graduation extravaganza weekend

Congratulations to Paul & Alison for graduating from higher education! In honor of the event Curt & I planned quite the festivities. Paul & Alison were asked to fill out an online order from for their dinner on friday at Bert's Cafe and Lounge. Check it out.  http://curtisarmstrong.net/bert/menu.html

Bert, of course, is short for Curtis-Bo-Bertis. Once Paul & Alison arrived we headed to Bert's Cafe (aka the back yard). We did a bit of lounging around...

Had a pretty intense game of croquet while our Bert Burgers were cooking...

Enjoyed Bert's delicious food...

Bert & Paul did a little photo shoot...

Then we watched a movie at Bert's Drive-In...

It was a fantastic night! A bit on the chilly side, but that certainly didn't dampen our spirits. On saturday, the Chic Cruiser Club had it's 1st official meeting of the season. Here, you see our pit crew readying Honey and Bluesy.

Honey and Bluesy are ready to go...

Alison and Meg are ready too...

And off we go...

It was a fabulous graduation party! Thanks Paul & Alison for coming to the funtivities and a big big thanks to Bert's Cafe and Louge, Bert's Drive-In, and Bert's Bed & Breakfast.

disney day

In honor of Barbara going to Disneyland, Alison and I decided to live vicariously through her and have Disney Day at work. The funtivities consisted of magical Mickey decorations, yummy food, and Disney Trivia. Here's Barbara, sporting some ears, and Nan.

Other Disney Day attendees, Curtis and Staci, with Alison.

I was the host of the Disney Trivia game.

Nan and Alison sporting the Mickey ears! Lookin' good ladies!

Thanks for the successful Disney Day at work and also thanks to Barbara for going to Disneyland so we could have a reason to throw another party.

peep show

The wait is over, it's Peep season again! The stores are stocked with our favorite little cellophane packages of marshmallow-y goodness. 

Peep Fun Facts:

- In 1953, it took 27 hours to create one marshmallow Peep. Today, it takes six minutes.

- More than 5 million Peeps are produced each day.

- Peeps have been the most popular non-chocolate Easter candy in the United States for more than a decade. Take that, jelly beans.

- The first Peeps were squeezed out one at a time out of a pastry tube and the eyes were painted on by hand. Now, machines create 3,500 Peeps' eyes per minute.

- Each Peep has 32 calories and 0 fat grams.

- Yellow Peeps are the most popular, followed by pink, lavender, blue, then white.

This year The Washington Post held it's 2nd annual Peeps Diorama Contest and drew in more than 800 sugar-filled entries. Here are some of the entries and may I say, bra-vo.

christian vs. kermit

What do Christian Bale and Kermit the Frog have in common? Surprisingly, a lot more than you’d realize. The resemblance is uncanny on so many levels.

the muppets go to the movies

The Muppets were known for their hilarious parodies. In 1981, the Muppets had a television special titled The Muppets Go To The Movies, where they re-enacted classic scenes from some of the most famous movies of all time. These two scenes are among my favorites. Enjoy!

lights! camera! frog! action!

The Muppet movies are some of the greatest movies ever made, full of imagination, wit and lovable characters. Enjoy some of these great scenes from the first films starring our favorite Muppets.

The Muppet Movie (1979)

Kermit the Frog is persuaded to pursue a career in Hollywood. Along the way, Kermit picks up Fozzie Bear, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, and a motley crew of other Muppets with similar aspirations. Meanwhile, Kermit must elude the grasp of a frog-leg restaurant magnate. 

The Great Muppet Caper (1981)
Kermit and Fozzie are newspaper reporters sent to London to interview Lady Holiday, a wealthy fashion designer whose priceless diamond necklace is stolen. Kermit meets and falls in love with her secretary, Miss Piggy. The jewel thieves strike again, and this time frame Miss Piggy. It's up to Kermit and Muppets to bring the real culprits to justice. 

The Happiness Hotel. Much better than A Place To Park Your Carcass. I love the payment methods offered to Kermit, Fozzie and Gonzo.

This scene will forever beg the question, "How'd they do that?"

The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984)
The Muppets graduate from college and decide to take their senior revue on the road. They hit the streets of Manhattan trying to sell their show to producers, finally finding one young and idealistic enough to take their show. After several mishaps and much confusion, things begin to come together for them.

One of the funniest scenes in the movie.

kermit cakes

In honor of this momentous Muppet Week, I made Kermit cupcakes! They turned out great and were a hit at work. They were almost too cute to eat... I said almost.

mahna mahna

The Muppet Show has some of the most memorable moments in Muppet history. Each week a celebrity would embark on a journey into the zany world of the Muppets. The show stars Kermit the Frog as a showrunner who tries to keep control of the antics of the other Muppet characters (and his temper), as well as keep the human guest stars happy and secure. The  show depicts a vaudeville-style song-and-dance variety show, as well as the behind-the-scenes aspects of such a show. The show was known for outrageous slapstick, sometimes absurdist comedy, and particularly for using Muppet characters to create humorous parodies. After the show became popular, many celebrities were eager to perform with the Muppets on television and in film. By the end of its run, over one hundred guest stars had appeared on The Muppet Show.

 

This little ditty was in the very first episode of The Muppet Show in 1976 and has become one of the most popular scenes from the show.

What would the show be without two old hecklers, Statler and Waldorf.

go green

Kermit has taught us so many tasty tidbits of wisdom.

Always be yourself. Never take yourself too seriously. And beware of advice from experts, pigs, and members of Parliament.

-Kermit

When I was a tadpole there was really only one thing that I collected. I had a file of newspaper and magazine articles on Frogs in Show Business. It was a small collection, but I think it influenced me a lot.

-Kermit

The words say, "It's not easy being green," but the song is about knowing who you are. And in it you hear Jim's message most clearly. He believed that people are good and that they want to do their best and that no matter how or why we might be different from anybody else, we should learn to love who we are and be proud of it.

-Ray Charles

A List Of Good Things About Being A Frog:

- Being Green

- Sitting in the sun on a lily pad

- Having thousands of brothers & sisters

- Going to the hop

- Playing leapfrog

-Having bears and pigs and dogs and chickens as your friends

- Getting kissed by princesses hoping to turn you into a handsome prince

-Kermit

muppet week

I am officially designating this week as the Unofficial Muppet Week. It all started when Jim Henson, without a doubt the most famous puppeteer in history, created everyone's favorite little frog, Kermit. Through television and later through feature films, Henson developed the art of puppetry to new heights of technical expertise and storytelling capabilities, particularly in the ability to create sympathetic, emotional characters with whom audiences, both young and old alike, can relate. Jim and Kermit worked together from 1955 until Jim Henson's death in 1990. With the premiere in 1969 of Sesame Street, the Muppets reached superstardom. Henson 

and his creative team created a number of memorable characters for Sesame Street, including Oscar the Grouch, Bert and Ernie, Grover, Cookie Monster, and Big Bird, each with distinctive personalities. Henson’s success on Sesame Street paved the way for his next television production, The Muppet Show, a weekly syndicated variety show hosted by Kermit the Frog with an expanded cast of both new and familiar muppets and guest starring live actors and celebrities. The show was an immediate success upon its premiere in 1976 and was still popular when Henson decided to cease production in 1981 in order to concentrate on greater challenges. His company, by now, had expanded to include a wide variety of children’s programming and educational materials, including books, music, and television shows, such as Fraggle Rock and Muppet Babies. 

His primary creative interest, however, was in motion pictures. In 1979, he had scored a hit with young and old alike with the first big-screen Muppet movie, titled simply The Muppet Movie. The musical-comedy launched a series of Muppet movies, including The Great Muppet Caper (1981) and The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984), which has continued into the present. Jim Henson died of pneumonia in New York on May 16, 1990. Over the course of a career spanning more than 30 years, Henson received eighteen Emmy awards, seven Grammy awards, four Peabody awards, and numerous other honors. Thanks to others who share Jim Henson's vision, we are still able to experience the joy and imagination of The Muppets. Thanks for encouraging us to fall in love with a frog.