Home made juggling balls

L. and I have been learning the basic 6-ball / 2 people passing routine. I didn’t have any juggling balls on hand to practice when I had a free afternoon, so she made some juggling balls for me. This youtube reference video was used http://youtu.be/tdLB1WwKsfw

The process is documented below. We used a scale just to ensure all three balls were around the same weight. The straw method for filling rice (from video) was too slow so I just folded a brochure on hand into a sieve.

Don’t they look like clementines/mandarin oranges? awesome!

Bryant park jugglers at Summer streets link share

To all friends / family who have gone juggling with me in Bryant park (and also those who haven't yet), I wanted to share a video of the group's performance at NYC summer streets recently.

http://youtu.be/HanCOPlM-v0

Two years ago when I walked on Park Ave as part of NYC summer streets, I thought bryant park jugglers group would be a great addition to the official program, and worked with the organizer(s) in subsequent years to get them on the official calendar. I didn't make it to the debut show but will definitely show my support on Aug 16 when they have another show/workshop.

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/summerstreets/html/route/activities.shtml

Happy juggling to all the jugglers (may the video provide additional motivation and inspiration) and hope everyone will take up my invite to go to a future juggling session (after all, two years ago i was also a novice, and the basic three ball juggle is definitely a learnable skill).

To find a future juggling session (free instructions, all equipment provided) in Bryant Park, check the calendar here: 

http://www.bryantpark.org/plan-your-visit/juggling.html

My previous post about the group here:

http://azuleteats.blogspot.com/2012/08/juggling-and-summer.html

Run, Sketch, Juggle

"Run, sketch, juggle" is not the title of my next book nor a catchy name for a new triathlon race. Simply a list of my recent activities: my first 5k run, a sketching session, and my experience at the juggling festival. Replace "run" with another activity "fold" (referring to origami) and I may just be closer to my bio.

Run (Central Park)

June 5, 2014. Central Park. 3.3 miles. 44 min. Official Site.

Notes:

• Gorgeous Weather
• Team
• Shuttle
• Inspiration
• Charity benefits Central Park Conservancy (website)
• Practice runs / apps used
• T-shirt contest and various t-shirts 
• T shirt tag and times (see how this technology works)
• Midway high five from a child
• Mile markers
• Water stations
• Participant vs observer - feels better to be a runner, not a bystander
• Finishing line and cheer
• Meeting people
• Running and walking with landmarks (downhill, lamp posts, signs, etc)
• The lake
• Free finisher t-shirt
• Celebration afterwards
• Bar with top floor
• Beer and bites
• Goals for next year - run more, walk less, and improve time. Ask more colleagues to join

Resources:

• NY Road Runners NYRR (race schedules, classes, training tips, etc)
• Central Park running routes map
• Running Routes from Forbes and Time Out
• Kinetic App (info) used for my practice runs
• "What I talk about when I talk about running" by Haruki Murakami 

Sketch (Brooklyn Promenade / Brooklyn Bridge Park)

The Brooklyn Promanade offers breathtaking views of downtown skyline and tons of benches available for reading, relaxing, and of course... sketching! I have to give a shout out to the central park sketching & art meetup group for introducing me to this gem. Event photos are also posted on their site if you are curious. If you are in the NYC area, look up their event, RSVP, then bring a pad and pencil and start sketching! I enjoy looking at different people's renditions and composition of the skyline and Brooklyn Bridge.

Hello Downtown!

Brooklyn Bridge

Governor's Island via Brooklyn

If you are in Brooklyn and heading to Governor's Island, look for the ferry from Pier 6 (west end of Atlantic Ave). I saw this mural along the way. 

Mural called "Moving Along"

When I arrived on Governor's Island, I found out that Figment Art was happening the same weekend. Very creative and interactive art. Their mini-golf every year is also superb. 

Chalk art giraffe on Governor's Island

Plastic cup sculpture

More info about the sculpture 'City of Dreams Pavilion'.  

Juggle with JuggleThisNYC

I managed to convince two friends to come with me to the juggling festival this past weekend and we all learned basic diabolo from a workshop taught by Robin Hu. Got some tips on passing balls from Jeff (shout out to Bryant Park Jugglers) but we still have a long way to go. Need to get more practice and mark calendar for next year!

Diabolo notes

1. get started, roll diabolo on ground to pick up energy. direction is horizontal line from dominant hand side towards non-dominant hand
2. keep diabolo stable by pointing stick in dominant hand forward or backwards. also keep one side of diabolo in front of body at all times. can walk to adjust position in addition to moving the sticks
3. to launch diabolo, quickly straighten the line by opening up distance between arms/sticks
4. to catch diabolo, raise dominant hand, catch it on the way down. diabolo should slide from near top of string
5. one hand trick involves putting both sticks in one hand, and using one hand to launch the diabolo and then catching it with strings doubled.

Juggling resources

• Check this first http://jugglenyc.com/
• Bryant Park juggling calendar (free lessons and equipment)
• Juggling Festival NYC "JuggleThisNYC"
• Diabolo videos by Robin Hu 
• Diabolo brands as recommended by Robin: Sundia and Taibolo

NYC Welcome Corner

I love bookstores with their themed tables, display corners, and books with handwritten “recommended by staff” notes. I also enjoy well-curated tourist info booths, B&Bs, and coffee shops with guest books. When I started to organize things around the apt today, I thought it would be fun to construct my own welcome corner for visitors and friends. Detailed descriptions after the jump.

Juggling and Summer

Before the start of this summer, I joined a juggling group in Bryant Park. If practice made perfect, why not gain a skill or awesome “hidden talent” this summer? I made a point to block out an hour every week to join the fun and told everyone I know (friends, colleagues, random strangers) about this group to keep myself motivated.

While I didn’t keep count of how many sessions I attended (more than 5 but fewer than 10), I realize it is getting close to end of summer season and I have indeed gained insight into this seemingly difficult yet fascinating activity.

The best part is always meeting people. A. and J. are both extremely patient and friendly instructors. Before the end of summer I hope to buy them a round of drinks for the countless number of one-on-one coaching sessions and endless encouragement (I still don’t know how they put up with me).

Some lessons / observations / comments:

• smile!
• go barefoot
• invite spectators to become participants
• give midtown recommendations to visitors
• free yourself from the smartphone madness
• meet people and have fun

Two ideas for the group (if A. or J. is reading?):

• end of summer variety of all newly minted jugglers (with music!) I suppose this may take some coordination/practice/promotion
• featuring “meet the juggler” bio (no photos necessary) once a week where we ask a lucky participant a few q’s (i.e. what’s their favorite NY spot and how did they get into juggling and what do they do when they’re not juggling).

Check the Bryant Park Jugglers Blog:
http://bryantparkjuggling.blogspot.com/
and
Bryant Park Jugglers Twitter: BPJugglers