Take Me Home

"And if you believe in love, that will be more than enough
for peace to last throughout the coming year." John Denver and Kermit, singing "The Christmas Wish"

Well, gang, this will be my last entry until 2008. I know, I know. Dry your eyes. I’ll be back in January. See, I’m leaving on a (jet) plane tonight and heading back home to Chicago for Christmas. And despite the fact that it’s going to be cold and snowy, I couldn’t be happier about the trip. It’s the first time in almost a year that I’ve been back, so it will be a busy 12 days trying to catch up with family and friends and visiting all the old stomping grounds.

So this is my official “Happy holidays!” post. And on that note, I wanted to talk about my favorite Christmas album of all time: "A Christmas Together" by John Denver and the Muppets. No, I’m not joking. When I discovered someone had downloaded clips from the 1979 TV special onto YouTube last week, it was literally like receiving an early Christmas gift. (Thank you, whoever you are.)

Here’s the thing...no matter how old I get, the Muppets never fail to crack me up and warm the cockles of my heart. I still howl with laughter when I see Beaker "meeping" at Dr. Bunsen Honeydew or Statler & Waldorf heckling the performers. I also get a wee bit misty-eyed whenever I hear The Rainbow Connection. Like many in my age bracket, I grew up faithfully watching The Muppet Show, Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock. To date, I don’t think any other children’s show has ever been able to resurrect the same whimsical message of love and friendship that Jim Henson and Frank Oz brought us kiddies in those early days of programming.

That very message highlights "A Christmas Together," creating the perfect tribute to the holiday season. My family owns dozens of Christmas albums, including favorites such as Nat King Cole and Bing Crosby, yet the Muppets remains at the top of my holiday listening list every year. I don't know - it could be the nostalgia factor - but listening to the music transports me back to a simpler time, when I wore pigtails, adored a non-creepy Michael Jackson, made popsicle stick ornaments in class and pedaled my bike with the flowered banana seat around the neighborhood with friends. But I digress.

Not only is the Muppets-John Denver collaboration funny (I KNOW you did not get through "Little St. Nick" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" without snickering!) but it's also heartfelt, thanks to gems like "Where the River Meets the Sea" and "A Baby Just like You." Check out these two clips - one humorous and the other more touching - as confirmation.





All in all, "A Christmas Together" expresses what I feel is the true sentiment of the season – peace on earth, goodwill to mankind and love of family and friends. As you can probably tell, I adore it as much now as I did when I was a kid. Now, if only Santa could grease the wheels a bit and get the powers-that-be to release this treasure on DVD. Please?

Either way, I’m hoping Jim Henson and John Denver are hanging out somewhere together right now, entertaining all the celestial revelers with festive carols. Guys, we miss you! Thanks for making this world a better place.

Happy holidays y'all. Be safe and I'll talk to you again in 2008!

A psychedelic wonderland

As most of my loyal readers know by now, I like to throw in the occasional off-topic entries to keep things interesting. And, if you hadn't noticed, this is a newsy week. But rather than delve into controversial topics like the war in Iraq or racial tensions in a small Louisiana town - or even the origin of this week's new catchprase, "Don't tase me, bro!" - I thought I'd discuss the Blue Man Group.

Why, you might ask? Well, it turns out two of the group's three founders - Matt Goldman and Chris Wink - recently opened a nursery school. The Blue Man Creativity Center now enrolls more than 40 kids between the ages of two and four.

I'm going to back-track here for a minute to talk about the actual Blue Man Group (or BMG). If you've never experienced a show, well, you're missing out and I say get thee to a performance. However, it's also a little hard to describe a production that features props like twinkies, marshmallows, Cap'n Crunch, jell-o, paint, toilet paper, a glow-in-the-dark band and odd homemade instruments. Described by its creators as a simple way to experience the joy of being alive, the Blue Man Group is truly a feast for the audience's senses.



I haven't been in a few years, but I still vividly remember the band playing an even more twisted-than-usual version of Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit," while an enthusiastic audience sang along and electronic signs flashed various messages. And I recall nearly drowning in a sea of toilet paper coming from every corner of the theater during the strobe-lit final minutes.

A little advice, by the way, for those of you attending a Blue Man Group show and sitting in one of the front rows - bring a poncho. It gets a little sloppy up there.

So back to the new day care center. Here's a description from the New Yorker:

"Every day at the center will end with a ritual called Glow Time, during which the shades are lowered, the regular lights are turned off, and black lights are turned on, illuminating the parts of the room (including work created by the students) that have been painted with special UV paint. The collection of Blue Man-inspired educational gewgaws on hand is a far cry from flash cards and Play-Doh. There’s a hypnotic Bubble Machine, with kid-controlled colored lights; a futuristic Water Machine, with a mini-whirlpool; and a trippy installation, left over from the B.M.G.’s 2003 tour, of giant computer-animated dragonflies that can be made to light up, flap their wings, and fly. The Tree House, whose slide deposits kids in the Texture Pit, looks like fun. So does the OMi-Beam machine, a computerized rig made up of eight ceiling-mounted halogen lamps, loudspeakers, and a video monitor (there is only one other OMi-Beam machine in the country, at Madame Tussaud’s). Colored beams create pools of light on the floor, and by waving a reflective wand through the beams kids can produce any number of sounds, from musical instruments to the calls of barnyard animals and samples of pop hits from the nineteen-eighties (one is Fatboy Slim’s “Rockafeller Skank”)."

How cool is that? It's akin to stepping into Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. All they need is lickable wallpaper and a chocolate river and it's a true utopia for children.

That being said, this sounds like a pretty sweet stomping ground even for adults. Computer-animated dragonflies, black lights and bubble machines? Seriously!
Think they'd accept me into the program? I might have 20-plus years on the other students, but I could teach the kiddies all about the 1980s pop hits that will be playing in the background.