God times throwing fire

I had fun at Duck Hollow yesterday. It was the Brigade's first juggling at Duck Hollow of the season. This is me juggling torches in my kilt. The picture is blurry because I was moving so fast. It has nothing to do with trying to use a camera phone at night.

Anyway it was a neat evening. We did not have a bunch of people but the people we had were a nice mix so it was a nice evening.

I would like to think the Fire Arts community in Pittsburgh is starting to turn the corner. Yesterday I did not have to explain to anyone that they should not be drunk or standing next to the fuel pit. Also not once did I have to tell a drunk smoker that they were standing next to something flammable.

The sad thing is was almost entirely a new group of people. The folks that showed up at Duck Hollow last year who defended drunken spinning where not there. So there is no proof that they learned anything from the police periodically breaking up the spinning groups last year. It would have been nice to save the Pittsburgh Fire Arts Group. With the way things a going they will simply become another irrelevant internet group.

Well safe safe out there everyone

Rambling About Clown Stuff

Clown News

This is the news from 4/30/2013, sort of.

The Clown News for 4/12/2013

Recycled Humor 1

Clown News

Brigade News

Funk Clown Practice

A great time was had a practice this evening. We had Apprentice Miller back. He recently has surgery to straighten his legs and has been recovering. We had on the Craig Charles Funk and Soul show which always makes juggling better. By the way you can find a link to this great little show over on the left side of the screen.

Apprentice Miller's brother came with us today. He has not be very interested int he clowning the last couple years. We got him up on a started set of stilts and he had a good old time. So things are looking up on the front as well.

I am working on The Last Brigadier again. I like the plot and the idea of the book. I even like the characters.The plot has a very restricted arc compared to the wandering around I have been doing with the Time travelers that I usually write about. In some ways this is better. I do not think I will ever have that jumble of plots to my satisfaction. So this might actually be a book that I can finish. I think I might even have the first chapter done by the end of next month. So we will see.

Be safe out there and he is a random music thing that I like.

My New Twitter Campaign

This year I think that I am going to try and find some people to follow my twitter feed. I have started using it fairly regularly. I am not sure how you get people to follow you on the twitter. I think I must need to link to more people on the twitter. So I am up to following 120 something people on the twitter. I have 12 people following me.

We do not really use the twitter for the clown brigade. So if I can be entertaining in short bursts of text then maybe we can find some more shows or donations.

Well if you are on the twitter and want something pointless to follow follow me at zeeppo @zeeppo on the twitter.

6:00 Am Painting Stuff

Sitting around the office at 6:00 in the morning painting the steps to the second floor. Yes it is as exciting as it sounds. I am listening to the Craig Charles Funk and Soul Show contemplating my next move.

I think I will need a new keyboard for the Brigade computer. The old gal has seen better days. We bought it three years ago and she has served us well for typing and email. This year we are going to try and do as much PR on line as possible. So this old thing may be getting more of a work out.

Anyway the reason for painting the steps, besides they need it, is that there will be more practices here. So the place has to look better. We have renewed interest in knitting and magic. So there is going to be some of that. One of our members is living in Texas. So we are going to work on the magic proficiency over the internet.

Also the second biggest party of the Brigade year is coming up. The Ides of March March. This year we are looking to build a float and have as many clowns there as possible. So if you are in Pittsburgh on the Ides of March you should be there.

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

Lost Juggling Balls

I have lost 36 balls. I have no idea where they are. I hate to loose things. I don't suppose anyone likes loosing things. I am not sure why anyone out there would care that I lost a bag full of juggling balls. When I mentioned it to a couple people at the church where we practice they thought it was funny. So there you are. Also if you see a bad full of white and yellow rubber balls in Pittsburgh let me know. They might be a reward in it. There might also be a couple orange balls in there.

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

Random Clown Stuff

It is early Christmas Eve and I am here blogging. I can't sleep and I am working on the Brigade Newsletter. We are almost done and are just waiting for the article from out Minister. It would be great it looks as if we are going to get this thing out on time. We have several lovely articles a game page and lots of other stuff. I am very happy with it.

I am messing around with the idea of putting an online version of the newsletter on the Brigade's blog. I would just have to figure out how to do that. 

Also on the Clowning Front we are going to be performing in a Roller Rink on Thursday. It is basically a balloon fest. Still it should be fun. 

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

Variety Show

There should be more Variety Shows for Children in the United States. There are several int he UK and various other places. There is Blue Peter and The Slammer. We have had a couple over the years in the States. They do not have much staying power. The Slammer is an actual proper variety show with singers, dancers, jugglers, magicians and other performers. If I ever make billions of dollars I will buy a local TV station and have a Saturday Evening Variety Show. There would be no mimes on my show.

This is an episode of the Slammer from last year.



We have been kicking around the idea of having a variety show as a fund raiser for the Brigade.

We are going to give the old Brigade Newsletter another shot. This will be the third attempt at it. We usually start it off and loose interest throughout the year. I may work on putting together an online version of the newsletter. If anyone is interested out there I will put together an email list thing I suppose.

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

On My Way to Practice & a Brilliant Idea

On my way to practice on the mighty 54C. This happens to be my favorite bus in the world. The only thing better would be a double deck British style bus playing constant techno with a free soda fountain and wifi. If do not think that bus exists. Thus I will stick with this bus. Anyway I am off to Oakland to pick up the snack for tonight. The snack will be popcorn if you are keeping track.

My next project is to try and figure out how to get my blog to play music. I think people that people who visit here should have a random assortment of music. It would be what it is like to be in my head. I am not sure anyone wants that. Still, this is my blog and rambling is a big part of it. I think this blog should be an assault on all the senses much like my existence is. Making it smell like random cookies and pierogies and then slapping you in the back of the head will be harder.

Also if you are a person that wears 3x clothing there are somethings to avoid, like tube tops and hot pants. The thing that bothers me is the waste. Nowadays everyone is wearing pants that have thing writing on the rear end. Most of these have a single word like Juicy. This is a terrible waste. If you are a 3x person you need to have a poem by Robert Frost in forty pt. Time New Roman back there. For one it is a more effective use of space. Two you can think people are reading the poem instead of looking at you but in horror that you are wearing spandex warm up pants.

It gets even better. If you are a 4x or 5x you can publish chapter of classical literature back there. You would have to wear you pant in a certain order so that your readers will be able to keep up with the story. Still, I think it is viable sacrifice for Mark Twain. For some reason I think he would be the most abused by big people sitting on his books literally. Mark Twain literally means six feet. And if you have six feet in your back field you should be helping indoctrinate people in the classics.

Random Stuff

It was another fun day of sewing and other random things for the Clown Brigade. Everyone needs apparatus bags for everyone. That is the one down side of everyone getting better. The better they get the more they can juggle. The more they can juggle the more stuff they need to carry around. The more they carry around the bigger the bag they need to carry everything in.

It is a viscous cycle. Well I suppose I cannot blame them for paying attention and getting better.

There is some interesting stuff on the COAI front. Two of the young people in my group will be joining the education committee for the COAI's local chapter. They have each taught or assisted with five or six lessons so they have already been helping with the committee.

The interesting thing is that these young people do not have a vote in how the Tri Rivers Ally of the COAI does things. A couple of them realize this is unfair that they pay the same dues and cannot vote.  Also three of them have taught lessons this year when half the members locally prefer not to help with teaching new clowns. They have faith that eventually they will be treated fairly.

The rub is that the bylaws committee has been suspended for the rest of the year. So there is no chance this issue can be fixed at this point. Well it can be but it would require bringing them up in a general meeting causing chaos. Yes, talking about bylaws in our meeting causes horrible fights. This is the reason the Bylaws committee was put together in the first place.

 Also the Ally has been in bad way the last couple years. Membership is shrinking and it has been hard to find people to do shows. Also when ever something new is tried it annoys half the existing people in the ally. So we do not want to change to accommodate new people.  It is tough road to navigate. Actually it is a road that cannot be navigated. Someone must be annoyed while things get better.

On the blogging front I am trying to make an effort here. I am not really sure if anyone cares about the random junk that I am throwing up on this thing. Still, it is something to do.

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

Why

Why and the heck are all these Russian folks trying to post stuff on my blog. I do not speak Russian nor have I ever posted in it. I do like the little wooden dolls tat fit one inside the other. That is about as much as I know about Russia. Well i suppose I know they had the largest tank battle in History with the Nazi and Catherine was pretty Great. Other than that not much. If you are Russian and looking for a place to advertise impotence pills or porn this is not the place.

On other fronts life is puttering along. The clown Brigade continues as it has with few changes. One of the young Brimages is become quite a good little clown. And it is just in time we have had some requests for shows ans will need her help if we are going to fill them. Young Miss Wilson has been sick and requires prayer. So please add her to your lists.

WEll I am just checking in . Be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

More Randomw Stuff

Just a couple random things. Montverde is a company that make pens and their refills. I have these pens that I use with big padded grips on them. There was a refill that I used in them that is no longer available in my area. So I was using the Foray refills tat were not nearly as smooth and cost a buck more for two. Well I went to another stone and found these that are a dollar less. They are very smooth and if the ink holds out on them they will be new brand of pen refill.

Also I had a Quaker Steak and Lube shrimp basket recently and was really disappointed. The shrimp were all bread and the fries were just the charred ends of the potato. Now I assume i got the bottom of the bag on these two things and that is why there were so bad. Still for ten buck one expects a better meal.

I have my torches in my bag along with parafin to celebrate the anniversary of our clown brigade this evening. So goos time will be had by all tonight. I will see you all next time and maybe with some nice pictures.

Spring and Shows

Well it is Spring and every clown's heart turns to summer shows when April rolls around. I have been juggling an telling knock knock jokes in the mirror to get ready. This spring is different from the last couple for my Brigade. This is the first year that we have more than two clowns that are really able to handle doing shows. So we are going to put our name up on the internet as a source for your clowning needs. I just hope the Mayor's office does not jam our blog with request for advice.

Well just checking in and trying to be a better blogger. Be safe out there and keep you stick on the ice.

No Magic in Pittsburgh

There is no magic in Pittsburgh. I remember lamenting last year that there was no real juggling group in the city. And then after looking around we found the rather nice group at CMU. There are basically two groups that have magic clubs. There is the International Brotherhood of Magician (IBM) and Society of American Magicians (SAM). Neither group appear to have a strong club in Pittsburgh. One did have a club that met and then their meeting place fell apart. I do not know if they are meeting anymore. The other I went to a meeting in the fall that was advertised and no one showed up. So either that club fell apart or they skipped a meeting and did not retract their internet ads. Either way it does not look good for either one of them

On top of that I am certain that neither have any young membership. We had this fight with the COAI last year and I do not look forward to having it with the SAMs or IBM. So what are we supposed to do. I know none of the colleges have anything. Historically this is not something that is done by college kids. It looks like this may be something that we will have to pull together ourselves.

Maybe we could do something with the COAI. We could try and do a monthly meeting. The only draw back is that I do not know how many of them are into magic. I know the President is but he is the only one that I know of.

On the knitting front I am working on a stocking cap just so that I have something to knit. It has been a month or so and I just needed to knit something outside the knitting classes. I may do some truly ugly fair isle just to have something hard to do in the hat. I am sure that what ever this turns out o be there will be a truly ugly pom pom on top of it.

Well that is it from Pittsburgh for the moment. Be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

Eating Chinese Food with a clown from the troupe