I can barely type this post. All those wimpy little muscles that usually hang limply from my shoulders are screaming for mercy with even the slightest movement.
Now, some may think that perhaps today I exited the The Kirk a little weary from another type of activity entirely. In its previous incarnation (I assume a some time after it stopped being an official church), The Kirk was a well-known Sydney BDSM venue. Thankfully those strong support beams are also useful for other purposes, including the regular practice session of the Sydney Burlesque Cabaret Aerial Artbabes.
This is the great thing about Sydney, so many amazing activities going on right under our noses, if only you look for them. As a complete amateur, I vainly tried to flip myself around a rope loop hanging from the ceiling, really wishing I had a little more upper body strength up my aching sleeves. The other girls made this facinating art form look incredibly easy and graceful. Maggie was as always a blur of grace and finesse as she easily dangled, flipped and arabesqued herself in mid air...
A couple of hours later, rock climbing was on the bill with another group of friends. It was not pretty. I think I did more dangling in mid-air than actual climbing...perhaps a day of rest between two such activities in the future!
Anyway, great experiences, both of them. If my weary fingers can work this out, i'll post a u tube link for cloud swinging, which is what we did at the Kirk.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2yhef3CuKEAt the time I had no idea what it was called, its kinda seems like a cross between spanish web and static trapeze. Incidentally there are many other great arts of the circus out there. And they all have great names, including the Diablo (a spool tossed between a string connected by two sticks), the Corde Lisse (a vertical rope), Rola Bola (balancing on a plank with some cylinders rola-bola-ing around underneath) and the Perch, which is another equilabristic or balancing art, where one performer balances a pole, atop which the second performer balances. Most likely without even looking down. Even more intriguing is the Hair Hang. Apparently according to wikipedia which lists these and quite a few more circus skills, if a single human hair can carry 100 grams, it only stands to reason that a whole head of hair can support between 5,600 kg and 8,400kg. So the idea is the performer saves on such props as ropes and perches and just uses what nature provided. Painful I imagine. Apparently it may have been invented in China. I really don't know what i've been doing with my time, to miss out on these delights.
And although I did swing from aforementioned Cloud Swing, there was nothing else I did up there that resembled a cloud. Perhaps I would be better suited to the aptly named circus skill of Buffoonery. Yep, that's the ever-popular jester of the circus. Heaps of fun. Any interested parties, check out
http://burlesque.meetup.com/55/.