Talk of the Town: Shake, rattle and bow wow!

Even pets can have eating disorders. According to a BBC News report, a dog had to have 13 golf balls removed from its stomach after eating them on walks around a Scottish golf course.

Owner Chris Morrison had been taking five-year-old black labrador Oscar around the golf course in Dunfermline, Scotland, for several months.

He took Oscar to the vet after noticing a “rattling sound” coming from his pet’s stomach. That’s when a veterinarian discovered the 13 balls.

Morrison said one of the balls had been in Oscar's stomach so long that it had turned black and was decomposing.

“He finds golf balls like truffles,” Morrison said. “We’re not sure how long exactly this happened over, but it must have been a fair period — several months at least. I felt his stomach and heard them rattling around. He normally brings a few home, but I had no idea he had eaten so many.”

Bob Hesketh, 40, principal veterinarian at Vetrica in Rosyth, Scotland was amazed.

“It was like a magic trick,” Hesketh said. “I opened him up and felt what I thought was two or three golf balls. “But they just kept coming until we had a bag full. I think they must have been in there for several months, one was all black and the shell was swollen.”

Oscar is now on the road to making a full recovery on a special post-operation diet of watered-down food. He also has to wear a muzzle while out and about.

Morrison added: “He does get a bit frustrated now and again.”

Dogs can have the strangest appetites. I owned a Great Dane years ago that loved to eat soap. He liked the stuff so much he once ate every bar in the house including a family-size bar of Lever 2000. Gag! The amazing thing was, he never had any bad side effects from his weird cravings. He would just look at you with this glazed look of satisfaction on his face, as if to say, “Do you have any more?”

Dr. Donald J. Behnke, who has written about opera and whose reviews of productions by Arizona Opera have appeared in the Green Valley News for the past two seasons, has agreed to add the Tucson Symphony Orchestra to his critical responsibilities this year.

Tucson Symphony Public Relations Manager Terry Marshall approached me as well as Dr. Behnke at the end of the 2007-08 season to ask to be considered for inclusion.

Behnke said he was gratified to consider the additional coverage saying, “The arts are always in need of the attention and support of the public, and if my reviews will help the orchestra to be better known and supported in the Greater Green Valley area, I am pleased to contribute.”

Behnke has been a subscriber to the TSO for the past six years and is familiar with the personnel and the orchestra. He commented that Conductor George Hanson has fashioned a fine regional orchestra and recently added a critically acclaimed chorus under the direction of Bruce Chamberlain.

“The presence of the chorus in Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, “The Resurrection,” is an exciting addition to the coming season. I will personally look forward to the Mahler.”

Behnke’s reviews and coverage of the Arizona Opera these past seasons have not only impressed our local readers, they also have been published with permission in other publications.

Behnke’s reviews have been picked up from our paper by the International Opera reviews Web site as well as the Arizona Opera site itself. Arizona Opera’s General Director Joel Revzen calls his writing “so very accessible” to the readers, something Behnke takes as a high compliment.

Behnke said his only hesitation about taking on another dozen reviews was his recent foray into cruise lecturing.

“I have been working this past summer on cruise lectures about great opera tenors and sopranos and am now developing lectures in additional areas of interest to cruise ship passengers. Although this work will take me away from Arizona, I will certainly be here for the performances which I have agreed to review.”

The Tucson Symphony Orchestra season opens on Thursday, Sept. 25, and features departing Concert Master Steven Moeckel performing the Beethoven Violin Concerto. Moeckel was recently named Concert Master of the Phoenix Symphony. TSO will also perform the Shostakovich Symphony No. 10 in the opening concert. Ticket information is available at (520) 882-8585 and at www.tucsonsymphony.org

The Aquabelles’ 2008 Las Vegas Revue, the group’s 43rd annual swim show, played to a three-day full house this past weekend. It was one of the best shows yet, and I’ve seen every one since 1995.

With a Las Vegas theme to work around, special guests were Lu Vos, Howard Link and Al Rodriguez, who provided musical magic with hit songs from Vegas and Broadway between swim numbers as the Aquabelles changed costumes.

Speaking of costumes, the gals went all out this year with feathers and Las Vegas head pieces, adding to the glitz and glamour.

Kudos to all the Aquabelles: Velma Adams, Jane Brunckhorst, Mary Calhoun, Carol Caswell, Donna Cornejo, Janet Denton, Marie Duerden, Gail Haight, Phyllis Hobbs, Donna Jones, Karen Kolze, Sandy Lichtenberger, Jan McGuire, Sandy Parker, Judi Quinn, Marilyn Rambo, Pita Risdon, Beryl Sumner and Irene Walters, for their fabulous swimming routines.

Kudos as well, to all those behind the scenes who helped to make the show a success, including Sahuarita Team Offers Protection (STOP) from Sahuarita High School, which lent the group some wonderful Las Vegas scenery hand-painted for last year’s prom. Also providing music before the show and at intermission were members of Roadrunners 4 L.I.F.E. and Fletcher Organ Studio in Continental Shopping Plaza.

You may have heard of Friendster.com, the social-networking Web site. Now meet Dogster.com and Catster.com, two online communities for pets and their owners that are the brainchildren of San Francisco-based Dogster Inc. Register (for free) on either site and create your own Web page, with photos of your pet and a profile that includes her likes and dislikes, nicknames, and breed, as well as links to the Web pages of siblings and pals.

Don’t miss the pet-friendly travel-booking service, which helps users find hotels worldwide where their pets can stay with them.

rford@gvnews.com | 547-9740