Archives for posts with tag: Characters
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Mouse snaps

December 12, 2014 //
2

mouse and top dog

Top Dog has been with the Dedes for a while now. Everybody was hoping Philosopher was right and Top Dog’s bark was mainly due to insecurities. Naturally the Dedes tried very hard ease possible anxieties and make Top Dog feel welcome. But the nicer the Dedes were the more demanding Top Dog became. “Easy game” he obviously thought, and started to re-organise the art cupboard. Not that he didn’t inform the others about what he was doing. No, a fait accompli, he proudly told each of them what he had done, expecting praise for his initiative. It’s not that he didn’t have any good ideas. Some of them certainly were improvements, but unfortunately most of what he did stuffed up the workflow of the others and made them feel uncomfortable.  For example, one day he moved all Mouse’s writing implements from the top left shelf to the bottom right shelf. While he was dusting off his robe and rubbing his hands after the job was finished, he even remarked to Professor; “How can a little mouse be so silly and put her tools on the top shelf?”   Professor didn’t know what to say. Like every Dede he knew all too well that Mouse had placed her stuff on the top shelf as she loves climbing and needs the excercise to keep fit. She is so busy she simply doens’t have the time to go to the gym, so she cunningly builds her precious excercises into her daily routine.

Then, when Mouse ran in to quickly grab her notepad before the next meeting… it wasn’t there!  No other Dede was around and it took her twenty minutes to find what she was looking for, making her late for her appointment. She was supposed to catch up with Dee for her weekly garden instructions. We all know Dee is a very busy garden guru and she had to leave before Mouse arrived at the vege patch. It was then  she had a hissy fit. Top Dog was just strolling through the garden sniffing at the young plants wondering which ones he should pee on to fertilise.

“Stay away from my stuff!” Mouse snapped at him. He looked at her and said: “Only trying to be helpful!” pulled his tail in and walked away. Mouse felt better for it. She is not one to snap easily, but it felt good to have made a stand. Top Dog went straight to his kennel and got his black book out from under the pillow to write down how horrible Mouse had treated him.

 

Tags , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories Absurd, Art, Comedy, Fun, Hand Puppets, Life, Relationships

Top Dog

December 7, 2014 //
0

top dog first

I actually didn’t want to write about the new Dede on the blog: Top Dog. It’s not worth it I thought. He will see how the Dede community works and will mellow, but no, Top Dog simply wants to be one thing and that is to be top dog, nothing else. You may know that the Dedes work on mutual respect. They acknowledge that each of them has their little quirks, the world is not black and white and they happily live with it. In the end they always find a way to move forward. It might take a while, but so far it has worked out just fine. Now Top Dog has entered the scene, announcing his arrival with loud incessant barking and not the least bit interested in what others have to say. Within a minute the Dedes knew his heritage, lineage and achievements, his family situation and living arrangements. The Dedes looked at each other and didn’t know what hit them. “This is how we do it from now on” barked Top Dog charging in a direction he obviously deemed to be forward. “There is no other way!”

The Dedes were flabbergasted and speechless.

Witch, who was part of the welcoming committee, turned around to go and continue whatever it was she was doing before Top Dog arrived. “Ah well, if he wants to go there let him go there” she sighed. “I have things to do!”

Chance, who stood next to her, said “I thought people with those attitudes died out  in the nineties together with the bad hair do.” Everybody looked at her.It is totally out of character for her to stoop so low and make disapproving comments about anybody she had just met.

“It might just be fear. It isn’t easy to deal with so many new Dedes at once” consoled Philosopher, who always reminds us of the positive in everybody.

“Oh no” commented Devil. “You are just blessed that you are not in the workforce… they are still around and they are very bad news.”

“What shall we do?” asked L’Artiste a little distressed. He needs everybody to be a happy family to be creative and work well.

“Wait and see” remarked Bad Conscience who was lingering in a dark corner and looking very bored. “It will sort itself out one way or another. Or if it doesn’t I will move in with him!”

Tags , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories Absurd, Art, Comedy, Creative Writing, Fun, Hand Puppets, Life, Relationships, Social Network

Gross–mess party

December 4, 2014 //
0

crossmess Party

The Dedes haven’t had much to laugh about this year so they decided recently they need to have a fun Christmas Party. Not like last year when we quietly forgot about Christmas. They still are talking about the year before, when my friend Rae and I took them to North Head for a picnic . I am surprised they talk so fondly about this event, as half of them got drunk and in my opinion they shouldn’t remember anything but their headache the next day. You can imagine how wary I was when they said they don’t mind if I can’t take them anywhere this year, and they would be happy if I gave them the key to the liquor cabinet one night when I was going out. Ah well, as I have neglected the Dedes a little this year I agreed and even replenished the stock before I left.

What a mistake!

Okay, Pig and Professor get always sloshed when there are drinks to be had. No surprises there – but the rest of them?! It obviously got totally out of hand. Well, some of the Dedes were wise enough not to show up at all. After all, it doesn’t take an Einstein to figure out what will happen when there is plenty of booze for free. Bad Conscience, always on the lookout for easy victims, was rubbing his hands in anticipation of the aftermath. He had a field day! Plenty of victims to choose from. Witch, who is a teetotaller, was well-intentioned and went to keep an eye on things and also to rain on Bad Conscience’s parade. By the time she arrived things were already getting out of hand and she retreated early into the art cupboard as nothing could be done to avoid disaster. Philosopher, who is interested in how the Dedes tick had a quiet beer in the corner and watched the bash in amazement. He told me later, the new Dede, Top Dog (I haven’t talked about him yet) made a real nuisance of himself. He made unmistakable advances towards Lou, the young puppy. Lou didn’t know how to fend him off and in the end went and hid. “Ah well, you know how it is, Christmas parties, eh” Philosopher finished his account, shrugging his shoulders. Everyone else also seemed to think it was just a bit of drunken fun. I was gobsmacked as what I was hearing bordered on sexual harrassment. It should not be taken lightly, not even under the cloud of alcohol.

Today Witch came to me and complained bitterly. “I don’t understand” she said, “the others get plastered and make fools of themselves, but they vent anger at Philosopher and me! They blame us for not having fun at their silly party!”

“They are only angry with you because you can tell the story,” I consoled her, but she was still shaking her head in disbelieve.

 

 

Tags , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories Absurd, Art, Comedy, Creative Writing, Fun, Relationships, Social Network

Chick problems

December 2, 2014 //
0

fledgling

The Dedes were told chicken manure is very beneficial for the soil in their new garden. Luckily they have a chook amongst them and Loudmouth was more than happy to do her share and produce the dung. She is very good at it too. However, in the meantime the weather has turned to spring and nature told Loudmouth it is time to brood. One day she plucked all her beautiful feathers from her tummy and sat down in the laying box, making herself comfortable for the next thirty days. The other Dedes tried to talk her out of it, telling her she would need a rooster to be successful. It didn’t help. Then they cooked a beautiful meal for her  – food was always her thing and she eats pretty much everything – but no, she didn’t move. They even stole the eggs from under her. Now, she is sitting on nothing but hay. She still isn’t moving. Nature is simply stronger than all reasoning and coaxing. Unfortunately she isn’t very sociable when she is in this mood and she won’t produce much manure or any eggs either.

I am currently making new Lil’Dedes to sell at the Christmas market in three weeks. Mouse, the keen gardener was desperate for some more chicken dung, and asked me to make a fledgling. This worked a breeze. When Loudmouth  saw the little one she jumped up and called: “Can I keep this, can I keep this? Pleeeeease!”

“But it isn’t finished yet” I said.

“Don’t worry” she answered “I will see to that” and she shuffled it under her tummy and sat back down.

Tags , , , , ,
Categories Absurd, Art, Comedy, Hand Puppets

Beans

November 25, 2014 //
5

planting out

Today was the big day. Dee came round with some seedlings and beans to plant out. As I suspected for a while, the only Dede truly interested in gardening is Mouse. She virutally wanted to hop into the basket with heritage beans, but when Dee showed her the seedlings she had been raising for us, Mouse clapped her mittens in excitement and then ran off to fetch her shovel. Dee had to show her what to do next. But before we could plant the seedlings I had to put more compost and potting mix down. Mouse just couldn’t lift the big heavy bags.

Dee showed her how to plant out the young beans and when it came to the tomatoes, Mouse wanted to do it all by herself. She nearly disappeared in the soft bed, but she seemed to have fun.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Tags , , , , ,
Categories Absurd, Art, Comedy, Fun, gardening, Hand Puppets

Garden tour

November 21, 2014 //
0

garden tour

My new garden is progressing nicely. The Dedes have been watching me the last few weeks, now it is my turn to watch them. I was worried our gardens might turn into some sort of a race. Who will have their beds prepared first? I needn’t have worried. I am well ahead of my little friends. It’s mainly due to the fact that I have help from Simon, a language student from Germany who is currently staying with us. He needed some exercise after dinner last night and thought digging over the backyard would be just the right thing to do. I was amazed how quickly he turned the the area from looking and feeling like a gypsy camp into something quite respectable.

The Dedes were watching from inside. Later they admitted they had forgotten what Dee had instructed me to do before planting out. Being smug and knowing I am well ahead with my work, I graciously repeated what I have learned so far about soil nutrition. Here is what I did: First I raised the beds. This put the clay we dug out from under the house during the renovations last year to good use. Of course the clay is totally depleted of anything healthy, as nothing has been growing in it for 5o years. To nourish it, I spread the chicken poop which I collected over the last few months. On top of this I put a thick layer of grass clippings. Dee had organised Sam, the lawnmowing man, to dump the clippings from his round in our front garden. (It does sound like a gypsy camp, doesn’t it?).

This morning I invited the Dedes on a garden tour so they can have a closer look at my progress. Not many came, though.  I think it was the chicken poop that put them off.  Mouse was not impressed with her mates. It looks like she has been landed with all the work again.

Tags , , , ,
Categories Absurd, Art, Comedy, Fun, gardening, Life

Get real

October 29, 2014 //
1

sponsored puppets

I woke up early this morning to pounding rain on the window. A very unusal sound. Normally I wake up to the chickens clucking away, right under my bedroom window, demanding their breakfast. It was early too. I checked on the chickens by looking out the window. The sad little bunch was up and had found refuge under the chicken coop. Lately I have struggled to get up in the morning. It is not like the old days when I would jump out of bed and sit for an hour writing on my blog before breakfast, then go on and do my honest job. But today, after I checked the chickens, I stayed up and thought I would do a spot of early work. To my surprise I found Harvey and Push Push stitting on the studio table having what looked like a deep and meaningful conversation while looking out the window admiring the wonderful red blossoms on the bottle brush tree. Harvey seemed to be peeved off. “Can you imagine?” I heard him say to Push Push. “She has forgotten to remind me of Mr XL’s birthday. She really doesn’t fulfill her obligations to the sponsors.”

“She didn’t forget my sponsor’s birthday in September!” Push Push remarked.

“You can say what you want. She is a slacker! I wish we had the old days back!” At this moment Push Push realised that I was standing in the doorway and signalled wildly at Harvey to shut up. Harvey turned round and said: “Get real! It’s true and she knows it herself!”

“It’s not quite that bad” Push Push tried to appease. But I had to agree with Harvey. He is right and I promised to do better. “Ah well, I know you promises” said Harvey and hopped back into the art cupboard. “You better keep your promise this time” added Push Push in a motherly tone. “Everyone’s patience is wearing a bit thin.”

Tags , , , , , , , ,
Categories Absurd, Art, Comedy, Fun, Hand Puppets, Life

Fred

August 21, 2014 //
7

accordion player

This is another shot from the opening. I love these two. They look like they have been playing together forever. But no, it was an impromptu performance. The man on the left is Fred and the little guy is one of John Rew’s puppets. The hand at the top belongs to John. I will have to write about him another time. He did these amazing puppet circus performances on the day. He is such a diehard puppeteer… While on break from the circus performances his puppets still mingled with the audience.

Tags , , , , , ,
Categories Art, Comedy, Fun, Hand Puppets, Social Network

Eve of the opening

August 8, 2014 //
2

FoPO Exhibition-4

The Festival of Performing Objects is opening tomorrow. It is an all day event for me. We have Market Day from 11am to 2pm with buskers and market stalls and puppet making for kids. Then later from 3:30 to 5:30 we have the exhibition opening with the artists attending. It was a very busy week setting up the exhibition, but Kim and I are very excited and pleased with the outcome. It looks amazing! As far as we know it is the biggest collection of puppets in New Zealand since the 1980s. What an achievement.

The picture shows Dragon by Norbert Hausberg, a Wellingtonian puppeteer with 30 years experience. Unfortunately, we only have his puppets as he himself is otherwise engaged. But his puppets are certainly something!

Tags , , ,
Categories Art, Comedy, Exhibition, Fun, Hand Puppets, Promotion

Meet the Spoon Family

August 3, 2014 //
0

wooden spoons

At the Festival of Performing Objects we are going to have a Kid’s zone in the Gallery and we hope that the little visitors will take to an impromptu play. I bought a packet of googly eyes for $2 at the Salvation Army Shop, and the wooden spoons in the Everything-is-50%- off-sale at the 2-Dollar-Shop. My ethical conscience is cringing at the price, but as I am living on flour and water at the moment, I told it to shut up! For my workshops I usually make a trip to the North Shore Resource Centre to get material. This is a really good volunteer organisation that my friend Cath put me on to. They collect leftovers, recycled or surplus material and you can get a big bag of all sorts of goodies to create puppets (or other artworks) for a dirt cheap price.  The most expensive part of these characters are the squishy noses made from disposable ear plugs. Unfortunately, they only had orange ones in the hardware store.

Anyway, I got carried away embellishing them. The idea was that the wooden spoons should be really simple so that they are easy to clean. Ah well, the handles are still easy to wipe down and that is where you hold them.

 

Tags , , , , ,
Categories Art, Comedy, craft, Exhibition, Fun, Hand Puppets, Promotion, workshop
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »