Hatchee-hatchee hatchee-hao!!

Here's one of the unpainted fox masks I've been making to sell in Austin, Tx before Halloween. I'll post some others too.

One man's trash is another man's creepy puppet monster head

Here's a couple pictures of the before and after of some of the monster heads I made for "The Complex", part of The Head, a puppet performance by Trouble Puppet of Austin, TX. It's a cardboard base, with paper mâché, spray paint and sponge painted highlights with some fake moss I made from salvaged couch stuffing. 

Cardboardeus ex machina

Here is a switchboard that I made for Trouble Puppet's "The Head". Naturally it runs off of puppet power.

Time travel

There's a crazy smorgasbord of awesome stories to share that encompass the last year on the bus and in life in general, but that will take a bit of time to share. In the mean time, I'm going to post small snippets of the current adventure so it doesn't keep piling up on that huge post-post.

Currently, Stella and I have gone back to Austin TX, to work with Trouble Puppet (an AWESOME puppet group headed by puppet wizard Connor Hopkins). Here's some photos of me working with Marc Smith (build-genius puppet creator), and a pair of rad mechanic spectacles and badass helmet that Stella created for the lead character of the upcoming show "The Head".

Also, here's a picture of a huge succulent.

Halloween!

For Halloween Stella and I dressed up and handed out candy/put the fear of Halloween back into the trick-or-treaters expecting free candy for nothing. Gotta get those little hearts pumping!

Rainbow Kids

So...

While on our usual daily trip to Lowes, I was talking to the 50-something cashier while Stella ran back to check the price on a fitting. The cashier was making small talk about how she'll miss the place when she leaves and I asked if she was planning on leaving soon, and she said no, that she just felt like people didn't act the same anymore. When I asked about that, she said that she felt that her parents' generation had it all figured out (manners and moral direction-wise) and that she felt that her generation had helped to corrupt the youth of today with selfish behavior, and prolific drug use. I told her that I knew what she was talking about and that I had met some of those kinds of corrupted youth while I was traveling this last year. She was very curious about that, so I started to tell her about my experiences, (mostly with transient kids following rainbow gatherings) but all I could get out was "yeah, rainbow kids are just really selfish.." when Stella came back to the register. The woman was wide-eyed! "what are you guys talking about." said Stella."oh, I was just talking about rainbow kids." I said. "oh yeah, rainbow kids don't care about anything but themselves." Stella said. The cashier was aghast. "you've travelled and seen them too!?!?" . "oh yeah, just a bunch of young kids doing drugs." said Stella. "there just a bunch of young kids that don't have any good role models." I said as we finished up our transaction and walked for the door. visibly shaken by hearing about "rainbow kids", she wished us a happy thanksgiving and a "god  bless!". I had to laugh a little bit because I felt bad not being able to fully describe the context of what the heck I was talking about to the cashier since she seemed a bit freaked out. Later on, at the bus, after Stella told me about her run-ins with rainbow kids, I googled "rainbow kids" to try and find more stories. The first hit on google is www.rainbowkids.com....an adoption website! Stella and I crumpled to the floor laughing so hard we were crying thinking about the conversation. Every thing we said was unintentionally applicable to this website that this poor cashier was going to inevitably google. When she does search for "rainbow kids", she'll see this site filled with pictures of cute kids..."who don't care about anybody but themselves, with no role models, doin a bunch of drugs."

The Third Busketeer

Dan sent me this excellently eloquent recounting of his journey on the bus:


I, The Third Busketeer
by Daniel Evans Tinsley

What can I say?
There was once a musical sensation that formed in the hollow of that big green bus. Of this pop collective, I was third of the Three Busketeers. My name is Dantagnion, and I joined Petethos and Arimos in the early months of two-thousand-and-twelve. The home of Athens is where they met me. We were introduced by the fairy spirit, Gretchen, who sings to animals. She called us into her pow wow pot luck, and the universe shall never forget that instance of acquaintance. Afterward, we went to the apartment of Jake, the great keeper of WiFi to watch Dr. Who.
My chapters of journey initiated with the visitation of that fairy spirit Gretchen in her waffle castle to say goodbyes with juke box medleys heralding our sure adventures. And the rumbling of that bus hoisted us away away.
I dare not delve too intricately into the details of my recollections-- lest those bright triumphs inflate this blog entry into a novella. But with the great enjoyment of brevity, I shall present only a montage of events in this florid writing style:
The vessel had just been tailored to perform with the peculiar fuel of dumpster grease. And while Pete the pilot steered at the helm, Ari and I manned the new oil boilers. It was a pirate crew like none the Highway 7C (seven seas) had ever been privy to. When the barrels became dry, the ship set port in safety and we scouted for fuel to pillage. Docking in Savannah, our eyes found no great grease, but was here that we first tried our talent as bards of the street.
Musicians we became, whose tunes did rap along the cobblestone streets of that curious city, St. Augustine. In league with ghosts, tricksters, dancers, drunks, popcorn vendors, jewelry craftsmen, polite police, and bonfire magicians, our eyes did wander and wonder through the haze of ocean mist that permeated that haunted town.
An oasis of peace came as we ventured out to West Palm Beach, where there was Kate. She maintained a calm abode. Cats and Eastern European roommates entertained us as we laundered our oil-soaked clothes. Kate let us borrow her dinghy to tarry at the beach and to siphon oil in the night.
Welcomed by a junkyard friend, we jumped the peninsula to St. Petersburg. There we swam in the open Gulf and gulped down tasty waffles. From there we headed to a haven in Jackson. But bus troubles befell this leg of our journey. At Mendenhall those great Samaritans had compassion rewarded with satiated curiosities. We witnessed the auctioning of tarnished treasures.
Onward to Jackson! Amongst the most hospitable of damsels we stayed within that rag-tag city. So enchanted with our performances, they entreated that we stay and play in the night cafe of a university. Games were had here, kicking in jest a cracked water vessel. Rubbish pizza over sirens' callings, what silly whims possessed us?
The damsel Rose accompanied our departure to the great Creole capital, New Orleans. We pioneered that DIY RV wharf, Bustopia. Twas our home beside the banging beasts, that clattered and clanged at every hour. Joining our new colony were the German honeymooners, the Frenchman from New Amsterdam, and free-spirited family of Ray, Felicia, and little 2-year-old Bowie (Bowie the Bada$$).
This city of celebration had every sort of people: tree-house people, tall-bicycle people, jungle camoflage people, projection people, fire swinging people, musical people, 4-square people, square dance people, pedal-cab people, water-supplying people, street artist people, plastic bead people, and gypsy people.
Pete bartered off his goods at the French Market. Ari departed on an expedition to the far-north tribal territory. I mostly looked, in vain, for labor.
Bustopia was bombed by tragedy one fatal night. There is no exaggeration of the human language which can heighten the terror of this event to its true proportions. This night, a vessel of gypsys were welcomed at our encampment. One among them aroused anger from a local gang of violent hoodlums. The whole mob stormed into our once peaceful village, demanding barbaric justice. Glass was broken, captives taken, an innocent girl was stomped in the face.
Before this event, I had felt compelled to return to my debts in Athens. Now I had an opportunity for a free-ride back to my home with a bus of circus jugglers, the Safety Third team. As glass still lay shattered on that asphalt pier, I said my goodbyes, and departed. But, twas not the ultimate segment of my great adventures as the third Busketeer!
Wait...for part II.

--

-Daniel