The Lock Twist (Balloon.001)

The Lock Twist is the basic move of Balloon Modelling. If you want to make anything more advanced than a snake or a worm, then you will need the Lock Twist. With this technique you can make the Dog, the Mouse, The Rabbit, the Sausage Dog and the Giraffe.

And so it begins

Over the years I have learnt to make many balloon animals. And further, I have designed many of my own, including dinosaurs, birds, a dolphin and a seal.  I thought that I would share my designs with the world. If you feel that they are of anything to you, then please feel free to donate money to my account. If you are going to use them in books or videos of your own, then please credit me and chip a bit of cash my way. Thanks. Alista.

Time Traveller's Guid - Part 5

Politics for the Time Traveller.

by Mork from Ork.

In the 21^st century New Zealand politicians hate democracy and try their hardest to remove all democratic processes from the country. This is shown in such acts as the Auckland Supercity, selling conservation land to mining companies and the Emissions Trading Scheme. By the end of the 21^st century it is realised that politicians are all psychologically ill and they are all committed to mental institutions. This leads to a period of the greatest human freedoms ever achieved in history. However this enlightened age has not arrived yet so here is a scorecard to help determine which group of psychopaths you should vote for.

National : This is government for big business. John Key is caught in 2023 selling New Zealand to the US company Halliburton Industries. In his defence he only took a 3% commission.

Labour : While they once represented the working people, now their main objective is to get their leader elected as God. They finally succeed when, in 2046, there is the second coming of Helen Clark.

ACT  : New Zealand for the sake of the uber-rich. They pass a law requiring all employees to pay their bosses for the privilege of working for their company. This is shortly after Richard Prebble claims that he is the greatest New Zealander that ever lived and that Edmund Hillary stole the credit for Richard Prebble climbing Everest.

Greens :  Save the whales and destroy New Zealand. The Ludites get their own political party. Later it is discovered that big oil, in its quest to get rid of nuclear power , is the Greens biggest financial supporter.

New Zealand First : a.k.a. the Winston Peters Party, a.k.a. the Baubles Party. This is their last election: then Winston Peters ascends.

Just remember, there is no major political party that actually cares about you or the country, so just have fun voting.

A Rocket Day

2nd October 2010
We saw how to make these little pyro rockets on the internet a while ago. Of we have improved them a bit. We have electronic ignition and a launch stand. We now have to see about putting a good fin can on and seeing about putting a bit of ballast on. They are tumbling at the moment, so they only get up 20 to 30 metres. I suspect that we can get 50 to 100 metres out of these in their present form. Time to modify.