Unicycle articles (but wait there's more...)

See the Dandies The Gym Dandies will perform "The Greatest Kids' Show on
Earth" at 6:30 p.m. tonight and Friday at the Scarborough High School
gymnasium. The group will perform juggling, unicycling and rolling-globe
routines. The event is a fund-raiser for the group's July trip to
Washington, D.C., where members will perform in the National
Independence Day parade. Tickets are $5 for adults, free for children
accompanied by an adult. For more information, visit
www.gymdandies.org.

Best friends Dana Bennett and Brandon Baines are among the senior
members of the Gym Dandies Children's Circus. At 16 and 15 respectively,
they're past the age when most of their peers stopped performing with
the nationally recognized Scarborough group.

Out of about 250 children participating this year, the majority are in
the third, fourth and fifth grades. That's the age when the program,
based at Wentworth Intermediate School and run by Wentworth teacher Jon
Cahill, is introduced to students. Only four members are in high
school.

In the past, said Bennett, Gym Dandies hardly ever stayed on through
middle school. That's not the case anymore. As high school members like
Bennett become more common, younger members realize they don't have to
quit at a certain age. They watch older members serving the group both
as mentors and as skilled performers.

Cahill, who founded the group in 1981, knows he's lucky to retain the
older kids. "I really appreciate their effort and loyalty to the group.
They're really giving back now," he said.

Sixteen-year-old Cassie Kapinos, who has been a member for eight years,
said she finds equal satisfaction in mentoring and performing. "Now that
I'm older, I get more of a connection teaching and volunteering with
younger kids," she said.

Bennett and Baines serve almost as older brothers to some of the younger
members, like 12-year-old Joe Nappi. At a recent practice, they taught
him yo-yo tricks and listened to his long stories, like the one about
how he overslept and was almost left behind during the group's trip to
Canada, where it performed in the Montreal Bike Expo.

Performances like that one, plus the upcoming appearance at the National
Independence Day parade in Washington, D.C., can serve as motivating
factors to remain with the troupe, said Bennett.

And while some of his Scarborough High School classmates are surprised
to learn of his ongoing participation with the mostly younger group,
they're also impressed by his well-developed skills.

"They usually think it's cool and ask me to juggle," he said.

Bennett's claim to fame is his ability to juggle five balls. "I've
worked on six and seven a bit. . . . Most kids can get to four. Anybody
can juggle five; it just takes a little more practice," he said.

That's part of the dilemma faced by older members. As they acquire more
advanced skills, more practice time is needed to hone them.

"Lots of kids who stay in reach a whole new level of skill that requires
more practice," said Cahill. "It requires hundreds of hours of
practice."

At the same time, other extracurricular activities start to vie for
their attention.

Bennett manages to do both - Gym Dandies and other sports. The two "can
interfere with each other, especially now that school sports are
directly after school," he said. During soccer or baseball season, he
finishes one practice, then walks over to the Wentworth cafeteria to
catch the end of his weekly Gym Dandies practice.

"After all these years in the group, I get a little leeway. I enjoy both
of them, and I think Mr. Cahill understands that. He knows it's not
because I don't like Gym Dandies that I show up late."

Cahill is just satisfied that Bennett is part of the group. "I feel a
loss every time a kid drops out," he said.

Baines said his commitment to the group has increased as he's gotten
older. "I see kids coming into it (Gym Dandies), and it encourages me to
do it more, because they look up to me," he said.

They admire him with good reason. Last year, he and Bennett won second
and first place in the Maine yo-yo championships. During group
performances, the two often take the spotlight, performing complicated
routines with juggling pins and six-foot unicycles.

Bennett is ambivalent about being the center of attention. "I honestly
feel like I'm stealing the show from kids that should be having more fun
than me," he said.

Kapinos feels similarly. "It's time to give them a chance. . . . We've
had the spotlight for the last three or four years. It's time for the
others. They're the future of the Gym Dandies. If they don't get
recognized, who knows if they'll stay with it," she said.

With role models like herself, more might.

News Assistant Victoria Gannon can be reached at 791-6309 or at




--
KcTheAcy - Ohh Baby

--Kaycee
http://gallery.unicyclist.com/Kaycees-Unicycle-gallery

http://www.maineunicyclist.2ya.com/
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Copyright Portland Newspapers Jul 5, 2000
Parade watchers in the nation's capital are used to seeing the best acts
the country has to offer during the National Independence Day Parade.

So it was no small compliment that as a group of fifth- and sixth- grade
unicyclists from Scarborough turned onto Constitution Avenue on Tuesday,
the crowd roared with approval.

"It was unbelievable," said Jon Cahill, founder and director of the Gym
Dandies. Crowds along the entire length of the parade continued to give
the 80 unicyclists rousing cheers.

Half of the youngsters were on 6-foot-high models as they paraded along
Constitution Avenue for 50 minutes, from 17th Street to 7th, past the
White House and the Washington Monument, in front of 400,000 people,
photographers and television cameras.

The group, which practices after school once a week at Wentworth
Intermediate School, has been preparing for an entire year, since the
national parade committee called Cahill and invited his group to
perform.

It was the first time a unicycle group participated in the annual
parade, or any other in Washington, D.C., as far as the organizers
know.

The youngsters raised $40,000 to pay their way down. Another 46 parents
came as chaperones, and about 30 more came on their own to watch.

The Gym Dandies' reputation preceded them, and they were stopped all
around town by people who wanted to wish them well. They were wearing
distinctive Gym Dandies T-shirts that let people know who they were.

The kids were on 20-inch models and 6-foot "giraffes." They rode in four
columns, occasionally doing a "ride back" -- a circling back in
formation.

The weather was 88 degrees with a light breeze and sometimes overcast
skies.

"It was very fun," said Kate Thomas, 10, who rode a 20-incher. "It was
exciting to be able to show people what we can do."

"Once you've learned how to ride it, it's not that hard," said Amanda
Brezack, 10, who also rides a 20-inch model. "It's actually quite easy.
The learning part is hard, though."

Mike Hathaway, 12, graduated to a giraffe last year. He's been riding
for four years.

"It was awesome. The crowd cheering, everybody taking pictures of you
and videotaping you and stuff," he said.

Cahill, who has taught physical education at Wentworth for 28 years,
started the Gym Dandies in 1981 as a way to excite students about
physical education. This spring the group won the Governor's Council on
Physical Fitness Award in the youth division for breaking new ground in
physical activity for youth.

There are now more than 200 students in the group.

The group's biggest events before Tuesday's performance included
performances before 1,000 people in Scarborough and at the Maine State
Parade in Lewiston-Auburn.

The Gym Dandies will leave Washington this morning and are expected to
arrive in Scarborough between 10 and 11 p.m. Police will escort the
youngsters from Exit 6 of the Maine Turnpike to Wentworth.

David Connerty-Marin can be contacted at 791-6325 or at:



"It was awesome. The crowd cheering, everybody taking pictures of you
and videotaping you and stuff." -- Mike Hathaway, 12


--
KcTheAcy - Ohh Baby

--Kaycee
http://gallery.unicyclist.com/Kaycees-Unicycle-gallery

http://www.maineunicyclist.2ya.com/
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More desperate metaphors.

*FOLKS ARE DYING TO LEARN TRUTH ABOUT STEROIDS*

David Whitley, Sentinel Columnist
649 words
17 March 2005
Orlando Sentinel
FINAL
D1
English
Copyright 2005, Orlando Sentinel. All Rights Reserved.

It's not often people set their VCRs for C-SPAN3, but you do not want to
miss today's congressional circus.

.....

Send in the clowns.

Jose Canseco will be shaking a seltzer bottle at Mark McGwire. Sammy
Sosa will attempt to ride a unicycle around perjury charges.


--
JJuggle - Organizing a mutiny of preverts

Raphael Lasar
Matawan, NJ

A whole life so lonely
And then you come and ease the pain

The narcotic that forges their union, is a substance known only to one
To the clown it is known as dominion, it’s a secret that he’ll give to
none
The drug which gives the clown power, means the circus can never be
stopped
And his dream can go on unhindered, ’til the last human being has
dropped
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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FOLK TALES: ONE-WHEELED WONDERS: UNICYCLING MORE POPULAR LOCAL COLLEGE
STUDENT DEMONSTRATES HIS SKILLS

Stefanie Scarlett The Journal Gazette
881 words
26 March 2005
Journal Gazette
Final Edition
1D
English
(c) Copyright 2005, Fort Wayne Journal Gazette.

"Where's your other wheel?"

That's the usual tired question that unicyclists get from an uninformed
public who thinks it's being funny.

The best answer, according to www.uni cycle.com, is: "Real men (or
women) don't need two wheels."

Unicycle enthusiast John Drummond, president of unicycle.com, loves to
get his revenge by pedaling over to people on bicycles and asking, "Hey
is that thing hard to ride?"

Having a sense of humor is a requisite for taking up the sport.

While unicyclists probably won't take over the world anytime soon, there
are growing numbers who share this singular passion.

One of them is Luke Schutt of Fort Wayne, a freshman at Taylor
University, Fort Wayne.

Luke, 20, has been unicycling since last summer, when he got tired of
walking the mile from home to school.

Yes, he owns a bicycle, but that "takes too long" to prepare for riding,
for some reason.

He bought his first unicycle, a 20-inch freestyle wheel, on eBay last
year because "it was different, and it looked fun."

Different, it is.

Just getting on the unicycle (an ike?) is difficult enough, let alone
riding it.

Experts suggest practicing this first step on a deck or anywhere near a
fence or railing where there is something to hang on to. Mastering the
art of side-to-side balance isn't too difficult; it's the
forward-and-backward balancing act that gets tricky and can require a
great deal of arm-flailing.

"I liken it to breaking a horse, it wants to shoot out from under you,"
Drummond says. It takes about 10 to 15 hours of practice for most
beginners to get the hang of riding a one-wheeler.

Luke spent a month practicing in his basement before "I could ride more
than 20 feet. Well, more than 10 feet," he corrects himself. He's fallen
off a few times since then, but usually lands on his feet, although "not
necessarily gracefully," he says with a grin. "I wouldn't say I've
mastered it yet."

He demonstrates by riding around the Taylor campus.

His arms are held out only slightly, except when negotiating a turn,
which requires more balancing action.

His longest journey so far is about three miles at Foster Park, until he
was stopped in his tracks by the mud.

But he vows to learn to master it, on his new 24-inch mountain tire,
just like he did with the snow this winter.

On pavement, in good weather conditions, he estimates he gets a speed of
7 to 10 mph, much slower than a bicycle.

But it's not really about the need for speed; it's about what you can
do.

The Unicycling Society of America lists 10 skill levels, each with
several requirements.

It's a hobby that mostly was associated with circuses and juggling -
there are at least 30 unicyclists in Indiana, according to an unofficial
roster at unicycle.com. Some of them are affiliated with the Peru circus
and some are members of the Purdue University Unicycling & Juggling
Club.

But that trend started to change about seven years ago, when some guy
took a uni off-road.

Since then, that sub-group has multiplied and the bigger mountain tires
are selling like hotcakes.

Drummond is headed to a competition this month, which has 130 riders
registered.

BMXers beware. The uni-xers are hot on your trail.

The convention includes a bunch of competitive races: coasting, riding
backward, one-foot racing and wheel-walking.

And there are the extreme freestyle tricks, which is like "ballet on a
unicycle," Drummond says.

Here are some other games that uni-riders like to play: basketball,
hockey, jousting (yes, with poles), tag and something called "sheep and
wolves," where players "gang up on the good rider."

All of which raises the obvious question - are these people nuts?

Well, one group of Calgary off-road unicyclists is named, appropriately
enough, the "Unipsychos."

But Drummond insists unicyclists are perfectly normal people who don't
necessarily harbor a death wish.

Off-road riders and tricksters always wear helmets and wrist guards.

Plus, you're usually not going that fast, he says, and you're not
falling that far.

Most of the time, you'll land on your feet, so serious injuries are
rare.

Luke is hoping to add new tricks to his repertoire as well.

So far, he can ride up a curb (it's a lot harder than it sounds) and do
a hop or two.

He recently perfected the free mount, or getting on the unicycle without
hanging onto anything.

He might find himself teaching, in addition to learning.

Several students on campus have told Luke they want to learn how to
ride.

And another hockey playing, jousting tag team is born.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

'Link' (http://tinyurl.com/5vcng) to article with picture.


--
JJuggle - Organizing a mutiny of preverts

Raphael Lasar
Matawan, NJ

i've worked so hard, don't you understand,
making maple syrup for the pancakes of our land.
do you have any idea what that can do to a man?

--------------------------------------------------------

the narcotic that forges their union, is a substance known only to one
to the clown it is known as dominion, it’s a secret that he’ll give to
none
the drug which gives the clown power, means the circus can never be
stopped
and his dream can go on unhindered, ’til the last human being has
dropped

------------------------------------------------------------------------
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I add this because it contains a bit of anonymous history the details of
which will probably never be known.

MUSICIAN FROM VALLEY HITS NOTE IN; NAVY BAND VERSATILE TURLOCK HIGH GRAD
HAS ROOTS IN BLUEGRASS.

Michael Doyle BEE WASHINGTON BUREAU
1,021 words
27 March 2005
The Fresno Bee
FINAL
B1
English
Copyright 2005. The Fresno Bee. All Rights Reserved.

WASHINGTON

Frank Solivan II serves his country some hot licks.

The Turlock High School graduate cradles his mandolin and makes it yelp.
He straps on his Fender Stratocaster and rips into country swing. He
picks up the fiddle; he hits that high and lonesome sound.

In a word, the 28-year-old former high school cellist is versatile.

Enough so that he usually concludes a show with "Anchors Aweigh,"
perhaps the least likely bluegrass tune of all time.

Except, of course, for an official band of the U.S. sea service, in
which Solivan has found a noteworthy outlet for his native passion.

"I tell you what," confided Solivan, "I've got one of the eight best
jobs in the Navy."

The others, for the record, are held by Solivan's bandmates in Country
Current. The seven-member bluegrass and country group, and its audio
engineer, make up part of the overall U.S. Navy Band.

They're all military, but they're not what springs to attention given
the phrase "military music."

On a recent weekday morning, Country Current was picking through its
paces in a nondescript trailer at the Anacostia Naval Station. The band
is actually two-in-one. There is a seven-man country configuration; when
the drummer and pedal steel guitar player leave, Country Current becomes
a straight-ahead bluegrass unit.

The band selected Solivan about two years ago, adding his
guitar/mandolin/fiddle and songwriting skills to a famously long-lasting
ensemble.

"We were looking for a guitar player," said Master Chief Musician Wayne
Taylor, a University of the Pacific graduate and 18-year veteran of
Country Current. "The rest was icing on the cake."

Inside the crowded trailer, wires snaking underfoot, the musicians face
each other in a circle. They are in uniform, black shoes polished. Over
Solivan's left breast is the scarlet-and-yellow National Defense Service
Medal ribbon. Country Current's members all hold at least the equivalent
rank of petty officer first class -- Solivan's rating is musician first
class -- and they all have endured Navy boot camp. Several have served
in the fleet. Still, eyes closed, they sound like any good-timing
civilian band.

"Hang on a second," one musician says, realigning a guitar string.

"Time's up," Solivan says, one second later.

They dash into an Alan Jackson tune, "Don't Rock the Jukebox." When
they're done, they break the song apart and tinker.

They try again. Satisfied, they move on to what sounds like an
electrified "Foggy Mountain Breakdown." They're a tight outfit; they can
turn square corners.

"There are times when you need to have your martial bearing, for sure,"
Solivan said, "but we also all like to joke around and have a good
time."

After about 90 minutes, Solivan puts down his electric guitar and picks
up his mandolin. The musicians, now reduced to five, pull into a tighter
circle. They try out a new vocal arrangement.

"It sounds like ABBA," Chief Musician Keith Arneson says; the banjo
player sounds dubious about 1970s-era Swedish pop groups.

As an organization, the Navy Band also includes a choral group, a rock
group, a jazz band and a concert orchestra. All are rooted in
legislation signed by President Calvin Coolidge in 1925, designating the
first official U.S. Navy Band.

Since then the proliferating groups have incited both praise and the
occasional off-handed gibe. During mid-1990s debate over federal arts
funding, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and other lawmakers repeatedly
stated that Pentagon spending on military bands exceeded the $136
million spent annually on the National Endowment for the Arts.
Environmentalists have deployed a similar comparison -- with its hint of
misplaced priorities -- in complaining about insufficient spending on
solar power.

More typically, though, the uniformed bands invite a pronounced loyalty
that is accentuated in wartime. Playing "Anchors Aweigh" at a concert's
end, Solivan said, will invariably get the audience up and cheering. The
old salts love it.

For Solivan, raised amid other performers, it's spelled "heaven."

HIS FATHER, FRANK, PUT BREAD ON THE TABLE BY WORKING AS A CARPENTER AND
ROOFING CONTRACTOR. HE PUT A SMILE ON HIS FACE BY PLAYING BLUEGRASS;
FRANK SOLIVAN, THE SENIOR, IS STILL ACTIVE AS \"AMBASSADOR AT LARGE\"
FOR THE CALIFORNIA BLUEGRASS ASSOCIATION. SOLIVAN'S GRANDMOTHER, TOO,
TROD THE STAGE IN HER DAY.

\"SHE WOULD RIDE A UNICYCLE AND PLAY THE MANDOLIN,\" SOLIVAN SAID.

Solivan played violin, viola and cello in the Turlock High orchestra. No
unicycle, though. By the time he was 13, he was playing fiddle in local
bluegrass festivals.

Solivan's father provided another kind of career direction as well. He
brought his teenage son to work atop steaming hot roofs on summer days.
That helped focus Solivan's own aspirations.

"I was not going to do this roofing b.s. for the rest of my life,"
Solivan recalled vowing.

He ventured off to Alaska after high school, where he handled a
jackhammer and worked in a warehouse. He was up late playing music, and
up early driving a school bus. He won the Alaska state fiddling
championship four times. When he heard of a Country Current opening, he
studied hard, auditioned several times and won the part. Then the real
work began, as he had to learn about 200 songs.

The pay is decent but not spectacular; a petty officer first class with
two years of service makes about $45,000 a year. It also offers some
unique benefits.

Like others on the bluegrass circuit, Country Current frequents the
annual Grass Valley Bluegrass Festival. Unlike others, it's playing next
month at the annual "Blessing of the Fleet" at the U.S. Navy Memorial in
downtown Washington.


--
JJuggle - Organizing a mutiny of preverts

Raphael Lasar
Matawan, NJ

not content merely to be insane,
he's an idiot as well.

--------------------------------------------------------

the narcotic that forges their union, is a substance known only to one
to the clown it is known as dominion, it’s a secret that he’ll give to
none
the drug which gives the clown power, means the circus can never be
stopped
and his dream can go on unhindered, ’til the last human being has
dropped

------------------------------------------------------------------------
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'Enthusiasts take the one-wheeler to class' (http://tinyurl.com/67c3r)

The Daily Pennsylvanian

By jennie wissner
March 25, 2005

On a typical afternoon, Locust Walk is filled with students walking,
running and stumbling to class. Groups cluster together to chat, and
bikes roll by here and there.

But every now and then, one of Penn's semi-famous unicyclers weaves his
way through the crowd.

One prominent Penn unicycler is College freshman Joe Graff, who has been
riding the single wheel for almost three years.

Graff has walked to class a grand total of one time the entire year.
According to him, unicycling is faster and much more fun than walking.

College junior Emmanuel Ergas, a unicycler since January, rides to
campus for practice, although he doesn't ride every day. He's taken a
week and a half hiatus from unicycling because he twisted his ankle
riding down a set of stairs. But that's not going to stop him.

"Once I get back on, I'm going to try to ride as much as before and do
even more crazy things," he said.

Nursing freshman Amber Oberholzer is perhaps the only female unicycler
known to Penn. She and Engineering freshman Mark Fickett learned to ride
together this September.

Fickett said he occasionally rides his unicycle to class and always
rides it on his way to his a cappella group or for longer distance
trips, such as to the train station.

But to the three males, a unicycle is more than just a unique form of
transportation. It's also a vehicle they use to perform impressive
tricks.

All three know how to ride down stairs. Fickett said that he's jumped
from the wall that lines Perelman Quadrangle down to the ground, and
Graff said that his favorite unicycle pastime is riding on difficult
mountain terrain.

Whether on their way to class or cascading down the stairs of Van Pelt,
they've all received their fair share of attention.

"Sometimes you'll get the 'Hey buddy, you're missing a wheel on your
bike,' and then there's the people who give you the encouraging 'That's
hardcore!'" Ergas said.

Graff said he's been asked "shouldn't you be in the circus?"

Numerous onlookers have also asked them for permission to take a spin on
their unicycles. Of course, the curious first-timers fall right off.

Aside from fun, Graff said that unicycles have their practical purposes,
too. He added that they are a lot less expensive than bikes and much
easier to maintain.

Also, Graff never has to worry about a stolen unicycle. Although he
doesn't expect any theft, he has a plan.

He said that he'd chase after the thief, but "if [someone] can steal it
in front of me and ride away faster than I can catch them, then they
deserve to keep it."

Wharton senior Selim Aykut, who has seen a unicycler on Locust Walk
before on his way to class, said that he thinks "it's kind of
eccentric."

Engineering sophomore Jeff Benshelter has yet to spot a one. However, he
said that unicycling on campus "is unique. ... It's a hard talent in
itself, and to do it on a daily basis is interesting."

So what does it take to be a unicycler?

"It just takes perseverance," Graff said. "People think they don't have
the balance for it, but no one does when they start." According to
Graff, it just takes practice.

"I just recommend it to everyone," Ergas said. "All you need is the
determination to be awesome."


--
JJuggle - Organizing a mutiny of preverts

Raphael Lasar
Matawan, NJ

not content merely to be insane,
he's an idiot as well.

--------------------------------------------------------

the narcotic that forges their union, is a substance known only to one
to the clown it is known as dominion, it’s a secret that he’ll give to
none
the drug which gives the clown power, means the circus can never be
stopped
and his dream can go on unhindered, ’til the last human being has
dropped

------------------------------------------------------------------------
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SNAPSHOTS; DAD, DAUGHTER ARE HAPPY TO SPIN THROUGH LIFE ON ONE WHEEL

CROCKER STEPHENSON
647 words
5 April 2005
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Final
02
English
Copyright (c) 2005 Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All
rights reserved.

Ali Leinbach is in the fourth grade and lives six or seven blocks from
Richards Elementary in Whitefish Bay; the school isn't very far, but
most days, Ali's dad, Ken, gives her a ride.

Not all the way, however. Ken prefers to drop Ali off about a block from
the school. He does this because he doesn't want to call a lot of
attention to Ali or to himself.

The reason he and Ali might attract a lot of attention is that Ken takes
Ali to school on a unicycle. Apparently, a pillar of dad and daughter
perched on a single wheel is the sort of thing that attracts notice in
Whitefish Bay.

Starting at the ground, there is the unicycle, a blue Schwinn with a
24-inch-wheel and a blue tire. The seat is worn to the point that its
stuffing is poking out. The frame is scraped, but Ken says that's just
because it's old. Walking, he says, is more precarious than riding a
unicycle.

Then there is Ken, who measures 6 feet 1 when he's standing. He's
something short of that on the unicycle, but still, he's lean and
angular and, frankly, kind of tippy-looking.

Then, seated on his shoulders, is Ali, who's about 4 feet 6. On school
days, Ali always has a pink backpack, filled with books and things,
hanging from her shoulders. Sometimes, in one hand, she'll have her
viola. Sometimes, in her other hand, a package. She appears as
comfortable on Ken's shoulders as she does seated on the couch in her
living room.

Ali has been riding Ken around for years, and they've never fallen.
Nonetheless, Ali always wears a helmet and wishes her dad would wear
one, too.

Ken, who is the executive director of the Urban Ecology Center, owns
four unicycles. One is a 6-footer, which he rides in parades. The other
is a child-sized 3-footer, which Ken would have used to teach his kids
how to use if either Ali or 13-year-old Micah were the least bit
interested.

The two other unicycles are standard-size, which is about 4 feet. He
keeps one at home, the other at work. Ken rides a bicycle or takes a bus
to work and uses the unicycle for noon-hour errands.

Ken has been riding unicycles since he was in third grade, and he's
never had one stolen. What is amazing about this is that Ken never locks
his unicycle. Even when he lived in Chicago, he didn't lock it. He's
come out of stores or restaurants and found people playing with his
unicycle, but no one's ever snatched it. He's not sure why.

The thing kids most often say to Ken when they see him on his unicycle
is, "Pop a wheelie!" Adults say, "When are you going to get another
wheel?" or they shout, "Hey! You lost a wheel!"

Ken says that one of the nice things about being on a unicycle is that
people feel free to interact with him. People meet his eyes. They return
his smile. When he lived in Chicago, where he used to work at the Field
Museum, he thought he had never lived in a more depressing place. Then
he started commuting to the Field on a unicycle, and the whole city
seemed to brighten.

It's a brighter world that Ali sees, seated on her father's shoulders.


--
JJuggle - My yin ate my yang.

Raphael Lasar
Matawan, NJ

the narcotic that forges their union, is a substance known only to one
to the clown it is known as dominion, it’s a secret that he’ll give to
none
the drug which gives the clown power, means the circus can never be
stopped
and his dream can go on unhindered, ’til the last human being has
dropped

------------------------------------------------------------------------
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UNICYCLING PUTS WHEEL TO WORK

John Meyer Denver Post Staff Writer
1,029 words
5 April 2005
Denver Post
Final
D.14
English
Copyright (c) 2005 Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All
rights reserved.

Moab - An intimidating sign greets thrill-

seeking mountain bikers when they arrive at the world famous Slickrock
Trail overlooking Moab in the red rock canyon country of southeastern
Utah. The basic message: If you ride here, you could die here.

'Injuries are fairly common,' the sign warns. 'Unfortunately some of
them have been quite serious.'

Despite the dangers that lurk on Slickrock's steep and often bumpy
descents, 160 adventurous unicyclists swarmed over its pitted, pink
sandstone Saturday to socialize, show off and shame the two- wheelers of
Moab with the bold proposition that one wheel is plenty.

Typical greeting from a mountain unicyclist to a mountain biker: What's
up with the extra wheel?

The occasion was the sixth annual Moab MUni Fest, MUni being shorthand
for mountain unicycle.

'It's a legend within mountain unicycling,' said Lars Lottrup, who came
from Denmark. 'The scenery is so great.'

Mountain unicycles have wider tires than street models, and some are
equipped with hand brakes. Most riders in the MUni Fest, a three- day
affair, were adept at descents that would make many mountain bikers
quake with fear.

'Unicycling is about balance, and balance is always challenging,'
Lottrup said. 'You have to look ahead and fight for your balance. You
have to fight your fear as well.'

Melissa Hansen, a 17-year-old from Lindon, Utah, loves mountain
unicycling for the 'adrenaline rush.' She can 'wheel walk,' a neat trick
that means providing propulsion with the feet applied directly to the
tire instead of the pedals. Her father, Guy, shocked the crowd by riding
one Slickrock descent backward.

'It's just a great sport,' said Guy Hansen, 51. 'It keeps me in shape,
and it's just a thrill every time you ride.'

The sport tends to attract individualists and technical thinkers. Many
are engineers. Jim Roberts, a research chemist for NOAA in Boulder,
started riding unicycles when he was 11 but left the sport for 25 years
because it 'wasn't cool' when he got to high school.

'Then my parents said, 'We still have your unicycle in the garage, why
don't you tell us we can get rid of it or take it with you,' so I took
it with me,' the 6-foot-4 Roberts said.

Three years ago, he heard about mountain unicycling and was intrigued by
the hopping tricks mountain unicyclists do on natural obstacles such as
boulders and ledges, giving their sport a kinship with skateboarding.

'I couldn't imagine even jumping up a curb,' Roberts said. 'I checked it
out and I thought, 'That's incredible, I can't see how he does that.'
The second thought was, 'Gee, I have to try that.' So I did, and the
rest is history.'

Roberts says unicycling offers a good physical workout, especially for
core muscles, but he especially loves the technical challenges.

'You're always on the edge of falling off,' Roberts said. 'In fact, in
order to go forward, you have to lean forward and unbalance yourself.
There's always a tension between control and movement. You're always
playing with that. Almost every time I go out, I find something I didn't
think I could do that I do.'

On Friday, many of the MUni Fest riders tackled the Moab Rim Trail,
which involved a long, steep climb to a ridge overlooking the Bohemian
adventure destination of Moab. Most hiked uphill with their unis, and
many hiked down its steep, rubble-

strewn sections rather than tempt fate. Especially careful was John
Payne, 60, whose motto was, 'I can hike anything they can ride.'

'I made it to 60,' said Payne, who lives in San Marcos, Texas, 'and I
intend to keep on going.'

Payne, a former FBI agent, got involved in unicycling when he lived in
Minneapolis, a hotbed for the sport.

'You don't get an immediate positive feedback when you start,' Payne
said. 'The first thing that enters your mind is, 'This is impossible.
I'll never do this.' But there are some of us who just figure, 'Well, if
it's impossible, I guess I'll just have to learn how.' These guys like a
challenge.'

Mountain unicycling legend Kris Holm of Vancouver, British Columbia,
thrilled the gathering on Slickrock with his tricks, which included a
pedal grab: bouncing and hopping the uni high enough to catch a pedal on
a boulder, balancing that hanging stance and then hopping again to land
the tire on the rock.

Holm, 31, got interested in the sport when he saw a street performer
playing a violin while riding a unicycle. Since Holm played the violin,
he thought he'd try the unicycle. That was 19 years ago. Now he has his
own line of mountain unicycles.

'It's a sport for people who don't mind a challenge and don't mind not
getting something at first,' said Holm, a geologist for an engineering
company. 'People who do technical things realize nothing worthwhile do
you get first try. It always takes work. If it didn't take work, it
would be boring. Unicycles have a threshold in the beginning. They
demand determination. You've got to be the sort of person where you can
get on, fall off, get on, fall off. Pretty soon you're riding, and
you're wondering how you didn't know how to do it before.'

Holm is an inspiration for many, including Ben Plotkin-Swing of Boston,
who said it took him six months to learn how to do a pedal grab.
Plotkin-Swing isn't sure where he's going to college next year, but he
probably will be a math major. He likes mountain unicycling because it's
different.

'You're not going to see lots of people doing it,' Plotkin-Swing said.
'It fits how I think about things. It's not a super-fast sport, it's
more about planning, figuring out the best way to do things and working
on it.'


--
JJuggle - My yin ate my yang.

Raphael Lasar
Matawan, NJ

the narcotic that forges their union, is a substance known only to one
to the clown it is known as dominion, it’s a secret that he’ll give to
none
the drug which gives the clown power, means the circus can never be
stopped
and his dream can go on unhindered, ’til the last human being has
dropped

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JJuggle wrote:
*[b] When he lived in Chicago, where he used to work at the Field
Museum, he thought he had never lived in a more depressing place. Then
he started commuting to the Field on a unicycle, and the whole city
seemed to brighten.
*
I went to school in Chicago for a while, and outside of business hours,
it is a stark, bleak, cold place. NYC is totally different.


--
U-Turn - As long as my feet keep movin'...

Weep in the dojo... laugh on the battlefield.
'LiveWire Unicycles' (http://www.livewireunicycles.com)
'Strongest Coker Wheel in the World'
(http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/albup39)
'29er Tire Study' (http://u-turn.unicyclist.com/29erTireStudy/)
'New York Unicycle Club' (http://www.newyorkunicycle.com)
-- Dave Stockton
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I grew up in the East Village although we called it the Lower East Side
then. I love the East Village.

I do think some of the actors could have suffered for their art and
learned to ride.

PHILOSOPHER IN THE EAST VILLAGE

GARY SHAPIRO
1,107 words
12 April 2005
The New York Sun
English
Copyright 2005 The New York Sun, One SL, LLC. All rights reserved.

MIRROR, MIRROR A drama in the East Village involving sexual ambiguity is
not in itself newsworthy; in fact, it would make news if there were not
plays in the Village on this subject. But "Narcisse," which ended a
brief stint Sunday at the Theater for the New City, is noteworthy as the
American premiere of a work by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the Enlightenment
philosopher.

As a philosopher, Rousseau, along with John Locke, profoundly influenced
democratic political theory. Outside of philosophy, Rousseau is
remembered for a dramatic life that included running away as a teenager,
leaving his children in a foundling hospital, quarreling with Diderot
and Hume, and writing in various forms, operatic and novelistic.

Written while Rousseau was only 18, this play centers on a love story
between Narcisse and Angelique, whose marriage plans are interrupted by
Narcisse's love for a portrait of a woman, which is actually an image of
himself.

The portrait is portrayed by Carolyn Tunney, who wears a wig as large as
ram's horns and a costume that resembles a large corset. *In the show,
unicycles are brought (but not ridden) on stage, a symbol of people
trapped in solitary self-love, unable to travel on the two axles.* A
secondary love story, between Lucinda and Leander, hovers in the
background.

The ending is made as insincere and implausible as possible, so that the
play appears to show that narcissism is not overcome.


--
JJuggle - Charlie! They took my thumb!

Raphael Lasar
Matawan, NJ

the narcotic that forges their union, is a substance known only to one
to the clown it is known as dominion, it’s a secret that he’ll give to
none
the drug which gives the clown power, means the circus can never be
stopped
and his dream can go on unhindered, ’til the last human being has
dropped

------------------------------------------------------------------------
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