Mooommm is fond of saying, “Not my circus, not my monkeys”. Well, after 146 years it’s not anyone’s circus anymore - Ringling Bros had their last performance evah yesterday. It was announced that this would be the last year; between getting rid of the elephants & the modern (electronic devices) world, it just wasn’t profitable anymore. I really wanted to go see it one last time this year but never made it. I still remember the blue spinny light I got from the circus as a kid; it was like a police car gumball, but blue - maybe it was why I got into EMS as I had a blue (strobe) in my car at one point.
However, I never got to see the circus-related thing I always really wanted to see - the elephant parade, where they’d march the elephants thru the street from the disembarkation point of the circus train to the arena, hooked nose to tail. They used to publicize it, then they just used to show it on TV after the fact but then they stopped even doing that because the PETA folks got so up in arms (trunks?) over it.
Try as I might, I was never able to pull the right strings (I tangentially knew people & knew people who knew people) who knew when (or at least the approximate time) it would occur. You could figure out what day it would happen & could probably figure out the route but was never willing to go sit on a street for possibly hours on end as I had no idea of what time it would occur.
The closest I got was out on the bike trail (which paralleled freight train tracks) one morning before irk & the train was moving from one city to the next. Very cool!
Ironically, the local Shriner’s circus was in town this weekend. A traveling, outdoor/arena circus where the material is sooo corny that Dad jokes become positively hilarous in comparision; however, the little kids laugh & laugh & it raises money for a good cause. No, I didn’t go to that, either.
I was a big circus fan as a kid, we always went to see the circus when it came to town. Actually it never came to my town because the place was too small but it was a regular thing in the next big town over so we had a proper adventure getting there on the bus. Much later, we stopped going because of the issues over the conditions animals were kept in, and because they replaced most of the animal acts with acrobats who all looked like 12 year old Chinese girls. By then, it just wasn’t fun any more and it didn’t generate the same level of excitement.
Short week for me, we have a public holiday next Monday so I’m taking Friday off as well, and we’re off to Antwerp on the Eurostar. Lots of trains, bit of good Belgian beer and good times. Might even do the usual Sunday hangover curing stroll around the zoo. They have giraffes, y’know…
I went to the circus once as a kid, but I really don’t remember much about it. I think my grandfather bought tickets for the family, but I couldn’t swear to it. We took our daughter to a small circus when she was little, and it pretty much terrified her - I guess she was too young and it was overwhelming. Never was a favorite entertainment of mine.
Rainy morning, and there may be more to come. Fortunately, it’s just a steady shower, not a toad-soaker. Higgs didn’t want to go out - I almost had to physically haul her little butt to the yard! Wuss.
Meanwhile, lots of crap on my desk, including a part that I’d made a model of some time back. Apparently it’s not as symmetrical as it looks. I HATE doing as-built models - especially for this one guy. Oh well, that’s why I get the big bucks, huh?
My dad took me to the circus once when I was about seven or eight. He told me to get in the car and then drove all the way to Charlotte. I had no idea what was going on until we pulled up outside the old-old Coliseum and I saw the Ringling Bros. signs. I don’t remember anything about it other than an aerial act involving tiger and one of the elephants pooping during a routine.
Rain on tap today. I’m debating going for a walk early to beat the weather. I’m also debating a personal FB ban but I need to get hold of my friend The Gnome and FB messenger’s the best way to do that.
(The ban is because I’m getting steadily more irked by all the people posting articles about Chris Cornell’s suicide. As someone who’s dealt with two chronic illnesses, one of which is depression, I’m finding all the pseudo-philosophizing and back-patting increasingly offensive.)
Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN ‘Tis <snerk> 69! <snerk> Amurrkin out and cloudy with a predicted high of 85 with rain/tstorms/apocalypse this afternoon, tonight, tomorrow and Wednesday. We shall see. I shall defilthyfy da cave this mornin’. I also need to go to the sto’ and buy yogurt bein’ as I’m almost out and I eat yogurt for brekkies just about every mornin’. Tonight we’re goin’ to Albany Beer and Hymns. I am lookin’ forward to this. I’ve always had a conflict on the night it’s done but not this time. The link is a facebook link btw.
As for the circus, I’ve been a few times but it has been years. I was probably in my mid-twenties the last time I saw the circus. Most of the ones I’ve seen were small town ones but I did see a big Ringling Brothers circus in Etlanner once as a teenager. The circus never did much for me. I do not like clowns at all so I’m sure that’s a big reason.
OK, now I need more caffeine and to feed rumbly tummy. I shall then purtify and go to the sto’ first thing followed by cave defilthyfycation. Whoopee day for da bear!
I love the circus, one of the few reasons I’m sorry not to have had kids is that I’ll never be able to introduce my children to it.
While circus as I knew it being a child is mostly on its way out, many of its elements have become a part of theatrical arts, of dance and musicals and stuff like that. My favorite theater in Spain is one which is in fact, a circus! They have a circus school; pictures of the old performers in the hallway outside the ring (Pinito del Oro; tightrope walkers in tailcoats and top hats); the shows are specifically chosen to be things that will take advantage of the round setting, with the public being “standing room only unless medical reasons” and able to walk around the stage.
My mother was sterile. Serious. Promise. When she got pregnant with me, many people who didn’t know that detail were convinced of her pregnancy months before she was: morning nausea, seeing a fried egg (Dad’s favorite breakfast) made her go greener than the grass outside… They were visiting her parents in Barcelona during the feasts of the Merced (c. September 25) and took her young cousing to the circus, and that was the first time she felt me move. It was when she realized that yes, she might in fact be pregnant! (Well, d’uh). And in the small lottery they held for the public she won a meter-tall, blonde doll which by a miracle of marketing happened to have the exact same name they’d chosen “in case a miracle ever happens and we get to have a daughter”. That doll was so much taller than me I’d play that she was my teacher, or my older cousin or sister, because anything else would have been absurd. That particular circus (Circo Atlas, owned by the Tonetti brothers) was part of my life for years. They were in Pamplona on the year when I’d had my tonsils out, which was a very bad year for the Sanfermines fair because of the terrorist fear, and we went and Mister Tonetti directed a lot of his jokes to me and made me help him with some stuff in their act (they always went last) and later we talked with him a little. It’s one of my most treasured childhood memories.
I went to the Shriner’s circus when I was about 6. I don’t remember much except my brother got a play sword. I’m not sorry to see the circus go because of the animals and I’m not even a PETA person.
Irk is already irksome and I’ve been here 10 minutes. At least it’s not raining but I wore my winter coat this morning…
Nava beat me to the fifth. Up, caffeinated, and sheveled. I’m off(?) today.
I’ve never gone the the circus, heck I haven’t gone to the State Fair in 30 years. They used to have to melt the ice at The Castle when the circus was there, apparently elephants leave divots.
swampy ,the do Beer and Hymns at Tir Na nOg. I’ll try to go some day when my staff isn’t quitting/being fired/ being eaten by The Invisible Mole People.
I loved circuses as a kid too, saw a number of them over the years including the Ringling Bros. Obviously the end was coming for The Greatest Show on Earth, but now that it’s happened I feel bad for the future generations who will never get to see that show. They will see plenty of marvelous things I never saw growing up and won’t live to see in the future but there was something special about it. I’d recommend people still visit the smaller shows still in existence, I suppose most of those won’t last much longer either, but if you’re lucky enough to see one in a real Big Top (something Ringling didn’t have for a very long time) it’s an experience you won’t forget. If you’re interested read up on the history of the circus, the American form that bloomed through the 19th century and into the 20th is quite interesting.
spidey and sunny, the trip was loads of fun and adventure. It was the first time that my traveling companion had ever been there (heck, up until two weeks ago, he’d never heard of the place, in his defense, he’s not from the US). We stayed on the Tennessee side and drove the tail twice. It was the Datsun/Nissan Z week, so there were a lot more cars on the road than bikes. Neal laughed at me when I screamed Holy effin shit all the way through Copperhead Curve the first time. A convertible is a very different experience than a bike in many ways, including being able to let your hair fly in the wind. I’m looking forward to another trip.
swampy, beer and hymns sounds like a lot of fun!
I went to the Shrine Circus a couple of times as a kid and accompanied kids to it a couple of more as an adult. As an adult, I understood the reason that there weren’t very many animals, but as a kid, that’s what I really enjoyed about the show. In the mid nineties, I was on the beltway in Houston when traffic was stopped for the elephants to get from point A to point B. There we were on the ground level of the multiple over/under passed watching about a dozen elephants parade at the top level.
I’m off irk today for the appointment to have my permanent crown installed and then, go the horsepistol to see my SIL who is having surgery.
Blurf At irk. This is supposed to be my only irk day this week but sure as shit my so called Lead Clerk is out with a sick child so I may not be able to take off until said child is back to school. Never can have any time off. I made an appt with the orthopedic dr for tomorrow for hopefully shots in my knees. Who knows though, his receptionist is so dumb I had to tell her how to do her job. I immediately went to his Health Grades account and let them have it, anonymously, of course. The Dr. himself is a very rude, short but to the point man but I gave him a good grade. Stupidity I cannot tolerate.
The Circus was an annual event growing up but I am glad to see it go away. I saw a Cirque show last year and it was fabulous. So, animals are not needed at all. The local circus that used to visit here and for which I sold tickets has already gone out of business after a charge of animal cruelty.
I got all my fiddling little housekeeping tasks done so I can do some writing and unravelling after lunch. I made a hat yesterday, got one row from the end, and realized that the metal hooks made it too big. So now I get to take it apart and redo it with the plastic hooks which stitch smaller. :smack: At least the cat will be entertained. She likes dangling yarns.
Big fan. From the Greatest Show on Earth to the Russian National Circus (I had a chance to go drinking with Popov the Clown) to little family tent circuses, I never missed one I could possibly get to.
On other fronts, starting the gathering of the stuff I need for the Cook Forest event. The pile seems to grow every year as the event gets bigger. For those who missed it, the TV special on last year.
Would it be considered threadshitting to disagree with the love shown here for keeping wild animals in tiny cages their whole lives and training them trough fear and pain? Because I don’t want to ruin anyone’s fun, but seriously, people still advocate for that?
Da cave is somewhat sanitized. Go Me! Salmon patties, English peas, smashed N.O.T., and bizkits for dindin just cause I got a gnawin’ and a cravin’.
red everybody says beer and hymns is a hoot. I am so glad I’ll (we’ll) finally get to go tonight. We’ve both wanted to go to it since it got started last Fall. This is the last one until September so glad we’ll get to experience what it’s all about.
Up, caffeinated, and sheveled. I’m off(?) today.
