Unicon Workshop Update

General
1

Hi.

We’ve added a Swap Meet to the workshop line-up at Unicon. So, if you have
t-shirts or other items to trade, bring 'em!

The workshop schedule will be posted at Unicon. If you are willing to lead
a workshop or a roundtable discussion and haven’t signed up yet, let me
know! The workshops will be exactly as good as the effort we put into them.

Also, some miscellaneous reminders:

There will be 600 people there! Label your unicycle and other items!

Respect the rules. Without rules, these events would be chaos.

Introduce yourself! Come prepared to meet people, have fun, and make the
most of it. Medals are great, but friendships mean more.

Be willing to help out. Remember, these events are run by volunteers. The
people in Washington have donated an incredible amount of their time,
energy, and resources to make this happen. Show your appreciation. They
deserve our thanks and a lot more than that!

I hope everyone has a GREAT time.

If you are willing to say hello to me, look for the woman from Minnesota,
idling on the uni.5 while juggling 18 bottles of root beer and balancing a
kayak on her head. (I am planning to one-up Mr. Harper at this event. I
doubt that’s possible, but just try to stop me.)

See you soon!

Carol
Minnesota
email: cettermclean at hotmail dot com

Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail.

2

PLEASE juggle CANS of root beer. It is much too valuable of a commodity to risk the breakage. Although I trust you not to drop them it would simply be too stressful for me to watch.

3

RE: Unicon Workshop Update

> There will be 600 people there! Label your unicycle and other items!

Also keep an eye on your stuff. Don’t get me wrong, the Snoqualmie Valley is
NOT known for crime. But with so many people around, the wrong stuff can
get picked up and moved. And I did have a unicycle stolen at the last
UNICON, right from the stands at the track in Beijing.

> Respect the rules. Without rules, these events would be chaos.

This applies not only to competition rules, but mostly to convention and
facility rules. If you are asked not to ride in the halls, it is because the
building owners have forbidden it. The convention hosts are not the building
owners. Don’t get them in trouble. And no riding in the halls.

The budget and resources of this convention are limited. Corporate
sponsorship was essentially impossible to obtain due to the downturn in the
economy, especially in the tech sector. The buses will only go where they
have been scheduled to go, and everything costs as much as it costs for a
reason. The convention is for us, and we have to pay for it. Don’t worry,
it’s well worth it.

> Introduce yourself! Come prepared to meet people, have fun,
> and make the most of it. Medals are great, but friendships
> mean more.

100%. This is what these events are about.

> Be willing to help out. Remember, these events are run by
> volunteers.

More help always makes things run better. Please offer some time. The more
volunteers there are, the more fun everybody has! Nobody is too busy.
Example: I will be the referee for all racing events except MUni. For the
MUni events I will be helping set up and run things, but not reffing because
I’ll be in the races. I hope to arrive in town early and help with any
course design that still remains to be done. I have offered to host 8
workshops. I will also be a judge for artistic competitions.

There will be plenty of need for people to help out with non-specialized,
easy tasks around the track, in the gyms, and at all other convention
locations for the various events. Just ask.

> If you are willing to say hello to me, look for the woman
> from Minnesota, idling on the uni.5 while juggling 18
> bottles of root beer

Drop one down, it breaks all around, 17 bottles of (root) beer in the air…
…and a flat tire soon enough…

Stay on top,
John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
2002 NAUCC and UNICON Referee
jfoss@unicycling.com

Go to NAUCC and UNICON 2002! www.nwcue.org

4

Re: Workshop Update

John Foss wrote…
>> How sad :frowning: I had fantasies of flying around on a uni. Which
>> brings back
>> an old question: an old dream of mine – how to build a real
>> flying uni.
>> My next secret weapon…shshshshssh…
>
>Sorry, already been done:
>http://www.goodyearblimp.com/archive/c_eagle_blimp.html
>
>Though today’s Goodyear Blimps have a little bitty wheel on the tail, they
>generally only rest on the front one. Search around on the blimp site for
>more pictures.

That’s cheating – that picture only shows a blimp with one wheel. I am
talking about a unicycle that flies. To qualify as such of course you must be
able to ride it as a unicyle.

Of course I maintain it is possible to build such a contraption, and I will vehemently
counter anyone who thinks otherwise. John, you no doubt remember that I have often
maintained the possibility of doing many things that others cosidered impossible at some
time, starting with coasting in the eary 80’s.

Regards, Jack Halpern
President, The CJK Dictionary Institute, Inc.
http://www.cjk.org Phone: +81-48-473-3508

5

Re: Workshop Update

> That’s cheating – that picture only shows a blimp with one wheel. I am
> talking about a unicycle that flies. To qualify as such of course you must
be
> able to ride it as a unicycle.

The first time I watched the One Tired Guy video where Kris calmly rides
toward the cliff edge, I did wonder if he was wearing a parachute.

A unicycle would certainly make BASE jumping more interesting.