Thursday, November 18, 2010

Cover Girl!

I'm proud to announce that Woozley and I have made the cover of the November publication of the Canberra Weekly Magazine! WOO HOO! Big thanks to the Canberra Weekly, Cole Bennetts for the awesome photos and Allison Redman for the great story!



Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Mary's awesome photos!

Mary Luckhurst, aka Sealegs Imagery took some amazing photos of me and my puppet creations.
Thanks so much Mary!

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Reflection...

Fun Facts about going on a month-long puppet pilgrimage to the USA:

I travelled an estimated total of over 34,156 kilometres (about 21,223 miles for you Americans), took a total of twelve air-planes, three buses, landed in ten cities, stayed in six different hotels, attended two puppet festivals, saw three famous puppet theatres, worked on one puppet film set, made hundreds of friends, slept only an average of three hours a night - all over a total of 29 days.... That makes me just tired just thinking about it! (I also spent several months planning and saving before hand, but let's not dwell on the boring stuff!)

Photo by Mary Luckhurst: www.sealegs.carbonmade.com
What resulted out of this crazy adventure you ask? Well, honestly - it changed my life.

It fulfilled me in so many ways and not only just in making friends and learning the art of puppetry - but also, probably most valuable of all is now knowing that I'm not alone in my passion for puppetry and the more 'wacky' side of life - that there are others, just like me - living to fulfil a passion. I now know that there are hundreds, if not thousands of people just like me and some, perhaps even slightly more crazy, enthusiastic and passionate than I am!

Each person I met on my adventures embraced me as if I was long lost family and not only welcomed me into their puppet communities, theatres, homes and festivals - but they also welcomed me into their hearts.

Since I've created this blog and documented all my experiences - I have received nearly 800 views and counting. In addition, there have been hundreds of views of my youtube videos, my google 'adventure' map (http://tiny.cc/i24bg), my twitter account (https://twitter.com/mariannemettes), my picassa photos (http://picasaweb.google.com.au/mmettes) and facebook entries related to my trip - all together there may have well be several thousands of people who have experienced my journey with me (and still reading on with me now) through cyberspace.

Through statistics, interestingly I've found out that these views are nearly equally divided between the Australian audience and the American audience and has also even received many views from all over the rest of the world too.

Many people - especially within the puppeteer community - have written me and expressed their heart-felt thanks to me for having written and shared my experiences. What actually started out to be a mere diary of my adventures for myself, has suddenly turned into something rather large for the puppet community and also the general public. I think it's given the people all over the world insight to see that there are others out there who feel the same passion for puppetry, since it is a bit of an insular and sometimes forgotten art-form.

So here's my big thank you to everyone I've met and everyone who's helped me along the way - even if it was just to stop and say hello or told me your story - it's meant the world to me.

I can't wait to see ya'll next year (insert southern accent)!!!

But for now - here is my story in pictures:

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Noumea, New Caledonia: Accidental Paradise

It was hard leaving Minneapolis and even harder knowing my big adventure was over. It was like leaving a piece of myself behind - even though I'd grown so much more as a person.

After a long day of travelling (Minneapolis to Phoenix Arizona, to L.A.), I finally got on my Qantas flight back home to Australia... I was relieved that I'd made it as well as sad and overwhelmed all at the same time. However, I woke up during the flight (around 5am Australian time) to a P.A. announcement stating that we were going to land in Noumea to refuel due to a severe fog in Australia.

We glided down between beautiful mountains to what looked like the smallest little runway in the middle of nowhere. My plane buddy, Tim and I were looking out of the window and jokingly said how we've never been here and what a pity it was we couldn't get out... Then, as if the universe was listening, the captain comes back on the P.A. with another announcement - this time with a rather shaky and nervous voice: "Uhhh... It appears we have a slight problem... On inspection of the craft, it appears that one of our tyres was 'blown' during take off and has caused some superficial damage to the plane... We're going to have to a technician to look at this and get it fixed." The murmurs around the cabin all suddenly got a bit nervous, and I, still a bit sleepy, was rather confused what was happening. A few minutes later, the captain came once again, "Uhhh... It appears there are no Qantas staff here at the airport, or any staff who are really equipped for this sort of thing... So, we're going to fly someone over from Sydney - so please stay relaxed and we'll do our best to make you as comfortable as possible." More murmurs swarmed through the cabin, this time more agitated and angry at the delay. I was still rather dazed, and continued looking out of the window at the lack of civilisation and then went back to watching my movie...


A few minutes later, the captain came back on yet again, "Uhhh... it appears that all the staff in Sydney are incapacitated due to all the happenings with the fog in Australia, so we're going to have to stay here in Noumea - possibly overnight - but we'll make sure we all get you in a nice comfortable hotel so you can all rest while we get this problem fixed." He was endlessly apologetic and kept explaining how in all of his career, nothing like this had never happened. I thought it was all pretty exciting honestly! My only problem was that my American phone didn't work and I had no way of telling my family what had happened and that I was safe. But Tim, my plane buddy was nice enough to let me send a text message home on his phone, it stated: "I'm in Noumea, New Caledonia - all is well, might not be home till tomorrow." I would have loved to see the look on mum's face getting that.


Around the cabin, complaints were going ramped - however, there wasn’t as much stress as I would have expected in such a situation. A lot of people were also rather thrilled to be ‘stuck’ in such a beautiful place. A couple next to me were actually supposed to end up in Noumea, so they got home much quicker then expected! But, I did feel rather sorry for a really young boy travelling all by himself and had been sick the entire way from L.A. You didn't see him complaining once, although he was constantly surrounded by some quite pretty flight attendants. Or the guy in front of me who was in the U.S. Army and only had a few days with his wife and newborn in Australia. Others just thought it was all rather 'annoying' being stuck in paradise and tried every trick in the book to get on another flight home somehow - some even succeeded. But, I think most of us were just happy to be alive - knowing that the 'superficial damage' could have been so much worse!

After we finally got out of the plane, got some sort of weird visa stamped in our passport and collected all our baggage - we all (200 something passengers) lined up to get onboard three big buses to our hotel. Lots of people were mentioning how it seemed just like out of a Lost episode... I hadn't actually thought of that at the time, but the more time passed, the more it was almost exactly like that - except the plane hadn't crashed and there was no sexy doctor to save us all! But we all bonded since we were all 'in it together'. You could either feel frustrated - or just let it wash over you and enjoy it as an adventure, which I truly did.

The bus ride was about an hour or more - but since I had no way of measuring time, it felt like an eternity. The rolling mountians and green pastures were beautiful, but also just endless and all I could keep thinking was, "where the hell are we?" I was beginning to wonder if this was in fact an episode of Lost and if Qantas was going to make us all a big hut to sleep in. But finally we entered civilisation and some sort of city life - however dishevelled and poor it looked. But this assured me that we weren't lost (or in an episode of Lost) and we weren't in the middle of nowhere - we were... ummm... somewhere...?

The city did slowly became nicer and more beautiful as we entered the more 'up market’ and tourist area of Noumea. Thank god, as I wasn't really interested in another Downtown L.A. experience (see older blog entries)! Finally got to the hotel and to my amazement it was a beautiful 5-star hotel ON THE BEACH! All expenses were paid for, including the most amazing French gourmet meals and even short phone calls home to explain to our loved ones what had happened and the times we were expected home.

The phone call however served as a bit of a challenge for me: getting the phone to work. Being a French Colony, one of the main languages spoken on the island was of course French. Luckily, the front desk staff spoke beautiful English - unfortunately - no one else did. But my mum was a French language teacher, as I kept boasting to my plane buddy Tim and our little group of friends we had made... However, I failed to mention to them that I’d stopped learning the language when I was about 12 and really didn't remember much apart from "Je suis en stilo-abeia" Which isn't proper French at all - it translates to "I am a ball-point pen." So that really wasn't much help at all. However, I somehow managed to remember a couple of words here and there, like ‘I am lost’, ‘where is the food’, ‘where is the toilet’ and so on - along with some form of spastic sign-language I managed to get by and get the phone working... With a bit of laughter of course - yes, them at me.

After a quick change of clothes, a gorgeous buffet French cuisine and sitting around drinking New Caledonia beer with some of the other passengers, I decided to go on exploration. I walked along the beautiful beaches and spoke my spastic French to the children playing in the sand who kept saying "Bonjour" so excitedly to me. This may have also been due to my Sesame Street t-shirt I was wearing - but I didn't matter - everything was beautiful and I finally felt like I was on a real holiday and not trying to stressfully absorb everything puppets. When I got back to the hotel, I was so exhausted from everything, including all the travelling and lack of sleep, that I took a luxuriously long bubble bath in my beautifully luxurious hotel suite... Ahhhh... This was the life. This was exactly what I needed to decompress from my month-long puppet bender.



The coolest part of this little ‘mini adventure’ was becoming friends with all the people on the plane. At every meal we'd have great conversations about life and how we'd come to be here, stuck in Noumea together. Yes, of course, I had the weirdest stories out of everyone - but everyone loved my enthusiasm and put up with all my excitement and endless stories about my puppet adventures.


By the time we were all back in the little airport the next morning - we were all a little sad. We'd all come to know each other's stories and had became friends in such a special way, that it seemed surreal we were all finally going home. At this point I think a lot of us were actually pretty keen to stay a few more days, but somehow I don't think Qantas would have paid for that!





It was such a unique experience that left me stronger yet again. I'd conquered another hurdle - just after I'd thought I'd conquered them all back in America. It left me thinking, “what else could happen to me now,” and feeling a little indestructible and vulnerable all at the same time.

Noumea was a beautiful place with beautiful people. I think Qantas handled the whole ordeal with ‘flying’ colours and honestly, it made a loyal customer out of me! The whole adventure was a wonderfully welcomed little pause before I came home to normal life, and it’s definitely a place I would love to return some day, perhaps after I’d practiced my French a bit more!

Monday, July 26, 2010

Transylvania TV: being a 'puppet extra'

As mentioned in my last post, I got the awesome opportunity to work on a real ‘puppet film set'! That of Transylvania TV - it's a an internet TV show for adults (but not puppet porn) that has a rather cult following. Their website describes it as: “The Retro Monster Comedy That's Really Not For Kids.” So you get the picture.

Currently, they're filming a big Halloween feature: “TVTV Real Meanin’ of Halloween”, which is to be aired on Twin Cities television in October of 2010 and later available on DVD. So I got my very own debut and credit as a puppeteer in a feature film! How awesome is that?


So I got to play two of three different characters that involved a bit of puppet on puppet action (yes I know I said it wasn't porn, however this is what happens when you let me loose with puppeteers for a month!) I walked puppets to and fro past the camera and was also involved in some group scenes at a table. Pretty cool huh?

I learnt many different techniques and manipulation skills by watching and also doing it myself - it was all rather exciting and a little scary too! But not only did I manipulate puppets on camera, but I also got a great insight into how a team of puppeteers all work together in such harmony - all for the love of puppetry. TVTV is the brain child of Gordon Smuder, Michael Heagle and Clarke Stone - along with several others who all put in their time, passion and love for free - simply because they all believe in the project, the people, the scripts and the puppets. Honestly, I can understand why. I was only there for two days, but I was so welcomed, supported, encouraged and embraced into their little family that it was clear that these were some pretty fantastic people. There was constant comedy on and off camera, as well as just pure hard work, passion and determination. Everyone got along so well and there was never a nasty word or comment - which is something pretty special on a film-set in my experience - and I've been on quite a few, however never a 'puppet' film set. It only yet again reaffirmed for me how this adventure just kept taking me to amazing places and just kept inspiring me and strengthening me towards the puppeteer I want to be.


It was such a fantastic experience in so many ways. Not only seeing how something as large scale as this is put together, but also to be part of something so special and being able to leave my little mark on the film as well - and of course meeting such great people! So if you’re reading this and you love puppets, get behind Transylvania TV here: http://www.transylvania-tv.com. You can watch the episodes, buy the DVDs or T-shirts, or simple read a bit more about them. Their shows really are very funny and I think they have a very serious and exciting future ahead of them! I wish them all the very best and hope one day I'll be able to take part in their work somehow again!

Here is a video that was taken during my time on-set!

A change of plans: Minneapolis

During my last few days in Wilmington NC, I got a phone call telling me about an opportunity to be a ‘puppet extra’ on the feature-length special of Transylvania TV. This felt like one of those “meant to be” moments, where the universe hands you something that you just can’t ignore. But what was I to do? I’d spent two months meticulously planning and organising my crazy month-long adventure and I had everything booked and planned to spend my last week in America on the beautiful beaches on Miami, Florida and meet my puppet 'cyber' mentor Paul Louis. Paul had been teaching me puppetry online and it would have been really cool to be able to meet him in person and work on some of the things he had taught me.

Minneapolis city-scape
But, somehow I just HAD to change everything. I’d spent the last three weeks on one huge roller-coaster, so why would I stop now, just to laze about the beach on my own? I only had a week left and knew that if I didn’t change my plans, I’d regret it. One of the MANY things I’d learnt during my travels, is that you can’t plan for everything - no matter how crazy in-depth you research. Yes, I had every single day of my month planned, complete with day trips, maps and ‘things to visit’ lists... It may have been a little over the top... More of a book then an itinerary.

So, just like in some kind of movie (comedy of course), I stayed up on the phone and internet all night to my travel agent, Mick Tattam. I was so deadly tired, but my crazy excitement kept me going - that or just sheer delirium. I wonder what Mick thought of my crazy plans - but I’m sure any hesitation on my sanity were long gone after the day I came to his office and asked him to help me book my “big USA Puppet Adventure”... I, of course, still don’t think of myself as 'crazy', but I can understand how some might think the whole thing is slightly odd - but somehow, I just knew everything would work out.

As well as work on the film-set, the other reason I changed plans was to be able to spend some more time with my puppet comrade and partner in crime, Jeff, who also works on Transylvania TV. We’d met at the first festival in the midwest and hung out afterwards together in Kansas City (see older posts). I was also really excited to be able to see my friend Kathy, who I also met at the festival and lives in Minneapolis too.

One, of the many best things about being in Minneapolis (along with the fantastic weather and getting out of crazy humidity of the South) was being in real homes for the first time in weeks! I suddenly realised that I’d spent all this time in hotel rooms and festival dormitories and hadn’t really experienced the warmth of the insides of peoples homes! Also, it was just so nice doing a few normal things, like going shopping, jamming music with a few beers, playing with puppets, sharing life-stories and cultural insights, cooking real food and just relaxing a bit - it was pretty great!

Since Minneapolis is nicknamed the 'City of Lakes', Kathy took me out for a day of bike riding around some of the fantastic lakes around Minneapolis - Lake Harriet, Lake Calhoun and Lake of the Isles. It was just fantastic and soooo beautiful! Also a great way to work off all those ‘extra’ kilos I’d gained after weeks of living off strange yellow cheese and deep fried goodness... However, I was a little uncertain about the idea of bike riding. They say you never forget how to ride a bike, but being born rather clumsy, I was a worried it wouldn’t apply to me... I hadn’t ridden a bike since I was 12! Yes - I know I live in Canberra (the city of bikes in Australia) but I’m lazy, ok? But, to my surprise, I was fine! After a few metres of wobbles and shakes, I was on my way, a few metres behind Kathy most of the time, but I didn’t fall off once! I’d have to say, I was rather impressed with myself! Along the way, Kathy showed me the home of the resident gnome who lives in a little cave of a tree along the lake. Kids leave him little messages and presents everyday inside his little door and he writes back to every one of them. It’s very special really and it takes a local to find him.  Kathy also invited Jeff and I to dinner at her place with her family and she showed us all her wonderful puppets and artworks - it was a fantastic day all round!


As well as meeting some of his close friends, Jeff did his best to show and welcome me into every part of his life, which also included teaching me some juggling tricks at his work at Air Traffic - of course a trip to Minneapolis wouldn’t be complete without juggling!

Knowing my love for shopping, Jeff took me to the Mall of America! It’s the largest shopping mall in the USA and any girl’s wonderland. It really was pretty huge! It even had a whole theme park with rides, Lego Land and heaps more we didn’t even venture in. 
The 'salon' in the American Girl Doll shop - for your doll!
Lego Land

We also went to see the site of the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. Jeff does his shows with Felton, his puppet, here every year. Even though the festival hadn’t started and nobody was really around yet, I could feel the magic and spirit of the festival. It was like walking straight into a graphic novel set in the renaissance time. It was huge. Roads and alleys all complete with little Hobbit caves, magical little forrest walks, and just lots of little pubs and houses that felt like Robin Hood could come walking out at any minute. I wouldn’t be around for the festival when it would start - but maybe I’d stick around to see it next year, the site alone looked pretty amazing - imagine what the actual festival would be like!

We also had heaps of fun going to several fast food outlets - especially the ones I didn’t know actually existed - but had heard the names in movies and TV shows. Taco Bell, Arby’s and White Castle just to name a few...

So, when I saw the signs of White Castle, I immediately began squealing like a little child: “OH MY GOD! White Castle?!?! That’s REAL? Can we go there, pleeeease?” After much debate and talk about how it’s actually pretty crap, I somehow convinced Jeff to take me there to have my ‘movie’ Harold and Kumar experience... But unfortunately, he was right and it was REALLY bad. So bad we suffered some pretty major indigestion that night... I should have reconsidered and put my enthusiasm to the side after seeing that the burgers were called ‘sliders’...


All in all, I had a really wonderful time in Minneapolis - I met some great people and got closer to ones I already knew. I also learnt so much being on Transylvania TV (more on that in next post) and I left feeling enormously inspired - even though it was incredibly hard to leave at all. It was a lovely little last week to an epic month and I only wish it could have lasted longer.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Last day in Wilmington

For my last leg of Wilmington I checked in the Baymont Hotel with a bunch of other festival stragglers and organisers. Since it was opposite the hotel and me being an Aussie, we thought it rather funny to go to the ‘Outback Steakhouse’. Honestly, there was nothing in the restaurant (food-wise or ambience-wise) that I could connect to Australia - but they had good steak and you could compare it to something like our ‘Hogsbreath Cafe’.

I finally slept, even though I was still exhausted when I woke up the next day, but I felt revived and like I could continue on to the last part of my journey.


Festival co-director/organiser Peter Effaldana took me to the airport, danced together with butterfly wings and shared secrets on hair-products.... Yes - hair products. As you can see in my photos - Peter has quite an amazing head of hair, and women literally stop him in the streets and ask him if they can touch it. Peter claims this amazing hair is the result of washing with a special type of shampoo called “Aussie”. When I told him I’d never heard of it, he seemed shocked. I think it’s like my experiences with Fosters beer during my adventures, read my Kansas City posts for more info on that... :-)

The rest of the day I spent travelling again. Two airplanes and a stop over in Atlanta, finally got me into the land of the Twin Cities - Minneapolis.

As I’d mentioned in the previous post - I had spent all night on the phone and internet to my travel agent and legend Mick Tattam of STA Travel, in Australia - who had helped me change my plans for my last week in America. I was supposed to spend my last week on the glorious beaches of Miami, Florida and meet my puppet mentor Paul Louis. However, I’d been invited to take part of film shoot as a puppet extra in a feature puppet film from the cult internet puppet tv show, Transylvania Television.

This was not an opportunity to be missed, however it was a tough decision - especially since I was really looking forward to meeting Paul Louis. But my mind was convinced knowing that I would see Jeff and Kathy again - who lived in Minneapolis and who I formed really close connections with at my time during PuppetFest Midwest.


So off I went, what felt like a kind of crazy whim - but how crazy could this adventure get, honestly? I went to the other side of the world in search of puppetry, what was a couple extra plane rides more?