The bumper is coming along nicely. I checked out the video's also and it moves very smoothly.

It was fun showing it to my husbands best friend. He's into filming and saw Betsy. I told him: "That's something from someone from the forum I'm telling you about all the time." He looked, looked again and said: "But this is computeranimation!" I showed it to him in full scale and he said: "I can see it now- this is great!"

Ok...ran into a little snag.  I was trying to update my homeowners insurance to include modifications to my garage to studio conversion.  Well, long story short they cancelled my homeowners insurance because of the increased liability of having a home business. The only way I can get it reinstated is to show that I have some sort of business insurance. So far I've found that a performing arts business requires special coverage that the folks I talked to don't offer. Apparently I need some kind of performing arts insurance. I tell ya nothing is ever simple.  Anyone have any experience with this?  I'd sure appreciate it.

Are you a member of PofA?  I know they offer liability insurance for puppeteers. http://www.puppeteers.org/?page_id=28 

Well no Shawn I'm not. But, I probably should be. I've looked at doing that. I guess I'll check intoit a little more seriously now.  I managed to get my homeowners reinstated. After much explanation they decided to treat it as a hobby for now. However I'm going to need Commercial General Liability insurance whenever I actually take this show on the road. I learned some interesting things about the business aspects of this project. It is generally understood that whenever you go to perform, whether it be a third party location or your own business location, you are responsible for the space and assume liability for whatever happens during your or the participants stay. Unless you have a contract that states otherwise. Even then you could be sued and incur legal expenses. Trust me. After the conversations I've had with insurance underwriters this week, I'll definitely get insurance before performing anywhere. I guess what it boils down to is just part of the ongoing  learning curve. I suppose I'm more an artist than I am a business man. I'm learning though. At least this lesson was relatively painless.

Keep us updated Russell.  I am sure this is information that others can benefit from. I am pretty sure that what PofA is offering to it's members is the Commercial General Liability insurance.  I can't really remember the specifics of this but I think it is pretty hard to find an insurance company that offers this and that is why PofA offers it to it's members.

Yes, do keep us updated. I'm interested in learning this too for future reference.