Notes

 

- Is there juggling on Mars? That's doubtful, but Ralph Roncoli, a member of the LA Valley College juggling club, made sure that there will soon be some jugglers' signatures on the Martian landscape. Roncoli, who works at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory with fellow club member Phil Knocke. asked jugglers one evening to sign their names to a piece of paper. Those signatures and others from people all over the country were later scanned to a chip that will ride with the Pathfinder mission to Mars. NASA took the initiative to generate interest in the mission, which launches in December and will settle onto the Martian surface on July 4, 1997. Roncoli plans to get more signatures later this fall for a CD of signatures that will accompany the upcoming Cassini mission to Saturn.

 

- Unicyclist Rob Brown married Julie McCulloch on May 18 in Portland, Ore. Best man was Stuart Celarier. The reception featured a vaudeville show, which included modem dance, music and two of Portland's best jugglers. Rhys Thomas performed a "smashing" plate routine, and Ben Schoenberg was hilarious juggling seven balls, each of which represented a phase of married life. Afterwards, the bride and groom were showered with several club passing arches and rode off into a rainstorm on a replica pennyfarthing.

 

- James Jay passed a personal street­performing landmark at 3:45 p.m. on Monday, August 26, at Seattle's Pike Place Market. His Juggling Jukebox (TM) sign reads "3 balls...$1 ; 4 balls...$2; 5 balls...$5; 7 balls...$99.95." The most frequently asked question has been "Has anyone ever put $100 in your hat?" ("No.") This is invariably followed by "What would you do?" ("I don't know.") For the exciting new answer, check out the FAQ at Jay's redesigned and relocated web site!

 

- Graham Ellis has been teaching the "Juggling for Success" program in Hawaii for the past six years, as well as directing the Hiccup Children's Circus. Among those participating in the program this past summer were the three children of Lisa Marie Presley, as well as some of their cousins.

 

- Rhett Farber, a 1981 graduate of Ringling's Clown College, has found a way to mix business with pleasure in Asia. Rhett, a.k.a. "Fang," visited a friend in Taiwan way back when and found that people were receptive to his clowning and juggling. He decided to stay, and has juggled, joggled and clowned all over Asia and held a variety of jobs there for the past 15 years. He's now guiding groups of Chinese tourists to places like Turkey, Thailand and Disney World, but uses juggling to "break down the walls that keep people apart. "

 

- Notes on jugglers taken from other publications... Kevin Ryan and Curtis Cainan juggle with Johnson's Culpepper Circus... the Janzac Troupe with Roberts Brothers Circus... Michel Dionnes juggles torches on a stack of rola bolas, as well as a ground-based juggling routine, with the Franzen Brothers Circus... Carlos Rodriques. Lalo Murillo and Jason Herriott in a juggling display for the Los Angeles Shrine Circus... Dario Vasquez doing clubs, ball, rings and ping pong balls with the L.A. Circus... Al Grout juggling with the Lallapalooza traveling rock concert... Olmedas with the Super Cirque in Montreal and the Shrine Circus in Salt Lake City... Nicholas Zerbini. Delillah Zerbini and The Fernandez Troupe putting on a three-ring display for Bentley Brothers Circus... and The Lange Family filling three rings for the Hamid Morton Circus... Jose Torres opening the show with juggling for the Royal American Circus... Cuban juggler Rafaele Di Carlos won the Hungarian Circus Artists Prize at the First Nemzetkozi Circus Festival in Budapest last spring... The Rodriguez Brothers juggling with Circus Vazquez... The Three Fudinis (Fudi Zsliak) with Circus Vargas... Nine-year­old Allan Davis making his juggling debut with the Big Top Circus... Cheney & Mills performing for a gathering of the Circus Model Builders in Wabash, Ind., Alexandra.

 

Kistkina performed in the Second Prinsessan Circus Festival in Stockholm... Michael Menes performing diabolo and other routines with "Cirque"... Marcel appeared with the Circuba... Pat Davison does double-duty as ringmaster and juggler on rola bola with the Alain Zerbini Circus, and played the Iowa State Fair... High schooler Chris Ivey juggling seven balls and six clubs at Hershey Park in Pennsylvania...

 

Circus... Jose Ayala juggling balls, clubs, hats and cigar boxes with Circo Ayala in Mexico... Ringmaster Byron Wheeler juggles and does magic and fire eating with King Royal Circus... The Flaming Idiots (Jon O'Connor, Kevin Hunt and Robert Williams) again performed at The Scarborough Faire in Texas... Bob Whitcomb appeared with the Children's Variety Show in Cincinnati... While head­balancing in the Big Apple Circus show "Jazzmatazz," Svetlana GoIoIobova juggles three balls on the rebound. Known as one of Russia's best hand-balancers, she was in the show to replace injured slack wire walker Masha Dimitri...

 

- Juggling archivist Mary Wilkins will be setting up a historical lounge at the IJA's 50th anniversary festival next summer, and invites collectors to bring items to display. She's looking for books, magazines, buttons, greeting cards, photos, autographs, props, videos, rubber stamps, posters and figurines. For more information, contact her at Chino CA.

 

- Look for IJA director Bud Markowitz in the upcoming movie "Dear God," which stars Greg Kinnear and Laurie Metcalf. This will be the third feature film appearance for the 75-year­old Los Angeles juggler. He appears in this film dressed in biker gear, juggling and saying, "I need a new hog..."

 

Armando Christiani with Vidbel's Olde Tyme