lighting designer

the other day the generator did one of those surge things and messed up the shows led light board and cables.

fortunately it was under warranty

very fortunately we were near the store

unfortunately you had to program all new lights and "scenes"

fortunately you could manually turn them on

unfortunately no one would do that during the show

fortunately I said to Bob, hey I will program the lights,not knowing what I was saying

today I did just that..programmed 8 scenes of lighting !I programmed lighting for the whole show Bob and Charlie were my assistants!
After we were done programming the led lights Bob said , "I bought a new strobe light, you can program that on the led board" doing modern day lighting is fun and difficult! it took about 2.5 hours. Incredible satisfaction when it was all done.

I now have beautiful lights when I work!My fabric lights are very cool!!The most beautiful lights on the show!and I designed them!! ta da

I have 8 more scenes to program.

I have come to my senses about face painting and during the first intermission Jimmy V, front door manager takes a turn. However Jeremiah Cook, aka Huckleberry asked for a turn ,just for the fun of it! he said " I'll bring you the money, painting is so much fun". Not only is face painting fun, it is very Zen,very relaxing

under the sidewall

we all parked in a line very close to the tent.I put Spartacus' leash on a stake. Spartacus went under the sidewall to make sure I was OK every time I went in the tent. I thought it was very cute. Some times the goats are tied off to tent stakes and they sneak under the sidewall to enjoy the show as well.

new stakes !!

thrilling.. I painted my stakes pink !! it is very pretty and delicate!!
the show stakes are all safety yellow..some people paint their stakes silver..ha ha like that is going to look like chrome..I have never been a big fan of silver spray paint

Forrest Traylor

our very good friend enjoying the beauty of tear down from the comfort of his car on a very hot August day

meet and greet on the midway

Joe the mini Brahma Bull does a little noshing at the salad bar and mingles with the guests. Brandon tried to get a ride , bulls will be bulls..

Bismarcks..this little town somewhere in Ohio had the most spectacular confection..

some people said the Mayor brought them for us, others said it was Neil..whoever you are, "thank you, from all who partook! "

we do some audience participation in this show, in one show I picked Mayor Chad , another Officer Joe..ha..ha

I actually ask for a volunteer grown up male to assist Emanuel in the great escape. We need someone to inspect the chains and locks..blah, blah, blah.

the next day the show received two big boxes of treats..

It is good policy to involve the wonderful officials who treat us so splendidly in their fair towns

half of my day

so Fresia was the face painter in the summer..school beckoned..
I thought I would give it a go

I preset my life at 3 pm on weekdays.

I have discovered nutritional bars and juice

I hit the midway at 4, paint till 4.50 or 4.55,go to my trailer put on something ringmaster/trapeze, do some pitches,do 3 splits each side and 3 back bends..stretch my shoulders. start the show ,perform trapeze, pitches,announcing, change costumes, announce,get painting apron ready..start intermission, go to midway, paint in ringmaster duds,change costume,start second half,announce,3 splits,back bends etc.,do fabric,change costume, announce, etc...finale..grab apron briskly walk to midway and paint till 5 minutes before show and it begins again..

in between I let Spartacus in and out of the trailer

I have all my drinks, costumes, shoes, rosin and such preset...

it is kind of fun and..anything is possible

shadows

mirror ball action

photo of the inside of the tent while the mirror ball is spinning ..looks kind of, sort of, if you are using your imagination like a Harold Edgerton milk drop photo..kind of..
fyi an electrical engineer at MIT who pioneered high speed photography! thank you Harold

as a teen I had the privilege of going into his lab or room at MIT in Cambridge, Ma because I was a bratty little kid with connections.

some wind does some damage

Fresia Belmar Eckelman

face painter..a cool way to spend a summer

ron and chris

the other day in 1992 i was talking to someone about how we thought the new administration would figure out health care..we are still waiting..I guess I am lame to think the government could do anything for me in the health department..

that person was Ron pace

I can't believe it has been almost 20 years..

we lost him , he was from our inner circus circle.
we worked together in the 1990's and were great friends.
you can not see your true friends for years but they are still your friends

he leaves behind his amazing wife Chris..they were so close..they were always together..so fun..so happy..

i remember her making him 2 eggs , she used water to fry them..and she always had rice.he was a great debater, loved politics,loved Chris,he spoke mandarin Chinese..he had a funny way of keeping his cats from escaping..just the way he would say back back was hysterical..

he was writing software before we even thought of buying a computer..in 1993 we bought a Macintosh performer..he helped us ..he knew dos and real computer stuff..

we are very sad..life is too short..he was only 58 almost