Things are crazy around here. I almost didn't get this video up, dispite the fact that half of it was a scrolling picture and text. But that sort of special effect takes an hour of editing to get right. Meanwhile, I don't have an hour right now for editing. I've started working again, subbing in local schools.
Per the request of one of the comments asking about this particular tie, one of my favorite ties, the Pokemon tie, I will attempt to put the story here. Every time I've attempted to record this story and put it on YouTube the video somehow fails and ends up corrupted, so much so that I just decided it wasn't worth the effort. Maybe it's cursed to remain a mystery. So if blogger shuts down, you all are to blame.
Okay, here goes.
In a previous life I was a balloon guy. I can still twist a pretty mean Spider-man. At the time I prided myself in broadening my library of available designs. At this time Pokemon had just come to America and it was hot. So, naturally, I learned, from another twister at a balloon jam I went to, how to twist a Pikachu.
My employer, who would book me jobs at restaurants and parties and the like, learned about this and they gave me a call.
Them: "You can do Pokemon?! We have a Pokemon themed party that we're going to send you to."
Me: "I can do a Pokemon, there are over 100 of them. I can't do Pokemon. Just the one."
Them: "That's better than anyone else we got, so you're the man.
Me: "...okay."
I had a month to prepare, so I fired up Netscape, found an image of all available Pokemon at the time, printed it out, and studied it. I attempted to recreate as many of them with standard 260 animal balloons as I could. By the time of the party I had about 20 Pokemon available, including the most popular of them from the show. It wasn't all of them, but it wasn't too bad, and I felt ready.
Meanwhile my sister decided she'd help me accessorize with a tie. She found some Pokemon fabric, cut, and, bless her heart, hand sewed up the length of that whole thing to make me the coolest tie I have ever seen, and the only machine washable tie I have (though I don't do that because I'd have to put the crease back).
The day of the party came and I roll up, Pokemon tie on and 20 Pokemon balloon designs in my head. It was a party for a 6 year old. His dozen or so 5 and 6 year old friends swarmed around me and started making their demands.
Pikachu. Every single one.
But, hey, I got a sweet tie out of it.
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