TJ: It'd be great to play in Japan with you someday. It's very weird to me that I haven't been in Japan in 7.5 years. I'll continue my Japan chronicles this week.
Matt & Erik: The Walking Dead game I got is the Telltale games one. I haven't played it long enough to really judge it. I don't like that I have to wait until the end of chapters to save progress, but I understand why they did it. I also find it frustrating sometimes when you mouse over an entire screen, miss the one item you need, and then get stuck on a puzzle because of that. But I'm going to at least beat episode 1 (there are 5 episodes in the game I bought) before I really judge it.
Not a ton of footbag for me lately. Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend was nice enough to play outside, so I took advantage of that. It's crazy, because tomorrow we're supposed to get a foot of snow, and temps are going to hit the negative range later this week. My fiancee bought yoga classes for us for our anniversary, so I may do more yoga and less footbag over the next few weeks. Footbagwise I feel healthy and like I'm playing well, but my motivation always wanes a bit in winter. It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to dial it back a bit before xmas. For christmas though I'm going to Arizona, where I hope to get in some good outdoor sessions.
Only other footbag news is that I did not buy a camera on black Friday or cyber Monday. I looked a little, but nothing popped out at me. Part of me also questions whether I really need a good camera right now anyway. But if I can get something reliable that shoots in HD and is on a tripod for under $200, why wouldn't I get it? Any suggestions?
I'll close this out with my second shred video from Georgia.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evy20KzNsC0[/youtube]
Fanzine
Re: -Fanzine-
Definitely feels like winter is here. We got a good amount of snow, but not as much as predicted. What they did get right though, are the temperatures. Our highs this week are in the low teens, and the lows are in the negative. Even with the gym available to me, I haven't had the motivation to play in this weather. I'm actually OK with that...I've been playing pretty much nonstop for the past 9 months, so a little rest is actually a good thing.
In other footbag news, the Online Comps happened. I shot all my submissions so long ago, I had kinda forgotten what I submitted. Apparently I wasn't the only one...as my Sick 10 wasn't included in the video. That was definitely disappointing, considering I spent the better part of 2 sessions trying to hit it. I posted the clip on Facebook and got some nice comments though, so that redeemed it a little.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCIDjb-gP4I[/youtube]
Overall I was happy with my submissions. I knew spinning pdx grifter wasn't going to win anything, but I was very proud of it. It's a weird trick, and for somebody who used to be unable to spin, it's a hard one. Sick 10 was basically me just proving to myself that I can still get 10 fearless, and the Sick 3 was the same thing except with a beast. I wonder how many unique beast combos I've hit? I should sit down and count at some point. I think I'm over 50 now.
I think for the next couple weeks I'm going to try and play indoors, but mostly on weekends. Maybe play once during the week. So basically ramp down to 2-3 sessions a week. Then in the days before xmas I'll play a bit more, so when I get to Arizona on xmas I'll be rested, but not horrifically out of shape. I'd like to film a bunch while I'm in Arizona, but don't expect to release much before then.
In other footbag news, the Online Comps happened. I shot all my submissions so long ago, I had kinda forgotten what I submitted. Apparently I wasn't the only one...as my Sick 10 wasn't included in the video. That was definitely disappointing, considering I spent the better part of 2 sessions trying to hit it. I posted the clip on Facebook and got some nice comments though, so that redeemed it a little.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCIDjb-gP4I[/youtube]
Overall I was happy with my submissions. I knew spinning pdx grifter wasn't going to win anything, but I was very proud of it. It's a weird trick, and for somebody who used to be unable to spin, it's a hard one. Sick 10 was basically me just proving to myself that I can still get 10 fearless, and the Sick 3 was the same thing except with a beast. I wonder how many unique beast combos I've hit? I should sit down and count at some point. I think I'm over 50 now.
I think for the next couple weeks I'm going to try and play indoors, but mostly on weekends. Maybe play once during the week. So basically ramp down to 2-3 sessions a week. Then in the days before xmas I'll play a bit more, so when I get to Arizona on xmas I'll be rested, but not horrifically out of shape. I'd like to film a bunch while I'm in Arizona, but don't expect to release much before then.
Re: -Fanzine-
I've been inconsistent lately about playing. On one hand, I want to rest my legs a bit this winter and not play as frequently. On the other hand, I feel like I get injured the most when I don't play regularly, since I come at sessions thinking my body still is strong enough to handle the sport.
This time of year is also weird, since the weather is so unpredictable. On Sunday, for example, all the weather channels said it would be sunny and in the 60s. But when I got to my spot, there was consistent gusting winds, and the windchill had to be in the low 40s. Since I made the effort to get to my spot, I played anyway, which was likely a mistake. Both of my knees have been aching over the past week, and I'm not 100% sure why. I'm going to use it as an excuse though to take a week off from playing, and then slowly work my way back into playing by xmas. I'll be in Tucson for a week over xmas, and I'd love to be able to play while I'm out there.
I'm enjoying the Link of the Day series Jay and Anz have set up for the calendar. I made it through the first 8 days pretty easily, but since then I've been pretty bad. Part of that is just that I haven't been playing regularly enough, though I also don't think I can hit a couple of the combos due to holes in my game. It's day 16 now, and I've hit 10 combos, and I'm pretty sure I could get 3 more. I'll try for them when my knees feel better and I'm in Arizona. Of the remaining 3, I think I can hit one but likely not super clean, and the other 2 I doubt it cause I suck at ripstein and badger respectively. We'll see.
I still think I want to buy a new camera to film with, but I haven't done much research on it. If anybody has recommendations for a cam that shoots in 1080 HD, has a tripod mount, and doesn't suck....I'm all ears.
I'll close this out with a video I shot on Thanksgiving weekend:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISUq6nYYv8A[/youtube]
This time of year is also weird, since the weather is so unpredictable. On Sunday, for example, all the weather channels said it would be sunny and in the 60s. But when I got to my spot, there was consistent gusting winds, and the windchill had to be in the low 40s. Since I made the effort to get to my spot, I played anyway, which was likely a mistake. Both of my knees have been aching over the past week, and I'm not 100% sure why. I'm going to use it as an excuse though to take a week off from playing, and then slowly work my way back into playing by xmas. I'll be in Tucson for a week over xmas, and I'd love to be able to play while I'm out there.
I'm enjoying the Link of the Day series Jay and Anz have set up for the calendar. I made it through the first 8 days pretty easily, but since then I've been pretty bad. Part of that is just that I haven't been playing regularly enough, though I also don't think I can hit a couple of the combos due to holes in my game. It's day 16 now, and I've hit 10 combos, and I'm pretty sure I could get 3 more. I'll try for them when my knees feel better and I'm in Arizona. Of the remaining 3, I think I can hit one but likely not super clean, and the other 2 I doubt it cause I suck at ripstein and badger respectively. We'll see.
I still think I want to buy a new camera to film with, but I haven't done much research on it. If anybody has recommendations for a cam that shoots in 1080 HD, has a tripod mount, and doesn't suck....I'm all ears.
I'll close this out with a video I shot on Thanksgiving weekend:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISUq6nYYv8A[/youtube]
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F[uns]tylin' Eclectic
- Post Master General
- Posts: 4092
- Joined: 05 Feb 2010 19:53
- Location: Drumore, PA
Re: -Fanzine-
Hatchet> Vertigo bs and Nuke Clipper> Swifter both really stuck out to me. Awesome links. I really liked Hatchet> Vertigo though, mainly because I find those to be probably the most difficult ducking and diving tricks and I can't really see myself ever hitting that link. Good stuff Ken.
-
boyle
- Post Master General
- Posts: 3166
- Joined: 19 Sep 2007 23:42
- Location: Canberra, Australia
- Contact:
Re: -Fanzine-
You had some great combos in this video Ken - awesome work! Those nuke clipper combos look good.
Re: -Fanzine-
http://gopro.com/camerasC-Fan wrote: I still think I want to buy a new camera to film with, but I haven't done much research on it. If anybody has recommendations for a cam that shoots in 1080 HD, has a tripod mount, and doesn't suck....I'm all ears.
?? I've never used them before, but I've seen a lot of the resulting videos, and they look great and, most importantly for a new footbag camera, it does higher frame rates. From what I can tell, even the cheap option kicks ass.
As well, it's pretty easy to get an iPhone tripod mount: https://www.google.ca/#q=iphone+tripod+mount
ARe: -Fanzine-
Last blog post of 2013. Have to say, this was a very good year for me footbagwise. I should write a summary/year-end post...maybe later if I'm feeling inspired.
In more immediate news, I just got back from 6 days in Tucson with my folks. The dual purposes of the trip were for me to relax, and for my parents to get to know my fiancee better. It was a success on both fronts. Footbagwise it was also a very good trip. I played outside almost every day (and filmed), and I also upgraded my g-units. The last time I was in Tucson I left a pair of G-Units there, with the idea that I could use them on future trips. Well, the pair I had in Denver went downhill faster than even I expected, so on this trip I swapped pairs. My Denver pair were so worn down and falling apart, I didn't feel I had any stability in my right foot. The Tucson pair are pretty worn down on the sole, but the shoe itself isn't falling apart as badly. So hopefully this pair will get me through the winter better.
December was a fun month on modified, largely due to Jay's efforts. Kudos to him again for running the calendar and the Links of the Day. That was a fun challenge for sure. As of today, I have only managed to hit 11 total. Though I bet I could hit the WS-GDLO and the isis-blurriest ones with some work. Here are 2 links which I hadn't had a chance to get on video before:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgW8ZoJgj4k[/youtube]
Man, my camera really varies in quality depending on the light. I think I may wait til my birthday before getting a replacement camera though.
On the camera/Joulukalenteri note, I have to say that I really was inspired by Joulu Jupe 3. I knew Juho was good, and I loved the past videos, but this one really stood out. I can't remember the last time I re-watched a video multiple times like that, on multiple days. Anyway, when I was in Arizona I made a point to film so I could do a mini-tribute/homage video to it. I need to work through that footage this weekend. I'm guessing as much as a third of it is probably unusable due to poor film quality in bad light. The other challenge I faced was that I'm out of shape. I was able to hit some good short combos that I was pleased with, but I had trouble doing any runs longer than 15 contacts. Then again, the Jupe video had short runs but hid it well with sharp editing. That video kind of gave me double inspiration: it made me want to hit some weird/hard links I don't normally do, but it also made me want to edit a proper video. I haven't done that since my last laptop died. It should be a fun experiment to see what I can do with windows movie maker instead.
It'd also be nice to make a video with some of my harder shred in it, and to have that as a record of how I was playing at the end of 2013. I'll definitely remember 2013 as the year I won routines at USO and made finals at Worlds, but neither of those milestones were shred-related. So it'd be nice to have a better souvenir of some of my actual shred.
On that note, I'll leave you with this fun video Jay edited of a trip I did to Vegas in early 2013:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uFTQ_0WwXg[/youtube]
In more immediate news, I just got back from 6 days in Tucson with my folks. The dual purposes of the trip were for me to relax, and for my parents to get to know my fiancee better. It was a success on both fronts. Footbagwise it was also a very good trip. I played outside almost every day (and filmed), and I also upgraded my g-units. The last time I was in Tucson I left a pair of G-Units there, with the idea that I could use them on future trips. Well, the pair I had in Denver went downhill faster than even I expected, so on this trip I swapped pairs. My Denver pair were so worn down and falling apart, I didn't feel I had any stability in my right foot. The Tucson pair are pretty worn down on the sole, but the shoe itself isn't falling apart as badly. So hopefully this pair will get me through the winter better.
December was a fun month on modified, largely due to Jay's efforts. Kudos to him again for running the calendar and the Links of the Day. That was a fun challenge for sure. As of today, I have only managed to hit 11 total. Though I bet I could hit the WS-GDLO and the isis-blurriest ones with some work. Here are 2 links which I hadn't had a chance to get on video before:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgW8ZoJgj4k[/youtube]
Man, my camera really varies in quality depending on the light. I think I may wait til my birthday before getting a replacement camera though.
On the camera/Joulukalenteri note, I have to say that I really was inspired by Joulu Jupe 3. I knew Juho was good, and I loved the past videos, but this one really stood out. I can't remember the last time I re-watched a video multiple times like that, on multiple days. Anyway, when I was in Arizona I made a point to film so I could do a mini-tribute/homage video to it. I need to work through that footage this weekend. I'm guessing as much as a third of it is probably unusable due to poor film quality in bad light. The other challenge I faced was that I'm out of shape. I was able to hit some good short combos that I was pleased with, but I had trouble doing any runs longer than 15 contacts. Then again, the Jupe video had short runs but hid it well with sharp editing. That video kind of gave me double inspiration: it made me want to hit some weird/hard links I don't normally do, but it also made me want to edit a proper video. I haven't done that since my last laptop died. It should be a fun experiment to see what I can do with windows movie maker instead.
It'd also be nice to make a video with some of my harder shred in it, and to have that as a record of how I was playing at the end of 2013. I'll definitely remember 2013 as the year I won routines at USO and made finals at Worlds, but neither of those milestones were shred-related. So it'd be nice to have a better souvenir of some of my actual shred.
On that note, I'll leave you with this fun video Jay edited of a trip I did to Vegas in early 2013:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uFTQ_0WwXg[/youtube]
Re: -Fanzine-
Not a ton of footbag for me since my last entry, but I wanted to record a couple things.
I haven't played that much since my last post, for a variety of reasons. The most notable one is that I had to have a tooth extracted, which means I've been low-energy due to a liquid diet. It's also been surprisingly wintry out lately, so that hasn't helped. We did have one nice day of weather last weekend, so I got in an outdoor session. Ianek and Mike Angeski are working on a footbag achievement badge project, which is pretty interesting. I spent that outdoor session working on some of the badge goals, to test out what numbers seemed appropriate difficulty. That was a fun challenge, and it also highlighted to me how badly my flip spinning has deteriorated. I hadn't worked on flip spins seriously since about 2009, so this was hardly a surprise. Still, it was kind of embarrassing to not be able to hit some challenges that were easy for me a few years back. But that highlights one of the benefits of the badge project: ensuring people really work on the holes in their game, and patch them.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vY9MLa_xWo[/youtube]
Once those 2 tournaments were over, I felt a bit adrift. I had chased both of those goals for so long, it was jarring to have them both complete in a 5 week period. It took me a while to find my footing in the game after Worlds ended. I trained my routines so hard that spring, that it naturally took some time to readjust to playing for fun. In the fall I found a lot of enjoyment in pursuing Polini's challenge of working on my density.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDbRDKNGdcE[/youtube]
I closed out the year just playing for fun, which felt like a good reward for the year. I ended up shooting a "season ender" video while in Arizona, inspired by Joulu Jupe 3. But I think I'll post that in my next post. Instead I'll post one of the vids from when I was in Georgia:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRe7sFlw-cY[/youtube]
Final bit of footbag news for me: I'm going to Mark's New Orleans footbag jam in April! Around this time last year, I already knew what footbag tournaments I'd go to in 2013. USO and Worlds, and hopefully East Coasts. It turned out I couldn't make the last one, but that was going to be a bonus if I went anyway. 2014 is a lot more nebulous. It looks like Seattle isn't hosting USO, which means it may not happen. There's also still no word on Worlds location, and even if it does happen, I probably can't go anyway because I'm getting married in June. The three remaining events that I'd like to go to are Vegas Jam, NOLA, and East Coasts if they are in NYC. Of the 3, NOLA was the most enticing, since I've never been to New Orleans. Flights weren't cheap, and hotels were insane, but thanks to Mark's hospitality I'm going. I hope a bunch of people come out to it, especially since there's no guarantee I can make it to East Coasts.
Today Dan Boyle and Anz made posts which showed videos of their games at 3 year intervals in their careers. I'm totally copying this with my next post. I especially liked Anz's level of introspection/analysis in them, so I'm going to do the same.
I haven't played that much since my last post, for a variety of reasons. The most notable one is that I had to have a tooth extracted, which means I've been low-energy due to a liquid diet. It's also been surprisingly wintry out lately, so that hasn't helped. We did have one nice day of weather last weekend, so I got in an outdoor session. Ianek and Mike Angeski are working on a footbag achievement badge project, which is pretty interesting. I spent that outdoor session working on some of the badge goals, to test out what numbers seemed appropriate difficulty. That was a fun challenge, and it also highlighted to me how badly my flip spinning has deteriorated. I hadn't worked on flip spins seriously since about 2009, so this was hardly a surprise. Still, it was kind of embarrassing to not be able to hit some challenges that were easy for me a few years back. But that highlights one of the benefits of the badge project: ensuring people really work on the holes in their game, and patch them.
2013 really was a great year for me footbagwise. The first few months I only played sporadically since I lacked an indoor spot. Then the entire spring was dedicated to routine training. Since I'm getting married in summer 2014, I knew that the 2013 season might be my last best shot at achieving some of my competition goals, so I took my training seriously. That kind of made for a boring first half of the year shred wise, but it also paid off. I achieved my two biggest remaining career goals: I won routines at USO, and made routine finals at Worlds. While I would have happily taken either result at the start of the season, I was prouder of winning USO. I just felt my performance there was better.C-Fan wrote:Last blog post of 2013. Have to say, this was a very good year for me footbagwise. I should write a summary/year-end post...maybe later if I'm feeling inspired.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vY9MLa_xWo[/youtube]
Once those 2 tournaments were over, I felt a bit adrift. I had chased both of those goals for so long, it was jarring to have them both complete in a 5 week period. It took me a while to find my footing in the game after Worlds ended. I trained my routines so hard that spring, that it naturally took some time to readjust to playing for fun. In the fall I found a lot of enjoyment in pursuing Polini's challenge of working on my density.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDbRDKNGdcE[/youtube]
I closed out the year just playing for fun, which felt like a good reward for the year. I ended up shooting a "season ender" video while in Arizona, inspired by Joulu Jupe 3. But I think I'll post that in my next post. Instead I'll post one of the vids from when I was in Georgia:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRe7sFlw-cY[/youtube]
Final bit of footbag news for me: I'm going to Mark's New Orleans footbag jam in April! Around this time last year, I already knew what footbag tournaments I'd go to in 2013. USO and Worlds, and hopefully East Coasts. It turned out I couldn't make the last one, but that was going to be a bonus if I went anyway. 2014 is a lot more nebulous. It looks like Seattle isn't hosting USO, which means it may not happen. There's also still no word on Worlds location, and even if it does happen, I probably can't go anyway because I'm getting married in June. The three remaining events that I'd like to go to are Vegas Jam, NOLA, and East Coasts if they are in NYC. Of the 3, NOLA was the most enticing, since I've never been to New Orleans. Flights weren't cheap, and hotels were insane, but thanks to Mark's hospitality I'm going. I hope a bunch of people come out to it, especially since there's no guarantee I can make it to East Coasts.
Today Dan Boyle and Anz made posts which showed videos of their games at 3 year intervals in their careers. I'm totally copying this with my next post. I especially liked Anz's level of introspection/analysis in them, so I'm going to do the same.
Re: FanzBlog
It is fun to read modified again!
I feel ya with the spinning, returned to drilling them myself. Such a demanding concept)
The badges sound fun!
Props on the achieved longterm footbag goals! Winning US open and Worlds final is big!
Haven't seen your genuine video before! Some really nice runs there! I love how pdx eggbeater looked on the seal of that fearless, sweeet!
Love the shadow at some points it looks too awesome.
I commented your season ender on youtube. Awesome shred
Totally have to check those vidoes Anz and Dan maybe.
Congratulations on getting married in summer!
I feel ya with the spinning, returned to drilling them myself. Such a demanding concept)
The badges sound fun!
Props on the achieved longterm footbag goals! Winning US open and Worlds final is big!
Haven't seen your genuine video before! Some really nice runs there! I love how pdx eggbeater looked on the seal of that fearless, sweeet!
Love the shadow at some points it looks too awesome.
I commented your season ender on youtube. Awesome shred
Totally have to check those vidoes Anz and Dan maybe.
Congratulations on getting married in summer!
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F[uns]tylin' Eclectic
- Post Master General
- Posts: 4092
- Joined: 05 Feb 2010 19:53
- Location: Drumore, PA
Re: FanzBlog
Pretty cool recap, dude. I'm glad my challenge was a highlight of 2013 for you. I was excited to see you doing it too. Those videos were awesome. Looking forward to your past videos that you're going to post next time.
Hoping to make it to NOLA. I don't know how reasonable Vegas is going to be for me.. Hoping for both. Either way, I think we'll be kicking together at some point in 2014.
Hoping to make it to NOLA. I don't know how reasonable Vegas is going to be for me.. Hoping for both. Either way, I think we'll be kicking together at some point in 2014.
Re: FanzBlog
Thanks for the super positive posts guys! Aleksei, I agree that spinning is a challenging concept. What has me optimistic though, is thinking about my flip open set. That used to be another set that, when I neglected it for a couple months, basically disappeared completely. Now it doesn't, and that's just cause I put the work into it. So if I really school my flip spins, hopefully I can get them to the same level. Footbag is so challenging that way...its like in order to master one component, you have to ignore 2 others. And if you don't play all the time, its real easy to start losing mastery of components.
I've been playing pretty sporadically. Part of that is due to the weather being all over the map, and part of it is due to my dental health. Getting a tooth extracted has not been fun. I'm still not eating normally, so I'm low energy, and I also got some weird headaches last week. Weather and health were both good enough though that I got in sessions the last 2 days. The first day I worked more on badge concepts, which was a fun challenge. Yesterday's session I entered with the goal of just playing for fun, but eventually I started working on furious set. I tried to incorporate the advice from Anz's blog, which seemed to help me some. I focused on hitting furies and janis that were good enough to hit sets out of. Overall it went well:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HE9YG_FZyrY[/youtube]
After I made that video, I decided to make a slow mo video for myself with just my sets. The idea was that I would then compare it to slow mo videos of Jay and Anz to see what I needed to adjust. The results were striking:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3u2BbdsHEU[/youtube]
Now watch this slow mo nemesis by Anz:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NA3bh7U-plY[/youtube]
What stood out to me the most was how fast my support leg plants. In the Anz video, both barrage dexes happen before his support leg touches the floor. In my furious sets, the support leg is on the floor as the first dex happens. I'm pretty sure this is what's messing me up. The real question is, can I figure out how to change my footwork? I've had the most success with my furious sets by thinking of them as quantum set from clipper. Maybe if I trick myself into thinking symp quantum from clipper, that might avoid the early plant? It's windy out today, but I may go out and mess around with it.
I've been playing pretty sporadically. Part of that is due to the weather being all over the map, and part of it is due to my dental health. Getting a tooth extracted has not been fun. I'm still not eating normally, so I'm low energy, and I also got some weird headaches last week. Weather and health were both good enough though that I got in sessions the last 2 days. The first day I worked more on badge concepts, which was a fun challenge. Yesterday's session I entered with the goal of just playing for fun, but eventually I started working on furious set. I tried to incorporate the advice from Anz's blog, which seemed to help me some. I focused on hitting furies and janis that were good enough to hit sets out of. Overall it went well:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HE9YG_FZyrY[/youtube]
After I made that video, I decided to make a slow mo video for myself with just my sets. The idea was that I would then compare it to slow mo videos of Jay and Anz to see what I needed to adjust. The results were striking:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3u2BbdsHEU[/youtube]
Now watch this slow mo nemesis by Anz:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NA3bh7U-plY[/youtube]
What stood out to me the most was how fast my support leg plants. In the Anz video, both barrage dexes happen before his support leg touches the floor. In my furious sets, the support leg is on the floor as the first dex happens. I'm pretty sure this is what's messing me up. The real question is, can I figure out how to change my footwork? I've had the most success with my furious sets by thinking of them as quantum set from clipper. Maybe if I trick myself into thinking symp quantum from clipper, that might avoid the early plant? It's windy out today, but I may go out and mess around with it.
Re: FanzBlog
Weather and health have made for a bit of a footbag rollercoaster lately. Things came together well over the long weekend though. It was beautiful out the whole time, and my dental issues subsided enough that I got outdoor sessions four days in a row. What a treat. Unfortunately, I pulled a muscle pretty badly in the fourth session, so I need to take some time off.
On to the exciting news. In my last post, I did the long overdue step of filming my furious sets and making a slow-mo video out of them. Doing so enabled me to compare my footwork versus proper furious footwork. I honestly don't know what took me so long to do this. I think in the past I would look at my furious sets and fixate on the dex leg. I'd compare my dex leg's motions to that of proper furious, but could never figure out why I was missing the "pop" that a good furious set had. Heck, even when I made the slow motion video from my previous post, I still didn't look at what my planting leg was doing. When I made the video, my plan was to send it to Jay to get his analysis, so in the description field of the video I simply wrote "analysis please." Before Jay even got to look at it, one of my channel subscribers (Taylor Hamilton) posted: "its crazy how you do it while the other foot that is planted." When I read that, I immediately re-watched any slow mo furious vids I could find, and realized what was going on.
I've decided not to post footage of my nemesis attempts, since it'd be more rewarding to post it when I get a perfect one. Looking at the attempts from Sunday, its clear that my set can improve. It's night-and-day better than it was in my last post, but it's far from perfect. I think if I can get my set half an inch higher, and come to understand the timing of the trick as a whole (the golden mean Anz described), I can definitely get an undeniably clean one. That's my goal for the next month or two.
I'm pretty excited by all this, which actually ended up hurting me on Monday when I played. I wasn't planning on playing, since I knew I pushed really hard the day before. But then the weather was perfect, so I went out. I didn't warm up enough, tried for furious to early, and *BAM* Right on my first try, I just felt my right quad muscle go. Felt like something tore really. It still hurts today, but with my track record of hypochondria I don't plan on overreacting yet. I'm going to rest it a few days, and hopefully it'll improve. Once it does, I'll dedicate a couple sessions to just playing normally, avoiding all furious. That will be challenging, but I need to be careful. Then, I'll spend the next couple sessions working on making the set more consistent. No nemesis, just getting solid janis and furies with the new technique. Once those gel, then I can work on nemesis. Do I expect to follow this progression without succumbing to the temptation of working on nemesis before then? No. But if I stick generally to the plan, I think I'll be in a good position to make my goal in the next couple months.
To avoid a video-less post, here's a badge inspired short vid:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szXIQBnIe7M[/youtube]
On to the exciting news. In my last post, I did the long overdue step of filming my furious sets and making a slow-mo video out of them. Doing so enabled me to compare my footwork versus proper furious footwork. I honestly don't know what took me so long to do this. I think in the past I would look at my furious sets and fixate on the dex leg. I'd compare my dex leg's motions to that of proper furious, but could never figure out why I was missing the "pop" that a good furious set had. Heck, even when I made the slow motion video from my previous post, I still didn't look at what my planting leg was doing. When I made the video, my plan was to send it to Jay to get his analysis, so in the description field of the video I simply wrote "analysis please." Before Jay even got to look at it, one of my channel subscribers (Taylor Hamilton) posted: "its crazy how you do it while the other foot that is planted." When I read that, I immediately re-watched any slow mo furious vids I could find, and realized what was going on.
Long story short, on Sunday I had a breakthrough session with furious. I changed my approach from "clipper quantum" to "clipper wonton." My first few attempts were awkward and didn't even clear dexes, but then I got one set...and I just knew I was on the right track. I proceeded to hit a bunch of janiwalkers to hand catches, and was checking them on the small LCD screen of my camera during the session. Even on the small screen I could see my set heights were better, and that I was coming out of the set more prepared for a downtime component. While it's premature, I couldn't resist giving some attempts at nemesis (since that's my final goal), and was very encouraged. I didn't hit any that were clean, but I did get a few that were very close. In the past, my best nemesis attempts completely missed the final double down, since my height and footwork were so bad on the set. On Sunday I got a couple where the 4th dex was thin, but at least we were talking about a fourth dex. Considering it was my first day even hitting furious set properly, I was very encouraged.C-Fan wrote:What stood out to me the most was how fast my support leg plants. In the Anz video, both barrage dexes happen before his support leg touches the floor. In my furious sets, the support leg is on the floor as the first dex happens. I'm pretty sure this is what's messing me up. The real question is, can I figure out how to change my footwork? I've had the most success with my furious sets by thinking of them as quantum set from clipper. Maybe if I trick myself into thinking symp quantum from clipper, that might avoid the early plant?
I've decided not to post footage of my nemesis attempts, since it'd be more rewarding to post it when I get a perfect one. Looking at the attempts from Sunday, its clear that my set can improve. It's night-and-day better than it was in my last post, but it's far from perfect. I think if I can get my set half an inch higher, and come to understand the timing of the trick as a whole (the golden mean Anz described), I can definitely get an undeniably clean one. That's my goal for the next month or two.
I'm pretty excited by all this, which actually ended up hurting me on Monday when I played. I wasn't planning on playing, since I knew I pushed really hard the day before. But then the weather was perfect, so I went out. I didn't warm up enough, tried for furious to early, and *BAM* Right on my first try, I just felt my right quad muscle go. Felt like something tore really. It still hurts today, but with my track record of hypochondria I don't plan on overreacting yet. I'm going to rest it a few days, and hopefully it'll improve. Once it does, I'll dedicate a couple sessions to just playing normally, avoiding all furious. That will be challenging, but I need to be careful. Then, I'll spend the next couple sessions working on making the set more consistent. No nemesis, just getting solid janis and furies with the new technique. Once those gel, then I can work on nemesis. Do I expect to follow this progression without succumbing to the temptation of working on nemesis before then? No. But if I stick generally to the plan, I think I'll be in a good position to make my goal in the next couple months.
To avoid a video-less post, here's a badge inspired short vid:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szXIQBnIe7M[/youtube]
Re: FanzBlog
I feel like I should be able to do furious. I can do terraging,quantum and stepping quite well. I really believe all of you and Anz posts will make me hit something decent out of it soon. So thanks for that.
I hope we gonna kick this summer even with you having a baby on the way.
Congrats on that and props on your furious success.
I hope we gonna kick this summer even with you having a baby on the way.
Congrats on that and props on your furious success.
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boyle
- Post Master General
- Posts: 3166
- Joined: 19 Sep 2007 23:42
- Location: Canberra, Australia
- Contact:
Re: FanzBlog
Ken, you only have a wedding on the way, don't you????? Or is that why....
Re: FanzBlog
My fiancee and I originally planned on getting married this summer, and then trying for a baby 3 or 4 years from now. But now that Asmus is mailing us a baby in the summertime, we may have to figure something else out. 
Re: FanzBlog
Haha. Sorry for that. Kim is having another baby this summer. That is probably what confused me.
That being said who is this lady you are getting married to Ken? I don't like that you have a secret life outside of footbag.
That being said who is this lady you are getting married to Ken? I don't like that you have a secret life outside of footbag.
Re: FanzBlog
The Secret Life of C-Fan. Kinda catchy. My fiancee was at the last 2 US Opens as well as the last East Coasts I attended, and she'll be with me at Monistere's NOLA Jam in April. To her credit, she hasn't left me even after finding out I footbag.
This weekend weather and fate converged to make for an awesome footbag weekend. As I write this Monday morning, it's snowing outside and everything is coated in white. But the two days before that it was sunny and in the 60s. Standard Denver weather. Going into the weekend, my plan was to play outside and film, with my 2 main goals being: keep working on furious, and film some more badge attempts.
Late Friday night though, Rob Creel posted this on my Facebook page:
Saturday morning it was gorgeous out. After breakfast I ran a couple errands, but was checking my phone compulsively, like a teenage girl waiting to see if her crush had texted her. I wasn't sure if they'd even want to include me in a story, and I didn't want to waste the good weather, so I went to my normal shred spot and warmed up. When I pulled out my camera to start filming, I saw I had a voicemail from the CBS producer. I called him back, and asked what kind of story they were doing. Colorado recently legalized weed, so I wanted to make sure they didn't need a hackysacker for a story on that subject, especially since I work for the Federal government. Much to my relief, the producer told me they were doing a story comparing Seattle and Denver (the two cities in the Superbowl), to see how they stacked up outside of football. Apparently, Denver has the most extensive system of public parks in America, and Mo Rocca got in his head that they should approach that with a hackysack angle. Works for me.
I dashed back home to change clothes, and asked my fiancee if she wanted to meet Mo Rocca. She thought I was joking, but when she saw how seriously I was taking getting my supplies ready, she realized I wasn't. We zipped into Denver, and I started warming up at my old footbag spot in one of the more scenic Denver parks. My buddy Dan Chick came out to see the whole thing go down, which was nice because he brought his camera to take photos as well. I warmed up again, but this time I focused on some elements that I thought would be good for a TV audience (fliers, DATWs, double spins). I knew the story would focus on multiple aspects of Denver, so I knew I'd be lucky to get 5-10 seconds of screen time total.
Mo and his producer show up, and identify me pretty easily. I had picked my normal spot because the grecian pavilion is a pretty backdrop. The producer checks it out for 2 seconds, and declares we have to move. He thought the place echoed too badly, and he was right. Funny, cause I only ever evaluated the spot for how it looked and played, but yeah, sound is pretty important too. We end up picking a spot on a nearby walkway, and I make small talk with Mo as they get set up. The plan is for him to mention the trivia about Denver's park system, and then for me to jump in and do a run as he introduces me as the US hackysack champ. Our first take comes out incredibly strong, as my entrance is on cue, and I crush a run around 20 contacts, ending on a double spinning clipper. I'm tempted to say: "so...that's a wrap?"
The producer though, thinks that my run is too long, and the timing of how they shot the intro was off. So we proceed to do about 8 more takes. I cut my run down to 10 contacts, and get a couple good ones. The producer though has become fixated on me ending on a DSC, so a couple usable takes get thrown out when I drop on it. My friend Dan suggests I swap out the final trick, since I'm not consistent at it. I take that as a challenge though, and will myself to just get it. We also have to kill a couple takes based on how we set up the shot. The segment starts with my footbag on Mo's foot, and when its time for me to enter the frame he is supposed to flick it at me. Suffice to say that Mo's not exactly BAP. Luckily enough, around take #8 the stars aligned: Mo got the language right and the toe flick, and I did my ten contact run including some good crowd pleasing elements, and nailing the DSC at the end. The take ended and the whole crew and everybody just knew THAT was the take. I took a picture with Mo, thanked him for doing the segment, and then went off to get in a quick session of my own.
Here's some footage from the session. I did a couple of furious sets with the new style, to show how it looks, but I didn't do any nemesis attempts. Instead, I worked on getting my silver atomic badge. I don't consider myself great at atomic, so I was very happy to set a new personal record with nine:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2KesVEjgTw[/youtube]
Sunday was warm and sunny out, but the spot I played at had a persistent breeze and a slippery surface. Ended up being a very frustrating session, but I managed to squeeze out a few badges out of it. Overall I'm liking this badge project, as it's motivating me to drill some concepts a bit harder than I have recently.
Back to the CBS Sunday morning segment real fast: can anybody tech savvy make an electronic recording of the segment? I'd love to have it as a souvenir, and I don't have the chops to do it myself. The show airs Superbowl Sunday on CBS, I think around 8 am: http://www.cbsnews.com/sunday-morning/
Any help is much appreciated.
EDIT: Here's the clip: http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/seattle-v ... y-is-best/
This weekend weather and fate converged to make for an awesome footbag weekend. As I write this Monday morning, it's snowing outside and everything is coated in white. But the two days before that it was sunny and in the 60s. Standard Denver weather. Going into the weekend, my plan was to play outside and film, with my 2 main goals being: keep working on furious, and film some more badge attempts.
Late Friday night though, Rob Creel posted this on my Facebook page:
Mo Rocca is a correspondent for National Public Radio, as well as the CBS Sunday morning show. My fiancee watches CBS Sunday morning religiously, so I knew who he was talking about. I check out Mo Rocca's tweet:Rob Creel wrote:Hey Ken Somolinos or Richard Reese! Check out @MoRocca 's twitter feed. He's looking for someone in Denver to play hacky sack with.
I hadn't sent a tweet in over 3 years, but I dusted off my account and responded to him, including a link to my USO routine. Long story short, he asked for my contact information, and then I waited.@MoRocca wrote: Work related question: I'm on the way to Denver and I'm looking for a place to hacky sack. And I may not have time to head up to Boulder.
Saturday morning it was gorgeous out. After breakfast I ran a couple errands, but was checking my phone compulsively, like a teenage girl waiting to see if her crush had texted her. I wasn't sure if they'd even want to include me in a story, and I didn't want to waste the good weather, so I went to my normal shred spot and warmed up. When I pulled out my camera to start filming, I saw I had a voicemail from the CBS producer. I called him back, and asked what kind of story they were doing. Colorado recently legalized weed, so I wanted to make sure they didn't need a hackysacker for a story on that subject, especially since I work for the Federal government. Much to my relief, the producer told me they were doing a story comparing Seattle and Denver (the two cities in the Superbowl), to see how they stacked up outside of football. Apparently, Denver has the most extensive system of public parks in America, and Mo Rocca got in his head that they should approach that with a hackysack angle. Works for me.
I dashed back home to change clothes, and asked my fiancee if she wanted to meet Mo Rocca. She thought I was joking, but when she saw how seriously I was taking getting my supplies ready, she realized I wasn't. We zipped into Denver, and I started warming up at my old footbag spot in one of the more scenic Denver parks. My buddy Dan Chick came out to see the whole thing go down, which was nice because he brought his camera to take photos as well. I warmed up again, but this time I focused on some elements that I thought would be good for a TV audience (fliers, DATWs, double spins). I knew the story would focus on multiple aspects of Denver, so I knew I'd be lucky to get 5-10 seconds of screen time total.
Mo and his producer show up, and identify me pretty easily. I had picked my normal spot because the grecian pavilion is a pretty backdrop. The producer checks it out for 2 seconds, and declares we have to move. He thought the place echoed too badly, and he was right. Funny, cause I only ever evaluated the spot for how it looked and played, but yeah, sound is pretty important too. We end up picking a spot on a nearby walkway, and I make small talk with Mo as they get set up. The plan is for him to mention the trivia about Denver's park system, and then for me to jump in and do a run as he introduces me as the US hackysack champ. Our first take comes out incredibly strong, as my entrance is on cue, and I crush a run around 20 contacts, ending on a double spinning clipper. I'm tempted to say: "so...that's a wrap?"
The producer though, thinks that my run is too long, and the timing of how they shot the intro was off. So we proceed to do about 8 more takes. I cut my run down to 10 contacts, and get a couple good ones. The producer though has become fixated on me ending on a DSC, so a couple usable takes get thrown out when I drop on it. My friend Dan suggests I swap out the final trick, since I'm not consistent at it. I take that as a challenge though, and will myself to just get it. We also have to kill a couple takes based on how we set up the shot. The segment starts with my footbag on Mo's foot, and when its time for me to enter the frame he is supposed to flick it at me. Suffice to say that Mo's not exactly BAP. Luckily enough, around take #8 the stars aligned: Mo got the language right and the toe flick, and I did my ten contact run including some good crowd pleasing elements, and nailing the DSC at the end. The take ended and the whole crew and everybody just knew THAT was the take. I took a picture with Mo, thanked him for doing the segment, and then went off to get in a quick session of my own.
Here's some footage from the session. I did a couple of furious sets with the new style, to show how it looks, but I didn't do any nemesis attempts. Instead, I worked on getting my silver atomic badge. I don't consider myself great at atomic, so I was very happy to set a new personal record with nine:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2KesVEjgTw[/youtube]
Sunday was warm and sunny out, but the spot I played at had a persistent breeze and a slippery surface. Ended up being a very frustrating session, but I managed to squeeze out a few badges out of it. Overall I'm liking this badge project, as it's motivating me to drill some concepts a bit harder than I have recently.
Back to the CBS Sunday morning segment real fast: can anybody tech savvy make an electronic recording of the segment? I'd love to have it as a souvenir, and I don't have the chops to do it myself. The show airs Superbowl Sunday on CBS, I think around 8 am: http://www.cbsnews.com/sunday-morning/
Any help is much appreciated.
EDIT: Here's the clip: http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/seattle-v ... y-is-best/
Last edited by C-Fan on 04 Mar 2014 12:38, edited 1 time in total.
Re: FanzBlog
The whole Mo Rocca story is awesome. Props.
And this..
And this..
made me laugh out loud!C-Fan wrote: But now that Asmus is mailing us a baby in the summertime..
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Outsider
- Ayatollah of Rock n' Rollah
- Posts: 1373
- Joined: 21 May 2003 21:30
- Location: Bridgewater, New Jersey
Re: FanzBlog
Agree with Nathan. Mo Racca story = Awesome.
And, this line got the laugh from me:
And, this line got the laugh from me:
C-Fan = Funny.C-Fan wrote:To her credit, she hasn't left me even after finding out I footbag.
"The time has come to convert the unbelievers..."
Jonathan Schneider --- sometimes showers with his Lavers on (to clean them)
The Ministry of Silly Walks
NYFA
BAP
Jonathan Schneider --- sometimes showers with his Lavers on (to clean them)
The Ministry of Silly Walks
NYFA
BAP
Re: FanzBlog
I liked the story a lot as well.
I was looking through your videos today on the tube to try and find some of the more well edited ones. I found the ones I wanted to watch but it was a bit hard with the billions of videos you have. Can I suggest you make a playlist or something like that with them?
I was looking through your videos today on the tube to try and find some of the more well edited ones. I found the ones I wanted to watch but it was a bit hard with the billions of videos you have. Can I suggest you make a playlist or something like that with them?