NET PERSONALITIES 0.3 The "Oh dear, people actually seem to care about this" version Okay, many of these people aren't on the net. This is basically a list of worthy jugglers (and non-juggling entities in at least one case) who aren't in the FAQ but get mentioned/abused often enough on rec.juggling that some folks might wonder who/what they are. This will, I hope, enable newbies to fit in faster as they will be able to drop such lines as "That Boppo, what a juggler!" into casual conversation thus making it appear as if they are jaded old-timers. All the descriptions are my own and are probably inaccurate, but (as I and others have said before) they are definitively inaccurate. As in all my posts, spelling is entirely optional. To those people I have missed out: It wasn't an oversight, I just don't like you. Barry Bakalor The JIS (Juggling Information Server) administrator. Those with WWW access can check it out at http://www.juggling.org/ There is a lot of useful information (and some useless but fun information) on this server - check it out. Dan Bennett Name often spoken as a curse. In a previous life he was the numbers king (juggling 8 balls very well, flashing 10). Now he kicks bowling balls up to his forehead and balances running lawnmowers on his face. No kidding. Considered "The Speed King" by most jugglers for his amazing 3 ball work although Neil Stammer is also a contender. BONGO Words fail me. I'll let BONGO do the talking: SDOKJFDIO BONGO LIKE NET FDSKJFDSAK BONGO WANT BE ON LIST SFDKLJFDS BONGO HAVE LOTS OF FRIENDS KJDSFKJ WHY BONGO NOT ON LIST? SDKJSFDKL TO BE OR NOT TO BE SFDKJDSFKJK WHY ALAN NOT LIKE BONGO ? [beats me] TIS SHARPER THAN A SERPENT'S TOOTH TO HAVE A THANKLESS CHILD SVKLFDSK#@$ GO BONGO GO!! I think that says it all really..... Boppo (Bruce Tiemann) Co-inventor of site-swap notation and able to demonstrate a truly frightening array of these patterns on demand. Can juggle 5 clubs (with back crosses) and 7 clubs when he's feeling frisky. Ed Carstens Writer of JugglePro, probably the most flexible juggling simulator around (wanna see 5 ball Rubenstein's Revenge?). Another site-swap guru (yes Virginia, we have a lot of them). Andrew John Conway/Andrew Denton Naturally I got these two mixed up. Grrr. The following has descriptions of both of them mushed together. It is up to you to figure out which sentence is describing which person. Friend of Dan Menendez (although Dan denies this saying he has never heard of the guy and anyway Andrew owes him 20 bucks so he is hardly a friend). Sarcastic, brash, egocentric... in short he possesses all the virtues I admire. He seems to spend all his time either kicking up to 5 clubs or juggling 5 clubs (which he can do for a depressingly long period of time) or writing letters to Jugglers World complaining about something or other or posting twisted weirdness to the innocents on rec.juggling. Jeff Daymont Cigar box guru. Frequently seen juggling with his partner, a Cabbage Patch Doll named Sergei (yes, after *that* Sergei). *Always* smiling. Barry Friedman (The Taller Raspyni Brother) Posts occasionally to the net so he actually does qualify as a net.personality. I announced that he and Dan Holzman (The Raspyni Brothers) seemed to be following separate careers and Barry then politely informed me that I was full of it and they still perform together very regularly. Ooops. Holds the IJA club passing record with Frank Olivier (10 clubs, 54 catches). Martin Frost Club passing mega-guru. If you want to learn Bruno's Nightmare or pass 10 clubs he is the guy to see. Has a regular column in Jugglers World discussing new and old patterns (for the mega-masochist he describes ways of making Bruno's Nightmare *harder*) Knows all the passing patterns and has invented a few more. A mistake many beginners make is to ask "What tricks do you know?". Some of them are dangerous or even fatal to catch. You have been warned. Fritz Grobe The first (and, based on the fact that the Kapell system has been retired for next year, probably the last) Seniors gold medal winner. Does diabolos, ball bouncing, and wears K00l makeup. Math whiz. Now partnered with Morton Hansen and Jay Gilligan in "blink". I have no idea what they are doing but it is probably really good. Steve Hawtin Wrote to inform me that his program 'jug' (to be found on moocow) is also a pretty gosh darn flexible juggling simulator which can also show 5 ball Rubenstein's Revenge. It runs under X (and on the Amiga) which Ed's doesn't. There is room for more than one juggling simulator in this world, get both. Benji Hill The juggler everyone loves to hate (or is that Albert Lucas?). A very talented juggler with too much of the "Las Vegas" in him for the tie-dye wearing, beer drinking, up til 4 in the morning, spaced-out hippie-type juggling crowd. Dan Holzman (The Louder Raspyni Brother) Does a golf routine as Danny Mulligan. Juggles balls, clubs, plates, Renegade fat rings, golf clubs and just about anything he can get his hands on. Born to MC. He, and partner Barry Friedman, are "The Raspyni Brothers". Jack Kalvan Half of Clockwork. Usually the right half. Used to look like Jerry Seinfeld until he grew a beard. Does Rubenstein's Revenge with clubs. Will soon be one half of the world's cutest couple when he marries Kathy Howlett. Susan Kirby Can she or can she not juggle 9 balls? No one seems to know for sure. Except, presumably, her. Certainly a talented technical juggler. Allen Knutson Site-swap guru, numbers ball passing mega-guru. Juggles nasty, ratty red beanbags and has prehensile toes. His name was misspelled on the St. Louis Festival tape. Heh. Arthur Lewbel Name misspelled even more often than AllenK's. Seems to have some sort of symbiotic relationship with the Two Ply Press where he is the offical math-whiz/break dancing guru. Like so many of us, he juggles far too many objects. Cindy Marvel Won Seniors in 1989 with a near flawless club routine. One of the best female jugglers around. Hell, one of the best jugglers around period. Very inventive in terms of movement and prop usage. If you don't want to be a Las Vegas juggler and wonder what else there is, check her out. If any of you ladies out there are looking for female juggling role models, you just found one. Pat McGuire Won Juniors in 1991. Does hat-chuckin' and ball bouncing. I timed him bouncing 7 balls for 20 minutes which appears to be a world record. Hell, I was impressed. Now performs with Cirque du Soleil. Dan Menendez Juggles 5 clubs and 7 balls and bounces balls off a piano keyboard. Wally Eastwood does a *very* similar trick. It is ill advised to ask Dan if he stole that idea from Eastwood. (Hint for the clueless: It is kinda the other way around) Alan 'Crunchy Frog' Morgan The person who keeps rec.juggling from being a friendly, happy place where everyone loves each other. Understands site-swaps but can't do them. Nowhere near as talented or funny as he thinks he is. Better looking than Neil Stammer and taller than Dan Holzman. He is also the editor of this list so be nice to him or you will receive an entry that insults either your skills or your intelligence. Owen Morse Over 6 feet tall, was in training for the US Decathlon, has your basic California good looks, holds the world record for the 100m with 3 and 5 balls and helped break the 4 minute joggling mile relay, can pass 10 clubs, and enjoys passing with Jeff Napier. I have to stop now because I am too depressed.... Jeff Napier Club passing mega-guru. Has some 6 club passing tricks that make Martin Frost's look tame and anemic by comparison. One of them is popularly known as "homicide". Approach with extreme caution. Enrico Rastelli Doesn't have a net connection on account of having died about 50 years ago (some people have no sense of timing). Holds roughly the same position in juggling as Jesse Owens and Babe Ruth hold in their fields (i.e. generally considered "the greatest" even though later people have surpassed their achievements). There is an MPEG on JIS showing him juggling 6 plates while spinning a ring on one leg and jumping rope. This is what jugglers refer to as "very hard". Rick Rubenstein The half of Clockwork that isn't Jack Kalvan. Inventor of Rubenstein's Revenge which sorta looks like nothing on earth. 3 ball take-off-your-shoes-and-kneel-down guru. Steve "Dr. Diabolo" Salberg Entertains the net with descriptions of the hijinx that ensued during his wedding night ("The whip, the whip", "No, not the whip") and still manages to have enough energy to be the Guinness liaison for juggling (beer numbers, alas, is not a category). Bruce Sarafian Flashes 11 bean bags. <>. Bruce dedicated one morning at the Burlington Convention to trying to get a legal 10 ball run. Although he failed in that attempt he left the witnesses (myself, Steve Salberg, Barry Bakalor, Boppo, and Martin Frost) in no doubt that he is capable of it. In just two hourse we saw 1 run of 18 catches, well over 100 flashes of 10, 3 flashes of 11, and 8 catches with 12. Bruce appears fully human but I have doubts about this - several times he spoke of "going back to Krypton" to rest. You be the judge. Of course, in the short months since Burlington, Bruce has succeeded in getting a legal 10 ball run on tape. Believe me, I hate guys like this. Ben Schoenberg Keeper of the lists of past and present numbers jugglers. If you know of anyone who can juggle or flash 7 or more clubs, 9 or more rings, or 9 or more balls, send him email. Competed in the '93 Intermediates competition with a music score he wrote himself. Operates the "Serious Juggling Company" 1 800 JUGGLE0 (that's zero, not oh), email ben@teleport.com. .sig The portable, generic .sig. The terminally hip on rec.juggling adapt their .sig files for each message producing masterpieces of wit such as ".sig outside trying 5 flaming torches and burning itself" . This practice was started by either Steve Salberg or Arthur Lewbel. At this point in time your humble editor can't remember which (although he has no doubt that as soon as this is posted he will receive email which one hopes will clarify the matter). Neil Stammer Juggles 7 *huge* stage balls, manipulates a mean devil stick, and thinks that he has great legs (don't ask me, I just edit this list, Neil said it). Owns 'Juggling Capitol' and likes Dave Finnegan about as much as he likes total nuclear annihilation. Often mistaken for Andrew Allen. Neil swears that he and Andrew have never met, although they have had sex. Joanne Swaim The roster lists her as "Swaim", everything else has "Swain". I will alternate spellings until I get the definitive answer. If Dan Bennett is the Speed King, she is probably the Speed Queen. Juggles 7 balls in a stunningly low pattern and can do an impressive array of tricks. It's amazing what you can do when you start them young. thomasl Man, woman, or committee? Only the CIA and 300 sweating groupies know for sure. Writes reviews of a number of conventions that are almost as good as being there. Better sometimes, 'cause you don't have to put up with the bad food and long registration lines. Eric Uhrhane Inventor of Eric's Extension, one of the few juggling tricks in which physical deformity is a prerequisite. It is like Mills Mess, only you cross your hands twice instead of once. John Wee Partnered with Owen Morse as "The Passing Zone". The short one of the team. He played Fester Addams in the knife passing scene in "The Addams Family" (Owen was a poorly disguised Gomez). Jill Westover Just when you thought there were no new juggling props to play with, Jill Westover, 57 time US baton twirling champ (more or less, that number may be a bit off) shows us that we've been doing it wrong for years. Check out the Fargo tape for some of her stuff.