a more perfect union

i saw a sign on the road yesterday that said "Slow Construction Area." and it made me wonder, has anyone ever seen a "fast construction area?" or even an "accomplished-in-what-seems-like-a-fairly-reasonable-amount-of-time construction area?" no. road construction is always slow. stupid redundant sign. grrrr.

foxx-y

i couldn't help it. it looked so beautiful. so tight and sleek. a creation of beauty. and i've wanted a true leather one for so long. wow, so long. probably since i was a little kid and saw Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the lost Ark at the drive in when it came out. sure, the snake scenes scared me, but damn, Indy was so cool. and that whip...

"i've given it some thought and i'm in. go ahead and make it" is what i told Louie Foxx, when he offered to braid me up a sweet 6-ft. kangaroo-hide bullwhip at a great price. i had been looking over his website, www.bullwhips.org, reading the reviews of ecstatic customers, drooling over the fine craftsmanship and reading the words of a man who is obviously passionate about his work. he showed me a picture of the whiskey-colored hide he would make it from and i couldn't help it. i caved like a little boy in a man's body who had enough in his account to cover the cost of the toy he's always wanted and could justify it as a tax write-off. (i love my job)

so the really cool part is that over the process of making the whip, Louie took pictures and posted twitter updates and i could see it being built--knowing it was being made for me. so friggin cool! go to his website and check out the entries for Oct. 23, 2009, about the 6-ft 12-plait bullwhip. really, go now!

www.bullwhips.org

and here is a picture of the whip:

hmm, she's going to need a name...

bridge pics

Here's a few pictures of your friendly neighborhood Bonk workin hard at the Bridge.

The infamous "Keeper of the Bridge." Photo by Susan Curtis--you can find more of her work here:

Susan Curtis on Flickr

Keeper sans helmet. Also by Susan Curtis.

Idiot with dolly on face. Photo by Eric Metzger--you can find more of his work here:

Eric Metzger on Flickr

projection

wow. the Bridge Project was astoundingly more awesome than I even imagined it could be. if you were in the greater Cleveland area and weren't there, i am pointing and laughing at you in a derisively mocking manner. ha ha.

there will be a picture or two posted soon. regardless, ha ha.

bridge project

This is going to be awesome! This coming weekend I will be performing as part of the Cleveland Bridge Project, which will take place on the lower level of the Detroit-Superior Bridge in downtown Cleveland. Click the link and check it out. It is free and open to the public and will include arts and crafts vendors, food and beverage vendors (including beer and wine), buskers and solo performers positioned across the great span of the bridge with the more complex installations and performances taking place at either end.

On both Friday and Saturday (Sept. 25 and 26) I will be Stilt Walking as the giant and intimidating "Keeper of Bridge," letting no-one pass lest they achieve some menial task. This is a new character for me and I'm pretty psyched about it.

Also, on Saturday at 6:30pm I will be putting on a Juggling Show in the All Go Signs space on the East Side of the Bridge. As usual, All Go Signs has put together a serious extravaganza of staging, lighting and some of the best bands and performers around, featuring Audiblethread, Miss Melvis, Paucity and the dynamite explosion of SONEBOY!!! Check the All Go Signs website for show times.

Come on out and experience this innovative event in an awe-inspiring space and celebrate something that is truly Cleveland.

service this!

i've been home for over a week now and the entire time my cable internet service has been intermittent--connected for a few minutes then shutting down and repeating constantly. after 3 hours on the phone with TWC (featuring 3 occasions when their phone line dropped my call) and one visit from a service technician who did little more than disconnect and reconnect cable connections, i placed another joyous call to tech support. after politely expressing my severely growing dissatisfaction with their internet service, the person on the phone actually tried to convince me that i should get their cable and phone services, too. as if to say, "i'm sorry the service you're already paying for isn't working, but can we sell you additional services that also may not work?"

grrr.

home home

I am very fortunate--I have many homes. There are places where I am home because I have been there enough times or for a long enough time, that it is one of my homes. There are places that are home only because they are shared with someone so close to me that no matter where we are, it is a resting place for my soul. I guess on those occasions, it really is the person I am with that is my home. I have homes where my families live and where my friends abide--where I've stopped for rest on a long car ride. Fact is, there are countless places in this country where I feel right at home.

After a length of time away, it is always good to come home, even though I must almost always leave another home to do so.

But there is one place--the place with the address on my mortgage, the place with my bed, the place with my scent and walls of red, which is my home home. And today I have come back to find that I was smart enough to leave beer in the fridge when I left over two months ago. Good boy.

leaving Va Beach

Photo by Fragitsa Katogiritis

another two months are sealed and signed

my heart and mind in what i’ve left behind

memories pervade

of standing in waves

of ocean, applause and auras entwined.

to all my friends there, both new and old:

much love, give ‘em hell and i’ll see you down the road.

instant love

There was a rainbow out over the ocean today as we set the stage for our “magical variety show.” Thought of mom. Mom and I always connect over rainbows. It was a good way to kick off the night.

Anyway, been thinking a lot lately about the purpose of a show. Some performances have a point--some message to convey. Not street shows. With street shows, the purpose is to get people to watch some crazy skill you have practiced for no good reason and then pay you with applause or money or both. Some performers take the “pay me because you’re supposed to just because I’m here doing this” attitude and some take the “pay me if you received something of value from my show” attitude. That value can take the form of laughter, amazement, a sense of wonder, inspiration, entertainment, education or an emotional connection to the performer and other audience members. I’m going for the second attitude and trying to imbue all of those values and more.

I was told once by my friend Joey Hopper about a quote from noted puppeteer, Alexander the Great, who said of the audience, “you’ve got to love them; even when you hate them, you’ve got to love them--cause they’ll know.” I’ve been thinking a lot about my own mindset when getting ready for and performing a show. Love them--always. They have no obligation to watch me--if they are doing so, then be grateful for it and give them something good to watch. Without them I have no job, no reason to be there--I’m just some overgrown kid playing with his toys. With them, I have the opportunity to use the skills I have honed as a foundation to build a unique connection with this particular group of people at this particular moment in time. And if I show them some love and use that connection to craft a moment of enjoyment worth experiencing and remembering, then they’re going to show me some love right back. This creates a feedback loop of energy that cycles and amplifies and develops into a great show. The kind of show that people come back to see. The kind of show that can charge more to come back next year...

To recap, the idea is to love the audience and get them to love you back. This is more tricky than it sounds and it has been, and will be, my endeavor for a long time. The trick is getting them to love you now. Developing love over time is easy, but getting random strangers walking by to interrupt their schedule and bother to love you, well, that’s the golden hat.

So, while backstage before my shows today pondering all this, I came up with the idea that my goal as a performer is to generate instant love--for the audience and from the audience. All of my shows will now be experiments in attaining that goal and I must remind myself of this before every performance.

I’ll keep you updated about how that goes.

Also, if you read the last blog entry and want to know, Britainy Dibbs will again be performing with me on the street this Tuesday and Wednesday, August 25th and 26th, here in beautiful Virginia Beach, somewhere between 18th and 25th along Atlantic Ave, from 7:30pm to 11.

Much love.

fresh

Tuesday night, August 11th, I got to work on the 17th Street stage here in Virginia Beach and had the absolute pleasure of working with the brilliantly exquisite Miss Britainy Dibbs, who also performs under the name "Fresh Cut Fire." The picture above was taken by Chris Yerlig (Hoopoe the Mime) while Britainy was working her magic with a fire hoop. Earlier in the show she rocked the fire poi while I took a break and got to enjoy the view. Britainy has a lifetime of dance training under her belt and combines it with some severely bad-ass fire prop skills to create an enthralling and hypnotizing performance.

As a solo performer, I rarely get to collaborate with other artists in a stage setting these days and getting to do so with someone of Britainy's caliber and intensity was such a refreshing experience. Her passion for her work reminds me of why I got into prop manipulation in the first place. Sorry the picture is hazy, but I rather like the aesthetic of it. If you want a clearer view, then you'll just have to come check out the show. I hope to be working with her again at least a few more times while I'm here. I'll try to post when those dates are coming up, or you can contact me to find out more.

***This just in: Britainy and I will be performing together again on Wednesday, August 19th, 2009, from 7:30pm-11 somewhere between 18th Street and 25th Street along Atlantic Ave. in Va Beach.