From: "Chris Jackson" <duncan@frii.com>
To: <balloon@balloonhq.com>
Subject: You're Cheating!
Date: Sun, 16 Apr 2000 01:10:54 -0600

Greetings, All.

A couple of nights ago, my wife and I were at the local pedestrian mall,
just hanging out after dinner and before going into the best brewpub in town
for a beer.  We decided to pass the time just playing around with the
balloons to see what we could come up with.  My wife was trying to come up
with a quick and easy angelfish design, I was offering suggestions.
Well,...

A couple with two young boys saw my wife pumping up a balloon, and asked if
she could make something for their kids.  The first boy told my wife what
she wanted, so she grabbed her faster-blaster and went to work.  I asked the
second boy what he wanted.  When I pulled a balloon out of the bag and
inflated it with lungpower (my usual way), the mother looked at *me* and
said: "You're Cheating!  You aren't using a pump like she is!"

This was the first time I've ever heard of mouth inflation being called
"cheating", so I thought you might like the laugh.

Oh, the Angelfish?...  The first try worked out pretty well.  It was
immediately identifiable by several people watching us.  It takes 3-260s,
and whatever you prefer to make googly-eyes. (we used a clear heart with a
pair of superballs inside)

Inflate the first 260, leaving about 2-1/2" uninflated.  Tie off, then
squeeze it to distribute the air evenly. (Filling the uninflated portion and
making the entire balloon soft enough to work with.)  Find a point a little
off-center and make a pair of small (1") ear twists to make the 'lips'.  The
long bubbles leading from this will make the 'chest' and 'forehead' of the
fish.

Inflate the second 260 fully, then burp it a bit to make it soft.  Find the
middle of the balloon and twist in half.  connect this to the middle of the
'lips'.  Find the mid-point of the two ends, and twist them together,
leaving two long bubbles trailing off.   These will be the 'back' and
'belly' of the fish.  Make a 1" bubble at the *end* of the 'back' bubble,
and bring it back around towards the 'forehead'  make an even triangle with
the 'back' and 'forehead' bubbles, then twist together.  (The remaining
'forehead' bubble becomes the top fin.  Repeat this for the 'chest' and
'belly' of the fish.

To keep the 'fins' in line, a small ear twist (In the first balloon) helps a
lot!  The remaining bubbles should be soft enough to make this work.

For the tail, inflate the 3rd 260 fully, and burp.  Find the middle, and
twist it into the back end of the second balloon.  Make an ear twist in each
of the tail portions to keep the tail in line with the rest of the
sculpture, then put a wave (s-curve) into the tail to give it character.

For the eyes,... make a set of googly-eyes using your favorite method, and
twist them in about half-way up the 'forehead' of the fish.

This looks to be a very 'forgiving' (of mistakes) design that should go over
well.

Chris Jackson
Ft. Collins, CO.