Okay, so it's July, which means I got to change my Sesame Street calendar at work. Out with Ernie in the bathtub, and in with ROOSEVELT FRANKLIN, looking like the younger skinnier cousin of Posdnuos. God, I loved Roosevelt Franklin:

Hail to thee, our alma mama / Roose-velt Frank-lin (baaaaaaa) El-e-ment-ary School!

Sure, he was kind of a stereotype, but he brought dignity and uncompromising blackness to the Muppetworld. One might track the decline of Sesame Street itself to the phasing-out of Rosey on PC terms; from there, it turned all urban-renewal-y and upwardly-mobile-y, Susan/Gordon/Miles and Luis/Maria/Gabriella notwithstanding. Sick.

Also: bonus: apparently, today is Guy Smiley's birthday. That's what it says right here on the calendar, so you can't front on that. Ol' Hinge Head is now 70 and fending off lawsuits from sexually harassed employees...but he looks great.

Hanging out last night with the kids, as my wife was at Spanish class, reading to them from The Wonder Clock by Howard Pyle. It's an hour-themed book of occasionally grisly fairy tales, and it has them pretty much spellbound, so much so that they actually WANT to turn off Nick at Nite reruns of "Full House." (Kimmy Gibler, why must you haunt my life?) When the Great Black Raven who has manipulated his way into marrying the most beautiful daughter of the king turns into a handsome prince, Emma literally gasped in shock, and Sammy actually looked up from his Bionicles and Lego Knights. Why I don't do this more often, I don't know. Of course, as soon as it was over they rushed for the remote so they could watch "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air." Oy vey.

Newly received: Marty Stuart's gospel project, Soul's Chapel (one of three albums coming this year from Marty Party), and the new Rodney Crowell, The Outsider. God love 'em both.