Probably the only shredder of all fLemmings
January 26
1h10 of shreddah. Again ducking clipper>spinning clipper BSauce which was a nice feeling.
New trick: tried toe grifter and hit it on my second attempt.
What surprise! The flip took me a while longer, probably due to my retarded illusion motion on that side. Really styley trick though. Will try to incorporate into strings.
I also figured out why I suck at swirls. I mean, I've hit *okay* swirls on several occasions but today, when I was doing the swirl motion in front of a mirror, I saw my motion is actually SQUARE instead of nice and round. Needs fixin'.
January 27
1h. Again pretty darned cold. In fact, when I put on my jacket after the session, I realised I had lost most feeling in my arms and, back home, my fingers were still yellowish after 30 minutes in front of a radiator. Now that's what I call dedication. 
Anyway, I hit toe grifter again and *almost* improved my consecutive spinning clipper record to three on both sides.
Also hit a new trick: scrambled eggbeater bs! Haha, that's a funny trick.
I also increased my footbag production dramatically! I stitched yet another one today and I'll upload some pics soon. In fact I feel like my stitching techniques are maturing already. I might start selling in a while, who knows.
1h10 of shreddah. Again ducking clipper>spinning clipper BSauce which was a nice feeling.
New trick: tried toe grifter and hit it on my second attempt.
What surprise! The flip took me a while longer, probably due to my retarded illusion motion on that side. Really styley trick though. Will try to incorporate into strings.I also figured out why I suck at swirls. I mean, I've hit *okay* swirls on several occasions but today, when I was doing the swirl motion in front of a mirror, I saw my motion is actually SQUARE instead of nice and round.
Needs fixin'.January 27
1h. Again pretty darned cold. In fact, when I put on my jacket after the session, I realised I had lost most feeling in my arms and, back home, my fingers were still yellowish after 30 minutes in front of a radiator.
Now that's what I call dedication. Anyway, I hit toe grifter again and *almost* improved my consecutive spinning clipper record to three on both sides.
Also hit a new trick: scrambled eggbeater bs! Haha, that's a funny trick.
I also increased my footbag production dramatically! I stitched yet another one today and I'll upload some pics soon. In fact I feel like my stitching techniques are maturing already. I might start selling in a while, who knows.
Check dis out. My 3rd 32.
It's bigger than the last one - well, in fact, it could hardly have been smaller!
January 29 SUN-DAY
When I got up I was so excited to see that the sun was out that I fetched my camera, went out and shredded.
1h10. Hit a lot of toe dlo and footed paradox dlo too many times. My best run was a nice 22 contact run (spinning butterfly>run with some tripless), second best 15
. Also hit a strongside ps whirl, which I hadn't in a while.
The fact that there was a cam rolling also made me try some fairly recent tricks I hadn't seen myself do yet. Assessment: I dig spinning eclipse. Spinning mirage looks a lot cooler than it feels. Will do again. Toe grifter looks *almost* as cool as it feels.
It's bigger than the last one - well, in fact, it could hardly have been smaller!
January 29 SUN-DAY
When I got up I was so excited to see that the sun was out that I fetched my camera, went out and shredded.
1h10. Hit a lot of toe dlo and footed paradox dlo too many times. My best run was a nice 22 contact run (spinning butterfly>run with some tripless), second best 15
. Also hit a strongside ps whirl, which I hadn't in a while. The fact that there was a cam rolling also made me try some fairly recent tricks I hadn't seen myself do yet. Assessment: I dig spinning eclipse. Spinning mirage looks a lot cooler than it feels. Will do again. Toe grifter looks *almost* as cool as it feels.
January 31
40 minutes of kickee at my gf’s. The design was to have a low-key session with just basics (which I did). However, when cooling down I tried paradox dlo again since I had footed it so many times on Sunday and HIT IT uber-controlled 1st try! I bsed it a few minutes later. Man, I never knew that trick would feel so yummee. More please!
Also picked up some colours from the local cloth shop. I showed them a docbag and fired: "do you know what kind of cloth this is and if so, do you sell something similar?" Both women looked devastated
until one of them remembered they had something similar in stock waaaaay at the back of the store.
So I followed her through the dark realms of the shop and she showed me a €15/m² cloth which looked ok. However, the minimum amount they sell is 20 cm. As the length of the roll is about 1.5m, I realised that I was in for a lot of bags if I wanted to buy a few colours.
In the end I left the shop with 7 new colours because it was the last day of the 15% sales
. I would have liked some more variation and joyful colours but the stuff they had was mostly dark. Anyway, I guess I was by far the weirdest customer today.
February 1
For those of you who are interested: here's a little update about the Dutch chewing gum publicity campaign. I still have no definitive date for the shoot, but the guys from the publicity company are thinking second half of February.
Also they would like to limit the number of shredders to 2
for fear of things getting too hectic in the studio. Plus only one of them (that would probably be me I guess) would be featured in the shoot, although they may also record some doubles once they realise how cool that is.
Must shred now.
40 minutes of kickee at my gf’s. The design was to have a low-key session with just basics (which I did). However, when cooling down I tried paradox dlo again since I had footed it so many times on Sunday and HIT IT uber-controlled 1st try! I bsed it a few minutes later. Man, I never knew that trick would feel so yummee. More please!
Also picked up some colours from the local cloth shop. I showed them a docbag and fired: "do you know what kind of cloth this is and if so, do you sell something similar?" Both women looked devastated
until one of them remembered they had something similar in stock waaaaay at the back of the store.So I followed her through the dark realms of the shop and she showed me a €15/m² cloth which looked ok. However, the minimum amount they sell is 20 cm. As the length of the roll is about 1.5m, I realised that I was in for a lot of bags if I wanted to buy a few colours.
In the end I left the shop with 7 new colours because it was the last day of the 15% sales
. I would have liked some more variation and joyful colours but the stuff they had was mostly dark. Anyway, I guess I was by far the weirdest customer today.February 1
For those of you who are interested: here's a little update about the Dutch chewing gum publicity campaign. I still have no definitive date for the shoot, but the guys from the publicity company are thinking second half of February.
Also they would like to limit the number of shredders to 2
for fear of things getting too hectic in the studio. Plus only one of them (that would probably be me I guess) would be featured in the shoot, although they may also record some doubles once they realise how cool that is.Must shred now.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh that sucks with the shooting. If they change their opinion or nobody wants to accompany you - don't forget to tell me the date.
to the pdx dlo
I was surprised that you did not hit it earlier. Your toe game is strong and I am sure there are other tricks waiting for being hit first try.
Refering to the fabric:
Do not spend too much time into searching fabric. In my opinion it is hard to find material which fit through the whole bag's life.
I mean there are some materials which are very very similar to facile in the beginning but after a few weeks the material sucks.
Later you got more ideas to look for different fabrics. Just order some facile from fieldsfabrics that is the easiest was in my opinion.
If you are way too unsettled for waiting a few weeks than send me a pm and I will send you a piece of fabric for one or two bags.
Go for stepping pdx dlo, Wim !
to the pdx dlo
I was surprised that you did not hit it earlier. Your toe game is strong and I am sure there are other tricks waiting for being hit first try.
Refering to the fabric:
Do not spend too much time into searching fabric. In my opinion it is hard to find material which fit through the whole bag's life.
I mean there are some materials which are very very similar to facile in the beginning but after a few weeks the material sucks.
Later you got more ideas to look for different fabrics. Just order some facile from fieldsfabrics that is the easiest was in my opinion.
If you are way too unsettled for waiting a few weeks than send me a pm and I will send you a piece of fabric for one or two bags.
Go for stepping pdx dlo, Wim !
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
Cool dudes!
Will keep you posted on the shoot.
I probably SHOULD have hit pdlo long ago but for some reason I have always neglected skooling dlo. There are voids in my game indeed, but I'm pretty proficient at covering those up I lack basics that people would expect me to bust as I have a lot of 4s and some 5s.
Take eggbeaters. I've NEVER hit a peak/downtime eggbeater (just atomic legover but that doesn't count). I think I'll have to re-school illusions first.
About the fabric: thanks but no thanks (for now) Jochen . The fabric I have bought should provide me with over 100 bags. I finished the first one (blue-brown-red) and, I must say, it's my worst. The fabric sucks big time so blue is ruled out Fortunately the blue fabric is different from the others and I presume those will be better suited for footbags.
What is worst about the bag is that HALF of the bleed holes pop out! I think, in my next bag, I'll do one stitch through the hexes after every side of the pents (didn't before).
February 1
Jochen, I should indeed try stepping pdlo because, for the last few days, Belgium has been covered in FOG due to some exceptional meteorological circumstances (forecasters call it 'inversion').
I'm still shredding outside though it's a little eerie and unhealthy. Did 1h in the park on wednesday. Highlight was one 27 contact run with a fair number of BOPs but also ducks, spins, pdxwhirl bs and other tripless like side, blur, dim. My longest non-BOP guiltless run ever! Weeee.
Also a funny thing happened. There was this lady jogging at the park with her dog sniffling some twenty meters behind her. Although the dog seemed obedient and uninterested in me, I hardly ever trust them 100% after a dog chewed my sandman last summer. So whenever the woman trotted along, I paused until the dog had passed too. However, one lap I was in the middle of a run when they came along and, not willing to pause, I unwittingly did a blind osis to check the dog, after which I continued my run . Hurrah for my solid BOP game!
February 2
As there was ice all over the terrace and I didn't feel like shredding inside, I did some short runs and single tricks on the tiles between the terrace and the lawn. Also did some BOP runs but the best I got was 28. My shred space of only 2 square meters was probably a major factor in that.
Will keep you posted on the shoot.
I probably SHOULD have hit pdlo long ago but for some reason I have always neglected skooling dlo. There are voids in my game indeed, but I'm pretty proficient at covering those up
I lack basics that people would expect me to bust as I have a lot of 4s and some 5s.Take eggbeaters. I've NEVER hit a peak/downtime eggbeater (just atomic legover but that doesn't count). I think I'll have to re-school illusions first.
About the fabric: thanks but no thanks (for now) Jochen
. The fabric I have bought should provide me with over 100 bags. I finished the first one (blue-brown-red) and, I must say, it's my worst. The fabric sucks big time so blue is ruled out Fortunately the blue fabric is different from the others and I presume those will be better suited for footbags.What is worst about the bag is that HALF of the bleed holes pop out! I think, in my next bag, I'll do one stitch through the hexes after every side of the pents (didn't before).
February 1
Jochen, I should indeed try stepping pdlo because, for the last few days, Belgium has been covered in FOG due to some exceptional meteorological circumstances (forecasters call it 'inversion').
I'm still shredding outside though it's a little eerie and unhealthy. Did 1h in the park on wednesday. Highlight was one 27 contact run
with a fair number of BOPs but also ducks, spins, pdxwhirl bs and other tripless like side, blur, dim. My longest non-BOP guiltless run ever! Weeee.Also a funny thing happened. There was this lady jogging at the park with her dog sniffling some twenty meters behind her. Although the dog seemed obedient and uninterested in me, I hardly ever trust them 100% after a dog chewed my sandman last summer. So whenever the woman trotted along, I paused until the dog had passed too. However, one lap I was in the middle of a run when they came along and, not willing to pause, I unwittingly did a blind osis to check the dog, after which I continued my run
. Hurrah for my solid BOP game!February 2
As there was ice all over the terrace and I didn't feel like shredding inside, I did some short runs and single tricks on the tiles between the terrace and the lawn. Also did some BOP runs but the best I got was 28. My shred space of only 2 square meters was probably a major factor in that.
EXCAVAAAATION!
It feels like I haven't been here in AGES. I've been super busy renovating, cleaning, decorating, among other -ings the house me and my girlfriend are gonna move into.
Now all is ready for the grand finale (that is actually moving) but I just found out that the guy who is supposed to do the last few modifications (i.e. installing a sink and a shitepot) is behind schedule again so now I'm just hoping we can move in by next weekend.
Being busy means I haven't played much footbag. In fact, I played a full 20 minutes last week.
February 7
Just BOPs to get back that loving feeling. I felt super rusty at first but halfway through the session (= after 10 minutes
) I finally managed to get 20+ contacts. I did that 3 more times in the 10 minutes that followed and got one 34 contact run which I thought was a good thing to end with.
I did finish my next bag and it looks pretty sweet:
I finally have time to kick today but it's been f**** snowing all day...!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The guys from the stimorol/footbag campaign contacted me again. They want to set up a meeting with me at the end of the following week before the actual shoot the week after that (last week of February). They also proposed a €500 reward, which is fine with me.
Max, I know you prefer to shoot during the weekend so I will bargain that if possible. If not, is there anyone else who would like to share his preferences (Jochen, Jules)?
It feels like I haven't been here in AGES. I've been super busy renovating, cleaning, decorating, among other -ings the house me and my girlfriend are gonna move into.
Now all is ready for the grand finale (that is actually moving) but I just found out that the guy who is supposed to do the last few modifications (i.e. installing a sink and a shitepot) is behind schedule again so now I'm just hoping we can move in by next weekend.
Being busy means I haven't played much footbag. In fact, I played a full 20 minutes last week.
February 7
Just BOPs to get back that loving feeling. I felt super rusty at first but halfway through the session (= after 10 minutes
) I finally managed to get 20+ contacts. I did that 3 more times in the 10 minutes that followed and got one 34 contact run which I thought was a good thing to end with.I did finish my next bag and it looks pretty sweet:
I finally have time to kick today but it's been f**** snowing all day...!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The guys from the stimorol/footbag campaign contacted me again. They want to set up a meeting with me at the end of the following week before the actual shoot the week after that (last week of February). They also proposed a €500 reward, which is fine with me.
Max, I know you prefer to shoot during the weekend so I will bargain that if possible. If not, is there anyone else who would like to share his preferences
(Jochen, Jules)?February 12
It didn't stop snowing all day so in the end I kicked outside the gym of my former secondary school just down the street. A session on two square metres
I haven't shredded on a good surface in ages.
Just BOPs, got 24 butterflies. Then I decided on a whim to do double dexes and hit very deep datws, paradons, barflies.
Called it a day after only twenty minutes because the bad lighting and the sloping surface got me a little worked up . Oh well.
It didn't stop snowing all day so in the end I kicked outside the gym of my former secondary school just down the street. A session on two square metres
I haven't shredded on a good surface in ages.Just BOPs, got 24 butterflies. Then I decided on a whim to do double dexes and hit very deep datws, paradons, barflies.
Called it a day after only twenty minutes because the bad lighting and the sloping surface got me a little worked up
. Oh well.Publicity guys who are looking for the best footbaggers of Belgium/The Netherlands on behalf of Stimorol changed plans again.
The rehearsal/meeting for the shoot is cancelled. Instead they want me to fill out some kind of form over the net, which is fine with me as it saves me a trip to Rotterdam. I hold nothing against Rotterdam, it's just bloody far.
The actual shoot is planned for the last week of February. Dammit, I should get in a few sessions!
Speaking of which, I think I've tracked a conspiracy. Whenever I think about/have time to shred, it eiter starts raining, snowing, or getting dark. Argh! I don't want to loose all my tricks. I've kicked about twice in the last two weeks!
The rehearsal/meeting for the shoot is cancelled. Instead they want me to fill out some kind of form over the net, which is fine with me as it saves me a trip to Rotterdam. I hold nothing against Rotterdam, it's just bloody far.
The actual shoot is planned for the last week of February. Dammit, I should get in a few sessions!
Speaking of which, I think I've tracked a conspiracy. Whenever I think about/have time to shred, it eiter starts raining, snowing, or getting dark. Argh! I don't want to loose all my tricks. I've kicked about twice in the last two weeks!
Alter - that is horribleWim wrote:...
Speaking of which, I think I've tracked a conspiracy. Whenever I think about/have time to shred, it eiter starts raining, snowing, or getting dark. Argh! I don't want to loose all my tricks. I've kicked about twice in the last two weeks!
! Is there no gym/indoor swimming pool/ fitnessstudio that will give you a little space to shred ?
What about hallways, living rooms or space ships ?
I tell you what - i win the lottery tomorrow and just buy you some land,
how's that !?
EASYKINKI
I tell you what - i win the lottery tomorrow and just buy you some land,
how's that !?
Cool! If you can spare some cash, please buy me Belgium. It's not that big.
No seriously. It sucks. No swimming pools/fitness areas in the neighbourhood. On the other hand, my girlfriend's dad is like the head administrator of the local sports hall, so if I suck up a little...
nah, the thing that keeps me from asking him is that I don't want to spend ANY cash on any shred space. But IF he lets me shred there for free, he would be doing something compromising (I think he might owe some superiors an explanation) and I wouldn't want him to do that.
Maybe I needn't worry about that and just ask him anyway
.A no you have, a yes you could have (sounds less retarded in the Dutch original: "Een nee heb je, een ja kan je krijgen".)
My prayers have been heard. Yesterday, it was actually WARM outside. Started off my kick with a sweater, then just a shirt, then bare chested .
February 15
50 minutes of kickee. Solid runs, good feeling. One promising 18 contact run during warm-up but didn't equal that afterwards. Still some 10+ runs.
Good torques, drifters, gyro.
I more or less figured out how gyro works best for me. Gyro is nowhere near a full spin. I am most likely to hit the trick when I set straight, spin short, and spot the bag when it's just under my armpit. Feels good too.
Cooled down with 35 BOP and then tried stalling the second bag I made (super small one, somewhere in this thread). It had been doing super on kicks, and now I did 8 consecutive clippers with it, so I guess it isn't total crap.
The stimorol chewing gum guys want me to play in trousers and with a 'stimorol footbag', whatever that may mean. Hmmmmmm. For you who want to accompany me: the shoot is planned for the 9th week, that is the week starting on February 27. No further details as to now.
.February 15
50 minutes of kickee. Solid runs, good feeling. One promising 18 contact run during warm-up but didn't equal that afterwards. Still some 10+ runs.
Good torques, drifters, gyro.
I more or less figured out how gyro works best for me. Gyro is nowhere near a full spin. I am most likely to hit the trick when I set straight, spin short, and spot the bag when it's just under my armpit. Feels good too.
Cooled down with 35 BOP and then tried stalling the second bag I made (super small one, somewhere in this thread). It had been doing super on kicks, and now I did 8 consecutive clippers with it, so I guess it isn't total crap.
The stimorol chewing gum guys want me to play in trousers and with a 'stimorol footbag', whatever that may mean. Hmmmmmm. For you who want to accompany me: the shoot is planned for the 9th week, that is the week starting on February 27. No further details as to now.
So this is my first post from our new house! Wow, what has happened to modififified? New banners, new domain name (I had to google it!)...
Living together with my girlfriend again is so cool although unfortunately she’s out most of the day being at school etc. etc. It feels like we haven’t had a chill day together in ages.
Footbag is getting a little problematic even though I feel that spring itch that makes me want to shred outside. There are NO (public) shred spots in our new town, not that I’ve noticed anyway. So far I’ve been kicking either in the living-room, the 1 square metre terrace behind the house, or (and this is a cool alternative) in front of the chapel in the nearby forest. I went there Friday afternoon and had an ok session even though just being there felt awkward and somewhat inappropriate. I was surprised I didn’t get kicked ‘out’.
February 22, 23, 24, 26
Thus far I’ve been doing 30 minute sessions (three times last week) schooling basics and BOPs. Couldn’t resist the temptation of doing some shred combos in front of the chapel though
I’ve been running a lot more, about 30 kilometres in 4 days. The surroundings allow for running more than for kicking I guess; with the forest and loads of low-traffic roads.
Anyway, the shoot in Rotterdam is coming up next week so I should avoid getting out of practice altogether.
Oh yeah, I also ran into a really cool squirrel yesterday. I was reading a book at the forest when all of a sudden a squirrel leaps out of a tree, crosses the road, and halts to eat something of uhhhh undetermined nature just two metres away from me. By this time I was pleasantly surprised and I assumed it hadn’t seen me, because normally squirrels are allergic to people and take a hike whenever they encounter one. This one, however, staid sitting, eating, and looking around forever. Then it came even closer just one metre away from my feet and it actually looked up at me two or three times in between bites, as if to say “What kind of a freak animal are you?” Then, it went away up a tree after about ten minutes.
Everyone I’ve told this story to (yeah I tell it to everyone) is like: “Yeah, it’s probably used to people and it was checking if you were gonna give it some food” but I like my version of the story better. Fuck them, they’re jealous because they never meet any cool squirrels.
February 28, March 1
The last week before the shoot in Rotterdam! I want to give the guys from the publicity company something so I undertake some modest attempts at staying in shape. Still I know they are probably not looking for the big add tricks but rather for the basics that I know I can hit even with a funky bag, funky trousers and funky shirt on.
I practice twice for a total of only 50 minutes, mostly single tricks so I end up taking the trip with few to no expectations.
March 3
I’m still kinda in the middle of getting jiggy in the new house so a trip to Rotterdam in the far north is a welcome intermezzo. I get up at 6.00h (uhhh!), get on a train at 7.00h (uhhh!), and get off at 9.30h (uhhh!). The weather turns more and more extreme the longer I am on the train. I left the house in chilly but sunny weather but freaking SNOW STORMS just across the Dutch border make me realise I am probably fucked because I am wearing semi-summer clothing.
Anyway, I give one of the publicity guys a call when I get out of the train station and he picks me up in an azure mini cooper (that is one sweet car). He shows me the Stimorol bag that I’m supposed to use for the shoot and the thing turns out to be somewhere in between a freestyle and a net bag, but probably good for neither. So I can’t help but laughing and ask him if it’s okay if I use a bag that resembles it but is stallable. No problem, the online clips will have a small frame-set and not-so-high resolution so the texture of the bag won’t actually be visible.
They have set up a little set in a nearby gym. Nice people (about five people go on and off while I’m at it), but knowing that they will do about everything to make me feel comfortable feels awkward. I try to ask as little from them as I can, I’m a plain person just like them, not some freaking celebrity.
The set turns out baaad accommodation for footbag. The blue screen (that is really green) slips under my feet on every trick so I can’t trust it. Hurray for duck tape.
We start the shoot with the tricks I had listed as ‘easy’. One of the guys wants me to play with my timing in order to make everything that happens during a trick as clear as possible. I end up holding a clipper unnaturally long for about five seconds, and the stalls before and after a mirage about three seconds…! The hat, hyper strong lighting, and baggy clothes (“we want you to look ‘street’”) make me work up a sweat from tiltless on.
They skip the legover (“not distinct enough from mirage”) and replace it with a clip set mirage (?) and a toe stall.
On to guiltless then (the tricks I had listed as “harder”). I do a sole stall, ducking clipper, whirl, datw, all with an unnaturally long look in the camera before and after (“we’re gonna sort of ‘beam you in’ so we need you to stay motionless for at least three seconds before and after”). We skip drifter, barrage, dlo, and eclipse. They also don’t want any flyers.
The tripless tricks turn out to be very challenging with baggy trousers on, especially after two hours of shooting already. I slur/snatch EVERY set on blur, paradon and paradox whirl are out of the question too for some reason. Fortunately the audience also likes spinning osis, ripwalk, and legbeater, which doesn’t give me too much trouble. I don’t even consider going for blurry whirl and PS whirl, so we just do some teaser stuff and ‘making of’ shots and wrap it up.
For the teaser they want me to link tricks for about ten to fifteen seconds, which I predict is very much within my possibilities. Until I start shredding and keep dropping around the fifth trick. Argh! In the end we just shoot kick>kick>kick>…>butterfly>butterfly>ducking clipper, which they think is sick and I don’t argue because I feel too tired to try anything else.
So yeah, it was a pretty inspiring experience. It turns out the people from stimorol weren’t actually interested in footbag itself, but rather wanted to confirm some common expectation about people who kick a bag. Hence they wanted me to look ‘street’. Funny anecdote that may serve as an illustration: in the middle of the shoot, one of the camera people gets a call from Mister or Miss Stimorol asking explicitly that I keep my trousers ON for the shoot (no playing in shorts). They clearly want me to answer to their preconceptions rather than approaching footbag open-mindedly so they would perhaps appreciate it as a sport. Anyway, just my thoughts. The footage is theirs to do what they want to do with it.
Anyway, I said it was an inspiring experience. Yeah! The whole day made me remember that footbag IS cool no matter what. You don’t need to pull off mobius or PS whirl all the time to feel good about your game. Even a sole kick can be awesome for spectators, so why not for the player him/herself? The appreciation the advertising people showed even for 2-add tricks confronted me with that.
March 4, 5, 7
I took that self-esteem with me in my sessions the days after and it worked wonderfully!
On Saturday the weather was straight out divine. I mean, it was sunny and I wasn’t freezing to death from the moment I set foot outside . I had 35 minutes of feeling good- therapy that I wrapped up with 61 BOP (new personal best) and 69 of those hopping alternating sort of toe stalling pickup things, you know what I mean?
25 minutes on Sunday, 45 minutes on Tuesday, loads of 10+ guiltless, some cool combos that involved drifters, good shred, all flavoured with a good feeling about it too. Yum.
Living together with my girlfriend again is so cool although unfortunately she’s out most of the day being at school etc. etc. It feels like we haven’t had a chill day together in ages.
Footbag is getting a little problematic even though I feel that spring itch that makes me want to shred outside. There are NO (public) shred spots in our new town, not that I’ve noticed anyway. So far I’ve been kicking either in the living-room, the 1 square metre terrace behind the house, or (and this is a cool alternative) in front of the chapel in the nearby forest. I went there Friday afternoon and had an ok session even though just being there felt awkward and somewhat inappropriate. I was surprised I didn’t get kicked ‘out’.
February 22, 23, 24, 26
Thus far I’ve been doing 30 minute sessions (three times last week) schooling basics and BOPs. Couldn’t resist the temptation of doing some shred combos in front of the chapel though
I’ve been running a lot more, about 30 kilometres in 4 days. The surroundings allow for running more than for kicking I guess; with the forest and loads of low-traffic roads.
Anyway, the shoot in Rotterdam is coming up next week so I should avoid getting out of practice altogether.
Oh yeah, I also ran into a really cool squirrel yesterday. I was reading a book at the forest when all of a sudden a squirrel leaps out of a tree, crosses the road, and halts to eat something of uhhhh undetermined nature just two metres away from me. By this time I was pleasantly surprised and I assumed it hadn’t seen me, because normally squirrels are allergic to people and take a hike whenever they encounter one. This one, however, staid sitting, eating, and looking around forever. Then it came even closer just one metre away from my feet and it actually looked up at me two or three times in between bites, as if to say “What kind of a freak animal are you?” Then, it went away up a tree after about ten minutes.
Everyone I’ve told this story to (yeah I tell it to everyone) is like: “Yeah, it’s probably used to people and it was checking if you were gonna give it some food” but I like my version of the story better. Fuck them, they’re jealous because they never meet any cool squirrels.
February 28, March 1
The last week before the shoot in Rotterdam! I want to give the guys from the publicity company something so I undertake some modest attempts at staying in shape. Still I know they are probably not looking for the big add tricks but rather for the basics that I know I can hit even with a funky bag, funky trousers and funky shirt on.
I practice twice for a total of only 50 minutes, mostly single tricks so I end up taking the trip with few to no expectations.
March 3
I’m still kinda in the middle of getting jiggy in the new house so a trip to Rotterdam in the far north is a welcome intermezzo. I get up at 6.00h (uhhh!), get on a train at 7.00h (uhhh!), and get off at 9.30h (uhhh!). The weather turns more and more extreme the longer I am on the train. I left the house in chilly but sunny weather but freaking SNOW STORMS just across the Dutch border make me realise I am probably fucked because I am wearing semi-summer clothing.
Anyway, I give one of the publicity guys a call when I get out of the train station and he picks me up in an azure mini cooper (that is one sweet car). He shows me the Stimorol bag that I’m supposed to use for the shoot and the thing turns out to be somewhere in between a freestyle and a net bag, but probably good for neither. So I can’t help but laughing and ask him if it’s okay if I use a bag that resembles it but is stallable. No problem, the online clips will have a small frame-set and not-so-high resolution so the texture of the bag won’t actually be visible.
They have set up a little set in a nearby gym. Nice people (about five people go on and off while I’m at it), but knowing that they will do about everything to make me feel comfortable feels awkward. I try to ask as little from them as I can, I’m a plain person just like them, not some freaking celebrity.
The set turns out baaad accommodation for footbag. The blue screen (that is really green) slips under my feet on every trick so I can’t trust it. Hurray for duck tape.
We start the shoot with the tricks I had listed as ‘easy’. One of the guys wants me to play with my timing in order to make everything that happens during a trick as clear as possible. I end up holding a clipper unnaturally long for about five seconds, and the stalls before and after a mirage about three seconds…! The hat, hyper strong lighting, and baggy clothes (“we want you to look ‘street’”) make me work up a sweat from tiltless on.
They skip the legover (“not distinct enough from mirage”) and replace it with a clip set mirage (?) and a toe stall.
On to guiltless then (the tricks I had listed as “harder”). I do a sole stall, ducking clipper, whirl, datw, all with an unnaturally long look in the camera before and after (“we’re gonna sort of ‘beam you in’ so we need you to stay motionless for at least three seconds before and after”). We skip drifter, barrage, dlo, and eclipse. They also don’t want any flyers.
The tripless tricks turn out to be very challenging with baggy trousers on, especially after two hours of shooting already. I slur/snatch EVERY set on blur, paradon and paradox whirl are out of the question too for some reason. Fortunately the audience also likes spinning osis, ripwalk, and legbeater, which doesn’t give me too much trouble. I don’t even consider going for blurry whirl and PS whirl, so we just do some teaser stuff and ‘making of’ shots and wrap it up.
For the teaser they want me to link tricks for about ten to fifteen seconds, which I predict is very much within my possibilities. Until I start shredding and keep dropping around the fifth trick. Argh! In the end we just shoot kick>kick>kick>…>butterfly>butterfly>ducking clipper, which they think is sick and I don’t argue because I feel too tired to try anything else.
So yeah, it was a pretty inspiring experience. It turns out the people from stimorol weren’t actually interested in footbag itself, but rather wanted to confirm some common expectation about people who kick a bag. Hence they wanted me to look ‘street’. Funny anecdote that may serve as an illustration: in the middle of the shoot, one of the camera people gets a call from Mister or Miss Stimorol asking explicitly that I keep my trousers ON for the shoot (no playing in shorts). They clearly want me to answer to their preconceptions rather than approaching footbag open-mindedly so they would perhaps appreciate it as a sport. Anyway, just my thoughts. The footage is theirs to do what they want to do with it.
Anyway, I said it was an inspiring experience. Yeah! The whole day made me remember that footbag IS cool no matter what. You don’t need to pull off mobius or PS whirl all the time to feel good about your game. Even a sole kick can be awesome for spectators, so why not for the player him/herself? The appreciation the advertising people showed even for 2-add tricks confronted me with that.
March 4, 5, 7
I took that self-esteem with me in my sessions the days after and it worked wonderfully!
On Saturday the weather was straight out divine. I mean, it was sunny and I wasn’t freezing to death from the moment I set foot outside . I had 35 minutes of feeling good- therapy that I wrapped up with 61 BOP (new personal best) and 69 of those hopping alternating sort of toe stalling pickup things, you know what I mean?
25 minutes on Sunday, 45 minutes on Tuesday, loads of 10+ guiltless, some cool combos that involved drifters, good shred, all flavoured with a good feeling about it too. Yum.
Yesterday, when my girlfriend was getting ready to go out and I had some time to kill, I hacked for five minutes yesterday. Yes, hacked. I actually hacked! I hadn't done that in at least a year. And I didn't remember it's so much fun!
I'm using those first bags I stitched for hack. They excell in kicks and occasional stalls. By the way, the last bag I made (green/brown, see up) is getting quite good. I did like 25 infinities with it the other day, which I couldn't possibly do with a bag that is total crap.
Anyway, I'm dying to get in a good kick or run (in between job applications and so) but the weather is so shite that at best I'll do a little living room shred
I'm using those first bags I stitched for hack. They excell in kicks and occasional stalls. By the way, the last bag I made (green/brown, see up) is getting quite good. I did like 25 infinities with it the other day, which I couldn't possibly do with a bag that is total crap.
Anyway, I'm dying to get in a good kick or run (in between job applications and so) but the weather is so shite that at best I'll do a little living room shred
Does anyone out there have some good advice on finding a job for me? Or even better: does anyone HAVE a job for me?
Looking for:
A post in the domain of languages (Dutch, English, French?, German?, Danish?)
Journalism!, translation,...
Preferably part-time
I've been online looking most of yesterday and today too, and now my head is BURSTING so I just gotta stop.
I think I'll check out the kicking circle too, it might just have a thread on how to find a job .
Looking for:
A post in the domain of languages (Dutch, English, French?, German?, Danish?)
Journalism!, translation,...
Preferably part-time
I've been online looking most of yesterday and today too, and now my head is BURSTING so I just gotta stop.
I think I'll check out the kicking circle too, it might just have a thread on how to find a job
.