The Snigglet

The Snigglet was an ancient Chinese torture device originally made from rolled and twisted parchment, where the end comes to a sharp twisted point. The Snigglet did not do any physical harm but was meant as a sleep deprivation torture device. Once the captured enemy was in a deep sleep in his prison cell, a party of four torturers would creep in without waking the prisoner. One of the torturers would wield the Snigglet and take aim at the enemy's exposed nostril. With a practiced technique, a jab up and twist motion, the prisoner didn't know what had hit him. He would wake trying to bat away his marauders while they all laughed at him, thus adding the belittling element to the sleep deprivation.

Several of the fellows in TapWater have taken liberty with their band mates to practice this technique. TapWater will soon post a video of this demonstration so our family and friends can practice at home. As well as the jabbing technique, we will demonstrate the rolling of the Snigglet for maximum nostril penetration.

Asphalt sole in Point Richmond

If there was ever a good place to strap on your dancing shoes, it is Point Richmond. On the opening show of the summertime music series, the movement of the dancers through out the night was infectious. Yet the best dancer, by and large, was a fellow by the name of Brad. He was up and moving to Susan Davis and her band before anyone else. Once TapWater began to play, the best dancer in Point Richmond invited me out onto the dance asphalt (for there wasn’t a floor as it was in the middle of the street!) Of course, I can nearly never refuse an invitation to dance, and it was still early in the day, so out I went. Brad lead the movement, and I gladly flowed along. Then I lead a bit and he stayed the course better than any other partner I have ever danced with. We continued on through the entire set, playing off one another’s moves and energy.
TapWater came to a set break which meant a quick rest for the dancers, but as soon as the band was back on, Brad was there again inviting me out to dance in the street. Of course I go and we are out twirling and bouncing and tapping our toes and shakin our hips and just can’t get enough of that good vibe. We thank each other after each break in the music and we are smiling and laughing at the sheer fun of the event. Encore after encore, we stay with the merry movements of the music until, sadly, TapWater must exit the stage. I smile at Brad and he grins at me. One last curtsy and one last bow and a reach to shake hands that turns into each of us pulling for a hug. The best dancer in all of Point Richmond was my partner for two hours.

Ravi's Sports Classic Part 1

Oh, the joys of being a kid. You know, one of my favorite things when I was but a wee lad was this little mini Nerf basket ball hoop that hung from the back of my bedroom door. All of the neighborhood kids would come over for the big tournament which happened on at least a once a day basis. Of course I, being the owner of such said hoop, had developed a particularly adept mastery of mad skills from just about every possible shot to be made in the room, which of course could only come ever so naturally from residing in the home field advantage called my room.

Oh yes, there was the jump shot from the back corner of the wall with the window on it, where you had to ever so gently finesse your way just over the corner of the steel frame of the top bunk (I had the top bunk by the way, my brother slept in the bottom) and with just the right bit of back spin…SWISH!!!! “OH YEAH BABY! DID YOU SEE THAT SHOT!”

The room erupted with cheers from the local riff raff. Oh the glorious victory accompanied by the I kicked your butt dance. Once again I had conquered all who had come before me, all who dared challenge my prowess. I was the champion, the victor, the winner of all, I was the best.

Then there was the living room baseball games. The EZ boy chair was first base. Third base was an end table that was nowhere near the end of anything so I don’t even know why they called it that whoever they are. The couch was in the center of the room so it only seemed fitting that it be second base. Of course this made a great dynamic for the I got you/no you didn’t arguments because of the overwhelming size. Tied couch goes to the runner. Finally, the rule ensued that you had to reach the middle cushion to be considered safe or “YOUR OUTTA THERE!”

So all things considered and this and that not much has changed. Oh yes my body is physically and in almost every way shape and form out grown my 10 year old adolescent piece of grey matter situated somewhere within this thick skull of mine still refusing to this day to accept the unfact that aging is an ever prevalent force of time demanding of me to follow through with it. Maybe one day I’ll reckon with it, but not now. Not today, and probably not tomorrow or the next day neither. For you know what I just got? Do ya? Huh come on, can you guess?


Well you’ll just have to tune in next week to find out because this blog is reached the just about out of space limits. Yes I’ll quit now before this turns into a full fledged chapter. Tune in next week for Ravi’s Sports Classic part 2.