lions camels and tigers and bears elephants...oh my!

i'll admit it- i missed out on many of those childhood rituals: first playstation (well, actually, we had colecovision and intellivision, so i can't really complain too much), first trip to neverland (okay, fine, but can disneyworld really hold a candle to watching movies in michael jackson's private theater? i think not.), first trip to the circus....

yeah- you read that right. i never went to the circus as a kid...and davy jones is totally to blame for it, too.*

however, this isn't the time or the place to discuss why my sibling's favorite monkee is responsible for depriving me of the joy of going to my first circus, nor is it the time or place to ponder why my sibling always got away with so much more than i could even attempt...i mean, really, did she ever get grounded? ever? if i had any money, it'd all be on "no".

but i digress.

my 27-year streak was ruined the other night (cirque du soleil a couple of years ago doesn't count, mostly because the performance lacked both animals and naked peta protestors), thanks to my ever-helpful SO, who called me at work and asked if i wanted four passes to the circus....which i gave to my bosses, except one of them didn't feel up to going, and the other wasn't too thrilled by the prospect of dealing with two very excited children by herself.

so, somehow, i found myself at the circus.

superman should be popping out of there at any moment.


at least three of the animals shown in this picture relieved themselves during their acts. i didn't think i'd ever see this much sawdust outside of a lumberyard.


around the time of this photo, there were some dancing girls hanging out at each end of the arena while the action was in the rings. one of the guys was impressed enough with these girls that he kept zooming in on their derrieres with his digital videocamera. he also zoomed in on the girls at the other end of the arena, but given the speed at which he zoomed back out again, i'm assuming he wasn't impressed.


one of the benefits of sitting in the nosebleed section: circus equipment provides "instant framing".


"i will not slide off this elephant. i will not slide off this elephant. i will not...wait a minute- i think i'm moving....help!"


bello the clown on the left, and some hottish (i was in the nosebleed section, people!) acrobat-type performer with a death wish on the right.


the grand finale. the performers at the lower right were "sky surfers"...i guess it's no longer cool to call yourself a "trapeze artist".

a couple other interesting things i learned at the circus:

~be sure to sell the kidney before you come to the show, because cotton candy will cost you almost as much as an internal organ.(no, i didn't get any.) as for the boiled peanuts...well, do you still have your spleen?

~taking a camera with an actual zoom-type feature would be a wise idea next time.

~it's time to take reality tv (which i don't watch anyway) up a notch....not only should the "stars" of american idol have to mangle popular songs, but the should do it while "sky surfing"....and between seasons, let's rerun old "circus of the stars" specials from the days of yesteryear...espcially the one that featured no less than three members of the cast of "saved by the bell". i need a reminder of what mark-paul gosselaar looked like in his younger years.

Which "Saved By The Bell" Character Are You?

ah, yes- that's good.

and speaking of good things, it would probably be good if i started prepping for my show. (you can catch me on the air between 10 am and 3pm today and tomorrow on wnok.)

*unless, of course, i'm getting my childhood groundings mixed up, because, well, after several years, they all sort of run together.