Fair-well Old Chums

As much as I miss the genius of Jim Henson, I realised the other day that I will miss something else just as much as Jim’s Muppet characters. I will miss the insane and brilliant pieces of comedy gold he used to create with Frank Oz.

Frank Oz is nowadays probably best known for being the voice of Yoda, but he’s also a respected and talented film director. He’s still entertaining, long after Jim Henson’s death and I hope he continues to do so for a long time to come.

But what the world has lost since Jim’s death is not only a talented puppeteer and performer, but some classic comedic pairings of his characters with those of Frank Oz. I cry a little inside when I realise that there will be nothing new created by these two fabulous men working together.

Let me give you some examples. First up the most obvious pair:

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This is the only video in this collection that I’ll forgive you for not watching in full. It’s a scene from my least favourite of the Muppet movies (Muppets take Manhattan1) showing the “wedding” between Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog, probably the most memorable Muppet pairing of all time (even if it’s not one of my favourites). Though an unlikely pair, Jim and Frank made the pig’s flamboyant declarations of love and the frog’s seeming indifference oddly engaging and has created a love affair that is still going strong.

The next classic pair were Kermit and Fozzie Bear:

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As well as some terrific running gags throughout the Muppet Show, this odd couple were the backbone of the first two major Muppet movies - as travelling companions in the first and as brothers2 in the Great Muppet Caper3. I think their relationship is part of what made Muppet Treasure Island feel like old-school Muppets.

Rowlf and Fozzie:

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These guys had some great musical moments together (check out I got rhythm on YouTube for another classic bit). Frank rarely got to show off his musical talent, playing the fool in a lot of songs or singing shrilly in his Miss Piggy voice. It made for some great comedy moments though.

Sam the American Eagle and Rowlf:

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Sam is one of the most hilarious characters to come from the Muppets, and can instantly make any other character funnier, just by being the worlds most over the top straight man. Once again, it’s almost like Frank is playing up a lack of musical talent, and it’s brilliant.

Moving briefly to some Sesame Street pairings, and the most obvious (and maybe even more famous than any of the above) is the classic duo of Bert and Ernie. With Jim playing the prankster and Frank the straight man, there was no situation too simple to be made into a hilarious farce - and even kids could get it.

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I’m just not emotionally secure enough to do this Ernie.

And some rarer but no less fantastic pairings came when Kermit4 ran into the Cookie Monster:

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or Grover:

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These two men made comedic character pairings to rival some of the greatest in history: think Laurel & Hardy, Abbot and Costello, Aykroyd and Belushi, French and Saunders, Fry and Laurie, The Mighty Boosh, or Lano and Woodley.5 All things must come to an end I guess. The loss of Jim Henson alone was a dreadful blow, but the loss of the joyful playful scenes that these two men could create together make the loss that much harder to accept.

Of course I don’t mean to detract from the other brilliant pairings that the Muppet show produced. Statler and Waldorf come to mind as another well known pair (voiced by Jim and both Jerry Nelson and Richard Hunt). Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker are the other two that spring to mind. Their sketches are just as fun, but I believe that Jim and Frank had a spark of something greater in their performances.

I’ll leave you with one other pair that might be less obvious, but is one of the defining partnerships of the Muppet Show - and is firmly entrenched in public consciousness. The pairing of Jim Henson’s head and characteristic voice, and Frank Oz’s out-of-control hands for the Swedish Chef:

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  1. Ironically for this piece, directed by Frank Oz 

  2. er… 

  3. the GREATEST Muppet movie. 

  4. yes, he was on Sesame Street too 

  5. Which, when you think about it was just a live-action Bert and Ernie. Khehehehe. 

My Final Message to the World: Remember Me Fondly, on Wikipedia Preferably.

I always thought the advice to “live life like there’s no tomorrow” to be a bit odd. I guess people say it to convince others to take risks and try for things they might be scared to do, but I don’t get that from it.

Taking life on.

Taking life on.

If I was living like today was my last day, this is what I’d do:

  1. Tell work I wasn’t coming in today. Or ever. Maybe tell someone my passwords so they can get to all the old InDesign documents and Word templates I’ve made so they don’t have to start from scratch.

  2. Make sure my life insurance policy is sorted for Mil and Amm. Write down my email password so Mil can get into all my accounts.

  3. Blog my final thoughts, for the interests of imparting my final wisdom to the world1.

  4. Play with Amelynne. Do everything she loves. Give her lots of tickles and cuddles, which I love.

  5. Play with Mil. Ahem.

  6. Invite everyone I know over for a party. Play the “I’m gonna die tomorrow” card to make sure they come. Cross those that don’t off my Christmas list.

  7. Die. Or perish, or cease to be or whatever it is that makes it possible that I know I’m gonna die, and not be taken completely by surprise the way it should be.

None of those things, except maybe the ones with my girls are things that anyone should be doing every day. Giving out my work password would be asking for trouble, as would telling all my friends I was dying just to get them to come to a party2. Maybe some of them would be good housekeeping, but I don’t think that anyone with a mortgage who’s leaving behind a family should live life like there’s no tomorrow.

Perhaps the only thing I’d regret might be that I haven’t got my name on anything “big”. You know, the kind of major contribution to society that gets you a wikipedia article.

Maybe that’s a better adage for today’s age… “Live life like you haven’t got a wikipedia article about you yet”. That sounds much more inspirational.


  1. Unless it’s like a whole world ending thing, in which case I mightn’t bother as no one will read it. Unless of course there’s a chance of survivors, in which case it might be important to document how stoic and focussed I was in the end 

  2. as opposed to getting them to read my website… 

My Wife - a Love Story.

My wife is magical. She made me home-toasted muesli yesterday. When I ate breakfast this morning and it dawned on me that I have maple syrup in my breakfast cereal, I wanted to marry her all over again.

Microsoft has a sense of Humour

People here are always joking that my boss and I need to clone ourselves. Usually because computers seem to only behave when we’re peeking over someone’s shoulders. With the “Digital Education Revolution” (more computers per school), having a clone seems like it might be the only way to keep on top of it all.

Seems someone at Microsoft has a sense of humour about it, and sent us this clever “cloning kit” to promote their range of management tools and software licensing options. I though it very clever.

Microsoft has a sense of
        humour

Kinda seems a bit naughty!

Some Uncomfortable Truths

  1. That show you like? Unless it involves people being voted off every week, it won’t be on next season.

  2. We know it took you a half an hour to ‘mess up’ your hair this morning.

  3. Unless you already work for NASA, right now, today - you’re never going to be an Astronaut.

  4. No one reads your blog1.

  5. Putting in an energy saving bulb isn’t going to offset your pollution while you’re CEO of an oil company.

  6. There is no way all 415 of them are actually your friends.

  7. Sometimes in the night, when it does get a little lonely, I reach over and touch it. Then it doesn’t feel so lonely anymore2.

  8. If you don’t like your job, SUCK IT UP! A lot of people hate their jobs but do it anyway. Or alternatively, find a better job that makes you feel more fulfilled. Whatever suits your circumstances.

  9. Your Asian tattoo does not - I repeat DOES NOT - make you seem deep. However, your barbed wire tattoo does succeed in making you look like a dick.

  10. You probably aren’t as ugly as you think you are. Unless you’re very attractive and know it. In that case it’s likely that you’re a teensy bit less pretty than you like to think.

Special thanks to my co-author Carlynne Nunn. This sucked until she fixed it.


  1. Oh. Fuck 

  2. Sorry, somehow this got mixed in from my top 10 worst movie quotes of all time. 

It's time this ended

OK, time to step it up a notch.

You have insurance…
        Right?

This poke war has gone on long enough

Rules for Buses

  1. The bus is always late.

    Bus
        (by CloCkWeRX)

    Bus (by CloCkWeRX)

  2. Unless you need to connect with one. Then it will be on time.

    Waiting for the Bus to da BEACH
        (by Joe_Focus)

    Waiting for the Bus to da BEACH (by Joe_Focus)

  3. Your bus will sometimes just not show up. The next bus will be late (see rule 1).

    Hill Street Bus Stop
        (by mmandamon)

    Hill Street Bus Stop (by mmandamon)

  4. How late the bus will be is directly proportional to how desperate you are to be on time.

    Where’s the bus!
        (by nycangel78)

    Where’s the bus! (by nycangel78)

  5. The size of the bus is inversely proportional to the number of people who catch the bus. As the seating capacity reaches zero, passenger numbers approach infinity.

    Adelaide revisited
        (by lovebuzz)

    Adelaide revisited (by lovebuzz)

  6. You will never find a combination of bus schedules that will get you to work on time.

    Photo_111205_001.jpg
        (by slark)

    Photo_111205_001.jpg (by slark)

    If you do, check rule 1.