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Gonzo
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Okay. So here was the best part of our trips to New York. I mean, we went to Times Square (and the enormous Toys R Us there....finally found a Tux Kermit!), the Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, Rockefeller Center, were on TV a few times...BUT.
The best part of the trip was actually on the last day of the second trip; we went to the headquarters of the Jim Henson Company, which was of course the fulfilment of a lifelong dream for me. The building is completely unmarked, and it's just there with a bunch of other brownstones. We were peering at the door, wondering if it was really the right place, when Melissa noticed a bunch of boxes being unloaded. Boxes that said things like "Elmo--Medieval Costume" and "Big Bird: Feet" and "Prairie Dawn: B" and so we figured we were in the right place. So we were peering at the door, when it buzzed, so we figured we should just walk right in. And we did.
The guy at the reception desk was SOOOO cool. The desk itself is made of something like 300 different woods, all inlaid into beautiful designs--primarily Kermit, Gonzo, and Janice, representing Drama, Letters, and Music. Byron, the Janice was the SEXIEST version of her I think I've ever seen. I've got a pic that I can send you. Laminate it first. The reception area is underneath the spiral staircase that goes up into a skylight representing Kermit's Swamp...blue sky, treetops, lily pads all over the place...beautifully done glass. There's also a mural of the Muppet Theatre audience, and we sat in the front row of chairs and got our pictures taken (and so did Rubber Duckie...)
There's too much to tell. So the reception guy told us that because it IS a place of business after all, we could just see the reception area, which was FINE with us. We were already so delighted with that that I could die a happy man.
So we were happy with that, and then the guy who runs the building heard that we were from WAY out of town, and he happened to have the time, so he showed us around the rest of the building. !!!!!!!! The REST OF THE BUILDING!!!! Anyway, he took us downstairs to where the Muppets are actually built (they just moved the workshop back there the previous week I think) and we saw the Two-Headed Monster, Big Bird, Elmo, Grover, Zoe, Prairie Dawn, and a bunch of others that happened to be in for a check-up. I almost cried. But didn't. Much. There were also a bunch of Bear In The Big Blue House puppets, which I don't follow (yet...give Miles another year...).
Then he took us upstairs, and we saw Jim Henson's old offices, including more stained glass that shows Bert and Ernie in the top portion of the window, and Jim Henson and Frank Oz in the bottom portion. If you've seen the pictures in "The Works," it was still just like that. They've tried to keep the offices like they were when Jim was still there, but they do have people working there. The people with the most creative jobs (IE design, writing) get his old offices. Very touching.
Then he took us into the board room, where we saw Fozzie Bear, Animal, Rowlf, Foo-Foo, and Pepe, who were all being prepped for a MasterCard commercial. There were actually two Pepes, one was in a tux. They were all smaller than I imagined...not sure why. They have the video library for all of their shows there. They also had a Skeksis Throne from "The Dark Crystal," and I got to sit in that...I looked like a moron, but hey.
He even took us back to his office and showed us all this stuff in his personal collection, and the "Shrine To The Almighty Dollar" and probably spent half an hour (or more) of his time indulging us. I've dreamed about going to this place for probably 20 years, and although I would have died a happy man after seeing the lobby, they really went over the top and made it the experience of a lifetime. The nightmare would have been if it was a cold, harsh place, but every place we went in that building, the people were SO nice, and ready to show us everything they were doing. It was very remarkable, and I'll never forget it.
They also had the second wave of Palisades' Action Figures...me like berry much.
Anyway, that was definitely the highlight of the trip--everything I ever imagined, but SO much more. I'm in the process of making all sorts of thank you cards for the two guys. And I'm considering a career in stalking them.
That's it.
Quinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn
The best part of the trip was actually on the last day of the second trip; we went to the headquarters of the Jim Henson Company, which was of course the fulfilment of a lifelong dream for me. The building is completely unmarked, and it's just there with a bunch of other brownstones. We were peering at the door, wondering if it was really the right place, when Melissa noticed a bunch of boxes being unloaded. Boxes that said things like "Elmo--Medieval Costume" and "Big Bird: Feet" and "Prairie Dawn: B" and so we figured we were in the right place. So we were peering at the door, when it buzzed, so we figured we should just walk right in. And we did.
The guy at the reception desk was SOOOO cool. The desk itself is made of something like 300 different woods, all inlaid into beautiful designs--primarily Kermit, Gonzo, and Janice, representing Drama, Letters, and Music. Byron, the Janice was the SEXIEST version of her I think I've ever seen. I've got a pic that I can send you. Laminate it first. The reception area is underneath the spiral staircase that goes up into a skylight representing Kermit's Swamp...blue sky, treetops, lily pads all over the place...beautifully done glass. There's also a mural of the Muppet Theatre audience, and we sat in the front row of chairs and got our pictures taken (and so did Rubber Duckie...)
There's too much to tell. So the reception guy told us that because it IS a place of business after all, we could just see the reception area, which was FINE with us. We were already so delighted with that that I could die a happy man.
So we were happy with that, and then the guy who runs the building heard that we were from WAY out of town, and he happened to have the time, so he showed us around the rest of the building. !!!!!!!! The REST OF THE BUILDING!!!! Anyway, he took us downstairs to where the Muppets are actually built (they just moved the workshop back there the previous week I think) and we saw the Two-Headed Monster, Big Bird, Elmo, Grover, Zoe, Prairie Dawn, and a bunch of others that happened to be in for a check-up. I almost cried. But didn't. Much. There were also a bunch of Bear In The Big Blue House puppets, which I don't follow (yet...give Miles another year...).
Then he took us upstairs, and we saw Jim Henson's old offices, including more stained glass that shows Bert and Ernie in the top portion of the window, and Jim Henson and Frank Oz in the bottom portion. If you've seen the pictures in "The Works," it was still just like that. They've tried to keep the offices like they were when Jim was still there, but they do have people working there. The people with the most creative jobs (IE design, writing) get his old offices. Very touching.
Then he took us into the board room, where we saw Fozzie Bear, Animal, Rowlf, Foo-Foo, and Pepe, who were all being prepped for a MasterCard commercial. There were actually two Pepes, one was in a tux. They were all smaller than I imagined...not sure why. They have the video library for all of their shows there. They also had a Skeksis Throne from "The Dark Crystal," and I got to sit in that...I looked like a moron, but hey.
He even took us back to his office and showed us all this stuff in his personal collection, and the "Shrine To The Almighty Dollar" and probably spent half an hour (or more) of his time indulging us. I've dreamed about going to this place for probably 20 years, and although I would have died a happy man after seeing the lobby, they really went over the top and made it the experience of a lifetime. The nightmare would have been if it was a cold, harsh place, but every place we went in that building, the people were SO nice, and ready to show us everything they were doing. It was very remarkable, and I'll never forget it.
They also had the second wave of Palisades' Action Figures...me like berry much.
Anyway, that was definitely the highlight of the trip--everything I ever imagined, but SO much more. I'm in the process of making all sorts of thank you cards for the two guys. And I'm considering a career in stalking them.
That's it.
Quinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn
