Mystery! Intrigue! Footwear! Huh?

It's out! The Lady from Sockholm is now out on DVD. I got my copy and I must say I loved it!

With the feeling of an old Bogart movie, this movie is very well done. I hope they do more! Run time is 71 minutes.

It's here! It's here!!

It's here! Episode 5 of the Heather and Ben show is finally here... It's called "wegman is god" and you can get it here.

Doggy dating toward the end is pretty funny.

Episode 1.1 Huh??

Brian Hogg over at dotBoom.ca has added a short in between episodes 1 & 2. Check it out here.


Be sure to take a look at Brian's Paperdoll Puppets. Keep'em coming Brian!

Super Adventure Team...

I found this on Google Video.

Parody of British marionette action-adventure series Thunderbirds. Co-created by comedian and Simpsons writer Dana Gould. Pre-dates Team America.

Stargate SG1 strung up...

On their 200th episode Stargate SG1 did a parody of their 1st episode with marionettes.


Very Gerry Anderson (thunderbirds) looking. There's a video of it here.

Strings attached...

Here is a cool marionette video. Check it out here.

The Classical Guitar Marionette is great!

Little diving puppet...

Check this out. This is very well done.

Boo two..

Here's another Halloween Flyer...

Many more hallows things can be found at www.phantasmechanics.com.

Enjoy!

Boo... Things that make you go... AHHHHH!!!!

Halloween is quickly approaching... Check out this project.

I've seen some good Ghost Marionettes out there but this Skeleton Marionette is the best that I've come across. Great step by step instructions.

More scary projects can be found at Vile Things.

Show 004 is online...

The Heather and Ben Show 004 entitled "Pizza!" is online!

Get the other 3 shows too.

• show 003 'of course squirrels can fly!'
• show 002 'banana!'
• show 001 'we look like tires?'

In the neighborhood? Drop by and say hi...

There's a new Puppet Forum in town, The Puppet Zone. Stop in and say "Hi" to TPZ and help get this site moving.

While you are out and about, drop by the Rotten Puppets web site too.

Quick...

Be sure to check out The Melonpool Quickcast a new weekly feature scheduled to appear every Friday on Kevin Smith’s new Web site, Quick Stop Entertainment. There are 7 Episodes online.

My favorite episode #6: Meeting “Johnny Depp”. Make sure you check out the Melonpool Comic website. Melonpool is the brain child of Steve Troop.

BOOM... Did you feel that?Something just slammed into the Internet...

Oh it's the first episode of DotBoom!

congratulations to Brian Hogg and his crew for a great first episode! A lot of work went into this production. Brian also created an audio commentary track for this episode.

And the wiener is...

1st place goes to...

Kaal Haarloos by Michael Harding








2nd place goes to:

Mr. Fuzzy Face (Radar) by Spencer Lott





Congradulations to both puppet builders!

Time is running out...

Time is almost up! Please drop over to Puppet Project and vote for my entry, Snoop Otter Otter.

The winner will be announced on August 1st.

Snoop says, "Thanks Dog.."

Puppet Television Episode 2...

Follow the adventures of Chino , Toodloo & Chinchilla on Puppet Television. The long awaited episode 2 is online. Be sure to check out Chino's blog too.

Give it up for Mike...

Check out The Rag! A weekly video Blog with puppets featuring the talents of master puppeteers Tim Lagasse and Jim Napolitano.

Outstanding Instruction...

I am not going to be able to say enough about this instructional video. It's outstanding. Dave walks the viewer through every step. Sections on the DVD include:

• Tools You'll Need
• Start With The Art
• Creating The Sculpt
• How To Cut Foam
• Back To The Sculpt
• Making & Cutting Seams
• What Size Puppet?
• Transferring The Pattern To Paper
• Scaling Up The Patterns
• Prototyping The Puppet
• How To Glue Foam
• Back To The Puppet

Dave covers it all, and then some. The section on the proper way to glue foam is something everyone should see. I can't wait to create my own puppet pattern from my own design.

This video is worth every penny. Go here to get your copy.

My marionettes like to hang around...In style...

I wanted to show off my Marionette Hanger. My Brother made it for me. It 24 inches across and holds 5 Marionettes.

Notice that the Marionettes are staggered. The end and center posts stick out about 5 inches. The 2nd and 4th posts are about 8 inches.

It's made from 14 gauge steel. Cut with a plasma cutter. The posts are welded on. And it has a hammered copper finish. Plus rubber glued to the back to protect the wall.

The staggered posts give a crowd look to the marionettes. You can visit my brother and sister-inlaw's web site at www.wakingbearstudio.com.

America's got Talent??Well at least Kevin Johnson does...

America's got Talent is a new show on NBC. The first episode included a ventriloquist named Kevin Johnson. At first Kevin seemed like he might not make it though the first round. But when he did his Godzilla Theater routine, the audience went nuts. You can see this routine by visiting his mySpace site.

Good luck Kevin!! You've got talent!

Turn it up...

Here's a very cool video from Supergrass, it's called Pumping Up Your Stereo.
This video is very well done. I found this link here on Muppet Central.

Poof! Henry appears...

Here's Henry Ringmaster. Puppet magician Henry Ringmaster has some very cool magic videos online.

This is the first time I've seen a puppet do magic. He's pretty good too! Be sure to check out the "Say It Again" link for more of Henry's videos.

Ping Pong anyone?

Here's a Construction Diary from puppetmuseum.com.

There's a lot of pages to explore on this site. Very cool photos, information and techniques. Happy surfing.

I'd like to thank the judges...

The top 10 finalists are finally in!! My entry Snoop Otter Otter made the top 10!!!!

No matter if I win or lose, I'd like to thank the judges for including Snoop in the top 10. To me that honor itself means I won. Snoop is the third puppet that I've built. I have 8 more started. I am so hooked on puppet building... This would be a good place to thank my wife for putting up with me. :) Thanks Cyn!

Good luck everyone! May the best puppet win!!

Road Trip... Anyone calling shotgun??

The Bunraku Bay Puppet Troupe - Bringing the Beauty and Drama of Traditional Japanese Bunraku Puppetry to the United States.

Check out the link for Summer 2006 Program. Anyone up for a road trip? To Japan? Wish I could afford this.

One mans trash is another mans puppet...

Here is an interesting puppet company called Lunatique Fantastique. All of their puppets are made from trash or discarded items of one form or another.


Be sure to check out their media section for some great videos. My faviorite is The Wrapping Paper Caper.

He's dead jim...

We morn the death of Boo Boo the Chicken...

Sorry, this is kind of goofy but it made me laugh.

LaBeata...

Visit www.labeata.com. This is the site of a young polish artist that makes beautiful marionettes.

Wish I could afford to buy one. She creates portrait marionettes that are stunning. Be sure to explore all of her site. She is very talented.

Bunraku... Huh?

I've been searching for information on the Bunraku style of puppetry and I have found a good website that I wanted to share.


The Puppet Theater of Japan: An Introduction to Bunraku

Stringing it up...

Here is a cool Flash animation on how to string a marionette.

By Eric Hagstrom

I am not dead yet...

Project Puppet's Glorified Sock Puppet Contest has extended it's deadline to June 4, 2006!!

That's great news for me! I has unable to finish my entry due to my littlest one's baptism.

Thanks for the extension Project Puppet!

Hot off the press...

My copy of Puppet Planet has finally arrived! If you like Puppet Mania you'll love this book. John has added some nice features to this book, like "Insider's Guides" to tools, materials and techniques.

With 12 new puppets John provides us with come unique new characters. My favorite is the Stuffed Strongman, a soft sculptured Bunaku style puppet.

John also adds a "field guide" to each of the puppets, suggesting ways to perform them. Another favorite is the Monkey Mitten. This is a hand puppet with a latex face and hands. He shows a pretty simple way to make a pretty effective latex puppet. With each puppet John also shows us other example puppets he has made using the same technique.

Thank you John, for another great puppet building resource. Click on the image to order your copy.

Where'd I put my socks???

I started making my puppets today to enter into Project Puppets' Sock Search Contest. Wish me luck.

Post vacation blues...

I am back home and back to work. Vacations never last long enough. I am spending the week paying catch up at work. At home I need to setup my puppet building space. I hope to do that over the coming weekend. Once that is setup I'll start posting more puppet building entries. I have a request to show more on how I get the foam in the fleece hands. I'll get something posted ASAP.

Kinka Doo and Chee-Chee Doo are done.Now what are you going to do next?

I am going to Disney World!

Introducing Kinka Doo

Hmmm...

La La La

Seriously, we spend the last week on Sanibel Island and tomorrow we head north to Disney area for 3 nights. One day at the Magic Kingdom and then maybe a day at Sea World or Blizzard Beach.

In my hands...

Here's what's in my posable hands.

Chee-Chee Doo where are you...

Sewing the arms onto Chee-Chee Doo was harder than making them. I am very happy with the final result though.

A drum roll please...

Chee-Chee Doo!

Ah... Give me a hug!

Chee-Chee Doo loves playing in the trees!

Two arms! Two arms...

I was very apprehensive about making the arms and hands. I wanted the fingers to be posable.

I started by cutting 4 foam hands and hot glued a wire armature between 2 of the foam hands. I then trimmed the foam hands, rounding the fingers and edges. At the wrist of each hand I hot glued a metal tube for the rod arms. I sewed the hand and arm pattern as the instructions stated. I turned the sewn hand and arm right side out over the foam hand. I thought this was going to be a lot hard than it was.


All in all I am very happy with how the hands and arms turned out.

Introducing Kinka Doo and Chee-chee Doo...

My 4 year old son put on his puppet and announced that it's name was Chee-chee Doo. The name works. My wife named the normal size puppet Kinka Doo.

Now it's onto the arms...