But until that day, bake sales it is! We’ve been having semi-regular bake sales, featuring such delicious home-made fare such as raspberry cupcakes, chocolate cheerio chunk cookies, gluten-free brown sugar walnut muffins with cream cheese frosting, and chocolate fudge brownies. Hungry students, sweet-toothed staff, and curious passersby all [...]]]>

Victoria is excited. Molly is studious.

But until that day, bake sales it is! We’ve been having semi-regular bake sales, featuring such delicious home-made fare such as raspberry cupcakes, chocolate cheerio chunk cookies, gluten-free brown sugar walnut muffins with cream cheese frosting, and chocolate fudge brownies. Hungry students, sweet-toothed staff, and curious passersby all seem to appreciate our donations-only choose-your-own-price system, and initial profits are decent. Which means that the bake sales are all set to become a fortnightly fixture…

Other tactics include: grants! We applied for the Clif Bar Family Foundation Grant, because we think they’re cool, and to the New Belgium Brewing Company, because we think they’re REALLY cool. No word yet from Clif Bar, but New Belgium got back to us pretty quickly – in the negative. We still think they’re really cool. After all, they organize the Tour de Fat bicycle art festival that Molly reviewed a few weeks ago!

Finally, for the altruistic reader we have compiled a short Wishlist of in-kind donations that we would be eternally grateful to receive:

+ lightweight sleeping bags, lightweight tents, lightweight camping stoves
+ frequent flyer miles (for getting troupe members from the East coast to the West)
+ used bike trailers (the child-pulling kind)
+ bike lights (especially dynamo lights that generate energy from the motion of the wheel!)

And of course, come tour time, we will be looking for backyards to camp in, couches to sleep on, and kitchens to cook in!  and maybe showers…

To start with, our spectacular parent organization The Bindlestiff Family Cirkus has been helping us sort out some logistical nitty gritty.  [...]]]> Hello world!
Speaking as an integral part of Downside Up, we’re positively oscillating with excitement! These days we’re jumping by leaps and bounds so that we can start bringing you all sorts of entertainment and goodies.

To start with, our spectacular parent organization The Bindlestiff Family Cirkus has been helping us sort out some logistical nitty gritty.  They are a non-profit organization committed to keeping alive the history, knowledge and love of vaudeville, sideshows, and other related circus arts. By taking us in under their wing, they have been an integral part of helping us bring this brain-child of a troupe into existence!

As of late, a lot of our energy has been going into planning our six week bike tour. INTERROBANG will be traveling from late May-June 2010, looping the Puget Sound region of western Washington state. With a core troupe of six (Tara, Molly, Victoria, Lindsay, Corvus, and Kristian) plus a rotating guest, we will be street performing, cycling, workshopping, camping, playing, and exploring.

In order to accomplish this feat we’re busy applying for grants, the most recent of which was the CLIF Bar Family Foundation. We’re hoping to operate on a $5,000 budget which includes:

+ travel expenses for troupe members on the East Coast to get to the West Coast
+ bikes, trailers, and the tools and equipment to repair them on the road
+ camping equipment
+ touring expenses (food, cost of campsites)

In addition to applying for grants, Downside Up will be performing small gigs and street performances throughout the next 9 months to raise money and awareness about our upcoming tour. (We’ll be sure to post up what we’re doing and when we’re doing it if you’d like to come out and see us!) And of course, we’re always accepting personal donations. Every little bit helps. In the meantime, we’re all keeping the spirit of circus alive by playing every chance we get!