I’d never heard of Jerry Juhl, or so I thought, but when I read his obituary last week I realized that I’d probably seen and ignored his name a number of times. The Muppets were a large part of my media input as a child and Juhl was their defining writer. Lisa Henson said of Juhl: “He was — in many ways — the real voice of the Muppets and of every project from the Jim Henson Company.” Juhl was the first employee hired by Jim Henson back in 1961, soon turning from performing to writing, shaping that irreverent Muppet humor. He spent six seasons writing for “Sesame Street,” was the head writer of “The Muppet Show,” and co-wrote the various Muppet movies. And I suppose you can blame him for a cartload of bad puns (I just want to know who’s responsible for The Rhyming Song). Kenneth Plume points out that Jerry Juhl remains with us as we hand the Muppet magic down to our children.

It had to happen sooner or later: advertising on the supermarket checkout belt. Next I suppose we’ll be forced to watch commercials on the self check-out video screens since that route exposes us to fewer chances to impulse buy candy and magazines. (via MIT Advertising Lab)

The NY Times takes a look into the recruiting and training techniques of the Blue Man Group. Before you get to try spitting paint and mouthing marshmallows, you have to be between 5’10” – 6’1″ and not “overly curvaceous” (there has been one female Blue Man out of about 80). New shows are popping up all over, so if you’ve ever wanted to run away and join the circus but knew that wasn’t exactly the right fit for you… well, just know that the paint doesn’t taste that great (but the marshmallows probably do!).

Kepler’s is reopening on Saturday at 11am. They are looking for volunteers to help prep the store and run the membership table. Which, I assumed, meant they are taking on a membership business model. And indeed, the Merc confirms that they are trying out the “public TV” thing. An initial $500,000 was invested by a group of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs as a kickstart and the Tan Group renegotiated the rent. Kepler is also closing his Belmont business office and relocating to the store itself. Square footage will remain the same size, despite rumors. The investors make up the new board of directors and plan to adjust the bookstore’s tactics to keep things afloat. The membership model is meant to encourage people not just to put in some money to help with expenses but to buy their books at Kepler’s, which, ultimately, is what really needs to happen.