July 09, 2003
The Flying Rutabaga Cycle Circus hits NYC!
After flying through the mountains of Pennsylvania, the remaining
Rutabagas, Mary Blue(Spokes), Mary Lou (Sparky), Critter (Prince of
Darkness), Ed (Round Up Eddy), and Neal (Zoron) hit West Philly. We met up
with the wayward clowns ,Ben (Poppa Wheelie) and Janet (Janu). Our hosts
were the amazing puppeteers of West Philly. Morgan, Beth P., Beth N. and
Dave hooked us up with food, parties and very comfortable places to
sleep. The performance took place on Sunday July 6th in Clark Park. The
seven member circus crew scraped together a 25 minute show for the
mostly punk audience. After kicking it and taking it easy , we
hightailed it to NYC.
We are in NYC gearing up for Aresh’s birthday party tonight and two
performances, the first, at a bike summer event and our last circus show
at the big birthday garden party. We are looking forward to the reunion
with some more lost Rudabagas. Eli, Jabari, Mark, Annie Rose and Bixby.
This is not the end of the circus, the same crew who flew through the
mountains will continue biking up through Long Island, then take a ferry
to New London, then bike to Providence, where they will play kickball
with the bike panthers, help Recycle-A-Bike move into their new space
and enjoy the community gardens on Cemetary St.. From there the
remaining Rutabagas will disperse into the big scary world, with hopes
that the rutabagas will ride again!!!!
July 09, 2003
Approaching Philadelphia
The five remaining rutabagas are about 100 miles outside of Philadelphia. In our travels through the hills of Pennslyvania, we have met some very kind folks. In Mayersdale,Pa. we were approached by a very kind Chrisitian family, who offered us a place to camp on their 33 acres of land. They were struggling with permits to get a house and community center built. They were living simply, getting water from the steam and cooking with propane. They called themselves city- slickers from the disco days… It was amazing to see how happy they were living so simply. They cooked us dinner, made a fire for us, and then in the morning Tim, the husband made us pancakes! They prayed for us and gave us a donation that we tried to refuse, but they wouldn’t let us because god wanted us to have the money and they didn’t want to disobey him. All little ways down the road in the town of Dover, Pa., the rutabagas were about to stop for the evening. They pulled into a city park and came across a fellow cyclist, Keith, and his daughter. After chatting for a while, we found out this man was an ex- Washington, D.C. cop and told us he was on the opposite side of the spectrum and called himself right-wing. Nevertheless, he was very friendly and offered us showers at his house. We made dinner in the park and about an hour later, Keith came back and invited us to stay in his apartment, while he went to work for the evening. We stayed at his place, made breakfast and fixed our bikes there. The amount of support we have been getting from the “mainstream” public is amazing, it gives us hope, and energy to keep riding the last stretch up the east coast to N.Y.C.!
Our dear friend, Jenka and fellow cycle circus rider was his riding her bike in D.C. after she departed us in Morgantown. She broke her collarbone, cracked four ribs and punctured her lung after a taxi ran her down. Jenka, we love you and hope your recovery is smooth. We will always wear our helmets!!!! Theres one more reason list of why cars suck!!
WEAR A FREAKING HELMET.
June 30, 2003
We had a lovely time
We had a lovely time in Morgantown, WV. On our way there we rode into the foot
hills of the mountains on Rt. 7 , and were welcomed by the country roads inn,
also known as the hill billy inn. We danced, played pool, and drank cheap beer
with the propietors of the only bar for miles.. Then we retired to our campspot
(their bakyard), and enjoyed songs played on the guitar by the locals and
ourselves. It has been real hot riding through these hills, so we have been
taking some long breaks and swimming in the creeks. As we got closer to
morgantown, we started seeing some bright orange streams that the acid from the
coal mines create. We never saw any removed mountain tops, but it is there. In
Morgantown our first night we did a short show for friends of deckers creek, a
local non-profit group that is fighting to keep the rivers clean from coal
mining pollution. www.deckerscreek.org. the local food co-op Mountain Peoples
Co-op, donated tons of great organic food. We stayed at Quaker Meeting House
and got some good rehearsing in. Our hosts Mike and John were really great and
help us out so much. We tightened our opening and John with his wonderful
harping was a great addition to our soap opera scenes.
www.harpingforharmony.org. We performed our show Saturday morning at the Seneca
Center Farmers Market. That evening we had a potluck, with some great food,
great music and some amazing people from the acitivst community in Morgantown.
We had a beautiful swim in a resevoir with andalusia and her friends from
pittsburgh.
Most of the 15 member circus departed in Morgantown. It was a sad goodbye, but
many are off to do more activism and clowning around. The show must go on!
The six remaining clowns have decided to take on the Appalacians and the hills
of Pennslyvania in six days…. can they do it? Yes! where there is a rudabega,
there is a way! day one was the hardest day biking the rudabagas have seen.
After conquering the gravel road mountain in the a.m.(the hill lasted 5 miles)
we defied gravity again and climed about 30 miles of hills in the afternoon. We
all slept hard after a meal of miso and rice noodles.
Today is the second day of our caravan across the mountains. we found a rail
trail along the beautiful castlemen river to meyersdale. This trail has taken
us out of our way, but, we all agree that biking through the shaded
forest,without any cars, noise or roadkill is worth it. We are hoping to make
it to Cumberland tonight to hook up with the rail trail that will take us 70
miles through the mountains.
Legal update: the 9 of us who were arrested in St. Louis’s botanical tower
grove park have had our case combined with those who where arrested for
occupying a condemed building (the fully functional bolozone which was condemed
during the police arrest) this trial will take place on july 29th.
June 23, 2003
From Athens to the Appalachians!
Well, we’re off to conquer the mountains of West Virginia! After a restful and educational few days at the Eastern Forest Defense Camp outside Athens, OH, we are on the road again and headed up Rt. 7 along the Ohio River to our next stop in Morgantown, WV on Friday the 27th.
The forest defense camp was super fun — we had a great show the night we arrived, and some people from the local area showed up after we were featured in a front page article in the Logan Daily News! The show is developing its own storyline, and there was an unexpected twist when cast members, as well as members of the audience, decided to overthrow the American Government in the last scene of the soap opera. Little did the American Government know that he was about to have trash dumped all over him and be tied up with climbing ropes by irate activists, the American People, and the Flying Rutabaga Food Security Clowns….nor did the World Trade Organization know that she would be blockaded and then hogtied in the same scene. It all ended up in a festive dance party, so no worries there….
Various members of the circus took part in climb trainings, workshops, blockade and stealth trainings, and mock actions. Some of us led a workshop in street theatre, and built a big puppet and several birds and flags for use in the actions people are planning for today. There are three actions/protests in different places today, all of them centered around the issue of mountaintop removal. See, coal companies and other mining interests have this idea that if they just remove the top of the mountain, the coal will be easier to get at. Click here for some more info on this issue. We made up a great street theatre pageant about Old King Coal (one of the coal companies engaging in this practice is called King Coal), and the Spirit of the Mountain, which rises up through the actions of the people to prevent the execution of the mountaintop.
We lost a couple members, and gained some new ones at the forest defense camp…some people left for the weekend to attend a solstice gathering with lingerie parties and pagan insanity…..but they should be meeting back up with us today….. and the cycling continues as we begin the trek uphill. Morgantown, here we come!!!
June 23, 2003
Columbus, OH adventures
WOOWEE we just arrived from Logan, Ohio from Columbus Ohio. On Saturday evening June, 14 we arrived in Columbus after much travail. Stayed the night with Gabe and Jennifer, and had a smashing time at the hags and dandies party, where we did an impromptu performance, including some pyrotechnics. Defiance, Ohio, (a band, not a place) graced the air with their beautiful music. Eric swooned, and had to be taken home on a trailer. (ok, not really, but we had a good time.) Thank you Beezie and Jennifer for our second night in Columbus! Thank you Trader Joe’s for your dumpster dividends.
Sunday we performed at the amphitheater at Ohio State University. One of the highlights of the shows was the chorus performance of a selection of Vandana Shiva’s stolen harvest. Thanks Jabari, we miss you. We were also sad to see the last performance of “Cars, Cars, Cars” and of course we miss Eli. Monday we took off on our pedaling away for Athens, Ohio and parted with some of our dearest members of the Cylce Circus. We miss you Juanki Juanki and Beth! Our journey thus far has taken us to Logan, Ohio where we’ve just given a sweet performance at their town gazebo. Okiedokie…off, off and away we go to the Forest Defense Camp in Athens, Ohio! Peace.
June 13, 2003
Rutabaga Rendezvous in Loveland
The Rutabagas have found that traveling in two teams often deters some of the inevitable impact that we have on a space, being fully packed, bicycle nomads. Once we get off the bikes, we spread out, unpacking, setting up projects, rehearsing, cooking, cleaning, repacking, stretching, etc. Now we are a manageble 17 or so, last time I checked. And, like our journey from Louisville to Cincinnati, we are splitting into two teams for two days or so. When we left Cinci, we also split for the day to rendezvous at Loveland, OH. Thanks to Luke and Billy for the smoothies and the smooth landing in Lukes backyard. It was a romantic affair between Rutabagas, and their bicycles, for the next day we took to a rails-to-trails bike path extending all the way to Yellow Springs wooded, quiet, safe, and easy riding. We were all beaming with pride as we finished the 60 mile trip to Yellow Springs in one day. Dinner was waiting and we prepared for our show at Antioch College the next day. The show went smashingly, which was much needed. Organic farmers, grocers, and many friendly students attended as well as lots of kids. Last night we held workshops of the Beehive FTAA banners, street theater, and homemade pannier building. Next stop: Columbus, then Athens.
What a trip! Today our departure has been delayed by rain, but many are thankful for another day in lovely Yellow Springs. We are taking things one step at a time, and the planning of the route has been frustrating and invigorating. Some need specific destinations and a resolution for the circus. Others believe the circus could continue on and on forever and ever until it is unrecognizable by those who started it! We dream of being that kind of non-GMO super pest. Do we need to declare any more? We want bikes! We want good food! We want circus! And we want music! Also, we want to travel and not trash the planet while we do it! It feels so good! Our membership, our family, is expanding and contracting day by day. We have four, (or is it five?) new members since Louisville and we’ve lost 8 or 9 due to prior commitments. Others find that the time has come to wave goodbye, but the challenges of operating such a large caravan continue. Just imagine our food lately: organic everything! Beautiful greens, piles of fruit, hot buckets of soup, chili, stir-fry, and beans and rice and beans and rice and more and more beans and rice, lentils, potatoes, and the occasional egg. We are vegetarians all, and this circus does not support the over-fed hormone-heavy meat murders. Much of the GMO corn and soy that we see when we ride is fed to the American hamburger factory. Our engines are running, thanks to gardens and farms.
What else to say? The Caravan goes on. Hope to see you on the bike path someday.
June 09, 2003
Chaotic excitement and total exhaustion!
This report comes to you from the end of several long days of biking,
circusing, and feeding one another. We fluctuate between the states of manic
chaotic excitement and complete and total exhaustion. Refuge has been found
here with some extremely generous hosts in Cincinnati, Adrienne Hardesty and
Chris Carmichael, two founding members of Earthsave.WAhooo. Earthsave
Cincinnati is a local chapter of an international non-profit organizations that
educates, inspires and empowers people to move toward a plant-based diet for
the environment, our health, and for all life on earth through monthly
vegetarian potlucks and educational programs. They’re even so bold as to
invite us to their local farmers market for “a big big circus show”. Our
circus is still a bit wobbly on its feet, but our enthusiasm continues to be
the big attraction. We’ve come a long way since St. Louis, over 500 miles,
and news about our legal battle catches up quickly.
We cycled along the Ohio River for three days from Louisville (where we had
some great hosts and shows) to get to Cincinnati which was refreshing and
beautiful but also meant putting on our greatest amount of miles yet. Against
the current of the river and our fears of traveling longer distances we split
into smaller groups which enabled us to travel and interact with greater ease.
I almost hit a deer while on my bicycle. Not that I would have run over it and
turned it into roadkill but in the frenzy of the large doe being startled back
into the bush there was a moment of understanding. We acknowledged one another
and the hardships that we have faced on the surprisingly busy 50 highway. The
highway air was filled with a contrasting energy of busyness that has not been
understood by the timeless rush of our pedaling feet and creative minds.
We are stuck in an ongoing motion that pulls the circus like a hamstring. YoGa
learning and inspiring one another… rawgin and a rollin we peddle on to
yellow springs
May 29, 2003
Thanks to Illinois
We are in Cisne,Illinois on a beautiful and windy morning. We’re making our way east towards Indiana and should be crossing the river at Mt. Carmel today. Mmmm, carmel! Often we are asked “who are we? Well many of you already know but just in case, we are a ragged band of misfits on the run educating people about food, sustainable communities while at the same time making people- smile and think and, of course, being a mini traffic jam in the small towns we go through. Since leaving the wonderful people at the farm in Edwardsville we made our way east to Carlyle and down some small country roads where we saw plenty of GE soya and corn crops. Large petro based tractors spraying petro based chemicals on the crops only to be further washed into waterways and onto our dinner tables. Some very nice folks allowed us to camp on their land for 2 nights and allowed us to collect ourselves and put together a cohesive show. Their 3 daughters were very happy something was happening in their little corner of the prairie. It was a much needed respite after surviving a deluge of rain and some anger from an drunk and irate landowner, who curiously asked “who the fuck are we” (his wife gave us permission) but by and large people here in Illinois have been very gracious and helpful. Randy and Rose had firsthand experience dealing with Monsanto. They tried to stop spraying of some trees around their property but were not informed of the court date and thus lost that particular battle, but the cause is not lost on them or us. After putting in a good long day yesterday, almost 50 miles, we met a nice woman in Cisne: Sally, also known as Granny, the self-proclaimed “meanest blonde in Wayne county.” Though, we all feel quite the opposite. She gave us her backyard and midwest hospitality. We’ve had many starry nights with laughter and great food that otherwise would have ended up in a landfill. Silly humans that we are. Our journey should be good today with a strong wind at our backs. Talk to you all from Indiana next.
Much love and thanks for caring
sincerely,
One of many in the Rutabaga patch
May 25, 2003
Edwardsville, Without a Hitch
Friends,
The Caravan is under way! Only four days and four hours late! Our hosts escorted us from St. Louis all the way from the Community Arts and Media Project (CAMP), north along the Mississippi, to the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge (formerly route 66). There we parted watermelon and ways. A difficult bye-bye, since there’s still much work to be done, legally and otherwise. The late start brought us into Edwardsville by 9:00pm, just in time to catch the town fair heating up with teens and pre-teens drunk on ferris wheels and funnel cakes. We passed unnoticed. Frank from Biver Farm was there to greet us with homemade cider and beet wine! Campfire around back. This morning we tasted some homemade maple syrup on pancakes, then made quick work of mulching the tomato field, and some went down to the farmers market for some music and juggling. Here at Biver Farm, they’ve been organic for 35 years. Its a beautiful place, 40 some acres, with animals and friendly folks. And they’re short one or two hands. Need work? Contact us and we’ll give you directions (in the dark).
May 23, 2003
We’re Leaving, Now Open the Bolozone!
Circus Friends,
Today, our departure day, has finally arrived. We have had to reschedule, reroute, and reassess our caravan from top to bottom. Four days have been lost to police negotiations in efforts to retrieve the lost circus luggage, bikes and miscellaneous personal items. The other day, we were awarded the opportunity to crack open the boarded-up Bolozone and for three hours retrieve some items held captive within. The Bolo was a disaster area. Police had smashed a digital video camera, slashed sleeping bags, pissed on clothing, defaced photos, and made a general mess, which was spashed on the cover of the local section of the ST.L Post-Dispatch. After three hours, we swept, cleaned, and boarded up the front door once more. But still the Bolozone remains condemned. Why? If you were to ask they might say that a building permit had expired. We were in the process of finishing a retaining wall in front of the house, and a rehab permit had recently been renewed. In a neighborhood where one-fourth of the houses are abandoned, the Bolo is a pristine gem of hope and source of vibrant activity. Free the Bolozone! The circus is leaving, so, free the Bolozone! Contact the mayors office (314-622-3201) and demand to open the Bolo located at 3309 Illinois Ave.
May 21, 2003
Protest @ WAF 5/19/2003
Dear Folks,
Yesterday was the much-anticipated World Agricultural Forum. We despirately tried to dispel our fears of further harassment and get down to rehearsals. The circus decided that collectively we would not march and be present at the demonstration. Our mission to caravan takes priority, and some were afraid of drawing more attention to ourselves. We did make our first performance at the rally preceding the march to a spirited, diverse crowd. Two groups of clowns leaving the rally, one in a car and one on bikes, were followed by two police helicopters. You might say the police presence was overblown. We were all smiling again to finally come together for dinner. Our new lawyer came by to speak legal matters while I had the chance to attend the closing plenary of Biodevistation 7. The support from the attendees of this conference was extraordinary. They continued to express their sorrow, outrage, and confusion about our arrests. We told them that in addition to losing our circus, we lost time that would have been spent taking in the conference. It is regrettable to not have this information, as we planned to use it as the basis for our new shows.
May 20, 2003
Lost Luggage Circus 5/18/2003
Greetings Friends,
Yesterday we held meetings until we exhausted ourselves. Its beginning to sink in that the police are seriously altering our mission to Caravan Across the Cornbelt. With all medical supplies, food, circus costumes, first-aid kits, personal items, money, bike bags, 20 bicycles, and a noticable portion of our spirit locked away in either the condemned Bolozone or at police headquarters. The circus is feeling its impact and regrets having drawn two days worth of attention to the Bolo at a time when police were prepared to strike out at activists who are organizing a creative statement against biotechnology. We embark on the long process of the counter-suit: affidavids, documentation, and legal consulting. We’d rather be rehearsing, biking, and clowning. Ah, the tangled web of law, and its ability to stifle the movement of positive entities through space. We have neither luggage, nor contents, and resort to long lists of sentimental, practical, impractical, and months of donated materials including: eyeglasses, all sleeping bags, poetry notebooks, fire circus jump ropes, juggling torches, puppet building tools, battery-powered illuminated juggling balls, handmade lingerie, multi-tools, a wallet containing $500, unicycle, two cell phones, passports, digital video camera, photography equipment, tents, camping supplies, $200 of donated dry food, bike tools, as well as puppets and original artwork. We’re predicting that if we recover these items it won’t be until wed. Meaning, we must either reshedule or reroute the caravan.
We should mention that another space, called CAMP (Community Arts and Media Project) was raided the same day as the Bolozone. This space was to house the new St. Louis IMC, art projects, and food collection services for the community. The police also raided this space and removed several boxes of documents. A few items from the cycle circus were also removed, as we were planning on using Camp as a base for rehearsals. The Jack the Giant-Queller puppetshow was noticably ransacked, but both Jack and the Giant were unharmed. The horn used to loudly awaken the Giant in his cave, however, was confiscated. Its ironic, to steal the instrument used by Jack to penetrate the ear chamber of raw violence, awaken te ogre of brutality, and to entice the Giant into a chase. If you’ve seen the puppetshow you know that the chase ends with the Giant falling into a trap. Jack then Quells him with violence. Thus begins Jacks curse of entrapment into the cycle of violence. We do not condone the violence of Jack or the Giant. Violence is the continued curse of the powerful, and a last resort for the powerless. We, as artists, have ideas as weapons, which are more powerful than any whips, torches, Molotovs, rocks, and slingshots which police claimed we were preparing for the World Ag. Forum. How will they incarcerate our ideas, our voices, our puppetshows and clown acts without physically removing or intimidating us out of society? Thier methods are as old as the story of Jack, but the cycle of violence will not be invited on our caravan.
May 20, 2003
Circus Incarcerated! 5/17/2003
Flying Rutabaga greetings from St. Louis,
Our bike circus recieved a warm welcome from two collective houses here in St. Louis. The police, however, have not been so inviting. An enterage from our Flying Rutabaga Cycle Circus embarked from our housing Friday morning destined to present themselves at Biodevistation 7, a counter-conference to the Monsanto-sponsered World Agricultural Forum. We were scheduled to announce our mission to Caravan Across The Cornbelt, a 30 day, 1000 mile circus tour from St. Louis to DC. At 9:10am, the circus embassadors were stopped by a police van, questioned about their intentions of riding as a group, and asked to comply with a search of their bike circus trailers. Four more squad cars arrived, and the 9 clowns were hand-cuffed, taken to jail, and charged with operating a bicycle without a license. For 8 hours the Flying Rutabagas entertained themselves as only they know how: singing, clowning, telling stories, and playing “finger toss”. Denied access to lawyers, food, water, and phone calls, we waited until the police sorted out their justification for our arrival there. Eventually, the officers informed us we would not be able to get our bikes back unless we could prove ownership, that we would have to return for a court date, and that we smelled bad. More activists arrived, one man taken directly off the sidewalk and charged with “public protest”. The bicycle licence infraction was dropped, and we were instead given traffic infractions and court dates. Our bikes, they said, were waiting in the garage, and we could take them with us. Missing items from the confiscated bikes: pocket knives, two circus organizational notebooks, one Appetite Rope Walker puppet. After our release, we learned that our hosts in town, a collective for five years called The Bolozone, was raided and all occupants were arrested. The clowns were taken from a fully functioning home with running water to a delapitaded old jailhouse with no running water and no phones. All bikes within the Bolozone were seized. Our entire Flying Rutabaga Cycle Circus, our hosts and other guests had been jailed within one half hour. The fifteen from the raid were kept overnight in jail. On the news, police laid out a table full of “weapons-in-progress” such as roofing nails, newspaper juggling pins, a whip, circus gear for fire twirling, and a poorly assembled napkin tucked into a bottle. Saturday we were together again, and will spend our time not rehearsing, but following legal matters, persuing housing options, reviving our food and equipment resources, and getting around town on half the number of bicycles, public transport and borrowed cars. We are unable to leave St. Louis until our materials are recovered. We are unable to ride bikes without feeling anxious. Today, (Sat.) we are making fun out of difficult work. We hope to leave this incident behind us and not encounter problems for ourselves or our hosts down the route. Luckily, we have much support here locally, legally, and physically clothing and housing the pajama-clad clowns who emerged from jail this morning. All our resourses are being drawn into play to spread the word about our situation. We are eagarly awaiting the tour, and voicing out against genetically modified food, and celebrating local organic sustainable agriculture. If you feel compelled to tell St. Louis to release the bicycles from custody and let us begin our mission to Caravan Across The Cornbelt, we humbly request your assistance.
Please contact Chief Joe Mokwa at 314-444-5624 or the Mayor’s office at 314-622-3201 and tell them to release the bikes and return the Bolozone as soon as possible
