Ivan I's Footblog
Re: Ivan I's Footblog (PSU)
You should tell your dates that you do modeling in your free time.
Re: Ivan I's Footblog (PSU)
Yeah, that doesn't quite work out. I do modelling and strenuous interpretive dancing. 
Hopefully I will have time to do a bit more of that interpretive stuff Friday. Saturday April and Ben might be coming over. April may or may not have baked goods. This weekend should come sooner.
In other news, it's been a year since Ilya passed. I think I'm okay with that. I don't really know what to type to express my feelings, but they aren't negative ones. I guess thankful is the best adjective. I'm thankful for the memories, and how he affected my life. I've been completely sober for a year now. I think I'm emotionally stronger, having dug myself out of depression. Him and Nastia are together again, and I'm thankful nobody has to suffer anymore.
Good night Modified - always remember that you have the greatest gift there is - the privilege of living life, and helping others bring fulfillment to theirs.
Hopefully I will have time to do a bit more of that interpretive stuff Friday. Saturday April and Ben might be coming over. April may or may not have baked goods. This weekend should come sooner.
In other news, it's been a year since Ilya passed. I think I'm okay with that. I don't really know what to type to express my feelings, but they aren't negative ones. I guess thankful is the best adjective. I'm thankful for the memories, and how he affected my life. I've been completely sober for a year now. I think I'm emotionally stronger, having dug myself out of depression. Him and Nastia are together again, and I'm thankful nobody has to suffer anymore.
Good night Modified - always remember that you have the greatest gift there is - the privilege of living life, and helping others bring fulfillment to theirs.
Re: Ivan I's Footblog (PSU)
I'd change the second half to "crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of their women." But close enough.isirc10 wrote: - always remember that you have the greatest gift there is - the privilege of living life, and helping others bring fulfillment to theirs.
Re: Ivan I's Footblog (PSU)
Haha, oh Ken... we can't have people thinking I'm a barbarian, now can we? 
Last Friday I kicked with Ben and Greg in the racquetball courts. This was an interesting session because they were even dustier and slipperier then the squash courts. I didn't hit much of note, but it was a nice reminder to keep my feet under my center of gravity. Even though many people complain about playing on crappy surfaces, I think it's very helpful to do it every now and then to pinpoint issues in form and balance. Let me tell you, I've got a few of those to iron out...
On Wednesday, class was cancelled for the first time since 2007 at PSU, so I kicked with Ryan and Ben in the shredhaus basement. Man, does that place have some memories. I played surprisingly well, considering I have only been playing once a week for the past month. I've come to the conclusion, that while I don't get better at a super quick pace, having sessions once a week is optimum for me. I am still improving, I don't feel tired at the beginning of sessions, and I can really push myself for a long time without worrying about how I'm going to feel during the next session. Plus, I'm having the most fun I've had kicking during these weekly sessions. Oh, and kicking with Ben, Ryan, and Greg is really sweet, as all of them have really different styles and personalities.
Anyway, personal highlights - atomics are getting better. I've been slowly increasing the upper limit of atomics that I do every session and now I can last for an entire session while doing atomics every run. Sure, my breathing could still use some work, but I no longer feel like my hip flexor was fed through a meat grinder after every session. Strings are also happening, and the addition of flip ss butterfly from clipper is a nice confidence boost. The mirage drilling I did a few weeks ago really helped bring back some confidence to my toe game, even if I'm still mixing in tiltless links between my bops.
Atomsmasher> mirage rptx4
PS Illusion (still not cleared by doctor for bs, but when I am, I will be ready)
PDX Chainsaw (second dex a bit thin)
DDD BSOS (every now and then that trick clicks, and then it doesn't...)
Atomsmasher x3
BOP drill x6 first time
Atomic - far legover, far pickup, far mirage, near mirage, far illusion, ss butter, far butter BS
That last highlight was just a session summary... eventually I'll get all of those in one string. Anyway, enough footbag nonsense. Time for personal nonsense. It's my birthday and I'm home for a week for spring break. Before leaving, I took a picture of our white board, but then realized that the only thing I could post out of context (without causing another flame war) was what Nate wrote before leaving in December. No, it doesn't exist:
In other news, this song (Think, by Kaleida) has been stuck in my head after rewatching John Wick two days ago. After the second watch, I think I really enjoy the film. It just takes some time to get over the shitty subs and Russian accents.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-HSoOFdJ3s[/youtube]
Last Friday I kicked with Ben and Greg in the racquetball courts. This was an interesting session because they were even dustier and slipperier then the squash courts. I didn't hit much of note, but it was a nice reminder to keep my feet under my center of gravity. Even though many people complain about playing on crappy surfaces, I think it's very helpful to do it every now and then to pinpoint issues in form and balance. Let me tell you, I've got a few of those to iron out...
On Wednesday, class was cancelled for the first time since 2007 at PSU, so I kicked with Ryan and Ben in the shredhaus basement. Man, does that place have some memories. I played surprisingly well, considering I have only been playing once a week for the past month. I've come to the conclusion, that while I don't get better at a super quick pace, having sessions once a week is optimum for me. I am still improving, I don't feel tired at the beginning of sessions, and I can really push myself for a long time without worrying about how I'm going to feel during the next session. Plus, I'm having the most fun I've had kicking during these weekly sessions. Oh, and kicking with Ben, Ryan, and Greg is really sweet, as all of them have really different styles and personalities.
Anyway, personal highlights - atomics are getting better. I've been slowly increasing the upper limit of atomics that I do every session and now I can last for an entire session while doing atomics every run. Sure, my breathing could still use some work, but I no longer feel like my hip flexor was fed through a meat grinder after every session. Strings are also happening, and the addition of flip ss butterfly from clipper is a nice confidence boost. The mirage drilling I did a few weeks ago really helped bring back some confidence to my toe game, even if I'm still mixing in tiltless links between my bops.
Atomsmasher> mirage rptx4 PS Illusion (still not cleared by doctor for bs, but when I am, I will be ready) PDX Chainsaw (second dex a bit thin) DDD BSOS (every now and then that trick clicks, and then it doesn't...) Atomsmasher x3 BOP drill x6 first time Atomic - far legover, far pickup, far mirage, near mirage, far illusion, ss butter, far butter BSThat last highlight was just a session summary... eventually I'll get all of those in one string. Anyway, enough footbag nonsense. Time for personal nonsense. It's my birthday and I'm home for a week for spring break. Before leaving, I took a picture of our white board, but then realized that the only thing I could post out of context (without causing another flame war) was what Nate wrote before leaving in December. No, it doesn't exist:
In other news, this song (Think, by Kaleida) has been stuck in my head after rewatching John Wick two days ago. After the second watch, I think I really enjoy the film. It just takes some time to get over the shitty subs and Russian accents.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-HSoOFdJ3s[/youtube]
Re: Ivan I's Footblog (PSU)
Oh modified, what a spring break it's been... I've never been busier doing things I absolutely enjoy doing. Not much of a break in terms of physical rest, but I can rest when I'm dead.
I left State College on Thursday at 6:30pm and arrived at home at 10:00pm. The bus drive was pretty slow considering a winter storm dumped about 8 inches of snow on the Philadelphia suburbs. I got home, unpacked some stuff, packed my hiking gear, and went to bed for a few hours. I got up at 3am on Friday morning and headed south. I drove for 12 hours, with a 30 minute rest stop every 4 hours, and by 4pm on Friday I met up with a few friends at Amicalola Falls State Park in Georgia. Georgia, yeah! Temps were in the mid 40s, snow was melting, and there were some flurries as we headed out from the visitor center.
[The last pic I took before giving up on my phone]
An 8 mile hike took us from the cold spray of the tallest falls east of the Mississippi to our first destination on our hike: the southern trail head of the Appalachian Trail. Our group of three packed lightly, intending on doing a hundred mile stretch of the trail in the span of 5 days. Plenty of gorp and ramen, a pot, water bottle and filtration cartridge, med kit, rain gear, extra socks, sleeping bag and single person tent about summed it up. Maps, knife, fire stuffs weren't overlooked, though I nearly left those at home and had to turn back to get them. I didn't bother bringing my camera, so pictures were limited to what I took on my phone... most of them sucked. I also brought my custom made red led headlamp, as I figured we would be hiking in a the dark for a good portion of the trek. It proved to be useful, but I had to fix it four times during the hike, so I have some revisions I need to pursue before I take it out again. Enough about equipment...
We ended up doing about 10 miles on Friday. We spent the night in a nice shelter on Springer Mountain. The morning greeted us with a faint drizzle and lots of mud, so breakfast was punctual and slightly soggy. The rest of the hike on Saturday followed Stover Creek, so things only got increasingly wet. Still, I loved every minute of it. 14 miles later, we were at Gooch Gap (teehee, what a fucking name). The shelter there was close to a parking lot, and here we met up with another group of 4, halfway through their two day trek. There were three girls and a guy, all about my age, and I could have swore I knew them from somewhere.
After a moment of awkward indecision, I called out one of their names, and surprisingly enough, the girl turned around, quite surprised. Turns out I knew her from one of my Russian camps - she had a bit of a crush on me a few years back. I didn't expect to meet many people during our quick hike, let alone people I knew. I guess it's a pretty small world after all. Regardless, that was a fun, albeit short night. At the crack of dawn (actually, a good bit before that, my friend John woke us up to get going again. We tried to leave without disturbing our (newly met) old friends, but that proved to be rather difficult, considering I was sharing a bed with Kate. In the end, Kate and her friend Sarah joined our group and we headed out 5 strong. They would accompany us for the rest of the journey, even though they had only packed for a two day hike. In hindsight it wasn't the smartest thing to do, but (spoiler alert) we made it in one piece and it made the hike even more enjoyable.
Sunday was a good day, as we made up for lost time and blitzed a 24 mile section from Gooch Gap to the Low Gap shelter. We got into Low Gap in the dark and camped for the night. There was an attempt to tell stories around a campfire, but everyone was exhausted. I remember seeing John and Sarah falling asleep by the fire as I crawled into my sleeping bag. Kate and Mike (my other hiking buddy from Russian camp) turned in early. By morning, everyone had found their way to their respective sleeping bags, and it was my turn to wake people up. Temps were in the mid 60s and the sun was shining - something I wish State College had more of. We set out a bit later than usual, but still managed to cover the 21 miles to the Deep Gap shelter, off on a side trail to the East of the AT. I spent the first half of the day hiking up front as my legs felt restless, and I tend to set a pretty quick pace when I get used to the terrain. Hiking alone has always been something I cherish, at least for short periods of time. I love being the only one on a trail, with nothing but trees and dirt around me. I find my legs going on autopilot and my mind floats off to think about things. I've never been able to achieve this serene state of thought anywhere else, and the pure concentration I'm able to muster is just so pleasing. I guess people would call this meditation? Whatever the name, I spent a solid six hours in this state, and all was right with the world I was in.
Eventually, Kate caught up and we both walked in silence. I'm so thankful to have friends who understand the beauty of silent observation and thought. I find that with the responsibilities of everyday life, we get caught up in staying connected and end up doing, saying, and thinking silly superfluous things. If only we paused for a bit and slowed down, our lives would be so much... different. Eventually, we were done being antisocial (I use that word jokingly, being in eachother's presence on the trail was plenty social for us) we talked about random stuff. When we got to the Deep Gap shelter we made dinner and waited for the other three to catch up. After a while, they showed up. Mike was muddier than usual, and his arms and face were scratched up from what I presumed to be a fall. He was leading up a ridge and hit a patch of ice and tumbled through a few thorn bushes. His ego was a bit bruised, but we still decided that it would be best to stick closer together for the rest of the hike.
On Monday we knocked out the 12.5 miles to the GA-NC border at a blazing clip and reached the Carter Gap shelter for an additional 15 miles. Once again, the weather was perfect - slightly overcast and in the high 60s. I guess people here thought it was cold, but it was like summer for me. My boots finally dried out, and I had put on my second pair of socks the previous day, but I'm pretty sure I smelled like a homeless person. I'm certainly glad my mom didn't see me like this - I was muddy, smelly, and starting to feel the effects of eating ramen and trail mix / protein bars for the past four days. Thankfully, my legs and back were holding up surprisingly well. The Achilles Tendon wasn't drawing too much attention to itself, though I did tend to favor my right side for climbing as my legs got increasingly sore. No freestyle footbag on this hike, though we did play a bit of foursquare in the dirt in front of one of the shelters, much to the amusement of the people inside.
Tuesday was a bit of a blur. Our destination was Rock Gap Shelter, which was 13 miles away. A few miles further, there was a parking lot, accessible by a logging road. Here we were picked up by Mike's parents (Mike lives in NC) and they took us home to shower and clean up. There we said our goodbyes - Kate and Sarah were picked up by their friends, who we had left behind, and John and I stayed the night at Mike's place. I called my parents for the first time in 5 days and they were relieved to know that I was alive and well. I devoured something like 5000 calories at a local diner and passed out from exhaustion (and probably over eating). So ended the first half of my Spring break.
I left State College on Thursday at 6:30pm and arrived at home at 10:00pm. The bus drive was pretty slow considering a winter storm dumped about 8 inches of snow on the Philadelphia suburbs. I got home, unpacked some stuff, packed my hiking gear, and went to bed for a few hours. I got up at 3am on Friday morning and headed south. I drove for 12 hours, with a 30 minute rest stop every 4 hours, and by 4pm on Friday I met up with a few friends at Amicalola Falls State Park in Georgia. Georgia, yeah! Temps were in the mid 40s, snow was melting, and there were some flurries as we headed out from the visitor center.
[The last pic I took before giving up on my phone]
An 8 mile hike took us from the cold spray of the tallest falls east of the Mississippi to our first destination on our hike: the southern trail head of the Appalachian Trail. Our group of three packed lightly, intending on doing a hundred mile stretch of the trail in the span of 5 days. Plenty of gorp and ramen, a pot, water bottle and filtration cartridge, med kit, rain gear, extra socks, sleeping bag and single person tent about summed it up. Maps, knife, fire stuffs weren't overlooked, though I nearly left those at home and had to turn back to get them. I didn't bother bringing my camera, so pictures were limited to what I took on my phone... most of them sucked. I also brought my custom made red led headlamp, as I figured we would be hiking in a the dark for a good portion of the trek. It proved to be useful, but I had to fix it four times during the hike, so I have some revisions I need to pursue before I take it out again. Enough about equipment...
We ended up doing about 10 miles on Friday. We spent the night in a nice shelter on Springer Mountain. The morning greeted us with a faint drizzle and lots of mud, so breakfast was punctual and slightly soggy. The rest of the hike on Saturday followed Stover Creek, so things only got increasingly wet. Still, I loved every minute of it. 14 miles later, we were at Gooch Gap (teehee, what a fucking name). The shelter there was close to a parking lot, and here we met up with another group of 4, halfway through their two day trek. There were three girls and a guy, all about my age, and I could have swore I knew them from somewhere.
After a moment of awkward indecision, I called out one of their names, and surprisingly enough, the girl turned around, quite surprised. Turns out I knew her from one of my Russian camps - she had a bit of a crush on me a few years back. I didn't expect to meet many people during our quick hike, let alone people I knew. I guess it's a pretty small world after all. Regardless, that was a fun, albeit short night. At the crack of dawn (actually, a good bit before that, my friend John woke us up to get going again. We tried to leave without disturbing our (newly met) old friends, but that proved to be rather difficult, considering I was sharing a bed with Kate. In the end, Kate and her friend Sarah joined our group and we headed out 5 strong. They would accompany us for the rest of the journey, even though they had only packed for a two day hike. In hindsight it wasn't the smartest thing to do, but (spoiler alert) we made it in one piece and it made the hike even more enjoyable.
Sunday was a good day, as we made up for lost time and blitzed a 24 mile section from Gooch Gap to the Low Gap shelter. We got into Low Gap in the dark and camped for the night. There was an attempt to tell stories around a campfire, but everyone was exhausted. I remember seeing John and Sarah falling asleep by the fire as I crawled into my sleeping bag. Kate and Mike (my other hiking buddy from Russian camp) turned in early. By morning, everyone had found their way to their respective sleeping bags, and it was my turn to wake people up. Temps were in the mid 60s and the sun was shining - something I wish State College had more of. We set out a bit later than usual, but still managed to cover the 21 miles to the Deep Gap shelter, off on a side trail to the East of the AT. I spent the first half of the day hiking up front as my legs felt restless, and I tend to set a pretty quick pace when I get used to the terrain. Hiking alone has always been something I cherish, at least for short periods of time. I love being the only one on a trail, with nothing but trees and dirt around me. I find my legs going on autopilot and my mind floats off to think about things. I've never been able to achieve this serene state of thought anywhere else, and the pure concentration I'm able to muster is just so pleasing. I guess people would call this meditation? Whatever the name, I spent a solid six hours in this state, and all was right with the world I was in.
Eventually, Kate caught up and we both walked in silence. I'm so thankful to have friends who understand the beauty of silent observation and thought. I find that with the responsibilities of everyday life, we get caught up in staying connected and end up doing, saying, and thinking silly superfluous things. If only we paused for a bit and slowed down, our lives would be so much... different. Eventually, we were done being antisocial (I use that word jokingly, being in eachother's presence on the trail was plenty social for us) we talked about random stuff. When we got to the Deep Gap shelter we made dinner and waited for the other three to catch up. After a while, they showed up. Mike was muddier than usual, and his arms and face were scratched up from what I presumed to be a fall. He was leading up a ridge and hit a patch of ice and tumbled through a few thorn bushes. His ego was a bit bruised, but we still decided that it would be best to stick closer together for the rest of the hike.
On Monday we knocked out the 12.5 miles to the GA-NC border at a blazing clip and reached the Carter Gap shelter for an additional 15 miles. Once again, the weather was perfect - slightly overcast and in the high 60s. I guess people here thought it was cold, but it was like summer for me. My boots finally dried out, and I had put on my second pair of socks the previous day, but I'm pretty sure I smelled like a homeless person. I'm certainly glad my mom didn't see me like this - I was muddy, smelly, and starting to feel the effects of eating ramen and trail mix / protein bars for the past four days. Thankfully, my legs and back were holding up surprisingly well. The Achilles Tendon wasn't drawing too much attention to itself, though I did tend to favor my right side for climbing as my legs got increasingly sore. No freestyle footbag on this hike, though we did play a bit of foursquare in the dirt in front of one of the shelters, much to the amusement of the people inside.
Tuesday was a bit of a blur. Our destination was Rock Gap Shelter, which was 13 miles away. A few miles further, there was a parking lot, accessible by a logging road. Here we were picked up by Mike's parents (Mike lives in NC) and they took us home to shower and clean up. There we said our goodbyes - Kate and Sarah were picked up by their friends, who we had left behind, and John and I stayed the night at Mike's place. I called my parents for the first time in 5 days and they were relieved to know that I was alive and well. I devoured something like 5000 calories at a local diner and passed out from exhaustion (and probably over eating). So ended the first half of my Spring break.
Re: Ivan I's Footblog (PSU)
Apologies for the absolutely farking massive wall of text...
Continued: I left Mike's place at midnight and got back to PA at 2:00pm on Wednesday. After a quick nap, I grabbed some food and drove to Birsdsborough to kick with Nick and Nate B. Man, that hour long drive was nothing compared to the 14 hour one I did earlier that day. I managed to not completely embarrass myself at the session and had a lot of fun. My legs felt like lead weights, so paradons were shitty, but I threw down some nice atomic sets, and even had a nice Sumo to start a 20 contact tiltless run. Polini did things. Nate was impressive as usual, and has definitely surpassed me with his game. I'm really excited to see him get really good and challenge people at comps.
Wednesday night I slept in my bed. Wow. That's some amazing shit right there. I've definitely gotten soft, or old, or I'm just a big ol' bitch now, but I needed to sleep on something other than an air mattress and dirt. I rolled out of bed on Thursday, spent a solid 45 minutes in my bathtub, and grabbed a pretty large portion of pancakes for breakfast. I lost about 5 pounds during the hike, some of which I attributed to water weight, but it was mostly due to my shitty diet and the fact that I was sharing my food with Kate. Despite being incredibly tired and sore, I put my lavers on and drove out to Wentz Run.
There I met up with Kat (remember her? my student came back!) and played exceedingly well. Probably had a much better session than I deserved. She hadn't played since last May, but she didn't lose much of her game and was back at it within 15 minutes. It was damn windy out, but the session was still really fun. Highlights:
Atomx5
Sauced whirls, paradons, zooms all over the place
Hit another Sumo > 30 titless string, was pushing guiltless for most of it
Blurriest and Fusion in one string. I didn't deserve that.
Tap>Tapping ss pickup rpt
Tapping muted ss legover B2B
Ended the session playing hack. Man, I missed that. That was definitely a feel good session. Afterwards we went to grab lunch at Pudges (awesome cheese steak place nearby) and I was really looking forward to devouring more calories. However, when the food came, I took a bite and felt like I was going to throw up... the food tasted amazing, I just couldn't force myself to eat it... that sucked. So I got it wrapped to go, went home, showered, slept for two hours and then inhaled the damn thing without any second thoughts. I needed those calories. I guess I was so exhausted my body didn't want to eat. Looks like I'm going to spend the next few days flopping around the house, waiting for my body to catch up.
All in all, I hiked 110 miles in 5 days. I played 4 hours of footbag. I drove for 30 hours. And I haven't been this happy in a while. This was both a mental and physical test, and I've got a new found confidence in the capabilities of my leg. I'm still going to be careful with what I put myself through, but since my repaired Achilles can handle 7 days of thrashing, I think I've defeated some of the doubts I had lingering in my mind.
Oh, I almost forgot, I'm working on stuff for Jamps! (shoutout to Fuzzy McMorrison for the deep manbeargrowling voice)
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APuAgjLW8bs[/youtube]
And these... Young master Hoagie Beats is whipping up some sick graphics to complete the trophies for Jamps:
Continued: I left Mike's place at midnight and got back to PA at 2:00pm on Wednesday. After a quick nap, I grabbed some food and drove to Birsdsborough to kick with Nick and Nate B. Man, that hour long drive was nothing compared to the 14 hour one I did earlier that day. I managed to not completely embarrass myself at the session and had a lot of fun. My legs felt like lead weights, so paradons were shitty, but I threw down some nice atomic sets, and even had a nice Sumo to start a 20 contact tiltless run. Polini did things. Nate was impressive as usual, and has definitely surpassed me with his game. I'm really excited to see him get really good and challenge people at comps.
Wednesday night I slept in my bed. Wow. That's some amazing shit right there. I've definitely gotten soft, or old, or I'm just a big ol' bitch now, but I needed to sleep on something other than an air mattress and dirt. I rolled out of bed on Thursday, spent a solid 45 minutes in my bathtub, and grabbed a pretty large portion of pancakes for breakfast. I lost about 5 pounds during the hike, some of which I attributed to water weight, but it was mostly due to my shitty diet and the fact that I was sharing my food with Kate. Despite being incredibly tired and sore, I put my lavers on and drove out to Wentz Run.
There I met up with Kat (remember her? my student came back!) and played exceedingly well. Probably had a much better session than I deserved. She hadn't played since last May, but she didn't lose much of her game and was back at it within 15 minutes. It was damn windy out, but the session was still really fun. Highlights:
Atomx5 Sauced whirls, paradons, zooms all over the place Hit another Sumo > 30 titless string, was pushing guiltless for most of it Blurriest and Fusion in one string. I didn't deserve that. Tap>Tapping ss pickup rpt Tapping muted ss legover B2BEnded the session playing hack. Man, I missed that. That was definitely a feel good session. Afterwards we went to grab lunch at Pudges (awesome cheese steak place nearby) and I was really looking forward to devouring more calories. However, when the food came, I took a bite and felt like I was going to throw up... the food tasted amazing, I just couldn't force myself to eat it... that sucked. So I got it wrapped to go, went home, showered, slept for two hours and then inhaled the damn thing without any second thoughts. I needed those calories. I guess I was so exhausted my body didn't want to eat. Looks like I'm going to spend the next few days flopping around the house, waiting for my body to catch up.
All in all, I hiked 110 miles in 5 days. I played 4 hours of footbag. I drove for 30 hours. And I haven't been this happy in a while. This was both a mental and physical test, and I've got a new found confidence in the capabilities of my leg. I'm still going to be careful with what I put myself through, but since my repaired Achilles can handle 7 days of thrashing, I think I've defeated some of the doubts I had lingering in my mind.
Oh, I almost forgot, I'm working on stuff for Jamps! (shoutout to Fuzzy McMorrison for the deep manbeargrowling voice)
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APuAgjLW8bs[/youtube]
And these... Young master Hoagie Beats is whipping up some sick graphics to complete the trophies for Jamps:
Re: Ivan I's Footblog (Walls of text)
Great posts, Ivan. Really enjoyable read.
The trailer and trophies are just excellent. You sir, are a boss.
Can't wait to hang next month.
The trailer and trophies are just excellent. You sir, are a boss.
Can't wait to hang next month.
Re: Ivan I's Footblog (Walls of text)
Great posts; sounds like a pretty epic Spring Break. Glad to hear life is going so well for you.
Re: Ivan I's Footblog (Walls of text)
Thanks for the feedback folks - Even though I write here to keep a personal record, it's always nice to know that others appreciate my stories as well. Today was the first day this break where I did nothing physically. I laid in bed till noon, sat in front of my laptop, helped make a sushi dinner for my family (I'm proud of my rolling skills), poured a few more trophy castings, and now I'm in bed again. Any other week, I would consider myself a lazy bum and try to do something productive, but today's rest was productive in itself.
Oh, I started editing some of Ken's footage. There is a shot where he looks at a cactus for a solid minute in between runs and barely moves. When I grow up, I want to look at cacti in between dense footbag strings.
In other news, one of my favorite time lapse (producers?) posted a new video on Vimeo and I had to share it - I know I'll never be that good at color grading and composing shots - but man, I just got lost in the landscape watching the clouds go by...
Oh, I started editing some of Ken's footage. There is a shot where he looks at a cactus for a solid minute in between runs and barely moves. When I grow up, I want to look at cacti in between dense footbag strings.
In other news, one of my favorite time lapse (producers?) posted a new video on Vimeo and I had to share it - I know I'll never be that good at color grading and composing shots - but man, I just got lost in the landscape watching the clouds go by...
Re: Ivan I's Footblog (Walls of text)
Almost did a post today... but I'm really tired, so maybe later. Lots of toe whirls and paradox illusions, a bunch of atomsmashers and a blurriest or two. One sided torques, an 800$ shirt order for Jamps, and a lot of trophy making. That's all I've got for now.
Re: Ivan I's Footblog
Nice hike 
I remember all of those shelters. That section of the AT is super nostalgic for me
I remember all of those shelters. That section of the AT is super nostalgic for meRe: Ivan I's Footblog
Thanks for the post, Nate. Always awesome to see your name pop up under the replies. By our third shelter, I had a weird realization that you had probably slept in the same exact one, along with a bunch of other (incredibly interesting) people I would never meet. I don't think life will present me with the opportunity to do the entire trail in one go, but I'd like to do it in parts at least.
Okay, so trophies... I've spent a lot of time making these, so I figured I'd share some progress pictures with descriptions.
First there was a concept - I had been playing with casting things in resin, so naturally clear castings were the next step.
After that came the wooden master (the thing that I was going to be making a mold of) of a footbag. I made this from a piece of poplar which made it very easy to sand and carve by hand.
At the same time, I made bases out of some scrap walnut I had lying around. I traced the circles from a paint can, cut the rough shapes out on a bandsaw and then sanded them down to size and shape on a disk sander. Then I (very carefully) routed out the edge pattern with my table mounted router. More sanding followed.
Back to the master - I sprayed it with some red primer and let it dry under a lamp to speed up the process.
Then I sanded it down with 200 grit sandpaper. Then another coat of primer was applied.
This process was repeated with 320, 400, 600, and 1200 grit sandpaper, to achieve a glossy finish.
I glued the polished master to the bottom of a plastic cup and poured the silicone mold using Smooth-On OOMOO 30. After 6 hours of curing, I was left with a nice mold.
I bought some "Amazing Casting Resin" on Amazon and did a test which turned out okay.
I experimented with vacuum degassing and pressure casting, but I didn't have a sufficiently strong vacuum pump or a pressure vessel that could safely handle 90psi for 4 hours so I still got castings with bubbles in them. Regardless, I was pretty happy with how they turned out.
I had Kevin Hogan designing the labels for the trophies, which was awesome. It was very easy to work with him and I was really happy with the final product. The trophies were covered with a clear coat to get that shine.
Sure, they have a few imperfections, but they were a good learning experience for me. I'm hoping people enjoy them, and the response has been good so far. There is something really exciting about giving someone a trophy that you made yourself, instead of a mass produced piece of metallic plated plastic.
Okay, so trophies... I've spent a lot of time making these, so I figured I'd share some progress pictures with descriptions.
First there was a concept - I had been playing with casting things in resin, so naturally clear castings were the next step.
After that came the wooden master (the thing that I was going to be making a mold of) of a footbag. I made this from a piece of poplar which made it very easy to sand and carve by hand.
At the same time, I made bases out of some scrap walnut I had lying around. I traced the circles from a paint can, cut the rough shapes out on a bandsaw and then sanded them down to size and shape on a disk sander. Then I (very carefully) routed out the edge pattern with my table mounted router. More sanding followed.
Back to the master - I sprayed it with some red primer and let it dry under a lamp to speed up the process.
Then I sanded it down with 200 grit sandpaper. Then another coat of primer was applied.
This process was repeated with 320, 400, 600, and 1200 grit sandpaper, to achieve a glossy finish.
I glued the polished master to the bottom of a plastic cup and poured the silicone mold using Smooth-On OOMOO 30. After 6 hours of curing, I was left with a nice mold.
I bought some "Amazing Casting Resin" on Amazon and did a test which turned out okay.
I experimented with vacuum degassing and pressure casting, but I didn't have a sufficiently strong vacuum pump or a pressure vessel that could safely handle 90psi for 4 hours so I still got castings with bubbles in them. Regardless, I was pretty happy with how they turned out.
I had Kevin Hogan designing the labels for the trophies, which was awesome. It was very easy to work with him and I was really happy with the final product. The trophies were covered with a clear coat to get that shine.
Sure, they have a few imperfections, but they were a good learning experience for me. I'm hoping people enjoy them, and the response has been good so far. There is something really exciting about giving someone a trophy that you made yourself, instead of a mass produced piece of metallic plated plastic.
Re: Ivan I's Footblog
You are a machine!
Re: Ivan I's Footblog
Today, State College looked like this:
Jamps is 11 days away. The weather needs to get its shit together, asap.
Jamps is 11 days away. The weather needs to get its shit together, asap.
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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
If it rains, dont' worry... I'll bring deodorant for everyone's soles 
The trophies are really cool. Thanks for putting so much time into Jamps. That goes to everyone who helped out with it. Really stoked to see you and everyone else in a few days.
Oh and Atom x5 isn't too shabby, either
The trophies are really cool. Thanks for putting so much time into Jamps. That goes to everyone who helped out with it. Really stoked to see you and everyone else in a few days.
Oh and Atom x5 isn't too shabby, either
Re: Ivan I's Footblog
Thanks yo! This week promises to be hell, but hopefully I'll have all of my work cleared up by the time people start showing up. Unfortunately, I can't just tell my professors to fuck off because I have important hacky sack shit to do. 
For the past few days, the weather has been amazing, and I've been kicking outside with people. There is something so awesome about the scrape of concrete on your lavers (despite the fact that it's killing them) Some assorted highlights from the past 4 sessions (Thurs, Fri, Sun, Mon)
Symp SS toe whirl
Toe far whirl > SS whirl > SS pickup > Toe SS whirl > SS legover RPT
Ripwalk>Ripwalk (I know, only two... sorry for sucking)
String with Blizzard, Ripwalk, Blur BSOS
DLO> Eggbeater> Atomsmasher
Near DBL Pickup
a few zooms
a bunch of close attempts at hard tricks
strings with higher BOP content
Overall, a really fun time. Oh, April's ducking fairies are unfair. There, I said it.
Another thing about the warmer weather - there are more idiots from out of town driving, and also more fair weather bike riders who don't follow traffic rules and are a menace to themselves and the general public. Anyway, I was cut off by an asshole in a pickup truck on my way back from my session on Thrusday (I was in a bike lane and he decided to turn right without signalling, about 15 feet in front of me) I was going about 20 miles an hour downhill, so I had to lock up the wheels and skid out to stop myself from slamming into his bed. Bike was fine, and I just lost a good bit of skin on my right knee and shredded the shoulder and elbow area of my sweatshirt. The knee looks ugly, but doesn't hinder my footbagging ability, and hopefully it is fully healed by Jamps. I'm really glad I've learned how to fall when biking - as weird as it sounds, it has saved me from serious injury so many times.
For those of you still reading along, here is a video I found four years ago, and remembered a few months ago. These guys are really good at what they do, and the video has some visually stunning shots and compositions. If you like this one, their Autoplay playlist on youtube is something to check out.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-qhj3sJ5qs[/youtube]
For the past few days, the weather has been amazing, and I've been kicking outside with people. There is something so awesome about the scrape of concrete on your lavers (despite the fact that it's killing them) Some assorted highlights from the past 4 sessions (Thurs, Fri, Sun, Mon)
Symp SS toe whirl Toe far whirl > SS whirl > SS pickup > Toe SS whirl > SS legover RPT Ripwalk>Ripwalk (I know, only two... sorry for sucking) String with Blizzard, Ripwalk, Blur BSOS DLO> Eggbeater> Atomsmasher Near DBL Pickup a few zooms a bunch of close attempts at hard tricks strings with higher BOP contentOverall, a really fun time. Oh, April's ducking fairies are unfair. There, I said it.
Another thing about the warmer weather - there are more idiots from out of town driving, and also more fair weather bike riders who don't follow traffic rules and are a menace to themselves and the general public. Anyway, I was cut off by an asshole in a pickup truck on my way back from my session on Thrusday (I was in a bike lane and he decided to turn right without signalling, about 15 feet in front of me) I was going about 20 miles an hour downhill, so I had to lock up the wheels and skid out to stop myself from slamming into his bed. Bike was fine, and I just lost a good bit of skin on my right knee and shredded the shoulder and elbow area of my sweatshirt. The knee looks ugly, but doesn't hinder my footbagging ability, and hopefully it is fully healed by Jamps. I'm really glad I've learned how to fall when biking - as weird as it sounds, it has saved me from serious injury so many times.
For those of you still reading along, here is a video I found four years ago, and remembered a few months ago. These guys are really good at what they do, and the video has some visually stunning shots and compositions. If you like this one, their Autoplay playlist on youtube is something to check out.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-qhj3sJ5qs[/youtube]
Re: Ivan I's Footblog
Jamps V was the first tournament I played at in over 12 months. I don't want to say it was the best weekend of my life, but I'm drawing blanks when I try to find something that topped it. I am really thankful to everyone who made it out, to the rest of the PSU crew who came together to make this thing happen, and to mother nature, who finally got her head out of her ass and decided to give us a weekend of long overdue spring weather. Looks like we nailed it this year.
I didn't play particularly well Friday night or Saturday, but made up for it on Sunday and during my session today with Nick and Evan. I remember I played like crap at the last Jamps because I tried to push myself and throw down harder tricks - not this time around. I was just having fun kicking with everyone and playing well within my current level. Sorry if it made for boring watching, but I'm not good enough to be entertaining just yet. I remember playing especially well in a circle with Cassy, Ianek, and another one with Matt and Kevin. All 4 people were awesome to kick with - I really enjoyed Kevin's game.
The tutorials this weekend were amazing. I could hit most of the tricks going into them, but each one gave me a small tip that seriously improved my consistency/form on the tricks. Big thanks to Ianek and Matt for the personal tutorials. You may have broken my drifters for a bit, but it's all for the better.
That's all I've got for now, will be sifting through video this weekend. In the meantime, have this:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51Bpx63wkbA[/youtube]
I didn't play particularly well Friday night or Saturday, but made up for it on Sunday and during my session today with Nick and Evan. I remember I played like crap at the last Jamps because I tried to push myself and throw down harder tricks - not this time around. I was just having fun kicking with everyone and playing well within my current level. Sorry if it made for boring watching, but I'm not good enough to be entertaining just yet. I remember playing especially well in a circle with Cassy, Ianek, and another one with Matt and Kevin. All 4 people were awesome to kick with - I really enjoyed Kevin's game.
The tutorials this weekend were amazing. I could hit most of the tricks going into them, but each one gave me a small tip that seriously improved my consistency/form on the tricks. Big thanks to Ianek and Matt for the personal tutorials. You may have broken my drifters for a bit, but it's all for the better.
That's all I've got for now, will be sifting through video this weekend. In the meantime, have this:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51Bpx63wkbA[/youtube]
Re: Ivan I's Footblog
I'm pretty sure you played the best I've ever seen you play in that circle on Sunday. It was really great to see considering you are coming back from that injury.
Thanks again for everything you do.
Until next time!
Thanks again for everything you do.
Until next time!
Re: Ivan I's Footblog
Yeah, that circle started a bit of a footbag upswing for me.
I played outside today with Ryan, Khoa, Ben and Aidan (new guy, seems interested, made good progress) Ryan had to leave early and Khoa cut his session short because his foot was hurting so it was me and Ben. I did a lot of drifters, which are starting to be fun again. Instead of doing them with a linear speed, I'm doing the dex a bit slower, waiting on the bag, and then snapping the clipper into place as my body comes down from the sideways hop. I'm still too far back on my heel on some of them to be consistent, but I think I'm heading the right direction at least.
Then I had some pretty solid strings, four of which went 50+ contacts, mostly bops with some fun stuff sprinkled in to keep it interesting. Halfway through one of them a lady (rather rudely) asked me to move out of the way because someone needed to be taken to an ambulance parked nearby... we were nowhere near the path from the building doors to the back of the ambulance, but I complied anyway without making a fuss and continued my string about 20 feet away. Give me a backpack and I'm just a common harmless white boy walking around campus. Give me a footbag, and I'm a menace to the general population. Whatever. Ben and I finished up the session with some drills, where I figured out I can do whirls from same clipper. That tutorial by Nick Landes really helped out.
Ripwalk >Ripwalk
Ripwalk > Whirl RPT
Whirl > Ducking Clipper RPT
Whirl > Osis RPT
Whirl > SS Butterfly > Osis RPT
Whirl > Drifter RPT
Drifter x 3
Stepped out of torque (once)
Atomsmasher > Toe Blur (like it was nothing)
almost hit pixie dlo out of nowhere
Probably had some other highlights, but I don't remember them. Best of all, my legs feel great right now. Back to homework, and editing footage.
I played outside today with Ryan, Khoa, Ben and Aidan (new guy, seems interested, made good progress) Ryan had to leave early and Khoa cut his session short because his foot was hurting so it was me and Ben. I did a lot of drifters, which are starting to be fun again. Instead of doing them with a linear speed, I'm doing the dex a bit slower, waiting on the bag, and then snapping the clipper into place as my body comes down from the sideways hop. I'm still too far back on my heel on some of them to be consistent, but I think I'm heading the right direction at least.
Then I had some pretty solid strings, four of which went 50+ contacts, mostly bops with some fun stuff sprinkled in to keep it interesting. Halfway through one of them a lady (rather rudely) asked me to move out of the way because someone needed to be taken to an ambulance parked nearby... we were nowhere near the path from the building doors to the back of the ambulance, but I complied anyway without making a fuss and continued my string about 20 feet away. Give me a backpack and I'm just a common harmless white boy walking around campus. Give me a footbag, and I'm a menace to the general population. Whatever. Ben and I finished up the session with some drills, where I figured out I can do whirls from same clipper. That tutorial by Nick Landes really helped out.
Ripwalk >Ripwalk Ripwalk > Whirl RPT Whirl > Ducking Clipper RPT Whirl > Osis RPT Whirl > SS Butterfly > Osis RPT Whirl > Drifter RPT Drifter x 3 Stepped out of torque (once) Atomsmasher > Toe Blur (like it was nothing) almost hit pixie dlo out of nowhere Probably had some other highlights, but I don't remember them. Best of all, my legs feel great right now. Back to homework, and editing footage.
Re: Ivan I's Footblog
glad to see your recovery is going so well.
These were my favorite parts of the blog today.isirc10 wrote:Give me a backpack and I'm just a common harmless white boy walking around campus. Give me a footbag, and I'm a menace to the general population.