Yet Another Unitarian Universalist
A postmodern heretic's spiritual journey
Possum decides he’s going to tell the old story of Easter this year. His friends Rolf, Birago, Nicky, and Dr. Sharpie help him out.
Click on the image above to view the video on Vimeo
As usual, the script is below the fold. (The script has not been corrected against the actual video, and may vary in minor details.)
Continue reading “Possum tells the old story of Easter”Since 2020, I’ve been filming stories-for-all-ages in a puppet studio I put together in the nursery at the Palo Alto church. We’re about to resume infant and toddler care, so it’s only a matter of time before I have to remove the puppet studio from the nursery. But I managed to take some behind-the-scenes photos of puppets and puppeteers in action while filming a few last videos.
When we’re filming, the puppeteers mostly watch the action on the computer screen. Sometimes looking at the screen is disorienting and we have to look up at the puppets. We tape the script to the back of the puppet stage at our eye level. Puppets who are not in the current scene lie on the table next to us (you can see Possum in the lower left corner of the photo.)
This is what the camera sees when the zoom is set to the widest angle:
A wider view, from behind the camera. We sometimes have up to seven lights aimed at the stage. Props are laid out on the table to the left of the puppet stage. When not needed in the current scene, the puppets stay in cloth bags, and you can see Rolf’s head poking out of the dark blue bag in the lower right corner of the photo.
I’ll miss the puppeteer studio when it’s gone. But I won’t miss sweating in that small room on hot days, with the doors closed to keep outside sound out. I won’t miss having to reshoot a scene because a helicopter went overhead, or someone started talking on their phone right outside the door, or the cello class started up unexpectedly, ruining the sound. I won’t miss having a carefully-constructed set suddenly decide to fall over in the middle of filming. I won’t miss spending fifteen minutes trying to level the camera, only to find that somehow, mysteriously, the stage has gone out of level. I won’t miss shooting video on a tight deadline with little margin for error. But… I will miss bringing Sharpie and Possum and the other characters to life.
Rolf and Possum want to donate to their congregation’s pledge drive. Problem is, they don’t have any money. Then Rolf comes up with an idea….
As usual, full text below the fold.
Continue reading “Possum and Rolf and the pledge drive”Possum asks Dr. Sharpie about the meaning of Christmas. Then Possum asks some of his other housemates, and Muds finally helps him find the meaning of Christmas.
As usual, full text is below the fold.
Continue reading “What’s the meaning of Christmas?”In the conclusion to the “Thanksgiving with Family” series, Muds and Possum talk over the Thanksgiving dinners they had with their relatives. For both of them, it didn’t go as badly as they had feared!
As usual, full text is below the fold.
Continue reading “Thanksgiving with family, pt. 3”Dr. Sharpie, Rolf, Ms. and Mr. Bear, and Elephant share Thanksgiving dinner together. They wonder how Thanksgiving dinner went for Muds and Possum. Just then, Muds and Possum come home….
As usual, full text is below the fold. Part 3 coming soon.
Continue reading “Thanksgiving with family, pt. 2”Muds and Possum are worried about going to visit relatives at Thanksgiving, because of uncomfortable conversations with relatives who have differing opinions about climate change, gender, and religion….
As usual, full text is below the fold. Go to Part 2.
Continue reading “Thanksgiving with family, pt. 1”Birago Lion and Belinda Sheep introduce the 2021 Stuffed Animal Sleepover at the UU Church of Palo Alto. Dr. Sharpie and Elephant are going to help out, too.
Full script is below.
Continue reading “The 2021 Stuffed Animal Sleepover”The conclusion of the tale from the Ramayana.
Full script below the fold.
Continue reading “The Pool of Enchantment, part two”Rolf, Sharpie, Possum, and the gang decide to act out another story from the Ramayana.
Full script below the fold.
Rolf: I want to hear the story of the Pool of Enchantment!
Sharpie: Oh, yes, the story from the Ramayana. I’ll act out the part of King Yudhisthira.
Possum: The King, or rather the Queen, and her siblings were chasing a deer who had stolen the wood needed to start a Brahmin’s sacred fire. After chasing the deer for a long time, they sat down under a tree, so thirsty they couldn’t go on.
Sharpie: If we don’t find water soon, we’ll die. Nakula, climb this tree to look for water.
Birago: There’s water over there.
Sharpie: Go get some water and bring it back to us.
Possum: Nakula soon found a pool of clear water. A Crane stood at the far edge of the pool.
Birago: Water! I’m so thirsty!
Voice: Do not drink, O Prince, until you answer my questions.
Possum: Nakula was thirsty, so he ignored the Voice. He drank the cool water, and in a few moments lay dead beside the pool.
Sharpie: Where is Nakula? Sahadeva, you’ll have to go and bring us some water.
Castor: On my way!
Castor: Nakula, dead! I’m so thirsty, I’ll drink before I find out what killed him.
Voice: Do not drink, O Prince, until you have answered my questions.
Possum: But Sahadeva had already drunk from the water, and also lay dead beside the pool.
Sharpie: Arjuna, find our siblings, and bring us water.
Nicky: I’ll take my bow and arrows, just in case.
Nicky: My two siblings, dead! I’ll find who or what killed them. But first, I’m so thirsty.
Voice: Do not drink, O Prince, until you have answered my questions.
Nicky: Who are you? Come out and fight with me.
Voice: Bwa ha ha ha. Do not drink, O Prince.
Possum: Soon Arjuna, too, lay dead beside the pool.
Sharpie: Bhima, go find our siblings, then bring water back to me.
[Nods silently.]
Possum: Seeing his siblings, Bhima wondered what evil demon had killed them.
[Looks around in silence.]
Voice: Do not drink, O Prince, until you have answered my questions.
Possum: When the Queen realized that her siblings were not going to return, she went to the pool herself.
Sharpie: This must be the work of some evil spirit. But I am so thirsty, I will drink first.
Voice: Do not drink, O Queen, until you have answered my questions!
Rolf: They shouldn’t have drunk the water!
Nicky: Who’s that strange Voice that speaks?
Possum: We’ll have to wait until next week to find out….