Steel City Freestyle

Ian Brill · Post by **Ian Brill** » 12 Feb 2009 19:24

Kicked by myself.

Hit far butterfly swirl bs

Three out of four twirls, frozen

lots of swirls on both sides

Successful fairy sets on left side, almost on the right

Weak side blender, 3rd try

Hit some good spins on my left side and made some improvements on the other

My knee is a little sore from trying whirling swirl on my weak swirl side. I was close a few times though.

Clipper set DLO first try. Down time-ish. I was thinking about a sort of whirling simple leg over motion and this is what it turned into. I like it. It allows me to clear the first dex quicker and concentrate on carrying through with the second one.

Ian Brill · Post by **Ian Brill** » 13 Feb 2009 20:41

Kicked with Matt. There is blood all over my sock.
It was a good session.

Matt hit:
fairy op. whirl bsos
bs whirl, first try
lot's of other stuff

I hit:
Toe blur-string
dlo-bf swirl
tripwalk-far bf swirl
twirl- far bf swirl
some more dlo's and a few drifters on my left side
Many spinning clippers on one side looking solid
Really getting there on the other spinning clipper
footed spinning dyno
footed fairy bf twice

Hit a few good strings. A couple seemed to go passed my usual string length into a second full string.

I ground a toe nail into another toe while going for twirl-far bf swirl. When I hit it I sort of already knew I was bleeding. I wasn't gonna give up though. Not after hitting that move out of tripwalk!

A surprisingly good session for me, and a whole lot of fun to kick with Matt again.

Ian Brill · Post by **Ian Brill** » 15 Feb 2009 15:52

Kicked with Matt. Impromptu session. Very busy day.

Matt:
Fairy ss egg
fairy paradon
All kinds of other stuff. I certainly feel like a scientist describing a specimen when I list individual highlights of his. This is because it seems somewhat arbitrary since most of what he does is pretty hardcore and hard to keep up with.

Me:
*Atom-tripwalk. Twice I hit it but the bag fell off of my clipper
*twirl-butterfly-string
*spinning butterflies on both sides (bsos if you count it dropping off of good foot)
*spinning butterfly ducking clipper
*spinning butterfly
*Spinning osis, 4/4, though I did land on my hands for the fourth
*Kicked spinning dyno again
*Ripstein-osis-paradox mirage-drop
*Ripstein- missed the osis
*5 or so ripsteins off of foot
*Made some progress on my left-sided quantum
*Atomic set is getting better on left side
*Ducks are so much better, as I set them higher now. Hit ducking butterfly and ducking PM bsos, same string, first try
*Had at least two long, boppy strings. just for endurance. One had a bit of swirls and ducks in it.

Damn, I am behind in work. Peace.

Ian Brill · Post by **Ian Brill** » 20 Feb 2009 21:19

Today was a good day of footbag for me.

I met some kids kicking and told them about our event and gave out my email and information about the children's museum event.

Then my coworker John came by to put some flyers at the gallery where I worked. Turns out his band
Delicious Pastries is having an all ages show that evening (he is the really tall bald guy with an infallible voice on lots of instruments- no not Billy Corgan). We kicked for a bit. He hit pixie buterfly in Sacony's, completely out of nowhere. Plus some "knee poppers" and some other old school Jimmy-Jive. So much fun. I hit ducking knee popper in return.

After he left I kept kicking by myself in my Sambas, for a break through the work day.

My highlight was 96 and 97, deep, paused, controlled, consecutive toe stalls (still in Sambas). I think the vitamins and water that I have pledged to consume semi regularly are helping. Or maybe it's the focus I have been developing from my long days of work. I don't really know. But I like it. I feel like I am just getting better at a lot of things these days since I have made a conscious effort to be more focused. Finally thinking in terms of modes while playing guitar, etc.

Can't wait to have another session soon. I challenge my self to slow everything down and not bother linking if I haven't sunk a deep stall yet. At least some of the time

Ian Brill · Post by **Ian Brill** » 24 Feb 2009 16:14

Kicked with Matt.

Both spins are better
Hit my best ripstein yet but missed the seal
Got surprisingly close to Spinning clipper-ripstein. (Felt like a rock star 1min)
Downtime eggbeaters on my right side. Close on the other.
Hit a really good string with weak far bf swirl near the end
Twirl-pm-inf-twirl-pm-inf-twirl off of the foot
Hit a really deep tripwalk (right side)
Spinning clipper-pm-tripwalk (left side)-pm
Started off the session hitting torque bsos, first try
Hippy atomics, both sides but few. These take a lot out of me.

Mental note: Left dyno ruined most of my better strings today.

Rieferman · Post by **Rieferman** » 24 Feb 2009 18:34

yo man, cool highlights and updates lately. props on your professional life too. wish i could make the march event, but we'll link up before too long. any chance you'll show up in boston?

tell matt he's a bitch

nah, i don't mean that

Ian Brill · Post by **Ian Brill** » 24 Feb 2009 19:06

Thanks for the props

There is a chance I could make it to Boston, but I think I am going to lay low. The economy is rough, and though I am working my ass off and doing professionally what I should be doing, I am not getting paid much more than I was when I was (getting paid well) in College.

If I keep at what I am doing now and the economy doesn't collapse, I will fly down to "Near Philly" sometime. I'll make sure it's a weekend so that beer is involved

Ian Brill · Post by **Ian Brill** » 24 Feb 2009 19:07

Thanks for the props

There is a chance I could make it to Boston, but I think I am going to lay low. The economy is rough, and though I am working my ass off and doing professionally what I should be doing, I am not getting paid much more than I was when I was (getting paid well) in College.

If I keep at what I am doing now and the economy doesn't collapse, I will fly down to "Near Philly" sometime. I'll make sure it's a weekend so that beer is involved

It is too bad that you won't make it out to Jam though. It seemed like a perfect snare to get you all here.

Ian Brill · Post by **Ian Brill** » 25 Feb 2009 16:31

Kicked again with Matt

Weird session- my worst in recent history. Fatigued

Started out hitting some nice stuff.

Twirl- far bf swirl third try (and third twirl of the day)
Spins on both sides

Then I realized that I could not PM on my left side? My dyno was all screwy from the same clipper still and that stepping set was all gimped-out.

Eventually I hit a string of pm-infinity b2b for a total of around 40 contacts, and things seemed a bit better.

Quantum was useless today. Atomic was on. Yeesh.

Hit Spinning clipper-dyno first try as Matt suggested but could summons the energy to stall the spinning clipper when I tried it on the other side. Totally wack.

I hit zooming something today (probably clipper)

So tired.

Looks like I am flying to Chicago next weekend to work with this artist. Things are pretty cool at the moment, but I am going to have to work pretty hard.

Dinner time.

Ian Brill · Post by **Ian Brill** » 26 Feb 2009 14:25

Kicked today with Matt. Much better session.

Weak side spinning clipper- inf, dyno, and almost far bf swirl
some longish strings with ducks in them
String with both dynos and weak far bf swirl

Having a bit of a crisis day in other regards. Computers, man. Apple. Windows. HAL. You name it.

EDIT:

Day got somewhat better as it went on. Still hectic, but my trip to Chicago will be cake becauses the other assitant did such a good job o his end

Also, I forgot two of my best highlights while rushing to document (every session, man- keeping it consistent!)

* Far bf swirl bsos
* PM- egg beater on three occasions (really happy about this. I need to get egg beater down on my other side now!)
* Spinning clipper-dyno bsos (off of the strong dynos foot)

I am loving footbag again. Kicking three days in a row has helped me get some of my stamina back. I have about 8 or 9 pounds extra on me at moment (some of which may be muscle) that I look forward to shedding by the time of the next jam. In writing. There it is.

I just need to play more footbag and continue doing what I did the other day. I will not kill my self with sets. I will mostly concentrate on downtime double dexes like butterfly swirl, rev. whirling swirl, eggbeater, DLO and work my way up to DOD motions. Ocassional steps and slightly more atomics. Quantums on days that I feel gathered and explosive.

Ian Brill · Post by **Ian Brill** » 01 Mar 2009 14:14

Kicked with Matt. Finally. I was fiending the last two days, even after three days in a row- but, I had work and afterwards was lethargic from staring at computer all day.

I am sick of sitting in front of computers.

I think if I were to play tomorrow it would be a good session. I lose practice in footbag quickly, especially now because I am trying to develop several new habits and dial various tricks.

Also, I ran most of the way to and from shred spot. Felt very good.

Highlights:
*Spinning clipper-repeat
*getting close to weak side eggbeater
*support-foot-set pixies (finally)
*Far butterfly swirl bsos
*Twirl, where I could see the bag on my foot (almost saw the catch)
*Good zooming set, first try
*Ducking butterfly-weak side spinning clipper
*Super close to atom smasher- downtime eggbeater (off the toe) I may have hit this with crispy eggbeater by accident but that is not the same
*Inspinning osis, off the foot second try
*Touched 3 ripsteins, one I just missed the link because I was surprised
*Drifter first try.

I need to hit this combo strong pm ss (weak) simple swirl.
I also need to do it on the other side.

So tired now.

Ian Brill · Post by **Ian Brill** » 03 Mar 2009 14:14

Kicked with Matt. My hat froze.

*Weak side far simple swirl (maybe a new trick)
*Weak twirl with good form
*Tap down
*Nice parkwalks (set with support foot)
*Spinning clipper twice in a string bsos
*Good stepping sets, thanks to Matt Cross advice threadd
*Spinning clipper-far simple swirl
*Kicked 3 or 4 ripsteins, missed the osis on one really nice one

Tired. Cold. Hungry.

mattbeall · Post by **mattbeall** » 12 Mar 2009 05:06

So, D4 and Bouncing Souls last night. I went with some peeps who I immediately abandoned to spend two hours ruling the pit. Haha.

Now I'm sore. But it's all good, because what's better than getting hit in the face while singing doublewhiskeycokenoice with a roomful of strangers? That's right modified, nothing.

In footbag news, I, for one, can't wait to watch Jake attempt to shred on Saturday while being all jet-lagged strung out from Ethiopia. Haha. That's gotta be a good time. I bet he still looks twice as stylely as me.

Ian Brill · Post by **Ian Brill** » 12 Mar 2009 07:46

lol.

Forgot to post because I have been preoccupied.

Kicked with Matt the othe day.

I footed several ripsteins, my spins felt better and my ducking moves felt deep and controlled.

Matt threw down like Yngwie Malmsteen vs "Deep Blue" in a John Henry inspired battle to demonstrate mastery over a Fibonacci Sequenced rhythm.

Ian Brill · Post by **Ian Brill** » 12 Mar 2009 12:17

Kicked with Matt:

Hit Flail on right side. Probably a new move
twirl-pm-inf-repeat dropped on fourth twirl
ripstein to gyro cloud kick

ripstein to osis
footed some more ripsteins
string with ducking pm 3 times on one side twice on the other
ripwalk-spinning clipper (weak spinning clipper)
footed spinning osis bsos
Weak pm is coming back. I don't know why it left or where it left, but it sure grew up while it was gone

Paradox illusion bsos- I never try this trick.

Ian Brill · Post by **Ian Brill** » 19 Mar 2009 06:45

I tried blogging several times since the last post but I kept getting interrupted by work. Have to leave soon, also, so I'll make this all quick.

Went well

Age and Ken stayed at Casa Manack-Brill. It's always great to have them. In hindsight, I hope they had enough blankets and pillows and I regret being so distracted by my workload.

The day before the jam I got schooled by Matt Cross in guitar and music theory. Then some more the next day. And, then I got schooled by him on stepping sets. Big, big thanks.

Vince Bradley schooled me on Vegan food and helped clarify "modes" for me (while Matt was schooling me on theory.) Big, big thanks.

I kicked three times since the last post. I don't have the time to document them retroactively, but I hope to have an improvement gap when I post in the future.

Ian Brill · Post by **Ian Brill** » 24 Mar 2009 14:12

KICKED with Matt,

Called in sick today, because I am, well, sick. I am working like a dog. Seriously. 80-90 hour work weeks over here. Things will be settling down as of the next few days (I hope) but I will be firing myself back into "make my own stuff start happening" mode, immediately thereafter.

Anyway, I went to work just long enough to eat a Reuben with 2X extra meat. Worked an hour and got the rest of the day off.

I then proceeded to walk home which took an hour. Along the way I found a sign that read "Bigos." Bigos is one of many reasons why I will never truly be a vegetarian. That and the fact that I eat Reubens with 2X extra meat on them.

And then I ran into one my favorite people in the world, the author of "Thrift Score".

Finally I make it home and despite my one boss's anxiety we seem to come to some sort of resolution. So, when Matt calls I finally say: "Yes, Matt. That sounds like a good idea. I will be right over." Haven't said that in over a week. Of course I usually insert "give me half an hour, I'm still licking this bowl of chili cheese dog dip.

Yeah. So we kick. Had fun. In the sun. Stress-less session. Only swore once : )

Matt decided to learn a new trick today:
High plains drifter, both sides

Me:
*Hit Blender multiple times on weak whirl (healthy knee) side.
*spins were good today
*blurs, both sides. Booyah. Thank Matt Cross, again. that whole trunk-height business... and I'm schooling the guitar/theory business as well. You ARE the man.
*Footed so many toe blurs on both sides. Hit some too.
*Low, economical hippy legbeaters. I'm not making this up : )
* Hit twirls on both sides. Weak side twirl is still a first trick only sort of thing, but just you wait!

Anyway, I'm gonna finish my Bigos now. Sigh.

Ian Brill · Post by **Ian Brill** » 27 Mar 2009 20:35

I made it through the gauntlet of basically two full time jobs this week.

Played footbag in Campers and dress pants today, waiting for the bus over an hour. Hit stepping and quantum sets. Also hit spins and a twirl on both sides. Had a few strings that were reasonable.

I learned a lot the last session it seems. I can't wait to kick again with my gear.

Ian Brill · Post by **Ian Brill** » 28 Mar 2009 17:18

Kicked with Matt briefly. I was exhausted from a 4 hour test and cleaning.

Twirl bsos
Twirl mid string both sides
Stepping set from osis weak side
Blurs both sides
Toe blur left side
Blender-PM, newer blender side
blender-seal other side
spinning osis-string, first try, both sides

So tired. Going out anyway.

Ian Brill · Post by **Ian Brill** » 29 Mar 2009 13:11

Kicked with Matt. Short session because of rain.

*Tripwalks were almost reliable today on right side
*Hit a solid toe blur to a string on left side
*spinning osis bsos first try
*osis, pause, rev. whirl bsos first try
*osis, pause, swirl weak side, first try
*hippy legbeaters on both sides
*blurs on both sides
*reliable ripwalk on left side
*torque, bsos, both times tried