Puppeteers are Cool

This week Mark Wagoner Productions met up with the Paperhand Puppet Intervention people in Saxapahaw and I was lucky enough to get a chance to take some production shots with Mark's camera while we were there. Lots of interesting stuff goes on in this building, as you can see above, and really exciting, beautiful things happen when they take all this art out into the community. These puppets and their creators have been all over the country getting involved in all sorts of things from Earth Day festivals to puppet shows to World Trade Organization protests. This is art on a giant scale (some of the puppets are literally over 30 feet tall) and it's made of recycled materials and things people throw out. It's beautiful and surprising and inspiring to people of all ages. Click HERE to find out more about all that is cool in the world of puppets. Very soon you will be able to see a short piece about Puppethand by Mark Wagoner Productions on CurrentTV.

Hug a Tree, Brother

Dude, it's almost Earth Day. And it's 4/20. Coincidentally, this weekend also featured the 2008 NC Tree Climbing Championship which happened to take place in Freedom Park in Charlotte. All joking aside, these people are serious and smart and very, very strong. They are arborists and tree surgeons and biologists and generally interesting people from all over the world. They can climb a tree faster than you can put your lens on your camera. No kidding. Here are a few shots from today.