Mark Hayward Is My Hero

It has been unseasonably warm here in Indianapolis the last few days, so I have been spending my time in the garage working on the Model A. It’s been great, and I’ve gotten a lot done.

Ok, so this is going to be an in-depth description of how I repaired the Horn Rod on my 1930 Model A Ford Sport Coupe. If you are not a Model A Ford person with a Horn Rod in need of repair this will probably be BORING. But if you are like me and have a non-functioning horn button, but a working horn on a Model A Ford, this description is going to be GOLD! GOLD I TELL YOU! (more…)

I travel around the Midwest of the United States a lot doing shows, and some of my favorite gigs are at libraries. Library crowds are a really good fit for my show, and librarians are great to work with since they tend to be smart, friendly AND organized. There’s nothing like getting to a gig and not only having people know who you are and that you were coming, but also have a big homemade poster of you up in the lobby.

I like to read at home, but I also spend a lot of time in my car driving to and from shows. For me the best thing to have on those long drives is an audio book. It keeps me awake and entertained, and I can improve myself all while driving to work. I keep a list of books to read, and I always try to keep a bunch of books on the list so that when I go to the library to find an audiobook I have a greater chance of finding one I want.

Librarians are a great intellectual resource, and at one of my library shows last year I asked if there was a list anywhere of the books that every American adult should read before they die. They didn’t know of a specific list, but the ladies I was talking to sat down and wrote one up for me while I was performing. I wish I could give them credit here, but unfortunately none of us wrote down the names of the compilers, and I don’t even know which library it was. Here is their list: (more…)

It seems that no matter where I move I end up getting involved in organizing something that is juggling or yo-yo related. I’m not complaining, it’s just what happens. At the moment I’m helping my buddy Takeshi organize the Indiana State Yo-yo Contest. I’m really looking forward to it, it should be a blast. If you want more info check out the website: http://indianastates.newschool101.com/

I have a 2004 Toyota Prius. It is the best car ever. I want to sell it.

So you’re thinking, “If the Prius is the best car ever, why do you want to sell it?” Two reasons:

1. New things are VERY enticing, and the new Prius has some nice new little features besides just being new
2. A new Prius won’t have 87,000 miles on it

Here’s what I have done so far:

• Put a for sale sign in the window with my phone number
• Posted an ad on Craig’s List

Results:

• Two phone calls from the ad in the window
• Nothing from Craig’s List
• I still own my Prius

Possible Explanations:

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This last weekend I was in Ithaca NY to be the MC for the Cornell Juggling Club’s public show at their Big Red JuggleFest. It was a great time. First of all, juggling festivals are always great. If you don’t spend your time hanging out and talking with people, like I usually end up doing, you can just juggle ALL DAY. What a great way to spend a day.

I was hanging out with some of my New York City pals: Sean Blue, Marcus Monroe, Paris, and Sean’s non-juggling buddy Herman, who turned out to be a cool guy despite that fact that he’s not a juggler. Ithaca was really hard to navigate for most of the out of town guests, and we got lost every time we went anywhere. It was not awesome.

The show was on Saturday night, and was really high caliber. It took place in a former top quality theater that has been converted into a lecture hall on the Cornell campus. I understand that a university probably needs a lecture hall more than a theater, but as a performer it was really hard to look at what obviously used to be a great theater, and was now just a shadow of its former self. It still had the orchestra pit, but the new wall was only six inches back from the edge of the pit, and there was no longer a backstage. Strangely, there was a brand new greenroom with a bathroom, but that was it.

My sets in the show went over great, and the show went very smoothly. Thomas Dietz, from Germany, was the headliner and we had a whole slew of other great acts. See more (and download the poster!) here: http://rso.cornell.edu/cjc/festival/performers.htm

Last weekend I had a great gig with the Smithsonian Institution that took us to Phoenix Arizona. In their ongoing effort to bring the Smithsonain to the people (instead of the people always having to go to Washington DC) they put on a huge event called Culture Fest, in Phoenix and the surrounding area, with 10 experts from different fields. My role was to be the second half of a one-two punch with historian David Shayt. David and I presented several different versions of the program, but the overall format was that David would do a powerpoint presentation for the first half of our set, and I would close it out with demonstration and teaching. David’s presentation was really good, was what the adults wanted to see, and it was just long enough that kids could still get through it if they got bored. Then I hit ’em with the action-packed parade o’ skills! I have always tried very hard to have a show that is fun for adults AND kids, so the Culture Fest audiences were great for me.

One of the best parts of the weekend was hanging out with my juggling and yo-yoing friends. The last time I was in Phoenix I spent some time with Dave and Athena, and I did get to see them Thursday night before they headed to California for a juggling convention, but most of my time was spent with my yo-yo buddies Hans and Julius.

I think that my time with those guys could be summed up as “cool cars and yo-yos”. Of course there was a lot of yo-yoing, there always is. In addition though, Hans (aka Yo Hans) is also a car nut. He owns several awesome cars, and one night we went to the longest continuously running weekly car show. That’s right… weekly. Every Saturday night hundreds of car, truck, and motorcycle people get together and hang out. It’s awesome. The whole range is there. You have the import tuners, monster trucks, classic 50s & 60s cars, Corvettes, and even the Model A guys. I finally got the chance to pick the brain of a real Model A guy! He answered all of the questions I could think of. It was incredible.

I took a whole bunch of pictures that I will post when I get home on Monday. This weekend I am in Ithaca, New York at the Cornell Jugglefest serving as the MC for their public show.  It should be fun.