flurriestMASTER

[Zeke]

Oops totaly stole your shit...

Let's try this month in review thing that Zeke used to do.

January
New year's Jam just ended. I played with Evan, Anssi and Aleksi on a post NYJ day. I was rusty, and didn't really play much during the event, but it was nice to be in that circle anyhow. I guess I should do a NYJ writeup. I still have pics too. I haven't posted pics from my travels in general since OCT/NOV.

Chicago had some 20 something degree days with crazy wind downtown. It was nice to head to sunny, warm Florida for all of January. Even coming back yesterday I noticed how grey the sky was, and how that was never the case in FL.

Played enough footbag to shake off the rust- maybe 6 times, though I used my non-modded lavers. Tom W. isn't playin now with the new baby, but I met up with Allen and Brandon. The tampa scene. They're hecky cool guys. You might not have heard of them , since they don't post online. I found them on .org last year. I may see Brandon again in May when he visits MI, along with Zach.

Speaking of Zach, man I wanna go to Vegas Jam too. Zach and Cory especially are my homies. And of course Evan is there. And Mathieu is going, wow. plus flash, ken, nate. Maybe even T-Bone. CIC reprezent. I think this year will be really good. Though I doubt I will make it though.
I have been mostly traveling since late October, so it's time to make some more travel funds.

So in general I played a bit of footbag in JAN. More importantly Road tripped Florida, went to Disney World - 4 parks in one day, saw Dan in Miami, swam at south beach with some pretty good waves to flip and dive into, saw dexter's condo, then drove to the florida keys and snorkeled and saw some cool reef and scary big (for me) baracuda fish, then airboated thru the gators and birds in the everglades, then back to surfing a flow-rider which I've always wanted to do. All with great company.

So yea for February 'goals', I'm down to play some footbag, though with my car being broke and it being cold february, I can play in my sister's garage when she's at work, and maybe I can find a spot at the community college near my house to play with others. 2 days a week for sure at the same time every week for florida would be good. Let's see if i can find a spot to make that happen. I'd like to hang with zeke and reile more too, even though they don't play. So at least once a week for that to happen. Keep dis club strong.

P.S. looking at my last post, I won 4 square at austrian champs. yay.

Yo

I remember hearing about you winning sqwerz at Austrian Champs before, I forget from whom, but it was still a nice little surprise to read in your blog. Nice job! I'd love to hang out to eat and shoot the shit with y'all. I also appreciate you and Nathan keeping me in the loop with sessions this past summer. It's always fun to hang out, even for a little bit.

I have your Dremel (ended up getting a Black & Decker rotary tool for X-mas, woot!) and your C2Duo E8200.


one more thing...

[CIC flurry]

Good Gawd

[Sporatical_Distractions]

Hey Tom,
Be my valentine

[CIC flurry]

In the hopes that we find that goat photo again someday.

[Sporatical_Distractions]

Loving you is my prime directive

[CIC flurry]

Triple Around the World (out to in) 1st time in this direction. Did three of them. Barefoot.

Started trying flipside (left) in the in-out direction, just like I've done TATW on my right side, then switched direction since it seemed better, and it was close. Then figured I'd try to get out-in on good side which is new for me. BAM. 3x to show not a fluke. Probably did like 30-60 attempts to get these 3. didn't count so wide range.

edit: i just hit 2 more = 5
edit2: the 2 more was only 6 attempts

[C-Fan]

Now in shoes!

[Zeke]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk_3Lo4k ... re=related[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AihbIEC2ysE&hd=1[/youtube]

[CIC flurry]

I just kicked a bit of footbag down near the town center. Just in jeans whatev. Loosen up the legs. At the time I went down it was pretty quiet. Almost ghost town-ish. It was nice; I like the quiet. Earlier today especially it was busy as all heck especially with the market on saturday.

So some kids came to see what the heck I was doing. I could hear them talking about it from afar. It's cool to hear kids speaking Greek. They were like 13 maybe.

They asked me what I was kicking, and I kicked it over to them. They were super into it. Two guys played the most and got toe stalls and a bunch of kicks. It was like 5 dudes, and then 2 girls came with another dude, and they all played too. I showed them some ducks and mirages and simple dexes, etc.

They had no idea what it was, just that it was like soccer. This country doesn't have any players.

was pretty coo

[Sporatical_Distractions]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCUrXna_u58[/youtube]

[CIC flurry]

Nice videos guyss.

Ok so summary of february... hmmm I played 4 times. In the house, barefoot was 2x. My goals coming out of January was to find a spot at the college near my house. I did walk arounf the whole place, and it as slippery floors and security mcgee. Though now it's warm out, so we'll leave that prob for next year.

March just ended too . So I was in Greece, as I posted about above. I didn't really freestyle hard there, but I did play some easy stuff a few times. When we first got there and were pumping the $8.97/gallon gas I played, and the two gas attendants were like "whaaaa?" They were super impressed. Same goes for all the other spots I played at. I was a bit busy, and it was a bit cold and rainy the first week, but I could see a scene popping off easily there if I (or someone) spent a bit of time there and had a weekly sesh.

Since being back I played with Nathan and Tim 2-3 times. My lower back hurt every time. And again today I kicked solo and it was hurting. I attribute it to being on the computer too much and not having a proper seat to maintain good posture. Well, so I did easy stuff like ripwalk>clipper>repeat and osis>clipper>repeat till tired. Was good.

In terms of goals... I mean, sometimes I really want to play, but my outlook on the game is kinda, i dunno, sad. Like we need to get back to doing club stuff again. For years every sunday we would kick, eat and chill. Gotta get back to that. Reid was inducted into CIC, then I played with him once since then (last summer), and he's hecky busy. Nathan's hecky busy too with work and more. Tim's school, work and pussy galore means he's busy, but he's so hecky good with making time, so that's awesome. Rob Creel I played with 2x since he moved here. Again, I know people are busy, and I hope some consistent schedule/place will help this problem, and fun times will happen this year. And to hang with Zeke and Reile would be nice too. Even if only food will bring them out.

So in terms of health - I wanted to mention that groin injury I sustained in september 2010. Well, it doesn't affect me playing freestyle anymore. And I can run without a problem. I write this just in case anyone has the same problem in the future, they can see my progress. i still sometimes feel a tiny tiny bit of pain when I stretch/rotate my leg inward, and it even makes a little popping noise sometimes when I do that after I wake up.

Worlds 2012? Who the heck knows. I would like to go, but I feel like some big changes are coming in 2012, and it's hard to plan the rest of life until those things happen.

The whole sport of footbag seems a lot smaller to me now. Ever since I went to Worlds 2010. I realized how few people in the world play our sport. And Chris Dean's poll showed there're 70 people in North America who play? That's so few in my eyes. Though I'm sure there are more. Hey, just today I found out there was this kid 45 minutes south of here that I never even heard of, and he bought some legit footbags. And I guess the sport doesn't have to be big. But I get the feeling locally and gloabally that it's dwindling, if even not in numbers - in internet solidarity(?).

Again, some good times this year with BBQ and chilling and good footbag and videos will be the goal, and I think solve my worries.

[C-Fan]

Nice post. Mostly just wanted to let you know people are reading. Glad to hear you are past your groin injury now.

[Chim-Chim]

70 people in North America who play?

Do you ever wonder why?

[CIC flurry]

Are you also upset about Jon? The most diabolical hater this side of the Mississippi.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKXwj7ZrHIc[/youtube]

[CIC flurry]

April footbag review: injuries.

After coming back from Europe in late march, the left side of my lower back was weird. It hurt every day. My bed sucks, and I was loafing a bit on the laptop on the couch for too long perhaps. After like 3 weeks it was better to the point I didn't think of it.

I played once with Tim about 3 weeks ago, and after doing some clippers my left inner knee hurt a bit, just like last summer, but not as much. I played more but didn't really use that leg. Then stopped early. Meniscus or MCL is near there. I don't wanna fuck something up, so I just laid off it. I tried eggbeaters a few days ago, and the 2nd one felt a bit weird so I stopped.

I noticed the outside of my left ankle behind the flintsone bone (malleolus) had some pain. It has happened before, but I never thought much of it. I researched it a bit, and it might be peroneal tendons acting the fool, or retinaculam. It can happen to athletes who reinjure it over and over till they're major fucked and need surgery. Perhaps I'm being a bit of a hypochondriac, but shit still is sore after weeks so it must be someting.

Also, I always thought my ankle cracked when I walked, more so when I'm playing plenty of footbag, but no pain or nothing, so I never really thought of it. I think that it's my big toe that is cracking when I walk, not my ankle, but it's something with the ankle too, because when I walk the dog around the block (1/2 mile) I can feel a tiny bit of pain, and the first time I flex it to do an inside stall I feel pain/soreness. Pssh bullshit. Might be my shoes, or too many years of footbag. Prolly should get some better shoes. I've been using lavers with stock insoles as my only shoes to walk and everything for years now.

Beh whatever, none of these things are truly a big deal, if I need to run down some villains, I can do it. It is a bit sad though, that I have to wait weeks or more for this shit to heal. Or the worse prospect, is that this shit will linger forever and prevent me from playing and being invincible. And I didn't even do anything to mess them up in the first place, except maybe have shitty shoes, a shitty bed, and loaf a bit...

Groin (from SEP2010): not really holding me back from anything, but I still feel a tiny bit of pain when I stretch-rotate my leg inward. And sometimes it cracks when I stretch it like that (specially in the morning). I'm thinking that maybe eventually all this stretching that I'm doing again will eventually bring it back to normal. Maybe the injured part it's thicker now from scar tissue or something.

So back to ankle and knee: basically I don't want long term problems, so I'm waiting and in the mean time I've been doing some quad/knee and ankle strengthening. Basically, back against wall and in sitting position with no chair, sometimes I hold it for 30 seconds at a time, sometimes I go up and down - those are called wall squats acccording to this website: http://www.bigkneepain.com/knee-exercises.html . Sometimes holding one leg up while sitting in a chair. Even after a few days I can feel my quads being really strong. The idea is to strengthen those bad boys which will in turn help the knee.

The ankle stuff, I dunno, I just balance on one foot at a time for 2 minutes x3 BS, while I move the other leg around, clipper position, straght out in front, sometime lift dumbbells at same time. And most recently do 50 swirl motions, and 50 reverse swirl, while balancing on one leg the whole time. BS x2-3, gets ankle and knee at the same time.

So I sorta miss footbag now. And I surely miss a workout. I never really thought about workouts, it was just a pleasant side effect. Cardio is hecky nice though, heavy breathing and sweat. Need to be healthy. I'm defnitely eating less, cuz I don't exert as much energy. I am eating a bit healthier in general.

I guess this is a boring ass post. But it's good to track this stuff. I hardly ever had injuries before, maybe some shin splints the first year, and that one sledding accident. I find that I have less injuries the more active I am. I fixed my bike up, and I'm intending to ride that bitch a lot to help strengthen and get places, and cardio it up. (I rode to the lake and back today, and dayum that was a long way, like 50 minutes each way, my legs felt cashed out on the way back).

--
I realized Worlds is super close, even though it seemed so far away just a bit ago, so checked plane tix, and they're $1300!

Just restarted watching Battlestar Gallactica. I stopped a year or 2 ago in mid-season 3.

--
I never know when milk's gone bad (I don't have Rick James to tell me), but I test-smelled some milk yesterday even though it had another day on it, and it smelled like true asshole, so I tossed it. I feel like this is a big step in becoming a grown-up.

merry xmas if you made it all the way here.

[CIC flurry]

May Review:

Weekly sessions! Injuries gone!

Not pushing it too hard the first few session and still not now. Ankle still hurts when I flex it hard in the clipper bending direction, but not much. I think strengthening exercises helped, and playing footbag helps too.

We've played with lots o' people. Even kicked at Bluesfest (though that is June).

I guess it was a good month.

One time Tim and I played at Bemont and Clark at night by the newish train station and lots of people, and it was hecky fun, and i play with just bread and butter moves and got hecky long strings. Was so fun. Felt so tits to play so free with no worries or babying of joints and good after all that time building back up.

I gave the bag double middle fingers once when it dropped when I wanted to keep playing, just as these cops were driving past, and they stopped and called me over. I thought it was because they thought I was giving them the finger, (I have a guilty conscience) but it was my neighbor! The spot was cool, but also a hangout for trannies *-*

now i need to strengthen my back mo, cuz for it's always hurt after hard sessions. Oh and I'm getting a bed tomorrow!

[CIC flurry]

I almost posted a june summary. Lots of footbag going down. I'll prolly post it sometime.
New moves:
gyro symp whirl.
ummm rooted(ish) mirage. i forget what rooted is exactly, but this is just like a move that u set and plant the set foot in the perfect place for a delay, then with that leg not moving at all you do a dex with the other leg.

Tim and I will kick tomorrow, but not at stabby park prolly.

Saw Hen Dawg.

Made a load of money with poker.

I wanna do some gyro barrages.

I played episode 2 of the xbox walking dead game.

ok here is june:
June was a good month.

We played a bunch and I also have continued my ankle and started some back stretching strengthening.

Been playing on average 2x a week. I also played solo about 3-4x .

I've been able to use more moves now. I wasn't touching double dexes (same leg: datw, dod, etc) and torques and atomics, and now my body feels comfortable with them, and that's awesome. If I tried a torque before, i think the twisting motion on my ankle would fuck me hardcore.

We've played in some cool spots too. It's been hot, and Tim has a schedule, so we play at night under the train, or in some areas where there's alot of traffic. Even at night. it's pretty hot n humid.

We hacked at Blues fest in some circles. Was cool, churneys rolled through, and circle got to like 15 people with 2 centers/rangers. First time I've seen rob creel since last year.

I've been playing the last 4-5 sessions without insoles, and it feels so money. My feet are lower to the ground, and I feel more stable, and my clipper and toe stalls seem much better, very sticky.

In addition to those ankle stretches I do some sort-of groin strengthen a bit. tension band wrapped around foot and rotate whole leg (instead of just ankle) inward. Afterward, and lately I don't even feel that slight tiny pain at all.

-fin

I guess it'd hard to write about goals for july when july is almost done. Would be cool to play more.

[quadgun]

[CIC flurry]

hit Void today. i only hit it a few times before a couple of years ago. Tim inspired me to try it. Really fun session.
Also Matt Churney rolled thru and kicked for a bit. 2 girls also kicked with us, one was nice, the other was with some dude and kicked it a few times, then when someone else dropped it she yelled, "I win! Now it's time to catch up on a fuck."

[CIC flurry]

Kicked with Tim and Hania yesterday. I played shitty, but I hit pixie zulu mirage first try. Dunno if I ever even tried that.