puppetmaker (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
puppetmaker) wrote2015-09-08 10:06 am
puppetmaker) wrote2015-09-08 10:06 am
Dragon Con 2015 the Summery
Wow, that was a good Dragon Con. Easily in my top five Dragon Cons.
It was also an endurance test that I think I barely passed. And No, I was not out all night partying like I use to. A lot of things I participated in when late included the puppet slam, which went to 2 AM ish.
My puppet slam piece entitled the Cad in the Hat went over well thanks to Peter’s writing, Maurice’s dulcet tones in reading Peter’s words, Angelo’s music creation to accompany the words, John’s sound effects that took the whole piece to the next level, and Peter Hart’s help in getting me to sort out the show in my head, My puppeteers John, Jamie, Peter, Cheralyn and Spencer. Thanks to Beau, Elizabeth, Charles, and Whitney for getting the show to work and everyone else who participated from the crew on. And lest I forget, a special thank you to Bob & Carl the SciFi Janitors since they were the catalyst that started this snowball.
Caroline got to talk to some interesting people this weekend including Nichelle Nichols, Congressman John Lewis, and Councilman Michael Bond. They all talked about politics, the civil rights movement, and the upcoming election, which Caroline has very strong feelings that she is more than willing to tell you about.
I had the good fortune, thank you PTB at DragonCon, to be the moderator of the hour with Caroll Spinney panel on Saturday. We discussed the documentary about him and his lovely wife Deborah entitled “I am Big Bird” which I highly recommend. We discussed how he got into puppetry and how he found himself on Sesame Street. He sang a few of the classic Sesame Street songs which I could see the audience either mouthing along, singing along, or bobbing their heads slightly in time.
I judged the Friday Night Workmanship contest, which was a bear since everyone brought their A+ game and people lost by fractions of points. This year we had the documentation before the contest so we had a good idea going in what we were going to be looking at. Even then people surprised us by bring in pieces that they had done since they submitted their documentation that we were wondering how it was going to be done in time and they looked great. I had my great group of judges that I have worked with before and Lee’s staff members that have been doing this with us for a while now so we quickly get into a working rhythm. The few new faces slotting in beautifully and we were a well oiled machine that had a good time working our way through the entries.
I had two puppetry panels and both went well. The first one was entitled “So you want to build a….” and the audience asked a panel of experts across the board about how they might create or improve something they were creating puppetry wise. I know the audience left happy because for the rest of the convention the people who were there kept saying how much they liked that panel.
The second one was how to cloth your puppet and it was just that Cheralyn Lambeth and I talked about making clothing for puppets and tricks that we had learned over the years. Cheralyn is the author of a book entitled The Well Dressed Puppet which I can highly recommend and would even if we didn’t know each other. We answered questions and solved a few mysteries for people on how we make our puppet costumes. I know we got people thinking differently when it was pointed out that with puppets the clothing can be put on differently than a human. The head can be removed and the puppet dressed and the like.
I did go to Sean’s party, which was an Elvis/NASCAR themed piece. I had a great time talking to old friends and making new ones. The fine print on the back of the invite was a work of verbal art.
I also got to show some of my friends who either hadn’t been to Dragon Con or hadn’t been in a while around the convention and taught them some of my tricks for getting around the crowds (Going through the food court to get between the Hyatt and the Marriott is easier than the sky bridge between the two just know there are steps involved) and some of my favorite events.
I made some new friends too. I had a lot of fun talking to the Spinneys and their managed Tim. I had fun talking to and listening to Caroline talk to Nichelle who informed me that I had a lovely, sweet and bright daughter. Paddy introduced me to his girlfriend Erika who was the Amazon on American Horror Story Freak Show. Got to give her credit, she wore heels very well.
I had fun catching up with Don Maitz and Janny Wurtz. They always have a couple of interesting stories of what they had been up to this year and Don always, without fail, has my bad joke for the year. I didn’t see Larry Dixon and Mercedes Lackey this convention but I know they were there because they did stop by rib night while I was down for rehearsal for Puppet Slam. I did get to talk briefly to a lot of people I know but that was about all I could do since I was running pillar to post all three days and travelling on Monday.
The puppets in the Art Show were well received. I sold both Phluzzies and the Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce Holmes and Watson set. I guess someone really enjoyed the joke that I did them in black, white, and grey since they were in black and white film. So that is a really good year for me at the Art Show. Peter is surprised that Cumberbatch and Freeman didn’t sell but there will be other conventions and the like.
There was not much down time at DragonCon so parts are a blur but it all worked out. I did all my panels which seemed to be well received. I participated in Puppet Slam which is a highlight for my weekend being part of the puppet tribe.
I am grateful for DragonCon 2015
And behind the cut, my photos from the event.
Winners of the Friday Night Costume Contest
(for the VI: this is a long line of people in costume. From left to right a Viking with very colorful leather armor and a red to pink sheep caplet, Assassins Creed Assassin with a blue coat, white hood, the White Queen from the Narnia series in a chain mail skirt, gold bodice, long blond wig she made by hand and gold crown, Girl robot 1 white body with green trim, Girl robot 2 white body with pink trim, Iron man, an anime character who’s name escapes me but she has on the red tunic, plaid pants and she is holding a bow she made, black dragon with yellow LED eyes, a traditional Turkmenistan garb in red, black and white, Ursula in black and purple, Ariel in green, purple and gold.)
Shannon Derrik and me. Shannon was the winner of the Friday Night Costume Contest and she won hands down. The entire outfit is hand embroidered. It is based on the character Amir from the manga “The Bride’s Story” which takes place in Turkmenistan.
(For the VI: I am to the right wearing a blue shirt over a black t-shirt which reads keep calm and let the Stage Manger handle it, black pants and shoes. I have a orange hair puppet tucked into my belt and a chik-fil-a cup in my hands. Shannon is wearing a lovely costume of black, red and white fabrics with black red and white embroidery. She is wearing a hat with white fabric tucked up behind it. She is holding a bow that she made. Her boots are black with a light brown applique.)
Me, Debra Spinney, and Caroll Spinney after the panel
(for the VI I am wearing a black bowling shirt over a black t-shirt that reads “keep calm and puppet up” I am holding Nick Fury in the crook of my left arm, Debra is wearing a lovely embroidered white blouse. She had brown hair and wears glasses. Caroll has white hair and a white beard. He is wearing a blue jacket over a blue plaid shirt)
Nichelle Nichols and Congressman John Lewis at the DragonCon banquet
(Nichelle is wearing a stunning black dress with a lovely black and silver necklace. Congressman Lewis is wearing a black suit and blue tie. They are holding a wooden plaque with the Dragon Con logo in blue.)
Nichelle and Caroline
(For the VI: Nichelle is on the left wearing a leopard print shawl over her dress. Caroline is wearing a grey shirt with Rocket being held up by the little girl from Despicable Me and she is saying “It’s so Fluffy!!!”)
Caroll speaking after receiving the Julie Award
(For the VI: He is standing at a podium wearing the same outfit as the picture with me. Next to his left hand is the Julie award which consists of two circles folding into a Mobius strip)
The cast of the Cad in the Hat with Spencer the final cast member taking the photo.
(We are all wearing black shirts. From left to right: Jamie holding Scream one which has white skin, a mask based on the painting the scream, red shirt with a white logo that says born to sin, blue horns, and blue wings. Above her head is Scream 2 with his normal face with black and white eyes and the same outfit as Scream 1. John’s head is next to Scream 2. To the right of John’s head is the girl who has white skin, yellow hair and a red bow. Below the girl is the boy with white skin, black hair and read shirt. Below the boy is Cheralyn. I am to the right of Cheralyn. To the right of that is Peter H who was playing the Cad with the Cad’ s big honking Nerf gun.
Peter Hart as the Cad. Here is the description from the Poem
And in from the outside with a splooshity splat
Came a tall, pale man in a battered top hat
His skin was like chalk and he had yellow teeth
He wore brown mismatched shoes with no socks underneath
The rest of his face was obscured; “Why?” you ask?
‘Cause he sported a blue and black umpire mask.
He wore a black cape, and he said, “Don’t be sad!
There is plenty of fun to be had with a cad!”
(for the VI: This is Peter H wearing the black cloak and a top hat. he has on a black wire umpire’s mask with a set of yellow teeth attached to the mask. His skin is very white.)
It was also an endurance test that I think I barely passed. And No, I was not out all night partying like I use to. A lot of things I participated in when late included the puppet slam, which went to 2 AM ish.
My puppet slam piece entitled the Cad in the Hat went over well thanks to Peter’s writing, Maurice’s dulcet tones in reading Peter’s words, Angelo’s music creation to accompany the words, John’s sound effects that took the whole piece to the next level, and Peter Hart’s help in getting me to sort out the show in my head, My puppeteers John, Jamie, Peter, Cheralyn and Spencer. Thanks to Beau, Elizabeth, Charles, and Whitney for getting the show to work and everyone else who participated from the crew on. And lest I forget, a special thank you to Bob & Carl the SciFi Janitors since they were the catalyst that started this snowball.
Caroline got to talk to some interesting people this weekend including Nichelle Nichols, Congressman John Lewis, and Councilman Michael Bond. They all talked about politics, the civil rights movement, and the upcoming election, which Caroline has very strong feelings that she is more than willing to tell you about.
I had the good fortune, thank you PTB at DragonCon, to be the moderator of the hour with Caroll Spinney panel on Saturday. We discussed the documentary about him and his lovely wife Deborah entitled “I am Big Bird” which I highly recommend. We discussed how he got into puppetry and how he found himself on Sesame Street. He sang a few of the classic Sesame Street songs which I could see the audience either mouthing along, singing along, or bobbing their heads slightly in time.
I judged the Friday Night Workmanship contest, which was a bear since everyone brought their A+ game and people lost by fractions of points. This year we had the documentation before the contest so we had a good idea going in what we were going to be looking at. Even then people surprised us by bring in pieces that they had done since they submitted their documentation that we were wondering how it was going to be done in time and they looked great. I had my great group of judges that I have worked with before and Lee’s staff members that have been doing this with us for a while now so we quickly get into a working rhythm. The few new faces slotting in beautifully and we were a well oiled machine that had a good time working our way through the entries.
I had two puppetry panels and both went well. The first one was entitled “So you want to build a….” and the audience asked a panel of experts across the board about how they might create or improve something they were creating puppetry wise. I know the audience left happy because for the rest of the convention the people who were there kept saying how much they liked that panel.
The second one was how to cloth your puppet and it was just that Cheralyn Lambeth and I talked about making clothing for puppets and tricks that we had learned over the years. Cheralyn is the author of a book entitled The Well Dressed Puppet which I can highly recommend and would even if we didn’t know each other. We answered questions and solved a few mysteries for people on how we make our puppet costumes. I know we got people thinking differently when it was pointed out that with puppets the clothing can be put on differently than a human. The head can be removed and the puppet dressed and the like.
I did go to Sean’s party, which was an Elvis/NASCAR themed piece. I had a great time talking to old friends and making new ones. The fine print on the back of the invite was a work of verbal art.
I also got to show some of my friends who either hadn’t been to Dragon Con or hadn’t been in a while around the convention and taught them some of my tricks for getting around the crowds (Going through the food court to get between the Hyatt and the Marriott is easier than the sky bridge between the two just know there are steps involved) and some of my favorite events.
I made some new friends too. I had a lot of fun talking to the Spinneys and their managed Tim. I had fun talking to and listening to Caroline talk to Nichelle who informed me that I had a lovely, sweet and bright daughter. Paddy introduced me to his girlfriend Erika who was the Amazon on American Horror Story Freak Show. Got to give her credit, she wore heels very well.
I had fun catching up with Don Maitz and Janny Wurtz. They always have a couple of interesting stories of what they had been up to this year and Don always, without fail, has my bad joke for the year. I didn’t see Larry Dixon and Mercedes Lackey this convention but I know they were there because they did stop by rib night while I was down for rehearsal for Puppet Slam. I did get to talk briefly to a lot of people I know but that was about all I could do since I was running pillar to post all three days and travelling on Monday.
The puppets in the Art Show were well received. I sold both Phluzzies and the Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce Holmes and Watson set. I guess someone really enjoyed the joke that I did them in black, white, and grey since they were in black and white film. So that is a really good year for me at the Art Show. Peter is surprised that Cumberbatch and Freeman didn’t sell but there will be other conventions and the like.
There was not much down time at DragonCon so parts are a blur but it all worked out. I did all my panels which seemed to be well received. I participated in Puppet Slam which is a highlight for my weekend being part of the puppet tribe.
I am grateful for DragonCon 2015
And behind the cut, my photos from the event.
Winners of the Friday Night Costume Contest
(for the VI: this is a long line of people in costume. From left to right a Viking with very colorful leather armor and a red to pink sheep caplet, Assassins Creed Assassin with a blue coat, white hood, the White Queen from the Narnia series in a chain mail skirt, gold bodice, long blond wig she made by hand and gold crown, Girl robot 1 white body with green trim, Girl robot 2 white body with pink trim, Iron man, an anime character who’s name escapes me but she has on the red tunic, plaid pants and she is holding a bow she made, black dragon with yellow LED eyes, a traditional Turkmenistan garb in red, black and white, Ursula in black and purple, Ariel in green, purple and gold.)
Shannon Derrik and me. Shannon was the winner of the Friday Night Costume Contest and she won hands down. The entire outfit is hand embroidered. It is based on the character Amir from the manga “The Bride’s Story” which takes place in Turkmenistan.
(For the VI: I am to the right wearing a blue shirt over a black t-shirt which reads keep calm and let the Stage Manger handle it, black pants and shoes. I have a orange hair puppet tucked into my belt and a chik-fil-a cup in my hands. Shannon is wearing a lovely costume of black, red and white fabrics with black red and white embroidery. She is wearing a hat with white fabric tucked up behind it. She is holding a bow that she made. Her boots are black with a light brown applique.)
Me, Debra Spinney, and Caroll Spinney after the panel
(for the VI I am wearing a black bowling shirt over a black t-shirt that reads “keep calm and puppet up” I am holding Nick Fury in the crook of my left arm, Debra is wearing a lovely embroidered white blouse. She had brown hair and wears glasses. Caroll has white hair and a white beard. He is wearing a blue jacket over a blue plaid shirt)
Nichelle Nichols and Congressman John Lewis at the DragonCon banquet
(Nichelle is wearing a stunning black dress with a lovely black and silver necklace. Congressman Lewis is wearing a black suit and blue tie. They are holding a wooden plaque with the Dragon Con logo in blue.)
Nichelle and Caroline
(For the VI: Nichelle is on the left wearing a leopard print shawl over her dress. Caroline is wearing a grey shirt with Rocket being held up by the little girl from Despicable Me and she is saying “It’s so Fluffy!!!”)
Caroll speaking after receiving the Julie Award
(For the VI: He is standing at a podium wearing the same outfit as the picture with me. Next to his left hand is the Julie award which consists of two circles folding into a Mobius strip)
The cast of the Cad in the Hat with Spencer the final cast member taking the photo.
(We are all wearing black shirts. From left to right: Jamie holding Scream one which has white skin, a mask based on the painting the scream, red shirt with a white logo that says born to sin, blue horns, and blue wings. Above her head is Scream 2 with his normal face with black and white eyes and the same outfit as Scream 1. John’s head is next to Scream 2. To the right of John’s head is the girl who has white skin, yellow hair and a red bow. Below the girl is the boy with white skin, black hair and read shirt. Below the boy is Cheralyn. I am to the right of Cheralyn. To the right of that is Peter H who was playing the Cad with the Cad’ s big honking Nerf gun.
Peter Hart as the Cad. Here is the description from the Poem
And in from the outside with a splooshity splat
Came a tall, pale man in a battered top hat
His skin was like chalk and he had yellow teeth
He wore brown mismatched shoes with no socks underneath
The rest of his face was obscured; “Why?” you ask?
‘Cause he sported a blue and black umpire mask.
He wore a black cape, and he said, “Don’t be sad!
There is plenty of fun to be had with a cad!”
(for the VI: This is Peter H wearing the black cloak and a top hat. he has on a black wire umpire’s mask with a set of yellow teeth attached to the mask. His skin is very white.)
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What was your impression of the Masquerade? I was really disappointed this year. Does no one at least scan the contestants so we don't get a burlesque show (and a poor burlesque at that!) in the Masquerade? Is there no way to get the sword guy to stop coming back, year after year?
I had a good Con - didn't get down to see if I could meet you in the Artists Alley - but there were definately things that bothered me this year.
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I have to honestly say I didn't see it because I was rehearsing for Puppet Slam. Peter says it was OK but not great. These things seem to ebb and flow and it seriously ebbed this year.
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