News and Goings-on 7/18

Hi, fans of Muppets. It's been a while since we did one of these news round-ups, so we have several things to talk about...

"I Wish I Could Be Santa Claus" nominated for Emmy
This year's Emmy nominations were announced this week, and the nominees in the "Music and Lyrics" category included one of Paul Williams' songs from the Muppet special Letters to Santa, "I Wish I Could Be Santa Claus." That's the one where Gonzo sings about how depressed he is that he's not a fat bearded man, and then Fozzie gets depressed for the same reason. Will it win the award? Well, the competition includes a Saturday Night Live song about Justin Timberlake and Andy Samberg having sex with each other's mothers. So... probably not.


Swedish Chef Hallmark ornament
Speaking of Christmas, is there anything that captures the true meaning of the holiday better than a befuddled Scandanavian man being held at gunpoint by crustaceans? That's right: This Christmas season, $18.50 will get you Hallmark's new Swedish Chef ornament, complete with sound clips. It's so strange, I can't wait to put it on my tree.


The Muppet Show Comic Book's Roger Langridge at Comic-Con
Roger Langridge, the writer and artist of the universally-loved Muppet Show Comic Book, will be at this year's Comic-Con in San Diego, giving fans the opportunity to tell him personally how much they loved the talking cheese in issue #2. Langridge will be at the Boom! Studios booth during the convention, and he'll be hosting a Muppet Show Comic panel on Sunday, July 26th at 10:00 AM. Chances are he'll be teasing the upcoming Peg-leg Wilson storyline and the Pigs in Space one-shot we've been hearing about.


A Whole Lot of Muppets
In honor of Sesame Street's approaching 40th anniversary, NationalPost.com posted an amazing drawing of 101 Muppets who have appeared on the show over the four decades. Rolling over each character pops up a tidbit of information... and the source cited is none other than Muppet Wiki! But how many can you name without rolling over? I'll confess I didn't recognize Poco Loco or Jamie Fox...


Lady Gaga wears Animal
Remember a while back, when photos hit the internet of a fashion show in which all the outfits were made of Muppets? This week, Lady Gaga wore Animal's head as a skirt. In public! Animal's head was unavailable for comment. If you don't know who Lady Gaga is, you are incredibly uncool and out of touch with popular entertainment. (She's a pop singer.)


USB Crunching Elmo
This one was spotted on a website called CraziestGadget, and it is, in fact, the craziest gadget. See, it's Elmo, and he's doing stomach crunches, and you plug him into your computer, and... yeah. I don't understand it either, but that photo made me giggle for an hour.

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ToughPigsRyan@yahoo.com