Update & Forshadowing

Oops.  A bit more of a delay than I had hoped in keeping this blog going.  How's the duct tape finger puppet opera going you ask?  OK. I admit that I have only finished two.  The teal demon and the cat.  No names for their characters yet.  No play written yet.  I did get more colorful duct tape and other fixings to create more cast members but other responsibilities have gotten in my way.  Boo other responsibilities! I have decided not to beat myself up.  This is to be as fun and as stress free as possible.

That was the update part.  This is the forshadowing part.  A puppet convention is coming up and I am going!  This will be my third time at this particular convention and I am really looking forward to it.  It has been a blast the last two times.  Until next time remember socks may be made for your feet but they are more entertaining on your hands!  Especially if they have eyes attached!  Oh yeah, one more thing- NEW MUPPET MOVIE OUT IN THEATERS LATE NOVEMBER 2011 !  The 23 I think.

What was I ...?

Oh yes!  Went to the movies and saw a preview for the movie JOHN CARTER.  Why bring it up?  See post one, silly!  John Carter is the Warlord of Mars!  And that inspired this blog's Puppet Warlord title.

I was once at a poetry reading where the poet was asked a question and he related a story about being at a bar with a bunch of other poets and them reciting poems.  I thought that sounded pretty cool.  Taking poetry to a bar.  Why am I telling you this?  Because it was a rough work week.  And Saturday night I asked a co-worker if they were doing anything after my shift ended because I wanted to go and hang out. They did the social network shout out to the crew but it ended up the two of us.  And what did we do?  We stopped off at a late night retail store and purchased a sewing kit, buttons and fuzzy socks.  I also bought a package of self adhesive googly eyes.  We brought  the makings for sock puppets to the bar! And we made them between our late night meal.  We brought puppets to the bar!  The googly eyes I broke open for a finger puppet I made out of teal blue duct tape Sunday morning.  My plan is to make more finger puppets and a finger puppet theatre.  I have the urge to do a finger puppet opera!  One might find it strange that all I know of opera comes from Bugs Bunny cartoons and that I can't sing or play any musical instruments.  And yet I am planing on creating an opera?  I just don't see that as a problem if I am mounting my production with finger puppets!  I will keep you posted!    

A Few Goals

To keep the puppet vibe alive I think I should have a few goals.  One goal that I have been working on is adding the contact information I gathered at the puppet festival to my e-mail and social network accounts.  And I have joined Puppet Hub.  A social network for puppeteers.  I am not sure how to navigate the site yet but I am now an official member.  Another goal is to join professional organizations.  I am a new member of Puppeteers of America.  Why not join the international organization too?  That seems to me to be a logical goal.  Now yesterday I found myself at The Cleveland Zoo.  And I bought a Koala puppet and a koala mask.  So how about a puppet related goal for my newest acquisitions?  Maybe a short video is in order?

And so it begins ...

Hi.  I am Paul.  I just got back from my first national puppetry festival.  It was in Atlanta.  I had a blast!  I decided that a blog would help me keep up the energy and momentum created by attending such an event.

I want to say a few words about the title of this blog.  PUPPET WARLORD is meant to be a fun term. I know that in this day and age warlords do exist and are sometimes perpetrators of horrendous crimes.  The reason for my use of the term stems from reading science fiction adventure stories.  In my youth I enjoyed reading the John Carter of Mars books by Edger Rice Burroughs.(SP?)  The same guy who created Tarzan.  John Carter was an Earth man.  He finds himself transported to Mars.  On this alien world he finds himself having all kinds of adventures.  Many of them relying on his skills as a swordsman.  Eventually he is bestowed the title of Warlord Of Mars.  And I thought it was a cool.  To be the warlord of a planet.  I still think it is cool.  Flash Gordon on Mongo, John Carter on Mars, Tarzan in the jungles of Africa and many other literary heroes.  So I decided to take the title of Puppet Warlord for myself as I begin my adventure in puppetry.  Puppetry is a strange and alien world to me.  Objects talk and move in this world.  Skilled story tellers and powerful shaman entertain and transform you.  I am new here.  But I dream big.  I want to learn more.  I want to experience more.  I want to do more.  I want to improve my skills.  I want to unleash that fearless puppet warrior that lies inside me.  I want to become the puppet warlord of my puppet world.  I don't want to destroy or harm others.  I want a wonderful journey of discovery and self discovery in the field of puppets.  And I hope to play and have fun with my friends that share the joy and magic of puppets and puppetry. -Paul the Puppet Warlord