Well I have not seen the movie yet but I would bet that they where trying more to say that "greed" was bad and not being rich.   I do have to agree that in America that news is no longer journalism but entertainment and editorial opinions.  Even the news programs that I do watch you can tell if they are liberal or conservative. Unbiased reporting is a thing of the past.

Looks good to me Naomi. The only suggestion I might have is to offer it in pdf format instead of Excel since not everyone has Office installed on their computer. That being said there is a free program that can read office files. You could also include a link on the page to it. Open Office.

Flat Eric is either animation or if he is "real" I would bet the hands are controlled by computer or circuit board.

Go ahead and ask about what you are having a problem with. I also think you could post bits of the pattern that you are having an issue with. As long as you are not redistributing them it would be fine. Also that might help others down the line who are having a problem.

Woo Hoo! Heavy metal Cookie Monster... I love it!

I doubt you are really going to find much in the books that are out there of for that matter even any videos. I've never really seen one that goes into that much detail about manipulation theory. You actually might have better luck looking at books written on acting.

The theories behind an actor creating a convincing character are really the same when it comes to puppetry.  Rather it be a person or an animal you need to study the original and look at what movement and actions define them. Not only did they look at the breathing in War Horse but they also where studying the movement and position of the ears and the gaits of the animal. I know the spent a lot of time at the stables looking at horses.

I recieved this email via the contact page. I am pretty sure it is Dutch since that is what Google tried to translate it from but I was hoping that maybe one of our Danish speaking members could help me out and maybe reply to this person. If you are willing to help out let me know and I can PM you the persons email.  I do think that they are asking about how to make a puppet and where they can get materials to do it. I am just not sure if they mean a Muppet type of puppet or another kind.

Here is the original email.

Hallo ik ben Debora 17 jaar en ga over enkele weken voor een jaar naar Roemenië om daar kansarme kinderen te helpen nu wil ik daar met poppen gaan werken omdat je zo het makkelijkst contact legt met de kinderen.Nu heb ik een vraag heeft u misschien een patroon van de poppen en een materiaallijst met wat ik moet hebben om een pop te maken.Ik ben behoorlijk creatief.Ik hoop dat u mij kan helpen.

I'll send them a link to this post also so perhaps they will stop by and read replies to it.

Pretty cool!

Normally regulation of speed is dependent on your foot pressure as you guessed. It may just take some practice. You could try flipping the pedal the other way. I know it sounds strange but there have been times I felt this gave me more control.

I went through the "moving of the parents" about a year ago. Actually I was lucky my sister did the big part of helping them downsize and then I came in on the last week and just helped with the actual move.

In regards to Branson, it should be fun for you. I've never been myself but know several folks who live and work there. One whole wardrobe crew that works one of the Rockette tours is from there. The one thing I've heard of is the "Noah's Ark" show. It has both live animals and animatronic puppets in it. Sounds like it would be a good family show. Then again every show in Branson is family friendly that I know of.  If they still have "Dixi Stampede", I would recommend it. I have not been to the one there but have to another one and it is really a fun show and you get dinner with it!  I had seen it in past years in Myrtle Beach. This year it was replaced with "Pirate Voyage" which we saw. Kind of funny to see Dolly Parton dressed up as a Pirate. She owns both shows and makes recorded appearances.