Top posts deserve things, even if they aren't paintings. I'm not usually a fan of urban timelapses, and definitely prefer nature, but this one really appeals to me. Definitely recommend a watch:
Had a fun time kicking with Nick, Ryan, Matt, Nathan and Zach today. Played in this weird covered outdoor stage, as it poured rain for a few hours. The acoustics were really trippy on stage and actually messed with my runs a but, but it was still fun. I played alright, nothing amazing but nothing horrible either. String length could definitely use some work, but that will come with better drilling. I'm at a stage in my game where I'm starting to rely on drifters, whirls and doubledowns to drive my strings, so consistency is bound to take a momentary dip.
Hit a bunch of paradons, found a new sweet spot for them, and then after a few tries lost it. Still, I think I remember what I did so I should be able to recreate them when my legs are fresh and I can see the bag better. Got paradon > drifter BSOS first try for Matt, which was really surprising. Also hit a sumo that was apparently not terrible. Was able to throw in some whips, which are starting to get fun, now that I'm not worried that I'll dislocate my knee/hip doing them. Yeah, fun stuff. Oh, and Nathan's stepping game is crazy. That's all.
Ivan I's Footblog
Re: Ivan I's Footblog
Had a session Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. It's been a bad week for my legs, and the first two sessions reflected that. As I've said, I've been through this before, so it's not a horrible concern, but I am taking the right steps to remedy the situation. Step one: take pain meds. Step 2: keep playing.
Okay, I'm kidding, I do stretches, icing, strengthening exercises and rest. Monday's session was an hour and a half of medium impact stuff, Tuesday's session was an hour of chill stuff (osis, ducks, spins, pdx mirage/illusion, tiltless drills). Didn't particularly enjoy either of them, but I was able to keep things in perspective and just be happy to be playing. Around this time last year I was in a cast, in bed, and fighting depression.
Today was my third day in a row kicking, and I decided to preempt the pain with some Aleve. Boom, good session. I only take a half dose, so I still feel if something goes wrong, and it allows me to play without the muscle pain. Fun times.
Diving Clipper > Ducking Clipper BSOS
(Toe Drifter > PDX Mirage) x 3 BSOS
Toe Whirl > Whip > PDX Mirage RPT
(Toe Drifter > SS Mirage) x 8
PDX Whirl > SS Butterfly BS
Blurriest BSOS
Reactor
First solid flip Sumo
Tripwalk > Sumo > Atomsmasher
No, I wasn't filming. I didn't even bring my camera, because I was expecting a "meh" session. That last link was a spur of the moment thing, I didn't really think it through, it just happened on the second try. I'm sure if I thought about it before hand, I wouldn't have hit it. But yeah, that was a good session. I'll be giving my legs two days rest, will see what the weekend brings.
Okay, I'm kidding, I do stretches, icing, strengthening exercises and rest. Monday's session was an hour and a half of medium impact stuff, Tuesday's session was an hour of chill stuff (osis, ducks, spins, pdx mirage/illusion, tiltless drills). Didn't particularly enjoy either of them, but I was able to keep things in perspective and just be happy to be playing. Around this time last year I was in a cast, in bed, and fighting depression.
Today was my third day in a row kicking, and I decided to preempt the pain with some Aleve. Boom, good session. I only take a half dose, so I still feel if something goes wrong, and it allows me to play without the muscle pain. Fun times.
Diving Clipper > Ducking Clipper BSOS (Toe Drifter > PDX Mirage) x 3 BSOS Toe Whirl > Whip > PDX Mirage RPT (Toe Drifter > SS Mirage) x 8 PDX Whirl > SS Butterfly BS Blurriest BSOS Reactor First solid flip Sumo Tripwalk > Sumo > AtomsmasherNo, I wasn't filming. I didn't even bring my camera, because I was expecting a "meh" session. That last link was a spur of the moment thing, I didn't really think it through, it just happened on the second try. I'm sure if I thought about it before hand, I wouldn't have hit it. But yeah, that was a good session. I'll be giving my legs two days rest, will see what the weekend brings.
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boyle
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Re: Ivan I's Footblog
That final combo is awesome!
Re: Ivan I's Footblog
Haha, thanks! I was pretty happy when I hit it, had a silly grin on my face for the next few strings afterwards. Looking back, the last 5 or so highlights from that session were all 4s and 5s, which is probably the first time that has happened. For some reason, I've always imagined that one day I'd flip a switch and go guiltless, or start hitting tripless runs... but I'm quite happy with the slow, methodical build up to that point. So far, this summer has been very good for my game, and I finish most sessions feeling like I'm the best I've ever been. Sure, I'm not any closer to rubberman or a few other goals, but I've also never had this much fun playing hacky since my first few months playing.
In about a week I will be hosting Arts Fest at PSU. Pretty stoked to play with the State College crew and see how good they've gotten. I think I'll finally be able to keep up with Ben's whirl drills. Might need to start learning sit downs if I'm to keep up with the times
In about a week I will be hosting Arts Fest at PSU. Pretty stoked to play with the State College crew and see how good they've gotten. I think I'll finally be able to keep up with Ben's whirl drills. Might need to start learning sit downs if I'm to keep up with the times
Re: Ivan I's Footblog
isirc10 wrote: I've also never had this much fun playing hacky since my first few months playing.
Re: Ivan I's Footblog
Played at the local fireworks show last night, at my old high/middle school. There was a carnival set up in the parking lot as well, so plenty of people came by to watch. It was definitely weird seeing people I hadn't talked to in 4 years, and I'm sure they were pretty surprised to see me shredding - I was a pretty clean, straight forward kid in high school who got good grades and never got in trouble. Also saw some people I would have preferred to avoid, but hey, that's how these things go. Got a bunch of nice comments from people walking by, let some kids try kicking a bit when I was catching my breath between runs. When it got dark, I busted out a glowing 14 panel I made the previous night and that got a good response, even though I was limited to basic tricks as it was a bit roll-y.
Some thoughts on demo-ing... (mostly for my use, this is probably common knowledge for most of you)
People can't see variety past double dexes. Massive tricks (okay, 4 adds) still look massive though and should be thrown in once or twice per 20-30 contacts. I definitely had a lot of strings extending past 100 contacts (tiltless, but it's not like anyone knows what that is). I had a lot of success starting with just stalls (inside > ss muted clipper rpt is super effective) and then throwing in a legover/pickup/ mirage/illusion in when I got bored. Clippers need to be done slowly and stalled for longer than usual for them to be effective. Spins are sweet, but ducks seem to get more reaction out of audiences. Paradons and whirls are nice highlight tricks that can break up the monotony of tiltess toe stuff. Too many of them and people lose interest. Drifters need to be built up and explained before being hit. Quantums look cooler than atomics to muggles. Osis is no different from clipper, so if you are having an off day they can be replaced with their 2 add brethren. People see when you are having fun and smiling, and tend to stick around longer when you show this. If you are happy through drops, it's almost like you didn't drop at all. People don't know that occasional dropping is bad - don't show it. The moment you start getting negative, you've lost your audience's trust and they feel your frustration and walk away.
TLDR; You don't have to be guiltless to amuse people with your hacky skills. Consistency and good attitude goes a long way. People don't know about adds, so kicks and baby tricks are the shit. Hell, some of the best applause I got was saving a clipper 3 feet away from me, leg outstretched. I highly recommend kicking in front of large groups of people, even if you think you suck.
When I play for people, I tend to switch into a different mindset. It took a bit to figure out how to do it, but I limit myself to easy tricks and lose the negative association with low add tricks. It's definitely weird to follow up a paradon with a reverse wrap and then a set of inside stalls, but it makes people really appreciate how fast your legs are moving and how much control you have.
In other news, I'm getting paid to build/customize model trains for people in my spare time. Apparently I'm good at stuff that is in high demand right now... I started out at a rate of $10 an hour but people complained I wasn't charging enough. Fine, $25 an hour, and I'm doing stuff I enjoy. I can pick and chose which projects I do. That's one of the upsides of being in a hobby where people are older, responsible and have money to spend... the downside is everything I want is expensive. It's also weird to be gaining some fame in a hobby that is ruled by master craftsmen that have been at it longer than I have been on this earth... I'm sure people would be quite surprised if they met me in person. Does this mean I'm quitting stitching? Probably not. I'll keep making bags on request and bringing some to tournaments. I just won't have any premade bags.
Good night modified. Sorry, that was a lot of words. Here, have a song. It's generally happy, but the lyrics seem to get past my emotional filters and stir up some sadness and regrets from my past. I'm beginning to think that sadness, as long as it's not crippling, is a great way of reminding us of how happy we are at the moment.
Some thoughts on demo-ing... (mostly for my use, this is probably common knowledge for most of you)
People can't see variety past double dexes. Massive tricks (okay, 4 adds) still look massive though and should be thrown in once or twice per 20-30 contacts. I definitely had a lot of strings extending past 100 contacts (tiltless, but it's not like anyone knows what that is). I had a lot of success starting with just stalls (inside > ss muted clipper rpt is super effective) and then throwing in a legover/pickup/ mirage/illusion in when I got bored. Clippers need to be done slowly and stalled for longer than usual for them to be effective. Spins are sweet, but ducks seem to get more reaction out of audiences. Paradons and whirls are nice highlight tricks that can break up the monotony of tiltess toe stuff. Too many of them and people lose interest. Drifters need to be built up and explained before being hit. Quantums look cooler than atomics to muggles. Osis is no different from clipper, so if you are having an off day they can be replaced with their 2 add brethren. People see when you are having fun and smiling, and tend to stick around longer when you show this. If you are happy through drops, it's almost like you didn't drop at all. People don't know that occasional dropping is bad - don't show it. The moment you start getting negative, you've lost your audience's trust and they feel your frustration and walk away.
TLDR; You don't have to be guiltless to amuse people with your hacky skills. Consistency and good attitude goes a long way. People don't know about adds, so kicks and baby tricks are the shit. Hell, some of the best applause I got was saving a clipper 3 feet away from me, leg outstretched. I highly recommend kicking in front of large groups of people, even if you think you suck.
When I play for people, I tend to switch into a different mindset. It took a bit to figure out how to do it, but I limit myself to easy tricks and lose the negative association with low add tricks. It's definitely weird to follow up a paradon with a reverse wrap and then a set of inside stalls, but it makes people really appreciate how fast your legs are moving and how much control you have.
In other news, I'm getting paid to build/customize model trains for people in my spare time. Apparently I'm good at stuff that is in high demand right now... I started out at a rate of $10 an hour but people complained I wasn't charging enough. Fine, $25 an hour, and I'm doing stuff I enjoy. I can pick and chose which projects I do. That's one of the upsides of being in a hobby where people are older, responsible and have money to spend... the downside is everything I want is expensive. It's also weird to be gaining some fame in a hobby that is ruled by master craftsmen that have been at it longer than I have been on this earth... I'm sure people would be quite surprised if they met me in person. Does this mean I'm quitting stitching? Probably not. I'll keep making bags on request and bringing some to tournaments. I just won't have any premade bags.
Good night modified. Sorry, that was a lot of words. Here, have a song. It's generally happy, but the lyrics seem to get past my emotional filters and stir up some sadness and regrets from my past. I'm beginning to think that sadness, as long as it's not crippling, is a great way of reminding us of how happy we are at the moment.
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boyle
- Post Master General
- Posts: 3147
- Joined: 19 Sep 2007 23:42
- Location: Canberra, Australia
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Re: Ivan I's Footblog
I think your notes on performing are pretty spot on. I think quantum is a fair bit harder. I don't really do them much, so I've never had people react to them more/less.
Sounds like a good gig with the trains too. Seems like things are going really well for you at the moment, awesome to hear.
This, this just sums up all about performing, not just in footbag. Once people can see you have those negative vibes, they don't want you to bring them down, so they will leave.People see when you are having fun and smiling, and tend to stick around longer when you show this. If you are happy through drops, it's almost like you didn't drop at all. People don't know that occasional dropping is bad - don't show it. The moment you start getting negative, you've lost your audience's trust and they feel your frustration and walk away.
Sounds like a good gig with the trains too. Seems like things are going really well for you at the moment, awesome to hear.
Re: Ivan I's Footblog
Played with Polini today. You might have seen some video of him jumping around - he's good.
It wasn't horribly hot, or oppressively humid, but we both felt it and had to keep wringing out our shorts in between runs to keep them from getting too heavy with sweat and flapping around during dexes. Pretty gross. We also ran out of dry bags halfway through the session.
I wasn't as consistent today as I have been recently, but that's perfectly acceptable. I practiced flip pixies, and I might hate them as much as Derek Littlefield hates osis. Meh, I've only got myself to blame for them. I think I had like a 2% success/try ratio on flip (I might be being generous here). Strong side was 95%, so at least I've got a template to go off of. My flip (left foot) still feels awkward on certain tricks due to my injury, but I think I should be able to remedy that with massive reps.
In other news, nukes balanced out nicely during the session today, and flip seems to have caught up with strong. I find that the more I relax on the clipper set and the slide back/swing over for the dex, the better (and higher) the set is. Also, my back really appreciates this approach, as opposed the "power through the dex" one.
Infinity > Whip RPT
Sumo BS
Nuke SS Mirage BS
Nuke SS Pickup BS
Paradon > Ripwalk BSOS
Some stuff I don't remember
Not quitting a pixie session
Drove home from the session, ate a meatball sub, biked 5 miles, took a shower. I've made it a goal to bike 100 miles a week (20 a day) because it's nice to give my legs a break from the pounding of footbag every now and then. It's also making my quads feel like death, so hopefully symp stuff picks up. I'm doing my best to average 20-22 mph per ride, though on some days I can push it and others I'm sucking air like a Rolls Royce M250 turbine by the time I crest the first hill.
Looking to kick again tomorrow and then take a few days off before Arts Fest. Hopefully I won't have to hold myself back next weekend and can let loose all of the fury drilling pixies has bottled up inside me. Getting out of bed is gonna be shitty tomorrow.
It wasn't horribly hot, or oppressively humid, but we both felt it and had to keep wringing out our shorts in between runs to keep them from getting too heavy with sweat and flapping around during dexes. Pretty gross. We also ran out of dry bags halfway through the session.
I wasn't as consistent today as I have been recently, but that's perfectly acceptable. I practiced flip pixies, and I might hate them as much as Derek Littlefield hates osis. Meh, I've only got myself to blame for them. I think I had like a 2% success/try ratio on flip (I might be being generous here). Strong side was 95%, so at least I've got a template to go off of. My flip (left foot) still feels awkward on certain tricks due to my injury, but I think I should be able to remedy that with massive reps.
In other news, nukes balanced out nicely during the session today, and flip seems to have caught up with strong. I find that the more I relax on the clipper set and the slide back/swing over for the dex, the better (and higher) the set is. Also, my back really appreciates this approach, as opposed the "power through the dex" one.
Infinity > Whip RPT Sumo BS Nuke SS Mirage BS Nuke SS Pickup BS Paradon > Ripwalk BSOS Some stuff I don't remember Not quitting a pixie sessionDrove home from the session, ate a meatball sub, biked 5 miles, took a shower. I've made it a goal to bike 100 miles a week (20 a day) because it's nice to give my legs a break from the pounding of footbag every now and then. It's also making my quads feel like death, so hopefully symp stuff picks up. I'm doing my best to average 20-22 mph per ride, though on some days I can push it and others I'm sucking air like a Rolls Royce M250 turbine by the time I crest the first hill.
Looking to kick again tomorrow and then take a few days off before Arts Fest. Hopefully I won't have to hold myself back next weekend and can let loose all of the fury drilling pixies has bottled up inside me. Getting out of bed is gonna be shitty tomorrow.
Re: Ivan I's Footblog
Nice! That was one of my highlights from my last session too.isirc10 wrote:
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Re: Ivan I's Footblog
Those are the best highlights, because the next time you hit them, it's like you've just hit them for the first time...
Played for about 2 hours today with Ryan. It was incredibly humid out. Every ten minutes it poured rain, and then the sun would come out. Really screwy weather. We played under a roof, but were both instantly soaked in sweat the humidity was so oppressive. It was a pretty bad session for both of us, so we ended up just drilling pixies together. Flip side improved to hitting one in every ten attempts for me, and I only missed three strong side sets the entire time. Mid session my lavers were so heavy with the sweat I had to wring out my socks... the heavier shoes actually made it easier to separate the set from the dex, but it was a valuable learning experience figuring it out in lighter shoes.
(Drifter > SS Pickup > SS Butterfly) x6
Smear BS
Smear x 5 (strong)
Taking a break from footbag for the rest of the week, my legs need it. Might do some light kicking (literally just toe kicks and insides) on Thursday, if time permits. That should let me reset before the weekend.
EDIT: Here's a highlight from the session with Nick a few days ago. Nuke set could be straighter, and posture could be better, but that link is very much the cutting edge in my game. I'm happy I can hit it within 3 tries most of the time. Flip isn't terribly far away.
https://instagram.com/p/4xewjKJUPW/
Played for about 2 hours today with Ryan. It was incredibly humid out. Every ten minutes it poured rain, and then the sun would come out. Really screwy weather. We played under a roof, but were both instantly soaked in sweat the humidity was so oppressive. It was a pretty bad session for both of us, so we ended up just drilling pixies together. Flip side improved to hitting one in every ten attempts for me, and I only missed three strong side sets the entire time. Mid session my lavers were so heavy with the sweat I had to wring out my socks... the heavier shoes actually made it easier to separate the set from the dex, but it was a valuable learning experience figuring it out in lighter shoes.
(Drifter > SS Pickup > SS Butterfly) x6 Smear BS Smear x 5 (strong)Taking a break from footbag for the rest of the week, my legs need it. Might do some light kicking (literally just toe kicks and insides) on Thursday, if time permits. That should let me reset before the weekend.
EDIT: Here's a highlight from the session with Nick a few days ago. Nuke set could be straighter, and posture could be better, but that link is very much the cutting edge in my game. I'm happy I can hit it within 3 tries most of the time. Flip isn't terribly far away.
https://instagram.com/p/4xewjKJUPW/
Re: Ivan I's Footblog
if that vid clip was a facebook post i would like it. Exited to play with you this weekend!
Re: Ivan I's Footblog
Oh baby!
Oh, what a day... what a lovely day!
But really, Arts Fest was the perfect combination of people attending, weather, location, events, timing and good feels. It would be foolish to say it's the best jam we ever hosted because all of them were special in their own way, but this one really hit the spot.
On Friday I hit the road around 5:00pm, heading to pick up Krystof in Harrisburg. The drive was pretty uneventful, though I did hit some traffic early on. I made up for it by taking advantage of the 70mph speed limit and cruising at around 90 for about half the trip. I picked Krystof up at 7:10 and got to State College around 9:30. On the way, we talked about American stuff, and Czech stuff... he's a pretty cool cat. When we arrived, Ryan, Nick and Khoa were already at the shred house. We hung out for a bit and waited for Matt and Dan to arrive. Then we packed into my minivan and drove to the IST bridge to have a late session. A picture I took last winter of the place:
It must have been around 11:00 when we started playing. Boats showed up around midnight after being stuck in traffic for hours in NY. People were throwing down some funky shit. Kemmer had some blinky stuff, along with his usual clean stuff, Polini was doing his thing. Krystof was being Czech... that man's double downs are impeccable. Blurry whirls, blurriests, alpine shuffle... all in running shoes. I spent a lot of time in a circle with Ryan, Boats and Dan, and I really enjoyed the vibes. I had some solid guiltless strings that went 30+ deep with some nice 4s thrown in there. Boats was tired from the car ride but still managed to have fun and put together some strings that brought me a lot of happiness. Dan surprised me with his much improved consistency with tiltless runs, and even hit a dada which was refreshing to see. Ryan had a bit of an off day, but that didn't stop him from doing some nice guiltless stuff with dlos and bops.
We shredded till about 1:30 am, then headed back to the apartment. Pizza was ordered, coach was consulted, videos were watched on the wall. Around 2:30 the reasonable folk (Me, Ryan, Matt) went off to sleep, and the less reasonable folk followed suit soon after.
On Saturday we got up around 10:00 and headed downtown for breakfast. Arts Fest was in full swing, so the main road was blocked off and filled with art vendors and food stands. We inittialy went to Irvings, but the line was out the door so we ventured off to McClanahan's (convenience/grocery store) to grab sandwiches. These were devoured on the steps of Old Main to the sound of a live orchestra. As a side note, the live music was fantastic for shred (until some stupid country band got up there and played songs like "My girl talks too much" and "My man is too lazy" and other stereotypical trash)
Then, shred. Leg breaking, ankle shattering, face melting shred. Matt, Nick, Krystof and Boats were really fun to watch. Matt was having an off day at first, so I only really noticed him later on in the day. Krystof continued his crusade to hit everything I had categorized as "difficult/impossible" and do it with relative ease.
Nick was hitting some nice alpine stuff, lots of mobius links from what I remember. Marc showed up. Didn't play much with him. Khoa's game was really impressive, his consistency really reminded me of where I was before I got injured last year.
Some little kids thought footbag was the shit and hung around... for pretty much the entire day. While there were a few moments where they broke the dynamic of the circle, it was cool to have SOMEONE show some interest. Favorite moment of the day was when someone was walking by our circle and the kid looks at them and says: "If you aren't impressed, you should be, this is really hard" in a matter of fact voice. I cracked up for at least a minute. In all fairness, people were very accepting of us kicking in the middle of a rather busy meeting/photography place and we got a lot of nice exposure for footbag. Some clueless girl even let us write things on her white board... she had no idea what toe blenders were, or why we needed to talk about them...
I kicked for about 5 hours nonstop, keeping a decent level the entire time. It was nice not to have to take breaks, or be forced to throw in shitty strings because my legs were tired. At the end Matt and I drilled some stuff. I'd like to think I helped him a (tiny) bit with his nukes, though I'm sure he figured them out himself. He ended with 69, which wasn't surprising considering how good the sets were and how fast his drifter motion is. I did some DDD and spinning practice. After we finished, we grabbed some ice cream and then headed over to Big Bowl with everyone else to grab dinner. Silly things happened. Ben took many selfies. I ate my usual Peanut Pad Thai w/ chicken and then sat there fighting off a food coma. Then back to the shred house for showers. Arguments as to what movie to watch that night ended up with us not watching anything (aside from silly trailers of weird horror movies). At one point, most of us were just sitting there on our phones watching random stuff, and Krystof proposed a solution. It was funny seeing a bunch of Americans drinking Slivovitza for the first time. Then Nick tried to teach Krystof some english words, and how they were used. We discussed the proper use of "black/colored/african american", cracker, juggalo and sphincter. Highlight of the night was Krystof turning to Boats, sitting next to him on the couch consulting coach and saying "What's up, Cracker?" Hilarity ensued.
According to Krystof, that stuff makes your whirls better. According to Wikipedia, it's 40-50% alcohol, so I don't know who to trust. His whirls are really good... Anyway, around midnight Nick decided to go to the arboretum to check out the bat cave there. It was a 3 mile walk one way, and people were tired so I drove everyone there in my minivan. April had to sit on the floor. The bats were pretty cool, and wandering around the arboretum at night was also a neat experience. Nick was definitely in his element here.
We abandoned our new-found furry winged friends to go help Matt get back in the apartment. We left him and Khoa behind (because Matt only likes animals in paintings, and not in real life, and Khoa was asleep). Matt went outside to talk on the phone and couldn't get back in because Khoa had passed out with his headphones in... That was the extent of Saturday night.
Sunday was a blur. Matt, Khoa and I ate at Irvings, met up with April and Ben, and then headed to old main. Ryan had left for Michigan, and Marc was back in NJ. The shred started off with a low key game of four square, in which everyone was polite and more than willing to give up their square to keep the game going. I probably played for 3 hours on Sunday. Despite my legs feeling like they were made of petrified wood, I had some solid strings. Omelettes and Blizzards were feeling comfortable midstring, and legbeater was starting make a comeback on both sides.
We peaced out around 3:30 and all grabbed ice cream before heading back to the shred house to shower and pack up. Nick and Krystof helped me clear out the apartment, as my lease would be ending in a month's time. No more Shred House. Lots of great memories made there. I drove Krystof back to his place in Harrisburg and got home around 10:00pm on Sunday. I played the maximum amount at Arts Fest, and didn't film at all. It was great to be able to push myself like that at an event, and to have as much fun as I did.
Oh, what a day... what a lovely day!
But really, Arts Fest was the perfect combination of people attending, weather, location, events, timing and good feels. It would be foolish to say it's the best jam we ever hosted because all of them were special in their own way, but this one really hit the spot.
On Friday I hit the road around 5:00pm, heading to pick up Krystof in Harrisburg. The drive was pretty uneventful, though I did hit some traffic early on. I made up for it by taking advantage of the 70mph speed limit and cruising at around 90 for about half the trip. I picked Krystof up at 7:10 and got to State College around 9:30. On the way, we talked about American stuff, and Czech stuff... he's a pretty cool cat. When we arrived, Ryan, Nick and Khoa were already at the shred house. We hung out for a bit and waited for Matt and Dan to arrive. Then we packed into my minivan and drove to the IST bridge to have a late session. A picture I took last winter of the place:
It must have been around 11:00 when we started playing. Boats showed up around midnight after being stuck in traffic for hours in NY. People were throwing down some funky shit. Kemmer had some blinky stuff, along with his usual clean stuff, Polini was doing his thing. Krystof was being Czech... that man's double downs are impeccable. Blurry whirls, blurriests, alpine shuffle... all in running shoes. I spent a lot of time in a circle with Ryan, Boats and Dan, and I really enjoyed the vibes. I had some solid guiltless strings that went 30+ deep with some nice 4s thrown in there. Boats was tired from the car ride but still managed to have fun and put together some strings that brought me a lot of happiness. Dan surprised me with his much improved consistency with tiltless runs, and even hit a dada which was refreshing to see. Ryan had a bit of an off day, but that didn't stop him from doing some nice guiltless stuff with dlos and bops.
We shredded till about 1:30 am, then headed back to the apartment. Pizza was ordered, coach was consulted, videos were watched on the wall. Around 2:30 the reasonable folk (Me, Ryan, Matt) went off to sleep, and the less reasonable folk followed suit soon after.
On Saturday we got up around 10:00 and headed downtown for breakfast. Arts Fest was in full swing, so the main road was blocked off and filled with art vendors and food stands. We inittialy went to Irvings, but the line was out the door so we ventured off to McClanahan's (convenience/grocery store) to grab sandwiches. These were devoured on the steps of Old Main to the sound of a live orchestra. As a side note, the live music was fantastic for shred (until some stupid country band got up there and played songs like "My girl talks too much" and "My man is too lazy" and other stereotypical trash)
Then, shred. Leg breaking, ankle shattering, face melting shred. Matt, Nick, Krystof and Boats were really fun to watch. Matt was having an off day at first, so I only really noticed him later on in the day. Krystof continued his crusade to hit everything I had categorized as "difficult/impossible" and do it with relative ease.
Nick was hitting some nice alpine stuff, lots of mobius links from what I remember. Marc showed up. Didn't play much with him. Khoa's game was really impressive, his consistency really reminded me of where I was before I got injured last year.
Some little kids thought footbag was the shit and hung around... for pretty much the entire day. While there were a few moments where they broke the dynamic of the circle, it was cool to have SOMEONE show some interest. Favorite moment of the day was when someone was walking by our circle and the kid looks at them and says: "If you aren't impressed, you should be, this is really hard" in a matter of fact voice. I cracked up for at least a minute. In all fairness, people were very accepting of us kicking in the middle of a rather busy meeting/photography place and we got a lot of nice exposure for footbag. Some clueless girl even let us write things on her white board... she had no idea what toe blenders were, or why we needed to talk about them...
I kicked for about 5 hours nonstop, keeping a decent level the entire time. It was nice not to have to take breaks, or be forced to throw in shitty strings because my legs were tired. At the end Matt and I drilled some stuff. I'd like to think I helped him a (tiny) bit with his nukes, though I'm sure he figured them out himself. He ended with 69, which wasn't surprising considering how good the sets were and how fast his drifter motion is. I did some DDD and spinning practice. After we finished, we grabbed some ice cream and then headed over to Big Bowl with everyone else to grab dinner. Silly things happened. Ben took many selfies. I ate my usual Peanut Pad Thai w/ chicken and then sat there fighting off a food coma. Then back to the shred house for showers. Arguments as to what movie to watch that night ended up with us not watching anything (aside from silly trailers of weird horror movies). At one point, most of us were just sitting there on our phones watching random stuff, and Krystof proposed a solution. It was funny seeing a bunch of Americans drinking Slivovitza for the first time. Then Nick tried to teach Krystof some english words, and how they were used. We discussed the proper use of "black/colored/african american", cracker, juggalo and sphincter. Highlight of the night was Krystof turning to Boats, sitting next to him on the couch consulting coach and saying "What's up, Cracker?" Hilarity ensued.
According to Krystof, that stuff makes your whirls better. According to Wikipedia, it's 40-50% alcohol, so I don't know who to trust. His whirls are really good... Anyway, around midnight Nick decided to go to the arboretum to check out the bat cave there. It was a 3 mile walk one way, and people were tired so I drove everyone there in my minivan. April had to sit on the floor. The bats were pretty cool, and wandering around the arboretum at night was also a neat experience. Nick was definitely in his element here.
We abandoned our new-found furry winged friends to go help Matt get back in the apartment. We left him and Khoa behind (because Matt only likes animals in paintings, and not in real life, and Khoa was asleep). Matt went outside to talk on the phone and couldn't get back in because Khoa had passed out with his headphones in... That was the extent of Saturday night.
Sunday was a blur. Matt, Khoa and I ate at Irvings, met up with April and Ben, and then headed to old main. Ryan had left for Michigan, and Marc was back in NJ. The shred started off with a low key game of four square, in which everyone was polite and more than willing to give up their square to keep the game going. I probably played for 3 hours on Sunday. Despite my legs feeling like they were made of petrified wood, I had some solid strings. Omelettes and Blizzards were feeling comfortable midstring, and legbeater was starting make a comeback on both sides.
We peaced out around 3:30 and all grabbed ice cream before heading back to the shred house to shower and pack up. Nick and Krystof helped me clear out the apartment, as my lease would be ending in a month's time. No more Shred House. Lots of great memories made there. I drove Krystof back to his place in Harrisburg and got home around 10:00pm on Sunday. I played the maximum amount at Arts Fest, and didn't film at all. It was great to be able to push myself like that at an event, and to have as much fun as I did.
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F[uns]tylin' Eclectic
- Post Master General
- Posts: 4092
- Joined: 05 Feb 2010 19:53
- Location: Drumore, PA
Re: Ivan I's Footblog
Great write-up. Loved reliving the weekend in that post. Cracked up at Matt liking paintings of animals more than animals. Such a great farewell to the Shredhaus.
You forgot to mention the part where we said we would drive together on the highway until we split off near Hershey, then you and Krystof ended up splitting off way earlier than expected but SOMEHOW passed me about 2 hours down the highway!? Still pretty baffled by that. I guess I drive slow. Funny thing about that was JUST before you guys passed me, I was practicing saying the best Czech sentence in my car.. then all of the sudden. Boom. lol
Very fun weekend. I'm sure I'll be seeing you soon.
You forgot to mention the part where we said we would drive together on the highway until we split off near Hershey, then you and Krystof ended up splitting off way earlier than expected but SOMEHOW passed me about 2 hours down the highway!? Still pretty baffled by that. I guess I drive slow. Funny thing about that was JUST before you guys passed me, I was practicing saying the best Czech sentence in my car.. then all of the sudden. Boom. lol
Very fun weekend. I'm sure I'll be seeing you soon.
Re: Ivan I's Footblog
When I got back on Sunday night after Arts Fest, I found out my grandfather had passed away. This wasn't too much of a surprise, as his condition was deteriorating the entire weekend. To be honest, he wasn't himself for the past year, and it pained me to see him slowly succumbing to old age. He was always very active and headstrong, but was trapped in a malfunctioning body. The week before Arts Fest, he fell and broke his hip. He was in the hospital all week, had surgery, and never fully recovered.
Though his passing obviously dampened my spirits, it was easy to see this coming and make peace with the situation at hand. I can finally remember him for the hours he spent teaching me how to draw, carve sticks, roller blade... and not the sad state he was in during his last days. His funeral is tomorrow, and I get to say goodbye to him one last time, with gratitude in my heart.
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Footbag things. My legs felt decent after I mercilessly abused them last weekend. I think I might have a slight strain in my left quad, but it's almost negligible. Shins didn't act up as much as I expected, which is a good sign. I played today (Wednesday) with my dope new Derek 14 panel, with animal print squares. Such a nice bag right off the bat. Many thanks to my homie out west for enabling me to keep shredding my legs into the ground. The session was a pretty slow one, and I wasn't sure if I was even gonna have it, as it was raining hard up to 15 minutes before I was supposed to show up where Kat and I kick. My stomach was having trouble with the spicy noodles I had for dinner, and Kat also had a stomach ache. The first hour or so was just me kicking, which let me warm up properly. After that I felt better and channeled my inspiration from the weekend into my shred. Big boy highlights:
First 5>5!!! (Fusion > Blurry Whirl)
Fusion BS (first time on flip)
Blurry Whirl (first time bs)
Ripwalk > Symp Whirl RPT (first drill with symp whirl)
Toe Far Whip > PDX Mirage RPT (first time hitting Toe Far Whip)
(Legbeater > SS Pickup) x3 BS
Whirl x 15 BS
I also helped Kat with clippers, whirls, and almost got her to hit paradon (as a silly experiment). Not gonna post any memes here, but if I had a table in front of me, I would have flipped it and thrown my computer across the basket ball court. She hits stuff so effortlessly. I'd say we both had good sessions.
On Friday I'm driving to Zach Hoffa's place, then to State College to pick up Ben and April, and then to Erie to play net and freestyle this weekend. Definitely a bit nervous about playing net again, but I think I'll be fine. I'm almost tempted to say my Achilles injury from a year ago helped my game more than it damaged it. Anyway, peace out modified, hopefully I'll have nothing but good things to write about come Monday.
EDIT: got a new microphone on Amazon Prime Day. Instructional videos, here I come!
Though his passing obviously dampened my spirits, it was easy to see this coming and make peace with the situation at hand. I can finally remember him for the hours he spent teaching me how to draw, carve sticks, roller blade... and not the sad state he was in during his last days. His funeral is tomorrow, and I get to say goodbye to him one last time, with gratitude in my heart.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Footbag things. My legs felt decent after I mercilessly abused them last weekend. I think I might have a slight strain in my left quad, but it's almost negligible. Shins didn't act up as much as I expected, which is a good sign. I played today (Wednesday) with my dope new Derek 14 panel, with animal print squares. Such a nice bag right off the bat. Many thanks to my homie out west for enabling me to keep shredding my legs into the ground. The session was a pretty slow one, and I wasn't sure if I was even gonna have it, as it was raining hard up to 15 minutes before I was supposed to show up where Kat and I kick. My stomach was having trouble with the spicy noodles I had for dinner, and Kat also had a stomach ache. The first hour or so was just me kicking, which let me warm up properly. After that I felt better and channeled my inspiration from the weekend into my shred. Big boy highlights:
First 5>5!!! (Fusion > Blurry Whirl) Fusion BS (first time on flip) Blurry Whirl (first time bs) Ripwalk > Symp Whirl RPT (first drill with symp whirl) Toe Far Whip > PDX Mirage RPT (first time hitting Toe Far Whip) (Legbeater > SS Pickup) x3 BS Whirl x 15 BSI also helped Kat with clippers, whirls, and almost got her to hit paradon (as a silly experiment). Not gonna post any memes here, but if I had a table in front of me, I would have flipped it and thrown my computer across the basket ball court. She hits stuff so effortlessly. I'd say we both had good sessions.
On Friday I'm driving to Zach Hoffa's place, then to State College to pick up Ben and April, and then to Erie to play net and freestyle this weekend. Definitely a bit nervous about playing net again, but I think I'll be fine. I'm almost tempted to say my Achilles injury from a year ago helped my game more than it damaged it. Anyway, peace out modified, hopefully I'll have nothing but good things to write about come Monday.
EDIT: got a new microphone on Amazon Prime Day. Instructional videos, here I come!
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Lycanthrope
- BSOS Beast
- Posts: 431
- Joined: 12 Oct 2004 19:39
- Location: Las Vegas, NV
- Contact:
Re: Ivan I's Footblog
I had an argument with a friend who was saying that when a bone breaks that it comes back stronger. After a small amount of research, it appears that it does grow back stronger in the break area, but further stress on the break or near the break can cause an uneven amount of stress on other parts and can risk further injury.
I've often thought of injuries as a funny way of leveling up. I heard a long time ago that Vasek had such amazing crank because he broke both of his ankles roller blading when he was a child. There's probably no truth to that, but it's a funny concept. I definitely hurt my ankles a lot when I was learning, and my crank seems to be pretty good. I wouldn't have intentionally hurt myself to further progression, but I wouldn't say it's an impossible path.
Anyway, I enjoyed your pics and write up. See you around!
I've often thought of injuries as a funny way of leveling up. I heard a long time ago that Vasek had such amazing crank because he broke both of his ankles roller blading when he was a child. There's probably no truth to that, but it's a funny concept. I definitely hurt my ankles a lot when I was learning, and my crank seems to be pretty good. I wouldn't have intentionally hurt myself to further progression, but I wouldn't say it's an impossible path.
Anyway, I enjoyed your pics and write up. See you around!
Evan 'OP' Gatesman
Re: Ivan I's Footblog
Erie was really fun. I never hang out with the Net guys, which is a shame as they are a great bunch. Ben and I played Intermediate doubles, and got owned, losing both of our matches. Still, we had fun, and even took a game away from Zach and Jim Hogan in the best of three match up. I fared pretty well in Novice Singles, losing my first match and then climbing through the loser's bracket. I made it to game three of the semis, tied at 10 a piece, where I just gave up because my ankles were swollen with bruises from hitting the net ball. That meant I didn't have to play on Sunday, which would have been too much. Aside from the bruises and a bit of soreness, playing net was no more dangerous than hiking, riding a bike, or playing freestyle footbag. I even bought a pair of net shoes and intend to practice with Zach Hoffa - maybe I'll be able to compete at ECFC if I put my mind to it.
But do not fear, I have not joined the dark side for good... freestyle is still my main focus. I've been meaning to make a video this summer, because I feel like I'm starting to transition to bigger and better tricks, and would like to document it. However, I haven't had much time to film... gonna need to change that.
I played with Nathan Bonslaver today after work. Got stuck in traffic on the way there, wasted about 30 minutes... but it was a fun session. Didn't hit anything super impressive, but was generally happy with myself. Hit a few midstring sumos, both sides. Also started a string with atom > tap rpt and then pushed it to around 25 guiltless contacts. Oh, legbeaters are starting to feel comfortable. That trick has been my downfall for over a year and a half, and now that I'm starting to go for matador, legbeater is finally starting to fall into place. Still on track to hit rubberman by the end of the summer, I think.
Sorry for the aimless post, I'm really tired today...
But do not fear, I have not joined the dark side for good... freestyle is still my main focus. I've been meaning to make a video this summer, because I feel like I'm starting to transition to bigger and better tricks, and would like to document it. However, I haven't had much time to film... gonna need to change that.
I played with Nathan Bonslaver today after work. Got stuck in traffic on the way there, wasted about 30 minutes... but it was a fun session. Didn't hit anything super impressive, but was generally happy with myself. Hit a few midstring sumos, both sides. Also started a string with atom > tap rpt and then pushed it to around 25 guiltless contacts. Oh, legbeaters are starting to feel comfortable. That trick has been my downfall for over a year and a half, and now that I'm starting to go for matador, legbeater is finally starting to fall into place. Still on track to hit rubberman by the end of the summer, I think.
Sorry for the aimless post, I'm really tired today...
Re: Ivan I's Footblog
Between yours and Aprils recap of Erie jam, sounds like it was p dopes. Net seems cool too, minus all the bruises:p dunno if my ankles could handle that.
Nice highlights. I enjoy all your posts, even the rambling ones
Nice highlights. I enjoy all your posts, even the rambling ones
-Daniel C. NY, USA. "Sacrifice a goat to our Lord and Savior Evan Gatesman".
Re: Ivan I's Footblog
This is good news. I'd hate to have to ban you from modifiedisirc10 wrote: But do not fear, I have not joined the dark side for good... freestyle is still my main focus.
Re: Ivan I's Footblog
Haha, that would be unfortunate. I would have to resort to spamming my own footblog with advertisements for fake converse shoes
Had a solo session today, intent on working on atomics. Turns out I can focus on one set for an entire session (well, almost).Tried a bunch of links...
Atomsmasher > Legbeater > PDX Mirage RPT (we all know where this is going)
Omelette > Legbeater > PDX Illusion BS (need to work on atomics out of illusion)
Toe Drifter > PDX Mirage > Atomsmasher RPT (first try)
Toe Torque BSOS (first try)
(Toe Whirl > PDX Illusion) x 6
Ducking Clipper x4
This was definitely a very limited session in terms of trick selection, but I think that will help in the long run. Still, I had to do a couple hundred toe kicks to keep myself from yelling obscenities when I missed ten paradons in a row, both sides. Not sure what happened there
Here's a song that got me pumped while kicking today:
Had a solo session today, intent on working on atomics. Turns out I can focus on one set for an entire session (well, almost).Tried a bunch of links...
Atomsmasher > Legbeater > PDX Mirage RPT (we all know where this is going) Omelette > Legbeater > PDX Illusion BS (need to work on atomics out of illusion) Toe Drifter > PDX Mirage > Atomsmasher RPT (first try) Toe Torque BSOS (first try) (Toe Whirl > PDX Illusion) x 6 Ducking Clipper x4This was definitely a very limited session in terms of trick selection, but I think that will help in the long run. Still, I had to do a couple hundred toe kicks to keep myself from yelling obscenities when I missed ten paradons in a row, both sides. Not sure what happened there
Here's a song that got me pumped while kicking today:
Re: Ivan I's Footblog
Haven't played in a while. Had a session today with Kat, played pretty well. It was really hot and humid and I beat myself up in the first thirty minutes with shuffle attempts. Still no rubberman, but I'm getting closer, as my highlights suggest. Then I started feeling lightheaded and got that telltale shiver on my spine... hello heat exhaustion and dehydration, time to take a water break. Did a bunch of osis and toe kicks while trying not to die. Then I transitioned to ducking tricks and nukes, because I guess I consider those to be low effort. Sorry, that's how it's gonna be folks, by body feels great doing them.
Stepping SS Illusion > Legbeater RPT
Ripwalk x4 (okay, yeah, that's pathetic)
Atomsmasher > Legbeater > Blur BS
Ducking Far Pickup > SS Butterfly RPT
Ducking PDX Mirage > Butterfly RPT
Tomahawk BS (that trick feels so good when timed right)
Matador BS
The first and last highlights I had to work for, mostly just mental adjustments to let myself fall into the butterflies after the uptime components. I also had one absolutely scrumptious Nuke set that I knew was gonna be good the moment it left my clipper. I watched it rise up past my dex leg and relaxed a bit, knowing I was gonna have time to do whatever I wanted... and then the bag hit me in the face and dropped to the ground. I felt pretty stupid for not moving my head to the side and ducking it, but oh well, it's happened once, it will happen again. I'll have to channel my inner pipebomb next time.
Going to State College this weekend to get the lease for the shred haus squared away. Have 4 people trying to get the lease, so it might get interesting. First come, first served I guess. Look to get a session in while I'm there. Nyfa Jam is coming up soon as well, so the next few weeks look to be really fun.
Stepping SS Illusion > Legbeater RPT Ripwalk x4 (okay, yeah, that's pathetic) Atomsmasher > Legbeater > Blur BS Ducking Far Pickup > SS Butterfly RPT Ducking PDX Mirage > Butterfly RPT Tomahawk BS (that trick feels so good when timed right) Matador BSThe first and last highlights I had to work for, mostly just mental adjustments to let myself fall into the butterflies after the uptime components. I also had one absolutely scrumptious Nuke set that I knew was gonna be good the moment it left my clipper. I watched it rise up past my dex leg and relaxed a bit, knowing I was gonna have time to do whatever I wanted... and then the bag hit me in the face and dropped to the ground. I felt pretty stupid for not moving my head to the side and ducking it, but oh well, it's happened once, it will happen again. I'll have to channel my inner pipebomb next time.
Going to State College this weekend to get the lease for the shred haus squared away. Have 4 people trying to get the lease, so it might get interesting. First come, first served I guess. Look to get a session in while I'm there. Nyfa Jam is coming up soon as well, so the next few weeks look to be really fun.