Once upon a time, lil'ol'me showed to one of the most generally accomplished jugglers anywhere a 3-ball pattern he did not seem to know. Given his ability (which included taking "can you do..." until the other jugglers ran out of suggestions, so he just kept on with more tricks than they knew to ask for) I have wondered if it was just the name that he didn't recognize (or my wretched attempts to do it).

What it was, was...well, what was it? Was it Windmill, or Spiral, or False Shower, or Ventilator, or Perpetual Motion, or some other name? What patterns go by more names? What pattern goes by the most names? Why? The one called Windmill does have all arm and ball motions in the same general direction; and there is something of the Shower pattern done very differently; but there is nothing of a spiral (or helix) about it; and, aren't all juggling patterns perpetual? Were various people, from different languages, searching for a better name?

If more people know Cascade than any other pattern, why, when it does not resemble a stepped waterfall, hasn't there been a better name?

Even with siteswap "names", such as the now generally understood and applied 441 (is there any other pattern with more same-named variations? Mills things perhaps?), people still are almost desperately determined to attach a label to every slightest something. The notion of alliteration has been roundly rebuked with mockery at this newsgroup, yet here comes Penman's Pandemonium. Has anything that Karas has contributed been at all "insane"? Jugglers are so loathe to, and so commonly inept at, using words ("duh, I can just show you a lot easier") that the attachment to attaching words to patterns is rather oxymoronic, if not so moronic as the general language impairment.

Does a name ever help people learn, or remember, a pattern? Shower looked to me just like a water drinking "fountain", which made that name for another pattern rather confusing, and still looks nothing like water from a washing shower. The name Rainbow inspired me to learn it; but after doing it, and trying feverishly to make it look like a rainbow (to selecting ball colors to make sure it was doing the best I could manage), it remains a resounding disappointment. It is an attractive pattern in the one video I saw. But it is really just Double Tennis; and understanding that, is what made it possible for me to do it. Hey everybody, how about using that name instead?