In an era of epically fucked groupthink—the Congressional supercommittee, the Washington Redskins’ management, pretty much anyone involved with capitalism these days—Jim Henson’s Muppets are a reassuring cultural antidote. The original Muppet film (the first of nine, including last month’s The Muppets) follows Kermit the Frog as he journeys from humble beginnings to stardom, befriending other [...]
The genius of the Muppets has always been the show’s ability to cut its gee-whizness with winking self-deprecation and a hint of cynicism. The somewhat insufferable Kermit the Frog has his rainbow-connectedness karate-chopped by an always-insufferable but realist Miss Piggy. Fozzie Bear and his terrible jokes are heckled by cranky balcony-dwellers Statler and Waldorf. And [...]
Roger Langridge is a New Zealander who lives in England, but cartoons for United States comic book companies. His small press comic Fred the Clown has kept him coming to SPX for years. He's probably now best known for his recent run on the Muppets, but he also recently wrote a critically successful Thor [...]
Happy Monday, Arts Desk readers!
Fresh off detonating an n-bomb and other ordnance in an interview with Playboy, John Mayer descended into the bosom of Obama’s Post-Racial America to play a two-hour gig at the Verizon Center Saturday. In a remarkable show of restraint, the embattled musician managed to limit his word vomit to innocuous musings [...]
Morning, y'all, and good Veterans Day. If you're the remembering type, check out the Big Read radio show episode about The Things They Carried. Top of the news pile: The writing at Idolator sucks now, after only a day; Lady GaGa's new music video, not so much. The FLOBOTS, makers of one of my favorite [...]
What it is: Multi-instrumentalist Julian Koster, of Neutral Milk Hotel and The Music Tapes fame, performs traditional Christmas songs arranged entirely for singing saw–an instrument which produces a sound that is not unlike a slowly deflating balloon.
The bike under the tree: As a devout fan of The Muppets, the guest-Sleigher finds some pleasure in hearing [...]
