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Welcome.
After an unplanned hiatus I am back.
I will be at Clown Camp in La Crosse, WI next week. I know that there will be many Tought For The Week Subscribers there. Please take time to visit with me. The staff and participants at Clown Camp eat meals together. You are welcome to join me at meal time, but please understand that I normally have something scheduled right after meals so I will be watching the clock and may have to leave. A good time to catch me is at my booth while the dealer room is open. A great opportunity to visit is during the time scheduled for the Celebration of Life Cancer Survivor event. There will be more people at Clown Camp than can entertain at the Celebration of Life so the dealer room will be open for extended hours as an alternative event. In the previous two years that period turned into a great social time. I will be attending classes myself when I am not teaching, but if there is something you would like individual help with I would be glad to meet you during the Jam Session periods. All you need to do is ask me in advance.
I hope to meet those subscribers not attending Clown Camp at another event. I will be an instructor at Randy Christensen's Next Step intensive clown ministry workshop next fall. I hope to have more information available for you soon. I will also have some more programs to announce in the next couple of weeks.
As always I am interested in your questions and comments.
Bruce |
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Thought For The Week |
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June 1, 2009
"You see, in life, lots of people know what to do, but few people actually do what they know. Knowing is not enough! You must take action." -- Anthony Robbins
I have always known that you should back up computer files. Until a year ago I was a little haphazard about it. I would do it once in a while when I thought about it. I was better at it when I had smaller files that I could easily back up onto a floppy disc. I've talked to a lot of people who said they knew it was important to back up their files but didn't spend much time doing it. Last summer I bought a system to back up my files automatically. Now I am glad that I did because the hard drive on my computer failed. That is why there was no Thought For The Week newsletter the last two weeks. I am now back up and running without a loss of data. It took longer to get back to normal operations than I expected because I had not saved all of the drivers for things like my printer in the same location. That is something else that is important to do.
In The Book of Clowns by George Speaight there is a photo in of a clown holding juggling clubs. The decorations had started peeling off the clubs so they looked terrible. I used to wonder how he would let himself be photographed with such ugly looking props. Then I took a closer look at my own juggling props. I knew that they were showing wear and needed to be replaced eventually. I was kidding myself into thinking they looked better than they actually did. So now I have redecorated my juggling clubs. Audience members will not look at them and think they are great looking clubs. However, I wonder how many people had been looking at them in the past and thinking they looked bad. Just knowing that I have done what I knew needed to be done gives me more confidence and joy in performing my club juggling routine. It has even made it more fun to practice with them. Practice - that is something else I knew I should do but had not been doing often enough recently.
I've known that I should update my web site. It has been several years since I have done that and some of the pages are out of date. I started up dating my site this past winter. I knew that I needed to add more photos and replace the old ones. So, at the recent Magic Show Conference I paid for a photo session. That was the first step. Now I have some improved photos that I hope to get added to my site as I continue to update it this summer. That will be the second step.
The video that I have been using for promotional purposes is at least ten years old. I knew that I needed to update it. Now I am looking for an opportunity to get some good video clips shot to use for promotional purposes.
I know that my office needs to be organized better so I can work more efficiently. That is an on going challenge for me. However, for the past couple of months I have been trying to spend at least a little time each day sorting through things and getting them put away.
What do you know needs to be done? What do you need to do in terms of your computer? What do you need to do in terms of your career? What do you need to do in terms of your family? What action can you take to get it done? What is the first step? What is the next step?
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Circus Lino -- Flag's Up |
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Some large traveling circuses serve meals prepared in a large traveling kitchen. In modern days, the kitchen is usually built into a semi trailer referred to as the cookhouse. The meals are generally served for one hour. The timing of service can vary depending upon when the cookhouse arrived on the lot and upon the performance schedule of the day. To let everyone know that meals are being served, a flag is raised on top of the cookhouse. As long as the flag is visible, employees may get a meal. To verbally let people know meals are available the phrase "Flag's Up" is passed along. Traditionally the cookhouse flag has the word "Hotel" printed on it. This could have been inspired during the days when the performers stayed at a rooming house or hotel where they also received their meals. The hotel design also helps distinguish the cookhouse flag from the many other flags that are used to decorate the midway and Big Top. |
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Creativity For Entertainers Newsletter |
I sent out the fourth issue of my Creativity For Entertainers newsletter on May 14. If you have subscribed and did not receive that issue, let me know and I will try to find out why you missed it.
All four issues are available in my archive section. You will find a link in the left hand column. You will also find past issues of my Thought For The Week newsletter in the archive. | |
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Thank you for being a subscriber. I am always interested in your questions and comments.
Remember if you have missed an issue, you can read it by using the archive link in the right column. If you want to change the address where you are receiving this newsletter, use the update profile link below. If this newsletter no longer meets your needs, you can use the SafeUnsubscribe link to be permanently removed from my mailing list. If you want to spread the word about this newsletter, you can use the forward email link below to send copies to others that you think might be interested.
I hope to see you down the road.
Sincerely,
Bruce Johnson
Charlie's Creative Comedy
Copyright 2009 by Bruce "Charlie" Johnson.
All rights reserved. |
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Lecture Schedule |
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June 7-13, 2009
Clown Camp
La Crosse, WI
This is the 29th and final reqular year for this excellent educational program.
I will be performing one of the Staff on Stage shows and will be in the Staff Bits show the first evening. My classes will be Trick Cartoons for Clowns, An Introduction to Comedy Techniques, Card Magic for Clowns, The Creative Process, and Audience Interaction.
November 4-8, 2009
Next Step Workshop
This is an advanced workshop for those serious about Gospel Clown Ministry. More details will be available soon.
I believe in promoting any event I will be lecturing at. If you schedule me for an educational event that you are hosting, I will list it here. My goal is to to what I can to best meet the needs of you and your group.
For information on additional services that I can provide for an educational event
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