From waynel@microsoft.com Wed Nov 10 21:25:21 1993 Received: from netmail.microsoft.com by mother.ent.rochester.edu with SMTP id AA06383 (5.65/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/local/lib/lists/balloon.archive); Wed, 10 Nov 1993 21:25:21 -0500 Received: by netmail.microsoft.com (5.65/25-eef) id AA02226; Wed, 10 Nov 93 18:22:30 -0800 Message-Id: <9311110222.AA02226@netmail.microsoft.com> X-Msmail-Message-Id: 6F36FE9B X-Msmail-Conversation-Id: 6F36FE9B X-Msmail-Wiseremark: Microsoft Mail -- 3.0.729 From: Wayne Lampel To: balloon@mother.ent.rochester.edu Date: Wed, 10 Nov 93 13:44:07 PST Subject: Introduction document Well, here's a start. Please help by supplying any information that you think would be appropriate for someone new to know. Also, point out any errors or areas that need clarification. There is a section describing balloon types. I don't know the definitions, can someone help out? -Wayne ***************************** Addresses ***************************** T. Meyers Magic. 1509 Parker Bend Austin, Texas 78734 (800) 648-6221 ***************************** Books ***************************** Aaron Hsu-Flanders, Balloon Animals More Balloon Animals Balloon Cartoons Balloon Hats & Accessories These books are full of pictures for every bubble and bend that needs to be made to create some really nice looking balloon sculptures. I have seen many books on balloon animals and I think these are the best so far. Don Burda, Homer's Rubber Bubbles This book contains pretty good descriptions of some of the basic sculptures. It contains 86 pages with about 45 sculptures. There are several drawings for each figure in various stages of completion. Marvin Hardy, Balloon Magic The book is about $14. It's almost 200 pages of instructions and photographs. It covers a very large variety of sculptures (65 figures total) from the basic four-legged animal to more advanced things like a motorcycle with a kickstand. I find photographs of balloons harder to follow than drawings, but I know many people prefer it the other way. Anyway, if you're looking for a general collection of 1-balloon animals, I suggest getting a look at this book. Many of the things in it are fairly standard, but I found enough ideas in it that were new to me to justify buying it. The only real problem I have with it is that it's hard bound. It certainly makes the book stronger and likely to last longer, but I think I'd prefer a spiral binding so I could leave the book open as I learn something new. ***************************** Sculptures in messages ***************************** Title - (Author, Subject, Date, Time) Airplane - (Larry Moss, airplane, 09/18/92, 14:43:45) Bat - (Larry Moss, bat, 10/05/92, 21:33:48) Bear - (James Batten, Re: Freezing balloons to preserve them, 02/04/92, 09:43:22) Bird in a gilded cage - (Larry Moss, Bird in a gilded cage (text), 01/08/93, 22:37:02) Butterfly - (James Batten, the butterfly, 06/02/92, 09:09:17) Dinosaur, T-rex - (Chris Pugmire, space man, 11/08/93, 15:53:00) Flower, multi-balloon - (James Batten, the flower, 02/06/92, 13:59:32) Goofy - (Larry Moss, goofy, 04/29/92, 18:01:18) Hat, monkey - (James Batten, hats, 06/01/92, 11:41:50) Kangaroo - (Larry Moss, kangaroo, 02/06/92, 18:37:28) Octopus - (Larry Moss, Juggling convention, ostrich, octopus, 07/27/92, 22:44:13) Ostrich - (Larry Moss, Juggling convention, ostrich, octopus, 07/27/92, 22:44:13) Reindeer - (Larry Moss, reindeer , 12/15/92, 22:27:52) Santa - (Larry Moss, Santa, 12/15/92, 22:28:50) Snoopy on a motorcycle - (Larry Moss, Re: Motorcycle Balloon - Help!, 09/27/93, 17:46:09) Snowman - (James Batten, snowman, 06/09/92, 11:31:24) Spaceman - (Chris Pugmire, space man, 11/08/93, 15:53:00) Spaceman, additional info - (Larry Moss, Re: space man., 11/08/93, 17:04:00) Starship Enterprise - (Larry Moss, enterprise and triceratops, 02/13/92, 16:24:50) Sword - (James Batten, Re: Freezing balloons to preserve them, 02/04/92, 09:43:22) Train - (Larry Moss, choo choo train, 05/17/92, 14:23:15) William Tell routine - (Larry Moss, NABA and routines again, 06/12/92, 22:29:24) Witch's hat - (Larry Moss, Re: Halloween Balloons, 10/03/92, 17:43:48) Woman with baby - (Chris Pugmire, space man, 11/08/93, 15:53:00) ***************************** Terms and Techniques ***************************** Balloon types ------------- 260Q - heart - round - GEO (donuts) - spinner - Airship - 260E - 260A - 250D - 280D - Bee Body - Blowing up a balloon -------------------- It does take some practice to get it down so you don't pass out. The most important point is that you push the air out of your lungs with your diaphragm, through your mouth and into the balloon. Your cheeks should never puff out, if they do, they will surely be sore! Balloon care ------------ Does freezing the balloons really preserve them? It seems to have worked well for my balloons. As I implicitly mentioned in my last post, mine are > 5 years old, kept for almost all of that time in a freezer. They seem just fine. I do not thaw and refreeze them much though -- that may make a lot of difference. They are also 260Es (double dipped) rather than 260As (single dipped), which might make a lot of difference, too. A coat pocket seems likely to flex them a lot while they are cold. This is definitely bad for them. Types of twists --------------- Apple twist ----------- This can be done with any balloon, but if you do it with a small, round balloon you can actually form something that looks like an apple. This can be great for a William Tell routine. I'll try to describe it on a small balloon first. Blow up the balloon part way and tie it off. Push the nozzle end into the balloon with one finger until it is inside the tail of the balloon. With the other hand grab the tail far enough in to grab the nozzle also and give it a few twists. this should stay on it's own. You should now have something that basically forms the shape of an apple with a stem sticking up. This twist has a lot of uses aside from just making apples. In any long thin balloon you can push the nozzle in and form a bubble with the nozzle being further into the balloon than the twist. When you release this it should stay in the balloon without any other locking twists. Basic pinch and twist --------------------- forming an animal amounts to making bubbles of various sizes and then twisting them together in different combinations. Forming a bubble is as simple as pinching the balloon and twisting so that the pinched area stays pinched without your fingers. Well, this is almost true. The balloon will untwist unless some kind of locking twist is used to secure it. ______________ ____ -(______________)(____) ^ | pinch and twist locking twists and the basic four-legged animal - If three bubbles are made using the method described above, the second two can be twisted and locked together. The hardest part of this is learning to use all of your fingers to hold bubbles that you've made until they get "locked". ______________ ____ ____ ____ --(______________)(____)(____)(____)= 1 a 2 b 3 c In the above picture, the numbers refer to the twists, the letters refer to the bubbles. To secure all of these bubbles, fold the balloon at twist 2 so that 'a' and 'b' sit alongside each other. Now form another twist combining 1 and 2. This is already the basic head of an animal. 'a' and 'b' are ears. 'c' is a nose. This same process can be repeated two more times to complete a basic dog (or whatever you wish to call it). That is, immediately below the head make three more bubbles and twist the second two together. This forms a neck and two legs. Now, the same way, form a body and two more legs. All of the twists in the balloon look like the figure below. ___ ___ ____ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ --()(___)(___)(____)(___)(___)()(___)(___)(___)= tail leg leg body leg leg ^ ear ear nose | neck ())__ \ ____ (__) ()(____)() ()) ()) Bird body --------- Any figure that has wings or arms needs those wings and arms to sit alongside the body. To form this we will make three bubbles and do the locking twist above, but make the second two significantly longer than the first. This will be a head and wings. Make another bubble roughly the same size as one of the wings and push only that bubble completely through the wings. ________ ______ ______ ______ _ --(________)(______)(______)(______)(_)= 1 body 2 wing 3 wing 4 The wings should be twisted together. When the body gets pushed through them, 1 and 4 will be locked together even though there is no twist between them. _ _(_)_ / ^ \ | w|b|w | | i|o|i | | n|d|n | | g|y|g | \__V__/ ^ | | Curly tails ----------- That's where you curl the balloon around your finger and then inflate (or inflate again like I do cause it's hard work otherwise). Ear twist --------- That is, take a bubble and twist the two ends of it together. before: __ ____ __ after: ___ __)(____)(__ ( v ) <-- formed with single bubble / ^ \ Or, described another way, ( )( )( )( )------- ^ ^ a b form a bubble and then twist its own ends together. ie: points 'a' and 'b' are twisted together 'folding' over the bubble inside. The size of the bubble determines what the use is for. Meatball -------- Otherwise known as "putting an object or bubble inside a balloon" I call the bubble inside the balloon a meatball. You can put an object inside the balloon the same way you put the bubble in. Instead of twisting the bubble, just push the object you want to use into the end of the balloon. Grab the object through the balloon as you do with the meatball. Then break the object free inside and tie the new end of the balloon. A bubble inside the balloon doesn't always roll very well. The ball is heavy enough that it rolls through the whole pretzel shaped balloon very easily. I also like leaving tips inside of balloon figures when I'm in a restaurant. I push it as deep as I can into the 260 and then rip off the top and immediately grab the new 'nipple' and tie it. Sometimes it's really hard to rip off the top and I am forced to use my teeth. Pop twist --------- It is often desirable to get more limbs on an animal than there are ends of the balloon. The basic dog works out ok, but legs need to be grouped in twos. The pop twist will allow two legs or arms to be separated. Twist two medium bubbles, three small bubbles, then another medium bubble. Do a lock twist with the medium bubbles so nothing untwists. __ ( ) <- // \\ <- Three medium bubbles (a) (b) (c) <- 3 small bubbles Ear twist bubbles a and b. Twist them about 5 times each (completely around). Now pop c. The air should not come out of any of the other bubbles. Toes ---- I'm not sure what anyone else calls this one so for now I'll call it a toe twist since that's what I like using it for. Make an ear twist, with only a little air in it. The softer the better. Twist the bubble in half now to form two toes. twist along this line | v ___ ( v ) / ^ \ ^ | ***************************** Notation *****************************