Archives for posts with tag: Characters

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Top Dog figured out the Dedes won’t surrender unless he can unsettle the artist. He is adamant to find some dirt he can use. Luckily for him the artist is currently decluttering her house and had left a pile of ancient diaries on an otherwise empty shelf. Top Dog rubbed his hands and opened the first book. But luckily for the artist she had written her diaries in German and Top Dog doesn’t speak the language.

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He took one of the books to Foreign Correspondent, who is looking after the Dede’s German blog. “Mhm,” the expert consultant said after he had evaluated a few pages. “Who do you think is interested in the drivel of a sad and lonely eighteen year old who is at odds with the world? In my opinion the books should be committed to the recycling bin!”

Top Dog didn’t like the answer, but Foreign Correspondent didn’t want to take another look. “Forget it! There is no artistic merit in these books” he said and continued with his own work.

We all know Top Dog is not one to give up easily. “Wrong consultant and wrong diary” he mumbled and grabbed another book. “Foreign Correspondent is simply too rational. I need someone who can emotionally connect with the story the artist recorded in her diaries.”

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This time he went and asked Deutsch Fraulein for help. Surprisingly, when he mentioned the diaries, the old girl looked up from her mobile to which she usually is glued to and said: “leave the book with me. I will think about it.”

 

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“Right, I have enough” said Mouse to Devil. “We have to do something new! What about taking ballet classes with the Grande Ballerina?”

“How is that suppose to help?” asked Devil.

“It will take our mind of things!” answered Mouse.

“Yeah, but ballet?” Devil wasn’t convinced “We could have a party, as Pinkpok is leaving us soon.”

“No, she doesn’t like a big farewell, she is very sad” said Mouse. “Don’t make it even harder for her.”

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Indeed Pinkpok had packed her stuff and was ready to leave the Dedes. Not!

She was crying all night and here she is waiting, sad and exhausted, at the backdoor for her ride to the post office.

What she didn’t know then, was that her new owner moss.creek had already contacted the artist saying that she felt very uncomfortable separating Pinkpok from her Dede friends. A Dede needs like minded puppets around her. And moss.creek quite enjoys seeing the wise owl popping up in the story now and then.

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Push Push the elephant suggested that Pinkpok could become a sponsored Dede just like her. Push Push and Harvey, the rabbit, are both owned by collectors but are still living in the Dede household, so that they can participate in the story. They have an obligation to write Christmas cards to their owners and can be recalled any time. Both moss.creek and Pinkpok were delighted with the solution. Phew!

 

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Pinkpok, the wise owl, is finally preparing to leave the Dedehousehold. In this very short time she lived here, she has become Mouse’s confidant.

“Top Dog unsettles everybody. He has no empathy whatsoever. What can we do?” asked Mouse while she helped Pinkpok packing.

“That actually isn’t true! Top Dog can read the Dedes very well, so he has rational empathy. But he uses his knowledge to his advantage and doesn’t feel the pain he causes. That makes him a psychopath and there is not much you can do, but run!” lectured Pinkpok.

“It’s so sad that you have to leave soon. I could learn so much from you,” remarked Mouse dolefully.

Top Dog who has extremely good hearing and loves to eavesdrop on other Dedes conversations overheard everything.

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“Ha, they say I feel no pain,” he said and grabbed himself a bottle of beer. “Of course I feel pain if I don’t get what I want. But I am not a whiner, I have better ways of dealing with the pain.”

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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.

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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.”

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Devil was so surprised about Top Dog’s offer, he couldn’t get over it. “I can tell you what the problem is, my dear” said Pinkpok. “Everyone is the centre of their own world and therefore, how they act is normal by their standards. Of course, as everyone is normal, all the others are expected to act in exactly the same way as oneself.”

This threw the cat among the pigeons. No-one could really make sense of what the owl meant. One reader even said “I conclude I’m a descendent of the Dedes – brain totally mushed and have resorted to the gin bottle 🙃”

Oh dear, we see the headlines: puppets drive readers to bottle.

A so wild discussion ensued.

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“I don’t get what Pinkpok is trying to tell us,” said Calamity to Pavlova, the lab rat.

“It’s simple,” explained Pavlova, who always has to try new things in her job. “We believe what we do and think is normal. If we come across someone who has a different world view, we tend to believe we are right and they are wrong. It is easier than engaging with the otherness.”

“Do I have to understand that?” asked Calamity. Ah well, some Dedes never get it!

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Yesterday was Truth Tuesday again and Mouse started packing her bags.  Truth is, the Dedes are on the move. They will be moving from the big smoke to the countryside. This is a major undertaking. The Dedes came into existence because of changes to the current abode and now they are partially responsible for leaving it behind. It is simply because I want to have a bigger studio space. More space for more puppets and more puppet making workshops. So please, if their reporting gets a bit erratic over the next two months be lenient and don’t give up on them.

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Today Top Dog snaked up to Devil. It looks like his popularity is waning and he tries to drum up more followers. He said: “I could do very well with a devil like you on my team!” But Devil doesn’t want to have a bar of it  “No way” was the short and definitive reply.

“Not even if I gave you my soul?” Top Dog believes that this is an offer no real devil can refuse. “What soul? You don’t have a soul!”

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Devil was deeply insulted by Top Dog’s offer. “What does he think? Does he really believe I am as mean-spirited as him?” he asked Pinkpok, the wise owl.

“Of course no-one thinks of themselves as being nasty, not even Top Dog, ” the owl replied “I know, you are well-meaning, but you often tick the Dedes off because you blatantly call a spade a spade. Sometimes it would help to present the spade nicely wrapped.”

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.

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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.

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Mouse loved the inspirational quote our blogger friend Tony from xraypics sent. She thought of Top Dog and relaxed a little. If this is true, there is no way he will ever come to power.

“But what if,” asked Boy depressed, “you are the fig tree and the world wants nothing but peaches?”

Mouse didn’t know what to say, she is not one to think on her feet. When no response was forthcoming Boy mumbled “I might as well give up now!”

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Devil quickly pulled out another quote, sent in by blogger Jessie from A world namedBoy looked more content and agreeable. Even though both quotes say basically the same: There is no need for him of trying. But then his mum called out from the laundry, obviously battling with his smelly socks “It’s not so easy sometimes.” Ah well, unconditional love!

 

 

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Esta Blished said they should talk to the followers of Top Dog. Luckily Alien is a friendly chap and curious by nature, so he went straight to work and made a list of Dedes he has to talk to. First up was Mr Vague. He looks a little bit like a bear and Alien thought he might find some more clues from him. He ask outright, “why are you following Top Dog?”

Mr Vague hung his head and admitted “I find life very confusing and I am intimidated by all this information that is thrown at me. I have to make decisions here, there and everywhere, when all I want is to be left in peace. It is simply too much. Someone who knows better has to tell me what’s good or bad.”

Alien just listened and took notes, but reserved judgement.

The next one on the list was Bossman. But gee did he get a different reception here.

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Bossman is struggling to keep his business afloat.

“Expletive, I expletive don’t expletive talk expletive to expletive aliens” he screamed. Alien didn’t understand what he said as there were too many filler words, but he got the message. He turned round quickly, and with a big smile and shaking knees he said: “you don’t expect me to take you seriously, do you?”

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The Dedes are at the end of their tether and have no idea what to do next. It finally dawn on them that they can’t change Top Dog but the freedom they are accustomed to, is seriously jeopardised. Now all eyes and hopes are on the magical worker Esta Blished.  In her younger days the fairy godmother was very active in politics. She relentlessly fought for liberal values and equality. With age, unfortunately, Alzheimer’s was creeping up on her. At first no-one seemed to notice. Her friends simply thought she was a little tired after all these years of hard work. And now it is too late – Esta is away with the fairies most of the time. No-one knows how to use her magic wand to continue her excellent work.

The Dedes decided to have someone with Esta Blished at all times. In the hope, she will have a lucid moment before everything goes to the to the dogs.

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Sure enough, with all faith suddenly pinned on her, Esta Blished felt obliged to say something. Alien was with her at the time. He recorded everything verbatim, but thought it was more of an oracle than a lesson in magic. Here is what she said: “Listen to the ones who follow Top Dog. Not to gain power over them, but with true empathy. Should the dog meet the bear we will have the biggest schoolyard fight ever!”

Actually she did say the biggest school yard massacre, but Alien thought that was to harsh and edited it out.