Sad penguin

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…”)