The
Ball
The
Story
of
The
Ball
I
don't
remember
exactly
how
the
ball
began,
but
it
is
a
sphere,
composed
entirely
of
aluminum
foil
of
various
varieties.
It
is
mostly
candy
wrappers,
with
a
few
bits
of
foil
from
other
food
items
mixed
in.
So
far,
the
best
finish
coat
is
York
peppermint
pattie
wrappers.
That
is
by
virtue
of
the
adhesive
which
is
left
when
the
paper
is
peeled
off
of
the
back.
Other
foil
is
fine,
but
a
coat
of
peppermint
pattie
wrappers
is
necessary
to
keep
it
on.
Gum
wrappers
also
tend
to
have
that
quality,
but
they
are
far
too
difficult
to
peel
considering
the
minimal
bulk
that
they
have.
Gum
wrappers
do
make
a
good
finish
coat,
on
top
of
peppermint
pattie
wrappers,
for
show.
Some
items,
such
as
Hershey's
Miniatures,
which
look
like
they
might
be
good
candidates
for
foil,
aren't.
Then,
of
course,
there
is
metallized
Mylar,
which
is
right
out.
There
is
a
summary
of
what
materials
are
good
for
what
at
this
page.
The
ball
is
more
impressive
in
"person"
than
this
page
can
hope
to
depict.
When
people
are
introduced
to
the
ball,
their
first
reactions
are
of
surprise
that
it
is
so
nearly
perfectly
round,
smooth,
and
hard.
The
round,
smooth,
hard
attributes
are
achieved
by
applying
new
pieces
of
foil
more
or
less
uniformly
about
the
surface,
then
rolling
it
around
on
a
hard
surface
to
flatten
it.
I
also
periodically
whack
it
with
a
hammer,
further
compressing
the
surface
and
keeping
it
as
round
as
possible.
This
is
done
pretty
much
constantly,
so
there
are
no
large
pockets
of
air
in
it.
This
is
no
ordinary
foil
ball,
created
because
some
crumpled
up
foil
was
handy.
This
is
a
long
term
project.
There
isn't
actually
a
goal
size,
so
it
is
the
intermediate
results
that
are
important.
One
of
my
former
associates
insists
that
there
must
be
something,
such
as
a
marble,
at
the
center.
A
cursory
examination
of
the
geometry
of
the
situation
quickly
exposes
that
as
silly
at
best.
Just
trust
me
on
this
one.
It
is
foil
all
of
the
way
through.
I'm
not
the
only
person
who
has
constructed
a
site
about
a
ball
project.
Here
are
some
other
such
sites.
Disclaimer
The
opinions
expressed
in
this
collection
of
documents
do
not
necessarily
reflect
those
of
SunSITE;
who
is
not
responsible
for
its
content.
The
ball
is
a
personal
project
of
mine
and
any
blame
or
credit
belongs
to
me.
A
number
of
trademarked
images
appear
throughout
this
site
by
virtue
of
their
appearance
on
foil
wrappers
and
those
trademarks
are
owned
by
their
respective
owners.
Their
inclusion
does
not
constitute
an
endorsement
of
the
products
that
they
originally
wrapped.
Yes,
all
of
this
is
mindnumbingly
obvious
(especially
the
bit
about
who
owns
the
trademarks),
but
it
is,
after
all,
a
disclaimer.
Server
space
courtesy
of
SunSITE.
Balance
(for
weight
measurements
after
July
30,
1997)
courtesy
of
Camera
(for
photographic
images
after
September
7,
1997)
courtesy
of
StarDot
Technologies