Canberra, Australia via SCL - Daniel Boyle

[boyle]

Thanks Erik. That's really sad to hear as well. I guess it's always a huge shock whenever something like that happens, and actually whenever someone dies at all. Despite it being natural, you don't really know how to cope with it. We had a pretty good relationship, just pretty regular but I think I have been trying to put some thought into processing what has happened and what can we do from here. We are going to have some access to some counselling sessions, but I think we have to wait until all the administrative stuff is done, which has still not happened.

Onto footbag news. Maybe I could do a video for the calendar, if there is some spare space. Someone always drops out when they have a video due so I could fill in a gap like that, but I had some good sessions today. Also a long bike ride (just over 50km). I also had some stuff that I filmed in Sydney that could come out alright. So now I feeling a bit sore. A friend of mine has invited me for a beer after work so that might bring my little streak to a close. It's not often that people agree to meet after finishing work at 11pm. Also I deserve a beer after that long bike ride, and also for hitting matador bsos, which I may or may not have done before.

New highlight of the Joulu - Andrew Grant guest appearance with Rory and Mathieu. We had a good time in Australia quite some time ago where we got a bit of an influx of players who were pretty cool dudes and also quite good at footbag. Though most of them left Australia playing much less or zero footbag...


Also I put up some vlogs a while back but I didn't post them on here.






I would like to do a few more before the year ends, but that's coming up pretty soon now.

Instagram clip from today as well.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BcYJ8mtH1AW

[boyle]

I already mentioned it in the last post, but you may well just see me in the calendar after all and I'm pleased about that. Will be going to Sydney for the funeral this week. We may stay some extra days so maybe I can catch up with Ian or Dyalan which would be nice. Don't know if that will work out though.

I just looked at the link of the day advanced links and I don't think I can do any of the combos. Maybe I'm not as advanced as I thought...I'm sure I could do some of them with quite a lot of tries, but if it was a request contest I would be out round 1. So maybe that's a few things to work on.

Not many days left in the year. Hopefully I can kick every day of them, that would be just great. We are going to that bubble soccer this week for our work Christmas party, I haven't done it before, I think it should be fun.

[Muffinman]

Sounds good.
I've been doing the Joulo combos, but one thing I don't understand is why revup > pigbeater was, like, #2 or 3, when every combo after it has been significantly easier! Fun combos though, even if just to watch.

I did bubble soccer this summer. It was sooo fun. I thought, "Oh an hour isn't much" but after, like, 20 minutes you are POURING sweat and your body is sore. The bubbles are surprisingly heavy and not super breathable, hence the sweating. But oh man is it fun! And an insane workout I'm sure if you're actually running. I want to do it again!

[C-Fan]

That bubble soccer thing sounds fun. Did you get any footage of you in one? Or from the inside of one?

I'm enjoying the LOTDs so far myself. They're definitely more traditional/conservative than last year's, but still good links for sure. Are you filming them too? Have you tried any of the drills of the day?

[Tjuggles]

I have seen bubble soccer before but never played. It does look fun though. Hopefully you tried a couple of tricks, or maybe a one-shot with the bubble on?

Bubble beater

[boyle]

Bubble soccer was pretty fun - Erik was right, you pour sweat in those things. It was also really hard to see out of the bubble so that made things more difficult.

I tried to do some tricks but I just couldn't do it, as you lift your leg into the bubble. Maybe another time. I know some colleagues took some videos so I will try to get to see some of that.

Here is my Joulu entry. I'm reasonably pleased with how it came out, as I didn't put all that much time into it.



We are back from Sydney after having the funeral for Mum. It all went as well as can be, and there was a good turnout there. It was so hot though. I have hurt my neck somehow and that's giving me some grief so I haven't played in a few days. Hopefully I can get that improved in the near future.

I haven't filmed any of the LOTD ones, and the only one I have hit is pdx torque>motion, which was day number 8 or so. I don't think I can actually hit too many of the other combos.

[boyle]

That neck has still been giving me grief, especially when I get up out of bed. I haven't been playing much footbag but I was able to do a few tricks this afternoon in my dinner break.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bcy7S4KnSqA

Today I watched a bit of the action from Las Vegas, also the final moments of the Kings Cup (Sepak Takraw) final from Thailand. Also have the play by play updates of the cricket ticking along. It's a pretty slow day at work. I wasn't really paying detailed attention to the stuff from US Open, but Bonslaver finished his routine with Scorpions Tail, which was pretty cool. Generally high drop counts though. The floor had some kind of crazy pattern, looked pretty hard to play on.

Caught up with Ian Pritchard a couple of days ago. He's not really playing at all lately but it was great to catch up with him. He has been leaving some positive comments on some recent Instagram videos of mine.

[Muffinman]

It's weird how neck pain can prevent you from playing footbag altogether. You wouldn't think they'd be linked so closely, but I've had the same thing before. It sucks! I liked your form on the reactor in your joulu video. Also nice to see the double spin.

Do you have kangaroos in Australia the way that we have deer in North America? Like they live in any wooded area and can jump out at any time even in some urban areas?

[boyle]

On the kangaroos - here in Canberra, certainly. I often see them just jumping down the streets when I ride my bike home at night. (This is the capital city, btw...)
That reactor took a lot of tries before I got it, I was glad to finally hit it. I'm sure I've done it before, but I was coming close.

Yes, the neck is not helping me at all. I went and got a massage for it yesterday, but I'm not really in much better condition today. Hopefully it will improve by itself, but might have to visit a doctor if it doesn't. Have done a few kicks around but haven't really been able to play properly at all, which is annoying.

[Ryan_Morris]

Loved your Joulu video!

[boyle]

Thanks Ryan! Have been enjoying a few of your comments around on Instagram, saw a few today on other posts and had a few laughs I haven't got to see yours yet, I can't always catch up with them day by day, will have to watch those ones in the next couple of days.

[boyle]

I was able to play today for a little while with not too much pain. That's a huge improvement, yesterday was no good at all.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bc8hXRSnREA

Here's a short clip from Mt Ainslie. I was thinking coming down the hill, it's great I can do normal things. But then I was also thinking maybe it's not so normal to be going up a mountain before going to work...Was happy to do that walk as I don't think I will get the chance to do it again before the year is out.

So that's my big Christmas wish, is have the body back to good. It seems to be trending in the right direction now, which is really great news, I was getting a little concerned. Hopefully that means soon I'll be back to doing a daily footbag post on Instagram. I'm really glad I got in a Joulu video though, that will definitely be a plan for next year as well. It turned out quite well. I had the footage from that water park from about a week before and wasn't sure what to do with it, then I went for a long bike ride and was able to stop a couple of times to get some clips and lo and behold, there was the video, just throw in a couple of kangaroo clips, which I literally have hundreds of.

I am thinking of getting a replacement for my Gopro, which is somewhere at the bottom of the ocean. I saw a similar kind of camera for much cheaper, that could be a good option. Not sure if I should get one of those action cameras though, or maybe just get a new phone that also has a better camera, as my phone is a bit smashed up by now.

[boyle]

Coming to the end of the year. My neck is improving quite a bit, practically back to normal. I did a few tricks today.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BdMunVMn6Id

Some interesting developments, which could be cool or could come to nothing.

I was in Narooma passing through yesterday. We have had a jam there quite a few times now, always a lot of fun. I post on the Australian footbag group and there was a bit of interest in doing another one next year.

Khoa wrote to me yesterday and said he was interested in getting the tourist visa to come to Australia, so that would be super cool if he came for a visit. So hopefully something comes of that. That would be great for footbag and also for some freestyle football which I have not been doing much of lately.

On the note of a camera from my last post, I got a drone for Christmas, which was kind of unexpected. It has the built in camera. In reality I have no idea how to use it, even how to turn it on, so I will have a look at the instructions on that for a while.

Not sure if I mentioned before but I am also getting a couple of new pairs of Lavers. The Vietnam model ones. I have a few with big cracks in the soles (as in, split completely in half) and the dear wife says that won't do. Unrelated, but I also got a pair of Teva sandals just today. I believe some people back in the day used them to shred. A short search shows I am definitely right (http://www.footbag.org/faq/show/953170515).

I say this quite regularly, but I'm planning to work some more on my Sport/Life website. I will keep on doing the vlogs, I want to do at least one more before the year is out, will probably work on that late night tonight. I've also come up with an idea for next year that's just stupid enough to be maybe a good idea. I'm planning to go to every park in Canberra over the course of the year with Nico (and with the next baby as well once they join the team). That's an idea I've come up with in the last few days and think it's a nice challenge to keep me occupied for the next year or so, maybe longer.

I haven't hit too much of note lately, it's mainly been good just to play at all. I think the neck is still not completely back to 100% but it's getting pretty close. I've had a bit of a cough lately which is annoying, but it shouldn't stop me from kicking.

[Tjuggles]

I was able to play today for a little while with not too much pain. That's a huge improvement, yesterday was no good at all.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bc8hXRSnREA

Great move. The duck was nice and deep, and just the right height to make it over. Maybe next time stall it on the nape of the neck for a second, then finish the trick?

[boyle]

Haha, that could be a fun one to try in the next session.

[boyle]

Well that's pretty much that for the year. I will have a short kick tomorrow, probably during my lunch break, but I doubt I will do anything of significance. So how did the year go for me in footbag.

Kicked a lot, and posted plenty of short videos on Instagram. Since my birthday in September I have been posting a video close to every day.
Started doing some vlogs. Tonight I will upload number 35. They are not necessarily about footbag, but they all have some footbag in them.
Kicked with Dyalan a couple of times, Ryan once, Copey a few times and Dianne maybe just once or twice. Also met up with Albert Hua in Melbourne. Caught up with Ian recently.

That's probably all I saw of the Australian scene. I don't think I kicked with Caroline this year, but I've talked with her on the phone or Skype a few times. Also got the ball rolling for a possible Narooma jam. Fingers crossed on that. We also had an international visitor - Janis Thal from Germany. We had a couple of cool sessions, though considering it was really hot, it might not be best to say "cool" to describe it.

Not much on the freestyle football stuff. Have just played a few times by myself, but haven't gone to any competitions or anything this year, because there haven't been any on. Same goes for footbag. I played quite a bit with a thing called Chungi that my friend from Nepal gave me. Occasionally with a takraw also and a little bit with a shuttlecock, though I broke it.

I don't think I hit many new tricks. I hit a lot at the end of last year - a bunch of motion related tricks, though I did hit gangsta party. I had the goal of hitting a non-motion seven add, and that's it. I've come close to alpine food quite a few times, but I haven't hit it. I haven't hit the 100 guiltless mark, that's something I'll work on this coming year. I would also like to build up my fearless. I hit 5 fearless plenty of times this year, but I wasn't able to break that mark. 10 fearless would be the ultimate but I guess I have take things step by step.

Here we have a big wall of text, so here's a video. I was just taking a look at my Youtube channel to see what videos were the most popular. Came across this one from 2010 Worlds, after the finals. Couple of good players doing some tricky tricks.



It seems this vlog about getting new Quantums did the best of the year. Not that it had a huge amount of views (65)



I was also glad to get a Joulu video in. Watching this Quantums video I realised I used the same song as for the Joulukalenteri video. No big deal, it's a good song.

Don't know if I mentioned it previously, but I got a drone for Christmas. It took me some days to even figure out how to charge it up and turn it on, but I got it up in the air today, though I will need quite a bit of training to fly it around, as one of the first things I did was crash it into a tree across the road. So that will be a learning experience. Hopefully will make for some cool videos as well. Not sure if it will help much for footbag, as I am generally playing by myself, so I would have to fly it and play, though maybe if I can get it to stick still at a point that could look cool.

Also, one last thing for today, I was able to bring footbag into the classroom in a few situations. I would like to do more of that next year. I also performed at the Hackett Party at the Shops which was quite fun. I've bought some bags to have to sell and sold a couple there. I've got a box with plenty more in there, so if anyone gets interested I have plenty of supplies.

Speaking of supplies, I've still got one pair of Quantums, but they won't last long after my experience with the other ones. I have two pairs of Lavers in the mail. One that are in ok condition, two that are pretty much at their death which my wife will tell me to throw away and I will say that I did although I will actually just hide it in a cupboard just in case...

Also I would like to do a session with the mismatched quantums. They are not even the same colour or the same size, but it could be a bit of fun.

[boyle]

First post, a few days into the year. It's only a few days in but I've been doing my Instagram posts each day. Another plan I had for the year was to listen to a new album each day, a friend said he had done that this year. That literally lasted one day, however I have caught back up, so I think that's ok.

I had a good session at the tennis courts, which included my first 20 x 20 run. Erik talked about doing this last year, and I was like yeah great idea, piece of cake. And proceeded to have many session where I would get 13 rounds of 17, 18, 19 (lots of 19). Then I would get distracted and doing something else.

Like 5 fearless, almost 6 (phoenix>blurry whirl>spinning ducking butterfly>spinning ducking osis>paradox blender, drop on motion. Ok, maybe I got distracted again, but then I came back to my task and completed it. I counted a 60 run contact as 3 x 20, but I think that's ok.

This was my final run of the 20 - https://www.instagram.com/p/BddxPOkHGHs - It's pretty tiring to them, but a really good challenge. So the bigger challenge is to do 20 of them.

My Lavers arrived in the mail in recent days. Hard to tell yet if they are a big difference with the weight, as they are still stiff coming out of the box. I haven't modded them and I probably won't. Glad to be pretty well off for equipment at the moment. I wouldn't mind to get one more good bag, I might get one from Hania during the course of the year.

I went out to Yass, which is about an hour away. A friend was heading back to Melbourne and that's on the way so I met him there. Got this good run on film.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BdbRez5nAWG/

I have been playing around a little bit with the drone. I am so far pathetic at using it. I crashed it into a tree yesterday and thought it was lost for good. Found it eventually though. Need a lot more training with that one. I've done a first vlog of the year so I'll put that up once it's uploaded, which will probably be tomorrow.

[Muffinman]

Good job on the goals.
Yeah, I would have a TON of 19s doing 20x20. What a smack in the face.
Good luck with it though

I have some challenges for you:
-20x flip far osis
-flip pdx blender + flip motion in the same run
-10 flip pdx blenders (like, just one-offs in a single session, not in a row or anything)
-10 flip motions

[boyle]

I don't like those challenges at all! But I will try them out.

Got my second 20x20 under my belt, with a few 19s along the way, and also a 92 (which is a new PB, although not quite the 100 I was aiming for). Also one run had 20 ducking/diving contacts in a row, which is something I've been going for a little while. It was quite hot and I got very sweaty during this session. I got tired out as well, so it's something good for building up the stamina. I was really struggling by the end. I'm glad I persevered and got the 20 along the way.


Here are a couple of vlogs. First of the year and the last of last year.




https://www.instagram.com/p/Bdi30oqHVMU and here's the final run of today's 20x20.

[Muffinman]

I don't like those challenges at all! But I will try them out.

Also, props on the PB!