Sewing Stuff

Something that is odd with a new Apparatus Bag is the fact that you have to break in the handle. Once you have worn it a while the handle is just where it needs to be. My new bag is not broken in yet. So occasionally it slides off my shoulder. It is a bit annoying.

All of the clown folk in my life have complimented the new bag. Even though it is virtually identical to the old one not having holes in it is attractive.

Also on the sewing front is the making of new juggling balls. Actually they are cubes but we call them balls. Young Apprentice Brimage wants all black juggling balls. So I am in the middle of making those. He has done such a great job at the juggling he deserves to have practice balls just the way he likes them. I am also making a batch of blue denim balls for the COAI. They are having an auction at the next meeting. Last year a couple of the items that we made were the top earners at this event. So I want to make sure we have a good rang of juggling equipment at this one. They have started having a regular juggling practice at the monthly meetings. So things are really looking up on this front.

I will post pictures when I get around to it now that I have figured out the camera in the phone thing. Granted the balls are not that exciting. Still they are what they are.

Well once again thank all five of you for tuning in. Be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice

Various Random Things

For the first time since I started this blog I am bothered that someone might be reading it.It is odd because I have been sure that there are not very many people reading it. Anyway I am knitting stuff but I cannot post it because it is going to be a gift. I looked over the stats for this thing and the two of the top ten referring sites to this one are frequented by clowns. So I do not know if the clown that might get the thing is the person reading this page. At least one of the potential people is fairly computer savvy. Well I suppose I should not post any picture that would ruin the surprise.

On another note a long time absent person has popped up in a comment on the blog. I am pleased to hear from them. Jamie was a nice lady that knit with Walt and I back when we meeting at a local bookstore before it went under. The brigade an Church have been taking up a lot of my time so i have not had time to hang out in knitting groups. Sadly the only groups that I truly felt a part of were the ones that I started. bee Hive Knitting was great before the Bee Hive became a bar. And knitting at the Jo Beth's was also nice before it bit the dust. I have even considered starting a new knitting group here on the South Side. the only rub is coming up with a place to meet. the South Side has some nice restaurants but there are no longer any coffee shops other than the chain that does not need me to mention it's name for you to know who they are. Sadly I think that the chain that shall remain nameless is part of the reason there is not a coffee shop on the South Side. There is a Caribou Coffee maybe I will call them about starting a knitting group. the other sad thing is that Walt will probably not have the time to come to the knitting group. He was always great fun at the knitting groups.

Well on the clown front we have been working on stilts recently. This is also thanks to Walt because he acquired the stilts. This is Cadet Miller up on a set with Apprentice Brimage keeping an eye on her. In her first go she was able to stay up for 22 minutes before she got tired and she was able to walk on her own.

In another odd turn of events I was elected the President of our Church Choir. Granted I was the third choice, the other two refused. Still, I hope my keen sense of parlimentary procedure will carry the day. You would not think it so but I do have a way with rules and order. So that will be an interesting little adventure for 2012.

Well be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

Still tinkering

I am still tinkering with the script for the Golden Rule Show.

In the original version of the show the piano player was also the annoucer. To divide up the work more fairly i am making the Sergeant Major the announcer in this show. I am thinking that Sergeatn Thurman will play the part of the Sergeant Major. He clown persona is very commanding so i think it will be a good fit for her.

Sergeant Wilson and the Brimage that is not in the puppet stage will play the parts of the clowns that are fighting with each other. We did get away with a fair amount of violence in the first go round for this show. I might throw in a couple extra things in that area. This particular group is fairly good at the physical violence. So I would like to give them something to do.

I am only going to give it anout half hour. I have to be up early for church.
Be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

The Golden Rule Show Revisted

It is two in the morning and i am looking over some red composition book and a four year old scrip[t for a clown show. The two have nothing to do with each other. The composition books are from a very old story that I have not touched for seven years until recently. The script is the first stage show that the Steel City Clown Brigade did. In fact it was being written before the Clown Brigade even had the name that it does now.

A couple of churches have asked if we would be willing to do a show for them in the future. For the last year we have been more involved in skills building than doing stage shows. We have been in a few variety type shows and have made a good showing for ourselves at them all. We have even done a couple revivals which was a new experience for us. All and all it has been a great crowing experience for us. Now it appear that it is time for us to get back to what we were doing when we founded the Brigade a few years ago. We need to do a stage show.

Six months ago we had a grand plan. We wanted to deep six the conservative music that we have been using and switch to Gospel Music. Since Walt and I have joined the choir at Second Baptist I do admit we have become enamored with it. Frankly i have always loved to listen to Mahalia Jackson. The bottom line is that we do not know enough yet. And it is also a small miracle that I was able to spell her name correctly. I am terrible with names.

We also wanted a show that would be a showcase for our new skills. This grand new show is something that I think we could do if we put our minds to it eventually. Sadly I think it would take us too much time to put it together. It might be another year of us messing around with it. During that time we will not be out there evangelising.

Something else that worries me is that I think the younger clowns of our group are ready to be out there performing. They loved doing the mustard seed show. Unfortunately it we very prop heavy and we did not get our props back. the Golden rule show was much simpler and had almost no props. We need to drag it out and dust it off. It never really had it's time. We only performed it three times before we moved onto a bigger and better show.

I must admit that i very conflicted about this decision. I want to make the right decisions. This show was first done with all adult with the exception of one show were JC Stewart.

Among the changes that will have to me will be the fact that there will only be two older people in the cast. The Sergeant Major part will be played by Sergeant Thurman. The physical comedy of the Corps' soldiers will be done by Sergeant Wilson and the JCs Brimage. When this show was first done they were all probably too young to get in front of group and speak. Now they are going to carry the entire show just a couple years later. It is odd but I do not have the slightest reservation about them carrying the show. In fact I don't have a single doubt that we will be able to pull this show together in short order.

It is odd how we sometimes end up just where we started with an entirely new perspective.

Be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

Clown Sewing Never Ends

This is a picture from the upper incline station. We were coming home from the COIA Meeting on monday. Here you can see Sergeants Thurman and Wilson with the Ap. Bags. Soon to be Junior Clown Brimage has an Apprentice Bag. It is also called an Ap Bag for short. The Appretice bag has fewer pockets. The other Brimage in a yellow shirt still has one of our first generation Aprentice Bags. Some of people found it to be to small. Still they served us for a year or so.

Someone sent me a message on one of te other posts asking me why I call the kids Aprentice and Sergeant. Those are teir clown ranks in the Brigade. Also t is a securit thing. If someone come up to them in the street and does not know their first name then they know something is wrong. Althouh i feel srry for ayone that tries to take any of these girls. Tey are alwas togather and ca proably take any adult that tried to mess with them.

More Clown Practice

pictured here are three of our brave clown reading through a script for an upcoming skit. All of the kid here are Brimages.

This was fun and we will see how it goes together.

On other fronts we had a session of monday knitting. tis Monday we went trough the Brigade's Yarn Stash. This was not as much fun as knitting, still, it was something that needed to be done.

On the book front the book continues to hover around 400 pages. I am going to go from here and work on the book some more as i do in all my spave time.

Be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

Balloon Madness & The Radioactive Weasle

 

Sunday was yet another practice. And this practice we spent most of our time working on Balloon Animals.  This is Apprentice Brimage well one of them. This is a picture from our Balloon text books. Actually it is one of the pictures that we are not using. I told her to look like she was happy to be making the balloons for the handbook. She like most clowns and seven years olds can be a smart alec at times. Saracasim is one of the corner stones of our training programs.

 

 This is a bear on a heart sitting on my messy desk. I took the pictures from the practice so most of them are blurry. I should have let one of the young people take the pictures. You would be able to tell what they are. I am not sure who made this one. It was either me or Sergeant Thurman.

  

 This is Apprentice Wilson and Balloon Sergeant Arasin. Wilson is the one standing on the chair. They are showing off our new bulliten board. We decided to do all the board in the Brigade colors. The board behind them is the one we use for stats. It had the chart with all the earn Proficciencies, monthly stats and lists of the Prociencies requirements and such. It is exciting stuff if you are in the Brigade. Actually it is not that exciting even if you are in the Brigade.

  

 This is a Radio Active Weasel. This is an inside joke within the Brigade. When one is making a balloon animal and it goes terribly wrong we call it a radioactice weasel. For some reason when a ballloon goes wrong it often looks like a weasel that has been in a nuclear accident. This one was maded by Sergeant Thurman.

 

 I have made quite a few of these in my time.

Kettles Again

 

We were out on the Kettle again this week end. One again back to the Century III Mall. Here I am juggling on the kettle. One of the kids figured out how to get the samera to take action pictures. You will note that the picture is clear and crisp. That mean that someone who knows how to take pictures was using the Camera. It was Apprentice Brimage. She is Seven. 

  

Here is Walt. He was making inflatible wildlife. At least that is the politically correct way to refer to balloon animals these day. They got a lawyer and you know the rest of the story. 

Here was the rest of our crew thsi week end. Sergesnt Thurman is in the back. She is doing wicked stuff with scarves these days. She has only been at them a couple weeks and her routines are pretty impressive. In fron are Apprentice Brimage and Apprentice Brimage. They are sisters hence the same last name. Being that I don't like using you people first names on the old blog the five Aprentice Brimigaes that are in the Brigade is going to be confussing as time goes on. Actually now that I think of it one of them is still a Cadet.

This is Apprentice Brigade trying on a coat. We are starting to think about getting a real uniform for the Brigade. So we will need a coat. Being that we are supposed to be on a boat during out shows this may be the way that we go. By the way this is the Apprentice Brimage that knows how to use my camera better than I do.

And the cyber kettle is up to fourty bucks. That is fourty bucks more than I thought i was going to make the Corps on the Cyber Kettle. Cool Beans.

We will be out there this weekend if you still want to catch the dog and pony show. Be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

Brigade Slide Show