Saturday, July 11, 2009

Play is King

Hidden within the whirlwind of coverage on the death and life of Michael Jackson, is a very sad truth. He was never allowed a childhood and the results were disastrous in terms of his development. He is a tragic figure because of the incredible juxtaposition of his stellar professional life and his pathetic personal life.

Robert Holden wrote in his book Laughter the Best Medicine, "Play is the ideal preparation for life. As a child, play is at once both frivolously fun and profoundly serious. Early childhood is an adventure of discovery. Play is a form of learning. The child who does not play, therefore, or who is not allowed to play, runs the risk of a serious setback in life. This setback will manifest itself physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually."

Michael Jackson was forced to sacrifice his crucial developmental, formative years, when play helps to mold a child's self-esteem and build life skills, for highly regimented, structured work. Rehearse, perform, promote, rehearse, perform, promote. He was told to be an adult at 5.

Here's an excerpt from his interview with Oprah in 1993:
Michael: I would do my schooling which was three hours with a tutor and right after that I would go to the recording studio and record, and I'd record for hours and hours until it's time to go to sleep. And I remember going to the record studio and there was a park across the street and I'd see all the children playing and I would cry because it would make me sad that I would have to work instead.

Oprah: Was there ever a place where - because you know children - because I remember talking to myself and playing with my dolls - was there...and I think every child needs a place to escape into, a child's world, a child's imagination, was there ever a time you could do that?

Michael: No. And that is why I think because I didn't have it then, I compensate for that. People wonder why I always have children around, because I find the thing that I never had through them, you know Disneyland, amusement parks, arcade games. I adore all that stuff because when I was little it was always work, work, work from one concert to the next. If it wasn't a concert it was the recording studio, if it wasn't that it was TV shows or picture sessions. There was always something to do.

Oprah: Did you feel - Smokey Robinson said this about you, and you have so many other people, that you were like an old soul in a little body.

Michael: I remember hearing that all the time when I was little. They used to call me a 45 year-old midget wherever I went. I just used to hear that and wherever I went...just like when some people said when you were little and you started to sing did you know you were that good? And I say I never thought about it, I just did it and it came out. I never thought about it really.

Oprah: So here you were, Michael Jackson, you all had hits, you all had so many hits - four hits in a row - and you were crying because you couldn't be like other kids.

Michael: Well, I loved show business and I still love show business, but then there are times you just want to play and have some fun and that part did make me sad. I remember one time we were getting ready to go to South America and everything was packed up and in the car ready to go and I hid and I was crying because I really did not want to go, I wanted to play. I did not want to go.
Studies show that play deprivation can cause kids to grow into anxious, maladjusted adults. Is there any better description for the off-stage Michael Jackson? Has there ever been anyone so pathetically consumed with capturing a lost childhood? Anyone more stunted in their development?

Lack of play is not the only contributing factor to Michael Jackson's sad story. His father, Joseph Jackson admitted in a 2003 interview with the BBC that he whipped his son as a child. Michael was teased about is appearance, bullied by his father, forced to perform music in strip clubs, etc., etc., etc. He was abused and deprived of play. It's important to distinguish highly beneficial unstructured play with "playing baseball year round when you're 10 years old, so you can make the big leagues" or "playing music every day for 3 hours so you can make it on The Ed Sullivan Show." Kids forced to play out their parent's fantasies and live up to their parents unrelenting expectations think that their only worth comes from performing the task their parents tell them to do. Do you think Michael Jackson, who was addicted to plastic surgery, suffered personally from lack of self-esteem? Was there anyone more comfortable on-stage and any more awkward and stunted off it?

For young children, play is king. That alluded the king of pop with tragic consequences. A more poignant cautionary tale would be hard to find.

Monday, July 6, 2009

Cool New Site for Game Reviews and More

A colleague of mine in the game business has launched a new site called The Game Aisle. Kim Vandenbroucke is a fellow game inventor who has worked with some of the biggies of the game business including Hasbro, Mattel, Pressman Toy, Winning Moves, RC2/Learning Curve, Cranium, Daddy-O and more. Stop by the site and you might even see a great review of Blurt!

Friday, July 3, 2009

More Play is in the Works

It's a year away, but Toy Story 3 is coming.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Blurt, Biltmore & Brilliant Sky

The Blurt tour continued last week with a few memorable stops along the way. I flew into Phoenix where it was 103 degrees with a slight breeze. Emphasis on slight. I spoke at the Arizona State Bar Convention on trademarks, copyrights, patents and trade secrets within the toy industry. It took place at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa, which was gorgeous. It was a fun presentation which was very well received. One attorney even told me that he'd been coming to the convention for 13 years and that it was the best presentation he'd ever heard there. Niiice.
The following day I went into KTAR radio in Phoenix to promote my Blurt signing later that day and got to meet one of my best friends in radio, Michael Dixon. Michael and I have been talking toys and playing games on air for nearly 20 years. We started on KMOX in St. Louis where Michael has a travel show. Over the years the topic of toys has taken us to KTAR and other stations across the country. Yet, with all that history, we'd never met in person. What a treat to meet a great man, whose work off the air is even more impressive than his resume. Oh, by the way, he also flies his own plane!
Next I headed to Brilliant Sky Toys & Books in Phoenix. What a cool store!
Live frogs, tons of open toys for kids to play with, gift wrapping, knowledgeable staff, etc. It's everything I love about specialty toy retailers. They welcomed me with open arms and the store got loud with people playing Blurt!

Several people who heard the interview on KTAR came in to say hello, and I played the game with some very sharp kids and their parents. My Blurt Play Experiment tallies are posted on the right hand column here on Seize the Play and the kids are doing very well for themselves. Below my new friend, Tyler defeated his Mom and got an autographed Blurt game to boot. Cool kid.
The tour continues, so look for Blurt, coming to a specialty toy store near you.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Recession Resistant Games Grab Our Attention

When our economy is down, sales of board games go up. Monopoly came out during the Depression and Trivial Pursuit hit it big during the recession of the early '80s. When people spend more time at home, they rediscover that there's fun just waiting to happen in their game closet. And it's not just the tried and true games that get played. People are discovering new games as well. According to the market-research firm NPD Group, board-game sales in the United States climbed 6 percent in 2008 to $794 million, while overall toy sales were down 3 percent.

This summer many of us on tighter budgets will take "staycations" at home and board games are a really inexpensive way to enjoy that time with family and friends. Compared to dinner and a movie, games are downright cheap. Last night we played Monopoly as a family and the game was more fun than I had remembered. My kids (13 and 10) loved it, and my wife, who is all about "nesting," thought is was great time. Probably because she won.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Father's Day Monopoly Game


We played Monopoly on our Monopoly rug for a Father's Day evening of fun and rent gouging. After an hour we decided to freeze the game until tomorrow night. Currently I'm getting smoked. Happy Father's Day everyone.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

A Father's Day Tale from Toyland


With Father's Day just around the corner, I thought I'd share one of my favorite tales from toyland. Here's the story of a designer Dad with a fun streak!

Robert Carrier came home from work one day in 1960 to see a most unusual sight. His 10-year-old son Mike and a friend had a hose running on their slick and painted Lakewood, California driveway, and both boys were sliding down it like otters.

Mike Carrier told me the tale when I interviewed him for my WHAM-O Super-Book. He said that he lived with his father and grandfather in 1961 and that his garage was carpeted so that he and his buddy could get a good running start. They’d take off in a sprint and hit this slick driveway and slide along until they almost reached the street...on their backs...on concrete! Mike's dad came home and said ‘Jeez, you guys are going to kill yourselves doing this,’ but Mike and his buddy were just a few kids, having a blast, oblivious to the danger.

Mike Carrier’s father just happened to be an upholsterer and to save his son from certain injury, he brought home a roll of Naugahyde and sewed together an ingenious contraption that used a garden hose to make a homemade water slide. The older Carrier looped one edge over a garden hose, sewed spaced stitches down the length of it and sewed the other end of it closed. When the water was turned on it filled the tube, and the resulting pressure forced the water out between the stitches, lubricating the slide’s surface. Viola! Instant Water slide. When Robert couldn’t get Mike and his friends off the slide and when more and more kids kept showing up to play, Robert knew he had a big idea.

Carrier contacted WHAM-O and in 1961 a deal was struck to bring the WHAM-O Slip ‘N Slide to the world. It was an immediate hit and remains today, 48 years later, one of WHAM-O’s most successful toys.

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