December 2006 - Posts
Don Chapelle’s Penguin at the Aquarium has apparently lost an arm. A moment of silence please.
The penguin was installed earlier in the week (Tuesday), and placed right in the sun. Everyone knows that the sun isn’t good for your skin, especially if you’re an ice penguin. Anyway, all of the other sculptures are looking good. They were on site much later in the week, when it got colder. Most of the really intricate stuff was carved in freezers as usual. This year has been much less stressful than the few previous. Remember Edo Castle? That was so sad. The Hokkaido Snow Team was brought all the way over here by the Japan Society of Boston, and I don’t think the mercury dipped below freezing once between Dec. 24 and 31. We had a great time trying to refreeze the ice with liquid nitrogen while at the same time trying to keeping a particularly tenacious television reporter from seeing what we were doing. (Because I personally LOVE the “First Night Meltdown story year after year.) The team was so sad. Maybe next year we can find someone to give us money so we can bring them back to carve a 30-foot Dice-K. Anyone? (Don’t tell the Production Director. This time of year, nothing irritates her more than sentences that start with “Next year we should…”)
The Iron Guild has just loaded on to the Common. We got to see a demo of this a few weeks ago at White Stadium, so that the Fire Commissioner could sign off on it. It’s very cool. There’s a furnace, and molten iron is poured out and into molds, which are then cooled and displayed. The molds are from old Boston street maps. I’m not sure how old, but even if they’re only a couple of years old, they’ll have totally different streets.
And though some of the office staff can’t seem to figure out how to work the microwave (I’m not kidding), rest assured that our tech staff has better skills. Right now they’re out there laying out the fireworks on the Boston Common and on a barge in Southie, and creating a very lovely, sparkly twinkly light show at Copley Square.
I’ve been remiss on the blogging today, as it’s been pretty busy around here. I started the day with a spot on the Fox Morning News starring the World Yo-Yo Champion Larry Sayco. We were interviewed by VB. Mr Sayco is quite a character, dressed in knickers and other finery, and he tells some excellent tales about run-ins with Castro’s troops and some kind of involvement with an assassination attempt on the President of Peru involving President Eisenhower (Ike was involved in the story, not, one assumes, with the assassination attempt.) From there Mr. Sayco and I traveled to the Walter Denney Youth Center in my hometown of Dorchester so he could do a little demo for the kiddies. Sadly, the 300 Duncan Imperial yo-yos I ordered on Christmas Eve had not yet shown up, so it was demo only. We had some media, and Mr. Sayco showed Channel 5’s Gail Huff a few tricks, but I’m recommending that she not quit her day job. Anyway, look for Larry on the news today on Channels 5 and 7, and in the Herald tomorrow.
The ice is coming along. Steve Rose is working on the frog Pond overnight. It’s nice and cold out there. I peeked into the Park Plaza Castle to see what Pat Oleszko is up too, and it’s really cool. She has giant inflatables everywhere, including an inflatable cinema where you can see her film “Kneepolian,” which is the story of one of Napoelon’s battles acted out by the knees of several actors. The Weekly dig made fun of her description in our program guide, but it’s going to be one of the coolest things at First Night this year.
The shrink wrap sculptures are done, but as I’ve been out there today, lots of people have been wondering if they’re ice sculptures which are covered until Dec. 31. They’re not. They’re actually made of other things, and then shrink wrapped.
Oh, and the yo-yo’s showed up this afternoon, so if you’re coming to see the yo-yo champ and don’t have your own yo-yo, don’t fret, we’ll have some for sale. Mr Sayco will even autograph them or shorten the strings, and maybe teach you a trick or two from his arsenal.
Peg Rusconi from WBZ-TV had a report (which is probably still on their website http://www.cbs4boston.com/) that has one of the kids who is drumming with Spontaneous Celebrations from JP saying “It’s so loud that when you come back home, you can’t hear your Mom say one thing.” I think the kid came from central casting.
I will be on WTKK tonight around 9:30, being interviewed by Jimmy Myers, who is filling in for Michael Graham this week. Then I will be on the Fox Morning News around 8:30 a.m. tomorrow with VB and World Yo-yo Champion Larry Sayco. Our Executive Director Geri Guardino will be on WROR at about 8:00 a.m. with Tony V. who is filling in for Loren and Wally this week (and of course performing at First Night) and then on Globe at Home on NECN around noon tomorrow. She’s also doing an interview tomorrow morning with Univision, but I am not sure if that’s live.
Tomorrow would be a good day to come in and see some works-in-progress in ice! Steve Rose and his crew have just loaded on to the Boston Common, and they’ll be carving tonight into the wee hours. Don Chapelle is on site at Brewer’s Fountain. Tomorrow, Don will be there most of the day, and Steve will be there most of the night. Of course, all of this is subject to change. The Shrink Wrap Sculptures are coming along. One of the artists, the woman who did the long tail, should be especially commended. She loaded her sculpture on to the Common BY HERSELF, from a TAXI. Not kidding. That’s dedication. Also, when you come in town, make note of our beautiful newfangled button booths, made by our own Rick Campbell, in his West Roxbury carriage house.
Ask any of my friends and they’ll tell you that I am one of those nutty dog people. I spend more money on and time with his royal highness than I probably should, but he is the best boy ever, so I have no choice. Anyway, someone called here this morning to know which of our events are dog-friendly, and was very unhappy when my reply was that none of the indoor events are. (Not sure why anyone would think it’s a good idea to bring a dog to a church or he Orpheum, but there you go.) I told him that much of First Night happens outdoors, and that dogs are of course allowed in all of the outdoor places where they’re usually allowed, and all of the usual rules apply. If you are planning to bring a dog down here, I just wanted to offer some advice, crazy dog person to crazy dog person.
1. I don’t know about anyone else, but my dog is TERRIFIED of fireworks, and we have two displays - one at 7 p.m. and one at midnight. If your dog is freaked out by loud noise, don’t have him out at those times.
2. I’m thinking the Grand Procession is not the best place for a dog. It’s loud and crowded and a bit chaotic (in a good way). If I was a foot and a half tall, I don’t think I’d like it.
3. Don’t let your dog pee on the ice sculptures.
And from Charlie Ashmont (below, sans dignity), plus Raddichio Bishop, Trudeau Burroughs and all the other First Night staff doggies, Happy New Year.
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Don Chapelle’s ice penguin is now on display at the Aquarium. I hear he’ll be putting some finishing touches on it tomorrow. He has also loaded on to the Common (by Brewer’s Fountain) and will most likely be carving tomorrow. the shrink wrap sculptures have startsed to sprout up on the Common (Lafayette Mall) though it was a bit too windy to do any shrink wrapping today. (Heat gun + wind = wait until tomorrow). I saw them move Josh Raymond’s Sea Serpent from a huge flat bed truck using some very impressive heavy equipment earlier this afternoon. According to Josh’s Mom, with whom I chatted a bit, moving services were donated by Glancy Riggers & Crane of Avon, Ford Construction of Norwell, and Anderson Insulation of Abington. Very nice of all of them. Josh’s appears to be the largest of the shrink wrap sculptures. There will be six in all.
First Night 2007 Special ‘Limited Edition’ light up button
To blink or not to blink, that is the question. The First Night 2007 button has an alter ego this year. This alter ego, nicknamed the “blinky” button here at the office, will light up in an assortment of eye catching colors. The colors running blue, orange, red and green bring attention to this already wonderful looking button. There is a limited number of “blinky” buttons, which are only available December 31st at the Hynes Convention Center, so be the first in line to pick up your special Limited Edition light-up button. The button goes for $20 ($5 with the trade in of a regular First Night Button).
Charisse Sebastian needed a place to wear her Rum Tum Tugger costume; eighteen years later she is still volunteering at First Night, this year as a house manager. People start volunteering at First Night for all kinds of reasons and many of them come back year after year, like Shawn Hatch. Shawn thinks he’s been volunteering at First Night for eleven years, but he’ll have to go back and count the vests to be sure. Florence Cooperstein who has been volunteering at First Night for longer than she cares to admit says, “Those were good days and these are good days too.”
Kenn Douglas volunteers at First Night every year because it’s a nice transition between the fall and spring semesters at Boston University where he is an associate something or other. Kenn always enjoys watching the magician B.J. Hickman although he said, “maybe this year I’ll have a new favorite, I’ll have to see how well Nonia’s group performs.” Nonia Burroughs has run the phone bank for the last few years. Every year she looks forward to answering the tough questions, like “When is First Night?” Nonia is usually the official night of the event go-for girl, but this year she’ll be getting in on the act as a part of the A Major Dance Group.
First Night volunteers wear many hats and not just New Year’s party hats either. Talisha Gilliard was really excited when Joyce Bishop called her to help in the office this year. “It’s nice to contribute behind the scenes,” she said. But her favorite part about First Night is working with her brother and the two of them will be puppet captains in the parade this year. A lot of volunteers come as a package. Tom Aprille had so much fun as an usher his first year at First Night that he invited a two friends to join him the next year, and five more the year after that. This year Tom will be volunteering with a group of about 20 friends and friends of friends.
Working for a good cause can be a fun way to ring in the New Year. Ruth volunteers for the Boston Marathon, the Jimmy Fund and the Red Cross among many others. But she says First Night is one of the highlights of her year. “It’s always exciting and fast moving,” she says “and it was always wonderful to see when the little children used to come in their jammies.” Emily Murphy has been volunteering at First Night for the last three years and is happy to help out however she can even to the extent of writing about herself in the third person. Everyone’s happy to help because as Tom Ciulla, a volunteer of thirteen years, says, “It’s important to help the arts in Boston, to provide a platform for both new acts and old professionals. First Night is a great way to keep the culture flowing through our city.”
We’re all a little giddy around here because this morning the weather forecast took an excellent turn, and because we have ice! That’s right, ice has been delivered to two sites so far - the Aquarium, where Don Chapelle will be carving “Walk Like a Penguin” (though I don’t believe the penguin will, in fact, be walking) and the Boston Common Lafayette Mall where Chapelle will (also) be carving ”Oysterman.” I haven’t been out there yet today, but I’m going to venture a guess that right now, there are just giant blocks of ice at both sites. The magic happens during the daylight hours for the next couple of days.
Fun fact - Chapelle’s background is actually in the culinary world, which is the case for many ice carvers. More info about him here - http://www.donchapelle.com/about.html
The TV crews are roaming around today, so tune in to see the First Night preps. WBZ-TV (our sponsor) is headed over to the Aquarium, and to OrigiNation’s rehearsal, so tune in for that. As I write, Shiba Russell from Channel 5 is over in an ice freezer with First Night Executive Director Geri Guardino and Eric and Alfred the ice sculptors! They should be live on the noon news. This morning, Channel 7 had some footage of Fuerza International’s rehearsal. I guess we’re doing this thing!
During the week of First Night, I gain about 10 pounds from the lunch that we get every day to the late night special at McCormick and Schmicks in the Boston Park Plaza (Our Hotel Sponsor). Today’s lunch was from the great people at Souper Salad. Thanks!
During the week leading up to the event, the kind folks at some of Boston’s greatest resturants donate meals to the hard working First Night staff. Today we had a fantastic lunch from P.F. Chang’s. The Mongolian Beef is a personal favorite of mine!
Here’s a late breaking special offer from our friends at the BSO.
Visit the Symphony Hall Box Office with a First Night button and receive a 20% off discount on tickets for the two performances on Saturday, December 30, at 3pm and 7:30pm. Original ticket prices $25-$83.
Keith Lockhart, conductor
Members of the Boston Pops
and featuring New York Voices
Join our pre-New Year celebration! Members of the Boston Pops performs sassy swing to sultry salsa with the Grammy-Award winning New York Voices. It’s an evening of dazzling entertainment, complete with dance floor and party favors
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