From balloon-request@cvs.rochester.edu  Sat Feb 17 18:32:13 1996
	id AA01992; Sat, 17 Feb 96 18:29:37 EST
Date: Sat, 17 Feb 1996 17:29:28 -0600
Message-Id: <199602172329.RAA113978@postoffice.cso.uiuc.edu>
To: balloon@cvs.rochester.edu
From: Mark Balzer <m-balzer@students.uiuc.edu>
Subject: Re: 350 hoop

Fred H. writes:
>almost fully inflated 350... tulip/apple twist at one end... suction
>cupped it to the ... windows ...  glass about five feet up, ...
>(tough to do with a 260, easy w/ a 350)... putting a tulip twist in
>the other end, bending the balloon around into a "U" shape and suction
>cupping both ends to the window.  Ta-da!  A basket ball hoop, which,
>from a distance, appeared to be hovering in mid-air!
>I was happy with that, but someone said it needed a backboard.  So...
>making a square inside a large rectangle out of 260's I stuck it to the
>window (static) above the hoop.  It looked Cool!  A balloon "with no
>visible means of support".
>
>P.S.  Like with regular suction cups, it helps to moisten the end before
>sticking.  And  do make sure that it is heavy/thick glass that can take
>pressure, not just regular window glass.

Fred, you are a genius!  Just using apple twists as suction cups is *so*
innovative, let alone making a basketball hoop!  Wow.  Very impressive!

Let me add how I make my version of a Nerf basketball out of an orange 260:
I inflate an orange 260 except for a few inches, burp the balloon and keep
the bubbles a little soft (otherwise you will have trouble twisting this).
Then twist a half-inch bubble, and start twisting 8 inch bubbles, twisting
them into a "continuous" bird body (see the Guide for instructions on how
to make a bird body).  View all the following in a non-proportional font
like "Courier":

   _  _______  _______  _______  _______  _______  _______  _______  _
 >(_)(_______)(_______)(_______)(_______)(_______)(_______)(_______)(_)
     \                 /
      \_______________/  add the rest of the 8" bubbles by making
                         repetitive bird bodies - just keep
                         rolling the new bubbles in and around
                         existing pairs of bubbles.
                         Then tuck the half inch bubbles inside.

                      ___
                   ,'_____`.
                  /_________\
             --> (___________) <--  squish once if required
                  \_________/
                   `._____.'
                     `---'

After a little bubble adjustment (and maybe one good squish between your
palms to make it round) you have a basketball.  You can even stick goodies
into the space in the center.

I add a tiny piece of green balloon as a stem and use this as a pumpkin on
Halloween.  I sometimes make a wolf, sitting up and howling at the moon - I
make this ball in white as the moon and suspend it from an inflated clear.
This 260 ball has a million uses.

Mark

PS - At the last IBAC I learned several different methods of making 3/4"
superballs (seeds, bullets, whatever you want to call them...) from 260's.
It seems each twister has his own favorite method.  If I have time, maybe
I'll try to type several of them in (don't hold your breath though).  If
anyone wants to post their method, I'd be happy to collect them and add
them to the Guide.


   o
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