Club Obi Wan

I'm not quite sure what happened. Yesterday I posted this thread:

Subject: PLEASE READ: Whipmaking career on hold indefinitely

APRIL FOOLS!!!

I figured this would be a good way to announce my website finally
being up. Check it out, let me know what you think.

I still have quite a bit to add, and I will be getting to it in the
next few weeks.

I would love to hear any comments on it, or suggestions.

Regards,

Paul Nolan
(I'm very happy to finally be able to write this)
www.midwestwhips.com

And today it seems to have disappeared. I have no idea what happened to it, but no worries.

Thanks to those who replied to it.

Regards,

Paul Nolan
(Still very happy to to finally be able to write this)
www.midwestwhips.com

The site looks great!

Happy to see your site my good friend !

Great website Paul, not that I am bias or anything . Your work looks great and I especially like it the informative and interactive aspects of your site. Also I am checking in to seeing what happened to your original post, It seems to have just disappeared and I didn’t delete it, so it has me curious too.

Dan

Thanks,

Indiana Kev, Ripper, and Dan! I'm really quite proud of it. Anything in particular you guys would like to see on the site?

Dan, thanks for looking into what happened to the original post. It's no biggie, just surprised me. I thought I had done something that was prohibited.

Regards,

Paul Nolan
www.midwestwhips.com

Hey Paul, nice looking site, easy to navigate and understand at first glance. That's a big plus, as so many people sites are really jammed up on the first page. Yours is nice.
If you can do it, put some short video clips up of the next St. Louis Whip-nic or any convention you happen to go to. Always enjoy seeing folks crackin' and having fun.

Steve.

Hi Steve,

That is a great idea! I just uploaded a video to youtube of everyone whipcracking from the first whip-nic. I have also embedded it on the whip-nic page at:

http://www.midwestwhips.com/Stlwhipnic.html

I hope it worked. I have some more video's from the whip-nic's that I will try to upload as time permits.

Thanks for the compliments on the site.

Regards,

Paul Nolan
www.midwestwhips.com

I don't think the embedding worked because nothings happen for me when I come to the page unless its just me.

I think youtube takes a little while for them to get it working. It took until today just for it to be up at youtube. Here is the link. Hopefully the embedding will work soon.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEwLVTiAd9M

I think I have a couple video's of Chris Camp and Adam Winrich from a few of the whip-nic's. I'll try to put them up in the next couple days too.

Regards,

Paul Nolan
www.midwestwhips.com

Good job on the site Paul! Glad to see you finally got your site up.

So Paul, at this whip-nic...what exactly do you do in order to supply the whips for the people to use? I mean, I can't imagine you and Chris and Adam just going "oh here use some my whips!" due to the peoples inexeperience and possibly of hurting a whip. Are they like cheapo whips that you'd find allllllllllllll over ebay or what? Just curious.

Paul, Chris and Adam are all very trusting souls, (read that as stupid!)

Seriously, all three WhipDude mentioned are stand-up guys. All three have previously, without EVER seeing me crack a whip or knowing my experience just handed me a whip, (including some of the most prized items in their collections,) and said "go at it!"

Chris Camp's exact words to me at the Annie Oakley Festival two years ago were, "anything in that bag is yours for the weekend," and that bag contained at least 15-20 whips that Chris uses on a daily basis to maintain his livelyhood. That really meant a lot to me, and I did my best not to abuse the privilege, (or the whips, for that matter!)

I like to think I've earned a little bit of trust from these guys now, (I've spent a not insignificant amount of time cracking the hero whip that Alex Green and Anthony Hopkins used in "Mask of Zorro," and a Cecil Henderson whip that was over 50 years old that didn't even belong to Paul!)

But then, Paul knows that whips are actually pretty tough tools that take more than just one fouled up crack to damage.

On top of that, (if you couldn't tell from the site,) Paul is all about getting people as hooked on the whip arts as he is.

I think most people on this forum are quite aware of how addictive "Crack" is, and Paul, Chris and Adam are three of the biggest pushers out there, (two of which are suppliers as well.) ;-)

Anyway, cracking crappy whips doesn't get you jazzed about the sport/hobby the way that a well-balanced, quality Kangaroo hide whip will. The first whip I cracked was a 6' whip from Joe Strain, and I was immediately hooked.

So, if and when you attend a Whip-Nic. Keep in mind what these guys are sharing. Don't abuse it. Enjoy it, and thank them bunches! They are truly fine gentlemen, (but don't worry guys, I won't tell anyone else. You DO have reputations to uphold!)

Nice site, Paul, but then, you know my thoughts on it already. ;-)

-Dan

Dan, thanks for looking into what happened to the original post. It's no biggie, just surprised me. I thought I had done something that was prohibited.

Paul, don’t worry, you didn’t do anything wrong. None of us deleted it; it just disappeared. We are not sure why exactly, if it’s a glitch in the server or what, it has happened once or twice before though. If any one else’s notices one of their posts is missing, let me or one of the other Moderators know. If you suspect I deleted for some reason, I’ll usually send a pvt message too stating that I removed it, and why.

Dan

I'm not sure why, but the embedding doesn't seem to be working. I put the URL on the page that goes to the video on youtube. I'll have to try to figure out why it isn't working. If anyone has any suggestions on what to do, I'd love to hear them.

Also, I just uploaded a new photo gallery thanks to the suggestion by Chris Barr. I'm still working out how to use the program, but there is a good chunk of pictures up, and I think it may be easier to navigate, and less cluttered than on the regular page. Thanks Chris! )

IndyDoc,

Thanks! If you look around on the site, I know I put your whip up there somewhere,

And thanks for the Film Work button, by the way, it looks great! I appreciate it.

WhipDude,

You may not be able to imagine it, but that is what we do. As long as they ask first, anyone is welcome to give any of the whips in my bag a crack. Those still learning are always supervised, and any assistance is always freely given.

thefish,

You are quite right. Though I'd like to add that with the henderson whip I wouldn't just hand that whip to someone I didn't know, due to it being owned by a very good friend of mine. And I remember making a point to stress that it should be treated with a gentil hand. Though I knew that you would be exceptionally respectfull of the whip, and you were.

Also, thanks for the extreemely nice things you said, you are too kind.

And you are right, crack is very addictive. Though, I think the whip kind is much more healthy. But with either kind, once you have one hit, you have to have more!!!

Dan,

Thanks for looking into it, I'm glad to know I hadn't done anything wrong. Strange things do happen, no worries!

Regards,

Paul Nolan
www.midwestwhips.com

No problem. I can change it to a white background if you want so it matches your site.

I thought I saw my 9ft Indy in the gallery.

So you used all this code and not just the url right?

<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kEwLVTiAd9M"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kEwLVTiAd9M" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>

Paul,

Here's the problem with your YouTube code:

You have:

<object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie"
value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kEwLVTiAd9M"><param name="wmode"
value="transparent">
<embed src="kEwLVTiAd9M"
type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="350"
width="425"></object>

and you should have:

<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kEwLVTiAd9M"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kEwLVTiAd9M" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>

here's what you are missing is in bold below:

<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kEwLVTiAd9M"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kEwLVTiAd9M" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>

Honestly I wish I wasn't such a nerd that I was able to know what you were missing in your code.

Louie

Thanks IndyDoc and Louie. I think it's working now. I used the embed code from youtube, but it would seem that my Mozilla composer program was changing the code every time I uploaded it. I'm not really sure why. I ended up haveing to go in and upload the file seperate through the webhosting site.

Thanks for pointing out what was missing.

IndyDoc, That would be great if you wouldn't mind changing it to a white background. I appreciate it. How's the whip doing by the way? I loved the look of it, and I still have one more hide in that color left. I don't think I can get anymore.

Also, if anyone who has one of my whips would like to write a testimonial, it would be appreciated. I hadn't thought about asking before, and I just realized I didn't have any to put in the testimonials section, Lol.

Regards,

Paul Nolan
www.midwestwhips.com

It's doing great. It hasn't seen too much use because of the time of year I received it and don't have any indoor spaces big enough to crack in. It WAS starting to warm up and get spring like, but it turned cold again. Crazy TN weather.

I'll see if I can find the files to update that image.

IndyDoc wrote:It's doing great. It hasn't seen too much use because of the time of year I received it and don't have any indoor spaces big enough to crack in. It WAS starting to warm up and get spring like, but it turned cold again. Crazy TN weather.

I'll see if I can find the files to update that image.

IndyDoc,

Glad to hear the whip is doing good! I hope the weather gets better soon so you can get some good cracking in.

BTW, thanks for the updated image. )

Regards,

Paul Nolan
www.midwestwhips.com

No problem.
Speaking of the weather again...it just snowed yesterday! It was all springy and warm and now a freak snow storm in mid April.

Say, Paul, next time I'm back home in Sweet Home St. Louis I'll have to give you a ring talk about falls.

IndyDoc,

As it seems with the weather lately, just give it time and it will be completely the opposite in a day or two

jjkillin,

No worries, definitely give me a ring before hand, as I've been in and out of town a lot lately. It would be great to meet up!

Regards,

Paul Nolan
www.midwestwhips.com

Hey,

I just wanted to let everyone know that I added a new section to the site that has used whips for sale. And I will be putting up whips that are in stock, on sale, as well as specials. If I can, I am going to try to take some video of the whips being cracked to put them up on the page as well.

http://www.midwestwhips.com/SaleWhips.html

Regards,

Paul Nolan
www.midwestwhips.com

I just made a couple more updates to the site. There are now some more pics of some newer whips in the photo gallery. I also added a testimonial page to the site, which includes a video testimonial. If anyone would like me to put their testimonial on the site, just let me know.

Here's the link:

http://www.midwestwhips.com/testimonials.html

Regards,

Paul Nolan
www.midwestwhips.com

Holiday special for the month!

I just put up a page with In Stock Specials that are ready to ship for the Holiday month! The page is at:

www.midwestwhips.com/instockonsale.html

As always Indygear members have an outstanding discount of 10% off of any Indy style bullwhip. As an added bonus for the month of December, all Indygear members will receive an additional 5% off of any Indy style whip that is ordered during this month.

Happy Holidays,

Paul Nolan
www.midwestwhips.com

Hey Paul, you should update your main site with some new pics and info.

I have been meaning to update new pics and info on the site for a few months now. I'm hoping I can do a big update at least to the photo gallery in the next week or so.

Also, sometimes I need to hit refresh on the browser for everything to update when I'm looking at the site. So it might not be a bad idea to do that from time to time.

Paul Nolan
www.midwestwhips.com

Hey Mountaineer Lasher,

I still need to get more info updated on the site, but I did just upload a bunch of new pictures to the photo gallery. I have just slightly under 1,000 photos in the photo gallery now!

Hows the young Indy Whip?

Regards,

Paul Nolan
www.midwestwhips.com

midwestwhips wrote:Hey Mountaineer Lasher,

I still need to get more info updated on the site, but I did just upload a bunch of new pictures to the photo gallery. I have just slightly under 1,000 photos in the photo gallery now!

Hows the young Indy Whip?

Regards,

Paul Nolan
www.midwestwhips.com

That's awesome about getting some more pics up! She's doin' great, but the weather has been too cold to go out and play with her much lately. Spring is just around the corner, though.

P.S. The Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders just came to post on the 23rd to put on a show for the soldiers. They chose a lot of classic rock and cowboy-themed songs. The whole time I was watching them I kept thinking that the show needed a bullwhip! I mean, they had people singing and doing ballet and stuff, so why not?!

Hey Mountaineer Lasher,

I look forward to hearing how the whip is doing once spring hits.

I bet that was a good show. You should have offered to do a little bit of whipcracking in the show for them. I bet they, as well as your fellow soldiers would have gotten a kick out of it! Next time, don't hesitate to offer.

Regards,

Paul Nolan
www.midwestwhips.com

I just wanted to let everyone know that I will be out of the country without telephone or internet access between the 18th and the 27th of January. I will most likely be a bit backed up with email when I get back, so not to worry if it takes a few days to a week to get a response from me after I get back.

Regards,

Paul Nolan
www.midwestwhips.com

midwestwhips wrote:Hey Mountaineer Lasher,

I look forward to hearing how the whip is doing once spring hits.

I bet that was a good show. You should have offered to do a little bit of whipcracking in the show for them. I bet they, as well as your fellow soldiers would have gotten a kick out of it! Next time, don't hesitate to offer.

Regards,

Paul Nolan
www.midwestwhips.com

It was a very good show, actually. Though I think I would have much rather performed some whip tricks after the show for the ladies...

Oh, and I'll be sure to let you know how the new whip does as soon as the weather turns nicer here. From what I'm hearing, though, it's about to start getting colder!

What colors do Paul's whips come in? I want a dark color like the KOTCS whip.

Then go for something like whiskey I'd say. I'd guess he'll have something close to what you want.

As far as I know, Paul gets all his kangaroo leather from Simon Martin at the moment, and the version of Whiskey that Simon has looks reddish-orange, and not much like the KOTCS whip color. If you get a whip from Paul, be sure to be specific about the color you want. If he orders the leather from Charles Hardtke or directly from Packers, he'll get the color you're looking for.

-Adam

Also, Paul! Where on earth are you going???!!! Out of the country? Germany, perhaps? I can't imagine that you'd go to Australia for only a week.

-Adam

I had a "greasy whiskey" from him (I think that's right) and it was very dark red brown. Too dark fore KotCS really.

Hi Mississippi Jones,

I have a wide range of colors available, from the standard range of Natural Tan, Saddle Tan, Whiskey Red(Simon's hide), Regular Whiskey(the KOTCS color), Brandy, and Black. And I also have a range of odd colors such as Red, Blue, Teal, White, Yellow, Green, Purple, etc...

I get my roo hide from a variety of suppliers, so pretty much any specific color you are looking for I can get if I don't have it in stock.

Adam,

You are right I wouldn't be going to Australia for only a week, it would have to be for at least 2 weeks if not over a month.

I'm writing this from a hotel room in Florida at the moment. I will be on a cruise ship in about an hour, and will have no email, phone, or internet access for the whole trip. It is the first true vacation I will have had in about 7 or 8 years. I believe we will be seeing some Tombs of Mayan kings at one of the stops. I will be snapping some pics.

IndyDoc,

Yes you had a greasy whiskey, and I have been unable to get a hold of any pre-greasy hides for a while now, so that specific color is unavailable at the moment.

I'll let you all know when I get back.

It's going to be strange not checking indygear for a whole week, lol!

Regards,

Paul Nolan
www.midwestwhips.com

It seems like crazy things happen on April fools day. One year ago I finally launched my website after 8 years of going by word of mouth, and today I am extremely proud to announce that Midwestwhips has a new full-time whipmaker! Check out this thread for more information:

viewtopic.php?t=27840

Regards,

Paul Nolan
www.midwestwhips.com

I spent the whole day today updating the website! There is lots of new stuff up, including a new page just for whipmaking classes, the accessories page is now up, as well as the Q&A page. The Bullwhip page has been updated with new pictures. I have also tried to clean up some of the pages and I have added a paypal shopping cart. The shopping cart is up on a couple of the pages, and I will add it to more of the pages as time permits.

Also, the whip news section has been updated on the main page with a link to the Indy 4 party, as well as the updates to the site.

Any feedback or suggestions would be great to hear!!!

Now it's time for me to get some sleep!

Paul Nolan
www.midwestwhips.com

PS- You may need to hit refresh on the pages if they are cached on your computer. So, if you don't see anything new on the main page, click refresh, and it should update.

One thing, on the Q&A page. I think it would be helpful to link those questions in the left column to the Q&A in the right column. ie Click on the question and it jumps to the answer. Otherwise good job.

Jay (formerly IndyDoc)