Gerry has kindly agreed to do the interview for us all on the forum, just sorting out a convenient date etc.
Gerry is probably the UK's answer to Ralph Dewey in America, he has been around a very long time in the balloon world  
And has seen many changes and it's growth over the years, he is very knowledgeable on all things related to balloon's,
in fact a mind of information on the subject and has brought out many books on the subject over the years.
He was also the person to design and help me with the spitfire on the portfolio/gallery page on my website.
If you look closely you will see we named it GL2

I have a week to go before we fly out for Diamond jam and the Jeff McBride Magic masterclass.
Have hotels booked, how cheap can they be? For the balloon convention I'm booked in for six nights at the convention hotel and will be sharing, the cost to me $110 and then we are booked in at a motel for the masterclass again sharing the room but with a hire car and for eight nights the all in the price is $195. Rooms in Vegas in August are very sensibly priced.

I will try and do a bit of reporting back on the convention and classes that I sit in on so that we can give a rough feel to how things are and possibly tempt you into coming to one of the American conventions sometime soon.

Oh no   We are in trouble now Debbie's joined  :lol:
Glad to see the new signing up for the forum worked, hope yoy enjoy the site.

From memory so I may be wrong, Denis and Ingrid from Haha, Tom Bibo who is a great performer and I expect his lecture will be about performance, Patrick van de Ven and two really nice people from the UK......now what were there names!

This is the new flyer for the event and I've been informed that the website goes live on the 15th Aug.
We shall wait and see!
The picture is of Leo outside one of the new top of the range chalet bungalows at Sunparks  :lol:

Nothing confirmed as yet but I expect it will be in Birmingham.

Have been in touch with Ken and can now confirm that he will be coming over next year to do;
"The David Grist Memorial Lecture"
Will be seeing Ken next week at Diamond jam and will confirm up dates etc.
I'm really pleased and chuffed about this as David & Ken we're very good friends  

If anyone else is coming on the trip over with us I will need cheques by this friday 7th August.

Tie two un inflated balloons together and attach the ball at one end and twist the other end around the bottom of the catcher.

Have added the ball with the outer four bubbles which are the last bubbles to be added in white to help make it clearer, hopefully.

Twist another 2 finger bubble and tie the knot of the balloon around this twist. You should have four 2 finger bubbles top and bottom of the ball so far. Now we need to fill in between the top and bottom section with four 2 finger bubbles which are just a push fit. The remainder of the balloon is discarded and tied back into the knot of the balloon.

The remainder of the balloon will be twisted around the first 10 finger handle bubble to give a more robust looking handle with the remainder of the balloon not required although you may have used all the balloon for the handle and have none left.

The Ball

Inflate a 260 to about half way. All the twists for the ball are the same size, a 2 finger bubble.
Twist five 2 finger bubbles and twist the first and the fifth twists together. Twist two more 2 finger bubbles and push these through the first 4 bubbles like a bird body roll through.
Here is a description of the bird body roll through if your not sure; viewtopic.php?f=25&t=1105

Inflate the white 160 with 3 fingers un-inflated and tie around the bottom two pinch twists, twist another 8 finger bubble and tir intothe last pinch twist at the top of the catcher then twist a 4 finger bubble back to the pinch twist that already has the double 4 finger bubble on as this is where the handle will be twisted into and the double 4 finger bubbles will act as extra support for the handle. Add another 1 finger pinch twist around the pinch twist that is already there and from the douldle pinch twist measure your handle to approx a 10 finger bubble and twist two more 1 finger pinch twists at the end of the handle.

With the second 160 balloon which is inflated with 2 fingers un-inflated tie this onto a pinch twist either side of the last 8 finger bubble, twist another 8 finger bubble and twist around the bottom 2 pinch twists.
The next 8 finger bubble coming back to the top of the catcher must be twisted into the pinch twist next to the RED 8 finger bubble.
You then make a 4 finger bubble and twist around the next pinch twist so that the top of the catcher has a double bubble which will help support the handle when finished.
With the remainder of the red 160 twist the last 8 finger bubble around the pinch twist that is next to the RED 8 finger bubble and discard the rest of the balloon.

It is a shame that we have so many members with so few trying the model of the month. This is a fairly easy model but it has large impact, adults and children love this one. So can we tempt a few more to have a go?  

Inflate the 160 to 4 fingers un-inflated and twist a 4 finger bubble followed by a 1 finger pinch twist. Repeat this till you have six four finger bubbles and six pinch twists and then tie the knot around the last pinch twist.
With the same 160 balloon twist an 8 finger bubble and then two 1 finger pinch twists.
The remainder of the balloon can be discarded or left as in picture three.

I'm trying to tempt Ken over to the UK next year for "The David Grist Memorial Lecture" so fingers crossed that we can work it all out.