Times Square 2000

	The celebration of the arrival of 2000 in Manhattan was quite a production. Dancers, confetti cannons, smoke machines, music -- and giant puppets. The puppets were conceived and created by Michael Curry and his staff. Michael is perhaps best known for his part in building the puppets and puppet costumes for Julie Taymor's "Lion King" on Broadway. There were literally hundreds of puppets, from small one-person butterflies to gigantic elephants, snakes, and dragons that required twelve operators. One of the puppets I puppeteered was Baby Time, seen at right. It took seven stalwart folks to manipulate this baby, who was very heavy. He got quite a bit of TV coverage -- if you watched around midnight, it's likely you saw him right next to the main stage. I had a perfect view of the big countdown and ball drop. There was so much confetti launched at midnight, that for a while you couldn't even see the sky.
			In this photo, I can be seen wearing a yellow cap and operating the left hand.

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