Results tagged “bigbird”

The creator of Big Bird and Snuffleupagus, Kermit Love, died at the age of 91 this past Saturday from congestive heart failure; he was in Poughkeepsie, close to where he lived with his long-time partner Christopher Lyall. Though many rumored Kermit the Frog was named after him, the character was created long before Love began his career.

Long before Big Bird and Fraggle Rock, Jim Henson was dabbling in avant-garde cinema. Check out a young Henson appearing in his own far-out short, called Time Piece, which owes no small debt to John Cage. "Dislocation in time, time signatures, time as a philosophical concept, and slavery to time are some of the themes touched upon in this nine-minute, experimental film, which was written, directed, and produced by Jim Henson – and starred Jim...

We don't know about you, but it's friggin cold out there. Well, not for some of you. It seems as though places that are supposed to be cold are warm and places that are supposed to be warm are cold. Or maybe that's just us. Either way, we're freezing.

Yesterday's 80th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade went off smoothly, if very wet. The big balloons were kept low to the ground, due to concerns about the high winds, and basically stayed out of trouble, though, according to the NY Times, a Humpty Dumpty balloon "somersaulted" as one point and a Garfield balloon handler slipped during a gust.

Today is an exciting day for anybody under the age of five...well, and for some of us bigger people too. Today, Sesame Street launched its 35th season with the first of 26 brand new episodes! Gothamist is stoked.

- And a reader sent us this graphic to mark the end of all-Softee-jingle, all-the time

The dirty secrets of the detective's squad room are being revealed during hearings for a lawsuit a retired detective has brought against the city. Joann Karmel claims that she was sexually harassed by fellow detectives, with her lawyer contending that Karmel went from "full functioning" to "not being fit for duty" after the ribbing. Or as the Daily News puts it:

At 6-foot-3 and 240 pounds, Karmel was dubbed Big Bird by fellow detectives. But that was mild compared with comments that ranged from nastiness about her body to suggestions her husband had sex with their dog.

The city's lawyer admits that the other detective's remark about Karmel's husband and the dog having sex was "idoitic" but says that Karmel participated in namecalling ( "homo boy," "rat boy," and "the little Puerto Rican") of other detectives, too. Oh, my God, we miss NYPD Blue so much. Karmel secretly recorded conversations at the stationhouse to prove her point - we'll see what else gets out, but let's face it, you're not becoming a NYPD detective to play nice all the time.

It's always been one of our dreams to watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade from a hotel room overlooking the parade route-- and then to jump on to the top of the Big Bird balloon, and ride him (her?) triumphantly down Broadway to Herald Square. If you have similar ambitions, you should definitely check out Hotel Chatter's list of hotels on the parade route:

Last night, Gothamist went to check out the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Inflation Night up at West 77th and West 81st Streets off Central Park West. Newsday reports thousands went to check it out, and it did feel that way: It was a zoo of Thanksgiving Parade enthusiasts, tourists, and mainly tons of parents and children. Overheard, parent to child: "Big Bird is sleeping. He'll wake up in time for the parade!" and we only met up with rion after a few calls like "I'm trying to make my way past children, bunnies, and bears" - lots of festivities in the vicinity. Leading the parade, is Jake the Turkey.