09.18.06 Niblets (Formerly Grab Bag)

Open wide for this heaping portion of briefs, quickies, and other stray crumbs of rejuvenile-flavored goodness?

? The New York Times weighed in on adult kickball on Friday in a feature that included some beard-pulling commentary from me and a good discussion of the growing rift between those who play to win and those who relish in the game’s ridiculousness. Pullquote put it best: ?A manifestation of the breakdown of traditional age —  just a chance to drink or flirt??

? The Come Out and Play Festival is set for this weekend in New York; anyone remotely nearby should hightail it to Gotham and get busy. Billed as “three days of play, talks and celebration focused on new types of games and play,” the event is the work of genius game designers with a passion for so-called “big games” ” web-enabled participatory pastimes so involved and creative they make scavenger hunts look like tic-tac-toe. Think of it this way: when will you ever get another chance again to play a game of urban minigolf that uses cabbies, pedestrians and buildings as obstacles in a 1000-par course” Descriptions and signups for many more cool big games here.
-e forewarned. NPR’s “Marketplace” aired a commentary from me today, but this one is different from ones I’ve done previously in three major respects: 1) Topic has nothing to do with the —  you consider the CEO who shelled out $20 million this week for a spot on a rocket ship rejuvenile, 2) It’s a back-and-forth exchange with another commentator, the lovely and amazing Ruthie Ellenson, and, most importantly, 3) It features my truly horrifying impersonation of a Russian cosmonaut singing Madonna’s “Lucky Star.”
-heck out this amazing clip of a daredevil on a Flybar, the grown-up pogo stick described in the book’s section on extreme sports. I’m told by Flybar honcho Dave Jargowsky that the clip has stirred up a ton of interest in his —  for it on “the Tonight Show” this fall?

? More cool video here of highly athletic rejuvenile tomfoolery ? Bossball mixes volleyball, football and gymnastics in a game played on a court strewn with inflatable pads and trampolines. Just as the Flybar is an amped-up improvement on the pogo, Bossball looks like volleyball played by those superhero monks in kung fu movies who sail through the air as if gravity was a law made to be broken. Thanks to reader boldergeizd for the link.

? And I thought Disney Fairy Tale Weddings were the end-all-be-all rejuvenile twist on our last remaining rite of passage; behold, the Super Mario-themed wedding cake! Comes frosted with 8-bit-color graphic elements (via Boing Boing)?