Back in 2005/2006, when I worked for Arts Hub (online arts publication), half of that time was spent working from a home office. The CEOs had set up the office in their lounge, and five of us - staff - worked from there. It was a nice environment, although I did used to hate doing cold calling and phone interviews, because there was always my editor and others who could overhear and judge. But because it was a home office, there were also the home cats to deal with. They weren’t nasty in any way, but as cats do, they tend to climb all over computers.

Well, my new job is not much different - except the home office is now my home!  Lately I’ve taken the habit of going about lunchtime into the lounge, which helps me work and eat at the same time. My cat then decides he needs cuddles and spends the rest of the afternoon on my lap. Sigh… 

Of course, there are benefits and trade-offs with this new job. Not having to deal with driving anywhere (or take PT) is good, and so is being able to work from bed if I feel like it. Having a short shift per day means I’m done by late lunch and the rest of the day is mine. Having the kitchen close by is good too, although not really any different than having shops or a cafe at an office building. One thing I am grateful for is the wireless internet. It means I can change where I work depending on my mood, and I’m quite enjoying sitting on the futon in the lounge - or even lying on it whilst I work.

The work itself is slightly dull, but only because I’m not familiar with the legal ins and outs of the genre. Trying to wrap my head around migrating to Australia is tough, especially since I’ve never migrated anywhere before.  And the other downside is losing half my day, which means things are going slower than normal - or, as usual, slower than I’d like - on my other projects.

Of course, I’m sure none of you are really interested in this stuff… but my real explanation is how things are going with PIM and SOP. Because of the work, I am finding myself going slower in some things and faster in others. In an effort to move over the moppet patterns as soon as possible, I’ve been trying to power through some related posts and have been happily getting a couple done every few days or so. The new site design is working well, and I’ve recently discovered that using my special code for ‘pagination’ - having sections of content on the same page and swapping between each via special links - works just as well for multi-part posts. This means convergence of posts like the three-parter on human puppets. Despite still having a huge amount of content to migrate over, I’m pleased with the way things are going and with the improved functionality and navigation; getting new content written is slower because of course that takes more time to do. I am aiming to do one new piece each week until I have finished other things, at which point I may speed up the process.

I’m making some decent but slow movements on something else entirely, which I’m not going to reveal until it’s ready. I know I always say that, and then the surprise disappears, but actually this is completely to do with the PIM redesign and has to be done anyway. I’m probably a week or two from finishing the first bit, at which point I’ll be releasing it for viewing pleasure.

I have also made some small but substantial cleaning near my new desk space (or rather in, around, under, between…), which has been good. Because I’ve rearranged the desks, I now have more access to shelving and drawers, and have cleaned one shelf so it now houses my sewing and laminating machines, tools (handsaw, drill) and wooden frame pieces. This is ideal, because now my machinery is out of the way, but still in easy access - and I finally have enough space on one desk to do some actual building. … Unfortunately, I haven’t cleaned away any space around the chair, and have to climb over a big pile of stuff in order to get to the desk.  But hey, I’m getting there!

What got my attention was the lead actor depicted in Pirates of Penzance. I did a double take, because I could have sworn it was an ad for Pirates of the Caribbean. You know, the series of movies. See, the lead actor was dressed in - not an homage to Captain Jack Sparrow - but a complete rip-off of the costume. Just in case you think I’m making this up: compare the Opera Australia production with the IMDB photos of the movie.

I didn’t think much more of it other than to tut my head at the design, and think how pathetically desperate producers are to need such a marketing ploy to attract audiences. But tonight, flipping channels on TV, I saw the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corp.) was showing a filmed version of that exact same production. I was curious to see how far the rip-off went and was saddened to see the lead actor perform: the famous Mick Jagger swagger (snuff taken in the nose and all, exactly the same as the movie), in complete Captain Jack Sparrow costume, with… and it really saddens me to say this… a completely Johnny Depp/Sparrow voice. Let me make it clear: the entire show was produced as ‘normal’, except for one particularly obvious attempt at getting audiences to associate a popular movie with an ‘old-fashioned’ style of theatre. And if you still don’t believe me, hey I found a Youtube video of the stage production, which you can view at the bottom of this post.

Just when we think Aussies will never see a major Australian musical onstage, we get this. A British musical, performed by Australians, with an American twist. 

What bugs me the most, is I wonder what happened behind the scenes. Did the actor at any time question the director/producers at being asked to replicate another actor’s own performance? Did he revolt at the accent, or the swagger? Did the costume designer find it annoying to be asked to single out one costume for special ‘treatment’ (aka replication)? Did the producers or marketeers have to convince the director to go with it? Did the rest of the cast and crew just bite their tongues, because frankly, getting full-time paid work in musicals is hard to come by in Australia? Did anyone actually even think, let alone care, that it was a rip-off? And that’s just the list of questions off the top of my head.

You all know what I think of replicas in terms of puppetry, but this is a new one. Is it really ok to blatantly copy another character - voice, costume, blocking, in toto - just to encourage people to come see some live performance in this day and age of new media? Just how far can you go when producing a show to make sure it fits with the current mood of the target audience? And should we really be forcing designers and artists to fit into an audience stereotype simply because it gets bums on seats?

Actually, there’s another extremely valid reason why I need to continue the break: my workshop space is absolutely . A few weeks ago my whole desk space was shifted to another area of the room. I pretty much just shoved everything over, and it’s … er, somewhat chaotic. To the left you see where my desks (I had two, back to back) were placed; right in the middle of the room. Naturally, the rest of the family got sick of walking around my overflow, so it all got pushed to the right-hand corner of the room. You can see the corner of it in the bottom right of the pic.

Not satisfied with being pushed up against a corner wall and facing the wall itself (and therefore away from the TV!! Boo!), I have figured out a temporary third desk which makes a nice three-way bench space. The two desks are at the right and centre of the corner, and the left-hand side of the middle desk I’ve placed some containers of crap (scrap foam, fabrics, etc.) onto which a large piece of MDF (thin wood) rests. It’s not as precarious as it sounds, but I’ll only be using it for placing light things on it. At the left of this (and seen in the first pic) are my rolling set of drawers. 

Just in case you’re wondering just how messy things can be, I suggest you check out the other pic. In the mess somewhere is my sewing machine, scissors, etc etc. I seriously need to sort this stuff out before I can continue making anything. 

I do have a somewhat plan in mind: focus on getting SOP completed, continue on my new job, backtrack and finish some old projects, and the main important thing… get PIM redesigned. I have a web design company in mind, and I’ll be sending off a request for a quote over the next week or so; and I have a more definite idea of what needs to be done now, thanks to setting up SOP. I can see now just how terribly bad my current black design is. I will definitely resume selling stuff, but it probably won’t be for a few months.

That’s right, SOP is finally completely launched. There’s still a few minor things to be fixed, but mostly I’m waiting on assistance and they’re aesthetic issues anyway. I’ve updated PIM to remove the relevant page links in the menu, added migration notices and begun migrating some of the content over.

For those who are regular readers: you will find some redundancy in the posts. However, all the old posts are getting an aesthetic and textual makeover. For example, the video on making a puppet stand has been completely released instead of being pay-per-download. All posts will have more images; like the book review on water puppetry. There is a clearer ‘how to make a puppet‘ post, which will be the starting point for learning about building puppets and links off to various other useful posts. Links now have screenshots of the websites they link to.

And of course, there are brand new posts in the mix… and they’ll keep coming too!

In due course I’ll announce what’s happening with PIM, as I’ve finally made some decisions on that front too. That can wait for another day though, in the meantime, go check out the new post at SOP. 

PS. If you have better suggestions, let me know! There are some holes at the bottom of the list, and it would also be great to match up some of the villains from Farscape to other characters in Heroes.

Farscape			Heroes			Explanation
Aeryn Sun			Claire Bennet (AKA The Cheerleader)			This is one of those hard-to-match characters. But I think I landed on the Cheerleader because she’s a tough chick, whose hard shell breaks to a soft centre. … Or some such crap like that.
John Crichton			Peter Petrelli			Like John, Peter’s a normal guy just trying to do the right thing in a messed-up situation. He’ll climb mountains for his family, loves his mum, and tends to use his ability as a last resort.
Ka D’argo			Matt Parkman			Another odd match. But I like this one all the same: both characters are dealing with a rip from their wives and child. Parkman tends to want to protect others (in his role as a cop), and D’argo is the same as a general/captain.
Chiana			Daphne Millbrook			Short, cool, funky, a thief, fast on her feet… and of course, the white hair is a match.
Zotoh Zhaan			Niki Sanders			I struggled with this one, and yeah this is the oddest match in the pack. But I think it might just be pulled off if we look at it like this: Both characters deal with split personalities (Zhaan is the calm savage), will protect their families above all else, have incredible physical strength but a power struggle in their own minds.
Scorpius			Sylar			The villian everyone loves to hate, who also has a ‘human’ side. Other characters may develop trust or even love with them.
Bialar Crais			Nathan Petrelli			A slightly odd match. The pair’s ambition causes them to do things they wouldn’t normally do, at the expense of others, and even themselves at times. But they sometimes end up doing the right thing.
Rygel			Eric Doyle			Ok, yeah these two don’t really go together. It’s hard to find a match for a green slug. But I couldn’t help the magnetism of drawing Rygel the puppet to Doyle the puppeteer.
Einstein			Hiro Nakamura			Like Einstein, Hiro can bend time to his will. Both want to protect the space-time continuum, and come from a line of great ancestors who do the same.
Captain Braca			Ando Masahashi			The sidekick: given a brief sense of freedom and responsibility over the course of the series, these characters however will always and forever be… Robin to their Batman.
Namtar (AKA read it backwards)			Mohinder Suresh			The mad scientist who experiments on live patients - and himself.
Peacekeepers			The Company			I just had to add this match in. Tasked with bringing order to a chaotic world, the people and aims have become corrupted over time.
Commandant Grayza			Angela Petrelli			These screwed up women will stop at nothing to get peace: using whatever weapons they have in their arsenal, from motherly love (Angela) to hypno-drugs (Grayza).
Xhalax Sun (AKA Aeryn’s mum)			Meredith Gordon			These mothers can take a lot of heat, are estranged from their daughters, and on occasion put them through hell in order to teach them a lesson.
Jack Crichton (AKA John’s dad)			Arthur Petrelli			Together with Crichton/Peter, the Jack/Arthur match pairs up into sons/fathers. And this match describes fathers who want the best for their son, are idolised by them, but never quite live up to the reality of the son’s ideals.
Rorf			Emile Danko			Killer/tracker for hire.
			Elle Bishop
			Noah Bennet
Sikozu
Jool
Stark
Noranti
Pilot

This is the last family member of my mother’s father’s side (ie. maternal grandfather to me, this was his brother), not to mention a wonderfully buoyant personality. He was the joker of the family, and we’re all very sad to see him go. Obviously the weekend was not a fun time in my household, hence the lack of updates on the site and the hasty take-down of my products on Thurs night.

(For those who are wondering about the title of the post, it’s a Farscape episode, wherein one of the main characters dies. The title refers to life being one big wheel we’re strapped to, and just when you can’t handle being underwater for much longer, the wheel lifts you up into the air. … I don’t know, it seems appropriate right now)

… The following will seem slightly odd to mention here, but I will just in case: I’ve turned off commenting temporarily. I’m getting spammed once or twice a day now, and don’t have the time or patience to look for solutions right now. The best I can do is turn it off so I’m not bombarded by idiots with links. 

I will also add that I will not be selling anything for a while. Because of the events over the weekend, I had to postpone starting my new job, and am also somewhat distracted right now, so making and selling stuff will have to wait. - Don’t despair though. I have managed to fix a lot of what I needed to in order to get SOP up and running, all that’s left is to re-edit the base content, press a couple of buttons, reset the viewer count, and then begin redirecting stuff from here to there. I’m glad to say that on Monday I should be posting new content to the site, as well as redirecting the old. My first post for the site is a little fire-starter, so all you impatient readers can rest assured it’s entirely new text, new theme, new everything and may spark some chatter amongst puppet lovers.

My great uncle and his de facto loved attending the theatre, and were always the first to turn up to my puppet shows (or shows in general). I’m not sure he would have understood the whole online writing thing, but I do know he would have loved seeing more of my work and would have liked the idea I was teaching others how to do it. Here’s hoping SOP has a long life, full of laughter and joy, just like my uncle. 

Please be patient with me, 

A few related updates: Those who subscribe to RSS/email updates will discover that I have now solved the problem of combined feeds. You will automatically be updated of posts both on PIM and SOP, once the two bunches of posts are split. I thought it would be better to do a combined feed than have two separate ones, so people don’t have to resubscribe or anything.

I have however created a Facebook page for SOP, as well as a separate Twitter account. It’s most likely that the SOP Twitter account won’t be used that much though; I’ve also made auto-retweet bots, which means you won’t miss out on anything if you subscribe to the PIM account (or vice versa). I have also decided to make two Youtube accounts. This will mean reuploading all the videos, and losing viewer numbers/comments/ratings, but it doesn’t bother me too much - one, I can always gain the ground again, and two, it’s much better to separate out what PIM does in video (ie. shadow puppets) and what SOP does (ie. everything else).

I’ve fixed up the commenting, having given up on lightbox commenting - which worked all bar the link text - and done something else instead. Head here: http://www.schoolofpuppetry.com.au/books.php/book-review-the-foam-book#comments . For some reason, IE hates something on that page, and commenting doesn’t show up. Stupid IE. Note that you should see comments against a black background. … Scroll up…. Yeah, not being a fan of the whole ‘comments under the blog post’ thing, I figured out that you can’t really get away from it without some creative design (like lightboxes!), and instead did something slightly subtle. By sticking the comments below the footer itself - and note that the page design is actually bordered by black anyway - the comments actually seem ‘out of the way’ despite still being quite visible on the page. Clicking on the ‘close comments’ will just take you to the top of the page, but if you click the ‘comments’ link itself - from the main page, the top of the single page, or the comments list on the home page - then you would quickly assume you had just arrived at a lightbox or separate comments page. I’m not entirely happy with this, preferring the lightbox, but it’s a decent enough compromise.

I’ve also sorted out the little thing of page headers and category headers; whenever someone views, say the Tutorials page, there should be something to tell them they’re on that page. I was intending on adding a slogan or page header, but discovered it’s redundant due to the menu links being highlighted in a different colour according to which page you’re on. I have however added a small text under the site’s logo on non-linked pages (ie. the Archives). This is the same area where category headers go; as on the ‘Puppet type‘ category page.

… Ok, that’s the main crux of what’s been done. But now for more about the actual migration.

As mentioned, I hope to complete everything within the fortnight - there’s still a lot of editing of the content already there to be done, but that’s minor stuff and can be done quickly - but some news today means that I may take longer than expected.

See, I just landed myself a brand new job! (Hmm, where’s the smiley for throwing streamers? Oh well, never mind, have this instead: ) My good friends and previous employers, David and Fiona, have some more work going and on hearing that, ‘applied’. It’s in apostrophes because really I just replied to a tweet. But anyway, we had an informal chat today and I’m happy to say I’ll be working part-time on doing content for one of their new ventures (being entrepeneurs in website businesses, they tend to have a lot of projects going at once). 

This is good news in more than one way: money for me (yay!); good work with great people; part time hours… and best of all, I can work from home. It may take me longer to finish SOP… or it might not. 

As a little side note, I briefly chatted with D&F about the new site, and what I was doing with it, and am pleased to report that they thought the teachers’ packs was a good idea. These are the guys who sold their online business - Arts Hub - for an undisclosed large amount of money, so I’m especially pleased that my ideas that I’ve developed on my own seem to have some merit. Yay for being on the right track!