Our friend wizened_gnome sent us a quote by Oscar Wilde yesterday. “Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live….Selfishness always aims at creating around it an absolute uniformity of type. Unselfishness recognizes infinite variety of type as a delightful thing, accepts it, acquiesces in it, enjoys it. It is not selfish to think for oneself.”
Cat licked that one up like a bowl of milk. “Ha!” she said, “I love this quote. It proves, it’s not us cats who are the selfish ones. We don’t give a toss what others do. The baddies are always the dogs!”
Oh dear, it didn’t take long and we received a complaint. Cat has totally misinterpreted this quote, I was told, moreover, she is an arrogant piece of work. Mhm. I guess, as quotes are always cited out of context, they are open to misinterpretation too.
Mouse is wondering what happened to the happy-go-lucky Dedes?
“I don’t like where we are heading,” she mumbled and looked in the box of half-finished heads. “I have to tell the artist we need some amicable Dedes.”
Today is a big day for the new Dede @moss.creek and I have developed together. Moss.Creek, whose real name is Sheila, had won a referral competition. Her prize was that an image of her was turned into a puppet. In the little film, the puppet was preparing to meet the rest of the crew for the first time with her skin on. As you certainly all know, it is not easy to be the new kid on the block. Nervously, she has been practising her maiden speech all morning. The text was written by Sheila and it was the foundation from which the puppet was developed. It was a novelty for me to create a puppet in a long distance collaboration. However, Tony from xraypics, will certainly recognise the approach to the new puppet’s maiden speech. I used a tts program, as I personally have a very strong German accent, that would have set the wrong tone for the puppet :). I first used a tts with the puppets when we did a Dada Jill and Jack film, for which Tony kindly provided the text.
When Pinkpok (as the puppet was christened by Sheila) finally met all the other Dedes, she had forgotten the words she practised so conscientiously and she had to wing it. This is what she said in the end: “Darkness and the discomforts of reality will always be the most important things to face. Within this darkness we will find the true nature of how things are and find the strength to let our light shine forth.” What wise words. Ah well she is an owl. Thanks @moss.creek for the great words of wisdom. It was really fun to create Pinkpok by email! Personally I think she is rather cute, but very difficult to photograph. We hardly know her, but we already love her. Pity that she will have to leave soon. I offered Sheila jokingly she could have Top Dog and I would keep Pinkpok. But no, her response was Top Tog could go into a dog pound. She has big plans for Pinkpok and even is working on a dress for her already. And she promised, we will get letters from time to time.
Not surprisingly, Top Dog’s confidence was renewed by the support of the two puppets. Yesterday he came out shouting “Vote for me, vote for me. I have the balls” and to proof it he rolled two juggling balls into the room. Mouse was not impressed and asked whether we shouldn’t be worried about what is going on. At least she is. She is very scared indeed! Though the majority of Dedes still don’t seem to take Top Dog seriously. I wonder if they all think he is simply a nutcase. The fronts are getting more defined though and both camps want more supporters.
It happened that it was very stormy yesterday, so the Dedes sent me into the studio to make a new puppet. I recorded a film to show how I do it. Okay, I cheated a little and I had the shape of the head prepared earlier, but you see how I put the skin on. Of course, I am not working that fast. To be honest, I am extremely slow.
(PS: Please don’t ask me what the cocoa powder is doing in the middle of the work bench. That is just dada.)
Even before the newbie had his final protective coat on he ran into trouble. He went to Devil and said “I need a gun.”
“What for?” asked Devil.
“To protect myself from all these weird Dedes!” was the answer
“But you are a Dede yourself!”
“But I am not weird!” he said adamantly.
Devil shook his head, put his hand on the new puppet’s shoulder and whispered in his ear, “oh boy, what you need is an open mind and a brain.”
On a different note, can anyone suggest a name for the new puppet?
Devil wants to take part in the “Embrace Diversity” project as well. But he believes his counterpart should be an angel and he couldn’t find any amongst the Dedes. So he went to the artist (that would be me) to air his frustration. While he was with me, we heard a loud clunk on the table and he went to investigate. Watch the little film to find out what it is all about.
He discovered we just hit the little milestone of 500 followers on Instagram. You might know that Instagram followers are very fickle, they come and go very quickly. We can understand that, as there is so much to see. I myself have reached the maximal number I can follow and still engage with. Every so often I have to let someone go, so that I can engage with someone else. (Little hint, if you want to keep me as follower, make sure you don’t post too much on one day. The ones that chuck up 20 posts a day are the first ones I say good-bye to.)
Anyway the Dedes are interested in longterm relationships and we came up with a cunning little plan. If you recommend the Dedes on Instagram to your friends you go into the draw of a Dede-You. That is a personalised Dede. The competition runs until the 6th of August 2016 and the winner is drawn on the 7th. If you have an Instagram account do have a look (and spread the word :)).
This morning I quickly put together the contest ad and rules and posted in on Instagram. Sadly, something went terribly wrong and I am in trouble with the puppets again. The little film with Devil earlier today had fifty views and ten comments within the hour. The post about the competition had four. Oooppps. That is poor performance indeed, there is no denying! I tried to defend myself by telling the Dedes, that a third of our readership is actually living in America and they had just gone to bed. The Dedes didn’t accept that, they believe that the advertising was crap. Honestly, who wants to be a puppet. While many love to watch the antics of the Dedes, looking like a Dede is something else, isn’t it?
The Dedes very clearly view this exercise as an attempt to get a higher profile, while I view it as an artistic collaboration. Personally, I don’t have a problem expressing myself as a puppet, it is a well-know fact by now that Cash Cow has my eyes. But I agree, we should have talked about it in more detail, before I jumped the gun.
We now settled that we will wait until tomorrow morning. If there is still poor participation, the Dedes will change the rules, as they so often do.
It is official, Lapdog is Super Dede 2016. Applause! It was a nailbiter to the very end. A tight race between Snippedy, the clown, who bottles up his emotions and the Lapdog who isn’t quite sure what she is. While Snippedy, the clown had marginally more likes (on Instagram: 108 versus 106), Lapdog got more comments and one person even referred her to two friends. That definitely made her the absolute favourite. And looking at the lot, I have to admit, she is deserving. She is such a positive little thing.
In her speech Lapdog said: “I don’t know how I did it. I was simply myself. But thanks for all your comments, it proves speaking up does count.”
Unfortunately, nobody was interested in her speech. Now that it is all over, who cares, even Devil turned to Mouse and said “Now that is out of the way, what’s next?” Mouse rolled her eyes and said, that the Super Dede might be known now, but we still have to draw the winner of the signed Dedepuppet book. As we had heaps of comments (sorry, not on the blog :( but on Instagram) Mouse decided she will give away 2 books and five packs of 10 Dede postcards, showing the contestants.
Devil shouldn’t have asked what’s next. As soon as he gives the impression of being bored, Mouse will give him a job. Sure enough, he was landed with the job of drawing the winners. To show that everything was above board, we even made a little film and the winners have been notified.
Today Lapdog skipped on stage and announced “I don’t know exactly what I’m doing, but I seem to have a special skill. Maybe you can tell me.” Without further hesitation and a cajoling smile she hopped on Devil’s lap. “It’s working very well for me. I get toys, I get the most expensive dinners and have the most comfy bed. I have everything I need and more!” Then she put her paw on Devil’s cheek. It obviously made him a little ill at ease and he didn’t know where to look. If he recalled correctly, in the rulebook it said he shouldn’t fraternise with the contestants. But Lapdog just ignored Devil’s unease and continued chatting away. “All I need to do is sit still and let people put their hands all over me. And if they don’t want to at first, I just wiggle my tail a little and they’ll come right!” Devil, too, relaxed a little and even patted her on the head. “You seem to be quite good at it. Yes, it is definitely a skill!”
Esta Blished, the fairy godmother, was inconsolable yesterday when she realised her memory fails her more than she cares to admit. In the afternoon she visited her best friend Witch and had a good cry on her shoulder. Witch is one of the oldest and wisest Dedes. Unfortunately, with the big wart on her nose she is not particularly photogenic. Does she care if she doesn’t appear on the blog much? No! She is happy to spend quality time with her pet owl and discuss the issues of the world. If you have a problem you really want to consult an old owl or a witch! The clever old pair had a good look at their RTD cabinet to see if there is an appropriate potion for Esta’s ailment. Sadly, even with their tremendous knowledge, there are certain things they simply can’t solve.
I was right! Devil didn’t last very long on his new diet. Yesterday afternoon I heard something rustling in the corner of the living room. When I investigated I found Devil sitting there facing the wall trying to open a little packet. I asked him what he was doing and he looked at me very guiltily. Then I saw he was trying to open a chocolate bar. He said he deserved it because their Dede Instagram following has reached triple figures. I have no idea what this has to do with him. I guess he was just looking for an excuse.
The Dedes are indeed very proud of their achievement and to celebrate the event they have made a 4 second film. The film is only available on instagram
Yesterday we had a storm forcing Devil to get out of his hammock only to move straight onto the sofa. Out of boredom he decided to check out Instagram more closely. Cash Cow joined him on the sofa with a book. She expected a quiet relaxing afternoon, but she very quickly regretted sitting next to Devil. He interrupted her every couple of seconds and wanted her to look at a picture. First he was really excited. “Look at all these fluffy toys and what they are doing. They are out in the world traveling. I wish the artist would take me too.” He found so many images he liked and then, ah, how he enjoyed images depicting snow. He would so love to be in those places. It is January and it should be cold and white. Then he looked at all the photographers, then at all the painters, then at Lego people doing things and then at fluffy toys again. And the longer he spent on Instagram the more his excitement turned into an anxiety. “Here are all these fluffy toys doing things and they are so cute and cuddly. They have so many followers and people want to know what they are up to. And here I am sitting on our sofa looking on the mobile to see the world. Who the hell knows me? Who gives a toss about me!”
Cash Cow sighed deeply and put her book to the side. “Look Devil…. I am telling you, you are not in competition with fluffy toys! You are not soft and you are not even cute. Maybe a Dede might think you are good looking, but that is it. You were born a No Body like all the other Dedes and while we try hard to dress up as something, we will always be Nobodies!”
Drum roll for the new film. I have to admit, the Dedes are much better cooks than singers :) . This time they made flatbread, the recipe from the Artist’s Survival Cookbook on page 22. You can fill the bread with grated vegetables and cheese. Yummmmyyy.
For this film Devil wanted to be the director because it is his recipe in the book. He finally let me know what his gripe is with the rest of the Dedes. He finds them far too unprofessional and in his mind they have to seriously up their game. For this reason Mouse didn’t show him the final version before she uploaded it to Youtube. She wanted to avoid the scathing remarks he will no doubt air as soon as he sees the film. That would have been too much for her yesterday.
dedepuppets 