Shrine Circus

We saw the Alzafar Shrine Circus this afternoon. I'm posting some photos from the program. It was a good show. I'll chat more about it later. Night, night.

From the Sketchbook- Transformation

Doc Ed Update

Doc Edwards will be hitting the road soon to entertain and educate the kiddos in and around the San Antonio area. Here are some upcoming dates:

September 29th Crestview Elementary- Science day at the Park

October 8th Medina River Natural Area

Friday Roundup

The week started off with a holiday and was even better because it was on a Monday. The next day was all business though, with a meeting at the Edwards Aquifer Authority to discuss upcoming presentations and projects. One nifty thing they had made recently were those large magnets you put on your car door. Most small businesses have them and now Doc Edwards does too. That's progress.

I'm in the middle of working on marionettes for the Seaworld show in October and I'll post some photos as soon as I get a chance. It's pretty exciting to be up to your elbows in work again. The summer was rather quiet but now things are in high gear for a while. Life is good.



My kids received a free book each and certificates for the reading program that they participated in over the summer sponsored by the public library. I'm very proud of them. We're definitely a family of readers.



We got tickets to the circus this weekend which we've been looking forward to going for a while. It's the Alzafar Shrine Circus which is always fun. They've brought in the George Carden Circus for the last three years which is a show that never disappoints. If you haven't gone to a Shrine Circus try to make it a point to see one.

Buddy Holly's Birthday Yesterday

Man, I can't believe I missed this one. Yesterday would have been Buddy Holly's 75th birthday. Below are some informative links. Enjoy!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddy_Holly

http://www.buddyholly.com/

http://www.buddyhollycenter.org/

http://www.famoustexans.com/buddyholly.htm

Happy 45th Star Trek!

Here are some cool Star trek links.

http://www.startrek.com/

http://bakingdom.com/2011/09/to-boldly-go-where-no-cookie-has-gone-before.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/09/08/scitech/main20103413.shtml

Hope is a Cloudy Sky

This was taken a few weeks ago when there was a hint of a chance of rain that quickly fizzled but it sure made for a beautiful sky that day.

From the Sketchbook- Batman and Judge Dredd

80's Goulish Makeup Fun

If you magnify the photo you can see that I've got a razor blade stuck in my forehead which we thought was mighty cool.


Back in the early to mid-eighties there was a makeup contest sponsored by Fangoria magazine, I think, to create a zombie makeup. I didn't have any real knowledge of special makeup effects but I figured it was worth a shot. A friend and I got together and played around with some simple household supplies to make our zombie makeup a reality. We used theatrical blood, flour and Elmer's Glue.

It didn't look too bad considering our lack of know-how but we didn't stand a chance of winning. We didn't know any better and we had a lot of fun in the process. It's about the journey, man!

I remember driving around with my fellow zombie, whose name I no longer recall, around Laredo in the evening even getting a bite to eat at the drive thru window of McDonald's. I think it was in early November. Ah, youth.That friend of mine was into film making and I wonder if he ever made it in the business.

The photos were taken by my good friend, whose name I do recall, Elias Alonzo, who had a great camera and free time as most of us did at that age. That's his pickup (bottom photo) in the background he called "Blue".

Milagro de Monterrey ibook

Raining Popcorn Media , the publisher of Milagro de Monterrey , has an ibook version of it and has a sample Youtube video on it's site. The video has no audio at the moment but it's still worth a look.

Happy Birthday Freddie Mercury !

Yesterday would have been the 65th birthday of Queen's Freddie Mercury . Ready your air guitars and pianos please. Above is one of my favorite songs, Bohemian Rhapsody ,off their A Night at the Opera album. Yes, album. Not cd. Aaaallbuum!!

More Cathedral Art

This is the third of the five paintings for the San Fernando Cathedral Alex Rubio and I painted back in 1989. This one is a portrait of Juan Diego with the image of the Virgen de Guadalupe on his tilma. It appears to be almost completed with only the roses that he carries in his tilma that need painting.






Above is the completed painting. I liked the way the light seemed to be coming form the roses to illuminate his face. I painted Juan Diego's portrait but Alex did paint the Virgen's face and everything else on this painting. He wanted to give it a try on that one. You can see the edge of the next painting to the left already begun. It was like a production line.


A close up of Juan Diego's portrait. I don't think I've mentioned that the medium we used was acrylic interior (semi-gloss, I think) housepaint for all the paintings though I can't remember the brand name. It might have been Coronado since we often used that on the murals we painted for the Community Cultural Arts Organization where Alex and I were employed at the time.

Here's a good closeup of one of the hands with a polaroid of myself wearing some muslin fabric like a tilma to get the folds right. I don't recall Vincent being around for this one. A ten year old can only be around so much.

One Day Closer to Halloween

"Peek-a-boo!" Color pencil on paper. 8"x12".

From the Windy City Files

Rik Gern posing, in typical goofy repose , in front of the Billy Goat Tavern in Chicago.

My dear friend Rik Gern a.k.a. Bonzo Crunch saw the "Cheeseborger, Cheesesborger, Cheeseborger" post for yesterday's Slapstick Theater and let me know that it's based on a real place. I should have known. It's a place in Chicago, where Rik is from, called the Billy Goat Tavern . He also sent the neat photo it ( above) with Mr. Gern playing the goof for the camera. This is what he said in his email:


"The Cheeseburger, etc skit is based on a real place in Chicago, located beneath Wacker

Drive, called the Billygoat Tavern. Back in the days of hard hitting, hard drinking journalists, a lot of 'em used to hang out there."

Thanks for that tasty morsel of Chicago and comedy history, Rik. Happy Labor day!!

Circus Memories- Opening Parade Puppets 2001

For the opening parade of the 131st edition of the Ringling show had the clowns run out to our places on the track each performing a particular skill. The were sixteen us in the alley so the usual skills were snatched up like juggling or unicycling leaving me to scramble for something to show off that wasn't already being done. After a few hours of thinking I realized I might be able to use a marionette so I asked and they o.k.ed it. I explained to the prop builders what I wanted and how it should work and they made a fantastic mini me. It was even more amazing because they had never made a marionette before.

One time during opening Bello surprised me by showing up with his own Bello marionette. He was always doing surprising things and always willing to play. That's one of the most memorable times on that tour.

Slapstick Theater- SNL Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger

Sunday Morning Matinee: Really Rosie 1975