MIDWAY FLASH!... MIDWAY FLASH! ...SUSPECT IN CARSON & BARNES MURDER REVEALED: ARMANDO CACERAS

Originally reported  here on 10.30.25 

Traci Byrd, daughter of Barbara and Geary Byrd, has been murdered.  Am awaiting news of her assailant. 

My heart goes out to the family.

 UPDATE (11/5/25) — FOX 23 NEW: The McIntosh County District Attorney's Office identified the victim and suspect in a homicide near Council Hill on Tuesday.

The DA's Office said 53-year-old Traci Byrd of Hugo was found dead in a wooded area near Highway 72 and Highway 266, close to Council Hill.

The suspect, 47-year-old Armando Mustafa Rojas Caceras, also from Hugo, was found in a barn nearby with injuries consistent with struggle. 

********************************************** 

The story as reported in the HUGO NEWS fails to mention Caceras. 

Alex Smith first brought this to my attention.

Circus and Baseball ... I Felt a Rare Connection ...

Before the parade passes by this morning when the Dodgers take a victory lap down in L.A, a few raves for Japanese Baseball.   

Honestly, I haven't been as fully thrilled by any event in the wider world of entertainment since spring days in the 1950s when John Ringling North's latest edition of the Greatest Show on Earth opened at the Garden in New York. Just to read about it. To learn of new acts from foreign lands. To awe over color photographs of new Miles White costumes filled me with wonder.

I grew up around rings of imported magic, when the words FIRST TIME IN  AMERICA  appeared in bold under the names of acts in the Ringling program magazines.

And a little of that other worldly mystique captured my spirits while watching the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.  Call this team the Japanese edition. They are calling Shohei Ontani the greatest baseball player ever.  He bats them out of the park with the ease of a kid with fly swatter   He can pitch in a pinch, too.  

But the MVP award is going to another dynamo from over there ---  Yoshinobu Yamamoto, a pitcher who sends the ball with incredible indifference to big league players hoping to touch it a little.

Three Rings of Magic: Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki 

Watching this electric World Series— lifting me to the gods of glory one moment, dumping me into despair the next, I, a certified wimp, walked out of the two games that fell into overtime, fearful of the worst, only to wake up the following  morning  to jubilant images on TV of Dodges players celebrating victory on the field.  I clapped my hand. I smiled up at the beyond. My body tingled with joy. 

And it helps me understand and respect how the most avid sports fans can, in fact must, ride so many emotions And why they can't stay away. Call it a healthy habit.  I’m sticking to baseball, a sport that they say is dying, yet a sport that drew the greatest attendance ever this season in one ball park. Guess which one? 

And in a few hours, I’ll be watching the World Series champs two times in a row parade down in Los Angeles.  (You can stream it on KTLA)

And next season, I can’t wait to step into the Giants ballpark in the city for the first time – to watch the Los Angeles Dodgers play.  

Buy a cap?  Around here, that could get me lynched.

Ringling by Feld Still Struggles to Click in Circus-Less Makeover ... Self Evisceration Has Its Limits ...

    READING THROUGH an article in The Boston Globe, by Matthew J. Lee, about the current plight of Ringling, there is an implicit sense of failure in the air.  A puzzling failure dogging the Greatest Show on Earth as it once more, in the barn for almost a year, tries to concoct yet another performance formula that may fill more seats. 

    CHILDREN IN PARTICULAR seem to be their greatest concern, as they focus more on teaching them circus skills through You Tube. This, they believe, will grow a bigger fan base for whatever it is they are up to.  Not much in the story about the new show, other than that a live DJ will  spin poplar music.  And that Bailey their bot mutt and a big hit, will be returning. I WONDER WHY?  Nothing better illustrates more than a fake dog, the producing timidity behind this strange self-eviscerating makeover. Is that Irvin Feld I hear screaming from his grave? 

    CONCEDED CEO JULIETTE FELD Grossman to Lee,  they face “a bit of an identify problem. We were out of the market for a number of years, and in that time a new generation of kids was born and families found new rhythms and different places to go for their entertainment experiences.When we brought  back the touring unit, we had done a lot of soul searching.”

Is the Big Show stuck in the wrong venue?

      BIGGER PICTURE:  Years ago, a circus could count on a higher percentage of American to patronize it.  In Santa Rosa when Polack came to town for two days, up to half the town may have seen it.  There still is a market, but apparently not nearly what it was

    IF I TOLD YOU that New Ringling drew six to eight thousand people per show in L.A. last summer, you might be impressed. But in the 18,000 seat Crypto arena, the optics were unflattering.  

    WHEN JOHN RINGLING NORTH ordered the circus indoors back in 1957, a far higher slice of the American landscape still favored circuses.  Not so much now.  And this may be the Feld's biggest problem – would they, could they to go back under canvas?  I doubt it.

“Something New happens roughly every three seconds.”

      A TRULY BIZARRE PROMISE from Grossman — is she out of her mind?  No, she’s taking a cue from the speed at which her Monster Truck Shows rip and tear.  Rapid Ringling, the new rage?   
  
    QUERIED ABOUT LAST YEAR'S BUSINESS,  answered Grossman “ticket sales were strong for the first  tour.” I’ve read that in some of their last dates, they were begging for customers.  Scathing Yelp Reviews were of little help.
                                        
    ABOUT ALL THE NEW CHANGES going on at the circus that no longer dares  speak its name,  writes a sympathetic Lee,   “That hopefully will lead to ticket sales for the show.”

For  “the show” — hopefully, if not the circus.

     PERSONALLY, I HAVE ALL ALONG  believed that Ringling should have led the way in showing America a true circus still, yes, without exotics but with dogs and ponies and camels and  horses, etc.  They are failing to do what other circuses around the world, such as Zoppe Family, are doing. The irony is that they may be by far the richest organization and have all the resources to do it, including valid experience in putting out one-ring tent editions. We are living through the saddest chapter in Ringling  history.

Thanks to Don Covington for the link. 

BASEBALL'S GREATEST NIGHT ...

Baseball is the only sport I follow, currently thrilled by the reign of a Japanese superstar being hailed the greatest of all time, yet I was too much a wimp last night to watch this one out.  But this morning, I awoke to this fabulous prose in The New York Times by By Andy McCullough. He begins:

"LOS ANGELES — On a night when Shohei Ohtani could not be subdued, on a night when one of baseball’s cathedrals offered its entrants a baptism in the sport’s capacity for agony and ecstasy, on a night when the shame that the game had to end morphed into the fear that it never would, the Los Angeles Dodgers captured control of the World Series in a 6-5 Game 3 victory in 18 innings over the Toronto Blue Jays.

At 11:50 p.m., six hours and 39 minutes after the first pitch arrived, Freddie Freeman supplied the walk-off home run off Toronto reliever Brendon Little to send the Dodger Stadium crowd into the sort of rapture possible only after two full games’ worth of teeth-grinding, stomach-turning, heart-rending baseball. At the end of the joint-longest game in World Series history, the fans were exhausted. They were exhilarated. As Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.” blared across Chavez Ravine, they were heading to the parking lots knowing the Dodgers were two victories away from a second consecutive world championship."

Way to go, L.A.! 

OUT OF THE PAST: Blundering Big Tops: Ringling Ditches Portland-Seattle ... Big Apple Pitches Pony Rides .... Fly-Shy Circus Vargas Dishes Half a Show ... And the Elephants Apply for Assisted Living ... Who Said the Circus Was Alive and Well?

 

Something happened at the Big Apple Circus that nearly took my breath away.  No, not an act of art, but an act of commerce. Commerce of the kind you normally do not associate with “New York’s own.”

Well, now, New York’s own sells pony rides!  Yes, they are that flat out desperate, it appears, this being another of their recent Make-or-Break Seasons.   Another round of bailout money from Wall Street Greed may yet come to another rescue.

I once wrote a book called Fall of the Big Top and one fan of good intent, likely speaking for many others, was Don Covington, himself then company manager for the Big Apple Circus.  Don e-mailed me his pleasure over many memories my book brought back. But he also wanted to make clear being understandably at odds with my misleading subtitle: The Vanishing American Circus.  Wrote Don, “American circus has not vanished, it is vital and evolving.”

Don may have been right, then. Now, the word devolving seems apt. In fact, the subtitle should have read The Vanishing Great American Three Ring Circus.   That’s what I was really thinking.  And so the blame lies with me for ticking off anybody else out there who felt the blunt edge of overstatement.  And still ... Now, if you will pardon my incredible disrespect, I am wondering if in fact the American circus is in any form, old, new, in rehab or on parole, not slowly vanishing?

In peak Big Apple years.  Marty and Jake LaSalle, 2008, just plain terrific.

The stomach-turning news of the pony ride felt like the last nail in a coffin.  Pray it ain’t so.  Reaching beyond White Tops and Circus Report for a sliver of reality, I found but one review on Trip Adviser.  Be warned, the following content may not be suitable for circus fans of any age:

 “Its expensive, the acts are dated and boring, both me and our 10 year old fell asleep. Everything is overpriced and the stupid pony rides a big ripoff. Ok if you're 5 and never seen a circus before.”

Fair, balanced, and boring: I must say, from the photos I’ve seen of the new show, it looks quite promising.  Reviews?  Count on the New York papers to usually give New York's own circus a valentine pass.  

.

What next under the Big Apple tent?   Mass audience participation?   They could sell seats in the ring itself, making it easier for audience members (or shills) to already be in place when a clown comes calling.   A one hour Shrine-like intermission for peanut peddling?  (Hey, I might go for some cashews.)  The passing of a ringmaster’s hat?

The audience getting into the act is what's packing our tents these days, right?  Hey, you won't see that at Monte Carlo!

Around other beleaguered rings, more reason to rue the same.  Take Ringling, dumping Pacific Northwest dates, Seattle and Portland not deemed profitable enough to justify rail bills into the region. Locals up there none to thrilled.  Where instead will the trains now be routed:     Berkeley?  The Bermuda Triangle?

Feldishly fading: The Gold unit is history. So, of course, soon the pachyderms, destined for medicare and Assisted Living. 

Meet forced Floria retiree Mabel, being fitted for glasses under JumboCare.

Half a Vargas:   If you go, be prepared for a great first half (to be kind, I am overlooking a lame story line too cliche to credit): a sure hand in the gifted direction to cheer; excellent taped music; inventive staging around two jugglers working simultaneously; a clown, Alex Acero, who is very funny when he is being a clown (see my write-up about him a few posts down).  There is the commanding Patrick Marinelli, an illusionist and fabrics flyer of swaggering star power; terrific trampoline and wall bouncing exploits.   There's a lovely (rather than mandatory) aerial ballet featuring the winning Cathy Poema on a compelling lyra workout, and without wires.  So, into the break, the artfully exciting first half delivers big.  And this even without a double wheel and Marinelli on straps -- two turns advertised but not seen the day in Hayward when I went.  I felt so good, that I prayed the feeling would carry over into the last half.   A solid 3-star show, minimum, in the making.

Now, if you go and feel as elated as I did at the half way mark and wish to hold that feeling on your way out, then on your way out should be at intermission. Stop there.  Run, do not walk, but LEAVE.   What will you be missing?  Other than the classy Poema family on risely, whose once cute little boy now struggles to redefine his persona (a diet would help) nothing else is notable. Nothing.   Never have I seen so many “flyers” doing so little on the flying trapeze.  With only one hundred plus in the tent the day I went, guess they weren’t in the mood.  Never are when I’m there.  Maybe if they performed no matter the house size, more people would show up.  I counted two motorcycles in the big globe. Whoopee.   Dull.  Empty.  Done.

Vargas feels like a circus not wanting to be a circus.  Lots of Cirque du Soleil posturing this year. End point offers vacuously irrelevant ensemble dancing.   Such a let down after the stellar first half.   Good golly, Molly,  would it break payroll or cause PETA to riot if a dog act was allowed into the ring.  Just a dog act?

All these depressing developments are pushing my pen into Big Think mode.  Gotta warm up another cup of Gen Mai Chi tea.  There’s a thread I’m threading through all of this — a reason why, no matter what they do, the public may still stay away in large numbers.  And here it is:

Enter the ambivalent circus audience

Come back someday, and I might run with it.

Bye!

First posted November 10, 2015

SHOCKING COLLISONS STALK THE GLOBE OF DEATH IN FOUR BRIT CIRCUSES ... HISTORY OF MAYHEM AND DEATH REVEALED ..

The first known Globe, patented in 1904

    INSIDE THE GLOBE OF DEATH, originally a carnival attraction, there can be no doubt that its amazingly adept riders save themselves by sheer heart-pounding  mastery. Round and round go the motor maniacs.   Year after year, show after show, and nothing ever happens.  Or does it?  

   IN THE LUSTING HEARTS of those sitting in the seats, surely the promise of a tragic collision keeps them on the edge.  I am never on the edge, for I have sat through  too many endlessly safe exhibitions. Perfection is a bloody bore. Okay, next act please.  

    ACTUALLY, I'D PREFER watching an imperfect act now and then, to remind myself of how circus thrives in the state of reality, no retakes, no editing — flyer missing connection to catcher and failing into net below; juggler dropping clubs and scrambling to rebound. Without such moments, how can our sense of peril be sustained?   

    I CAN'T RECALL EVER hearing news of a gory outcome inside the Globe of Death.  But the crowds make up for flawless executions by running visions through their anxious minds of sudden mayhem. And they keep waiting.  

    WELL SOMETHING HAS FINALLY HAPPENED, over in the birthplace of circus.   A crack in the gloss.  Sudden skid off course into unscripted chaos.  In UK circuses, were most of the shows are hauling the monster cage from lot to lot, this past  summer, four riders were injured between Circus Extreme, Zippos, Circus Fantasia, and Blackpool Tower Circus.  No fatalities.  But a potentially terrific boost to the act’s power to compel.  Why did I not see anything about  this on the TV?  Daily Mail, where you there?  This will likely inflate the fear factor, and keep this cumbersome exploitation from going away anytime soon.

     ON THE SCENE IN LONDON, Douglas McPherson has crafted  a  cracking good history of the globe, which informs this posting, and which has just been published in The Stage. I've learned that it goes back much farther than I knew, to at least to 1904.  A 100-year-old 3 ton globe is still used by the Jordan show.    

Some excerpts:   

    Pedal Bikes Preceded Motor:  So I got a taste of that at Zoppe Family Circus two years ago.  

    From America With Guts:  Stunt rider Arthur Rosenthal holds the fist patent, dated 1904. His drawing submitted is  "identical to the ones used today."

    Riders Do Die:  There have been at least tree. Perhaps the most horrifying one took place at Bertram Mills Circus in 1951. Inside a bottomless globe 70 feet above the ring, Arno Wickbold's clown costume got caught in his wheel and sent him to his death before 6.000 stunned spectators.

    Black-Outs For Some: From Julia Kirilova, founder of the all-women Big Kid Circus globe team:  "Lots of Globe of Death riders tend to black out for a second or two, but come back and carry on."

   The Ecstasy of Danger:   Said MalinYovov:  "People pay money to see the best shows in the UK with the most extreme stunts ...When I hear the audience go wild, I just can't wait for the next show to do it all again."

Oh, I just love that quote.  
 
    THE MOST RIDERS EVER to circle each other at the same time?  World records site the Infernal Varanne Riders, a stunt troupe,  for having six riders in motion, and a person standing in the middle of them.  Hold on! I counted eight riders at the ERA Intersection of Time in Shanghai, in 2010.    

To read McPherson's fascinating in depth on the subject, here's a link to the story

https://www.thestage.co.uk/features/inside-the-globe-of-death-the-history-of-the-perilous-circus-act

Yes, there's a firewall, but you can read two or three articles for free by signing up.

Happy globing!

Beware the Hazzards of YouTube Big Topping ... When and How Digital Slights the Ageless Delight ...

     In the Kingdom of Kong, at Big Kid Circus

I am coming to terms with a situation I have long alluded to whenever looking at a circus performance on YouTube:  Among many set backs, your view is limited to where you are placed, to the camera's focus, and to the sometimes muddled split-focus imagery resulting from costumes and sets getting in the way.  This post was spurred by Douglas McPherson's  review of the  Big Kid Circus. So here we go ...

ACTION VERSUS PRODUCTION: In the YouTube of a particularly lavish set, such as  what Big Kid Circus offers patrons across the Big Pond, I found myself  straining at times to stay focused on the act. For example, I was hooked  by a single trap artist, who seemed to slither in and out of the proceedings.  

In fact, the production has so much atmosphere -- flashing lights, lavish costuming and scenic effects, it can feel like getting lost in a gigantic birthday cake 

EDITING: You may be watching a partially edited video, which will give you a distorted view of the entire performance.  During a comedy number, the clowns were moving back and forth across the ring to an end point blocked by a scenic element.  

ACTS COMPETING WITH PRODUCTION: Perhaps nothing in my big top You Tubing has come so close to making me feel at times swamped in the colors, lights, props and special effects. They are quite impressive here, but I still prefer clear sight lines to what the performers are doing. 

MULTIPLE VERSIONS:  Sometimes, someone will send me a link to another video of the same show --- "this has more of the story-line" -- "this shows the cris-cross flyers" -- which only begs the question, what else may be missing?

What I think I liked at Kingdom of Kong:  Hard to believe  that a roller skating act so impressed me. Also impressive juggling. The single trapeze guy.  Human pyramids. Clowns bouncing balls against a wall that I could not fully see behind a blocked view.  Five acrobats.  Quick costume changes - terrific. Contortion dancing.  Emphatic Afro  dancing.  The prevailing mood comes with heavy music that can overwhelm.  This is not a wishy washy show.  I can see it maybe being a lot of fun, especially when going with a friend.

Two big acts not so fun: The double wheel opens the show rather weakly  The closing Globe of Death features three motor divas from Iran. With the unfortunate accidents to several globe of death riders recently, this will surely inflate the fear factor in these acts and only lessen the chances of their going away  any time soon. 

In his review Douglas calls it "the best looking big top show in Britain." Well worth reading,  you will find it at circusmania.blogspot.com. Scroll down past a  fascinating report he has just posted, with photos and comments. of  his "whistle stop tour of some of its biggest traveling shows." Very interesting and educational. I can't remember reading anything about circus in India.

Blame it on YouTube. 

MIDWAY FLASH UPDATE! ... MIDWAY FLASH UPDATE! ... JULIE PARKINSON OUT AS CIRCUS WORLD CEO ...

I have held off on putting a  name to this.  This morning, I called Circus World, and Deb took my call. 

She confirmed that, yes, Julie Parkinson is out.

Our anonymous informant had written me that Parkinson "has been fired due to internal mismanagement by the historical society."

This Morning I Kissed My Laptop ...

Why,? Having owned a Dell Vostro  XP since 2008, the one I still use to write drafts on, horror of horrors  yesterday the cursor started jumping around, up or down while I was typing.  This is what happens on my Dell Latitude, but I blame myself for buying it reconditioned.  Never again.

As for my most recently acquired  laptop, another Dell, it is so damn stiff and resistant to my touch, but has no problem allowing torrents of pop ups and roll bys and screen-hording BILL GATES GARBAGE to rampage freely.  Is there an AI version of this founding MS shark?  Yes it is time to try HP or X.  

So this morning on my pet PC,  I composed the draft of a press release. NOT ONE CURSOR RUNAWAY.  All keys landed safely in place.

And so I kissed  My Vostro,and touched it lovingly and told it I would never fire it up so many times during the day, as I had yesterday.

We type in the shadows

No going on line 

As long as it works

you'll always be mine.

HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF A MEDIOCRE DAY AT THE CIRCUS

FROM SHOWBIZ DAVID SHOCK THERAPY DIVISION

You’re on your way to THE CIRCUS.  Like all the times before, your expectations are high.  This could be another Big One.  This might get it right, might run the acts in a steady confident flow. Might offer a few Big Moments.   You’re hoping to be thrilled.  You’d settle for GOOD. that too much to ask for?   Not GREAT but simply good.

Or worse?  How not to be let down on the other side of the canvas?   How not to end up nit picking away,  pitting every act on the bill against Francis Brunn (OK, Anthony Gatto?). La Norma or the Hannefords.

Here is my advisory for fans who suffer from Chronic Circus Comparison Syndrome (CCCS), to blot out the past in order to take on the present. Do  a clean sweep of your brain.  You want the show you are abut to see to be as magical as the the first circus you saw. So the exercise is to clear your mind of all that has gone before.

No, I do not advise a pre-performance lobotomy. There are some less destruct measures you can take to achieve a better outcome.   Are you ready?  

* BAN YOUR MEMORIES FOR THE DAY Think anything else.  Think the many ways in which I’ve made a fool of myself on this blog.  In this way, you may enjoy acts you have long dismissed out of hand as garden variety fodder. Even this takes conning yourself into the mind set of a five year old.   

* START WITH A CLEAN SLATE Let the acts color it their way, not yours. Your biggest challenge is pretending you have never seen any of them or their like before.   

 * BUY THE BEST SEAT IN THE TENT If you are about to endure schlock showmanship, at lest suffer it in maximum comfort by investing in a chair close to to  the ring.

* DO NOT READ THE PROGRAM before or during the show If there is one.  I want you to be surprised by the unfolding parade of wonders — not affected by any advance grudges against anything you're about to see --  until after the show.    

* BRING EAR PHONES as a backup soundtrack, in the event the first notes from the band (or, CD player) put you in a funk. No, No, not that crap!  Nothing can affect our attitude towards an act as much as the music.

* LET THE FUNDAMENTALS SHINE  Okay, the show is on!   If there is an opening ensemble splash, these almost always please. Let the performers entertain for you, let them show you what they can do, not what you want them to do.  These feel good openings will give you a fair idea of the talent level ahead. Doubts already?  You might try shifing your mood into gratuitously grateful.   

 

* ADMIRE THE STRIVING YOUNG HEART  You will now and then see them out there.  Give them a break.  Give them a chance. This business does not promise anyone a fortune, and we all have to start somewhere. They are the future of circus.

* LOOK TO THE CHILDREN  Look and listen to them, let their reactions be yours. You were one of them once, just as tickled watching the clowns stage a slap happy boxing match. How you marveled at the cleverness of it all!

* BRING A DATE  Preferably, the one  you are hoping to have your own circus with, some time after the show — if not during intermission.  Dare you tarnish your chances by  coming off as either a hopelessly infatuated circus fan  — or uppity critic who can’t shut up? No, No! Keep the ghosts of circus days past in lock down.  

* WITHHOLD ALL OPINIONS  Express yourself in applause and smiles, hold the date above the show.  In Virginia  several seasons ago, with  my sister, two nieces and one grand nephew, we took a chance on a show I’d never heard of, Do Circus Portugal.  After the show, I first asked them what they thought?  They had little to say other than pointing out some flubs over a few carping laughs --- being more critical than I.  Now my turn. I praised a young man on the bill for two outstanding turns — marvelous juggling and  dazzling rapid fire two-person quick costume changes. Below, an act with Do Portugal I do not recall seeing.

* IF ALL ELSE FAILS   Try this killer exercise.  Close your eyes for ten seconds.  Imagine the worst circus you ever saw. I will kindly refrain from making known mine. Okay, now open your eyes and resume watching.  Better? 

Heck, I can't wait for the next circus I see in person, I’m going to try taking my own advice  Already, I’m trying it against my phobia for an act fit for the Gong Show: You will stop trashing hula hoops. ... I will stop trashing  hula hoops ...

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