The Darkshredder's struggle

Darkshredder · Post by **Darkshredder** » 18 Oct 2008 09:16

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9z11Dqw7mK0[/youtube]

has this song been used in a footbag video? I feel like it has. At least the original.

buuut yeah. Tribe is great and this song is probably one of the most perfect for a shred video. There's a song by Cake called Shut the Fuck Up that I've always thought would work well for my game.

the problem is that this song is over 4 minutes long and there's no way in hell anyone is going to watch me play footbag for more than 2 minutes in front of their screen. Maybe I could just do toe stalls for 4 minutes. People seem to like my toe stalls.

my sleep schedule is pretty messed up at the moment. I was supposed to wake up really early today so I could catch Saturday Morning cartoons. I think Sonic X is the dumbest shit I've ever seen and it makes me mad. But there's nothing like pouring a bowl of Raisin Bran Crunch and making fun of a really bad TV show. Kirby: Right Back At Ya isn't bad. I just wish they would've made Dedede a little less of a redneck douche. Metaknight is the only reason to watch that show. That zoro lookin' muthuhtruckuh.

. . .

1) slayer is fun music
2) Sega might be making a handheld
3) I'm gonna break out of the house in a little bit to go shred. Hope it's not too cold. I might try and look for an inside location on the SU campus.
4) my cyberpunk story is coming along slowly. But I'm getting some interesting ideas and eventually this should be the coolest thing I've written.
5) because a numbered list without at least reaching 5 is not worth making.

PEACE

Matt K · Post by **Matt K** » 18 Oct 2008 10:13

If you want a short Tribe song, "What?" is 2.5 minutes long.

Jack Stutler · Post by **Jack Stutler** » 18 Oct 2008 10:17

sega handheld?

Darkshredder · Post by **Darkshredder** » 18 Oct 2008 12:09

yeah it was supposed to be something else. According to joystik it was a hoax. Aw

oh well. Sega's upcoming lineup of games is looking real solid and so that's happy. As far as a handheld that will do more than play your generic video game, I have a feeling that I'll enjoy the Nintendo DSi plenty, no matter how much people are ragging on it. I have a lite that I can play GBA games on (and a GBA. . . ) so I'm not all that upset by the lack of the port. What I've always wanted was something like Fruity Loops to be on DS. They DO have something like it but it's only made in Japan. Forgot what it's called. But that sucks hard they aren't exporting. Jam Sessions is fun but I'd love a real mixer. Here's to keeping fingers crossed.

I like how I talk more about games in my footblog than in a blog I'm starting up so I can get a portfolio of game reviews and news (my reason for going to LA next year). But oh well. I think enough footbaggers are into gaming enough to appreciate my rants.

Played for an hour. Not bad. A lot of shuffle. Stepping is still hurt my unbroken in shoes. Lots of flip ss symple swirls which is cool. I don't really practice them.

oh and HEY! here's an interesting thing! I hit a new trick:

pogo blurry whirl bs

right? Thanks in part to Jay Boychuck for hitting pogo swifter, which I was trying for a while but gave up because my pogo sets aren't quite high enough

DTank126 · Post by **DTank126** » 18 Oct 2008 22:39

Duuuuude, if you go to LA how ever are you going to make it to the Boston Spring Jam??!!!?!?!

Soooooo laaaaaaaame. We better get some awesome shred in before you leave while Im home for break. I'll be home for Thanksgiving but only for a couple days and the next time wont be until late December. Hope we can shred at least once more, I gotta see this pogo blurry whirl you speak of. Too much stylie.

Peace

Darkshredder · Post by **Darkshredder** » 19 Oct 2008 06:01

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zORFUpS23P0[/youtube]

well I'm not sure exactly when around the first I'll be leaving. My brother was saying since we're driving my car out there we should leave a lot of time for the trip so that he can get back to work on time (ish).

yeah you'll see pogo blurry whirl. I couldn't get it last night when I took this video because honestly I wasn't trying. It slipped my mind. I was too busy trying not to spin and to work on toe shuffle. . . and south park was on.

edit: just a brief commentary on this video. I had a lot of laughs making this. A lot of concepts are missing from my strings here. Yes, I can do more than pixie ss mirage, smear, and dimwalk. I don't spin. I hardly step. When I do pdx mirage I normally do blur. I can't spin in my basement. Sucks. Spinning and gyro makes up about 30% of my 2-hour sessions as of late. Please be patient while I get used to these shoes and my basement so I can actually release some hXc shred from me. I know I can do it and I'm kind of biting my lower lip at all these "look how easy tiltless drills come to me!" videos.

anyway I hope you guys like(d) this video. It's mostly just a joke because I came home from work all hyper and generally way too happy so I decided to play some footbag. When I realized that south park was on and that I was actually keeping the bag up I decided to turn on the webcam. Most of the end of the session wasn't included because it was just me trying to hit flip pdx eggbeater but laughing too hard at the Sarah Silverman Program. That show is really funny.

if you have a wii go and buy World of Goo. It rocks my black puma socks right off my sore feet.

Darkshredder · Post by **Darkshredder** » 21 Oct 2008 12:05

spinning links > legbeater > ducking pdx mirage > parkwalk > frontside blizzard > pixie whirl > BOPing run because I didn't want to drop or catch. Call it a victory "run" if you will. A one-sided shuffler trick to a pogo is really cool feeling.

I'm getting a virus I think. Great.

Darkshredder · Post by **Darkshredder** » 28 Oct 2008 09:15

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oz88kJSdT6Y[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6NNEnajIW8[/youtube]

I'm getting to a good part in my cyberpunk story where the main character is forced to help his cyber anarchist friend disrupt a political convention.

I'm in a real footbag slump. I don't find as much fun playing as I used to (really only as far back as a month or so ago. It's recent. . )

I attribute this to something I've noticed publishing my basement videos. I'm a very touchy freestyler. People may think I'm complaining or deciding on different things to blame for poor performance, but I'm not. If it's night time, I can't play as well. If I'm cramped, I can't play as well. If I'm full of food, I can't play as well. Things need to be just perfect. I'm at my best with music, outside, with about one or two other people.

I find myself dropping after a run and saying out loud, "booooring." because I'm just doing the same things over and over. I'm stoked I have a toe game now. But still, there's only so much I can do since I can't do smogs and pigbeaters on command like I can smear and smudge all over the place.

Perhaps it's that I forgot what it feels like to learn something new and feel like something is completely foreign. It's something we all face when we're tiltless. The awkward movements and the way too fast dexterities that make up more advanced tricks. We push through it and succeed and move on. But what if you've been playing at a particular level for so long and have been struggling for so long that the awkward movements aren't awkward anymore, but rather simply impossible for your mind? Take my double downs. I can't even FATHOM hitting flip DDD. Seriously. I'd try it and just look like I'm a rag doll twitching my leg back and forth. Strongside has gotten so effortless that I don't even know what I'm doing RIGHT. I just do it. So that doesn't help my efforts to learn it flipside.

So now that I've realized this, I'm trying to look flip fairy, double downs, and eggbeaters as if I'm learning back to back clippers again. Breaking down each trick into it's components and SLOOOOOWLY figuring out how to position my legs and distribute my weight. It's hard breaking habits I formed and practice for two and a half years.

God if I could do this whole thing over. . .

I really hope I can get myself out of this slump like I have so many other times. This one is deep. This one has me staring down that hooded fiend we've all at least seen at a distance; the urge to leave it all behind.

I don't know what I have to do to help myself out this time. Usually it's just a matter of taking a break, school basics, or watching videos and talking with people about it. But there's no one to talk to, no new exciting videos (seriously, what's up with the lack of real footbag footage?) and I'm playing less than I ever have.

Asmus · Post by **Asmus** » 28 Oct 2008 09:46

Go to a tournie. I'm sure new years jam could give it back to you.
Also working on some stupid concept like squeeze or kneebump and hitting a bunch of new stuff sometimes works for me.

I think your rad. And your style is sick.

century264 · Post by **century264** » 28 Oct 2008 11:54

well hey if you want to come to a tourney, there'll be yeah in nigh on two months now, but I know you need some encouragement to get up to that point. I'll be in rochester on thanksgiving if you're interested in playing that week. I've played one session in boston this semester, and aside from that have been a very lonely footbagger. Hope this post finds you in slightly better spirits. I find sometimes when I post and put it all out honestly, I feel a little bit more calm about it, even if the situation is unchanged.

Iron Clad Ben · Post by **Iron Clad Ben** » 28 Oct 2008 14:04

One thing that has helped get out of slumps is working on completely new components and seeing how good I can get at them in a session or two. Rakes, toe flicks, outside kicks / rainbows, pinchers, Jon Schneider's "rolls", etc.

I also like to challenge myself to hit obscure hangtime concepts in combos like ss butter > zulu clipper > weaving legover > RPT or toe set osis > weaving mirage > RPT. Just mix it up with really wacky stuff that. Enjoy the process. Enjoy failure. Learn from failure.

Keep it fresh. Think outside the box. It can be fun to go off the beaten path of ADDS from time to time.

Darkshredder · Post by **Darkshredder** » 28 Oct 2008 19:32

man I wish I didn't have to keep having posts like this. But it really DOES help to spill it all out somewhere. So I appologize if you'd rather here me talk about how I almost hit revstein with a reese's crunch thing today about an hour after my post. It made me smile. I've never hit revstein. . .

well even though I wrote what I did, I still slapped on the shoes. Had a pretty sad little session. My right toe is really hurting me for some reason. I'm sure I've mentioned this before but I'm getting bunions. My mom and all of her sisters have them. My brother has a small one on his left foot. Both of mine are getting them but the right foot is a little more grotesque/ewiee. So I had to take a sit and rub my foot and curse my luck a little before I decided to do a warm down. Never did one of those before.

I played in the Newhouse School lobby today. If anyone has ever looked into schools knows where half of the best/legendary reporters got their education it's at this place called Newhouse on the Syracuse University campus. It's nice. I probably should've gone there but I had a problem with motivation and slackerism senior year and I didn't think I was too smart (. . . sh'up). Anyway, it's like a top notch school for communications in the country. And it has a sweet lobby for da legballingz.

About three minutes after I stripe down to me loins a group of like 8 photography students come down the stairs brandishing massive newsy cameras of nastiness (and/or doom). So without saying anything (some even AS they were coming down the stairs) they started flashing and taking pictures of me. I was like "shit, really?". Because I knew that I couldn't resist the urge to bust out as much genuine guiltless/fearless as I could. Which didn't work too well. So I was huffing and puffing and dropped on every other contact while they were trying to capture my essence. . .

anyway that was fun.

no highlights. Nice little run with pixie whirls (opp and ss) and a longish spinny run where I threw in a few far dynos and far symple dynos because I realized a couple sessions ago that they're still with me and I hadn't done them in about a year when I first started hitting them consistently.

Thanks for the positive, guys, really. This community can be really nice as well as really cold sometimes. It's hard. But like I've always said it'll literally have to take a mallet to my knees or my knees to take a mallet to me in order for me to . . . . take a little break. This game really is astounding, isn't it? If it were any other sport I probably would've dropped it a year or two ago, especially after leaving Rochester (so three years). But it's BECAUSE it isn't just any other sport that I've quit that I'm still here. I almost feel I CAN'T quit simply because I've stuck it out this long and it'd become just another little league or soccer if I left. And that can't happen.

yeah I'm better now, Modified. If I had a beer in my hands I'd raise a health to flip double downs and healthy knee joints. But I have an empty glass of Sunny D so that'll have to do.

I was going to play to the webcam tonight to make amends and see if I can hit flip pixie paradon for the camera but I really don't feel up to it. I'll get some more writing done and we'll see how I'm feeling in an hour or so. Who knows I may still slip on the units. If I DO play I'll make a note to submit something new. Slan go foille

edit:
@ Ian - you're on! And I shall request a bag from you.
@ Asmus - thankya, friend. You're radder. NOW DRAW ME A STRANGE CITY STREET SCENE! If I ever learn Flash or ActionScript we have to have backgrounds and scenes. Not just characters.
@ Ben - you're on as well, Ben! Instead of banging my head against the wall that I can't get janiwalker I should be focusing on the strange! Hmm. . I sense a return to my experiments with Drunken Style Shred.

keep it alive, guys. (and gals)

Asmus · Post by **Asmus** » 28 Oct 2008 22:21

Do you want it in vector? And done like a sidescroller? I can probably get it done this weekend.

Strangeness!

Darkshredder · Post by **Darkshredder** » 29 Oct 2008 06:49

yeah sidescroller is cool. Just really a concept art for right now.

I woke up too late this morning so I'm not sure I'll have time to shred.

Fallout 3 releases is stores today. Holy shit, ya'll. You don't understand how overwhelmed I am right now with writing/working/footbag AND gaming. Why are developers making all these 90+ hour games that I get lost in and can't get enough of? Ruins me, I tell ya. Wish they could be more like Nintendo and make solid games like Wario's new adventure. Beat that in like two weeks. . . ugh

Darkshredder · Post by **Darkshredder** » 31 Oct 2008 12:46

this is the first halloween in quite a while that either:

it isn't snowing

it isn't 30 degrees (F)

the ground isn't soaked through

in fact, one might say today's All Hallow's Eve is quite the contrary! Indeed, a beautiful day all around! Huzzah!

so yesterday and today I spent a lot of my sessions doing new or strange links and swearing loudly at the fact that my stepping has suffered immensely since I got these new units. It really confuzzles the mind, I say. So some cool stuff has been hit. Now let me preface this list by saying I started out as a bizarre player, never learning a lot of the basics or "old school" tricks so going back and doing these is both very exciting and actually quite difficult for me. Think about the first time you hit superfly. That's about how I felt yesterday when I hit:

knee bump x 10 (the old record was 2. . . yup)

outside stall b2b x 10

pixie knee bumping ss mirage and op. mirage bsos

pixie knee bumping ss whirl and op whirl bsos

stepping op outside > ss whirl rpt

ducking knee bumping drifter, whirl, mirage, illusion, ss torque both sides. This took a SHITLOAD of time because I really don't have a lot of accuracy with knees. So ducking, spotting, and bumping right where I wanted took about 20 tries for each of those tricks. At LEAST. Good god, I can't even tell you how long it took for me to hit ducking bumping ss torque on my flip. Shit. I was ready to die.

So that was yesterday. I did the stepping outside ss whirl repeat today again as well. It took a while to do it again. My whirls were a little weird today. Fast as hell, but very uncontrolled.

so from today: it was just a lot of trying the same things again. But then:

I realized I could do dso. Never really tried all that much. So today I hit flip after two or three tries and it felt like it looked close to how Eoghan does his. REAL tight dexes and I didn't really move any other part of my body while I did it. So I'm sure it looks as badass has his. So I hit that, rehit strongside (which is evidently much harder) and then sos'd it. The coolest link I could think of to hit was weaving butter > pdx dlo > dso > whirl > run

the best sos of vortex I've done. spinning clip > vortex > pdx illusion > parkwalk > ducking butterfly > vortex > dyno > ducking butter > hand catch. The tricks aren't all that astounding but I thought I handled myself well.

all that being said I'd like to put something on video but I'm kind of achy. I'm surprised I played as well as I did today. I'll pop some pills and see if I can get anything tonight. But I make no promises. It's Halloween, you see, and there's candy to be had and movies to watch with people. We'll see.

Darkshredder · Post by **Darkshredder** » 06 Nov 2008 09:57

string > toe whirl > ducking knee bumping gyro mirage
pixie knee bumping side of head stall > drop into string

today's session will be devoted to trying to hit pixie dso which probably won't be that difficult. . . I hope. And I'm also going to try to hit some tougher links into spinning whirl and hitting it bsos without bailing too hard.

I'm going to burn a slayer CD and I hope my CD player will be able to play it. I'm feelin some angry shred today.

edit: At the bar last night I could've sworn someone said "oh it's the hacky sack kid!" Damn. I didn't think I played at SU THAT much.

DTank126 · Post by **DTank126** » 06 Nov 2008 17:54

Yo dude, sick job on all the weird shit lately, it prolly looks so good with your style. I hope it's also rekindling that fire that once burned not so long ago. That's one of the reasons I liked playing with you so much, was because I felt like footbag meant as much to you as it does to me. Either way, I look forward to shredding with you again at.... Thanksgiving, perhaps? If not, then definitly over winter break. Keeps it realz, yo!

Peace

Darkshredder · Post by **Darkshredder** » 07 Nov 2008 09:59

ha thanks Doug. Yeah it's hard trying to remember to do strange things midstring. Still in the habit of thinking I'm better than I am and moving into tripless shuffle and dropping in three contacts.

I haven't had a solid "feel good" session since I modded my new units. Even now that I've kind of corrected my mistakes with the toe box. There's just something off about this pair. So instead of getting a new pair, I hereby resign from the thug life (for now) and I'm going to order a pair of Q3's. Remembering back to when I had Q1's, they weren't bad. Snug as hell and it took a while to get used to the slippery toe box. But I did and my shred during that period is pretty much the second most important time in my career. I formed a solid stepping game (for me), hit pixie ducking for the first time, and my ducking game is where it is because of how much I played in those shoes.

I know it's less the shoes and more the player but I like to separate the stages of my progress in terms of which shoes I was wearing, where I was kicking, and whether or not I was playing with anyone regularly.

anyway, I'll get the Q3's probably today after I deposit my paycheck. It'll be the first time in almost a year that I have to pay more than 60 bucks for a pair of baggin shoes. But I have faith in the fine people at PF that they have made a reliable new generation of quantums. Freedomfootbags, you shall recieve an order form from me in about 4 hours. . .

I almost feel like I don't want to play until I get the quantums. But I should play a little so I can keep in decent "shape" and maybe make further leaps during my weird combo sessions.

OH WAIT! I forgot I was actually doing something worth mentioning yesterday. K so I was trying to hit rev swirling anti clipper > zoid (?) ripwalk . It was kooky. I got it off once but I think it was more of a rev swirling raking zoid ripwalk. The bag had travelled a bit too far behind me and I had to pull it in to me before the ripwalk.
- - - anyway I thought that was sweet. Hurt my hip doing it. But fear not, footbag won't let me suffer normal injury. Just mental anguish and the deterioration of my knee joints - little by little.

and I was talking to MC the other day and I'd like to try and hit symple rev swirling dyno. If I do it'll probably be my favorite trick. I don't do complicated tricks nearly enough. Almost makes me want to try to hit things like voodoo (or just merlin. . let's not fool ourselves) and WHAT!?!?

Darkshredder · Post by **Darkshredder** » 11 Nov 2008 20:00

the first thing that pops up on youtube when you type in footbag is Simple Plan calling it hacky sack and acting like douches.

. . .

we might as well shut down modified and .org now and play soccer.

they ruin my favorite style of rock and have now moved on to my favorite sport. Dayum. Can't wait till my Quantums come. I'm sick right now and sitting on my ass like a loaf of rotting oatmeal (which comes in loafs now, apparently) . As soon as they come I'm so shredding for like 8 hours straight. I'm coming back with a vengeance. So much so that I'm making a list of things I'm planning to hit this month:

janiwalker (props to Paul Agostinelli)

ps whirl > ps whirl

silo bs

toe barrage(s)
and the far-fetched move of the month?

whirr

yeah there's very little chance of me hitting that this month, nor is there the motivation to do so. I'm just putting it there so I'll remember to at least try it once a session. Whirr is one of those tricks like whirlwind and ripstein. When I hit them I'm just going to smile a little and say "I'm glad that's over with" and never hit it again unless I have to or if it would be really really funny.

in other news I'm doing well with level editing with Unreal's 3rd Editor. I'm remaking the incubation/cloning facility the people get chased into during Jurassic Park 2. I'm also playing entirely way too much Fable II and Gears of War II. My blood is now 67% coffee and I'm hoping to change all of this when I move to LA. Tea, footbag and money-making. That's on the agenda.

Monster is still the best energy soda. And I'm still going to try and get sponsored by them some time before they get sued during the upcoming war on energy drinks. It'll happen. I'll cry. Peace.

BenRea · Post by **BenRea** » 12 Nov 2008 00:01

janiwalker and whirr dude, fuck yeah!

come one wheres the excitement, those are two SWEET accomplishments! Props!