{"id":29231,"date":"2013-10-02T00:01:59","date_gmt":"2013-10-02T10:01:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/?p=29231"},"modified":"2013-10-03T11:27:15","modified_gmt":"2013-10-03T21:27:15","slug":"balloon-critters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/balloon-critters\/","title":{"rendered":"Balloon Critters"},"content":{"rendered":"

If seeing the wonder in a child’s eye is the quintessence of life-affirming goodness, then there’s plenty to go around when Austin Morgan dons his balloon belt and sets to work (facebook.com\/balloonsbyaustin<\/a>). Equipped with 600 rubber strands in 30 different colors dangling from his waist, you’ll find him moving from table to table at the Old Spaghetti Factory three or four nights a week, blowing, twisting, turning and tying them into fantastic critters and shapes.<\/p>\nngg_shortcode_0_placeholder\n

The best part is watching the amazement growing in the eyes of the entire family, keiki to kupuna.<\/p>\n

“Monkey,” the birthday child answers when Morgan asks what he wants. Four minutes of joking and laughter later, and lots of adept handwork … voila! Not only does the child have a monkey, he has a monkey climbing a banana tree – and get this, it’s also a hat.<\/p>\n

And not only does he fashion a penguin, but it’s riding a surfboard on a wave. His repertoire includes faves like swords, princess crowns and flowers. Then there’s Little Mermaid, Hello Kitty and more than 100 other creations, all sporting that flair factor.<\/p>\n

“Often, when I go to tables I ask if a child has a request or if I can give a suggestion,” says Morgan. “That way I’m not making 30 princess crowns.”<\/p>\n

That also gives him a chance to wow restaurant patrons or guests at private parties with quite a range of fantastical inflated sculptures. Among the more challenging requests over his six years of twisting and shaping – including at Disneyland – have been a peacock, and then there was this one:<\/p>\n

“I was once requested to make New York City,” recalls the expert balloonologist. “I created a skyscraper, a tree to symbolize Central Park and a taxi.”<\/p>\n

Anything he can’t come up with on the spot or figure out by copying a Google image, he goes home, researches and perfects.<\/p>\n

“Kids can be hilarious!,” he says. “I have been asked to make a girlfriend and boyfriend, roses for their mother, hats connecting multiple people, an arm with a shaka, rainbow, etc.”<\/p>\n

He uses a pump, so his mouth and lungs don’t strain, but he’s gone home after many a busy night ready to submerge his well-worn fingers into an epsom salt dip.<\/p>\n

“It could be tiring, but it’s all worth it once you get that smile,” notes the cheerful surfer who just graduated from UH with a communication degree. “I make people happy. People will come to Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner<\/p>\n

– it’s been a long day, they have a whiny kid. I come to the table and the kid gets turned upside down and the parents enjoy their dinner. The kid walks out so happy.”<\/p>\n

ALSO SHOWING<\/B>
\nInflatable Diorama<\/B><\/p>\n

With individual balloon creations bringing so much joy, imagine a whole themed display made entirely of inflatable art. That’s what a group of experts puts together each year on Balloons Around the World Day (balloonsaroundtheworld.com<\/a>), which falls on Oct. 2. For Hawaii’s contribution, Dr. Mark Morisaki, Gene Tamashiro and Suzette Arita had plans as of this writing to re-create a backyard garden strictly out of balloons at Kahala Mall, after their seascape display last year was a hit. The setting, which includes a large tree, a girl on swing, flowers and a rainbow, was expected to go up Sept. 28 at the Longs end of the mall. This is your last chance to view it, because it comes down today (Oct. 2).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If seeing the wonder in a child’s eye is the quintessence of life-affirming goodness, then there’s plenty to go around..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[87,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-art-and-stage","category-hawaii-entertainment"],"yoast_head":"\nBalloon Critters - MidWeek<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/balloon-critters\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Balloon Critters - MidWeek\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If seeing the wonder in a child’s eye is the quintessence of life-affirming goodness, then there’s plenty to go around..\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/balloon-critters\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"MidWeek\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-10-02T10:01:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-10-03T21:27:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"New York Times\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"New York Times\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/balloon-critters\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/balloon-critters\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"New York Times\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0dc9ce44b39e8011ccabb18bf823ba91\"},\"headline\":\"Balloon Critters\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-10-02T10:01:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-10-03T21:27:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/balloon-critters\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":592,\"articleSection\":[\"Art & Stage\",\"Entertainment\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/balloon-critters\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/balloon-critters\\\/\",\"name\":\"Balloon Critters - 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