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You are here: Home / Absent Friends / Early Morning Open Thread: Happy Birthday, Jim Henson

Early Morning Open Thread: Happy Birthday, Jim Henson

by Anne Laurie|  September 24, 20115:20 am| 22 Comments

This post is in: Absent Friends, KULCHA!, Open Threads

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Today would have been Jim Henson’s 75th birthday. The good ones always go too young, but it makes me sad that I can mangle Tom Lehrer’s Mozart line: When Jim Henson was my age, he had been dead three years.
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Maybe this will be the year I finally finish my Aughra costume for Halloween…
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22Comments

  1. 1.

    burnspbesq

    September 24, 2011 at 6:12 am

    “The good ones always go too soon.”

    True enough, but not always true, and I have my ticket stub from last June’s Buffalo Springfield concert as evidence.

    Listening to the recording of Sonny Rollins’ 80th birthday concert the other day, I couldn’t help but wonder what a John Coltrane 80th birthday concert (which would have come up in 2008 if he hadn’t died in 1967 of a form of cancer that has a much higher survival rate now) might have sounded like.

  2. 2.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    September 24, 2011 at 6:19 am

    Andy Stein, 11/22/68.

  3. 3.

    MJ

    September 24, 2011 at 8:03 am

    Happy Birthday, Jim Henson.
    My childhood days would not have been the same without Sesame street. Thanks for that.

    Don’t know if you can get emails in heaven, but thought I’d let you know anyway.

    :-)

  4. 4.

    Mino

    September 24, 2011 at 8:30 am

    Musicians mose definitely die too young. Small planes.

  5. 5.

    Mino

    September 24, 2011 at 8:33 am

    If I had to guess, I’d say that products of the weapons and entertainment industry are our primary exports, and our government back-door subsidizes the weapons industry. Entertainment is our genius.

  6. 6.

    burnspbesq

    September 24, 2011 at 8:37 am

    @Mino:

    That would be a very uninformed guess.

    http://www.worldsrichestcountries.com/top_us_exports.html

  7. 7.

    burnspbesq

    September 24, 2011 at 8:39 am

    Everton are putting on a defensive clinic so far, but it’s hard to sustain that for 90 minutes. Howard Webb has given some very unjustified cards.

  8. 8.

    Libby's Person

    September 24, 2011 at 8:56 am

    The Henson Google doodle made me laugh out loud in delight last night. And it brought back warm, fuzzy memories of watching the Muppet Show way back when. Pure genius.

  9. 9.

    Mino

    September 24, 2011 at 9:08 am

    @burnspbesq: No kidding; I am schooled.

  10. 10.

    burnspbesq

    September 24, 2011 at 9:16 am

    If Balotelli weren’t such a head-case he’d play more. Quality goal.

  11. 11.

    PurpleGirl

    September 24, 2011 at 9:22 am

    Anne Laurie: You should finish it and then wear it to answer the door to trick-or-treaters on Halloween. (It’s a Sunday this year.)

    I’m adding some more ruffles to my Yarn Monster costume. (I’ll send you a photo when I’m done, if you want.) I’ve worn it several times to answer the door bell. The kids love it and one teenage boy really thought it was fantastic.

  12. 12.

    Mino

    September 24, 2011 at 9:32 am

    @burnspbesq: Though there is this:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/mia/part1.htm and, more curently, this :http://blogs.cbn.com/thewebblog/archive/2009/01/22/americas-second-largest-export.aspx

    The difficulty is entertainment is lumped in with services, which had/has a huge trade surplus.

  13. 13.

    Linda Featheringill

    September 24, 2011 at 9:44 am

    Happy Birthday, Jim.

    He opened my mind way back when by enticing me to come outside of the box and play and let me see that there was a whole new world out there!

    You done good, Jim.

  14. 14.

    jayjaybear

    September 24, 2011 at 10:46 am

    I had a female coworker once who looked almost exactly like Aughra. Down to the mustache. It was scary. She was the nicest person, though. I always felt slightly ashamed of even noticing the resemblance because of that.

  15. 15.

    Jay in Oregon

    September 24, 2011 at 11:01 am

    Happy birthday, Jim! And thank you for EVERYTHING.

    I may have to dig out some Muppets to watch today. They’re still going strong on YouTube; my recent favorites:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCRUPWDIgYM
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpcUxwpOQ_A
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiMZa8flyYY

    And this picture can still get to me:
    http://photo.qip.ru/photo/humor_qip/96462371/xlarge/117609853.jpg

  16. 16.

    Bruuuuce

    September 24, 2011 at 11:34 am

    I miss Jim Henson. I remember being an SF convention in Baltimore and hearing about his death, and just breaking down; it was at least fifteen minutes before I could even move. (I was far from alone in that regard; there were wet faces all over.)

    Here’s something that was aired a couple of years ago, when the “Henson pipes” were made a part of the official NBC tour: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4TtRpUOkWE

  17. 17.

    adolphus

    September 24, 2011 at 11:35 am

    Neither the Land of Gorch nor the Mighty Favog are among Jim Henson’s best remembered creations, but his work on Saturday Night Live in 1975 and 76 helped him explore ideas later used in The Muppet Show, Dark Crystal, and Fraggle Rock.

    All Hail The Mighty Favog and Happy Birthday Jim.

    This was the only video I could find and it isn’t their best. If anyone knows where there are any others, I’d love to see them.

    http://vimeo.com/24652753

  18. 18.

    Bruuuuce

    September 24, 2011 at 12:08 pm

    Also, too, the best Jim Henson tribute song ever, by the awesome Tom Smith: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77f8wDf_Sdg

  19. 19.

    Origuy

    September 24, 2011 at 1:48 pm

    So that’s what Yoda’s mother looked like.

  20. 20.

    jay

    September 24, 2011 at 2:09 pm

    Happy Birthday, Jim! Thanks for filling our childhoods with laughter and joy, and changing the way we looked at the world and those around us.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Zzfdlxjx4Y&feature=related

  21. 21.

    contessakitty (AKA Karen)

    September 24, 2011 at 2:11 pm

    There’s a new album that came out in August 2011:

    The Muppets Green Album

    Current alternative/indie bands like Ok Go, My Morning Jacket cover Muppets songs and I’ve been listening it to it nonstop today.

  22. 22.

    gravie

    September 24, 2011 at 8:19 pm

    I work at the University of Maryland, which is Jim Henson’s alma mater. (He got a degree in Home Ec, no kidding — great for sewing puppets.) There’s a lovely statue of Jim & Kermit right outside the student union and it brings a little moisture to my eye every time I pass it. http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Jim_Henson_Statue

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