Just wanted to apologize that my Worlds write-up ran out of steam. Loyal readers may remember that before Worlds I was under a ton of stress, since my job conversion/cross country move situation was freaking me out. Worlds was a much needed vacation, but the problems causing my stress didn't go anywhere, and have actually gotten worse since I returned. Basically, a bureaucrat needs to take a rubber stamp and sign a piece of paper before I can get on with my life. It's been over 2 months and nothing has happened. I'm living out of a suitcase now and running out of places to stay in DC. I can't really make plans in any part of my life (work/social/existential) until this gets resolved.
I'm going to Funtastiks this weekend partially because I'm still on the East Coast so why not, but also partially so I'm not in DC and imposing on friends. I'm going to be in Jersey for a few days after Funtastiks to visit my niece and sister.
Anyway, all this means I haven't had a lot of time or energy to close out the writeup. I'm surprised I got as much done as I did really. Considering I'm going to Funtastiks in a couple hours, I'd say its a slim chance I close out my Worlds report. Blergh. If you're not happy about this, blame government bureaucracy for fucking up my life.
Here's a random vid I took of Jay and Lon at Worlds:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuOme4X3AT8&NR=1[/youtube]
I haven't played in a week, and I don't even know what song I'll use for my routine, but I think I'll have a good time even if I'm woefully unprepared for competition. Mostly just excited to see a bunch of friends and to not work for a few days.
Fanzine
25th and Final Funtastik Summer Classic Write-up
Friday
The weekend starts off well, as gov't workers in my Department are granted a 2 hour early dismissal. Felt good to leave work knowing I wouldn't be back for at least a week. Vince picks me up from work and we make a liquor pitstop to get beer for ourselves and for Jack Lentz. I pick up a bottle of Ardbeg, which is my favorite Scotch, and not just because it anagrams to bAdger. I also can't resist buying this beer. The ride up goes by really quickly as Vince and I have good conversation and listen to a lot of James Brown. We pick up Taco Bell dinner (always a great idea....or not) to take to the site with us. It takes forever, so we talk about what song I should use for routines. I have a CD with my Worlds routine, but I didn't want to use that again (mostly because I already used it at Funtastiks in 2008 already). I'm on the fence between just trying to improvise a routine to a new song, or doing a totally ridiculous joke routine. I decide that if there aren't any cuts on the first day, I'll do a joke routine, and then try to improvise something in Finals. At the hotel we run into lots of Montreal net players. The first freestylers I bump into are Jay Boychuk and Mathieu GM. We head over to the shred room. A word on that: for Friday night through Sunday night we had a conference room of a hotel just for footbag. That's spectacularly awesome. In the shred room I meet some new players, and watch Doug, Jay and Mathieu play. I know that a 3 day event will wear me down, so I'm content just to watch and have some beer. I get some advice on furious set from Jay, then hit the sack.
Saturday
Vince wakes up early to run net, so I sleep in. I go to the hotel lobby and bump into Clavens. We go to a diner to get breakfast and wait for others to show. I have a vanilla milkshake with breakfast. When it arrives, it has these viscous weird green lines in it, which look like snot. I ask the waitress what it is, and she informs me its "decorative syrup." This is good for a lot of crude jokes all weekend. Dave's girl Erin shows up with Pipenberg and Ian Brill, and we all get food. Eventually we head to the site. Registration is only $25 and covers all events, which is awesome. I get a bit bored, so I decide to do intermediate doubles net with Pipenberg. Its like a conscious decision to do something fun at the cost of probably sucking at freestyle for the next two days, but I really don't care too much about freestyle results (considering I hadn't prepared anything), whereas I don't get a lot of chances at playing net. Nate picks things up pretty quick, and Danny Greer gives us some good on the court tutorial. We ended up playing 5 matches total. We lost the first 3 in close ones, and then after that fatigue set in, as did my shankles. Against Ted F we took them to the 10th point of the third game, but ended up losing. That was a tough one. We finish late, which has me worried about whether I'll be able to eat and digest before circle prelims start that night. It works out, though I have to consciously only eat half my dinner and take the rest in a box with me. Bob is at the shred, so I say hi. I warm up in some beginner circles, then warm up mostly with Bob and Bevier. I'm playing pretty well, since my net legs haven't set in yet. My best combo of the weekend occurs here, with flurry-DSO-paradon repeat. Circle comp starts, and when I get in the circle, Will T tosses me a blue and white bag, which is super dank. Beyond being dank, its also visible on the carpet, which is a huge plus. My circle has Nathan A, Marc Giard Lariviere and Doug Tank. In the variety round I have one run that starts with double whizz, goes something like 40+ contacts, and also has me leave the circle (guiltlessly) to get a high five from Mark Bull, and then return. It's probably the most fun run I've ever done in a circle contest, which feels great. As the last turn in the variety round starts, I decide I want to start my last turn with ewalk to a blurry 5 or 6. Then right before me, Doug hits his best run of circle...which starts with an ewalk! *D'oh!* I decide I don't want to come up with a new plan, and figure it's pretty funny to windsor him, so I start my final run with ewalk-fog, which gets some reaction from the crowd. Man, that Ken is a dick.
Once my circle is done, I change clothes, finish my half-eaten dinner, and watch the last round of circle. Scott has some big runs, and Mathieu plays well too. I spend the rest of the night just drinking with Bob Riefer and chatting about everything. Great guy, and fun to catch up with.
Sunday
The second I wake up, I already know I'm doomed for freestyle. I have net legs, which for me specifically means that my left quad and right hamstring feel pulled. I even stretched them out the day before, because I knew this would happen. Its due to the fact that I only have one spike, which is the sole on my right foot, and that most of my desperation kicks are weird motions that my right leg isn't used to. Whatever. I go to breakfast with a bunch of nyfa and jay. Jay tried to order half of a melon, but the waitress tells him melons are out of season, which disappoints him. I order waffles with fruit. The waitress lists the available fruit they have...which includes melons?!? I order them, and sure enough, I have chunks of fresh melon on my waffles. I taunt Jay about this throughout breakfast.
At one point during breakfast, somebody comments they are disappointed I never finished my Worlds writeup. I reply:
Ken: All I would have added was that on the final shred night, I sucked badly in every circle I was in.
Bruce: And how was your footbagging?
Ken:
At the site I watch a bunch of net, which is running late. That should have clued me in that freestyle would also start late, and I did warm up later than normal, but not nearly enough. Routines ran something like 2 hours late, which combined with my net legs, meant I was totally cold by the time comp started. For routines, competitors had to fill out a card with our name, our club/location, and then a line for "credits/titles." That last section was intended for stuff like your World ranking or how many tournament titles you have, but I filled out mine like this:
Name: Ken Somolinos
Club: NYFA
Titles: "Mister"
Before routines start, they run Shred30. I can't even remember the last time I competed in Shred 30...maybe 2007 Worldsl? A lot of people entered, so I try and stay warm on the sidelines. Things are moving along quickly, until they call up Waylon Lew. He's sitting in front of me, not in shred clothes, and he's making a motion that he wants to scratch. The MC doesn't see this, and keeps calling his name. On a total impulse, I run out into the competition area, and just go for it. There are some chuckles in the crowd, some "go Waylon!", and then my time is called. I wave to the crowd and head off. The MC continues calling names... and then calls for Ken Somolinos. I quickly switch shirts and put on a hat, and run out for Shred30 again! Apparently I actually caused some confusion at the scorer's table, which made my day.
Thankfully, open circle finals were moved to Monday. Jay and Scott had also warmed up too early, and there's no way we would have put on a good show in that state.
With Shred out of the way, routines were finally about to start. At this point, I knew my body was not nearly warm enough to do a good routine. I downloaded a song to Vince's computer the previous night, but I didn't want to waste it in the first round, given my condition. I decide I'm going to perform a joke routine, but then I am told that there are going to be cuts for Finals. Not wanting to risk getting cut for a joke routine, I desperately conduct a last minute search for a routine song. I find an iPod with some Pavement, and pick one of my favorite songs. That helped, since I didn't have to memorize cues. My routine starts off pretty well, but devolves into drops in the last 45 seconds. As I walk off, I'm glad I kept my new song for Finals. After routines end, I spend the next hour brainstorming and filming ideas for a new video about Nathan Anderson vs. Pipenberg. I laugh so hard during some of the filming that my sides start to hurt. Afterwards I go get food in the hotel bar with Outsider and a bunch of other people. I get a very nice lamb curry, and afterwards share the bottle of Ardbeg scotch that I'd brought with me. Sunday night is more hanging out in the shred room at the hotel. I play some foursquare, since thats the only thing that doesn't hurt my legs. I win one game, which is bad news for everybody else. The reason being that once I have one game under my belt, I no longer care about playing strategically, and instead focus on playing sneaky and dirty, even if it only gets out people in lower squares.
Monday
I slept well every night of this tourney, which was great. It was sad to wake up though and have to pack my stuff already, since that meant it was the last day. I go get breakfast with Bruce, Jay, and Ian at Bob Evans for a change. I forgo my usual milkshake, and make the rare move of having coffee, since I anticipate needing some serious caffeine to get me through the day. We head out to the site, and on the way I pass a yard sale. I buy a snifter, which is something I've wanted for my scotch drinking for a long time. At the site I plunk myself down and proceed to watch a ton of net matches. The courts are set up between trees, which lends a very cool, Robin Hood in the forest feel to the games. It's like footbag net in midevil England. Unfortunately for the players, it's not as idyllic, as the sun comes through the leaves unevenly, and the grounds are slippery due to all the twigs and nuts. During timeouts I channel my inner ballboy, running out and clearing the court of debris. I watch a bunch of very entertaining matches, and then am surprised to hear the announcement that Superman is starting. I decide what the hell, and sign up for it. I don't feel like warming up or changing, so I end up keeping my long pants on, and putting on a G-Unit on my left foot and my net shoe on my right foot. The way I see it, I only needed the freestyle shoe to get through the forty add section, and for the net stuff I'd probably only use my right leg. Overall it worked out well. I made it through my adds pretty easily, using mostly diving butterfly stalls. For the consec kicks, I mostly used knee bumps, which worked. I was hoping to beat both gladiators (Vince Bradley and Matt Quint), but didn't quite manage to. I scored on a serve against Vince, but I couldn't win a sideout. I tried to poach one serve, which in retrospect wasn't strategically a great idea, but I wanted to so I did.
After Superman I eat most of a 6 inch veggie sub from Subway (thanks Dave) and drink more caffeinated beverages. Open doubles net finals begins, and its a hell of a show. At one point Kenny had a ridiculous behind the back scorpion spike, which made me jump to my feet roaring. So awesome. The second game starts off with Kenny and Siebert ahead 13-5, so I feel confident it will go three games, giving me time to warm up. But then Manu and Franky rip off a bunch of points in a row, which makes me nervous. If they take it in two games in a comeback, then I won't have enough time to warm up. I head to the freestyle area to make sure I'll be warm, which is a good decision because the other three circle finalists are all already there warming up. I warm up slowly, and I still feel my net legs holding me back. I know I'm not going to set any personal records, but at the same time I don't want to embarrass myself. We decide to run circle before routines. Normally I prefer to do it the other way, but since I don't have a routine prepared and I don't feel sharp, I don't care.
Circle finals were fun. Dave dominated as expected, but I feel like we all put on a pretty good show for the crowd. And it was a very healthy crowd, so I thought that was important. Jay really impressed me. For a long time now I've known he has huge potential, but sometimes in comp he wouldn't show it. During this circle finals I feel like he really had his head together, and was relaxed, and was able to show everybody how strong he is. His long strings are what impressed me most in Circle finals. As for myself, I didn't play very well, but I also didn't embarass myself or stress out. My favorite string was when, 14 contacts into a string, Joe Solonoski introduced me on the mic, and I waved to the crowd midstring:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S630Alj29K0[/youtube]
After Circle they ran Shred 30 Finals. According to Vince, I apparently scored a 211 the previous day (I think as myself), which was good for second seed after Dave, who had a bye. That surprised me. If true, that'd be one of my highest scores ever. Anyway, after the previous day's shenanigans, where I competed as myself and as Waylon, I was ready to play it straight in finals. But then Nathan Anderson suggested that I have Waylon go up and do my final shred30 in my place. The second he suggested that, I realized how hilariously awesome that would be, so I tried to talk Waylon into doing it. He got into his shred gear, but at the last moment decided against it. Reluctantly I stepped out and competed. No idea about results...Dave clearly won, so if I were running the event I doubt I would have gone through the trouble of calculating things.
Routines start, and I'm actually feeling in decent physical condition. I had a deservedly low seed in the Finals, since my routine the previous day was pretty bad, and a bunch of people had very solid routines (Scott D in particular). I'm pretty sure I was seeded 5th, behind Dave, Jay, Scott D, and Scott Bevier. I may also have been seeded behind Nate Pipenberg...but maybe not. In any case, being seeded 5th meant I knew it was going to be hard to finish in 2nd or 3rd. Normally at Funtastiks you'd have incentive to shoot for top 3, because then you get your registration fee back. But considering that it was only $25 this year (in honor of 25 years), I didn't even feel that pressure. Mostly I just wanted to go out there and show I can do a better routine than I did the previous day. I was excited to try out my new song, but my hopes weren't that high since I'd never even done a practice run through of it. I step out into the arena, and the music from the nearby fair is so loud I am tempted to just do my routine to that. I finally signal for my music, and it kicks in. I let myself get into the groove, and then I'm off, riding the adrenaline. Halfway through I realize I have no drops, and I'm not tired at all. I'm tempted to go conservative, when the lyrics: "what's the fun in playing it safe?" comes on. I take it as a sign and rattle off a pdx torque, a PSW, and flip BLW in rapid succession. As I wrap things up during my final combo, I'm again tempted to finish on something easy, but decide to stick to the philosophy of playing hard, and go for the mullet. *BAM!* The routine is done, and the bag is in my hand. Dropless:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46pi8KgaZbQ[/youtube]
I had already had a great weekend, so going dropless was like a cherry on top, like a bonus. It had been over a year since the last time I went dropless, and this was only my 5th time ever, so it felt good to know I could still do it. Over the weekend I talked a lot with net players that I would eventually transition to net, usually with me saying I'd see them on the courts in a couple years. Going dropless almost felt like freestyle was telling me I still have a few more years before I'll have to make that transition. It was good to hear that voice.
I watch the remaining routines, then results are announced. I'm pleasantly surprised to find out I took second in routines, and third in Circle. Later on, I get two types of congratulations. Some people congratulate me for going dropless, and I thank them. Other people congratulate me on second place. I explain to them that I'd rather take 6th place and go dropless, than take 2nd place with one drop. That said, I am happy I finished top three, because it meant I was in the final commemorative photos taken at the end.
After awards finish, I shoot a bit more of my video project, say some goodbyes, and head to the Appalachian Brewing Company where the final party is held. I whip out my new snifter and my bottle of Ardbeg and have a celebratory drink with Jon Schneider before we head in. Once inside I enjoy a nice dinner with NYFA, say some more goodbyes, and then hit the road. I enjoy my car conversation with Jon Schneider as the weekend sinks in and I savor the memories.
Big Thank Yous to:
*Joe and Brenda Solonoski for running Funtastiks for 25 years. You provided a lot of people with a lot of fun and fond memories
*Vince, for the ride there, and for finding me a routine song
*NYFA, for representing so well and being awesome to hang out with
*Dave, for coming out and consistently putting on a good show for the crowd
*All the net players, for entertaining me
*My doubles net partner, Nate Pipenberg
*Mathieu GM for running Circle contest
*All the freestyle judges
*Shout out to CIC for driving a crazy distance to play
*Bob Riefer, for great conversation on Sat night
*Jon S for the ride to Jersey, and the great company as always
*Everybody else I hung out with all weekend. The East Coast scene is beautiful
Friday
The weekend starts off well, as gov't workers in my Department are granted a 2 hour early dismissal. Felt good to leave work knowing I wouldn't be back for at least a week. Vince picks me up from work and we make a liquor pitstop to get beer for ourselves and for Jack Lentz. I pick up a bottle of Ardbeg, which is my favorite Scotch, and not just because it anagrams to bAdger. I also can't resist buying this beer. The ride up goes by really quickly as Vince and I have good conversation and listen to a lot of James Brown. We pick up Taco Bell dinner (always a great idea....or not) to take to the site with us. It takes forever, so we talk about what song I should use for routines. I have a CD with my Worlds routine, but I didn't want to use that again (mostly because I already used it at Funtastiks in 2008 already). I'm on the fence between just trying to improvise a routine to a new song, or doing a totally ridiculous joke routine. I decide that if there aren't any cuts on the first day, I'll do a joke routine, and then try to improvise something in Finals. At the hotel we run into lots of Montreal net players. The first freestylers I bump into are Jay Boychuk and Mathieu GM. We head over to the shred room. A word on that: for Friday night through Sunday night we had a conference room of a hotel just for footbag. That's spectacularly awesome. In the shred room I meet some new players, and watch Doug, Jay and Mathieu play. I know that a 3 day event will wear me down, so I'm content just to watch and have some beer. I get some advice on furious set from Jay, then hit the sack.
Saturday
Vince wakes up early to run net, so I sleep in. I go to the hotel lobby and bump into Clavens. We go to a diner to get breakfast and wait for others to show. I have a vanilla milkshake with breakfast. When it arrives, it has these viscous weird green lines in it, which look like snot. I ask the waitress what it is, and she informs me its "decorative syrup." This is good for a lot of crude jokes all weekend. Dave's girl Erin shows up with Pipenberg and Ian Brill, and we all get food. Eventually we head to the site. Registration is only $25 and covers all events, which is awesome. I get a bit bored, so I decide to do intermediate doubles net with Pipenberg. Its like a conscious decision to do something fun at the cost of probably sucking at freestyle for the next two days, but I really don't care too much about freestyle results (considering I hadn't prepared anything), whereas I don't get a lot of chances at playing net. Nate picks things up pretty quick, and Danny Greer gives us some good on the court tutorial. We ended up playing 5 matches total. We lost the first 3 in close ones, and then after that fatigue set in, as did my shankles. Against Ted F we took them to the 10th point of the third game, but ended up losing. That was a tough one. We finish late, which has me worried about whether I'll be able to eat and digest before circle prelims start that night. It works out, though I have to consciously only eat half my dinner and take the rest in a box with me. Bob is at the shred, so I say hi. I warm up in some beginner circles, then warm up mostly with Bob and Bevier. I'm playing pretty well, since my net legs haven't set in yet. My best combo of the weekend occurs here, with flurry-DSO-paradon repeat. Circle comp starts, and when I get in the circle, Will T tosses me a blue and white bag, which is super dank. Beyond being dank, its also visible on the carpet, which is a huge plus. My circle has Nathan A, Marc Giard Lariviere and Doug Tank. In the variety round I have one run that starts with double whizz, goes something like 40+ contacts, and also has me leave the circle (guiltlessly) to get a high five from Mark Bull, and then return. It's probably the most fun run I've ever done in a circle contest, which feels great. As the last turn in the variety round starts, I decide I want to start my last turn with ewalk to a blurry 5 or 6. Then right before me, Doug hits his best run of circle...which starts with an ewalk! *D'oh!* I decide I don't want to come up with a new plan, and figure it's pretty funny to windsor him, so I start my final run with ewalk-fog, which gets some reaction from the crowd. Man, that Ken is a dick.
Once my circle is done, I change clothes, finish my half-eaten dinner, and watch the last round of circle. Scott has some big runs, and Mathieu plays well too. I spend the rest of the night just drinking with Bob Riefer and chatting about everything. Great guy, and fun to catch up with.Sunday
The second I wake up, I already know I'm doomed for freestyle. I have net legs, which for me specifically means that my left quad and right hamstring feel pulled. I even stretched them out the day before, because I knew this would happen. Its due to the fact that I only have one spike, which is the sole on my right foot, and that most of my desperation kicks are weird motions that my right leg isn't used to. Whatever. I go to breakfast with a bunch of nyfa and jay. Jay tried to order half of a melon, but the waitress tells him melons are out of season, which disappoints him. I order waffles with fruit. The waitress lists the available fruit they have...which includes melons?!? I order them, and sure enough, I have chunks of fresh melon on my waffles. I taunt Jay about this throughout breakfast.
At one point during breakfast, somebody comments they are disappointed I never finished my Worlds writeup. I reply:
Ken: All I would have added was that on the final shred night, I sucked badly in every circle I was in.
Bruce: And how was your footbagging?
Ken:
At the site I watch a bunch of net, which is running late. That should have clued me in that freestyle would also start late, and I did warm up later than normal, but not nearly enough. Routines ran something like 2 hours late, which combined with my net legs, meant I was totally cold by the time comp started. For routines, competitors had to fill out a card with our name, our club/location, and then a line for "credits/titles." That last section was intended for stuff like your World ranking or how many tournament titles you have, but I filled out mine like this:
Name: Ken Somolinos
Club: NYFA
Titles: "Mister"
Before routines start, they run Shred30. I can't even remember the last time I competed in Shred 30...maybe 2007 Worldsl? A lot of people entered, so I try and stay warm on the sidelines. Things are moving along quickly, until they call up Waylon Lew. He's sitting in front of me, not in shred clothes, and he's making a motion that he wants to scratch. The MC doesn't see this, and keeps calling his name. On a total impulse, I run out into the competition area, and just go for it. There are some chuckles in the crowd, some "go Waylon!", and then my time is called. I wave to the crowd and head off. The MC continues calling names... and then calls for Ken Somolinos. I quickly switch shirts and put on a hat, and run out for Shred30 again! Apparently I actually caused some confusion at the scorer's table, which made my day.
Thankfully, open circle finals were moved to Monday. Jay and Scott had also warmed up too early, and there's no way we would have put on a good show in that state.
With Shred out of the way, routines were finally about to start. At this point, I knew my body was not nearly warm enough to do a good routine. I downloaded a song to Vince's computer the previous night, but I didn't want to waste it in the first round, given my condition. I decide I'm going to perform a joke routine, but then I am told that there are going to be cuts for Finals. Not wanting to risk getting cut for a joke routine, I desperately conduct a last minute search for a routine song. I find an iPod with some Pavement, and pick one of my favorite songs. That helped, since I didn't have to memorize cues. My routine starts off pretty well, but devolves into drops in the last 45 seconds. As I walk off, I'm glad I kept my new song for Finals. After routines end, I spend the next hour brainstorming and filming ideas for a new video about Nathan Anderson vs. Pipenberg. I laugh so hard during some of the filming that my sides start to hurt. Afterwards I go get food in the hotel bar with Outsider and a bunch of other people. I get a very nice lamb curry, and afterwards share the bottle of Ardbeg scotch that I'd brought with me. Sunday night is more hanging out in the shred room at the hotel. I play some foursquare, since thats the only thing that doesn't hurt my legs. I win one game, which is bad news for everybody else. The reason being that once I have one game under my belt, I no longer care about playing strategically, and instead focus on playing sneaky and dirty, even if it only gets out people in lower squares.
Monday
I slept well every night of this tourney, which was great. It was sad to wake up though and have to pack my stuff already, since that meant it was the last day. I go get breakfast with Bruce, Jay, and Ian at Bob Evans for a change. I forgo my usual milkshake, and make the rare move of having coffee, since I anticipate needing some serious caffeine to get me through the day. We head out to the site, and on the way I pass a yard sale. I buy a snifter, which is something I've wanted for my scotch drinking for a long time. At the site I plunk myself down and proceed to watch a ton of net matches. The courts are set up between trees, which lends a very cool, Robin Hood in the forest feel to the games. It's like footbag net in midevil England. Unfortunately for the players, it's not as idyllic, as the sun comes through the leaves unevenly, and the grounds are slippery due to all the twigs and nuts. During timeouts I channel my inner ballboy, running out and clearing the court of debris. I watch a bunch of very entertaining matches, and then am surprised to hear the announcement that Superman is starting. I decide what the hell, and sign up for it. I don't feel like warming up or changing, so I end up keeping my long pants on, and putting on a G-Unit on my left foot and my net shoe on my right foot. The way I see it, I only needed the freestyle shoe to get through the forty add section, and for the net stuff I'd probably only use my right leg. Overall it worked out well. I made it through my adds pretty easily, using mostly diving butterfly stalls. For the consec kicks, I mostly used knee bumps, which worked. I was hoping to beat both gladiators (Vince Bradley and Matt Quint), but didn't quite manage to. I scored on a serve against Vince, but I couldn't win a sideout. I tried to poach one serve, which in retrospect wasn't strategically a great idea, but I wanted to so I did.
After Superman I eat most of a 6 inch veggie sub from Subway (thanks Dave) and drink more caffeinated beverages. Open doubles net finals begins, and its a hell of a show. At one point Kenny had a ridiculous behind the back scorpion spike, which made me jump to my feet roaring. So awesome. The second game starts off with Kenny and Siebert ahead 13-5, so I feel confident it will go three games, giving me time to warm up. But then Manu and Franky rip off a bunch of points in a row, which makes me nervous. If they take it in two games in a comeback, then I won't have enough time to warm up. I head to the freestyle area to make sure I'll be warm, which is a good decision because the other three circle finalists are all already there warming up. I warm up slowly, and I still feel my net legs holding me back. I know I'm not going to set any personal records, but at the same time I don't want to embarrass myself. We decide to run circle before routines. Normally I prefer to do it the other way, but since I don't have a routine prepared and I don't feel sharp, I don't care.
Circle finals were fun. Dave dominated as expected, but I feel like we all put on a pretty good show for the crowd. And it was a very healthy crowd, so I thought that was important. Jay really impressed me. For a long time now I've known he has huge potential, but sometimes in comp he wouldn't show it. During this circle finals I feel like he really had his head together, and was relaxed, and was able to show everybody how strong he is. His long strings are what impressed me most in Circle finals. As for myself, I didn't play very well, but I also didn't embarass myself or stress out. My favorite string was when, 14 contacts into a string, Joe Solonoski introduced me on the mic, and I waved to the crowd midstring:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S630Alj29K0[/youtube]
After Circle they ran Shred 30 Finals. According to Vince, I apparently scored a 211 the previous day (I think as myself), which was good for second seed after Dave, who had a bye. That surprised me. If true, that'd be one of my highest scores ever. Anyway, after the previous day's shenanigans, where I competed as myself and as Waylon, I was ready to play it straight in finals. But then Nathan Anderson suggested that I have Waylon go up and do my final shred30 in my place. The second he suggested that, I realized how hilariously awesome that would be, so I tried to talk Waylon into doing it. He got into his shred gear, but at the last moment decided against it. Reluctantly I stepped out and competed. No idea about results...Dave clearly won, so if I were running the event I doubt I would have gone through the trouble of calculating things.
Routines start, and I'm actually feeling in decent physical condition. I had a deservedly low seed in the Finals, since my routine the previous day was pretty bad, and a bunch of people had very solid routines (Scott D in particular). I'm pretty sure I was seeded 5th, behind Dave, Jay, Scott D, and Scott Bevier. I may also have been seeded behind Nate Pipenberg...but maybe not. In any case, being seeded 5th meant I knew it was going to be hard to finish in 2nd or 3rd. Normally at Funtastiks you'd have incentive to shoot for top 3, because then you get your registration fee back. But considering that it was only $25 this year (in honor of 25 years), I didn't even feel that pressure. Mostly I just wanted to go out there and show I can do a better routine than I did the previous day. I was excited to try out my new song, but my hopes weren't that high since I'd never even done a practice run through of it. I step out into the arena, and the music from the nearby fair is so loud I am tempted to just do my routine to that. I finally signal for my music, and it kicks in. I let myself get into the groove, and then I'm off, riding the adrenaline. Halfway through I realize I have no drops, and I'm not tired at all. I'm tempted to go conservative, when the lyrics: "what's the fun in playing it safe?" comes on. I take it as a sign and rattle off a pdx torque, a PSW, and flip BLW in rapid succession. As I wrap things up during my final combo, I'm again tempted to finish on something easy, but decide to stick to the philosophy of playing hard, and go for the mullet. *BAM!* The routine is done, and the bag is in my hand. Dropless:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46pi8KgaZbQ[/youtube]
I had already had a great weekend, so going dropless was like a cherry on top, like a bonus. It had been over a year since the last time I went dropless, and this was only my 5th time ever, so it felt good to know I could still do it. Over the weekend I talked a lot with net players that I would eventually transition to net, usually with me saying I'd see them on the courts in a couple years. Going dropless almost felt like freestyle was telling me I still have a few more years before I'll have to make that transition. It was good to hear that voice.
I watch the remaining routines, then results are announced. I'm pleasantly surprised to find out I took second in routines, and third in Circle. Later on, I get two types of congratulations. Some people congratulate me for going dropless, and I thank them. Other people congratulate me on second place. I explain to them that I'd rather take 6th place and go dropless, than take 2nd place with one drop. That said, I am happy I finished top three, because it meant I was in the final commemorative photos taken at the end.
After awards finish, I shoot a bit more of my video project, say some goodbyes, and head to the Appalachian Brewing Company where the final party is held. I whip out my new snifter and my bottle of Ardbeg and have a celebratory drink with Jon Schneider before we head in. Once inside I enjoy a nice dinner with NYFA, say some more goodbyes, and then hit the road. I enjoy my car conversation with Jon Schneider as the weekend sinks in and I savor the memories.
Big Thank Yous to:
*Joe and Brenda Solonoski for running Funtastiks for 25 years. You provided a lot of people with a lot of fun and fond memories
*Vince, for the ride there, and for finding me a routine song
*NYFA, for representing so well and being awesome to hang out with
*Dave, for coming out and consistently putting on a good show for the crowd
*All the net players, for entertaining me
*My doubles net partner, Nate Pipenberg
*Mathieu GM for running Circle contest
*All the freestyle judges
*Shout out to CIC for driving a crazy distance to play
*Bob Riefer, for great conversation on Sat night
*Jon S for the ride to Jersey, and the great company as always
*Everybody else I hung out with all weekend. The East Coast scene is beautiful
Last edited by C-Fan on 16 Aug 2012 11:24, edited 1 time in total.
Wow, not a single comment on my Funtastiks writeup? I didn't think it was that bad... 
While we're on the subject of Funtastiks, here's one anecdote I forgot to include. For the week leading up to the tourney, my good friend from NYFA Bruce Dole was on the fence about coming. I offerred him bed space in my hotel room, and finally on Saturday morning I got a text from him, asking if the offer was still good. I thought long and hard about how I could phrase the creepiest answer, and settled on:
Speaking of NYFA, I took last week off from work to visit my sister in Jersey. This worked out real well, since I had a ride from DC to Funtastiks with Vince, and then a ride from Funtastiks to Jersey with Outsider. I spent a few days hanging with my sister, her husband, and my awesome 2 year old niece. Mostly got in a lot of drinking and a bit of footbag. Being in Jersey also meant it was easy to get to NYC on Saturday to shred with NYFA one more time, which I did. Good times were had.
The big news though, which is why I'm posting, is that my govt paperwork finally got signed!
This means that 2 weeks from now I'll move to Denver to start a new job and a new life. I'm incredibly relieved this finally went through, and is going to happen. Just a huge reduction in stress. Footbagwise this means I have 2 weeks left to play with McKenzie and the DC crew. It also means that 2 weeks from now I'll have access to video editing software, which hopefully means I'll finally get to produce a couple footbag videos I've been wanting to do for some time now.
Random closeout video:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnYjWIcLnZo[/youtube]
While we're on the subject of Funtastiks, here's one anecdote I forgot to include. For the week leading up to the tourney, my good friend from NYFA Bruce Dole was on the fence about coming. I offerred him bed space in my hotel room, and finally on Saturday morning I got a text from him, asking if the offer was still good. I thought long and hard about how I could phrase the creepiest answer, and settled on:
Two minutes later Bruce responds:Ken wrote:Spoon me, big papa!
Bruce wrote:Um...on second thought, do you think there's space in the closet? Do the closets have locks? Can you lock them from the inside?
Speaking of NYFA, I took last week off from work to visit my sister in Jersey. This worked out real well, since I had a ride from DC to Funtastiks with Vince, and then a ride from Funtastiks to Jersey with Outsider. I spent a few days hanging with my sister, her husband, and my awesome 2 year old niece. Mostly got in a lot of drinking and a bit of footbag. Being in Jersey also meant it was easy to get to NYC on Saturday to shred with NYFA one more time, which I did. Good times were had.
The big news though, which is why I'm posting, is that my govt paperwork finally got signed!
This means that 2 weeks from now I'll move to Denver to start a new job and a new life. I'm incredibly relieved this finally went through, and is going to happen. Just a huge reduction in stress. Footbagwise this means I have 2 weeks left to play with McKenzie and the DC crew. It also means that 2 weeks from now I'll have access to video editing software, which hopefully means I'll finally get to produce a couple footbag videos I've been wanting to do for some time now.Random closeout video:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnYjWIcLnZo[/youtube]
Last edited by C-Fan on 16 Aug 2012 11:31, edited 1 time in total.
Things are starting to move very quickly now. It's exciting, and I'm glad it's finally happening, but I'm also very aware I'm not out of the woods yet. Today is my last day in my DC office, and tomorrow government movers will come pick up my furniture to ship to Denver. My flight to Denver is on Sunday night, which I know will arrive sooner than I'd like. My office graciously agreed to grant me the next two days off so I can prepare for my move, which should help out.
Leaving DC definitely feels like the end of another chapter in my life. DC was the end of grad school and my transition to a federal career. It was also another new town where I made good friends and got to enjoy many new experiences. Since this is my footblog, I'm also going to take a moment to reflect that it was also a good time for me footbagwise. Since moving to DC 2.7 years ago, I've played very regularly, attended a bunch of tournaments, and achieved a bunch of personal footbag milestones.
Footbag highlights from my time in DC:
*Attended Worlds 08, 09, 10.
*Went to NYJ twice, East Coasts twice, Funtastiks twice, NYFA jam twice, USO, and Shred for Savvy.
*Got my first 5 dropless routines.
*Hit 5 new quad dexes cleanly on tape.
*Hit my first Beast combo, and a bunch more.
*Landed two of my dream moves cleanly on video: TATW and Blurry Flurry
*Improved my spinning.
Overall, DC was good to me footbagwise. I hoped and expected that once I got out of grad school, I'd be able to dedicate more time to footbag, and I'm glad that's been the case. I hope that in the future I can reflect on my time in Denver and have a similarly good list, even if the criteria is different.
Played footbag on Friday, Sunday and Monday. On Friday I got to play with Brian, which was a treat. I really enjoy playing with him, we have good conversation and have a good shred vibe.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bK2o0N2kRgg[/youtube]
I spent most of Friday and Sunday trying to re-hit a bunch of my old spinning challenges in HD. On Sunday I had a few good looks at some new beasts. I'd like to hit maybe two more beasts before making my video. Hopefully I can get set up in Denver quickly and start working on making videos.
Here's a combo I hit on Friday that I liked:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzOUd3AJCvY[/youtube]
Leaving DC definitely feels like the end of another chapter in my life. DC was the end of grad school and my transition to a federal career. It was also another new town where I made good friends and got to enjoy many new experiences. Since this is my footblog, I'm also going to take a moment to reflect that it was also a good time for me footbagwise. Since moving to DC 2.7 years ago, I've played very regularly, attended a bunch of tournaments, and achieved a bunch of personal footbag milestones.
Footbag highlights from my time in DC:
*Attended Worlds 08, 09, 10.
*Went to NYJ twice, East Coasts twice, Funtastiks twice, NYFA jam twice, USO, and Shred for Savvy.
*Got my first 5 dropless routines.
*Hit 5 new quad dexes cleanly on tape.
*Hit my first Beast combo, and a bunch more.
*Landed two of my dream moves cleanly on video: TATW and Blurry Flurry
*Improved my spinning.
Overall, DC was good to me footbagwise. I hoped and expected that once I got out of grad school, I'd be able to dedicate more time to footbag, and I'm glad that's been the case. I hope that in the future I can reflect on my time in Denver and have a similarly good list, even if the criteria is different.
Played footbag on Friday, Sunday and Monday. On Friday I got to play with Brian, which was a treat. I really enjoy playing with him, we have good conversation and have a good shred vibe.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bK2o0N2kRgg[/youtube]
I spent most of Friday and Sunday trying to re-hit a bunch of my old spinning challenges in HD. On Sunday I had a few good looks at some new beasts. I'd like to hit maybe two more beasts before making my video. Hopefully I can get set up in Denver quickly and start working on making videos.
Here's a combo I hit on Friday that I liked:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzOUd3AJCvY[/youtube]
Last edited by C-Fan on 16 Aug 2012 11:36, edited 1 time in total.
your blog is so fun to go to and just flip back through old pages and watch videos. Same with your challenge blog.
I watch a lot of your videos, and I have slowly been stealing some of your combos and challenges. Ive done a lot of them, but haven't done any of the beasts.
This one was my favorite and also the most fun.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPM7eg_nN9s[/youtube]
Keep the blog awesome and come to NYJ so I can kick with you again. Its been too long.
I watch a lot of your videos, and I have slowly been stealing some of your combos and challenges. Ive done a lot of them, but haven't done any of the beasts.
This one was my favorite and also the most fun.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPM7eg_nN9s[/youtube]
Keep the blog awesome and come to NYJ so I can kick with you again. Its been too long.
zach jahner
Thank you for all the nice comments!
TJ: I feel lucky that after 13 years I'm still this excited about footbag, and am physically able to play this hard/much. Give my love to everybody in Japan, and keep promoting!
Dan: Building a scene in Colorado is definitely a long-term goal I want to work towards. Once I get settled in (ie. move into an apt, buy a car, etc.) I will try to work towards that.
Zach: It made me very happy to hear that people actually watch the videos I post in here. I found it funny though that you identified that particular drill as "fun." That drill drove me CRAZY. So much more frustrating and hard than it seems. The worst would be when I'd get through the zooming parts, and then I'd brainfart at the end and doing a spinning clipper instead of a gyro.
The big news on my end is that I made it to Denver. Finally! I've been here just over a week, and I'm happy to report that I've been playing a lot of footbag. The weather is still very summer-y, and I'm taking advantage of it with outdoor sessions because I know it's gonna get cold soon. Today marked my 8th day in a row playing, which is a nice streak. I even managed to get in one group shred in that time! I've also hit four new Beasts since getting to town.
I'm slowly getting my life set up here. I'm currently borrowing my folks' car, and cat/house sitting for friends. I'm so lucky to have such a good support network. Last week I did a ton of apartment hunting, and Friday I signed a lease. I'm moving in right after house/cat sitting is done. My apt is located by two parks, so I'll have good outdoor shred spots in Spring. During the cold months, I plan on playing in the fitness room. It's pretty small though, so I may join a gym. I might also try and set up regular weekend shreds in Boulder, and sneak into their gyms/classrooms. Either way, expect my video quality to drop, since my camera sucks in indoor light. The next big thing on my to-do list is buying a car. I'm not going to lie, I'm a bit freaked out by it. I've never made a commitment like that before, and I don't want to make a bad decision. I'm going to do a lot of research, and get a lot of advice from my co-workers, but it's still daunting.
Shred-wise I've been pretty unfocused with my goals. I'm aware I'm going through a stressful, (though exciting!) transition period in my life, and so I'm making a point to just go with the flow of my sessions and have fun. Other than working on beasts, i've just messed around with whatever I've felt like doing on that day. It's kind of liberating. It's fun to see what random, surprising stuff you're capable of when you aren't trying, like this BSOS which came out of nowhere:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zGFsyZocU4s[/youtube].
Oh, and shoutout to Hania. I bought two of her bags at Worlds, and the one I've broken in plays like a charm. My main bags I've been playing with lately have been a Hania and a Matt Cross.
Over the weekend I drove to Boulder to see my friend Luis from Cornell, who is now doing law school there. It was great to catch up and hang out, and we even got in a group shred with two other shredders who go there, Ben and Oli. Good kids with potential...I'd love to set up a regular shred with them. We played foursquare to warm up and cool down. I'd forgotten how much I love that game. Shredding with others was fun too, since it encouraged me to go for long strings over beasts or big tricks.
The last big piece of footbag news, is that I now have access to a computer with Adobe Premiere! My friend who I'm house-sitting for has Premiere, so I'm going to try and make two video projects in the next week. It's ambitious, especially since I need to re-teach myself how to use the program, but I think it's doable if I'm diligent about putting in the time. This whole week my schedule has pretty much been: 1. go to work. 2. get in a shred 3. eat dinner 4. edit video. Some nights I'll sneak in some Rockband afterwards, but usually I'm too exhausted at that point. If things go well, I might get the first video done in the next few days. I don't anticipate the second video taking as much effort, since it's just a bunch of beast combos.
TJ: I feel lucky that after 13 years I'm still this excited about footbag, and am physically able to play this hard/much. Give my love to everybody in Japan, and keep promoting!
Dan: Building a scene in Colorado is definitely a long-term goal I want to work towards. Once I get settled in (ie. move into an apt, buy a car, etc.) I will try to work towards that.
Zach: It made me very happy to hear that people actually watch the videos I post in here. I found it funny though that you identified that particular drill as "fun." That drill drove me CRAZY. So much more frustrating and hard than it seems. The worst would be when I'd get through the zooming parts, and then I'd brainfart at the end and doing a spinning clipper instead of a gyro.
The big news on my end is that I made it to Denver. Finally! I've been here just over a week, and I'm happy to report that I've been playing a lot of footbag. The weather is still very summer-y, and I'm taking advantage of it with outdoor sessions because I know it's gonna get cold soon. Today marked my 8th day in a row playing, which is a nice streak. I even managed to get in one group shred in that time! I've also hit four new Beasts since getting to town.
I'm slowly getting my life set up here. I'm currently borrowing my folks' car, and cat/house sitting for friends. I'm so lucky to have such a good support network. Last week I did a ton of apartment hunting, and Friday I signed a lease. I'm moving in right after house/cat sitting is done. My apt is located by two parks, so I'll have good outdoor shred spots in Spring. During the cold months, I plan on playing in the fitness room. It's pretty small though, so I may join a gym. I might also try and set up regular weekend shreds in Boulder, and sneak into their gyms/classrooms. Either way, expect my video quality to drop, since my camera sucks in indoor light. The next big thing on my to-do list is buying a car. I'm not going to lie, I'm a bit freaked out by it. I've never made a commitment like that before, and I don't want to make a bad decision. I'm going to do a lot of research, and get a lot of advice from my co-workers, but it's still daunting.
Shred-wise I've been pretty unfocused with my goals. I'm aware I'm going through a stressful, (though exciting!) transition period in my life, and so I'm making a point to just go with the flow of my sessions and have fun. Other than working on beasts, i've just messed around with whatever I've felt like doing on that day. It's kind of liberating. It's fun to see what random, surprising stuff you're capable of when you aren't trying, like this BSOS which came out of nowhere:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zGFsyZocU4s[/youtube].
Oh, and shoutout to Hania. I bought two of her bags at Worlds, and the one I've broken in plays like a charm. My main bags I've been playing with lately have been a Hania and a Matt Cross.
Over the weekend I drove to Boulder to see my friend Luis from Cornell, who is now doing law school there. It was great to catch up and hang out, and we even got in a group shred with two other shredders who go there, Ben and Oli. Good kids with potential...I'd love to set up a regular shred with them. We played foursquare to warm up and cool down. I'd forgotten how much I love that game. Shredding with others was fun too, since it encouraged me to go for long strings over beasts or big tricks.
The last big piece of footbag news, is that I now have access to a computer with Adobe Premiere! My friend who I'm house-sitting for has Premiere, so I'm going to try and make two video projects in the next week. It's ambitious, especially since I need to re-teach myself how to use the program, but I think it's doable if I'm diligent about putting in the time. This whole week my schedule has pretty much been: 1. go to work. 2. get in a shred 3. eat dinner 4. edit video. Some nights I'll sneak in some Rockband afterwards, but usually I'm too exhausted at that point. If things go well, I might get the first video done in the next few days. I don't anticipate the second video taking as much effort, since it's just a bunch of beast combos.
-
DTank126
- Atomsmashasaurus Dex
- Posts: 977
- Joined: 09 Jul 2006 13:58
- Location: Boston, MA/Rochester, NY
Hey Ken, been meaning to comment on your worlds and funtastiks write-ups.... so there ya go! Seriously though, some really fun reads. I enjoyed/secretly loathed reading the worlds write up since it gave a good inside look into how awesome the event was and made me kick myself for not going.
Nice ducking dlos. Im jealous.
Nice ducking dlos. Im jealous.
Doug Tank
I feel like my footbag season is winding down. When I arrived in Denver two weeks ago, we enjoyed something of an Indian summer, where it was still light out and warm enough after work that I could get in a shred. I took advantage of this and got in an 11 day streak of playing. The last two sessions I fought a chilly breeze all session, and the next day it poured rain and didn't crack 60 degrees. And then, just as I was ready to declare the outdoor season over, the next day was 75 and sunny, and I got in a killer session where I hit 5 beasts. The next day? Cold and rainy again. I have a feeling Denver weather is going to be very hit or miss for the next few weeks, and then it will be winter. I really can't complain though; I was lucky to get as much good weather since getting to town as I did. I also feel like I capitalized well on it, in terms of playing lots of footbag. It's beautiful out again today, but I gave blood so no footbag. Weekend forecast looks promising, so I'm going to try to shred the next three days.
The big life news on my end, is that I finally moved into a place! Wow, I can't believe I lived out of a suitcase for 2.5 months. I don't recommend it. The challenge now is to get my new place all set up and livable. This will likely eat into my footbag time after work, but I'm still hoping to get in a few more outdoor shreds after work before the weather makes it impossible. I just think it's important to get my place in as good a condition as fast as possible, because I know I'll soon hit a point where I'll just lack the motivation to make it better. My building has a small fitness room, where I'll likely play during the winter. Given the small space and lighting, there's a good chance I won't film there, but we'll see.
On the footbag front, the latest development is that I made two footbag videos. I hadn't made a video in about 3 years, which strikes me as a real long time. I shot all of the source footage in HD, so I was disappointed that I couldn't figure out how to export my videos in HD. With the first video, Double Elimi Nathan, it only exported in 480p, but it looked very good. The second video, I followed some advice I read on the internet...and it exported in 480p and in worse quality. I was really disappointed by that, but given that it was my last day with access to Premiere, I posted the video as is. Maybe I can figure out a time/way to go back and re-do the project so it at least comes out with the same video quality as the elimi-Nathan video.
While I wasn't thrilled with the video quality of Menagerie, I was very proud of the content. Technical problems with Premiere meant I actually had to cut a couple combos from the video, but even so I thought it was a good showing. In the last 8 months I've hit 34 beasts, 31 if you don't count x-spin, and 23 if you don't count x-spin or x-dex. Making the video had a couple positive side effects. For one, it forced me to hit all my beasts as cleanly as possible. On several occasions I thought I hit a beast, but upon video review I decided to rehit them. That was also another positive side effect of shooting the video. The vast majority of my beasts I hit multiple times, which makes me feel like they weren't flukes. Now that the video is done and I've hit over 30, I feel comfortable moving past beasts. I'm not real sure what my next goal in footbag will be, but I really enjoyed going for beasts. They eluded me for the first 12.5 years that I played, so it was particularly satisfying to put in the work to hit so many.
I'm hoping to go to NNYJ this year, but haven't made arrangements yet. The dates are much worse for me than in past years, but I feel like I shouldn't pass up the chance to see CIC again. It'd also give me motivation to not let the rust settle in too much during fall.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81p3bsJ-sEA[/youtube]
EDIT: I just re-watched the beast vid on YouTube, and it looks a lot better than the exported file I saved on my computer. Still, it would have been nice to get better visual quality, but at least it's not as choppy as I thought it was. For the most part, it does what I hoped it would do.
The big life news on my end, is that I finally moved into a place! Wow, I can't believe I lived out of a suitcase for 2.5 months. I don't recommend it. The challenge now is to get my new place all set up and livable. This will likely eat into my footbag time after work, but I'm still hoping to get in a few more outdoor shreds after work before the weather makes it impossible. I just think it's important to get my place in as good a condition as fast as possible, because I know I'll soon hit a point where I'll just lack the motivation to make it better. My building has a small fitness room, where I'll likely play during the winter. Given the small space and lighting, there's a good chance I won't film there, but we'll see.
On the footbag front, the latest development is that I made two footbag videos. I hadn't made a video in about 3 years, which strikes me as a real long time. I shot all of the source footage in HD, so I was disappointed that I couldn't figure out how to export my videos in HD. With the first video, Double Elimi Nathan, it only exported in 480p, but it looked very good. The second video, I followed some advice I read on the internet...and it exported in 480p and in worse quality. I was really disappointed by that, but given that it was my last day with access to Premiere, I posted the video as is. Maybe I can figure out a time/way to go back and re-do the project so it at least comes out with the same video quality as the elimi-Nathan video.
While I wasn't thrilled with the video quality of Menagerie, I was very proud of the content. Technical problems with Premiere meant I actually had to cut a couple combos from the video, but even so I thought it was a good showing. In the last 8 months I've hit 34 beasts, 31 if you don't count x-spin, and 23 if you don't count x-spin or x-dex. Making the video had a couple positive side effects. For one, it forced me to hit all my beasts as cleanly as possible. On several occasions I thought I hit a beast, but upon video review I decided to rehit them. That was also another positive side effect of shooting the video. The vast majority of my beasts I hit multiple times, which makes me feel like they weren't flukes. Now that the video is done and I've hit over 30, I feel comfortable moving past beasts. I'm not real sure what my next goal in footbag will be, but I really enjoyed going for beasts. They eluded me for the first 12.5 years that I played, so it was particularly satisfying to put in the work to hit so many.
I'm hoping to go to NNYJ this year, but haven't made arrangements yet. The dates are much worse for me than in past years, but I feel like I shouldn't pass up the chance to see CIC again. It'd also give me motivation to not let the rust settle in too much during fall.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81p3bsJ-sEA[/youtube]
EDIT: I just re-watched the beast vid on YouTube, and it looks a lot better than the exported file I saved on my computer. Still, it would have been nice to get better visual quality, but at least it's not as choppy as I thought it was. For the most part, it does what I hoped it would do.
Last edited by C-Fan on 16 Aug 2012 11:37, edited 1 time in total.
I have some extensions for Windows Movie Maker on Windows XP that will let you export to HD, not sure if they will be of any use to you.
Props on the beast vid too, I dream of hitting just one, so to hit 34 is an astounding achievement. Having tamed all those Beasts, i think you can call them your Pets now
Props on the beast vid too, I dream of hitting just one, so to hit 34 is an astounding achievement. Having tamed all those Beasts, i think you can call them your Pets now
Has it really been that long?
I just read most of the last page of your blog. I'm glad things are going well for you Ken. I can't believe you were in DC for 2.7 years and I missed all of it. I liked to think that I was checking in on modified a bit more that that, but I guess not. Anyways, it's nice reading what you're up to, and I'm gonna go back and read more. Your enthusiasm and love of the sport really is inspirational as TJ said.
I just read most of the last page of your blog. I'm glad things are going well for you Ken. I can't believe you were in DC for 2.7 years and I missed all of it. I liked to think that I was checking in on modified a bit more that that, but I guess not. Anyways, it's nice reading what you're up to, and I'm gonna go back and read more. Your enthusiasm and love of the sport really is inspirational as TJ said.
Wow, blast from the past...Tony Sen! You'll appreciate this: when I moved apartments I wasn't sure when I'd get internet set up, so I decided to download a videogame to my laptop to entertain me in the meantime. The game I got? Dark Forces, which is still fun 15 years after I first played it.
Old habits die hard.
I've actually accumulated enough new/good footage over the last week, that I want to make another video. Even if I can't export to HD, I think it's nice to have a longer video with multiple clips. It's more convenient for people, and is more fun to watch. My friend Dan, who let me edit with his Premiere, is in the midst of a housing emergency (they found mold in his house, so he has to move in the next week), so it'll likely be a while before I can get around to editing a video. I don't mind sitting on the footage for a while...in winter time it'll be nice to re-live these outdoor shreds as I edit. Or maybe I'll outsource my clips to somebody who can edit an HD video... that could be fun.
Here's a drill I enjoyed:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXCASMkQPJs[/youtube]
Sure enough, the very next session I played I was going for beasts again.C-Fan wrote: Now that the video is done and I've hit over 30, I feel comfortable moving past beasts.
Old habits die hard.It was, and I did! Over the last week we've had really good weather. Low 70s and sun, which means last weekend I had great conditions during the day, and weekdays this week I was able to sneak in short shreds after work. On Saturday I drove up to Boulder to play with Ben and Luis, which was fun. Ben played especially well, and hit a bunch of new tricks. Luis hit very solid ripwalks both sides, and also showed his newest trick: toe torque. It'd be great if I can start playing with them a couple times a month. On Friday I spent my entire session working on PS whirling swirl. I saw Milan hit one in his Sick 3 in the Todexon vid, and it inspired me. Since then, I've mostly just toyed around with hard dexless spinning tricks, like sonic and double peeking. Over the last week I've also hit a ton of new tricks, which has been a nice surprise. More than anything it just feels great to be playing outside this late in the year.C-Fan wrote: Weekend forecast looks promising, so I'm going to try to shred the next three days.
I've actually accumulated enough new/good footage over the last week, that I want to make another video. Even if I can't export to HD, I think it's nice to have a longer video with multiple clips. It's more convenient for people, and is more fun to watch. My friend Dan, who let me edit with his Premiere, is in the midst of a housing emergency (they found mold in his house, so he has to move in the next week), so it'll likely be a while before I can get around to editing a video. I don't mind sitting on the footage for a while...in winter time it'll be nice to re-live these outdoor shreds as I edit. Or maybe I'll outsource my clips to somebody who can edit an HD video... that could be fun.
Here's a drill I enjoyed:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXCASMkQPJs[/youtube]
Last edited by C-Fan on 16 Aug 2012 11:38, edited 1 time in total.
I doubt you know this about me, but chocolate milk is my favorite drink. I drink it almost every day, and my coworkers make fun of me for it. So yeah, that sounds like a pretty sweet summer to me.
Random vid, since I'm making a post in my blog:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODmhJnh0Eb8[/youtube]
Last edited by C-Fan on 16 Aug 2012 11:41, edited 1 time in total.