Mosher's Footblog

Shaun · Post by **Shaun** » 24 May 2005 15:51

After being gone for a while and reading the last few pages. Seems like everything is going pretty good for yah. Your bags look so nice.

mosher · Post by **mosher** » 27 May 2005 12:20

Thanks for the comments Shaun.

Hey everybody, sorry I am a sucky blogger now.

So here is a life update to catch you up. Remember all those classes I was certain I was going to fail? Yeah I scraped out THREE 50's! I got a 55 and a fail too. I totally didn't deserve or earn those passing marks but Vida made a good point that I should take that as a sign and I *cannot* fuck up any more!

I have one year of school left, ever. Like.. this is it, this is going to be my last first day of classes and my last set of class schedules to memorize and ultimately my last set of final exams ever! whee!

I am VERY done with this hellish process of months of lustless 'learning' followed by weeks of passion filled mental terror during exams.

My order of facile came and I have started making facile 32's again finally. I just finished a sweet ass white hex and red-ish-maroon pent bag. I came across some lead shot (yes, I realize this is deadly, don't jump on me!) and decided to try out and experimental filler. I filled the bag with ALOT of lead shot and some poly pellets. I have never used either in my bags so this is fun!
It feels insane! I don't know who to sell him to, it has to be someone who is already down with lead in their bags.

SOMEONE MAKE ME AN OFFER!!!

The bag is veerrry choice and whoever gets it will love it. I am very proud of this bag.

I love bag making! I have been doing ALOT of it!
I mailed a sweet red/blue spiral bag to Lise Thygesen along with a rock and some of my hair to Asmus Helms.

I am making a bright blue/dark blue spiral patterned bag right now, who wants it? someone PM me.

I am VERY happy with how my bags are coming out! I can finally stab up a bag that looks like a pro made it!
Speaking of pro's making bags I disected two of my old choice bags!

I took apart an old beatup Carol and a dead Felix!

This taught me several things, the first obvious thing was that they both stitch almost identically. Their stitching style is much simpler than mine, they use a single thread and they just do 6 normal stitches per side and one straight through the hexes connecting them.
I realised yesterday that the simplicity of their stitching style is also inherently it's weakness! That style produces one loop of thread circling each pentagon which is just ASKING to break!

My style is really hard to describe but I just figured out last night that my unorthodoxe stabbing style is what is making my bags turn out so broken in feeling lately.

Oh yeah, thats another thing, my bags start out feeling pretty choice, I am stoked on that! My bags can be shredded well on day one! Beat that abshire!

I don't ever want to hear someone say "Ive had my mosher bag for months now and the shitty thing won't break in"

I really want to hear people genuinely glowing with excitement over their bag.

I have to get more of these things out to people!

Guess who else has been actively stitching alot? Vida!
She stayed up last night making her second FACILE 32!

I woke up to a pile of excited messages from her about how sweet her 32 came out! She wanted me to come over so I could see how hot the guts of the bag were before she sealed it up. I am so excited and glad that she is really taking pride in making nice bags and she wants to show off her hard work. 32's are such great accomplishments and I am really inspired by her motivation and drive to make bags.
I can't wait to see her newest one! Her stitching so far looks REALLY good! She has impressive stitch consistency... except when she is drunk.

I am going to go stab up a bag. It will be choice. I can feel it in my fingers.

Oh yeah! and I play footbag too! here's some stuff I have hit recently:
- clip double pick bsos, one to inside
- rev-up bsos
- reaper bs
- paradon>twirl
- lots of tootsie roll stuff
- xbd toe stuff

and I am sick and tired of the people that say that setting surface negates uniqueness.

The only reason they say that is so that they can keep their boring ass styles boring ass and not have to use different and cool setting surfaces.

They claim that making less things count as unique forces people to work harder to earn the uniques and keeps things from getting homoginized and stale - but it has done just the opposite!! People don't get rewarded for using cool surfaces so shit just gets boring and homoginized because there is no point in making the trick harder if you don't earn anything for it.

I hate competition.

ighgkjlsf;alds

oh yeah, on that note, I should also mention that I love competition!
I have started planning out my routine for this summer's footbag tournaments.
I am using a springy number with some chick singing in romanian or something. It's got lots of great parts that will work well for punctuation and all that shit that the judges want to see.

I tried playing footbag to the song after having listened to it obsessively for days and I found out that 'drilling' a routine is alot more work than drilling a trick. 2 minutes is so god damned long!!!

I will keep working at it and soon I think I will have something I can throw out.

But there is something I have been pondering, what level should I compete at?

I remember thinking last year at worlds that David Clavens had been playing about a year longer than me when he won intermediate and so that meant that the next year at worlds I will have been playing as long as he had when he won and that seemed like a worthy goal.

we'll see how it goes I guess.

I think I am still definately an intermdiate level player but I would rather take last in open than ever get shit from people for sandbagging.

oh well.. it's all just silly games anyways.

Silly games that I REALLY hope I can be a part of.
I am in talks with my Dad right now regarding if a trip to europe is worth the costs and what not.
I am going to win this discussion, I MUST make it to euros and worlds!
they are my mecca!
Combined they are the most desired thing I can imagine making it to this summer.

I salivate thinking of 2 weeks in europe pissing about with footbag players doing footbag things and living a very footbag life.

I am starving.
More typing later, I love my blog again, I like having somewhere to spew all this crap out.
I wonder if anyone actually reads it all anymore.

habitat · Post by **habitat** » 27 May 2005 12:27

david clavens eh?

def compete open mosh, you have too many moves in your play book to be intermediate

I haven't had the joy of making a 32 panel yet. 4 panels=not worth my time and effort. fuck i hate stitching 4 panels, wait this is your blog

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 27 May 2005 12:36

Yeah Tom - you really should compete open. David was way above is his level competing in intermediate - don't compare yourself to him.

mosher · Post by **mosher** » 27 May 2005 13:05

Oh yeah, and I have a bunch of various footbag related pins for sale.

Anyone wanna buy some?

pleeeeease!

HG · Post by HG » 27 May 2005 13:13

Ill Buy a free 4 panel

Henry Griese
224 N. Van Buren Street
Stoughton, Wisconsin, USA
53589

I am gonna nag you til you give in tommy boy

Sporatical_Distractions · Post by **Sporatical_Distractions** » 27 May 2005 14:21

mosher wrote:
SOMEONE MAKE ME AN OFFER!!!

sounds like my old mini that I loved and lost

i'll give you $25

mosher · Post by **mosher** » 27 May 2005 14:33

Sporatical_Distractions wrote:
mosher wrote:
SOMEONE MAKE ME AN OFFER!!!

sounds like my old mini that I loved and lost i'll give you $25

Shaun beat you to it unfortunately. Do you want to buy the spiral bag I am almost finished? It will be sweet and unique.

Shaun · Post by **Shaun** » 27 May 2005 15:27

He might be able to grab it, I am not sure if I will have the $ right away. I will reply in like 3 days if I have the $ for it.

crazydwarf · Post by **crazydwarf** » 27 May 2005 16:49

But there is something I have been pondering, what level should I compete at?

Don't do intermidiate! I think I'm going to be forced to compete (ok I actually do want to just to see what it feels like) in intermidiate and I am no where near your level:D If your playing intermediate too I will look even worse

shreddaily · Post by **shreddaily** » 28 May 2005 15:05

I may be alone on this but I say go intermediate Moshman.

I don't care how good you are if you haven't won an intermediate competition GO INTERMEDIATE!!! It feels great to get a victory under you're belt. I know lots of people gave clavens crap but he should have gone intermediate too. If you've never competed on a big stage b4 u have no idea what you're in store 4. If you win great, the only downside is you have to get called a sandbagger by crazy moddies, but more people will give you props. If you lose, than you know where you are and can practice for the next one. However if you go open, even if you rock out you probably won't place well, and if you mess up a bit you messed up as a pro.
anyway go intermediate until you win an int comp...to all a goodnight.

Sporatical_Distractions · Post by **Sporatical_Distractions** » 28 May 2005 15:16

mosher wrote: Shaun beat you to it unfortunately. Do you want to buy the spiral bag I am almost finished? It will be sweet and unique.

no

Shaun · Post by **Shaun** » 28 May 2005 20:28

You can take that one, I am not interested any longer.

mosher · Post by **mosher** » 28 May 2005 21:49

Both those posts were useless, you coulda PMed that shit to me.

To make this post not useless I will talk about today's shred with Jared and Derrick.

1 - Jared can shred now! like.. strings with combos and links and tricks!!
2 - Derrick can shred guiltless if he wants and his strings often REALLY resemble mine, he can do stuff I can't
3 - I had a run that started with pheonix, had a blurry whirl In the middle and ended on pdx torque, it was my 5 add run.
4 - whirl>rev whirl rpt is alot of fun
5 - i footed whirl>rev whirl>pdx whirl rpt first try
6 - I can spin waaay better now! I was repeating spins all over the place
7 - pdx blender first try
8 - pheonix>pdx torque first try
9 - I want so bad to be a crazy spinner. I have had aspirations my whole life of being able to be doing something, spin a million times, and then keep doing whatever the thing was, footbag is going to be my chance to make this happen!
10 - Vida makes facile 32's now!!! She has made 6 32's and she is totally developing her own style! She listened carefully to the things I taught her and now she is going her own directions (as I had hoped) and making up her own mind as to how a bag should be made
11 - pdx flail both sides finally
12 - pogowalk bs then bsos and maybe b2b, i fucking love pogowalk!!!! I hit sidewalk>pogowalk in a string
13 - i hit full "symp" sidewalk bs, that trick is going to be rearing it's stylish head alot in my game alot I bet
14 - I am going to start doing fs/bs ripwalks just for the fact that they are something a little.. more.. than just a ripwalk. eff adds, I want all the cool points.
15 - I hate feeling bored because all i can ever think of is the song lyric I like "if you're bored then you must be boring too". whenever I think that I get up and do something that is anything other than feeling bored because I dont want to declare myself boring by default
16 - people suck

hacksterbator · Post by **hacksterbator** » 28 May 2005 22:12

mosher wrote:16 - people suck

word.

i'm in need of a new bag soonish. and i still haven't found the stitcher for me yet. maybe we can work some thing out? i'll pm you later when i have the time.

mosher · Post by **mosher** » 30 May 2005 22:39

Hey guys, thanks for giving me confidence in going intermediate.
I really really don't feel even close to open level yet, last night I ended my session by giving up on hitting pickup>illusion rpt.

I just couldn't make my tired legs get in place to catch anything anymore and I felt so weak.

Nate Pimpenhouse made a good point that going intermediate means I have a way better chance of making it to the second round and getting to compete more than once, which gives me more opportunity to get experience up on stage.

I am not sure if being up on stage terrifies me or not.

I want to put together a routine I can actually hit, I think right now I am making it too technically difficult. I need to slow it down a bit so that I don't lose all my energy halfway through. Perhaps some of the repeating ripwalks will have to be cut.

I have no idea what the likelyhood that I will make it to Europe is.
My dad has hinted that its a possibility.. I want to know so badly how genuinely possible it is.

Maybe I can offer to pay back some portion of the plane ticket to my parents to offset some of the dent.. hmmmm...

I want to go so bad!!

I am getting so psyched up for this!

My fingers are crossed that this doesn't end in horrible disappointment, it'd be my fault for getting my hopes up anyways.

jon · Post by **jon** » 31 May 2005 06:14

Hey tom,
If you are going intermediate remember that intermediate routines are a minute and a half and not two minutes (at least last worlds they were). I made that mistake last year. I also made the mistake of trying to go with a routine that was too hard to do without a lot of drops. It seems like the most important thing for a routine is having a few drops and great choreography. Try watching Dylan’s routines if you can and as one judge said, “try to tell a story” with your routine. When I went to worlds I had never really practiced any of my routine to the song and the routine itself was more of a long drill that I ended up ditching half way through the comp :p I used to think it was hokey to try and be all artistic with the routines and really disliked when players paused during the routines but that’s what people seem to like and will help your score. Judges want crowd interaction, shred to the music, and few or no drops. GOOD LUCK

mosher · Post by **mosher** » 31 May 2005 06:18

Yeah, my goal is to make something that i can hit with minimal drops.

The whole thing is going to be riddled with choreography but I have no idea how feasibly achievable it is.

I'll have to start practicing it more and more at least to get a feel for when the major transition points to remember are.

and THANK YOU for pointing out that they are 1.5 mins not 2!

I had been planning for 2 all along!

I will have to refine some of my thinking and confirm that this is indeed the case.

mosher · Post by **mosher** » 31 May 2005 07:31

It began in Africa-ca-ca-ca-ca-ca-ca-ca-ca-ca-ca-ca-ca-ca-ca-ca-ca-ca-ca-ca-ca-ca

Sam C is so cool.

When I was in Ottawa and all that poopy stuff happened I also got to talk to Sam for my first time on AIM and then also on the phone.
We made use of his free long distance and chatted for a while. He is so original and interesting. I feel honoured that I got to talk with him.

I hate stitching 4-panel bags.

It's totally impossible to make the bag look as good as should be warranted for the effort you put in.

32's are just way more worth my time.

I am making one right now with the Carol/Felix stitch and I am not enjoying it. I guess I just havn't used it long enough to get efficient at it, but I know I will be going straight back to my supermagicalmega stitch as soon as this stupid thing is done.
It looks good at least..

I did some thinking and I noticed that my style also puts the floss pressures in such a respect as to put zero force on the "knot" (I melt instead).

It is really scary being a bag stitcher. It is very hard not to be self conscious about the bags you make. You can see your own flaws so boldly. I am sometimes uncomfortable with the thought of people sitting there inspecting my stitches for flaws and so on.. I guess it comes with the territory of being a bag stitcher. you sorta put yourself out on the line. Also.. I am so afraid of my bags breaking!
I have put alot of thought into ways of ensuring bag durability and so far at the very least the stitching end of things seems to be the strong link in the chain.
At least so far the stitching outlasts the material in every bag I make.

I befriended a spider the other day.. and now there is this new spider here that looks JUST like the other one.. How do I know if it's not the same dude and he just came back to see me?
We hung out for a while the other day and I let him walk all over me, I was hoping he'd bite me and give me super footbag powers.
I will try again...

okay.. he doesn't seem to be much of a biter, he crawled on me for a bit to no avail.

The other day I was walking down the street and I saw in the display of a running shoe store a pair of shoes that looked totally shreddable with some mods. The other part of the shoe that caught my eye was the little spider walking around on it! It was identical to the one that I befriended on my desk the last two days (who I also saw the day prior in the same spot) which seemed a little wierd at the time.

I went in the next day and tried them on, the only one in my size was the spider shoe in the window! The person went and got it and brought it over and it still had the same live spider from the day prior!
Wiieerrddd
The shoe is the New Balance 006 (yes, double oh six, not six hundred) and it is most definately shreddable.

I always used to think that that old saying about not killing a spider because it means it'll rain the next day was always actually meant just for me because it always seemed to rain when I killed spiders but now I am willing to believe that perhaps there is a network of people to which this saying applies.

So yeah, theres something going on with spiders, I think I am connected to spiders and wind somehow.

I also really used to want this spandex racing ski suit made by Spyder when I was into skiing.. that counts too.

shreddaily · Post by **shreddaily** » 31 May 2005 12:10

mosher wrote:Hey guys, thanks for giving me confidence in going intermediate.
Nate Pimpenhouse made a good point that going intermediate means I have a way better chance of making it to the second round and getting to compete more than once, which gives me more opportunity to get experience up on stage.

Am I tripping???wasn't I the only one to say go intermediate???I must be missing something?to make this not wastful...
I think people are rigged about uniques ONLY IN SHRED 30. Just because outside set dimwalk isn't unique in shred 30 its still cool and different and will get you props in a circle. shred 30 has been set up to make big powerful fast shred get the most points, I think thats cool! because circle kicking isn't shred 30 and vice versa....