Friday, July 9, 2010

SKWOOSH CONUNDRUM(S)

Here's the Skwoosh conundrum.
After receiving numerous testimonials, like the one below, we are still concerned about over selling our pressure relief cushions in any medical or health cure environment. Our experience has shown that we are contacted by customers who are obviously searching for a "miracle" cure and are hoping to find the same in a Skwoosh cushion. We know that our gel really offers relief but certainly not in all cases. How do we capitalize on the effectiveness of TekPad without misleading or over promising that effectiveness to our customers? How do we communicate that Skwoosh generally works but may not be the answer to every customer's ailment or condition?
Then we have the case of the person who orders a Skwoosh and because of the cushions size, weight and thickness (our gel technology allows us to make Skwoosh thin so it does not look or feel like a thick foam pillow cushion) they return it immediately without giving it a fair evaluation. We understand that we can't please or solve everyone's problems but we know that we must continually search for the most efficient and effective way to communicate the virtues of Skwoosh to our potential customers.
Any ideas or comments?

Testimonial received and edited to hide the sender.

"Dear Skwoosh,

I want to thank you for rushing my order, (Order #1445). I received the Pro Traveler Seat Cushion yesterday. I tried it out at my computer and I would never had expected the results that I experienced.
I broke my hip on Sept. 1999. It healed and I thought I had no physical problems that related back to that. I spend many hours in front of my computer as I am a webmaster. Getting up from my chair my legs are stiff and they are not as flexible as they used to be. I thought I was getting osteoarthritis. Since I prefer to go the natural holistic approach to healing, I have taken nutritional supplements to help, to no avail.
After being by my computer for around an hour, sitting on my new skwoosh cushion I got up. I was shocked that I didn't have any stiffness and my walking was easy and smooth. Next I tried it when watching TV. Again I had the same result getting off my couch I discovered that my legs were flexible and not stiff.
As I told you, I am attending a convention in Sacramento California July 9-11, I leave on Thursday. My neighbor who is watching my dog, told me she will be ordering a cushion for herself as soon as I come back.
I am so impressed and grateful. I have added two links to your site and became an 'affiliate'.
Thank you for your kindness and assuring me that the cushion would come in time. Most of all thank you for helping me to get back my health.

Take care,"

Monday, June 7, 2010

NBA FINALS

After Game 2

The Boston Celtics vs. the Los Angeles Lakers, what a great NBA lineup? Rondo, Pierce and Allen vs. Kobe, Artest and Gasol just to name a few. We were on the edge of our gel comfort cushions throughout game one when the Celtics took a beating. The only comfort we had in the game one Celtic’s loss was our Skwoosh gel stadium seats. The pain was so great for us Boston fans we could have used the gel therapy cushion to relive some of the pressure as the Celtics failed to come from behind and ended up losing to the Lakers. Game 2 was another story. Keep the gel kayak seats and the comfortable gel motorcycle seats in reserve -we didn’t even need the gel Pillion pads in this game. Allen and Rondo energized the Celtics to a 103 – 94 win. It’s back to Boston for game 3 on June 8 (happy birthday Ted) and a great chance to pull ahead on home court. With a couple of days off the NBA guys should take a day off and do some kayak fishing and yes, we know how to get them comfortable while fishing. Better yet NBA management should address the $400 million loss the league experienced this past season. If Skwoosh had super stars like LeBron James and Kobe Bryant along with the Pro Angler gel fishing seat and the super Travel gel cushion we sure as heck wouldn’t loose $400 million. Maybe the NBA should reduce the number of games they play from the outrageous 82 down to something like 65 or 70. This would make each game a little more valuable and it might help to sustain interest and fill some of the empty seats. Take a page from the NFL playbook. With just a 16 game season every game counts, teams have to perform 110% in each game if they want to rank. The same goes for fans. With so few games fans have to get as many in as they can before the season is over. Go Celtics and bring it home.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

SPACE SHUTTLE ATLANTIS

The Final Voyage
On Friday, May 14, 2010 the space shuttle Atlantis blasted off on its 32nd and final flight into space with a crew of six and tons of gear and supplies. The commander of this final flight is Kenneth Ham, an experienced astronaut, who along with all the men in his crew have been in space on previous flights. A huge crowd of more than 40,000 were on hand to see this near picture perfect launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral Florida. We hope a few thousand brought their Skwoosh stadium gel seats and bleacher seats along to watch the final liftoff of Atlantis. Officials called the Atlantis launch day audience the largest ever. It’s only fitting that so many came to participate in this galactic retirement party. At Skwoosh we like all travel and travel related activities that’s why we built the Skwoosh Travel Gel cushion. Even astronauts could use the of TekPad pressure relieving gel on their flights. A Skwoosh gel cushion is perfect for space flight. It takes up no space, folds into a thin compact size and is not affected by temperature and normal altitude changes. We haven’t tested any of our Skwoosh gel cushions (like the Therapy cushion, the Motorcycle gel cushion or the EZ Swivel cushion) in space yet but we think the day is not too far away when we’ll get the chance. While the shuttle is on its way to hook up with and resupply the International Space Station we will be following its progress on the web keeping comfortable in front of our computer and sitting on a Skwoosh gel cushion.
The six orbiting space station residents will welcome the Atlantis crew sometime on Sunday morning. Shortly after their arrival Commander Ham and his crew will begin unloading food, lap top computers, other supplies and a Russian built compartment for the space station. All this “stuff” was crammed into a 20 foot long module in the space shuttle. The Atlantis crew will install the new compartment on the space station and conduct three space walks to replace batteries, hook up an antenna and replace a number of other parts on the station. Here’s another Skwoosh thought: since all Skwoosh gel cushions are so light weight that many of them float right here on earth can you imagine a Skwoosh gel cushion in space tethered to an Astronaut during a spacewalk? That’s what I call floating.
The final mission of Atlantis will last 12 days and will be followed by the last two remaining flights of the shuttle program. The final flights will be flown by Discovery and Endeavour and will bring to an end NASA’s 30 year space shuttle program. We’re truly sorry to see the end of one of man’s greatest endeavors.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

MOTHER’S DAY

From the American Civil War to the end of war

In 1868, Ann Jarvis created a committee to establish a "Mother's Friendship Day". The purpose was "to reunite families that had been divided during the Civil War". She wanted to expand her committee into an annual memorial for mothers, but she died in 1905 before the celebration became popular. It was left to her daughter, Anna Jarvis, to continue her mother's efforts to establish the annual holiday that we all know as “Mother’s Day”. Mother’s Day is celebrated in the USA on the second Sunday in May to recognize mothers and motherhood and the positive contributions they make to society. In the 1870’s and the 1880’s Mother’s Day was celebrated by woman’s peace groups who met at local levels to bring together groups of mothers whose sons fought or died on opposite sides of the American Civil War. Famous women like Julia Ward Howe of New York City and Juliet Calhoun Blakely of Albion Michigan carried on the promotion of Mother’s Day. It was Blakely who somehow got the Mother’s Day movement involved with the temperance movement, another huge woman’s issue of the time.
On the first celebration of Mother’s Day, in 1908, Anna Jarvis delivered 500 carnations to the Andrew's Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, West Virginia, thereby creating the symbol of Mother’s Day, the carnation. This practice of wearing a carnation on Mother’s Day soon lead to a broader commercial promotion of the holiday resulting in the giving of all types of flowers, floral bouquets and gifts. Today it is common for an active mother to receive a white carnation along with the new Skwoosh gel fishing seat or the classic kayak gel paddling seat. For Mom’s who travel, the Skwoosh Travel gel cushion might show up or she might find the Skwoosh EZ Swivel auto gel cushion for extra comfort when she drives around town. We’ve heard that there are many mothers who cruise or tour behind dad on their Harley, Gold Wing or BMW motorcycles. These bike moms get front seat comfort when their Mother’s Day gift is a new Skwoosh Pillion gel pad or Motorcycle ICS Gel cushion for their special motorcycle passenger seat.
Enough of this self promotion and back to more of the history of Mother’s Day. West Virginia was the first state to officially declare Mother’s Day a holiday in 1910. The rest of the states quickly followed and on May 8, 1914 the U.S. Congress passed a law designating the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day. On May 9, 1914 President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation declaring the first national Mother’s Day as a day for Americans to show the flag in honor of those mothers whose sons had died in war. In 1934, President Franklin Roosevelt approved a stamp commemorating the holiday and in May 2008, the House of Representatives voted twice on a resolution commemorating Mother’s Day so that all Congressmen would be on record showing support for the holiday.
At Skwoosh we support Mother’s Day and want to let everyone know that we thank mothers around the world for their unending sacrifices, hard work, love and understanding. We also know that it will be the mothers of the world who will unite to end wars and put an end to the loss of their children and husbands and bring a lasting peace for us all.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

RAIN, MUD AND GEOMETRY – THE 136th KENTUCK DERBY

The strategy of the shortest distance between two points

To cheers of “Bo-rail” the fastest two minutes in sports concluded the festivities of “Super Saturday” the running of the 136th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. All the post race hoopla about the jockey and not the colt is understandable. The name is Borel, Calvin Borel. He just rode to his third Kentucky Derby victory in four years (the first jockey to do so) using simple geometry, the shortest distance between two points. He took his favorite winning position along the rail and rode Super Saver to the winner’s circle. Borel used a different strategy in this race on his home track. In almost all of his past races Super Saver was never farther back than second in the early stages of the race. On this grueling, mud puddle of a track he decided to hug the rail allowing many of the other horses to squander t heir energy well off the rail in the muddy center of the track. A winning strategy as the 8 -1 second choice won and paid $18.00 $8.80 and $6.00. A $2.00 bet on Super Saver would more than pay for the cost of a Skwoosh Stadium gel seat. Better yet, all the rain and muck wouldn’t touch any of the super comfortable, super waterproof, maintenance free gel cushions by Skwoosh. So while the name of the winner of the this year’s Derby outing sounds more like a special airline fare than the winner of the first leg of the Triple Crown everyone at Churchill Downs who carried their compact, convenient, light weight stadium gel cushion was a winner. Now it’s off to Baltimore for the Preakness on May 15. Can “Bo-rail” and the “FARE” Super Saver, keep it up and equal the feat of Affirmed, the Last Triple crown winner who did it 32 years ago?

Saturday, May 1, 2010

THE GREAT TRAIN ADVENTURE PART II

When a NON STOP is really a NON STOP

Here’s a sequel to an article that appeared in this shameless blog of self interest and promotion a few weeks ago. On Friday, April 16, 2001 Skwoosh posted the “THE GREAT TRAIN ADVENTURE - SKWOOSH READIES FOR MASSIVE TRAVEL GEL CUSHION BUSINESS. We all thought this was a very interesting piece of information about China’s new and proposed high speed train system. and one in which we could shamelessly promote the Skwoosh gel Travel Cushion, the EZ Swivel and the Skwoosh Office gel cushion. Well the blog was interesting and the promotion of Skwoosh gel cushions fit very well, so off went the post. A few days after our posting an article appeared on the internet asking a very good question. If a high speed train travels at 200 miles per hour between Beijing and Guangzhou, a route that could have as many as 30 stations, doesn’t stopping and accelerating at each station waste a lot of energy and time. If you dug deep into your academic pas and dust off your arithmetic skills you would calculate that a 5 minute stop per station results in a loss of ( 5 minutes X 30 stations) 2.5 hours. Just think what would happen to this 2.5 hours as the Chinese population ages and these elderly folks need more time ( and hopefully more Skwoosh EZ Swivels gel cushions, wheelchair gel pads and the great new Gel Therapy cushion). Fear not, for while sitting comfortably on their Skwoosh office gel cushions Chinese engineers came up with a simple performance solution to the high speed train problem – DON’T STOP. You got it. Send the train from point A to point B without stopping to disembark or take on passengers. That’s exactly what the Chinese engineers did. They developed a train that never has to stop at a station.
You read it correctly- get on and off the high speed train without the train stopping. No time is wasted. The train is moving all the time. Here’s how it works:
1. For those who are boarding the train: The passengers at a station embark onto to a connector cabin (a pod type vehicle suspended over the high speed train tracks) before the train even arrives at the station. When the train reaches the station it will not stop. It just slows down, the connector pod attaches itself to the roof at the front of the train (it piggy backs or hitches a ride on the roof of the fast moving train). As the train is moving out of the station the newly boarded passengers find their way down into the main cabin, take out their compact Skwoosh travel gel cushions and sit in heavenly comfort as the train speeds on to the next station. Once all the passengers who just boarded are comfortably seated the empty connector cabin or pod is moved from the front of the train’s roof to the rear of the train.
2. For those who are getting off: Those passengers who wish to get off the train at the next station are advised to move to the rear of the train and to seat themselves in the connector cabin which is now affixed to the roof at the rear of the train. When the train arrives at the next station, it will simply pick up another full passenger pod and drop off the pod containing the passengers (without stopping of course) who wish to get off at that station. Simple and ingenious. Pick up in the front, get off in the rear and it all happens at the same time with no need for the train to stop and wait for passengers to get on or off. Do you think Skwoosh should build a special travel gel cushion for high speed comfort specifically designed and engineered for use in the “connector cabin” or “pod”?

Sunday, April 25, 2010

EYIAFJALLAJOKULL HALTS AIR TRAVEL

SKWOOSH Travel Gel cushion works on the ground as well as in the air

As the ash (read silica and other highly abrasive forms of lava) from Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano managed to keep European airspace shut down, affecting millions of travelers around the world, government agencies and airlines clashed over the flight bans. Some restricted airspace is now beginning to open up and some limited flights are being allowed as airlines push for the ability to judge safety conditions for themselves. The volcano continues to rumble and hurl ash skyward although at a slightly diminished rate. As the dispersing ash plume drops closer to the ground the World Health Organization is issuing health warnings to Europeans with respiratory conditions while frustrated, stranded passengers are slowly finding their way onto rescheduled planes that hopefully will take them on to their pre volcanic destinations. It is hard to imagine the discomfort that was experienced by many thousands of stranded travelers. At Skwoosh we are very sensitive to comfort, especially the lack of comfort. Discomfort to travelers stranded in airports, stranded on the tarmac or stranded in a cramped airline seat is the purpose of our commercial being. Hence, the Skwoosh travel gel cushion or the upgraded Pro Traveler gel cushion. Travelers who are prepared for all types of unimaginable situations always carry the Travel cushion in their hand luggage, briefcase or shoulder bag. It is so convenient ( approximately 8” W X 11” L x ½” H when folded) and handy to have with you that most Skwoosh travel cushions find a permanent home in frequent traveler’s hand luggage. The eruption of Eyjafjallajokull and the subsequent cancellation of thousands of flights came as a real surprise to many folks around the world. Before Eyjafjallajokull very few people in the world ever considered an erupting volcano to be a hazard to air traffic. In fact, the only vision many have of airplanes and volcanoes, is of a small plane circling an erupting volcano, taking pictures or performing some sort of scientific experiment. Not since Roman History class and the story of Pompeii, have most of us even given any thought to “volcanic ash”. Well one US airline has been and continues to prepare its pilots and flight crews for the dangerous pollution of air space by volcanic ash. Since the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980, Alaskan Airlines decided to develop procedures that would minimize volcano disruptions to its flight schedules. Resources were added in 1989 with the establishment of the Alaska Volcano Observatory, a collaboration of aviation and weather experts. These collaborations lead to the creation of computer models that predict the trajectory for volcanic ash in Alaska and elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest. One thing is for sure, even with a great Skwoosh travel cushion, or a super comfortable Skwoosh Office gel cushion no traveler or airplane wants to get any closer than 35 miles from an ash plume.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

TAX DAY AND WE ALL SHOULD PAY

The stretch relating Skwoosh to taxes

This humble, self promoting blogger has been trying to find a way to promote Skwoosh light weight pressure relieving gel cushions and pads by writing a blog about taxes and Tea Party rallies. How can one relate a gel travel cushion or a high performance Kayak gel seat to federal taxes or the Tea Party movement? People complain about how many days they have to work just to pay their taxes (anywhere between 110 and 120 days and climbing), and how long they can paddle their ocean or touring kayaks before the discomfort and pain set in. We know how many days the average US citizen has to work to pay his or her taxes but how long can one paddle before the stress, pain and discomfort set in? That’s another story. Take the case of Freya Hoffmeister. This amazing lady from Germany recently completed a solo circumnavigation around Australia. Freya maintained the comfort of her shapely bottom by reducing discomfort and stress on the same by using a pair or Skwoosh light weight gel performance cushions. Freya used the Skwoosh Extreme gel cushion and the Skwoosh kayak gel seat paddling cushion. This duo of light weight, waterproof Skwoosh kayak seat gel cushions helped Freya reduce lower back pain and relieve spinal pressure. In the interest of full disclosure Skwoosh had to provide Freya with a replacement pair of cushion about half way through her adventure.

Relating a Skwoosh Travel cushion or motorcycle gel pad to the Tea Party movement is an even greater stretch. Maybe we should poll Tea Party attendees around the country and find out if any of them use the Skwoosh Stadium Gel Seat or the Bleacher gel seat when they attend roadside demonstrations? There is also the possibility that tea partiers who travel to conventions will be using one of the great gel travel cushions offered by Skwoosh.

So what has all this bloviating about Skwoosh got to do with taxes or tea parties? Well you caught me. Other than relating the pain of sending hard earned money to Washington and the pain of prolonged sitting and demonstrating there is no relationship. So as you sit at your desk or kitchen table collating and organizing a year’s worth of bills, receipts, 1099's and K-1's be sure to sit on a Skwoosh office gel cushion or the new, super comfortable EZ Swivel. Like the certainty of death and taxes Skwoosh gel cushions will provide great comfort and posture improvement for lower back pain and discomfort caused by prolonged sitting.

Friday, April 16, 2010

THE GREAT TRAIN ADVENTURE

Skwoosh readies for massive Travel Gel Cushion business

Today Chinese rail passengers zip between cities on trains traveling three times faster than the average train in the USA and a 217-mph line linking Wuhan and Guangzhou (the old Canton) will soon be the fastest train on Earth. Known for our shameless self promotion, Skwoosh would like to sell our travel gel cushion for the Wuhan to Guangzhou line. Not content with fast trains linking cities within its borders, China now plans to extend its high-speed network all the way to London with a rail line through 17 countries. What a market for the Skwoosh Therapy gel cushion. Can you imagine training that distance and sitting in one seat for 48 plus hours. That’s two whole days with only hot pot wanton soup and potty breaks. This is exactly what the Therapy gel cushion was designed and built for – relief from the stress of sitting. Of course Skwoosh has to thank Dr Brad from Backbenimble.com for his help in the development of this great therapeutic gel cushion.
The Chinese high speed train project calls for the construction of three lines. Hopefully by 2020 the first will link London's King's Cross Station to Beijing and take approximately two days to for the trip (it will then continue on down to Singapore). A second line will connect China with Southeast Asian nations like Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia. The third line will link Germany and Russia, crossing Siberia to terminate, of course, in China.
Ambitious- you bet! Wait till you read how they plan to get 17 nations on board such an ambitious and expensive project. For starters, they're offering to pick up the tab. China will build the infrastructure in exchange for rights to natural resources in the nations that benefit from the high-speed links. So China gets timber, minerals, oil, gas, etc. as well as a fast, efficient means to pipe them to cities within its borders. Smaller, sometimes isolated nations (here's looking at you, Burma), get a high tech, high speed connection to the greater global economy. Meanwhile, in the U.S., we have the comfort of Skwoosh but we can't get federal, state and local bureaucracies to agree on funding for a mere three hour trip between Chicago and St. Louis, and San Francisco to L.A. Maybe if we tell Washington the trip will take two days and serve Chinese food we could get their attention. Dream on train lovers.

Monday, March 29, 2010

TAKING THE GUESSWORK OUT OF BASEBALL STATS

If you’ve read past blogs you are aware that at Skwoosh we love baseball – Red Sox baseball. As we sit in the stands, ever so comfy on our Stadium gel seats and our Bleacher seats, we have time to contemplate baseball stats and how they happen to come about. Are they accurate? Are they fair? Batting averages are objective. The player is up, he hits, he walks or gets out. It’s simple arithmetic. Two times at bat, one hit- batting average is 500. How about the choosing the MVP or Golden Glove winner – that’s purely subjective. Sort of like airline seats are comfortable –Ha! Ha! Try a Skwoosh Travel cushion. Well New York Yankees and Derek Jeter fans watch out.

This could be the year that baseball-stat freaks finally crack the “Derek Jeter enigma.” A panel of coaches has awarded the New York Yankees’ shortstop four of the past six Gold Glove awards for fielding excellence. That drives statisticians nuts, because nearly every statistical model ranks Jeter’s defense below average. The Skwoosh Office gel cushion is in line for best performing, most comfortable office seat cushion ever and we got there without ESPN or sports talk radio or a panel of coaches. In any case, we all know that evaluating fielding is baseball’s hardest math. There are just too many unknowns in a play. How much ground did Jeter cover? How fast was the ball moving? In essence: How unlikely was it that he’d catch the ball? Key word here is UNLIKELY. Just like it’s unlikely that you’ll get blisters on your bottom if you use a Skwoosh kayak gel seat when you paddle.

This off-season, the broadcast-tech company, Sportvision, will install a new player-tracking camera system into ballparks that could finally help produce accurate defensive statistics. Sportvision’s FieldFX camera system records the action while object-recognition software identifies each fielder and runner, as well as the ball. After a play, the system spits out data for every movement: the trajectory of the ball, how far the fielder ran, and so on. “After an amazing catch by an outfielder, we can compare his speed and route to the ball with our database and show the TV audience that this player performed so well that 80 percent of the league couldn’t have made that catch.” That information will allow a much more quantitative measure of exactly what is an error. The tech could transform how teams scout players and dole out contracts, and it will provide more in-depth analysis during broadcasts.

How many hours can you sit in a cramped airline seat without a Skwoosh gel Travel cushion before you become violent? But it’s the stat junkies who are really salivating for the data. “We can pick out systematically who’s good and bad, but there’s still guesswork with our models,” says Wharton School statistician Shane Jensen. “We’ll certainly be able to settle who the best shortstop is”. And then there’s the new Cuban kid in the Red Sox farm system, Jose Iglesias, who’s just itching to have the tech stuff compare him to Jeter.

This high tech stuff is all done with lights, mirrors and computers – stuff you don’t need to tell you who has the best lightweight, most comfortable kayak seat or kayak fishing seat in the league - Skwoosh does.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

SPRING SWAMP BUGY CHAMPIONSHIP

Skwoosh makes a “big splash” in the Everglades

Eclipsed by the Oscars and spring training, the ‘DUNKING” of Megan Hoolihan, an 18 year old senior at Golden Gate High School and the 2009 - 2010 Swamp Buggy Queen, almost went unnoticed. Megan was officially dunked on Sunday, March 7, at the Swamp Buggy Spring Championship which was held at the Florida Sports Park in East Naples Florida. Never heard of a Swamp Buggy let alone the Swamp Buggy Races? I wonder why.
Here’s a little history:
It all started with farming, fishing, hunting, and hunting buggies. During the development of Collier County (encompassing a major part of the Everglades in S.W. Florida) strange looking vehicles featuring huge balloon tires, gun racks, and sporting catchy names like “Dirt Dobber” or Tumblebug” began to emerge. There were no developed roads so the only way to penetrate the vast boggy mire of the Everglades was the “Swamp Buggy”. Back then, before Skwoosh gel cushions, kayak seats or waterproof kayak fishing seat backs, the Everglades was a perfect place for kayak fishing, camping and hiking. Swamp Buggies were built primarily as vehicles for hunting but soon they were being used for everything from Sunday afternoon outings to hunting expeditions in the Everglades. Prior to the opening of the hunting season many of the “Crackers” would gather and spend a week preparing their Buggies for the “season” by camouflaging, stocking up with fuel, food and ammunition. They waterproofed their Buggies and layed in at least a one week supply of their favorite home brewed beverage. After all, they were going into the murky Florida swamps for a week or two of gators, snakes and panthers. Now just imagine the comfort these harty South West Floridians could have experienced if they had a waterproof gel Therapy cushion to help support their backs and improve their swamp driving posture. They wouldn't have needed their home brewed buverage to kill their pain.
The first races started around 1943, featuring a dozen or so local hunters racing only for the pride of finishing ahead of their neighbors. By the late forties, 30 to 40 would-be racers would gather the week before hunting season to race for valued prizes, usually a new shotgun donated by local merchants.
On November 12, 1949, with a field of almost 50 competitors, these awkward, determined vehicles motored their way into history.
As the popularity of the sport grew, so did the rewards. Cash prizes began to replace the turkeys and shotguns of the past. With purses of several thousand dollars, the incentives to go faster grew. Buggies were now being constructed for racing only. The newer designs were too fast and too loud to be used for hunting and an engraved trophy replaced the at-a-boys and the trophy deer. It was during this era that several important traditions were born. The most popular and colorful, is the legendary "Swamp Buggy Queen's Annual Mud bath!" The Swamp Buggy Queen Pageant is held every April, and a Queen is chosen. The "Dunking" tradition began in 1957 when race winner H.W. McCurry, in a state of exuberant celebration, grabbed the Queen, gown, fancy hair-do and all and dunked her in the deepest and muckiest part of the "Mile 'O Mud" oval race track. This grimy, slimy, hilarious tradition lives on today and is the final act of every race weekend. Let’s say the weekend closes with a great big “mud splash”.
Now you ask “how could the Oscar’s and Spring training eclipse a major activity like the Spring Championship Swamp Buggy Races”? We don’t know the answer to that question but we are pondering the strategy Skwoosh will use to promote our swamp kayak paddling gel seat. How does “travel to the Swamp Buggy Races on a Skwoosh gel travel cushion” sound? Do you think we might be able to offer the 2010 Swamp Buggy Office gel Cushion? If Skwoosh is successful in winning a grant for the construction of bleacher and stadium seats for the Swamp Buggy Races we could see sales of Bleacher gel seats and Stadium gel seats skyrocket. Come to think of it, Skwoosh can be dunked all day long. Each and every Skwoosh gel cushion is WATERPROOF and unaffected by “mud dunking”, you know.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

OSCAR, OSCAR WHO WON THE OSCAR?

And the winner is – you guessed it - Skwoosh

Mo’Nique, Sandra, Jeff, Christopher and what about Kathryn Bigelow and “The Hurt Locker”? They won, made their thank you speeches and we’re off to see what next year brings. Then there’s Meryl Streep. The cynic might say “couldn’t give Meryl another one, she’s won too many already so let’s go with Sandra” (Skwoosh loved the blond hair by the way). Or maybe the same cynical mind might have said “time to go PC and reward Bigelow”. But alas-nominations for best gel cushions are: Travel gel cushion, Office gel cushion, Motorcycle gel pad, Kayak gel seat, Custom Fishing gel seat, the gel Bleacher seat and the newest, sensational Therapy gel cushion-- the Doctor recommended therapeutic gel cushion from Skwoosh. Well let’s get off of the self promotion and back to the Oscars. The winners are all great. They are talented, beautiful, and beautifully talented. What’s better and more fitting than to be named the best by one’s peers or equals? Congratulations again. So let’s get back to Skwoosh and why Skwoosh didn’t win an Oscar? It’s obvious-Skwoosh has no peers or equals. Who is there to vote? Skwoosh gel cushions have no equal in weight – it is the lightest gel cushion out there. Who has better design? Skwoosh is designed for each specific use – no one else can claim that. Who is the only gel cushion that is truly maintenance free and waterproof (thanks to sensational materials and Hi Frequency welding (no stitching you know)? Who is made in the USA using the best materials? Yes the winner is----SKWOOSH.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

SKYAKING

An Exciting, Exploding, Kayak Seat Market-Maybe!!!

Ever heard of Skyaking? If you happened to be watching the Today show on MSNBC this morning you would have caught a great segment on Skyaking. The man who introduced this new sport is a fellow named Miles Daisher from Twin Falls, Idaho. He sounded like and looks like a sane guy. He is married and has a little daredevil offspring. Skyaking is a combination of sky diving and Kayaking, explained Miles. Almost like Yakfishing only a heck of a lot more thrilling. In Skyaking, the paddler is strapped into his kayak, in this case a high performance, high impact plastic kayak called a whitewater creek boat or just plain creek boat. Most owners of the Skwoosh Kayak gel seat are familiar with this short, stubby, lepricon shaped kayak into which a fearsome paddler squeezes him or herself. One of the differences between creek boaters and traditional kayakers is the fact that the creek boater has to be as one with his boat and therefore wedges himself into the cockpit. Creek boat paddlers often line the inside of their snug cockpit with foam in order to fill the empty places between themselves and their boat. They are literally wedged into the boat. Of course, Skwoosh makes a very high performance kayak gel seat, appropriately named the XTREME, that is very popular among creek boaters around the world. Yes XTREME. The Skwoosh Xtreme performance paddling seat is designed to be very thin, with light weight gel to help protect a creek boater’s bottom and now, a skyaker’s bottom. Once entrapped in the creek boat, thetraditional paddler usually heads for type 5 rapids, traverses the fiery white water and climaxes with a few feet of free fall over a mild to mildly raging water fall. Well if you think traditional creek boating is exciting, look into the newest thriller, Skyaking. Here’s how modern day kayakers push the boundaries of the sport. The yaker loads his favorite creek boat, swaps his paddles for a super performance Skwoosh XTREME gel cushion and boards a light plane. Once the plane reaches altitude (a lot higher than your average waterfall), the Skyaker, strapped into his boat, parachute attached, pushes his boat and himself out of the plane and begins a free fall. It takes a few seconds for the sky paddler to stabilize his boat by letting the air catch the flat bottom of the kayak. Once stabilized, the Skyaker uses his outstretched arms as “wingerons” (wings and ailerons) and proceeds to enjoy the exhilaration and freedom of free fall. The total time of this orgasmic flight depends not only on weight and altitude but on balance and the skill of catching air. Now comes phase two of this adventure. Yes you guessed it – the landing. As terra firma rushes toward the skyaker, he deploys his main chute (he always carries a back up) and out pops a Ram Air Canopy parachute. The Ram Air Canopy chute is a more rectangular shaped chute, designed to help make pin point landings. The fun or the flight isn’t over yet. The skyaker must still find a body of water on which to land his airborne creek boat and use wind power to power him to shore. This is where the cushioning effect of Skwoosh’s TekPad gel could come into play. TekPad gel is known to help cushion the sudden impact by padding the Skyaker’s “stitz” bones. When asked if he ever missed a landing point Miles answered “yes”. When asked what happens if he misses water and lands on dry land he said “it’s a little more of a sudden stop but the boats can handle it with no problem”. If asked about Skwoosh, he would have undoubtedly commented on its light weight, design, premium materials, construction, and waterproof construction. No kidding, Miles really would have said all that.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

A Skwoosh ode to spring

We haven’t yet seen the birds, cherry blossoms or tulips but we know spring is really here. How do we know of spring’s arrival without the aforementioned natural confirmations? OK I won’t tell you that we know that spring is here because Skwoosh introduced its brand new, Doctor recommended, Therapy gel cushion. Of course not, but it’s not a bad concept if we could only make the Skwoosh – spring connection. Spring is here because the all American sport says spring is here. Here’s a Skwoosh ode to spring:
Battered, Bruised, Bunted Boston Boys,
Battle, Big, Bad, Boston Brothers,
But, Better Being Broiled By BoSox …
in sunny Ft. Myers, Florida than batting in the cold and spitting snow still hitting Bean town.
You guessed it – Spring Training is here and the BoSox got some opening game therapy (not the Skwoosh Therapy gel cushion therapy). The Boston Red Sox had double therapeutic wins over Boston College (6-1) and Northeastern University (15-0). And what about the strong debut of Boof Bonser who is recovering from shoulder surgery? He threw a scoreless inning on his first outing. The hearty Boston bleacher fans were ecstatic at the spring arrival of the BoSox and the comfort they experienced sitting in bleacher seats on their comfortable stadium gel seats and Skwoosh bleacher seat cushions. Skwoosh is told that many, many fans flew to Ft. Myers just for the opener. They took great care to use a travel cushion for a comfortable flight. It’s even rumored that some of the fans used their Skwoosh Office gel cushion or the Skwoosh therapy gel cushion for comfort on their flight south for the spring training games.
Spring training games in sunny Ft Myers Florida are the greatest. Twenty bucks for a seat (just like the Skwoosh stadium gel seat), seven bucks to park (only three minutes away) and all the players sign autographs for the kids. Peanuts, cracker jacks, hot dogs and all those made in USA Skwoosh therapy gel cushions, swivel cushions, motorcycle gel pads and bleacher seat cushions. Isn’t America great?

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

CYBER HACKERS – SHOULD SKWOOSH WORRY?

Cybercrime and Gel Cushions

When you’re the best, especially the best in the world, hackers will try to break through your firewalls to get at your secret code. The hackers want to know all your secrets – they want to know how you make TekPad® gel. Why is it so light weight? Why is it the only true pressure relieving gel to be used in Skwoosh cushions? Why are Skwoosh Kayak Seats waterproof and why do they float? Why are all Skwoosh gel cushions made in the USA and why is Skwoosh the only gel cushion manufacturer to use hi tech radio frequency welding to build all the Skwoosh gel cushions they make. We are now reading about the armies of Cyber hackers supported by the People’s Republic of Hacking. The newspapers say that some of the biggest cyber security worries can be traced back to Wuhan, China, located somewhere in the center of China. That’s the place that gave us the Panda virus. What appeared to be a friendly email message really was a deadly virus that spread from computer to computer around the world. The friendly looking Panda was able to steal passwords, financial information, cash balances and tried in vain to steal top secret gel cushion secrets from Skwoosh. As word of outstanding performance, light weight, super gel cushion comfort spread around the world it attracted the attention of cyber hackers like fish to live bait. Fishermen in Thailand gave up their tradition net fishing and switched to kayak fishing. Ice fishermen in Siberia clamored for the Pro Angler kayak fishing seat in an effort to gain more comfort, support and warmth while fishing on the cold Siberian ice. Word is the owner of the only Kayak outfitter and Dragon Boat shop, located on the giant manmade lake in Dubai, paid $6 million dollars to have a Chinese Cyber hacker break into the Skwoosh web site to steal the secrets of the Angler II kayak fishing seat and the Classic kayak gel paddling cushion.
I know this all a little (or a lot) farfetched as far as Skwoosh goes, but it is a real problem for the cyber world. It appears that cooks hacking into a computer because they can do It, has elevated to Governments using hacking as a new and ferocious weapon in the world community.

Monday, March 1, 2010

OLYMPICS 2014 - WATCH FOR THIS

Topless Tobogganing - a Viewer’s Sport

In our ongoing campaign of shameless self promotion and out of a sincere interest in bringing less important news briefs to our ever expanding worldwide cadre of lovers of light weight performance gel cushions, Skwoosh found an interesting article about topless (and jockey shorts only) sledging. Skwoosh was given a heads up about this topless tobogganing tournament, which took place in Braunlage, Germany, by our friend Ernest Weiss, a fully garbed skier and author of the best seller “OUT of VIENNA”. It seems that more than 14,000 spectators, some carrying Skwoosh gel travel cushions others with gel office cushions and some with kayak gel seats, cheered 30 male and female topless competitors as they bounced and sledged along the 100 meter track. The ladies, competing for cash prizes of nearly 300 pounds each, were required only to wear a hard helmet and footwear. Given the direction of the Euro, Skwoosh will try to convince the organizers to give the winners Skwoosh gel bleacher seats, gel stadium seats and even a few famous Skwoosh fishing seats as prizes in next year’s races. Christian Schmidt, 26, won the event, while one 70-year-old man got the biggest round of applause for stripping down to his long johns. Because it was so very cold during the race one fan was heard to complain that “the women had a bit of an advantage in the photo finish”. Rumor around the topless circuit is that “enhanced sledging” is soon to be introduced to the world as a new Olympic sport. Topless sledging fans will be cautioned to hang on to their Skwoosh as they jostle to get a “better view” of this event.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

CANADA ON ICE- VANCOUVER OLYMPICS 2010

THE NO STORY - STORY Team Canada’s victory celebration

18 year old Marie-Philip Poulin, who scored the winning goals in Team Canada’s 2-0 win over the USA women, was one of the celebrants sprawled all over the ice in celebration of that victory – cheers to you Marie-Philip. As the world now knows, Marie and 13 other rowdy carousers of Team Canada returned to the ice after receiving their gold medals and let loose in celebration. These triumphant woman let their hair down, smoked cigars, drank beer and guzzled Champaign. A hasty apology was given and the lineup of officials began. Bottom line, if these victorious women had just remained in their locker room, perched atop their Skwoosh Office Gel Cushions, they could have consumed gallons of Coors, Budweiser and Millers (they did beat the USA), smoke their Cubans and showered in Champagne. There would not have been a story or an apology. The world would not have noticed. Instead, Team Canada returned to the ice, sat, sprawled and celebrated. Could these Canadian hockey stars be seeking gel cushion comfort as well as a cool venue for celebration? How many of these ice athletes use a gel travel cushion or even a Skwoosh gel Kayak seat in their off the ice hours or as part of their other celebrations. Skwoosh knows that hundreds of hockey fans use gel bleacher seats and gel stadium seats to add to their comfort. Well the woman won, they celebrated, they will participate proudly in the closing ceremonies and eventually they will pop a gel travel cushion under their “sitz” bones and return to their homes across Canada. Skwoosh will remember their defense, their shots on goal, their speed and playmaking. Unfortunately too many will only remember their on the ice “cool” victory celebration. Some might say “check for those dreaded celebration steroids”, you know, that combination of celebration enhancing libations, beer, champagne and cigars. How will the IOCC test for this? Team Canada you played your hearts out and won the gold. Congratulations and keep on celebrating.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

OLYMPICS AGAIN IN VANCOUVER-2010

The fairness and sportsmanship of Skwoosh wins a gold.

Did the Austrian Super G course setter “Vonn-proof” the downhill course in Vancouver?
Rumor out there is that Super G course setter, Austrian coach Juergen Kriechbaum, “Vonn-proofed” the downhill course. Shades of Augusta where the givers of the green jackets lengthened the course in an effort to keep the Tiger (Woods) from repeating or bettering his 18 under 1997 performance. No one will ever know but the course was set in such a way as to limit a powerful, super fast, downhill skier like Lindsey Vonn. At Skwoosh we are all about fairness so we will rename our Swivel Therapy gel cushion the Lindsey Vonn Super G and we’ll be happy to endorse Lindsey whenever gel cushion comfort is needed – especially after winning a bronze.
We also stand ready to endorse Apolo Anton Ohno. Apolo’s great balance and the comfort gel power of Skwoosh might have pushed him from bronze to gold in the men’s 1,000 – meter short event if the pushy Koreans were out fishing instead of skating.
How about Team USA, men’s hockey vs. Team Canada – what a game. Goalie Ryan Miller had a “Time” of his life moment. He won even after removing the “Miller Time” slogan from his mask. What a game, one of the best ever enjoyed by Skwoosh Olympic junkies sitting comfortably in the stands on their gel bleacher seats. The house was packed and we wished that every seat was covered with a gel stadium seat or a gel bleacher seat as the fans watched one of the toughest, fastest, most competitive games of the 2010 winter Olympics. Team USA took the lead and kept it for all three periods. Their power play defense was superb and their Miller time goalie was the best.
Go Skwoosh – Go USA

Saturday, February 20, 2010

WINTER OLYMPICS 2010 - VANACOUVER

Self promotion in Figure Skating

What a great Olympics this has been. The Canadian management has had the horrible Luge disaster, no snow, opening ceremony malfunctions and not enough Canadian Gold. We have had a Japanese figure skater on the Russian team and a group of angry Korean speed skating judges trying to get even for the 2006 Olympics. Here at Skwoosh we are at wits end trying to find a way to self promote our light weight performance gel cushions in a witty, tactful, but not too obvious way, for use in the sport of figure skating. We have gone inside and outside the men’s costumes with no success. How do you fit a gel travel cushion to the bottom of a male figure skaters costume? For sure the compact size of the travel cushion looks like it will fit many of the Olympic skaters. In fact we theorize that placing the gel travel cushion or even our gel stadium bleacher seat cushion inside the costume may serve to “gel cushion” a skater's fall. But would the damage done to the aesthetics of that skin tight costume be worth it? We won’t even try to get into the thinking process that went with the discussion of “ what if” the woman skater from China tucked a Skwoosh……… In every case, the propriety of using a gel travel cushion or gel stadium bleacher seat to cushion a skaters costume won and Skwoosh will be sticking to Travel, Gel Therapy, Swivel and Stadium Bleacher Seating for the foreseeable future.

Friday, February 19, 2010

LINDSEY VONN WINS THE OLYMPIC GOLD – THE SECRET SHIN CURE

Curds or Skwoosh either whey.....

When Lindsey Vonn was injured, Feb. 2, during training in Austria, she did as some Austrian skiers do: She wrapped topfen cheese curd on her right shin to ease swelling.
"I've never heard of it," said Zack Schafer, manager of Cheese Traders & Wine Sellers in South Burlington — Vermont ski country.
Rachel Riggs, who owns the cheese and wine shop Quel Fromage in Bellingham, Wash., just this side of the Canadian border and 45 minutes from Mount Baker, was similarly challenged.
"Is that a home remedy, or is that an old wives’ tale, or what is it? She basically tried to leave no curd unturned," Riggs said. "
In the dairy lands of Wisconsin, food chemist John Lucey said Austrian topfen does indeed come from cows but is virtually unheard of his way. It's a white, semisoft cheese but doesn't have chunky bits like cottage cheese. It's fresh, high in acid and low in fat with a grainy texture somewhere between mayonnaise and spreadable cream cheese.
Vonn's not the first athlete to reach for unusual treatments for help with an injury: Serbian soccer player Danko Lazovic reportedly had placenta juice rubbed into a bad hamstring by a Belgrade housewife with a reputation for speeding up recovery. His experience led Dutch player Robin Van Persie to the housewife's door after an ankle injury. Now there you go. Is there a connection between soccer and riding a motorcycle? If there is, we know that many motorcycle cruisers find great relief and comfort by simply placing a Skwoosh motorcycle gel pad between them and the seat of their bike. Skwoosh users ride for many extra hours without numbness in their legs and butt and no lower back discomfort or pain. So who needs placenta juice when gel cushions are a lot neater and easier to use.
There are devotees to oil from the fat of emu for a multitude of ailments, including a rub for pain, swelling and aching muscles and joints, just as the Aborigines of Australia have done for thousands of years, according to Emuoilnaturally.com. "The ancient people of Australia have long known what the western World is just beginning to realize in the last decade or so." It’s even rumored that the infamous jumper “THE EAGLE”, of Olympics past, always used his EZ Swivel therapy gel cushion to relieve stress and pressure by relaxing in comfort in his automobile or while sitting at his computer refining his jump strategy.
Olympic athletes are usually ahead of the curve when it comes to finding alternative methods for either enhancing their performance or their healing that’s why the Skwoosh Kayak Paddling Gel Seat and the Xtreme Kayak seat have been so popular with kayak paddlers – but CHEESE – I’m afraid not. Any athlete who wants to enhance their performance by adding comfort without weight has only one real choice – the world leader in lightweight performance gel cushions, SKWOOSH.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

DIRECTOR TAKES ON AIRLINE OVER SEATING

Could a Skwoosh Gel Travel cushion have helped?

Film director Kevin Smith (“Clerks,” “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back”) was removed from a Southwest Airlines flight on Saturday because he was too overweight to fit in one seat. In its statement Southwest said that Mr. Smith originally bought two seats for a flight from Oakland, Calif., to Burbank — “as he’s been known to do when traveling on Southwest” — but went standby on an earlier flight, where only a single seat was available. The pilots decided that Mr. Smith needed more than one seat. Mr. Smith said he was “ejected” and put on a later flight. Mr. Smith denied the airline’s statement that he regularly purchases two seats. Mr. Smith said, “I’m way fat, but I’m not there just yet.” Southwest said that its policy had existed for more than 25 years, and that the pilots were simply adhering to it. The airline apologized to Mr. Smith and gave him a $100 voucher.
“Making airline seats more comfortable is our business” shouted Skwoosh. We’re in the gel cushion business to provide travel comfort on airlines, trains, buses and automobiles. Single seats on an airplane are uncomfortable enough, can you imagine how double the discomfort must feel when air travel rules (and the laws of physics) require that you occupy two seats. From our biased selfish perspective Skwoosh loves it. Mr. Smith should take the Southwest Airlines $100.00 voucher and trade it for two (2) Skwoosh Travel Gel Cushions ($60.00) and two (2) Gel Stadium Seats ($40.00) and double his travel comfort, enjoy his double airline seats and as a bonus, get to choose his own colors. Heck a travel cushion for each side and a double wide seat belt sounds better than a Big Mack Happy Meal, large fries, a chocolate shake and a crispy apple pie.

Monday, February 15, 2010

LET'S TALK PRESIDENT'S DAY

How a Skwoosh gel cushion “might” have changed the course of history.

To school kids all over the USA President’s Day means vacation – no school. To auto dealers and car shoppers it rings sales and full page ads in the newspapers. At Skwoosh we think about honest Abe and George W (Washington not Bush). How did these old timers cope with uncomfortable travel in a horse drawn coach or better yet in an open boat across an almost frozen Delaware in the middle of the winter?
Imagine how the lives of great American leaders would have fared if world famous SKWOOSH light weight performance gel cushions were around the Original 13 and Washington DC during those early days of American politics. By golly, if President Abe Lincoln had a super comfortable EZ Swivel Gel Cushion or a Travel cushion under him on the way to Gettysburg his famous address would have been at least three hours longer. If George Washington had the Voyager Gel Kayak seat or the new Custom gel Kayak Fishing seat (also by Skwoosh) attached to his boat, that trip across the Potomac would have been much more comfortable and the war could have ended a lot sooner. Come to think of it, if old Ben Franklin, not a President just one of the original lobbyists, had a Skwoosh gel Office cushion to sit on every time he wrote one of his flowery letters he probably would have sat the war out in France . The gel office cushion is so darn comfortable old Ben simply would have forgotten to come home.
You know we’re just kidding and everyone at Skwoosh has President’s day off – with full pay. So let’s honor all our Presidents, past and present, by grabbing an EZ swivel gel cushion, throwing it in the car and driving out to visit our Presidents way up there on Mt. Rushmore.

VALENTINE'S DAY AND FISHING

A special gift from Cupid

We all know Saint Valentine's Day (Valentine's Day) is an annual holiday held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The holiday is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Valentine and was established by Pope Gelasius I in AD 496. It is traditionally a day on which lovers express their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards ("valentines"). Modern Valentine's Day symbols include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid shooting arrows of love into the hearts of lovers. Wow!! What has all this got to do with Skwoosh? In another desperate act of shameless self promotion Skwoosh has added fishing, specifically Kayak fishing, to Cupids repertoire. Kayak fishing you say, now that's an outdoor sport worthy of clebrating on Valentine’s Day?
Well, Cupid passed on the love bug along with comfort in the form of the Skwoosh Custom Gel Fishing seat by firing his arrow at Lovers everywhere who are avid, dedicated Kayak Fishermen. With three quivers set to hold 3 fishing rods or 2 rods and a net, pockets for jaw and hook pliers and an “O” ring to tie other gear to so it won't float away. It’s the perfect valentine’s day gift for everyone who has the Skwoosh Travel cushion, a Gel Motorcycle cushion and of course the ever ubiquitous Bleacher Buddies stadium cushions. This brand new addition will keep Cupid hovering over your fisherman or lover all year long.

STWART’S 15th WIN AT DAYTONA

SKWOOSH was in the stands—Did it Help?

Only Dale Earnhardt with 34 wins and Bobby Allison with 16 lead Stewart in the Daytona win column. Of course there’s the fabled Cale Yarorouh who has 15 as well but who’s counting.

Kevin Harvick knew his race cars were good enough to get either he or Tony Stewart into Victory Lane. Once Dale Earnhardt Jr. was out of contention, their path was wide open. Stewart held off Carl Edwards, Harvick and Justin Allgaier to win the Nationwide Series opener at Daytona International Speedway for the fifth time in six years.

We all know the driver is important and the pit crew and the car but WOW!!! What about all those stadium gel seats in the stands. Skwoosh had Stewart covered from every angle. Comfortable seating in Daytona, great comfort on the road with the EZ SWIVEL in his truck and don’t forget the plane trip down from the super cold, snowy north. The flight from everywhere to Daytona was a breeze and in comfort with the Travel and Pro Traveler gel cushion.

OK Tony, just ride on a Skwoosh EZ Swivel Gel cushion for the rest of the season and you’ll be in great shape for next years Daytona.