I had a session yesterday, went great but tonight I woke up with a terrible terrible sore throat, and a headache again. Maybe it's too soon
I played with my quantums (long story why) and they were a lot better than I remembered, I really enjoyed them. However at the end of the session, the right shoe was 70% detached from the sole. Lucky it didn't tear off and broke my bones. I'm gonna have them fixed tomorrow.
I hit lots of neat combos and some new stuff, among them Parkwalk->Blurry illusion (forgot the nickname). DLO-> ducking mirage. New stuff were far switch over, pixie switch over, footed ducking paradox whirl, and I think I came close to hitting pixie muted rev. whirl. There are some new kids who show up every friday, too.
Yesterday I told Oren, the "elder" hacker-turning-to-freestyle of Israel, that this week I'll be playing every day as compensation of the two weeks of my absence. Liliana, my gf (first time i'm mentioning her here, I think), is off for a visit at her home country of Uruguay, and I'll go there in 3 weeks, so in the mean time there's extra time for footbag (and Civ4, and KOTOR which I recently decided to pick up).
Am I going to be the first person ever to shred in Uruguay? Or did someone beat me to it?
Today I sessed alone at a sports park. 4 dudes join for a hack circle, inquired about getting footbags from me, and one of them footed DATW (soccer freestyle player).
I had a two steps back with my spins, but a tiny step forward with drifters. I can't wait to have them down.
Let me know how the trip goes, I can't wait to go to South America next year. I haven't heard of anyone shredding in Uruguay...but it's probably been done. There are players in Colombia and Venezuela, I really can't believe South America doesn't have a bigger scene. Hopefully I can change that when I'm there.
Hey Roy, I have had a few conversations on this subject lately, not really sure how it came up, but as you are a punk rock fan in Israel, I'd like to know your opinions.
So someone posted on a forum that it was disgraceful that some band was going to play in Israel, I think it was Dillinger Escape Plan.
So they said, bands shouldn't be playing there due to the Palestine situation.
My thoughts were that the bands playing are going to be engaging with people at a level completely different from what is put out there by the government etc. But also, people who like this kind of punk/hardcore music, they are already quite likely to be of an alternative view to the "norm" anyway, because that is meant to be a prerequisite of punk.
I also think, there is no point for some band to boycott Israel, as it's not going to change anything. If some show that 200 people go to, if they bail out on that, who is going to notice?
Just wondering what your thoughts are on the idea.
Naturally I'm against such moves, and even though it's the obvious answer because I'm an Israeli, hopefully my arguments will prove themselves to be less emotional and more critical.
I largely believe that these boycotts do not come from an honest belief that these types of actions are in the best interest to the peace process or even the Palestinian cause, if one admits a bias. On the contrary. Read on.
Israel has been a target of the harshest of criticisms for many long years, a criticism that I believe has the simple goal of demonizing it, rather than trying to bring the Middle East conflict to a peaceful end. Israel's actions are usually discussed in left circles using the most extreme terms - Ethnic cleansing, apartheid, and even 'holocaust' has been used to describe Israel's part in the conflict, over and again. If you're willing to accept that the second holocaust is not taking at the moment, why is it that the term is being flailed so often in regards to Israel? I believe it's in order to evoke a harsh emotional response and tie it permanently to the issue.
These accusations arise not due to legitimate concern of the well being of the Palestinian, but mostly as a form of delegitimizing Israel's very right to exist. For example, Israel's population is roughly 20% Israeli Arabs, who are ethnically Palestinians. They enjoy full civil rights, they have representative in the Israeli parliament, they may come and go as they please. While in the surrounding countries (Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt), who harbor a huge Palestinian population, most Palestinians have been under the status of refugees for over 60 years, living in camps, are denied most civil rights, are allowed to work only as cheap labor and are segregated from the rest of the surrounding society. Never have I seen someone who accused any of these countries of apartheid, while Israel often is. These countries are even held as the forefront representatives of the Palestinian interest. Another example, the Hamas government in Gaza explicitly calls for the ethnic cleansing of historical Palestine from Jews. Even this open call is largely left unchallenged by those who challenge Israel, whose agenda is not even close to the extremism of Hamas. There's a double standard at work, where legitimate criticism is being actively undermined.
In the act of boycotting, the same double standard is employed. Those who call to boycott Israel in Academia, entertainment and arts, are effectively calling for a collective punishment against the Israeli population, as all of the above obviously serve no military purpose and zero roll in the ongoing conflict. However, the arms blockade placed over Gaza is being criticized by the same circles, for being a form of a, guess what? Collective punishment! Employed by the Israeli government against the entire Gaza population (p.s they often fail to remember that Egypt is a part of this arms blockade). I personally agree that up until recently, when it was partially lifted to ban only arms and materials that can use to construct military infrastructure, the blockade was unjustifiably denying Palestinians of things they shouldn't have been denied. But what I don't accept is the remarkable ability of those who call the blockade inhuman while supporting the boycott on Israel, conveniently ignoring the fact that both are basically identical acts.
All in all, the strategy of demonization is not only wildly unethical and unjustified, it's mostly a huge disservice to the peace process, and in turn, to the Palestinian. The peace process requires, by definition, the building of mutual trust, and the acknowledgment of both sides' right of existence. It requires a great deal of forgiveness of past and current events in order to move forward. The demonization strategy undermines these very prerequisites, effectively turning every person who adopts its dogma into an active opponent of peace.
The demonization strategy undermines these very prerequisites, effectively turning every person who adopts its dogma into an active opponent of peace.
I think you summed it up nicely here.
I think the band in question was Dillinger Escape Plan...on a lighter note, are you going to see them?
They played at Soundwave last year, then did another show with Every Time I Die, Evergreen Terrace and Poison The Well. The guitarist did some sort of crazy swing from this chain that for some reason was coming out of the roof.
Footbag week has been going great, other than the fact that by a stroke of misfortune it's also laundry-less week, as our washing machine is out of order.
Today I had a 2 hours long session with Yuval and Ron, they showed up an hour after I did so I had time to warm up slowly and do my drills before getting to the shred.
I was very close to hitting ripped warrior. Just went for it for no reason and did a perfect stepping ducking, was so surprised I forgot to seal it. Subsequent attempts weren't as successful. Yuval has a really good looking symple pixie legover. I ought to try converting mine to symple, too.
I feel good.
Tonight I was sitting idly and decided that I wanna learn blender already. So I took my stuff, went for a session and totally did!
Aso started my warm up with drifter and toe drifter bs and hit all first try.
Also also, some guy who has a business of DJing and producing for events saw me play, and told me he's doing something in two weeks in Tel Aviv university, something about health and fitness, and asked my number so I can go perform there.
I definitely feel good!
Today we had a massive session, about 15 people, played straight from 8 pm to 11 pm, with about 50% of it shred on my end.
It's a bunch of people who play hack at work and got in touch with us. The contact guy, Nitzan, said they'll be like 20 people. I sort of expected 2 to show up. So the 11-12 that did show up was a really pleasant surprise!
I can't remember my highlights, as usual, but I had some great runs I was very pleased with. Some were intense and technical and some were controlled and long.
I also hit 11 osis b2b which I think is my current record.
Hi blog!
During my vacation in Uruguay I only played once (I have some nice photos from the session and from the trip coming up), so when I got back I had to rebuild my game. It can be kind of frustrating to go backwards, but I do like the opportunity to focus on basics without the pressure of pushing my boundaries like in normal session.
So far I had two session since getting back, here are my short list of highlights from both:
Learned how to not hit toe ss mirage blind (i.e learned how to see the bag); I dex with the knee turned inside and not just with the hip like in normal mirage. Makes this trick so much easier.
Was very close to infinity rake. Couldn't give it more than two tries since I was playing in a circle.
Is it possible to hit almost any trick that ends on clipper with a rake instead?
I'm planning to move to my new apartment (finally) this weekend. It's been such a long time since I THOUGHT I'd move, but bureaucracy is a bitch. I've missed a few sessions already because of preparations for the move, and will miss a few more, which sucks, since I'm having a pretty good time lately with footbag. I also have no idea where I'm gonna shred in the new neighborhood. Tel Aviv has a surprising deficiency in decent shred spots.
If anyone needs to stay in Tel Aviv, you now have a couch to crash on.
We'll shred at the beach, and drink and hear music at Levontin 7, and then I'll sleep on your couch while you stay up listening to me snore. See ya soon...
"The time has come to convert the unbelievers..."
Jonathan Schneider --- sometimes showers with his Lavers on (to clean them)
The Ministry of Silly Walks
NYFA
BAP
