For regyt, others with fire-spinning inclinations, and BM engin

[kitchen_kink]

So, sometimes I have these ideas, and no real idea (or really, personal inclination) for how to implement them. Yet I know they are good ideas!

For example:

I was sitting at dinner last night with imlad and preraphaelite when the latter began to spin her water glass. "Waterspinning," someone remarked, and I immediately thought, "Water-poi!" Hey, if you can do it with one element, why not another? (Though Air Poi and Earth Poi both sound like distinctly bad ideas...I'm thinking practice poi with rocks in them - ouch.)

So I thought it would be neat to have something that 1) would be a lot safer for those who aren't all *that* good at spinning yet, and 2) would look cooler than beanbags in socks.

So: at the end of two chains or lines or whatever, you have some kind of malleable, yet strong, sealed plastic globes. Preferably, the globes would not be entirely solid, but rather would shapeshift a bit when you swing them through the air, rather like water balloons. They would also not be entirely full of water, so that the water could move within the shape.

Where the balloon-things attached to the lines, an LED or other light would be attached.

In the best possible world, the light passing through the shifting water would make cool swimming-pool-like ripply patterns on the body of the person manipulating the poi.

Certainly not as spectacular or death-defying as fire, but preeeeetty.

Anyone want to try and make some? Just remember, it was my idea.

(Unless someone else already thought of it.)

Comments

[dilletante.livejournal.com]

well, i'm not sure if it's the original thing or an early innovation, but "meteors" (like two poi with their handgrips tied together-- i.e. a wick at either end of a single long rope) are often seen as "meteor bowls"-- a bowl on either end of a rope-- where the bowls contain water. if you're good, you see, the centrifugal force keeps the water in the bowls and you don't spill any.

(for that matter, bolas often contain rocks. i wonder what you'd want for air?)

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

Helium poi! Okay, maybe not. But what about those windsock-type poi? I'm thinking that making those in diaphonous blue and white and silver fabrics would be air-y enough.

Have you ever seen meteor bowls performed?

[dilletante.livejournal.com]

yeah, as i was walking up to the fire conclave booth to sign up last year or the year before at burning man, someone was standing nearby playing with some. :) can't remember if i've seen a professional performance.

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

bolas often contain rocks.

No no no! Mud! Slightly wet mud in a metal mesh cage, so that when you spun it around really quickly your audience would get spattered with earth!

[dietrich.livejournal.com]

AAAAAH!

This is a great idea.

Well, maybe. :)

Wait...

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

Yeah, earth isn't so outgoing.

[dietrich.livejournal.com]

Oo oo -

So, on one end is a drum-like object, and on the other is a round wooden ball. In this form of spinning, the idea is actually to hit them together.

Hah?

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

Hmm, dunno. I would think you'd just lose all your momentum if you were doing anything other than flapping it back and forth to make a BANG-BONG-BANG-BONG. But maybe. Try it!

[sol3.livejournal.com]

balloons with some kind of heavy gas in them?

[dietrich.livejournal.com]

I suppose that in some sense flag-spinning is the air version of firespinning.

But maybe, yeah! Then they'd move sort of slowly, so you'd have to manipulate them differently? Slow-motion poi!

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

Or, for air, I wonder if you could make a staff or something with sound-tubes on the ends, so that some tricks would make the air howl and hoot and moan.

[dietrich.livejournal.com]

See, I just knew if I put this to my friends list they'd come up with better shit than I could.

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

Oh, so it's *not* a bad idea? Ah. Shoot. Well. I lose interest in GOOD ideas.

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

But what you REALLY want is ice poi.

[dietrich.livejournal.com]

Aiiieeeee!

*ees frozen by zee thought*

[regyt.livejournal.com]

Spinning poi made of water balloons in socks has been proposed as a fun way to cool off during the summer, yeah.

fiberoptic type lines...

[heinleinfan.livejournal.com]

You could have the light source at the base of a clear tube, filled with water, that led to the water things, so that the colored light would follow the tube?

Um, I've seen water fountains that use this system to make the streams of water different colors...I'm just not sure I'm describing it well...or something...

...

Nevermind.

[doctordidj.livejournal.com]

I think if the LEDs were on the outer ends of the balloons, they would shine through the water and illuminate the poi spinner, which I think is what you want. If the LEDs were on the inner ends of the balloons (where the cord attaches) they'd shine through the water outwards, and the light would be two spinning spots on the surroundings, which is nice but I don't think that would give the ripply light-through-water effects you're thinking of.

Not sure what to make the balloons out of. Need to be pretty strong, and transparent. Not big ... water is heavy, and balloons bigger than baseball size or so would be very hard to spin.