New music (not new music) and Nessie (not Nessie)

While scrounging through some music CDs on a recent visit to my parents' home, I was surprised to find a Katy Perry CD. No, no, I said. This is not possible. My parents like old 1950s music, not Katy Perry. Katy Perry is too hip. Even I don't have a Katy Perry CD! How could my parents have one? This must be an episode of the Twilight Zone.

But no, it was reality. My mom says that she heard Katy sing "Firework" on TV and enjoyed the song so much that she bought the CD. It's far different from 1983, when I would have to beg for $1.69 to buy a 45 rpm single. Now, they just go out and buy the whole CD. As mentioned before, I don't know where you would even buy a music single these days. Today, if you don't use itunes, you just go out and buy the whole CD. I'm thankful my parents (and I) are in a position to do such things.

My trip home also gave me some exposure to some new music artists that I wanted to share with you (In this case, "new" means I'd never heard of them before, which means they've probably been around for several years. So I beg of your patience if you've already got five albums by these folks. I just enjoy what I enjoy, and here's some of what I enjoy). For examples of their work, the easiest option is just to watch them on YouTube. I'll also list a few music artists that I have more recently discovered elsewhere.

1. JACKIE EVANCHO. Like many others, I heard the voice and thought it belonged to a great operatic singer who'd been at the met for years. But no, it belonged to a little girl who hadn't really known of her talent until she began to sing along to the movie version of "The Phantom of the Opera." Jackie Evancho is a great singer for all ages and I enjoyed her recent PBS special.

2. STRAIGHT NO CHASER. These guys, like their suits, are very cool - they demonstrate that vocal harmony is very vital to musical success. I really enjoyed their show as well. Check out their Youtube videos for "Africa" and "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." Great stuff.

3. MUSIC GO MUSIC. If you like Abba, you'll like them. They also use harmony to their advantage.

4. LA ROUX. Speaking of Abba, synth music plays a key role for La Roux as well. If you enjoy the single "Bulletproof", you'll enjoy their debut album.

In other music news, I was saddened to hear of the breakup of R.E.M. While it may be true that they've reached the "peak", it's just as true that we enjoyed having them there. Like many great bands, their best work is classic, and their mediocre work isn't too painful. As one of the band members once said, they have been able to do things their own way. That's a blessing for them. The fact that we liked it so much was a blessing for us.

What is not much of a blessing is the recent bankruptcy and closing of Borders bookstores. Remember my posts about making your own music CDs at Borders? Well, forget them! I believe it's still possible at some FYI stores, but none of them are near me, and it's just too much of a hassle to do it any other way but online. Nothing wrong with that per se - I just like to have options. It's like the idea of the Post Office closing on Saturdays. I understand the need to save money - but I don't like the idea of losing the option of mailing things on a Saturday. And I liked the option of making my own music cDs in a store. I'm obviously not against the Internet at all - but I hate to think of a world where there are no other options.

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NESSIE SPOTTED IN UTAH: I took a very rare (for me) business trip recently which gave me the chance to fly over Nevada and parts of Utah. As I looked out the window, I saw several large lakes. In one of these lakes, I noticed a white object swimming in the lake which appeared to have at least three long legs behind it. A giant white squid? As I watched, I remembered the picture of the "Loch Ness Monster" that was reported on Google earth & that I had blogged about in the past. This creature looked almost exactly like it! A little while later, we flew over another lake, and I saw several more monsters that looked almost exactly the same! Wow! I must be the luckiest guy in the world!

Uh, no. They were boats. Clearly they were boats. And as I remembered the Nessie Google earth image, I can't believe nobody (including myself) ever positively identified it as a white boat with wakes flowing to the side and behind it! Surely people who do a lot of flying would have been able to say, "It's a white boat. That's how they look from an airplane." I guess it's just so much fun to believe in the Loch Ness monster that we overlook obvious solutions in favor of what we want to see. I kind of liked the idea of Nessie swimming butt-first in protest of everyone trying to bug her all the time.

Here's one site that got it right:

http://www.scientificanews.com/2009/08/its-nessie-on-google-earth-or-is-that.html


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QUICK THANKS: To the few (and I do mean few) of you who know about all the garbage I'm going through right now, thank you for your continued prayers and/or good vibes. They are much appreciated, as are you.

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PAST MINUTES: In keeping with our "all Carolyne Heldman all the time" mantra, I'd like to point out a new webpage dedicated to the MTV show "120 Minutes," which Carolyne hosted a few times. (Check out the year 1988 in the archives for a playlist from an episode that she hosted). They're seeking contributors (and so am I), so if you happen to have a video of an older episode, please contact them, and then contact me. :) I have a little bit of footage to trade with.

http://tylerc.com/the-120-minutes-archive/

Valentine for Wonder Woman

Yes, I’m a blogger. Just because I haven’t done it for a month or two, people give up on me. Sad. But at least let me explain what Wonder Woman is doing here.

If you check out the Cinema Cervello blog on a semi regular basis (and please do if you enjoy fun film reviews, along with links to other cool sites), you’ve noticed the “character assassination” game going on. Basically, the idea is to list several popular fictional characters and eliminate the “lesser” ones until “there can be only one.” Readers are invited to cast votes for the character they like the best. So far in the competition, Benjamin Linus from “Lost” has won, managing to win out over the king from “Lord of the Rings,” Han Solo, Commander Adama from “Battlestar Galactica,” Willow from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,“ and Treebeard. (That Treebeard loss really gets to me, man.)

What would happen if we were to do such a thing on this blog? I can see the competition now: Underdog vs. Carolyne Heldman vs. Mister Rogers vs. Meredith Vieira vs. George the Lobster. (Thankfully for both of us, there won’t be such a competition. To paraphrase one of the Wayans brothers, “This is a dictatorship, and I’m Dick.”) But I couldn’t help but thinking, who WOULD be the person/creature best suited to lead all the ragtag fictional characters I love? As I see it, the goal is not necessarily to vote for your favorite person, but for the one you feel would be best able to lead. The one with the most well-rounded set of skills and personality. That’s a lot to ask for when you consider the myriad of different characters to choose from. Not an easy task. Everyone has strengths in many different areas. Nobody’s perfect, even in the “fantasy world.” That may be because in the largest sense, perfection itself is a fantasy. Hang on, I’m getting profound. I need to get back to the pointless point.

My first choice was Superman, knowing that he had the physical, emotional and intellectual strength to conquer just about anybody. (The Hulk may theoretically be stronger, but would you trust him to rule?) But as I thought about the Cinema Cervello competition, and specifically how Willow initially won out over Commander Adama, I had to admit that looks count for something. I had to admit that there was someone who I would rather watch in action than Superman. Someone also physically strong, smart and emotionally strong. And gorgeous. Yep, WW. Not as strong as Superman, but if you’re looking for a well-rounded heroine who is physically strong enough to whip just about any bad guy, it’s hard to top her.

Picture this. You’re a German general in World War 2. You are fighting the enemy on the battlefield. You have plenty of ammunition and grenades at your disposal. An American soldier charges at you. You raise your rifle. BANG! He’s dead. A group of soldiers come at you. Again, your rifle comes to your aid. BANG BANG BANG! Down they fall. Suddenly, you see a tank headed your way. You throw a grenade at it. BOOM! It’s enough to disorient it at least. You keep fighting. Then a half-naked woman wrapped in an American flag runs toward you. “What the. . ?” You drop your rifle and grenade. Even if you’re not overcome with lust, you’re wondering how this is possible. You just don’t expect to see something like this. Not on the battlefield, or anywhere else. You’re stunned just as much as if you had been hit in the face. And before too long, you literally ARE hit in the face by the beautiful woman that you were too shocked by to attack. You fall to the ground, defeated by a weapon that was the last thing in the world you were expecting. If you had never heard of Wonder Woman before, you could not possibly have been prepared for this.

For a time, in the comic books, Wonder Woman was taken out of her traditional costume and put into - well, basically regular clothes. They were nice enough clothes, but it was clearly a bad move! They were trying to make it a more realistic situation, but in this case it didn’t really work and the traditional costume finally won out. I mention this to demonstrate how important the costume is. Without it, you don’t really have the heroine. You know WW immediately by her costume. That German soldier probably wouldn’t have been too impressed by WW had she attacked him while wearing regular army fatigues.

As usual, so much more to write and so little time. Let’s just say that WW is a heroine for everyone, man or woman. And guys, if you’re only interested in her beauty, you’re not looking at her hard enough.

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THE SEARCH FOR ‘THE SEARCH FOR SOLUTIONS’: For me, music collecting is not limited to record collecting, or CD collecting, or mp3 collecting. It includes music that in some cases has never been released commercially. That’s part of the challenge and the fun, of course. Here’s a good example of how something like that can eventually be found.

Back in my grade school days, there was a film series (dang, remember when schools used movie projectors to show movies?) called “The Search for Solutions.” I’m sure we didn’t see the complete series, but we saw some of it, and it included a short music piece that has stuck with me to this day. I filed it away under “you’ll never find that one” for many years. When the Internet came along, I was pleased to find that it at least knew what “Search for Solutions” was. That’s a big plus. Often, the Internet will be pretty much clueless as to a particular short movie that you saw in school. While the series was still in school circulation, I don’t own a projector, and I probably wouldn’t be able to rent them anyway. I can hear the librarian now. “You’re not a teacher, or a student, but you want to rent this film? How do I know you’re not a movie destroyer intent on cutting up this precious masterpiece?”

But in my spare time one day (and incidentally, that’s something that the die-hard music collector is going to need), I did a “Search for Solutions” search again and found out that the music had actually been composed by Lyle Mays and. . .Pat Metheny! It was neat to realize that someone I had heard of composed the music. On Pat’s site, it not only includes a video clip from the series featuring a cute balloonist (there’s something about me and brunettes, I know), but at the end of the clip, we get to hear the music that I heard way back in school. It has taken nearly 30 years for me to hear this music again. That’s how much spare time you’re going to need. And that’s why music collecting - or any hobby - must only be a hobby, and not your whole life. Enjoy the clip.

http://www.patmetheny.com/media.cfm?categoryid=4

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CONAN’S LAST REQUEST: I’m not much of a fan of late night TV. But when I had the chance to catch the last few minutes of Conan O’Brien’s final “Tonight Show”, I had to tune in. I’m not much of a fan of Conan either, but I really like what he said before signing off:

"To all the people watching, I can never thank you enough for your kindness to me and I'll think about it for the rest of my life. All I ask of you is one thing: Please don't be cynical. I hate cynicism - it's my least favorite quality and it doesn't lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen."

For the past few weeks, NBC has reminded us of the fact that it (and life) is not fair. It has put the quest for ratings on a higher level than a man’s career. Nothing new there, of course - TV is notorious for dropping shows and people that don’t make the “cut.” Which is probably why so many people have grown cynical about it. What’s the use of doing your very best on a TV show only to have it yanked off the air whenever someone decides they don’t like you? A lot of talented people probably look at the entertainment industry and realize it isn’t for them - because their talents will not be truly appreciated by the people who pay them. Who knows what kind of talent we’re missing out on?

But as he exited the show, Conan asked us not to be cynical. That means a lot. Conan is smart. He realizes that he has been very blessed and chooses to focus on that rather than on his exiting the show. That’s the way it ought to be for all of us when something good has to end. And perhaps most important point of all: When Conan encouraged us to not be cynical and to be kind, it was an indirect way of saying, “Don’t be like NBC,” which is an indirect way of saying, “Don’t be like the world.”

I can’t help but like that.

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ON YOUTUBE: MORE RARE CAROLYNE
A few more seconds of Carolyne Heldman from late 1980s MTV has made it to YouTube. This will have to suffice until the long-awaited “Best of Carolyne” DVD is available sometime in my wildest dreams. Enjoy the clip from MTV of old on my YouTube page in my favorites folder.

　

Rare Sesame audio

Years before home video recording was possible, there was. . . home audio recording. And it was pretty low-tech (at least for me). It involved putting my tape recorder next to the TV set and recording the sound from the speaker. You had to be quiet so that your voice wouldn’t be recorded on the tape. This was not easy when you are a little kid with other people in the house who you have to tell to shut up. (And worse when those people wouldn’t.) But this was how I recorded many classic shows & clips from way back when. I have had a small collection of Sesame Street-related audio clips that I put onto my own CD. “Sesame Street Rarities” is its official title. Here’s the track list:

Selections from: SESAME STREET CAST ON EVENING AT POPS with Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops orchestra, circa 1971

1. Sesame Street theme/ Toy Symphony with Cookie Monster/ I’ve got two
2. ABC-DEF-GHI - Big Bird & the cast
3. Rubber Duckie/ Big Bird conducts/ Song of five/ Sesame St. theme reprise

RARE CLIPS
4. “Yes”- Judy Collins, Biff and Sully
5. Ernie and Bert imagine going their separate ways
6. Maria and Bert’s imaginary helicopter ride
7. “Snooky” (Beautiful Day monster) tries to go through a hoop (incomplete)

8. SESAME STREET FLIES: Audio clips from an episode circa 1982
Big Bird and Poco Loco the parrot talk; “Flying” by Joe Raposo; Music from film about building blocks (incomplete); Big Bird as an airplane; Cartoon- Counting planes on the runway; Grover’s airplane; Marlena, Kermit and Grover; Anything muppets - “Rocket”; Luis’ serenade /Pat the pilot cartoon (incomplete); Big Bird and Maria in a balloon - “I’m flying” song; Bald Eagle film (slightly different dialogue); “Danger” film music of man narrowly missing danger (incomplete); Dark clouds cartoon with scary cats (incomplete, unfortunately!); Pinball count- 12 (incomplete); Big Bird and Maria land.

With my slow connection, it has been impossible to share these tracks with others. Until now. The album is currently available to download on the Sesame Street Block Party site! As you can imagine, the audio quality is often not very good. But it is listenable, and it is a treasure for fans of these skits that are currently unavailable anywhere else.

This project has been a long-time coming due to my inability to share the files myself. But again, Bob at the “Sesame St. block party” Web site has been kind enough to post the files, and my friend Peter has been kind enough to upload the files. So very special thanks go out to Bob and Peter for making it all possible.

You can check out the album at the post below:
http://sesamestreetblockparty.blogspot.com/2009/12/sesame-street-old-school-tv-clips.html

To learn more about Sesame Street‘s appearance with the Boston Pops, click here:
http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Evening_at_Pops:_1971

From Sesame Street Unpaved: "According to Danny Epstein, musical coordinator for Sesame Street, when the cast played ["Rubber Duckie"] with the Boston Pops (Big Bird conducted), the musicians were not allowed to squeeze rubber duckies in addition to playing their own instruments unless they were paid extra. Apparently, a rubber duckie was considered to be a second instrument, and each musician was supposed to receive additional pay if they played a second instrument. When it came time for the actual performance, only the percussion players squeezed the ducks. It was determined that the rubber duck was to be considered a percussion instrument."

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UNCENSORED, BUT INCOMPLETE: In my Christmas shopping I came upon a book called “MTV Uncensored.” It is several years old now, but it seemed at first glance to be an excellent history of MTV’s early days. I thumbed through it, and it does seem like a great book, with many great historic photos. But there’s one important element missing. I thumbed through this thing looking for one person, but . . . Nope, I couldn’t find Carolyne Heldman in it anywhere! DANG! Not even her name seemed to be included in the book! This is particularly upsetting when you realize that several other Vjs, including others from the “Carolyne” era, are included in the book. That stinks, man. I hope I’m mistaken, but I really couldn’t find her mentioned in this book which is supposed to be “uncensored.” Phooey.

You know what this reminds me of? You know that person who you knew in high school but who somehow never got their picture taken for the yearbook? It’s like that. I know that person existed, but there’s no photographic proof. Despite the lack of evidence, I know that I am not mistaken in my memories. Yes Virginia, there is a Carolyne Heldman.

Just for revenge, I think we should go over to the Aspen Public Radio site and listen to Carolyne read from one of my favorite books of all time, “The Velveteen Rabbit” by Marjery Williams. There are plenty of other cool readings available at the site, too:
http://www.aspenpublicradio.org/storytime.php

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POPEYE ON GOOGLE: Hey, did you happen to catch Popeye’s appearance on the Google homepage? It’s been a pretty cool month for Google fans - first the Sesame Street muppets, now Popeye! His appearance was in celebration of the birthday of E.C. Segar, the cartoonist who created the legendary sailor. Read all about Popeye here:
http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2007/04/popeye.html

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ANOTHER YEAR: Sigh. I had a good streak going there, didn’t I? I was posting at least once a week for several weeks. Then it stopped. Life happens, and it pushes blog posting way back on the list of things to do. That's true even as the blog celebrates its anniversary this week. No offense folks, but I hope that the blog will always be pushed back. I enjoy it a lot. . .but it’s not all I enjoy. Among other things are spending time with family and friends and wishing them. . .a very Merry Christmas!

Carolyne update

At last I can update you on the status of Carolyne Heldman. This being the best “unofficial” Carolyne Web page in the world, it is only my duty to do so. I’m glad to report that Carolyne is doing very well, as you can read in this clip from her bio page at Aspen Public Radio:

Carolyne was the Station Manager for the Aspen Skiing Company's television station, Channel 16, producing and directing the award-winning, live morning show, Aspen Today for 3 years. She then returned to radio, hosting the morning show on local radio station KSNO. She left the valley in 2005 and for the past three years, Carolyne has been concentrating on raising her two daughters and teaching yoga. Carolyne is thrilled to be back home in the Roaring Fork Valley.

http://www.aspenpublicradio.org/bioPop.php?nick=carolyne
　
So she’s not on MTV, but radio is still cool. Carolyne is hosting a radio show called “Crosscurrents” that you can listen to online at the site below:

http://www.aspenpublicradio.org/listen_archive.php?prog=cross

I haven’t heard them all yet, but being a Carolyne fan I will try to find time to enjoy them. As a John Denver fan, I’d recommend the show from October 9 which features an interview with Barry Ehrmann, the producer of a new DVD box set of John Denver's concerts. Very interesting talk about how older footage of John was restored for the current release. Also, Carolyne shares a cool memory of John Denver.

If you’d prefer some shorter clips, Carolyne recently took part in “The Big Read” for Aspen Public Radio. Each week, a different reader would read excerpts from the classic novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” on the radio. Carolyne joins a prestigious list of readers including John Oates and Robert Wagner. To listen to “The Big Read,” visit the pod cast section of Aspen Public Radio’s Web site:

http://www.aspenpublicradio.org/listen_archive.php?prog=read

In the chance that you haven’t read or seen or listened to “To Kill a Mockingbird,” you may want to do so before listening to Carolyne’s clips, as she gives a summary of the end of the book. And I recommend that book. It’s a classic story that is worth enjoying.
For more about Carolyne Heldman, enjoy my post here:

http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2007/12/carolyne-heldman.html

For more about John Denver, enjoy my other post here:

http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2007/02/john-denver.html

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IS SOMETHING GOING ON? Hello? Yes, this is he. Yes, I have noticed the muppets on the Google home page. So what? You mean something is happening this week? Yes, of course, Veterans Day. What? Something else? I’m not sure. It’s not some other holiday, is it? Thanksgiving is still a few weeks away. . .An anniversary? Whose? Not my parents’. I’m not sure what you. . .YOW! 40 YEARS OF SESAME STREET and I haven’t got time to write about it! But luckily, a friend has pointed me to an article on the CNN Web page that sums up how many of us grown-up fans are feeling:

For better or worse, today's preschooler is very different from the 1969 version. And children's television programming simply has to reflect that.

But one thing hasn't changed on "Sesame Street": the unflinchingly genuine attitudes of its residents. For 40 years, they have taught us that sometimes we are going to get hurt, cry and be lonely. They've taught us that there'll also be times when we're downright jovial. All the while, those characters have remained sincere.

We may never see Cookie Monster eat a pipe again, but luckily the memories are preserved on DVD, and in our hearts.

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/TV/11/04/sesame.street.anniversary/?imw=Y

Here’s the posting I left at MuppetCentral forum about the 40th anniversary:

Sesame Street has left a huge impact on my life. Even today, not actively watching the show, I still find myself remembering little skits now and then, and collecting some of the old songs and toys from back in the day. I think it, along with some other notable shows, helped me to grow into the person I am, and I'm very thankful for that. When I draw comics, there's almost always Ernie and Bert and some of the other characters hanging around. In my silly home movies, there they are- Ernie, Bert, Cookie and others. My memories and stories of Sesame St. bring me joy to this day, and probably always will. Here's to their first 40 years. . .and it looks like I'd better brace myself for mine. :)

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AND SPEAKING OF ETHICS: I caused an unintentional controversy when I used some quotes from the Mouseplanet message board in my monorail post last week. It was not my intent to break the rules of the message board, and it was definitely not my intent to misrepresent or insult the posters on the board. I've apologized for my stupidity, but for folks in charge of things that's never enough. What upsets me is how everything worked exactly the opposite of what I wanted. In an effort to reach out to others, I get told that I shouldn’t do it that way - at least not on that board. What they don’t explain is exactly how I should reach out to others. That’s my problem, not theirs. And it is a problem I will be working on.

But I would like to welcome our five new readers. . .

　

Remember the time

Michael Jackson was such a superstar that it’s hard to find someone who isn’t at least familiar with the man & his music. I was one of many casual fans, and despite any failings, he will be missed. One of his greatest triumphs may be Captain Eo! Think about it. Who else could have gotten away with that? (Imaginary superheroes don’t count!) Michael Jackson was able to join up with George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola to make a short film for Disneyland. Even today, it’s kind of amazing to think about them working together. Watching the film, I can recall the applause from the audience after the captain began to rise up onto the deck. I can remember the brief applause at the end. I can remember buying the shirt. You know, the shirt he wears at the end of “Captain Eo” as he sings, “You’re just another part of me!” That shirt. It could glow in the dark. I wish I still had it - I could send it over to “Neato Coolville!”

I first began to become aware of Jackson during an unfortunate event. I recall the numerous news reports after he was accidentally burned filming a Pepsi commercial. Not the best introduction to MJ, I know! But when we finally did see the commercial, we loved the song. We hadn’t heard “Billie Jean” yet, so this was our introduction to the tune that would prompt the purchase of “Thriller.” (This was also before I got my MTV. I wanted my MTV, but I didn’t get it until about 1986 or so). Then to watch the “Making of Thriller” video, which included the classic moment from “Motown 25” when he “seemed to defy the laws of nature,” as many have said recently.

In the past few days, I’ve realized at least two things that I’ve picked up from Michael Jackson. First is the habit of wearing white socks when I wear jeans. Second is the habit of twirling around in a circle when I dance. I don’t do it as well as he did, that’s for sure. His dancing brought him the respect & friendship of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. His music brought him the respect of just about every other artist in the 1980s, and many more beyond. My Captain Eo shirt is gone, but Michael Jackson’s talent lives on, and always will.

Cartoonist Fred Hembeck has written about something that happened on Tuesday that I thought was pretty horrible. I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought so:

So I watched some of the videos and listened to some CDs, newly freed from storage, watched some more news reports--until, up on my TV screen, Joe Jackson appeared, being interviewed about his son's untimely death on the red carpet at a BET event by a CNN reporter, blithely using the opportunity to slip in a plug for his new record label!! Unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable.

Thanks for the comments, Fred. Check up on Fred’s latest blog postings and artwork here:

http://www.hembeck.com/FredSez.htm

And a final note: Could we PLEASE stop all these celebrity deaths? Karl Malden passed away today! Knock it off, guys! Uh, stop dying, that is! (I know you don’t have ultimate control over those things, but please, do all you can!)

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SIGNING IN: In my May “Star Wars” postings, I didn’t mention that I happened to have a photo of Michonne Bourrigue, who played Aura Sing in “Phantom Menace.” I didn’t mention it because I didn’t have it! But after digging through the archives, I’ve managed to uncover this shot of Michonne signing autographs. Anybody know what she’s doing these days? Still an actress? Still alive? Still hot? Okay, ignore that last one. Anyway, here she is from the San Diego Comic Con a few years ago. They’re doing it again this year, of course, and scheduled to be there are talents such as voice artist June Foray and comedian Stan Freeburg. Read all about it here:

http://www.comic-con.org/

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MY BRAVE FACEBOOK: In an effort to locate someone (who could possibly be interviewed for this blog, no less!), I joined the Facebook service. I didn’t find the person I was looking for, but I did find many friends from MuppetCentral and even a few old friends who I’ve wanted to stay in contact with. It’s very cool, and now you can visit the “other side of the face.” You would just do a Facebook search for “Steve Sesameguy” and I should show up. Good luck. Hope you have better luck finding me than I did trying to find someone else!

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COOL NEW LINKS: For some insight into the latest happenings in the Disneyland resort in California as well as Disney World in Florida, it’s hard to do better than to check out the Mousepad forums on Mouseplanet dot com. Check it out in the links. And if you like good film reviews, you’ll enjoy Cinema Cervello. It also features a weekly poll. It’s new to the links as well! I’ve been visiting these sites recently and you can sometimes find my comments there. See you there!

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GO LAKER: Disneyland held a parade for the Los Angeles Lakers to celebrate their big win, and the only one who showed up was Kobe Bryant! Well, at least the Disney characters were there, including the “rarely seen” Daisy Duck. Enjoy the blog posting with photos here:

http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/blog.php?b=451

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ON YOUTUBE: CAROLINE, COOKIE AND YOU: Former MTV VJ and (sigh) high school dream date Carolyne Heldman produced some yoga videos for Expert Village a few years back, and they can finally be watched on YouTube. You can see one of them in my favorites folder. There you’ll also find the standard Sesame Street clips, including the rarely seen Bruno and the Trashmen, and the classic “smallest one gets the cookie” skit. They‘re on my YouTube page. (And needless to say, check out SesameStreet dot com to find a treasure of other rare skits.) And if I haven’t mentioned it already, check out two friends of mine singing the “California furlough blues,” a tune that rings loudly in the ears of many working people these days, who are just thankful that they’re working.

Attack of the new Star Wars movie

"Hey Rocky, watch me pull a new Star Wars movie out of my hat!”

This is a bit of news that I definitely wasn’t expecting. Most die-hard Star Wars fans are aware that a new animated TV series featuring “Star Wars” characters was in the works. But to find out that another MOVIE is coming out later this year?! The same year that a new Indiana Jones movie is due to arrive? Amazing.

The movie, like the future TV series, will feature computer animation rather than real people in the roles. It takes place during the “Clone Wars,” after “Attack of the Clones” and before “Revenge of the Sith.” Apparently, while working on the series, George Lucas decided that it was possible to make a theatrical film out of it, and so he has done. I assume that the film will be able to stand on its own, and not be called “Episode 2 and a half.”

I have sort of mixed feelings at this point. Animation is great, but it’s not the same as “reality.” We may miss some of the dramatic tension that only a live actor or actress can give. But we shall see. It certainly sounds like a good time. Back when “Phantom Menace” came out, some radio Djs joked that the film would have made twice as much money if everyone who saw it hadn’t only bought one ticket. Ouch. Well, this “Clone Wars” film, along with “Indy 4”, changes all that. It means I’ll have to buy two movie tickets this year instead of one.

http://www.starwars.com/

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TAKE A BITE OUT OF CRIME: The latest installment of “Just My Show” has an interview with Jack Keil, the voice of McGruff, the crime dog. Here’s where you can listen - and be sure to check out some of their past shows in the reruns section!
http://www.justmyshow.com/PSA_Paradise.html

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DINKY:1, POPEYE 1: It looks like some episodes of “The All-New Popeye Hour” will be making it to DVD after all. Read all about it here:

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/All-New-Popeye-Hour-Volume-1-Trailer/9171

And speaking of strong people, future seasons of “The Incredible Hulk” are coming your way:
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Incredible-Hulk-Seasons-3-and-4/9168

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NOT MARY ANN! Sigh. Dawn Wells, the actress who played Mary Ann on “Gilligan’s Island,” has been arrested on drug charges. Sigh. Ginger, I could understand, but not Mary Ann! The Skipper, maybe. But not Mary Ann. Sigh.
Read more about Gilligan’s Island at my post:

http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2007/02/gingers-i-mean-gilligans-island.html

And attention K-Mart shoppers: You may have noticed that a “Complete Series” set of Gilligan’s Island is now available for purchase. It’s what we have to rely on until Gilligan returns to a TV set near you.
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CAROLYNE, YOGA AND YOU: As the unofficial leader of the “Carolyne Heldman fan club” (yes, I know there wasn’t any such thing until I made it up just now), I’m proud to announce that you can now watch clips of Carolyne online! No, not from her MTV days. This is the new Carolyne, the yoga instructor. She’s teaching yoga classes, and you can see her demonstrate some yoga moves on Expertvillage.com. Her series is on how to avoid common yoga injuries. The site has a brief biography of Carolyne since her post-MTV days:

In 2001, Carolyne Heldman discovered the healing and transformative powers of yoga. She soon became hooked and began studying with some of the preeminent teachers of our time: John Friend, Sean Corn, Ana Forrest and Rodney Yee. However, Heldman derives special inspiration from the teachings of Shiva Rea, director of yoga at Sacred Movement in Los Angeles. Carolyne teaches in three Denver-area yoga studios and has been teaching for two years.

http://www.expertvillage.com/video-series/4267_avoid-yoga-injuries.htm

I practice what I call “poor man’s yoga”. It’s basically just some simple stretching exercises. When it starts to hurt, I stop. I’m thinking that watching Carolyne’s videos will ensure that it never starts to hurt!

For more about Carolyne, click on “December 2007” in my archives.
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Carolyne Heldman

Well folks, I’ve finally made it to the big time - thanks to help from former MTV VJ Carolyne Heldman. Remember her? She used to host music videos back in the days when MTV seemed to care about music. Okay, I need to save that rant for another time. Anyway, I used to watch Carolyne on MTV back in the late 1980s. There were quite a few times when I preferred watching her more than any of the bands.

Every once in a while, I like to do a Google search for some of my favorite lesser-known subjects/celebrities just to see how things are going with them. A few days ago, I typed Carolyne’s name into the Google search engine. Can you guess whose Web site came up first in the comprehensive search of millions of Web sites? No, it wasn’t MTV, or even a classic TV Web site.

It was this site.

In an earlier post, I mentioned that I would like to see Carolyne again. Well, the Google search engine caught on to Carolyne’s name, and at least for the moment that post is the “most relevant” Carolyne Heldman site on the Web according to Google!

In the world of the Web, getting to be the first site on a Google search is a pretty big deal. There are a lot of advertisers out there who would love to be the first site on a Google search. If you sold umbrellas, you would want your site to be first when somebody did a Google search for “umbrellas.” It’s the same for almost any well-known product or person. First in Google (they hope) means that the site is the most relevant to your search. It obviously doesn’t always work out that way, but that’s the goal.

My site is the top Carolyne web site? This is an honor! I think Carolyne is one of those talented people who unfortunately is not as well-remembered as they should be. She was seen by literally millions of people for a few years in the late 1980s, but today, if you asked 100 people, you’d probably be lucky to find two or three who recognized the name. There are quite a few celebrities like that. They’re not “superstars,” they’re just people who happen to be celebrities!

I just wish I could tell you more about Carolyne. I know that since MTV she has worked on local TV in Colorado and that she is living there with her husband & family. I only know this because in the late 1990s she appeared in the MTV Ultra Sound episode, “I was an MTV VJ, too” along with other classic Vjs like Adam Curry and Kevin Seal.

Carolyne is attractive, smart and quite down-to-earth. On the “Ultra Sound” episode, she lamented the fact that she didn’t seem to be “cool enough” for MTV. But she didn’t have to be. She was fine just as herself. She didn’t have to do silly things or act like someone who she wasn’t, like some other Vjs seemed to be doing. She was more or less her honest self, and that was admirable. Carolyne, if you happen to read this, I wish you and yours all the best. And could you please contact me? I’d love to let everybody know how you’ve been doing. And I’d like to have your autograph. :)

If you happen to have any footage of Carolyne from her MTV days, I’d enjoy doing a video trade with you. You can contact me via my Youtube channel (see links) or you can leave a message for Sesameguy on the Muppet Central forums.

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MY FAIR CHAUVINIST: Two friends of mine have been lucky enough to have their work published in a magazine. If you’re a fan of “My Fair Lady,” you might enjoy their views of this musical, and why Eliza may not have gotten the best deal in the world. Plus, they get bonus points for making reference to both the Muppets and Star Wars in the same column.

http://www.inlandlivingmagazine.com/nov_dec_07/more/arts_culture.php

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MARK YOUR CALENDARS: Way back in ye olden days of the early 1970s, the first Sesame Street calendars contained birthdays for many of the major characters. Well, since a new year is on the way, this might be a good time to take note of whose birthday you’d like to celebrate in 2008! Here, courtesy of MuppetCentral, is the list of Sesame birthdays:

Jan 13: Rubber Duckie
Jan 28: Ernie
Feb 3: Elmo
Feb 23: Gordon
Feb 29: Kermit
March 20: Big Bird
April 17: Sherlock Hemlock
May 3: Susan
May 23: Sam the Robot
June 1: Oscar
June 7: The Amazing Mumford
June 25: Maria
July 1: Guy Smiley
July 26: Bert
Aug 3: Prairie Dawn
Aug 19: Snuffleupagus
Aug 20: Bob
Aug 31: Herry
Sept 19: Slimey
Sept 29: Telly
Sept 30: Zoe
Oct 4: David
Oct 9: Grover
Oct 14: The Count
Oct 29: Betty Lou
Nov 2: Cookie Monster
Nov 14: Luis
Dec 17: Little Bird

I hope that the omission of characters such as Roosevelt Franklin and Don Music will be corrected in future Sesame St. calendars. :)

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I’d like to direct you to a Christmas wish from my friend Daniel S. Tiger. Like he, I wish you all a wonderful holiday and a great new year ahead.

http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2006/12/christmas-with-daniel.html