Good luck for your shred 30 man
Fanzine
Damnit Alex, you should have wished me good luck in Sick 3 instead!!! 
Alright, I'll get to that story later. But for now just some general thoughts.
I can count the number of drinks I've had at these worlds on both hands. I think its been like 5 beers total, and then some Vodka with the Russians. I'm partying really cleanly, and its a ton of fun. I think its also helping me do well in competition, like, my body feels pretty good everyday. I've also been eating granola and yogurt for breakfast everyday, as well as a rye bread sandwich. Feels nice to eat good bread for a change, cause you can't really find hearty breads in Japan. Yesterday my face hurt from laughing so hard. There have been a couple nights here where my sides really ached from non-stop laughing. It reminds me of the days of NYFA.
Yesterday I watched some of the best net matches of my life. Eric Wulff and Chris Siebert vs. Manu and JF. 2 roll spikers in one match! I really wanted that match to go to 3, just for the sake of the spectators. Siebert was moustrapping everything, and there were some good roll spikes too. Very entertaining. With high level net, you almost forget how hard the bag is, because they're so good at making the bag go precisely where they want to. Reinforced my delusion that I will become a net player when I retire from freestyle.
Yesterday was 90% really awesome, and 10% total nightmare. The 10% nightmare deserves a humorous write-up, so I'll do it later, but it has to do with me getting on the wrong tram and consequently not getting a real chance to do Sick3. But still, because I made Sick3 finals, they hooked me up with an all-day pass for the rides at the amusement park! I really doubt there is anybody at the tournament who would be more excited about that than me. I strapped it on and was like: "I'm going to abuse the shit out of this!"
Yesterday's freestyle event was held in an amusement park, and it totally reminded me of all the vids from 1998. I had the urge to freestyle with everybody, but I figured it would really be criminal to waste my wristband, so I ended up playing a grand total of 10 minutes yesterday. Thats not a figure of speech either, I mean I literally played 10 minutes total all day. Luckily I managed to have a 30 second span of droplessness in there, so theres a chance I may compete today.
Gonna go keep up that healthy dietary regimen now. Love from Hel-town!
Alright, I'll get to that story later. But for now just some general thoughts.
I can count the number of drinks I've had at these worlds on both hands. I think its been like 5 beers total, and then some Vodka with the Russians. I'm partying really cleanly, and its a ton of fun. I think its also helping me do well in competition, like, my body feels pretty good everyday. I've also been eating granola and yogurt for breakfast everyday, as well as a rye bread sandwich. Feels nice to eat good bread for a change, cause you can't really find hearty breads in Japan. Yesterday my face hurt from laughing so hard. There have been a couple nights here where my sides really ached from non-stop laughing. It reminds me of the days of NYFA.
Yesterday I watched some of the best net matches of my life. Eric Wulff and Chris Siebert vs. Manu and JF. 2 roll spikers in one match! I really wanted that match to go to 3, just for the sake of the spectators. Siebert was moustrapping everything, and there were some good roll spikes too. Very entertaining. With high level net, you almost forget how hard the bag is, because they're so good at making the bag go precisely where they want to. Reinforced my delusion that I will become a net player when I retire from freestyle.
Yesterday was 90% really awesome, and 10% total nightmare. The 10% nightmare deserves a humorous write-up, so I'll do it later, but it has to do with me getting on the wrong tram and consequently not getting a real chance to do Sick3. But still, because I made Sick3 finals, they hooked me up with an all-day pass for the rides at the amusement park!
I really doubt there is anybody at the tournament who would be more excited about that than me. I strapped it on and was like: "I'm going to abuse the shit out of this!" Yesterday's freestyle event was held in an amusement park, and it totally reminded me of all the vids from 1998. I had the urge to freestyle with everybody, but I figured it would really be criminal to waste my wristband, so I ended up playing a grand total of 10 minutes yesterday. Thats not a figure of speech either, I mean I literally played 10 minutes total all day. Luckily I managed to have a 30 second span of droplessness in there, so theres a chance I may compete today.
Gonna go keep up that healthy dietary regimen now. Love from Hel-town!
C-Fan wrote:It had been my dream for quite some time to play a non-footbag game with a bunch of freestylers, and yesterday I finally got my wish! Worlds is rocking so far.
Look at them go!
Same picture found larger at this address: http://www.footbag.org/gallery/show/5165
Ville Laakso
Jyväskylän Footbag-klubi - Jyväskylä Footbag Club
Jyväskylän Footbag-klubi - Jyväskylä Footbag Club
Overall Worlds impression
Score.
I got back today from Finland, with no problems whatsoever. I`m in Kyoto now, chilling at Adam Catt`s place. I feel like collapsing... my body is just completely spent. The last couple nights in Finland I hardly slept, but I kept playing footbag. I figured I`d catch up on sleep on the plane, but I figured wrong. Lugging around heavy bags in 30 degree celsius weather didn`t make things easier either. But now I`m sitting down, listening to Adam playing classical guitar, having a beer, and updating the blog. All is right with the world. I`m totally going to sleep for 10 plus hours tonight.
Right on, so I`ve had some time to reflect on my week, and I have to say that this was probably the best Worlds I`ve attended. How one feels about Worlds is a combination of two things: what objectively happened, and how they subjectively perceived those events. By either standard, I think this Worlds overtakes Prague 03 as the best tourney I`ve hit up.
In the objective realm, you have to give big credit to the organizers. I really think this was one of the best run tournies I`ve been to. The net and freestyle sites were real near each other, the host hotels and hostels were all ridiculously close to the site, the event ran on time (in some cases ahead of time), the event sites were great, there was an event at an amusement park, results were posted quickly, registration went off without a hitch, and there was good sponsorship. The whole thing felt real professional. Big big thank you to all the event organizers. Congratulations on a tournament well run.
On the subjective side, the tournament was also huge. I feel like I really got to know a bunch of players a lot better. I was a bit apprehensive, going into the tourney, because so many of my friends weren`t going, but as it turned out, that just meant that I had more time to get to know other players better, which was extremely rewarding. I drank hardly at all this tournament. I was extremely clean, but I had a better time than when I drink. There were a couple nigths when I hung out with Josh Benham and Alex Strassman when my face and stomach actually hurt at the end of the night, because I had laughed so much. I also got to know Takumi a lot better; I felt we really bonded.
Shredwise, it sort of seemed like people didn`t play all that much. Still, I had a few good sessions during the week. I feel like I played pretty well, and saw a lot of good stuff too. I didn`t burn out either, because I mixed things up by playing net, basketball, foursquare, and even spent a day rocking out at the amusement park.
I have a ton of notes in my real journal, so I`ll flesh this out later. But thought I`d throw down my initial overall impression, my thumbs up. I hope this was coherent, considering how my eyes are burning from lack of sleep.
I got back today from Finland, with no problems whatsoever. I`m in Kyoto now, chilling at Adam Catt`s place. I feel like collapsing... my body is just completely spent. The last couple nights in Finland I hardly slept, but I kept playing footbag. I figured I`d catch up on sleep on the plane, but I figured wrong. Lugging around heavy bags in 30 degree celsius weather didn`t make things easier either. But now I`m sitting down, listening to Adam playing classical guitar, having a beer, and updating the blog. All is right with the world. I`m totally going to sleep for 10 plus hours tonight.
Right on, so I`ve had some time to reflect on my week, and I have to say that this was probably the best Worlds I`ve attended. How one feels about Worlds is a combination of two things: what objectively happened, and how they subjectively perceived those events. By either standard, I think this Worlds overtakes Prague 03 as the best tourney I`ve hit up.
In the objective realm, you have to give big credit to the organizers. I really think this was one of the best run tournies I`ve been to. The net and freestyle sites were real near each other, the host hotels and hostels were all ridiculously close to the site, the event ran on time (in some cases ahead of time), the event sites were great, there was an event at an amusement park, results were posted quickly, registration went off without a hitch, and there was good sponsorship. The whole thing felt real professional. Big big thank you to all the event organizers. Congratulations on a tournament well run.
On the subjective side, the tournament was also huge. I feel like I really got to know a bunch of players a lot better. I was a bit apprehensive, going into the tourney, because so many of my friends weren`t going, but as it turned out, that just meant that I had more time to get to know other players better, which was extremely rewarding. I drank hardly at all this tournament. I was extremely clean, but I had a better time than when I drink. There were a couple nigths when I hung out with Josh Benham and Alex Strassman when my face and stomach actually hurt at the end of the night, because I had laughed so much. I also got to know Takumi a lot better; I felt we really bonded.
Shredwise, it sort of seemed like people didn`t play all that much. Still, I had a few good sessions during the week. I feel like I played pretty well, and saw a lot of good stuff too. I didn`t burn out either, because I mixed things up by playing net, basketball, foursquare, and even spent a day rocking out at the amusement park.
I have a ton of notes in my real journal, so I`ll flesh this out later. But thought I`d throw down my initial overall impression, my thumbs up. I hope this was coherent, considering how my eyes are burning from lack of sleep.
Last edited by C-Fan on 03 Aug 2005 20:27, edited 2 times in total.
Worlds 2005 in Helsinki
You comfy? I mean really comfortable. Go get a blanket, some cookies, and a drink. Maybe a pillow too. Cause this is my first entry in my worlds blog, and while I can`t promise you it will be entertaining, I CAN promise you it will be long. So get settled, cause here we go.
7/21 Yesterday I had my last day of work, and today I moved out of my apartment and to Tokyo. The last few days have been an emotional blur of goodbyes, deep bowing, sending packages home, and writing down my e-mail address. When I finally get to Tokyo and dump my stuff off at a friend`s apartment, I feel like the Iwate chapter of my life has closed. I take a minute to catch my breath. At last, I no longer have to worry about moving out, and can focus on Worlds. When am I leaving again? Oh yeah, TOMORROW! 
It would probably be a good idea to get some routine music, and maybe a hotel reservation as well.
I pack my bag for Worlds, making sure that every shirt can double as a shred shirt as well as a casual shirt. I`m real tempted to bring my jinbei (traditional Japanese summer clothes), but decide it takes up too much space. I get all my stuff in my duffel bag, then call Kim about my routine CD. He says I can meet him at work tomorrow to pick it up, so I take advantage of the last few hours of sun to go to Yoyogi park to practice for worlds.
I hadn`t played footbag in 3 days, because I gave away my pair of practice lavers to a Morioka footbag beginner who didn`t have lavers. I was also too busy to play anyway. Last time I was in Tokyo, I left my good lavers at my friends house, so this was also my first session back in my good lavers in over a month. I readjusted to them pretty fast. It felt kinda weird playing in Yoyogi by myself, but it also kinda centered me. I took my time warming up, and did a good job of mixing up Worlds practice (sick3 and Shred 30) with just doing fun runs. I hit my sick 3 three times, which raised my confidence because I wasn`t trying too hard. Ewalk-fog-tobius. I also started a string with fog-toebius-infinity, which felt good because I normally seal my sick 3 with a hand catch. I also hit fog-jawa-WHAT?! for the first time, which felt like it had Sick 3 potential.
7/22 Did some more research into lodging for Worlds, and it looks like most places are booked. Still, I feel real confident that things will work out. Because Worlds starts tomorrow, I followed an old-skool Japanese tradition and ate miso-katsu for lunch. Breaded meat cutlets are called "katsu" in Japanese. I`ve heard that the reason for this is that Japanese people couldn`t pronounce the word "cutlet" real well, so "katsu" was the closest approximation. Anyway, the word "katsu" in Japanese also means "to win." So, back in the day, Japanese people would eat "katsu" before a tournament in the hope of "katsu." Get it? Later on when I met up with Kim, I told him why I ate katsu and he laughed at how old-school that was.
I made a running joke of it too; whenever somebody wished me good luck at worlds, I would pump my fist and yell: "MISO!" Then correct myself; " I mean, KATSU!" 
It kinda made my friends nervous though, like they thought it was bad luck.
Anyway, Kim edited 2 songs down to two minutes for me, and once I had the CD in my pocket, I felt a bit more ready for worlds. I had to chuckle to myself though, because of the contrast between this year and last year. Last year, I had reserved my hotel room by February, and had been practicing to my routine songs on CD at least 2 months before worlds. This year, I got my routine music the day before I got on the plane, and was leaving without any hotel reservations. Still, I figured things would work out, if only because I ate miso-katsu.
7/21 Yesterday I had my last day of work, and today I moved out of my apartment and to Tokyo. The last few days have been an emotional blur of goodbyes, deep bowing, sending packages home, and writing down my e-mail address. When I finally get to Tokyo and dump my stuff off at a friend`s apartment, I feel like the Iwate chapter of my life has closed. I take a minute to catch my breath. At last, I no longer have to worry about moving out, and can focus on Worlds. When am I leaving again? Oh yeah, TOMORROW!
It would probably be a good idea to get some routine music, and maybe a hotel reservation as well. I pack my bag for Worlds, making sure that every shirt can double as a shred shirt as well as a casual shirt. I`m real tempted to bring my jinbei (traditional Japanese summer clothes), but decide it takes up too much space. I get all my stuff in my duffel bag, then call Kim about my routine CD. He says I can meet him at work tomorrow to pick it up, so I take advantage of the last few hours of sun to go to Yoyogi park to practice for worlds.
I hadn`t played footbag in 3 days, because I gave away my pair of practice lavers to a Morioka footbag beginner who didn`t have lavers. I was also too busy to play anyway. Last time I was in Tokyo, I left my good lavers at my friends house, so this was also my first session back in my good lavers in over a month. I readjusted to them pretty fast. It felt kinda weird playing in Yoyogi by myself, but it also kinda centered me. I took my time warming up, and did a good job of mixing up Worlds practice (sick3 and Shred 30) with just doing fun runs. I hit my sick 3 three times, which raised my confidence because I wasn`t trying too hard. Ewalk-fog-tobius. I also started a string with fog-toebius-infinity, which felt good because I normally seal my sick 3 with a hand catch. I also hit fog-jawa-WHAT?! for the first time, which felt like it had Sick 3 potential.
7/22 Did some more research into lodging for Worlds, and it looks like most places are booked. Still, I feel real confident that things will work out. Because Worlds starts tomorrow, I followed an old-skool Japanese tradition and ate miso-katsu for lunch. Breaded meat cutlets are called "katsu" in Japanese. I`ve heard that the reason for this is that Japanese people couldn`t pronounce the word "cutlet" real well, so "katsu" was the closest approximation. Anyway, the word "katsu" in Japanese also means "to win." So, back in the day, Japanese people would eat "katsu" before a tournament in the hope of "katsu." Get it? Later on when I met up with Kim, I told him why I ate katsu and he laughed at how old-school that was.
I made a running joke of it too; whenever somebody wished me good luck at worlds, I would pump my fist and yell: "MISO!" Then correct myself; " I mean, KATSU!" It kinda made my friends nervous though, like they thought it was bad luck. Anyway, Kim edited 2 songs down to two minutes for me, and once I had the CD in my pocket, I felt a bit more ready for worlds. I had to chuckle to myself though, because of the contrast between this year and last year. Last year, I had reserved my hotel room by February, and had been practicing to my routine songs on CD at least 2 months before worlds. This year, I got my routine music the day before I got on the plane, and was leaving without any hotel reservations. Still, I figured things would work out, if only because I ate miso-katsu.
1st day of Worlds
7/23 Woke up at 5 am in order to catch my plane. Because I bought tickets to Worlds so late, I had to get a flight out of Osaka. This meant I had to fly from Tokyo to Osaka first, so here I was, leaving my friend`s apartment pumping my fist: "MISO!" I made it to Osaka no problem, read the first 100 pages of a Phillip K. Dick book, and got on the plane. I slept a good 7 hours of the 10 hour flight, oblivious to the fact that I barely missed a Richter 6 quake in Tokyo. I touch down in Helsinki feeling good. I even ate the plane food, which wasn`t bad. I was surprised that the guy at passport control knew what "footbag" was, without me even saying "hacky." Maybe thats why Europe is so good.
My first experience in Helsinki is running to the bathroom, and being shocked that there are no urinals, just toilets. I thought to myself: "wow, this is a strange cultural difference. I wonder if Finnish men are shy about peeing next to each other or something? Thats the interesting thing about travelling to other countries, the subtle differences." I go into a toilet and think about the "royale with cheese" speech as I pee. When I wash my hands, I`m a little surprised when I see a Finnish woman walk into the bathroom and give me a weird look on her way to the toilet. Then I hear a real big *click* in my head, as I realize what the real situation is. D`oh! I dash out the bathroom with a meek "sorry", and sure enough I see that the logo on the women`s bathroom has a real slim skirt, which I guess I missed.
I get out some Euros, then ask information how to get to Kaivopuisto Park. The lady at the info desk cracks a really wide smile at my pronunciation, then says a word back at me that sounds completely different. I raise my eyebrows and point at her with both index fingers: "yeah, that. How do I get there?" For somebody who is supposedly good at languages, I was really abysmal with Finnish pronunciation. All week I pretty much limited myself to 3 words in Finnish: moi (hello), kiitos (thank you), and Muuuuumi! (Moomin, a cute Finnish cartoon character who looks like a white hippo). Oh yeah, and Daaaaaaaaaim! But more on that later.
I work the buses and trams decently, and get to the site with few problems. I stop at a convenience store first, and see some people I don`t recognize in lavers walk out. "Hey footbaggers!" They nod back at me "hey!" I don`t think anybody recognizes me, which is kinda sad considering I`m one of, what, 5 non-white players in the sport? As I approach the shred site, I can`t suppress a huge smile. No matter how many tournies you`ve hit, you still get that big rush of excitement shooting up your spine when you see the circles of shredders playing in the distance.
I can`t really recall who was the first face I saw, it almost feels like I saw a bunch of people all at once. Mikko Lepisto, Tom Mosher, Chris Kovacs, and Jorden Moir were all amongst the very first for sure. I dumped my bag near some others, and changed to shorts almost immediately. I probably should have been asking around for floor space, but I figured I deserved a reward for making it to the site, so I hopped in some circles first.
EDITED: added embarassing content.
My first experience in Helsinki is running to the bathroom, and being shocked that there are no urinals, just toilets. I thought to myself: "wow, this is a strange cultural difference. I wonder if Finnish men are shy about peeing next to each other or something? Thats the interesting thing about travelling to other countries, the subtle differences." I go into a toilet and think about the "royale with cheese" speech as I pee. When I wash my hands, I`m a little surprised when I see a Finnish woman walk into the bathroom and give me a weird look on her way to the toilet. Then I hear a real big *click* in my head, as I realize what the real situation is. D`oh!
I dash out the bathroom with a meek "sorry", and sure enough I see that the logo on the women`s bathroom has a real slim skirt, which I guess I missed. I get out some Euros, then ask information how to get to Kaivopuisto Park. The lady at the info desk cracks a really wide smile at my pronunciation, then says a word back at me that sounds completely different. I raise my eyebrows and point at her with both index fingers: "yeah, that. How do I get there?"
For somebody who is supposedly good at languages, I was really abysmal with Finnish pronunciation. All week I pretty much limited myself to 3 words in Finnish: moi (hello), kiitos (thank you), and Muuuuumi! (Moomin, a cute Finnish cartoon character who looks like a white hippo). Oh yeah, and Daaaaaaaaaim! But more on that later.I work the buses and trams decently, and get to the site with few problems. I stop at a convenience store first, and see some people I don`t recognize in lavers walk out. "Hey footbaggers!" They nod back at me "hey!" I don`t think anybody recognizes me, which is kinda sad considering I`m one of, what, 5 non-white players in the sport?
As I approach the shred site, I can`t suppress a huge smile. No matter how many tournies you`ve hit, you still get that big rush of excitement shooting up your spine when you see the circles of shredders playing in the distance. I can`t really recall who was the first face I saw, it almost feels like I saw a bunch of people all at once. Mikko Lepisto, Tom Mosher, Chris Kovacs, and Jorden Moir were all amongst the very first for sure. I dumped my bag near some others, and changed to shorts almost immediately. I probably should have been asking around for floor space, but I figured I deserved a reward for making it to the site, so I hopped in some circles first.
EDITED: added embarassing content.
The first new footbagger I met was Yanna (sp?) from the Czech Republic. I was real impressed that she had only been playing a couple years. I guess you get good form when you learn from Ales. I also played with Mikko, who looked solid, but I thought he was solid last year too. I played with footfighter bags for the first time, and for the most part they were good. Played with Riku Ahola for the first time, and thought he had the best hair at the tourney, a real good black mohawk.
One of the very first circles I jumped into was with Mikko Lepisto and Jorden Moir. I was going after Jorden, and when he missed blurry grifter, I passed back. When he missed it again, I decided I had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and so I windsored him. 
I got to play with him a couple more times during the tourney which was real fun. Jorden always wants to play, and will play with anybody, which is a real admirable trait. I got a better vibe off him in the circles than I did last year... I love it when that happens.
I also played some with Scott B, Alex Strassman, Manu Schmidt, and Jan Zimmerman (henceforth to be referred to as Jay-Z). JZ was hitting blurry omellette, but the second dex was the. Still, impressive. Manu totally reminded me of Takumi, and I kept thinking to myself that I couldn`t wait til they got in a circle together. Alex impressed me by hitting a super clean pixie tap. All three dexes separate and deep. He also hit pixie double switch, which I`d never seen that clean before.
It started to rain towards the end of the session, but not before some random European kid came up to me and asked if I was Tuan Vu. 
I was tempted to tell him I was in fact Tu Vu, but my inner diplomat triumphed and I politely explained that I am Ken Somolinos. Judging by his reaction my name carries as much recognition in footbag circles, as Nick Van Exel`s does with hockey fans.
As people started heading out for registration, a hyperactive Russian girl who was playing net accosted Bevier and asked to play together. She quickly switched to lavers, then proceeded to bust long strings with spins, pixies, and everything else both sides. Oxana from Russia. Very impressive. I would have stayed to watch more, but I figured I should hit early registration, as it would be my best shot at finding lodging.
Registration was at a bar called Jagellonica. There was a mob of footbaggers at the door, cause there was a big standoff about entry. The bar wanted everybody to pay 1.5 Euro cover to get in, and everybody was complaining that they shouldn`t have to pay to get in to register. I could see both sides. The footbaggers ended up winning, which probably benefitted everybody, since we all bought beers once we got in. Registration went real well. I recognized the girl doing check-in, and she knew my name (I`m sure some hockey fans also watch the NBA too). I remember somebody telling me she was Toni Paakonen`s girlfriend last year, so when she called me Ken, I said: "I`m sorry I don`t know your name. We never met, but you`re Toni`s girlfriend, right?" Tuukka was running a computer like 5 feet away and gave me a strange look, as did all the other Finns doing registration. The girl, Tutta, gently replied: "Actually, I`m Tuukka`s girlfriend. My name is Tutta." I recovered as quick as I could, looking apologetically at Tuukka and saying: "I`m sorry you had to find out about it this way." 
I said some hellos to people, and got a beer. At one point I was talking to Matt Cross, Aron Tennant, and Mosher, and we talked about how our first day of shredding at Worlds went. I mentioned that I took advantage of my once-in-a-lifetime chance and windsored Jorden.
Matt Cross: "You windsored Jorden? On what?"
Me: "No."
Matt: "You windsored him on what?"
Me: "Nope."
I`m such a bastard. I was having fun, but my quest for a place to sleep that night wasn`t going so well. Then, Tutta came up to me and asked me if I had heard about "the earthquake." Say wha? That snapped me out of Worlds mode, as I was told that Tokyo had been hit by a Richter6 quake that day. The bar staff was real helpful though, and told me of a bar where I could use the internet if I paid the cheap cover price. I dashed off to the address, and asked if I could use the net if I paid cover. They said yes, looked me over slowly, and told me there was no cover. I checked my mail, saw nothing, then rattled off a few mails to see if Team Japan was OK. I checked NYTimes.com and figured that they were probably fine- at worst their flight would be delayed. Relieved, I headed back to Jagellonica and thanked the bar staff and Tutta for their help. The bar staff apologized to me for not telling me that the bar I just went to was a gay bar.
No wonder I got in free.
Alex Strassman asked me if I was interested in going to an all-you-can-eat pizza and ice cream place, and two minutes later I was walking down the street with a big Steve Goldberg posse. The sun didn`t set in Finland until past 11 pm, so it was real strange to me that it was light out after I had been drinking in a bar. We hit the pizza place, but it turned out to be closed, which was disappointing. Almost everybody else hit MacDonalds, but me and Benham refused to go. I totally didn`t fly ten hours on a plane to eat MacDonalds. So Benham and I walked next door and got "Hesburger", the Finnish alternative. We got our food to go, then decided to sneak it into MacDonalds. Actually, we should have snuck it in. Instead we waltzed in in broad daylight, and the manager ran after us to tell us we couldn`t eat there. I explained that we wanted to eat with our friends, and I assuaged him by telling him I`d buy an ice cream. Having bonded in our rebelliousness, Benham said I could sleep on the floor of his hostel room, which was a relief. Felix beatboxed for us as we ate, which was nice background music.
When we left, we walked past a drunken wedding party that was spilling out onto the street. The drunken groom`s party was trying to beatbox, but were totally lame. We coaxed Felix into battling them, and it blew their fucking minds. Hilarious. Finally I got to the Hotel Fenno with Josh and Alex, and as we walked through the lobby, the lady at the front desk said in a real strict voice: "its too late for visitors" while staring me down. I replied I was a guest, and when she asked what room, I replied "271" without skipping a beat, and that was good enough to earn me floorspace for a night. Still, it was apparent to me that I should find somewhere else to stay on subsequent nights. I slept on the floor, which wasn`t all that bad, but maybe thats just cause I was exhausted. I had been in Tokyo, Osaka, and Helsinki in a single day, shredded, and seen faces and friends a year removed. I took advantage of the 5 hours of nighttime and drifted off. Worlds... one day down, 6 to go.
One of the very first circles I jumped into was with Mikko Lepisto and Jorden Moir. I was going after Jorden, and when he missed blurry grifter, I passed back. When he missed it again, I decided I had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and so I windsored him.
I got to play with him a couple more times during the tourney which was real fun. Jorden always wants to play, and will play with anybody, which is a real admirable trait. I got a better vibe off him in the circles than I did last year... I love it when that happens.I also played some with Scott B, Alex Strassman, Manu Schmidt, and Jan Zimmerman (henceforth to be referred to as Jay-Z). JZ was hitting blurry omellette, but the second dex was the. Still, impressive. Manu totally reminded me of Takumi, and I kept thinking to myself that I couldn`t wait til they got in a circle together. Alex impressed me by hitting a super clean pixie tap. All three dexes separate and deep. He also hit pixie double switch, which I`d never seen that clean before.
It started to rain towards the end of the session, but not before some random European kid came up to me and asked if I was Tuan Vu.
I was tempted to tell him I was in fact Tu Vu, but my inner diplomat triumphed and I politely explained that I am Ken Somolinos. Judging by his reaction my name carries as much recognition in footbag circles, as Nick Van Exel`s does with hockey fans. As people started heading out for registration, a hyperactive Russian girl who was playing net accosted Bevier and asked to play together. She quickly switched to lavers, then proceeded to bust long strings with spins, pixies, and everything else both sides. Oxana from Russia. Very impressive. I would have stayed to watch more, but I figured I should hit early registration, as it would be my best shot at finding lodging.
Registration was at a bar called Jagellonica. There was a mob of footbaggers at the door, cause there was a big standoff about entry. The bar wanted everybody to pay 1.5 Euro cover to get in, and everybody was complaining that they shouldn`t have to pay to get in to register. I could see both sides. The footbaggers ended up winning, which probably benefitted everybody, since we all bought beers once we got in. Registration went real well. I recognized the girl doing check-in, and she knew my name (I`m sure some hockey fans also watch the NBA too). I remember somebody telling me she was Toni Paakonen`s girlfriend last year, so when she called me Ken, I said: "I`m sorry I don`t know your name. We never met, but you`re Toni`s girlfriend, right?" Tuukka was running a computer like 5 feet away and gave me a strange look, as did all the other Finns doing registration. The girl, Tutta, gently replied: "Actually, I`m Tuukka`s girlfriend. My name is Tutta."
I recovered as quick as I could, looking apologetically at Tuukka and saying: "I`m sorry you had to find out about it this way." I said some hellos to people, and got a beer. At one point I was talking to Matt Cross, Aron Tennant, and Mosher, and we talked about how our first day of shredding at Worlds went. I mentioned that I took advantage of my once-in-a-lifetime chance and windsored Jorden.
Matt Cross: "You windsored Jorden? On what?"
Me: "No."
Matt: "You windsored him on what?"
Me: "Nope."
I`m such a bastard. I was having fun, but my quest for a place to sleep that night wasn`t going so well. Then, Tutta came up to me and asked me if I had heard about "the earthquake." Say wha? That snapped me out of Worlds mode, as I was told that Tokyo had been hit by a Richter6 quake that day. The bar staff was real helpful though, and told me of a bar where I could use the internet if I paid the cheap cover price. I dashed off to the address, and asked if I could use the net if I paid cover. They said yes, looked me over slowly, and told me there was no cover. I checked my mail, saw nothing, then rattled off a few mails to see if Team Japan was OK. I checked NYTimes.com and figured that they were probably fine- at worst their flight would be delayed. Relieved, I headed back to Jagellonica and thanked the bar staff and Tutta for their help. The bar staff apologized to me for not telling me that the bar I just went to was a gay bar.
No wonder I got in free.Alex Strassman asked me if I was interested in going to an all-you-can-eat pizza and ice cream place, and two minutes later I was walking down the street with a big Steve Goldberg posse. The sun didn`t set in Finland until past 11 pm, so it was real strange to me that it was light out after I had been drinking in a bar. We hit the pizza place, but it turned out to be closed, which was disappointing. Almost everybody else hit MacDonalds, but me and Benham refused to go. I totally didn`t fly ten hours on a plane to eat MacDonalds. So Benham and I walked next door and got "Hesburger", the Finnish alternative. We got our food to go, then decided to sneak it into MacDonalds. Actually, we should have snuck it in. Instead we waltzed in in broad daylight, and the manager ran after us to tell us we couldn`t eat there. I explained that we wanted to eat with our friends, and I assuaged him by telling him I`d buy an ice cream. Having bonded in our rebelliousness, Benham said I could sleep on the floor of his hostel room, which was a relief. Felix beatboxed for us as we ate, which was nice background music.
When we left, we walked past a drunken wedding party that was spilling out onto the street. The drunken groom`s party was trying to beatbox, but were totally lame. We coaxed Felix into battling them, and it blew their fucking minds. Hilarious. Finally I got to the Hotel Fenno with Josh and Alex, and as we walked through the lobby, the lady at the front desk said in a real strict voice: "its too late for visitors" while staring me down. I replied I was a guest, and when she asked what room, I replied "271" without skipping a beat, and that was good enough to earn me floorspace for a night. Still, it was apparent to me that I should find somewhere else to stay on subsequent nights. I slept on the floor, which wasn`t all that bad, but maybe thats just cause I was exhausted. I had been in Tokyo, Osaka, and Helsinki in a single day, shredded, and seen faces and friends a year removed. I took advantage of the 5 hours of nighttime and drifted off. Worlds... one day down, 6 to go.
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shreddaily
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hacksterbator
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ouch man, very ouch. ken, i love the blog and now i really really wish i had quit my job and just gone to worlds.shreddaily wrote:Maybe if you were in BAP people would remember you!C-Fan wrote: Judging by his reaction my name carries as much recognition in footbag circles, as Nick Van Exel`s does with hockey fans.
A.G.
I don`t like breaking up my worlds report, but thought I`d make a quickie entry related to Japanese footbag.
Takumi recently wrote on the J-forums that he`s hit surreal and gyro food on both sides. His surging set has its clean days, and its bad days, but based on a couple days at worlds, I wouldn`t be surprised if it was clean. I`ll get him to bust it out when I get back to Tokyo.
At the moment I`m touring Kansai. I`m chilling at Kenzo`s now, which is fun. Adam got deathly ill when I arrived... I have that effect on some people. Anyway, I had my first real kansai session last night with Devi, Cha-han, and Kenzo. Pretty fun. We played near a bunch of hip-hop dancers practicing. I`m battling a head cold, so nothing notable on my end really. Actually, I did seal sonic clipper and sonic mirage with runs. Hadn`t done that in over a year, so that felt nice. Gave Devi some advice on smog, and he was damned close to it. Cha-han has improved consistency since last time. Kenzo played well I though, despite it being an "off" session. Clean bigwalk. Everything both sides. Bubba egg and pdx egg all bsos in one run. The highlight was easily hitting pixie ss dlo x2. That`s phat.
Partied hard with blaps last night. I really missed it. Gonna take today easy, shred tomorrow, then go blapping again Sunday night.
I also stumbled on this site today: http://footbag.jp/movie.php Its video highlights from the last 2 Japanese Footbag Champs. Blast from the past. Enjoy!
PS- Worlds updates... in a couple days?
Takumi recently wrote on the J-forums that he`s hit surreal and gyro food on both sides. His surging set has its clean days, and its bad days, but based on a couple days at worlds, I wouldn`t be surprised if it was clean. I`ll get him to bust it out when I get back to Tokyo.
At the moment I`m touring Kansai. I`m chilling at Kenzo`s now, which is fun. Adam got deathly ill when I arrived... I have that effect on some people. Anyway, I had my first real kansai session last night with Devi, Cha-han, and Kenzo. Pretty fun. We played near a bunch of hip-hop dancers practicing. I`m battling a head cold, so nothing notable on my end really. Actually, I did seal sonic clipper and sonic mirage with runs. Hadn`t done that in over a year, so that felt nice. Gave Devi some advice on smog, and he was damned close to it. Cha-han has improved consistency since last time. Kenzo played well I though, despite it being an "off" session. Clean bigwalk. Everything both sides. Bubba egg and pdx egg all bsos in one run. The highlight was easily hitting pixie ss dlo x2. That`s phat.
Partied hard with blaps last night. I really missed it. Gonna take today easy, shred tomorrow, then go blapping again Sunday night.
I also stumbled on this site today: http://footbag.jp/movie.php Its video highlights from the last 2 Japanese Footbag Champs. Blast from the past. Enjoy!
PS- Worlds updates... in a couple days?
Hi Ken it was a pleasure to meet you - auite strange to read about someone and never met him in person - thanks for your blog .
Try to make it to FOOTJAM - in my opinion a lot better than worlds when it comes to professional organization .
Try to make it to FOOTJAM - in my opinion a lot better than worlds when it comes to professional organization .
Jochen Bauer
Paradox Feet Footbag Club
http://www.paradoxfeet.de
Website:
http://www.jochen-bauer.net
Paradox Feet Footbag Club
http://www.paradoxfeet.de
Website:
http://www.jochen-bauer.net
Cosmic... Tu Vu post in the zine. I`m rocking Osaka hardcore now. I sped past where I kicked with you 2 years ago, where I first met Masa and Kim... lifetimes ago. Osaka, hanging on to Morio on the back of a scooter. Wanting to close my eyes cause the wind beats my face so hard, but if I close my eyes I may fall asleep, fall off and die. Clubbing til 5, flirting in Osaka-Japanese, rocking the blap-fantastic, eating okonomiyaki. Girls in kimono, guys in jinbei, like tropical fish swimming around me. Drop of sweat tracing down my chest, even when I`m not moving. Blazing.
Need... sleep. Clubbed yesterday, clubbed tonight, clubbing tomorrow. Sprinkle kickie sack throughout liberally, rinse, repeat.
9 win streak at MvC2 in the arcade today. Storm-Sent-Tron. Ramen, okonomiyaki, miso-mackerel. Good to be back in Japan.
Must... sleep.
Need... sleep. Clubbed yesterday, clubbed tonight, clubbing tomorrow. Sprinkle kickie sack throughout liberally, rinse, repeat.
9 win streak at MvC2 in the arcade today. Storm-Sent-Tron. Ramen, okonomiyaki, miso-mackerel. Good to be back in Japan.
Must... sleep.
Exhausted, but today was excellent. Big footbag session in Osaka. QP, Yuko, Kenzo, Cha-han, Devi, and even Otayan showed! Lots of good and funny stuff were hit. I picked up a new set which is surprisingly easy. Feels like add-hunting... I`m gonna probably use it for the modified sick 3 this month, so you`ll all see it soon enough hopefully. Full blog report in 2 days, as well as day 2 of Worlds, I promise.
Mostly I just wanted to post to say that I`m not ignoring everybodys comments and PMs, I just haven`t been online much, and I`ll get to them all when I catch up satisfactorily in the blog.
As a reward for all your disappointed people reading this empty entry, here`s a video of Kenzo hitting a cool triple: http://www.snowmagic.jp/~otayan/movie/m ... mirage.wmv
I`m gonna hit the sack now... I deserve it after 3 consecutive nights of clubbing.
Mostly I just wanted to post to say that I`m not ignoring everybodys comments and PMs, I just haven`t been online much, and I`ll get to them all when I catch up satisfactorily in the blog.
As a reward for all your disappointed people reading this empty entry, here`s a video of Kenzo hitting a cool triple: http://www.snowmagic.jp/~otayan/movie/m ... mirage.wmv
I`m gonna hit the sack now... I deserve it after 3 consecutive nights of clubbing.
Hey Ken,
Are you back in Tokyo now? Any luck finding the warabi mochi?
I hope you had a good time in Osaka. Kenzo mentioned that you guys were nanpa-ing some New Zealand girls! Did you see Kenzo's new bike too?
I feel really bad that I was comatose when you were here. I would have loved to join in on the Osaka sessions...
Kaori came over for the weekend and I managed to get some o-kayu and zosui down. The fever was a bitch. Actually, I was on the verge of calling an ambulance this morning because I was sweating so profusely. I was just sitting down yet I was literally sweating like I do during a footbag session. I called a taxi and headed down to the hospital and I'm finally feeling a bit better.
Hope we can kick later this month,
Adam
Are you back in Tokyo now? Any luck finding the warabi mochi?
I hope you had a good time in Osaka. Kenzo mentioned that you guys were nanpa-ing some New Zealand girls! Did you see Kenzo's new bike too?
I feel really bad that I was comatose when you were here. I would have loved to join in on the Osaka sessions...
Kaori came over for the weekend and I managed to get some o-kayu and zosui down. The fever was a bitch. Actually, I was on the verge of calling an ambulance this morning because I was sweating so profusely. I was just sitting down yet I was literally sweating like I do during a footbag session. I called a taxi and headed down to the hospital and I'm finally feeling a bit better.
Hope we can kick later this month,
Adam