How To Draw The Grinch

How The Grinch Stole Canada Day ... in Washington, DC.

As this nation's capital battens down the hatches in benign preparation for the swarm of Maple Leaf-flag draped revelers that will fill the streets of Ottawa this Friday, Canadians living and working south of the border have found themselves abruptly, unexpectedly -- and, as far as anyone can tell, unprecedentedly -- uninvited to what was, until this year, one of the most keenly anticipated events on the local expat social calendar -- the annual July 1st festivities at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, DC.   Up until this year, the Embassy's Canada Day bash has been a come-one-come-all affair open to any and all DC-area Canadians and expats looking to celebrate Canada's birthday with like-minded compatriots. But according to a note sent out to hopeful celebrants earlier this week, it was "budget cutbacks across the Government of Canada ... led to the downscaling" of what is now being described as "the Canada Day networking event." "My youngest son got up and sang Oh! Canada with the former ambassador a couple of years ago." As far as he knows, he has always been on the event list -- he was invited to a hockey-watching party during the Vancouver Olympics, as well as Game 7 of this year's Stanley Cup Final, but even so, he apparently didn't make the cut for this year's Canada Day. "I'm really sad that they have not invited Canadians this year." Former Oshawa resident Steve Fenton noted that this would have been his first opportunity to experience Canada Day at the Embassy. "I was a bit dismayed to hear that they were restricting people this year, especially especially after hearing about the events being done in London, UK and LA.  Why does DC have to get the short end of the stick?" As for Los Angeles, while there are currently no plans for a Canada Day event at the consulate itself, members of Canadians Abroad are welcome to hobnob with "invited guests, celebrities and media" at a rooftop gala on Hollywood Boulevard -- an event that, at least in past years, has been subsidized and co-hosted by the consulate, according to past attendees.  Fenton is now considering throwing a counter-celebration in a nearby park, "in full view of the people who decided to have us not attend their party." If it goes forward, he promises, it will be an "actual party, not some ridiculous 5-minute protest for the benefit of the cameras as you sometimes see in DC" -- and "there would undoubtedly be humour involved.

grinch -The Grinch – Sing Your Heart Out! | Grinch - Best Prices ...

Grinch : The Grinch – Sing Your Heart Out! Features Game is the game of team-work, singing and surprising sleigh-rides The Grinch is out to steal the Whos gifts but your family can save the day Collect Who tiles and gifts with each player’s turn But watch out draw the wrong tile and the Grinch will steal the gifts back This game fosters cooperative play, encourages family connections, reinforces matching skills Awards include: Parents and apos Choice Gold Award, Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum and Gold Awards Game components: Mt.Crumpit mountain with slide and tree, electronic singing detector Sleigh, 12 gifts, 27 Who tiles, 36 song cards Other Awards: National Parenting Center Seal of Approval, iParenting Media Awards, Dr. Toy Top 10 Creative Toys Award

If it isn’t clear from the description, this card game is based on the Grinch, stealing of the Whoville gifts, and singing. There’s a “singing detector” and you need to sing loudly enough (and long enough) to trigger it. Okay, so there you have it.

For the simplicity (despite the electronic core of the game, it is simple) you actually have quite a fun game. The kids (nine years old) got a kick out of it. And we had a ball.

But there wasn’t a lot of interest in returning to the game again a couple days later. The novelty wore off very quickly. We’ll see if it returns…

Just to note, the kids love to sing anyway, know a fair number of songs, and especially like Christmas songs. The game is probably more interesting to younger children, so I’d especially recommend it for the 4-8 year olds.

The bottom line on this toy is that it worked inconsistently and erratically, causing undue frustration all around. I am of the mind that too many new games have jumped the shark in trying to be unique and interesting. This is one of them. I do like that the game is cooperative, in that all the players work together, rather than competitively, but unfortunately that well-meaning idea does not outweigh the serious flaws in this toy.

I bought this game on sale at the end of last year for a quarter of the price for which it is listed today. It was sitting in my closet of future birthday/holiday presents when my five year old son stumbled upon it and liberated it. We played it for the first time on Thanksgiving and my children (ages 11, 8, 5, and 4 years) had a blast. At first the 11-year old wanted no part of it, I’m sure because he deemed Dr. Seuss too babyish, but he couldn’t resist joining the fun once he saw the game in action. This is not a game I’d expect children to want to play every night, but mine have requested it most nights since they discovered it. Truth be told they play one or two rounds, which is plenty for everyone in the house as it does tend to get rather loud and scream-y rather than melodic. For what I paid it’s a fun game that brings them all together.

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