When we arrived in Harrisburg I got off the train and had a look around. It's a beautiful and historic town. It's Pennsylvania's capitol city which is was built on farm land. The government center which is a green mall running across the town is beautiful and in some ways looks better than the mall in D.C.

Google Map

There is an old Amtrak station which has beautiful wooden benches and antique features. Best of all is the retired locomotive on display on the tracks. It was Pennsylvania's first electric one. It has a deco kind of look. It's was going to be scrapped. Someone saved it in the 70's

Wages (the trumpet player) and I went down to the Susquehanna river Monday night and stuck our feet in. We also walked across the bridge to the island in the middle. There was a coke machine which only charged $.50

The town has a great old train yard east of the river where we were parked. Right now the yard is a place where they take trucks of stuff and put them on trains to make big trains of stuff. They do this all day and night with truck drivers moving the trucks around and cranes plopping them on the trains and then these hulking trains roll out of the yard. They're very big and dangerous but they actually make you feel safe because they're so big and slow moving.

But what I really liked about the train yard was the old things in it not used anymore. There was a rusty old truck and some other junk and equipment which was nice to look at. Some of it was getting lost as the grass grew tall around it. Along the sides of the yard where factorys or scrap plants where there was klanking sounds all night. I love those sounds.

I bought my myself an iPod. I got the 1G Nano. I love it. I'm obsessed with creating a podcast to compliment this blog. So get iTunes and consider getting an iPod while I work out the details.

I forgot to mention that the train ride from Hartford to New Jersey was amazing. We went north first through the Berkshires of Massachussettes where the train winded up the hills along swelled up rivers which rushed down past us. They looked beautiful up there but they were flooding the towns below as I heard later on satelite radio.

We entered New York and crossed the Hudson while I was napping. The rocking of the train helps you nap. Then we spent the whole afternoon and evening coming south along the Hudson river. It was beautiful. The mountains in the distance and the trees along the shore where vibrant. There are a great tunnels, walls, and other buildings that are unique to the area.

At around 7pm I made a steak and ate it while the scenery rolled by. I feel very rich to have that kind of experience. It reminds me that I always have to keep my eyes opened to the things I have in my life that make me happy. There is always a pull to buy more things and busy myself with more things to do. But sometimes just simply stopping to make a a nice meal and look out the window is the thing so rich that you can't buy it at any price.

From Trenton I made a trip into New York to get a stretched screen for silkscreening and some photo emulsion supplies to create the stencil. I've been fiddling with the design idea being something that looks like an old logo with a global icon and a circus banner that says "Cirkestra" with a smaller banner saying "Musica da Circo" and some smaller lettering saying "World Class". I'm thinking white on black. What's your favorite style of T-shirt?

UPS was finally able to pick up my accordion for inspection to process my claim. So far I haven't heard anything. I got a horrible cold but it's passing quickly. There is nothing in Trenton. I mean nothing. Don't bother.

I'm obsessed with the idea of silk screening now. I can't sleep at night until I order inks and screens and t-shirts and go crazy making limited run cirkestra t-shirts. I have a birth defect called "creativity" which prevents me from having a normal life. I'll probably spend money I should be saving on stuff to do this. The worst thing is I think I have silk-screening supplies in storage which I bought the last time I went crazy with this idea. Sheesh! SHEESH! SHEEEEEEEESH!
All I can say is if I do this I'd better make them available for purchase on the website and you'd better buy one or I'm gonna go broke being creative. C'mon people let's make my life a break-even thing. OK?
I ran into a guy at this coffee shop in Hartford where I'm posting right now. He recognized me and it turns out we both know this former radio DJ turned lawyer who lives in New Hampshire. Small world.
Good thing it's time for work now, because otherwise I'd be buying silk-screening supplies on the internet. SHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESH!

Dragon

Tam from Ziaf showed me her sister's accordion a few days ago. I'll be keeping it for her and getting it repaired. That was very timely considering my recent accordion mishap.
On Tuesday moring I saw a letter written to a Tuba player who played for the circus under the direction of Merle Evans, the greatest circus bandleader. The letter was dated 1944 and the weekly pay offered was less than one 10th of what it is today. There was also a $4 per diem. The letter also stated that the recipient would have a single room. Merle said "contact me right away if you're ready to troupe". The recipient's nephew has it on his wall in Dorchester, MA.
That night I visited old circus friends. In 1987 when I joined the show as a clown there was a showgirl working who was about my age. We became pretty good friends. She was from New York and she was a very talented dancer but Vegas shows and such only hire very tall girls. The girls in the circus are shorter, it's standard circus size; short and strong. Flyers are short and strong and you don't want your showgirls dwarfing your flyers.
Anyway, this girl actually became a clown on the show which is an unusual move and she married another clown on the show. They have a family and a successfull circus business of their own now in Connecticut. I stayed at their place Tuesday night. We stayed up and talked about the old days and caught up on who we'd seen lately and who we'd lost track of.
The house is a museum with props and pictures dating back to the old days. It's fun to look at the pictures and posters on the walls and try to name the clowns and acrobats in them. Sometimes you can't remember the last name or any name at all but you know the face or some wild story about the person.
I was a clown in the circus 19 years ago.
Yesterday morning a clown from that era who now works on another circus with his wife was here and I saw them from up on the bandstand. I went down to say hello. It's a circus that I really love so I love it when people come from there to visit.
Then last night 2 clowns who graduated from the same class of clown college as me came to the show. They both still perform. One told me a little about his divorce where he had to sell his house and buy half of his business back from his ex. He didn't seem entirely happy. I hate seeing my friends go through hard times. But I'm always glad to see them anyway. Sometimes, I'm amazed at how many lifelong friends this career has provided for me.
No, circus people aren't weird. That's what everyone asks. I even know a bearded lady and she's not all that weird.
Oh, and by the way, this town, Hartford is a town where my folks took me to see the circus a number of times when I was a kid. I wonder if it ever occurred to them the long term impact of those outings.
This morning I had to stop by the arena to send the accordion back to UPS so they could assess the damage. After that I spent a little time chatting with Adam the elephant guy. We were also watching the elephants eat and play. I love circus animals.
Then my old Clown College buddy who was my roommate called. I'm looking forward to seeing him in Vegas.

My accordion suffered a severe and most likely fatal blow when it arrived to Providence via UPS on Tuesday. Of course it was devastating since it's one of the only things of value that I own. It's a big part of my identity and a big part of my work so it's taking a lot of adjusting to get used to the idea of having to get a new one.
Yes, it was insured, and packed properly in a heavy cardboard carton on the outside with corner mounts inside and foam and then a hard wooden case on the inside. But somehow UPS ran a forklift or something into it which punctured the box, case, and finally the accordion in a very important spot. It's lost compression. The air leaks out of the hole.
But the insurance is not a consolation, no amount of money can replace the liniage of this instrument. This belonged to Lawrence Shragge's brother and then Lawrence and then me.
I'd just spent $500 working on the instrument and installing a pick-up system.
Sheesh. One really good thing is that everyone in the band understood my pain. I mean they didn't try to have me look on the bright side or anything or try to emphisize that the insurance will buy a new one. They know that an instrument is a part of you. It has brought me closer to the guys here.
If anyone has an accordion that needs a home, let's talk. You know where to find me.