OLD FRIENDS

Sorry it's been awhile ... Things have been a little crazy ... but I will not go into that in this post. Instead let me talk of something much more pleasant.

Today Yoko and I went on an adventure. We went to The Orlando Historical Center to see the Jim Henson exhibit. It is a Smithsonian touring exhibit full of drawings , sketches and films. If it comes to your town ... go and see it!

But have you ever turned the corner and out of the blue, met a friend ... or maybe in this case their twin brother. In my younger days I was a puppeteer at EPCOT. One of our shows was "Alladin and his Magic Lamp." Accross from the Henson show were some locally made puppets . There in a case sat the twin brother of Alladin. (I know because I was the one to box the origonal up at the run of the show.) He was pristine and as beautiful as the day I say the first one. It was like seeing an old friend.

WEIGHT LOSS UPDATE

Well things have been a little crazy of late. I seem to be going in a billion directions at once. Or at least my mind is. You see a week ago last wed. I got a phone message from the doctor's office that my blood sugar was 234. Now things are escalated ... I have to loose weight. It is not a matter of health ...it's now a matter of life and death ... of how and long I live. My mother had diabetes and so did my Auntie Gretchen and both grandfathers. I remember how Mom was a slave to measuring her food measuring every gram ... watching every mouthful ... food the morphine that you have to have to survive and kill you in the same bite.

My weight today is 247 pounds.

OUT BID!!!!!

BUMMER with a capital "B" !!!!

Kenny Croes put up a really nice dummy named Augie on e-bay. He looked just like Ron Howard's brother Clint. I feel in love with him and so I placed my bid. Got outbid. Good news is that I got Kenny a price of over $500. Bad news is that some one ten minutes before the bid was over thought they had a deal. Well you still did.

Thanks Kenny.

Tonight after a sort of rough day I got a very pleasent suprize. Kenny Croes of the "Vent into the Mic" blog:

http://ventintothemic.blogspot.com/

mentioned me in his blog.


Wow!

I've had several of these things with very limited readership. This one not even my wife reads. Now I am linked to a bigtime vent blog. All I can say is ...

Wow!

UP :(

I have to admit I didn't be as good this week as I should have. Not only did I not eat well (there was a saftey reward feast, and this definately did not help. ) We also ate at a Mexican place ... you can see where this is going. Long story short ... up 2 pounds.

I can ride a mule!

More than a year ago, My wife and I were in Arizona visiting Sedona and the Grand Canyon. In order to ride a mule one has to be no more than 250 pounds. It was agoal I had to make back then Today I can say ... "I can ride a mule!"

WELL EXCUUUUUUUUUUUUUUSSSE ME !!!

Well I did.

Today I took a deep breath and openned up Andy's head. Not having a proper place to work ... (something I will need to remedy ...) I took some news paper and clamped Little Joe's vise to the kitchen counter top. It held fast but was perhaps a bit high. I used my Stanley Sharptooth General Purpose Saw. It and I did a good job ... except I knicked his right ear ... just a bit. Nothing serious, after all I am not going for perfect ... but the learning experiance. This accomplished I will turn my attention to the mouth assembly.

Will start my drawing journal tonight that will be dedicated to my puppet building.

THE EYES DON'T HAVE IT ! ! !

The package from Braylu Creations came yesterday. The stick fits like a glove. It isn't hollowed out but runs strings through the bottom disk. I ordered the Simple Sight eyes and have to admit I was a little disapointed. They look pretty fragile so I ordered some wooden balls and will try to make my own. AHHHH if it was truly simple sight!!!!

PROJECT ANDY

Back in my early teens, when I first tried to learn ventriloqism, I had a Danny O'Day vent doll. I have to laugh as just recently had to throw him away. He had first been stored away in my parents' garage and later in a shed. The heat caused his head to become brittle and crack. It was a differrent model than my latest one. The first was wider and squat ... a distorted Danny. This might of given more room to work and step away from an iconic dummy.

I've decided to not try and modify this Danny's image other than a paint job and keep him a cheeky boy. This is more about seeing if I can handle the simplest of the mechanics rather than the cosmetic aspects. Any other modifications will be minamal. I will repair the moving mouth, cutting the pallete out and lowering it to add lower raised teeth. This Danny already comes with upper teeth so this will allow him to close his mouth shut. The second motion will be sycronized movable eyes. From what I have read in the Kenny Croes blog, the "Charlie" doll heads are a little off due to the monicle. He guts the eyes and then reforms them. The Dannys seem to be alittle more alligned even though one eye is slightly larger than the other. I have ordered the Simple Sight Eyes from Braylu. They have the 1.25" size wich are used for the conversion figures. Braylu makes round ball eyes but not in that size. (I need to recheck Kenny's site as I remember he had some concerns about eyes and clearances.) These are suppose to be easier to install and scratch resistant. They also will work well with blinkers. I bought some bass wood to use as the base, but I found some paint stirrers in the garage and I think they will be worth a try. They look about the right size.

There is one mechanic I would like to try but It may take some Mickey Mousing to make it work ... but then ... that's what this is all about isn't it? I found a local vent club in the area that I joined their discussion group. I found a local builder, Chuck Poole and his website:

http://www.zogmyster.com/

He has documented the building of both a T3 and a conversion figure. A lot of good pictures ... here is Mr. Poole's design for a crossing eye device. It seems very effective and less complicated than a few other than I have seen. as you can see he is using a "braided" fishing line. Even though I bought some nylon line, I may see if the budget will allow a purchase if this. Chuck doubles it so if it breaks it will give warning of a need to repair.

I have some parts and products ordered and should come in sometime this week. I got most of the tools on my list and Little Joe has loaned me his vise. (It smells of brake fluid.) I should be able to start in earnest as soon as I find my tool box with my dremel in it.

Oh yeah ... I've had my first dummy related ingury. While looking for the tool box in my garage late last night, I stubbed my toe, cracking the nail in half. There was oodles of blood spurting from my wound. Luckly Yoko tended the damage (2 band aids) , gave me some asprin and kissed and made it all better.

So after looking at Danny's head, the more I stare ... I am waxing nostalgic and have decided to christen him "Andy"after my first pardner. To do a minamal movement away from being a "Danny" in the paint job I will do lighter skin and red hair. I ordered green irises for the eyes. I don't know why but for some reason when I think of an "Andy" ... I think of a red head. (This will also alieviate the neccesity of sanding down his curl and dealing with a wig.) This is a good thing to limit plans ... usually I make things far too complicated. So here goes ...

PROJECT ANDY.

I'M UP!!

Well I sort of knew it. We went out to a local pub to see the one ... the only Bing Futch and his new dulcimer. Ate corned beef and drank beer. A lot of salt and calories. But I'm only up 2 pounds. Still it's a gain ... I'm 254.

A FOOL WITHOUT TOOLS.

Ever get into something and not be quite prepared ?

That's me.

I am an exception to the rule. The sterio-type is that men have a tool for EVERYTHING!

I have a couple screw drivers, a hammer, a drill and a dremmel tool. To get started I need a coping saw and a vise.

In a perfect world, I would just get what I need. I would make a trip tp Lowe's and load up the Cruiser. I would go and set up a work space and do exactly that ... work. But these are hard times. The money is not there and I'm on a shoe string budget. So here's what I need to do ...

1.) I need to get a coping saw.

2.) I need to get a vise. (Little Joe has one he will loan me.)

3.) From Braylu Creations I need to get:
A.) A control post and springs
B.) Simple Sight eyes/1.25"
this will cost me about $30

4.)Nylon rope/1/8th"

5.) And at least one pound of magic-scupt.

So I need about 5o Bucks to try this and if i can have ANY success I can justify the expence and space.

Here's Danny!!!

My Danny O'Day vent doll arrived today. I think Yoko is starting to get why I am persuing this. He is smaller than I thought. Almost 2" in length and an 1" in width . Things will be real tight . I have a new respect for Kenny Croes. I already had respect for him. Kenny pushes the limit on conversion figures as much if not more than anybody. His are not Dannys or Charlies when he is finished , but new characters with a life all their own. I have Michael Brose's book as well the Fred project and Ray's book witht the DVDs and I think I am learning as much if not more from Kenny's site. It is invaluable.

I e-mailed him yesterday. I did so with a certain hesatation. In the dulcimer community, people are very friendly and approchable. But I had to wonder what the vent community. As first contact, Kenny proved to be a good ambasador. He was friendly and encouraging and answered my questions. He even invited more!!! I highly recommend his site : http://ventintothemic.blogspot.com/ and the man himself!

Thanks Kenny!!!

Gravitational Pull

In a past post, I mentioned I am loosing weight. But I had a rude awaking. Last Thursday I got on the scale and I was 5 pounds heavier. FIVE POUNDS. I could understand a couple ... but 5!!!

Yoko explained to me that our electronic scale is very sensative to movement and when I carried it to my bathroom, that it probably went out of kilter.

Oh well, so today I weighed in at 252 ... on the dot. 3 more pounds to be what I was last week.

Once ... Oh .... about 20 years ago I went to the Suncoast Puppet Festival that was being hosted by the University of South Florida. The big proformer that year was Jimmy Nelson with Danny O'Day and Farfel. I had dragged my then girl friend Lou Shoemaker and caught up with Kim Rivers. I worked with Kim (who's mother had a local TV show where she did puppets and ventriloquism.) on VooDoo and EPCOT's Prominade Players. She was such a talent and hopefully still has her hand in it.

We all sat together waiting for the trio to make ... and I mean make the scene. During his presentation Jimmy called out to the audience to give him a sentence to say. I yelled out, "MANY MEN MAKE MONEY!" Lou looked embarassed.Kim looked at me with that where did that come from. Jimmy Nelson paused, blinked and said , "What ?" I repeated my request and he laughed, and said, "Some one must of bought one our old records." (I got my record with a Danny vent doll that I named Andy.) He then ran Danny through his paces. A magic momment.

Me ... I'm still working on it. "Nany nen nake noney ... Nanny nen nake noney ... Nanny nen ....

I WON!!!

YIPPEEEEE!!!!

I have been debating exactly how to start. I was considering making a small hand held figure ... on the other hand I was considering getting one of the "Puppett and Props" Freds.

http://www.puppetsandprops.com/CastHead.html

Well, last night I stumbled across an ad on e-bay for a Danny O'Day vent doll. The doll was in rough shape but the head was still good. I made my bid and won. My intent is to try a Kenny Croes styled figure.

http://ventintothemic.blogspot.com/

While some might consider Kenny's a retro fit, he takes the head of a vent doll and reworks the head with mechanisms and a product called "Magicsculpt." This transforms the mass produced face into something new and original. I really like what he has done and have enjoyed his blog. This will give me a chance to try my hand at the mechanics and majicsculpt. I'm hoping to email him to get a few questions answered that his blog doesn't cover. He seems reall nice and open. But I would understand if he doesn't want to share all of his secrets.

Was telling Little Joe about my then possible purchase. I told him you rip off the head. His reply made my day. He said , "No wonder dummies are so angry ... if you not sticking your hand up into them you ... you're ripping their heads off.

Here's to a ripping good time.

MARK TODAY

Today is January 12th, 2009.

Mark this day.

First off ... I am losing weight ... notice I didn't say that I was "trying" to lose weight. I am. I have been working on this project for about a week. Every Monday I will post my progress. This day saw a 6 pound loss for 249 weigh in.

Secondly ... I got in the mail Lee Cornell's Ventriloquism 101/Maher Home Study Course. Got it on sale. Lee's course promises a money back garantee. The Maher lessons were the one that taught Ray Guyll. I'll keep updates on this project too.

DUMMIES ARE CREEPY

My beautiful wife has been very supportive of all the things I've found myself involved in over the years, but I've noticed more than a few rolled eyes in my direction. I think she is giving up to the inevitable, as each new book and such makes it's way into the house. And she is shaking her head a little less as she catches me practising in the mirror.

The problem is that I grew up with Jerry Mahoney, Knucklehead Smif, Farfel, and Danny O'Day. My heros were Bergen, Nelson, Winchell, and Prof. Echo. Yoko grew up with the film, "Magic." I don't know if I've ever seen it all the way through. To tell the truth ... the only thing I remember is the wooden heart at the end. So because of "Magic" she finds vent figures . . . CREEPY!

But Yoko I have to admit that you are right. I was looking at some of the figures at the Vent Haven site : http://www.venthavenmuseum.net/ and found Sammy. Made and used by Walter Lambert. He dressed in drag as a nurse and tended to the little fellow. What makes Sammy more than a little creepy is thet fact that his teeth are actual human teeth. OOOOOO! Uck!

Okay Yoko ... I promise ... I won't use any body parts ... I promise.

Really.

No really!

IT'S ALL STEPHEN'S FAULT !!!

IT'S ALL STEPHEN'S FAULT !!!



No . . . Really.



In my last post, I told what a dulcimer is and how I got hooked on them. Today's post is about how I got down this path. ... to this point.



I had been asked by our area manager's girl friday, Anna to play my dulcimer at a diversity program. It was definately short notice and I was grabbing some practice in. I had the 6 AM shift and this job as a bellman has a lot of wait time. For about 5 years when it's been slow I've brought my dulcimer and played. People stop and listen.

Now on this day our manager, Stephen came in around 7:30. He spends the day holed up in his office "working " on schedules that have already been figured out for him. An easy day for him. Not that every is pretty much an easy day. He tells us to stand out front and then disappears for hours. That day he finds out that our other manager, Kris called in and that he would have to cover his responsabilitries too. So he would actually have to work that day and he was mad.

So what he did he do? He looked for someone to let loose his fury on. As they say, "Haggis rolls down hill." And there I was playing my dulcimer. He called me into his office and started yelling at me. He screemed how dare I play an instrument while I am being paid to take care of our guests. (I hadn't had a work order since I started that morning and there were two other bellmen on at the moment. One was reading the paper and one was sleeping.) So Stephen continued his tiraid and told me I wasn't to EVER play my dulcimer here at the hotel again.

So I went to my friend Ernie who was running the diversity program tech issues (he's a genius) and told him what happened. And that I wouldn't be preforming. He let Stephen know that he had messed things up for him. and that they now had an open slot in the entertainment program.

Meanwhile I was fuming. And I was kidding/comisorating with my buddy Danny. I laughing said I could find alot more annoying habits to bring to work ... like ventriloquism. I pictured Charle McCarthy on my arm saying, "Oh Stephen? Are you eating a tomato, or is that your nose."

The more I thought about it ... the more I felt the old desire grow ... ideas starting coming forth ... ideas for dummies. ....

... So you see ...

IT'S ALL STEPHEN'S FAULT !!!

A Dulci-What ???

You heard right a dulcimer.

According to Wikipedia a dulcimer is :

a fretted string instrument of the zither family, typically with three or four strings. The body extends the length of the fingerboard and it's fretting is generally diatonic.

I mention this beacaue it is one of my other passions and that it fits into my next post. It is an obscure instrument on the grand scale. It is one of the few American instruments and most people scratch their heads over it. Above is a picture of me and ONE my babies.

I started playing about 2o years ago. I was working late one night and was given the assignment of moving a gentleman who chose (do you really choose these moments?) to end his marriage at the Happiest Place on Earth. Now I had to walk him, his two suitcases an this stringed thing from the tower to a room far in the north wing. You don't ask someone in that situation how their day is going. So I asked what the instrument was called. He told me about the dulcimer he bought at the American pavillion at EPCOT. When he got to the room he played a couple of tunes.

When I heard it I knew I had to have one. So the next day I went to Lewis Music at Downtown Kissimmee. There Mrs. Lewis showed me the dulcimer she had in the shop and said, "Now I could sell you this dulcimer but I won't." I was absolutly floored . She told me that I could get a better one at EPCOT and that she would get me with the picks, books and such. Nice lady.

Now I played off and on but didn't really try in earnest until about 6 years ago. I'm not great but am making progress. I love it and find it very relaxing.

In the Begining ...

I can't remember how old I was when I became interested in ventriloquisim. I remember seeing both Paul Winchell and Jimmy Nelson on TV. I remember my Dad coming to pick me up at the Magic Mart. Back then it was safe to leave a child alone in a store. My parents did it all the time. When we were at the Tyrone Shopping Center if I wasn't attached to my mother's hip I was at the Toy Box ... Downtown St. Pete around the corner from Mass Brother's Department Store, it was the The Magic Mart.

There I would amuse myself among all the wonders to be found. They didn't have figures, but they did have the dolls of Dannny O'Day and Jerry Mahoney on occassion allong with marrionetttes and hand puppets. These held more magic than the tricks that provailed through the shop. I came home one day with Paul Winchell's book. And thus my first attempt began. I was probably 8 or 9 and I was probabaly more interested in building than exherting the effert to learn how to throw one's voice.

When I was about 12, I became interested again. Dad searched the paper's want ads and found one for a vent figure. I was disappointed to find out when we got there that it was a Danny O'Day doll. I almost walked away but bought it I found it came with Jimmy Nelson's instrucional record. I did pretty well until I got to the "Bs" and "Ms" and once again stalled.

In college I was an art major. Requirements said that one had to also take theater and music classes. Most signed up to paint sceenery for the various productions going on that quarter. The only problem was that you work 24/7 for two weeks and the rest of your studies go to hell. I guess it was growing up in a teacher's household, that kept me from skipping classes. To meet my class requirements I took classes with Bill Lorenzen and caught the puppet bug. I did his "Voodoo" production with marionettes, After College I went back to work as an art instructor for the city of St. Petersburg. There at the Walter Fuller Community Center, Gretchen Tenbrock indulged me with letting me do puppets with the kids. We did the "Lion and the Mouse" and a Punch and Judy show with rod puppets. We even incorpriated puppets in our theme fpr the Festival States Youth Parade where we constructed an 8 foot Pinnochio. It was during this time that I got a call from Bill and got to join his cast for his proformance of the show "Sea Serpent" at the Puppeteers of America. It was there that I learned of a project that Bill was working on. Bill was building puppets for proposed shows for something called EPCOT at Disney World. He casually told me about auditions at USF. I tried out and made it in. For the next 4 years I was a member of the Promenade Players. I worked with some very talented indiviguals. Joe Irwin, Kim Rivers, Terry Woods, and Renee Duplechain. We dressed as gypsies and did a marrionette puppet show out of a puppet wagon with a talking horse as our narrator. We did 4 shows, "Hansel and Grettel," "Aladdin," Horosima Taro." and "Sabatouge at the Works." When the show was canceled to pay for daytime fireworks ( Smoke bombs) for Eisner's Mistake in the Lake show. I stayed on with the company, boxed up the puppets, worked the next 22 years as a bellman and watched the Mouse drift away from what he once was.