The Soleil Also Rises

George III did actually learn something from Katrina.  No formaldehyde-based FEMA-brand trailers for Port au Prince as we expected.  No domed stadiums, either.

Circus Tents.

Only for the Haitian government.

All the way from Reno, Nevada.

Nope.  And I tried for an hour to come up with something half as good, too.

Tom Schrade, who used to own a piece of what used to be the Reno Hilton and still listens to his wife, is donating these things to Haiti.  Mind you, Tom wasn't using them much and these are top of the line circus tents.  Cirque du Soleil tents, no less, with heating and A/C, lighting, Port au Jeans and chairs.

And I'm sure the elephant... well, I'm sure the have been cleaned up to Haiti standards. 

As if the tents were not enough, the thirteen shipping containers it takes to the big tops from Reno to Haiti will themselves serve as apartments.  At least until some smart developer converts them into waterfront condos.

Conrad Hilton's Foundation, hip-deep in Haitian relief already, will finance the shipment and Bill Clinton's Foundation will handle the paperwork.  I guess foundations are not just tax shelters for the ex-Presidents, wealthy heirs and Bill Gates among us; they actually do stuff like this.

Cirque du Soleil, a Quebec bunch who could wow you in a pup tent, used these tents originally at Vegas' Mirage a while back.  These tents have traveled before, to Myrtle Beach, probably to house some golf course, and then back to Nevada, no doubt to keep the slots dry.

If you've ever seen Circle du Soleil perform, you know they do it in French, which makes the bathroom and exit signs ready to go for Haiti.  If you haven't seen Cirque at least on TV, queue up a disc from NetFlix, especially in BluRay if you can.  Try to get one with these soon-to-be-historic relief tents.  It'll make the idea of tents filled with French-filibustering politicians and hand-sewn voodoo dolls (not that the dolls have to needle each other nearly as much to work) seem very, very tame.

And unlike all that Bush emergency housing assistance for Katrina victims, this help is already on the way.