Kathy, I associate the Inchworm song with the old Hans Christian Andersen film starring Danny Kaye. I'm pretty sure that's where it comes from. Well, at least for me, in my head, I always hear Danny Kaye singing it.

Really? Oh, well, I guess that doesn't surprise me--"Mahna Mahna" was a cover version, too. I just never heard it without seeing the Inchworm muppet moving along.

For me, my favorite monster was Sweetums. I love him, especially in The Muppet Movie.

I loved Forgetful Jones.

An ex of mine who worked for Henson told me aeons ago that they'd have to start scaling back Big Bird since the yellow fella is very low-tech (guy in a suit, arm in the air) and the pupeeteer was aging.

I was all "Tech-up Big Bird, yo! Get the monitors and robot arms and all that stuff!"

I had a pet Slimey. (My dad made it out of a bit of orange and yellow climbing rope.)

Carol Spinney (Big Bird muppeteer) has got to be in his 70s, at least. He does work with a TV monitor strapped to his chest--that's how he sees since there're no eyeholes in Big Bird.

I associate the Inchworm song with the old Hans Christian Andersen film starring Danny Kaye. Well, at least for me, in my head, I always hear Danny Kaye singing it.

Oh, me, too! In fact, I was just singing that song on Friday. As a tribute to Danny Kaye. I am such a nerd.

Car question: If I'm looking to compare on paper based on whatever the technical term for pep is, I'm thinking I'm looking at horsepower. How important is engine size? What mitigates the HP rating? Do reports list 0-60?

Not-car question: I've noticed a lot of tidily dressed men matching their belts to their shoes, their socks to their shirt, and their pants to nothing at all. Is this a prevailing method of matching or an anomaly in my sampling? It's pretty neat.

All personal feelings aside, I would be lost without Elmo. He seems to get the job done.

As for Sesame Street, I like that I can see big stars on some of the segments--most recently, Natalie Portman and BB King. It's a nice surprise every once in a while. Needless to say, when I'm up at 6 a.m. it's either CNN or Sesame Street. I find Sesame Street to be much more conducive to my mental health.

Car question: If I'm looking to compare on paper based on whatever the technical term for pep is, I'm thinking I'm looking at horsepower. How important is engine size? What mitigates the HP rating? Do reports list 0-60?

Also look at torque, especially at low RPMs. Increased engine size can mean more pep, but it can also mean lower gas mileage. Reports usually do list 0-60 times.

edit: Here's a good site that explains why torque and horsepower are important. [link] Ignore the last bit about torque being important at high RPMs; that's only important for racing.

Car question: If I'm looking to compare on paper based on whatever the technical term for pep is, I'm thinking I'm looking at horsepower. How important is engine size? What mitigates the HP rating? Do reports list 0-60?

This might be more complex than you think. Lots of car reports list 0-60 time - this is probably the best measure of "pep." Horsepower is important. So is torque. If you have two engines of equal horsepower but one is bigger (meaning, has a larger displacement) then the bigger engine will put out more torque (assuming the gearing is the same).

Torque can be thought of as the "twisting" power of an engine, whereas horsepower is the total power of the engine. That's about all I understand of the two, except that for initial acceleration, torque is more important, but as the car goes faster, horsepower becomes more important.

Of course, the horsepower and torque of a car have to be compared to the car's weight - obviously a lighter car with the same engine is gonna accelerate faster. Some reviews, datasheets, etc will give a car's power-to-weight ratio. But looking at a car's 0-60 time is probably the simplest indication of a car's "pep."

eta: I'm assuming that your use of "pep" is somewhat synonymous with "acceleration."