Male Faeries (Er, “Sparrow Men”) Now Welcome in Pixie Hollow

Man, it didn’t even occur to me that one couldn’t create a male avatar in Disney’s Pixie Hollow site. But apparently, kids have been finding a way around this problem for a while. From Salon:

The open secret around the Hollow has long been that if you make your fairy tall, with short hair, and give her an ambiguous name like Jamie, she can pretty quickly establish a reputation as a he. Hey, Mom and Dad, we’ve got your rigid gender roles right here.

Yup, I’m sure some of my transgendered friends can tell you similar stories from the “real world.”

I suppose we shouldn’t find it surprising that the male faeries aren’t called faeries at all: They’re “Sparrow Men.” I don’t even know where to start here. Should we begin with a reference to the undeniably-fey Jack Sparrow, or with musings over the fact that somehow they seem to young to be called men?

And why does this even matter? Well, Salon’s got a few good words here too:

It’s pretty clear that [the male faerie avatar] will serve mainly as somebody else for little girls to dress up, a token boy in a flower-festooned pixie land. But his mere presence gives every kid the option of deciding for herself – and himself – their roles in that world. The fact that when young visitors create characters now they’re presented with both a female and a male avatar and prompted to “please pick one” is a big deal for a generation that’s going to grow up spending a portion of its life online. It says that there are choices.

Hat tip: BoingBoing.

Jentasmic!: The Lost Experience

I don’t want Lost to end! And now I want Disney’s Hollywood Studios to build an attraction for me.

Fans of the television show are excited about the finale coming up next  month, on May 23. Of course, shortly after that date, we will fall into a collective heap of melancholia, hardly able to get up off the couch to change channels, disappointed that neither FlashForward nor V seems to be capturing our attention to the degree that ABC had hoped.

Now, there’s more to life than television, right? So we should get ourselves out of the house and interact with the real world, you tell me? Maybe. But just in case that plan backfires, how about setting up a new attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios? After all, American Idol’s got one, and it’s not even on a Disney-owned network.

Head on over to StudiosCentral to read the rest…

Jentasmic: Open Letter to a WDW First-Timer

A couple of my West coast family members are meeting me at Walt Disney World this summer! I’m so excited! They’re big time Disneyland fans, but Walt Disney World is sufficiently different that I feel I have an excuse to ramble about the things a first time Walt Disney World visitor needs to know. Hence, this week’s Jentasmic! column at StudiosCentral.

The main point is the attractions, right? The rides? Well, we’ve got a lot of them. Some have counterparts on the West Coast, and in most cases I must say yours is often better. I’m not even sure I should go on Pirates of the Caribbean with you, as you may laugh yourself silly over how much shorter the ride is, and the fact that we don’t have a Blue Bayou to enjoy. Good thing our Haunted Mansion was recently updated, or that would be embarassing too. Oh, and please don’t try to take the gun out of the holster at Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. You’d need a screwdriver, at a minimum.

But we do have some pretty awesome attractions you haven’t seen elsewhere. Rock n’ Roller Coaster is superb. Expedition Everest and Kilamanjaro Safaris are cool, so we’ll have to spend some time at my son’s least-favorite park (Animal Kingdom). Spaceship Earth, if you can let go and enjoy the campy goodness. And of course, we’ve got equivalent versions of many of your favorite Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure attractions.

But much of the awesomeness of Walt Disney World comes from its size, and the themeing, pavillions, restaurants, and other experiences there simply isn’t room for at the West Coast location.

Head on over to Studios Central to read the rest and leave suggestions to welcome these West coasters to our World!

The Family That Geeks Together at Anime Boston

The Anime Boston Con Chowder blog has a nice little piece about the panel I co-presented with my spouse and child yesterday.

(I’m mobile blogging this from my Droid….let’s hope the link works!)

In Soviet Russia….

One of the wonderful things about having a teenage child? When you’re too busy to read lolcats, they send you the highlights!

And it’s pretty darn good timing for a Kingdom Hearts reference, actually. I’ll be spending the weekend at Anime Boston 2010, and kicking off the event by hosting a panel with my spouse and child, titled “The Family That Geeks Together, Keeps Together.”  If you’ll be there, swing by our panel! Or just watch for a middle-aged chick with black rhinestone-studded glasses and short bleached blonde hair, maybe carrying a Totoro backpack or wearing a Death Note t-shirt. Chances are darn good it’s me.