Thursday, July 19, 2007

Stuff I Found On the Web and Stuff



Check out Scott Baio dominate the obstacle course on the 1980 Battle of the Network Stars with Howard Cosell in overdrive. Almost as fascinating as Scott Baio's new VH-1 Show, "Scott Baio is 45 and Single," which really makes you wonder if megalomaniac depressive womanizers should seek therapy on televised reality shows.

Watch Penn & Teller shit all over PETA, which is basically a terrorist organization or at the very least a bunch of people who love animals more than they love people. Take note of the nice lady who equates lifestock farms with slavery and the Holocaust.

Marvel at some dude from Massapequa channeling Chris "Mad Dog" Russo as he babbles incoherently about "Pac Man" Jones. Actually, this guy could have gone for a little more incoherence.

Enjoy the videos on Lou Reed's webiste, including one trippy take of the Velvet Underground playing over footage of the Lawrence Welk Show.

And I'm not sure how it came up in conversation last weekend, but I became curious about the memorial service for Jim Henson after he died in 1990. The service can't be found on YouTube, though a DVD set can be purchased from this guy. Up top is a clip from a Muppet Show tribute that aired shortly after he died.

But I got plenty of tears flowing just by reading this account of the service. Just a sample:

After a short heartfelt speech by Sesame writer/director John Stone, the soft sounds of a piano were heard. As we wondered what or who was next, we saw Big Bird gently, almost elegantly, stroll out onto the stage. He was wearing a Kermit green bow tie. The tears flowed as Bird began to sing, "Bein' Green." You could hear Carrol Spinney's voice struggling to get through the poignant song as he finished, looked up at heaven and said, "Thank you Kermit." I tear up just thinking about it, all these years later.

And if you can stand it, download some of the audio segments from Muppet Musique. There's just no way to avoid the beauty and heartbreak of Frank Oz telling a hilarious story of how Henson (who played Ernie to Oz's Bert) made him a bizarre Christmas gift sculpture of Bert with naked pictures of Oz in Bert's eyes. Oz breaks up toward the end, barely able to finish as he left the stage.

That was more than 17 years ago. Hard to believe. And he died of strep infection that could have been cured by antibiotics if he'd only gone to a doctor. There's another lesson here for Scott Baio, I figure.

3 comments:

arielle said...

Does that Christmas gift foreshadow Bert being gay?

This was the part that got me:

At Jane Henson's request there were flowers everywhere. As per Jim's own instructions, people were to refrain from wearing black. There were celebrities in attendance. George Lucas, Darryl Hannah, Rick Moranis, Frank Wells, and Michael Eisner himself were all spotted. More importantly, the service was open to the public and the seats and aisles were filled with fans. The most touching thing to me was to see so many parents holding small children who were in turn clutching their Ernies or Kermits in their little arms.

KHBirdman said...

You should be watching "HEY PAULA" on Bravo for some interesting television !

TPerl said...

Hey, Bones. I thought you had a spam filter on this blog.

Oh wait - it's just Bird.