Hadi Shrine line up

new and shiny




In my opinion..the new management did a splendid job..actually an excellent job with the new Hadi Shrine Circus !! A lot of new fresh faces, excellent lighting, a great building (except for the wind tunnel in the back door and the parking is tight )
Rumour has it that next year the band will update their charts !!

The last day for me I had the most mishaps ever, my web was not lowered for my trapeze..so I was a little late getting started. My neck loop came crashing to the ground off my lyra , always a comforting thing to see. So I climbed the web with the loop on my shoulder, looking extra spastic. I had a snafu in the little dance..grrr.. .To make the show perfect I forgot to wear my gloves in the elephant act. Oh yeah and my costume almost fell off during trapeze..In conclusion..I felt like the ultimate idiot

There were some crowd favorites The Castle Performing Bears (people love the dancing bear) , lots of women and aerialists in the air , Dave Smith Sr. performed his last shot from the cannon and how beautifully and high did he fly !! Elephants, tigers, doggies, horses, camels, jugglers, acrobats ....it was a big, happy, pretty, show

hallways and dressing rooms




we spend a lot of time in dressing rooms and hallways
waiting , changing, warming up, gossiping, telling tales..

some of the faces of the Hottie Shrine





elephant empresses



we are wearing real corsets and breathing !!!

under new management

something about driving to Evansville and being part of the Hadi Shrine Circus is pretty privileged..

We lost our beloved Paul Kaye last year, we also performed at Roberts Stadium for the last time...

This year the Jordan Circus is the producer and we are performing at the Ford Arena in downtown Evansville.

I am not one of the circus royalty who has performed here since the beginning of time, so my little mark in the history of the Hadi Shrine is insignificant.
My first time was 1995. I missed 2001-2006, because of other shows and obligations. I came back in 2007, just Fresia and me. Marshall will have nothing to do with hanging out in the cold weather and watching me suffer through the shows. Don't ask me why but this is the most agonizing date I have ever done. I love the wretchedly soreness of it all. It makes me thankful I can climb up to my rigging and do spectacular and unspectacular things.

Yesterday was a day full of practice and running animal and production number.I am wearing some fun little costumes and doing a cute little dance, as well as aerial things and riding an elephant.

The highlight of opening day is we only have 1 show today at 3pm !! Normally we have 2 shows followed by a big Thanksgiving dinner, waking up super early performing at 9.30, 2 & 7 Friday and Saturday closing with 1 show on Sunday............

Lyra



whoever said Lyra , the roundish aerial aparatus , was easy and a joke is an uneducated fool !!! oh wait ..I said that once

well I take it back. Lyra is not easy and the metal part is ouchy.

I hope to have learned from this exercise , nothing is easy .

My very wonderful friend Jody U is helping me with Lyra...

neighbors at the fair

11 days of fair






I forgot my power cable for my laptop. I also did not bring a TV. I had my trusty Iphone and great books and lots of sewing and trailer organizing ...oh yeah and there were shows to be done.

The weather was cool and refreshing, there was a hot tub we had the use of, I found an Aveda salon and had my hair beautified.

The show kids did a show. darling !

I went to the Flying High Circus at FSU, very nice.

Looked at a beautiful Merry Go Round across the way

Worked out

Tallahassee


Another fair...this is the life. One spot for 11 show days. The weeks days have only 1 show at 7.30 , for the most part. We have a few 3 show days and a couple of 2 show days.sigh.. the show is loaded with talent..

Lots of side show attractions at this fair, I am going to visit each and every one..

We have a beautiful double decker merry go round right next to us.
There is also a jacuzzi next to us and the jacuzzi guy has taken a shine to us and we asked him if we could try it . So today he comes up to the tent and says the jacuzzi is 107 !! However my people at the circus told me I can't go jumping in the jacuzzi while the fair is going on..boo

I am pretty much over being without the family...but fortunately I have great gal pals to hang with and I am working with another aerial diva !!!

a fun tear down at the circus


sometimes you just have to close your eyes and use your imagination
sometimes it is impossible to take a photo

take a purple span set, make a harness
clip yourself to the main falls that are hanging off the truss at 34 feet
grab a rope that is tied to a climbing rope
get pulled to the truss by Marshall and Timi L
realize your harness is very uncomfortable
grab the truss with one hand
throw the rope tied to the climbing rope over the truss
climb out of the harness
wrap your leg on your climbing rope that is being held by Timi L
unclip the main fall
clip the main fall on the climbing rope
try and reach the other main fall
realize you can't reach
come down the climbing rope
drop the climbing rope
get pullied up with the other main fall
repeat process
come down to the ground
pack up rigging
chain main falls
drive home
photos are not of the actual event..

4 dogs and 1 turtle



As predicted I am getting attached to the last ,cutest puppy ever !!

Is 4 dogs and 1 turtle and 3 humans too much for the Scythian ?

I am going to get a doggy yard if that is the case !!

It is a known fact that our dogs are the most walked dogs in show business !!

I can't imagine walking our dogs as much as I did this summer, I think I walked them a minimum of 6 times a day at fairs.It was ok, except for the puppy dog, she was so curious and EXCITED .I was parked in the middle of these crazy rides; the zipper, the stinger, wild mouse, blah blah blah.good times

Fuzzable barks like a freak at Shelly the turtle, Spartacus is a runner, Electra can be cool, will bark when provoked, the new puppy appears to have a great temperament does not bark at the turtle and Marshall has taken a liking to her....

She is black and brindle, her paws and face are brindleish and her paws are silver dapple and she has a piebald chest !!! I had been calling her Silvertooth but have now changed it to "puppy" . If we keep her will we call her Silver ??

Cheeko



Cheeko aka Brent DeWitt is one of my first friends I met when I came to Sarasota in 1987 !!!

He is a clown, a butterfly garden caretaker, has a Punch and Judy show, a Fiji mermaid and other assorted circus and sideshow curiosities , a really cool Calliope organ thing that plays music on midways, he is an all around amazingly positive good person..We are lucky he is our friend! He is one of the good guys !!!

He wears shorts or kilts, he wore pants when he assisted me in my act!!!

He is a great coffee maker and the tour we did in 2004 , he was a life saver with the coffee !!
yay for Cheeko !!!

venues




I have gotten so familiar with change and different venues that it has become the norm...

I can use totally different size trapezes, I accidentally hung my bar backwards and did my whole act..I noticed something felt weird but it didn't freak me out

Air conditioning with perfect lighting or a hot tent with the sidewalls down inhaling the old fumes of the human volcano. I just see my rigging and concentrate on stretching and doing my little act.

Fresia has been assisting me with the beginning part of my act at the pumpkin festival, I just look at her cute face and that makes me exceedingly happy

I am so happy about next year , 1 show all year....sigh

photo credit for trapeze Richard Czina

extension ladders






we love going on the roof and enjoying the view!!
a ladder makes it an aerial thing....

I guess we could have done it ourselves, seeing as how I spent a couple of hours up there watching the work. It is just like fixing anything or sewing .Take it apart, remember the order, put it back together with new stuff, in the correct order, with the proper tools

every day is an adventure in aerial artistry






Aerial artistry surrounds us!
Everyday we take to the skies and have adventures.
Today adventure came to my house.
The roof supplies !
This big truck thing showed up with shingles and what not.
This truck thing had a lift.
First they inspected the roof, next they turned on the lift and extended it to the roof, the lift has a conveyor belt .
One guy loaded the conveyor belt, the other unloaded on the roof.
Next step have me sign papers, retract extension and au revoire

puppies and pumpkins





a new camera!! blogging with an iPhone is for the super dedicated. It isn't the photos that are the challenge but trying to write something mildly interesting that captivates every thought I am having at the moment...
We finished the first weekend of the Pumpkin Festival !! We did a 6 pack..say no more...6 shows in the Florida weather in a tent without air conditioning..my hands were on fire by the last show.
This is a nice time because there are many different kinds of performers and shows, all sorts of fun activities from butterfly gardens to pumpkin cannons to fresh watermelon with smoky chili powder from Mexico to a corn maze to thrill shows, novelty acts, arts and crafts and friends from the past and friends from the present.

We get to do this for 2 more weekends!!!

subjects in the photos ; Timmy , Sashi, Lamonte ,myself and some puppies of course

I love Hollywood

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKf2TH7dGAI&feature=mh_lolz&list=FLPsVfEFAd0wiacUAd8QVKnQ

Bromeliads and Dengue Fever



Maybe I am being hysterical, but this spring I called mosquito control because the mosquitoes in my yard are out of control. The first thing the mosquito guy asked me was if I had checked my Bromeliads. Unknown to me Bromeliads are one of the best ways to breed mosquitoes ! Mosquito guy took a turkey baster and sucked out about 1/2 cup of nasty mosquito larvae pupa stagnant water!! He gave us these pellets called Bromeliads bites that we are supposed to throw in the plants once a month, why grow plants that are homes to creatures that bite you and can give you disease, that is a big cup of crazy !! I used to like these plants but this summer I was able to sit outside and not get eaten alive.When I returned home to Florida in the fall I was determined to rid our yard of these mosquito breeding machines !!Also when I returned home there were more plants in the trees , around the trees , everywhere !! it was crazy..Fresia and I began operation Bromeliad.It was kind of sad ripping out those plants, it was also very naturey...all kinds of bugs and stagnent water was spilling out, after a while we had to stop..Fresia was getting really grossed out.
After mosquito man came one of my neighbors ripped out all his Bromeliads, the other neighbor likes and grows them...I kind of panicked when I heard dengue fever was in Florida..