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Tag Archives: balloon

44th Annual Art on the Green, Coeur d’Alene, ID August 3-5

I had such a fine time.  A few things went a little goofy but overall the events were something I enjoy immensely.  I believe everyone should see Art on the Green in Coeur d’Alene.  An absolute blast.  We arrived on Friday evening and I walked through the fair and came upon the director of the children’s event area, Isis Siegler.  She graciously invited me to perform and distribute balloons for the little ones all day Saturday and Sunday.  It was on Sunday I had a little trouble with which event I should have been attending, but that got straightened out quickly.  All I can say is shame on Coeur d’Alene.  You’d have to have been there to know why.  Again, I had my trusty side-kick Russ with me on Saturday.

Canterbury Renaissance Festival, Mt. Angel July 21-22

What a great festival.  It went well both days.  I had Russ with me on Saturday to inflate the balloons, so I was free to do a lot more magic but on Sunday I was alone again.  Doing magic while the children want balloons is impossible, so I kept to my trusty pump and filled those children’s hearts with joy.

World Beat Festival, Salem Jun 30

I did get a little wet at the World Beat Festival, in fact quite soaked with the rest of my troupe.  I had with me a student I had met in magic class, Becky Ekland, and the instructor of the magic class John Edsall.  These two are true helpers.  I had invited Becky to join me and help inflate balloons.  She proved more than helpful.  John just happened by.  He wasn’t doing anything so he thought he’d see how we were doing.  If it hadn’t been for the rain, I’m sure we would have stayed longer.

National Night Out

Several sponsors are presenting the National Night Out this coming august 7.  It is being held in the rear parking lot of the Red Lion Hotel located at 3301 Market Street NE, Salem.  The event starts at 6:00 PM and will close at 9:00 PM.

The list of sponsors is extensive, but I will attempt to list them here:

The City of Salem Police Department

Red Lion Hotel

Ray & Joan Kroc

Might Mo, Inc.

Pixie’s Photography

Don Pancho, Authentic Mexican Foods

Hands and Words are Not For Hurting

and of course, Professor Laffmoore

Please forgive me if I have inadvertently missed anyone.

Added another festival to my 2012 schedule

Don’t forget to look for me at Faerieworlds Summer Festival in Eugene, Oregon on July 27, 28 and 29th..

I’ve added it to my performance schedule for the 2012 season.  This is one of my favorite festivals and I recommend it to anyone who has never been before.

I may be filming some parts of my perfomance at this festival, so if you get a chance to see me, please remember you may be photographed.

Some interesting facts about balloons

See what I found at About.com on the internet.

The first rubber balloons were made by Professor Michael Faraday in 1824 for use in his experiments with hydrogen at the Royal Institution in London.

I find this fact interesting because first of all the balloon was invented by a Professor.  And second of all I know this professor from my studies in electricity.  You see, I know quite a bit about electricity, and its effect on balloons.

Did you know that if you rub a balloon over the skin of your forearm several times, that it will pick up a static electric charge.  You can use this static electric charge to do some interesting things.

You can make the hair on your head stand up simply by passing the balloon over your head, but not to close, just above your hair.  You will find “the hair standing up trick” is a lot of fun to show other people.

Another trick you can perform with a balloon is to stick it up on the ceiling using the same technique of rubbing it on your arm to “charge” it with electricity.  You may need the help of an adult to get the balloon to the ceiling, but after you rub it on your arm you can easily stick it to the ceiling. It won’t keep the charge very long, but it should stick on the ceiling for several seconds.

Professor Laffmoore Welcomes YOU !

Card from Handmade Felt, Lorraine Karassik

Card from Handmade Felt

Thank you for visiting my Professor Laffmoore site. I have added hyper-links to some of the festivals I have entertained at during the last year or two.

You are welcome to click on any wording that is a different color (other than quotes) and be magically transported to the home page of that particular event.

I hope you enjoy the color and festivities as much as I do.

I would love to know who is visiting my site. Wont you please leave me a message upon your visit? Just click the item on the top of the page which says “Contact The Professor” and I will reply.

FaerieWorlds Harvest Sept 17

The autumn edition of FaerieWorlds was a most exceptional festival.  We had a very fine day to perform and observe.  Everyone was in a grand mood.  We listened to some very good performers who entertained crowds of folks.

I put on some interesting majic shows while Heidi, my newly acquired companion made good use of my balloon pump.

Here is what Heidi had to say about FaerieWorld,

“FaerieWorlds is a wonderful festival that I had the supreme pleasure of participating in. The folk were friendly, and very colorful, characters.
The children were all very interested in Neverland, and of course the Proff. Laffmoore who enchanted them with majic and free balloons 🙂 and the young ones weren’t the only ones interested either!”

(You can read this in “comments” as well.)

 

Root Stalk Festival Sept. 24

Here’s a copy of the letter I sent to the organizer of
RootStalkFest, Marshé Townsend at Mountain Rose Herbs:

rootStalk Logo

rootStalk Logo

It is with great pleasure I write this little note.

I’m quite sure you are exhausted after the long ordeal of Root Stalk this past weekend.  I would like to congratulate you and your dedicated crew for offering a fine camping and educational experience for all the folks who attended.

For myself, I cannot begin to express my delight in having the opportunity to entertain all those wonderful children.  You may be aware this venue was not my normal forte, but it turned out very well in the end.  I’m only sorry I was not more prepared for the condition.  I would have brought a children’s book to read to them if I had known the conditions I would be entertaining under.

This does not preclude my enjoyment and the enjoyment of the youngsters who attended.

Thank you for affording me the opportunity to increase my skills while entertaining all those lovely children.  I would do it again for you in a heartbeat.

Your humble entertainer,

Professor Laffmoore

AND HER REPLY:

Hi Professor Laffmoore,

mountainrose herbs

Mountainrose Herbs


Many thanks to you for all of your involvement at Rootstalk.  You were absolutely amazing and a life-saver for our little ones!  We had children’s activities planned and they were cancelled at the very last minute because of a chicken-pox out-break.  I really appreciate how you stepped right up and the children LOVED you.  So again, thank you, thank you, thank you!

We appreciate your presence and support for Cascadia Wildlands

Cheers,

Marshé

Faerieworlds Festival Eugene June18

Faerieworlds

Faerieworlds 2011

Wow.  What a bash? Not near the crowd that I anticipated, but everyone had a good time at Faerieworlds.

Wet.  Very wet on Saturday due to the rain that fell on and off most all day. The day started out overcast and it turned to rain as the morning progressed.  Most of the campers entered from the camp areas as the sun began to rise, and they continued to enter the main stage area until 11:00 O’clock or so.  Some were damp and others were dry, but they all came with high expectations for a fun and entertaining day.

Russ and I set-up around 10:30 under the wishing tree where I was sure the children would congregate.  And sure enough they came.  Most of the children were accompanied by their parents, or another older adult.  I began blowing up balloons as the young ones arrived.  (Actually my able bodied assistant Russ ran the air pump.  Russ attended most all the festivals with me this year.  He got good and soaked on this day.)

The most appreciation for my balloon give-a-way was voiced by several mothers who had obviously been camping out overnight and had just gotten up and entered the festival area with their children.  Several comments were made as to how much they appreciate I was there to entertain their kids with free balloons.  The kids loved them and so did the folks.

As the children ran and played with their balloons I was able to attracted the attention of several of the more mature people with some of my famous street majic.

I was able to create a dance mood for one young couple who agreed to be hypnotized, and they loved it.  They kept coming back for more.