Another originally american store? Lawson. I grew up in Ohio and Lawson's was the local convenience store most everywhere. They had the best milk around.
as for what http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3554/3470831310_eb4c0b3272_o.jpg are in your 'Not sure what these are' picture: Those are wheel chocks for rolling set pieces... so they stay where they put them.
Give it 3 months and someone will come out with a control system that you can plug the earphones of your choice into instead, that clips onto you or the earphone cable.
The alternative to having one side dressed and one side not-so-dressed is to have one side front and one side back, just in case you want to roll her over.
