I'm going to go back in time by a couple of weeks for this blog.
I was a circus virgin until recently when I was invited to attend the Stardust Circus. I've actually had no desire to see a circus at all, but I had nothing better to do, so I went along.
Family circuses have been around since they found you could train a big cat. The problem seems to be that evolution never caught up with the various groups of performing gypsies as they traipsed from town to town.
Thankfully, my expectations were not that great, especially when they call themselves the 'Stardust' circus. I was going to be hard to disappoint.
There were the obligatory clowns, jugglers & acrobats, but it all started with five lions who really didn't ant to partake in jumping over one another. Occasionally, one swung out trying to nail its trainer & after seeing what they go through a little part of me wanted the claw to make some decent contact. Eventually, they were given the command to return to their cages out the back & that's when they finally became enthused.
Monkeys are pretty clever. Hell, we probably once were monkeys! However, these little fellas had only been trained to grasp at the chain around their necks to save themselves from strangulation whilst they were yanked from one end of the ring to the other. Of course you're going to do a back flip if your only other option is a broken neck!
The most impressive piece of the show were the ponies (which had been trained to actually do stuff) & were visibly well cared for by their female trainer So useful were they, they took children for ride in the ring at $2 a pop during half-time.
Another highlight of the circus was Anna from Hungary. Not merely from her talents as a chick in lycra that could balance on various parts of her body, but her equally adept skills of selling cotton candy before & after the show. Her parents would be so proud.
And the moment you've all been waiting for.... "
Arna, The Elephant". It was hailed as a star in the animal kingdom, but this one was just too old to care. The poor old gal had to stand on a podium & lift her legs in various patterns & then came the finally. If everyone was quiet, this elephant would play us some music! I'm sorry, but stuffing a harmonica down an elephant's trunk is not really what I consider to be music!
Overall, I was pretty disappointed, mainly for the anguish to the animals. Watching a few of
Elvis's old films when he joined the circus (there was more than one), have the same vibe but are far more spectacular.
After the show, we headed behind the tent to where Arna the elephant was held. Thankfully, she had a lot of room to move around & enjoyed a bit of human company while we were there. Also in attendance was a guy who had had a fair bit to drink & still had a bottle in his hand. The fact that this guy had fed Arna three bags of cotton candy was cause for us to leave. The last thing I wanted was to be around a bloody big elephant when the sugar hit kicked in!
