July 21 - Squirrel

Rocky: And now...
Bullwinkle: Hey, Rocky!
Bullwinkle: Watch me pull a rabbit outta my hat.
Rocky: Again?
Purple Pig: SQUEEEAAL!
Bullwinkle: Oops .. wrong hat.

Andrew McDonald sounds like he would be a pretty cool guy.  I only say it this way because I've listened to his voice for hours on end as the host of The Jam Room Podcast, my favorite listening material when twisting balloons.  I love hearing twister origin stories and anecdotes, there is a Pavlovian effect, I want to build things!

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Edit:
Andrew McDonald makes the MacPump balloon pump.  Shame on me for mooshing these guys together in my head.   Mea culpa, I think this might qualify me for a job as a speechwriter though...  Sorry Andrew, love the squirrel!  Sorry Andrew, love the show!
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When I was looking through some older Balloon Magic Magazines (#56) and saw he contributed to the designs, I knew I had to try one.  This is his squirrel which was a competition winner at Twist & Shout in 2007.

There is nothing too complicated with this form, it all comes together fairly easily. The way he has the cheeks aligned add to the smile, so they need to be massaged into "happy" shape, the first build initially looked pretty mad.

I introduced my first build to the backyard squirrels to establish contact and set up initial trade negotiations.

Sag meinen Namen! (link)	I, for one, welcome our new latex overlord.
He swims on his back to keeps his nuts dry.