Frisco

my favorite exercise thing to do is hot yoga..we are in an area where I get to do this very thing..

Today is Easter Sunday , on Kelly Miller Circus that means a few things. First it is Easter , the entire show goes out to eat !! THANK YOU !! We went to this great Chinese buffet and there were oysters and sushi and  all kinds of tasty heaven . On Christmas day The Jewish people ( which I am ) like to go for Chinese food ..so I think it was neat that we went to this buffet ( because I missed the Chinese food on Christmas day ) .The second BIG Kelly Miller activity is the Easter Bonnet CONTEST !! Very competitive !! I came in second in the comedy department , I was going for beautiful.. Fresia and I began our artistry around 9.30 this morning except for last night she modpodged with glitter some Matzos for my bonnet . After our Easter fun , We went back to the trailer , I drank some espresso and then did 90 minutes of hot yoga at Sunstone Yoga . The third big deal is it is a DAY OFF !! Actually I am so self absorbed that I forgot that the first thing that happens is the wonderful Easter Egg Hunt !!  very fun ..I was lying in bed at the time but I heard it was a success !!

Every day is a new day

 It has been an action packed week !! We got to see a helicopter land and inspect it up close .

 Hooper the mascot of FC Dallas , a soccer team came to tent raising and did publicity things

 It is always a good idea to walk the lot and  if at all possible not drive on the soggy stuff ..if there are options..this is not my work..I will leave out names , however I have been mired in the mud..

when we go to the next town we call it a jump , makes it seem so quick and simple

Sunday we had a biggish drive . When we arrived at the lot our "space" was occupied with vehicles . It took a while to get people to take their vehicles and this lone pick up remained . Finally some barefoot guy is small shiny shorts stumbled over to his pick up , apologized and sheepishly drove away .Beyond our lot had been a cook off and our lot had been a parking lot.. His truck almost became part of the seating..

These 5:30 calls are killing me ,.. after 6 weeks of sleeping and mostly driving small amounts , as we were cradled in the bosom of the Rio Grande Valley with the warmth , dirt and multiple multiple day stands, with late shows , the smooth life is over . We are finally back to "normal" ..we finish the shows at 9:30 on weekdays and 7 ishess on weekends . We get up EARLY and drive ..and feel punch drunk and cranky till we get our nappy ..Today was only 62 miles it seemed to take forever , almost two hours !!
A bunch of people decided to go south on the highway at the exit instead of following the route after getting off at the exit they pulled a u turn and went south on the highway ..lemmings .They BLEW THE ARROWS . Usually when people blow the arrows, they blame someone else. I say EMBRACE the fact that you BLEW THE ARROWS..We always get all cranky pants when we are called out on our odd little journeys..I have blown arrows and gotten lost..I admit it..but not today

Mother of pearl

We are in Port Lavaca , Texas.We are parked smack on the water . The air is so different from the Rio Grande Valley . Humidity !! I feel luscious. . We walked downtown and found some sweet shops of the antique and nick knack persuasion . I have always loved Mother of Pearl and Abalone buttons . I should have bought more ! It turns out that they are not being made anymore and this store buys them from the guy that bought out all the stock from this famous God Bless America button manufacturer .  To make our outing magically unbelievable We stopped in a flooring store to buy some wood tiles for the bathroom ..it was a no go BUT the lovely store owner gave us a roll of purple carpet remnant and I think it says Berber on the back..Well it ain't going in the bathroom that is for sure , but we do have a nasty section of hallway that is a mysterious color of blue or who the heck knows at this point . A fun project in our mists .

My other fun project will be sewing these snazzy buttons on some darling jeans like tuxedo stripes . I will be all the rage ! Another day at the circus ...

some of my favorite and not favorite things

We love these thirst quenching beverages

My unfavorite thing is looking at my boo boos , not even looking just feeling the sting ! I always say to my self the great thing about my ouchies is it means I am working..and nobodies feet or hands loves doing 16 shows a week times 6 = 96 shows in 6 weeks during our Rio Grande Valley run ! that's right I said it ! It isn't like I am talking about an-l --x ,like some people are talking about on television ! I bet if I started adding some naked sweaty prose I would have a best seller..oh dear I am drifting off topic.Back to trapeze and horrible blemishes , I guess I could have used those cool leather gator things my young smart circus trapeze friends use BUT when I first started trapeze I didn't even wear tights...

Rick Purdue's photos of the 2013 Kelly Miller Circus

http://www.flickr.com/photos/partridgeroad/sets/72157632938235166/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/partridgeroad/8562709616/in/set-72157632938235166

Rick did a great job..thank you Rick !

Marshall is a fashiony guy

Marshall Dean Eckelman is a pretty snappy dresser . He always is a smartly clad circus musician . Today he is sporting a suit given to him by John Herriott . I say early early 1980's .It is dark dark brown wide bell bottoms , with a matching vest and jacket , adding a red tie (from the famed John Lower aka Cobra , bandleader collection of band attire and a Kelly Miller red hat , he looks super spiffy . (hat is not on his head , duh )

Finesse of arena moving

Teto demonstrates the way to hold a panel ..and you have to run .

Carrying panels

Alex is learning how to carry tiger arena panels.I enjoy watching an arena tear down or set up..The tear down is pretty intense and fast . The panels seem to peel off and float out of the tent .

Historical Juggling Props | An online museum

http://historicaljugglingprops.com/

clubs, balls and dog
I have been carrying these items around with me since 1994 ! (dog is new)They were given to me by a juggler , Billy Raye . He was an ice skating , juggling ,unicycle riding amazing talent . I had the honor of being on the same bill by working for John and Karen Flanagan . John was a headliner for Sonja Henie,Karen an amazing ice soloist . They had shows in Miami/Fort Lauderdale for years . The Flanagans gave me my first break in show business .So today I am glamorously doing laundry and some guy calls me asking if I will donate Billy Raye's stuff to his juggling museum !! In conclusion ,that is why you keep the cool stuff .I will donate this stuff (except dog ) to his museum in Ohio.

is Sangria a proper noun ?

a recipe for Sangria.. wine that is tired , leftover citrus type fruit , a stick of cinnamon, seltzer, juice of some kind..keep adding stuff til it tastes insanely tasty !!let it hang out in the refrigerator for at least an hour or till after finale..

no stakes in the ground

the big top ballet used chains and heavy cable and heavier trucks to keep the tent from flying into the sky..the weather was a little breezy

painting on the truck by Bobby Rawls

living in the elements

I took a poll amongst my circus ( is not just a job it is a way of life) friends. I asked about 15 people what was their least favorite or maybe what would they pick 1) mud or 2) dirt with optional bonus high winds . The thing about dirt with any wind at all is, it covers everything, your teeth get crunchy , your skin dries and cracks , you start wearing heavy night time face cream during the day and using baby ass balm on your hands and oiling your skin and wearing gloves to do dishes , your costumes make your dry skin crack ,when it gets really cold , your fingertips and the corners of your mouth crack and bleed ,you blow your nose and it is creepy and weird, you don't realize how dehydrated you are getting ..and the sweeping never ends..wow.. no one laughs about the dirt .. The thing about mud..well mud is funny. People lose whole shoes in the mud. sometimes you wipe out in the mud and still get to do your act, looking all lunatic like .Once you have navigated to your destination on foot in the mud..it always is comical . People get together backstage or at the cookhouse or at the office and people laugh ( at each other). Mud is slapstick and it brings out the best in us. Dirt/sand with high winds is not funny . Sure getting stuck in the mud stinks but having your air conditioner croak because it sucked in some dirt and sand is expensive.If you have ever REALLY trooped on a circus in the elements you get how tough the weather can be . Lots of dirt in the air causes respiratory issues,. headaches..sinus bullshit..sore throats..tomorrow is a city park..maybe some grass to park on. . In conclusion most people picked dirt with wind over mud !! I must have asked the wrong people .
 

adventure time

Good times in the Scythian .Today I will share a shitty story with a happy ending . We ran out of scratchola when the Scythian was at North Dallas RV because our hydraulic jack had done a pratfall and needed to be replaced so that capped off the repair bill. We still had more work to do be done and a very important piece of work was our bathroom floor . It was rotted due to various leaks over the last 12 years. It was a pretty intense project .When you went into the bathroom and got close to the TOILET the floor kind of sagged ( like all the weight was on the holding tank ) so we were sitting on our holding tank !! rut row !! Second of all our holding tank was pretty full , of course we are really close to a beautiful state park but unfortunately we are kind of blocked in . Anyway here is the scenario, holding tank full , floor coming out, crapola fumes wafting thru the trailer , we begged the show guys who dump the port a potties aka donnikers to please dump some of our stuff for a nice tip . Another cavalcade of deliciousness !! As the dumping commenced something went awry ..a lot of bleach and hosing and smelly and we were up hill from some other trailers...no harm no foul ,no one got hurt . Back to the floor , holding tank 1/2 empty or full . Fridman is on the case. We had to open windows and light candles . The photos document his work , on a 3 show day ! Fortunately we had other potty options and the toilet and sub floor were back in place by the third show . Marshall and I only had to go to the hardware store twice and kind of hated each other for a few minutes. I was definitely a bitch on wheels . Fridman did a great job as always .

Fresia in the air

We had a sweet surprise . A member of the aerial ballet had the luckiness of spending the day with her mom , Fresia is the official web understudy and she got to perform web , she practiced all winter!! Such a happy thing . I could barely contain myself , it was like the good old days and she was a baby and I could turn my head and see her and that makes me full of joy . Being in the air with your daughter , the ultimate adventure in aerial artistry . Nothing takes the sting out of an $828 radiator like dancing in the air with your darling girl ..Marshall was so cute watching her..he might have done something Larry with the music
Jeremiah, Tavana and Carolyn took photos for me..good thing Fresia doesn't do beauty pageants. I would be ridiculous .