Canberra, Australia via SCL - Daniel Boyle

[boyle]

Yesterday I was playing footbag in the park, as is quite common. Not so regular, was that someone came up to me and said - "hey, you're playing footbag". and he had his own footbag. We did a bit of hack, he had some stalls and things and from what he was saying he can do plenty of kicks.

So hopefully I will see some more of that bloke in time. He's just moved down for uni. Speaking of uni, I kicked there on a couple of short sessions. The less said about the debacle of a class, the better. So glad I'm into the final semester there. Not sure what will happen after that, but we'll see. Hopefully there will be some good news on that in the coming months. Still have to do a prac first, so that's the first thing to do.

[boyle]

Hmm, I did that top post with no painting. I will fix that up later. I played at uni today, probably the first time I'd had a proper session in a little while. Best run was 28 contacts. I put that on Instagram actually.

Hmmmm. Seems it didn't work anyway. It wasn't particularly special.

I hit a 4 fearless combo, but I wasn't really happy with that. It was good to play in the sunshine. It started out cold this morning. It was 40 degrees last week. So we're in a bit of a weird time weather wise.

I contacted that bloke I met last week and arranged to meet for a kick at the ANU on Friday, that should be cool. Also going to have a BBQ with Copey on Friday, so that should be a good footbag day. Then the following weekend to Sydney to see Killswitch Engage. They are playing the "Alive or Just Breathing" album, so I think that should be a lot of fun. Let's see if I can get a kick with the Sydney guys, that would be a good addition to the trip, but I'm not going to be there long.

[boyle]

I made a new vlog. This one is pretty much just a footbag video with some talking over the top.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkmCori18K0 It seems the embed is not working, but maybe in the future that will come good. The vlog is from the visit from Janis. Not too much out of the ordinary in terms of footbag, but some fun sessions and some jumping into water because it was so hot. It has been a fun little project making these blogs, despite the fact that barely anyone has been watching. I've been trying to do one a week, which has been successful so far.

Didn't do any footbag today. I usually try and get in a little kick when I am at the uni, but today I just had one class so I just went straight in and out. I also normally kick at the tennis courts after dropping Nico off, but didn't do that today either, so it was a bit of a relaxed day and I actually feel quite good for it. Particularly that I didn't ride to uni, which saves a 20km journey in the heat.

[boyle]

This weekend I have mainly been playing in those shoes I got at Christmas. I had planned on them being a direct replacement for those blue shoes I had. Something not Lavers, but easy enough to play in. That they are not. I really struggle to get consistent runs, so I guess it's decent training. And I can do some tricks from time to time. I hit butterfly swirl, gyro whirl, for example, but there is just no consistency at all in my runs. I got a 16 contact run and that was a reason for celebration.

I mentioned that I played with a new guy, Adam. He is starting out on freestyle, has a good kicking game and can do most stalls. He did a couple of tricks for the first time, he did wrap, maybe legover, so he has lots of potential, hopefully can keep him into it. We have needed a new generation of Australian footbag since I was about that age. It was a mainly kicking session, I was trying to do some stuff I don't usually do. A few eclipse tricks, some sole kick sort of stuff for passes and lots of flying clipper/flying butterfly/dragonfly stuff. It was quite fun to play a bit different, and also to play with somebody else. So will try and get that to be a semi regular thing and that should be pretty good.

I had the last couple of days off, but I feel I didn't get so much out of it, particularly that it was a weekend. So that was a little disappointing, as I only get the Saturdays off once every so often (it's basically 2 in a row in a period of 7 weeks, and then it goes back to the waiting game.)

I did a little with the ball today, have barely done any all year - and it showed. Could only manage a best combo of 4, when mid last year I was pushing 10. So maybe will practice a bit more with that, then again, maybe it was the shoes...

I was looking at buying a pair of Lavers today, but the shipping is quite high, and the exchange rate is worse than I expected so I held off on that one.

[boyle]

I hit ducking swirl today. It seemed quite easy. Which is quite odd because I've been trying it for about 5 years with no success. Actually, it's probably closer to 7 or 8 years, I was definitely trying and coming close well before going to Chile in 2011. So that's another trick that I'm quite satisfied to have hit. I put my set a bit further out from my body after the duck and that seemed to work out.

I hit this drill on one side - legbeater>ripwalk>vortex which I was happy with. I just made my votes on the IFPA committee, everyone who ran got my vote. I have some mini projects I am midway through which I may have a revisit in the next few weeks.

[boyle]

I had a crash on my bike yesterday. I was riding into work and my chain broke, so without a chain you can't go and I just totally lost control and smashed down onto the road. So that's exactly how to kick off a day at 6:45am. I got quite a few cuts but not too much damage, it could have been a lot worse. I slightly tapped my head on the fall, so for example I could have completely smashed my face. It's not worth thinking of what could have been done, because maybe I would have been there in the backstreets of a quite nice suburb and nobody would have found me for quite some time - though a guy on a bike had come by just after I crashed and he checked if I was alright.

Anyway, more on footbag topic. I was wondering if I could play, I'm a bit scratched up on both knees, but I had a kick today and it seemed ok. A bit sore on certain movements, but I can kick along and do plenty of tricks. Some chance of an early morning kick in Sydney, but maybe that won't go ahead. I'm not too fussed either way. Looking forward to the Killswitch Engage show, that should be a lot of fun.

[boyle]

I had a short session today up at the shops. I was hitting some longer runs and some tricks like gyro whirl on both sides which are not really regular features in my runs. Also trying to do more torques on both sides. It is something I can do pretty fine, but I don't do it that often. I went to the shops to take my bike to get fixed, I didn't want to even look at it the last few days, I was also busy going to Sydney and drinking all the beers. As previously mentioned I went to see Killswitch Engage, awesome to see those old songs. Great to catch up with a bunch of people that I hadn't seen in ages as well. It was an express journey to Sydney though, I was back the next day.

The uni is passing along, it's into week 4 now already, so that's about a month down. I would really like the uni to get the heave ho going and assign me to my prac, that is something desirable. They are renowned for being really slow though. The big thing to see will be how things go once I have the piece of paper, the registration etc.

[boyle]

It's a bit after 2am, and I'm at work. Fun times. Very little happening so that's ok. Since I took this late shift I also got to spend some more time with Nico, we went to a couple of parks including the bike park at a nearby school. Then I went skating for a bit, which I don't get to do too often, particularly with other people. Before coming into work I took a peek at the show from The Living End through the window. I had a perfect view from only a few rows back (just outside of the building), so that was a nice bonus before the shift.

I made a new vlog.



There's not that much footbag in this one, and what's in is pretty poor, but if you do watch it you may figure that I've been working a little bit on tricks in and out of kicks. That was something I was doing a while back and now I'm taking a look at it again.

I played a little bit today and also yesterday at uni. Got some runs of 20-30 contacts. I'm not feeling much pain now after that bike crash, my knees were giving me a little bit of trouble but that all feels ok now, so that's good.

I have a bunch of friends coming down this weekend. A couple arriving tomorrow and another one on Saturday. It's going to be a pretty full house and I have to work early on Friday and Saturday morning, but then I have three days off, and that's a very pleasant thought.

[boyle]

Post number 2000, that's quite a few. Time well spent (?)

I played for a while yesterday so first things first I'll talk about that. I had a target in mind of doing a 50+ run. I was going along with one that I thought for sure would beat that and then I was probably thinking how great it was going to be to break that mark and dropped on 48. I had a few runs in the high 30s as well.

Also, 14 reverse swirls (new pb, previous was 12). Been working back on pixie everything for the first time in a while. Probably best I've got lately is 11, if I remember correctly.

I made a new vlog, there's a fair bit of footbag in this one.

[boyle]

Here's a new vlog



Here's a short clip from Instagram. [instagram]https://www.instagram.com/p/BR7X40nA2-O[/instagram]

I have been playing in bits and pieces. I haven't really had too many long sessions. I don't know if it's that "best trick ever" thread on Facebook, but I really feel I'm not doing too many big kind of tricks lately. Obviously most of those ones from the video are way out of my league, but some of the motion based stuff I was hitting a month or two is not coming off. I did hit pixie diving motion in one session though.

One trick I have been working on is spinning reaper. I realised it's reasonably similar to scorpion's tail, had not really thought about that trick before, but I think it could be a really good one to hit. Have also been working on my flip dlo quite a bit, which is becoming a bit better. I did have one session where I had a bunch of good runs - there a few where I had expected to drop early on, but the foot seemed to just keep catching and continuing on.

Ken has been talking a bit about the Hall of Fame in his blog. It was interesting to have a look at the list and realise there's plenty of names that I had no idea about. I also remember only in 2010, at Oakland, they had a particular event for Hall of Fame during the timetable, but I couldn't remember who had been inducted. I also don't recall any event in either of the European worlds I went to (Berlin and Copenhagen).

[boyle]

I had a pretty good session this morning. Went over to the tennis courts for the first time in a while after dropping Nico off at daycare. I hadn't been there for ages and I always seem to play pretty well there. Played for about an hour and got some good stuff.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BSKMlrsAf4I

Not particularly special video, but got some good stuff when I was not on camera. Some of that included

ducking pdx dlo (new trick)
double spinning clipper x 2 (I think that's a new link, might have done it once before, but think I've always had at least a trick in between)
motion sickness>ducking clipper>motion sickness>run of about 20 contacts (they were both on the same side but don't think I've done that trick multiple times in a run before.
smog bs

[boyle]

I reckon I probably won't go to Worlds.

I mentioned before I was maybe 40% chance of going, but the finances are saying more like 10%. It would still be nice though, so I'm not going to say that I won't. I have thought for a long while of going as being like a celebration for finishing my degree. Taking that leave without pay at the start of the year has put me in a bit of hole though (for when we went to Chile). I will also need to take some leave for my prac, so I probably wouldn't have much time to take off work to go.

I got a bit of footage yesterday for my next vlog and there was a fair bit of footbag stuff. I ended up riding about 45km yesterday, the back of that in some serious rain. I came home and was practically covered with mud, which was pretty gross. My shoes were also full of water, as if I had been swimming in the shoes. I did a couple of runs towards the end which were obviously not long but might turn out ok on video.

Went with Nico to see the Paw Patrol live show today, he loved it. It is such a massive commercial thing, as are all concerts etc, even going to see some alt rock band, they're selling tshirts etc, but I think this takes it to the next level. In Chile some of the cousins gave a lot of little figurines to him, so when he wanted more I said that we have so many already and there was no need.

I just mentioned in Ken's blog that it would be interesting to get some kind of measure on the most active footbag presences online. There is too much spread of not many people over Facebook, Modified, Youtube, Vimeo, Instagram and other platforms. Would be interesting to see who has the strongest presence though.

[boyle]

I played a couple of times today. I didn't play super great, but not bad either. A couple of runs of over 30 contacts, and also this drill which was much more annoying than expected.

pixie op clipper>swirl>pdx illusion rpt

I got it eventually, but I was getting frustrated because it took me too long to get it. Nothing else of great note for today. I had one session after dropping Nico off at daycare. Normally when I play there, I will drive to the daycare then walk over to the courts. Today I drove down a bit closer to the courts, but then I walked back to the original parking space and was thinking, I swear I parked here...oooooohhh. So that was clever.

I went out skating at a couple of places and that was a bit of fun. I had a bit of a rough day yesterday, so I wanted to make today a positive day. I finished a book (Entertain Us, a book about alternative rock in the 90s, which is pretty much right up my alley) and started a new book which I bought at a school fete the other day, which is a collection of football writing edited by Nick Hornby, which is pretty good so far, though I've only read one chapter.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BSc2kHcgUd7

Here's a video from a later session today. I had to catch the bus to the city today as my bike was at work already, so I was in a bit early. It was a bit cold but I decided to have a kick and it ended up working quite well. The first run was really long and I decided then that it was a good idea.

[boyle]

I see there are some new rumblings on the front page. I only want to make a short post and I have some ideas for what to do on that main page, and also can't think of my general wordpress password off the top of my head (which I guess is what you do, though I'm not so sure, maybe there's something written about it).

I barely played at all today, but I did have a run of about 30 contacts just while I was with Nico at the park. I was really only trying to get a bit of consistency, and that went quite well.

I put up a new vlog some days ago.



Here it is. Got very wet in this one, but did get some footbag in before the rain (and after the rain, covered in mud, with shoes splishing and sploshing with water).

I went to meet my new school for the prac yesterday. I will start there next term. Hopefully they (or anyone else) can give me a job the following term. That's pretty crazy to think about.

[boyle]

I had a pretty rubbish day at work, but importantly I have the next couple of days off, and we are going down the coast, then another trip to a different part of the coast next weekend. I'm really excited about both trips. Something quite cool is that one of my work colleagues is going to be in the same area, so we will meet up with him too, that should work well.

So let's go back in time and get in a better mood.

This is a photo I shared on Facebook today, the memories thing told me it was 7 years ago (!)



So let's have a look at this photo and see who's in it, and their current footbagging action.

Mitch - he was getting quite into it about then, he was at the Narooma Jam a couple of years ago with Juho. I think he brought the big tent. Pretty hard to get out for a kick, but he is around occasionally.
Lotus - Lives in Western Australia, haven't seen him in a long time, but I imagine he still kicks quite regularly with performances etc
Copey - Lives here in Canberra, we get together for a kick or beer occasionally but not often enough. He was in my blog from a month or two back.
Me - Still kicking most days. Trying to get better.
Dyalan - 2 x children. We manage to catch up for a kick maybe every second time I go to Sydney. He was also in an early vlog
Caroline - Living in Brisbane now, we kicked together a lot over the last couple of years. Will be going to Worlds. Not sure if she's kicking much up there, but I talked to her the other day and she is going well.
Leon - Don't think he kicks at all anymore. He posts lots of adventurous and athletic things on Facebook (mountains, ironmans etc).
Jeremy - Think he still kicks every now and then. We had a jam/comp a couple of years ago and he beat me in everything.
Ryan - Still kicks a bit, he was in that same vlog with Dyalan. I think he is planning on going to Worlds.
Ian - barely kicking at all, but we have caught up a few times in the last couple of years. He made this cool video...




Which is of me doing a dropless routine, and now has a few thousand views. It's interesting watching it back now, as there were plenty of little errors in the plan, which ended up with a lot of toe stalls, inside stalls, but in the end, if it's dropless, it's dropless. That's still something that I'm very proud of. I would really love to do a dropless routine at Worlds sometime. Sometimes you make goals about results etc, but if you do a dropless routine and you still don't go through, you can at least feel that achievement.

I also put up a new vlog today.



There is a fair bit of footbag in this one, including in front of the Jackie Chan mural.

That will be enough for today, I've got to get some rest before we go down to the coast tomorrow. Should be a pretty early kickoff.

[C-Fan]

Cool that Caroline and Ryan may make Worlds. It'd be great if you could come too. Nice that you got your dropless routine on video. I feel bad for some of the older players where, if they went dropless, footage may no longer exist of it. I've only gone dropless at Worlds twice, but I can definitely say that there's something about doing it on that bigger stage that makes it extra special. I want to do it one more time before I retire, and I hope you can too.

[Tjuggles]

Clean-shaven eh? Your vlogs are so relaxed. It reminds me of NZ. Hope you get that ass to Portland! We should make sure to meet up at least once in the next year since we are so damn close to each other, relatively speaking. I reckon it's harder for you now with family though...

[boyle]

It's looking less and less likely, but I would still like to go. If I can't go, a trip to NZ would probably be a high possibility. There are also direct flights from Canberra-Wellington so it would be quite easy. It's not too hard with kids, I think I have been to a couple of countries more than Nico. He is a frequent flyer!

[boyle]

I had a really short session today, but it was productive. As a matter of fact it was the last time I will be going to class (well, once I become a teacher there will be plenty of classes to go to...). I still have some assignments due and the prac, so it doesn't really feel like a milestone moment, but it definitely is. It's a bit of a weird feeling. I also had to go to work immediately after class so there was no time for a celebratory first pump or anything like that.

However before going to the class there was time for:

tapdown>pdx mirage repeat
pixie diving motion
whirlygig
spender

I only played for about 15 minutes, and some of those minutes were spent talking to a friend who came passing by, with other minutes dropping whirlygig, so I was pretty pleased with the tricks I managed.

In terms of the assignments I'm not too worried, as in each class I don't even need to get a pass mark for the assignment to pass the whole course, but of course I would like to do a bit better than just a pass considering that it's the final time around. Hopefully for good, but I've had my final time around twice before.

The next question I'm wondering is will I go to graduation. I am probably tending more towards no, but I may have a change of heart as time gets closer, it is a pretty big deal and I have worked quite hard to finish this thing off, though it doesn't always seem that way.

I am uploading my vlog at the moment for this week. I normally try and get them out in the Wednesday-Thursday timeframe. Though nobody is hanging by the edge of their seat waiting for it, but I'm really just trying to build the consistency, and it's a nice little project to basically give a little highlight of the week, and this week's highlight was quite good because we went to the beach, and the next week highlight will be quite good because we will go to the beach. Thumbs up for the beach.

[C-Fan]

I always wonder how people consume media. Like, do some people subscribe to your channel and watch/listen to content the day it comes out? Do others wait until there's a backlog of a few episodes and then binge them? With something like a Vlog, do people hover over the bar to see where the shred parts start and just watch that? I bet there's apps for tracking these sorts of things.