#pixie the mimikyu

“Hey guys, Zak and Pixie here! Cali told us that today is Jim Henson’s birthday, and while we were on our trip to New York, we visited this museum that had an exhibit all about his work! So here’s some of the pictures Cali took. They don’t have us in them, but we figured you all would enjoy them anyway!”

The Jim Henson Exhibition at the Museum of the Moving Image (@movingimagenyc ) was one of the things I was most excited for during our trip; I was already a fan of Sesame Street and the Muppets as a kid, and I even came to love some of Jim Henson’s earlier work like the commercials for Wilkins Coffee (seriously, look up the Wilkins Coffee commercials up, they are hilarious, sometimes unhinged, and I love them), and the cult classic Labyrinth as I grew up.

The exhibit itself was incredible, there were even a few hands on activities like a booth where you get to puppeteer the way Muppeteers do, and building your own Muppet (note: the Muppet torso is connected to a table, so no, you don’t get to take it home). Unfortunately the playback on my sister and I’s attempt at puppeteering played back at like 2 frames a second instead of smoothly like the live feed we were watching while performing.

It was so interesting to see concept art of some of the characters they had on display (and some they didn’t), they even had little video screens to show you what the characters looked like in action.

Of course there were large sections dedicated to his most notable works, Sesame Street and the Muppet Show, there was some Fraggle Rock too, but I’m not as familiar with it (will definitely try finding episodes somewhere, though).

And I was quite happy to see Sarah and Jareth’s outfits on display. Maybe someday I can go to the museum that has their masquerade ball costumes.

“Oh yes, please! More trips to plan for! Oh! Sorry! I’ll go now.”

You’re fine Zak. Now, where was I? Ah, yes.

They had this beautiful version of Miss Piggy from The Muppets Take Manhattan, as well as concept art and magazine covers.

I have a few more pictures from the Museum of the Moving Image, but seeing as tumblr will only let me post 10 images per post, I will leave you with this picture of Kermit the Frog, sitting beside Jim Henson’s headset.

This was the main reason we were going to New York; my sister really loves Back to the Future, and really wanted to see the musical. It was an absolute blast, and the effects were amazing! I really enjoyed some of the comedic moments with Doc and Marty (it kinda felt like they were trying to make each other laugh and I loved it, lol),

“This was our view from our seats!”

While it certainly is an interesting water feature, it’s not a fountain. According to a nearby sign, it’s a private well, so you can’t throw coins into it.

Clue is one of my favorite movies, and my sister was helping out with this particular production, so I wanted to support her.

“This place sure is spooky, huh Pixie?”

It was a great party, I even got some good Pokémon GO pictures at the photo spot they had set up there. Too bad no one knew who I was supposed to be.

“Aw well, maybe next time someone’ll know.”

At least I got some compliments on my makeup despite it being my first time using liquid latex.

“Wow! So that’s Devils Tower?”

Yep, the last time I got to hike around it, I was maybe 9 or 10.

“How’d something like that get made?”

Well, scientifically speaking, no one really knows. There are several theories about it being either the core or plug of a volcano as the rock it’s made of is igneous while the exposed rock down the hill from the tower is sedimentary.

Now if we’re talking legends on how it was formed, there are quite a few. The one I learned in school was from the Lakota and Kiowa tribes:

“A group of seven girls went out to play and were spotted by several giant bears, who began to chase them. In an effort to escape the bears, the girls climbed atop a rock, fell to their knees, and prayed to the Great Spirit to save them. Hearing their prayers, the Great Spirit made the rock rise from the ground towards the heavens so that the bears could not reach the girls. The bears, in an effort to climb the rock, left deep claw marks in the sides, which had become too steep to climb. Those are the marks which appear today on the sides of Devils Tower. When the girls reached the sky, they were turned into the stars of the Pleiades.”

When I heard it, it was one bear, but that could’ve been from someone combining one of the other legends with this one. There’s a painting by Herbert A. Collins in the visitor center with only one bear attempting to climb the tower.

“They do kinda look like scratches.”

Mmhm. People sometimes climb up the cracks, though I think as of this post, only the staff are allowed to climb it. You can actually see a few in this picture if you zoom in.

If you ever plan on going to Devils Tower, please leave the prayer bundles around the trails alone. They were left there by the tribes to whom the tower is sacred.

As you travel up the road to the tower, you’ll come across the prairie dog town. Each dirt mound you see is another opening to their tunnel system.

Because of tourists feeding them, they may approach you or your vehicle like these two did. Don’t feed them or try to pet them, as cute as they are, they do bite.

“Don’t let all these rules scare you away though! The hiking trail around the tower has lots of great views. Like this!”

“And this!”

“Oh this too!”

“Plus this weird tree!”

“Why’d you take us to see this movie?! In case you haven’t noticed, we’re ghosts!”

Oh, it’s not that bad. They don’t kill ghosts, just catch them, kinda like how trainers catch Pokémon.