Rob's Add Sum

[Mathochist]

Rob reports being excited about the following:
1. His advent to the modified forum.
2. His first 4-add hit:
Yea, so I was at the last Czech shred session before Christmas, and present were only myself, Voita, and that fun skinny teenage shredder whose name I seem to have forgotten (edit- Kubaz). As of the last session, I had nearly hit whirl, and, dammit, I was bent on it for this session. Then I started shredding with Voita, who was acting like he was having an off day, even though he was still hitting super fun tricks. He did some whirls while I watched, taking all the mental notes I could. Then he sorta did a whirl but left his set leg out of it and went all osis with it. The mental notes were flying. After Voita decided to shred alone a while, I began to work on my whirls and "the like". Before I succeeded in doing a whirl, though, I did that osisesque whatsit. I was pretty excited too, so I asked Voita what that's called and how many adds it is. I knew that the blender, as he told me it's called, was a dex (1add) plus an osis (3add), but I just had to be sure that what I had just hit was really 4 adds. When he confirmed that, I totally got all psyched and high fived everyone in the room (both of them)!

[Mathochist]

Hitting that Blender was cool, and it satisfied my general goal of hitting 4add moves by '05. The two moves I had really wanted by then, though, are Ripwalk and Torque. So my clipper set mirages are ok at this point, but not very consistant or even very high. And I'm a far cry from hitting what I would call stepping. (Another problem afoot (yea, I guess that's a pun) is that, as a recreational topologist, I have difficulty mentally separating the two.) But even with only one week left, I think that if I keep throwing myself at these moves, one, maybe both of them will hit. That's all I can do for now.

Almost all that is. Still on the backburner are some important funtamental 2 and 3adds like pixies, fairies, maybe double legovers. All that important toe set stuff I should be working on since Ales fixed my toe sets for me.

Gotta keep on keepin' on.

[Outsider]

Hey Mathochist,

Nice job on the blender! Certainly a fun move. Or in your language, perhaps, a trick with a high fun coefficient.

Oh, and welcome to modified.

I just noticed the other day that somebody started up a footbag club in that other city you're from, The Big Easy or something. You should check the "whats new" button on footbag dot org and scan down just a couple entries.

Merry Christmas, Mathochist

[Mathochist]

Noticing today how much I'm addicted to those 4x weekly shred sessions in heated, spacious gyms, I cleared some space in my kitchen here at my dorm and went at alone for a while. I finally hit that whirl I was working on, and got swirl in to boot (boy does footbag lend itself to puns). So that's two more 3adds I've hit, albeit right footed both and neither flipside. My pixies are improving too, and I even managed a clean (frigid) dragon. Amply pleased with myself, I'ma go shower up.

Thanks for the head's up 'bout that club in Nawlins, John (and congrats on 300 posts). I hope Andrew responds to my email; we're totally gonna have the kickassest club the city has ever seen.

[Mathochist]

So I hit dimwalk today. Nothing special really, but it was especially complimented by the subsequent props from Vasek. This proved even cooler than the first time he gave me props, which was while I was in a circle with him. I was starting to hit dragons confidently, and I pulled one off in front of him, and he said, "Nice." This time, he wasn't even in a circle with me, just two meters over throwing down some funky trash with Voita. I hit the pixie butterfly (I'm sorry, dimwalk is just a dumb name.), which was sweet because it means my pixies are improving enough to be usable. He gave me props, and confirmed that it was clean, and made my day in one fell swoop.

Also of note: My blenders are dang near consistant, even weak side (kinda dang near), which is simultaneously improving the heck out of my osises(es). Sweet deal.

[footjam_heger]

crazy rob!! dimwalk?? in wolhusen you didnt play so good!!!! cool!! then you improved very well! in wolhusen you made some clippers, insidestalls, and things like that!
let's go rob!

[Mathochist]

And now, an assembly of randomly organized recent events and factoids of note pertaining to Rob's footbag career:

1. Today I totally spent like almost two grand on footbag stuff, namely:

3 tshirts, including Todexon 5 (very cool)
1 pair of footbag shorts, displaying Dexter's handsome visage and handsomer inside delay
1 DVD: "Tricks of the Trade 2"
2 planetfootbag bags, starbag and mars

2. Whirls are ever strengthening, hit two back to back.

3. Dexter hit Tornado and is consequently, if not otherwise, bad ass.

4. Pavel is very good at 4square.

5. TMS has bitchin videos, juggling and bartending skills, and is an all around swell guy.

6. Honza's leg needs to heal, as it has better things to do.



Also relevant, I simultaneously don't want to go home and can't wait to go home.

[Mathochist]

ok, some advice for those who may be inclined to twist their ankles on the tuesday of their last week of visiting prague: umm, don't.
this is seriously cramping my showing off to all my hacky sacking buds here at home with my fresh understanding of adds and dragons and all sortsa mad fun i learned in 4 months. not to mention just plain old not getting to play. i'll let my readers know, though, when i'm back on toppa stuff. in the mean time, and advice on recovering from sprains?


"Next episode, Blue Lazer. Next episode!!!!"

[mosher]

Nooooo!!!!

Ankles are the bane of so many footbag adventures!

Flimsy worthless things. I say amputate, then you will have nothing to twist, think about it.

I love your blog, keep it up.

ps I can't wait for the blue lazer!!

hey, speaking of lasers did you know that the original acronym was to be LOSER for Light Oscillating Something Eleven Rabbits, I may have messed up one of the words, you get the idea though. It didn't sound as bad ass as the technology *obviously* is so they changed it. I sure hope I didn't make that up.

[sergio]

Hey Rob!
blenders and dimwalks? Props, it seems you've improved a lot since november, I'm looking forward to shred with you again sometime.
I hope your flight home won't be too depressing.
And for your sprained ankle, I'd suggest some very light stretching, and most importantly rest!
see ya!

[footjam_heger]

back in usa?

[Hania]

hey Rob!
everybody who said that you're getting better and better very fast is completely right! I remeber you form Zocha Jam in Poland and then form Paris and you immproved a lot!! and blenders and dimwalks sounds sick
I know why you're getting that good... that's because of all those training sessions with Vasek and Czech crew.. ??
keep shreding!

[Mathochist]

Even with my nasty ankle, it's great to at least have these forums to distract my from power series solutions to differential equations. (Seriously, there's not too much theory behind this stuff, just a bunch of boring methods. Oh well, at least my professors' English is fluent again!) It's great; at first I started this blog thinking it was just gonna be for my purposes of recording goals and pragueress (HA!) and whatnot. Come to find out, I have readers! From all over the place! That's kind of funny; only one other American has posted on my blog, and I met him in Paris. But it's great to hear from my international peeps.

Hania: You're quite right, my previous training buddies were quite motivational. Also you right about how much I've improved, if only considering how much I remember sucking at Zocha Jam.
(Zocha Jam was my first organized footbag event, my first competition. It was properly humbling for me to go from being the best circle kicker on my block to meeting little kids who could school my Converse wearing self up and down the block.) Also, Hania, I commiserate with you about being injured. We will return stronger!

Sergio: Thanks for the advice, bro. I went for a bike ride yesterday, and I think that made for good light stretching, and appeased my need to do something active, if not shredding. Please let me know if you change your mind about selling me that Sergiobag.

Tom: cf. http://www.homestarrunner.com/commandos3.html for the Blue Laser reference. Rock, Rock On!

John, Flavio: I'll see you kids soon enough.


Feel the love.

[wolfpac444]

Hey Rob,
Differential equations can be sort of a hodpodge of things at times. I thought series solutions were a pretty cool idea. Coming from an algebra background, the one section of DEs that I enjoyed was solving to systems of ODEs using linear algebra techniques.

Hope your ankle gets better.

[Mathochist]

gasp! I got pushed to the second page. It's been too long.

The ankle is all but fully healed. I can't fully work it as I have in the past, but at least it can serve as a support leg again. As of this afternoon, when I played for a couple of hours at the school gym after class, I seem to be less dependant on clipper delays/sets. I started to hit serious, non-fluke pixies and am thus officially declaring dimwalk in my repetoire. Also, having hit both symposium mirage and pardox mirage, I consider PS mirage my likely next/third 4add, giving me a possible all 4add sick three. I have big plans to go in on that sick 3 online competition, regardless.

Oh, also of note, my friend got married in Vegas at the Excalibur. I totally got a picture of me hitting dragon in front of a big statue of a dragon there.

Hell yea.

PS. I gotta confess, power series solutions to differential equations are a pretty damn clever idea. I do always like it in math when we force things to go our way. I just find myself getting unnerved at approximations, since I'm not an engineer. So that's that.

[footjam_heger]

I consider PS mirage my likely next/third 4add, giving me a possible all 4add sick three. I have big plans to go in on that sick 3 online competition, regardless.

oh, rob... you improved very well since you shreded in wolhusen!!! by the way, i'll see you at the sick 3 online competition soon! battle: flavio wolhusen against rob creel new orleans
keep shredding

[Mathochist]

Yesterday was Mardi Gras in New Orleans, which is the Catholic holy day of drinking, nudity, and other indulgences, since today is Ash Wednesday, the Catholic holy day of giving something up for Lent, which is the season of 40 days before Easter, which is the day of Easter. So amidst my parade going, I of course indulged in my favorite vice, footbag. Since everyone dresses up in costumes and such, I took the opportunity to wear my footbag jersey for the first time.

So there I was, on the parade route Uptown, Zulu about to roll. I knew the ever prevalent, dirty, humid, filth laden funk of the city would be abounding on Fat Tuesday, so I whipped out my trash bag, which now has about as much dirt on the exterier of the bag as inside it. To please the crowds, I knew it best just to go for the longer strings, so I didn't hit anything too big, really. But I was alerted to the fact that I could stand to work on my string length more, well, now that my ankle's better at least. A couple of college guys joined in for a bit. Later a couple of drunk chicks. Wearing my name on my back, I was pretty approachable, which was nice. I was glad to have gotten some publicity for the sport. Alone again later, I worked on regular dragons, which I'm starting to hit frigid (i.e. without bailing into a dragonosis), even flipside.

I'd like at this point to preannounce, unofficially, my plan to host some sort of Jazz Fest footbag event. I was wanting to coordinate this with the club I was going to start when I got back home. Unfortunatly, I'm almost too busy to play much footbag, much less start a club. So this year the Jazz Fest event will have to be low key. I'm bent on doing something for it, though, especially now that I'm into freestyle, since I got my hacky sack start at about 8 years old at the fest. So if you want to know who's performing this year, check out www.nojazzfest.com. If you have any thoughts/ideas about an event and/or you know you'll be in town for the fest anyway, please let me know, here on the forum, or at [email protected]. I probably ought to make another announcement somewhere else, but like I said, this is preliminary and unofficial. Also, if the link above constitutes improper advertising on this platform, may a moderator please let me know.

That's it for now. Parkwalk to come!

[Mathochist]

Today's session was uninteresting, although the weather was great so I played outside. I wanted to school my string length but the only bag I had on me was the starbag I got in Prague, and that proved to be very light and rolled quite a bit. It was sufficient for further schooling my pixie sets, which I continue to get more satisfied with. Weakside dimwalk should be coming soon. So should parkwalk, which I tried for damn near an hour. I sort of hit it once, but it seemed to be missing an element, which was, I think, a plant on the catching foot. I'll have to check out what that's called. I persevere though. I'll hit that clean and soon. I'm sniffing my hard sought after dimwalk as well, perhaps sidewalk will follow. I really like that family of moves. Torque remains on the agenda as well.

Ahoj.

[Mathochist]

So I quite by accident met up with two other serious shredders today. I was pissed I didn't have my laver's on me, but I played ok anyway. Andrew and Mark are rather kickass, and it's really great to have others around near and above one's skill level to challange one's self. I did get to show off my knowledge of trick names. They were pretty impressed with my blenders and whirls too. This is totally about to become a regular thing. I'm psyched as snot.

[Mathochist]

Weakside toe kicks!