Muffinman

[Muffinman]

Had a fun session with Zach and Johnny.
Didn't play too well -- rusty and that pain in my knee pit was worrying me a bit too. It didn't come back too bad, but enough that I wanted to take it a bit easy. Still couldn't play well, but ended on an okay 50-contact run.
One new trick, which felt good, but only one side: plasma
Johnny also hit a couple of cool things, though I'm not sure if they were new for him or not:
-high plains swirl
-whirling same revup (although the reverse swirl was kind of midtime as if he was doing whirling same reverse swirl bailed to pickup)

Games and chilling was the funnest part. Helen made us amazing homemade pizza things that are way more fancy than they sound, and we played a few games that I brought, which we all seemed to enjoy.


EDIT: Oh yeah I had one run with spinning whip > mobius BSOS, I think a vortex > spinning whip, and the other spinning whip?.. something like that

[ninjo]

whats spinning whip?

[Muffinman]

Hey Luis.
Whip is reverse whirl

[Muffinman]

Just had my first solo session in ages.
I was so rusty and out of shape and I didn't want to do anything high-impact because I played in my apartment and didn't want to disturb neighbours, but it was really fun. Butterfly swirls seemed not too tough. Pdx blender > blender both sides feels sooo cool. Wanted to BSOS, but no luck. Did a few spenders too. Looking forward to spring and outdoor shred when I can play regularly again and being shape for Johnny sessions. Oh and I ended on an easy 50-contact -- felt good.

[rjadamson]

I'm guessing still no word on all of the videos you had on Fourkast. Even as someone who doesn't really watch much old footage (I actually just finished a short rant on how much more professional today's game/footage looks) I feel it's a shame seeing history lost for no good reason. I hope that the next generation of players steps up to the plate and helps run websites and the other life blood of footbag. Red has a really good thing going with his competitive gaming business right now, but naturally his interest in maintaining footbag obligations is going to wane because of it.

Please do try to get the ball rolling on creating a cataloging system with more permanence. The official site is ugly and archaic, and therefore not an attractive resource or organizing factor for anyone... especially new players.

Nice work on all of your recent highlights. It's great to hear you'll be playing regularly with Johnny Suderman. Was your session with Manna Mpepo a one-time thing? Sorry, I have a hard time remembering where all of the Canadian players live, and if any of them are active.

[Muffinman]

Yeah, I never heard back from Red, so forget that. But I might be working on something with Allan Haggett in the future for the videos. Something that could potentially be compatible with .org further down the road. Something permanent is my hope. Yeah, Johnny is awesome. Manna lives in Central Canada, where I'm from, but right now I live in the East, like on the other side of the country -- about a 30-some hour drive away. So, yeah, one-time thing for now. Thanks for reading.

[Muffinman]

OMG.
Jammed solo again today.
I can barely walk after 30-ish minutes of just fooling around. The days are gone when I can play daily. I just REALLY wanted to though. I can't wait for spring. I tried marius, which didn't happen. (I was watching Rene in my cataloguing class today.) I've only hit that a few times ever each side I think. I BSOSed pdx torque though. I should probably practice those more first, since I barely can... I also did some reverse swirl and regular swirl stuff. Uhh, and scorpion's tail and double spinning clipper both sides in the really tight space I have. That's it. Just lots of fun, but sore tomorrow... Jenn's running out to get some smoothie ingredients, so I hope that helps. I guess it must have yesterday since I didn't feel sore today. Anyway... some Demon's Souls. Close to platinuming. I got all of the things you can get in a first playthrough, just need to beat the game another 3.5 times for the boss souls...

[Muffinman]

Johnny hit some crazy stuff today:
-nuclear grifter both sides (like 69 with a reversed second dex)
-nuclear DLO BSOS
-toe far whirr both sides a bunch of times

Some other craziness I forget -- frontside toga I think? Footed barfry > pdx neutron smasher. He also footed some drill he wanted all session... I forget. Like janiwalker > janiwalker > grifter > grifter? Or something like that. He was also trying wonton miraging flail.. I played pretty sucky. My only highlight really was fog > dimwalk > haze > dimwalk [repeat] first try right after Johnny's nuclear DLO BSOS run. Game of the week was Dutch Blitz which was new to Johnny and Zach. These are really fun sessions. Oh another of my highlights: no pain in my knee pit! I did start to get some minor shin splints, though, so I'm going to stretch those out preemptively before next sessions.

I'm also trying to get this blog to migrate to FootbagFront, but it's having trouble. Maybe it's just too big for the transfer to handle?

[Muffinman]

Blog has moved to FootbagFront.com.
Rene and Anssi post there a bunch. Check it.
http://footbagfront.com/blogs/8

[Muffinman]

Contributing to Modified reanimation, some videos I've only posted on FootbagFront since my last blog post here. You can see that I played a ton (for me) in May, but haven't had a chance to play since :

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McdyajwuesA[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6MRrCd9h7g[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppTrbP94r94[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vryHULW61Wo[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCPgcWJ617U[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rchMrbn76W8[/youtube]

[Muffinman]

Not sure if I should post here or on FootbagFront now.
I had my first session in over a month -- really frustrating to consistently lose... consistency because school kills my life. I had one highlight that I remember: reverse mullet > bedwetter both sides (flipside (for both tricks) first try!). Really not much else... couldn't link for the life of me. It probably didn't help that I've been pulling a series of all-nighters and had zero hours of sleep. Finishing up an essay and presentation now at 4 AM for tomorrow.

Kinda concerned about Worlds. I was almost in shape and then school kicked my ass.
Still not sure if I will be able to make it.
Happy Canada Day.

[mtoolan]

It's discouraging to feel like you're starting over again. Keep your chin up, man. It'd be cool to see you at worlds.

[Muffinman]

Finishing up my last papers of the term.
I haven't played in...a month? But I just picked up a bag in barefeet and did something like this: toe stall > forehead stall > other toe stall > forehead stall > other toe stall > same sole stall > dragged to flapper position > op toe stall > same sole stall > dragged to flapper position > op toe stall > forehead stall > op toe stall > forehead stall > op toe stall > op knee stall > thigh-bash thing > same toe stall > op knee stall > thigh-bash thing > same toe stall > back of neck stall > blind pincher > drop on same pickup attempt

I'm really bad at weird stuff like that, so halfway through I was, like, "How have I not dropped??" Felt good.


So in other news, I just have one paper left to write for the term, and then after Worlds I have to give a presentation on a paper that I've already written (but will need to plan a script, make up a PowerPoint). This paper I have left is one I've already presented on... so now that I think about it, I should be able to whip it up in a couple of hours. I'm so bad at procrastinating though, especially with the burnout I'm experiencing as I near the end of the program. One of the last papers I wrote, I didn't START until 3 AM the morning it was due. I'm only getting 80s and 90s in that course, though, so... Haha. Don't know how that's happening.

On the Worlds front, I'm still hoping to go, and Johnny kept texting me saying how I should come. Jenn is coming to London on Tuesday, which gives me tonight and tomorrow night to start and finish this last paper. And then I'm thinking that going to Montreal on Wednesday for 3-ish days would be good. I need to get back to plan that presentation, but I also know that I will kick myself if I miss Worlds. Even though I will be out of shape. On that note, I'm also hoping to play tomorrow, weather permitting. I was all geared up for today, but it began to rain just as I was walking out the door.

Here's a short reflection paper I wrote a couple hours ago as a make-up for missing class for Worlds. It's about what a footbag library or archive would look like: http://hackrifice.com/temp/20130728-931 ... ikChan.pdf

[Muffinman]

I just got back from Worlds. It was really fun.
I'll try to recap some highlights for me before I do any kind of write-up:
-meeting and chilling with Rene (top highlight I think for me, even though I think the only time I saw him play was his routine?)
-nice random acts of kindness like Ivan giving me and Jenn his bed, and Mathieu and Johnny both giving us a place to stay.
-watching Cassy win Worlds
-Felix introducing himself to me
-Felix's beatbox show
-watching Evan shred
-fireworks with Chrissy, Camille, Matt, Ianek, and Ken
-Johnny buying me beer and hanging out

Some of my shred highlights:
-stepping whip x3 > blurry whip x3 [repeat] (first and only try)
-spinning ducking clipper x10 > reverse montage rolled off
-reverse whirlygig > spinning whip [repeat] midstring in a run that opened with something like bedwetter BSOS and reverse whirl war 2)
-a run with fog > dimwalk [repeat] and blurriest > blurry whip > blurry whip > blurriest? Or something
-alpine reverse whirlygig

Most of my runs were just this kind of stuff.
Really short bursts of some stuff I was happy with, but barely any decent runs. I blame that half on not having played in a long time, or regularly, but also on my sucky consistency -- I'm hoping to improve on both of these ASAP, although the oncoming winter will prove a challenge.

I'll do a bit more of a more thorough write-up later just more specifics on things that I enjoyed about my trip. It was really fun, but I'm glad to be home.

[Muffinman]

Another highlight I had was blurry whip > bling blang BSOS, first try to open a run.
And then a little later blurry whip > bling bang [repeat] first try to open a run.
I don't think I'd ever done that before.
More:
-Lots of reverse reactors
-blurry reverse whipping swirl (first try?)


Tuesday
So, my trip to Worlds was planned reeaallly last minute. I finished my last paper on Tuesday at, like, 7 AM, or something and then went to sleep. I woke up and went to pick up Jenn from the Greyhound and we came back home. And then we kind of talked back and forth about going. Johnny kept texting me since Saturday-ish, asking when I was coming and what my plans were and stuff. I think if he hadn't been so insistent I would have just not bothered coming, so I'm glad he was. So we agreed at, like, 9 PM to buy tickets for 8 AM the next morning. I spent a couple hours sorting some laundry I washed the other night so that I could pack properly. I also went out and bought a bag since I don't really have a backpack or anything other than a suitcase for traveling. That turned out to be a really good decision. At this point I was also Facebooking back and forth with Nate Pipenberg and Nick Polini about staying at their apartment, which was probably the singular thing that allowed me to get to Worlds, without which I probably would have just given up, so a big thanks to them and the rest of the housemates (Matt Kemmer, Doug Tank, Ivan I, Drew Martin, Mike Toolan -- I think that's it?) And one other thing before I went to bed was make some weak maps and directions on post-its for getting places. I was kinda worried about navigating Montreal solo, but it turned out that the Greyhound depot was, like, 3 blocks from the event site, so that was super handy too. Things really fell together for me in retrospect.


Wednesday
We woke up and bussed to the Greyhound and then I basically slept for 12 hours off and on for the bus ride. I'm lucky I didn't get car sick, 'cause I do really easily. We got to Montreal at about 8:30 PM and were headed to the event site when Nate messaged us saying everyone was at the UQAM dorms, so we changed directions and headed there. I don't think we actually ended up finding it (though we were close), and sat down to figure it out when Cassy texted me saying that everyone was at the event site where we just practically came from for the video contest. I was kind of excited since I'd never seen a video contest before! We got there and met some people -- Caroline was the first I think, then we met Nick Polini, I think? and Mike Toolan and Nate? And then Ken came running up to me to say hi. So we all went up to see the thing? I think I'm forgetting some transitional stuffs, but we went up and Aleksi's video was playing? And then there was one or two more. I don't know how many videos I'd missed, but I knew I didn't get to see Rene's which I was excited for. Jenn, Ken, and I were just standing behind people sitting down to watch, since we came in late? At some point during the video screenings, Adam Greenwood turned around and we spotted each other and then other Canadians turned around and waved. And then after the contest a whole flock of people came just to say hi, which was really, really nice. It felt good to have such a nice, warm greeting! That was probably one of the overall highlights of the whole trip too

Then, after, I had no idea what was happening, but Matt Kemmer offered us a ride back to the apartment, on account of his twisted ankle? We didn't know at this point how far it was, so we declined and decided to hang a bit, but then quickly changed our minds due to travel fatigue, but it was too late. So we ended up walking with people to the dorms and hanging out a little. We played a little Pass the Pigs, but I had forgotten how to play, so it felt kinda random not knowing what each pig position was worth. I kinda got the hang of it after a bit, but Jenn wasn't feeling well, so my attention was distracted. Rory tried to bounce a ping pong ball off the 2-story windows up to the second floor of the dorm room "balcony," but it fell out the window in slow motion. Then Kat gave us incredible directions for how to take the subway to the apartment. I'm always scared of traveling alone in a new city, and I'm not too used to subways, but I managed it without as hitch, so huge thanks to her. We ended up taking the subway many times during the week and I felt like I could get anywhere in the city after a couple trips on different lines. We got back and just chilled with Matt, Ivan, and Nick. We kind of had to go to bed early every night because of medicine Jenn's on, but Ivan was super nice and offered us his bed, when we had planned to sleep on the floor with only a sleeping bag. That really made a huge difference for the whole week and even moreso that the apartment had fans and air conditioning when the dorms were stifling -- I don't think I would have been able to sleep there. Hania had offered us her floor there too, which was really nice. And Mathieu GM offered us floor at his place. But I'm glad that we ended up where we did.


Thursday
This was basically my first day of Worlds. It was super disappointing.
The only competition for this day was sick three and shred 30? About 15 people scratched simply because nobody showed up, and, like, 7 people actually competed. People had told me that they were going to just sight-see today and not shred at all, so I should have been prepared... We ended up getting a ride with some of our housemates -- Drew, Doug, and Nate? They were all off to do various things. Nate was going to hike Mount Royale with Mathieu, I think? That sounded really fun to me, but Jenn's not into hiking. I figured today would be a good day to do sightseeing as well since it sounded like we would have lots to do with others doing the same, but I also really wanted to play, especially since I hadn't in months and needed to get in a little practice. So they dropped us off at the event site. There were, like, 5 people in the gym for hours. Johnny came shortly after and then disappeared to pick up Camille from.. I don't remember how she got to Montreal. Bus probably? He came back and we sessioned a bit with.. someone else? But I was really out of shape and not feeling the indoor venue. It was really stuffy and I was pouring sweat from doing nothing (moreso than usual) and really wanted to play outside. So I kinda sat out. I wanted to play with James, but we kept playing at different times. We also had on the same outfit -- black shoes, shorts, tanktop, and no hair. We agreed that we should have done a doubles routine.

The competitions were a bit later and the attendance was barely any better. The theme of this and the next day were just absolute...

I don't remember what I was writing because I took a few days off since I wrote that last pseudo-sentence. Maybe I will continue some time, but nothing is coming back to me now that it's been 5 days since I wrote this first chunk? I had a big presentation to prepare for and then some stressful stuff the following day too, with little sleep. And then I just relaxed for a couple of days.
Anyway on Sunday Jenn and I are going to Toronto for a while. We're having a FAT jam with the extended crew and I'm really looking forward to it, even though I won't be able to play. I somehow pulled my achilles tendon either during or right after Worlds. I didn't notice it until I was at home a day or so later, but it kind of feels like it might keep me off my feet for a while
Anyway, that's all for now.
I hope to make a video of the Sunday jam. It should be good.

[Muffinman]

K, wait. Let me try again.
So, this is what I'd posted shortly after the events:

Felix won sick 3 with something like alpine legbeater > pogo symp twirl > gyro food processor. Johnny hit his safety first try and then footed fury > alpine legbeater > nuclear ducking whirl. Honza hit leviathan > blurry torquescrew > food processor? Jindra hit pixie paradon swirl > mullet > gravedigger?

I'm not a super fan of Shred 30, but I think I heard Steve announce that whatever the winning run was broke the high score record? 264? I dunno. I don't follow that.

Oh, right, so I think I said I played with Johnny a bit but then felt sucky? But then I eventually joined up with some other circles briefly before Sick 3 and then in between, with the 30 minutes before Shred 30. I remember a fun circle with Adam, though I don't remember which day that was -- it was with Greg and.. I'm not sure. I'm confusing my circles. There was one weird moment where Jenn came back from wandering the city and came up and asked me something, and I turned around for 5 seconds before the circle dissipated. After I turned around, I went to just sit down and noticed that my circle had just migrated, like, 5 metres away. That was super weird.

Umm... So I THINK this was the night that Felix was having his show? No? Maybe that was Friday? Geez. Well, regardless, I'll recap it. I don't remember whom I walked with or how it happened, but when we got there our group had separated or something, because it was just me, Johnny, Felix, and Jenn. I was too shy to talk to Felix, so I never did. We went in and Johnny bought me a beer and I think we just sat down and talked about his work for a while, which was nice to kind of learn more about him, although we'd talked about it before. Then.. eventually the bar got packed with footbaggers in anticipation. I think... Drew ended up sitting at the table and we talked a bunch. He's cool. I felt I connected better with him than most -- and I don't connect with people or communicate very well. And Derrick was also at the table, but I had more awkward moments with him. He was cool to chill with though. We had a fun circle on one of the later nights. Johnny bought me another beer later too. I think a combination of my Asian intolerance and maybe not having eaten all day made me drunk really fast and that was a fun kind of buzz until I went to bed a few hours later. I had trouble walking straight.

Anyway, Felix's show was really cool. Drew was explaining how he and the band were playing off each other, but I kind of felt like it would have been better to hear more of his solo stuff. It was still cool though. Something about a room packed with footbaggers made me feel more comfortable in a bar. Anyway, at some point we lost our seats and.. Jenn wanted to go I think? Or I wanted air? So we went outside and had a nice chat with Waylon who was just hanging out outside too. And we decided we'd go back to the apartment. I went to get the key from.. Nate, and I was super proud that I was able to navigate and transfer subway lines while drunk. Hmm. I think we were really hungry too, but it was, like, midnight by this point. We wandered the streets near the apartment to find anything open. I eventually spotted this super sketchy convenience store with only dusty cans of stuff that were undoubtedly mostly expired. We got a couple of cans of lentils or chickpeas or something that didn't require a can opener. And we went back after getting lost too -- like an hour walking, which should have been 15-20 minutes? That was pretty much it I think? I think maybe Ivan was there when we got back, but we just went to bed pretty much after showers.


Friday
I don't know what happened. I think we got a ride to the event site again -- with Drew again? Blerg. Oh, wait. This was the day of finals, which were to start at, like, 7-ish. Riight. Okay, so we got there around 4 or so, and the flipping gym was empty. Steve and Felix were there planning something? And Ben Benulis and Matt Churney were there. Where the fuck is the footbag?? We went and got sushi because... what else was there to do? And came back. Still nobody. Matt and Ben were talking about how a film crew was going to come do a thing for the news on Worlds. Ben told Felix, and Felix was, like, "I don't want to do that." And he asked me, and I just wasn't prepared for that or in the mood since I was really disappointed and felt let down with Worlds. Jenn and I went to watch some net a little. Then we got bored really quick. I don't know what happened. Maybe hours later people started playing. Like... maybe within an hour before comps? Ugh. Like I can understand competitors saving their legs, but... where was Worlds?? Frustrating

Anyway, Women's routines went first. Cassy owned and I think it maybe caused hania to choke a bit. I felt bad, but at the same time when I saw Hania's second drop, I knew Cassy had won it. The video's been out, so I don't have to explain how close it was to dropless. Then men's happened. I felt that Jindra should have won. I guess some comments that it was too much just shred are valid, and I'm unfamiliar with routines too, but... it was dropless. And it had more tough tricks, didn't it? I don't know. I haven't really watched the videos, but at the time, in person, it felt like it was no question when Honza dropped.

There was very little flipping shred after that. Like I watched Aleksi, Rene, Honza, and someone else shred a little, but then they left shortly? And then there were like 2-3 circles? At Worlds. Finals day. I jumped around a little, but for a good chunk of the night I was in a circle with Rory and Derrick and Kuba, and that was pretty fun. Rory is so chill and laid back, but he averages 50 contact runs consistently. Like never a 20-contacter or less. Just every run amazing. I averaged like 4 tricks? It was fun though. Derrick and I were kind of just playing with short bursty combos, which was fun -- especially at the point where I just gave up on runs -- around the time when I did the consecutive spinning ducking clippers and things like that.

The gym closed at 11 and we played right up until that point. Rory and I were the last men standing. I ended on reverse mullet x2. My legs were so sore for days after that. Didn't really give myself a chance to stretch after, as we were kicked out. We kinda chilled outside with Matt Kemmer, Nick, Ivan, Nate and some others. Nick showed me a bag he stitched and I didn't see it in the dark, but when light happened to shine on it, I saw that it had eyes and.. wings and stuff. He said it was modeled on a specific species of bird. Really rad. Oh, 'cause I'd just given Ivan a bag I made years ago for him giving us his bed. I must have mentioned that before. I really liked that bag, and it was the one I was planning on working in next as I'm running out of bags altogether! But it was just a really nice gesture of him and it really made the week more bearable (it was REALLY hot and the UQAM dorms would have been too hot for me to sleep in). On Saturday night I also ended up giving Johnny the last bag I'd ever made, which was also going to be a next bag I would work in, but again I felt this was a better use of them and figured I would just have to spend some of my summer making myself enough bags to last for a good while anyway. He seemed really pleased, which also made it worth it. Right, 'cause he offered to put us up for the night before we left. Mathieu GM had offered, but I didn't know where his place was, and I knew Johnny's was a block from the Greyhound -- perfect. So I took him up on that.

Anyway. So... Then I think we subwayed back again. Right... Jenn and I were going to get poutine and maybe meet the housemates at the dorms because they were thinking of going back to sleep also, but we only had one key amongst all of us, so we were trying to coordinate. Jenn somehow got one key off of Doug Tank somewhere? At the club? Right, she had gone there while I was shredding and we were going to meet after. So anyway, we went to get poutine to go and were going to meet them at the res. It turned out that they were going to go to the club after all. I don't think it was this night, but one night we chilled there for a bit at 213, or whatever? And played some Pass the Pigs with Waylon, Ben, Rory, Kat, me, Jenn, and Rory's mom (Donna?). Oh, I think I did mention that before? I dunno. Whichever that night was, I had gone to ask Nate for a key and directions, and while I was talking to him, Rene had come up and was standing there waiting to introduce himself to me, which was so cool. I really enjoyed meeting him and spending time with him. He's so chill and just an amazing player, and I think we have a lot in common too. I kept asking him if he was going to join in things, like, hiking, or fireworks, or sightseeing, and to everything he said, "I don't enjoy those things." I thought that was funny. Oh, I think it was the other night walking to the Felix show that I was chatting with him and I was asking about his PhD and stuff. At one point I asked him if he watched Big Bang Theory, and he was, like, "I've seen every episode." And then, based on what he was telling me about his theoretical work and just working on formulas all day long, I asked if he had a board like Sheldon? And regailed about the one Eye of the Tiger episode. He was, like, "Yeah." And it was great.

So anyway, I think Jenn and I hung around a little and then we went to get our subway with out poutine. It was super busy, I guess because of Osheaga? But we sat on the floor in the subway station, waiting for our train, eating poutine. And then the same deal on the train. It was delicious. Jenn has been avoiding dairy, so we got it without cheese and I kept making fun of her saying that it isn't poutine any more. Still yummy though. I think more meat and onions than fries! It's making me hungry thinking about it. We got back and went to sleep again. Every single night we kept meaning to watch Evil Dead, but she's on meds that make her have to go to bed not too late and get lots of sleep, so that was a thing.


Saturday
This was kind of our designated no-footbag day. And I kinda felt, like, "Well fuck it anyway -- there's no footbag to be had!" Johnny wanted to sightsee with us, and Ken had highly recommended the Botanical Gardens, which I Googled and was impressed with! Jenn agreed the steep price was worth it -- Ken said $22, which felt like a lot. We got to Johnny's later, keeping him up to date, and when we looked it up, it was $30 each. Johnny and Jenn both kinda lost interest. Oh yeah, also, Drew droev us that morning to the event site. It was supposed to bet net finals at noon or something? We got there and the buliding was mostly locked and there was not a single person there, freestyle or net. Jindra was laying outside having a nap or something. We hung out for a while while I tried to coordinate with Johnny. Eventually Drew and Jindra went off to the dorms and after hanging around and texting Mat and Johnny, we got directions and walked to Johnny's place. We hung with Johnny and Camille for a bit and then we went our separate ways since we decided we would still do some kind of sightseeing and they wanted footbag.

We got lunch at Subway and did some research for sightseeing. Jenn seemed bored by all of it. I think the footbag-nature of the trip really turned her off. We ended up kind of just wandering the streets and ended up at some cathedral where a ton of sightseers were paying $5 to look around. We joined and it finally felt kind of like successful sightseeing. We also did some window shopping and stuff. Eventually I wanted to kind of go watch some shred. We saw Roy walking in the direction of the cathedral on our walk to Place Des Arts, and he confirmed that they were still shredding there. And we said our goodbyes since I didn't think I'd see him again, which was accurate, I think? We went back and watched a little and it started to rain almost as soon as we got there. Evan was ripping, but it was still kinda really laid back shred for everyone else and it was building on the disappointment -- it was tough to even WATCH any shred at Worlds. Cassy kept ripping, though, whenever I saw her. She hit feral both sides the other day and this day.. she hit something new too.. but I don't remember what now. Chatted a bit more with Rene here too.

After watching a bit, we wandered off to get food before net finals. We also saw some aboriginal culture street festival thing, which seemed kinda neat. We got sushia again I think and went back. Jenn went off on her own again and I watched the SUPER INTENSE 3 net final matches between Montreal and Germany. There was a point where it was tied 3-3 for, like, 15 minutes in the second match. I watched with Mike Toolan, Mat, Evan, and Cassy. That was was too. After that... there was the BAP inductions which I posted about too. I didn't explain Jindra's name though. What Honza said was that since Jindra's two favourite things are footbag and Led Zeppelin, they felt that was the most appropriate name. We also misheard Rene's name as "The Glider" and we didn't get it. And we were disappointed that Johnny wasn't "Superman." When we heard that Rene was actually the Collider it made so much more sense, and I really dig that name. But I'm not fond of the other two. I was telling someone that I miss the days when BAP names were all like, "The Executioner," "The Regulator," "The Enlightener"... Collider really fits -- and we liked it's complimenting nature with Accelerator.

Hmm.
So then freestylers went for burritos. Waylon, Chris Dean, and I tagged along without hunger, and I felt pretty awkward and exceptionally incapable of socializing. It was nice to be around people I like though, regardless. I felt more comfortable around Waylon and Mat too.

Aftward, we were walking to the dorms again. That's when I gave Johnny the bag. And Camille gave me the remnants of a 2-litre jug of juice that I felt obligated to drink. We got back and just hung out, and I met Jenn there. And then I saw Rene pull out Carcassonne, a board game that Jenn and I, and my family, play a lot of. Him and some others were talking about how they didn't know how to play, but "let's figure it out." And I went up and said I have it and could show them. I think that was one of my favourite moments at Worlds, just playing that and explaining it to Rene, Drew, and Dante. It was an easy way to sociable and have things to talk about. Then Jenn got sick from the smoke and had to leave and I left too after finishing up the game. Ken did his goodbye rounds before that though, which was sad. Ken gives off a super homey vibe. Like you just feel awesome around him. And i went to find Jenn and then we decided to go back to Johnny's for the night (and attempt to watch our movie -- which, again, didn't happen). We went to say our round of goodbyes, which if it wasn't for her would have been more like sneaking out without anyone noticing. As it was I limited it a lot because I'm terrible at goodbyes anyway. But I got some good ones regardless. We also met Ken again on the street walking to Johnny's and had supplementary goodbyes, group hugging in the middle of the street in a crosswalk. Then we also saw Seb on the walk, and said goodbye, though I've never feltmuch connected to him. I was a bit high on positive social interaction, though, so was really vocal in my goodbye. And then we saw Johnny and Camille walking toward us, had just because group hugs, got the key and went back to wash up and pack before bed.

That was pretty much it.
Apologies for the lack of anything to do with footbag.. but, that seemed to be the theme of Worlds this year, having missed the first half of the week anyway... It was still a great trip and I really enjoyed it a lot. I want to make next year regardless of where it is. I will hopefully be able to be in shredding shape by then, and will not be confined by school or anything -- also, hopefully making a reasonable income.

[Cass]

I too was kind of disappointed in the lack of shred at WORLDS! Craziness..

I managed to played more than almost everyone and still win so clearly there is no excuse for this

See you Sunday woooo!

[Muffinman]

I'm glad you had fun at Worlds regardless!
Worlds is usually way better, with way more people and way more footbag.


The jam on Sunday was fun, even though I didn't play. I filmed a bit. Cassy hit ripstein BSOS first time on camera. I'll put something together when I get back to London, either from just that session or with footage from her birthday jam on Saturday if I still can't play. I did some shopping and lots of walking yesterday and Jenn made me run to catch a train instead of waiting an hour for the next one, so I decided to stay in bed and eat lots of anti-inflammatories today. I think I'll do this tomorrow and Friday too, hoping to heal up for shred on Saturday.

School ended for the term last week and all I wanted to do was get good at footbag over my break every second day, but then, blam, pulled my achilles somehow Not even from footbag, I don't think. I did ice and rest for the first couple days, but now I really want to take it easy. I drew today for the first time in like a year and I also traced and cut out almost all panels for 7 bags that I've planned based on favourite colour combos I've made in the past. It's been a while, and I didn't bring filler, so I'll stitch this up back in London too.

Cassy also hit reactor at my request on her second-ish try? She hit flip fairy same DLO. She made them look sooo easy. It seemed like a triple dex day for her from a bystander's perspective. Her fairies were looking really cake and so were her double downs. Adam was also busting, but a lot of her better stuff was before I got my camera going. I requested blurry drifter > tombstone [repeat]. He said he hadn't hit it before, but gave it a try, and BSOSed blurry > tomb with smoke BSOS too or something? I dunno, that run was on video though. Tom also played a bit and his form is still stellar -- I'm excited if he gets back into it. It was also nice to see Marni. And her cute half-Asian friend. Oh, also Johnny and Mike, who were great to see and hang with, but they left, like, almost immediately, it felt like

[F[uns]tylin' Eclectic]

Bummer you got injured already :/ That really sucks man. I hope it heals up sooner than later. Wanted to stop in and say it was awesome meeting you at Worlds this year, I just wish we got to talk more and kick more. Your style will always rip. luh dat shit.

Take care!

[Muffinman]

Thanks for the condolences. It was nice meeting you too.
My heel hasn't improved, like, at all.
I'm opting out of my school health plan to save some money, but physio today cost me $80. It was definitely worth it and I asked for as much info as possible since I won't be going back (probably). The exercises that the therapist gave me are pretty close to what I was kind of doing on my own anyway, but she gave some good insights. I'm just supposed to stretch and strengthen my calves a ton because they are "wicked tight" apparently. She said that probably the most important thing is that I ice for 10 minutes multiple times per day. I had been icing initially, but apparently for too long. She said that icing beyond 10 minutes makes my body send more blood to the area, counter-acting what I'm trying to accomplish by reducing the swelling. She also said to continue to take ibuprofen as needed, but not necessarily every 4 hours -- just when I think I will need it, so when I get home from school, or maybe in anticipation of walking to and from bus stops. She also said to not stay bed-ridden. One thing I forgot to ask was if it's okay to be doing the 10 minutes of yoga I've started up since I can't do any other form of exercise really. I hope it's cool...

She felt me up good and it was weird because there was no pain, but she had me do some things and she seemed pretty competent. She and the previous doctor noted that my achilles is very exposed -- like, you can see it in plain sight, it isn't hidden beneath layers of muscle or anything. She also noticed my clipper flexibility and was curious about why my ankle had such great range of motion inward, but not outward. She decided that that was a significant contributor to the injury and has taped it up for a few days to limit mobility. I voiced my concern that the flexibility is very crucial for my "dance" (I didn't say the word footbag once) and she assured me that it would be okay for the long term, but that I probably won't be playing for 6-8 weeks.

So I've got calf raises on stairs (I said I usually do them on the edge of the bathtub and she got all, like, "That's dangerous!," but accepted the fact, and calf stretches against the wall. I'm dying to play. Alex Venis from FAT moved into town for a grad program too. He stayed with me the other week while looking for a place to live and we've run into each other a few times on campus so far, so I'm hoping to get gym shred going in the winter! But... I'm just so sad that I'm missing all of this incredible fall-esque weather at the end of summer One thing that I really wanted to do this summer was film a video of me running shredding around campus. And that's not going to happen now I had done one at U of T a year ago but never put the video together 'cause my desktop can't handle HD video and because the footage was kinda disappointing, since it was before I had the GoPro viewfinder. Maybe I'll slap that together some time, but putting the effort into editing something that was filmed so badly is what turned me off before. Bloop boop.



My house is filled with fruit flies.
I hear apple cider vinegar will help.

I have a problem with Souls games (Demon's and Dark) -- too addicted. Sign-up for Dark Souls 2 closed beta opened today, but only for Europe. It would be great to be chosen. All I have played all year is the same two games over and over. I came back to Demon's Souls for some challenges. I beat a soul level 1 play-through and I've been hacking away at about a 3/4 of a play-through per day on NG+7. I only have 1.25-ish playthroughs left and then I hope I will be able to stop playing these addictive games for a while. On the current playthrough I only have 5 bosses left and I haven't even died yet. I've platinumed both games, beaten SL1 playthroughs in both, and multiple different builds in each, like strength, dex, and magic. I beat NG+7 in Dark Souls, and a bunch of other things, including halfway through on both fist weapon-only and bow-only playthroughs, and, like, a full Havel's ninja flip build. I think my last playthrough was a faith build with a polearm. I've probably beat Dark Souls with 20 different builds, many of which went far into NG+ or further (a few are maybe even in NG+2 in addition to my NG+7). This game consumes my life some times. Not sure how I will be able to handle an MMO when Elder Scrolls Online comes out. I've never really played one before, so I'm scared. I used to play Ragnarok Online many years ago, and it was mostly with footbaggers too, like Chris Pinkus. We had a Ripped Warriors guild



EDIT: Oh yeah, the physiotherapist also asked me to straighten my legs all the way when I was laying with my back on the bed, saying that I should get the backs of my knees to touch the bed, and I said I can't. And she said she'd never seen that before. I told her about how I used to get in trouble in high school because the gym teacher thought I was cheating when they wouldn't touch on the toe-touching stretches and he tried to push them down beyond their natural limit.