Arriving in Atlanta

I am writing this from my airplane seat on the way to Atlanta, Georgia. For my trip, I chose to wear a t-shirt from the last regional which says “Puppet-o-rama” in big bold letters. I also am carrying a glorified sock puppet ™ which I also got at Puppet-o-rama. My advice to festival goers is to look like a puppeteer on the trip in because people can glance at you and identify you as a festival goer and point you in the right direction.  Also, if your fellow travelers happen to be festival goers too, you can meet up and travel together.

The lady at the ticket counter who took my bag and checked me in probably saw all this because she sat me in the back of the plane. It seems that AirTran likes to put families in the back of the plane. I guess she thought a puppeteer is a good person to stick back here too. I’m also in a row with a three-year-old and her bigger sister, who is nine. A mother behind me asked if I would be the emergency entertainment if the kids get restless. Who is she kidding? A four hour and forty-five minute flight = restless kids.

I spent most of the flight entertaining the three year old. I spent the final hour of the flight entertaining three children in my row and the two children behind me. But I did get one hour of sleep in there! BTW the flight ended up in a holding pattern for 20 minutes due to a storm over Atlanta.

I rode the MARTA in to Midtown and caught the campus trolley to Georgia Tech. It’s a huge campus but things are starting to come back to me. With a little help from the trolley driver, I find my way to the sixth street dorms where I check in to find that once again my name has been misspelt on my badge. Ely Leaverton instead of Elly Leaverton! I try to draw in another L but still get called Ely by a few people. *sigh* This time they did not immediately print me a new badge because the printer and computer was not at check-in. I may be called Ely all week! But who’s complaining? I’m surrounded by people who already know my name. Before I even checked in and got my badge I was greeted by two people by name and a hug.

I miss my window to check-in my light-up punching pens at the store by 5 minutes due to a combo of the flight delay and a missing dorm key issue...they ended up re-coring the lock and gave me and my roommate, Sarah "Call me Fred", new keys.  But I know Ed and he checked me in anyway. They used a super cool website to set up the store this year.  I'm really interested in seeing how it works out.

Well, I'm off to dinner!

New Puppy Puppet

So I'm motivated to improve my stuffed animal conversion to marionettes so I can take it with me to the Festival and get some advice.
At Goodwill for $1.00, I found this great Hallmark puppy...he was a graduation gift for 2006 and a card was still dangling from his mouth "Kim. Way to Go! Love Jet, Mel and Demi. P.S. Rover always has a second home :)". Here's a picture:

His second home turned out to be mine where I started off by disassembling him and giving him a new neck! But he made it through the surgery fine. I've also finally added a much requested string. See if you can guess which it is:

Want to learn how to convert a stuffed animal into a marionette?
I explain how in these really old blog posts:
Pick the puppy
Make controls
New Neck
Tails
Leg Stitches
Eye hook secret

Stringing...well I never did post about stringing. I believe at some point I said I would post if anyone asked me to and no one did.

I'm Going to the National Festival!

Hey! It's been a while. I'm excited to report that I am once again off to Atlanta Georgia for the National Puppetry Festival put on by the local group of the Puppeteers of America.

I am required, in fact, to be there as I am taking over the post of Regional Director. No one stepped up to the post at the last regional, and at the time, I was still an officer of the Guild. So I agreed to co-direct the region, taking over the second half of the two year term. That gave me a chance to step down as an officer of the guild. Therefore, as of July, I am the Pacific Northwest Regional Director. That means I must run the regional meeting at the Festival.

A likely excuse right? You are right. I would have gone anyway. Here are the workshops I've signed up for plus the descriptions of each:

"On Camera" with presenter Lisa Sturz
Puppets on Camera is a work-through on the basics of television puppetry including eye focus, lip synch, character voices, posture and timing. We practice sharing the fame and how to work with depth perception on a reverse monitor. We will mostly perform with bare hands, but bring your hand and mouth puppets if you would like for advanced exercises.

"Guerilla Puppet Filmmaking! (A Poor Man's Guide to Expensive Looking Videos for the Web)" with Matthew McGee
Is that TV show opportunity looking kinda slim for your new puppet characters due to your lack of finances? NEVER FEAR! Make your own professional looking puppet videos that you can share online for less than what you spent on making the puppets themselves! Wanna share a short film? We'll show you how! Wanna make a web series? Piece of cake! Just wanna get your stuff on the web in a more exciting format other than a jpeg? Find out the cheap route!

"Puppet Shows Without Borders: Taking Your Show Overseas" with Randel McGee
Internationally renowned performer, Randel McGee, has performed several times overseas. He will discuss his techniques for contacting events and venues, arranging for travel and lodging, and how he adapts his stories to be appropriate for a different culture and language.

"Improv in Emergency!" with Lucky Yates
Ever wondered what to do when the power goes out as your Rapunzel is about to be rescued by her Prince? Or when the pivotal two person marionette scene can't happen since both puppets are inextricably tangled backstage? Or even when the puppet booth falls down in mid-scene? Improv can be the puppeteer's best friend when the unexpected arises.
Learn techniques and trouble-shooting for emergency puppet scenarios by one of the best Improv Artists and Puppeteers that Atlanta has to offer, Lucky Yates!