Jay's Blog.

[rjadamson]

That post was a great read. Your capacity to create cool trick inventions is a really cool skill set in and of itself. It's inspiring. I hope Europe really unleashes the champion in you.

[jay7]

Last night, I had a fantastic session. It felt like the first productive session in quite a while, after playing with many many people over the last few months. I've discovered something about myself, which I for some reason feel like scribbling into this little blog.

I really like playing inside. Small room, lights everywhere, humidity up from the sweat, the room warmer than the rest of the house from the heat radiating out of my skin and heavy breathing, soaken shorts and a dripping t shirt to wipe sweat off of myself, quick foot echoes and no one else. I love winter shred, I love playing alone, and I think this is at least 50% of the reason I play footbag today, aside from the community, and whatnot. I feel like there are two schools of thought for this, which, perhaps intertwine.

a.) If I had played primarily in a circle all my career, maybe I would have enjoyed that.
b.) If I had of played outside primarily, all my career, maybe I would have enjoyed that.

However, most people play alone, and indoors. However, I think* most people like circle + outdoors better. I don't know. I just get such joy out of making a goal, and working towards it. Even if, like yesterday, I fall short on a goal, the thrill of getting closer is just astonishing. I love the feeling of working really hard, and having the only limit of my session be that I might be too sore to play the next day. I *do* know for a fact, that I only enjoy playing in warmer temperatures. I do know that, a large part of the reason I enjoy indoor shred, is because the room I play in gets multiple degrees warmer than the rest of the house, and basically hot. When I go outside in the summer, and get to play in a sticky humid, 28*C / 83*F Texan day, I play really well. [/Hence that La Porte video]. But, not often anywhere but Texas is it that warm, and that sticky. And I don't want to move to Texas just to play footbag.

Anyhow, I love the grind of drilling indoors. It makes the rest of my day feel that much more heroic.

However, also fortunately, I get to kick with Anssi today. Why, you might ask? BECAUSE I LIVE IN TURKU.
THAT IS RIGHT, 2009 JAY. YOU LIVE IN THE SAME CITY AS ANSSI. ON PURPOSE. Hey, 2009 Jay. Your future self will have Coffee and cake with him, randomly. Your future self will get to make DFO trailers with him, laugh, giggle and enjoy fine Kebab. What is that, 2009 Jay? You aren't addicted to Kebab? You don't KNOW Finnish Kebab yet? OH BOY Little Jay, you have SO much to learn. Alright 2009 Jay, want to REALLY be amazed? Your WIFE will go attend a sauna gathering, consisting of just yourself and Anssi. Are you jealous now? Did you ever think you could live so high? Muahahaha--ha-h-..

Yeah, so, uh, sorry about that.

I had a sweatless session the other day, just to try it out on the new floor I'm playing on. I found out, that when you think THAT much in between drills, you can really come up with some greatness. I diagnosed a few problems I have, and came up with some solutions, which appear to be working. Ideally this progress will help me in the next density round I find myself in. This makes me think about trying other sessions, like, one Anssi did a few years ago which was just, toe/inside stalls for an hour, no drops. Or something of that nature. I wonder what I'd figure out then, if anything.

So anyway, time to go drink Finnish yoghurt, eat Finnish bread, brew some Muumimamman voimajuoma, and live the dream. Thanks for reading, ladies and gentlemen.


//Also, Rjadamson, not just yet. I only got 3rd/4th at Finnish Champs. We'll see at my next tournament

[Asmus]

Awesome post Jay! I am sure somewhere in the time-space continuum there is an envious younger Jay!

Looking forward to see you at DFO

[jay7]

So my fizzied, today is my last day in Finland. I am sitting in Anssi's apartment, weighing my bags, transferring files from my broken laptop to hard drive, the smell of sweet sweet sweaty shred shorts hanging in a window courses through my nostrils like the scent of honey to a badger. Later today, I will find myself on a ferry to Sweden, from where I will wander around Stockholm for a few hours, and then take a bus to an airport an hour away, and then find myself in Italy for a month (Or more?). I will be picking olives for their harvest, ideally enjoying some warmer weather and longer days than Finland, and hopefully eating Italian food. As I am still worldwide unemployed, I am still searching for jobs and trying to come up with new ways for employment that actually work. No pun intended. For now, working for food and a room will have to do. Part of me graciously accepts this fate, learning Italian, picking olives and learning about a new way of life. Part of me really enjoys the cultural possibilities, the friends made and things I learn about myself. I find the part of me that wants a steady job is, extremely present, but also somewhat resentful. Something about applying to hundreds of jobs, and not even getting an interview is just annoying.

Looking at supply and demand, clearly no one wants Engineers. Versus, having an employer who, interviews you immediately, and invites you to stay at their paradise home, with tortoises, bunnies and chickens, young children, Italian countryside and fresh food... For 25 hours a week work.. It just makes me think that, many Cubicle ridden Engineers have backgrounds of Italian countryside, dreaming of one day saving up to go to a tourist town, not liking it much because..Tourism... And then going home, and waiting until the next 6 day vacation in 2 years. I know I can't support a child or something with this type of work, but at the same time, I am 22 years old. When I eventually gain employment, if I can say that I've lived in Finland, Germany, Italy and maybe France or something, and speak possibly 3 languages fluently (depending if I stay in France for a while, and improve my 5 years of school French).. I somehow don't think I will regret the memories and experiences I will have, while, losing basically no money? One thing is for sure, my marriage is doing quite fucking swell with this lifestyle. Comparing my working life, from 7:00->18:00 5 days a week, coming home exhausted and continuously disliking my co workers, and having my relationship sit stagnant and only become less interesting and awesome.. To, undergoing huge personal growth, challenges and growing together through tons of new experiences.. I am no fortune teller, but somehow I feel like, in 5 years, if I look back to this time with my wife, having such a ridiculous foundation of knowing each other in every possible scenario, and having grown together through so much, will probably pay off. But hell, if this BMW job that is underway for the application process works out, and I get to live in Munich in January, I don't think I will be sad for a second that I am not volunteering in France. That would, also be a huge dream come true. I just, have absolute no control over my life in that regard, other than preparing the best I can... Odd, that I have more control over my life as a vagrant volunteer worker in Europe, than an educated Engineer willing to set up shop, get a dog and prepare for a baby.

SO. Footbag!

I didn't have a single solo session this month, and I played 3 or 4 times a week with Anssi. While I can tell my trick selection mid sting is a bit more predictable, I can also say that I am WAY stronger. Density is much more dense, and not just bailing to non bops. More and more links come after one another, and more links and mini sick 3s are happening. All that being said, I also have not invented a single trick in a month. Zero back pain is also a nice thing, and no injuries to speak of. I am very fortunate to have had him as a true shred partner, and to have his influence here for so long. Nothing compares to shredding in person, versus just chatting on the internet.

This month has been very memorable, and so many things have happened with Anssi non shred wise. Michelle and I have probably cooked 5->10 intensive dinners for him, made at least 3 home made pizzas with inches of meat everywhere, baked least 5 baguettes, patiently folded multiple rounds of croissants, 8 days of Kebab in a row, apple pie, apple crumble, peach cobbler, blueberry pie, strawberry danishes, a few nights of drinking, AFM stir fries... Watching lots of shows and movies, talking, bullshitting, laughing and bike riding. .. Pass the pigs.. Just, solid memories all over. We even had a club night with free pin ball and dancing. Hell, last night satanic teddy bears even made an appearance. It really feels like home here, that kind of home which, when it is gone.. There is a new place in your head, that just wont get re-filled with a new memory. Completely the opposite of a hotel room, or a flight, which is so similar to any other one that you forget them all together.

In any case, it is Halloween and I am going to be somewhere on a ferry in some Scandinavian Baltic wonderland. Life is good, and all is in order. I might go home to Canada for Christmas, and also get a dose of Johnny and Jorden. God I miss those two. Who wouldn't? In any case, fuck you Canadian winter, I am going to be in Italy picking olives, while you are causing accidents, hypothermia and suicide. Btw, I have a new laptop so, I expect that I will be able to make some serious editing happen, with the huge amount of footage I am sitting on. Who knows, I might just end up doing the calendar again. I am happy that the nostalgia thread went over well, maybe the calendar will go a new direction this year?

[F[uns]tylin' Eclectic]

Hey Jay, great to see that you've been playing. Also good post. I can compare..

I may not have a wife and instead of picking olives in Italy, I'm picking my nose in Pennsylvania... but I have also been trying to get a job in my field. No one wants to hire a wildlife biologist right now, it seems. I know exactly how frustrating it is to apply to all these places and not even get an email response from them.

Anyway, I wish you the best of luck in the job search. And hope to see some footage from you soon.

Peace man.

[C-Fan]

Thanks for the life update Jay. It sounds like you're approaching things with a good attitude. Does your wife have a job, or is she looking too?

I agree that now is not a bad time to see and experience the world. The 3.5 years I spent in Japan were incredibly fun, and also a great opportunity to learn a language, build a footbag scene, and live somewhere totally different than what I was used to. Was it a career? No. Would I have been able to do it had I had a career or a house or kids? Also no. So I'm glad I was able to experience that before settling into my career. As you said, you're 22, so this is the time to have these experiences.

All that said, I'm curious how you're able to cover your travel/lodging expenses while you're away from home.

Anyway, glad to hear things are good with footbag and the wife. If you end up doing the Joulukalenteri again, I'll try and submit an Evan video, since I'll be in Vegas in a couple weeks.

[Anz]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt8mgmNxEWw[/youtube]

[jay7]

Thanks Anssi. That video will serve as a great memory, for whenever I'm homesick. In fact, that time was now. I'm Homesick. I'm less than a week away from going back to Canada for the holidays, and, I miss Turku. I miss Kebab. Not a single day have I said to myself, in the last six months "You know, I miss Canada. I wish I could _____". The only things I could say I miss, are Johnny and Jorden, and perhaps having breakfast with my grandparents. Not being able to sauna every day, also sucks, but that was a function of one house in Canada, not, "Canada". If Canada and Finland were fruit bearing trees, I'd say I miss the spring flower of Canada's tree, and I miss chewing the bark of Finland like beef jerky by comparison. 'Tis weird. When I go back to Canada, I will have less of a routine, and less purpose than in Europe. I wont necessarily have a future, and still wont really have anything to look forward to in the area I grew up. One would think after leaving it for the second time, for a long period (First being my year in Germany), one would mature up, and stop thinking of it as lifeless, devoid of all passion, and culture-less. But, here I am. I'd feel more at home in a handful of countries with families I just met, where Germany and Finland at the top of the list. Am I this mentally stubborn and immature, or, am I simply *that* completely certain about myself and where I belong? Hard to tell.

Anyway, I have booked tickets back to Europe in late January in case Canada will yield no fruits worth picking. I have a possible lead, with an amazing company in Saskatchewan, oddly enough, which has just started up. I contacted them, and just said "I want to work for you. I believe in your company, your cause, and I can and will do anything to be involved in it". The owner responded positively, and most of my time in Canada *<--hopefully* will be working on the project from afar, so then it would warrant me flying out there and possibly going full time. If this project works out, I have a potential idea, which, could completely change how footbags are made. But, one should not get too ahead of himself. A highly variable and unpredictable future, but I can dream, and try.

Playing footbag was a backburner option this month. I spent about 2 weeks solid, editing and sorting footage for 5 or 6 hours a day after work. Finding a bloody song for a video can take 3 hours, let alone making the video. I would have loved to play more, but most of my day's off were rain days, and that canceled out any footbag. The floor in my house is borderline ice when it comes to a sweat drop, so I couldn't play in here long enough to shred. I maintained that everyday I did pick up a footbag, but barefoot sessions, doing 50 ripwalks, and never having a good surface to play on even when it was sunny, was not ideal. I really hope that this month served as a good refueling station, and perhaps some kinks and knots will be untied in some muscles and joints or something. It would be nice to get back to Canada and shred with Johnny and Jorden unchained. Hell, maybe I could even start symposium again *gasp*. How I miss you superfly.

Anyway, I've made a bunch of Calendar videos, and I suppose it all starts tomorrow. I'm going to Venice tomorrow, and will hopefully have decent internet at the hotel. The problem here, is, that in Southern Italy, the infrastructure for virtually anything is between 20 and 50 years behind. Uploading a 500 mb video says it would take a day and a half on youtube. And because the internet is shared among many people, if I was to do that, I'd effectively be gutting the citizens of all neighboring houses, who wonder why they can't check their email. So, hopefully in Venice I will be able to upload some videos, and at the very least I'll see if I can find an internet cafe or something, maybe a University, just, anything with decent upload speeds. As it stands, other people should fill in the video slots from days 1->8, but I worry that someone will screw it up, and I don't want to rely on them 100%. Day 1 has already not produced a video (to my knowledge), when I specifically asked everyone to have their video uploaded a day and a half in advance. I have a backup, but, still. Grundle Cakes galore. I never gave anyone a negative consequence of not producing a video, because that isn't exactly in the spirit of Christmas. One would hope that "the spirit" would overcome all organizational, lethargic and apathetic qualms. It isn't exactly a good way to motivate someone to make a Christmas video, by saying that if they don't, you will photoshop a hairy vein ridden disfigured cockhulk on their grandma and post it on their mother's facebook wall under a throwaway account with the name "Father Christmas forecasts a lump of coal for Billy" - Email: "yourson'semail@gmail.com" . There is a reason no one wants to do the Calendar twice, and this is it. If everyone was as reliable as Anssi and Aleksi, the Calendar would have no stress and bunnies would hold otters close when they were cold. I remember when some lad didn't make his video on Day 20 when someone else was running the Calendar, and I walked through 2 feet of snow for a mile to my grandparents, got their camera, retraced my steps and walked home, made a video, and uploaded so there wouldn't be an empty day. Moving on...

I hope you guys have a great December, and I hope you really cherish whatever traditions and family surrounds you. As someone who will likely be skipping the second year in a row at their parent's house for Christmas, knowing none of the "Boychuks" will be gathering around one table for Christmas, I hope you know how fantastic it is to have tradition. Regardless of how drunk Uncle Harry gets when he fingerbangs the neighbors cat, or how annoying your Aunt Gertrude is when she pinches your cheeks, the very notion of having a family, routine and past is something special. One thing you can gain abroad, is the respect for the primitive joys of family on Christmas. A large part of the reason the Joulukalenteri is so important to me, is precisely this. I love Footbag and everyone in it, and having this tradition reminds me of a little boy in Germany, jumping out of bed for whatever a new day in December 2006 had in store. Having all of you as some form of family is part of who I am now, and it is an honour to celebrate that over December with you all. Lets cross our fingers that each day gets a memorable video.

[jay7]

So, Venice didn't go precisely as planned. I left with 7 internal, and 7 external stitches in the palm of my hand. I got them out two days ago, and played for the first time yesterday. 'Tis the season to be drilling, so I decided I'd take my first "real" session in 1.5 months to do just that. Because Italy had children, dogs, cats, no good surface, and physical labour 5 or 6 days a week, I had regular sessions, but not "real" ones. That combined with 2 weeks of my hand being rightly screwed, I'm happy to be back.

I may have even written in this blog, that I was to forgo practicing any toe game, because I had such a gaping hole in my clipper game and I needed some serious work. I also wanted to experiment, and see how my toe game would degenerate, as it never had a chance before. Needless to say, everything was in order, but consistency was a bother. I think it took 10 minutes to get 10 flip smears b2b where they were all perfect. As it turns out, all of the form tweaking did nothing, until I just leaned over a tiny bit more (generally something I've avoided), and then it just clicked. I then did all of my staple drills from years ago, which felt hilarious. I haven't done dimwalk->ss egg->dimwalk->pdx egg*rpt->dim->ss dlo->dim->pdx dlo*rpt in like, 3 years. It was like suddenly playing hockey with a stick twice as long. So, I'll go through the refinery for a while, and then get back to business. Thankfully, ripwalks and other basic stepping was in order, so the two weeks hadn't damaged that.

I'm at one of those fantastic limbo's in my life, where I've got no real direction, so I am beginning to make my own. I decided to come back to Canada for 1.5 months, to determine with Michelle if indeed Europe is the way to our happiness. The answer to that, is her getting her Irish citizenship as we speak. T'was a pretty quick decision, it only took about 3 days of us being back home. I wont bother going into why here, especially because giant chunks of the reasons are ones that wouldn't apply to you readers.

So, as one can imagine the goal of "Being European" is pretty broad. Hence, "making my own direction". I've got a "job" set up for when I get back, which I hope turns out really well. We shall see. Excitement, success and sure failure is up ahead. I've got a dozen projects, big or small ahead, so I hope you guys see the fruits of at least a couple. In conclusion, I am excited to be back drilling, and working out. I just hope that wherever I go in Europe has a location where I can keep doing it. I hope you guys are all enjoying the Calendar!

[jay7]

Hey, modifizzied. Michelle, here. Hijacking this blog.

On this ''Jupe Day'', I am reminded of the excitement and experiences that surrounded the past few Joulu-Jupe videos, which makes me think about how Jay has dealt with this Christmas Calendar in general. I guess I just wanted to write about the calendar from my point of view, and reminisce a little bit about how it related to my experiences with Jay.

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I started dating Jay right before he premiered his first Joulukalenteri (which, to me at the time, was a very long, basically jibberish word, and I didn't understand why he couldn't just say ''Christmas Calendar'' when talking to me, a non-footbagger, about it...). In the week or two leading up to December 1st, Jay had to balance courting a female, and prepping his calendar. This involved such things as driving his entire Mac desktop computer over to my house so that he could render, export, and upload videos of some guy named ''Antsee'' while we hung out at the same time. He was usually on Facebook talking to other footbaggers around the world, but during this period, these chat sessions were more frequent and involved, as well. He would tell me that he was talking to ''Dave, Aleksi, Matt, Mikko, Tuukka, Jorden'' and some guy named ''Bear''. All names of which meant absolutely nothing to me.

December rolls around, and I notice that Jay is spending increased personal time on his computer. He seemed to start to listen to the same song over and over, privately, every day. I find out that he is watching ''calendar videos'', and this is when I found out what this whole project he was doing actually was.

Now, don't get me wrong. I was absolutely not new to the idea of this whole ''footbag'' thing. I had known Jay four years previous to us dating, and I knew about this crazy, unique sport he would play. I would get in on the jokes about him constantly paying to fly to random cities to sleep in a room full of other sweaty men. However, I would also sit in the basement student room he was renting and watch him bust himself apart for hours on end to hit tricks that were beyond the scope of what I thought the human body was capable of. We would sometimes Skype during his sessions; I would play music for him, and he would play footbag. Anyways, the whole thing wasn't new to me. I had some idea that footbag was involving for many aspects of Jay's life. The Joulukalenteri was just the thing that made me realize how ''real'' (for lack of a better word) that it was. It is one thing to fly around to tournaments and compete for something, anything. It is another to completely involve your entire community in something that provides genuine joy and excitement for every. single. day. in a whole month, without fail.

----------

He was absolutely dedicated to premiering the next video at midnight exactly. He had a system in place where the video would be prepared on YouTube the morning before it was to be ''aired'', he would compose and format the forum post sometime in the evening, hang out with me for a while to kill time, and then hit ''submit'' with the most gusto a man could have when clicking a button. At some points, I think I could hear the drumroll going on in his head as he anxiously awaited that 11:59 to roll over to 12:00. Finally, he would end off by watching whatever video he had just posted. Twice, if it was good, which was often. Sometimes even thrice. He would watch it until he was satisfied enough that he could let himself sleep. Every. Single. Night.

A testament to his dedication to the Kalenteri-cause story: The nice new boyfriend that he was, still making an effort to impress, decided to take me to NYC for a week mid-December. Obviously, this caused complications with his nightly calendar routine, but what did I really know about all that? We had a grand old time, hopping around the city, feeling Christmassey with the one and only Matt Cross touring us around to amazing locations, and mindblowing concert experiences. My mind was slowly being opened to what the footbag community had to offer. Jay still did his nightly routine, only he spent a lot of time using the 3G on his phone to post everything to modified and Facebook. I don't even want to know what the data + roaming charges must have cost him.

One night, after an entire day of gallivanting around Central Park, we got back to our hotel with no energy and sore feet, extremely wiped out. Pizza and chicken wings ended up being ordered to our room and, after dinner and a movie from the comfort of our bed, we both fell asleep. After a few hours nap, I awoke and roused Jay, saying "Wow, I didn't even realize we fell asleep. I can't believe it is almost 12:30am."

"WHAT!?"

Upon hearing what time it was, Jay bolted out of bed, and ran to his phone, scrambling to make a modified post. Some complications were happening with his phone and roaming, so he decided to eat the $20 the hotel was charging for 24 hours of internet access and finish the post on his computer. He was a little agitated after that, but still satisfied that he had gotten it up within a half hour of his target time. He was a bit put off about some little comments regarding his single day of tardiness, and I was mindblown by how seriously he took this thing. I guess I was still at the point of not understanding why.

And then came Day 20.

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I am sure you have all seen this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgzqAf_u8yk

I can assure you that Jay has seen it just as much, if not many times more than you have. For months, if not years, after it came out, this video was his fuel to play. If Jay could give up eating food, I am sure he would use this video to fuel his life, too. Double Spinning Torque was one of the first tricks I was able identify by name if I saw it. I began to be able to distinguish the sounds of Juho's footsteps leading up to that opening trick, even if I wasn't looking at the video. I heard that sound clip over and over and over again as Jay forced the video to restart after the first 10 seconds over and over and over again. During one of the first videos of Jay that I have ever filmed, I sat on a dirty lecture hall floor at McMaster trying to hold the camera on a precarious angle as he tried repeatedly to seal the final trick of what ended up being this video: http://vimeo.com/39918559 all because of Day 20 of the 2011 Christmas Calendar.

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When we moved to Stoney Creek in the fall of 2012, while Jay was at work, I was setting up the "workout room" (aka "footbag, and occasionally Michelle might use it too-room"). I remember digging out his medals from our boxes and trying to arrange it all into a very nice looking, yet motivating way. I realized, upon further thought, that the medals and memories of winning tournaments is not what motivates Jay to play footbag very much. When I got down to it, only one thing came to mind. Straight Outta Compton. That damn Double Spinning Torque. I rasterbated a 12-page sized screenshot of Juho hitting it, and arranged it on one of the walls in his shredroom before he came home. It can be seen in the video of his last session there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UhcZi3rLcI That thing got sweat on a lot, but stayed up there. So, I think he liked it.

At this point, I understood how much the Joulukalenteri meant to Jay. I could see it in the community, as well. People who post less, seem to post more on calendar videos. And people who are already extremely social seem to get even more active. I found myself going on Modified to check the comments of some of the 2012 calender videos that I liked. When Joulu-jupe 2.0 came out, I found myself excited. I found it extremely hard not to text Jay at work that it was online, and that I couldn't wait for him to come home so that we could watch it together. I mustered a half-surprise for him when he got home. Blankets, darkness, the projector and computer all set up. Needless to say, the Men in Black song was stuck in my head for a few weeks.

I mean, if a complete non-footbagger can get excited over a little snippet of joy, released every day at a certain time of year... if someone like me can be happy appreciating a footbag video that someone put a hell of a lot of effort into filming, editing, and uploading (and I know, because I have seen Jay do it many times)... I can't even imagine what this thing does for you guys.

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Let's flash forward to a few days ago, when Jay got a message from Juho containing a link to download his latest video. We watched it together, but I honestly wasn't sure if Jay liked it or not. He was completely silent for the entire duration of the video, and couldn't really form words afterward. I left him alone for a bit, only to come back to him watching it again, and uncontrollably giggling, smiling, laughing, and generally having the time of his life.

And now, within 10 minutes of it being posted, the Facebook post already has 4 likes and 6 comments. The joy is spreading.

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I guess, in closing, what I wanted to relay with this novel of a story is just one little snippet of how someone's life is affected by a calendar full of footbag videos, as told by a complete outsider to the community. This simple idea requires a bunch of planning from the people who choose to run it, focused effort and participation from those who wish to be in it, and a whole load of love and support from the footbag community. That is YOU, by the way. You all make this little world go 'round. Every single one of you. Every one of you that I have met, and those that I haven't yet: you are completely unique, incredible, and amazingly talented at way more than just footbag. How does a girl like me comprehend it all? And your actions affect more than you would think. I won't get into how, because that is a story for a whole other series of blog posts, but my life has absolutely, completely transformed further than I thought it would ever be, simply because I am with a guy who cares immensely for his sport, and for his community.

And it all started with the Joulukalenteri.

And I guess I just wanted to tell you all that.

Have a good night, you all. Keep caring, and keep sharing.
-Michelle
1:24

[F[uns]tylin' Eclectic]

Poured a bowl of cereal then sat down to read this in its entirety. Cereal is now soggy, but totally worth it. Amazing story, Michelle. It's cool how you can understand it as much as Jay does.

I really enjoyed the read and I know others will too. Thanks for taking time to write this.

[boyle]

That was a great read. Am very excited to see what Jay will continue to do for the footbag scene. It is exactly what the sport needs...people taking it in the most serious manner.

[Asmus]

I want a wife like you one day Michelle.

[acxel22]

Nice story Michelle, Jay she's a keeper

[Nis]

Thanks for this footbag/Christmas/love story. It really touched me.

[jay7]

Greetings Dear Blog.

I am slowly coming to an end of my Canadian Christmas Season. I'm heading back to Europe, and with a slight vengeance. I have about three trillion possibilities, so I think I'd rather reflect on what I accomplish, than write out every one of them. Regardless, you'll be seeing some of my work, and I really hope you don't hate it.

A thought I wanted to write down for today, was something about having footbag teachers. I obviously learned a lot from Jorden in my earlier years, and I think it is quite obvious that he got me in my baby years, and Anssi got me later. If Jorden was my mother, I've treated Anssi like the Uncle who got me in my angry teen years. I learned from Jorden prior to knowing my own way, and whether I notice it or not, his ways will be deep within my brain. For those who know both of these men, it isn't a surprise to think they train more than slightly differently. So when Anssi says "Have rigid structure and dex deeper than the ocean floor", it naturally might stray away from the "I dreamed about these dexes last night. Lets train all the components of it, and eventually invent something radical" mentality.

So, I came back from summer camp at Uncle Anssi's, and have been playing. And then I go to visit Jorden over Christmas, and immediately remember all of the childhood memories. Within seconds of shredding with him the other day, I notice "Holy shit. I didn't even realize that we both do ____ exactly the same way!" or "I haven't seen anyone but me do ___ since I left for Europe!". Things like "Lets bsos slicing" or realizing we both do bent clipper without noticing just, became more obvious since I hadn't shredded with him in so long.

If I have noticed correctly, kids these days are referencing things like "first world problems". Today, I experienced "Living with Jorden Problems". For context, the basement room I've shredded in, in a few hundred videos, is in the house owned by the guy who was my best man. Jorden, now rents this basement apartment from him. As I go downstairs, I realized how funny it was, that I had to ask Jorden for permission to use the shred room. Permission was granted. Then I realized how weird it was, that for the first time in Jorden's life, he'd have a Footbagger playing in his 'house', without him playing too. Let alone, me . So, 40 minutes into drilling, and thinking of Uncle Anssi, Mother Jorden stepped in. Somehow I went from drilling like a madman, to inventing 5 tricks in 15 minutes. I just blinked and Jorden was in the doorway, and like putting coins in a jukebox I was hitting his requests. It is just noteworthy to me, how fiendishly easy it is to just start Creating again. There will probably always be a part of me that enjoys inventing things, and how stupid-easily it comes to Jorden / I. But, there is 100% a part of me that dreads the idea of going into another circle contest and having no idea what the word density means.

I probably built that up a bit too much. That is the end of the story. However, it is one that I did not want to forget.

In reference to previous comments: I'm glad you all liked her post. She is a wonderful wife, and, I do indeed plan on keeping her. She's coming to Europe with me, and will be helping me and my Footbag projects every step of the way. It makes her really happy to read that people, like you, notice and comment. Perhaps once she produces footbag content, she'll have to make a fizzied account or something. So many usernames to think of....

[jay7]

So, I'm in the Czech republic at the moment. Staying with Honza, working on a bunch of project stuff, and I am enjoying it quite a lot. Today I got to have a session with Lucaso, Honza and Jindra. I played with a stage-size bag for a bit, and was surprised as to how easy it was to play with. Previous stage-bags I've played with made me hate myself and everyone who contributed to my existence, but... Today that wasn't the case. Nuclear, furious, delusional, etc sets which require tiny windows and whatnot were all first try. This could be a testament to my skill, but I honestly think it was the bag. One of the Jorden bags I brought from Canada to Honza, except I refilled it to his liking. Hoorah.

At the end of the session I got to have some private Footzepp time, and shredded with a typical 32. I was happy to hit Irish Cream for him first try, and play at a decent level. It has been a while since I've shredded with anyone, let alone on a non-perfect (in fact, slippery) surface, but for some reason I didn't care about bailing to an osis, or not keeping it genuine. Typically when I play with someone like Jindra, I have pressure to try and be genuine or interesting, but something about playing with Honza made me feel different today. He is so bloody comfortable with his game, and I know he can bust super hardcore... But seeing him hit interesting runs, with super fucking smooth links and not killing himself at any single point, looked so nice. It made me think, for the first time in quite a while, about style.. I've been thinking of dexes and genuine for so long, that I forget there is a style component to Footbag. This isn't to argue that bailing to an osis is pleasing, but more the general point that perhaps it might be worth while to invest a bit of time into natural-for-my-body links and not constantly try and step out of something, or zoom from that mobius. Honza just does his shit, does it well, and it just looks so good. I don't feel like anyone who watches me feels this way.

But I'll always honourably worship Dexio and try to cram dexes into those movements, but perhaps in a more pleasing way.

Some nice things from Jindra.
Montage 3x one side, 2x other side, one run.
Reactor->whirling ss mirage->Reactor->stuff->Blurry whirl->stepping whirl->Ps whirl->symp whirl->Whirlwind->run
The most beautiful quantum eggbeater I've ever seen, followed by a normal looking flipside one, an atomic one, and then more dex cramming.

I think the most noteworthy thing about Jindra, is that he fucking tries, and likely hates the ground with all his heart. He beats the fuck out of that ground, and loves it. Previously I've been intimidated to play with him, but after seeing Honza I felt quite confident to play my own style, instead of trying to adopt his. I had a lot of fun, and enjoyed getting props from him, when I hit stuff that he doesn't do. I got neutron smasher->fairy gyro mirage->neutron smasher, and it made me feel good that he enjoyed seeing it. I don't know what is wrong with me, or right, but for some reason I usually don't like props and feel unworthy. But, hitting that and getting props made me feel good. Perhaps that is a virtue of playing your own game, and not falling short while copying someone else's.

Anyway, time to keep living the dream. Thanks for reading, and I'm going to enjoy the rest of my day. God life is good. Also, pro-tip, getting married to someone awesome makes every day pretty great.

[brianbear]

Sounds like an awesome time in the czech republic, i would love to do a journey there.
I know what you mean about jindra's style, he really does shred HARD. i remember in poland playing with him i would try to match his style for a bit and then realize oh, i play kind've the opposite of this.

style style style. i like that you are thinking about style again, to me it is the most important part of footbag.

[jay7]

So, here I am at Caroline's hostel! Gdansk Poland is a surprisingly lovely place. After being here it is much more obvious as to why Caroline would want to buy the place. It is just, so, awesome! You might be wondering "Why the hell is Jay there?" and well, expect a post soon.

I had my first session in Poland today, after almost a week of not playing. In Berlin the rotation-joint in my hip felt, used... No pain, but one of those signs you should pay attention to, so I took the days off. I got some shit for not playing the second day in Berlin, but I find it better to think about long-term health than, playing one extra day. If I was going to jams a few times a year, I might have pushed.. But the last few weeks, and next months, of my life will be playing footbag..Anyway, today I mopped up a floor in a super-secret compartment of her Hostel, and then got down to business. I started warming up, and going through the motions, and then said

"Fuck it. Let there be light".

Inside set ss reverse swirling inside stall.
Inside stall set ripwalk bsos, inside stall set blur bsos,
Inside set pogo blur, ripwalk.
Inside stall set blurry whirl, blurriest, bedwetter, ripped warrior.
*Inside set surging ss pickup,
Inside set surging ss legover,
Inside set surging legover.
*Inside set janiwalker.
*Inside set slicing mirage.
Monster set inspinning osis.
*Monster set ducking inspinning osis.
*Very hard to describe, but, something like: Inside set symple/symp slicing dlo thing.
*Inside set symp bent stepping bent clipper.

I remember once hearing the argument, that you can't call a trick, a new trick, just by starting it from a new surface. But then I thought, that,.. Quantum is just, toe stepping... And no one has a problem with that. Neo is inside fairy, and no one has a problem with that... So I don't know a.) Which of these are necessarily inventions, or b.) if they qualify, as it is just doing an inside stall first. But, regardless, I hit a lot of new shit today. I'm going to assume the lists starting with a * are an invention. If anyone knows of a lad who did stuff starting from inside, let me know... Other than Jorden of course.

[Asmus]

Good shit! I think there are tricks that shouldn't be called a new trick just from the surface but I also think there are some that should. Quantum from inside is not really harder than Quantum from toe in my opinion. Flapper Same Legover and Clipper Same Legover neither. I think if the hip or body turn is significantly different from surface to surface you could call it a new trick.

About this "Inside set ss reverse swirling inside stall" is it same side or same foot? Can you do both?