The Jolly Blogger...I mean Rodger

Ok, the Jolly Rodger is now complete. Check it:

Complete with skulls on the inside and out, silver and black sparkle tape and white electrical tape, this is my favorite hoop.



Want to see the shoulder spin?



That’s right, I got mad skillz.


Pow!


Alright, I know this has been pretty boring lately. Sorry.
I was going to blog about some recent crap on t.v., but it just fell flat. Hmm..what else can I tell you?
Oh, this weekend Danny, Lee, and their girlfriends made it up to Austin. Danny and Dale recorded a new song…I think it’s called Broken Spoke. Danny recorded his lyrics in record time due to the fact that he was semi-sober and he actually rehearsed on the way to Austin. Oh and get this…. the song is not dirty! Can you believe that? Well, he does drop the F-bomb once in a while but there are no sexual references what so ever.

Dale wants to have Colin over to the house to practice and record some black keys songs. I’ll provide the vocals, Colin on drums, and Dale on the guitar. The talented vocalist/guitar player of the Black Keys is a dude prompting Colin to call our little experiment The Pink Keys. OOoooooh that Colin!

Dale swears that he is serious about starting a Black Keys tribute band, but I think that is just the crazy talking seeing as how he hates tribute bands.

That’s all for now.

Blog to the blog a bang a bang boogie to the blig to the blog said up jumps a bloggie!

Juan and Reyna get in the groove

If you think that my blog is continually going to be about my new hooping obsession, you are correct. You have to understand that this is pretty much all I am doing right now. I do have some other blog ideas floating about in my mind, but I have to post these pics. Don’t be jealous…soon I will have pictures of you swinging a hoop around your waist.


Reyna and Juan stopped by a few weeks ago to make their very own hoops.

Here is Juan’s:

He is not sure what to call it, yet. Although it is green and white, it is not an homage to the Celtics. I think he is tossing around the name “Mean Green.”

And here is Reyna making her hoop:

Juan insists on calling it, “The Hooptie.” I am not sure if Reyna is on board with that name.

We cranked the music, I think it was Wolfmother that night, and began spinning.

Juan digs Wolfmother.


Reyna throws down some multiple hoop action.

I get crazy with the camera angles:




Dale hoists multiple hoops

That may be the best picture on this post

He spins


I just finished making my newest, and favorite, hoop, “The Jolly Rodger.” You won’t be able to handle how awesome it is. I made “Spinderella” the other day and have let Rachel borrow it to practice her skills before we make her a hoop of her very own.

Remember my “hoop dream” party idea? Well, I pitched it to Larry and he is not as excited about it as I am. I told him that we would make him a UT hoop to try and sweeten the deal but I don’t think it got me anywhere. We did have a mini hoop party the other day, at his house, and he did not complain so maybe he won’t mind if/when we do it again…but with more hoops.

If you think you may be interested in a hoop, you should go to this site and see if you want some specialty tape. Just look down the list and click on "hula hoop tape" to see what they have to offer.
http://www.identi-tape.com/
Otherwise, you can buy different colors of electrical tape at Lowe's or Home Depot. Colored duct tape bunches up so I would avoid it if I were you.

fin

Cooper has a lazy eye.

It’s only noticeable when he is looking to the left, like so:


I remember viewing a picture of him before we got him. It was sent in an e-mail telling his story about how his mom had been abandoned on some country road. A wonderful, kind hearted couple saved her and shortly thereafter, she had a litter of five. Cooper was the last remaining puppy and we are so happy that we got him. However, there was a moment of slight hesitation to “adopt” him because he seemed to have a bit of a wonky eye:

It’s barely noticeable, but I could see it.

I told Dale that I was concerned about this eye because it might be a clue that his mental abilities were a bit “slow.” I had read that sometimes mutational gene breeding processes, practiced by awful breeders, are performed to obtain certain coloring and patterns. This process can lead to offspring that are deaf, blind, and lord knows what else. (I later found out that this was not the case when it came to Cooper’s coloring/coat). That and the fact that he was the last one to be picked was cause for concern. It turns out that he was the favorite of the couple that had rescued his mom. They called him “Mr. Brown,” a name I would have kept if I did not already know a human named “Mr. Brown.”

Also, he is not “slow.” He is very smart as a matter of fact. He sits on command, plays fetch, responds correctly to several words, and is learning lay down and shake hands on command.


He also likes to bite people’s toes, so watch out.

“Hey, Dad…why don’t you lower your foot just a little. I just want to get a closer look at your toes to make sure you don’t have any ingrown toenails….that’s all….”


“That’s it…just a little lower”


“I got you, sucka!”


CHOMP



In other news:
I can now make the hula hoop spin around my shoulder. That’s right, you read that correctly…AROUND MY SHOULDER! It’s a cool trick.

Dale is also mastering certain hoop tricks.

We have pulled Juan and Reyna into our hooping obsession and they now both have their own hoops (pictures to come in a later post).

It is a dream of mine to have a hooping party at Larry’s house sometime in the near future. I would host it at our place, but our backyard is not big enough for more that 3-4 people hooping at a time. I think it would be cool to provide the materials to make the hoops. I would ask people to bring their own tape, as that can get expensive, but the tubing and connectors would be a gift from the Webb’s. Then, after everyone has finished making their hoop, we would all go out to the backyard/golf course and have a giant group hoop session.

Man, that would be sweet!

The Adventures of the Hoop: Part 2

This post is going to be mostly pictures of the hula hoop night. Let’s start it off with a cool one, yeah?



Dale asked if I could hoop with all 4 hoops.

I can.

I like it when the hoop is out of focus.

It looks like my aura. Did I just say that? It must have been the pain pills talking.

SHAZAAM!


Much like tapping your head while rubbing your tummy, Josh can hoop and smoke at the same time.


Around the knees


Big daddy with the big red


The four of us could not all hoop in the back yard at the same time. We are on a hill in a modest sized back yard. Plus, Dale’s hoop can take out a city block. We decided to move it inside where we finally found a purpose for our almost empty formal room. I knew we were keeping it furniture free for a reason!

I heart this picture:


Josh and Tirzah hooping to The Black Keys


I have found that hooping is better with music. The Black Keys are one of the better hooping bands.


Tirza


The triple threat


Do you see the kid sized hoops in the middle? I just wanted to give you some perspective on how big our custom made hoops actually are.


And we end like we began





Sweet action, bub. I should have taken a picture of the inevitable hoop scuff mark on my wall. No problem. That’s what touch up paint is for.

The adventures of the hoop: part 1

This weekend, Dale and I invited Josh and Tirzah over to make some hula hoops. Most of you know that I have been getting into hula hoping for the core strengthening benefits. I have been using hula hoops that I bought at HEB and garage sales. It turns out, these are kid sized hoops. Dale could not hoop with one and Josh could only go warp speed to keep it up. Many websites I visited informed me that if you are using a kid hoop, you are punishing yourself. So, I researched how to make them and Dale went to Lowe’s for the supplies.


This is the Poly tubing, typically used for irrigation purposes, we bought. It comes in a 100 foot coil, enough to make 7-8 hoops.

Here is the variety of electrical tape Dale found along with the other tools needed. Yes, you need beer to make hula hoops.


We made mine first. I knew I would be making two or three more in the future (yes, when I get some cool reflective tape) so I did not mind havening the prototype.


Here are Tirzah and Josh measuring Tirzah’s hoop before they cut it. The hoop should hit anywhere between your natural waist and shoulder line.


Of course, we had to test them before decorating.


I decided to go with a wasp pattern. Mine is called “the stinger”.

Josh said it could also be the “Christian rock hoop” as the colors are the same as the Stryper, the Christian metal group. (side note: can they really be called “metal?”)


Tirzah and Josh came up with Tirzah’s design called “Coral Rose” as her last name is Rose. It was almost called “Coral Snake”.

I can’t remember the name Josh gave his hoop. It had something to do with a poisonous plant he had in mind when he chose his color scheme.


And Dale had the “Big Red”. Man, is that thing huge!


My next post will include the photo’s of the hooping extravaganza. We had such a good time. More hoops will be made in the near future and another night of hooping will commence. Tirzah, a professional photographer, will be taking pictures of our next party. Dale, who looked like he was having seizures when he tried to hula hoop with a kid sized hoop, was able to hoop and eventually pull a lift up to lasso trick. Quite impressive, kids.

Local Austin musician and hula hoop bad ass, Laura Scarborough, has this to say about the physical benefits of hooping:
It's low impact fun exercise! It tones the body. It increases strength, flexibility, energy, and develops balance and coordination. Hooping increases the heart rate making it a great cardiovascular workout while working the core muscles of the abdomen and spine. It also massages the body and the organs. It provides a great work out and users can burn up to 100 calories in 10 minutes. Beyonce and other celebrities have advocated hooping as a great way to trim the waistline.
http://www.laurascarborough.com/Hooping/hoopinfo.htm

Word.

spotted cat

On the way in and out of our little subdivision, there is a sign for people to display messages. Usually, it will say “happy birthday” or “welcome to Texas” or “neighborhood garage sale this Saturday”.

Not today, my friends…not today.

Check it out…


I have some questions.

1. How did they know the cat was stolen? Was there a ransom note or something?
2. If there was a ransom note, why did they not name their price on that?
3. How much are the people willing to pay to get the cat back? Not that I took it or anything….
4. Why did they not include the cat’s name on the sign. They just say “spotted cat”.
5. Is his name “spotted cat?”

In other news:
My back has been doing great lately, something I have attributed to my physical therapy and my hula hoop practice. Unfortunately, I had a set back. I moved wrong while getting up from the couch, yesterday, and wrenched it. Now, I am back on the meds and the ice pack is, once again, my best friend. Hopefully, this will only be for a few days. I was making great progress! The sad thing is I think I am most frustrated about the fact that I have to put the hula hoop down for a few days. I had just mastered the lasso/corkscrew trick and was beginning to master the vortex and shimmy up. Damn it all!