When Soyuz TMA-16 blasts off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, it will be carrying the seventh and possibly the last space tourist to the International Space Station. The Canadian Cirque du Soleil founder, Guy Laliberte, will be occupying the third seat in the spacecraft, which, once the NASA shuttle is retired, will be needed to rotate the six-member ISS crews. Russian supermarket mogul and Duma member Vladimir Gruzdev had been named, but bowed out. Some reports say he was outbid by Laliberte.
Cirque du Soleil is in talks with the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. to televize Laliberte's unprecedented live show from space and 14 cities around the world on Oct 9.
Laliberte, who will spend nine days aboard the lab complex before returning to Earth aboard the Soyuz TMA-14 capsule on Oct 11, is reported to be paying US $35 million for the visit in a deal with Space Adventures Ltd.
TMA-16 carries Maxim Suraev, a colonel in the Russian air force, as commander and NASA astronaut Jeffrey Williams, on his second long-duration voyage on the station. They will remain on board as part of the Expedition 21 crew. Outgoing station commander Gennady Padalka and NASA flight engineer Michael Barratt will return with Laliberte on Oct 11
Saturday, September 12, 2009
.... Soyuz blasts off for ISS with circus founder
Friday, September 11, 2009
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
....Follow The Arrows....
Circus Alumni Penny Wilson Rodriguez invites you to join us under the Big Top!
http://followthearrows.ning.com/
This is a great new Circus Site..Follow the arrows and sign up now....
....Cole Bros. Circus comes to Myrtle Beach....
....The big top circus rings await assembly....
....Circus layout manager Bob Green and owner John Pugh envision the layout as the Cole Bros. Circus begins to setup....
Cole Bros. Circus owner John Pugh and circus layout manager Bob Green worked Tuesday afternoon to envision the Myrtle Beach layout at the former Myrtle Square Mall site near the Myrtle Beach Convention Center. "It's like a nine-month camping trip," said Bob Green, about his job with the circus.
After a Monday afternoon show in Baltimore, Md., The Cole Bros. Circus packed up in the rain, drove through the night to Myrtle Beach and began the process of setting up. Circus vehicles arrived in waves throughout the day and evening.
Those arriving early got the animals out of transport vehicles and set up their own comforts of home outside their trailers - like satellite television dishes. Pugh said work to raise the circus tent will begin around 6 a.m. and last to about mid-morning today. The circus will be ready for two shows at 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. today and Thursday.
After Thursday? "Then we do it all over again and we're off to Augusta," Pugh said. This year marks the 125th anniversary of the Cole Bros. Circus.
To watch the circus come together, go to the site, which is between Kings Highway and Oak Street, and 21st and 27th avenues North.
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Monday, September 07, 2009
....Circuses: Freshman on High....
Friday, Feb. 01, 1963
On the tanbark trail, the top status symbol is a private stateroom in the circus train. The occupant is always a center-ring star. As Ringling Bros, and Barnum & Bailey Circus last week moved out of winter camp just south of Sarasota, Fla., and began its 93rd national tour, one stateroom was reserved for the youngest person ever to have one—an 18-year-old girl.
Her name is Vicki Unus, but she will be billed as La Toria as she spins in the air on the Roman rings. Her performance lasts seven minutes and occurs 32 ft. up, with no nets. For four minutes or so, she does such maneuvers as swings, splits, twists, roll-ups, hand stands, half crosses, and one-arm planches.
Seat Brusher. Then she goes into the grand finale of the golden rings, the one-arm swing. She hangs on with one hand while her body turns over and over itself like an eccentric propeller. She does it maybe 75 times, 100 if it is an opening night. Last winter she set the alltime record: 125.
Vicki is the daughter of F. F. Unus, the man who stands on one finger. The Unuses, like most circus stars, live in Sarasota. In Sarasota, even the high school has a circus. Three years ago Vicki told her father that she wanted to perform. Vicki was 5 ft. 3 in. and 125 Ibs. Said her father, with a pro's cold cynicism: "What will you do, brush off the seats?" Vicki lost 10 Ibs. and went into training under the great Lalage, whose real name is Wolfgang Roth.
Word Eater. She worked seven days a week, three hours a day. Where others often get much of their training as apprentices performing in public, she held out until she had perfected herself to the caliber of the center ring. Carrying a large plumed fan and wearing golden shoes, she is the new star of the traditional aerial ballet—one of the circus' four production numbers—and people of the circus have already compared her with the late, indubitably great Lillian Leitzel, who died 26 years ago in a fall in Copenhagen.
As a new face in the pin spots, she is part of a freshman class that includes East Germany's Prince Von, who puts skates on his hands and glides down two wires from roof to floor, and Mexico's Señor Antonio, the first aerialist in Ringling history to consent to do a hand stand while swinging on a trap bar at the top of the arena. As a child of the circus, Vicki Unus is proud to be La Toria and take her place among them—and among such old B.&B. stars as Harold Alzana, the high wire king, Trevor Bale, the big cat man, the Flying Gibsons and the Hanneford Bareback Riders. But she is proudest of all to be in the same show with F. F. Unus, her father, who has long since outlasted all competition in the art of standing on one finger, but who has just been forced to learn how to eat his words.
....More Baby Elephant Pictures........
....Rozie's 300 pound baby elephant calf walks about its cage, swinging his trunk and roaring, at the Rio Grande Zoo, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2009, in Albuquerque, N.M....
....:Ted Trujillo, center, and Rhonda Saiers, right, zookeepers, look after Rozie and her 300 pound baby elephant calf at the Rio Grande Zoo, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2009, in Albuquerque, N.M. Rozie gave birth to this calf at about 1:43 a.m. Wednesday morning at the Rio Grande Zoo. Rozie was pregnant for 22 months. Rozie and the calf need to bond before the calf will go out on exhibit....
Sunday, September 06, 2009
....Welcome, Baby Elephant!....
The Albuquerque BioPark's Zoo joyfully welcomes a female Asian elephant calf born at 1:43am on Wednesday, September 2, 2009. The newborn tipped the scales at a whopping 318 pounds! This calf is the second elephant born at the Zoo and her mother, Rozie, was the first.
“Mother and calf are doing well,” stated BioPark Director Rick Janser.
To allow time for bonding, mother Rozie and her yet-to-be-named calf will stay together behind the scenes. Staff will continue 24-hour watches to monitor their interactions. BioPark visitors cannot see the baby elephant yet, but we will announce when the calf ventures out into the elephant yard.
First-time mother Rozie is doing well. Zoo staff carefully monitored her health throughout the pregnancy and conducted 24-hour watches with the help of Zoo volunteers during the last few weeks.
Rozie was born at the Rio Grande Zoo on November 8, 1992. Her mother, Alice, and father, Ranchipur of the San Diego Zoo, have no other living offspring.
When Rozie and her calf have formed a strong bond, the pair will be introduced to the Zoo’s other female elephants: grandmother Alice and "auntie" Irene.
This young calf is the result of artificial insemination with sperm from three donors. The father is not yet known, but blood samples have been collected for a DNA test. Results will be posted when available.
In the wild, male elephants are not part of the matriarchal herd after they reach maturity. They live in bachelor herds or on their own. They interact with females only to mate.
Rozie's pregnancy was recommended by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Species Survival Plan for Asian elephants. Because Rozie has no siblings, she is genetically unique. Her calf adds to the diversity and strength of the North American population of Asian elephants.
The ABQ BioPark is an accredited member of AZA and a designated Elephant Breeding Facility. The AZA strives to maintain a self-sustaining population of the endangered elephants in North America.
The Albuquerque Biological Park iis committed to supporting elephant conservation both at home and abroad, and we strive to
Provide excellent care for the BioPark's elephants
Connect BioPark visitors to our natural world
Educate visitors about threats to wild elephants
Promote conservation through special events and activities
Support elephant conservation efforts around the world
In 2009, the ABQ BioPark provided $10,000 of privately-raised revenue to support field projects in Asia and Africa through the International Elephant Foundation.
....Costume Design....
Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley and Sitting Bull
1970
Maker: Don Foote
Paint on Paper, Overall: 14 x 17 in. (35.6 x 43.2 cm)
Tibbals Digital Collection, TR2004.2722.8151
Bicycle Act
1955
Maker: Miles White
American, 1914-2000
Paint and Pencil on Paper, Overall: 17 x 14 in. (43.2 x 35.6 cm)
Tibbals Digital Collection, TR2004.2722.5244 
Animal Cage
no date
Maker: Unknown artist
Paint on Paper, Overall: 11 x 8 1/2 in. (27.9 x 21.6 cm)
Tibbals Digital Collection, TR2004.2722.6346
Animal Acts
1957
Maker: Miles White
American, 1914-2000
Paint and Ink on Paper, Overall: 15 x 22 in. (38.1 x 55.9 cm)
Tibbals Digital Collection, TR2004.2722.5289
Animal Acts
1955
Maker: Miles White
American, 1914-2000
Paint and Ink on Paper, Overall: 17 x 14 in. (43.2 x 35.6 cm)
Tibbals Digital Collection, TR2004.2722.5230 
Andalusian Girl
no date
Maker: Jose de Zamora
Paint on Paper, Overall: 17 x 14 in. (43.2 x 35.6 cm)
Tibbals Digital Collection, TR2004.2722.7194
....Sells Floto & Buffalo Bill's Wild West Circus....
....Part 3....
....William (Buffalo Bill) Cody....
....Dad....
....Chief Iron Cloud....
....Baker City Oregon....
....Devlin's Zouaves....
....Charles Walters....
....Devlin's Zouaves....
....K.C. King..Sells Floto mailman....
....William Cody....
