one note before i start today’s post– for some reason, the comments on selina’s interview were disabled, so i had to fix them this morning. if you already read the interview, please feel free to go back and leave her a comment (or question)!
there are lots of reasons people want to be famous– the money, the attention, the sprawling mansions, the power, the chance to design yr own perfume/clothes/leggings, etc.
but in my opinion, all of those reasons pale in comparison to the BEST thing about being famous.
and that, my friends, is the opportunity to appear on “sesame street.”
every time i see a celebrity on sesame street, i am filled with both excitement (look! it’s natalie portman! hanging out with elmo!) and extreme jealousy (look! it’s natalie portman! hanging out with elmo, WHICH I WOULD KILL TO DO!!).
i guess my reaction makes sense, given that palling around with muppets has pretty much been my #1 goal since i was, oh, two years old.
today, i saw a video of yet another lucky celebrity appearing on what is probably the most revered show in all of television history.
this time, the celebrity guest was feist, and she paired up with some sesame street creatures to sing a monster-themed “1,2,3,4.”
ok, in spite of my jealousy, that was really, really awesome.
in fact, *every time* i see a muppet clip from “sesame street,” i get teary-eyed. it doesn’t matter if the skit is hilariously goofy or the characters are singing about how to answer the phone, i just get so EMOTIONAL. i guess i’ll always have an extremely tender spot in my heart for that show and all of the monsters that taught me how to count (even in spanish) and spell.
with that said, if i ever do become famous, i already know who i want to hang out with on sesame street.
he’s blue, furry and likes to have his tummy scratched.
grover has ALWAYS been my favorite, as evidenced by the ratty (i.e. MUCH LOVED) grover doll that still sits on a chair in my bedroom. sure, kermit is great, and miss piggy will always be fabulous, but there’s something so weirdly charming about grover. maybe it’s his voice or his flappy arms. or maybe it’s the way that he LOVES kids, and kids love him back.
when i was a little sarah, i *longed* to be one of the privileged few who got to hang out with grover, although back then, it was the kids that i most envied.
lucky, LUCKY children like chris:
and chelsea:
i mean, HOW PRECIOUS IS THAT?!!!!
can you IMAGINE how amazing it must be just to chillax with grover and talk about what words mean and how to respect yr neighbor? and then to end it all with a hug?
cos, out of everything, grover knew how to talk about love. which i can’t say for some humans.
this is probably my favorite grover conversation about love:
“hugs and kisses and warm feeling inside” = exactly.
grover, just so you know, if we ever hang out, i would like to discuss the following:
1) our favorite foods
2) how plants grow
3) using “please” and “thank you”
and of course, there would be hugs and tickling involved.
basically, it would be just like this:
see? wouldn’t that be fun? invite me over to play!!!
and now, pants world, tell me who YOU would like to hang out with on sesame street!
(here’s a list if you need a reminder)
p.s. the runner up to grover would most definitely be slimey the worm.
we could eat through all kinds of foods together!!!!
LINKS
BEST NEW REALITY SHOW ALERT: from g’s to gents. sweet cracker SANDWICH i cannot wait to watch wannabe gangstas drink tea and learn SAT words. it’s gonna be OFF THE CHAIN… i mean, absolutely scintillating.
thanks to ananka’s diary, i just found my favorite new website, weburbanist.com. check out some incredibly (awesome) geeky art and this FASCINATING list of abandoned cities. road/plane/boat trip, anyone
BATMAN OPENS THIS WEEK AAUUUGHH. which means i have a date with christian bale, holla! but, as jezebel points out, have you guys ever noticed how weird his accent (in real life) is? i mean, obviously i find it adorable but it is a bit on the jack kelly side. check him out on the today show.
these picture bandits are AMAZING.
hayao miyazaki has a new movie coming out, and apparently it’s about a little tadpole with a girl’s head. or something. all i know is, it’s gonna be THE CUTEST!!! also? japanese film reviews are about as entertaining as the films themselves.
dude, if you’re gonna scream, scream into this. (<– yes, that was a lame attempt at a wayne’s world reference)
I love the abandoned cities… One of the photographer blogs that I check did some posts on Bodie http://www.beckersblog.com/index.cfm?q=bodie&x=0&y=0
I think that if I was on sesame street I would either be with big bird or oscar the grouch.
And I totally agree on Christian’s accent…. He must have used his regular voice in Newsies.
I think the obvious answer for me would be SuperGrover. Or Kermit The Frog of course. I do think it is a shame that Cookie Monster no longer eats cookies. They used to be good enough for him but now I guess not so much. C now is for Carrots and Cauliflower. Which is not good enough for me at all.
This makes me remember how in junior high we’d pretend to be the Count and say “one Robert Booth, two Robert Booths, three Robert Booths… no no no… one is just enough”.
I’d hang out with Snufflelaphogus (no idea how to spell that) because he was a big elephant looking muppet. But slimy the worm was so cute too and was Oscar the Grouch’s true friend.
Oh, definitely Snuffalufagus — remember when he was invisible to everyone except Big Bird?
you know, if you don’t care about $$ they do hire mostly-unpaid interns over there…i worked for jim henson productions the summer after my freshman year of college. it. was. awesome.
i love sesame street, but i don’t think i ever even had a favorite character. i just loved them all.
those abandoned towns are interesting; i think i’ve been to agdam in ngorno-karabakh/azerbaijan, but i can’t remember. i want to go to the ones in the US. it made me wonder why i haven’t heard of these places.
My favorite Grover bit: Neeeeeeear…..Faaaaaaaaar…….Neeeeeeeeear………Faaaaaaaar.
love does sound great. the blue muppet is right.
I saw that interview with Christian Bale on the Today Show and I was so confused. I thought he was British and he busts out this serious New Yorker accent. I had to look him up on imdb to find out the truth. He’s from Wales but if he plays an American character, he will use an American accent in all the interviews related to the film so the audience isn’t confused. Is that what he thinks all Americans sound like? It had the opposite effect on me. My husband and I sat on the couch looking at each other in utter confusion and then back at the TV and then back at each other (blink blink). Oh well, I still love CB and I can’t wait to see the Dark Knight!
Ach. GROVER! Simply the Best.
While I loved Big Bird, Ernie and Oscar, there was no match for Grover. I agree that Super-Grover was awesome, but I remember fondly Grover being an inept waiter to this customer (some blue man)who always picked Grover’s restaurant even though he never got good service.
I found some YouTube clips:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIzRHlxXgzY&
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GOGNE0nWHk
While neither of these clips is the one I remember most vividly - the one with him in a Mexican Hat singing and dancing and knocking things over (The end of each part of the song was him yelling, “Ole ole ole ole ole ole.”
Grover was/is awesome.
As I was watching these old clips, I was astounded at how funny they were. Henson and his friends were genius.
PS There is no such thing as a lame Wayne’s World reference.
I am going to have to go with the Yip Yip’s:
Here is the link:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Z4VNMERVsC4
rollins, you must be INSANE. the yips yips are THE MOST TERRIFYING MUPPETS EVER INVENTED. hello, childhood nightmares.
Rollins actually has to go with Guy Smiley. Nice try, though, “Johnny.” STOP RUNNING FROM WHO YOU REALLY ARE!
That was, no contest, the best 2 minutes and 27 seconds of my ENTIRE DAY.
Earth Book… Earth Book.. yip yip… Saraaahhh… Saraaahh.. yip yipyipyiupyipyipyipyipyip..
POSSSHHHH… PAAANNTTSSS.. yip yip yip…
Oh yeah.. GUY SMILEY! HOLY SHIT HENRI.. you have a memory like an (insert strange animal name).
Hideeho there! I’m Guy Smiley… hahhaa..awesome