Miss Dancer joined our family on Sunday May 15, 2011.
She’s absolutely adorable in all ways: personality, spirit, behavior and appearance. She’s been with us one week and is easily settling in. She’s mostly house trained and is naturally cleanliness-oriented, which is great since, as a pup, Bella was most definitely not. She also has a naturally muffled bark which is very quiet. Again, Bella does not possess this attribute. Quite the opposite, in fact. She could easily win voice-over auditions for her frighteningly wide array of Damsel in Distress impersonations.
Isabella, Queen of All Pugs, Pillows and Blankets
As for Miss Bella, she has been amazingly easy-going and understanding and even, on several occasions, playfully responsive to Dancer’s overtures as they chase and tackle one another around the house. Of course she also expects and relishes being recognized as top pug at the same time and does not hesitate to remind Dancer of this as often as necessary.
Once upon a time, not so very long ago, there was a girl who was expecting a birthday. She was going to turn 12. Twelve! She was very excited. Even more exciting was the idea that one of her gifts was a trip to New York City to see a play on Broadway. Now, she had seen several plays before – and good ones at that, but she had never seen a play on Broadway. Why, she had never even been to New York City before. This promised to be a great adventure.
Tickets were purchased three months in advance. Lots of waiting and excitement and anticipation ensued. Then, finally, the day came: Saturday May 14, 2011. The girl and her friend had a sleepover the night before because they would need to get up very early in the morning to meet the commuter train that would take them into Grand Central Station, into the heart of the city.
The girl got all her clothes and things ready before she went to sleep. Four thirty would come very early, indeed. Here’s a picture of someone helping the girl count her money.
Grand Financier Bella
They watched a little Rex the Runt, the girl’s favorite dvd at her friend’s house. They also looked at a map of Manhattan together so the girl would understand that no matter how large the city seemed to her, it is actually much larger for they were only going to see a small part of it. Midtown.
When they got to the city the next day, the girl was amazed and impressed at how absolutely huge Grand Central Station was. They immediately began walking toward the theatre. On the way, they got a bit of breakfast. The girl had pancakes and milk. After they continued, they passed someone very interesting.
Girl Meets Lion
As they walked north on 5th Avenue, they passed St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The girl had never seen or even heard of a cathedral before. They tried to go inside to see the beautiful stained glass from the inside, but there was an ordination ceremony that was about to start and they were not allowed in. They continued on.
They passed several stores which interested the girl, such as Build a Bear, American Girl, and a large gift shop with a dolphin sculpture in the window. There was also a street fair setting up on 6th Avenue which was closed to traffic. Vendors were starting to set up small tents that would protect them and their wares from sun and rain. The girl hoped very much she and her friend would be able to go back to check all these things out.
Soon they were at the theatre. The girl’s friend purchased tickets for them to hear a behind the scenes talk about what it takes to put on a large Broadway musical such as the one they were about to experience later that afternoon. They went inside, up an escalator to get to the level where the talk would start. On their way up, there were huge murals painted on the walls with maps of Oz, just for this show.
In the audience-right foyer there was a detailed museum display with artifacts of costuming and set design which had been used in the creation of the show, as well as on stage for earlier performances. For instance, the original gowns for both lead characters were there. Gorgeous dresses which had been custom-designed and sewn by hand specifically to fit the individual actresses who played the parts when the show opened in October 2003.
Unfortunately, using a cell phone camera (even a good one) in the dimly lit and crowded locale made less than idea photos.
A scale model of the set design for the play
Katie Rose Clarke as Glinda & Teal Wicks as Elphaba
Above is a professional photo taken on stage of the same dress styles custom-created for the current leads. These are the performers the girl and her friend saw.
This black dress for Elphaba takes 40 yards of custom-made fabric, 3 months and $18,000 to make. It weighs 20 pounds. Glinda’s blue dress is covered with sequins and beads, each one of which is sewn on by hand. One of Madame Morrible’s dresses has over 1,000 yards of ribbon built into it. It weighs 25 pounds.
More fun facts about what is involved with putting on the show:
There are 125 people behind the curtain during each performance and 175 on salary who don’t work in the theatre building for a total of 300 people on payroll.
Everyone on stage has to be able to act, sing and dance – everyone does all
One of the “Behind-the-Scenes” event presenters covers 6 ensemble tracks and 3 understudy roles on stage. He has a “run of show” contract which allows him to raise a family with greater financial predictability than most actors experience.
Some audience members | fans have seen the show 80-90 times
The costumes are designed to be symmetrical for the principle characters and asymmetrical for the ensemble characters.
Costumes cost 2.5 million dollars for over 2,000 individual pieces, every single one of which is custom-made.
All the costume fabric is custom-milled. It costs $150-$750 per yard and is only available in 200 yard bolts. It is made in France and Italy.
A costume designer is like a sculptor. The costume designer won the Tony Award for this show.
Every single thing is done to perfection on the show.
Some of the full costume changes between scenes are only 20 seconds long.
The masks are life cast and are custom for each actor.
Some actors have 6-8 wig changes per performance.
There are over 90 wigs used in the show. Each one is handwoven, 1-2 hairs at a time, and then cut, colored and styled.
Throughout the show on all levels, almost everything is done by hand.
The Gershwin Theatre is Broadway’s largest theatre. It was built in 1972 specifically to house large musicals such as this. It’s also the only Broadway theatre with it’s own rehearsal studio.
A musical’s “book writer” writes the dialogue. The “lyricist” writes the words to the songs. The “composer” writes the music for the songs.
It typically takes $15-20 million dollars to create a musical on stage. Some shows take even more.
There are 10 electricians and 3 sound engineers for each performance.
There are 4 stage managers per performance.
500 pounds of dry ice is used per performance.
For the national tour of Wicked, the contents of 14 semi trucks are loaded into a theatre in 31 hours.
After this informative behind-the-scenes event, the girl wanted very badly to go back to the souvenir shop that had the dolphin sculpture in the window. They backtracked and asked how much it was …. over $2,000! She has excellent taste, for sure And, to be fair, the sculpture was huge and made of brass. She looked around for awhile and found two Statue of Liberty sculptures more in her price range. The glass one in particular really tickled her fancy. Plus, it came in a really cool box.
After that they walked south on 7th Avenue into the heart of Times Square. The girl stopped at a hand crank machine which would squash a penny into a smooth, flat oval and place onto it an imprint of the Twin Towers. She tried it twice, but both times, the imprint was off-center. Oh, well. From there she saw the M&M’s store. Yes, a three-floor store with memorabilia for M&M’s candy! Here the girl decided to get two photo booth photos. One of herself and one of herself and her friend. Of course, there were M&M on the picture surrounding them
On the 2nd floor of the M&M store
The M&M store was very loud with lots of people and music. After a while the girl’s friend wanted to leave to get some quiet in her head. And she was getting very thirsty, so they went back up to 51st Street and 7th Ave where there was a McDonald’s which shared a building with a church. They went in and the girl got a bite and her friend a thirst-quenching milkshake.
The girl doing some acting as she gestures to Mars 2012 ... a store? a restaurant?
Right this way, please
The Gershwin Theatre
The view as they await the start of the play
After that, they walked back toward the theatre, just 1/2 a block away and took these photos along the way.
For those who’re interested, below are a some really interesting photos and video clip links (links are bold and underlined) from – and about – the show.
Suffice to say, both the girl and her friend loved the show. The girl said it was the best play she’s ever seen. Her friend had a tear running down her cheek as they got up from their seats.
Next stop: FAO Schwarz ….. by Pedi-Cab!
Before disembarking the pedi-cab, their kind and friendly driver offered to take their picture.
Moments later, the girl entered FAO Schwarz, one of the oldest and most famous toy stores in the world. Three floors of kid goodness. Well, two if you don’t count the baby & toddler floor. Which they didn’t. The main attractions for the girl were the potential purchase of a remote controlled helicopter, which was affordable, but (sadly) required too many batteries to make it a sustainable plaything. Another was the huge statue made of Legos ….
Miss Liberty ... There are two, you know.
Lastly, was the opportunity to “play” the giant floor piano that was featured in the motion picture “Big” starring Tom Hanks. Woo hoo! While putting her shoes back on after this experience, the girl asked her friend how much the piano was. Um. $250,000.00. Oh.
OK. Though it was excruciatingly difficult, the girl left FAO Schwarz without buying a thing. They hailed a yellow cab (with the help of a gentleman who was hoping for a tip for his service and received one.) They made their way back to Grand Central Station and ate a really yummy dinner at Junior’s on the food concourse. It was right across from track 112, where their train would be leaving. They ate some at the table and brought the rest with them to eat on the train. (Their waiter was awesome.)
The ride home was quiet and included sleep for the girl, which the ride into the city did not. So much excitement, you know! The girl also slept the whole drive home from the train station. Well, she did after loudly playing a couple of her favorite songs from the Wicked original cast recording on her friend’s mp3 player. They got home at 11:30pm and went straight to bed.
Here are a few photos of the cuties at age 2 weeks. They no longer look newborn, awkward and gawky, but are perfect mini-pigs: like real pigs only smaller They are super-fast when running, are fond of spending time following and snuggling with their pig friends (not just their momma), and are very much celebrating the joys of veggies and fruits twice a day and unlimited Timothy hay! Life is good.
Mariska, Fritz & Portia - January 27, 2011
Portia with Fritz behind her and Mariska to her right – January 27, 2011
Babies enjoying baby carrots – January 27, 2011
Lest you think photographing these gorgeous babies is easy, think again. It’s a two-person job: one photographer (me) and one pig wrangler (my 11 year old pal Jennifer – thanks, Jenny! You did GREAT!) Even with both of us, there were lots and lots of blooper shots … as evidenced by the following:
One attempt …
… and another …
… and another …
and ...
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... (did I mention the need for a pig wrangler?) ....
During the large northeastern US snowstorm where the State of Massachusetts was declared by the Governor to be a state of emergency, Alice gave birth at midday to three healthy pups. The pictures included here are at just a couple of hours old. They could barely keep their eyes open, they seemed so tired. Please help Alice, Oliver, the other pigs and our dogs welcome:
Mariska (pronounced maRISHka) is chocolate brown, rust and white
Fritz is black and white.
Portia (pronounced PORsha) is black, rust and white.
Here are two more pictures and a video of the family together:
Hello friends! Oliver asked asked me to post the story he wrote about his recent experiences. He has a lot of time on his paws. I have corrected his spelling and grammar, which were atrocious, but these are his words.
Bina
Oliver’s Story
It all began the day I was born at the end of June. As soon as Bina laid eyes on me, she knew she loved me. I was *that* cute. She says I was all head and barely any body, but that’s what my sister Kanani looked like, too, so I think that’s normal.
Kanani was adopted out to what Bina says is a lovely family near her hometown in Connecticut. Me, she decided to keep, even though I make the herd 6 instead of 5 and she’s only supposed to have 3 because that’s how many of us pigs her landlord thinks she has. She also kept me even though I am a boy. I’m so cute and loving she couldn’t resist. But everyone else is a girl, including her two dogs, so what to do? After much thought, heart and soul-searching, she finally remembered about Tufts Veterinary School’s animal clinic. She talked to them and indeed, they have an exotics vet who knows so much about guinea pigs and does a lot of GP castrations! Woo hoo! There was light at the end of the tunnel. I wouldn’t be alone my whole life. I wouldn’t be adopted out to strangers. I wouldn’t make things harder on Bina by insisting she adopt another boy to be my pal. I would stay at home with my family and friends – without making more pigs along the way! It was going to cost about $340 USD and be of some risk to my life, but overall, we both felt it was the best decision for our particular situation.
Three weeks ago I went with Bina and her friend Cindy in the car for the very first time. Cindy held me inside her sweater and sang to me whenever I got scared. She made up songs with my name it them. I settled down immediately each time she sang. The drive took two hours … in other words: forever! Finally we arrived and met Dr. Mayer. He was very nice and gentle and had tons of knowledge. It was a Well Pig visit to be sure I was healthy enough for castration surgery. It was also an opportunity for Dr. Mayer to check out Bina’s GP husbandry knowledge and skills because she had to bring samples of our food and photos of our habitats for the doctor and he asked her a lot of questions! He was very impressed with how calm and well-socialized I was and with all the information Bina knew and how she cared for us. She asked him if he’s ever lost any GP’s from castration surgery. He said while it could happen in theory, in the ten years he’s been doing castrations, they have not lost one pig. Not one. They average about two castrations per month! I was sure glad to hear that. She asked why there is so much information on the internet about GPs being so sensitive to anesthesia or surgery and why so many are reported to die. He said he honestly doesn’t know. He said there, at Tufts, it’s considered routine surgery. But he has seen info on vet-chat boards on the internet, comments like, “I lost another guinea pig today.” He said he’s mystified. He can’t say what went wrong in these cases because he is not right there when it happened. He wonders if doctors don’t keep the GPs body temp warm enough during surgery because after only 10 minutes under anesthesia, our body temp plummets to lethal levels without the aid of a warmer. He doesn’t know if this is the issue, but he wonders. In the end, Bina’s concerns were allayed, I was deemed ready for surgery and Bina was asked to email the doctor her photos of our habitats so he could show them to his vet students as prime examples. Triple yay!
Two weeks later, Bina and I drove back. She dropped me off early in the morning, then went to a local hotel to rest and hang out until 4pm when I was to be ready for pick-up. The doctor said he called her twice during the day. Once to let her know the surgery went successfully and the next to let her know I’d started eating and would be ready for discharge at 4pm. We were sent home with instructions to keep me separate from the girls for another 3 weeks (2 for sure plus 1 for safety) due to there still being some residual sperm in my system. We expected this since we’d been reading up on things on the internet. We also went home with two medications: one antibiotic and one for pain. Both were liquid and were to be given by mouth using a needle-less syringe. Both tasted absolutely yummy so giving them to me was no trouble at all, Bina later said. On the way home, we stopped to visit Cindy so she could do some of her special trauma-healing energy work on me. I liked this very much. I ate some veggies at her house and then went to bed in my apartment when we got home at Bina’s.
During the middle of that night, sometime after Bina fell asleep around 2am, me or one of my piggy friends (I will not say who as I’ve been sworn to secrecy) started singing. Yes, you heard right folks. There was a guinea pig *singing.* Bina had never heard it before but she’d read about this very rare sound GPs sometimes make, though no human knows why we do it or what it means. As she had been awakened from a deep sleep, Bina at first called out to us to “keep it down over there you guys,” but soon realized that it was not normal pig chatter or cooing or rumble-strutting she was hearing. It was actually an entirely new sound she’d never heard before in her life. It was similar to the sound of birds singing, except that it was clearly not birds but a single GP. Not only did the GP vocalist not stop when she called out to us, but the singer didn’t stop for some 5-10 non-stop minutes! It was most amazing and beautiful, I have to agree! There was silence for several minutes, during which time Bina probably fell asleep again, I think, and then the singing started up again for another 5-10 minutes. Later Bina said she considered getting out of bed and turning on a light to see who was making such a beautiful sound, but she realized both her movement and the light in the darkness would likely have caused the singer to stop. She stayed in bed and just listened, like the rest of us.
The next morning, I noticed Bina got up around 7-something. She was going to stop at the bathroom, but decide first to check on me to make sure I looked ok and that my incisions had not bled on the white towels she’d placed in my apartment the night before. She was happy to see there were poops and urine and no blood, but was alarmed to realize *I* myself was not in my *own* apartment. She turned to look into the girl’s abode and thought she saw me there, but thought, “no, that has to be Alice or Olivia.” But it wasn’t. She was right. It was lil ol’ me “Oh, my God! Oliver!” she exclaimed. “What are YOU doing in with the girls!?!?” Yes, dear friends, I, Oliver Blackfoot, guinea pig of a mere 4 months of age and so recently castrated, that night, for the first and only time in my life, had scaled the wall between my apartment and the girls’ next door and spent a total of about 5 unsupervised hours with them. With all 5 of them!
Needless to say, Bina was flabbergasted.
She says we’ll know in a couple of months just what the results of our middle of the night tryst will be. But she feels she has some understanding now what piggy singing is all about. She says it has something to do with the film Young Frankenstein, at the end where Madeleine Kahn’s character sings, “Oh sweet mystery of life at last I’ve found you!” I don’t know what that means but she thinks it’s very appropriate and funny, in an “if you want to make God laugh, tell her your plans” kind of way.
Cindy says she’s sure the girls coached me over the fence. That such a feat on the night of such a surgery must have been a coordinated group effort.
It’s been a week since then. I’ve stayed put in my own apartment because there is now a giant barricade between us. No more midnight rendezvous, Bina says. My med cycles are complete. Incisions are healing nicely. Appetite has been fine all along. So Bina thinks I am out of the woods.
Two more weeks to go and then ….. yee-haaaaaaaaa!
Oliver Blackfoot
11/20/10 Post Script from Bina: Two days after this story was written, Oliver spent the night in Juvenile Detention for twice in one night scaling the new, improved, even-taller wall between his apartment and the girls. Each time, the girls raised such a ruckus I woke up. That night, Juvie consisted of a 3 foot tall clean garbage pail with hay for sleeping and eating. In the morning I scavenged a piece of corrugated plastic from the garage to create an even bigger, hopefully Oliver-proof wall. Though he has not yet managed to scale it, I’m convinced he has super powers since GPs are not known for climbing. Short hops, yes; climbing, no.
Also of interest is the fact that a few days ago, again in the middle of the night, someone was singing. A different voice. This time it did not coincide with a middle-of-the-night clandestine tryst. Fond memories? Piggy yearning? We’ll never know.
I just realized that 3 weeks to the day from Oliver’s surgery date is Thanksgiving. Though he is out of Juvie, he continues to look forward to his full-release date. He says, “I have so very much to be grateful for.”
And, to be fair, the sculpture was huge and made of brass. She looked around for awhile and found two Statue of Liberty sculptures more in her price range. The glass one in particular really tickled her fancy. Plus, it came in a really cool box.
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