"Where have I been?" Dave Chappelle asked a San Francisco crowd in 2005. "It is a long story. It is a long, uninteresting story ..." Perhaps it is. And perhaps it isn’t. One thing is for certain. Today, Chappelle is considered by many to be one of the most influential comedians. He is particularly well known for his lively, controversial, and sometimes bordering on the obscene stand-up comic acts. In 2006, he was labeled “the comic genius of America” by Esquire. More recently, Billboard (2013) proclaimed
to 1969 Henson produced several experimental films." In the mid-60’s Jim was asked to create characters to populate a new children’s show, Sesame Street. It was here where he made some of his most famous characters such as Ernie and Bert, Oscar the Grouch, Cookie Monster, and Big Bird. On this show Jim produced over two dozen shorts to teach counting and other basics. Soon after his fame on Sesame Street Jim, after promoting the idea for The Muppet Show for years, finally received backing to produce
Don’t Tell Me! Elmo and a developmental expert were on an episode called Teens Kids News on June 18, 2005. They gave tips on babysitting (Wikipedia). Fans once complained that Elmo on Sesame Street took away took away the spot light away from Oscar the Grouch, Big Bird, Count von Count, Prairie Dawn, Grover, and Cookie Monster. Elmo has been referred to “Little Red Menace” by Sesame Street traditionalist. The Sesame Workshop responds that since Elmo refers to himself in the 3rd person, which will
On the front cover of my copy of The Tipping Point, there is a subtitle that says “How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference”, and this statement could not more accurately describe the contents of Malcom Gladwell’s first book. I have been pleasantly surprised by the contents of this small, 280-page book; I am only three chapters in and already I feel as if it has changed the way I think about the choices I make in my day-to-day life. For example, Gladwell forces the reader to think beyond the brand
were productive. In “Hug” a little muppet girl says the sounds of the letters “H” “U” “G” over again until she combines them into one word. In another segment, “Oscar’s Blending,” Oscar the Grouch and the Muppet Crummy play a game called “Breakable Words,” which includes the deconstruction and construction of words. Oscar and Crummy repeat the sounds of “C-“ and “-at” faster and faster until they form “Cat.” They both hold children’s attention, though researchers were wondering how much the kids learned
Oscar Wilde famously states in his satirical play, A Woman of No Importance that, “The intellect is not a serious thing, and never has been. It is an instrument on which one plays, that is all.” He reasons that society’s tendency to glorify the concept of intelligence is inherently flawed—for intellect is only a facet of one’s overall existence. Nowhere more acutely is this theme displayed than in the science fiction novel Flowers for Algernon (1966) by Daniel Keyes. In its entirety, through a series
Positive Effects of Television Upon Children Without a doubt, television is the central and principal form of communication in many people’s lives. This form is most often exposed to a child who instantly becomes accustomed to its presence. Children are televisions largest audience, as Morris shows, “Children aged two to five look at the TV tube on an average of 28.4 hours a week; those between the ages of six and eleven average 23.6 hours a week”. Television has played an important role in many
Amusing Ourselves to Death: It's Time to Stop Laughing The form of communication created by the television is not only a part of how our modern society communicates, but is has changed public discourse to the point that it has completely redefined it, argued Neil Postman in his convincing book Amusing Ourselves to Death. He viewed this as very harmful, and additionally so because our society is ignorant of it as they quickly becomes engulfed in its epistemology. When faced with the question
Jim Henson Jim Henson once said, “Follow your enthusiasm. It’s something I’ve always believed in. Find those parts of your life you enjoy the most. Do what you enjoy doing” (qtd. in Fionaurora). Jim did just that. He loved puppetry and made many others love it too. The creator and a performer of the Muppets, Henson is known worldwide for his creations, which include shows like Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, and characters such as Grover, Elmo, Big Bird, the Swedish Chef, Bert and Ernie
Malcolm Gladwell (2002), author of The Tipping Point, presents a theory of social epidemics. Gladwell’s notion on epidemics and human behaviour uses a combination of scientific fields such as psychology, epidemiology, sociology, intragroup and intergroup dynamics to explain the spread of social and cultural behaviours. In The Tipping Point, Gladwell has explained how things spread from one person to another, whether it is ideas, products, fashion trends, increase in crime rates, sexually transmitted