I have a great item for my first World of Stuff post. I just recently had a birthday, and I can always look forward to good stuff for presents. This year proved to be a bumper crop, and my first few column posts will cover some of them.

First up is a gift from my brother: the Kenneth Bobblehead. Many of you probably watch 30 Rock, so may be familiar with the eager NBC page, Kenneth Parcell, played by Jack McBrayer. He delivers food and cleans up barfs for the cast of TGS, the sketch comedy show in 30 Rock. Kenneth will do, and has done, just about anything for television. So over the course of the show, the character has amassed a good number of quotes.

Enter the Kenneth Bobblehead. Its head bobs around like one would expect, but it also comes loaded with some of the best Kenneth quotes from the first season of 30 Rock. Some of the quotes include, “Would you like me to dance for you?”, “To the wig shop!”, and “This mess is gonna get raw like sushi, so haters to the left.” The quotes are read by Jack McBrayer, who can be seen lurking on the side of the box. But the audio isn’t taken from the episodes, so they lack some of the inflection from the video. It sounds a little more like Kenneth reciting the quotes after the fact, as if he were thinking back on some of the weird things he had said while working at TGS.

If you want to learn a thing or two about Therefore Production’s sense of humor, than I suggest you get yourself to your nearest book seller make yourself at home with Edward Gorey. (And if you are very good maybe some day we’ll even show you our Edward Gorey tribute film.)

If you happen to be unfamiliar with him, Edward Gorey (1925- 2000)?is most famous for his work as an illustrator, particularly his work on T. S. Elliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats (please note: he had NOTHING to do with the musical-that-shall-not-be-named!), but his personal projects were what earned him his substantial cult following. He blends storytelling that is child-like in its simplicity with detailed gothic?pen and ink sketches and an?irrepressibly wicked sense of humor. He was rocking comedic horror before Tim Burton was born. His most famous piece is “The Ghastlycrumb Tinies,” an alphabet book of children’s death. One of my favorite panels from this story, courtesy of Google Image Search,?is after the jump:

A long time ago, I downloaded a trailer for the game Little Big Planet for the Playstation 3. The game has a cute, casual style and looks insanely fun, but what struck me in particular was the background music. It was catchy, fun and fit the game perfectly.

I assumed that the music had been created for the game, but I recently learned that it was written and performed by The Go! Team. The track I heard is called “Get it Together”, from the album “Thunder, Lightning, Strike”. I’ve listened to the full album (available on their website store and iTunes), and I highly recommend it. Overall, “Thunder, Lightning, Strike” has a feel-good, high-energy sound with a warm, grainy quality. You can listen to a sample of “Get it Together” here:

The Go! Team – Get it Together
(96 kbps stream, opens in default media player)

Also, you can watch a music video for their song “Junior Kickstart”, a documentary about The Go! Team (shot on super8), and the Game Developers Conference video of Little Big Planet after the jump.