This email comes from Sam Hale, the past SFBAPG newsletter editor who now resides in Los Angeles. This past weekend, he went to the Emmy award ceremony in San Diego to see if his puppet/animation film would come home with any statues. -Mary Decker

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Ahoy, friends!

Life is full of surprises. The trip to San Diego was a
roller coaster, the Emmy banquet was festive and stressful,
the results, wonderful, confusing, and unforgettable all at
once (and the food was tasty to boot!).

Our show "Ahoy, Captain Sid!" got three Emmy nominations.
At the end of the night, we walked away with one. One,
beautiful shining Emmy. I have to congratulate my
producing partner on the show, Jerrold Ridenour, for
bringing home the coveted award. He was a great director
and editor on the show. He is the yin to my yang, our
opposite natures playing in harmony to bring to life a show
of a pirate puppet, his crew of hamsters, and an egg in
search of a home.

I tell myself that one Emmy is better than none, and to get
nominated in the first place is an honor. And a pleasure.
And a great source of stress, good, wonderful,
stomach-tying stress. It's a testament to the creative
energy, time, and sweat that so many people put into the
project. I'm thankful to them all and look forward to
future developments and possibilities.

Considering we were the one puppet/animated show in a sea
of news programs, I'm sure we must have seemed an oddball
show to vote for - but enough people did to get us an Emmy.
It was a treat to see the opening theme song played on the
video backdrop as Jerry walked up to the podium,
remembering the hours of work animating shots for the
opening montage, or lying on the beach performing two
hamsters digging up a buried treasure chest. It was great
fun and hard work.

I hope we get to do it again.

Thanks for your support and well-wishes.

Your friend,

Sam

P.S. To see pictures of the Emmy awards, visit
http://www.mysticgnome.com/emmy.html