A Star Arrives

After much anticipation, I bring you ... a squirrel!

Vivian has been hard at work, and the fruits are showing! Our, as yet unnamed, friend has detachable arms and legs and though the tail is still unfinished he is awesome! Why the Aliens might want to rid the town of these little guys is beyond all reason.

Then I found her, Alien Two with glee in her eyes, at work painting papier mache acorns.

And so, for a moment, it seemed that perhaps the Aliens were being misjudged.

There are many mysteries in life, and the inscrutable nature of foreign cultures is certainly one of them.


And then I realized that sometimes things can be not-what-they-seem and still be exactly what they seem.





What if those acorns were little more than lures, and the painting of the power box, little more than an excuse to raid my pom-pom collection.




Suddenly with the illusion of peace shattered in my mind, tangible reality came rushing to catch up as I stumbled upon subtitles into the Aliens' minds' eye.

Exactly what it all means only time will tell. Until then I vow to keep a close eye on the Aliens.

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

PS There's now a Squirrel King Facebook page. Go Friend us there!

Last week ...

.. was a little topsy-turvy ...


So I left the Aliens breakdancing on the ceiling and went off casting.

As luck would have it I was in for one of those auditioning treats you dream of; the character simply walked into the room. We now have Bob, aka Mike Mahaffey. Mike is the bungling would-be catburglar. Well he didn't actually take anything from us, nor to the best of my knowledge did he try, but boy did we laugh!

On my return, Alien One's mind was still a little addled, enough so that I took the opportunity to remove the training wheels from her bike. And the outcome of the grandiose play that could have gone either way?

Alien One has mastered another earthbound skill! With excitement brimming over, and having learnt from the best, she hugged the nearest tree (fortunately, her brain-bucket kept her at a sensible distance).

Later, while snooping into their spaceship, I made an ominous discovery that reminded me of the true ruthless instincts our extra-terrestrial friends possess. Despite the felt aesthetic, the tally-board cannot auger well for the squirrels ...

Stay on your toes dear reader!

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Clothes Pins ...

In response to Jenn's comment about clothes pins .... this is a photo from a year to the day.

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Hairy Situations

The Aliens have been experimenting with various ways to achieve the hairstyle we're looking for - and with some success I might add, though it might require turning the rest of the set upside down!




They also vented a vehement virus of vocalizations when I broke it to them that the cards of color they'd just painted were for the Alien subtitling - of course in the spirit of no-waste, I was there with the recording device Bob, our post-sound guru, lent me to capture the basic elements that will later make up their language.


(btw, the green slabs with portholes are the base of the draw-bridge doors for their spaceship).






As for me, I've just been trucking along with side projects of my own, including a miniature of Ed's DWP truck and Robin's bedspread.



The big mounting excitement though, is the spaceship shoot which is now scheduled for next week!

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Ferreting out the best

Valuable discoveries often come in the most unexpected places: and so it was in our audition process for Robin. Not only did we find our wonderful Robin, we also discovered Vivian, our squirrel sculptor. Her expertise is actually papier mache snails and ferrets, but hell, squirrels are just ferrets with big tails, right!



Vivian is such a bundle of energy we're now looking forward to squirrels, cats and owls, and that all for just the first episode!






And so the chain reaction started: meeting with Vivian was so inspiring, I built a bird of my own!










Alien One was so inspired, she decided she needs to play a bird as well as an Alien.







In fact the only person to keep a head of their own was Alien Two who merely experimented with an Afro.

Better still, stay tuned, the Trouble and Strife is very nearly finished with the Aliens' costumes, and we're almost done with the spaceship itself!

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

The Best Laid Plans ...

The whole idea behind The Squirrel King aesthetic is to inspire people to get off their couches and build something themselves.



... the thing is, the plan seems to be working a little better than I'd anticipated: the Aliens have been inspired and are on a building spree of their own.






Look carefully near Alien One's knees and you will see the makings of a boat.

... All of a sudden I'm having "creators remorse" with the feeling that I might be losing my crew to their own artistic endeavors.

And then it struck me! We need boats ... it's a little down the track, but we DO NEED BOATS!!











And so, as the Alien's toweled off after a fine day's work, I realized, once again, that my role as leader is purely illusory. I'm not even the back seat driver. I'm simply a passenger, every bit as under their spell as Robin.

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Seeking the Safety Saber

Dear Readers,

We need your help!

The Safety Saber is similar to a lightsaber, only it has a detachable microphone and different flash settings (one of which I suspect might induce a seizure in a squirrel). I only ever saw it once in the flesh; it was on a family walk with the Trouble and Strife, and thus I can be sure it was not simply my wishful imagination. With some luck Alien One's rendition will jog one of your fine memories.

Unfortunately, while I was busy writing the Safety Saber into The Squirrel King, the hallowed object disappeared from online availability.
If you can help us in our hunt for the elusive Safety Saber, please leave a note or contact me directly.

In the interim, you'll be happy to see we're building the sun.

Sincerely
Ruthless Whims