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A couple of photos.. my weekly quota of DSLR use! Just looking at the photos, especially the first one, he still looks like such a puppy. Comparing with the photos from when he first got here.. it’s crazy how much he’s grown. Then I compared it with the photos of full grown dogs at the breeders and it looks like he’s about half grown. Hopefully he retains his cuteness even when he’s grown up.

This is the second Leonard Bernstein musical in my season subscription because it is Seattle Celebrates Bernstein festival right now. Candide was originally composed as an operetta and is based on a novel by Voltaire, but is produced as a musical today. The original opera quality surprisingly shows – I didn’t think the difference between an opera vs a musical is that noticeable. I think partly this is because the music is more symphonic than “pop” musical sounding. Like all old musicals, this one is particularly lengthy and runs just over 3 hours.

The plot for this musical was very weak – I felt it was trying to be so many things that it ended up being nothing. Thematically it was trying to be comical yet philosophical (regarding the meaning of life and the pursuit of happiness). In the end the plot became more and more absurd as dead characters just kept reviving.

The singing was impressive – there was a soprano aria (“Glitter and be Gay”) that is super high (hits a Eb6 three times, with numerous C6, and Db6 – for comparison purposes, the high note in Phantom is a E6). There were a lot more chorale numbers than normal (which made it felt more operatic). I was OK with the style of music (it felt more classical than what you normally hear at musicals), but people around me were talking during intermission and they didn’t seem to like it. No songs really stood out either – maybe because it is more classical operatic than pop song styled.

The acting was decent and the set changes were interesting, but the more important elements (music and plot) wasn’t to my taste, so I didn’t like it too much. I think there’s nothing wrong with the music, but it was just the wrong setting for a musical. I think I would enjoy the same music if I was at the symphony, but not so much at a musical.

That’s 2 not so favourable musicals in a row :(. 2.5 TP rolls for me again:

I’m going to watch another musical tonight and I suddenly realized I didn’t write a review for the last musical I watched :).

A little background on the musical if you haven’t heard of it: Fiddler held the record for the longest-running Broadway musical for almost 10 years until Grease surpassed its run. It was nominated for ten Tony Awards (1965), winning nine, including Best Musical, score, book, direction and choreography.

I didn’t do my pre-study for this musical as I was rather busy planning for my Yellowstone trip, and was slightly surprised to again see Jerome Robbins as the choreographer – this makes the 4th musical in a row that I saw with him as the choreographer (South Pacific, On the Town, Anna and the King, Fiddler on the Roof). Granted, he is an amazing choreographer – and that really shows in the large dance numbers in this musical.

Being another old musical, it was quite long (just over 3 hours I think, with intermission). The plot was set in 1905 in Russia and talks about the lives of Russian Jews, so culturally and musically I did not connect. (It makes me wonder if non-Asians have the same problem when they watch more Oriental plays like Anna and the King). The only song I knew from Fiddler was “Sunrise, Sunset”, which to my surprise was a wedding song for the play 😐 (it is in a minor key).

The house was more packed than I expected and so I guess the play itself is rather popular – either that or people are present to see Harvey Fierstein, who is a very lively actor. The production was solid, but I did not enjoy it as much as some other musicals – just not my taste I guess.

2.5 TP rolls for me:

His sleep mode is just like a Mac. Instant-wake.

So we’ve had Burton longer than the breeder now! He’s bonded quite well to us, and his training continues to progress. We’ve been mainly focused on his house training on grass as well as his leash manners. We’re going to start introducing a bell as well as hope we can begin his stays. He starts his next set of classes (Manners 1) on Thursday and we’re supposed to be able to do stays.. so it’s going to be a challenge for sure.

He’s begun to grow into adolescence (we think) as he’s started to be a little more stubborn on his leash. Using a combination of toys/treats/redirection, his morning walks are quite pleasant. He definitely needs to be able to run free daily, otherwise he just has too much energy.

We’ve learned that he actually plays different with Sam and I. He knows Sam doesn’t like him jumping on her, so he always brings the toy to her and then lies down or drops it. With me, he continually butts me with the toy and tries to put it in my hand because we play tug a lot. If I’m on the ground he’ll jump into my lap etc. His bite inhibition is quite good, but he dislikes my hand in his mouth so mouthing is hard to work on. He just keeps avoiding my hand (which is good that he knows teeth don’t belong on skin) but we have to make sure he knows how to bite super lightly in the event that he accidentally bites someone (maybe being stepped on or something).

He’s roughly 25lbs and seems to have slowed a little with his growing, but it’s probably just harder to notice. My wild guess is he’ll probably top out around 35lbs in the next 2 months and then slowly fill out another 10lbs or so over a year or two.

… because* …

*make sure you read the fine print 😛