Circus Xtreme Providence RI - Xtreme animals!

[taz_39]

Another long train run! Day one, another day of fixing my blog and indoor chillin'. Day two, pictures!




We had lovely weather as you can see. We arrived sometime on Wednesday morning. As soon as I looked out my window I remembered the yard, and the Stop & Shop two miles away. Time to stock up for the week! Jameson and I walked there an back...and on the way back three different circus friends with cars stopped to offer us a lift. Have I mentioned how wonderful my coworkers are? <3

After rehearsal on opening day I scooted over to the mall for a little retail therapy. After five years my favorite jeans are starting to disintegrate, so I went back to Buckle for a similar pair. Buckle jeans are somewhat expensive, but I prefer them because a) they last a very long time, b) Buckle uses numeric sizing rather than ratio measurements (explanation HERE), and c) they will hem your purchase in-store, for free.

After shopping I returned to the arena for the night show. We had a surprisingly small crowd, but they at least seemed happy to be there :) And Jameson got me a magnet. So true...STOP STARING AT ME COFFEE!!!!


On Friday we had a split. Our friend Benjamin came out to see the show. He's a drummer and has played with the circus band before. It's so awesome to have someone cheering specifically for the band throughout the show!! It was great to see you, Ben!!!

(photo courtesy Benjamin)

During the break Jameson and I went to see The Avengers: Age of Ultron! Great movie! Then we had dinner at P.F. Chang's. Both of our shows went well, though again, they were underattended :/

Saturday got gradually better population-wise. The arena got louder and more crowded as the day went on. Awesome! I amused myself by taking pictures of the backstage area. Here is our pipe-and-drape dressing room.


The camels and horses were indoors with us this week, right next to the portal. Here is Businka the circus donkey. She is not actually in the show...so she spends her time eating, sleeping, "singing", and providing moral support!


This is Chester. He's the biggest camel, and always goes around looking dignified.
I love his strange-looking feet!


Here is a smiling baby camel!! AWWWWWWW


Robert Stipka (camel trainer) and friends dishing out the camel love!

(photo courtesy Dashka Dashii, pictured bottom-center)

During the second show a circus fan and fellow trombone player named Andy came to visit.
He took some great pictures!


(photos courtesy Andy)

Recently Siam the elephant has been hanging out near the bandstand during the elephant act. When Brittany (elephant handler) comes over to give her a loaf of bread for her "treat", I've been heckling her, saying "Where's mine??" and "I'm hungry too you know!!". So today she ripped off a chunk of bread and slapped it into my hand. I got a treat!!!


Needless to say it was a good day!

Sunday was much the same, sans treat :P Benny, the Wheel acrobat, was out with either an injury or illness so his act was replaced with a Clown Walkaround. As a result the wheel was taken down to be disassembled and packed before the last show.


We also had a surprise visit from some...uh...whatever these were...

Claudia (wardrobe) found them and brought them backstage before the last show, and they proceeded to entertain us with snarky jokes and crazy dance moves :)

Turns out some of these are circus people, too! And more than that. They're Big Nazo, a local puppetry/interactive entertainment company. It was a pleasure to meet these talented creatures today. VERY cool!

Providence is a great city. I didn't get to explore as much as I would have liked, but had an enjoyable time all the same. I think that everyone who works for Ringling Bros. will remember this city and its people for their hospitality toward the Blue Unit when they suffered an accident last year. Hopefully we'll get to come back again soon :)

Next stop, Hartford CT!!


Other stuff:

The band is preparing to say goodbye to our drummer, Aaron Crouch. He's been here for fourteen years! He'll be leaving us after Hershey. See you down the road!


Irina and her dogs! I love how the little ones travel around in a laundry basket <3

(photo courtesy David Shipman)

Ryan (animal specialist) found the Ringling slot machine at a local casino!