JW-Vol49-No1-page12

* "I was practicing five beanbags on a train platform in Switzerland. The instant one beanbag hit the ground, a forklift rolled over it with a sickening 'pop,' and little beans begins medical school next fall, has taught I scattered over the platform. I stood there with mouth agape, as the forklift driver progress on his merry way, not seeming to even notice, let alone care." A compendium of such strange and quirky juggling accident stories has been gathered by Los Angeles-area juggler Steve Healy from postings to the rec.juggling newsgroup. Names have been left out to protect the innocent and unfortunate!

* A commercial on Canadian TV for Junior Achievers shows a girl trying to juggle lots of breakables (eggs, glass light covers, etc.) - with with disastrous results. The narrator then explains how Junior Achievers can help young people learn from their mistakes and launch successful business careers. The girl then starts successfully juggling beanbags and does a few simple tricks. As the commercial ends she is revving up a chainsaw!

* An article on the education page education page of the Jan. 1 New York Times featured James Goldman, a University of Rochester neuroscience major who believes juggling exercises can help patients recover from brain injury. Goldman, who begins medical school next fall, has taught I patients for the past year and saw them make remarkable progress in recovery if not function. He believes its broad application could help improve the lives of the more than 700,000 patients in the United a States who have suffered neurological damage from accidents, birth defects, strokes, heart attacks or radiation.

* IJA director Steve Salberg passes on a tip for jugglers who have to clothe their young children. He recommends a trip to the Disney Store to check out the "Pooh's Silly Circus" line of kids apparel. Dress your to-be juggler in a "onesie" with with Pooh on the front juggling three balls along with the words "Juggling balls is fun to do!" Or, buy the jumper that depicts Tigger on the front riding a unicycle and juggling four rings - not in the standard shower pattern, but in a passable async fountain! On the back is printed "Riding on one wheel is hard to do. But Tigger can do it. And Juggle, too!"

* A 16-year-old German Juggler, Falk Hante, would like to live in America with a family that includes other jugglers. It you re interested in such an exchange, and can help him enroll in a nearby high school, contact him at: Dortmund.

* Congratulations to Michael Rosman and his wife, Heidi. They are parents of their first child, Sophia Frances Rosman, who was born January 8. Michael reports he took the month of January off from his performances at colleges to "start teaching her the basics!"

* Congratulations also to Patrick Thompson and Rachel Chippy, members of the Gypsy Jugglers in Cleveland, Ohio, who were proud to greet their first child, Warren Christophei Thompson, on Friday, Jan. 24, 1997.

* In the correction department, please no that the number one IJA blood donor, Myrol Wilcox, isn't quite the prolific giver he was portrayed to be in the Winter "Letters" section. Somehow his actual 20 gallons (1 pints) of blood donated was incorrectly recorded in print as 109 gallons.

* We apologize for incorrect attribution of two photos in the Winter issue. The "Festival Reports Galore" picture on the contents page and the Yale festival toss-up photo on page 1 were the work of David Gruber.