The Muppet Show- Bernadette Peters

Here's a little something from the Muppet Show to make you feel like you could do anything.

Circus Sarasota's Bellomania!

Daredevil clown Bello Nock will be performing with the not for profit Circus Sarasota in February. If you happen to be in the area catch the show. He's the best clown under the big top. He was the featured clown on the Ringling show when Pammy and I toured last and got to know him a bit. He a really nice person and a very funny and entertaining performer. If we get half the chance we'll make a beeline to Sarasota to see him. For more on Circus Sarasota click here

Friday Roundup

Let's see. This week saw a few Doc Ed shows around town. I even got a little mail from the kids at Crestview Elementary with some neat drawings they made after my visit there back in September. I think they'll be posting some of them on the Edwards Aquifer Authority Facebook page. Now that school will be out for the holidays Doc Ed shows will be on hiatus until January when the kiddos are back in school. In the meantime there will be some time spent fixing up the props that I use for the show. I'll also be making a few new ones. Actually they'll be duplicates for the ones I already use. It never hurts to have those around in case of emergency.


Texas History comic book sketch.

I put in some work on the Texas history comic book too. I've added a couple of pages to it that will help the pacing of the story. As it was before, eight pages wasn't enough to tell a proper story. It's still not ready to ink but I'm getting pretty close. It's only the first of three stories that will be complied into one book and all of them will cover events that took place during the Texas Revolution and and the time period after that led up to the Mexican American War.

Pammy has been pretty busy at work baking away like there's no tomorrow. Baked goods are very popular during the holidays. Last Saturday she spent the better part of the day baking cookies at her friend Diana's house. She always looks forward to that. It's something they've been doing together for years. She's an old friend of Pammy's from way back she doesn't get to see often enough so it's always a real treat for her when she get to share some time with her. Tomorrow Pammy will be there again baking Christmas goodies spending quality time with good friends.

Pammy has been wanting to do some video work. It's educational subject matter relating to the environment and water conservation. We've worked out a rough idea for it and will be doing the shoot over the holidays. Pammy has plenty of ideas and she's got a sharp director's eye so it should look pretty good.

That's it for now. have a great weekend and thanks for spending some time here at our little blog. We really appreciate it. Adios, amigos!

Circus Memories - Hospital Visits 1995

In the clipping above Benny Schultz, Gina Allison and I spend some time with the kids on the pediatric floor at Huntsville Hospital.

One of the most challenging and rewarding experiences on the road as a circus clown were the times we'd visit the hospital pediatric wards. We'd go into the rooms for a couple of minutes to hoping to make a child smile. We bring a few props and usually a little gift like the teddy bear you see in the photo above.

I'd never visited a children's ward before joining the circus. And in the past when I had been to see a sick relative in the hospital entertaining them wasn't exactly on my mind. Hospital etiquette required one to be serious in the presence of a patient. That kind of etiquette didn't necessarily apply with a child. I soon learned that even when hospitalized a child usually wants to laugh and play.

The first couple of rooms we were at were tough for me. I felt bad for those kids but the kids didn't want me to feel for them. They had plenty of other folks doing that already. They wanted to smile and laugh and be silly. That's why we were there. It got a little easier after that.

The Little Drummer Boy- The Harry Simeone Chorale

The Mural Kids

Hamming it up at the end of the day: The best mural crew ever.

Here are most of the kids that would come by to volunteer their time to paint the "Monuments of Man" murals at Mirasol Courts. Part of our job was not only to document the mural painting process but to also document the names of the children that participated in the painting. I wish I had that list now. Those children deserve to be recognized and honored for their work. They're all grown up now and in their late twenties, early thirties. Maybe they've started families of their own. With any luck maybe one of them will run across this blog and pleasantly surprised.

I've posted some of their photos but I've still got few more I'll post soon of these wonderful kids. Before I forget I want relate something I still remember about the last day we painted there. As Alex and I were cleaning up our brushes and putting away our tools one the kids came up to me with a parting gift. His mom had an herb garden and he'd plucked a cilantro plant, roots and all, out of the ground present to me. I was touched. I took that plant and thanked him. He smiled and ran home. Good kids, all of them. I hope they're doing well.

Doc Ed Update

Today was a fun day putting on a show for first and fourth grade students at the Witte Museum. I didn't take any photos because my camera is on the fritz and I was tired of being disappointed by a set of ruined photos. Boo, hoo, hoo, I say. All went well and my next show is on Thursday. It will be the last one before school is out for the holiday. Things wont start up again for Doc Ed until after the new year begins. I've still got plenty to keep me busy, though. For more on the Edwards Aquifer Authority, Doc Edwards and his educational presentations click here .

From the Sketchbook- Goblin Archer

Judy Garland - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

Slapstick Theater- Red Skelton

Sunday Morning Matinee: An American Christmas Carol (1979)

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