ping pong table

guide and resources to care or choose your ping pong table

Thursday, November 30, 2006

On first walking into the exhibit, one is greeted by what appears to be a large fireplace-like setting on the opposite wall, with a raised brick floor leading into a small compartment that holds a red ball suspended over a stand. Upon closer inspection, one will see that it is not painted on the wall at all, but is actually raised a bit. The work is a very precise rendition of depth perception without sharp lines, which makes the brick walkway seem very real, as if the observers could tread upon it and enter the painting itself.

Another interesting installment is Robin Hill and Steve Kaltenbach's "Say it Back," which includes a recording of sporadically bouncing ping-pong balls, imitating the sound of softly falling rain. A large blue easel holds two sets of large blue paper lined in pale stripes. The papers are printed with e-mail correspondences between Hill and Kaltenbach concerning the conception and creation of the installation itself. On the ground below the easel is a miniature ping-pong table, complete with paddles and a regular-sized ping-pong ball, inscribed with the words "Say it back."

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Totally Friday Night, an event open to middle school-aged kids living in Ashwaubenon or attending school in the Ashwaubenon School District, will host a "Football Fever" event Friday at the Ashwaubenon Community Center, 936 Anderson Drive.

Kids can wear a football jersey and get in for $1 off. Football throwing contests for accuracy will be held on site.

Like other Totally Friday events, the evening will include a DJ with dancing and contests with prizes. A foosball table, ping pong table and snack bar are available.

Totally Friday opens its doors at 6 p.m.; doors close at 7 p.m. and remain closed until 10 p.m. unless kids are picked up earlier by a parent at the front door.

Permission slips are available at school offices or the village Recreation Department at Village Hall, 2155 Holmgren Way. Permission slips and IDs should be brought to the event.

Friday, November 10, 2006

Phil Mickelson's decision to skip last year's Tour Championship was perceived by some as an unexcused absence -- how dare the world's third-ranked player choose trick-or-treating with his kids over a tournament where last place pays $105,300! When the tour gathers next week in Atlanta to wrap up the 2006 season, Mickelson again will stay home, having played in his final event two months ago before serving as America's lead goat at the Ryder Cup.

A ton of evidence suggests Lefty never recovered from his 72nd-hole meltdown at the U.S. Open, which pardons him from the dough rake at East Lake and justifies the five-month break he will take before returning at the 2007 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. With a pair of victories before Winged Foot, including the Masters, and seven top-10s in 13 starts, Mickelson was nicely positioned to win Player of the Year honors for the first time. He had won three of the previous nine majors, muting everyone who questioned his moxie in golf's biggest tournaments.

Everything changed June 18. Philly Mick's collapse seems to have prompted Tiger Woods' latest barrage of dominance, as if the master opportunist knew it would take months for his most formidable rival to get over the loss. And it has. Mickelson's best finish in five events after the U.S. Open was a T-16. Despite all the on-site preparation at Winged Foot, the twilight loops around the back nine after playing in the Barclays Classic and the pages of notes he rewrote after they had gotten soaked in the pro-am at Westchester, Lefty found himself double-crossed by the most reliable virtue of greatness.

Sometimes the harder you work, the harder you fall. Deep into their final night at the K Club, Mickelson and Woods were still dueling on the ping-pong table while the rest of the U.S. Ryder Cup contingent soaked the loss in Guinness. In 2007 the playing field won't be so level. Tiger has distanced himself from everyone, and if Philly Mick is serious about challenging that supremacy, he needs to make three significant changes in the upcoming year.