An Oscar Obsession

Wow, how'd this one slide by?
http://kids.aol.com/KOL/2/KOLJrCharacter/Archive/national-grouch-day

It appears that October 15th is National Grouch Day! Good excuse to be a lil, extra grumpy!

The Oscar Obsession creator is expecting her first little bundle of grouchiness in October of this year. Wonder if it'll happen on the 15th?

Today marks the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street and coincidentally ... Oscar's birthday!

NPR had a great story on this morning, which spoke about the lessons learned over the years. It is interesting to hear that beyond just numbers and letters, the Street has had to focus on things like competition in the marketplace and child psychology. Be sure to check it out at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120245506.

And Google really can make one's weekend.

With Sesame Street gearing up to celebrate its 40th anniversary on November 10th, more and more stories of the gang have been appearing on the web. Google has paid homage to Big Bird's legs in it's doodle yesterday, and today Cookie is the featured character:















So one Oscar Obsessed person must wonder ... when is Oscar coming? CNN certainly chose the perfect image for its article on Sesame Street days of yore (http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/TV/11/04/sesame.street.anniversary/index.html), in which Oscar is described as being "much grouchier than he is today" and "just plain nasty" -- compliments where a trashcan-dwelling grouch is concerned.

So we will patiently wait to see a Google rendition of OTG, but in the meantime, check out their doodles for homepages around the world: Sesame Street Google Doodles Around the World

There are several stories circulating on the Internet about Oscar's origins. Some say he was inspired by a New York city cab driver; others say he was inspired by a rude waited at Oscar's Tavern in Manhattan. My travels recently took me to Philadelphia, where I got caught in the rain and tried to shortcut my way back to a familiar street, when I came face to face with a place that I felt was calling me ... a familiar "Street" indeed.

What's better than staying warm on a chilly October night while embodying OTG in an adult-sized costume? Not many things, in my opinion. With Halloween around the corner, don't forget yours, either. But if you're a more ambitious type, there are also several how-to online guides for making your own Oscar costume.

http://www.ehow.com/how_2067131_make-oscar-grouch-costume.html

http://www.instructables.com/id/oscar-the-grouch-costume/

And my all-time favorite simply because the author feels the need to point out that you should decorate it with "UNUSED toilet paper:"

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/411641/how_to_make_your_own_oscar_the_grouch.html?cat=6



















Happy Halloween

While shopping with my 4 year old this past weekend, we stumbled upon this shirt and had a hard time resisting!


In case you're wanting to purchase one of these adorable shirts for your toddler, head to (here comes the shout out) Old Navy! If I remember correctly, they were $10.50. I hunted them down on the website, only to find another version of the shirts--they were in the "baby boy" section--under "graphic tees".."pop culture." I'm sure these girly Oscar shirts as modeled by my lil Grouch above are available in stores--I'm just not seeing them online.

My lil Grouch loves her t-shirt--I'm so happy to see that my obsession has been proudly passed down and Oscar will live on forever!