Although he is best known for being a mutli-talented performer, his biggest contributions have been in the world of education.  Besides teaching the art of suspension throughout the world and running a school of sideshow in Oslo, he has worked directly with the Norwegian medical community to explain the art and science behind pain and to show the positive effects of body suspension.

Yes, today is my friend Håvve Fjell‘s 40th birthday.  Unfortunately I cannot be there to celebrate with him.  However, I will be there in a few weeks for the Oslo Suscon. (In my opinion the world’s best suspension convention)

My Story of Håvve
It was December 3rd, 2000 – I had just finished a suspension performance for Torture Garden .  (Opening for Ron Athey)  During my suspension I had managed to rip my knee and was a bit distressed about how to handle the gaping wound.  I remember sitting upstairs at Body Probe Studios staring at the hole when I notice a tall bald man standing over me.

“Hello Allen, I’m Håvve”
“Nice to meet you Håvve, by chance to do have any sutures?”
Now in all honesty, the question was more of sarcastic joke.  Yes I needed to stitch my knee, but I never expected anyone to have anything that might help.
To my surprise he replied, “Yes I do”
He dug through his backpack and handed me a sterile suture pack.
“Wait.  Who are you?”
“I’m Håvve from Oslo.  We have been chatting online.”

At the time it seemed like a random encounter.  Little did I know that I had just met such an amazing person that was not only going to influence the world of suspension, but become such a good friend.

Happy Birthday Old Man

In other news, we just got in 800 needles from Industrial Strength Needles. I can’t even express how thankful I am to have Maria and her team supporting the suspension community. If you work in the tattoo/piercing industry, you should give your business to IS Needles! Even in this bad economy, they have gone out of their way to donate supplies to us!

Yesterday, we made a rather landmark purchase. It cost a pretty penny, but we now own a dynamometer. We even spent the extra money to purchase the software that goes along with it. So what does this mean? Now we can test suspension equipment by pushing it until it fails. Plus with the software we can record, in real time, the forces exerted during a suspension! The company even told us, that if we record video we can sync the dyno’s readings with the video. If I remember correctly, the software takes 24 measurements per second! Holy crap I’m excited to see what kind of results we will get.

And in final news, we are placed a giant rope order for the upcoming Dallas Suscon. In previous years we’ve only had a few choices of rope. This year we will have a selection of ropes for people to compare side by side: (MBS=minimum breaking strength)

1/8″ Tech 12 (600′) – MBS: 2500 pounds

1/8″ Amsteel Blue (600′) – MBS: 2300 pounds

1/8″ Amsteel Gray (600′) – MBS: 1600 pounds

4mm Accessory Cord (646′) – MBS:1056 pounds

7 strand Paracord (1200′) – MBS: 550 pounds