BS: Bert & Ernie Question settled FINALLY!

Subject: RE: BS: Bert & Ernie Question settled FINALLY!
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 14 Aug 11 - 02:04 AM

"Soft chin?" does he even HAVE a chin? And how can they punch with those sticks hanging from their arms?

Subject: RE: BS: Bert & Ernie Question settled FINALLY!
From: Rapparee
Date: 13 Aug 11 - 09:31 PM

By Ernie doing a "Tyson" on Bert do you mean biting his ear off?

Subject: RE: BS: Bert & Ernie Question settled FINALLY!
From: gnu
Date: 13 Aug 11 - 06:34 PM

Unfair says I. I think Bert should put up or shut up and stop being such a bitch. I mean, if you don't want the Jell-O shoved up yer ass, ya gotta tell Ernie just that and get things straightened out before they ruin the relationship. Especially before the new crop of lemons are in. Too assidic.

Subject: RE: BS: Bert & Ernie Question settled FINALLY!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 13 Aug 11 - 05:40 PM

What Bert lacks is sufficient self-confidence and ruthlessness, that's all. He could beat the crap out of Ernie if he just had the nerve to. But he doesn't. Ernie knows it and takes unmerciful advantage of Bert in all kinds of petty ways. Well, if Bert just can't summon up the will to defend himself against that sort of thing, then he should hire a couple of local bruisers to take Ernie out into the back alley and give him a good working over.

Subject: RE: BS: Bert & Ernie Question settled FINALLY!
From: gnu
Date: 13 Aug 11 - 05:12 PM

I haven't kept up with their ongoing proclivities LH. Do tell. I do like a good fisticuff when it is warranted and it seems like one is due. I'll wager on Bert. He has the reach. Although, if Ernie gets inside by using his jab, he could Tyson Bert to the canvas as I hear Bert has a soft chin.

Subject: RE: BS: Bert & Ernie Question settled FINALLY!
From: Rapparee
Date: 13 Aug 11 - 05:08 PM

Ernie has his own ways of getting revenge, but they don't show them on TV. Short sheeting Bert's bed, filling his socks with jell-o, laxatives in his milk just before his big date with Prairie Dawn...stuff like that.

Subject: RE: BS: Bert & Ernie Question settled FINALLY!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 13 Aug 11 - 04:51 PM

Regardless of Bert's sexual proclivities, he should have punched out Ernie years ago. God knows, the little bastard keeps asking for it.

Subject: RE: BS: Bert & Ernie Question settled FINALLY!
From: Rapparee
Date: 12 Aug 11 - 10:48 PM

Actually, Jim Henson's Muppets were anything but cheap.

Physical appearance

A common design for a Jim Henson Muppet is a character with a very wide mouth and large protruding eyes.

The puppets are often molded or carved out of various types of foam, and then covered with fleece, fur, or any other material. Muppets may represent humans, anthropomorphic animals, realistic animals, robots, anthropomorphic objects, extraterrestrial creatures, mythical beings or other unidentified, newly imagined creatures, monsters, or abstract characters.

Muppets are distinguished from ventriloquist "dummies"/"puppets", which are typically animated only in the head and face, in that their arms or other features are also mobile and expressive. Muppets are typically made of softer materials. They are also presented as being independent of the puppeteer, who is usually not visible—hidden behind a set or outside of the camera frame. Using the camera frame as the "stage" was an innovation of the Muppets. Previously on television, there would typically be a stage hiding the performers, as if in a live presentation. Sometimes they are seen full-bodied. This is done by using invisible strings to move the characters' bodies and mouths, and then adding the voices later.

Muppets tend to develop, as writer Michael Davis put it, "organically", meaning that the puppeteers take time, often up to a year, slowly developing their characters and voices. Muppets are also, as Davis said, "test-driven, passed around from one Henson troupe member to another in the hope of finding the perfect human-Muppet match".

When interacting with Muppets, children tended to act as though the Muppets were living creatures, even when they could see the puppeteers.

Operation

The Muppeteer or Muppet master always holds the Muppet above his head or in front of his body, with one hand operating the head and mouth and the other manipulating the hands and arms, either with two separate control rods or by "wearing" the hands like gloves. One consequence of this design is that most Muppets are left-handed as the puppeteer uses his right hand to operate the head while operating the arm rod with his left hand. There are many other common designs and means of operation. In advanced Muppets, several Muppeteers may control a single character; the performer who controls the mouth usually provides the voice for the character. As technology has evolved, the Jim Henson team and other puppeteers have developed an enormous variety of means to operate Muppets for film and television, including the use of suspended rigs, internal motors, remote radio control, and computer enhanced and superimposed images. Creative use of a mix of technologies has allowed for scenes in which Muppets appear to be riding a bicycle, rowing a boat, and even dancing on-stage with no puppeteer in sight.

So says Wikipedia anyway.

Subject: RE: BS: Bert & Ernie Question settled FINALLY!
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 12 Aug 11 - 10:23 PM

Jim, that observant of you. I suspect the reason B & E's heads were shaped like footballs was that they made the heads by buying footballs at the dimestore and gluing felt on them. Next you add some goofy hair and some staring eyes, and you're done.

When it comes to kids' programming, cheap is the watchword.

Subject: RE: BS: Bert & Ernie Question settled FINALLY!
From: Rapparee
Date: 12 Aug 11 - 09:52 PM

And they showed that on a children's television program!

Subject: RE: BS: Bert & Ernie Question settled FINALLY!
From: GUEST,999
Date: 12 Aug 11 - 09:38 PM

He was certainly behaving lasciviously with the duck in that video.

Subject: RE: BS: Bert & Ernie Question settled FINALLY!
From: Rapparee
Date: 12 Aug 11 - 09:27 PM

I've long questioned Ernie's, ah, relationship with his rubber duck. "Rubber Ducky, you're the one/You're the one that makes bath time fun". C'mon, that like that A. A. Milne rhyme: "God bless Mommy, I know that's right/Wasn't it fun in the bath tonight?"

I mean, really!

Subject: RE: BS: Bert & Ernie Question settled FINALLY!
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 12 Aug 11 - 09:18 PM

Has anyone besides me noticed that the shapes of Bert's and Ernie's heads have evolved over time? When they first appeared, both Bert and Ernie had heads shaped exactly like American footballs. Bert's was a vertical football and Ernie's was horizontal. The bottom of Bert's head was concealed inside his turtleneck, but as far as you could see, his head was symmetrical top-to-bottom. I suppose this was meant to symbolize the same-but-different aspects of their personalities. Later, Bert's head changed so it is more flattened at the bottom. It has lost its vertical symmetry. You will only notice the change if you see some very old pictures of them.

Subject: RE: BS: Bert & Ernie Question settled FINALLY!
From: Amos
Date: 12 Aug 11 - 07:30 PM

Ernie, you've come a long way since the days when you sang "Rubber Duckie". But, deep down inside, compadre, have you really changed?

A

Subject: RE: BS: Bert & Ernie Question settled FINALLY!
From: ranger1
Date: 12 Aug 11 - 07:07 PM

Hey! No Sesame Street bashing! I have very fond childhood memories of watching Sesame Street. It was fun and I learned a lot of stuff without knowing I was learning.

Subject: RE: BS: Bert & Ernie Question settled FINALLY!
From: gnu
Date: 12 Aug 11 - 02:41 PM

Sesame Street?

Ahhhh... it teaches kids thru entertainment. Uni kids smoke dope and get entertained... it's hilarious (well, it was when I was a uni kid). And, it gives parents a break which is a BIG plus.

Subject: RE: BS: Bert & Ernie Question settled FINALLY!
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 12 Aug 11 - 02:31 PM

Sesame Street?

Subject: RE: BS: Bert & Ernie Question settled FINALLY!
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 12 Aug 11 - 02:29 PM

For me, the big question is "How did we get brainwashed into letting something so cheap, so frenetic, so foolish, into the privacy of our homes?"

Subject: RE: BS: Bert & Ernie Question settled FINALLY!
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 12 Aug 11 - 02:27 PM

I always knew that Ernie wasn't gay.

Bert always struck me as a bit of a predator.

Subject: RE: BS: Bert & Ernie Question settled FINALLY!
From: gnu
Date: 12 Aug 11 - 02:23 PM

It is LOL... and fer those that don't get it... Herrrrre's Ernie!

Subject: RE: BS: Bert & Ernie Question settled FINALLY!
From: Becca72
Date: 12 Aug 11 - 01:01 PM

LOL EJ!

Subject: RE: BS: Bert & Ernie Question settled FINALLY!
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 12 Aug 11 - 12:19 PM

My relationship with Bert was strictly platonic, I can assure you. At that time of my life, I had an unhealthy reliance on bathroom squeeze toys, and needed someone with a very practical approach to life to keep me grounded. If I transgressed, I could always count on Bert to raise an eyebrow.

Ernie

Subject: RE: BS: Bert & Ernie Question settled FINALLY!
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 12 Aug 11 - 11:46 AM

The answer is Nye


The answer is Nye

Subject: RE: BS: Bert & Ernie Question settled FINALLY!
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 12 Aug 11 - 11:39 AM

But what will televangelists bitch about now?

Oh, they will find something.

Subject: RE: BS: Bert & Ernie Question settled FINALLY!
From: catspaw49
Date: 12 Aug 11 - 11:22 AM

Perhaps not Jeri, but many years ago we determined why Big Bird is big and where he came from.................

Subject: RE: Wreck of the Old 97
From: Art Thieme
Date: 28-Dec-98 - 05:47 PM


Mr. Earl-----Many trains carried live canaries whenever they could. If a train had a difficult time getting up a grade the brakeman'd bang on the side of the car the birds were housed within with a 2 by 4. The birds would intantly take to the air and lighten the train enough for the spinning driving-wheels to take the whole thing over the hump!Honest.

Art


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Subject: RE: Wreck of the Old 97
From: Bill D
Date: 28-Dec-98 - 05:56 PM


but the cost of canaries was so great back then, that they achieved the same effect by feeding the brakeman/conductor on beans and cabbage and having him stand on the rear caboose platform!! The trick was in the timing...(It is a little known fact that listening to an old brakeman tell about this is how the idea for JATO (jet assisted take-off) for the Air Force came about!)


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Subject: RE: Wreck of the Old 97
From: catspaw49
Date: 28-Dec-98 - 06:29 PM


...or sometimes on tough grade,like Horseshoe Curve in Pa., if a helper engine was not available, they'd boost steam pressure by getting two guys like Bill & Art to exhale into the valve gear.


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Subject: RE: Wreck of the Old 97
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 28-Dec-98 - 07:45 PM


Of course, all these tecniques became obsolete when someone (Jay Gould's daughter?) realized that if you put larger wheels on the caboose, the train would always be goung downhill, and no coal at all was required.


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Subject: RE: Wreck of the Old 97
From: Benson
Date: 28-Dec-98 - 08:26 PM


Since the topic of canaries and gasses has arisen in this thread.... it came to mind.......I have been told that they used canaries in the coal mines to detect when the explosive gasses down deep in the mine had reached a level of danger.......the canary would die.....and the miner would get the hell out!!!

Do you suppose those canaries were freed from forced labor...??? Or was there just a run on canaries in 1903?


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Subject: RE: Wreck of the Old 97
From: catspaw49
Date: 28-Dec-98 - 10:50 PM


I suppose you could say the canaries were freed, but this particular group was traced in the Appalachian mountains for years following the wreck. Eventually forming into 7 groups, most had a hard time surviving in the wild. One surviving group was traced to a nesting site across the Cumberland Gap where they had migrated. Most of the local folk enjoyed having these unique birds in their hills. The main nesting area was on the Clinch River northwest of Knoxville. However, the mercury contaminating the river along with the proximity to Oak Ridge, where the birds were often seen feeding, caused mutations and eventually death to the almost the entire flock. The only known descendant of these birds can be seen today on Sesame Street at PBS.

Spaw

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Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Bert & Ernie Question settled FINALLY!
From: Jeri
Date: 12 Aug 11 - 10:38 AM

Hey, I don't even think anyone knows for sure if Big Bird has a gender!

Subject: RE: BS: Bert & Ernie Question settled FINALLY!
From: Jeri
Date: 12 Aug 11 - 10:35 AM

Bert and Ernie disagree on nearly everything.

Subject: RE: BS: Bert & Ernie Question settled FINALLY!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Aug 11 - 10:35 AM

They're off track anyway. It isn't Bert and Ernie they should be paying more attention to but Big Bird and Mr. Snuffleupagus.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Bert & Ernie Question settled FINALLY!
From: Rapparee
Date: 12 Aug 11 - 10:35 AM

Bert is the evil coneheaded one.

Subject: RE: BS: Bert & Ernie Question settled FINALLY!
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 12 Aug 11 - 10:32 AM

I haven't watched much Sesame Street, but I have seen a little of Bert and Ernie. They say that B & E were created to show preschoolers that people can get along with others who are much different from themselves.

Can somebody please tell me how Bert differs from Ernie? One is made of yellowish felt, and one is made of orangish felt, and one is more cone-headed than the other. Aside from that, do they actually differ? If so, I never noticed.

I'm pleased to hear that B & E, just like the dolls I had when I was little, aren't into sex.

Subject: RE: BS: Bert & Ernie Question settled FINALLY!
From: Rapparee
Date: 12 Aug 11 - 10:28 AM

Obviously Oscar's onanism: the solitary vice he practices in his very appropriate garbage can, the reason he's covered with green hair (just look at his hands and you'll see!). His very "grouchiness" is a symptom of this Pernicious Vice; his love of garbage and filth shows how far he has fallen.

Subject: RE: BS: Bert & Ernie Question settled FINALLY!
From: GUEST,999
Date: 12 Aug 11 - 01:23 AM

But what will televangelists bitch about now?

Subject: RE: BS: Bert & Ernie Question settled FINALLY!
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 11 Aug 11 - 11:15 PM

Don't know about B & E's sexuality, but I'm pretty sure Sesame Street had Holly Near as a guest.

Subject: RE: BS: Bert & Ernie Question settled FINALLY!
From: Rapparee
Date: 11 Aug 11 - 10:27 PM

Look at the evidence. Bert is not very nice.

Subject: RE: BS: Bert & Ernie Question settled FINALLY!
From: Charley Noble
Date: 11 Aug 11 - 09:00 PM

And so it goes.

Charley Noble

Subject: BS: Bert & Ernie Question settled FINALLY!
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 11 Aug 11 - 08:45 PM

Bert & Ernie