The PKTR Show's 50th Podcast!!

Tune in to our 50th show of Parents and Kids Talk Radio on Saturday, June 22, 2013 at 2:00 pm (ET).

But before then...

We want you to enjoy this show as much as we do. Send us an email or comment below with your own topic ideas - we're always open to suggestions.

Also, if you see a great article that you think may interest us, send us the link and we might talk about it during our "Idle Chit Chat" segment!

We can't wait. So, whether you're setting a reminder through Siri, hand-writing the date in a calendar, or merely relying on your memory, we hope that you'll join us and have fun (and maybe even learn a thing or two).

Has It Really Been Two Years??

Reviewing all of our earlier shows and show notes, we chuckled when we watched what, to us, is now a classic.

In honor of the two year anniversary of our posting it on this blog, we're rerunning it for you today.

We hope you enjoy it as much as we did:

Ready 2 Rumble on Wii

Do you like boxing in video games? Have you ever done boxing on Nintendo's Wii? If not, we have a game you should check out.

Ready 2 Rumble (Wii) is a fun, invigorating game that is best described as an extremely buffed-up Wii Sports boxing. There are multiple moves, such as the uppercut, hook, jab, etc. There are also heavy versions of all the punches too, which makes it fun to really smash the opponent.

The characters can range from funny to seriously tough.

There are some real people-- Shaun White, Jon Travolta-- while there are some not real people that you create in championship mode. In championship mode you create your own boxer, but that guy starts out as the worst boxer possible-- 1/100 strength, 1/100 punch speed, 1/100 agility, etc.

You build up your strength in training activities-- hit the mitt, speed bag, medicine ball, jump rope, and others. The only downside to this championship mode is that many of the training levels do not read your movements with the Wii remote, and it is extremely tough to build up that level. Also, if you already have something built up, let's say 98/100 strength, if you do something like jump rope that is very difficult, it lowers your strength, so you have to do a strength exercise again.

Also, beating the Gym level and the next cage are both fairly easy, but when you get to the next round, the game suddenly gets very tough.


That being said, multi-player is fun, because the other person, assuming they know how to play, should be better than a breeze or really tough match like the sporadic playing in championship mode. It is fun and sometimes even a brief workout to play someone else, especially if you're playing in an advanced arena, for then you have roaring fans and spouts of fire next to you when you walk out of the entrance gate.

Overall, Ready 2 Rumble has an enjoyable multi-player boxing, but in the single player modes, it seems the game-makers just tried too hard.

RATING (10 being the best): 5.7/10

Keep in mind: Older teens (and those looking for more challenging boxing than that found in Wii Sports) might like the precision required by the various punches, but younger kids will likely become frustrated. Our rating is based on that notion. Modify it for your kids' preferences.

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Here's a video trailer. Check it:



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Special thanks to Romeo Corsi and the folks at RocketXL for giving us a review copy of the game.

Clothes for Teens - PKTR #49

Abercrombie & Fitch.  What kind of reaction do you have when you read that name?  Something pleasant or a bit of a shudder?

We have some fairly strong opinions about the company and teen clothing generally.  Download this week's show to hear them.  

The PKTR hosts will also tell you about their new microphone, called the Snowball.  What do you think?  Might take a few adjustments before its full potential is realized...

We couldn't do a show this week without briefly mentioning the H1N1 flu virus, so if you're sick of hearing about it, just move to about 15 minutes into the show to bypass the discussion.  

That hand sanitizer that smells like freshly baked cookies?  Here you go.  You're welcome.

Ready 2 Rumble?  We tell you our initial impressions of the Wii game by the same name and will have a review coming soon!!

We're also eagerly anticipating the upcoming release (May 19) of EA Sports Active and tell you a little about it on the show.

Then, it's on to a discussion of road rallies and puzzle hunts.  Do you know what they are?  Do you have any great resources to share?  We'd appreciate it!

But enough of the idle chit chat...we have so much to say about clothing for teens and kids.  Do you buy Abercrombie clothes?  Do you proudly carry around their shopping bags?  If not, which stores do your kids prefer?  Has the Abercrombie craze jumped the shark?  Passed its prime?  Faded into oblivion?  

How about Hollister?  

Somehow, to the PKTR hosts, the folks at Hollister seem to get it right while the A&F staff are caught up in ego and pretense (despite their connection).

Finally, we wrap up the show with our favorite (for this week) iPhone/iPod Touch apps (including a brief mention of Twitter).  Here's the photo our happy tween host created with ColorSplash:

Thanks for listening!!

Wii Boxing - Get Ready 2 Rumble

We're getting ready to review a new Wii boxing game for teens and up.


Check it out here.



And here's the official website.

Stay tuned!

Kindle 2 and the Kindle iPhone App - PKTR 48

It's hot, it's cool, it's the talk of the town and we talked about it on Parents and Kids Talk Radio.

Kindle 1 (the first version)

Kindle 2 (compared to the hefty Story of Edgar Sawtelle)

What are we talking about? It's the Amazon's Kindle 2. In this show, the PKTR co-hosts tell you what they think of the Kindle Apple application for iPhones and the iPod Touch.

Want to listen or download it? Click here.

Here's the link to the Kojo Nnamdi show we mentioned several times...

And here's the link to Rob Pegoraro's article on the Washington Post site.

The Electric Company - PKTR 47

If you want to hear about a great new show for young kids learning to read, you'll want to download our first show of the year!

We'll tell you about the new show called, "The Electric Company."

Sound familiar?


Find out whether we talked about the same show that was on back in the 70s.  

Download our show and we'll let you know.

Then tune in again next Saturday to Blog Talk Radio's Parents and Kids Talk Radio at 2:00 pm (ET).

In the meantime, you can check out The Electric Company's new website here.

But first!!

We start the show with a discussion of the dog whisperer, Cesar Milan (pictured below), and an article he wrote this month, called "What Your Pet Can Teach You."  Good bits of wisdom to start off the year on a good foot (er, paw?).  Yuck, yuck (insert rimshot here).

The rest of the first half of the show is devoted to The Electric Company, then 30 minutes in, we'll tell you about our most recent favorite iGames (our way of more briefly saying games found in the iPhone/iPod touch applications store), including Scoops!

Thanks for listening!

Join us again next week on Parents and Kids Talk Radio.