Hope Springs...

Found on a burnt husk of a house in West Berkeley this morning while Arabis and I were on walkabout.

Pink Slip

To the part of me that thought giving Arabis a bowl full of apple yogurt and turning my back on her to wash the dishes was a good thing:

You're fired.

Open Mouth, Insert Foot

We were watching Sesame Street the other day: Mojo, Arabis and I. The fabulous clown, Bill Irwin, came on and danced in front of a curtain.

"Hey!" exclaimed Mojo. "That's Mr Noodle!"

"No it's not." I told him. "That is the Fabulous Clown Bill Irwin."

And I proceeded to give him a rundown of Mr. Irwin's career from his local Pickle Family Circus days to his film and theatrical endeavors. I waxed poetic about having seen him as a child with the Pickles and later as an adult with his show, Fool Moon. I went on a brief tangent explaining who Geoff Hoyle was and their involvement, as well as the tithes owed to other great clowns of the past like Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd. I was beginning to expound on vaudeville and heading straight for the Italian commedia dell'arte lecture, when I noticed Mojo's eyes glassing over.

"Mr. Noodle is not Bill Irwin. Bill Irwin is a genius! Mr. Noodle is a cheap Bill Irwin impersonator!" I stated with an air of finality. I pretended to ignore Mojo rolling his eyes.

Fastforward to last night. Mojo is surfing the web. I hear a chuckle.

"Could you come here a moment please?" he asks me with a smirk. I have a foreshadowing of my own doom.

There it is. In black and white. IMDB says it's so: Bill Irwin is Mr. Noodle.

We pull up a Sesame Street on "On Demand" and fast forward to "Elmo's World." It's Mr Noodle, all right. Not Mr. Noodle's brother, Mr. Noodle (the late, amazing Michael Jeter), nor is it Mr. Noodle's sister, Ms. Noodle (the annoyingly adorable Kristin Chenoweth). It's Mr. Noodle trying to put on a hat. I look closely, past the wig and false mustache...yep, there he is. Bill Irwin.

I sure hope crow is in season right now. I'm going to be eating a nice big helping.