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Once a collector, always a collector. It’s a common nerd trope that I am vulnerable to, but thus far have been able to resist. I don’t have a complete or even large collection of anything, but not for lack of wanting, just owing to practical reasons. Heck I don’t even have a large collection of puppets, just because I don’t have the space.

I am realizing that there is one thing I am starting to collect: projects. I have a number of projects either in process or planned. Ever since turning puppet building into my profession I don’t count that, and I imagine gaming counts as more of a hobby, but even within those parameters I have projects within them.

On the tech side, there’s the “build an RSS reader from scratch” project as talked about on the podcast. Plus my ongoing determination to get comfortable in Linux, tinker with streaming tech, etc. On the gaming side I have ongoing Ironsworn and Starforged campaigns which have turned project-y by me self-hosting an install of Foundry VTT on my Linux server, which took some tinkering, but ended up working well.

Just yesterday I thought of a new project. I’m a Dungeons and Dragon player since the 80s. Absolutely love it, and have largely stuck with it in it’s various incarnations. With the recent development of the OGL 1.1 (which I’m sure we’ll get into on an upcoming podcast), a lot of the faithful are looking to jump ship. Pathfinder never interested me but I’m warming to it as Paizo is likely to be a viable contender for the crown. These days I’m focusing more on TTRPGs that I can play solo since time is so tight, and there are lots of resources to run solo D&D 5e games out there that work well. It’s one of the things that makes Ironsworn/Starforged so appealing: they’ve solved the “no one wants to GM” problem.

But then I thought: what about going back to the well? My first D&D was 1e Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. The rules have been updated and changed a lot since then, but there is an appeal of going back and seeing how it plays today. There is a community of “OSR” (old school rules) players out there, so I wonder if this is something I can adapt to solo play?

Sadly I no longer own the physical books but thanks to the nebulous blob of The Internet I do have good PDF scans of them. I took a fleeting look yesterday and… wow. The rules have really been streamlined. I’d forgotten how loose and nebulous is was in those early days, compared with the structure of today’s D&D.

Still don’t know how far this will get or if this will just be another project for the collection pile that is slowly building, but hey, it’s good blog and podcast fodder.

Now as it’s build stream day, I’d best get this coffee downed. Happy dungeon delving.

Nothing teaches self discipline better than owning your own business.

I’ve always been a light sleeper, and yesterday was a particularly good day in terms of getting stuff done. Which means, inevitably, that my brain is chattering away and that results in, you guessed it, poor sleep the next day.

Worker burnout is a serious problem that our toxic-Capitalist social model generates at an alarming rate. We’ve been trained since childhood that our only worth is in what we can “produce” and nothing more. And of course that “production” is always to benefit something that we ourselves don’t own, but merely power. We are grist for the mill, to be worked until our usefulness is spent.

So I try to go a bit easy on myself on days like this when I’m obviously not going to be at my peak performance. I will, until my dying day, believe that we can do better; that it is possible to have a society that values people and cares for their needs, instead of just using them for machine fuel. The now tedious “culture war” really does come down to this: What do you think a society is for, ultimately?

But for now we are caught in the gears of the machine, like Charlie Chaplain in Modern Times. I still have to stoke the bellows on The Puppet Forge, no matter how I’ve slept. But I can choose to be a good boss to myself. I know I’m not going to get as much done today as yesterday, and that’s ok. It’ll all work out. Let things find a flow state. Slow progress is still progress.

The unique thing is this actually matters in my line of work. Everything I build is, in some way, a reflection of some bit of my psyche or something I want to express. Your mental and emotional state really does get reflected in your builds. This is their (to use a nebulous and unscientific term) “energy”. So don’t push it. Put love in, get love out.

And now, speaking of coffee, mine’s ready. I wish you a completely frivolous and unproductive day.

That was quite a whirlwind weekend. The recording of Episode 1 of Pixels and Puppets went well with only minor hiccups, which is pretty remarkable since it’s been so long since any of us has done that. A real “getting the band back together” moment.

The guys have wanted to get back into it for a while, it was actually me that was the holdout. We all really enjoy podcasting but it got to the point that the listenership wasn’t enough to justify the labour time. Added on top of that is the unknown quantity of mixing such a broad range of topics and it’s a big dice roll if this will work at all. I’m banking on a few things to make the show an engaging thing that can build a small but dedicated listener base:

First off is the fact that human beings are complex things. A diverse topic range can be an advantage if presented well, in an open, friendly manner. From my own experience, I enjoy listening to speakers talk about subjects I’m not necessarily into, if they do it in a way that brings me in. It’s like the build streams. Not everyone who watches is necessarily going to go out and build puppets, but they enjoy the process and people. I think of how village forges became defacto social hubs in the Middle Ages. Not everyone was a blacksmith, but nevertheless people were drawn there.

Second it comes down to something we all need in these awful years: comfort. Friendliness. Kindness. As the pandemic drags on and entropy carries us forward, I know myself my podcast listening not only has increased, but has focused on funny, warm and silly shows that allow my brain a break from the encroaching horrors of this decade. It’s not a matter of hiding from the real world, it’s a matter of recharging the batteries so you can face the challenges of living in “Interesting Times”. The firehose of awfulness that we have been trained to consume on social media has a profound effect on our psychology, and one of the things I try to provide in Operation: Puppet is a reminder that the whole world isn’t terrible. There are nice, kind, compassionate people out there. Laughter and joy is closer than you think. Hopefully you’ll find some here. It’s a well you can come to for refreshment. It’s a green patch in the desert. It’s the village pub.

And now Monday is calling so I’d better drink this coffee cuz there’s puppets to be made!

Big day here in the Puppet Cave. This evening we record Episode 1 of the O:P podcast, Pixels and Puppets (Ep 0 is already out if you’d like the origin story). This will be the first time in years since I last did a full on podcast. Heck I haven’t been in the same room as one of my co-hosts since 2019!

As with everything we do, we’re aiming to make the show as high quality as we can. We have pretty decent equipment and at least a passing familiarity with audio editing, so at the very least it won’t sound like someone yelling at their laptop from across a room.

Of course quality always costs something, and in this case it’s labour. I’ve already downed three cups of coffee and will likely need more before this day’s work is done. This has been in the planning stages since late last year but as with any entertainment media production, there are always last minute things. I just recorded the introduction for one of the segments, for example.

The goal of the podcast, like with most things O:P, is to provide fun, comfort listening. We won’t shy away from difficult subjects but we’re going to try and deal with them in a nuanced, constructive way.

As ever, O:P relies on word-of-mouth to get to people so we appreciate any boosts/shares/shouting at strangers you can give us.

Over the past couple of days I’ve read the words “caught the lurgy” to describe catching either the flu or Covid. It pinged in my brain because I knew the word “lurgy” from a skit by the classic British comedy troupe The Goons, and hadn’t realized that the word had actually entered into common usage.

The Goons (Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe, and Peter Sellers) are largely forgotten today but in their time (the 50s) they were massive stars. Their impact on British comedy was foundational, and deeply influenced everything that came after them. Without the Goons, there would have been no Monty Python.

The writing was largely the work of Spike Milligan, whom Muppet fans will remember from one somewhat infamous episode of The Muppet Show. Spike was a comedy genius and The Goons was where his full powers were on display. It is here that we get the trend so common in later British comedy, that the subject of the humor is the absurdity of “Britishness” itself, it’s customs, class structures, etc.

Like much of the comedy at the time, a lot of it hasn’t aged well. There are huge portions of the show that are deeply culturally insensitive and inappropriate. And yet, like everything else, the work needs to be understood in context. Not only were British customs the subject of farce but British attitudes to other cultures as well. Everything is presented in a fun-house mirror, distorted, magnified and twisted. With common recurring characters and themes it feels very much like a continuation of the Commedia dell’arte tradition.

I’ve always agreed with the plea that people should “watch movies older than you”. This applies to all other media as well. Mercifully the particular show that gave birth to the term “lurgy” is relatively free of the more problematic bits of The Goon Show, so enjoy this. You’re forgiven for skipping past the musical bits. And try not to get The Lurgy.

I fully confess to having a bit of gear lust when it comes to my media setups. Considering my small audience I’ve spent way more on gear than a lot of other creators at my level. I’m a tinkerer. I have way more fun setting up a streaming studio than actually streaming in it.

This year, however, I need to play it careful. Not a lot of disposable income around, and I have more than enough gear to do everything I want.

However…

Audiophiles will know about the Electro Voice RE20. It’s a legendary microphone, little changed since it’s introduction in 1968. It’s warm sound and dynamic range make it a very popular professional mic. And I want one. They are, of course, not cheap. My current broadcast mic is a Rode Procaster, which is very good and basically their budget version of an RE20. But as nice as it is, it’s no RE20. RE20 has achieved mythical status. It was used on such classic recordings as Sweet Home Alabama, I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll, and likely recorded the iconic Stevie Wonder vocals for the studio version of Superstition.

For my purposes it’s overkill, and an extravagance. In the final mix it’s doubtful the audience will hear much of a difference between my current mic and an RE20, although you never can tell. It’s the little things that often go unnoticed consciously that give something a feeling of quality.

So here’s the deal. If the podcast gets some steam and hits 100 downloads between the time Episode 1 and 2 come out, I’m going to treat myself to an RE20. Recording is this Saturday and it’ll be out by Monday morning.

You know what to do. https://sites.libsyn.com/450720/site

It occurs to me that doing one of these every day means the “all posts” body of the website is going to fill up with pictures of the Morning Coffee logo pretty quick. Must think of something to handle that. But as I’ve not yet had the titular coffee, that’ll wait.

One of the ways I’m trying to get O:P in front of more folks this year (as talked about on yesterday’s blog) is by being more consistent with output, particularly live streams. To that end I’ve decided that every Wednesday I’ll be streaming from my studio, and it’s the first Wednesday of the year. Of course I slept poorly, ‘cuz I always do before a stream. So it should be fun. (Wednesdays at 11am ET on Twitch, YouTube and Facebook).

I used to do specific Q&A build streams that happened outside the scope of my daily work but that proved to be a bit of a job in itself and started to eat into the time I had for doing shop builds, and as ever, building for the shop must take top priority. These build streams are a way to bridge those things. Folks can drop by and I’m happy to chat and answer questions, but what I’m actually doing is just whatever I happen to be working on at the time. Sometimes it means it’ll be two hours of watching me sit and hand sew, but hey, roll the dice.

They tend to go very well and I think everyone has a good time. By some miracle the pretty complex camera/switching setup in the studio still seems to be working after many weeks idle, so on with the show.

After coffee.

If the coffee is still brewing does this count as a morning coffee blog? Hmm.

When I jumped head first into the puppet building world, I had never run my own business before, and definitely do *not* have a head for business. I loathe “marketing” and the sleazy manipulative ways it makes people think. There’s a reason that the closest thing to a villain on The Oracle (one of my YouTube shows) is Gus, the Marketing Yeti.

And yet as my sole source of income I need to think practically about it. As we closed out 2022 it’s clear that we’re in a serious economic downturn. I know it sounds ludicrous, but *some* people actually consider puppets to be a luxury item not essential for survival, and given a choice would rather pay their bills than buy a puppet.

Knowing that going into 2023 helps me plan. It’s going to be a rough year sales-wise. 2022 was already down from 2021 and that graph is unlikely to improve. However it’s times like this, rather than panic, I try to plan. I can weather some rough seas, so let’s try and ensure that when things improve, we’ll be there to enjoy it.

To that end I’ve decided that 2023 will be the Year of More Eyeballs. It’s tough being a very small figure in a very big Internet, but there are also some niceties. Big content creators measure success in thousands of views, visits, etc. I measure it in ones. Every single person who sees my work, who joins my community, who engages with my “content” (we really need a less buzzwordy term) matters to me. Even a slight bump in *any* number helps a lot. The difference between a good month and a bad month on the shop can often be one sale. It doesn’t take much.

Of course having Twitter go down the Musk-hole was a serious drawback. It was always a fairly good way to get O:P to people who may not have seen it, but I’m never willing to sacrifice my ethics for the sake of personal gain. We press on. Trying more things. We’re launching a podcast, this blog, regular live streams, and generally trying to get O:P in front of as many eyeballs as I can in 2023. Like I said, at this level, every person counts, and that’s the way I like it.

Operation: Puppet is personal. I want to make it a place where people just like to be, welcoming, funny, the way a home should feel. And to be clear: it doesn’t matter at all if you never buy a puppet from me. Yes the shop is my bread & butter, but that will come organically, from the community. I’d rather have people than profits. Because of that I’ll never be big, but as long as I can keep the lights on, it’s enough.

What Would Jim (Henson) Do?

Now that Twitter has descended into the embodiment of a meme featuring a cartoon dog and lots of fire, no better time to get back to personal blogging, right?

I know, a year-end wrap-up in November seems a touch early, right? Bear with me. 

Lots of big changes in 2022. While it was a very tight year financially, largely due to the downturn of the global economy (turns out some people think puppets are a luxury), O:P as an online entity continues to have modest growth and a healthy, if small, community. I’m thrilled with that. I never wanted O:P to just be “the Kevin show”. I want to bring in as many like-minded folks as I can and provide a calm oasis of fun and silliness in an otherwise turbulent world. I think we’re doing well. 

I’ve decided for various reasons to close custom commissions for the remainder of 2022. There will still be some builds on the shop(s), but I’d like to get back to basics with some Greeblees and Smols. O:P Classics, if you will. 

As well owing to slow sales I’ve moved some puppets back to the Etsy shop where they’ll have a better chance at getting seen by new folks. Remember if you see something you’d like on the Etsy shop, don’t hesitate to message me and I’ll be happy to de-list it and put it up for you on the direct shop. 

I also expect streaming to be pretty sporadic for the remaining few weeks of the year and I plan to take some time off in December for planning and R&R but…

The plans for 2023 are pretty ambitious. Thanks to community feedback I’ve decided it would be most helpful to at least attempt to have a more regular streaming schedule. Frankie Plays will still be “when we feel like it” but I’m going to schedule Wednesdays as in-shop Build Streams. 

The whole goal for 2023 is to grow the community. To that end we will also be branching out into a new medium: Podcasting. Well, not new for me (the lads and I ran a podcast for years) but new for O:P. It’ll be called Pixels & Puppets and be about video games, movies, tech news, and… puppets. Why? Uh… I’ll get back to you on that. 

Thank you all for being with us as we navigate the surreal waters of these last few years. I have no idea what the future holds for the world at large but if there’s any possibility of fun and humour in it, I can promise you we’ll find it. 

Kev