Strange but true: Damage to Props

New stories are added at the end.

I was practicing 5 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 scattered over the platform. I stood there with mouth agape, as the forklift driver continued on his merry way, not seeming to even notice, let alone care.

I was practicing contact juggling with my new acrylic ball on a train platform in Germany. The ball escaped me and rolled off the edge, dropping onto the rough gravel between the rails, chipping it badly.

A juggler was performing in a parade using his nice flashy silicone balls. Unfortunately, one bounced away and rolled into a storm drain, where it was lost forever.

I bought a nice new set of Henry's juggling clubs. I then used them in a game of "combat". Afterwards I discovered a nasty dent in one of them that was as impossible to fix as a dent in a ping-pong ball. Luckily, the prop vendor was still around and kind enough to replace it for me.

Another juggler with a new set of juggling clubs had just learned a new trick. It consisted of throwing the club at the ground in a certain way so that it bounces back up into the hand. After a couple tries of this, there was a nasty "crack" as the dowel inside split. Luckily, this prop vendor (Dube) also replaces defective clubs. Unluckily, he had to ship the club across country for his replacement.

A clever juggler was juggling out on a boat. He knew that he would drop occasionally, so he had balls that float. Unfortunately, he forgot about playful sea lions, which snatched his balls when he dropped them.

One of my juggling balls managed to find its way into a cup of rather noxious black coffee yesterday, and isn't too well for it. :)

I understand that the jugglers in Vacaville Prison here in California have to practice in their cells sitting on the toilet, cause otherwise the beanbags will inevitably end up there.

At the end of my first session of attempting to juggle, one of the bags dropped into my cider. :( I put the set (of Freak beanbags) through the washing machine. Once they had dried out they were far easier to juggle.

I managed to shower my room with Cornflakes. I had just put them down and the spoon was sticking out. Before I tucked in I thought I would have a quick juggle and a stray beanbag landed on the spoon handle with the expected catapult effect. I was finding cornflakes in my room for months. I always eat my cereal first now. But it doesn't stop the bean bags landing in the left over milk in the bowl.

Being a hippy child who could only rebel by 'going straight', I joined the navy. The navy gave me great opportunities to juggle in many interesting and often times inappropriate places as well as in some places that I would like to think that I was the first at. Large ships in the fleets are sometimes tasked with 'chasing' storms and mine being large was tasked with chasing a cyclone off the coast of South America.
Having spent several years perfecting a nice five ball bounce routine that got a little use around the globe I was looking for challenge which was met with a fairly sophosticated 7 point restraint harness assembled with a little help from my 'catchers' all equally equiped and spread out on the main deck amongst the tied down forklifts. The area was kept fairly open for access to the soda/smoke/gack machines used to keep the crew civil.
With 21 degree rolls and breakers on the pilot house windows, (65 foot above the water line) I had lost 11 balls in a few minutes but was getting the hang of it when all six of us watched a single errant ball bounce wildly from a tie down clover 20 feet away straight for the release lever of the 8 tonn forklift tiedown assembly. Everything went totally silent (as if) when the six of us calculated the trajectory of the forklift and with a collective sigh of relief realized that we were in the clear.
A few sheepish chuckles erupted as the ship climbed a crest and we watched as in slow motion the ship nosedived 'down' and the forklift started forward... the forward restraints lifted the forks nearly chest high before they gave way and the forklift was free of its man-made bonds. The ship nosed into a swell with another gut wrenching shudder that propelled everything forward (the ward room china broke at that moment, but I have an alabi) with such force that the forklift gored the coke machine in what must have been its coke guts.
In the attempt to extricate the forklift the nearest mate turned it on, holding onto one of the many 'handles' available......being a 'newby' he was now vividly aware that the lift handle will lift with great force for exactly as long as it is in position and a few seconds is all that is needed to do much damage. The coke machine was crushed against the ceiling of the cage with much spewing of its vital bodily fluids and the six of us quickly made our way back to our bunks leaving the coke machine and its ghost to fend for themselves.
The few minutes I had juggling off a deck that was moving so many different ways is an experience that I will remember all of my life. Just something about throwing a ball directly between your feet followed by the next 6 feet forward and then back and having a truly 3 dimensional pattern.

When first learning, with Klutz bags, I one day discovered they fit into the coffee mugs we had then with about 1/16th inch clearance all the way around, so that the mug remained upright, unmoved, and pristine, while I watched a near-vertical coffee fountain rise 5 feet into the air. At least it confined the mess to a relatively small area!

A couple of years ago, I was learning three or something, can't remember really, using some bean bags. Anyway, as the evening progressed (and I didn't) I got more and more worked up until I threw it at the floor with such force that it exploded, and I saw little white plastic beads roll all over the floor. Arghghg.(Good job!) I keep calm nowadays, or I'd have no balls left...

I recently bought a set of clubs and have developed a habit of trying to juggle them in inappropriate places. Last week, I was trying the Boston Mess in my room at the University when I accidentally smacked a club into a bottle of red wine that happened to be standing on one of the tables. This caused the bottle to fall off the table toward certain destruction, had I not been able to catch it, which I was. Unfortunately, I caught it upside down... it wasn't corked either... :-( I ended up spilling red wine all over my feet and making a mess (Boston Mess?) of the room. Meanwhile, my roommate was laughing his head off.

I was sitting on my bed juggling in my room, and I threw a ball kind of high. It landed in the light, which was shaped like a plate with the bulb on top, and started to burn. I jumped up and hit the ball out of the light, which resulted in little plastic beans all over my floor. From now on I only juggle outdoors.

Never leave juggling equipment lying on the ground with mischevious dogs about. I just learned that lesson - the hard way. We have two Shelties (a type of dog that looks like a miniature collie), and the younger one is particularly recalcitrant. A little while ago I finished doing some numbers juggling and tossed my small, suede juggling beanbags on the ground near my room (which was stupid). I then went off about my business. I came back about half an hour later to find two there, covered with sand. Sand? I guess that's what the filling was. I went off searching for the other two and found one, completely demolished. One is still missing, and the other three are totally destroyed. They are sitting on my desk with a little pile of sand all around them. Well, I had always wondered what was inside them...

One day, I set my beanbags down in a room not often used, and forgot about them. Big deal. I found the beanbags later that evening after a little search. The beanbags were fine. But my rings weren't. "What?" you say? Unfortunately, during my search for the lost props, I lifted up my chair in my room to see if they had rolled under it, and, without noticing it, I set the chair down right on my stack of juggling rings! I didn't notice until later that day after sitting in the chair! Needless to say, my rings were cracked and warped. After some substantial bending I was able to mold them into a usuable form, but they are not what they were.

I have a miniature fountain in my room, and one day I was juggling some large Klutz beanbags dangerously close to it. Need I say what happened? I dropped one of the bags and it plopped right into the middle of the fountain, spilling the water and soaking the beanbag as well as dying it blue.

Once upon a time I was juggling clubs in my room. I was having a fairly bad day, and yet for some reason I decided to attempt a backroll with a club, something I had never landed before. I got the club on my back, but it didn't roll into my hand like it was supposed to. Instead, it bounced off my back and fell behind me. While the club was still in the air I spun around and tried to catch the falling prop, yet I only succeeded in knocking it farther away. Time seemed to pause for an instant... I saw everything clearly, my outstretched hand, the club suspended in the air, and directly beneath it, a display of glass kerosene candles I had on top of a mirror. Then the club fell. It smashed quite loudly right onto the mirror, chipping the top of one of the candles and spilling the oil in the others.

My X-Mas tree took up some of my prime juggling space and I promised myself that I would not juggle in the house until the tree was down. Anyway...I broke my promise the next day and started juggling again in this tiny space - probably a 3'x3' area, more than enough space for juggling clubs, right? That's all true if you have great control! By the time X-Mas was over, the final count was 5 broken ornaments, a couple of lights out, and a tree that had more holes in the front than I can remember. I'm seriously re-thinking the location of the tree for next year! Maybe outside...

Before I started dating my current girlfriend we ( myself, Heather, and a friend ryan) were sitting in a small office room. Since I was of course trying to make the moves on Heather I hadn't noticed how recklessly Ryan was throwing my nice, super bouncy silicone ball around. The next thing I heard was thud......splash. We both turned to look only to see my silicone ball in the toilet. Needless to say it was rescued by my friend ryan and cleaned to proper standards. We still get a good laugh out of it. Oh and by the way I got the girl.

One time I went horseback riding. It was my first time, so I was very focused on staying on top of the horse. During the ride my backpack, containing my almost-new red and orange suede beanbags, opened. Luckily (but not enough) the guide was following me and saw some things fall out of the bag. He stopped, picked up the stuff and rode up to me saying "Look, your backpack is open. Here is your water bottle, but I didn't pick up that peach." And that was the end of my beanbag :(

My cat was chasing my neighbour's hampster (why their hampster ran away and came to my house I don't know) and knocked over a broom, and the broom handle hit my clubs which were on the kitchen counter proped up against the cabinets. The clubs then fell; three hit the floor, but one landed on the stove and of course one of the elements was on (not the element I meant to turn on, another screw-up in a chain of many) and, well, the upshot of the whole thing is that my neighbour hates me because my cat ripped his kid's hampster in half, and I have a Fish Pro Club with a slightly-to-very melted handle and a slightly damaged bell. Not the best sight to return from the washroom to.

One day I was on a dock in a port on a Greek island (Amorgos) and I was playing with my diabolo. First I made a high toss, then followed with a normal whip catch. For my bad luck, I was out of timing (timing is everything), and I failed to catch it. As it fell on the ground it started rolling. Usually, when diabolos hit the ground they start spinning in circles. In this particular case, the diabolo (which was a present for my birthday) started rolling in a straight line towards the sea. I ran to catch it, and said that it will float...but it started sinking. Then I thought, ok, it is sinking because of the fall, and it will come up again. I had no luck, it continued to sink and when I was about to dive to catch it I could no longer see it, cause the waters were dirty!!! Blame gravity???!!!

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