Bad Idea Bears...

I watched Avenue Q on Thursday. South Park meets Sesame St. I've enjoyed puppets and being rude - ask my little sister. So this was right up my street, or should I say avenue. Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx's score is a perfect antidote to the humdrum of daily life, especially if you're one of the many disillusioned 20/30 somethings like myself, who are wondering why we feel a little empty inside. According to the show - it's okay, we all feel that way! It also celebrates the fact we're all a little bit racist, the internet is for porn and there is a fine, fine line between a lover and a friend. Apart from developing a small 'foam with ping-pong ball eyed' like crush on the actor Simon Lipkin, the very talented puppeteer who plays Nicky and Trekkie Monster (see photos - Nicky is the green 'Ernie' like puppet and Simon is the bushy browed, well toned man with his hand up Nicky's arse), I also found myself becoming a big fan of the idea we have 'Bad Idea Bears' in our lives. In the show, they're cute 'Care Bear' like creatures who appear at the most inappropriate moments in the character's lives, dispensing bad advice and luring them into trouble in order to experience short-lived enjoyment. They represent the voice in your head that encourages you to do that wrong thing, like; have another round when you really need to go home, spend money you don't have, saying or doing the most inappropriate things on a date. I've been listening to my 'Bears' far too much recently. They're almost having a summer vaction in my head. I've been having lots of 'Me' time recently, spending time and money on myself and not been in touch with so many of my friends. I don't feel guity about it, as I've needed to concentrate on myself and not chase after the rest of the world for a bit, as it was beginning to wear me out. I do think it's a good idea to imagine 'bad ideas' as dumb soft toys though. At the end of the show, the Bad Idea Bears become Scientologists. I do think it's important to listen to them every now and then, otherwise we'd just go plain mental and end up being Vegan Conservative Methodists or something.