Announcing the upcoming not-to-be-missed, one of a kind, holiday extravaganza never before witnessed holiday extravaganza—Jim and Sena juggling in Santa Hats!
We’ve been rehearsing for this (or at least trying to) and one of the greatest challenges was laughing so hard we could barely stand up, let alone juggle.
There’s something hilarious about juggling balls colliding with each other.
Well, we’re using our new safety glasses retainers and they work out fine. We’re a little off the beam on the 2-person 6 ball pass juggle for some reason. Some days are diamonds, some days are stones, I guess.
Our mistakes are funny. We just make too many.
I’m still working on the shower juggle pattern. I might be making slow progress. It feels easier to do if I use the large plastic balls or the new smaller balls with a tough leather shell. They’re decorated with stars to give you confidence.
I think if they’re round and hold their shape better if they’re made of harder material, they might fly better.
I think it would also help if I threw them more accurately.
We’re big on safety goggles whenever we juggle nowadays. The only problem is that they fit loosely around our ears. We’re always pushing them back up on our noses.
So, Sena got a couple of eyewear retainers for our safety goggles. They were only a dollar a piece. I was a doubtful at first that they’d work, mainly because they don’t fit snug on the back of the head. It turns out they work best by snugging up around your ears.
You have to push pretty hard to get them on the goggle frame. The stitching holds up well, though.
They’re called “floating” eyewear retainers, I think because they’re made of neoprene foam and will float on water—great for boaters and water sports.
They’ll probably mostly eliminate the chance of the goggles falling off our heads when we drop the balls—which is often.
Sena and I are still practicing the 2-person 6 ball pass juggling trick. We adjusted the colors on the glow balls so they all change color.
We count so we can stay in synch on the pass (1, 2, pass). We have to count the first two throws from the right hand only—which is sometimes still confusing since we’re used to counting both the left- and right-hand throws.
We have to pass a ball straight across from the right hand to the left hand of the partner. We’re slowly increasing the number of passes we’re able to make accurately while juggling the 3-ball cascade in between passes.
The balls are plastic, heavier than the smaller bean bags, and could hurt you if they fall on the wrong place—like your toe or your head. That’s why we both wear safety goggles.
We probably need steel toe boots, too.
Yesterday we got the new aerobic step platform for cardiovascular health enhancement exercise. As I reported in October, climbing stairs can be very helpful in promoting cardiovascular health. This article summarizes the findings. At least 5 flights (around 50 steps of 10 stair steps) is said to be beneficial.
I climbed a lot of stairs in my career as a consulting psychiatrist in an 800-bed hospital. I don’t do anything close to that now, but I exercise pretty much daily. It limits my wardrobe.
My step counter app will track my stair step climbing on regular stairs in our house. However, it won’t count the steps I do on the step platform. It doesn’t really matter. I count everything else I do when I exercise, even on my anti-Peloton stationary bike, since the digital computer for monitoring my fitness level never worked. I also count the number of throws when I practice the 3-ball cascade juggling pattern (a hundred, often with 2 or 3 different sets of balls).
You can adjust the height on the platform by using risers, which can go up to 8 inches. That’s the usual height of the risers on regular stairs.
It’s not a Stairmaster by any means—but then it doesn’t cost $3,000 either.
Guess what we did on our anniversary yesterday? We juggled! We got another set of 3 glow balls so we could try the 2-person 6 ball pass juggling trick.
The glow balls are plastic and filled with plastic pellets. They are uniform in size and weight and have 20 different colored light modes and patterns. They are USB rechargeable. The manufacturer says they are “made to take a beating—without being too hard.”
That said, we still suggest you consider wearing safety goggles.
This is a challenging juggling trick because you have to be almost perfectly synchronized with your partner. We drop the balls a lot, but we’ve improved even since the first time we practiced. We still jitterbug around a lot and we work hard at keeping up the “1, 2, Pass” count.
You have to be pretty solid juggling the 3-ball cascade. We get a lot of practice because it’s hilarious.
Well, Sena and I have been practicing the 2-person 6 ball pass juggling trick. It’s a trick just to get synchronized. Timing is everything—and so is aim.
Sena and I both have a tendency to throw balls too high, too low, high and outside, etc. It’s Sena’s low line drive pitch I’m worried about mainly. Safety goggles are mandatory, but I’m starting to worry about other parts of my anatomy. These are the parts which call for groin armor.
In fact, why not just go all out and get a suit of armor? It might be harder to move around—but at least I’d be protected.
Sena ordered some new juggling balls. Unfortunately, none of them are soft. In fact, she ordered another set of 3 plastic glow balls, in addition to the set we already have. They’re big. They could hurt me.
And they will have an evil glow when they do. Don’t send me your prayers; get well cards are fine.
Just random updates for now. That 2-person 6 ball pass juggle Sena and I made a YouTube about? We could barely complete a couple of volleys, and we didn’t think we’d ever make much more progress. However, yesterday, we were starting to make 3, even 4 passes and cascades. Just when you think it’s hopeless….
What about me and the shower juggle pattern? I have not stopped trying—but I’m really no further ahead than I was 6 months ago. It wouldn’t feel right to quit. Success could happen tomorrow.
I remember watching an X-Files episode a while ago, “The Goldberg Variation.” A Rube Goldberg Contraption is a machine that is built of a lot of complex parts that in sequence result in solving a simple task. The main character in the episode is Henry Weems, who is incredibly lucky. His life is a series of improbable, complicated sequences of events that either make him rich or foil his enemies.
Unlike most people, Henry wants to use his incredible power for good, specifically to help a kid get a special treatment for liver disease which is killing him. The results he gets are wacky and complicated and result in good things happening to others.
I wonder what makes Rube Goldberg Contraptions so focused on trivial results? I think it would be nice to build one that—write your wish here.
Note: Rube Goldberg cartoon in public domain (source Wikipedia article, “Rube Goldberg machine”).
Sena and I reached for the sky and tried another two-person juggle pattern with 6 balls. It’s supposedly one of the easier tricks, but we are ordinary jugglers and beg to differ. One YouTube expert juggler says you should be able to stand in one place and juggle 100 cascade throws to do this trick.
Sena finally wore her safety goggles, probably because she got knocked on the head once while we practiced.
The idea is for both partners to do a solid 3 ball cascade pattern and pass one of the balls at regular intervals. Believe it or not, the slowest pace is to count “1, 2, pass” so that you throw the pass after two right hand tosses in your cascade. Both partners pass with the right hand to each other’s left hand.
That was difficult for both of use because we’re used to counting every throw, including the left-hand throws. You have to skip counting the left-hand throw and starting counting with only the right-hand throws. There are faster variations of this trick, including passing every throw!
We drop a lot of balls, needless to say. But we have a lot of fun!
We took a couple days to get the hang of the side steal juggle. It’s not easy and a lot of the throws look more like sneaky passes than steals. But it’s a lot of fun!
Sena juggles with her arms really reaching for the sky, like she’s getting robbed—which actually fits this complicated crime of a juggling trick.
You have to get a feel for whether you feel more skilled by reaching with your left or right hand when trying to steal your partner’s juggling balls. That dictates on which side you stand. One of the key points is to stand fairly close together.
It helps to toss the balls a little high and close to the juggling pane of glass so that you don’t have to reach too far out in front or you or too far behind you.
We counted the initial throws just to get started. After the first steal, it got too difficult for us to keep track of the count and a free style pattern began to emerge. We traded balls 4 times and Sena was gunning for 5. We almost got there.
Because we were so close together, ball collisions were common, making it important to time throws.
Side by side, shoulder to shoulder, this is a juggling trick in which teamwork is the key. It really helps you develop more skill with the 3-ball cascade.
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