What happens if you drop a Fushigi Ball?

More info on the Fushigi ball. Be sure to watch it if you are planning to get one.

Why We Hate Fushigi

My husband and I (but mostly him) do contact juggling. You may ask "What is contact juggling?" Well I will tell you the truth about contact juggling and Fushigi in one blog. How will I manage that? Well just read on.


The link below is to a video of the original contact juggler performing with a single ball. Before you call him a "Fushigiest" let me show you a bit of research.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FX7xruR12YA&feature=related

Fushigi never claims to be the original acrylic ball or the inventors of the talent. As a matter of fact. On the first screen of the site there is a declaimer on the very bottom in small print. Oh and that's not the only reference they make to it...

https://www.fushigiball.com/Fushigi-FAQs.dtm

See if you can find it.

*gasp* and ANOTHER reference to Contact Juggling...

https://www.fushigiball.com/What-Is-Fushigi.dtm

In other words please stop calling them "Fushigiests". Many people spend and have spend years and even decades learning this trade and it is very insulting to them. They are contact jugglers.

Another thing is that the Fushigi doesn't defy gravity. The performer makes it appear so. Again take a look at the third link from the Fushigi site. It's an ILLUSION! For the people who are claiming that regular acrylic balls are using "false advertising" to sell their product. USE YOUR COMMON SENSE! An acrylic ball can't defy gravity. Nothing can! It's all the person holding the ball. If anyone is using false advertising it's Fushigi. At bare minimum it's misleading.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lUAunHu4CY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2Q35w46n80

Talented people like this actually use contact juggling to pay their bills. Because of Fushigi, people are losing their income. Audiences think it's all just a trick instead of seeing the skill that these people have.

HOWEVER, Fushigi does have some good things about it. Regular acrylic balls can start fires if they are left in the sun. Because of the chrome core of the Fushigi ball the risk is significantly lowered and the ball seems to be good quality.

I guess the moral of this blog is don't believe everything you see on TV.

Here is the Fushigi Youtube Channel: Take a CAREFUL look at what people are saying. After that be the judge for yourself.  http://www.youtube.com/user/FushigiBall

Now on to the history portion of the blog...

Contact juggling was formed in the early 80s by Michael Moschen. Instead of tossing the balls into the air they are rolled over the hands and body of the artist to create the illusion that they are floating. There are three main movement types.

1. Body Rolling means manipulating one or more props (usually balls) around the hands, arms, and body. Balance is required to hold the ball in various positions of control. This includes tricks such as headrolling and the Butterfly.

2. Palm Spinning means manipulating two or more balls in the open hand so that at least one ball is in motion. Balls may be in both hands or transferred between hands to form graceful and fluid patterns, including rotating a pyramid stack of 4 balls.

3. Isolation means manipulating a ball so that it appears to be suspended in place. Similar to sleight of hand magic or fixed-point mime techniques; the performers exploit the clear surface of the ball to hide any noticeable rotation, creating the effect that the ball is still while the performer moves around the ball. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contact_juggling)

Michael Moschen even made a covert appearance in the 1986 movie Labyrinth. When David Bowie's character is seen contact juggling it is actually Michael's hands. He stood behind David and did the tricks bind. However Michael did not have a name yet for this hypnotising art so in the credits of the movie it was called "crystal ball manipulation". Since then the art has gained popularity rapidly and will continue to do so especially with Fushigi on the scene. (If only they would mention it in the commercials.)

An End to the Silence

So I havn't written for a long time. It's been chaotic. I had to quit the heart moniter test early beause the regular electrodes ripped off skin and the "hypo-allergenic" ones gave me a rash of all things. Anyway all the tests are done and I don't have to worry about it for now. Jhai and I both have had trouble sleeping the past week (except for last night).We still can't find jobs and financial aid is taking forever to get back to us about how much we will get. We were supposed to sign up for classes on Monday but we can't sign up for them without paying the regestration fee. UGH This is a pain. So until something interesting happens...

Stress Test Results

Today I had my stress test. They put me on the treadmill and I did fine except for the last 30 seconds. That's when I started to get dizzy and an upset tummy. It's stayed with me all day. I was in bed for most of the day feeling sick. ANYWAY... The doctor said that my condition is nothing to worry about right now. If it gets worse then that's when I have to deal with it. I should have no problems when Jhai and I decide to get pregnant either.

12 days left to go on my heart monitor too! I had to call Cardionet again to have them send me some hypoallergenic electrodes. The ones that I've been using are tearing off skin and it hurts like heck.

So Yah that's about it for now. I'll keep you updated!

An exciting week

The title says it all. This week has been full of drama drama and more drama.

I got the heart moniter hooked up to me. It would beep at me constantly telling me that it couldn't connect to the sensor. It would keep me up at night and the third day I heard something rattling around inside so I called Cardionet (the company who sent me the moniter) and told them what had been going on. They told me to unhook it and they would send me a new one. It arrived early the next morning to I am officially on day 5 so only 16 days to go lol. I sent the bad one back but they kept calling me to return it. I called them and told them that I already sent it back so they discontinued the automated calls.

A couple of days ago Jhai and I got a call from our bank saying that we were over $200 overdrawn. It turns out that Ancestry.com charged us $150 for an account we cancled over a month ago. We got the confirmation letter and they called me while I was in the hospital on April 1st to see why we cancled. It took us 3 days to fix it and they said they will refund all of the money they took out. Now we are fighting our bank because of the overdraft fees of  $90. I know we will win though.

YAY!!!!! More Tests

So I got the haulter moniter test and the sonogram of my heart done. There were about 4 episodes recorded on the haluter moniter and the sonogram showed that my heart was a bit jumpy. They are now going to do a 21 day haulter moniter test on me. It's going to show how often I get an episode and if I need to have the procedure done. (The ablation isn't a surgery. I learned from one of the other doctors that it's what they call an invasive procedure. The only thing is I'd most likely have to travel to Sacremento to have it done [Maybe my best friend could come see me in the hospital. Hint hint wink wink nudge nudge Suzanne.] ) The test that they are going to do will determine if they need to do the procedure. I'm going to see if they can activate it today. I have to call the company in order to do it. Hopefully they have someone availible.

Heart Update

SO.... I had to have a halter moniter test and a songram of my heart done. On the 4th, I have to have a stress test. I should hear from the by tomorrow. I asked about the ablation. It isn't even a surgery. It's what they call an "invasive procedure". I wouldn't even have to get put out. They would just sedate me, run a flexable cathiter through a vein to my heart and zap the pathway that is causing the problems. I'd never have to worry about my heart problem again. They don't know if it's genetic so I'm not sure if I could pass it to my kids. I'll be able to discuss it more when I talk to Dr. Khan when all the tests are done. Well that's all for now. I'll keep all of you updated.

Our First Anniversary!!!!!!!!!

Our first anniversary was today! It was a great day.This afternoon we went to lunch at Taco Bell then headed to the casino to see if we could win some extra money. We won enough to cover our lunch and that's about it. After that we went to Barns and Noble to do a bit of reading. Jhai bought me a caramel macciado and himself a blended chi tea. We wandered the mall for a bit after that. We headed to dinner at about 5. Jhai took me to Olive Garden which is right next to Red Robbin. Much to our supprise we saw Jhai's Mom and Michael (his step dad) at Red Robbin. We called them and talked for a minute then went to dinner. We had an amazing waitress named Patricia. She was very attentive and the best waitress either of us had ever had. She was awesome. She even gave us her number so we could hang out sometime. She also invited us to join a group once we get back to college. It's a group that helps people who are new to the college learn the ropes. They are even going to do a bit of  fund raising to help people that don't qualify for financial aid of any kind. Afterward Jhai and I headed home and got int our pajamas because we were going to watch a couple of movies. Then it happened. Jhai noticed that his cell was missing. We looked everywhere for it. We were looking in the car when my cell rang with Jhai's ringtone. The voice on the other end said that they found a cell phone and they were trying to return it and that they were in Eugene, CA.Then they started laughing. It was Patricia. She found Jhai's phone while cleaning off our table. lol. We got dressed again and went back to Olive Garden to get it. When we got home we watched "The Princess and the Frog" and "Shutter Island". It's been a great first anniversary! Thanks to everyone who helped make it that way!

Our First Wedding Anniversary

Tomorrow is my and Jhai's first anniversary. Well married at least. We've been together for two years. We don't have muc money to do anything really so we will be  going to the casino with free play money we have. lol We should get a little bit of money from that. It's just going to be nice to spend time alone with my husband.

FINALLY!!!!!

Okay... So I finally heard back from the doctor. It's confirmed that I have WPW. American Heart Association WPW I have an appointment with my mom's cardiologist for April 14th. He should be able to help me figure out how to control it. I know that I'll have to go on a diet and exercise more but he might also put me on a medication if he thinks it's bad enough. The worst case scenerio is I have to have surgery. It's all in the website that's linked up there.




I also finally get to have my tooth fixed tomorrow. Thank goodness. It's starting to annoy me.



Anyway that's all for now. I'll keep all of you updated.

Forget the Dentist! Go Straight to the ER!

Well last night after dinner I discovered that I chipped my tooth. So this morning Jhai is desprately calling every dentist offce in Redding to see who takes our insurance. One that did was Western Dental and they could get me in today! So we set an 11:45 appointment and show up, do the paperwork and quietly wait our turn. They call me back and take my blood pressure before they take the X-Ray and the nurse stops and her eyes get wide. She told me that they may have to send me to the ER. My blood pressure was 144/ 130!!!! Jhai and I went quickly to the ER here. They quickly got me in and took my blood pressure again. It was about 140/99. Not as bad. The rest of my day was spent doing ECGs, Chest E-Xrays and being hooked up to a blood pressure machine and a heart rate machine. We were at that hospital for 7 hours. All the tests came out clear except for my ECG. The nurses kept saying it came out "funky" but no one would tell us why. They discharged me and Jhai and I waited for the doctor so we could ask what was wrong with my ECG. The nurse brought me a copy of it and after waiting 10 minutes we finally got to talk to the doctor. She looked at it and instantly saw something wrong. She asked several other doctors for their opinions. She came back and said that she was sending the results to a cardiologist and to call him tomorrow to see if it's Wolff-Parkenson-White Syndrome. ( http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4785 ) So now that I have food in my belly and I know what's going on I feel a little better. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

AWANA Grand Prix

What is AWANA?  http://www.awana.org/ This will tell you all you need to know.

Well today was the AWANA Grand Prix at my parents' church. There were several real cars there that were just plain awesome and some of the derby cars were cool too. The best ones were ours though. Mom got second place in the Adult Division and I got third in the same. It was fun overall.

The Drivable Cars

The Derby Cars

Mine "The Hippy Mobile" 3rd Place

Jhai's "The Origional Nentindo Controller"

Mom's "The Pool Table"  2nd Place

Dad's "Liquid in Motion"

Unemployment Rates in Redding

The following are clips from an article on redding.com. This shows how bad Redding alone is and it explains how Jhai and I can go 2 years without a decent job.

Shasta County unemployment sets another record


By David Benda

Posted March 27, 2010 at midnight
 
"Shasta County's unemployment rate crept up in February to a 20-year high of 17.7 percent, the state reported Friday.


Job losses in farming (700) and retail (100) pushed unemployment from a revised 17.6 percent in January.

The unemployment rate in February 2009 was 15.5 percent. The previous high for a February in Shasta County was 1993's 16.5 percent."

"Statewide, the unemployment rate held steady in February at 12.5 percent."

"New unemployment insurance claims in Shasta County in February jumped 56 percent - from 3,218 a year ago to 5,009. There were 4,652 initial jobless claims in January.




Matthew Doyle, general manager at Lake Shasta Caverns, said the area's high unemployment has provided his business with an "encumbering amount of applications."



Doyle went to Tuesday's summer job fair at the Redding Library with about 15 jobs to fill.



"In less than a month, we have received around 300 applications, the majority of which are either qualified or overqualified," Doyle said.



The large pool of potential workers has delayed Lake Shasta Caverns' hiring process.



"However, this is a good problem to have for an employer," Doyle added."

Jhai's ER Trip

Well Jhai and I had quite the adventure today. This morning Jhai woke up because he had some bad pains ehem down there. So he looked on Web MD. He found two possiblities. One was cists and the other was cancer. So we booked it to the ER and they got us in almost right away. He got a sonogram and got checked out. Luckaly it was the cists. He has them in both testicles. The doctor says that they will either go away on their own or they will be there forever. If they get worse then we need to go to the doctor again and they might have to be removed but for now he's fine. There will just be a little pain when pressure is applied. It won't affect our abilitiy to get pregnant when the time is right either (thank goodness). They also tested his blood sugar it was at 151 which is high. The normal range was between 90 and 120. The doctor says he's pre-hypoglycemic. Now Jhai and I are on a mission to get healthy. Especially if we want kids.  Wish us luck everyone!

Hello!

Hello Family and Friends!
   We are glad that you are here. This blog will serve as a little anouncement board for all of you so feel free to check up on us once in a while. We will be updating every time something new or exciting happens to our family or if we just want to talk about what's going on in general.


We love all of you!


~Darlene and Jhai