OyBabyBlog

Honey, Would You Mind Going to the Post Office?

Rob — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 05:59:00 +0000

Thanks for your continued business. This is us in the midst of the Hanukkah rush!

Rob and Lisi

It's not every day...

Rob — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 05:20:00 +0000

...that we get an order like this:

Sent from: Lima, Peru
Sent to: Knoxville, TN

It's a small world after all!

L'Shana Tovah

Rob — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 06:00:00 +0000

From our family to yours, a happy, healthy new year.

Happy "Talk Like a Pirate Day!"

Rob — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 18:07:00 +0000

As you prepare for Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur, let us not forget the lesser known holiday that falls each year on September 19, Talk Like a Pirate Day!

I'm lookin' at you, Alaska and West Virginia

Rob — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 06:26:16 +0000

OyBaby has shipped to customers in 48 states, and that just bugs me. Alaska, I understand that you've been holding out to be #49, but can you hurry up already and place an order? And you, West Virginia, what's your excuse?

Anyone need a Jewish baby gift sent to either of those states? Email us here at OyBaby World Headquarters and we'll send the first order to each of those states for free!

20,000 Jewish Babies Can't Be Wrong!

Rob — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 06:26:00 +0000

When Lisi and I started OyBaby in 2003, never in our wildest dreams did we imagine that we'd reach this point. Today, we're announcing total sales of 20,000 units of our DVDs and CDs for Jewish Babies. Thank you all for bringing us to this momentous milestone. None of it would have been possible without the word of mouth recommendations from our fantastic customers.

Many of you have written in to ask what's next for us. We're currently working with a few synagogues on some live shows over the next few months. If your synagogue or other organization is interested in sponsoring a concert for your community, please visit the "contact us" section of the OyBaby web site.

L'Shanah Tovah and all the best to you and your families.

Something To Blog About

Rob — Sat, 08 Apr 2006 20:53:00 +0000

Hello everyone. It's been far too long. I'm determined to start posting more regularly.

This just in from my hometown of Cleveland...The kids at Gross Schecter Day School love OyBaby products! Here's a letter sent to me by their Preschool Director:

Thank you so much for sending us the Oy Baby DVDs and CDs. We have watched them and listened to them over and over again. I’m sending a letter home to the parents of our students telling them of your generosity and kindness, sharing with them the love our children have for them and letting them know where they can be purchased in town or ordered online. Hope this helps your sales soar!

Even better, they included a picture of some of the kids from the school. I don't know of a company in the world with cuter customers than ours!

For your viewing pleasure...The OyBaby 2 Trailer!

Rob — Tue, 11 Oct 2005 07:10:00 +0000

Click here to watch the trailer!

A smaller version for slower connections

These files were encoded for Windows Media Format (will play on both a PC and Mac. If it does not play, try downloading the free player here.

Update: Yes, I know there are spelling errors in one of the songs. It was fixed in the final version.

OyBaby in The Seattle Post Intelligencer

Rob — Mon, 03 Oct 2005 05:53:00 +0000

OyBaby was featured on the front page of the Life and Arts section of The Seattle Post Intelligencer this weekend.

Click here to see the article, along with an unflattering picture of me!

I want YOUR kid in the video too!

Rob — Wed, 28 Sep 2005 02:45:00 +0000

In the credits sequence that ends the video, I plan to have a montage of children from across the world that have enjoyed OyBaby. It's my way of saying thank you for all of their support and encouragement along the way. The pictures will have captions that state the child's first name and home town. You can have the baby in your life included by simply sending a digital picture to info@oybaby.com. Be sure to include their first name and city + state or country.

Oregonian Article

Rob — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 06:03:00 +0000

As mentioned in the post below, we got some great ink in Portland's newspaper, The Oregonian. Here's an excerpt:

Rob and Lisi Wolf, parents of two, have one more kid-video challenge: how to instill in their children a love of Jewish symbols and melodies.

The couple from Mercer Island, Wash., turned to three singing sisters from Portland: Stephanie and Lisa Schneiderman and Kim Palumbis. Stephanie says she and Lisa are "full-time, involved aunts" to Kim's two children.

Stephanie produced the music. She, the Wolfs and others created a richly visual film that moves seamlessly from toddlers, entranced by the Sabbath table or colored balls, to photographs of a shofar and scrolls. From ocean waves breaking on a variety of beaches to splats of bright paint that illustrate the Hebrew names of colors. Bold black-and-white lines melt into actual silver candlesticks, crystal glasses, red wine and challah. Graphic stars pulse and fade from one brilliant color to another.

It's all set to beloved Jewish songs that recall fun summers at B'nai B'rith camp, rendered in beautiful harmonies that are easy on adult ears. Besides the jungle-infused version of "Zum Gali Gali," there's a jazzy "Eitz Chaim (Tree of Life)" and a rip-roaring children's chorus singing "Dayenu".

You can read the full article here.

You've heard the samples...now SEE some OyBaby 2 goodness!

Rob — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 15:41:00 +0000

As in the first OyBaby, one of our songs will feature the solo piano stylings of Tom Grant. I've tried to do justice the his musical beauty.

Watch a portion of L'Cha Dodi from OyBaby 2!

I encourage you to right-click (ctrl-click on a Mac) and save it to your desktop. You need Windows Media Player to watch the video. (You'll most likely have it on your computer already. If you don't, you can download it for free here)

What's Happnin'

Rob — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 05:36:00 +0000

Hey everyone...sorry it's been a while since I've posted to the blog. I have been Bizzz-y! Between the day job, family time, and keeping up with orders for our existing products, it's tough to get time to hunker down and focus on the sequel.

But then I realized that as long as I was willing to give up sleep, I'd have enough hours to fit it all in.

We had a great article written about us in Portland's newspaper, and expect one in a few weeks in the Seattle PI.

The sequel's coming along, slower than I expected, but I'm really pleased with what I've got so far.

Last time, I had 6 hours of footage to work with. This time? 27. I'm being alot more deliberate about what shots I want to get. The scenes will be more varied. I've filmed a few scenes twice, after getting back to the office and deciding that they didn't look quite right.

I feel myself getting better at videography as I log more hours behind the camera. It's hard to train yourself to see how the camera sees. Cameras accentuate shadows. They see colors differently under different kinds of light. Learning to trust the camera's viewfinder, and not "your lyin' eyes" is a real challenge.

With about 95% of the filming done, I've moved on to editing. I've got about 5 out of 15 songs done, and have been focusing on some of the more difficult ones first. I should be able to finish up editing in the next two weeks, get it off to the factory, and ready to order in the beginning of November.

Thanks for all of your continued support along the way.

R

Where Are They Now? Sophie

Rob — Sat, 03 Sep 2005 07:28:00 +0000

Sophie's looking forward to seeing you all in OyBaby 2. This time, she's bringing her sister along for the fun!

More screen shots

Rob — Mon, 15 Aug 2005 05:56:00 +0000

Click each image for a larger version. And yes...that's the same kid that was eating the challah last time!