The first day of summer was last week and the humidity has been fierce! Although where I lived the highest temperature has reached an average of 88-92 degrees and when you go outside the heat and humidity literally hits you in the face.

Fall is usually my favorite season because it has my birthday and Halloween during that time. However summer is quickly becoming my second favorite season.

Why is summer becoming a quick fave season of mine? Well I like the fact that I make ice cream a more standard meal in my diet:

I get happy when I hear the ringing bell of the ice cream truck . I start chasing it a block or two well last week it was almost 2.5 blocks and get my firecracker pop. Also I think we should make National Ice Cream day (July 17) a national holiday and be able to get a free scoop of ice cream at our favorite ice cream store.

I enjoy opening the windows of the house on cooler days and reading in my living room with the window open. I enjoy wearing dresses and not having to wear pants until it gets colder.

I enjoy leaving work and not being in total darkness. So I am able to enjoy the sunlight a little bit longer and embraced the sun. I like being able to put down my windows in my car and blast my summer music playlist. Currently there is a lot of Stevie Nicks on there:

Summer only lasts for a short time. So enjoy the sunshine!

What is your favorite season of the year? Comment below!

Until next time:)

This week’s artist’s spotlight is on @yourfriendopal !

1. How did you become a puppeter?

“hmmm good question, I guess I became one when I first got into a Snuff Puppet, they’re an organisation I idolise and now work for. I remember the first time putting one of their really scary skeleton puppets, and when I took it off I was a different person. I first saw the snuffles at Footscray station, and seeing these massive puppets, the Boom family, I knew it was something I had to peruse. 

I struggled most of my young adulthood not really knowing what my medium was but knowing I was an artist. I grew up with friends who were incredibly talented painters, illustrators, film makers, my sister is a special effects make up artist and my grandparents were, amongst many other things, theatre makers. There are so many barriers to puppetry, especially the kind I work in which are full body giant puppets, they’re very expensive and time consuming to make, and once they’re built they live in my bedroom with me, watching and scaring people who’ve come back to mine. 

I think I started calling myself a puppeteer after my first show in a festival, but have found that across mediums, not just puppetry, there can be a lot of imposter syndrome, sometimes I ask myself, “am I really a puppeteer? This is not my beautiful wife, how did I get here?” 

And I remember that the most important thing to do is to believe in my work, because if you don’t believe in your work, why should anyone else?

That imposter syndrome keeps me present and in awe of how lucky I am that people trust me to bring horrible incredible things into the world. Who’d have thought this freak would be supported in doing this? I didn’t, until I did.”

2. How do you create a persona for every puppet you do? What is the process?

“

It really depends what they’re for!

They definitely all have their own personas, but I find he most interesting thing is other people putting on the puppets and seeing who’s persona comes out then! 

Bringing a puppet to life is the wildest, funniest most experimental part of the whole thing. 

The first big one I made was OOZLUM, a massive glittery bird from space. As time has gone on OOZLUM has really showed his true colours, she’s a bit of a party puppet and loves bashing down hallway on the way to the dance floor. It’s quite impractical being 7ft tall and about a meter wide but I guess that’s just the kinda bird they wanted to be. I love that bird a lot, their face makes me laugh often. 

I’d create a puppet with an intention, but it isn’t until the puppeteer shares their heartbeat with it that it shows you who they really are. 

I made a small horrible muppet style puppet for a show a few years ago called War, one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, these days you’re more likely to find him being used by me to lipsync Carpenters songs. you can really never tell who they’ll grow up to be.”

3. Who are your top 3 favorite puppets and why?

“

My puppets or other peoples? I’ll go with other peoples, my puppet-idols

I think the first time I was shaken to my core by a puppet was Slappy from the Goosebumps show, or was it a movie? I recently watched night of the living dummy 2 for the first time since I was little and damn, that little puppet is equally hilarious and terrifying. I remember why it scared me so much when I was a wee baby

A puppet that makes me laugh the most would be the Snuff Puppet’s Magpie. I’ve mostly seen my friend and puppet sibling Olivia (@sausagewoman) in it. Magpies have such funny creepy little movements anyway, seeing it sized up to larger than a human and watching it swoop and skip around makes me laugh a lot (not to mention how unhinged and hilarious it is when you just put the head on and run around with human legs poking out the bottom of a magpies head!)

And I think a lot of puppeteers have a soft spot for Punch and Judy, I grew up on a small island near the UK so I spent a lot of time at the beach or a place called “The Living Legend” that told the story of the island with puppets and horrific animatronics.  It’s a tragedy that it closed down. The story is super hyper-violent, Punch playing a kind of squeaky voiced Ned Kelly, constant run ins and escapes from the law and sometimes features super hectic inter-spousal abuse and even infanticide. 

It’s a super old show, it’s roots are in the 16th century. I wonder what it looks like now, and if they’re still doing such an unhinged show.

Puppetry has a superpower to be able to show things that if you showed with human actors would be a lot more “unacceptable”. I like being able to explore that boundary with them and audiences. “

4. What is the creative process for making a puppet?

“I usually start with a sketch, and decide if I’m going for a muppet style glove puppet or a giant one, or somewhere in between. Sometimes really big puppets still have glove mouths, like muppets, except you control their arms with pulleys instead of rods.

Big ones use things like cane to build their structures attached to a backpack with ropes and pulleys inside, and the smaller ones are felt and foam and ping pong balls for eyes. 

 I like creating a bit of a backstory for them and naming them, but they don’t really come to life until you’re able to put it on and, like I said earlier, share your heartbeat with them. Without the beating of your heart, they’re just objects and it’s only when you share your life force with them, do they become sacred objects that we ca use to better understand ourselves, by figuring out who they are, how they make audiences feel, and how they react to the world around them.”

5. Do you have any exciting events or news that you would like to share?

“Yes! I JUST this week received a grant and a space to create my first major work. it’s called HELLMOUTH22, and I’ll be working over the next few months to build a whole cast of new characters to tell the story of the last humans, the descendants of modern day billionaires who escaped into a pocket dimension when they realised the couldn’t get to mars to run away from climate change. It’s a show about loneliness, shortsightedness and the ways we recreate what we’ve been taught unless we make the decision to be different from the people that came before us.

It’ll be at The Bluestone Church Art Space in Footscray for Melbourne’s Frimge Festival 2022. See you there, maybe for the final late night Saturday showing??

And on July 8th at Collingwood Yards, Liang Luscombe will be showing Malamadre, a film I helped out on as Daphne, an intergalactic parasite who’s simply divine darling. If you’re around come check it out!

can’t wait to show you!”

If you like more information. The following contact information is below:

Instagram: @yourfriendopal

@opal_puppets

Website: https://yourfriendopal.com/

Email: yourfriendopal@gmail.com

Hello I decided to bring this section back to the blog because I recently started re watching season one of the Simpsons. It reminded me how many different characters reside in Springfield! Here are five characters that I did not know a lot about:

Baby Gerald Samson:

Also known as Maggie Simpson’s foe on the series. This tiny baby stands out of the crowd with his amazing unibrow and baby hair curl. He and Maggie were born on the same day at Springfield General Hospital.

Gerald and Maggie bitter feud started right from birth. There was only one diaper left between the two of them at the hospital so it was given to Maggie. While Gerald had a make shift diaper of a local market newspaper. He ended up getting a really horrible rash and blamed Maggie for it. He is always plotting revenge towards her even during nap time.

Wendell Borton:

Classmate and friend of Bart Simpson is Wendell Burton. His parents are Mr. and Mrs. Burton. He is most remember for helping Martin Price win class president.

And for having a sensitive stomach.

Daphne Burns:

Daphne Burns is the mother of Mr. Burns. He was married to Clifford Burns but had an affair with President Taft. Which was an unforgiveable thing for her son so he cut off communicate with her. She possibly had more than 12 children and had Charles when she was 17. She has a very sharp tongue and mean with like her son Charles.

Clancy Bouvier:

Father to Selma, Patty and Marge and husband to Jacqueline. He held job as an flight attendant but didn’t want it to be known. He was also in the navy and is missing a leg from an operation gone wrong. His hair color often switched to blue to red during the handful of times he appeared on the show.

Gaby:

She was part of a passing carnival and had a one time affair with Abe Simpson because she was paid. She ended up having baby named Herbert Powell who is Homer Simpson half-brother. So when the carnival came back to town Gaby presented him with the baby.

I might do another part 5 of this series of this blog. What characters did you wonder more about on the show? Comment below~~~

!!

Until next time!!!

Source: Simpsons wiki and youtube.com

This week I interviewed an amazing person: @kashmeredanny !

1. Tell me about yourself:

“Hi! I’m Danny Murphy, and I’m a comedian, media host and content creator that lives in the NYC area — and by that I mean New Jersey. I’m a vegetarian who is always in need of an additional iced coffee, so when I’m not working I am walking to either get more food or another cup of caffeine. I’m currently a co-host of Betches’ hit show Not Another True Crime Podcast and also host a weekly segment on SiriusXM along with being a host for Page Six. On top of that, I’m the creator of Venti Vents, a digital destination full of relatable rants!”

2. How did you start working with @betches ?

“I started working with Betches ooh — back at the end of 2018 actually. I was freelancing for a few magazine sites and got the attention of their Editor-In-Chief who asked me to start writing for them. Around that time I was also doing stand-up and a comedian I knew from the comedy community who works at Betches posted that they were looking for a new co-host for their true crime podcast. I applied and after a few auditions, got picked and the rest is history! We just had our 2nd live show and it’s been so much fun growing with the company! “

3. Who are your top five favorite housewives’ and why?

“Omg, this is HARD. But I think I need to do Gizelle Bryant and Karen Huger from Potomac, because they’re both hysterical and I love watching them feud together. Leah McSweeney from RHONY is also amazing — because she’s super fun but also super down to earth and supportive of the people in her circle. I’m also a huge fan of Bethenny Frankel because I mean, I mainly just fantasize about her savings account and wonder how I can get mine to look anything like hers lol. And 5th… this is hard, but I think I’m going to go Garcelle from RHOBH because she has been making such great moments in the seasons she has been on and I love how she is the perfect balance of fun to watch while also keeping the drama going.”

4. Can you talk a little about the podcast: Not another True Crime Podcast?

“Not Another True Crime Podcast actually first started without me! It launched with Sara Levine (my current cohost!) and she was doing it with someone else. Then when Sara was looking for a new co-host to join, I auditioned for it which was great practice for auditioning and luckily got the position! Together we plan episodes, make outlines, and try to make sure that our listeners are getting a great episode each week. “

5. Do you have a favorite true crime topic on your podcast that you covered? Why was it your favorite?

“I think my favorite may have had to been a recent one we covered about Kari Ferrell, the Hipster Grifter. I liked it a lot cause it was a local scam that had such insane twists. I love covering scams because they usually lean a bit lighter in terms of content sometimes — which is also why a recent favorite episode was one we did with the Scam Goddess herself, Laci Mosley!”

6. Do you have any exciting events or news that you would like to share?

” Besides my hosting gigs online, I am hosting a comedy show at The Stand called ‘Pass the Aux’ every other month and am always looking to jump into new things! Stay tuned on my Instagram @kashmeredanny! 

If you would like more information on Danny. The following contact information is below:

Instagram: @kashmeredanny

A Cry in the Dark (1988) based on a true story. Starring Meryl Streep and Sam Neill. This movie was had another title called “Evil Angels” only in New Zealand and Australia.

The Chamberlain family is from Australia and they decided to go on camping trip to a place called Uluru, Australia.

This place is also called Ayers Rock and has a massive sand formation in the middle of the southern part of Australia.

The wife is named Lindy Chamberlain and the husband is named Michael Chamberlain. They took their three children including two month old Azaria Chamberlain on the camping trip. On the late hours of August 17, 1980 Lindy made a report to the authorities that Azaria was taken while sleeping in their tent by a dingo.

A dingo is a kind of dog that is found in the wilds of Australia. During the timeframe when the baby was taken there was a huge search for her but they no luck in locating her. However they did find an article of clothing a couple of days later a couple of miles from the campsite. A dirty jumpsuit with dried blood was found around the neck of the suit.

When Lindy Chamberlain described Azaria to the authorities of what she was wearing. She claimed in addition to the jumpsuit she was also wearing an article of clothing called a matinee jacket. However that was not found with the jumpsuit.

The Chamberlains maintained that a dingo did take Azaria but suspicion quickly drew to the couple that they killed the baby and made up a cover up story. Although a park ranger named Derek Roff did make claims to the Australia government that there was a high number of dingos in the park and he fear human danger. He wanted to remove the high amount of dingos to avoid any human tragedies. He noted the fact that the dingos in the area were being temperamental, following and biting campers.

The Australian people did not believe the Chamberlains claim at all due to Lindy demeanor during her interviews. The public used the the words such as “cold-hearted”, “too stoic, and had a quick whatever attitude about what happen to her baby.

After various inquests (some of them were even on TV) Lindy and Michael Chamberlain were charged for Azaria’s death. It was claimed that Lindy slit Azaria’s throat and hid her body in a small camera case that they had while camping. Started making dinner for her other children and then claiming that her daughter was taken by a dingo. Then preceded to hid Azaria’s body while the other campers were searching for the baby. The court grilled Lindy about Azaria’s clothing since the matinee jacket was never found so they believed she made the clothing she was actually wearing a lie. They also brought in some experts for the prosecutors side and claim that it was such an outrageous lie that the family made about the missing baby. Lindy was found guilty and sent to life in prison while her husband Michael was convicted of “being an accessory after the fact.” He was sentenced to 18-months but it was suspended since he was a sole proprietor of the family.

Lindy was convicted on October 29, 1982 and sentence while she was seven months pregnant with her fourth child. During a round of appeals Lindy was finally release on February 7, 1986 when new evidence was submitted to the case. During a search of a missing tourist around Ayers Rock they not only located the body of the missing tourist but authorities also found the matinee jacket that Lindy said Azaria was wearing at the time of her being taken by the dingo.

Proving once and for all Lindy’s statement was true after all. It granted Lindy to be able to go home and the case was reopened and the Chamberlains were acquitted in 1988. Finally in 2012 the Chamberlain family wanted to clear their name and in June of that year an Australian coroner made a final decision on that case. Confirming that Azaria was taken by a dingo during their family vacation to Ayers rock and was killed by the dingo.

Here is a video above about Lindy’s feelings about the coroner’s finding.

The movie “A Cry in the Dark” is available to watch in any platform. I watched the movie through the criterion collection channel.

Sources: IMDB.com, youtube.com and wikipedia.

Until next time!!

This week I interviewed @leighlahav !

1. Tell me a little about yourself:

” hello instagram friends everywhere! I am Leigh Lahav, animator, writer and lover of sharing weird shit on my insta stories. I hop every couple of years between my homes Tel Aviv and Los Angeles, and complain about both respectively whenever i’m around (currently in tel aviv and complaining about missing target and mendocino farms. stay tuned!!!) My current IG is tiny and private because one time my account got hacked and blocked most of my followers which was a nice gesture as my therapist had just suggested I should stay away from social media. Thanks, anonymous hacker! (or rather….-gasp- THERAPIST??? WAS THAT YOU?)”

2. Can you talk a little bit about your youtube channel: OnlyLeigh ?

“AH! My now semi-abandoned youtube channel OnlyLeigh is an animation, pop culture and parody YT channel I started a few years back to satisfy my constant need for validation and attention. I wrote it with my partner/husband and animated it myself because I am a masochist. Some of the videos went viral which is pretty dang sweet, not to mention helped me get a manager and a career in LA!

I recommend: “A Stranger Things Christmas”:

a stranger things/peanuts mashup that is the only video I never got hate mail about. SUCCESS! Nowadays I keep making funneh videos but since youtube channels are hard to maintain I now make a series for CRACKED “

3. What is on your summer reading or movie list and why?

“As it so happens i currently live in a country with terrible, humid, devil’s asshole hot weather so I definitely plan on not leaving the house for the next 3-4 months, which is plenty of time for indoor summer activities.

Right now I’m vibrating with anticipation for What we do in the shadows season 4. And then I’ll just rewatch it till October arrives I guess.”

4. What cartoon character best describes your personality and why?

“Tinkerbell. Like moi she’s small, blonde, moody, quick to anger, obsessed with looking at herself in mirrors and might seriously die if she doesn’t get attention. (also a little slutty???)”

5. Can you talk a little bit about your patreon?

“Thank you for bringing up my patreon As I mentioned back then around question 2, youtube videos don’t bring in a whole lot of $$$ unless you’re a regular vlogger (ANIMATION TAKES TIME!), so patreon helps me make indie videos. You can donate any amount you like per animated video, and I will ONLY get paid if I make a video! (some patreons work in a $ per month system. not I. do dang slow/busy/self hating.) While I upload less to my own channels, I do keep making new videos on Cracked, and some extra $$ through Patreon definitely, always, certainly helps me pay my staff, VO, and take my sweet time making my dumb cartoons extra smooth looking. Join us!”

6. Do you have any exciting news or events that you would like to share?

” Nowadays I’m mostly writing some new material to pitch around town. I wrote a rom com feature so hopefully you’ll get to see that sometime in the next 30+- years! follow me on Twitter (@leighlahav) for updates or what is more likely very specific jokes about 90s sitcoms as i am re-watching Seinfeld (Newfound realizations so far: Kramer is definitely Bi. George is closeted Bi.)”

If you would like to join Leigh patreon the link is here: https://www.patreon.com/onlyleigh

Thank you so much for the interview!!!!!

Until next time! 🙂