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Joggy
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It's amazing that it's been two weeks since Thijs, Warrick and I had our own little two day "picnic" and I haven't even written the report yet! Oh well, here goes.
When I met my fellow Dutch Muppet fan Thijs for the first time, he mentioned that he really wanted to meet Warrick, with whom he works on the Sesame Street Encyclopedia. I told him I met Warrick in London during EuroMup 2001, and that's when the idea started to take a trip to London together and visit Warrick again.
We decided to go on a Monday since Warrick works in the weekends, and leave on Wednesday night.
After a long busdrive with a driver who sounded like Doc ("You're not supposed to bring food on the bus, Sprocket!") and exploring the hotel and the Italian jazz restaurant, it was time to get some sleep and wake up in time for Warrick.
We woke up way too early, had a ridiculously disgusting breakfast, and went to the Charlie Chaplin statue at Leicester Square - the EuroMup 2001 meeting place.
Warrick arrived in time and lo and behold - HE SPOKE! And HE SPOKE A LOT! He was so quiet during EuroMup but here he was, chatting with us as if we'd known eachother from childhood.
The first thing Warrick did, was showing us some of the good Muppety shops. I bought the Swedish Chef exclusive figure with the lobsters, Thijs settled for the EB Games Piggy and the MFS video. In another store, the Collectors' Nightmare happened: there were three rare Sesame PVC's (Rosita, Mumford and Herry) that both Thijs and Warrick really REALLY wanted to have! Warrick eventually 'allowed' Thijs to buy the Herry figure, and bought the other two himself.
(The next day, we went back to one comic store where I bought the Muppet card game, Thijs bought some photos, and Warrick bought the tin lunchbox with the really ugly poser Kermit).
Some days earlier, Warrick had asked Karen Falk about Muppety locations in London and he had a whole plan for the afternoon. We saw the Happiness Hotel (it doesn't look that crappy anymore, but it's the same building!), the big English house inhabited by John Cleese in the movie (the real street name is not Highbrow Street tho), and Lady Holiday's
office (the outside - we've also been in the street where Gonzo "stops a taxi"). After that, we went to Green Park and brought out our puppets for a few minutes, until it was time to leave. Warrick, who's a very good puppeteer, performed his character Mervil and I had Nergil with me. After a while I let Thijs have a go with Nergil while I performed my sock! (title of the show: Don't Talk So Loud, Or You Might Accidentally Entertain Someone)
We said goodbye for the day. Thijs and I went off to the Italian Jazz restaurant. Warrick went off to find a toilet.
The next day we met Warrick again, and it was time for a little EuroMup deja-vu: the Creature Shop. This time, we tried to get inside the building. You would have cracked up at seeing the three of us standing in front of the door and being too terrified to ring the doorbell! When a man approached the door, Warrick asked if we could take a look inside.
The man said he couldn't do it, but he did give us the phone number which I dialed. Sadly, the lady told me they didn't allow people in. Oh well, it was a fun adventure anyway.
Next, Warrick brought us to Hampstead Heath, a beautiful park, which is where Don Sahlin's bench is. You know the one, where the name "doozer" was invented. It also has Jim's name inscripted in it, so we referred to it as "Jim's Bench". I think this was one of the most special things we did. The walk to that bench was so beautiful, walking through nature with nothing but hills and the cloudy sunny sky... and then sitting on the bench Jim and Don have sat on, enjoying a good view over London. Little white seeds flew around in the sunlight like small furry creatures. It had something extremely magical and lovely. We brought out the puppets again (this time Warrick brought two) and did some puppeteering.
Our next plan was to see Jim Henson's house from the TMS days, which was nearby, but during our walk back Warrick remembered he still had his video camera with him. So we spent the next hour doing crazy things with the puppets in front of the camera. Warrick even climbed way up in a tree to perform his puppets there!! The best scene was "The Rhyming Song" sung by the three of us.
The last part of Warrick's tour was indeed Henson's House. Sadly, we did not know the house number. Well, at least we MUST have seen the house while walking up and down the street...
After the tour it was time for dinner. Warrick joined us in the Italian Jazz Restaurant this time. Then we said goodbye. Thijs and I got on the bus and had an extremely uncomfortable night, trying to sleep in those ridiculously small chairs. Life as a Muppet fan is hard…
When I met my fellow Dutch Muppet fan Thijs for the first time, he mentioned that he really wanted to meet Warrick, with whom he works on the Sesame Street Encyclopedia. I told him I met Warrick in London during EuroMup 2001, and that's when the idea started to take a trip to London together and visit Warrick again.
We decided to go on a Monday since Warrick works in the weekends, and leave on Wednesday night.
After a long busdrive with a driver who sounded like Doc ("You're not supposed to bring food on the bus, Sprocket!") and exploring the hotel and the Italian jazz restaurant, it was time to get some sleep and wake up in time for Warrick.
We woke up way too early, had a ridiculously disgusting breakfast, and went to the Charlie Chaplin statue at Leicester Square - the EuroMup 2001 meeting place.
Warrick arrived in time and lo and behold - HE SPOKE! And HE SPOKE A LOT! He was so quiet during EuroMup but here he was, chatting with us as if we'd known eachother from childhood.
The first thing Warrick did, was showing us some of the good Muppety shops. I bought the Swedish Chef exclusive figure with the lobsters, Thijs settled for the EB Games Piggy and the MFS video. In another store, the Collectors' Nightmare happened: there were three rare Sesame PVC's (Rosita, Mumford and Herry) that both Thijs and Warrick really REALLY wanted to have! Warrick eventually 'allowed' Thijs to buy the Herry figure, and bought the other two himself.
(The next day, we went back to one comic store where I bought the Muppet card game, Thijs bought some photos, and Warrick bought the tin lunchbox with the really ugly poser Kermit).
Some days earlier, Warrick had asked Karen Falk about Muppety locations in London and he had a whole plan for the afternoon. We saw the Happiness Hotel (it doesn't look that crappy anymore, but it's the same building!), the big English house inhabited by John Cleese in the movie (the real street name is not Highbrow Street tho), and Lady Holiday's
office (the outside - we've also been in the street where Gonzo "stops a taxi"). After that, we went to Green Park and brought out our puppets for a few minutes, until it was time to leave. Warrick, who's a very good puppeteer, performed his character Mervil and I had Nergil with me. After a while I let Thijs have a go with Nergil while I performed my sock! (title of the show: Don't Talk So Loud, Or You Might Accidentally Entertain Someone)
We said goodbye for the day. Thijs and I went off to the Italian Jazz restaurant. Warrick went off to find a toilet.
The next day we met Warrick again, and it was time for a little EuroMup deja-vu: the Creature Shop. This time, we tried to get inside the building. You would have cracked up at seeing the three of us standing in front of the door and being too terrified to ring the doorbell! When a man approached the door, Warrick asked if we could take a look inside.
The man said he couldn't do it, but he did give us the phone number which I dialed. Sadly, the lady told me they didn't allow people in. Oh well, it was a fun adventure anyway.
Next, Warrick brought us to Hampstead Heath, a beautiful park, which is where Don Sahlin's bench is. You know the one, where the name "doozer" was invented. It also has Jim's name inscripted in it, so we referred to it as "Jim's Bench". I think this was one of the most special things we did. The walk to that bench was so beautiful, walking through nature with nothing but hills and the cloudy sunny sky... and then sitting on the bench Jim and Don have sat on, enjoying a good view over London. Little white seeds flew around in the sunlight like small furry creatures. It had something extremely magical and lovely. We brought out the puppets again (this time Warrick brought two) and did some puppeteering.
Our next plan was to see Jim Henson's house from the TMS days, which was nearby, but during our walk back Warrick remembered he still had his video camera with him. So we spent the next hour doing crazy things with the puppets in front of the camera. Warrick even climbed way up in a tree to perform his puppets there!! The best scene was "The Rhyming Song" sung by the three of us.
The last part of Warrick's tour was indeed Henson's House. Sadly, we did not know the house number. Well, at least we MUST have seen the house while walking up and down the street...
After the tour it was time for dinner. Warrick joined us in the Italian Jazz Restaurant this time. Then we said goodbye. Thijs and I got on the bus and had an extremely uncomfortable night, trying to sleep in those ridiculously small chairs. Life as a Muppet fan is hard…
) and I had my first puppetry experience!