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    TOO Much Time

    Florida man creates giant rubber band ball
    By TAMARA LUSH Associated Press Writer The Associated Press
    Thursday, October 29, 2009 5:48 AM EDT

    LAUDERHILL, Fla. (AP) ? Look, over there. Under that blue tarp in a suburban driveway. That thing that's the size of a Smart car?

    It's Joel Waul's rubber band ball.

    Waul has spent the last six years carefully wrapping and linking and stretching rubber bands of various sizes into the ball shape. The Guinness Book of World Records declared it the world's largest rubber band ball in 2008.

    On Thursday, Waul will say goodbye to his creation. A team from Ripley's Believe it or Not will come to his driveway with a crane and haul the 6-foot, 7-inch tall, 9,032-pound behemoth away. The ball will eventually be displayed in a far-off museum yet to be determined, so folks can marvel at Waul's obsession.

    Waul got the idea six years ago, when he saw a Ripley's television special that showed the then-largest rubber band ball being dropped into the desert from an airplane.

    "I just thought it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen," said Waul, a 28-year-old who works nights restocking a Gap clothing store.

    The idea of setting a world record always appealed to Waul; he recalls that as a 7-year-old in Jamaica he pored over his father's Guinness Book of World Records.

    Creating a ball was easy. He got a few hair bands together. Then some larger bands. The ball grew to the size of a boulder, and his family took notice.

    "When it started getting bigger, they knew I was pretty serious," he said.

    The ball eventually got its own Web site. It got too big ? and smelly ? to keep in the house, so he rolled it outside.

    There have been a few casualties: at 400 pounds, it rolled over his hand and sprained it. It busted his big toe. Rubber bands breaking ripped two pairs of cargo pants and broke three pairs of sunglasses.

    Eventually, he wrote to companies that manufacture giant rubber bands for physical therapy, and they sent him free shipments.

    The ball grew and grew. Neighborhood kids climbed on top of it. Dogs sniffed it.

    "That's his masterpiece," said his neighbor, 25-year-old Andre Gregg. "I'm just amazed at how he did it."

    Waul and the ball have several followers on their Myspace page, but no one's been mesmerized by the creation more than Edward Meyer, vice president of exhibits and archives at the Orlando-based Ripley's.

    "We already have the largest string and barbed wire balls," Meyer said. "This is now my holy trinity, I guess."

    Meyer won't say how much Ripley's paid for the ball, which, at 25 feet in diameter, he estimates to be twice as large as the previous record holder.

    People like Waul "don't do it for money," Meyer said. "They don't really get rich. They decide they want to do something, and they get possessed. It's very much Andy Warhol, 15 minutes of fame. It is the desire to be the best at something."

    Now that Waul has set the rubber bands record, he's focused on the next challenge.

    "Human torch," he says, grinning.
    sigpic
    Never look down on a person unless you are offering them a hand up.
    awprint: RUBY Imagine yourself doing What you love and loving What you do, Being happy From the inside Out, experiencing your Dreams wide awake, Being creative, being Unique, being you - changing things to the way YOU know they can BE - Living the Life you Always imagined.awprint:

    #2
    TOO Much Time

    I'm devastated, he's beaten me to it :upset:

    I love you, I'm sorry, please forgive me, thank you.

    Comment


      #3
      TOO Much Time

      I've always wanted to start one with condoms.
      sigpic
      Never look down on a person unless you are offering them a hand up.
      awprint: RUBY Imagine yourself doing What you love and loving What you do, Being happy From the inside Out, experiencing your Dreams wide awake, Being creative, being Unique, being you - changing things to the way YOU know they can BE - Living the Life you Always imagined.awprint:

      Comment


        #4
        TOO Much Time

        rubywillow;746974 wrote: I've always wanted to start one with condoms.
        Well, I've searched the internet and I think you'd be onto a winner there. Check this list, it's not been thought of before

        20 uses for a condoms

        1. Hair tie

        2. Slip 'er over a payphone to avoid "NASTY" germs

        3. Bathing cap (if you stretch it in the right manner)

        4. Neat travel case for your toothbrush

        5. Wet suit for a ferret

        6. Finger puppets

        7. Travel size shampoo and conditioner holders

        8. Use it to store that urine sample next time you go to the doc for a checkup

        9. Rubber boot for a peg leg

        10. Latex toe warmers

        11. Stuff, and use to stop drafts under doors

        12. Fill with rocks and use to as a weapon in a crisis situation

        13. Makeshift sandbags in the event of a flood

        14. To keep candles dry when camping

        15. Build your own incredible "Water Weenies"

        16. To quickly fill water pistols

        17. Bicycle tire tube

        18. Change purse

        19. Goodyear Blimp model

        20. For those long car trips that dad hates to stop for potty breaks
        I love you, I'm sorry, please forgive me, thank you.

        Comment


          #5
          TOO Much Time

          "To keep candles dry when camping", now that is practical!!!

          Everything I need is within me!

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