While in the UK, we listened to a lot of BBC Radio 1, and saw a few installments of “CD UK.” As such, we heard a great deal of new music that hasn’t made it big on this side of the pond.
Here are a few good ones to check out:
Archive: September, 2005
r.i.p. jerry juhl
randomduck | 
30/09/2005 | 
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As some people may know, I feel a kindred bond with Jim Henson, who died on my birthday in 1990.
In fact, I feel a close bond with virutally all things Muppet. Via Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, I enjoyed the antics of Kermit, Fozzie, Dr. Teeth, Ernie, Bert, Oscar, Rowlf and Sherlock Hemlock. Many fond memories pop into my mind thinking back to those days, and I’ve always had a fascination and appreciation for puppetry, due in large part to the Muppets.
This past Monday, another member of the original Muppet crew passed away. Jerry Juhl started as a fellow Muppeteer (ostensibly to replace Jim Henson’s wife, Jane, as a performer), but soon found himself writing sketches for the Muppets to perform. This led him to write for The Muppet Show, where he became head writer by the second season. Many of the classic comedy bits – Scooter’s “5 minutes to curtain” bits, Stadler and Waldorf’s heckling, and Fozzie’s often obtuse one-liners often had roots in the creative mind of Jerry Juhl.
After The Muppet Show, Jerry went on to help create Fraggle Rock and The Jim Henson Hour, as well as the three Henson-era Muppet movies. In 1999, Juhl left the Jim Henson Company, due in large part to the internal schisms that arose in the post-Jim Henson era. He switched to a teaching life, imparting the wisdom of his years of Muppet work on students young and old, hopefully planting the seeds for another creative union that will carry on the legacy of shows like The Muppet Show and Fraggle Rock.
Jerry Juhl died of cancer, which ran its course very quickly. His legacy will live on with many Muppet memories. As 2005 is the 50th anniversary of the “birth” of Kermit, I hope that the torch gets passed to another kindred spirit who can find humor that is both kind yet effective, mixed with a message that acceptance of everybody is not a bad thing.
Rest in peace, Jerry. May you, Jim and Richart Hunt (Scooter, Beaker, Stadler, Sweetums) be creating the next innovation in creative puppetry (and be sure to share it with us terrestrial folk, too).
military as first responders? not yet, says admiral
randomduck | 29/09/2005 | Comments Off
President Bush suggested that the military be the first responders to all large-scale natural disasters, such as large hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, etc.
That presumes two things: that the military be ready, and that it is available before a diaster hits. The latter one presumes that we haven’t sent most of our troops (including the National Guard and the reserves), so that leaves the former one: is the military ready?
According to Adm. Timothy Keating, who is in charge of domestic defense forces, the answer is a resounding “no.”
reframing the trailer
randomduck | 29/09/2005 | Comments Off
A tip ‘o the hat to Running Chick for pointing me to this lovely, reworked version of the trailer for The Shining. It’s a great tongue-in-cheek nod to the increasing tendency for movie studios to misrepresent their products via crafty spin.
ct: will weicker run?
randomduck | 29/09/2005 | Comments Off
A most interesting tidbit from Connecticut: it seems that Lowell Weicker may challenge Joe Lieberman for his old Senate seat. Weicker would run as an independent.
Given that Lieberman defeated Weicker (then a Republican – a fiscally conservative, socially liberal one) by tacking to the right, it’s definitely an interesting development. Weicker remains quite liberal: he was against the war in Iraq from the beginning, a stark contrast to Lieberman’s unrelenting pro-war stance.
Could be interesting – and fun to watch.
delay: precedent doesn’t mean it’s ok
randomduck | 28/09/2005 | 1 Comment
Says Tom Delay about his indictment on criminal conspiracy:
“I have done nothing unlawful, unethical or… unprecedented.”
So what you saying is that “everybody else is doing it, so I should be able to be a crook, too.”
Takes one to know one, Tom.
record labels: then and now
randomduck | 28/09/2005 | Comments Off
Music industry pundit Bob Lefsetz sums up the changed role of record labels very well in this recent posting at Rhino Records’ site:
Used to be the label was a midwife, aiding the band in birthing their baby, and bringing it into the world. Today the label is a dictator, exacting conformity and killing art.
Well said, Bob – well said.
how’d i miss this?
randomduck | 28/09/2005 | Comments Off
Somehow, in the midst of preparations for the UK trip, I completely missed the fact that Cream – the 60s power trio of Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce – scheduled three concerts at Madison Square Garden. These will be their only gigs on this side of the pond.
Of course, tickets went on sale while we were in the UK, they sold out, and that’s that. Granted, they were pricey (the cheap seats ran $70, once you add in the Ticketba$tard fees), but to see this group live would’ve been a treat. Fortunately, official DVDs and CDs of their Royal Albert Hall gigs from this past summer will hit the shelves on October 4, so there’s some consolation.
post-mortem on the big anti-war rally
randomduck | 28/09/2005 | Comments Off
Back in August, I posted my reasons for not supporting the United for Peace/International A.N.S.W.E.R. D.C. Anti-War Mobilization. Aside from the fact that I was in transit from the UK back to the US, I simply did not want to associate myself with anything related to A.N.S.W.E.R. and its radical stances.
Well, the rally happened this past Saturday, bringing over 100,000 protesters into Washington, DC. The media coverage was, as a whole, positive. So it would seem that my fears of the affiliation with International A.N.S.W.E.R. were unfounded, right?
Wrong.
cheese!
randomduck | 28/09/2005 | Comments Off
sprite and I went to a preview screening of Wallace and Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit last night, and it was “a smashing good time.” The warmth and humor of the three Wallace and Gromit shorts is still intact in this full-length feature, with tons of great jokes for both kids and adults.
Be sure to see this one when it opens in October!
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