The “What did you do today?” thread

[LittleJerry92]

Went to see Aquaman with friends. Great movie! Definitely recommend it.

 

[newsmanfan]

At work in a day that is clearly a consummate waste of my time, wishing I had a sick day left so I could've spent it in bed instead, still clogged with a head cold. A trainwreck of a kitchen awaits me at home after several consecutive days of cooking and making cheese (yes, actual cheese, from raw milk).

All I want to do is frump in bed or frump on the sofa, maybe play some Zelda or read. But nooooo. Here I am at work, which is utterly dead today.

Sooo...how's everyone been?

 

[D'Snowth]

I quite practically spent much of the entire day throwing together new custom thumbnails for Steve's older videos on YouTube. Not my best work, of course, and they are kind of amateur-looking, but at the same time, they suddenly make my YouTube channel look more "real."

 

[Blue Frackle]

What was your YouTube channel again?

 

[D'Snowth]

http://www.youtube.com/JosephScarbrough

 

[Blue Frackle]

omg, you have the Space Jam figures?! I have the bulk of them, but never got Sam, Taz or the Nerdlucks (what a weird name).

 

[D'Snowth]

The Nerdlucks playset was really, really hard to find . . . I ended up getting it on eBay several years back. Otherwise, I remember you could get certain Nerdlucks in little variety sets that usually came with an NBA star, and a Looney Tune.

 

[Blue Frackle]

Yeah; the Space Jam figures must have done decently well because they tagged a Barnyard Dog (of all characters) and Pepé Le Pew set on the end which came with them.

In fact, researching this now, I was able to find an unreleased Foghorn Leghorn figure I had never seen before on the back of a box.

 

[Flaky Pudding]

Wrote this story going over my love of The Muppets in detail.

What The Muppets Mean To Me
By. Matthew *last name censored for privacy reasons*

Since before I ever knew of the sun, the moon, the stars. Before I'd ever heard the birds sing, before I had experienced the many joys of life, I was already a Muppet fan. At as young as 6-months-old, my awesome mother made sure to introduce me to Sesame Street.

While I don't quite remember much from that toddler age, my mom tells me that I would jump up with joy every time Elmo's adorable, friendly voice was heard coming from the TV screen. My dad tells me that I could never go a day without asking him to pop in one of my favorites Sesame Street VHS tapes ("The Best of Elmo") and asking him to replay my favorite parts again and again. Sesame Street was my favorite thing in the whole world back then. Big Bird's lovable and childish personality made me smile, Cookie Monster's caveman-like voice and over the top eating habits cracked me up to no end, Oscar the Grouch kickstarted my interest in gross-out humor, Ernie would always make me chuckle with the many ways he annoyed Bert, The Count showed me that not all vampires are scary, and Telly introduced me to the invention of the pogo stick, something of which I had previously known nothing about. But despite all of that, my favorite character was without a doubt the beloved furry red monster himself:Elmo.

Elmo merchandise covered my walls, wherever we went I would carry a Tickle-Me-Elmo alongside me, Elmo-themed party were thrown by my family every year for the monster's birthday celebration, and I seriously believe that he was the reason my favorite color has always been red.

As great as Sesame Street was to me, there was another Henson-related favorite I had yet to be exposed to. On one boring day, my mom introduced me to what would eventually become my favorite movie at the time:Muppet Treasure Island. Mom and Dad tell me that I would watch that film about 3 times a day every month, it was that amazing to me. Not only was the movie my first taste of Muppet characters outside the Sesame Street universe but it was also what got me interested in pirates.

My first ever Halloween costume was a Muppet character:Ernie. I dressed up in his signature red pajamas, an Ernie mask was worn above my head (I've always hated actually wearing masks on my face), and I held a rubber ducky in my hand for the entire celebration.

Like I said earlier, most of my memories from that young age are a blur. But there is one day I'll never forget. The day one of my best friends introduced me to the orange, honey-loving, Muppet bear who would change my life. Bear in the Big Blue House was an almost magical experience to watch at that young age. Something about the beautiful, majestic character that was Luna always stood out to me and I'll admit it right here and right now:The Good-Bye Song still fills my face with happy, nostalgic, joyful tears to this day.

My Grandma noticed my love of Jim Henson, so she bought me a couple of Fraggle Rock books she found at a yard sale. I loved one particular book, What's a Fraggle? so much that it actually ended up ripping into pieces. I literally loved it to bits.

Fraggle Rock, both the books and the TV show, encouraged me to be creative at a young age. I named all of the Fraggles and background cave creatures, giving them each their own unique personalities and voices. I came up with backstories for all the obscure characters we know nothing about. It was in a sense, the first fanfiction I ever came up with. I also remember my mom using the fact that Fraggles like radishes as a way to get me to eat my vegetables. Just like Popeye's whole "spinach makes you stronger" philosophy probably did to some of his young fans.

I had seen all of the Muppets movies many times but my first encounter with the show that started it all was a Christmas day when I had received two Muppet Show DVDs. The first episode I ever watched was Julie Andrews. That first episode played so much of a part in my childhood in fact that I always feel so giddy whenever someone sings the Goatherd Song, which at the time was my favorite skit.

My other favorite episodes were John Denver, probably due to my love of country music and outdoors-related stuff. Harry Belafonte, hearing his speech to Fozzie before Turn the World Around (as well as the song itself) still sends goosebumps down my spine for how beautiful and awe-inspiring his words are and Kenny Rogers, because in an odd way his music always reminds me of my mom. She's been a huge fan of him for as long as I can remember and is a proud owner of several of his records.

Unfortunately however, my love of the Muppets briefly went away when I found the terrifying Alice Cooper episode. Seeing Alice popping out of a coffin singing his popular yet controversial Welcome To My Nightmare tune, completely destroyed my interest in all things Muppet related for the longest time. I would scream, cry, and get scared whenever someone so much as mentioned Kermit, Miss Piggy, The Muppets, or anything else related to my former favorite troupe of comedic puppets. The Muppet merchandise on my walls suddenly disappeared in favor of Disney, Dr. Seuss, and SpongeBob stuff (my new main pop culture favorites) and in almost an instant after witnessing the scary skit all enjoyment I had for Muppets completely disappeared.

The thing that got me back into the Muppet phase when I was 1st Grade was The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss. As I mentioned earlier, Dr. Seuss was one of the things that replaced The Muppets as my favorite pop culture icon so the fact that it was a whole show centered around my new favorite character:The Cat in the Hat was enough to make me interested in watching it (despite the fact that it was also a Henson show). The more I watched of The Wubbulous World, the more my fear of Muppets faded away. The more I began to realize that maybe those puppet characters I once cared so much about aren't so bad after all and eventually just like The Grinch, my Muppet fandom grew 3 sizes one day.

Ever since I got back into Muppets, I never even considered looking back. They have consistently remained my favorite characters ever. Even when new favorites such as Homer Simpson, Peter Griffin, Stitch, and Batman were discovered;Kermit has continued to be my true, all-time favorite character no matter what.

When I was in middle school, we saw The Muppets (Jason Segel movie) at the theater and it was one of the most fun experiences I've ever had. That movie had everything a Muppet fan wants. Classic characters, that awesome new Walter character who I can relate to very much as a fellow Muppet fan myself, clever jokes, cool songs that were soon to be classics, and a nostalgic rendition of the Rainbow Connection all in the same package. Who could ask for more!?

During my teenage years, my love of Henson grew beyond just Muppets as I discovered his darker, edgier fantasy properties as well. I've spent many rainy days immersing myself in the vast, fantastical words of The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, Farscape, and The Storyteller.

Jim Henson may be gone, but his influence on my life was a very big one. I can't even count all the times I've laughed at Fozzie's jokes (even the really bad ones), rocked out to the music of the Electric Mayhem, cracked up at Beaker's many injuries in the name of science, cured my depression by the wonderful words of Sesame Street's uplifting, positive residents (Muppet and human alike), proudly wore my Dark Crystal shirt to Comic-Cons, cried at Emmet Otter singing Where The River Meets The Sea, and bonded with fellow Muppet fans.

Just last week, I was eating out at KFC and someone noticed I was wearing a Labyrinth shirt. He complimented on it saying it was one of his favorite movies of all time. He and I spent almost a full 20 minutes talking and having a good time, all because of Jim Henson.

Only Henson's physical body passed away, his influence will never die. Through the many things he created, he continues to bring people together, make people forget about their struggles and hardships through mature but appropriate humor, inspire people to be creative, and prove once and for all that just because your an adult you are never too old to enjoy The Muppets. My very Muppet-y life is one of many examples of the spirit of Henson living on.

 

[LittleJerry92]

I showed my parents Twice Upon a Time because I honestly figured they would have a great time watching such a bizarre film
(I mean, they like Yellow Submarine and Monty Python, so...).

My mom fell asleep halfway (she does that by this time of day, she’s in her 60’s), but my dad was awake the entire time. Both enjoyed it none the less.