Spring In The Ted Lane: Witty Tunes, Wooden Giants, and Building Blocks of Imagination

Spring has sprung, and with it, our latest episode bursts into bloom, weaving the often-overlooked comic genius of Tom Lehrer into a whimsical tapestry that celebrates the season's playful spirit. Lehrer's satirical melodies have long tickled the funny bone, and it's a mystery why his Mark Twain Prize-worthy humor isn't more widely recognized. Meanwhile, Ted and I set out on an adventure that takes us to the Philadelphia Zoo, where we're greeted by the towering presence of Thomas Dambo's recycled wood troll statues — silent sentinels of sustainability that stir the imagination. Our journey doesn't stop there; we traverse the wild above, thanks to the zoo's overhead mesh bridges, giving us a jaguar's-eye view that's as exhilarating as it is humbling. And as if our day couldn't get any more inspired, we step into the vibrant world of Nathan Sawaya's Art of the Brick exhibit at the Franklin Institute, where the humble Lego brick ascends to new heights of creativity.

In Autism news, The Eagles Autism Challenge is coming up in May. We tell you all about how you can get involved in the Philadelphia Eagles' Annual fundraiser for autism programs and research. 

As we draw this episode to a close, I can't help but feel a wave of gratitude for you, our listeners, who share in these explorations and bring your own sparkle to our community. Your stories, your laughter, and your perspectives truly make this journey worthwhile. So go ahead, tell everyone you meet about our podcast adventures — whether they're die-hard fans or just discovering the magic of Lehrer's tongue-in-cheek tunes. And don't be shy with your feedback; head over to Apple Podcasts or Podchaser and let us know your thoughts. For those who crave a visual feast, my YouTube channel, Ted Harris Puppets, awaits with open arms, ready to whisk you away on even more whimsical exploits. Here's to high spirits, boundless curiosity, and the shared joy of discovery as we march forward into the season together.

RESOURCES: 
https://www.eaglesautismchallenge.org/
https://fi.edu/en
https://www.philadelphiazoo.org/
https://www.thomasdambo.com/ 

• For more information, visit us at 6630 Productions 
• Write us a review on Podchaser or Apple Podcasts

May your life be filled with magic!

Transcript

Springtime Adventures and Art Exhibits

Ted 0:18

Good evening . I know Spring is here .

Lindsay 0:22

Spring is here . Spring is here , life is skills and life is beer . I think the loveliest time of the year is the spring . I do , don't you ? Of course you do . But there's one thing that makes me complete for me and it makes every Sunday a treat for me . Oh , the world is in tune on a spring afternoon and we're boys and boys in the park . Every sudden you'll see my sweetheart and we're boys in the park . When they see us coming , the birdies all try to hide . They still go for a PS , but Conan was side-eyed . The sunshine ain't bright , everything seems all right and we're boys in the park , tra-la-dee-dee-dee-dee , tra-la-dee-dee-dee-dee , tra-la-da-da-dee-dee-dee .

Lindsay 1:08

We came down to Rindy and caused much anxiety , all about society and our games . They called it Pindy and lack of Pindy and quite a variety of obscenities . But that ain't one's religion . Don't want to dispose of a pigeon ? Oh , when Sunday you're free , won't you come with me ? We boys and pigeons in the park , and maybe we'll do it a squirrel or two , we boys and pigeons in the park , we'll burn them all with a laughter and a murmur , except for the ones we take home to experiment . La , la , la , la , la Pulse . We're being quick and ready .

Ted 1:45

Each e-drop rain stricken ween peen , peen , peen , peen , peen , peen , peen , peen , peen , peen , peen , peen , peen , peen peen , peen , peen , peen , peen , peen , peen , peen , peen , peen , peen , peen , peen peen , reinterpreted by my brother Ted Harris .

Lindsay 2:04

Thank you .

Ted 2:05

Tom Lehrer is an American treasure . I don't know why he hasn't won the Mark Twain Prize for comedy . He's a genius .

Lindsay 2:15

Yes .

Ted 2:17

He's wonderful and he knows how to turn a dam into a dame or a pan into a pain . Okay , it's not too hard to see .

Lindsay 2:27

It's silent E .

Ted 2:28

Okay , okay . So , ted , what is our latest adventure ? Now that it is springtime and you have Earth Day on your mind , what was our latest adventure , ted ?

Lindsay 2:36

We got to see the giant troll statues that filled the zoo . They're done on recycled wood by Danish artist Davis . Thomas Dambo , as archers is Trolls of the Humans they seem to give awareness to . We got to see the giant troll statues at the Philadelphia Zoo . They were done on recycled wood by a Danish artist . His name is Thomas Dambo . His art show is Trolls of the Humans they seem to give awareness to the same trees . We also saw the snow leopards and lions , tigers and panther not the pink panther and mountain lions and jaguars . That was over our heads had our robot of Zed in front of the fountain and the elephant statue .

Ted 3:19

Ted , Ted , can you explain for people at home who might never have been to the Philadelphia Zoo before ? How was the jaguar overheads ?

Lindsay 3:27

the jaguars overhead by by my mesh bridge yeah , it was a mesh bridge with overheads . It gives uh cats a leeway over the humans yeah , it gives the cats .

Ted 3:41

It lets the cats stretch their legs and stroll around more , right .

Lindsay 3:44

Yeah .

Ted 3:45

Yeah .

Lindsay 3:46

Like pacing more . We also had a robot in front of the fountain and the elephant statue . We also saw Art of the Brick at the Franklin Institute . At the Franklin Institute you can feel the fun we did it to cheer up , we were , we were spending time .

Ted 4:10

Okay , let's just try this . We went to see the Art of the Brick at the Franklin Institute , which is one of our favorite places .

Lindsay 4:19

Yep .

Ted 4:20

And we went with our friends Michelle and Hunter .

Lindsay 4:23

Yeah , she loves Muppets and Legos . Art of the Perk was done by artist named Nathan Sawaya .

Ted 4:29

Sawaya .

Lindsay 4:30

Sawaya , who makes art of Legos , makes all hardcore art . What is done by serious Muppets ? Lego enthusiasts ?

Ted 4:39

Yeah , it's , they use the tiny . It's like he uses the tiniest Legos , lots and lots of them to make like really gentle curves and stuff like that right .

Lindsay 4:49

Yep , we saw , we saw hardcore art , we saw the master's paintings by Legos .

Ted 4:56

So what were some of the master's paintings that we ?

Lindsay 4:58

saw . We saw Girl with a Pearl Earring by Legos .

Ted 5:01

Which one ?

Lindsay 5:01

Girl with a Pearl Earring by Legos Mm-hmm .

Ted 5:04

Legos which one Girl ?

Lindsay 5:04

with a Pearl Earring . They're my Legos the Mona Lisa they're my Legos . Night Music they're my Legos .

Ted 5:10

Night Music . Which one's that ?

Lindsay 5:12

Van Gogh .

Ted 5:14

Oh , it's called Night Music . Yeah , I thought it was called Story Night .

Lindsay 5:18

Story Night .

Ted 5:19

What do I know ? I know nothing . Go ahead .

Lindsay 5:22

We saw Roman Statues . They're my Legos . I saw a T-Rex about five feet . Saw Roman statues done by Legos Mm-hmm . We saw a T-Rex about five feet tall done by Legos Mm-hmm , and we also saw endangered animals made out of Legos Mm-hmm . And we went into another room we made our own Lego statues . I made two Lego sculptures , elizabeth made a giraffe , michelle and Hunter made a truck . They also had a ramp for race hero Legos . He also made a truck and he turned the truck into Optimus Prime .

Ted 5:54

Yeah , Hunter made a really good Optimus Prime . He's a nice guy .

Lindsay 5:57

Yep and also made a Muppet theater .

Ted 6:02

And also Hunter showed us . Hunter showed us how we could make the curtain more stable . How did he make it more ? The curtain for the , the procedure . These are small pieces yeah he likes to build things mm-hmm , so what else did we see ?

Lindsay 6:18

there we also saw the giant heart .

Ted 6:21

Leslie would go and could just be a little , uh , claustrophobic actually it's because I'm five foot ten and it's I just I feel , yeah , claustrophobic is probably the right word , but yeah , for people who don't know , for people at home who don't know what is the giant heart at the Franklin Institute .

Lindsay 6:40

It's just the biggest model heart in the United States you've ever seen . And you can do what with it , you can actually go inside and see the inside of the heart , how the heart beating sounds , of the heartbeat . You actually go upstairs and you actually see how the heart beating sounds , of the heartbeat .

Ted 6:54

They actually go upstairs and you actually see how the heart works so you travel through the heart model the same way that a blood vessel does that a blood cell travels through vessels and stuff like that , right yep , yeah , um what was I ?

Lindsay 7:09

we also saw the electricity room in the air show , so we saw the electricity room in the air show . Yeah , we saw the electricity room in the air show and Hunter tried out the electricity and the Tesla coil . Oh , this time they added a space room .

Ted 7:25

Mm-hmm .

Lindsay 7:27

I remember there used to be a skeleton riding an elliptical machine .

Ted 7:30

An elliptical machine .

Lindsay 7:32

Yeah , and a medical pinball game and a display of surgical instruments . After that we had a snack at Ashton Ice Cream and a moment of zen in Logan Square .

Ted 7:43

Can you tell for the folks at home , can you tell them what a moment of zen is ?

Lindsay 7:47

Okay , so it's quiet , it's peaceful . There's no moth in you , no noisy crowd . There's screaming children . There's peace , everything's beautiful .

Ted 7:56

That was a really . It was a nice sunny day . Flowers were starting to come out and we sat by the fountain and just watched the water . It was really lovely , wasn't it ?

Lindsay 8:05

Yep .

Ted 8:09

Mm-hmm . Oh , we also have . So we're going to put a couple of links in the show notes about the Trolls Save the Humans exhibit and the Art of the Brick exhibit . The Trolls Save the Humans exhibit . I think that closes in like maybe the second week of April , so if you want to go see it you better go fast . And the Art of the Brick is , I think , running through the rest of the year . I know it's running through the summer All right so moving on . What is our next topic ? Ted ?

Lindsay 8:37

Now , on this note , if I could be serious for a moment , coming up is Thursday . Some people have great respect for what this country is and some people don't . The first indigenous people loved the land . They held a reverence and for some part today that's for a reward .

Lindsay 8:52

This week we visit Winston-Hickam Valley Park . Once a haven for trash and litter , community volunteers came in . Once a haven for trash and litter . Community volunteers climbed in to clean up the litter . The land is good , yet all the riders are reminders of how far we have to go . Everyone must get involved . Over the past 40 years , america and Earth have become cleaner Thanks to the clean Community System . Many cities in town refuse to let their communities get drinking , while many parts of the solution may more aren't . So everybody has to get involved . I also visited John Hyde's Wildlife Refuge . It reminds us what Earth used to look like around the time of the dinosaurs . It has a lot of great trees and plants and exotic animals . I learned that trees get their food from the bark . Cut off the bark and the tree could die .

Ted 9:38

Also , careless people paint on the rocks , boulders , the trees and leave trash everywhere , and Ted has a couple of links in the show notes that he's going to share . One is from the Department of Agriculture and the other one is the Captain Planet Foundation . Right , yes , okay .

Lindsay 10:00

If we pick up litter wherever we see it and carry it in our backpacks or purses even in our pockets if we have to and put it in a trash can we'll clean up the earth . There's nothing cool about trash hanging out on the back of a garbage truck when it's going 100 miles an hour on an unpaved road . Also , we need to burn less and less fossil fuels . I feel the only vehicles on the road should be electric cars and police cars and fire trucks and ambulances and taxi buses . The world needs a worldwide mass transit system . Motorized mass transit is the hope of the future . I'm not sure if sports utility vehicles are cool but not practical , but if it's just a car , look how many fit on a train or bus . Also , people will use nuclear power to power their homes while fossil men boom level the city . Nuclear power is not a smart move . So it can supply our power needs for generations . We can harness that power of sun and wind .

Lindsay 10:55

No need to dig a drill or hurt a tree . When the river spills , it's always clean and free . We have to clear oceans of trash and litter . If we work to clean our water systems , we have clean drinking water . I'm also scared to go out in the sun because climate change has devastated a lot of our land and animals , as well as our farmlands . We can't predict how much is too much .

Lindsay 11:16

The last few decades have been haunts of record . We make things worse with greenhouse gases rising seas . Take a big bite out of a big apple . After Hong Kong is long gone , we visit Europe with scuba divers . We can collapse global economies , farmland turn to desert and hunger for global skill . We can meet every animal that you would have to die out or have to adapt to survive , lucky ones made to build new trains . Some would say our plants' problems are too great , but no , we can have a clean , healthy Earth which would lead to our children , to our children's children , to our children's children's children , and so on , and so on , et cetera , et cetera . The time to act is .

Ted 11:56

One of the things that Ted really loves is the website for the Captain Planet Foundation . Ted , can you tell us about that website ?

Lindsay 12:05

It's a website for planet heroes to inspire other kids to save the Earth .

Ted 12:10

Okay , and what is Captain Planet ?

Lindsay 12:12

Captain Planet was a superhero back in the 90s that encouraged kids to save the environment . It encourages people to save the environment , recycle more , pick up trash when we're not seeing it and to clean up the earth .

Ted 12:24

Okay , so now we can move on to Muppet .

Lindsay 12:28

News , Muppet News . Muppet News , Muppet News .

Ted 12:33

Muppet News . So what is the Muppet News for March Ted ?

Lindsay 12:37

It's going to be Big Bird birthday on March 20th .

Ted 12:39

March 20th was a few days ago .

Lindsay 12:41

Yeah , there'll be cake , ice cream , barbecue and visits for Muppets and humans past and present . We also have Mr Hooper jumping out of a cake and stuffy will be there . It's all about Maria Louise and we'll sing some songs . Advocate that we do some magic . It'll be very fun . It's been a great show .

Ted 12:56

So , ted , I have a question for you how old is Big Bird ?

Lindsay 13:09

He's six years old , but he's really 55 . Autism news autism news . Autism news . The Eagles Autism Challenge is a fun run that raises money for the Eagles Autism Program . The Eagles Autism Challenge is a fun run that raises money for the Eagles Autism Program , that raises money for autism research and their community programs that raise money for autism . The money will go to doctors and scientists research working to find a cure for autism .

Ted 13:28

So the Eagles Autism Challenge is on May 18th and it's dedicated to raising funds for innovative research and care programs . How do you , how does it work , Ted ?

Lindsay 13:39

How does it work ? You can register solo or team or participate virtually .

Ted 13:44

Mm-hmm , and what do you do ?

Lindsay 13:47

Get creative . There are a number of easy ways to move closer to a fundraising goal . Yeah , below are a few tips to get you started For a 100% participatory raise . Funds benefit autism , research and care programs .

Ted 13:58

What are some ways that you can participate in the autism research and care programs ? What are some ways that you can participate in the Eagles Autism Challenge ? Ted ?

Lindsay 14:01

You can do the bike ride , the red walk , the sensory walk , which is an easier walk with rest stops .

Ted 14:09

Yeah , they have rest stops and it's quieter .

Lindsay 14:11

Or you can participate virtually .

Ted 14:13

How can you participate virtually , Ted ?

Lindsay 14:15

You can ride an exercise bike or walk in place and record yourself mm-hmm .

Ted 14:23

So you can be a virtual participant and do the fundraising things , but you still get to go to , you still get the t-shirt and the metal and the gift bag and you still get to go to the Friday kickoff party and the Saturday finish line celebration , right , yeah , so wow , in the first five years they raised over $16 million . That's pretty cool huh . Ted yeah . So if you want to participate in the Eagles Autism Challenge , you can go to eaglesautismchallengeorg and get more information . Right , ted , yeah , yeah .

Lindsay 15:04

We should wrap this up now , Okay . Well , that's it for now .

Share and Engage With Ted Harris

Lindsay 15:08

We hope you enjoyed today's show . Remember to tell people you like , people you hate , all people who support our show and if they want to share , sing a song , tell them a joke or a short story . You write to us at info at 6630productioncom . You write us a review on Apple Podcasts or Podchaser . If you want to see my YouTube videos , you can go to youtubecom , slash Ted Harris Puppets or search Ted Harris Puppets . That video should come out . That's it for now . I'm your host , Ted Harris . Hope to see you again soon . Bye .