Have entertainment system, will travel

EDITOR’S NOTE: As Wheels Deals focuses on the car ownership experience, we deemed it necessary to highlight one of the more engrossing new products that is steadily becoming standard amongst new vehicles these days – the audio/video entertainment system. As the guys behind the wheel, we barely use these things ourselves. But we’re amazed how engrossed kids can get when they indulge the entertainment systems from the backseat. It’s a vehicle feature meant strictly for the passengers. And the littlest of passengers are often the hardest to please. So what we did was ask our contributors who happen to be parents to share their thoughts on these fantastic new additions to our vehicles.

Ayvi Nicolas has, for the past eight years, lovingly nurtured her daughter Isis. Idealistic and fresh out of the academe (she taught professionally before writing professionally) when she joined The STAR, Ayvi has always been careful to feed her daughter’s mind with what she deems is the best for her intellectual growth. And it shows. Andy Leuterio, on the other hand, is our resident superhuman. An accomplished tri-athlete and possibly flown in by his parents to Earth from the planet Krypton, he has been a dad to his son Maxi for all of eight months. And as you can see after reading his contribution to this piece, already, he’s raising the world’s next super hero…

The fantastic entertainment system and those LCD screens in your cars or SUVs were put there for a reason. And one of the reasons is to keep your kids occupied on a long road trip. School’s out and the annual family vacation must be coming up in your calendar soon. If you’re opting to go on a road trip to somewhere fun, then now is a good time to hit the video stores, surf for downloadables or ask fellow parents for DVDs you could borrow.

In the challenge to be a competent, if not perfect, parent, one of the most intimidating dads I know is someone who has The Backyardigans and Lazy Town music CDs in his car and would not think twice about singing along. When his daughter is aboard, there’s no other soundtrack playing but the soundtrack of his daughter’s childhood.

So pack up enough of those shiny discs when hitting the road with your kids. A movie or a music CD just might be the thing that will save you from tantrums and in-car fights.

We like to encourage our kids to read books but children reading in a moving car for hours on end might not be a good idea. Here’s where an audiobook would come in handy. It’s like reading to your kids but you don’t have to do it yourself and often the narrators have this charming accent and perfect diction. So this time instead of a trip to the bookstore before your road trip, try looking around iTunes.

If you prefer the free stuff, mostly all classics of children’s literature have been made into audiobooks and are available to be downloaded for free. Check out www.kidsaudiobooks.co.uk and start from there. There are fables, nursery rhymes, and practically every well-loved classic children’s story.

Epic movies may sound like a good idea to bring on a long drive but road trips are often interspersed with quick breaks anyway. Having to pause the movie now and then would definitely take the thrill out of watching it. It’s hard to follow the plot and get into the flow of a long movie when it’s broken down by pee breaks. And sometimes, a really long movie would just make everyone feel like it’s really taking so long to get there. Besides, kids tend to fall in and out of sleep on long car rides making a movie not always the best solution.

But to keep kids from asking “are we there yet?” every five minutes, pop in a CD of their favorite, parent-approved cartoon show. Episodes last about 15 minutes so kids can fall in and out of sleep without really missing anything. On the other hand, the changing storylines make for good marathon watching. Outside of the cartoon show range, Pixar has a collection of its short films which are visually enchanting with storylines that make for great conversations with kids. Another great collection of shorts is the French produced “Miniscule” which is a series about insects that have fairly identifiable human personalities. The animation is colorful and whimsical and every episode provides a look into the behavior of insects and of people. The insects don’t talk here and so the show relies on music, actions and gestures and moments of silence to tell the story which is good for the designated driver of the moment who prefers to drive without the explosions in the background.

But it does not matter really what the volume level of your children’s shows is on, that’s what cheap earphones are for. One for every kid would do so you can have your peace while diving.

– AYVI NICOLAS

Movies for kids? Hmm.. that’s a trick question. Today’s world is tough and unforgiving, and while life is beautiful, I believe that kids these days need to know the facts of life. Transformers is out: not only is the acting horrible and the sound effects just deafening, I can’t abide by the subplot. In real life, the hero may get the slutty girl, but he might also get gonorrhea. Tsk tsk. I might recommend Star Trek, but somehow I dread the thought of having to endlessly explain to my kid the intricacies of parallel universes... something that confuses me to this day. Then there are the usual animated father-son/family flicks like The Incredibles, Lion King, and Finding Nemo which should flatter me as a father, but on a long road trip repeated viewings might make my kid hate me in the end. Those are best viewed in my son’s teen years when we have the expected quarrels and tampo.

Instead, here are my top three picks: excellent production values, storylines, acting, and powerful moral lessons you won’t see taught in the classroom.

Gladiator – I love this film so much I named my son after the hero: Maximus. If you don’t already know the story in this Ridley Scott film, famous, skillful Roman general looking forward to retirement on his farm is betrayed by the evil Emperor (who murdered his own father, gasp!). Maximus is stripped of his power, loses his family, and sinks to the level of the lowly gladiator. His fighting skills make him the ancient equivalent of Manny Pacquiao, while his leadership skills endear him to his fellow gladiators. In the end, he beats the Emperor in one last fight, and Pax Romana is restored. Oh yes, he dies. Now why oh why would I let my kid watch this? Because it would show him that in the old days real men didn’t go itching for a fight, but when pushed they fought like hell. Ain’t no punk gonna bully my kid, no sir. It would also show him that in a real fight, people bleed and often die. And my kid wouldn’t want that to happen to him, would he?

Black Hawk Down – A far superior film to that mockery of warriordom called G.I. Joe. Another Scott film, this recounts those terrible two days in 1993 in Somalia when a raid by American Special Forces on warlords resulted in scores of dead and wounded on both sides. Perfect for any kid who fantasizes about the “glory” of soldiering and blowing things up, this is one, gory reality check. Anyone who can stand that scene where Corporal Jamie Smith slowly dies from a blown artery probably has what it takes to actually enlist in the Armed Forces one day. Everyone else will just have a newfound respect for our underappreciated soldiers. Yes, they were Americans, but our own warriors go through some pretty tough crap down South while we sip lattes and wait in line for iPads. I also like that it demonstrates the power of “brotherhood”. When the sh*t hits the fan, the soldiers (who were just a bunch of young adults barely out of their teens) have no one else but themselves to rely on. Now that’s real friendship.

Boewulf – What, another war movie? Relax... it’s animated. Kids like cartoons, right? This lovely take on the Anglo-Saxon epic takes a lot of liberties with the original story, but anybody who had to struggle with the book in High School won’t mind. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, the story of Boewulf takes the form of a parable: glory-loving warrior takes on the monster Grendel and inherits the throne, but in so doing falls under the corrupting influence of Grendel’s mother. In the end, Boewulf must sacrifice himself in order to atone for his sins, which literally take the form of a dragon sired by himself and Grendel’s mother. The moral of the story? Power corrupts, and glory is fleeting. “Son, stop trying to be a hero and just be a good person. You’ll be more of a hero than that punk windbag who’s always trying to impress the girls.” There’s one awkward PG-13 scene between Boewulf and Grendel’s mother (played by a nekkid Angelina Jolie), but you know what, that’s what the Fast Forward button is for.

Also for consideration: Dark Knight (“the end does not justify the means”), Red Cliff (“brains over brawn”), and, okay... Return of the Jedi (“redemption and triumph over Evil”)

– ANDY LEUTERIO