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mc · Post by mc » 18 Aug 2006 15:09

I also hit a new move during work that I forgot about earlier - swirling dyno both sides. only took a few tries on each side.

Just had a session, for a little over an hour. It was tiring. I worked on fear > smear > atom smasher repeat for most of the session, but I could only get 5 of the 6 moves, and my strong side fairy set was being really problematic. Almost got vortex > vortex. Didn't try it enough. I guess I should have gone for longer. Oh well. I'll get both of those soon.

Something you learn after a while is that you've just got to muscle through those bad sessions. it was a good workout anyway. I'm feeling pretty motivated after feeling good about some of my shred in Portland, and making it to 2nd round in circle shred.

I am glad to have hit some new moves today, one of them possibly being an invention.

zeroman13 · Post by **zeroman13** » 18 Aug 2006 16:42

Sounds like you had a good time in Portland!

Props on vortex > vortex, and that kool repeat combo!

I've been trying to get smear > fear and fear > smear but I just can't do it, yet.

It sounds like your bags are coming out really good! When are we gonna be able to see some of them?

mc · Post by mc » 18 Aug 2006 20:14

heh, it's gonna be a while before those props are valid, buddy. I was close to both those things, but didn't hit either. but, it was my second session for the day, and I wasn't as strong. gotta eat more.

as for bags, when I get my camera back from portland, I'll take some pictures.

matt

Wasabi · Post by **Wasabi** » 19 Aug 2006 09:28

Matt Cross wrote:ripstein ending on frigid gyro toe, barefoot!

I nearly collapsed out of my chair and laughed hysterically!

Thanks for making my day, Matt! SICK!

scott behmer · Post by **scott behmer** » 20 Aug 2006 22:48

nice to meet you in portland man. i like the bag i got from you a lot so far.

mc · Post by mc » 22 Aug 2006 15:33

just had my first fred shred session after work today, played in the gazebo in the park in the middle of town. Wasn't shredding too hard. However, I hit some cool new stuff.

I hit ripwalk ending in dragon and rip starting in dragon on BS. I also hit swirling dragon > blurriest. I did the dragons different than ever before, not on the outside surface, but at my ankle at the cuff of my shoe, which allowed me to step out of it. maybe some might not call that a dragon, but I'd like to see those people step out of an xbd outside stall (JS and NL are not allowed to discuss this

).

No, seriously, I do want to know what y'all think. I'm still going to do these moves in this style, because I cannot do it the other way (or at least I'm REALLY far from it).

I also did pendulum> same cloud stall > tootsie roll osis BS.

the coolest thing, though, is that I was working on butterfly ending in monster. I didn't hit it, but here's the cool part. I JUST started talking to Jorden on MSN, and he said he had a dream about that concept today, and after a little figuring out, we determined that jorden dreamed about the concept while I was here in fredonia doing it and thinking about him, because it's such a jorden kind of thing. How mind-blowing... Definitely a fun little highlight of the day.

drinkin' time! still homeless! 1 more night!!

sidekick · Post by **sidekick** » 22 Aug 2006 15:51

Direct quote from me, from a special PM to my man, Matt Cross:

======================================================================================================
OMG! I used the #30 bag last night for my first session back after the US open (well the first solo session, which is where I do all my good stuff ) and I must say...

HOLY SHIT!

that bag is so sweet! At first I was a bit concerned about the roll factor, it felt like the bag would have some roll because of the tight stitching, but after my hour sesh, I realized I dropped more from being tired than from roll-off. The bag is awesome for all sorts of sets (I was hitting chest high nuke sets on both sides like butter, and my stepping felt smoother than ever!) and every move got smoother the more I used the bag. I'll definitly be buying more bags form you in the future Matt, you're one of the best stitches, with the best bags, and some of the sickest, most creative shred that I've ever seen. Thanks for everything Mr. Cross

======================================================================================================

Might I add that this bag is only one week old, and hardly used since I bought it from Matt at the US opens. This was my first session with it, and outside of that I haven't used it or kicked it at all, just some minor hand breaking in. I've also heard that his bags are now improving! I've recently tried playing with many differnet bags (abshire mini, abshire mushi, abshire A910, abshire normal, Mirken, Dryden, Zac and Zeb Jackson, Kyle Hewitt, Freedoms, and other random stuff) and obviously matt's bags, so I'm definitly not a n00b

dp · Post by dp » 22 Aug 2006 16:23

Matt Cross wrote:I also hit a new move during work that I forgot about earlier - swirling dyno both sides. only took a few tries on each side.

I didn't notice this before.

I've always thought swirling dyno/blender would be such a sweet move.

Props.

mosher · Post by **mosher** » 22 Aug 2006 16:42

Hey Matt!

Glad life is treating you well, you deserve it.

See you sometime soon I hope!

Come to kingston? I believe you are overdue for a visit.

mc · Post by mc » 22 Aug 2006 21:45

oh yeah, I also hit high plains drifter, jorden style (muted barraging clipper). I always forget stuff. Sometimes people tell me about cool stuff they've seen me hit, and I don't remember at all.

regarding swirling dyno / blender, they're both awesome moves, takes lots of finesse. I remember once discussing swirling dyno with zach hoffa, and it seemed impossible as I visualized it, but now that my swirling set is a little more solid, it just feels like to different components that I have solid that I just put together. also, to all you shredders out there, I feel that anyone who can do ripstein can do swirling set. It would be cool to see others trying swirling / burly (swirling gyro) set.

my friends like #37. I am having fun in fredonia. To tom, I'll be up asap. I have big plans for kickass 2 (or at least for the part where I'm playing music). Life is good. new songs are fun.

To nick, thanks for the huge props. I'm going to quote you in my stitcher contact info listing

I'm glad you liked that bag, I knew it would bust some good tricks. I've been waiting to hear about it, so i appreciated the surprise.

back to partying...

habitat · Post by **habitat** » 22 Aug 2006 21:59

Whenever I get this damn video uploaded, you will see my present to you.

mosher · Post by **mosher** » 23 Aug 2006 04:32

Oh and and regarding your dragon question.

Ive been trying to learn dragons lately too, I find that the majority of mine wind up like yours (on the shoe/ankle edge). I am tending to not consider these real dragons anymore, but I don't consider them just nothing. They are something after all!

And I agree, that stall spot is alot easier to play into and out of, but I can't sleep well at night if I call them dragons.

Regarding KICKASS2, I am STOKED for whatever you have planned.

On saturday night we will have some performances and shit, you can be a performalizer.

mc · Post by mc » 23 Aug 2006 11:20

WOW, a few posts up, james refers to a present to me, and he wasn't kidding! he made the last 3rd of his first US open video a Matt Cross special!! with lots of weirdness and some okay strings. and he used a song I made!!! HOW AWESOME! thanks james!

I'm going to put some work in on #38. It's long since owed to Noah Zilberberg. Then I have to make one for Josh Lewis, then Will Digges, then Rob Fuller! It's nice having orders. Now I've just got to fill them!! at least I have a home now, and a job. now we just need to get hot water in the house so I can start shaving my face again and showering comfortably and life will be good. My room is pretty sweet. It's all windows, it's going to be great in the fall and spring. winter (the majority of my time here) is going to be a concern, but at least I have a thermostat in my room.

okay, STITCH!!! wish I had computer speaker!

sidekick · Post by **sidekick** » 23 Aug 2006 15:45

WOW! I missed that dragon stuff... it sounds frieking awesome! I don't care where a dragon set is stalled, IMO it's what you do after you stall it. I think if people do the stall x-body but then kinda drag it behind them so that it looks kind "the". I say major props to anyone who can step out of a dragon, and even more props to those who can hit blurriest to a dragon!

Wasabi · Post by **Wasabi** » 23 Aug 2006 19:39

Wow, that Matt Cross special definitely sounds cool. Definite props for swirling dyno/swirling sets in general!

Happy to hear that you're enjoying stitching again. I kind of lost count on how many bags I've made because of Funtastiks and NYFA orders. I wish I had numbered my bags like you do.

Anyway, less hijacking Matt's blog and more stitching for me.

mc · Post by mc » 25 Aug 2006 21:34

thanks nick! you're the man. I'm so glad to have your approval on my outside of the ankle stall. I can step from it one side easily, and the other side with just a few tries! I'll get that flipwalk soon and join the short list!

Waylon, hijack away. I love to get posts in my blog.

Played today at the park for the Fredonia Farmer's Festival. a bunch of skate kids sat around and watched and talked about footbag and kicked some, and I showed them swirling mobius after a few tries, and also a few decent strings and whatnot. Not sure if any of them will be players, but they thought it was cool. Then I had a beer at the bar with my sweaty shorts on, but I sat on their patio alone and drank it, so it wasn't a bother. Fun session, played okay. hit whirlwind both sides easily, and did some of my best two bag juggling yet. Flipside is still worse.

I want to get into hula hooping. I met a really cool girl who does it, and says that some people do it on fire, and I could see that being really powerful and awesome looking, and would also put some work on my arms. She didn't just do the basic looping, she also did spins, and she could grab it with her hands and bring it over her head in one rotation, super styley. I want to figure out ways to switch direction and do it on the flip, and switch midstring. I totally see it like footbag, hula hooping is awesome

Wasabi · Post by **Wasabi** » 28 Aug 2006 20:30

Do I see Matt doing a flaming hula hoop presentation at next year's GRASS? East Coast? That would be so fantastic, it's Matt-tastic.

Going down to Funtastiks '06?

mc · Post by mc » 29 Aug 2006 07:53

WOW, lots to write in here....

It all started on Saturday night. I bought a bunch of beer and drove to buffalo to party with my two younger brothers. I brought 3 growlers of strong beer from the local brewpub, 1 for each of us. The youngest brother didn't finish his, but strong, flavorful beer isn't really his thing. Then we played beer pong until I threw up on his bathroom wall a-la-funtastik last year, but this year I cleaned up after myself, so I was proud of that. I drank a bunch of water, and the hangover wasn't bad at all. I hit the road for rochester so I could make the session at 2 o'clock.

After getting off the thruway, I stopped in at the local grocery to get myself some pre-shred breakfast. I picked out some nice fruit, a croissant, and vitamin water, got in line to check out, opened my wallet and discovered that there was not ~$200 that I expected to see.

Robbery.

Robbery!

My brother's roommate had mentioned that he had been awakened by someone in the room at 5:30 AM. He left as soon as bob woke up, but not before jacking my cash.

So, I had to leave the breakfast behind. I had no credit card (as I had lost it a few days prior; a stroke of luck in this case), no nothing... I drove over to RIT and fanangled a cup of coffee from the java's employee, and warmed up with some shred.

My anger fueled a pretty sharp, strong style from me that day. I hit vortex BSOS in one of my very first runs of the day, and again on the next try. I was determined not to let the loss of my money get me down, though, and it ended up being a great day.

Everyone showed up pretty soon after I got there. Mike Anello, Chris Dean, Aric McIntosh, Paul Agostinelli, and Ben Rea got the shred going at around 2 PM. The weather was perfect and mild for shred. There were some bees bothering us, but I smashed one good, and they didn't come around much after that.

After we'd played a bit and warmed up, some kids showed up and asked if they could play, and we looked down, and what did we see but lavers!!! modified! There are freestylers in rochester that we didn't know about!! Very exciting indeed. They didn't all have lavers, but the ones who didn't expressed some interest. I vaguely remember meeting them at GRASS this past year, but I didn't remember them at the time.

So, we had a big old RFA session, one of the best in a while. Everyone was busting and hitting great moves. Mike Anello's style is stronger than I've ever seen it, with more fluidity, variety, and string length than ever before. Chris and Aric said they haven't been playing as much for various reasons, but Aric still managed to somehow hit alpine smog midstring, and Chris laid down the hard shuffle he's known for. Paul was breaking out the Clima I's for the first time. His Neo set was looking cleaner than I'd seen it before, and he had some good strings (and a little cutie in tow

woo woo!). Ben Rea was hitting some new stuff since I last saw him. Once he solidifies his basics, he's going to be awesome. I did ass stall a few times, some more dragon stepping (almost every try!), and a few strong strings. The coffee only lasted me about 90 minutes, though, and my game fell off at the end of the session.

As I was leaving, I made up with Paul and apologized for being judgemental in the past (although, I don't think I used the word "judgemental"; I believe it was something more along the lines of "asshole"), and that was good. It's been bothering me that I've been feeling on the outs with someone who's a big part of the footbag scene and my own club, so I'm glad we talked and shook hands.

Then, Mike took me out to dinner for sushi at California Rollin, my favorite rochester restaurant. I love sushi! they hooked me up with a big fat bowl of sashimi (although my sunomono was never brought. No worries; I left stuffed). Then we chilled at mike's house for a while, and I played him and his fiance some of my new songs, and they were very supportive. Thanks guys!

Then, on the drive home, I stopped at a rest station on the thruway and played music for money to help recoup some of my loss, and over 2 or 3 hours, I made $75, so I felt a little better about that. Then, I drove home, and drank beer, and hung out with my housemates.

Despite getting jacked, I still had a great, beautiful day with some of my favorite people. Whoever that was in my brother's room didn't steal my footbags, he didn't steal the footbag session, and he didn't steal Mike Anello, so I was still left with the best stuff, even though I lost a few dollars.

Yesterday, I had a killer session here on campus. It was my 4th day in a row playing, and I was still feeling strong, although little nagging things were starting to bother me, like my hip and right above my knee. I'll be taking today off. But, here's some highlights:

My best swirling vortex (burly drifter) yet, first try at the beginning of the session, shaft BSOS first try ever (don't think I've ever done shaft before), dragon set ripwalk BSOS, blur > tripwalk > blur > dimwalk repeat (got tripped up on blizzard > legbeater > blizzard > fairy butter repeat, that will come soon).

Of equal importance to the shred is that I got contact info from two very interested students in the area! One is a soccer player who had seen soccer freestyle in the past, and thought that freestyle footbag was really sweet. He appreciated the heightened technical facility that you get from such a more usable piece of equipment. He had toe stalls and inside stalls already, and great kicking control. He will be good if he wants to be. The other was a 17 year old from the area who's just starting his freshman year at Fredonia, and thought freestyle was awesome. Hopefully I can get them both into it.

Then I went to work and ate lobster bisque and came home and drank and got frustrated by my lack of internet (I'm in the school library right now).

Flailin', funtastik is not looking like a strong possibility. It will be the first one in 5 years that I've missed.

Anyway, that's my mammoth post. Back to academia. Footbag rules!

slapdash21 · Post by **slapdash21** » 30 Aug 2006 05:33

yeah matt cross, you know.
peace bro,

mc · Post by mc » 30 Aug 2006 09:42

Shit session. taking yesterday off didn't give enough time for full recuperation, and I need some ibuprofen. All I have is acetaminophen (or however you spell it). the only highlight was 10 or 11 contacts of rubberman, my best yet. Right toe fairy sucks. can't get it to go straight, can't get it to feel right. I'll get it back some day. At least I'm getting into all my classes, and meeting lots of cool new people at class. Work later. Also, the weather is incredible. I wish I had some floss. I should go buy some. Then I could stitch.

mc