mc

[Pyroman924]

Hey Matt, props on the beast. Sounds sick. Record it next time. ; )
Props on the Symp Flurries too.
Those shoes are sick looking man. How do they play without mods? It looks like the toe is either rubber or mesh.

Hope all is going well man. Looking forward to that bag.

[mc]

here is alan's bag, and bill.

big session in buffalo tonight!! Erie people, Rochester people, 1 or 2 from syracuse!!!! and about a billion hacky sackers! I can't wait to get the shred on... more later.

[mc]

here is #80, for Sara Gardephe. She is a very nice girl who is new on the scene. she has good control of the footbag. I hope she likes it.

had a long, bad session today. tiring. couldn't hit good moves. that last long long session I had was incredible, and i think it's because I had a LONG warm up. I need that more. I started right in on hard stuff today. I'm an idiot.

a few new things, gig > mullet one side, worked myself into a cramped ball of exhaustion going for the flip. In the middle of the attempts on that, I hit rev whirlwind toast BS. strong came quickly, flip took a long time. hit whirlwind on back to back attempts, easily. Diving butter > ducking butter repeat > string first try. no big accomplishment, but I don't really drill my ducking enough, so I was glad it worked out. toe flick > ducking toe flick. footed swirling gyro butter first try, but couldn't hit it. ruined the gay cow by stomping it while attempting flip bullwhip. strong side came easily for once. bye bye gay cow. this was one of it's last sessions anyway, it was getting bad holes on the cow. it was definitely one of my favorite bags ever.

now sleep. work at 730. london in a few days.

you should have seen the amount of sweat that came out when I wrung out my socks and underwear before my shower. holy crap.

[mc]

yesterday was a bizarre day at work. We started the day with some stock counting, carried some boxes around, etc. spent a lot of time before lunch relaxing. went home for work, came back, and played some hacky in the warehouse with my coworkers. Word got to my supervisor that I'm being flown across the ocean to play, he thought that was pretty cool, and a few times during the rest of the day, he had me do freestyle demos for people coming around. I knew I'd get to kick some, so I wore my lavers and brought my 12p ben rea footbag. good fun. I love how hacky gets some respect.

then, I went home at 2:30 and took a "nap" until about 11 PM, woke up for an hour, and went back to bed so I wouldn't be fucked up for work today. it was good to catch up on some sleep, and I'm not feeling too zonked out from oversleeping, so that's good. maybe I'll feel up to a session when I get back. my back is a bit sore.

I don't think I ever wrote up last thursday in buffalo. it was so great having the main players from the RFA out, and some of our out-of-town associates. anello was going off. chris dean was so smooth and aggressive, as usual. it's great to see him play, he can rip out the shuffle so well. I hit maybe two good things, backside omelette first try, came close to zulu flail, but the dive was no good also hit fairy butter > food > mullet > pass first try. it's hard for me to play well in buffalo because the circles are so huge and I can't really get warm. but it's still great fun to see my friends and drive out with jack and dan. looking forward to this week. also looking forward to london.

[mc]

sup to all my footbag doggities. I'm chilling in the airport in detroit. Last stop before london. I'm enjoying a nice beer and some free internet access that I scored for playing a song for the server at the front of the cafe. So, that's the shizz.

I hope will digges reads this because I'm in the same terminal now that we were in about a year ago headed to US open, with the bizarre round fountain that shoots weird spurts of water everywhere. Well, either that, or they've got the same fountain all over the place. that could be it, too. But it really looks familiar. brings back nice memories. that was areally fun voyage, despite the loss of my camera and noah jay-bonn's total neglect to get in touch with me afterwards regarding said loss... but I digress...

They don't sell small enough bottles in the duty-free. I wanted something to sip on while I wait for my flight. Instead, I've got a big beer, which is good. I love big beers. 23 oz, I believe, of some sort of leinenkugel summer wheat extravaganza.

I'm extra super pleased with how my bags have been coming out lately. They feel so soft!! I love 83, and my friend loved 82 for her birthday. love love love.

ooo, funny footbag story. i went to buffalo yesterday a few hours early to meet up with a girl I met at the last thurs in the square, which turned out to be a dud visit, but that's cool. Anyway, i was driving away from her to find some food, and I noticed a street coming up called bidwell, and I thought, that rings a bell. Then I remembered someone mentioning that that's the sunday session spot for the buffalo kickers, and the second I realized it, I glanced to my left, and there they were!! so I stopped in the middle of my voyage to play footbag all afternoon before hooking up with my friends Caitlyn and Melody to go drinking with their boyfriends and them. I took that as a great omen to start my grand footbag voyage to london. Anyway, my time is about to run out, so I'm going to post this. talk to you all soon. worlds!

[Jdigges]

Good luck in London man. i know you'll have a great time. don't go to the pubs and get too trashed before the big day!!

[mosher]

Go Matt!!!

Good luck with your London stuff!

World's!!

[mc]

i am here. I am exhausted. haven't slept since I woke up yesterday morning. it's 4 pm here, feels like 11 AM to me still. I'm going to try and stay up until 6 PM, then sleep until 330 AM tomorrow, upon whence I have to wake up and head to Leeds to record this fuckin commercial. God I'm tired. I can't even say much more right now. I'll have good stuff to say tomorrow.

[mc]

i am here. I am exhausted. haven't slept since I woke up yesterday morning. it's 4 pm here, feels like 11 AM to me still. I'm going to try and stay up until 6 PM, then sleep until 330 AM tomorrow, upon whence I have to wake up and head to Leeds to record this fuckin commercial. God I'm tired. I can't even say much more right now. I'll have good stuff to say tomorrow.

[Pyroman924]

Holy fuck! I was at Detroit Metro until 2 yesterday. >_< So fucking close man. I had your bag, my climas, fucking everything for an epic shred at the airport. If only I had known you would be there later. Gah. I feel like someone has just taken a bag of candy after just having bought it. I was chilling at that fountain for about an hour before boarding, the one right next to the Starbucks and right below the middle station for the tram. Such a kick ass terminal.

Anyways, good luck with London man. You'll do spectacular.

[mc]

alan, that is SO bizarre! I was wondering if any baggers were around! maybe I sensed your presence...

off to film...

[mc]

about half done with filming. BOY this thing is hard to control. I hit PS whirl with it, which I really hope makes it into the film. I'm wearing wack shoes, too. oh well.

having a great time. more later.

[mc]

i'm at my home for the week. a bit sore in the left lower back from freestyle. My dreams have been vivid and strange and I'd like to analyze them while I have my morning coffee. I have to buy a little datebook to help make my gigs more organized anyway, so maybe I can use it for some writing as well. maybe that's a bad idea.

The shoot went well. I "negotiated" (read: "bent over") for $150 US to be transferred to my account after the trip (upon whence I'll send david his signed contract). So, that gives me a little spending money. I also found about $240 on the train back from Leeds, which gives me a little drinking money as well

back to the shoot: We did some group shots with all three players (david, fabrice, and myself) playing with one bag, then all 3 with three bags, then individual stuff, then some random shots holding the bags, etc. I should be able to upload the completed commercial by mid next week. I got some good moves. There should be some really tight zulu clippers on the commercial, a PS whirl followed by grabbing the bag and presenting it right up to the camera with the logo showing right side up (took some tries, that's for sure), some consecutive whirls, ss butter > inf rpt. Nothing super special with a footbag, but you'll see in the video that this is no ordinary footbag I was using.

today, I'll link up with fab and we'll do some kicking and some partying. more later.

[BenRea]

sweet! im excited! that sounds so cool!

[mc]

yesterday was my first day to my self. I woke up and bought a mobile phone to use for the next few days (i'm going to be pissed if david doesn't cover it) and that whole deal was so frustrating that I felt homesick and had to get some mcdonalds. Immediately I felt upset in the stomach and dissatisfied, so I was right as rain. Good old mcdonalds. At least it's consistant.

Then, I came back and messed around for a bit, and drank some coffee before heading off to Covent Gardens, the busker hotspot in london. I brought my guitar and a shoulder bag with lavers, another t-shirt, running shorts, change of underwear and socks and NO FUCKING FOOTBAG!!! oh, that coffee, it makes me rush. So I carried that around feeling silly. I saw some particularly cheezy street performers. One guy got this huge crowd around, and wasn't doing hardly anything at all. I watched him for a minute, and when I walked away, he singled me out of the crowd (like he was doing for anyone else he could think of) and said there were machine guns in my guitar case, so I put it up on my shoulder like a bazooka and pointed the end of it at him for a second, and he feigned fear.

Then, I saw two scrappy looking middle-aged characters, and one was poking at a big electric piano that he had on his legs. They said their names were Dave and Stuart. I watched for a second, and they asked if I played, and I said no, which was a half lie, and they got me to sit down, and I played Raindrops Keep Fallin on my Head, and some F blues, and just some diddling around on some random changes, and Stuart left to get us some beers. I sat talking to Dave and played some guitar. He said he was a street performer from Miami, and had been in the UK for some time. I played guitar and he poked on the piano, and when we were done, he said he wanted to ask me something seriously. I told him he'd better be careful, because I would give him a serious answer. He asked me if his piano playing was any good, and I said no, but not by any fault of his, per se. He was untrained on the instrument and just kind of banging away. I'm not sure how he even got himself to ask; it was entirely impossible that his playing would be good, being that he was neither trained nor some sort of savant. He had good rhythm from being a drummer, though, and I encouraged him to keep going.

Then, stuart returned with our beers, just as I saw a teen girl with a jimi hendrix shirt on. I shouted, hey, jimi hendrix! and waved her and her friends and their chaperone over, and started to play a jimi hendrix song, and stuart stood right up next to the girl I invited over, and started saying all kinds of crazy, confusing stuff to her, and I stopped the song because he wouldn't stop being an insane person, and basically just bowed to them in apology for this rude person, and they went on their way. Then, I told stuart I didn't want the beer, and packed up and left. Dave seemed to understand.

So, I walked along from restaurant to restaurant for the next half hour, looking at their menus and basically taking forever to decide. I ended up at a small french joint just off the garden and had an incredible meal of salmon gravadlax, rare steak, a few glasses of wine, and sparkling water, which cost a pretty penny, but it was nice to have a special meal. I sat there savoring every bite and sip, and chatting with some other tourists while Edith Piaf sang on the sound system. It was really wonderful. When I'm in a situation as nice as that, I like to really sit back and soak it all in and appreciate the whole thing. Ah, heaven.

After a good munch and drink, I headed back to Covent Garden and played some guitar with my case out. Some Korean girls came and sat next to me and they all took pictures, and I made dewy eyes at them for the camera and such, and they thought it was funny. Then, another asian couple came by and did the same. I was surprised how much my picture was taken.

So, I played and played, and some well dressed young men came by and listened for a bit. They were a little bit drunk (not too drunk) and one asked if he could give a go on the guitar, so I said they could if they'd throw some money in my case. They dropped a few pounds, and he grabbed it, and he had a beautiful voice! I was really surprised. He was a solid player. He played a Death Cab for Cutie song, then I did the same, and he sang harmony. Then, his friend played Last Goodbye, by Jeff Buckley, and he sang it very nicely, and we were singing together, and both went for the same harmony note at the same time, which made us laugh. His name was Daniel Mason. Then, we decided to go for a beer, and we had a pint outside the pub and cracked jokes and talked about Freemasons and music and travel, and generally hit it off.

I had to run off to meet fabrice, so we made plans to meet later that night. I walked for 5 minutes back to Covent Garden to catch the tube, and heard some intensely fast jazz guitar. I wondered if it was coming from a sound system when I saw a young man sitting on a guitar amp with a Paul Reed Smith 24-fret set-neck guitar with two humbuckers across his lap, playing like a piano, with his left hand banging out chords and walking bass lines, and his right hand doing the melodies and solos. He was really one of the most incredible guitar players I'd ever heard. I stood and listened and chatted with him between songs a little bit. His speed and control were out of this world, and he had wonderful taste and style. I asked if he'd slow it down a bit, and he played a beautiful bossa nova piece, and a jazz standard called Gingi (sp?), and then more speedy stuff. I was really floored, I've never watched a street performer that long. he said he had no myspace, no web site, no nothing. I couldn't believe it. I'm going to steal his style when I get back. The technique is not too far off from stuff I've done, but not at all to the level of virtuosity that he's taken it. What an inspiration.

as I walked to the station, I saw Stuart and Dave. They were drunk, and leaning on each other, and someone else was playing their keyboard. Dave was wearing a cape with a hood, and I felt sorry for them.

By this time, the beers had found their way through me, and I was starting to want to get home, so I made it to the CG tube station, and it was closed, so I had to walk to the next station, which turned out to be less than a block from the pub from whence I had just come, but I am SO glad I didn't know the station would be closed because of that guitar player. His name was Stephan Jubert (sp?). Keep an eye out for him if you're ever in london.

So, I made it onto the tube at the next station, and buzzed back to Putney Bridge, and stopped for a number 42 at a noodle house called Wagamama. They had a washroom, thank god, so I was relieved, and walked back to my home away from home, and made some calls to fabrice to meet up with him and party some. I got back, and ate my supper, and he called to ask what was up, and I said I'd call him back in 15 minutes. I ate, dressed, and called him, but there was no answer. I texted, no answer. So, I called up Daniel, and he said to meet him in Clapham Junction.

I walked across Putney Bridge, and there was a young man sitting right on the edge with his backpack on the ground behind him. I walked past, and asked someone sitting on a bench about him, and he told me in a french accent that he'd been there a while. I went back and asked if he was okay, and he mumbled yes without looking at me, and I said, okay, don't jump, and kept walking. I hopped on a bus, and made it over to Clapham Junction.

At the pub, daniel was there with all his friends who had also just finished exams, and they passed me a double whiskey on the rocks, and the night got started. We drank and talked and met some girls and smoked cigarettes (I do not want to pick that back up, but it seemed right at the moment). Daniel bought most of my drinks, as I guess he's doing really well for work right now. We drank, but didn't get plastered, and around 1, it seemed like the night was breaking up. We strolled looking for the next pub, and just ended up negotiating a good fare with a cabby, who drove me almost home, and then I strolled some, gulped some wine, ate my leftover wagamama and hit the hay.

what a day.

I had to wake at 9 to be out of the house for it to be viewed by a potential buyer, a particular condition of staying here in this place with which I never agreed or was asked to agree. I woke with an uneasiness in my gut and an ache in my head. I walked down to Putney High street and bought some nice breakfast of an egg sandwich and a berry smoothie from a natural food chain. I walked back, ate it, and went back to bed. And now here I am. I feel like it's late in the evening, but it's early in the afternoon. My time is still all messed up here. I'm running low on other people's money, so I think I'll go back to the garden and busk some more and see who else I meet. Life is good. I'm looking forward to some footbag.

the last time I played, I felt really on. It was after the funkix shoot, and I was showing fabrice some stuff. I hit fury pretty easily, which doesn't happen much, and atomic zulu mirage first try. I've never done that before, that was gratifying. I <3 zulu. I <3 footbag. I <3 u. whoever you are, hope to see you at worlds.

[DTank126]

I would love to live a day in the life of Matt Cross. You always have such interesting stories.

Btw, Ian was estatic when you told him you liked his bag, I expect some rather reputable bags coming from him in the near future.

Hope the rest of your trip in London is gratifying, cant wait to shred in Buffalo again, kudos for that girl.

Peace

[mc]

haha, glad about Ian. I sincerely liked it! it was very round, and played really nicely. Can't wait to see how his stitching develops.

to live a day in the life of matt cross is not so hard. wake up, get a breakfast in town, drink some coffee, play some guitar, have a footbag session, and begin drinking by mid afternoon. Then, go out and socialize by mid evening, party til you drop, and come home and sleep. That's about it It will come a bit more naturally when you're just a touch older. Stick with footbag, that will take care of everything.

[dp]

I really enjoyed reading that.

[mc]

thanks dan, I really enjoyed living it and writing it I was afraid it was a bit wordy for everyone. Glad you liked it.

Yesterday was fun, too. Exhausting. Woke up, had some decent breakfast, came back and put myself together, went back to Covent Garden, and played some footbag with a towel out to receive coinage. I was playing for just a few minutes when some of the garden locals recommended I move. I warmed up in my spot for a little while longer, got a few pounds out of it, and then got guidance from an old (self-proclaimed) hippy looking all scrappy and missing some teeth. I was a bit put off by him, and he was a little hard to deal with, but he did show me a better spot and introduce me to some of the locals. So, I played for about an hour, maybe 90 minutes, really hard, and ended up with about £20 at the end of it, not bad for an hour or so's worth of work. I didn't eat properly enough, though, so I couldn't keep it up or go back for another session.

After busking, I went and counted my change and watched Stefan Joubert again. What a pleasure that he was back. I tossed him a few pounds, and he gave me his CD, which he wanted to get £10 for. So, I was grateful. I'm listening to it right now. Of course, it can't compare to the real thing, but it will be a good inspiration.

For those who want the inspiration themselves, here is a video of Stefan which shows off a lot of his technical ability. However, the chord changes are repetitive on this particular piece, and it's all about the speed, which is less my preference than something jazzy and melodic and emotional. Just so you know no criticism to him, I just wish it was a different piece that was recorded. I wish my dumb ass had thought to pull out my camera (something I NEVER think to do) and recorded what he was doing yesterday. I might go back a third time today just for that purpose, but it's raining now. Anyway, this is Stefan Joubert.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1AXBo9pqrk

hopefully there will be more in the future.

Then, basically, I came home, had a beer, watched some TV, messed around online, and went to bed. not as exciting as the night before, but I was totally beat from bagging, so it's not regrettable.

Now, it rains, and I'm letting my morning coffee cool and enjoying some modifizzle. hope everyone out there is doing well. Thanks to my blog readers for posting, it makes me happy to see a new message in here.

[Wasabi]

What a thrill to read about your journey through London, Matt Cross! There is much to feed your muse there. I'm glad you are having a wonderful time!

I'm trying to imagine what my World's experience will be like in Orlando. Just reading your blog as it is is not coming close to my expectations for the event in of itself, imo, and I should be literally ecstactic about my first World's experience. Frankly, your entries about London is feeding my interest! I must put it into my schedule to visit Chez Mosh and listen to more of your stories in person. I think that's the one thing I can't wait for once I get there.

Have fun! We will absolutely meet once again at Worlds!