Hello Dave,
I am impressed, I didn’t know they had Juggling Clubs at university. I was more into sports at that time.
By the way, Cirque du Soleil is visiting Madrid for a month, they really have an awesome circus show, more like a theatre performance with no animals..
We’ll see how it goes.
Regards,
Cristina

Hi Cristina!
Thanks for your comment!
There were all types of clubs at university. You could even start your own if you wanted to! The most inventive one was the “CV club” (curriculum vitae club). Members of this club didn’t actually do anything, they just took it in turns to be president. That way they could put “I was president of a university society” on their CV!
I’ve never seen Cirque du Soleil, but I’ve heard it’s supposed to be amazing. Enjoy it if you go and see it!
Best wishes,
Dave

Hi Dave!
Reading your article again I have remembered that when I was a child my brother and me tried several times to juggle. We juggled with oranges, but my brother was by far better juggler than me, which doesn’t mean he was very skilful…
Regards to juggling with clubs, I believe it can be a bit dangerous, specially if you are not a good juggler! But anyway, I have never heard about somebody who got injured because of juggling, so I hope you can practice this weekend with three, four or more oranges… Oh, no! Oranges no!
I hope we have the opportunity to see you juggling in the “Cirque du Soleil�, why not?
Best wishes,
Claudia

You can go from Manchester to Granada and in every major city you can find young people, supposedly at odds with society, juggling, unicycling and diablo tossing in the street.
What is it about circus skills that attracts dreadlocked dropouts? Why are there so many juggling junkies?

I would have liked the illustration of this weekly to be a photograph of Dave juggling. It’s nice to be able to put a face to a name. I was never really able to assign a face to Rob Cole. Rob Cole was the physician in The Physician, that first of Noah Gordon’s trilogy about a long line of gifted medical doctors. Rob Cole was the medieval RC. In those days, healers were barbers. Rob Cole was a barber. And on the side, he was a juggler, like Dave. And like Dave, he was originally English, and also very tall. So thanks to Dave for incarnating Rob Cole!

Hi Claudia!
Thanks for your comment!
So you’re already a juggler then – fantastic! Did you know there was a circus school in Madrid? Maybe you can go there to practice!
Juggling with clubs can indeed be a bit dangerous, especially if they are on fire. All you have to remember though is not to catch the orange flickering end. ;-)
Cirque du Soleil? Ha ha! I think I need a lot more practice! But as you say, why not? Maybe some day!
Best wishes,
Dave

What are you insinuating, Dónal? ;-)
According to the Wikipedia article on juggling, there are two basic types of juggler.
The first are those who learned to juggle in a club at university or college. Often they are mathematicians, scientists, and computer programmers. Juggling appeals to them because it can be very structured and it can be analysed easily using mathematics and physics. Juggling is useful to researchers who are studying motor skills and learning techniques.
The second are from the alternative culture scene. They enjoy juggling because “it can be as free as you want it to be, with a virtually infinite scope for individual personal expression”.
Needless to say, being a computer geek and having learnt to juggle at university, I belong firmly in the former group. Not having dreadlocks, a skinny dog, numerous body piercings or a problem with personal hygiene disassociates me from the latter. I hope… :-)

My first and only experience with juggling was in P.E. (physical education class). Every year there were two units that we all dreaded: juggling and square dancing. We started juggling with two handkerchieves (because you have to be really clumsy to drop those) and then went on to three and then to heavier things. I never succeeded in juggling (or any other physical activity for that matter), thus provoking the rage of my super-buff P.E. teachers. I chose Quiz Bowl and Choir for my extracurriculars.
As far as juggling vagrants are concerned, what can I say? I had never really thought about it but you’re right, Dónal (although I get the feeling that yours is just another reactionary “carca” comment to see what people say).
I saw the Cirque de Soleil in Bilbao last year. Very nice. Very expensive but very entertaining. A pleasant surprise.

Gina – I don’t think I’ve ever incarnated anyone before! I’m glad to have been able to help!
Best wishes,
Rob Cole

Wes – sounds like you had some unusual (for me anyway) P.E. lessons! At my school we were forced to play football, rugby and cricket, and I despised all of them. I would have much preferred juggling classes! I’m not so sure about square dancing though… :-)

I can’t juggle, but there is one thing I can do that people always marvel at. I can hang spoons on my nose and, with a little more effort, on other parts of my face. People think that you need a flat nose like mine in order to hang a spoon on it, but that’s not true. I know people with pointed noses who can do it, too. Can any of you do it?

Hello Dave,
I have liked very much your article. It was not known that the juggling is good to relax you.
We always think about the yoga, massages….. but it had not occured to me, it is a very good idea!!
I remained impressed with and Circus of the Sun, two times have come to Seville, It was fantastic!
Of major I want to be a clown!, the true thing is that I am much a buffoon!
I believe that we all have a clown inside, and we should invite him to go out more often. I am sure that the world would be better !!
Congratulations again and see you soon.
Reyes.

I saw the Cirque du Soleil in Bilbao too! Anyway, my mum says she is a juggler every minute of the day that she is awake, and that she manages to juggle lots of balls: me, my dad, and my sister, her own mum, the rest of her family, inlaws and outlaws, friends and foes, house and garden(?), work and play, letters in Scrabble, beloved books and shoes, body and soul, blood sweat and tears, earth wind and fire. All day she juggles. Life is a circus.

Thank you Oscar! You have written perfectly the way every mother feels. I’m able to do all those things and more. I always say that I’m so many thing that I don’t know who I am at the end of the day. I can sing, I can cook, I can drive like a taxi driver, I can work, and even I can climb the walls like Spiderman when I’m completely crazy at the end of the day.

Hi Paula – I’ve heard of people hanging spoons on their noses before, but on other parts of their face? That’s fantastic! Send me a photo! I shall certainly be attempting to hang a spoon from my nose this lunchtime. I’ll let you know what happens!

Dave,
Paola’s 28 today. Too old for those games.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PAOLA!

Hi Reyes!
I couldn’t agree with you more. We should let our “inner clown” out as much as we can! To laugh and to smile are two of the best ways to relax I can think of.
Thanks for your comment!
Best wishes,
Dave

Happy Birthday Paola!!!!
By the way, I wasn’t very successful at the spoon-balancing. What’s the secret? :-)

Thank you for your comments Oscar and Mar!
I don’t think we appreciate just how good jugglers our parents have to be until we are in the same position. In so many ways running a household is much harder than a “regular” job!
Three cheers for all the “life jugglers” out there!

Thanks for wishing me a happy birthday!
The secret to spoon-hanging is to breathe some warm air onto the concave part of the spoon. Give it a try! :-)

I am very impress with the article. In some case, I have watch some people who was juggling on the street but I don’t know that exist a club at the University.
For me, it’s to difficult to juggling because I am not very good at physics. I’m very surprised when I see some people juggling with balls or with clubs.
Dave, Could you put a photo in which you are juggling?
Best Regards.

I use to juggling very often but unfortunately not with oranges or balls. Everyday I have to juggle with my kids, the office, the shopping, the dinner… My life is a continuous “juggle�.
Well it’s not very relaxing, but the good thing is that I do exercise, since I always have to rush up.
Apart from that, and speaking more seriously, I’m really surprised to know that there are clubs in the Universities for juggling. Normally it’s expected that those clubs are for sports or for a development of intellectual skills (like debate, for instance).
I think it’s a very good idea if you can relieve stress, and always can be a beginning for earning one’s living.
Cheers,
Merche.

Hi Dave,
It’s fantastic you are a jumbler, it’s something not everyone can do.
I’m going to practice with one, two and three balls and I will let you know my experience. The attractive of jumbling is the show and if it is relaxing and you do exercise… it can be a very good “sport”.
In Madrid is not usual to see jumblers in the street. Only in a traffic light I saw 2 jumblers some months ago trying to earn some money.

Paola – ah ha! Thank you! I am now an accomplished spoon-hanger. Now I have to learn to juggle at the same time… :-)

Dear Mr/Mrs A. Anonymous,
thanks for your comment! Don’t forget to register (unless your name really is Anonymous Anonymous, in which case, thanks for registering)!
There were all sorts of clubs at my university – take your pick! Which one would you like to join?
I don’t think you need to be good at physics to be able to juggle, you just need to practice. Try following these instructions!
I haven’t got any photos of me juggling, but I’ll try and get one. I’ll post it here as soon as I have it!
Best wishes,
Dave

Hi Merche!
Thanks for the comment!
So you’re a life juggler like Gina!
Do the universities in Spain not have these societies? Have a look at the link in the previous comment – there is normally a fantastic variety of societies in English universities. What’s more, if none of them are to your liking, you can set up your own!
You can be as intellectual (or not) as you like!
Keep juggling!
Cheers
Dave

Wes – when I was there, that society was called the “crawl club” (as in pub crawl) – maybe the name change is an attempt to make it sound more sophisticated! :-)

...I have switched my message to the new topic.
Regards,
Cristina

Sorry Dave, I was the anonymous.
Today is another important date: GINA´s Birthday.
Happy Birthay GINA and don’t forget to invite all of your colleagues.
Love always Juanjo.