This is a very last minute post (since I was just sent the information). Any of my fellow Canadians (or anyone who gets the CBC for that matter) can watch Mr. Meaty today at 11:30 am on CBC television. I for one will be checking it out. For more information on the show you can read a write up I did about my visit to the set over at my personal blog.

Enjoy!

 

The Cincinnati Area Puppetry Guild in conjunction with Enjoy The Arts is presenting Puppet Slam on Wednesday, October 18, 2006 at the Cincinnati Art Museum’s Faith Auditorium. The doors open at 7:30 PM, with performances starting at 8:00. Adults only (it may get a little blue…may?) The cost is $5 at the door.

Check out the Cincy Slam’s myspace page.

Take Meet the Feebles and Braindead and mix them up with a good old western. What do you get? You get a ZombieWestern named It Came From The West.

It Came From The West is a Danish puppet short that lasts about 17 minutes. It’s about Virgil, a guy not taken seriously by friends and family. One day the saloon gets attacked by zombies and it’s up to Virgil to show that he’s not a wuss.

The film has a sneak-preview at the FOTORAMA in Viborg, Denmark on the 27th of October at 16:30. Unfortunately it’s for invites only.

More info can be found at http://www.zombiewestern.com

Paul Louis from Puppetsnstuff.com has a free puppet-making video tutorial on ExpertVillage.com. It’s actually a series of videos that starts at a list of materials and ends with adding arm rods. Check the videos out here!

All of us have resources (time, money, materials, people, energy, etc. ). All need to manage our resources efficiently in order to best serve our priorities. As a builder, time, money and materials (or should I say the lack thereof) are the biggest stumbling blocks I run into trying to complete a custom job or meet a self-imposed goals. I have found careful planning will help bolster your success while saving time, money and materials. As the old saying goes, “if you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time”.

In business you often hear words “work breakdown structure (WBS)”, “forecast” and “Gantt chart”. You may also recognize some more common (sometimes dreaded) words such as “budget”, “diet” and “schedule”. They are all pseudonyms for one word—“PLAN”.

With a carefully laid out plan anyone can achieve much. You may not hit your target, but you will get a lot closer that you would have without a plan. Think about it like this: When you go to the grocery you have a destination and you know what route you are taking. (Wow! Directions… Sounds like a plan. ) If you just drive around randomly (no plan), you may or may not find a grocery. Once you arrive, if you have a grocery list (plan) you are more likely get everything you need. Without a list (plan), you may or may not get everything and may wind up with stuff you don’t really need (Twinkies). Hopefully you know your way home; else it may be a long night.

(Believe it or not, I actually have a map of the grocery store so that I can list items accordingly. You laugh, but it saves 20 minutes.)

The point I wish to make is for you to make your life intentional. You will live a better life and leave a better legacy if you do things on purpose. I believe there is a lot of wisdom in this simple idea.

Hey, there’s a new puppet website in town! Check it out - www.thirdfloorpuppets.com. The site was officially launched October 3, 2006 by sixteen-year-old Chase Woolner. Age certainly is not a factor when it comes to skill and talent. Chase is a very talented puppet builder and performer and is already doing something about it. Take a look at his resume, and don’t forget about the gallery!

It seems to me that puppetry’s future looks brighter and brighter every day.

Zig Ziglar tells a story about the results of putting fleas in a jar. If you were to take several fleas, place them in a jar and put a lid on top of the jar, the fleas will bump their heads as they try to get free. After an hour or so, you can remove the lid. The once confined (possibly oxygen deprived) fleas will not escape and will die in their open prison. After repeatedly banging their heads against the lid, the fleas tend not to jump as high as before. They have been conditioned to assume that there is no way out.

We, too, can become like those fleas because we set our own limitations. Maybe we’ve started out with self-doubt or lived with criticism to the point those once small limiting thoughts become interlinked to be as restrictive battleship chains. Well, Baby, its time to break those chains and blow the lid off the jar.

When you think of yourself, replace words like unimaginative, weak, stale, apathetic and uninspired with creative, strong, fresh, enthusiastic and inspired. Will using positive thoughts really change your life? Yes! Absolutely! It might not alter your situation, but it will definitely change your approach. You will find that part of your reality is perceived and that perception is based on your thoughts. Apply this to your puppetry. Apply this to your life.

James Lane Allen had it right when he wrote, “You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thought will take you.”

Where are you going today?

Check out the latest creation from Furry Puppet by Zack Bouchman. Dragonmir is an amazingly advanced mechanical rod puppet. His neck, mouth, eyes, and eyebrows can be operated by pushing levers on the main rod, or from a distance by push-pull cables. Check out more photos of Dragonmir as well as other fantastic creations at www.furrypuppet.com!

 

For those of you in the New York area, there is a puppet event happening from October 2006 through until February 2007 that is beinng sponsored by Linux.  The event is called Passport To Puppet Theatre and allows individuals to purchase a “passport” that gets them free software from Linux as well as ticket discounts to the shows.  Now it should be noted that many of these shows are actually a part of  different festivals and events, but are also associated with this Linux promotion.  Puppet companies who are participating are Drama of Works, Bread and Puppet Theater as well as many others.  To find out more about this event you can go to their website here.

Toronto podcast Puppet Television has been doing their puppet show for a while now. Now I should point out that this podcast is intended for more of a mature audience, so viewer discretion is advised. I personally love the idea of Toronto artists doing more puppetry (it makes me proud to be a Torontonian). Puppet Television has just put up a series of videos that chronicle their visit to the Toronto Fan Expo this past September. I will be posting more details about Puppet Television in the near future, but for now you can check out their new video posts here.