Maurice Sendak on The Colbert Report

"Grim Colberty Tales" is one of the funniest things I've ever seen on television.

For the Honor of Grayskull!

Even She-Ra doesn’t care for book-burners and censorship. Watch as she breaks teachers out of jail and outsmarts regrettably-named villains by throwing a friggin’ lake into their nefarious plan.

“Being free to read anything we wish is a right we must never lose.” Well said, Loo-Kee, you creepy little demon-thing, you!

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Americans for the Arts Commercials

These Americans for the Arts commercials are from 2008, but I must not watch enough TV because I only saw them for the first time a few weeks ago. Nonetheless, they are pretty funny! You gotta chuckle when Brahms bursts into the room like the Kool-Aid man, yelling "Good day!" in German.

I looked all over but can't find any more of these, which is frustrating since there are so many potential artist/breakfast food mashups they could do:

• Whole-wheat Chopin-cakes
• Krazy Kandinsky Krunch
• Quentin Corn Blakes
• Francis Bacon Egg and Cheese Sandwich
• Frida Kahlo-fat Muffins

Why Navel-Gazers Shouldn't Make Kids Books

With a few rare exceptions, I have no tolerance for reality television. It should come as no surprise that I missed this week’s episode of Celebrity Apprentice, even though it involved writing children’s books and adapting those stories into a play for a live audience of little kids.

Thanks to Hulu, however, I was able to watch as the two competing teams, comprised of celebrities with varying degrees of appropriateness for children’s books, sullied the wonderful experience that is writing for kids. Some celebrities approached it like an ego trip (Dionne Warwick), while others seemed bored out of their minds (Lil’ John) or were about as useful as a bowl of tapioca pudding (Niki Taylor).

There are pretty much no redeeming qualities in this, save the smiles on the kids’ faces when the celebrities perform their stories on stage. At least the cast could appreciate that much. If you think you can get through whole hour-and-a-half(!) of this eyeball-melting experience, check it out below. But I’d recommend just skimming through it.

Happy New Year!

First, one of my favorite quotes for the New Year from Edith Lovejoy Pierce:

We will open the book.  Its pages are blank.  We are going to put words on them ourselves.  The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.

Then, some good old-fashioned fun:

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you're all excited for what 2011 will bring.