handed in our funny baby clothing offerings none the less. We’re the ones with the Totally Non-Partisan baby snapsuits, remember? We’re also the people that brought the Fightin’ Democrats and the Rowdy Republican tees to your local Barney’s NY. But, politics aside, I found this very funny (albeit politically themed) update of the classic Budweiser “Wassup” spot. Having an extensive advertising background, I found this to be hilarious on a lot of levels (even comparing it to the original, which it follows almost shot for shot). Take a look, have a laugh and go vote for who you like. True. True.

BEFORE:

AFTER

Wry Baby friend and past partner in advertising crimes, Andrew Tonkin, just reminded me of the Super Friends Wassup spoof that appeared shortly after the original Bud spot aired. Also very hilarity.

SUPER FRIENDS WASSUP

File this under: Apropos of Nothing.

Growing up in the O.C., doing a stint at The Art Center in Pasadena and finally enjoying a rich advertising career in San Francisco has made me no stranger to the most unpredictable of natural occurrences - earthquakes. Like everyone else in California waiting for “the Big One” to arrive, I learned to live not in constant terror (that would be exhausting!), but instead to laugh about the eventuality of this scary phenomenon. In the early 80’s there was a song by The Little Girls that pretty much sums up the attitude of those living in a place that’s marked for calamity. The Earthquake Song’s pretty dark, but it’s also super clever as all get out and, heck, it’s almost Halloween, right? So scary fits. While earthquakes themselves are terrifyingly un-funny (Wry Baby does not support them), this is a great example of the smiley face that Californians are so good at putting on, well, everything. Enjoy this rare video of The Little Girls performing the Earthquake Song.

Like it? Buy it here on iTunes. Best heard from under a desk or table, in a door frame or cowaring helplessly in a bathroom.

I just returned from Sav-On Drugstore on Chapman Avenue in the O.C. in 1977 to tell you that time travel is a reality, Friends. It’s a reality and you can do it TODAY! Just sit in a comfy chair, turn on your computing machine and point your internet browsing apparatus to this collection of Halloween make-up goodies from the late 1970’s. And WOOSH! You’re standing in the Halloween aisle surveying a sea of costume choices!

OMG. The hand drawn type and loosey goosey drawings of a designer who knows how lucky they are to be doing the packaging for kids Halloween accessories.

This is just a tiny sample of the amazing collection brought to us by the Tick Tock Toys Archive (via scarstuff.com). An incredible source of vintage packaging, cereal premiums and a jillion other gems from a time when companies knew how to have a relationship with their kid customers.

The guys who run the TIck Tock Toy Archive also wrote one of my favorite design books, KRAZY KIDS FOOD! It’s the bible of retro fun in food packaging through the ages and a must-have for anyone who designs fun for a living (like us).

Not to sound like an old Grandpa, but this is exactly what’s missing from the world of fun kids stuff. FUN! There was such a joy that went into packaging these cheap Halloween make-up kits that’s missing completely from the Halloween offerings of today. I mean, look at what you get now…

When did companies decide to suck the fun out of everything? The joy of Wry Baby has always been making fun from anything and everything. From the lowly burp cloth set to a Super Snapsuit you can wear every day, we try to pump some joie de vivre into whatever we touch. Because life is too short to do otherwise. Right?!

Spoofing the mid-eighties shmalt-fest “Do They Know It’s Christmas”, this song features the likes of Beck, guys from Arcade Fire, Fiest, Roky Erikson, Chris Murphy of Sloan…OMG, it’s like they grabbed everyone within 5 miles of the studio and let ‘em play. But the best part, my friends, is at 01:48 where our favorite comedian, David Cross, gets a solo. Simply hilarious. Here’s the video that’s as wonderfully, stylistically fragmented as the song itself.

Like the Christmas version they’re riffing, proceeds from this 2005 Halloween gem also went to charity – UNICEF. And because I loves him so, here’s a bonus vid of David Cross’ appearance on televisions long gone Just Shoot Me where he plays “Donnie”, a man pretending to be mentally handicapped so his family will continue to support him. It’s short, but it’s the best part of his shtick.