Actually they’re called “The Elans” – the Canadian Awards for the Electronic and Animated Arts. To me, geek that I am, they will always be “The Shatners” because everyone’s favourite madman from Montreal, Big Bill Shatner, will be hosting this black-tie event. And I’ll be there, tuxedo and all, at one of the VIP tables, wolfing down a $250 plate of salmon and hoping to hear The Shatner call out my name when the “Best writing in an animated production” category rolls around.

I’m nominated for an episode of Pucca I wrote called, “Treasure of the Comfy Sofa.” Since I’m only one of three nominees in the category, I figure my chances of winning are a little better than average. If only because it will be relatively easy to arrange untimely accidents for the two competing writers, thus forcing their forfeiture. I hope the days I’m spending in Vancouver leading up to the awards will afford me enough time to arrange for a tux rental, take as many work-related meetings as possible, and cut a couple of brake lines. It should be a busy schedule.

I’d be lying if I said one of my top motivations for flying out there on September 11th (always the happiest day of the year to fly) wasn’t to see The Shatner in person. I’m enough of a Star Trek nerd to call myself a Trekkie, but not enough to call myself a Trekker. I grew up watching syndicated reruns and original-cast movies. It was with some measure of delight that I followed local-boy-made-good, The Shatner, as he reinvented himself decade after decade. From James T. Kirk, to T.J. Hooker, to insane fibre-eating parody of himself in breakfast cereal commercials. There’s just something endearing about a celebrity who rearranges his late-period career into an artistic statement that declares, loudly and boldly, “I’m a big star and I totally don’t give a fuck.”

Win or lose, I’ll get my The Shatner fix. And that’s what’s really important here. That and writing more Pucca cartoons. The show has been renewed for another thirteen episodes, and we should start milling them out in October. We’ll be well into the new season by the time I find out if another episode I wrote, “The Itsy Bitsy Enemy Within,” triumphed at the Bradford Animation Festival in the U.K. Yes, another nomination. I’m getting a lot of mileage out of a little Korean girl who steals kisses and kicks people in the head.