A few months back I got a new laptop and adobe premiere, and for the last couple months I've been learning the software by making short vids for my blog. The plan all along was to eventually put together a well-edited video, where the shred goes with the music. I finally felt confident enough with the software to do so, and here's the result.
It's short but sweet; I wanted something short enough to show to non-footbaggers, but have enough hard/interesting things to entertain shredders too. I hope I struck that balance.
The song is "Upular," by the Australian mashup artist "Pogo." The song is comprised of samples from the Pixar movie "UP!"
Please watch in HD. Comments on shred and/or editing are welcome. Thanks for watching.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eypj0VNAKNA[/youtube]
Fanzine
-
dolercoaster
- Shredaholic
- Posts: 163
- Joined: 06 Nov 2003 13:10
Back from Sacramento. Though the forecast was ominous, it ended up being perfect spring weather for 3 of the 4 days I was out there. I got in two outdoor shreds, but didn't play that well. Footbagwise, the best part of my trip was that I finally put together my Upular video. I am very happy with how it turned out; it's definitely my best editing job to date, and the shred level is some of my highest too. It feels good to be able to say things like that even though I'm in my 14th year in the sport and am on the wrong side of 30 now. Thank you to everybody who watched, and for all the nice comments. It means a lot to me.
TJ: Thanks for the offer. It'd be great to check out Osaka again. Sorry you can't make Worlds this year.
I've put some time into mobius x2, and this looks like it'll be a harder challenge. The main thing i need to do, is work on my flip mobius. Once that gets more consistent and efficient, the link shouldn't be that bad. As of now though, I have trouble just zooming out of it. I feel like I'm seeing this combo all over the place (Kuba's new video, and Brian Bear's insane challenge one), which I'm taking as a sign from the footbag gods to keep working on this challenge.
If I decide to not go to Worlds this year, I'm not sure what my short term goals will be. I'm still going to work on my 2 mobius goals, but there's a decent chance I'll get them after not too long, so they don't feel long term. I'd like to make another well-edited video, since i have a ton of footage I didn't use in Upular, but I feel no urgency on that front just yet. Vegas jam is in a few weeks, which sounds fun and I'm excited for, but I don't even know if there'll be routines or events. And if I'm not going to Worlds, I feel less urgency to get a solid routine put together, or to even do well in comps.
For now I'm going to keep my eye on airfares to Helsinki and Japan this summer, keep working on my mobius challenges, and not worry too much about what happens.
I put together a vid of my Sacramento shreds, but for some reason Adobe is really freaking out with it. While this is annoying, I feel really lucky that my Upular vid went off without a hitch, which makes me somehow feel a bit better.
For some reason, I don't think I'd looked at airfares at all when I wrote this. Since I did, I've been checking fares pretty regularly...and they are way worse than I thought they'd be. The best I saw for Helsinki was $1300, and for Tokyo I think it was $1600. Damn. And in both cases, in addition to the expensive airfare, it'd cost me in vacation days for the travel time, and both destinations are also expensive once you get there. So now it's less likely that I'll go to either this summer. While I can afford the trips and both would probably be fun, I'm just not sure it'd be worth the price.C-Fan wrote:As for summer plans, I'm still on the fence about Worlds. .... If I decide to not go to Worlds, I'm toying with the idea of going to Japan for a couple weeks, .
TJ: Thanks for the offer. It'd be great to check out Osaka again. Sorry you can't make Worlds this year.
This has been an interesting experience. The very first session I had after posting this, I hit spinning mobius (which I put in my Upular vid). On one hand, I was stoked to have hit one of my remaining dream moves, particularly one that I've wanted for so long. On the other hand, it was kind of anticlimactic and made me feel embarrassed. If all it took was a one dedicated session to hit this...why did it take me so many years to set aside the time to cross if off my list? I was right though in my initial assessment: I knew I could fluke it. Since hitting it, I've tried to get it again, and have managed to foot it a few times, but no seal. My goal is to hit it at least one more time, and get it in better lighting and sealed with a trick instead of a handcatch.C-Fan wrote:Looking over my challenge thread and my blog entries from a few years back, two goals did stand out. One was mobius x2, and the other was spinning mobius. So I 'm going to make hitting them a short term goal.
I've put some time into mobius x2, and this looks like it'll be a harder challenge. The main thing i need to do, is work on my flip mobius. Once that gets more consistent and efficient, the link shouldn't be that bad. As of now though, I have trouble just zooming out of it. I feel like I'm seeing this combo all over the place (Kuba's new video, and Brian Bear's insane challenge one), which I'm taking as a sign from the footbag gods to keep working on this challenge.
If I decide to not go to Worlds this year, I'm not sure what my short term goals will be. I'm still going to work on my 2 mobius goals, but there's a decent chance I'll get them after not too long, so they don't feel long term. I'd like to make another well-edited video, since i have a ton of footage I didn't use in Upular, but I feel no urgency on that front just yet. Vegas jam is in a few weeks, which sounds fun and I'm excited for, but I don't even know if there'll be routines or events. And if I'm not going to Worlds, I feel less urgency to get a solid routine put together, or to even do well in comps.
For now I'm going to keep my eye on airfares to Helsinki and Japan this summer, keep working on my mobius challenges, and not worry too much about what happens.
I put together a vid of my Sacramento shreds, but for some reason Adobe is really freaking out with it. While this is annoying, I feel really lucky that my Upular vid went off without a hitch, which makes me somehow feel a bit better.
We had a couple wintry days of cold here in Denver, but now the forecast is turning decidedly spring-y. Tomorrow is supposed to get up to 63 and be sunny, and I'm seriously considering using a couple hours of vacation time to leave work early and take advantage. I want to get spinning mobius on tape again, this time in outdoor light. I also have my eye on a new 7 add, which I was surprisingly close to yesterday.
In the meantime, I continue to work on mobius x2. The problem is clear to me: I need to make my flip mobius more consistent and controlled. No mystery there. Lately I've been warming up my mobius practice by doing spinning osis-mobius and torque-mobius, and I get those pretty easily. Spinning out of mobius is the problem; the best I've managed is mobius-gyro mirage a few times. I need to get flip mobius to the point that when I hit it, I'm not surprised at all. I need to get to the point where I expect the bag to be there on my foot, so I can focus on just spinning out of it well. I see a light at the end of the tunnel, but I have a lot of work to put in still.
My 2.5 year old niece is going to get baptized in Spain in July. At first I thought I might be able to combine her baptism with a trip to Worlds, provided she was baptized late in July. Now, it looks like I have more flexibility for attending the baptism, since Euros have been announced as being July 8-10 in Madrid! So if my niece gets baptized in early July, I might make it to Euros (but not Worlds), and if the baptism is in late July, I might make Worlds. The worst would be if she got baptized somewhere in the middle, as I don't have enough vacation days to attend the baptism and do a footbag tourney in that time frame. The other variable is airfare. Until the baptism date is set, I can't buy tickets, and airfare seems to be going up. So if a date isn't set soon, airfare might hit my threshhold price, in which case I wouldn't go to Europe at all.
Vegas jam is 2.5 weeks away, and I'm not sure if routines are happening. I don't want to prepare anything if routines aren't happening, but I'm also not sure that I'd be able to prepare anything good in under 3 weeks. My best bet is probably to pick a song I like and plan a basic flow to the routine, and then improvise off that blueprint if routines happen. That's what I did at Funtastiks, and it worked out well in Finals. Then again, a lot of my worst routines were also the product of following this strategy.
Despite many valiant attempts, I couldn't get my Sacramento shred vid to export properly. Not wanting to waste the footage, but also not wanting to waste any more time and energy, I just threw the clips together without titles or transitions. Bet you can't guess what trick I was trying to re-hit in these shreds.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sojnN2-ksXo[/youtube]
In the meantime, I continue to work on mobius x2. The problem is clear to me: I need to make my flip mobius more consistent and controlled. No mystery there. Lately I've been warming up my mobius practice by doing spinning osis-mobius and torque-mobius, and I get those pretty easily. Spinning out of mobius is the problem; the best I've managed is mobius-gyro mirage a few times. I need to get flip mobius to the point that when I hit it, I'm not surprised at all. I need to get to the point where I expect the bag to be there on my foot, so I can focus on just spinning out of it well. I see a light at the end of the tunnel, but I have a lot of work to put in still.
My 2.5 year old niece is going to get baptized in Spain in July. At first I thought I might be able to combine her baptism with a trip to Worlds, provided she was baptized late in July. Now, it looks like I have more flexibility for attending the baptism, since Euros have been announced as being July 8-10 in Madrid! So if my niece gets baptized in early July, I might make it to Euros (but not Worlds), and if the baptism is in late July, I might make Worlds. The worst would be if she got baptized somewhere in the middle, as I don't have enough vacation days to attend the baptism and do a footbag tourney in that time frame. The other variable is airfare. Until the baptism date is set, I can't buy tickets, and airfare seems to be going up. So if a date isn't set soon, airfare might hit my threshhold price, in which case I wouldn't go to Europe at all.
Vegas jam is 2.5 weeks away, and I'm not sure if routines are happening. I don't want to prepare anything if routines aren't happening, but I'm also not sure that I'd be able to prepare anything good in under 3 weeks. My best bet is probably to pick a song I like and plan a basic flow to the routine, and then improvise off that blueprint if routines happen. That's what I did at Funtastiks, and it worked out well in Finals. Then again, a lot of my worst routines were also the product of following this strategy.
Despite many valiant attempts, I couldn't get my Sacramento shred vid to export properly. Not wanting to waste the footage, but also not wanting to waste any more time and energy, I just threw the clips together without titles or transitions. Bet you can't guess what trick I was trying to re-hit in these shreds.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sojnN2-ksXo[/youtube]
Last edited by C-Fan on 15 Aug 2012 10:01, edited 1 time in total.
Japan
On Friday a 9.0 Earthquake hit Japan. The epicenter was in the Northeast: the part of Japan where I lived for 3 years. The biggest city near the epicenter was Sendai, which was where I used to go clubbing on weekends. Thankfully, I've heard back from all my friends and family, and everybody is OK. My aunt/uncle/cousin all live near Tokyo, as do most of my footbag friends, so they weren't affected too badly. My friends in Iwate and Sendai took a lot longer to respond, since communications were so devastated up there. I feel really lucky that everybody I care about is OK.
While I'm sure footbag tournaments aren't at the top of their list of priorities, I'm thinking I'd like to do a fundraiser video or event to raise money for the Japanese Footbag Association. I feel like sports can be a very powerful way to help people move past tragedy and restore a sense of normalcy. I haven't talked to any JFA members about this yet, and maybe nobody in Japan is up to hosting a tournament while they're busy getting their lives back together, but I could see these funds being helpful to them at some point.
Worlds vs. Euros
My family set a date for my niece's baptism: July 11th. If the baptism were at the end of July, it'd be a no-brainer to go to Worlds and the baptism. Since the baptism is earlier, I now need to make a decision. I can either:
1. Go to Euros and the baptism, and see my entire family.
2. Go to Worlds.
When I spoke with my mom, I expected her to lobby for option #1, since family is important. Instead, she ended up arguing for option #2, since my competitive years are numbered, and skipping Worlds would mean having no shot at Finals this year. I was ready to go with option #1, but talking to my Mom injected some doubt. It's a tough decision. If I skip Worlds this year, but make routine finals some year in the future, then I won't regret skipping Helsinki. On the other hand, if I go to Worlds this year and don't make Finals, I'll feel like I spent a lot of money and vacation to go to a city I've already been, and regret missing my niece's baptism and the family time I'd have had in Spain.
I need to make a decision either way pretty soon.
Camera
Over the last couple of months, my camera battery has become less reliable. Regardless of how long I charged it, sometimes the battery would crap out in under 30 minutes. In the last couple weeks the problem became more frequent and pronounced, to the point where I'd charge it for 4-6 hours at work, and then it'd fail within 20 minutes of filming. Beyond making it hard to film highlights, it also messed with my mental game during sessions, since I'd be pissed after it's early exits. In a stroke of good fortune, it's under warranty for 6 more weeks, and Flip is honoring it. I packed it up and sent it back on Monday, so with a little bit of luck I'll get a refurbished camera in time for Vegas Jam. Even if it doesn't arrive in time, it's not like I could have depended on the old one to give me much footage in Vegas, and I'd have to replace it sooner than later anyway. In the meantime, I'm enjoying having shred sessions without the pressure of having to hit anything good, since I'm not filming for a video.
Mobius x2
Working on my flip mobius feels like it's paying off. Beyond the obvious benefits of improving my flip mobius and making mobius x2 easier, I feel like it's making my flip spins better overall. Flip mobius itself is getting a lot more consistent, though I still probably only get it like one out of 6 times. When I do get it though, it's more controlled, and I can play out of it more solidly. Meanwhile, spinning mobius practice hasn't really helped me all that much, and my successes still feel flukey. One thing at a time.
Spring Recruitment
The weather is starting to get consistently nice, which makes me feel like I should start up my efforts at building a footbag community here. Maybe make some trips to play with the guys in Boulder, but also see if I can't get some interest here in Denver. There's one kid at my gym who is in his first year of community college who has expressed interest in footbag, so maybe I can cultivate that. Figured that writing down this goal in my blog may help motivate me to make it actually happen.
Vegas Jam
Getting pretty excited for this, especially the possibility of doing non-footbag fun things with everybody, such as poker and basketball. I get on a plane in 8 days, and there still hasn't been any announcement about what events are being run. That's a bit disappointing, since it killed any motivation I might have had to prepare a routine. I think my best bet is to spend the next week just playing a lot, getting my stamina back up, and working on variety. Trying to get highlights on video can be fun, but since you're pushing yourself to go big, your stamina can suffer. I also found myself sometimes spending an entire session just going for one trick or combo, which stunts your creativity and variety. Now that I'm camera-free, I'm going to work at getting longer, varied strings. That should put me in better shape for Vegas, regardless of events.
No new video link, for aforementioned reasons. That said, here's an old vid I found in my blog. Compare the video quality to the vid in my signature. Definitely excited to get a working HD camera back in the next couple weeks.
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=cwMiKRiL38s&fmt=18[/youtube]
On Friday a 9.0 Earthquake hit Japan. The epicenter was in the Northeast: the part of Japan where I lived for 3 years. The biggest city near the epicenter was Sendai, which was where I used to go clubbing on weekends. Thankfully, I've heard back from all my friends and family, and everybody is OK. My aunt/uncle/cousin all live near Tokyo, as do most of my footbag friends, so they weren't affected too badly. My friends in Iwate and Sendai took a lot longer to respond, since communications were so devastated up there. I feel really lucky that everybody I care about is OK.
While I'm sure footbag tournaments aren't at the top of their list of priorities, I'm thinking I'd like to do a fundraiser video or event to raise money for the Japanese Footbag Association. I feel like sports can be a very powerful way to help people move past tragedy and restore a sense of normalcy. I haven't talked to any JFA members about this yet, and maybe nobody in Japan is up to hosting a tournament while they're busy getting their lives back together, but I could see these funds being helpful to them at some point.
Worlds vs. Euros
My family set a date for my niece's baptism: July 11th. If the baptism were at the end of July, it'd be a no-brainer to go to Worlds and the baptism. Since the baptism is earlier, I now need to make a decision. I can either:
1. Go to Euros and the baptism, and see my entire family.
2. Go to Worlds.
When I spoke with my mom, I expected her to lobby for option #1, since family is important. Instead, she ended up arguing for option #2, since my competitive years are numbered, and skipping Worlds would mean having no shot at Finals this year. I was ready to go with option #1, but talking to my Mom injected some doubt. It's a tough decision. If I skip Worlds this year, but make routine finals some year in the future, then I won't regret skipping Helsinki. On the other hand, if I go to Worlds this year and don't make Finals, I'll feel like I spent a lot of money and vacation to go to a city I've already been, and regret missing my niece's baptism and the family time I'd have had in Spain.
I need to make a decision either way pretty soon.
Camera
Over the last couple of months, my camera battery has become less reliable. Regardless of how long I charged it, sometimes the battery would crap out in under 30 minutes. In the last couple weeks the problem became more frequent and pronounced, to the point where I'd charge it for 4-6 hours at work, and then it'd fail within 20 minutes of filming. Beyond making it hard to film highlights, it also messed with my mental game during sessions, since I'd be pissed after it's early exits. In a stroke of good fortune, it's under warranty for 6 more weeks, and Flip is honoring it. I packed it up and sent it back on Monday, so with a little bit of luck I'll get a refurbished camera in time for Vegas Jam. Even if it doesn't arrive in time, it's not like I could have depended on the old one to give me much footage in Vegas, and I'd have to replace it sooner than later anyway. In the meantime, I'm enjoying having shred sessions without the pressure of having to hit anything good, since I'm not filming for a video.
Mobius x2
Working on my flip mobius feels like it's paying off. Beyond the obvious benefits of improving my flip mobius and making mobius x2 easier, I feel like it's making my flip spins better overall. Flip mobius itself is getting a lot more consistent, though I still probably only get it like one out of 6 times. When I do get it though, it's more controlled, and I can play out of it more solidly. Meanwhile, spinning mobius practice hasn't really helped me all that much, and my successes still feel flukey. One thing at a time.
Spring Recruitment
The weather is starting to get consistently nice, which makes me feel like I should start up my efforts at building a footbag community here. Maybe make some trips to play with the guys in Boulder, but also see if I can't get some interest here in Denver. There's one kid at my gym who is in his first year of community college who has expressed interest in footbag, so maybe I can cultivate that. Figured that writing down this goal in my blog may help motivate me to make it actually happen.
Vegas Jam
Getting pretty excited for this, especially the possibility of doing non-footbag fun things with everybody, such as poker and basketball. I get on a plane in 8 days, and there still hasn't been any announcement about what events are being run. That's a bit disappointing, since it killed any motivation I might have had to prepare a routine. I think my best bet is to spend the next week just playing a lot, getting my stamina back up, and working on variety. Trying to get highlights on video can be fun, but since you're pushing yourself to go big, your stamina can suffer. I also found myself sometimes spending an entire session just going for one trick or combo, which stunts your creativity and variety. Now that I'm camera-free, I'm going to work at getting longer, varied strings. That should put me in better shape for Vegas, regardless of events.
No new video link, for aforementioned reasons. That said, here's an old vid I found in my blog. Compare the video quality to the vid in my signature. Definitely excited to get a working HD camera back in the next couple weeks.
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=cwMiKRiL38s&fmt=18[/youtube]
I've been wondering about the Japan scene ever since the news hit. I'm glad everyone you know over there is ok. It's cool that your mom is so supportive! That's awesome. Whatever decision you make I'm sure you'll have a great summer. Either way you're hitting a big tourney and getting to go to Europe. Start working on a routine!
What model of flip do you use? Your video looks sharp and I've been thinking about trying out a pocket cam.
What model of flip do you use? Your video looks sharp and I've been thinking about trying out a pocket cam.
Here's what's new in my footbag world.
Worlds vs. Euros
Finally made my decision: I'm skipping Worlds this year, and going to Euros instead. This would have been my 10th Worlds; instead, it's going to be only the 4th that I miss since 1999. It was a tough decision to make, but ultimately the right one (I think). My plan now is to fly to Madrid Friday night, compete in freestyle (and maybe intermediate net) on Sat and Sun, fly to northern Spain Sunday night, be at my niece's baptism on Monday, then spend a day with the family before flying back on Wednesday. I won't go into detail about my decision making, but at the end of the day the Spain trip just had more benefits for me than Worlds.
Camera
Flip has shipped my replacement camera, and it's scheduled to arrive by Thursday. I leave for Vegas on Friday, directly from work. So if all goes well, I'll get my camera in the nick of time for Vegas. It'd be sweet to have a new camera just in time for a footbag jam. If it gets here in time, I promise to film a lot and make a video. Cross your fingers.
Net
My closest friend in Denver, Dan Chick, used to compete in net back in the mid 90s. He got out of the sport the year I got in: 1997. While Dan has freestyled with me a few times, I know the best chance of him getting back into footbag is if I play net. He still has a set and some net bags, so I'd like to start playing net regularly with him. We played for the first time on Sunday, and it was a lot of fun. He taught me a new way of serving, and it clicked immediately. Since my floor game still sucks, it's nice having a go-to serve, as at least one part of my game is consistent. I lost both games, 15-13 and 15-10. I hope that means it's interesting enough to him that he'll want to keep playing. My plan for now is to focus on my receptions. I'm not going to worry about spikes or anything at the net, or anything fancy. The short term goals are to keep my serve consistent, and get better at running to the right spots to receive the bag and get it back over the net. Depending how well this goes, and how often I play, I might even make it a goal to compete in intermediate net at Euros and see how I do. One thing at a time.
Net legs
I only play net about once a year, but whenever I do, I tend to get two injuries:
1. Shankles. On Sunday I did a very good job of not getting these, which is encouraging. I'm also wearing thick socks around my ankles to protect me.
2. My right hamstring and left quad get pulled, since I only have one trick where my foot gets above the net. I only did this twice or so on Sunday, but it was enough to pull them. Damn it. It's only been a couple days, but they still feel pulled. Just hope they get better by Friday, otherwise I'll feel like an idiot for getting net legs the week before a tourney.
Vegas goals
I'm excited for my Vegas trip. Some goals of mine are:
1. Play poker with footbaggers, and play well. I don't care if I win money, I just want to play smart.
2. Film a couple good, long runs. I have a lot of footage for my next video, but it's mostly individual tricks or short combos. I'd like to get a couple of longer runs with little filler so I can make a more varied video, and have more editing options for the song I'm using.
3. If time allows, visit the pawn shop from "Pawn Stars." From what I've read, there's often a line to get in, so maybe not worth it.
4. Shred on the strip. Not even for busking, more just so I can say I did it.
Some of these are dependent on my legs healing up, but I might as well be optimistic. Even if my legs aren't 100%, caffeine and adrenaline have pushed me through worse in the past.
Looking forward to seeing a bunch of you this weekend!
Token blog vid:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHjcV2ykpTQ[/youtube]
Worlds vs. Euros
Finally made my decision: I'm skipping Worlds this year, and going to Euros instead. This would have been my 10th Worlds; instead, it's going to be only the 4th that I miss since 1999. It was a tough decision to make, but ultimately the right one (I think). My plan now is to fly to Madrid Friday night, compete in freestyle (and maybe intermediate net) on Sat and Sun, fly to northern Spain Sunday night, be at my niece's baptism on Monday, then spend a day with the family before flying back on Wednesday. I won't go into detail about my decision making, but at the end of the day the Spain trip just had more benefits for me than Worlds.
Camera
Flip has shipped my replacement camera, and it's scheduled to arrive by Thursday. I leave for Vegas on Friday, directly from work. So if all goes well, I'll get my camera in the nick of time for Vegas. It'd be sweet to have a new camera just in time for a footbag jam. If it gets here in time, I promise to film a lot and make a video. Cross your fingers.
Net
My closest friend in Denver, Dan Chick, used to compete in net back in the mid 90s. He got out of the sport the year I got in: 1997. While Dan has freestyled with me a few times, I know the best chance of him getting back into footbag is if I play net. He still has a set and some net bags, so I'd like to start playing net regularly with him. We played for the first time on Sunday, and it was a lot of fun. He taught me a new way of serving, and it clicked immediately. Since my floor game still sucks, it's nice having a go-to serve, as at least one part of my game is consistent. I lost both games, 15-13 and 15-10. I hope that means it's interesting enough to him that he'll want to keep playing. My plan for now is to focus on my receptions. I'm not going to worry about spikes or anything at the net, or anything fancy. The short term goals are to keep my serve consistent, and get better at running to the right spots to receive the bag and get it back over the net. Depending how well this goes, and how often I play, I might even make it a goal to compete in intermediate net at Euros and see how I do. One thing at a time.
Net legs
I only play net about once a year, but whenever I do, I tend to get two injuries:
1. Shankles. On Sunday I did a very good job of not getting these, which is encouraging. I'm also wearing thick socks around my ankles to protect me.
2. My right hamstring and left quad get pulled, since I only have one trick where my foot gets above the net. I only did this twice or so on Sunday, but it was enough to pull them. Damn it. It's only been a couple days, but they still feel pulled. Just hope they get better by Friday, otherwise I'll feel like an idiot for getting net legs the week before a tourney.
Vegas goals
I'm excited for my Vegas trip. Some goals of mine are:
1. Play poker with footbaggers, and play well. I don't care if I win money, I just want to play smart.
2. Film a couple good, long runs. I have a lot of footage for my next video, but it's mostly individual tricks or short combos. I'd like to get a couple of longer runs with little filler so I can make a more varied video, and have more editing options for the song I'm using.
3. If time allows, visit the pawn shop from "Pawn Stars." From what I've read, there's often a line to get in, so maybe not worth it.
4. Shred on the strip. Not even for busking, more just so I can say I did it.
Some of these are dependent on my legs healing up, but I might as well be optimistic. Even if my legs aren't 100%, caffeine and adrenaline have pushed me through worse in the past.
Looking forward to seeing a bunch of you this weekend!
Token blog vid:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHjcV2ykpTQ[/youtube]
Last edited by C-Fan on 15 Aug 2012 10:03, edited 1 time in total.
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Lycanthrope
- BSOS Beast
- Posts: 431
- Joined: 12 Oct 2004 19:39
- Location: Las Vegas, NV
- Contact:
A quick tip on singles net given to me by Patti Schrickel after he decimated me 11-3 (2 of my 3 points were off his mistakes) at last years Windy City Cup: Bump your first hit forward towards the net. As you chase it down you can look forward and see how your opponent is lining up and choose your shot accordingly. If he stays near the net, shoot for the back line. If he's in the back half, dink just past the net.
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Senor Grommet
- Post Master General
- Posts: 3394
- Joined: 18 Oct 2002 20:25
- Location: Greater Santa Cruz, CA
I bought my tix to Vegas Jam way in advance, so when one of my toughest weeks at work took form for the week when I got back, I was committed to going. I would have gone anyway. In any case, I haven't had time to catch my breath since getting back. I'm hosting a big meeting today and tomorrow at work, which means I spent all of Tuesday preparing (and stayed late), came in early today (and stayed late), and will be coming in early tomorrow too. The good news is that it's a productive meeting, and I'm also accumulating credit hours (vacation). The bad news is I have no time to blog/journal about Vegas.
Ideally I'd like to do a detailed write up, littered with videos. That's not possible. I think my best bet is to jot down some thoughts/moments from the tourney, and then later on make a video with my footage.
The reason I wanted to do a cash game is so people would play seriously. When people play for free, they do crazy bets and it ruins the flow of the game. I do this myself. We ended up doing a $5 buy in, which isn't much, but enough for people to care. I lost my initial buy in, but I rebought for $5, which ended up being smart. I played pretty conservative, but won a very big hand which ended up making my night. I was dealt pocket 6s, bet pre-flop, saw a 6 hit on the flop, checked or min-raised, wasn't scared by the turn or river and bet more on that, and ended up taking the hand with The Beast. Was very happy that my big footbag poker win was on a beast. Towards the end of the night I cashed out, and was happy to count out $20.25. So I doubled up on the night.
Footbagwise this was a weird tourney for me. I had had a busy work week the week before, and I knew I had a super busy week coming up (the meeting), so I had trouble fully forgetting about work. That's not exactly correct...it was more like, I was really happy it was the weekend, but I didn't feel like I was at a tournament. If that makes any sense. I enjoyed seeing friends, and I enjoyed playing footbag, but I didn't feel the urge to compete, nor did I feel like I was in the zone.
For example, circle semis and finals were held on Saturday. In semis I put in a solid variety round, but nobody else was playing well. When difficulty round started and nobody was stepping up, I realized I could dog it and advance. That's lame and usually pride would prevent me from doing this, but I did. Felt lame limping into finals like that. Once I was in finals, I was physically exhausted. For some reason everybody voted to have finals go 8 turns instead of 6, which I was opposed to. Gatesman managed to keep his stamina up, but the rest of us were pooped. I toughed it out to the end, but during the last two turns I was sitting down when I wasn't up. Only highlights I can recall were hitting open whirling swirl, and Your Mom. Felt pretty uninspired, but managed to take second.
In retrospect I'm glad circle finals were on Saturday, since I pushed my legs too hard. I ended up pulling my left hamstring, and even 4 days later it still hurts. My body's exhaustion combined with my weird mental state meant I had trouble playing on Sunday. I just felt like I had no bounce, and no real desire to play at all. I felt like I was just going through the motions for most of the day.
Two highlights from Sunday, were watching the Rippin Run Finals (I got knocked out early; I really sucked), and doing mirage races. Rippin Run finals had Bear, Jay, and Evan, and ended up being one of the best ones I'd ever seen. Bear must have done 20 or 30 contacts, but was the first out. Jay and Evan went for another 40 contacts or so on top of that. Truly amazing. Neither was dogging it either; it was very legit shred. At the end Evan dropped, and everybody got hype. It was just such a great battle to watch.
Mirage racing was fun. I had messed around in the past with the concept of guiltlessly shredding while moving around, but had never gone for speed with such an easy trick. I ended up competing in 2 or 3 mirage races, and was pleasantly surprised to find I have a knack for it. I was lapping people. If mirage-racing were a competitive event, I'd totally train for it. So that was a nice bright spot.
The best part of the weekend for me was just hanging out with friends I don't get to see often, as well as getting to know some people better. Seeing Crowley was a treat, as was seeing Caroline. Hanging with Caroline just reaffirms your faith people. It was also good getting to know Cale and Ben better. Possibly the best moment of the weekend though, was when Tom and I were driving in a mostly empty parking lot, and out of nowhere he was like: "hey let's ghost ride this whip!" And we did. I had never done that before, and it's surprisingly scary to jump out of a moving car. We ended up doing it again later in the weekend, and I got into the dancing part more. But that was the biggest rush of the weekend.
I may blog more later, but don't be surprised if this is all I get to. I haven't played at all since Sunday, partially cause my legs still feel jacked, but also because work has been so busy. I'm hoping I heal up by the weekend and get to play some then.
It was great seeing everybody in Vegas. Thank you again to Evan for hosting, and for everybody for hanging out.
Ideally I'd like to do a detailed write up, littered with videos. That's not possible. I think my best bet is to jot down some thoughts/moments from the tourney, and then later on make a video with my footage.
Mixed success with these goals. I didn't get to shred on the strip. I didn't visit the Pawn Stars shop, though we did drive by it one night. My camera thankfully arrived in time for the trip, and worked pretty well. That said, I didn't film myself at all. I did get a lot of footage of Evan and Jay though, so I'm gonna try and make a video of that. I was also hoping to play basketball on this trip, but all of Idaho bailed and there wasn't that much interest without them. I was worried that poker wasn't going to happen, but on the final night I was able to put together a small cash game. That was one of the highlights of the tourney, so I'll give it it's own paragraph.C-Fan wrote: Vegas goals
I'm excited for my Vegas trip. Some goals of mine are:
1. Play poker with footbaggers, and play well. I don't care if I win money, I just want to play smart.
2. Film a couple good, long runs. I have a lot of footage for my next video, but it's mostly individual tricks or short combos. I'd like to get a couple of longer runs with little filler so I can make a more varied video, and have more editing options for the song I'm using.
3. If time allows, visit the pawn shop from "Pawn Stars." From what I've read, there's often a line to get in, so maybe not worth it.
4. Shred on the strip. Not even for busking, more just so I can say I did it.
The reason I wanted to do a cash game is so people would play seriously. When people play for free, they do crazy bets and it ruins the flow of the game. I do this myself. We ended up doing a $5 buy in, which isn't much, but enough for people to care. I lost my initial buy in, but I rebought for $5, which ended up being smart. I played pretty conservative, but won a very big hand which ended up making my night. I was dealt pocket 6s, bet pre-flop, saw a 6 hit on the flop, checked or min-raised, wasn't scared by the turn or river and bet more on that, and ended up taking the hand with The Beast. Was very happy that my big footbag poker win was on a beast. Towards the end of the night I cashed out, and was happy to count out $20.25. So I doubled up on the night.
Footbagwise this was a weird tourney for me. I had had a busy work week the week before, and I knew I had a super busy week coming up (the meeting), so I had trouble fully forgetting about work. That's not exactly correct...it was more like, I was really happy it was the weekend, but I didn't feel like I was at a tournament. If that makes any sense. I enjoyed seeing friends, and I enjoyed playing footbag, but I didn't feel the urge to compete, nor did I feel like I was in the zone.
For example, circle semis and finals were held on Saturday. In semis I put in a solid variety round, but nobody else was playing well. When difficulty round started and nobody was stepping up, I realized I could dog it and advance. That's lame and usually pride would prevent me from doing this, but I did. Felt lame limping into finals like that. Once I was in finals, I was physically exhausted. For some reason everybody voted to have finals go 8 turns instead of 6, which I was opposed to. Gatesman managed to keep his stamina up, but the rest of us were pooped. I toughed it out to the end, but during the last two turns I was sitting down when I wasn't up. Only highlights I can recall were hitting open whirling swirl, and Your Mom. Felt pretty uninspired, but managed to take second.
In retrospect I'm glad circle finals were on Saturday, since I pushed my legs too hard. I ended up pulling my left hamstring, and even 4 days later it still hurts. My body's exhaustion combined with my weird mental state meant I had trouble playing on Sunday. I just felt like I had no bounce, and no real desire to play at all. I felt like I was just going through the motions for most of the day.
Two highlights from Sunday, were watching the Rippin Run Finals (I got knocked out early; I really sucked), and doing mirage races. Rippin Run finals had Bear, Jay, and Evan, and ended up being one of the best ones I'd ever seen. Bear must have done 20 or 30 contacts, but was the first out. Jay and Evan went for another 40 contacts or so on top of that. Truly amazing. Neither was dogging it either; it was very legit shred. At the end Evan dropped, and everybody got hype. It was just such a great battle to watch.
Mirage racing was fun. I had messed around in the past with the concept of guiltlessly shredding while moving around, but had never gone for speed with such an easy trick. I ended up competing in 2 or 3 mirage races, and was pleasantly surprised to find I have a knack for it. I was lapping people. If mirage-racing were a competitive event, I'd totally train for it. So that was a nice bright spot.
The best part of the weekend for me was just hanging out with friends I don't get to see often, as well as getting to know some people better. Seeing Crowley was a treat, as was seeing Caroline. Hanging with Caroline just reaffirms your faith people. It was also good getting to know Cale and Ben better. Possibly the best moment of the weekend though, was when Tom and I were driving in a mostly empty parking lot, and out of nowhere he was like: "hey let's ghost ride this whip!" And we did. I had never done that before, and it's surprisingly scary to jump out of a moving car. We ended up doing it again later in the weekend, and I got into the dancing part more. But that was the biggest rush of the weekend.
I may blog more later, but don't be surprised if this is all I get to. I haven't played at all since Sunday, partially cause my legs still feel jacked, but also because work has been so busy. I'm hoping I heal up by the weekend and get to play some then.
It was great seeing everybody in Vegas. Thank you again to Evan for hosting, and for everybody for hanging out.
This has been on my mind for a while, and after the last couple of tournaments I've been to, as well as my recent experiences playing net and basketball, I've decided to retire from freestyle. I enjoy basketball enough, and I may get into net enough, that I have other activities that I think can fill the void.
I still love freestyle, and the last 14 years of playing have been great. That said, I'm getting old, it's tough to find that competitive fire, and I feel like I don't have anything left to prove to myself in terms of freestyle.
I haven't decided yet if I'll take up net as a replacement, but I have decided that I'm going to walk away from freestyle. I may do some casual shred at a tournament in the future, but as far as solo shredding on my own, or trying to get better, or filming...I'm done with those.
Just wanted to thank everybody I've ever shredded with. I had a great time pushing my own limits, shredding with others, and hitting new things. The fire has dimmed though, so I'm choosing to walk away from the game while I'm still near the peak of my game.
Hopefully still see a bunch of you at tournaments, maybe on the net courts. It's been great.
I still love freestyle, and the last 14 years of playing have been great. That said, I'm getting old, it's tough to find that competitive fire, and I feel like I don't have anything left to prove to myself in terms of freestyle.
I haven't decided yet if I'll take up net as a replacement, but I have decided that I'm going to walk away from freestyle. I may do some casual shred at a tournament in the future, but as far as solo shredding on my own, or trying to get better, or filming...I'm done with those.
Just wanted to thank everybody I've ever shredded with. I had a great time pushing my own limits, shredding with others, and hitting new things. The fire has dimmed though, so I'm choosing to walk away from the game while I'm still near the peak of my game.
Hopefully still see a bunch of you at tournaments, maybe on the net courts. It's been great.
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simplyqueen1
- Shredalicious
- Posts: 111
- Joined: 21 Oct 2005 11:20
- Location: San Diego
