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From: [email protected] (JIS Info Robot) Newsgroups: rec.juggling Subject: rec.juggling Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Date: 1 Sep 2001 00:00:12 -0700 Sender: [email protected] Message-ID: <[email protected]> Reply-To: [email protected] Summary: This posting contains a list of questions (and their answers) 	that are frequently asked on rec.juggling.  Those who intend 	to post to rec.juggling should read this FAQ prior to posting.  Archive-name: juggling-faq Posting-Frequency: monthly Last-modified: 1999/02/01 Version: $Id: FAQ.txt,v 1.33 1999/02/01 07:35:56 barry Exp $  ====================================================================  1. What is the Juggling Information Service?  2. Is there a news to mail gateway for rec.juggling?  3. What is Mills Mess?  How can I do Mills Mess?  4. What is contact juggling?  5. Are there any organizations for jugglers?  6. What do all those funny numbers mean?  7. Are there any books that deal with juggling?  8. How can I learn to juggle five balls?  9. Is there a juggling club that meets near me? 10. Where can I buy juggling props? 11. Where can I learn about the history of juggling? ====================================================================  This is the file recjuggl.faq.  It is meant to answer those questions that are frequently asked on rec.juggling.  These questions and answers are not exhaustive, by any means.  Additions, deletions, corrections, praise, or flames regarding this document may be directed to [email protected]  The latest version of this file is available at:     http://www.juggling.org/FAQ.txt    ftp.juggling.org:/pub/jis/FAQ.txt    mail [email protected]  ====================================================================  1. What is the Juggling Information Service?     The Juggling Information Service, or JIS, is a service available on    the World Wide Web at:             http://www.juggling.org/     The JIS has sections for the following:          What's New         Juggling Help         Jugglers' Home Pages         News and Old News         Picture Gallery         Movie Theater         Juggler's Mall         Festivals         Club Meetings         Magazine Rack         Juggler's World         Juggling in the Media         Juggling Software         Juggling Organizations         Search JIS         About the JIS     It is possible to access the JIS services by WWW, FTP, e-mail, or    Telnet.  For more information on these services and how to use    them, send an e-mail message to [email protected]  2. Is there a news to mail gateway for rec.juggling?     Not at the moment.  The former gateway at PNFI has been shut down.    A replacement is being worked on, but will probably not be available    until about September 1.  3. What is Mills Mess?  How can I do Mills Mess?     Mills Mess is, as George Gillson puts it, a "mind boggling pattern    of circling balls, crossing and uncrossing hands, and unexpected    catches."  It is a very appealing pattern to learn and perform.    You can perform it with three, four, and, for those who are not of    this world, five balls.     On the JIS, move to the 'Juggling Help' section, and you will find    several pertinent titles.          http://www.juggling.org/help/tricks/mills-mess/     There are also titles on two and three ball tricks, bounce    juggling, showering, and tricks with showers, among others.  You    will also find help for clubs, passing, rings, torches, numbers,    siteswaps, essays, and other circus arts.          http://www.juggling.org/help/  4. What is contact juggling?     "Contact" Juggling is the art manipulating balls so that they roll    across, around, and over your body.  In other words, the balls    always remain in contact with your body.  Although the term    "contact juggling" is relatively new, rolling a ball across, around    and over one's body is not.  Paul Cinquevalli, for instance, a    juggler at the turn of the century, performed a routine where he    wore a green felt jacket that had billiard "pockets" sewn onto it.    He would manipulate billiard balls over his body and land them in    the pockets.     Today, Michael Moschen is the preeminent "contact" juggler.  He has    a routine where he manipulates up to four crystal balls in each    hand and gradually lets each ball go until he is manipulating only    one ball.  Mr. Moschen is also known for his work in the movie    Labyrinth where he acted as the hands of David Bowie doing his    crystal ball routine (he did the routine blind and with the aid of    a monitor.  Mr. Moschen was featured on the PBS Series "Great    Performances" in the early 1990's.  This video is entitled "In    Motion with Michael Moschen" and is available from Serious Juggling    and Brian Dube (see vendor information below).  More recently, Mr.    Moschen developed a piece for Cirque de Soleil.  Mr. Steve Ragatz,    rec.juggler, performs in this piece.     James Ernest wrote "Contact Juggling," and thereby coined the term.    (Moschen prefers "Dynamic Manipulation.") Ernest's book remains the    definitive analysis and explanation of contact juggling, and is also    available from Serious Juggling and Brian Dube.  The book is quite    controversial among traditionalists, who maintain that only    Mr. Moschen has the right to perform or write about Dynamic    Manipulation.  Mr.  Moschen himself seems to have been the first    person to make this claim.     Some individuals also claim that the book takes one of Moschen's    routines and describes it movement for movement without giving    proper credit.  Others claim that this is not true.  It is    interesting to note that those who make the first claim are almost    never practitioners of contact juggling, and those who make the    second claim invariably are.     Mr. Moschen created quite a stir in 1992 when he objected to the    publication of a review of this book in Juggler's World after the    IJA had invited Moschen to be the honored guest at the '92 festival    in Montreal.  Moschen at first refused to attend the festival.    After some reconsideration, he did attend and gave a workshop on    creativity.  5. Are there any organizations for jugglers?     Of course.  The International Jugglers' Association (IJA) has nearly    3,000 members in several countries, although most are in the US.    It publishes Juggler's World (an excellent magazine), an annual membership    roster, and hosts a large annual festival, including many shows    and competitions, and more.  The European Juggling Association was    created to host a large annual juggling convention in Europe.  The    New Zealand Juggling Association publishes the Flying Kiwi magazine    and hosts an annual convention.          http://www.juggling.org/orgs/  6. What do all those funny numbers mean?     They are site swaps.     Site swaps are strings of numbers, each number refers to how high a    throw is in relation to others in the pattern.  Even numbers are    thrown to the same hand, odd numbers are thrown across to the other    hand.  The numbers then, tell the right hand what to do, then the    left, the the right, etc.  For example:          3       The three object cascade     The pattern repeats over and over again.  So rather than writing    "...33333..." we just write "3."  Similarly:          4       The 4 object fountain pattern (alternating)         5       The 5 object cascade pattern         5 1     The 3 object non-synchronous shower (1 is a quick                 pass from hand to hand)      At the JIS, move to the 'Juggling Help' section and select the title     Siteswap Notation for more information on site-swaps.          http://www.juggling.org/help/siteswap/         http://www.juggling.org/help/siteswap/faq.html      In addition to the site swap notation, there are a number of     programs that will display site swap patterns for the PC, X     Workstations (Unix), Ascii Terminals (Unix), and the Mac.  Refer     to the directory Software section at the JIS.          http://www.juggling.org/programs/  7. Are there any books that deal with juggling?     Juggling For the Complete Klutz, By John Cassidy.          The quintessential beginners guide.  This book comes with         three bean bags to get you started.  It also covers basic         tricks such as the half shower, behind the back,         two-in-one-hand, four balls, and clubs.  This book comes with         three bean bags and is very cleverly written.  The beef         against this book, though, is that it addresses numbers         juggling (juggling five balls or more) in a rather         discouraging tone.  Beyond four lies madness, it claims     The Complete Juggler, By Dave Finnegan.          Where it lacks in detail, it makes up in volume. _The Complete         Juggler_ is a veritable encyclopedia of tricks for balls,         clubs, boxes, devil sticks, diabolos, and spinning balls.         Beware of its lack of detail in explaining tricks, however.         The text that describes how to juggle 5 clubs says 'bend your         knees' and 'go for it.'  Yeah, right.     Beyond the Cascade, By George Gillson.          The complete guide to three ball juggling patterns.  Even if         you have trouble understanding instructions like 'toes go in         first,' you can probably follow the instructions in this book         and learn Mills Mess, 2-in-1-hand tennis, or Burke's Barrage         (bend your knees and go for it).     At the JIS, move to the 'Juggling in the Media' section.          http://www.juggling.org/media/         http://www.juggling.org/books/         http://www.juggling.org/publications/         http://www.juggling.org/jw/         http://www.juggling.org/papers/  8. How can I learn to juggle five balls?     Probably your best bet for learning five balls is to find a good 5    ball juggler and have her or him teach you.  Also, study good five    ball jugglers when they ply their craft, notice how effortlessly    smooth the pattern is, how high the balls go, how the balls cross.     If you can't find a five ball juggler, you can practice several    tricks that will help you learn five balls.  The first is the three    ball flash.  Out of a three ball cascade, throw all of the balls    into the air, then catch them as them come down and resume your    cascade.  It might be helpful to practice throwing one ball high,    back and forth, so that you can get used to the higher throws that    are necessary for juggling five balls. Another valuable trick is    the three ball chase, or snake.  Start with three balls in either    hand, then throw them to the other hand in a one, two, three    pattern and then catch them in the opposite hand, one, two, three.    Make sure that your throws are consistent and follow each other in    nice high arcs (those of you who've been to St.  Louis can    visualize the Gateway Arch).  Then repeat the pattern, throwing the    balls one, two, three, back to your original hand.  Once your arcs    are solid, you can keep the pattern going. Say you're starting with    your right hand, throw the balls one, two, three, to your left    hand.  Your left hand will catch the first ball, then cascade it    back to your right hand, under ball two.  You will, similarly,    cascade ball two under ball three, and then ball three will be    cascaded back.          http://www.juggling.org/help/numbers/5-balls/         http://www.juggling.org/help/numbers/5-balls/learning.html   9. Is there a juggling club that meets near me?     See the form designed to answer this very question:          http://www.juggling.org/meetings/close.html     The JIS Club Meetings section lists all known juggling meetings    worldwide:          http://www.juggling.org/meetings/         http://www.juggling.org/meetings/Maps/         http://www.juggling.org/meetings/Maps/United_States.html         http://www.juggling.org/meetings/Maps/uk.html         http://www.juggling.org/meetings/Maps/de.html         http://www.juggling.org/meetings/europe.html         http://www.juggling.org/meetings/world.html  10. Where can I buy juggling props?     At the JIS, move to the 'Juggler's Mall' section for information on    all juggling vendors worldwide:          http://www.juggling.org/mall/         http://www.juggling.org/mall/no_amer.html         http://www.juggling.org/mall/unit_ki.html         http://www.juggling.org/mall/germany.html         http://www.juggling.org/mall/europe.html         http://www.juggling.org/mall/world.html     This contains complete contact information for many vendors that    sell a wide variety of juggling props via mail order or e-mail.  11. Where can I learn about the history of juggling?     Use the search tool of the JIS and look for "history".    It will find references in over 400 files, including:     http://www.juggling.org/papers/    http://www.juggling.org/papers/evans/    http://www.juggling.org/papers/hazlitt/    http://www.juggling.org/papers/history-1/    http://www.juggling.org/papers/history-2/    http://www.juggling.org/papers/history-3/    http://www.juggling.org/papers/history-4/    http://www.juggling.org/books/alvarez/    http://www.juggling.org/books/artists/history.html    http://www.juggling.org/fame/    http://www.juggling.org/jw/87/2/