#41
*first published by Stone of Madness Press
This piece was inspired by Bob Hope’s guest appearance on the second season of The Muppet Show, and there he is doing the old cowboy sketch! It's out of sight as Hope mounts his Nacho cheese horse and sings “Don’t Fence Me In.” Thinking on the old Westerns, I imagine many forefathers thought they were the good guys, blind to their crimes against humanity. There is no going back in time, but I’d like to keep Hope alive and believe this country can turn itself around and live up to its ideals, but I don’t know why my noodle was trained to remember that Yankee Doodle stuck a feather in his hat and called it macaroni.
& Rowlf's performance of "Pathétique" made me think about my country. The United States of America established its nationhood in 1776. That year holds such gravity that it’s the title of a musical which features the opening number, “Sit Down, John Adams.”
& Bob
Hope’s career spanned over 80 years. He performed so many shows for
active duty military personnel, that he was deemed an honorary veteran
of the U.S. Armed Forces. In this episode of the show, the Muppets
perform “For What It’s Worth,” which is an anti-war song.
& A little secret about this episode is that Christopher Reeve, aka Superman, was hanging out with Jim Henson, who let him perform one of the Muppet pole-vaulters. Another little secret is that, tit for tat, during the shooting of this episode, the Muppets sang “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” for Hope.
READ
in STONE OF MADNESS vol. 23
