Happy Birthday to my REAL Husband, Also Some Other Guy Whom I Spend Most Of the Post On Instead

[rockinlibrarian]

It's moments like these when I find my lack of Muppetty userpic disturbing. It happens remarkably frequently, and I've got three userpic slots to spare. You'd think I should go on a search for one or something, but I never get around to it. Also, if you're the type of person who makes userpics, I've always wanted one of William in Almost Famous doing his speech when he's like "I am NOT SWEET! AND I CAN BE VERY DANGEROUS TO EVERY ONE OF YOU!" which I could use whenever I'm being evil as a writer. Just saying. EDIT: And now thanks to the hilarious people who run the Muppets page on Facebook (who are you and how did you get so cool?) I have one. A Muppets userpic I mean. It's bound to be useful in MANY situations.

Anyway, it only seemed fair, seeing how I devoted twelve paragraphs of post to my Imaginary Husband's birthday the other week, that I should actually give a shout-out to the Real Thing on his Big Day. Not that he reads my blog. But it's still fair. Only, I can't devote a dozen paragraphs to him today because I have other things on my mind, other things that make for better blog posts, so now that I've gotten the obligatory acknowledgement of my proper spousal figure out of the way, let's move on to the International Holiday I Don't Know Why They Haven't Made Yet Of This Day.

Seriously, he revolutionized the art of puppetry. Stretched the boundaries of television. Created some of the most iconic fictional characters of the 20th century. And did it all in a way that celebrated Singing and Dancing and Making People Happy. It's JIM HENSON DAY, people. Whoever is in charge of making International Holidays, get on that, please.

I used to celebrate this day without fail, but for the past eleven Septembers there's been, I don't know, OTHER obligations that have perhaps dragged the spotlight away. You get distracted by that Real Life thing. But last night I felt the need to prove to Jason the huge extent of international versions of Sesame Street there are, and so grabbed my copy of 40 Years of Life on the Street to use as a visual aid.* So then I started READING that chapter, instead of just pointing to the pictures and being done with it, and the thought of all these people all over the world working together to bring education and delight to children everywhere made me all teary-eyed and I thought, "Whoa. If everyone in the world was into Sesame Street, there would be WORLD PEACE."

It's not so far off a theory. It's something that feels inherent in EVERY project Jim Henson was involved with. He was only one of the influences that has made Sesame Steet so great, to be fair; but it's true, the general undercurrent of Goodness is still there in the projects that AREN'T outright intended to teach children around the world. Even the ones with explosions every two minutes. You KNOW it's all in fun, somehow-- the humor is never cruel. And it somehow manages to work for all ages, without pandering to anybody. It is full of LOVE somehow.

And he outright SAID that his main goal in creating Fraggle Rock was to create a show that would inspire an end to war forever. (It might have worked if they'd showed it on regular network TV instead of a premium channel). It sounds crazy, but how can you NOT catch the love? It is so INSPIRING. Awhile back someone gave me a Fandom Meme Survey Thingy in which I was supposed to answer questions about three of my fandoms, and one of the questions was "Do you think that more people should get into this fandom?" Mostly I was like, "eh, no, not really, if they want to, whatever," but when I had to answer that question for "The Muppets," THIS, if you don't feel like clicking through, is what I said: "Yes. Yes yes yes. If more people joined the cult of Muppetdom, if more people were devoted to Singing and Dancing and Making People Happy, then there would be Peace on Earth.YES." And, fond of hyperbole as I am, I really meant that. I really FELT that. I still do.

Jim Henson is an incredibly inspiring man. I come very close to blasphemy when I speak of him. HE IS GOD-LIKE. MESSIANIC. Okay, he was human like anybody, true, but maybe not JUST like anybody. He was one of the Good People, though, of that there can be no doubt. He TRIED. He lived so as "to leave the world a bit better for having been here," and he succeeded, even if he couldn't ACTUALLY inspire world peace. And that is quite a lot of Something.

It's actually one of my greatest Completely Unattainable Life Goals (up there with playing Eponine in a Broadway production of Les Miserables, hanging out with any of my top five or so Literary Girl-Crushes, being a 19th century sailor, and marrying Martin Freeman) to Work for Jim Henson. That was the answer I came up with, actually, when faced with the writing prompt "Who from history would you most like to be?" the other month. I just want to work for that man, in that atmosphere of complete creativity and respect and fun and singing and dancing and making people happy. That would be the Greatest Job of All Time.

So I guess it's slightly less Unattainable to say that my Dream Job is to write for Sesame Steet. All it would take is for me to, you know, run off to New York City and GET said job. I COULD do it, if I didn't have two small children and a husband who doesn't even want to VISIT New York. But maybe someday. I just might.

--

*Here's what I wrote about the book in a locked post when I got it for Christmas the other year: [It's] one really awesome fun book off my list which I don’t think anyone else really understands how much I appreciate.... Are there REALLY more people out there who are JUST LIKE ME? Total adult Sesame Street Geeks? Honestly, we should form a club or something, since I assume they DIDN’T write the book with me, personally, in mind. I could have used it for a resource on my research paper in 11th grade, by the way (also, the book often cites resources I actually DID use in said research paper, which is awesome and makes me feel rather proud in retrospect, that I found all the best resources. Actually, one book I’m sort of amazed about today as a librarian—it was actually an in-depth look at my exact topic—ie, the Effects of Sesame Street on Early Childhood Education—WRITTEN by one of the head researchers for the Workshop, from 1974 and totally with that very specific audience in mind (ie, people like me researching the topic), and I just pulled it nonchalantly off the shelf of my high school library like of COURSE I would find a book on my topic there, duh. What the heck was such a narrowly-focused book from 1974 doing on the shelves of a not-particularly-large high school library in 1995 in the FIRST place? Not that I mind, of course, because it was exactly what I needed—I just can’t imagine it had been checked out by anyone else in 21 years, or the years since!). (by the way, if you’re reading this and wondering why I care so much, I will happily tell you all ABOUT the Effects of Sesame Street on Early Childhood Education all day if you’d like. Would you like? Best research topic EVER, although I did enjoy listening to pirate radio online for the pirate radio paper in my college Research Writing class, too). **
**Which brings us to the Book Recommendation Portion of Our Program. Do you know how much I LOVE my collection of big colorful Muppetty coffee table books? I have a bunch. Besides the Sesame Street one, I also have Of Muppets and Men (about the Muppet Show), No Strings Attached (about the Creature Shop), and perhaps my favorite nonfiction book of all time, Jim Henson: The Works which is everyone's Must Read Assignment of the day. It's also famous for being the book I kept longest overdue from the library ever. One of the reasons why I have my own copy now.

Comments

[punterschlagen.livejournal.com]

[Stupid recalcitrant IE, 3rd time I've tried to comment .___. ]

I found "The Works" in my early married life, and it does totally rock. I will have to find the other two you mentioned. I had a bit of a crush on Jim Henson after reading it, though I'm disillusioned with Sesame Street these days. At a garage sale, my mom found a VHS that somebody made of old-school SS and Mr. Rogers and I really enjoy watching the slower-paced, less-Elmo-more-Grover version. Speaking of Mr. Rogers (a children's television hero if there ever was one), you should watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjD3LtozAQk
I think all 9 parts are about 4-5 hours total, but I love how REAL he is - the on-screen persona and the real life Mr. Rogers are REALLY the same man. And he treats the interviewer (and anybody he ever MET) as Important and Special. Love this man.

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

(Wondered how people could go four days without ONCE commenting on a JIM HENSON ENTRY, so maybe it's not just you...)

I REALLY recommend the Sesame Street book-- the other two are Okay but not as WONDERFUL as that and The Works. It even comes with a DVD of the very first episode, which is fun. And if you get hold of the 40th Anniversary DVD set, too, that is LOTS of fun-- ALMOST all the best clips ever (it somehow does NOT have Grover singing the "around over under and through" song, but otherwise...)-- we've gotten it out of the library twice and I really need to just own it.

But I must say, the best way to get, er, re-illusioned with Sesame Street is to WATCH PRACTICALLY ANY OTHER KID SHOW ON TV. Well, PBS has a lot of other good ones, but across the board, S.S. is STILL one of THE best kids' shows on the air. Sometimes it helps to turn it off for the last 15 minutes if you want to avoid Elmo's World, but even there-- today this kid was like "This is my guinea pig.... He doesn't talk," which made me laugh-- but the REST of the show is still the most well-written and clever and fun thing. I have a soft spot for Abby's Flying Fairy School, and have you seen the SuperGrover 2.0 skits? Today's had me giggling rather sillily. Also, I totally got a One Book activity that I'm going to adapt off of Sesame Street today.

Mr. Rogers was incredible-- the man AND his show. It bugs me that QED doesn't even show it anymore. (We all had a special place in our heart for him at the Children's Museum!)

[punterschlagen.livejournal.com]

Maybe that's it - we don't watch TV, like, ever. (At least, ever since they took Mr. Rogers out of the slot right before SS. We mostly watch videos and stuff from the library.) Oh, Mr. Rogers is still on - on SATURDAYS at 6 IN THE MORNING. UUUUGGGGHHHHH. And you can watch full episodes on the PBS website - only the SAME 30 episodes ALL the TIME, never changing, out of the 7 gajillion the man made. UUUUUGGGGGGHHHHH again.

So I don't have much to compare it to, except my memory. It seems to me that the content was lower but the characters more mature "back in the day." Now it seems like they are doing above-kindergarten-level content (instead of preschool), but all the newer characters (Elmo, Baby Bear) are more toddler-like, which annoys me. I love it when I see some of the old segments that I remember from 30 years ago.

[One-two-three-FOUR-five, six-seven-eight-NINE-ten, eleven-TWE-eh-eh-eh-eh-eh-eh-ELVE!]

We did get the "Old School" SS first season on Netflix a while back. And it was all mysteriously labeled, like it wasn't appropriate for kids to watch anymore (well, in the very first episode Gordon does invite a little girl he never met before and who doesn't know him back to his apartment for milk and cookies - jeez.) Back when Oscar was MEAN instead of just eccentric in his likes and dislikes (didn't he used to call Elmo "Pink-Face?"). And Telly was NEUROTIC instead of just hesitant (he used to make ME nervous). And Snuffleupagus was ALLEGEDLY IMAGINARY. Now I know I'm getting curmudgeonly...
***
And speaking of children's shows from my youth, am I the only person in the whole world who remembers "Voyage of the Mimi?"

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

We've been mostly watching videos lately too, which is kind of annoying though, because the videos my kids have been picking ARE the not-nearly-as-awesome kids' shows from, like, Nick Jr and Disney Channel, which get old for grownups WAY quicker....

There's an interesting part in the 40 Years book where they talk about how the viewership of Sesame Street has changed over the years and how they've adjusted the show accordingly. Like, they found out that for some reason toddlers were more likely to watch the ENTIRE HOUR (whether or not the American Pediatrics people approve!) than preschoolers were, which is why they decided to move all the story-like What's Happening On the Street parts to the beginning and why Elmo's World takes up the whole end.

[One-two-three-FOUR-five, six-seven-eight-NINE-ten, eleven-TWE-eh-eh-eh-eh-eh-eh-ELVE!]
For some reason I sing this at my kids a LOT. That and "Ladybugs' Picnic." They were kind of amazed to finally see those clips!

There was a "may not be appropriate for today's kids" warning on the First Episode disc too (yeah, a bit overly friendly there, Gordon). My kids certainly LIKED that episode though. (That thing with the yellow dots-- that was SO COOL. Anyway). I was terrified of Telly early on, but I was terrified of most of the show so I may not count. (Mr. Rogers, speaking of, had the only children's television show I wasn't terrified of. Because seriously, how could you be).

Can't help you on the "Voyage of the Mimi" bit though.

[colliemommie.livejournal.com]

I found the "It's a Rainy Day" song on youtube; my mother has been singing the wrong words for 20+ years. Now my 2 1/2 y.o. has to sing it every single day it rains, which in southeastern VA happens a lot. I just love it.

[colliemommie.livejournal.com]

OMG the Neighborhood of Makebelieve exhibit at the Pittsburgh Children's Museum! I used to hope my parents would just happen to leave without me so I could live there with that...

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

Have you been to the new expanded Museum yet? There's a whole Mister Rogers room. It's got both an electric trolley and one you can sit IN, cardigans to put on, a player piano, Picture-Picture preloaded with four really interesting factory tour videos, and a fish tank and the stoplight. Fred Rogers worked WITH so many of the people up in the offices that the good stories just waft around. I met Mr. McFeely several times while I was working there. Out of makeup he looks COMPLETELY different but is still an incredibly nice person, also.

[colliemommie.livejournal.com]

Kat was watching the "Sesame Street: 20 Years and Still Counting" special on netflix for her tv time today, and I happened to sit down right when they were talking about when Mr. Hooper died, and then showed the clip from the show with Maria, Luis, and Susan explaining death to Big Bird. It was like going back in time.

Unlike a lot of old childhood memories, my memory of that scene was spot on, word for word just like the show. It was oddly intense seeing it again. I guess it must have been aired around the same time my grandfather died, but it obviously made an impression. I started crying.

Of course that's when Bruce walked in, and I could just see his brain screaming "Crying pregnant woman! Watching Muppets! Get out NOW NOW NOW! Run while you still can!" and started laughing at the same time.

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

Uh, if my response didn't post properly as a response to this comment, it's below. It doesn't look right.

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

Unlike a lot of old childhood memories, my memory of that scene was spot on, word for word just like the show. It was oddly intense seeing it again. I guess it must have been aired around the same time my grandfather died, but it obviously made an impression.

This is very like my experience with Obi Wan Kenobi's death scene in Star Wars. But having seen it many times again since, it's lost a little of its original punch!