Yeah, but I'm gonna sweat anyways so it wasn't that bad. However, when I played there again yesterday it wasn't nearly at hot (around 90). Unfortunately for me, though, the room does seem to get use by people that want to study alone. I ended up waiting until midnight to kick because it was occupied until then.
-legover > illusion > repeat into a run with sidewalk and crispy drifter (stepping op clipper)
-dyno BS first try-- gotta work on those
-9 consecutive planted legovers
-paradox whirl BSOS-- only a couple tries!; I noticed I can at the least foot paradox whirls almost every time now
-paradox illusion > toe whirl BS-- came close to repeat but couldn't cut it
-gyro clipper BSOS-- not easy for me on carpet because it's not as slick (i.e. I can't sorta rotate; it has to be a hop-spin)
-~15 guiltless (+ 2 bubbas)-- I kinda consider bubbas as a 3 add because they seem as hard as drifter, whirls, and paradox mirages, or at least much harder than most 2 adds
-a few barrages to make sure I don't lose those entirely
As I said before, my stepping is getting awesome. It feels good, looks crsip, and it just all around enjoyable. I have started doing calf raises after my sessions as a way to build up leg endurance. What I noticed is that the upper part of my legs (part above the knees) is never the tired part, but rather it is always my calves. Since jumping up and down is what works them to exhaustion, by raising myself up on my toes repeatedly after they're already tired, I can improve their endurance/strength. I do around 75-100, and I think it's helping my endurance and consequently my consistency.
As far as life, classes have ended and we have the week to study, so about 8 hours of each day are spent in studying, and then a decent portion playing video games or footbag or other stuff. It's not bad, but it isn't awesome either.
SandWraith's Footnovel: Now with more footbag!
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SandWraith
- Egyptian Footgod
- Posts: 1272
- Joined: 05 Apr 2005 20:39
- Location: Marshfield, Wisconsin
pump pump pump the jam! Pdx whirl bsos is huge! i had that off my foot today too!
You wanna PM me the plans for NYJ? Like the day you're picking me up and stuff? you arent on msn.
You wanna PM me the plans for NYJ? Like the day you're picking me up and stuff? you arent on msn.
JSACK wrote:alright well me and obara'bars, shredded our dicks off, since we are both in high school, obviously there is some sort of talent show
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SandWraith
- Egyptian Footgod
- Posts: 1272
- Joined: 05 Apr 2005 20:39
- Location: Marshfield, Wisconsin
Oops. Yeah, I'll have to get into contact with you pretty soon. Maybe we should arrange a time to meet on MSN. You know-- "guy time". I recently (i.e. today) found out that Lucky Boys Confusion is gonna be playing at The Metro while we're in Chicago, so I'm hoping we'd be able to go. It's at 8 or 9 pm, so it wouldn't conflict with footbag, I don't think. However, I have no idea how close The Metro is to McCormick Place, so it might be a no-go anyways.
Last edited by SandWraith on 29 Jul 2006 20:28, edited 1 time in total.
Zach Marine - Member of the Tendonitis Club!
blog
blog
I checked the band's site and double checked it with the Metro's site, and the show is about 7 miles north of the footbag event. About 20 -25 minute drive depending on traffic conditions.
Zeke
Funny movie titles if the movie were about poop:
Red
Fast & the Furious
The Green Mile
Children of the Corn
There Will be Blood
Funny movie titles if the movie were about poop:
Red
Fast & the Furious
The Green Mile
Children of the Corn
There Will be Blood
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SandWraith
- Egyptian Footgod
- Posts: 1272
- Joined: 05 Apr 2005 20:39
- Location: Marshfield, Wisconsin
Thanks a lot, Zeke! I'm really looking forward to NYJ and now the concert as well.
I found out why my new practice room was in such disarray:
The residents of Lee decided to play dodgeball in there at one point, breaking ceiling panels, parts of the drywall, etc. During the repair process, maintenance locked the room. However, someone decided to break the door to get in anyways (which is when the kegger was, I think). Anyways, now the room is bolted closed and has a sign saying it's off-limits for the rest of the year. :/ What this essentially means is that I have to get to the AC before 4 pm everyday if I want to get a session in before it closes, yet the reduced hours also mean it's probably gonna be a lot busier and thus harder to get a court. God damnit.
On the brighter side of things, my studying is going well and I feel well-prepared for my finals.
I found out why my new practice room was in such disarray:
The residents of Lee decided to play dodgeball in there at one point, breaking ceiling panels, parts of the drywall, etc. During the repair process, maintenance locked the room. However, someone decided to break the door to get in anyways (which is when the kegger was, I think). Anyways, now the room is bolted closed and has a sign saying it's off-limits for the rest of the year. :/ What this essentially means is that I have to get to the AC before 4 pm everyday if I want to get a session in before it closes, yet the reduced hours also mean it's probably gonna be a lot busier and thus harder to get a court. God damnit.
On the brighter side of things, my studying is going well and I feel well-prepared for my finals.
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MaelstromEx
- Shredaholic
- Posts: 166
- Joined: 28 Apr 2005 17:56
- Location: Madison, WI
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SandWraith
- Egyptian Footgod
- Posts: 1272
- Joined: 05 Apr 2005 20:39
- Location: Marshfield, Wisconsin
Rockin'. I'll order the tickets tonight or tomorrow.
I kicked today, but it had been two days off, I'm going nuts from studying all day, and I'm starting to feel sick. Hence, I didn't kick that well (not too bad considering, but not that great either).
-toe set ducking butterfly BSOS-- had never hit before, but seems easier to me than clipper set
-12 decent tiltless
-dyno BS-- tweaked my left ACL so it felt kinda funny-bone-ish for the rest of the session
-toe set ss butterfly > blurry legover BSOS-- felt a lot cooler than perhaps it should have; the combination of a relatively slow move followed by a somewhat fast one seemed very Jorden-Moir-esque
-footed far pickup > toe whirl BSOS several times, once from ripwalk > far pickup > toe whirl-- can probably hit it Saturday
-ripwalk > blizzard footed BSOS-- again: Saturday
-8 butterflys > osis > 4 butterflys
-BBOBB BS-- my oses were sucky for some reason
-gyro clipper > drifter BS
-gyro clipper > torque BS-- cool
-paradox mirage > ss butterfly > far pickup > op butterfly > blur BS
Now to finish studying spanish and physics tonight, as well as take my take-home math final.
I kicked today, but it had been two days off, I'm going nuts from studying all day, and I'm starting to feel sick. Hence, I didn't kick that well (not too bad considering, but not that great either).
-toe set ducking butterfly BSOS-- had never hit before, but seems easier to me than clipper set
-12 decent tiltless
-dyno BS-- tweaked my left ACL so it felt kinda funny-bone-ish for the rest of the session
-toe set ss butterfly > blurry legover BSOS-- felt a lot cooler than perhaps it should have; the combination of a relatively slow move followed by a somewhat fast one seemed very Jorden-Moir-esque
-footed far pickup > toe whirl BSOS several times, once from ripwalk > far pickup > toe whirl-- can probably hit it Saturday
-ripwalk > blizzard footed BSOS-- again: Saturday
-8 butterflys > osis > 4 butterflys
-BBOBB BS-- my oses were sucky for some reason
-gyro clipper > drifter BS
-gyro clipper > torque BS-- cool
-paradox mirage > ss butterfly > far pickup > op butterfly > blur BS
Now to finish studying spanish and physics tonight, as well as take my take-home math final.
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SandWraith
- Egyptian Footgod
- Posts: 1272
- Joined: 05 Apr 2005 20:39
- Location: Marshfield, Wisconsin
Took my math final last night and owned it.
Woke up and took my spanish final, which was as expected: somewhat hard but mostly well-understood. I don't expect an A in the class and so am not that distraught. Between my spanish test and my physics test I had 3 hours, so I decided to go to the AC and kick.
-mirage > ducking butterfly BS
-butterfly > paradox whirl BS-- footed BSOS
-dyno BSOS-- didn't hurt today either!
-bunch of dynos throughout the session
-butterfly (from clipper) > butterfly > ripwalk > ripwalk BS
-ripwalk > bubba > butterfly > repeat > ripwalk > bubba
-blizzard BSOS
-toe dyno BS
-blur > toe whirl BS
-ripwalk > dyno BS
-toe torque from right toe sealed-- very close flipside; footed flipside a couple times
-7 consecutive butterflys
-BBOBBOB (FRFC) BBOBBO (FLFC)
The last two weren't that amazing cause I was rushed. I had to leave by 4:30 to have time to eat, so I had like 3 minutes to get both of those done. My physics final went well, as was expected.
Now, videogames and pizza till 2 am, followed by four straight days of 6-10 hours of chemistry studying. Yin and yang, man, yin and yang.
Woke up and took my spanish final, which was as expected: somewhat hard but mostly well-understood. I don't expect an A in the class and so am not that distraught. Between my spanish test and my physics test I had 3 hours, so I decided to go to the AC and kick.
-mirage > ducking butterfly BS
-butterfly > paradox whirl BS-- footed BSOS
-dyno BSOS-- didn't hurt today either!
-bunch of dynos throughout the session
-butterfly (from clipper) > butterfly > ripwalk > ripwalk BS
-ripwalk > bubba > butterfly > repeat > ripwalk > bubba
-blizzard BSOS
-toe dyno BS
-blur > toe whirl BS
-ripwalk > dyno BS
-toe torque from right toe sealed-- very close flipside; footed flipside a couple times
-7 consecutive butterflys
-BBOBBOB (FRFC) BBOBBO (FLFC)
The last two weren't that amazing cause I was rushed. I had to leave by 4:30 to have time to eat, so I had like 3 minutes to get both of those done. My physics final went well, as was expected.
Now, videogames and pizza till 2 am, followed by four straight days of 6-10 hours of chemistry studying. Yin and yang, man, yin and yang.
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SandWraith
- Egyptian Footgod
- Posts: 1272
- Joined: 05 Apr 2005 20:39
- Location: Marshfield, Wisconsin
I have a chem lab final Tuesday at 8 am and a chem lecture final Wednesday at 8 am, so Mike, Josh, and I decided we'd get up today and tomorrow at 8 am and play videogames as preparation and to get synched with that sleep schedule. It wasn't easy. I got about six hours of sleep and was dead tired when I shredded. I had no energy and no focus, and it is very clearly reflected in my performance.
-dyno BS a bunch-- I'm very happy it isn't hurting at all
-toe ducking butterfly BS
-pickup > pickup > op clipper > blur > op clipper > blur
-reverse whirl midrun twice-- sweet!
-legover > toe whirl BSOS-
-mirage > butterfly > sidewalk > stepping op legover > op osis > op butterfly > ss pickup > mirage > butterfly > sidewalk > drop-- was able to hit the italic part BSOS later
-dyno > op toe > op side clipper > op butterfly > dyno-- so dyno BSOS
-osis > dyno BS-- I love how that looks/feels; definately want to work that to perfection
-paradox illusion and far pickup both BSOS
-blizzard BSO3moveS
So it wasn't a horrible session, but as you can tell, I couldn't string at all. I could do just about any more by itself, but my endurance just fell away after two or three moves. Luckily, I got a short half-hour nap later in the day, and will go to bed early enough tonight that tomorrow I should be awake.
The rest of the day was pretty much studying chemistry. Hoorah.
-dyno BS a bunch-- I'm very happy it isn't hurting at all
-toe ducking butterfly BS
-pickup > pickup > op clipper > blur > op clipper > blur
-reverse whirl midrun twice-- sweet!
-legover > toe whirl BSOS-
-mirage > butterfly > sidewalk > stepping op legover > op osis > op butterfly > ss pickup > mirage > butterfly > sidewalk > drop-- was able to hit the italic part BSOS later
-dyno > op toe > op side clipper > op butterfly > dyno-- so dyno BSOS
-osis > dyno BS-- I love how that looks/feels; definately want to work that to perfection
-paradox illusion and far pickup both BSOS
-blizzard BSO3moveS
So it wasn't a horrible session, but as you can tell, I couldn't string at all. I could do just about any more by itself, but my endurance just fell away after two or three moves. Luckily, I got a short half-hour nap later in the day, and will go to bed early enough tonight that tomorrow I should be awake.
The rest of the day was pretty much studying chemistry. Hoorah.
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SandWraith
- Egyptian Footgod
- Posts: 1272
- Joined: 05 Apr 2005 20:39
- Location: Marshfield, Wisconsin
I haven't updated in a while, since I just recently arrived home for Christmas break. To fill in on the nitty gritty: I got all A's in my classes, even in the General "you're gonna have your life" Chemistry, where only 15% of the class gets A's, even though 90% of the students know the material at a high level. Since I got home, I kicked twice, partially to keep in check for the New Years Jam, from whence I just returned.
It rocked. Not only did I meet at ton of cool people (many from the boards), such as Henry G, Jeremy Mirken, Johnny Suderman, Jorden Moir, crazylegs32, Zach J., Tom K., Kolo and Matt from Canada, Kaushik, Emily, Amelia, and a bunch of others I'm forgetting at the moment, but I also:
1) realized I kick a hell of a lot better in circles, this being the first time in my life I've ever been in a circle (kicking with Brian doesn't really count as circling and at last year's NYJ I couldn't kick worth crap)
2) seen that I don't suck as much as I thought I did
3) got to see some amazingly good shredders kick, and I think that helped me a lot as far as both motivation and how to approach certain moves (when to accelerate, how to position my legs, etc.)
4) saw some cool styles and wicked moves that I want to work on, the ones off the top of my head being fairies and wauxspins (thanks Hood!)
And on top of that, I got second in Intermediate Sick 1 (stepping ss whirl) and third in Intermediate Sick 3 (blur > toe whirl > refraction), which means I got an NYS shirt designed by Zeke! Yays! (I was thinking about buying one)
On top of all the great shredding and meeting and stuff, Brian and I attended a Lucky Boys Confusion concert, which was pretty sweet. The story attached to it is sweet too, so I'll try to put that up tomorrow. It involves a long respite at McDonald's, a hobo that smoked himself retarded, or at least to the point that he can no longer produce discernible English syllables, riding the red line train at 2 am, cold and tired and covered in sweat, and being affronted by a black midget hobo missing several teeth who petitioned us for money with a clipboard and a lame story about donating to allow disadvantaged inner-city kids to go rollerskating. It was intense (just like camping, as Brian would say
)....
EDIT (so I don't forget): Another thing I want to work on is my whirls. The whirls I have are tight and consistent, but in a way that I think makes them prone to being the and will make it a lot harder to hit tougher whirling moves like whirr. I'm gonna work on more technically sharp whirls for the future.
It rocked. Not only did I meet at ton of cool people (many from the boards), such as Henry G, Jeremy Mirken, Johnny Suderman, Jorden Moir, crazylegs32, Zach J., Tom K., Kolo and Matt from Canada, Kaushik, Emily, Amelia, and a bunch of others I'm forgetting at the moment, but I also:
1) realized I kick a hell of a lot better in circles, this being the first time in my life I've ever been in a circle (kicking with Brian doesn't really count as circling and at last year's NYJ I couldn't kick worth crap)
2) seen that I don't suck as much as I thought I did
3) got to see some amazingly good shredders kick, and I think that helped me a lot as far as both motivation and how to approach certain moves (when to accelerate, how to position my legs, etc.)
4) saw some cool styles and wicked moves that I want to work on, the ones off the top of my head being fairies and wauxspins (thanks Hood!)
And on top of that, I got second in Intermediate Sick 1 (stepping ss whirl) and third in Intermediate Sick 3 (blur > toe whirl > refraction), which means I got an NYS shirt designed by Zeke! Yays! (I was thinking about buying one)
On top of all the great shredding and meeting and stuff, Brian and I attended a Lucky Boys Confusion concert, which was pretty sweet. The story attached to it is sweet too, so I'll try to put that up tomorrow. It involves a long respite at McDonald's, a hobo that smoked himself retarded, or at least to the point that he can no longer produce discernible English syllables, riding the red line train at 2 am, cold and tired and covered in sweat, and being affronted by a black midget hobo missing several teeth who petitioned us for money with a clipboard and a lame story about donating to allow disadvantaged inner-city kids to go rollerskating. It was intense (just like camping, as Brian would say
)....EDIT (so I don't forget): Another thing I want to work on is my whirls. The whirls I have are tight and consistent, but in a way that I think makes them prone to being the and will make it a lot harder to hit tougher whirling moves like whirr. I'm gonna work on more technically sharp whirls for the future.
Last edited by SandWraith on 29 Jul 2006 20:34, edited 1 time in total.
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Not-so-ripped Warrior
- Fearless
- Posts: 566
- Joined: 30 Mar 2005 19:02
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SandWraith
- Egyptian Footgod
- Posts: 1272
- Joined: 05 Apr 2005 20:39
- Location: Marshfield, Wisconsin
Thanks, Eric. It was cool meeting you too. 
Today was my first solo session in about 10 days and it went awesome. Since the last 3 days were spent circling and essentially working entirely on run length, I took this opportunity to work on a bunch of concepts from the tournament that I want to get down.
I also decided not to take my notepad so that I wouldn't waste time writing stuff down. The downside is that I don't remember everything, but I'd prefer it this way.
New hits:
-flip reverse whirl
-uptime whirls-- see below
-fairy set both sides-- hit fairy butterfly from left toe but couldn't hit it flipside; fairy sets don't seem hard-- wtf?
-wauxspin strongside; footed several times flipside
Other stuff:
-reverse whirl > drifter BSOS
-reverse whirl and whirl both BSOS
-paradox mirage > ducking butterfly > repeat sealed into a run
My fairy sets are there, I just need more practice with them to start hitting stuff out of them. HooD, thank you SO much for showing me your fairy set and wauxspins-- I owe you for that!
I credit some of today's success to my new Merken 12-panel that I bought at NYJ. It's very small (smaller than a 32), very heavy, and just plain great. At only $20, I highly recommend it to EVERYONE. I also used my new footfighter, which is great too, but I want to add some more weight to it before I use it; it feels too light.
I also did the toe mod to my lavers, putting up walls and giving me about twice as much of a toe area, as recommended to me by Brian and Henry. It does make toe stuff a lot easier, so I'm pretty happy with it.
In regards to the whirling, I realized what I dislike about my whirls is that I do them all downtime. This results in a tendency towards sloppy whirls and just doesn't look very good. By doing them uptime, they look more like symposium whirls (= good thing), and will give me a foundation for both blender and whirr (hopefully). I noticed by doing them uptime I can already hit blender strongside pretty easily.
EDIT: And I still plan on telling that story but I'm going to bed now. Tomorrow, perhaps.
Today was my first solo session in about 10 days and it went awesome. Since the last 3 days were spent circling and essentially working entirely on run length, I took this opportunity to work on a bunch of concepts from the tournament that I want to get down.
I also decided not to take my notepad so that I wouldn't waste time writing stuff down. The downside is that I don't remember everything, but I'd prefer it this way.
New hits:
-flip reverse whirl
-uptime whirls-- see below
-fairy set both sides-- hit fairy butterfly from left toe but couldn't hit it flipside; fairy sets don't seem hard-- wtf?
-wauxspin strongside; footed several times flipside
Other stuff:
-reverse whirl > drifter BSOS
-reverse whirl and whirl both BSOS
-paradox mirage > ducking butterfly > repeat sealed into a run
My fairy sets are there, I just need more practice with them to start hitting stuff out of them. HooD, thank you SO much for showing me your fairy set and wauxspins-- I owe you for that!
I credit some of today's success to my new Merken 12-panel that I bought at NYJ. It's very small (smaller than a 32), very heavy, and just plain great. At only $20, I highly recommend it to EVERYONE. I also used my new footfighter, which is great too, but I want to add some more weight to it before I use it; it feels too light.
I also did the toe mod to my lavers, putting up walls and giving me about twice as much of a toe area, as recommended to me by Brian and Henry. It does make toe stuff a lot easier, so I'm pretty happy with it.
In regards to the whirling, I realized what I dislike about my whirls is that I do them all downtime. This results in a tendency towards sloppy whirls and just doesn't look very good. By doing them uptime, they look more like symposium whirls (= good thing), and will give me a foundation for both blender and whirr (hopefully). I noticed by doing them uptime I can already hit blender strongside pretty easily.
EDIT: And I still plan on telling that story but I'm going to bed now. Tomorrow, perhaps.
Last edited by SandWraith on 31 Dec 2005 22:15, edited 1 time in total.
What!!!!!!!!!!!!
Fairies both sides already you are rockin. ANd blender is such a sick move. I bet youll hit food processor in no time!
You have already hit so much stuff you wanted to hit! You definitely dont giveyourself enough credit. You did super well in both the comps you entered
I cant believe how much fun we had
Fairies both sides already you are rockin. ANd blender is such a sick move. I bet youll hit food processor in no time!
You have already hit so much stuff you wanted to hit! You definitely dont giveyourself enough credit. You did super well in both the comps you entered
I cant believe how much fun we had
JSACK wrote:alright well me and obara'bars, shredded our dicks off, since we are both in high school, obviously there is some sort of talent show
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SandWraith
- Egyptian Footgod
- Posts: 1272
- Joined: 05 Apr 2005 20:39
- Location: Marshfield, Wisconsin
New Hits:
-flip wauxpin
-fairy legover BS x2-- BS! Yay!
Other Stuff:
-wauxpin both sides x3
-butterfly > reverse whirl > repeat
-paradox illusion > ducking butterfly BS-- I like ducking butterflys a lot, they feel hard but really don't seem to be; must... work... into... runs
I worked a bunch on fairies a bunch, mostly just on correctly positioning the bag. I can get the bag uptime almost every try, but getting it up high enough to do much meaningful out of it is harder. I was trying to do fairy butterflys because I figured that would be pretty easy, but the out-in nature of the fairy dex makes the butterfly completely across your body. Hence, I need to work my positioning and height a lot before that'll be easier. Near the very end of my session though, I was very surprised how easily I could do fairy legover. I'm hoping that soon I'll be able to do consecutive fairy legovers as a way to practice the set. I also footed fairy smasher (a.k.a fear) several times strongside, but I was attempting the delay with my foot about an inch or two above the ground, so I definately need more practice with the set before that'll be even remotely useful.
I'm also really excited about my challenges because they're, well, challenging. I'm very happy Henry came up with ones that use the new concepts I'm working on, because I'll have to really drill the concepts before I can hit them.
Skating with Brian later. Woots.
And finally, the story:
So Thursday, the second day of the tournament, Brian and I had tickets to a Lucky Boys Confusion concert. I bought the tickets from the band's website, and it said the show was at 6 pm at The Metro. I had never heard of that venue so I asked the concierge of the Hyatt (our hotel) where it was and he had never heard of it either. He looked it up though and found out it is waaaaay in the north of Chicago, right near to Wrigley Field. It would be either around a $30 cab ride or we could take a cab to the train station for $5 and take a $2 25-minute train ride there.
Obviously, we opted for that. Right after the tournament ended Thursday afternoon (~4 pm), we headed up to the room and showered. Since concerts are always packed and hot, we decided not to wear jackets and dress lightly-- we were gonna be riding in a heated cab and a heated train, anyways. After dressing, we headed down and grabbed a cab over to the train station. Not much exciting there-- everything went well, with a bit of help from some locals on how to get a ticket. When we got to our stop, we began looking for the venue, and spotted a McDonald's on the way! Normally, I wouldn't eat McDonald's, but everything during the tournament was so expensive Brian and I had been practically starving ourselves (we had had 1 meal in the past day and a half of the tournament).
It was only about 5:45 so Brian and I headed over there and got a meal. Around 5:55, we went to The Metro, only to be told the doors didn't open till 7, the first of three (!) openers didn't start until 8, and Lucky Boys Confusion didn't play till 10:30 (!!!). Since we had dressed so lightly, we weren't about to wait outside for an hour, and decided to head back to McDonald's to "chill". After wasting maybe 15 minutes by splitting a McFlurry and eating it with these tea-stirrer spoons (to take more time), I just started calling people. Time passed and eventually it was 7 and we could enter.
We scoped out a nice spot on the second floor balcony and prepared to be bored through 3 bands. Truth be told, the three openers weren't that bad. Or at least, the second one, Treaty of Paris, wasn't that bad. The more annoying aspect was that the whole room was filled with smoke from the countless people smoking cigarettes.
Finally, Lucky Boys Confusion played, and it rocked. The story has sucked so far, I know, but after the concert is where it gets more interesting.
Drenched in sweat, me only wearing a t-shirt and Brian wearing a shirt and a track-jacket (=useless), we left The Metro and headed to McDonald's once again; it was closed.... so we headed to Taco Bell instead, where the 4 slowest workers in human history awaited. I ordered one soft shell taco-- one fucking taco-- and ended up waiting around 20 minutes for the damn thing. Meanwhile, a hobo entered who had literally smoked himself retarded. He couldn't utter words, but instead just kinda opened his mouth and went "aaaaauaghghghggggaaaaaa mmmaaaaaaahhhh ffooooooooouuuuuuuuu", then shoved a cup in your face. We had to deal with that while I waited for my craptastic taco. Having finally eaten, we headed back to the train stop.
Approaching the platform, we noticed a payphone constantly ringing. After listening to it ring for around 2 minutes, I decided to pick up and see what the fuss was about.
Me: "Hello?"
In a gruff steriotypical voice: "Do you have the stuff?"
Me: *looking around, a bit confused* "We're in a train station...."
Repeats: "Do you have the stuff?"
At that point I hung up. The phone kept ringing. It was now around 2 am, and we sat down on a bench, trying to ignore the ringing of the phone. 2 am, sitting at a train platform in blistering cold, covered in sweat and wearing only a t-shirt, my muscles aching from footbag and my mind tired, I stared at the tracks.
The train came about 10 minutes later, and we literally jumped for joy upon seeing its glorious light approach. In the warm car we spent a blissful 25 minutes until we reached our stop.
"Now we just have to hail a taxi," I remark as we leave the train car. I only realized how difficult that would be when we descended to street level, seeing a street barren of all cars, and almost all life. Across the street, three black adults in what looked like gang attire walked. Brian and I slowly crossed the street, hoping a cab would show up soon.
One didn't. We began our 6-block walk back to the Hyatt, which we could see in the distance peeking over the tops of old, dirty buildings. Several men asked us if we still had our train card, which we didn't, and we passed below an underpass with a mural upon it. A cartoon bubble hovered above an eagle with a cigarette in its mouth; "I'll kill you," it said. "Oh my god, they're trying to make this city scary!" Brian shouted.
We continued walking and were approached by a black woman, who at first appeared to be lost. She said how she didn't want to trouble us, but then she started crying and saying how no body would give her money to get something to eat at the White Castle. It was a pretty crappy act, but I pulled out a dollar and asked if it was enough, noting the sign that said something like, "12 burgers for $4.74". She said she couldn't buy anything for a dollar, which pissed me off, but I gave her 2 and was just glad she left us alone.
We didn't get more than a block further when-- I swear to god-- a black midget missing several teeth and holding a clipboard came running across the street from White Castle at us. He told us how two kids had been murdered in that neighborhood less than a week before and that we shouldn't be walking alone out here at night, as though we were out at 2 am with practically nothing on FOR FUN. He then said how he was organizing a rollerskating party for the kids in the neighborhood because they couldn't go anywhere else since it wasn't safe outside. To reiterate: it's 2 am in urban Chicago, in a place we're told it isn't safe to walk at night, and a black midget coming from White Castle is running around asking for money to organize a roller-skating party. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it was a black midget hobo conman, perhaps the world's only. I narrowed my eyes at him and said I didn't have any bills and only some change. Brian and I gave him our change and headed off.
Finally, we could see the base of the Hyatt Regency. We were less than a block from it when the first car in six blocks passed us-- a taxi. WTF We swore so much at that damn cab, but soon forgot our anger as we entered the warm lobby of the hotel, headed upstairs, and went to bed (we showered first though).
-flip wauxpin
-fairy legover BS x2-- BS! Yay!
Other Stuff:
-wauxpin both sides x3
-butterfly > reverse whirl > repeat
-paradox illusion > ducking butterfly BS-- I like ducking butterflys a lot, they feel hard but really don't seem to be; must... work... into... runs
I worked a bunch on fairies a bunch, mostly just on correctly positioning the bag. I can get the bag uptime almost every try, but getting it up high enough to do much meaningful out of it is harder. I was trying to do fairy butterflys because I figured that would be pretty easy, but the out-in nature of the fairy dex makes the butterfly completely across your body. Hence, I need to work my positioning and height a lot before that'll be easier. Near the very end of my session though, I was very surprised how easily I could do fairy legover. I'm hoping that soon I'll be able to do consecutive fairy legovers as a way to practice the set. I also footed fairy smasher (a.k.a fear) several times strongside, but I was attempting the delay with my foot about an inch or two above the ground, so I definately need more practice with the set before that'll be even remotely useful.
I'm also really excited about my challenges because they're, well, challenging. I'm very happy Henry came up with ones that use the new concepts I'm working on, because I'll have to really drill the concepts before I can hit them.
Skating with Brian later. Woots.
And finally, the story:
So Thursday, the second day of the tournament, Brian and I had tickets to a Lucky Boys Confusion concert. I bought the tickets from the band's website, and it said the show was at 6 pm at The Metro. I had never heard of that venue so I asked the concierge of the Hyatt (our hotel) where it was and he had never heard of it either. He looked it up though and found out it is waaaaay in the north of Chicago, right near to Wrigley Field. It would be either around a $30 cab ride or we could take a cab to the train station for $5 and take a $2 25-minute train ride there.
Obviously, we opted for that. Right after the tournament ended Thursday afternoon (~4 pm), we headed up to the room and showered. Since concerts are always packed and hot, we decided not to wear jackets and dress lightly-- we were gonna be riding in a heated cab and a heated train, anyways. After dressing, we headed down and grabbed a cab over to the train station. Not much exciting there-- everything went well, with a bit of help from some locals on how to get a ticket. When we got to our stop, we began looking for the venue, and spotted a McDonald's on the way! Normally, I wouldn't eat McDonald's, but everything during the tournament was so expensive Brian and I had been practically starving ourselves (we had had 1 meal in the past day and a half of the tournament).
It was only about 5:45 so Brian and I headed over there and got a meal. Around 5:55, we went to The Metro, only to be told the doors didn't open till 7, the first of three (!) openers didn't start until 8, and Lucky Boys Confusion didn't play till 10:30 (!!!). Since we had dressed so lightly, we weren't about to wait outside for an hour, and decided to head back to McDonald's to "chill". After wasting maybe 15 minutes by splitting a McFlurry and eating it with these tea-stirrer spoons (to take more time), I just started calling people. Time passed and eventually it was 7 and we could enter.
We scoped out a nice spot on the second floor balcony and prepared to be bored through 3 bands. Truth be told, the three openers weren't that bad. Or at least, the second one, Treaty of Paris, wasn't that bad. The more annoying aspect was that the whole room was filled with smoke from the countless people smoking cigarettes.
Finally, Lucky Boys Confusion played, and it rocked. The story has sucked so far, I know, but after the concert is where it gets more interesting.
Drenched in sweat, me only wearing a t-shirt and Brian wearing a shirt and a track-jacket (=useless), we left The Metro and headed to McDonald's once again; it was closed.... so we headed to Taco Bell instead, where the 4 slowest workers in human history awaited. I ordered one soft shell taco-- one fucking taco-- and ended up waiting around 20 minutes for the damn thing. Meanwhile, a hobo entered who had literally smoked himself retarded. He couldn't utter words, but instead just kinda opened his mouth and went "aaaaauaghghghggggaaaaaa mmmaaaaaaahhhh ffooooooooouuuuuuuuu", then shoved a cup in your face. We had to deal with that while I waited for my craptastic taco. Having finally eaten, we headed back to the train stop.
Approaching the platform, we noticed a payphone constantly ringing. After listening to it ring for around 2 minutes, I decided to pick up and see what the fuss was about.
Me: "Hello?"
In a gruff steriotypical voice: "Do you have the stuff?"
Me: *looking around, a bit confused* "We're in a train station...."
Repeats: "Do you have the stuff?"
At that point I hung up. The phone kept ringing. It was now around 2 am, and we sat down on a bench, trying to ignore the ringing of the phone. 2 am, sitting at a train platform in blistering cold, covered in sweat and wearing only a t-shirt, my muscles aching from footbag and my mind tired, I stared at the tracks.
The train came about 10 minutes later, and we literally jumped for joy upon seeing its glorious light approach. In the warm car we spent a blissful 25 minutes until we reached our stop.
"Now we just have to hail a taxi," I remark as we leave the train car. I only realized how difficult that would be when we descended to street level, seeing a street barren of all cars, and almost all life. Across the street, three black adults in what looked like gang attire walked. Brian and I slowly crossed the street, hoping a cab would show up soon.
One didn't. We began our 6-block walk back to the Hyatt, which we could see in the distance peeking over the tops of old, dirty buildings. Several men asked us if we still had our train card, which we didn't, and we passed below an underpass with a mural upon it. A cartoon bubble hovered above an eagle with a cigarette in its mouth; "I'll kill you," it said. "Oh my god, they're trying to make this city scary!" Brian shouted.
We continued walking and were approached by a black woman, who at first appeared to be lost. She said how she didn't want to trouble us, but then she started crying and saying how no body would give her money to get something to eat at the White Castle. It was a pretty crappy act, but I pulled out a dollar and asked if it was enough, noting the sign that said something like, "12 burgers for $4.74". She said she couldn't buy anything for a dollar, which pissed me off, but I gave her 2 and was just glad she left us alone.
We didn't get more than a block further when-- I swear to god-- a black midget missing several teeth and holding a clipboard came running across the street from White Castle at us. He told us how two kids had been murdered in that neighborhood less than a week before and that we shouldn't be walking alone out here at night, as though we were out at 2 am with practically nothing on FOR FUN. He then said how he was organizing a rollerskating party for the kids in the neighborhood because they couldn't go anywhere else since it wasn't safe outside. To reiterate: it's 2 am in urban Chicago, in a place we're told it isn't safe to walk at night, and a black midget coming from White Castle is running around asking for money to organize a roller-skating party. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it was a black midget hobo conman, perhaps the world's only. I narrowed my eyes at him and said I didn't have any bills and only some change. Brian and I gave him our change and headed off.
Finally, we could see the base of the Hyatt Regency. We were less than a block from it when the first car in six blocks passed us-- a taxi. WTF We swore so much at that damn cab, but soon forgot our anger as we entered the warm lobby of the hotel, headed upstairs, and went to bed (we showered first though).
Zach Marine - Member of the Tendonitis Club!
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blog
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hackeysnacker
that venue is full of underage smokers, very nasty.. see many transvestites around wrigley? Not all of Chicago is like what u saw, there are actually some pretty nice areas - albeit the crappier neighborhoods are pretty entertaining [via the beggars and inflated egos]. Once you realize everyone here is full of shit, it's no longer scary 
Oh man, that's quite the tale! I thought you guys were gonna drive up to the show. If I had known that you were taking public trasportation I could have offered a tip or two about dealing with certain situations. I don't drive and I perennially look like a '5"4 teenager, so I've learned a few things about getting around without much hassle. I guess it's a bit too late for that now though.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed your stay in Chicago
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed your stay in Chicago
Zeke
Funny movie titles if the movie were about poop:
Red
Fast & the Furious
The Green Mile
Children of the Corn
There Will be Blood
Funny movie titles if the movie were about poop:
Red
Fast & the Furious
The Green Mile
Children of the Corn
There Will be Blood
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SandWraith
- Egyptian Footgod
- Posts: 1272
- Joined: 05 Apr 2005 20:39
- Location: Marshfield, Wisconsin
Yeah, it was a lot of fun. Brian and Zach's Excellent Adventure just makes a good story, even though it did result in me getting sick.
Which brings me to a bit of depressing news (for me): I'm sick (did you see it coming?!). I had thought that our sweat-covered barely-covered romp in arctic temperatures would result in sickness, and I woke up today feeling like there's a train wreck in my throat-- the mucus just lingers there, and down lower in my throat it feels rough and jagged.
Goal of the day: 3 cans of chicken noodle soup so I'm better tomorrow.
(it's not all bad though-- now I can spend ridiculous amounts of time playing Doom 3.)
Which brings me to a bit of depressing news (for me): I'm sick (did you see it coming?!). I had thought that our sweat-covered barely-covered romp in arctic temperatures would result in sickness, and I woke up today feeling like there's a train wreck in my throat-- the mucus just lingers there, and down lower in my throat it feels rough and jagged.
Goal of the day: 3 cans of chicken noodle soup so I'm better tomorrow.
(it's not all bad though-- now I can spend ridiculous amounts of time playing Doom 3.)
Zach Marine - Member of the Tendonitis Club!
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blog
