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The show must go on,
even in the dark 

SANTA FE, N.M. – There were no sets, the orchestra was stuck on stage and performers had to change by flashlight. But the show went on. 

A power outage caused by two bull snakes that slithered into a switching gear didn’t stop the Santa Fe Opera from performing Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin” Monday night. The electricity came on part-way through the opera. 

The snakes’ interruption made for “an interesting evening of theater” for the 2,100 people who attended, said Tom Morris, the opera’s director of administration. 

A generator provided some electricity for the theater, but the orchestra — which usually is lowered electrically beneath the stage — was stuck in the middle, blocking the way for sets. 

Performers prepared in a wardrobe area lit by lanterns and flashlights. Battery-powered lanterns were placed in nine bathrooms. Bartenders used flashlights. 

The snakes weren’t so lucky. The voltage at the site of the equipment “can be fatal to humans so the snakes probably didn’t have a chance,” said Don Brown, a spokesman for the Public Company of New Mexico. 

A similar outage after an opening night performance 17 years ago was caused by a rodent that chewed through a power cable and “didn’t survive the experience,” Morris said. 

Senior citizen parachutes
from bridge 

TWIN FALLS, Idaho – Jim Guyer let go of the railing on the Perrine Bridge, gave a hearty push with his legs and fell into history. 

Guyer, 74, became the oldest person to parachute from a span with Friday’s jump from the bridge 486 feet over the Snake River. 

“It was terrific, I got to do a 360-degree turn after the chute opened and everything,” Guyer said while relaxing after his jump. 

The jump could qualify him for a spot in the Guinness Book of Records. 

“I used to think, ’Man, when I’m 50, I’ll be too old for this crazy stuff,”’ said Tony Herring, 42, of Rock Hill, S.C., a friend who accompanied Guyer. “I can’t think that with him around.” 

Guyer’s jump drew a small crowd of spectators to both sides of the bridge. Several motorists honked their horns and cheered as Guyer and his party prepared to go over. 

“I really hope what I did inspired some 75-year-old guys to come out here,” he said. “That’s the fun of it. Life is a game. Records are made to be broken.” 

You think you’re depressed?
She lost 2,000 pounds 

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Irene was depressed. She ignored her paints and brushes; she stopped balancing tires on her head for fun; she was nauseated and ate dirt, and the only food that interested her was small cottonwood branches to control her upset stomach. 

She lost 2,000 pounds. 

But these days the five-ton Asian elephant at the Rio Grande Zoo is feeling much better, after recovering from the side effects of medications for tuberculosis. 

“It’s been a very gratifying, satisfactory effort to see an enormous, incredible animal like this, whose life was really threatened by this infection, do so well,” said Dr. Gary Simpson, medical director of the state Infectious Diseases Bureau. 

Tuberculosis was discovered in Irene in October 2000, and she was given massive doses of medications for over a year. The treatment ended in January and now she’s acting like herself again. 

The 38-year-old elephant never showed symptoms of the disease, but suffered from side effects of the drugs — the same ones human TB patients take. 

Irene also apparently didn’t like having her blood taken. “She tried to sit on me,” Richard said.