i've been watching those thunderbirds dvds i got for christmas. i still find the puppets a little disturbing on occasion. something about the hands, sometimes they use puppet hands and sometimes they use real hands. there seems to be some connection between this and my love for the films of jan svankmajer and the brothers quay, even some connection to my fascination with shinya tsukamoto. but i think there may be a connection earlier than this and that would be some of the short films on sesame street. i remember specifically this one about a ball rolling around on a track similiar to a roller coaster, but in the end the ball gets all ground up. i've been trying to figure out what this film may be, but all searches on sesame street short films or films used on sesame street come up with just endless sites about sesame street but covering only the most surface information about the show. no real background or techincal information. anyway, i think this short film used on sesame street as well as some of the films i was shown in elementary school may of planted the seeds that led to my love of experimental film. now if i could only find out what those early films were called.