Midweek Midway Mix: Misunderstood Tycoons to Unwanted Popcorn Machines

They’re fighting over San Francisco, of all places, or is it merely accidental? Circus Vargas gets there first, slated to play back of the city’s famed ball park, near where the upscale rich (adult) kids live. Maybe without animals, the show will draw yuppies seeking relief from auto travel ... Then comes the Big One in early September, down by lower class Cow Palace. Carson & Barnes has three rings of live animals and they might have an audience of grateful Hispanics, about the only group left giving birth to real live children in the city by the bay ... I give CV kudos for landing that tony lot by the bay. It alone should draw crowds ... As for the cow barn, it will surely draw PETA — and me.

Victoria, you are gifted 11-year-old contortionist from Asia, adopted by American parents, and you’ve got talent, kid! I saw you last night on television, and you turned a most impressive contortionist routine, with socko climax ... Maybe a shrewd circus producer will grab you for a ring spot, or have you already worked the tents — like other acts I’ve seen on this same show? ... Now, as for those wacky lesser lights who mucked up the program and kept the rejection buzzers wailing, have I got the perfect place for them on a retro-progressive midway:

Step right up, dudes and dames, to the All American Rejects Sideshow! In it, the ten most insulted losers off “America’s Got Talent” each get a platform, and on it, taking turns, we see how long they can last before all three buzzers go off, patrons at the levers. Amusing? I’ll pay to see tacky talent if it’s that entertainingly bad....Yeah, bring it on!

When a stranger knocks: One of the fun things about blogging is never knowing who may e-mail me with inside information, whatever their agenda ... At any time, about one quarter of my visitors are from other countries, which means that I get maybe two or three folks every week bearing foreign points of view. One of my recent drop-bys was communicative enough (his interest captured by something I wrote about Guy Laliberte), to share some insights, so I in turn sent him some questions, which he generously offered to answer by calling me from one of his hang-out countries. And some of you have been buzzing over his account of King Laliberte, which I passed along mostly in my own words, trying to convey as accurately as I could the essence of what he imparted ... What intrigues me the most about big tops are the tycoons who run them. Just how do they make it all happen? Okay, this deserves another paragraph between sips of Rice Tea....

Even though I wrote a book about John Ringling North, and was lucky to interview the man, he remains somewhat of a mystery to me; maybe to himself he was as well. Is my Cirque du Soleil source’s profile of a former boss and colleague fair? Much of it struck me as being roughly on target, so I thought it merited putting out there ... Hear this, skeptics: I ran past the same secret inside source an impression I had formed about the personal life of G.L. based on frivolous Internet gossip, and the source shot down my speculation with persuasive specifics, urging me to steer clear of yellow blogging ...

This impresario seats a customer: Nice touch from a real Ringling, helping an older man to his reserved chair under a tent drawing big houses these days in some New England dates. This according to Kelly-Miller staffer Ben Trumble. The impresario, of course, is John Ringling north II, in his sophomore year as a tent tycoon .... Trills Trumble about JRN II also leading ponies on the pony sweep, his daughter, Katherine, working the moon bounce, “if only people knew what a weird wonderful world circus can be” ... Adds the cockeyed optimist in me, Mr. North evidently has it in him to build up tremendous public good will, linking his circus to the Ringling family legacies, and who knows where that may lead...

End Ring Add-ons ... One of the most consistent Bozo the Clowns, Larry Harmon, died at 83 in Los Angeles ...We learn that Bozo was invented by Pinto Colvig in 1946, for a series of children records issued by Capitol ... Bob went on to train a couple of hundred other Bozos, which is maybe why in my mind, there is no real Bozo the Clown ...In fact, for a while I thought it was a promotional character invented by McDonalds .... Also gone is carnival and circus man Bobby Hakes, from whose collection I was trying to make a purchase. A nephew e-mails me that things will continue in time ... In the very much alive category, another midway man, Dick Dyes, announces his own blog about the outdoor scene. And yes, Dick, I’ll add in a blink once you send me the link ... Lastly, the popcorn machine in the lobby of the Al Ringling Theatre, never meant to be there, is now a mighty removal project, regarding which, according to theatre preservationist and organist Bob Dewel, he and cohorts are “struggling for the money” to 86 it... Hmm, how about a philanthropic request to Guy Laliberte? The man’s pocket change alone, I suspect, could likely restore the entire theatre, Bob, as well as support the entire rest of my mighty one bedroom rental life .....

And what a charity wrap that would be!