All posts in category The Puppetinos

Museu da Marioneta (the Puppet Museum in Lisbon)

Ciao Readers!

We are back state-side and slowly adjusting to the 7 hour time difference after a 24-hour commute home (I love travel… traveling, not so much). I hope your new year has started off well.

Having recently shared my life-long affection for puppets (see my Muppet post), it will be no surprise that when I stumbled upon the fact that Lisbon has a puppet museum, I knew we had to go! (In contrast, feel free to skip their largest art Museum, the Gulbenkian – if you’ve been to any other large/famous museum you’ve seen better.) The puppet museum is funky and dark (even their tickets, below, are cool and weird). There are puppets from throughout the ages – from early Thai shadow puppets, Vietnamese water puppets, lots of old European and traditional Portuguese puppets, and on through modern day stop-action animation figures (complete with mini props!). It seems that puppets were often used as an entertaining way to make subversive cultural or political statements, including during the latest fascist regime in Portugal (did you know they had a dictator until 1974?!). It was kinda surreal and creepy in there, but supercool (they even have a place you can put on your own puppet show). I felt in-the-know finding this off-the-grid site, seeing how it’s not even in travel guru Rick Steves’ Lisbon book.  Take a look…..

Next time we travel to the nearby town of Sintra to see its very eclectic Pena Palace….

2 Comments
by Newmexicotoitaly on January 9, 2020  •  Permalink
Posted in Art, Diversions to Other Places, Portugal, The Puppetinos, Travel Tips
Tagged , , , ,

Posted by Newmexicotoitaly on January 9, 2020

https://newmexicotoitaly.com/2020/01/09/museu-da-marioneta-the-puppet-museum-in-lisbon/

(Not quite) More Muppets than Imaginable (or a trip to a museum closer to home)

Ciao Readers!  Happy Almost-Back-From-Turkey-Day!

So, today we venture to the Albuquerque Museum for the Jim Henson Exhibition, which just got underway this past week.  While our museums can’t compete with the big guns (or apparently even Omaha, Nebraska – which gets a Monet even though they have 100K less people than we do (see last post)), this is a pretty cool exhibit.  It features a history of Jim Henson and the muppets and we even get some of the real muppet puppets on loan from a bigger museum in NY.

So, a little personal history, which also explains why this exhibition is a big deal to me….

I was just a few months shy of turning 3 when Sesame Street premiered on November 10, 1969. As you may know, it just marked its 50th!!! anniversary!  When I was a kid I LOVED the muppets – so much so that my 13 imaginary brothers and sisters that all lived in an imaginary dresser were muppets, not people (insert psychoanalysis here). My favorite easy-read books were all from Sesame Street, and the one pictured below, The Monster at the End of This Book, was my all time favorite, and an original is on display at the museum (notice the price in the corner):

Even as an adult, I still love the muppets and my own Jim Henson Muppet Factory puppets have starred in their own epics, such as “The Puppetinos Move to Italy.”

 

In any case, there were several cool old muppets from the 50’s and 60’s (I didn’t realize most of the muppets were created for commercials, like Rowlf the dog for Purina), some old sketches, notes and videos, and several actual muppets (though not the 47 the museum in NY has – play small violin here). I tried my best to take photos without people in them, but this is a big deal for little ‘ol Albuquerque and it was a full house….Enjoy!:

 

 

6 Comments
by Newmexicotoitaly on December 1, 2019  •  Permalink
Posted in Art, New Mexico, The Puppetinos
Tagged , , , , , ,

Posted by Newmexicotoitaly on December 1, 2019

https://newmexicotoitaly.com/2019/12/01/not-quite-more-muppets-than-imaginable-or-a-trip-to-a-museum-closer-to-home/

“The Puppetinos Leave New Mexico” (The Prequel)

Ciao Readers!  And Happy (early) Birthday Sachi!!!

Back by popular demand, today I again present “The Puppetinos,” starring in their very own prequel.  In this episode, we go back across the pond and see how it all began (thanks for seeding the NM idea, Tuscan Traveler!) (and thanks to my sis-in-law for the photo of Hurricane’s “Disaster Burrito”).  And yes, I know, I currently have too much time on my hands…

So, dear Readers, I will leave you with this video for now.  As Steve has time off from work coming up and we have a fabulous train trip through three countries planned, I am going to sign off for a couple weeks and come back when I have new and interesting things to say (you’ll get to find out which countries then….).  (Hopefully my toe will be healed enough in time for our trip!)

Feel free to send an old-fashioned e-mail in the meantime (wow – is e-mail already passé?).  Ciao for now!

7 Comments
by Newmexicotoitaly on February 14, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Culture Shock, Diversions to Other Places, Italy, here we come!, New Mexico, The Puppetinos
Tagged , , , , , ,

Posted by Newmexicotoitaly on February 14, 2013

https://newmexicotoitaly.com/2013/02/14/taking-a-short-hiatus/

The Puppetinos Move to Italy (the movie trailer!)

Ciao Readers!

So, it appears I broke my little toe last week and, while this is not a life-threatening injury by any means, it does make getting around (or even to school) pretty unmanageable (remember, 4th floor, no car).  This means I haven’t really gone anywhere or done anything of note, unless of course “going stir crazy” counts.  Yesterday, in an effort to ward off the urge to hop out of the house, in addition to baking the lemon-almond cake yet again (it is seriously good, you really should try it!), Steve and I started goofing around with our earlier “Puppetinos” idea.  (You may recall, when we turned down being on “House Hunters International,” we acted out a smart alek-y episode with puppets.)

So, dear Readers, without further ado….here they are, starring in their very first movie (well, trailer)……. The Puppetinos!!!

10 Comments
by Newmexicotoitaly on February 11, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Culture Shock, Italy, here we come!, The Puppetinos
Tagged , , , ,

Posted by Newmexicotoitaly on February 11, 2013

https://newmexicotoitaly.com/2013/02/11/the-puppetinos-move-to-italy-the-movie-trailer/