B
building babel
Guest
As a child, when I was about eight, nine, or ten, I drew maps of imaginary countries.
One was a monarchy - Stumpenstein. The other was a democratic state - Statia or something. They represented different values. Stumpenstein was run by nutty eccentrics and Statia by cold, efficient Soviet-style bureaucrats.
I wrote plays, in which the Stumpenstein royal family played major roles. Lots of mistaken identities, hidden doors, surprise plot twists, and bizarre coincidences.
I created a family tree for the royals, with various houses, and a history going back for many generations.
I made puppets of the king and queen of Stumpenstein and the Lord Chamberlain. My father ran a business which produced medical teaching aids, so I was able to model the faces in Plasteceine, make plaster moulds around them, then take apart the moulds, remove the Plasteceine, and pour in latex rubber. Later, I painted the latex rubber faces and I think I got my mother to make "hand puppet" bodies.
Statia had elections and I tabulated the votes. The monarchist party rarely won.
The plays and pupets still exist in England somewhere in my Mother's house. When we got a tape recorder in the mid-1960's I got my parents and grandmother to act out the play with me. I assume the tapes are still around too.
I'm still designing things, I'm still thrilled by live performances, and I'm still rather fond of queens. The child is father to the man.
One was a monarchy - Stumpenstein. The other was a democratic state - Statia or something. They represented different values. Stumpenstein was run by nutty eccentrics and Statia by cold, efficient Soviet-style bureaucrats.
I wrote plays, in which the Stumpenstein royal family played major roles. Lots of mistaken identities, hidden doors, surprise plot twists, and bizarre coincidences.
I created a family tree for the royals, with various houses, and a history going back for many generations.
I made puppets of the king and queen of Stumpenstein and the Lord Chamberlain. My father ran a business which produced medical teaching aids, so I was able to model the faces in Plasteceine, make plaster moulds around them, then take apart the moulds, remove the Plasteceine, and pour in latex rubber. Later, I painted the latex rubber faces and I think I got my mother to make "hand puppet" bodies.
Statia had elections and I tabulated the votes. The monarchist party rarely won.
The plays and pupets still exist in England somewhere in my Mother's house. When we got a tape recorder in the mid-1960's I got my parents and grandmother to act out the play with me. I assume the tapes are still around too.
I'm still designing things, I'm still thrilled by live performances, and I'm still rather fond of queens. The child is father to the man.