Ukrainian Circus Kids Safe and and Welcome in European Rings ... Barabao Back on Parade! ... Disney Caves to Gender Mania -- Snow White May Never Be the Same Again

6/14/22 2:01 PST: Late breaking from Douglas McPherson in London: "Latest news from Ukraine: in war-torn Kyiv the circus is back in business with horses, parrots and tigers, oh my."  Check out his blog, Circus Mania for more details.

                    From the Ukraine to Budapest, Hungary.      

Ukrainian circus boy in a strange and friendly land

    JOY OUT OF CHAOS  Circus kids of Ukraine, having fled  Putin’s slaughter, finding  comfort and cheer in neighboring nations. This reported to me by our London tipster, journalist and author  Douglas McPherson (Circus Mania).   “Hundreds of Ukrainian circus students have been taken in by circus schools across Europe. There have been donations of costumes and equipment to performers who left the country without them.” Stranded circus animals, too, are surviving on loads of food from Monte Carlo festival, flowing into the wastelands of Putin’s horrifying revenge.  

    HOW TO ANSWER BACK, wonders a  world on edge, held hostage by a monster holding in his hand the nuclear option?   We are facing the ultimate nightmare.  My  heart aches for the people of Ukraine, worst of all if reports are accurate, little children, being gunned down in the streets. This is barbarism at its worst.  May the  Russians find the will and the way to eliminate this modern-day Stalin.

     BIG TOPS WITH BIG HEARTS  World Circus Federation director Jasmine Straga calling it  “the largest collaboration of circuses in history.” And a moving one, at that.  Notes Sir Douglas, “I guess it’s the art form with no borders.” Yes, indeed, as I can attest —  that most beautiful of all entertainments, where you can sit next to  people of many tongues and share, without words, identical sighs, gasps, laughs, moans, thrills —  every time I go.  Under big and little tops, audiences are truly one family for a moment in time.  And here, world circus is coming together as never before. 

     THEY STILL LOVE A PARADE  Let the summer not be another bummer down in Ringlingville, USA – not if Circus World has anything to do about it.  Ringmaster in chief  Scott O’Connell promising not just a new tent show, Yo-Ho at The Big Top, pirate themed but, better yet, the grand free Baraboo Circus Parade back in motion.   “We’re hosting our sails and getting ready for the grand adventure,” pipes Scott on the dot, spot on.  Okay, yes, so you’ve checked the “theme” box.  How about the acts, Scott?

 

    WATER STREET WONDERS,  2022: Topping the bill is our own born-in, made-in, and discovered-in America — Wesley Williams, the "One Ring Wonder" who knocks ‘em dead with his really really tall unicycle (a guineas record), coaxing the thing up and down stairs, and, who knows, maybe past security guards on ground level at mobbed airports.   Wesley, a big wow on both UK and USA Got Talent TV shows,  now comes with his own doggy act, Puppy Pals.  Should make him doubly appealing to budget-strapped circus owners daring, still, to present anything that doesn’t move on two feet.  Other acts include the German Wheel, a bungee bounce and Mr. Bill, a clown who, from a video I examined, may land a few half-laughs  ...  But hold your half giggles or doubts!  Shelve your snickers!  Elephants will be there, too.  Princess Stephanie would be all smiles...

     DISNEY BE DAMNED  Uncle Walt must be roasting in his grave ever his family brand being dragged through the gender wars of America the aberrant.  Current Disney CEO, Bob Chapek,  bending to  LBGTQ+2.5x-pending-further-notice, about to re-sexualize signage, characters and accommodations in order not to offend 0.6 percent of the population. Yes,  0.6 percent.  Media whores blowing the realities ludicrously out of proportion. Since when did 0.6 percent of America get to redefine the other 99.4 percent?  Whatever happened to, became of,  Normal?  The late Brit fringe sex snoop and  scholar  Havlock Ellis, would have gone giddy over the new Gender Is What You Make It mania.  

 His days may be numbered ...

       SNOW WHITE AND CINDERELLA, the new model couple?   Disney may have to  remake its cherished catalog of screen gems – Toby Tyler no longer an ordinary kid  falling for  the heretofore  acceptable  “opposite  sex.” Now opposite to what, pending, x+, or otherwise? We are going mad over here, and a restless majority is starting to wake up to liberal lunacy bent on demolishing norms anchored in biology.   If I were a parent, I would not place my child in a school hell bent on stealing away parental control and imposing its own agenda on the most fragile segment of the population — little people just learning how to read and speak and make friends.    

    BLOCKBUSTER BIBLE readings to the rescue: Believe it or not, a young well-meaning Catholic priest, Father Mike Schmittz of Minnesota, joining  bible author Jeff Cavins, began, first of the year,  reading 22 minutes a day from the sacred scriptures. His podcast is now ranked number 1 among some 2 million podcasts. Given the woke-choke attack on almost anything vaguely related to western civilization, a growing number of innocent citizens, desperate for a semblance of timeless continuity,  may be flocking to hear the good father’s readings.  

     END RINGERS IN VAIN: So-Cal based Circus Vargas looks stocked with a variety of grabbingly good action. And how I hope they’ll grab me up my way .... Royal Hanneford also looks boffo.... In eerie limbo: Big Apple ... Silence unbecoming: Ringling, about its promise last year to return next year ... Comes a monumental edition of Bandwagon, no longer edited out of Sarasota, but Baraboo, home to its editor Greg Parkinson. ... Better yet, on first scanning, it looks downright woke-free ... At this critical hour, could we ask for anything more? ...

4.4.2022

     JOY OUT OF CHAOS. Circus kids of Ukraine, having fled  Putin’s slaughter, finding  comfort and cheer elsewhere  This reported to me by our London tipster, journalist and author  Douglas McPherson (Circus Mania).   “Hundreds of Ukrainian circus students have been taken in by circus schools across Europe.” Stranded circus animals, too, getting loads of food donations from Monte Carlo festival, flowing into the wastelands of Putin’s terrifying revenge.  How to answer  back, wonders a  world on edge, held hostage by a monster holding in his hand the nuclear option?   We are facing the ultimate nightmare.

     BIG TOPS WITH BIG HEARTS.  World Circus Federation director Jasmine Straga caling it  “It’s the largest collaboration of circuses in history.” And a moving one, at that.  Notes Sir Douglas, “I guess it’s the art form with no borders.” Yes, indeed, as I can attest —  that most beautiful of all entertainments, where you can sit next to  people of many tongues and share, without words, identical sighs, gasps, laughs, moans, thrills —  every time I go.  Under big and little tops, audience are truly one family for a moment in time.

     THEY STILL LOVE a parade: Let the summer not be another bummer down in Ringlingville, USA – not if Circus World has anything to do about it.  Ringmaster in chief  Scott O’Connell promising not just a new tent show, pirate themed (if that matters).  Better yet, the grand free Baraboo Circus Parade will be back in motion.   “We’re hosting our sails and getting ready for the grand adventure,” pipes Scott on the dot, spot on. . Okay, yes, so you’ve checked the “theme” box.  How about the acts, Scott?

    WATER STREET WONDERS,  2022: Toping the bill is our own born-in, made-in, and discovered-in America — Wesley Williams, a lean kid who knocks ‘em dead with his really really tall unicycle (a guineas record), coaxing the thing up and down stairs, and, who knows, maybe past security guards on ground level at mobbed airports.   Wesley, a big wow on both UK and USA Got Talent TV shows,  now comes with his own doggy act, Puppy Pals.  Should make him doubly appealing to budget-strapped circus owners daring, still, to present anything that doesn’t move on two feet.  Other acts include the German Wheel, a bunge bounce and Mr. Bill, a clown who, from a video I examined, may land a few half-laughs  ...  But hold your half giggles or doubts!  Shelve your snickers!  Elephants will be there, too.  Princess Stephanie would be all smiles...

     DISNEY BE DAMNED  Walt must be roasting in his grave ever his family brand being draged through the gender wars of American the Aberational.  Current Disney CEO, Bob Chapek,  bending to  LBGTQ+2.5x-pending-further-notice, about to re-sexualize signage, characters and accommodations in order not to offend 0.6 percent of the population. Yes,  0.6 percent.  Media whores blowing the realities ludicrously out of proportion. Since when did 0.6 percent of America get to redefine the other 99.4 percent?  Whatever happened to, became of,  Normal?  The late Brit sex snoop and  scholar  Havlock Ellis, would have gone giddy over the new Gender Is What You Make mania.  

     SNOW WHITE AND CINDY, the new model couple?   Disney may have to  remake its cherished catalog of screen gems – Toby Tyler no longer an ordinary kid  falling for  the heretofore  acceptable  “opposite  sex.” Now opposite to what, pending, x+, or othrwise? We are going mad over here, and a restless majority is starting to wake up to liberal lunacy bent on demolishing norms anchored in biology   If I were a parent, I would not place my child in a school hell bent on stealing away parental control and imposing its own agenda on the most fragile segment of the population — little people just learning how to read and speak and make friends.   

    BLOCKBUSTER BIBLE readings to the rescue: Believe it or not, a young well-meaning Catholic priest, father Mike Schmittz of Minnesota, joining  bible author Jeff Cavins, began, first of the year,  reading 22 minutes a day from the sacred scriptures, and is now ranked number 1 among some 2 million podcasts. Given the woke-choke attack on almost anything vaguely related to western civilization, a growing number of innocent citizens desperate for a semblance of timeless continuity,  may be flocking to hear the good father’s readings.  

     END RINGERS IN VAIN: So-Cal based Circus Vargas looks stocked with a variety of grabbingly good action. And how I hope they’ll grab me up my way .... Royal Hanneford also looks boffo.... In eerie limbo: Big Apple ... Silence unbecoming: Ringling, about its promise last year to return next year ... Publishing Snobery of the highest order:  My book, Roller Skating for Gold, was penned when it looked like the sport I once called my own was close to an exhibition spot at the German summer Olympics of 1972. The Germans finked out at the last moment.  My book was rejected by dozens of houses, and then taken up by Scarecrow, an “academic” press, one of whose editor-in-chiefs once described the books they printed as “anything not commercial.”  Still in print following a decent roll out, last year they sold a single copy for. $69.00 – a bargain compared to used copies going for more. Which earned me $6.90.   Moral of story, stay true to thine own stupidity?  Actually, there is none, but I have to wrap this somewhere.  Sixty nine dollars, boy what a steal somebody got.

 

Chicago Circus Museum on the Auction Bloc:

When the Museum of Science and Industry Circus Exhibit opened in April of 1973, MSI president Daniel M. MacMaster called it “a spectacular addition to the museum's attractions” in a Hyde Park Herald article. He went on to say that it would be as popular as the Coal Mine, U-505 submarine and other major holdings.

Arthur M. Wood, chairman of Sears, Roebuck and Co., which presented the miniature animated circus, hailed it as “a part of Americana that could have been lost to future generations.”

Originally displayed in the great rotunda of the museum's east pavilion,  suggesting a big top, the 22,000-piece circus collection showcased scenes of circus life of years past, both public and behind the scenes. Highlights included motorized dioramas, starting with the Ringling Brothers Circus Street Parade featuring twenty-six carved models of circus wagons, performers and animals, all moving on a long snake-like winding track. The Big Top, the menagerie, the sideshow and the dining tent were among the other dioramas, which were augmented by intricate circus signs, fun house mirrors, and interactive “peep shows” that allowed visitors to see themselves as a tattooed man, a clown and so on.

The circus exhibit was subsequently moved to a 3,000-square-foot space at the center of the museum, and Kathleen McCarthy, director of collections and head curator, said that everyone who comes to the museum—”tens of millions of people”—has walked through it. 

They won't be able to in the future, however. The circus exhibit closed for good on Sept. 6, and the entire collection is being auctioned off on Sept. 24 by Potter & Potter Auctions on the North Side. 

“The exhibit was a nostalgic look at circuses of yesteryear and, after 50 years, it was time to find a new home for it,” McCarthy said. “We wanted to use the space for newer technology, to tell more contemporary stories related to Chicago manufacturing.” 

First up, slated to open by the end of the year and stay up at least a year, is a show about Mold-A-Rama, the Chicago-based company that makes machines that turn out injection-based souvenir molds on the spot.

McCarthy explained that the decision to replace the circus collection was made by an internal committee of the president and staff from across the museum to get a variety of viewpoints. “It's never easy to take down a beloved exhibit, but I think everyone was in agreement that it was necessary to keep the museum relevant and inspiring for our audience,” McCarthy said. 

So much for donating collections to museums – this isn’t the first time this has happened nor will it be the last.  Sad

 

              Jan

don marcks too!

Covington connected,  down the shute of shame and comes this from the windy city, which has grown tired of circus history and wants to give more space to today. 

 

Princess Stephanie Honors Ukraine Circus Students at Her Monte Carlo Festival on April15-16

Refugees in Hungary, the students of the circus schools of kyiv and Kharkiv were invited to perform at the Monte-Carlo Circus Festival by Princess Stephanie of Monaco. At the start of the war in Ukraine, the students managed to flee. They were welcomed into the teams of the Circus of Budapest. “When we learned that the Ukrainian students were refugees with their teachers, I remembered having attended the final evening last year after the exams of the kyiv circus school and the quality of this show”, explains Urs Pilz, artistic director of the Monegasque festival at beautiful morning before adding: I thought of these students, that it gave them pleasure to be able to do this show in Monaco and to make it a charity.

Massive London circus planned for park near Oxford Street this summer

From My London, Via Covington Connected, to quote: 

  A huge festival with cabaret performers and kids entertainers could be held over three months in the summer

A huge circus could return to central London this summer in a move to draw in thousands of visitors to the West End. Entertainment company Underbelly wants to build a giant big top in a park near Oxford Street and host a three-month festival with cabaret performers, kids' entertainers, musicians and comedians.

Underbelly has sent plans to Westminster City Council for a wood and canvas spiegeltent for 600 people, a box office, two bars, seven food stalls and outdoor seating at Cavendish Square. The Underbelly Festival first opened on the Southbank in 2009 and was held at Cavendish Square last year between June and October.

This year's event would have capacity for 2,000 people at a time from April 28 to July 31. A planning report says: "The festival provides London with affordable live entertainment available to all ages and importantly those that might not otherwise attend traditional theatre.

"The 2021 event was a successful event which generated vibrancy and vitality in the local area, in a manner which was sensitive to nearby neighbours. The proposal would result in the provision of a cultural and visitor attraction which would have the ability to attract a wide range of people, as well as provide numerous job opportunities."