Rainbow Connection

I'm constantly made fun of (by those with whom there is a mutual love and respect, of course) for being too much of a Muppet. That "Rainbow Connection" had no business being a final project for a big band arranging project. That I sing like Kermit, and save the green, kinda look like him.

But I like that. I related to Kermit. Kermit is the glue that holds the schmorgasboard that is The Muppets together. In spite of his blatant leadership, he is always the underdog in a lot of ways. His job is impossible: to actually get a show together successfully (The Muppet Show), to get a musical made up of Birds and Bears and Ducks and Chickens and Things on Broadway (The Muppets Take Manhattan), or to escape from the evil larger-than-life corporation of a Frogs Legs restaurant (The Muppet Movie), and yet he always does it...with help from his friends, of course.

Kermit is also an undeniable hopeless romantic. Just listen to the lyrics to "Rainbow Connection."

I can't talk about Kermit as well as those who knew him best, the Muppet performers. So...

“Kermit is the eye in the middle of the hurricane. And, you know, he’s always in control. Sometimes just barely, but he’s always in control. And the interesting thing about it, of course, is that he created the hurricane.” -Jerry Juhl

“Kermit’s function on the show is very much like my own in that he’s trying to hold together this group of crazies. And that’s not unlike what I do.” -Jim Henson

Not to mention the Muppet Sense of humor is mine exactly. Kind of lame, sometimes too literal, sometimes trying too hard, and living and dying by the fact that things are funny in threes.

And to end this entry, I am going to end with a line that just passed as I watch "The Muppet Movie" in the background.

Kermit and Fozzie are driving west and Big Bird is waking down the road. They pull over and ask if Big Bird wants a lift. "No thanks. I'm going to New York to try to break into Public Television!"