Ramblings of Muppet Nerd Jarrod Fairclough: A Plea To the Muppets

Jarrod Fairclough Presents: Ramblings of a Muppet Nerd – A Plea To The Muppets

Jarrod Fairclough - Hello. This is going to be my last edition of Ramblings. Beginning shortly, I'll be bringing you a new series called "New Pictures," but I'll explain more about that later!

Today I'd like to make a plea on behalf of all the Australian Muppet fans. Muppets, we love you. We love you so much that we dedicate hours of our time to you, writing about you and watching you, and learning everything there is to know. And when I say Muppets, I mean them as a whole, including the Muppets, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, the Muppeteers, etc.

So I'm constantly saddened about the fact that I miss out on so much stuff! I always hear "I'm going to see (insert name of Muppet or Muppeteer here) do a talk about their career." Panel discussions with these people happen regularly enough that I notice them. Then there was the big Carnegie Hall concert! Montreal got an entire Gala! Unfortunately, due to my location on the other side of the world, I'm unable to attend these events, instead having to live vicariously through shoddy YouTube videos, reviews on this site and ToughPigs, or through hours of conversation with Ryan Dosier on Facebook. I'm sure he has better things to do than have me ask "How was the Jerry Nelson Memorial? Tell me about the Snuffy part again?" (Note from Ryan: I wish I had better things to do, but I don't.)

Now, I admit, Australia hasn't been TOTALLY ignored by the Muppets. We had Puppet Up do extremely well here. We get a visit by Elmo generally every two years or so. Sometimes he's joined by a pal, like Cookie Monster or Abby Cadabby. And just last year, Kermit and Jason Segel came out to promote the new movie for like three days. But they stuck to TV appearances. As does Elmo. Where as it seems in other places, like London or in America, they make appearances live in different venues, where the public can get a chance to interact with their furry friends. I'd like that chance. I haven't been in the presence of a Muppet in almost four years, and that's far too long!

I remember when Elmo and Cookie were here a few months ago, I heard a voice over at a large shopping center, one of the main in the state, say "There will be an appearance by Elmo and Cookie Monster on the third floor in 15 minutes." My goodness, I ran. I hadn't gone there knowing this would happen, but I thought, "What incredible luck!" And there, on the third level, was a stage set up, with Sesame Street stuff around it.  I waited, and then the Sesame theme started up. Then, Elmo and Cookie Monster made their entrance, to the cheers of everyone. But not me. They were the big walk around characters. I was pretty devastated and disappointed. QUIT PLAYING GAMES WITH MY HEART, MUPPETS!

I have no doubt what so ever that if you guys were to organize a big Muppet event in Australia, just one or two, you guys would sell out giant halls! Australia loves you, Muppets. And we know you love us. But can you love us a bit more, please? With some Muppets? In performance form?

So that’s my plea. And that's the final edition of Ramblings of a Muppet Nerd. As I said earlier, I'll be beginning a segment called New Pictures, where I look at some obscure or awesome pictures and photos from Muppet Wiki and discuss them. It'll be fun! Until then, dance your cares away!

Love,
Jarrod

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, muppetmindset@gmail.com

The Ramblings of Muppet Nerd Jarrod Fairclough, Part... We Don't Remember

Jarrod Fairclough Presents: The Ramblings of a Muppet Nerd – Edition Number I Don’t Remember Anymore

A FEW THINGS I NOTICED IN THE MUPPETS

Hello. I'm back. It's been a while, eh? How are you? You're looking well. Is that a new sweater? Okay, enough pleasantries. The Muppets came out almost a year ago now, and it's taken me this long to write an article on it. I'm not gonna review it, or anything like that. But there are a few things I noticed in the film, some of which are yet to be mentioned. These are movie mistakes.

Sure, you can head on over to Muppet Wiki for a pretty extensive list of Muppet movie mistakes. There

are 3 listed for The Muppets, so let's start with them, shall we? Oh, and look, I can use screen caps!

1.)   When the telethon begins, Zoot is shown not wearing his hat in the wide shot of the orchestra, and then is wearing his hat when he blows his note in close-up. 

2.)   During the recreation of The Muppet Show opening, Janice is seen in the orchestra pit, but is then seen as part of the female chorus. At the ending reveal, Janice is nowhere to be seen in the row of female characters she was in.

3.)   When Bobo and Uncle Deadly, are singing "Together Again," Bobo is seen holding a spray bottle, but when the two are commanded to stop singing by Tex Richman, Bobo's hand's are empty. Then, when Bobo and Uncle Deadly are blaming each other for the singing, Bobo has the spray bottle in his hands again.

Okay, so those are pretty much just mistakes. Here's another one I found NOT on that list, but not that big of a deal... During the "Life's a Happy Song" finale, after the females sing "We can be whatever we wanna be," they look to the men. The men sing "Nothing we can't do." The lead singer of this is Jason Segel.  Except look at his mouth, he isn't singing at all.  GASP!

Okay, now here's the biggest one. This one is either a giant mistake on behalf of the filmmakers, or there was another plot line that got cut.

You'll remember the scene where the Muppets kidnap Jack Black in a ninja-style fashion. Let's list the characters in the car before hand, shall we? We have Miss Piggy, Swedish Chef, Lew Zealand, Animal, Fozzie, Gonzo, Scooter, and 80's Robot.

Now, let's skip ahead to the attack of Jack Black...

Who's this guy in the picture below? The other characters are accounted for, and he's certainly not 80's Robot. No. I think it's Walter. Walter, who, during this ordeal, was back in the Muppet Theater singing with Jim Parsons.

So was Walter meant to join the other Muppets on the heist? Or did someone stuff up somewhere?

Well, that's that. Someone go put them on Muppet Wiki, please. I don't know how. Do you think you found a mistake? Let us know!






The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, muppetmindset@gmail.com

The Ramblings of Jarrod Fairclough, Muppet Nerd: Part 7

Jarrod Fairclough Presents: Ramblings of a Muppet Nerd Part 7

WHAT I BOUGHT AND WHY I BOUGHT IT

Hello friends.

So I own something I think you’ll all think is pretty amazing.  It took me 2 months to make a decision to buy it, but I bought it. It was expensive.  More than I care to admit.  But it’s amazing.

I bought a photograph hand signed by Jim Henson.  Wanna see?  Here ya go.

So that's what I bought. Against my mother's wishes. She was like "Come on, really?" And when I was asking opinions on Facebook, one person asked "Do you really want to spend that much on that?" And that's when I realized why I had to buy it. Yes I wanted it, because it was a hand signed photo from my long dead hero. Jim Henson is my hero. As I'm sure he's a hero to most of you. And I'm devastated that I'm never gonna get to meet the guy. I've met his friends. I've shaken the hands of people he worked with, including Kevin Clash and Marty Robinson. But I had the chance to buy something that he actually held in his hand, and signed. So I took that chance. And now, a part of Jim Henson is now on display in my bedroom. 

Every day I look at that, and I find it incredible that this man, this brilliant man, did so much. And I have something he signed. Yes, I'm not the only guy in the world that has his hero's signature. But this man isn't some A-list actor, this guy created an institution, and created some of the most recognizable characters in the world. I may never get to meet the guy, but this is the next best thing in my book. And I will own it forever, proudly displaying it like the Muppet Nerd I am. You jelly, bro?

What's more illegal? Briefly inconveniencing Jack Black, or destroying The Muppets?

Jarrod.





The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, muppetmindset@gmail.com

The Ramblings of Jarrod Fairclough, Muppet Nerd - Part 6

Jarrod Fairclough Presents: Ramblings of a Muppet Nerd Part 6

Hello. Me again. Miss me? Man, a lot sure has happened since I was here last. The Muppets won an Oscar. Didn't they have an Oscar already? I swear they did... He lives in a trash can... BOOM TISH! No? I'll let myself out.

So this thing is called Ramblings of a Muppet Nerd, and today is really just gonna be that. Ramblings. Nothing solid, just a whole bunch of stuff I've thought of over the last three months, and decided to vocalize here. So indulge me.

Firstly, I have a theory that Scooter is just a Fraggle that's evolved. Think about it. They look exactly the same.

So I saw The Muppets a lot for free. I got to see it six weeks early at a preview screening, where I had to pretend my name was Todd and use my friend's cousin's pass. Then I got given $100 worth of movie tickets for Christmas. And then I got the DVD/BLU-RAY/DIGITAL COPY pack sent from the US. Which, I'll have you know, didn't allow me to use the digital copy password, because it was registered to America. But that's okay. HD Muppets. Man, how HD is that Blu-Ray copy? I could count the fuzzy hairs on Fozzie!

How good does that new I Am Big Bird documentary look? I'm gonna watch the heck outta that when it gets released. And I find it awesome that Copper Pot Productions have been tweeting so much about it. They've tweeted to me a few times when I've had questions. Well done, Copper Pot.

Why didn't Rizzo get any lines in The Muppets? That was my one complaint.

Remember when George Clooney was Batman? That was weird.

Has anyone seen my Fraggle Rock comics? I had like a big hard cover edition but I lost it. I think it's in my shelf but I haven't looked.

Oh, so my little niece loves Grover. Like, goes nuts for Grover. Which makes me very happy.

Anyway. Sorry for that Batman thing before. I was just thinking about it.

Until next time, dance your cares away, little buddies.

Jarrod.






The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, muppetmindset@gmail.com

The Ramblings of Jarrod Fairclough, Muppet Nerd - Part 5

Jarrod Fairclough Presents: The Ramblings of a Muppet Nerd – The Museum Of Jarrod Art

Jarrod Fairclough - Hello. Me again.

Let me tell you a little about myself. I'm studying animation, about to begin my third and final year. It means that I'm constantly doodling and drawing, and various times this had led me to draw Muppets, both of The Muppets and Sesame Street categories. Now, I am no professional by any means. I'm no Dave Hulteen, or Chris Smigliano, or anyone like that. I do this for a bit of fun, and I thought maybe I could indulge myself a little. Speaking of indulging myself, remember when I wrote that love letter to Jason Segel a while back? I have to admit I got a little self-conscious when I found out he reads this website. It means he read the letter.  Do... do you think he likes me? Anyway, awkwardness aside, allow me to talk about each of the drawings, and look out for special comments by a mystery guest, which I'm pretty sure I already revealed was going to be Joe Mathieu ages ago...

This was a very quickly drawn picture while I was waiting for some tech guys to come fix the computer I was using. When I say quick, I mean maybe 3-4 minutes tops. Bert is a frequently drawn character by me, I just find his head shape to be really interesting to draw. Plus it's great fun making different expressions just with his eyebrow. This one is nonchalance. I don't really like drawing Ernie too much. His head shape is really confusing, and its delicate to draw, because if you don't get the head just right, you'll end up having Ernie look like a cross between Elmo and Stewie from Family Guy. You'll also notice Ernie doesn't seem to have a left hand. As I said, 3 to 4 minutes.

JOE MATHIEU:  Cute, sketchy version of Ernie and Bert looking somewhat embarrassed about something. The Ed Koren line makes them appear insecure and a bit nervous. Their hair is exactly how I used to draw it in the early 70's when I drew them with pen and ink.

I call this one "1930’s Cartoon." I love the look of those old rubbery characters, like when Mickey Mouse used to have eyes like that. Also done in class between work, I started with Kermit, and went from there. To get the good grey look, I coloured each of the characters their proper colours, i.e. Kermit was green, Fozzie was orange, etc., and then I "grey-scaled" the layers, which turned them black and white and grey. Sam was a last minute addition. I loved this picture so much; I slightly edited it and attempted to enter it into the We Love Fine t-shirt contest. Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties, it was too much hassle to enter and I didn't bother. Which is good, because much more talented people deserved to win.

JOE MATHIEU: 1936; the year Jim was born. The Muppets have a period, sort of Steamboat Willie, look about them. I have to admit that I first saw Sesame Street on black and white TV!

This picture was done while I was testing out a new drawing tablet I had acquired. I don't have a whole lot to say about it.  n the final piece, I ended up editing Elmo's eyes so they didn't look so oddly proportioned. My sister really liked it, and the final piece got printed out and is now hanging in my little niece's bedroom.

JOE MATHIEU:  Very nice. I would still like to see everyone bunched together, though. Aren't rainbows beautiful?

This one got done during class as well. It's amazing I actually get anything done there. Originally I was going to just draw Gonzo. I was trying to find a good way to draw his nose. Then I drew Camilla, which, can I say, is my favourite part of this drawing. Then I drew the other two. I'm not 100% happy with either. Kermit's top half of his mouth is a little too exaggerated, and I should change it, but meh. Fozzie's too skinny, and he has a weird lover half of his mouth. I complain, yes. But I'm still happy enough with it to share it.

JOE MATHIEU:  Everyone seems happier now that they are in color! I think they would be even happier if they were mashed closer together. Jim always liked the characters smashed together; look at all the group photos with Jim in the middle. He liked all the heads touching, making an all-over pattern. Where's Miss Piggy?

This next one was done for a woman at work. She had asked me to find a good Sesame Street poster for her son's room. His name is Rohan, and he's now 3, I think. When we were talking about it one day, my best friend's mum was there and said, "Why don't you draw a poster?" So I did. But it wasn't this one. Originally I started one with Elmo holding an R, Grover with an O, etc., but then I started doodling in class and drew the background you see here. And I loved it. You'll notice that Grover, Cookie and Oscar look slightly blurry, as does the background. That's because they were all done at one size, and scaled up to make the image the size of two normal pieces of paper together. I really like Oscar and Big Bird in this. And Cookie. Cookie looks dumb. And I love the Count. I love all of them but Elmo, and even then he's pretty good too.

JOE MATHIEU: There's a handsome group! I love the funky architecture growing out of a grassy field, especially with the addition of a medieval castle on the right! I always loved drawing the Count, but the underside of his cape always gave me fits; working digitally would have been a god-send. What exactly is Grover carrying?

Joe, Grover is carrying a cape.

I love this picture. I love this picture more and more every time I look at it. I love the effect of the lights, I love the crazy mouths. I should point out; the mouths were partially inspired by Evan Cheng, after I saw his zombie pictures on ToughPigs. Every time I've attempted to redraw this picture, I've failed. I've only just been able to draw Elmo's head the same without the mouth looking weird. I'll sound a tad arrogant here, but I just really like this drawing, it's one of, if not my favourite one I've ever done!

JOE MATHIEU: I have no idea what this is about, but I love it! These drawings are a lot of fun. I can't help but remember that when we started drawing the Muppets for books and products in the early 70's, Jim did not want a codified style where everyone was forced to draw the characters in the same style with the same technique. He encouraged everyone to interpret the Muppets in their own way. I think it has gone a bit in the other direction these days, but that was how Jim liked it. Also, he didn't think that the drawings had to be overly accurate representations of the puppets, either. I think he felt that the puppets had their physical limitations that the illustrators didn't have to be hobbled by. Good job, Jarrod!

Okay, before we continue, two things. One, "I have no idea what this is about, but I love it!" may just be my favourite review ever. I'm currently getting a website together, and at the top of it I've put that line. Two, I've often thought that the characters are all looking too much the same in all the Sesame books lately. It's nice to know that Jim loved a different look, and it may just be my delusional state, but I read that also as "Jim would have loved this drawing."

Okay, now, next are a few images I didn't get Joe to comment on, because I either forgot or I didn't expect him to comment on it.

This one is Kermit working on his Jim Henson puppet. His pupils are a bit small. Other than that I really like this picture. But then on that Scandanavian fan art site I saw a much better Kermit-Jim Puppet picture, one I love so much I'm considering printing and framing it.

Fozzie's Comedy Club. Just a really quick picture, don’t think I really even outlined Fozzie roughly first. I do these while listening to music, so I tend to zone out. I love the rubber chicken. Also, I want to point out, it was after these that I realized Fozzie's hat flips up, not goes down.

Thanks again to Joe Mathieu. I genuinely cannot put into words how good he has been to me over the last year or so! We've traded e-mails back and forth, and he's become a bit of a mentor in my eyes!

So that's just some of my Sesame Street and Muppet drawings. I'm sure in another six months or so I'll have enough to do another MOJA article. Next time I'll be talking about the wait for The Muppets, and how I managed to see it so many times for free (and no, I didn't download it).

Life is a happy song, my friends. And it's also a fillet of fish. Yes it is.

Jarrod.







The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, ryguy102390@gmail.com

The Ramblings of Jarrod Fairclugh, Muppet Nerd - Part 4

Jarrod Fairclough Presents:  The Ramblings of a Muppet Nerd – CLASH of the Titans

Jarrod Fairclough - The other day I was lucky enough to catch a screening of the documentary Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey, all about the life of Kevin Clash, who, as we all know, is Elmo. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it, because it is by far one of the best documentaries I've seen in a long time.  There are very few documentaries I'd ever want to own. This one, along with Conan O'Brien Can't Stop, are the only ones I'll have in my collection. At least the only ones that will get a regular watch, anyway. But alas, this is not a review of the movie. This is my account of my meeting with Kevin Clash in 2008.

As I've said a few times on this site, on December 18th, 2008, I was given the opportunity to spend a few hours on the set of Sesame Street. For those playing at home, when I was there they were filming episode 4192, "Y a Quest? Y Not?." I watch that episode and think to myself "Hey, I'm like four feet away from that!" It was a great day, made possible by the fantastic guy Matt Vogel.

After meeting Matt, he went over and tapped a large man on the shoulder. This man I recognized as Kevin Clash, and he walked on over with a HUGE smile on his face. He shook my hand, and I told him what a giant fan I am of his, and how much I love Elmo. We spoke about Elmo's interviews on Rove. (A talk show in Australia. If you haven't seen the interviews, YouTube them, preferably the ones where Elmo is in the studio--they are much better than any of the Jimmy Fallon interviews, in my opinion, anyway) He told me those were some of his favorite ever interviews. And they must be, because part of one of the interviews made it into Being Elmo. He then told us to go wait in the arbor, and he'd be over there in a moment with Elmo...

Um... OKAY! Off Kevin went, and a few moments later he returned and put on Elmo. I can tell you now, that was one of the most bizarre, but most awesome moments in my life. As anyone who has met a Muppet will tell you, you totally forget that they aren't real. I could clearly see Kevin standing there, but I was having a conversation with Elmo, and he was responding and having fun. In true Elmo form, he was very inappropriate, and very funny. After a photo, and after I gave him a hug, Elmo responded with "You're all going to get wasted this weekend. Especially you!" as he pointed to me. At that point I was only 19, so I was legally prohibited from drinking in America, which I told him. Elmo told us "Well, Elmo will come out with you. He'll talk the barmaids into giving us drinks." I told Elmo that I only had another two years to wait until I could drink legally in the U.S. Elmo sighed and said, "Elmo got the bum deal. Elmo's gonna be three and a half forever..."

Kevin removed Elmo, and a wrangler took him away. I shook Kevin's hand and thanked him again, and said I'll be in touch with Elmo to organize a drinking session. He laughed, and asked what the legal drinking age is in Australia. I told him that it's 18. He looked a little confused, and then asked what age we get our license... I told him that it's also 18. Kevin smiled and said, "So you can legally buy beer on the same day you can legally drive on your own?" We all sort of nodded, because we realized how ridiculous it was. Kevin smiled, and as he walked off, laughed as Elmo, and said, "Ridiculous."

So that was my Kevin Clash experience. He was lovely, and funny and a genuine joy to be around. But something else happened that day that I want to talk about. It's no secret that Sesame Street is a common place that sick children go to through the Make a Wish Foundation, a group of people that do incredible work. On the same day I was visiting the set, a little girl and her family arrived a little after us. We watched as Leslie Carrera Rudolph and Abby Cadabby spoke to the kids, and the girls dad got a photo with Telly, which made us laugh. But when Kevin got Elmo and went over to the kids, it was magic. This little girls eyes lit right up, and she immediately grabbed Elmo and hugged and kissed him. In Being Elmo, there's a segment on Kevin and Elmo doing this sort of stuff for young sick kids. And what you see there is absolutely how it was when I watched this happen.

I'm assuming it's fairly common that these kids get a video of them meeting their favorite character. I've seen a couple on YouTube, and 99% of them are with Elmo. So, I sat on the stoop of 123 Sesame Street, next to Matt Vogel, Paul McGinnis, and Eric Jacobson, and we watched Kevin film with Elmo and this little girl. I can barely remember what he said  Off the top of myself, the girl couldn't really say much, and Elmo just kept hugging and kissing her. She was in a wheelchair, and the video ended with Elmo jumping on her wheelchair and demanding to go home with the family. It was funny, and everyone laughed and applauded. And then, as Elmo was given to a wrangler, I watched as Kevin turned around, smiled at the girl's mother, and hugged her while she had a little cry.

The fact that this man can bring so much joy, and so much happiness to people from all ages, really is a compliment to the magnificent skills of Kevin Clash. This is a man who had a small red puppet thrown at him, and turned it into a worldwide phenomenon. I called this thing CLASH of the Titans. But I think that's wrong now. Because, in my opinion, Clash IS the titan.

Tune in next time for MOJA – The Museum of Jarrod Art, where I talk about my little drawings and doodles of the Muppets and Sesame Street. And stay tuned for my articles throughout the year, such as my wait for The Muppets movie, my collection of t-shirts, my various attempts to get my niece to watch Sesame Street, and much more!

Wanna come drink with me and Elmo next weekend?
Jarrod

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, ryguy102390@gmail.com

The Ramblings of Jarrod Fairclough, Muppet Nerd: Part 3

Jarrod Fairclough Presents: The Ramblings of a Muppet Nerd

I am a heterosexual male. I love the ladies. I've kissed over 2 girls!

But I am in love. With a man. So, please indulge me, as I write a Muppet fans love letter to Marshall Erikson himself, Jason Segel...

Dear Jason,
We've never met, and you may never read this, but my name is Jarrod Fairclough, and you have been a big part of my life for three years now. In 2008, I first saw you when I watched Knocked Up. And, to be honest with you, that could have been my last exposure to you. Because of my immense dislike for anything with Katherine Heigl in it, the film was tainted and left a bad taste in my mouth.

And then, in 2008, Forgetting Sarah Marshall was released, and I, for about two months, had every customer (I work in a grocery store) come up to me and say "You know, you look like the main guy from Forgetting Sarah Marshall." How I Met Your Mother had been around for a few years, but it didn't really get known in Australia until Sarah Marshall. I thought to myself, "Maybe I need to check this movie out," but I never got around to it.

Then, it was made known to me that you were writing a new Muppet movie. Firstly, I did what most Muppet fans would have done, and thought "Yeah, I'll believe it when I see it." And then it started getting more and more prominent in the Muppet world. And I thought, "Okay, maybe I need to check this Segel guy out." So I went and borrowed a friend's copy of Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Then, it happened. For the first time in years, I had a belly ache from laughing in a movie so much. People ask me my favourite movie, and I say that it's a tie between The Muppet Movie and that piece of comedy brilliance.

The film was so good that I took a chance, without seeing a single episode, I went and bought the first four seasons of How I Met Your Mother on DVD, purely based on the fact that you were in it. I was finished those four seasons in five days (I wasn't studying then). Still now, every week, I watch at least 5–10 episodes from the 6.3 seasons that have aired so far (I'm downloading Season 7 as it airs in America--we won't get it here for another 4-5 weeks).

The point being, Mr. Segel, is that I was so confident you could make me laugh, that I spent over $100 I probably couldn't afford at that time of my life (long story involving copious amounts of cereal, SpongeBob, and The View--which shows you how dark that time was). And it was totally worth it. 

And that brings me to The Muppets. You lucky Americans only have another month to wait for this movie. I have another six weeks on top of that. January 1st I will be sitting in the cinema, on my own (I don't want non-lovers to taint my experience) where I will see the movie, and regardless of if I liked it or I loved it, I will be leaving my seat, going to the box office, and buying another ticket for the next session. I may even go enough times to spend $100 in one day, because I trust you that much. I can't explain how excited I am that you're writing and starring in this film, Mr. Segel. Jason Segel and Muppets together? That's like Jim Henson and God got together and said "Happy New Year, Jarrod." I have friends that aren't Muppet lovers, who have suddenly become intrigued in the movie when I mention you're involved. The other day, I went to see a movie, and for the first time since 1996, I saw Muppets on a big screen when the trailer was played. I seriously cannot explain how excited I became. I had a huge grin on my face the entire time, even though I've seen the trailer 50 times before.

Jason Segel, you are incredible. I saw Gulliver's Travels because you were in it (and Emily Blunt–she's a spunk). Every other day, if not every day, I have some sort of reminder of how funny you are, which gives me the confidence to say that The Muppets is going to be one of the best films I will ever watch. And I've seen Mac and Me.

Sincerely, Jarrod Fairclough
AKA, the guy who rings you every night and just breathes down the phone (I'm not creepy, I just have bad asthma)

Thanks folks. That got a bit weird in places, but I had to say it. Join me next time for the MOJA – Museum of Jarrod Art, where I go through some Muppet drawings I've done over the last year or so, with special comments by a good friend to me, and to Muppets, Sesame Street artist Joe Mathieu.

Do you think we should have rented a bigger car?
Jarrod.
P.S - Remember many many months ago I wrote that my sister was expecting her first child? Well, little Sienna arrived safe and sound 14 weeks ago (at time of writing) and she's the cutest thing on two legs.

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, ryguy102390@gmail.com

The Ramblings of Jarrod Fairclough, Muppet Nerd, Part 2

Jarrod Fairclough Presents: The Ramblings of a Muppet Nerd

Hi ho, and welcome to the second edition of my new article series. Before I start, I just want to say thanks to everyone who commented on the first article, especially Stelle, who absolutely made my day! Hopefully you’ll all enjoy the series as much as I enjoy writing it! Anyway, onwards to the article!

I love Muppet cameos. I love them like you wouldn’t believe. Which is why I get excited when they appear on other TV shows. Even if I don’t like the TV show, I’ll watch it, because it’s Muppets, and Muppets make the world a better place. But when I like the show, it makes it all the more exciting! There’s no better example of this than the appearance of Oscar, Grover and Elmo on Scrubs, one of my favourite shows. And it was perfectly done! And that’s got me thinking of other TV shows I’d like to see Muppets appear on. Let’s take a walk down TV show lane, shall we? Does that lane exist? Is there any housing available there?

• CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM:  Now, I have no idea how this would work convincingly, and I’m not sure any of the Muppet people would allow them on this show, because it can be extremely crass. But it’s hilarious, and with Muppet performers being incredibly good at improv, (as this show is mainly improvised), I can see some hilarity ensuing. Maybe an episode where Larry David goes to Stuffed and Unstrung and insults one of the puppeteers before the show, so they use the puppets to insult him in front of the audience.

• HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER: Neil Patrick Harris is a self-proclaimed Muppet fan, and he’s also appeared on Sesame Street as The Fairy Shoe Person–one of my personal favourite street scenes of all time. But how could Muppets convincingly appear on this? Maybe they could be interviewed by Robin about their new movie. Or Lily might play a video of them for her kindergarten class.  Of course it’d be fourth wall references all-round, because there’s some guy from that show that apparently has something to do with the new film? Ha, I kid. Believe me, we’ll get to Jason Segel, and my man-crush on him in the next article.

• 30 ROCK:  Alright, calm down, I know that the Muppets have been on it! But not Kermit, or Big Bird, or anyone awesome. And how would this happen? Well, it’s been established that Kenneth already sees the world as Muppets. Perhaps a conk on the head sees the 30 Rock team appear as Sesame Street characters to Kenneth. Prairie Dawn as Liz Lemon. Oscar as Jack. Zoe as Jenna.  Grover as Tracy. You get the idea.

• CONAN:  Okay, so technically this would be more of an appearance than a cameo. There are not many things in this world that I love as much as Muppets. But Conan O’Brien is one of them. And Muppets haven’t been seen with him nearly as much as they should have. I’m hoping they’ll appear to promote the new movie. And I’m hoping it’s better than their appearances on Leno... Anything would be better than Leno... I hate him as much as I hate Ke$ha.

• COMMUNITY:  This is the other thing I love as much as I love Muppets.  This show is by far one of the best sitcoms I’ve ever seen, one of the smartest pieces of work in the world. I could go on for days about the genius of this show, but I’ll try not to. The thing is, this show has done so many weird and quirky episodes, they’d think of a way to pull it off and make it look convincing. I mean these are the people who did a mafia movie episode (revolving around chicken fingers), numerous war episodes (all revolving around paintball, including cowboys and Star Wars), a conspiracy episode, a claymation episode, and a flashback episode that had 82 scenes we’d never actually seen before. This show could do it. This show should do it. In fact, I’m going to tweet show creator Dan Harmon about it now. One moment. There, I’m back. I really did tweet him about it.

These shows are some of my favourites, and I can easily see Muppets appearing on these shows. To any of the people who work on any of these shows, if you want to use any of these ideas, go ahead, I won’t sue. Just credit me with a thank you. No payment necessary! Unless you want to pay me... (Note from Ryan: And then who pays me?)

Tune in next time for my promised love letter to Jason Segel, the man I aspire to be. It helps I look a bit like him...

Have a shpadoinkle day! And if you got that reference, I love you.

Jarrod.





The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, ryguy102390@gmail.com

The Ramblings of Jarrod Fairclough, Muppet Nerd

Jarrod Fairclough Presents: The Ramblings of a Muppet Nerd

I often forget that other people’s lives aren’t as Muppet related as my own. And when I say often, I mean almost every day. It seems that I’m always saying Muppet quotes, singing Muppet songs, and referencing them to people who have no idea who they are. It happens a lot at work.  I have a new manager, named Didier. Which rhymes with Lydia. Which lead to me, for hours, singing "Didier the Tattooed Lady," and laughing constantly. I can tell you right now this didn’t end well. At all. Because apparently that’s not the first time someone’s sang this around him. This other time, I drove a fellow worker home, and as she’s about to get her licence, she asked me where I got mine. Now, I knew she meant which DMV I went to, but I instantly, like a reflex, said "I took a correspondents course," which of course, she didn’t get.

A while back I went on a road trip with some friends, and I was one of the 4 people that took a car. So, a mate of mine was in with me, and I put in my iPod. I have A LOT of Muppet music on there, from Sesame Street albums to the Fraggle Rock Theme. And I made my mate listen to every single one of them. He wasn’t impressed, and asked to switch cars at the next rest stop. So I drove alone for an hour, singing at the top of my voice, much to the enjoyment of the car of attractive girls driving next to me on the highway.

As I’ve stated on this site before, I own almost 25 Muppet related t-shirts, with more ordered from Threadless and Red Bubble on their way. I went to uni the other week, and a girl in my class asked why I own so many. I told her it’s because the Muppets are the greatest thing in the world, the one thing in the world that has bought me constant joy. She replied with "That can’t be doing wonders for your love life..." Touché. But that got me thinking about this very topic I am talking about. Not all girls are going to appreciate my Muppety life. Those girls are not the girls for me.

The Muppets are a big part of my life. And if you’re on this site, it means they’re a big part of yours. Or it means you accidently typed in the wrong URL. If you’re looking for Ke$ha online, you’re way off.  Actually, if you’re looking for Ke$ha online, you might want to visit WebMD first.

So that’s my first post in this new series.  I decided to cancel “The Best Of: According to Jarrod” the moment that SesameStreet.org out-awesomed themselves and added a zillion more characters to the video page.  Be sure to join me next time for my extensive list of TV shows I want Muppet’s to appear on, and pending the length of that article, my love letter to Jason Segel.

Be sure to dance your cares away...
Jarrod





The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, ryguy102390@gmail.com