Rained all Day....Cousin Brandon Joins us

OK, I am tired of the rain. Our show is on the grass and how can it dry out if it rains virtually every day? And when the sun does come out it only caused the moisture from the grass to evaporate creating mega-humidity. In spite of all that rain, even the one shower that hit at showtime, we did our three shows and the audiences were really good. Good sized crowds at every show too.

Everyone has their own story about each day. Mine is pretty simple. After spending the day pretty much in the hotel after getting to the RV at the fairground I fell asleep for an hour waking just 45 minutes before the first show...just in time for more rain. UGH! I do count my blessings that the rain kept the heat down so it never really got hot today. So humidity wasn't that bad since it was cool. But by our 10:30PM show hit the dew point was around 70 degrees so dew covered every prop and every piece of equipment. It's a wonder all of our stuff isn't water damaged yet.

On the fun part. We have added one more performer....now there are 13 of us. Brandon Parker my cousin once removed (son of my cousin Jay) has joined us for a couple of weeks or so. He is from Toledo. He has acrobat and gymnastic experience. So it is going to be fun training him in the show and in the traveling life of a family circus.

Belated happy birthday to my dad (July 7) he is a youngster at 73. We love you grandpa (dad).

The pictures: Lukas and jim Goofing around. Robert Frost (one of the fair guys) trying the wire. Brandon (cousin) trying the wire.

News and Friends visit

Also see the blog before this one it shows that we were on the front page of a second paper today as well... the Times Tribune.

Cynthia had a number of friends visit her today. Her track Coach, he breakfast buddy from Berea and four dorm friends each showed up today. They added extra spice to the audience too.

Her is a miracle: In yesterday's blog I wrote about the destruction of our awning on our RV. The vinyl itself was fine but the support arms were destroyed. I went to the local RV shop today, now remember this is London, KY and the lot sits on less than an acre of land. I went in with hopes to get the arms but all they had were the various brackets. So I figured I would just buy the brackets and pound out any bends in the arms and at least be able to keep the awning on the Rv until I can get to a bigger town. Wouldn't you know it they were short one bracket I needed. So the sales guy ( a really knowledgeable college aged kid who impressed me since my run in with that age group has been disappointing recently (not counting the kids traveling with us), went back to the service department to see if they had one laying around. A few minutes later he returns with awning support arms for the exact model and year of my awning. He explained that they don't normally keep these in stock. They had complete awning sets but not just the legs or arms or what ever they are called. These were sitting in a corner and had been there for years. They were brand new just years old. They were so old they weren't even in the computer for a price. The kid went to the owner and the owner said to sell it to me for half the price they sell for since they were sitting around so long and would be still sitting around for years to come if I didn't take them. AWESOME! PTL!

So Nick and I went to the grounds and installed them later in the day. Nick was a lifesaver... I could not have done it alone.

On another note we made the front page of two papers today. I linked one of them below and have included a picture of the other. One of the fair guys, Tony, gave me a copy of the one I took the picture of.

I was also given a mason jar of "Apple Pie", a homemade drink famous in these parts. Tastes like apple pie....with a little kick...but you don't taste the kick.

The weather held today...no rain. But there is a big storm over MO right now that looks to be heading our way. I am a little tired of this. But we rolled the awning up and have the show spiked down better so hopefully it will be fine. Or better yet, hopefully it will break up and miss us all together.

Made the front page of two papers...here is one.

Laurel County Fair heats up

click on the link above

victor

Destruction!

Wow! Today started off pleasant. I took a few Midori, Miles, Victor, and Nick to the Fairgrounds fairly early, under party cloudy skies, to work out on their various equipment. It was very humid after yesterday's rains and even standing still anyone would sweat. As they worked out I started work on the Bamboo illusion's new themed set and platform.

Afterwards we went back to the hotel and picked up the rest of the clan and headed south to Corbin and to the birthplace of KFC. It has become a tradition. The drive was nice and we all commented how it was the first year with no rain. But after a historic tour and a nice meal as we climbed into the van a drop hit my arm. It was followed by crashes of thunder and then the downpour. We were about 20 miles from the fairground but the storm was coming from that direction. As we drove it got worse and worse until it was approaching too crazy to drive. It was about then that I got a call from one of the fiar people, Tony Brown. He asked where we were and had we seen our set? I told him we were on our way there. He instructed us a faster way there and we bee-lined it to the fair.

It wasn't terrible. It was the first time we took such a bad hit. Most of the banner line was down and a river now ran through the our stage area. The standing water around the atage and rv was upto 6" deep. Then the bad bad news the RV awning supports were broken. snapped in some places, bent in others. The awning itself seems OK. so does the roller part. But the support bars were history.

In spite of all that the kids put their backs into it and got the whole thing taken apart and rebuilt before showtime. I ran to the hardware store and picked up metal spikes and stakes and new rope. Several of our wooden stakes had broken off int he ground and one metal spike was bent from the wind. I think if the same storm hit now, after all the reinforcement we did, it would be harder for it to do the damage it did. It was even able to knock over the tight rope rig since it was tarped and the wind caught the tarp. We were lucky no banners were lost. Just lots of wet equipment.

We performed with a squishy ground around us and many of our shoes are now socked through. The humidity and wetness made Miles' whip action less accurate but he didn't hit me so I am not complaining. Victor fell off the tightrope on his final trick and bounced his chi on the wire then fell on his butt. Luckily he was uninjured and only ended up with a bit of soreness in his arm and muddy pants.

The red lines in the picture shows where the banner line was, where the awning is now and the tightwire laying on it's side.

Loose tooth is also included in the picture. Olivia gives Nick a hug.

Cynthia strikes a pose.

The Kids clean up the mess.

The clouds you see are the culprit leaving the scene of the crime. That pipe was flowing full force, like a hose at the peak of the storm.

London day 1 part 2- Pictures

If you go to the Chamber of Commerce or libraries, or similar places around Laurel County Kentucky you will find the Laurel County Community Guide and on it you will find my picture on it's cover. I am a cover boy. It's out there for the whole year of 2011. No credit of who I am in any of the pages. Oh well!

The next picture is from the July 4th edition of the local paper mentioning us as a "popular draw" for the fair. Turn out last night was low due to rain but our aluminum seats had butts in them and the last show they were filled to the top (bleachers) and three deep standing all around our 70' lot.

The next picture is actually from Berea when we stayed at the Oh Kentucky Campsite. A leaf bug visited Midori's tent. Two years ago Miles picked up one of these guys and it bit him. They have iron strong black mandibles under those green lips of theirs.

Belle takes to her favorite seat in the RV when it is parked at a gig.

After that Cynthia took the camera around getting fuzzy shots (due to the condensation and humidity) of various members of the fam and crew doing their poses.

London Day 1: Rain...Moisture!

If you like moisture you would have loved London, Ky today. We drove part of the show over yesterday, ironically just after a huge thunder storm. Then took the rest of the show over this morning, including the RV. We were blessed for the most part to have nothing more than sprinkles for most of the day. But the warm sun after all that rain on a grassy field, where our stage is at, means humidity to the nth degree. While I ran errands the big kids set up the show then started playing goofy games including throwing the sledge hammer the farthest or highest. Ended up with a broken sledge hammer...gotta love creative, bored young adults. The little ones, in the mean time, studied with Mami and Cynthia at the hotel.

By 6pm we were all set and just waiting for our show to start at 7pm. The gates were open. But at 6:45 the heavens burst forth and a great rain fell on the fair. It drove some people out and probably stopped many who were on their way from coming. By 7pm the rain had ended but left a small mote in front of our stage. We had a show up and running by 7:15. In spite of wet seats we drew a crowd of around 35 that grew to 50 or so by show's end. It may have reached nearly 75 in the middle but we lost a few at 7:50 as the grand stand event was about to begin.

A local man and friend brought to the fair the county's local activity and recreation guide for 2011 and to my surprise the cover boy was me. A photo of me blowing fire at last year's fair graced the cover.

I have photos for you but I am exhausted so I will post them tomorrow. It is also our annual pilgrimage to the birth place of KFC tomorrow.

June bugs, Big moth and more are stories I need to tell....but it will have to wait.

In London

Make sure you check out the two blogs under this one they were both posted today as well.

We left Berea, KY under cloudy skies and drove into bad weather. The rain lasted the whole 80 minute drive and onto the early afternoon. We checked into our hotel and it turned out that my decision not to take the show up to the fairgrounds until later or even tomorrow was a good one. For later in the afternoon after the son poked its nose out I decided to take just the big trailer up. The fair folks told me that had we come an hour earlier we would have been caught in one heck of a downpour.

When we first got here our rooms weren't ready and it was lunchtime. Nearby there is a great Southern Hamburger joint called the Steak n Shake. They make hamburgers from ground steak that start off as ground meat balls that are flattened by the cook, made to order. Taste wiss it is very close to In and Out, with me having a preference tilt towards In and Out. It was a hardy lunch and by the time we were done so were our rooms and we moved in.

Move in day is Mami's busiest. Keep things from going bad in the RV fridge, locating and loading in (or ordering various kids to load in) all the things needed to keep this army of circus freaks going. All the kids lend a hand, even if it is just baby sitting Titus or the little ones. CC and Mami made a great teriyaki chicken with stir fried veggies and rice meal.

Tomorrow will be the crazy day for the rest of us. We will pull the RV and small trailer into the fair, figure out our layout and try to make it work. Power is always an issue and with the BMT and tightrope we will be taking more space this year. This is our 4th year in a row with this fair. I gotta tell you I love this fair. It is a small one but the fans are great and the fair board folks are wonderful. I feel like London is our adopted home while we are here. Very much the way the folks in Bowling Green treat us.

The fair Manager, Doug, reminds me so much of Tommy Lee Jones in his mannerisms, voice, and looks. He is a really great man to work with.

The weather doesn't look good for the week, but at least it isn't snowing like in Utah.

Nashville Kent Family Magic Circus Video Blog 2-13 June

Clarksville - Ft. Campbell Area Information: Day 2 of the Fair: Kent Family Magic Circus and Monster Trucks

Clarksville - Ft. Campbell Area Information: Day 2 of the Fair: Kent Family Magic Circus and Monster Trucks

Coin Cutting Man (Kent Family Magic Circus Video blog 2-12)

A Day in the Life

As bugs crawl across my screen I type this blog entry after the crew has loaded up and packing in the show here in Lawrenceburg, KY. We are finished and I would have to call this one a success! Unlike that louse in California (David Jackson of West Coast Festivals (keeping his name alive on the Internet so anyone who researches him can find out how he robbed many many people of thousands and thousands of dollars)) we were paid and the client was very pleased. He is even drafting a letter for other fairs we market to can use him as a reference for our show.

It was dang hot today...90s with lots of humidity! But we got to the fairgrounds early enough for the family to work on new routines, relax, or play. Made for a lighter day.

Nick wants to work or practice all the time. He has an awesome work ethic. He is working on juggling and new trapeze move. With Jim it's work, play, social network, practice. He works with Midori, Nick, Amelia, Olivia and the others with their routines. He is also developing a Polynesian Fire staff routine. Miles is still getting adjusted to the time and work load. He plans on getting back into running next week.

Midori is developing a faster paced lyra routine and helps Mami with things. While Cynthia has become very helpful with cooking and taking care of the kids.

Lukas is back from his time off due to the poison Ivy but is still suffering a bit.

Victor is working on improving his tightrope work. He saw the Wallendas stand on their head on the wire and wants to do that too. So he practices standing on his head.

Amelia is expanding her hula-hoop routine ans Olivia is doing the same with her lyra routine.

It was neat seeing the whole crew loading in the show. It was done in no time and now everyone is off to bed. We will have one day off and use it to drive halfway to our next stop. That means a grueling one hour drive tomorrow to Berea.

Approaching the End

One last day for shows here in Lawrenceburg. It has been a transformational week. So

much has happened behind the scenes it is incredible. I don't know how the show will look in the future but it is definitely coming upon changes.

Now, in regards to the shows today. T

ough crowds tonight. It was like a different environment from the whole rest of the week. We call these people TV audiences. They watch the show with interest but not respond. It is tough for us because we feed off the applause. Maybe the incredibly hot day had something to do with it?

Prior to the shows I had the bo

ys work on installing the new zip

line for Miles to zip line, ala an adventure movie, t

o the stage. We anchored it on the BMT and a power pole. The stress it put on the BMT was so much that we 86ed the idea and will have to come up with another anchor idea. My original anchor idea is too exp

ensive and massive to do now. Maybe we will shelve this until2012...if...hmmmmm .

The kids had fun with the bungee cord used for the zip line break using it to propel each other and try resistance running with it.

No big trips today. Lukas did his laundry making that 15 loads for the group this week. And Jim got a hair cut..(pictures coming) I have never seen it that short.

Well, cheerio for tonight.