Daily affirmations of a word mercenary
Hooping Category
Hooping. Yes. As in HULA HOOPING, but with bigger, custom-made hoops. I wrote so much on Electrolicious about hooping that it got ridiculous, and so some friends and I got together and started up hooping.org. That’s where you can find most of my hoop talk, now.
Today I went to a peace rally on Venice Beach.
I was a human peace sign.
Take a look at the pictures!I had a dream about hooping last night. This reminded me that I haven’t been hooping enough lately. In the dream, my hoops were all bent and warped. In real life they are just fine. Must get back into the swing.
Collapsable
11
Feb
2003
In: Hooping
I’ve always had a fear, when riding my bike to the beach and carry my hoop over my shoulder, that I would get into some strange accident and be found bloodied and broken wrapped around the spokes of my bike, my legs broken around my hoop, my head through the handle bars. People would look and say, “Jesus, what was she doing biking with a 4 foot hula hoop anyway?!”
Last night, I received a collapsable hoop from Jason. Wow. Fantastical. Now I can safely bike to the beach with my new hoop across my back like a bow. Nice!
Hoop Tubing
17
Dec
2002
In: Hooping
I have been on a mission to find just the right tubing to make some hula hoops. For the last two weeks, I’ve been madly calling hardware and home and garden stores all across LA. Each tells me that someone else has it. No-one did. Jason recommended an irrigation supply store, who said they had the tubing. And it was dirty cheap: $50 for a roll of 500 feet! That’s enough for 60 hoops.
After a brief set-back (I went to get the tubing on Saturday, only to find that the place closed at 11 AM on Saturdays), I finally got to the store and bought the tubing today. However, once I brought the material home and compared it to my existing hoops, it became evident that this tubing, while technically the right stuff, is just a little too flimsy. Damnit. Who knew this would be so hard?
Primarily for my own amusement (and to test out the video editing software that came with the new webcam), I’ve cranked out a little Hooping Bloopers mpg video — with sound! It’s a monster (19MB), but if you have high speed access, are feeling patient, and wish to be entertained, have at it! It’ll only be available for a short time — I don’t have room for it on my server, and I don’t want to clutter up henryporter.info for too long.
UPDATE!
At the excellent suggestion of Pete, I decided that this should be a web series. Therefore, the video’s been shorted to just one episode: The “Oh Shit!” Squeek. It’s also much smaller: only 7MB or so.
How to view:
Right click this link
Then click “Save Target As…”
Wait for it to download onto your ‘puter
Watch with Quicktime, Windows Media, or whatever else you want.
Ever one to be true to my word, here’s a new hooping video! [video taken offline, sorry] And, unlike all my old camvids, this one is .avi instead of .exe, which means that even my Mactarded friends can get in on the fun! (And don’t you love the little reader board action before the video? Another cool feature of this incredibly awesome new webcam.)
Things to keep in mind:
1. I was standing on my bed, which is why the ceiling looks so low, and why, every time I take a step, it looks like I’m plodding through quicksand.
2. The file is 1.28MB. It may take some time to download.
3. The video has no sound (didn’t want the file to be too obscenely large), but I was listening to Slide 5’s “KC Doppler” while filming. For best results, stream it while you watch.
4. For added entertainment, try comparing my hoop video from late August with this current one. Be amazed at the progress! Think of how you too could go from hoop novice to master in just a few short months! 
Field Trip
26
Nov
2002
In: Hooping
I’ve just returned from La Puente, CA, where I did a hooping demonstration for a class of third graders at Hurley Elementary School. I met their teacher, Mr. Cortez, at that party I went to last Friday, and he asked me to pay a visit to his class. I guess they’ve been reading a book that has hula hooping in it, and a lot of the kids in the class were asking a lot of questions about hooping.
I thought it sounded like fun, so I agreed!
And it was fun! I gave a three minute spiel about the history of hooping, then did a short performance. My accompanying music was my current favorite CD, Bossa Mundo 2. I figured the Brazillian beats would resonate with the kids, and lo! I was right! When I first started hooping, one young cynic scoffed, “Pshht. Whatever. It’s totally fake.” HA! I’m glad to see kids are savvy about their entertainment, but I’m not quite sure how I could have faked hooping. Regardless, by the time the song was done, all the kids were clapping to the music and wiggling their butts in their seats. So cute!
Then I did a tiny little tutorial on a easy trick to try (transitioning from around the neck to around the waist), and let the kids have fun with the hoops. We had a screaming good time doing a hooping contest; it was absolute chaos, and totally fun.
Afterwards, they had all sorts of questions:
How old are you? (27)
Where do you live? (Venice) Where’s that?
Do you live by yourself? (I’ve been asked this before by kids — it’s obviously a mysterious and facinating aspect of being an adult.)
What’s that on your lip? (a birthmark) It’s not where you bumped yourself with a hula hoop? (no, I was born with it)
How long have you been hooping? (since this summer)
Can I have your autograph (uh, I guess?)
Will you be back? (probably not)
It was a very sweet little visit, and my only regret is that my camera crapped out on me so I don’t have the super cute picture of me holding the hoops as if they were on fire, and all the kids jumping through them like lions. Bah. Stupid camera.
I think my favorite moment was when one of the little girls got all jokey-sassy on me, putting on her best chola accent and saying, “Ok, look: I could beat any of you at hula hooping. Even Ms. Ariel, Ok?”
Oh, and I totally got a mob hug when I left. Aww. It was fun.
How To Make A Hoop
19
Nov
2002
In: Hooping
Jason’s Electronic Homestead: How to Make a Hula Hoop
This is a fantastic tutorial on how to make a hoop. Much better than the one I’ve got posted. Thanks to Jason for sending it to me!
Philo Hoops
18
Nov
2002
In: Hooping
And he wrote about it! And made an awesome animated .gif that makes me jealous.
Today I went to a peace rally on Venice Beach.
I was a human peace sign.
Take a look at the pictures!
I had a dream about hooping last night. This reminded me that I haven’t been hooping enough lately. In the dream, my hoops were all bent and warped. In real life they are just fine. Must get back into the swing.
Collapsable
11 Feb 2003 In: HoopingI’ve always had a fear, when riding my bike to the beach and carry my hoop over my shoulder, that I would get into some strange accident and be found bloodied and broken wrapped around the spokes of my bike, my legs broken around my hoop, my head through the handle bars. People would look and say, “Jesus, what was she doing biking with a 4 foot hula hoop anyway?!”
Last night, I received a collapsable hoop from Jason. Wow. Fantastical. Now I can safely bike to the beach with my new hoop across my back like a bow. Nice!
Hoop Tubing
17 Dec 2002 In: HoopingI have been on a mission to find just the right tubing to make some hula hoops. For the last two weeks, I’ve been madly calling hardware and home and garden stores all across LA. Each tells me that someone else has it. No-one did. Jason recommended an irrigation supply store, who said they had the tubing. And it was dirty cheap: $50 for a roll of 500 feet! That’s enough for 60 hoops.
After a brief set-back (I went to get the tubing on Saturday, only to find that the place closed at 11 AM on Saturdays), I finally got to the store and bought the tubing today. However, once I brought the material home and compared it to my existing hoops, it became evident that this tubing, while technically the right stuff, is just a little too flimsy. Damnit. Who knew this would be so hard?
Primarily for my own amusement (and to test out the video editing software that came with the new webcam), I’ve cranked out a little Hooping Bloopers mpg video — with sound! It’s a monster (19MB), but if you have high speed access, are feeling patient, and wish to be entertained, have at it! It’ll only be available for a short time — I don’t have room for it on my server, and I don’t want to clutter up henryporter.info for too long.
UPDATE!
At the excellent suggestion of Pete, I decided that this should be a web series. Therefore, the video’s been shorted to just one episode: The “Oh Shit!” Squeek. It’s also much smaller: only 7MB or so.
How to view:
Ever one to be true to my word, here’s a new hooping video! [video taken offline, sorry] And, unlike all my old camvids, this one is .avi instead of .exe, which means that even my Mactarded friends can get in on the fun! (And don’t you love the little reader board action before the video? Another cool feature of this incredibly awesome new webcam.)
Things to keep in mind:
1. I was standing on my bed, which is why the ceiling looks so low, and why, every time I take a step, it looks like I’m plodding through quicksand.
2. The file is 1.28MB. It may take some time to download.
3. The video has no sound (didn’t want the file to be too obscenely large), but I was listening to Slide 5’s “KC Doppler” while filming. For best results, stream it while you watch.
4. For added entertainment, try comparing my hoop video from late August with this current one. Be amazed at the progress! Think of how you too could go from hoop novice to master in just a few short months!
Field Trip
26 Nov 2002 In: HoopingI’ve just returned from La Puente, CA, where I did a hooping demonstration for a class of third graders at Hurley Elementary School. I met their teacher, Mr. Cortez, at that party I went to last Friday, and he asked me to pay a visit to his class. I guess they’ve been reading a book that has hula hooping in it, and a lot of the kids in the class were asking a lot of questions about hooping.
I thought it sounded like fun, so I agreed!
And it was fun! I gave a three minute spiel about the history of hooping, then did a short performance. My accompanying music was my current favorite CD, Bossa Mundo 2. I figured the Brazillian beats would resonate with the kids, and lo! I was right! When I first started hooping, one young cynic scoffed, “Pshht. Whatever. It’s totally fake.” HA! I’m glad to see kids are savvy about their entertainment, but I’m not quite sure how I could have faked hooping. Regardless, by the time the song was done, all the kids were clapping to the music and wiggling their butts in their seats. So cute!
Then I did a tiny little tutorial on a easy trick to try (transitioning from around the neck to around the waist), and let the kids have fun with the hoops. We had a screaming good time doing a hooping contest; it was absolute chaos, and totally fun.
Afterwards, they had all sorts of questions:
How old are you? (27) Where do you live? (Venice) Where’s that? Do you live by yourself? (I’ve been asked this before by kids — it’s obviously a mysterious and facinating aspect of being an adult.) What’s that on your lip? (a birthmark) It’s not where you bumped yourself with a hula hoop? (no, I was born with it) How long have you been hooping? (since this summer) Can I have your autograph (uh, I guess?) Will you be back? (probably not)
It was a very sweet little visit, and my only regret is that my camera crapped out on me so I don’t have the super cute picture of me holding the hoops as if they were on fire, and all the kids jumping through them like lions. Bah. Stupid camera.
I think my favorite moment was when one of the little girls got all jokey-sassy on me, putting on her best chola accent and saying, “Ok, look: I could beat any of you at hula hooping. Even Ms. Ariel, Ok?”
Oh, and I totally got a mob hug when I left. Aww. It was fun.
How To Make A Hoop
19 Nov 2002 In: HoopingJason’s Electronic Homestead: How to Make a Hula Hoop
This is a fantastic tutorial on how to make a hoop. Much better than the one I’ve got posted. Thanks to Jason for sending it to me!
Philo Hoops
18 Nov 2002 In: HoopingAnd he wrote about it! And made an awesome animated .gif that makes me jealous.
Hey there. I'm Ariel Meadow Stallings, a native Seattleite who's written my way up and down the Left Coast. Electrolicious is where I post daily randomata, but I also write for a living. My first book, Offbeat Bride, was published last year.
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