I've been following your blog and I want to thank you for making the effort to tell us about the convention.  I know this has stretched your comfort zone a bit but I can also tell from your writing that its an exciting experience for you as well.  Good luck on finishing your bunraku head.

oooooo I hope the next one is in China because I go there every year for vacation and hubby's work.  That would be easy for me to go to.  Thanks for all the info!

Aloha,
Nikole

Hey everyone!

Thank you for your thank yous! I've just come back from a really astounding show, that you should all check out on my blog - it was fucking brilliant (I rarely swear, even online, so it must be good!).

I'm very happy - I didn't get to finish the head, but it came out ok and I can finish it fine at home in 20 min or so (minus a paint job of course). Hopefully I can have more pics tomorrow, as it's free carnival day and the Million Puppet Project counts and hopefully goes into the Guiness Book of Records!

Glad all of you are enjoying reading it, and glad I can help share the experience!

More news from Perth:

And the winner is..... *drum roll*

China!!!!

http://africanpuppet.blogspot.com/2008/04/unima-goes-to-china.html

I've also taken about 190 photos today, of lots of different puppets, and an exciting behind-the-scenes view of a Japanese performance - and for Nikole, I managed to get to the flea circus after all!

Na...you are the BEST!  Thanks for the write up on the flea circus.  It was a great read for me to learn from for when I perform my circus act.  I probably have the same style of flea circus as his.  I'm sure we got the same plans from the same guy....hehe.  Mine also has the water splash tank with high dive and cannon that shoots out with a small flame.  I will be performing on the streets of Waikiki so my audience will be tightly together which I think is the perfect venue.  I have also booked the Honolulu zoo at the end of June which will also be an outdoor walk by event.  Reading your review has given me insight of what to look for when performing to avoid those obstacles....THANK YOU VERY VERY MUCH!!!  Sorry you had to wait in line for a bit of a disappointment.  I'll make a video of my show and send it to you!

CHINA.....WOOHOO!!!!!!   
This is an amazing site for the next Unima congress.  I'm so excited!!!!!!!!  Like I said before, we travel there on business and pleasure at least once a year so I will be sure to make our business arrangements around the time of the congress.  For anyone who has not traveled to China, let me just say....you have a lot of time now to save up.  Visiting China is soooooo worth it.  To me, it is life changing.  The country is so amazingly beautiful.  There are breath-taking views around every corner.  China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Japan (and Okinawa) are my favorite countries to visit in Asia.  I'm still trying to sway a trip to Cambodia.

The puppetry is so amazing in mainland China.  Once, we saw a man who did street performance (which I will include in my future book...hehe) that has a box with a bench in front of it.  You sit on the bench and look through a tiny window that only you can see through.  There is room for three people to sit at a time.  You pay like a dollar and then the puppeteer begins.  He will do shadow puppetry and sing operatically behind the box for those looking through.  It is quite the show just as a bystander also.  Sorry I didn't have my camera on me that day to get a picture but the next time I go, I will be SURE to carry my camera everywhere I go.  I looked online to see if anyone else posted pictures of him in the area to no avail.  My mother did talk to him (since she speaks Chinese) and he told her that he could sell her one.  The next time she goes to China (in the fall) she told me she would buy one for me to perform on the streets of Waikiki.  I'll be sure to get pictures...HA HA HA.  I hope I explained it well.  It is like those old time mechanisms that you looked through for like a penny at the penny arcades.  Like flip books except this was puppetry...AMAZING!  I'm sure I could build one, too but I really liked the set up he had going and of course it was CHEAP!!!  Everything in China is so inexpensive.  I feel like a queen when I go shopping there.  Be sure to take only one bag with you there and then buy another new bag for all the souvenirs you will be taking home with you.  I have found that that shipping is not extreme either.  So for that large puppet box, I will be shipping that and I bet it will be less than $100 for shipping.  I think that is how much he is charging for the whole unit!!!  Can you believe it???  So, start saving up NOW EVERYONE!!!  2012....mark your calendars and get your passports NOW!

Aloha,
Nikole

THANKS AGAIN NA!!!  YOU ROCK!!!

I agree that China is a wonderful, beautiful country in many ways and home to fantastic puppetry, but doesn't anyone think it sends the wrong message to a government that is continuing to deny its citizens many basic human rights and brutally suppress anyone who opposes it yet another prestigious international event?

I am not one of those people calling to boycott China or the Olympics, but I do think the world community needs to take a carrot and stick approach to diplomacy with China. The country obviously craves international prestige and recognition and I think any further prestige and recognition should be conditional on China making some progress in areas like human rights.

Na...you are the BEST!  Thanks for the write up on the flea circus.  It was a great read for me to learn from for when I perform my circus act.  Reading your review has given me insight of what to look for when performing to avoid those obstacles....THANK YOU VERY VERY MUCH!!!  Sorry you had to wait in line for a bit of a disappointment.  I'll make a video of my show and send it to you!

No worries - it turns out the performer is the one who gave me a travel grant to come to Perth, and when I found out I made sure to see the show and introduce myself. I don't think the show was really all that bad, just that it wasn't suited to the venue size. It was extremely popular with families, so it's probably just me... I'd love a video!

As for the China thing, I'm not sure what I think about it. I don't know enough about the history of China/Tibet, but obviously I know about the recent activities. I do love Chinese puppetry and the traditional Chinese arts,  and do want to go there... but the current situation does make things odd to go there for the festival. (I was secretly hoping for Russia, as my family is from Europe)

Rats, I always find things after I post.

Nikole, Hilary just posted a pic of the flea circus:

awwwwww what a great photo!  Man, his traveling flea circus is so tiny....so cute!  Mine is at least twice as big.  I mean the items inside are as tiny as his but the case is much larger so I guess there is more room for the fleas to run around....HA HA HA. 

Thanks again for posting that picture!
Nikole 

Glad to help!

I think personally, the flea circus needed to be bigger. I know it's supposed to be small, but even a little bigger would have helped - but I guess it all depends on how big a venue you perform it in.