Dear Rest of world,
Currently am sitting in the room where Anz Trick tips version one was filmed...Documenting.
December 26, 2010.
It was a sunny day in Southern Ontario Canada, when family was arriving for boxing day celebration, and me, the littlest boy who never ate enough wheaties, was packing up for Suomiland. I drove my car to my grandparent's, saw some of said family, and drove to the airport and said farewell... This was at 2:00 pm... I then got on a plane, trickled my way to London, ate at the same restaurant as I did on the trip here last year (EAT), and then waited for the extra 3 hours to get a plane to Helsinki... As soon as the gate showed up on the bulletin board, I nearly crapped myself in anticipation. This was serious business countdown.
So, I got on the Finland plane with a smile above my chinniest chin, Tom Mosher backpack on back, and nearly suffocated when the finnish accented stewartess told me to relax and enjoy the flight. Did the entire world know I wanted to marry her?
I eventually got on a bus, the 540, which you must transfer in Espoo, and stop in Salo for... Same as last year. It was all there, remembering each shop, remembering the same style bus. Finland was as I left it. And then, IT happened. Juho's sister sat beside me. I don't know if she knew she was Juho's sister, but my lord.. Basically the same face, same hyper finnish hair colour, thin, etc. Two reactions coursed through my veins. One, which was marriage, and two, that Juho probably wouldn't appreciate me with his sister. So, I sat there and read my book.
I arrived in Turku, Anssi picked me up with his Red Corolla, and stick shifted his way to ALI BABA, the Kebab establishment that could. This is the place where men eat, and pandas run away from. What up. I got the roll kebab. For Canadians, imagine the Cora's crepe versus a regular crepe. That is the equivalent for this kebab. Large, in charge, and it relieves back pain.
We watched some Sean Connery, and by this time it was already about 2:00 PM in Canada, so in Finlandland it had been dark for about 9 hours, and we headed to sleep.
Deceber 27th.
Woke up to a ring chime on the Nokia of Anssi, and then it was time to enjoy cusine. Rye Bread, cracker form Rye Bread, Rye cereal, and non-Rye milk. Oh lovely Alex Trebec, how you would have appreciated this. Just after breakfast is done, and I had finished telling Anssi he should have a reality TV show, showing how hard core he is, he goes ahead and tells me the shed will be warm in 10 minutes and we will play our first session of the day.
3 4 minute improv routines each, later, and a total of one.5 hour session later, the first session it is done, and now it is 12:37 Finland time and I hope to moses a kebab forms in front of me. Oh good Anssi offered me some chocolate.
Later fellows.
Jay's Blog.
?
Fazer makes some of my favourite breads.
We had a genuine session with Jay in Turku which we filmed. Unfortunately my computer does things the Max Power way nowadays and some of the footage was corrupted and has glitches. I tried to save it by making it look it's like that on purpose, don't know if I succeeded or not. Used maybe half the footage that I captured because I wanted to fit it in one song. Jay foots a 3dex beast in there. Enjoy.
http://www.footbag.org/gallery/show/-17875
Music by Daft Punk.
See you again in the summer Jay.
We had a genuine session with Jay in Turku which we filmed. Unfortunately my computer does things the Max Power way nowadays and some of the footage was corrupted and has glitches. I tried to save it by making it look it's like that on purpose, don't know if I succeeded or not. Used maybe half the footage that I captured because I wanted to fit it in one song. Jay foots a 3dex beast in there. Enjoy.
http://www.footbag.org/gallery/show/-17875Music by Daft Punk.
See you again in the summer Jay.
So, it has been a few days since Finland, and I've already got tickets booked for the French Open in later February. I'm such a prostitute.
I realize that last year's Finland write up was large, detailed, and grotesque, so thankfully I can omit multiple details from this one. For example, character introductions were done last year, so, no e-raping Pekka, and much of the locations were the same, so I don't have to splurge about Anssi's staircase. However, some really cool things did happen, and I had a great trip, so I'll begin to recap, highlighting days.
=--=
You could tell that the stay at Anssi's place this year was much more about footbag, and less about party, kebab and new years fun. Part of me really appreciated this, because that is sort of what I like the most about tournaments, when you can simply geek out to maximum capacity with someone else who understands the sport as well as you do. On a daily basis back here in Canada, I'll tell my room mate something about footbag, whether it be me inventing tricks with Jorden, explaining a trip I went on, or whatever, and you can simply tell that there isn't that "connection" in their heads as to how massive footbag is as a part of my life. Oh god run on sentence. So, it feels nice to have a few days just to be "hardcore", like that where normal humans would just call you misguided and weird. So yeah, out of the 4 days at Anssi's, we played abut 6 times sessions, totalling in probably near 18 hours of shred. It is amazing how routine it all felt, just in comparison to last year, where everytime I set my foot inside the shed door I felt like I had been handed a baby turtle. A few of the things I was having trouble doing last year, fortunately I had an easy time with this year.
One of the humiliating drills I couldn't seal last year was blur->toe whirl->blizzard->toe near whirl*rpt, just because toe near whirl is just such a dirty whore. The dirtiest, of ALL tricks. Like, take, splurging the ducking turn 180 degrees and pretend to do a mixer toe stall, and that trick is infinitely cleaner than a toe near whirl. Like, WHO DOES THAT? It is the WORST trick in the toe near variety. Like, toe near whip, is sexy, or say, toe near symple twist. Just as easy, WAY cooler, and not covered in filth. Just as demonstration to how much I hated that drill, I just did the entire thing with an open set on the whirls, and I believe first try I just missed the last contact, meanwhile the normal drill took me 12 tries in front of Anssi. On the subject of comparison to last year, Anssi was also different this year. Anssi seems to have matured into his trick selection, and is mastering concepts and, becoming a bit more of a Juho in that regard. Last year I remember Anssi trying things like triaging switch, qua-rage, and other insane things that were just absurd, but this year was more about barflies, twist->swirls, and just understanding the bag...I guess. It was a bit weird, to see this, because I had sensed it was happening as of worlds. Still, this means really awesome, controlled, precise strings in the future, and I look forward to that.
I compare this, to say Toni. Toni knows what he does, does it, does it well, and with perhaps a smirk on his chin. Toni can walk up to a circle comp, do his 5 beastly, walk out and grab a coffee under a willow tree watching birds fly by. I'm sure at one point, Toni was 2008-9 Anssi, who was still figuring shit out. But who doesn't mind Toni wrecking all of finland in Circle Comp?
Anywho, I was also under a weird stress. There are some moves that only Anssi pushes you to do. For example, if I'm playing with Jorden, I wont do a single far whirl in an entire session, and a month goes by without a ps whirl. If say I'm playing at Stanford, I'll refrain from doing barflies b2b, or wont feel the need to step out of that blurriest. For some reason, with Anssi, I feel as if it is like, god looking over your shoulder. For example, if you're 7 years old, and about to defile the old-next-door neighbors mail-box, and you don't believe in god, you wont have something on your conscience and will have a thrill in pissing all over the handle. Versus, if you are believing that god is looking at your every action, you'll bake the man a cookie for your mind-sin, and talk to him about his war days. Well, with Anssi, I feel my little guilty-conscience being throbbed at, and I do do far whirls, and I re-learn ps whirls, and if I'm feeling like I could just osis out of a spinning whirl, instead I go for the furious, because Anssi is just fucking hardcore. Or, if you are catching your guilty conscience feeling like you've done a bit too much on one side, you start the next string with a large combo on your flip, just to make sure you're allowed into Anssi-Shred-Shed Heaven, versus cellar-no kebab-hell. The point of all this, is that I end up playing way differently with Anssi, and it is always weird. It is like going to the dentist, and realizing that you haven't been flossing, so the month before and after you floss the shit out of those gums, sparkle and shine, and then can sort of regress later... You know the dentist is right, and you thought that the teeth-cleaning lady was really cute, so you go back willingly, but it is just a weird cycle.
Mint Floss = PS whirl.
That yellow shit underneath a 30 year old pillow cover on the pillow = toe near whirl. There is no reason for that trick. Fuck,.
We met some of Anssi's friends at Pronto Kebab, a joint he goes to on his lunch hours at school. These guys were all the same faces from the bar last year, in Turku, and it was neat to see that they still existed. It was a quick eat-and-depart, and even Anssi hadn't seen all of them in a while, so there wasn't much English or jokes I understood to remark on. However, afterward Anssi and I went shopping in town for some supplies to add to my Sauna. It just so happened that Antti, the man who had hit witchdoctor, had some school and we had some time to kill. It also just so happened, that we ended up at an English style Pub, drinking English cider. This was my first experience with Cider, and oddly it seemed more like champagne to me than apple cider that kids drink for Breakfast. I was secretly hoping for that. We half-attended our eyes to an English Football game on the TV, but I more used the opportunity to talk to Anssi about footbag, how to get good, form advice, etc. He mentioned some interesting philosophy from Felix, which he didn't follow, but it was cool to hear that Felix would do one sided combos, on huge repeats, just working on style, form, and presumably sex appeal. When this was finished, we went to the apartment of the Medical-Student friend, Antti+girlfriend/Fiancee I forget, Medical-Student's room mate, Mr. Charlie Chapman movie English speaker from last year, and I think that was it. We watched some Downhill skiing jumping, of which Canada didn't have a single competitor in finals, drank some beer, and had some cake. Overall this was a nice feeling, if not just to sit back, relax because school was over for the semester, and I was in Finlandland. Most of this was also Finnish, but randomly I'd interject with some comical observation, and then the night was suddenly over. Anssi and I walked across town, to a few more stores looking for Sauna supplies, and then spontaneously wanted Kebab. This is another thing I enjoy with Anssi, that no other footbagger seems to understand. Like, when you want Kebab, just go fucking eat Kebab. Don't ask the Queen what to do, don't think about tying your shoe laces, don't hmm and haa, just go fucking eat Kebab. So, within a minute, kebab was in front of us, and we discussed more footbag, NYJ, etc.
Turku is quite possibly the neatest town there is for that matter. You out of Anssi's place, and it seems like little rural Finland, not much hustle and bussle, no graffiti / pedestrians or homeless people, just a nice quaint place. Then, walk 5 minutes, and you've got Kebab, hospitals, really gorgeous wives-to-be walking in front of you, and a sporthall + 2 universities. I truly don't understand finland. They have 5,338,395 people [ - 2009
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators ] ...And ALL of the women are SO friggen marry-able. I think I would honestly have 10 kids within a year, if I was a finn. How in the world they just go about their lives is unbelievable. I actually paid attention at my university the last couple of days, and there were 2 people out of the thousands I viewed, that I would consider going up and maybe talking to, or perhaps throwing my coat down ontop of a hazardous puddle. TWO. It is as if Montreal just sucked out all of canadian potential and is now laughing at the rest of this forsaken country.
Waking up again, Anssi and I didn't have a morning session because we were going to film at the sporthall. Tossing my stomach full of Rye Bread and fruit, loading my Tom Mosher bag with anything I could need, we were off. The idea for the session was to play genuine only, and seeing as the video from the session does not have a single bop, I guess it was mission accomplished. It felt surreal to go there again, just as it did the first time I re-entered the shed {which had been cleaned out, btw}. Just remembering everything I hit last year, (Killing myself for spinning whirl*3, killing myself to hit just a whirr, and not really having single leg double dexes under control), and smirking about how far I had actually come. Most of my career I look at my former self, and feel bad about progression, but this time it felt nice to not suck as hard anymore. We went to the "tube" of the place, where Anssi usually films himself, and did the patented Sundberg warmup. 45 minutes of every basic concept, marathon style, to a string of ps whirls and nemesii. Quickly I started feeling less awesome about myself, when I realized how hard I sucked at Genuine. The last 4 months of no-strings really killed that, but at least I didn't just do open switches. Either way, this was the first session where I *really* tried for some beasts, and sadly footed one. Anssi of course crushed dreams with montage->spinning ducking far torque, a decent 7-7 combo. He didn't care about it, and didn't seem to understand why I thought it was great. I don't know, sure adds are schmadds and all, when it comes to far illusion vs far mirage, but like, a 7 is still friggen hard no matter what you do. Either way, there is video in Anssi's post above of this session. After this, we went for Kebab which is the restaurant you see in the video. We got the Mega-Kebab, which is fucking, just, wow. That is why I was smiling in that clip, because I saw the biggest plate in my entire life. Anssi took video of the experience, but sadly it wasn't in the video above. I'd love a still frame or three of how massive that thing was. You know when you see, say, a net-book laptop, versus a big screen TV? This is the difference in Kebab size. It makes Canada's land mass look weak. Upon this conversation, we decided to head out to Jyvaskyla a little bit early, e.g. that night, because we had had virtually every good kebab place in Turku already, and we might as well head for NYJ.
Olli, Anssi's brother, took us to the train station, where I was DESPERATELY hoping to see the girl in the white jeans again. I vowed to myself that I'd drop my bags, throw her over my shoulder and just get Juho to marry us that night, if she was in that building again. I looked near the postcards, and sadly, no white jeans. I was genuinely disappointed, like, SO much buildup. That girl in those white jeans, just, ugh. Haunting. I'll never love again.
We get on the train to Tampere, and I realize I might love again. The littlest Kiira Korpi, apparently lives in Tampere, When someone is curious as to what I mean about Finland owning godlike creatures, I may re-direct you to pictures of say, Anssi, or Kiira.
So yeah, on the ride there, I assumed that there was a 1 / 10200300 chance she'd get on the train, and I vowed again to get Juho as a descendent of Christ to 'wed' us. At this point, Anssi was really getting sick of my shit, so I stopped talking about the ordeal all together. We took out a pen, to start scribing down a little bit of ideas for a small footbag project, which would be filmed this weekend. At this point, a little finnish girl passenger asked the train conductor "Excuse me, is everyone here a Teddy-Bear"?, to which the train lady said "Yes, yes they are". Anssi was laughing at it, so I got the translation. At our train transfer place, where Anssi chilled his beer in some snow, it started to feel a bit like NYJ. A slight bit of alcohol in Anssi's system, and just excitement in my loins, and more light hearted banter and jokes began. I told some Canadian perspective jokes, which proved to not make much sense to a Finn, and he told me some hilarious, but, aweful, aweful jokes about Sparkling Baboons, and before you knew it we landed at the Train Station. This year we had to walk to the Apartment, which seemed awesome because we could walk around the city of Jyvaskyla, giving me good memories from the year before. Anssi, luggage+beer in hand, slipped in the middle of the road, which was hilarious because his luggage was all over the ground, but he managed to not spill a single drop of beer. Priorities straight. At this point we were just reciting the Old Spice commercials,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE
Where, it would go like this.
"Heello Ladies, look at your man, back at me, now back at your man, now back to me, sadly, he isn't me. But if he stopped shredding after eating low-fat and switched to kebab he could shred like me --->" Where Anssi would be the spokes-person.
We walked by Ali-Baba of Jyvaskyla, and then saw Tuukka in the distance beside the Grille-21, the grill just outside the apartment. Luggage in hand, snow in the air, but I knew those were the puppy-dog eyes of the LIONKAINEN just waiting for food. Introductions were made, Tuukka began to order my meal in English, then switched to finnish, and eventually Turkey+fries+random substance was ordered.
It was officially NYJ 2010-11.
I realize that last year's Finland write up was large, detailed, and grotesque, so thankfully I can omit multiple details from this one. For example, character introductions were done last year, so, no e-raping Pekka, and much of the locations were the same, so I don't have to splurge about Anssi's staircase. However, some really cool things did happen, and I had a great trip, so I'll begin to recap, highlighting days.
=--=
You could tell that the stay at Anssi's place this year was much more about footbag, and less about party, kebab and new years fun. Part of me really appreciated this, because that is sort of what I like the most about tournaments, when you can simply geek out to maximum capacity with someone else who understands the sport as well as you do. On a daily basis back here in Canada, I'll tell my room mate something about footbag, whether it be me inventing tricks with Jorden, explaining a trip I went on, or whatever, and you can simply tell that there isn't that "connection" in their heads as to how massive footbag is as a part of my life. Oh god run on sentence. So, it feels nice to have a few days just to be "hardcore", like that where normal humans would just call you misguided and weird. So yeah, out of the 4 days at Anssi's, we played abut 6 times sessions, totalling in probably near 18 hours of shred. It is amazing how routine it all felt, just in comparison to last year, where everytime I set my foot inside the shed door I felt like I had been handed a baby turtle. A few of the things I was having trouble doing last year, fortunately I had an easy time with this year.
One of the humiliating drills I couldn't seal last year was blur->toe whirl->blizzard->toe near whirl*rpt, just because toe near whirl is just such a dirty whore. The dirtiest, of ALL tricks. Like, take, splurging the ducking turn 180 degrees and pretend to do a mixer toe stall, and that trick is infinitely cleaner than a toe near whirl. Like, WHO DOES THAT? It is the WORST trick in the toe near variety. Like, toe near whip, is sexy, or say, toe near symple twist. Just as easy, WAY cooler, and not covered in filth. Just as demonstration to how much I hated that drill, I just did the entire thing with an open set on the whirls, and I believe first try I just missed the last contact, meanwhile the normal drill took me 12 tries in front of Anssi. On the subject of comparison to last year, Anssi was also different this year. Anssi seems to have matured into his trick selection, and is mastering concepts and, becoming a bit more of a Juho in that regard. Last year I remember Anssi trying things like triaging switch, qua-rage, and other insane things that were just absurd, but this year was more about barflies, twist->swirls, and just understanding the bag...I guess. It was a bit weird, to see this, because I had sensed it was happening as of worlds. Still, this means really awesome, controlled, precise strings in the future, and I look forward to that.
I compare this, to say Toni. Toni knows what he does, does it, does it well, and with perhaps a smirk on his chin. Toni can walk up to a circle comp, do his 5 beastly, walk out and grab a coffee under a willow tree watching birds fly by. I'm sure at one point, Toni was 2008-9 Anssi, who was still figuring shit out. But who doesn't mind Toni wrecking all of finland in Circle Comp?
Anywho, I was also under a weird stress. There are some moves that only Anssi pushes you to do. For example, if I'm playing with Jorden, I wont do a single far whirl in an entire session, and a month goes by without a ps whirl. If say I'm playing at Stanford, I'll refrain from doing barflies b2b, or wont feel the need to step out of that blurriest. For some reason, with Anssi, I feel as if it is like, god looking over your shoulder. For example, if you're 7 years old, and about to defile the old-next-door neighbors mail-box, and you don't believe in god, you wont have something on your conscience and will have a thrill in pissing all over the handle. Versus, if you are believing that god is looking at your every action, you'll bake the man a cookie for your mind-sin, and talk to him about his war days. Well, with Anssi, I feel my little guilty-conscience being throbbed at, and I do do far whirls, and I re-learn ps whirls, and if I'm feeling like I could just osis out of a spinning whirl, instead I go for the furious, because Anssi is just fucking hardcore. Or, if you are catching your guilty conscience feeling like you've done a bit too much on one side, you start the next string with a large combo on your flip, just to make sure you're allowed into Anssi-Shred-Shed Heaven, versus cellar-no kebab-hell. The point of all this, is that I end up playing way differently with Anssi, and it is always weird. It is like going to the dentist, and realizing that you haven't been flossing, so the month before and after you floss the shit out of those gums, sparkle and shine, and then can sort of regress later... You know the dentist is right, and you thought that the teeth-cleaning lady was really cute, so you go back willingly, but it is just a weird cycle.
Mint Floss = PS whirl.
That yellow shit underneath a 30 year old pillow cover on the pillow = toe near whirl. There is no reason for that trick. Fuck,.
We met some of Anssi's friends at Pronto Kebab, a joint he goes to on his lunch hours at school. These guys were all the same faces from the bar last year, in Turku, and it was neat to see that they still existed. It was a quick eat-and-depart, and even Anssi hadn't seen all of them in a while, so there wasn't much English or jokes I understood to remark on. However, afterward Anssi and I went shopping in town for some supplies to add to my Sauna. It just so happened that Antti, the man who had hit witchdoctor, had some school and we had some time to kill. It also just so happened, that we ended up at an English style Pub, drinking English cider. This was my first experience with Cider, and oddly it seemed more like champagne to me than apple cider that kids drink for Breakfast. I was secretly hoping for that. We half-attended our eyes to an English Football game on the TV, but I more used the opportunity to talk to Anssi about footbag, how to get good, form advice, etc. He mentioned some interesting philosophy from Felix, which he didn't follow, but it was cool to hear that Felix would do one sided combos, on huge repeats, just working on style, form, and presumably sex appeal. When this was finished, we went to the apartment of the Medical-Student friend, Antti+girlfriend/Fiancee I forget, Medical-Student's room mate, Mr. Charlie Chapman movie English speaker from last year, and I think that was it. We watched some Downhill skiing jumping, of which Canada didn't have a single competitor in finals, drank some beer, and had some cake. Overall this was a nice feeling, if not just to sit back, relax because school was over for the semester, and I was in Finlandland. Most of this was also Finnish, but randomly I'd interject with some comical observation, and then the night was suddenly over. Anssi and I walked across town, to a few more stores looking for Sauna supplies, and then spontaneously wanted Kebab. This is another thing I enjoy with Anssi, that no other footbagger seems to understand. Like, when you want Kebab, just go fucking eat Kebab. Don't ask the Queen what to do, don't think about tying your shoe laces, don't hmm and haa, just go fucking eat Kebab. So, within a minute, kebab was in front of us, and we discussed more footbag, NYJ, etc.
Turku is quite possibly the neatest town there is for that matter. You out of Anssi's place, and it seems like little rural Finland, not much hustle and bussle, no graffiti / pedestrians or homeless people, just a nice quaint place. Then, walk 5 minutes, and you've got Kebab, hospitals, really gorgeous wives-to-be walking in front of you, and a sporthall + 2 universities. I truly don't understand finland. They have 5,338,395 people [ - 2009
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators ] ...And ALL of the women are SO friggen marry-able. I think I would honestly have 10 kids within a year, if I was a finn. How in the world they just go about their lives is unbelievable. I actually paid attention at my university the last couple of days, and there were 2 people out of the thousands I viewed, that I would consider going up and maybe talking to, or perhaps throwing my coat down ontop of a hazardous puddle. TWO. It is as if Montreal just sucked out all of canadian potential and is now laughing at the rest of this forsaken country.
Waking up again, Anssi and I didn't have a morning session because we were going to film at the sporthall. Tossing my stomach full of Rye Bread and fruit, loading my Tom Mosher bag with anything I could need, we were off. The idea for the session was to play genuine only, and seeing as the video from the session does not have a single bop, I guess it was mission accomplished. It felt surreal to go there again, just as it did the first time I re-entered the shed {which had been cleaned out, btw}. Just remembering everything I hit last year, (Killing myself for spinning whirl*3, killing myself to hit just a whirr, and not really having single leg double dexes under control), and smirking about how far I had actually come. Most of my career I look at my former self, and feel bad about progression, but this time it felt nice to not suck as hard anymore. We went to the "tube" of the place, where Anssi usually films himself, and did the patented Sundberg warmup. 45 minutes of every basic concept, marathon style, to a string of ps whirls and nemesii. Quickly I started feeling less awesome about myself, when I realized how hard I sucked at Genuine. The last 4 months of no-strings really killed that, but at least I didn't just do open switches. Either way, this was the first session where I *really* tried for some beasts, and sadly footed one. Anssi of course crushed dreams with montage->spinning ducking far torque, a decent 7-7 combo. He didn't care about it, and didn't seem to understand why I thought it was great. I don't know, sure adds are schmadds and all, when it comes to far illusion vs far mirage, but like, a 7 is still friggen hard no matter what you do. Either way, there is video in Anssi's post above of this session. After this, we went for Kebab which is the restaurant you see in the video. We got the Mega-Kebab, which is fucking, just, wow. That is why I was smiling in that clip, because I saw the biggest plate in my entire life. Anssi took video of the experience, but sadly it wasn't in the video above. I'd love a still frame or three of how massive that thing was. You know when you see, say, a net-book laptop, versus a big screen TV? This is the difference in Kebab size. It makes Canada's land mass look weak. Upon this conversation, we decided to head out to Jyvaskyla a little bit early, e.g. that night, because we had had virtually every good kebab place in Turku already, and we might as well head for NYJ.
Olli, Anssi's brother, took us to the train station, where I was DESPERATELY hoping to see the girl in the white jeans again. I vowed to myself that I'd drop my bags, throw her over my shoulder and just get Juho to marry us that night, if she was in that building again. I looked near the postcards, and sadly, no white jeans. I was genuinely disappointed, like, SO much buildup. That girl in those white jeans, just, ugh. Haunting. I'll never love again.
We get on the train to Tampere, and I realize I might love again. The littlest Kiira Korpi, apparently lives in Tampere, When someone is curious as to what I mean about Finland owning godlike creatures, I may re-direct you to pictures of say, Anssi, or Kiira.
So yeah, on the ride there, I assumed that there was a 1 / 10200300 chance she'd get on the train, and I vowed again to get Juho as a descendent of Christ to 'wed' us. At this point, Anssi was really getting sick of my shit, so I stopped talking about the ordeal all together. We took out a pen, to start scribing down a little bit of ideas for a small footbag project, which would be filmed this weekend. At this point, a little finnish girl passenger asked the train conductor "Excuse me, is everyone here a Teddy-Bear"?, to which the train lady said "Yes, yes they are". Anssi was laughing at it, so I got the translation. At our train transfer place, where Anssi chilled his beer in some snow, it started to feel a bit like NYJ. A slight bit of alcohol in Anssi's system, and just excitement in my loins, and more light hearted banter and jokes began. I told some Canadian perspective jokes, which proved to not make much sense to a Finn, and he told me some hilarious, but, aweful, aweful jokes about Sparkling Baboons, and before you knew it we landed at the Train Station. This year we had to walk to the Apartment, which seemed awesome because we could walk around the city of Jyvaskyla, giving me good memories from the year before. Anssi, luggage+beer in hand, slipped in the middle of the road, which was hilarious because his luggage was all over the ground, but he managed to not spill a single drop of beer. Priorities straight. At this point we were just reciting the Old Spice commercials,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE
Where, it would go like this.
"Heello Ladies, look at your man, back at me, now back at your man, now back to me, sadly, he isn't me. But if he stopped shredding after eating low-fat and switched to kebab he could shred like me --->" Where Anssi would be the spokes-person.
We walked by Ali-Baba of Jyvaskyla, and then saw Tuukka in the distance beside the Grille-21, the grill just outside the apartment. Luggage in hand, snow in the air, but I knew those were the puppy-dog eyes of the LIONKAINEN just waiting for food. Introductions were made, Tuukka began to order my meal in English, then switched to finnish, and eventually Turkey+fries+random substance was ordered.
It was officially NYJ 2010-11.
Jay Boychuk
I'm starting to wonder, if maybe the reason I developed a flip clipper, was because of injury or something. I remember being examined by a chiropractor a while back, and he noted that my muscles in the lower back were oddly flipsided. He noted that one side was heavily compensating for the other, as he suspected that I never fully healed from the last injury (remembering I raped both QLs, one a bit after another). And I'm trying and trying to figure out what caused my random one sided-ness, and that just clicked. I did an entire session on ripwalks today, and I was noticing on one side my back sort of caved in differently than the other side, and it just felt weak. That is also the same side that last took a shit.
It'd be neat if someone like Andrew Grant or Aaron Orton who actually has knowledge could import some to me.
But anyway, I am considering not making worlds this year. I want to go, it is Finland, blah blah, but like, I don't feel like I deserve it. My game just needs such an overhaul, I'm not *any* better than last year, and like, last year I was doing 50 ripwalks b2b in random sessions. I remember 2 years ago, at Rochester, I did 10 ripwalks b2b in competition for "ten tricks in a row".. Today, I said "I better be able to do 10 in a row within three tries" and holy fuck, I didn't. I actually wanted to kill everything. My form is fucking terrible, I feel weak, and I refuse to take a fucking break for months in a row because my disgraceful back refuses to cooperate. I need to conquer this shit, and then I can get onto a path of progression again. So, until further notice I'm going to just do god damned ripwalks until I get 50 again. I swear to god, I shouldn't have to catch up with myself a year ago. This is pathetic. I just absolutely suck.
Sorry modified. I just needed to see that in writing to see if I am a lunatic or something.
It'd be neat if someone like Andrew Grant or Aaron Orton who actually has knowledge could import some to me.
But anyway, I am considering not making worlds this year. I want to go, it is Finland, blah blah, but like, I don't feel like I deserve it. My game just needs such an overhaul, I'm not *any* better than last year, and like, last year I was doing 50 ripwalks b2b in random sessions. I remember 2 years ago, at Rochester, I did 10 ripwalks b2b in competition for "ten tricks in a row".. Today, I said "I better be able to do 10 in a row within three tries" and holy fuck, I didn't. I actually wanted to kill everything. My form is fucking terrible, I feel weak, and I refuse to take a fucking break for months in a row because my disgraceful back refuses to cooperate. I need to conquer this shit, and then I can get onto a path of progression again. So, until further notice I'm going to just do god damned ripwalks until I get 50 again. I swear to god, I shouldn't have to catch up with myself a year ago. This is pathetic. I just absolutely suck.
Sorry modified. I just needed to see that in writing to see if I am a lunatic or something.
Jay Boychuk
-
h0ag3yb3atZ
- Egyptian Footgod
- Posts: 1161
- Joined: 03 Jul 2008 09:05
- Location: Shaolin
Hey man at least you can play. I would wipe out the entire baby seal population if could be healthy and train everyday like you do.
To tell you the truth, I think your latest video proves how much your game dosen't suck. You looked way less like "Im jay and i want to be good at fotbag" and more like a fucking badass g unit wielding samurai.
In crocodile footbag I probably watched every string you did at least twice and then some. You looked like the absolute ace of footbag in the video and then i realized you are definetly one of the best in the world. Your combination of traditional shuffle elements, weird trick and unexpected links really shone through.
Keep it up and fuck the negative self talk son.
To tell you the truth, I think your latest video proves how much your game dosen't suck. You looked way less like "Im jay and i want to be good at fotbag" and more like a fucking badass g unit wielding samurai.
In crocodile footbag I probably watched every string you did at least twice and then some. You looked like the absolute ace of footbag in the video and then i realized you are definetly one of the best in the world. Your combination of traditional shuffle elements, weird trick and unexpected links really shone through.
Keep it up and fuck the negative self talk son.
Kevin Hogan
BSC
BSC
Dear Jay, your last post is totally wrong.
I remember the first time i played with you in december 2008. Your game was nowehre close to what it was last weekend. Honnestly, since badassery, you belong to the category of the tops players in canada. I feel that in the previous year, you improved a lot the hard tricks and the hard links. Also, i feel your game is more creative then before.
Anyway, you are the shit man. Keep it up. Can't wait to shred with you again!
Mat
I remember the first time i played with you in december 2008. Your game was nowehre close to what it was last weekend. Honnestly, since badassery, you belong to the category of the tops players in canada. I feel that in the previous year, you improved a lot the hard tricks and the hard links. Also, i feel your game is more creative then before.
Anyway, you are the shit man. Keep it up. Can't wait to shred with you again!
Mat
Hey modified.
Something interesting just happened.
So, two days ago I began to drink the Asea water that Greg is promoting, as I have a test bottle. He boasted it helped muscle regeneration, and mental clarity to me, so, why the heck not. I figured, a.) it works, or in my opinion more likely, b.) Placebo, but it still works, or c.) I have weird tasting water.
Anyway, first session since last post, and I got 40 ripwalks, and a first try dropless routine, and then two friends stopped over so I quit the session.
*shrugs*. Whatever happened, whether it be grundle power and positive words sent by you guys, or Asea, something worked. I simply haven't started sessions for the last group of months Stephen Barnes dropless and 40 consecutive ripwalks later.
I do thank you three very dearly for your comments. As someone who runs their day by dreaming footbag, it feels great to have your support. Short Story: Today during a lab testing some oil viscosity, I was cranking myself trying to figure out my flip clipper. It wasn't until I was actually 'swirling' until I noticed the rest of the people in the lab were staring at me a little. Go-Go black laver air shred.
Oh Salt Water.
Something interesting just happened.
So, two days ago I began to drink the Asea water that Greg is promoting, as I have a test bottle. He boasted it helped muscle regeneration, and mental clarity to me, so, why the heck not. I figured, a.) it works, or in my opinion more likely, b.) Placebo, but it still works, or c.) I have weird tasting water.
Anyway, first session since last post, and I got 40 ripwalks, and a first try dropless routine, and then two friends stopped over so I quit the session.
*shrugs*. Whatever happened, whether it be grundle power and positive words sent by you guys, or Asea, something worked. I simply haven't started sessions for the last group of months Stephen Barnes dropless and 40 consecutive ripwalks later.
I do thank you three very dearly for your comments. As someone who runs their day by dreaming footbag, it feels great to have your support. Short Story: Today during a lab testing some oil viscosity, I was cranking myself trying to figure out my flip clipper. It wasn't until I was actually 'swirling' until I noticed the rest of the people in the lab were staring at me a little. Go-Go black laver air shred.
Oh Salt Water.
Jay Boychuk
That last story is super funny. I think this might me the first time posting here......so first off I will say that , Jay, I admire your dedication and love for the sport. Apparently this is also known to everyone of this forum which says how cool you probably are in person ( I say probably because we haven't met 
). Anyway, your recent video was killer. I like the long unique strings with cool unexpected links. Your game has recently inspired me.
If you can....please video yourself hitting reverse swirling blender>food repeat ...Super Sick Props on that combo.
Also thought about a couple other that you might be interested in. Pick and choose as you will.
-Montage(or insert other ps whirl trick>reverse swirling blender>food
- ss Flux (not sure what its called)>p torque repeat
- reverse swirling symp whirl>dyno or blender repeat
- spinning ss symp eggbeater>toe set ss symp paradon(blackula I think)
- twirl>spinning p whirl (or scorps) repeat
-alpine blur>paradon repeat
Dude ...hope your life and your shred is fun and rewarding.
I will check this blog from now on
). Anyway, your recent video was killer. I like the long unique strings with cool unexpected links. Your game has recently inspired me. If you can....please video yourself hitting reverse swirling blender>food repeat ...Super Sick Props on that combo.
Also thought about a couple other that you might be interested in. Pick and choose as you will.
-Montage(or insert other ps whirl trick>reverse swirling blender>food
- ss Flux (not sure what its called)>p torque repeat
- reverse swirling symp whirl>dyno or blender repeat
- spinning ss symp eggbeater>toe set ss symp paradon(blackula I think)
- twirl>spinning p whirl (or scorps) repeat
-alpine blur>paradon repeat
Dude ...hope your life and your shred is fun and rewarding.
I will check this blog from now on
SHRED HARD!
Probably only relevant to Canadians, however I embraced my "snick" days, and watched some Are you afraid of the dark today. Wow, how much I've grown. I watched the episodes that still haunted me, and only once was it that I almost got a goose bump sensation. Kind of awesome, realizing that if nothing else over the last decade I've become manly enough to not be afraid of pool monsters on tv, but kind of sad realizing that I'm sure the next time I'm in a pool I'll watch out for that "acid" smell.
Annnyway. My mind has been thanking me recently, because I don't feel like quite as much of a failure anymore. Each of the sessions I had this week when I've been working on basic clipper form, ripwalks, etc, I have been wondering a wee bit of whether or not I'm going to feel like I'm progressing again. I remember so much in my apartment in the two years prior, every session I felt like I was ~leveling up. Not that I did, but I just felt like I was hard at work, and at least knew in my mind it was paying off. However, if you've paid any attention to my constant whining recently, I've been a bitch. Since worlds (badassery, anssi video, etc) I've really let myself go in terms of improvement, and I could really feel it.
Today's session really, really put me back to the apartment days. I went downstairs, put on some internet radio and just went to work. It was as if my session from yesterday never ended, and I was just in the trance I love to be in. This is my FAVOURITE part of footbag, that has been absent for the last few months. I can only now see this in hindsight, from some thinking while stretching today, but I really have felt like every session for the last few months wasn't routine, and it was just...Odd. Between inventing a shit ton of tricks, and drilling stuff I really wasn't ready for, every session was like a battle, 2 steps forward 1 backward, and I didn't even realize it. So yeah, feeling like I just took a few steps in one direction, felt godlike. Any and all troubles just absolutely left out the door, I just walk into my shred room, and it is me and the bag... And a spider that happened to be destroyed by a vagrant infinity. Either way, Tora time for me, fizzied.
Speaking of Tora, I read the Vasek manual twice today. New record?
I just want to grab some cheerios by the box and smile all day long. I'm finally back to where I belong in the shred world. Sadly, Paris is coming soon and it'll fuck everything up, but hey, with this amount of Unicorn Piss and Winnie the poo Vinegar running through my veins, I might just experience what I felt like last spring. Footbag seems awesome, I'm constantly stoked about it, and I'm going to eat the rest of the apple crumble I made this morning. Screw you Drew Carry.
Bob Barker just brushed his teeth with a bottle of Jack.
///---
Hey Mark,
I'm really glad you posted here, and I'm glad that I have brightened one or more of your minutes by playing a bit of footbag. As for the combos you gave me, I'm feeling a lot of good feedback from myself from all the basics I've been training, so I want to milk the hell out of that before I begin trying awesome stuff again. But when the time comes, I'll film them...
reverse swirling blender>food repeat
I'd do this last, since it is clearly the hardest here.
-Montage(or insert other ps whirl trick>reverse swirling blender>food I don't want to kill myself getting it, but I think either that, or stepping ss symp whirl->combo would work. Something cool anyway.
- ss Flux (not sure what its called)>p torque repeat Hehe, that is the best challenge here. I'll have to work for it. And yeah, nickname = flux.
- reverse swirling symp whirl>dyno or blender repeat I'll do both.
- spinning ss symp eggbeater>toe set ss symp paradon(blackula I think) I'll see if I can get this to be a really cool sick 3 some how.
- twirl>spinning p whirl (or scorps) repeat Pretty easy. Sure.
-alpine blur>paradon repeat I'll add something to make it harder, but I like the thought. Maybe dolomite.
P.S.World,
Anssi should rock your socks off. If you think that "The Accelerator" video that came out recently is hot shit, well, hmm. It was. But still, there is way more where that came from. I hope there is Kebab in Paris.
Jay Boychuk
Why hello there, Modified. Look at your bag, now back here, now back at your bag, now back at here. Sadly, I suspect you are not playing and spending time on modified. How about this, I double dog dare you to grab that bag, and do an around the world while reading this post.
I bet you just skipped and began reading this line, without doing the around the world.
The last two sessions I spent nothing but time on doing really standard combos which have always scared me. Those combos, are the ones that make up a shred 30. I've never stepped well, and I've also never really cared for milking the hell out of downs. Either way, to fix that gaping whole in my game I've got a shred 30 planned, that is entirely unique 4 adds. The first day I got it with one bail, a duck instead of ducking down, and the second day I got it perfect. I think that means a score of 240. If so, I don't think that is too shabby, except, I'd expect that on average I'd get 2 drops, and who knows where my legs will be when I hit Paris. Either way, this will be my first "real" attempt at a shred 30.
I also did something neat today. I took 30 minutes, and watched a series of videos, that really "took me back"... Now, I'm still a noob, so, by taking back I'm sure someone like Ken will say "pah! You noob!", but it made me warm and fuzzy inside, so I'll stick to my words. Either way, I watched the following videos,
CPh summer 1.wmv {A mads film of Anssi+Kevin}
1-worlds high {2008 worlds mads video}
CP {chilly philly '05, dave, jorden, kovacs, yax, felix}
dcdrills - {Private Dave video of a bunch of drills, around early '08}
Request Session 2 -{ Jorden's second filmed request session}.
Those are, and were, some of my most favourite videos. I can remember holding my wee little Ipod video, watching those over, and over, and over. However, above all else, Request Session 2 gives me the most insane rush of memories.
Request Session 2, holds such a special place in my heart. At that time in my life, I had just left Germany from my exchange year, and Jorden Moir was the person I wanted to worship most. All year I had dreamed about going back to Canada, and being an hours drive away from him, and finally getting to watch him in Person... Then this video came out. The song just hits such an insane tone for me. Right when the singer says "be the best", and Jorden is pummeling through flurry->atomic double down*~rpt, and after seeing the few minutes prior to it, it just makes me want to...Be the best? So much stuff was hit in that video, that sure, people hit today..But, seeing Jorden do it, and imagining all the passion, the thousands of hours spent alone drilling, and just it all accumulating itself into a few minutes of video. I don't know, it just gives me the feeling that I'm a little child staring at a giant.
http://modified.in/footbag/viewtopic.ph ... &start=140
About six posts down, you can see the post that describes where I was in life at that moment. Clearly, I had the definition of "hard on" for footbag, and I can remember sitting on that girls porch, rather, laying there staring into the blue sky riddled with animal shaped clouds. I remember after she told me some of the news, during that three hours, I had yee old Ipod, and I started watching shred. I pretty much was watching request session II the entire time, and I recall just, asking/telling her to watch some of it, because for some reason I just needed someone to share the feeling with, of how life changing this video was. I can recall her getting bored, and me nudging her into watching the longer double dex run, as I was just flabbergasted, still. She was bored half way through the run, and I said "no no, just watch until the end of this run"... She complied, but it felt like a lifetime. I remember that run going on for hours, and hoping she'd keep watching, and just feeling like I showed her a pot of gold at the end of that string. Sadly, she mind-wandered into the odd emotional twist we were in, and I was sitting there in a half day dream thinking about shred, and thinking about our predicament, and trying to forget about it. I watch that string today, and 12 contacts later... I can still imagine myself seeing it with hours of time passing. I'm going to close my eyes for a minute.
I can remember that memory, just as clearly and randomly as some memories deep rooted within me from childhood, like the first time I drew blood, and asked my mother "Am I going to die?" and my one little arm had what would become a 2 mm diameter scab minutes later, or when I would wake up at 5:30 am and wait at the staircase to ride on my father's shoulders down the stairs, before he went to work on school mornings.
I remember going to worlds with Jorden, and on the 28 hour drive taking a pitstop and him giving me advice on outside kicks, while he held a purple gatorade in hand and how he described the instructional DVD he hoped to create... I remember watching him play in the sport-carpet room in the lon/penske/bevier session, and just seeing the player I always wanted to be. When he was in circle competition versus Penske and Vasek, I can look at myself watching from the sidelines on video, just being completely breathless at what I was watching. Footbag in itself was so huge, so much bigger than I ever thought I could be, and the guy I drove to worlds with was earning second place against Vasek and Penske.
And then you fast forward a little bit. I get an email completely out of the blue, from Jorden saying
Fast forward another month, and I am sleeping for class the next day at 3:00 am, while Jorden is silently clicking and editing away at our video, headphones on, shoulders hunched and completely entranced within the screen in front of him. I remember just thinking and jumping in mental joy at the thought that within multiple hours, the final cut would be done on the video, and I'd wake up to see it in all its glory. Did that, just, happen? Like, I'm still the same little child as was eating my jar of peanuts in the back seat of Mr. Destroyer's white automobile plowing through the first state of 100* Fahrenheit weather..
And now I sit here, thinking about playing in Paris, while Jorden is sleeping in Muenster Germany, after a dinner show from a full crowd of people who have never heard of, and perhaps will never see him again. I'm just one wee little footbagger who happened to have parents who spawned me a few hours from where he lived, who ~3.5 years later watches a video for the 1000th time, after being converted two times to play on whatever medium I was using... This summer I may end up working in the united states in some footbag city, and I could be missing out on biweekly sessions with the destroyer. What is worth it? Potentially in my life, there could be not more than 1 person who I see as great as Jorden who I could actually interact with, and like, how do you take advantage of that? That 90's tune, "You don't know what you've got until it's gone".. Like, is the point of life to move on, so you do appreciate these things? Or can you think from a viewpoint of the future, and realize you should milk the shit out of those chances when you have them?
And then there is David Clavens, Johnny Suderman, and Anssi Sundberg. Where the hell do they fit in? How is it that on a daily basis I see 25,000 potential people at my university, who have never been a part of something so awesome as I am right now. Footbag is fucking huge, it is the biggest thing my life has ever witnessed. I think back to highschool friends, middle school girl prospects, or my German host family, and none of those things come close to affecting my life in a way, as a small collection of footbag videos, and millions of memories. So, dear footbaggers, go fucking do that around the world. You are a vital, pumping part of the best part of my life, and invariably many others. I don't know how people don't see it. Like, it is right in front of you. On a given flight to Steve Goldberg's manor, it is literally the high point of my life. I could potentially be on a plane, from Canada, to San Carlos California, doing what billions of people who watch american television wish they were doing. If I'm traveling to Anssi's shed, in the middle of the day with virtually no sunlight, footbag has allowed me to travel in ways that seemingly EVERY <30 year old wishes they had. For the love of moses, this is the coolest sport in the world. Just play footbag, go to tournaments, make videos and live it.
Great. I have a control systems Engineering midterm tomorrow night.
I bet you just skipped and began reading this line, without doing the around the world.
The last two sessions I spent nothing but time on doing really standard combos which have always scared me. Those combos, are the ones that make up a shred 30. I've never stepped well, and I've also never really cared for milking the hell out of downs. Either way, to fix that gaping whole in my game I've got a shred 30 planned, that is entirely unique 4 adds. The first day I got it with one bail, a duck instead of ducking down, and the second day I got it perfect. I think that means a score of 240. If so, I don't think that is too shabby, except, I'd expect that on average I'd get 2 drops, and who knows where my legs will be when I hit Paris. Either way, this will be my first "real" attempt at a shred 30.
I also did something neat today. I took 30 minutes, and watched a series of videos, that really "took me back"... Now, I'm still a noob, so, by taking back I'm sure someone like Ken will say "pah! You noob!", but it made me warm and fuzzy inside, so I'll stick to my words. Either way, I watched the following videos,
CPh summer 1.wmv {A mads film of Anssi+Kevin}
1-worlds high {2008 worlds mads video}
CP {chilly philly '05, dave, jorden, kovacs, yax, felix}
dcdrills - {Private Dave video of a bunch of drills, around early '08}
Request Session 2 -{ Jorden's second filmed request session}.
Those are, and were, some of my most favourite videos. I can remember holding my wee little Ipod video, watching those over, and over, and over. However, above all else, Request Session 2 gives me the most insane rush of memories.
Request Session 2, holds such a special place in my heart. At that time in my life, I had just left Germany from my exchange year, and Jorden Moir was the person I wanted to worship most. All year I had dreamed about going back to Canada, and being an hours drive away from him, and finally getting to watch him in Person... Then this video came out. The song just hits such an insane tone for me. Right when the singer says "be the best", and Jorden is pummeling through flurry->atomic double down*~rpt, and after seeing the few minutes prior to it, it just makes me want to...Be the best? So much stuff was hit in that video, that sure, people hit today..But, seeing Jorden do it, and imagining all the passion, the thousands of hours spent alone drilling, and just it all accumulating itself into a few minutes of video. I don't know, it just gives me the feeling that I'm a little child staring at a giant.
http://modified.in/footbag/viewtopic.ph ... &start=140
About six posts down, you can see the post that describes where I was in life at that moment. Clearly, I had the definition of "hard on" for footbag, and I can remember sitting on that girls porch, rather, laying there staring into the blue sky riddled with animal shaped clouds. I remember after she told me some of the news, during that three hours, I had yee old Ipod, and I started watching shred. I pretty much was watching request session II the entire time, and I recall just, asking/telling her to watch some of it, because for some reason I just needed someone to share the feeling with, of how life changing this video was. I can recall her getting bored, and me nudging her into watching the longer double dex run, as I was just flabbergasted, still. She was bored half way through the run, and I said "no no, just watch until the end of this run"... She complied, but it felt like a lifetime. I remember that run going on for hours, and hoping she'd keep watching, and just feeling like I showed her a pot of gold at the end of that string. Sadly, she mind-wandered into the odd emotional twist we were in, and I was sitting there in a half day dream thinking about shred, and thinking about our predicament, and trying to forget about it. I watch that string today, and 12 contacts later... I can still imagine myself seeing it with hours of time passing. I'm going to close my eyes for a minute.
I can remember that memory, just as clearly and randomly as some memories deep rooted within me from childhood, like the first time I drew blood, and asked my mother "Am I going to die?" and my one little arm had what would become a 2 mm diameter scab minutes later, or when I would wake up at 5:30 am and wait at the staircase to ride on my father's shoulders down the stairs, before he went to work on school mornings.
I remember going to worlds with Jorden, and on the 28 hour drive taking a pitstop and him giving me advice on outside kicks, while he held a purple gatorade in hand and how he described the instructional DVD he hoped to create... I remember watching him play in the sport-carpet room in the lon/penske/bevier session, and just seeing the player I always wanted to be. When he was in circle competition versus Penske and Vasek, I can look at myself watching from the sidelines on video, just being completely breathless at what I was watching. Footbag in itself was so huge, so much bigger than I ever thought I could be, and the guy I drove to worlds with was earning second place against Vasek and Penske.
And then you fast forward a little bit. I get an email completely out of the blue, from Jorden saying
At this point, I had played with Jorden on too many occasions to count, seen him in multiple tournaments, but still never understood the beast within. How did Jorden get so damned good? How was it that he was one of the most creative players in the world, basically untouched by anyone in this era? Now I had a chance to film him and I, side by side. Of course by this time, I was not as starstruck by seeing Jorden play, but everytime I drive up and park outside his house, and knock on that door waiting for little baby Mecca to bark and waddle... I get that first memory of watching him kick with white shorts and camo gunits, walls cut off, right outside his driveway on the summeriest of summer days. The backs of his shoes, right around his ultra-short ankle socks had been worn to the point of beyond the foam of the gunit, and I recall thinking of how much you'd have to play with a shoe until it got to that point. He must have played more in those shoes than I had in the entire year of playing I had done beforehand.Hey hey,
Just thought of a cool idea for a video.
It'd be called something like "101 tricks you've never seen" and would include all our recent innovations and experiments.
Fast forward another month, and I am sleeping for class the next day at 3:00 am, while Jorden is silently clicking and editing away at our video, headphones on, shoulders hunched and completely entranced within the screen in front of him. I remember just thinking and jumping in mental joy at the thought that within multiple hours, the final cut would be done on the video, and I'd wake up to see it in all its glory. Did that, just, happen? Like, I'm still the same little child as was eating my jar of peanuts in the back seat of Mr. Destroyer's white automobile plowing through the first state of 100* Fahrenheit weather..
And now I sit here, thinking about playing in Paris, while Jorden is sleeping in Muenster Germany, after a dinner show from a full crowd of people who have never heard of, and perhaps will never see him again. I'm just one wee little footbagger who happened to have parents who spawned me a few hours from where he lived, who ~3.5 years later watches a video for the 1000th time, after being converted two times to play on whatever medium I was using... This summer I may end up working in the united states in some footbag city, and I could be missing out on biweekly sessions with the destroyer. What is worth it? Potentially in my life, there could be not more than 1 person who I see as great as Jorden who I could actually interact with, and like, how do you take advantage of that? That 90's tune, "You don't know what you've got until it's gone".. Like, is the point of life to move on, so you do appreciate these things? Or can you think from a viewpoint of the future, and realize you should milk the shit out of those chances when you have them?
And then there is David Clavens, Johnny Suderman, and Anssi Sundberg. Where the hell do they fit in? How is it that on a daily basis I see 25,000 potential people at my university, who have never been a part of something so awesome as I am right now. Footbag is fucking huge, it is the biggest thing my life has ever witnessed. I think back to highschool friends, middle school girl prospects, or my German host family, and none of those things come close to affecting my life in a way, as a small collection of footbag videos, and millions of memories. So, dear footbaggers, go fucking do that around the world. You are a vital, pumping part of the best part of my life, and invariably many others. I don't know how people don't see it. Like, it is right in front of you. On a given flight to Steve Goldberg's manor, it is literally the high point of my life. I could potentially be on a plane, from Canada, to San Carlos California, doing what billions of people who watch american television wish they were doing. If I'm traveling to Anssi's shed, in the middle of the day with virtually no sunlight, footbag has allowed me to travel in ways that seemingly EVERY <30 year old wishes they had. For the love of moses, this is the coolest sport in the world. Just play footbag, go to tournaments, make videos and live it.
Great. I have a control systems Engineering midterm tomorrow night.
Jay Boychuk
Thanks for the inspiring post. This winter I have been playing at my company's rec center and its always a little awkward potentially playing in front of co-workers. It seems like everyone goes there. But yeah, footbag is fuckin cool so who cares? Why should I go hide in a racquet-ball court, when I can play right next to the track, where everyone can see? In a meeting a couple days ago, a random person actually called me out on it, which was...awesome! She made it a point to mention the fact shes seen me playing almost immediately upon entering the room, like she found my dark secret. She assured me I was very good, which I am not, but its cool hearing that from outsiders. I never talk about hack with co-workers, but I make no attempt to hide when I am playing.
Playing in front of soccer players is awesome too. Its like they're the yin and we're the yang, only they never knew they had a yang. surprise!
Playing in front of soccer players is awesome too. Its like they're the yin and we're the yang, only they never knew they had a yang. surprise!
I think I just felt what it is like to walk on Sunshine.
Nemesis->Nemesis. 
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gC8wZqnmdo[/youtube]
That is all,
Nemesis->Nemesis. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gC8wZqnmdo[/youtube]
That is all,
Jay Boychuk
