Bunchland

Gavin McInnes of streetcarnage.com is one of those dads who doesn’t want a present.

I asked my dad what he wanted for Father’s Day, and like all dads who never abandoned their children he said, “Nothing.” I insisted he must want something and he said, “I would be content in an abyss” before adding, “if there was a chair there, that would be great. If there was a six-pack, that would be good too, but an abyss is fine.” It made me wish I had one of those loser dads who was never around. They always want something.

I’ve been fascinated by deadbeat dads since I first came across one at age ten. My best pal Dale was sitting on his bed crying. His father had promised to take him fishing but had to bail due to some complicated story about a sick friend. “What are you crying about, Dale?” I asked incredulously. “You don’t have to hang out with your dad. That’s awesome!”  Read more...

This week’s Bunch Poll in the National Post

Ideas about fatherhood have changed pretty radically over the past few decades. Unless you live in the world of Real Housewives, dads are no longer the breadwinners who expect dinner to be ready when they step in the door after work. To use another TV analogy, it’s a progression from Mad Men’s Don Draper to Modern Family’s Phil Dunphy. So how do today’s dads feel they are different from their own fathers? We asked around to find out.

“It’s in the smallest moments that I realize how different, and how much the same, I am from my dad, as a dad. My daughter gets a splinter; I sit her down the same way my father did me, assemble the same tools, ape his bedside manner … and then fail to remove the sliver of wood from my her foot with calm expertise, as he would have. I think my generation has a deeper comfort with the language of emotion than our parents’ did -which is a great thing for our children -but also a greater resistance to fully embracing adulthood, which is what they’ll probably grow up to resent us for.”  Read more...

If you’re not on this list, you must be doing something right

Flavorpill’s rounded up who they deem to be the worst dads in cinematic history… and since their list includes domestic bullies, murderers, a pedophile and a Sith Lord, we’re not going to disagree with them. But bad dads can make for some pretty great films. Here are the fathers who most certainly do not know best:

1. Lt. Col. “Bull” Meechum in The Great Santini

2. Col. Frank Fitts in American Beauty

3. Dwight Hansen in This Boy’s Life

4. Humbert Humbert in Lolita (This doesn’t really count as a dad figure though, eh?)

5. Bill Maplewood in Happiness

For the rest of their list, and to see their rationale and some creepy clips of the bad dads, head over to Flavorpill.  Read more...

With the help of some fancy photo-editing tools

This is a superfast way to make a homemade card, or framed work of art for Dad. There are a number of ways to go about doing this, and depending on your computer software and photo-editing abilities, but we’ve just gone with the straight-up easiest.

You’ll need:

• A photo in .jpeg form (many web-based photo editing programs can grab photos straight from your Flickr or Facebook accounts)
• A printer
• A photo-editing program (if you don’t have Photoshop on your computer, there are a number of web-based alternatives.)
• Crayons

Steps:  Read more...

1. If you’re working in Photoshop, please check out this excellent video, or watch the one below.
2. If you’re not using Photoshop, pick a web-based program with built-in editing features like FotoFlexer.
3. Upload your image in FotoFlexer

For The Beer Aficionado Dad

Here at Bunch we love dads. Like, love them. And in many cases, these dads love beer.  It may be a no-brainer to give dad some of his favourite potent potables to enjoy for Father’s Day, but we were determined to make the plain ol’ six-pack a little more special. If beer isn’t something your dad is into, you can easily replace it with root beer or any other bottled beverage. This craft from Charlotte’s Fancy is an awesome idea on how to personalize the bottle labels and carrier.  The messages your kids write on each bottle can read almost like a love letter to the awesome dads out there.

You’ll need:

• six-pack of dad’s favourite bottled beverage
• blank paper
• colouring pencils or crayons
• scissors
• glue or double sided tape

Steps:

For the bottles –  Read more...

The perfect card for the secret agent dad

In this craft, everyday kitchen supplies are used to make some really cool science stuff happen. Specifically, your Father’s Day message will appear like magic. This great card idea comes to us from the good people at Kaboose.

You’ll need:

• One piece of white cardstock
• One teaspoon of lemon juice (can be fresh or from concentrate) OR one teaspoon of baking soda mixed with one teaspoon of water
• Small bowl
• Small paintbrush or Q-Tip
• One piece of colored cardstock, slightly larger than the white cardstock
• Gluestick
• Marker

Steps:

1. Place lemon juice (or baking soda and water mixture) in a small bowl  Read more...

This rock’n roll idea is way cool

This craft comes to us from and DIYFashion and is a great idea for dads who are into music. It also happens to be incredibly easy, quick, and cheap.  Once it’s finished, your vinyl bowl can be used to hold all kinds of stuff, from candy to the remote or other small gadgets.

You’ll need:

• A vinyl record (preferably one that Dad still isn’t listening to)
• Oven
• Oven mitts
• Cookie sheet
• Oven-safe bowl or pot

Steps:

1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees. It’s important the temperature is low and even.  The idea is to soften the record, not melt it.

2. Open a window and put a fan on. These records are made of a plastic material, so it can get kinda smelly.  Read more...