About Me
- Name: Richard [Reeses2150] Kohut
- Location: Woodbridge, New Jersey, United States
I've got ADHD, and I am an artist. You do the math...
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Monday, July 27, 2009
IJA - Idiotic Journalist's Assumptions
Listen Up!
Well that's what this weeks post is about, an idiot blogger (aka, me), giving a review of what happened at a week long juggling convention known as the IJA, the International Jugglers Association. But first, let me catch you up on what doesn't matter at all and tell you what I plan on doing for the next few blogs.
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Next weeks post, I'll have a review of the new Harry Potter movie because I desperately want to go see it, and I'll also have a story of my latest hobby, Geocaching! So next week should be an interesting post, then probably the week after that I'll have a tutorial on how to make a looping gif from a video file, because I was recently asked how to make them, and I figured it's a good idea for a tutorial. I'll probably also make a future post about what I covered in the videography workshop at the IJA, but then again this is all if nothing interesting happens at work, lol.
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Well now that I'm back working again, I have to get re-used to waking up and going off to spend the day organizing plants. The Garwood store though rearranged the outdoor rack while I was away and I couldn't be happier with the new arrangement! Now instead of it being in a different part of the store from the smaller stuff, it's right next to it, so the customers and I don't have to go back and forth hunting around for stuff. Smart move. Of course now is also the time when shipments and sales start slowing down, being the middle of summer and all, and I'm not sure what that's gonna mean for me, but hopefully it won't be too bad...
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Well I finally released Adverse Reaction, right before I left for the IJA I edited it together and uploaded it. Definitely not the best editing job ever because I had to use the 1st cut (corrupted windows movie maker hates me), but the tricks in it are absolutely top notch! Go ahead and watch it right at the top left or=f this post!
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THE 2009 IJA FESTIVAL:
So to start, let me talk about my decision to DRIVE down to North Carolina from New Jersey. I knew it was gonna be a massive drive, so I went on Monday because I wanted to save money on the hotel and monday there was nothing going on planned at the IJA except for the open gym. It was 9 and a half or more hours each way, easily the longest solo drive I'd ever made by myself, and I have to say, it really wasn't all that bad. Of course the reason it wasn't so bad was because I was smart about it, see I have a DC to AC current car adapter, so I basically have a power outlet in my car from the cigarette lighter, and I can run my laptop off of that as long as I want! That and I have downloaded all of the Penn Jillette radio shows in MP3 form from back in 2006. It's about a hundred plus hours of content, and I've barely gone through 10 hours of it before then, so I put them all on my laptop and had an endless source of good radio for the 9 hour ride. Though I do have to say, at the end of the drive down it really sucked, because the road I was to take from Virginia into North Carolina was Route 220, but the thing is there's a US220 and a dozen or so Business 220's, and Google maps was telling me to take one of those business 220's. So I was heading the right way for sure, but I was stopping at every gas station that was still open, it being 10PM at the time and southern Virginia, where there's at least 3 miles between an open gas station and another open anything. That was fun for sure, but then all the sudden I find myself exiting 220, and now as I'm in North Carolina, in the suburbs and rural areas, there are NO streetlights, and the major highways are only one lane, so I'm almost missing every single major intersection I need to turn at until I FINALLY make it into Winsten-Salem, and I realize how thankful I am to see streetlights and buildings again. It's a little revelation I had while taking that drive that I am a city guy for sure.
So once I actually arrived and found the orphanage, getting the key to my room and everything, I went to my 2 twin bed room with a shared bathroom and slept for the night. Next morning was pretty good, I got up and made my way to the convention center, finding that the attached parking deck was 6 bucks a day was a pretty good deal, and having the guy at the registration desk recognize me and sign me in was just as awesome. I spent the next hour or so checking out the gym and catching up with a few of the jugglers I'm friends with and who I like, those being Kevin Axtell, The New Steve, Paris, Rob Crites, Warren Hammond, Ross Berenson, Sean Blue, Matt Hall (once I saw him running down the hall to his next workshop, lol), and of course all the other people I didn't know that came up and knew me. It still amazes me that I'm such a big name in juggling, even after the knowledge has sunk in. Well either way, the time comes around for the cigar box workshop, and while there I'm reminded of all the wonders of 3 box stuff, and why I love boxes too. It was a great workshop, and the leader talked briefly about Ohako (a massive cigar box DVD from Japan I've been dying to get a copy of), and he said he'd give me a copy! SWEET! So let me think, after that workshop ended, it was about time for dinner before the welcome show, and I followed one of my new pals around a few blocks looking to see what was there, finding my two main places to eat for the next few days, the Quiznos (which when I went on that 1st day didn't have enough meatballs for more than a 6" sub, so they discounted me) and the Mellow Mushroom, which may sound like a place to drop acid, but it's a really nice pizza place, and believe me it was some awesome pizza.
The welcome show started and featured a few big names at the beginning, including Laura Ernst, Sean Blue, Kyle Driggs, and especially the hosts the Sharpe Brothers. What everyone was waiting for was the big hour long stage debut of team RDL, with Jay Gilligan, Wes Peden, Erik Aberg, and Patrick Elmnert. Let's just say, I could spend a whole blog post talking about them and how I don't like them that much, and I think that's just what I'll do either in another blog post or a forum post somewhere, but for now let me just say ther had a great 5 minute start, and then ten more minutes of good material stretched out into an hour long show. I'm kind of not ashamed to say I fell asleep for some of it right in the middle of a 15 minute long lull of nothing but 3 club scissors routines and random non-juggling stuff. it was nice seeing Wes do a 5 club 1 high 4 low shoulder throws, but past that, not for me at all, and a couple people agreed with me, but others couldn't have disagreed more. I think it's because they're either filling a niche or just have such a specific style. But again, I'm going into detail. Let me finish by saying, Wes went from doing 6 club scissors to poking balloons in the air...... (and people wonder why I don't like his post Sweden style...)
DAY TWO - WEDNESDAY
So it's now Wednesday, and I have to wake up in time to host my workshop about videography. Since I started going to conventions I've been meaning to host a workshop on something, but I've really never managed to come up with a topic I thought I knew enough about to teach people, it's kinda the same problem with JoJ, but this year when Matt Hall put out a mass email asking for people to do workshops at the IJA, I looked at what was there and what I'd done with JoJ, and I realized that though there were tons of workshops about juggling and unrelated stuff, there was NOTHING on how to make videos or even the basics of shooting video! So I responded to Matt back in June and said I'd host one about videography, and now it was time to do it.
I entered the workshop, half expecting it to be empty except for 3 people, and to my surprise and joy, there sat a good dozen people in the chairs with their video cameras and props, waiting to hear what I had to say. I had two ways I could have gone with this workshop, the basics or the real video tips. Of course it seems obvious to me now, but as I asked what everyone wanted to see, I got back that everyone knew how to use their cameras and wanted to learn how to make a better shot. Perfect. So I went through the points about how to decide what makes good lighting and backgrounds from bad ones, along with everything on how to frame a shot and even techniques for holding a camera steady when there's no tripod around. I took any questions people had and answered them all fairly easily (which I was so thankful for, it made me feel smart and like I wasn't underqualified to do this), and at the end I got a lot of compliments, including one guy who said it was the least intimidating workshop he'd ever attended, which meant a lot to me. I'm always one to be on the same level with people, and I really don't like people thinking I'm pompous or above them or anything, just a guy offering advice on something he knows.
So after that, I bought my first Kendama ever, it was the last of the standard ones available from the japanese guys table, and I managed to snag it fr a cool 12 bucks. I couldn't put it down for the next 4 hours, I loved it and hated it so much as I tried to get my first spike, quickly picking up on the techniques as I went, eventually getting a full round from one side cup to the other, then to the bottom cup and then a spike. The thing I didn't realize in those four hours though, are that the 2 side cups are different sizes, and that the instruction book showed all the tricks I was coming up with in japanese. So I played around with it and got some footage of people doing stuff, and then it was time to go for food.
I met up with a group of jugglers at the Mellow Mushroom pizzeria, and just as they got a table I jumped in and didn't have to wait at all for a seat when there was a possibly 20 minute line. I brought the Kendama with me and played around with it a bit when the conversation was boring, and then we started talking about RDL and being me, I HAD to share my opinion. Luckily a few people were on my side, especially when I said the wes went to poking balloons line. The pizzas came and I ended up eating over half of a 12 inch pie, having not eaten at all that day yet, and then the group broke up to go see the youth showcase. This is the ont competition I really didn't care to see at all, so I went back to the gym to check my email and stuff on my laptop, again thankful beyond words for free wireless internet at the convention center. So I finished that and headed off to the Juniors Competition which followed the youth showcase. While in the lobby I played a game of Horse with Kendama players, and managing to not get last somehow after only a few hours of practice. The juniors competition was good, nothing really ultra-memorable, but I do remember there were diabloists all over. So yeah, that ended and I went back to the gym to grab saome stuff before heading off to the first Renegade show with sleepy eyes. After I watched a few acts including the legendary Bob Knickerson, I just got way too tired and finally back to my room.
DAY THREE - THURSDAY
So this is where it settles in and things start to become more mundane, like waking up in the twin size bed and heading off to the convention center. I for the most part took today to go to a couple workshops and to practice my ring stuff in the gym like I hadn't really one much, and I was finding it a little tough to do my favorite 5 ring moves, like the full reverse and half shower. It was in that moment that I knew I REALLY need to practice more at home. One of the workshops I somehow missed because I overslept was the acrobatics workshop, which I really love doing but don't have anyone here at home to do it with, but to my joy when I finished trying my ring stuff and went outside for water, I saw they were out there still doing stuff! I instantly jumped in and was a base for a few positions.
Once that was over, there was a big lull between the workshops I wanted to go to ending and the Individuals Championships beginning, so I took that time to go off and do some Geocaching! I looked over on the websites for the local cache information and went out in search of the two closest Cache's, which were only about 3 blocks away from the center. I read the hint on the first one and instantly knew it would be hidden under a USA Today box, and so I recorded a video of me walking up to and quickly finding it. Granted the video makes it look sort of boring, but it's really an awesome thing to do. I still haven't put that video up, but I will next week when I talk more about my newest hobby.
So I got back to the gym and practiced a little more and then it was time for the championship in the theater. I went off and sat near a couple jugglers I knew casually, and watched as diaboloist after diaboloist went up and took the stage. Ugh. I understand Diabolo is tough and it's good, but the competition is supposed to be about toss juggling. So finally it was Doug Sayers turn to come out, and I WISH I was recording his act, because as you've probably heard, it blew everything else out of the water, completely. His insanely long run of 5 club backcrosses, his isolated 7 ball runs and tricks, his inside joke about him juggling rings, it was all beautifully put together. He got the only 100% standing ovation of the night, and I clearly remember after seeing the next 2 competitors go up, "If they don't give Doug the gold, there's gonna be a riot and I'm starting it!" Luckily for the judges, he was given 1st place and everyone went to the Renegade show happy that Doug finally got what he deserved.
That night at renegade the Passing Zone dropped in to perform a new act they had been working on with cigar boxes, and though I recorded it, it was one of the videos I lost when my converter blew up in my face. (If anyone has that on video, please email it to me) It was an awesome routine, and it was again the routine of the night, but unfortunately again, I ended u leaving halfway through thanks to sleepiness. Before I went though I checked google maps for any local food places that would still be open, and on my way to the local Wendy's, I ran across a 24 hour CVS, where I bought frozen pizzas and food for the rest of the week for myself, seeing as how where I stayed had a fridge and a microwave. Luckily for me, there were no real workshops I needed to go to the next day, so I could sleep as much as I wanted.
DAY FOUR - FRIDAY
So this, like I said, was the day I slept in, and I woke up around 1:30 or so and headed off to catch the numbers competitions. I got there and the first thing I heard when I asked what happened was that I missed 2 new world records happening, but thankfully because of that, they weren't very far along, and so I set up my camera and recorded a lot of what remained, again, this was a lot of the footage that got lost in conversion, but oh well. It was amazing to see regardless, and after that was X-Juggling, where I was amazed at how many WJF competitors there were competing for something, including Jack Denger and Josh Horton. Some of the tricks were awesome, others were stupid, most overall hey were just great. I thought a little after about WJF6 and who would be there for #6, after taking out Thomas, the X-Juggling competitors, and keeping just the regulars and not special guests like Ignatov or Lauge. I came up with a list of only about 4 big names and about 8 others above my skill level. So since then I've been a little scared about WJF6, even talking about it later with some other jugglers, but I'll get to that later.
So moving on, it was time for the cascade of stars, and m god was it good. Granted the first half wasn't the best series of routines ever, but then Greg Kennedy came out and did Boxes, Rhombi, and the Lotus I think it was called? And though the lotus sucked a bit, Boxes and Rhombi completely made up for it! Then intermission came and went, and when we came back, the curtain came up to reveal Greg Kennedy again in the Plexiglas cone, a massive cheer coming from everyone, myself included as he went through and performed the most famous juggling act there is. Then as soon as that was finished came Michael Menes performing the most amazing 3 ball routine, and then the classic stairwell miming act, which blew me and everyone else away completely. There were 3 other acts, all of which were so great and I'm not mentioning them by name because I want to move on, that and I can't remember the names, but moving on, the second half of the show was amazing.
Of course after it was Renegade, and it was planned to be Asian Night and games like Ultimate Beer Pong. Of course I could care less about all the Asian stuff, and so I went in late looking for the games, I entered the room right at the act where there was a guy in a thong, and only a thong, breaking chopsticks with his ass. Needless to say, a very interesting moment as I stayed for a little bit, asking about the games, and not getting any sort of clear response. Eventually I heard the games were canceled and so I headed off for sleep after watching Rob Crites do a handstand on a barstool in a Speedo onstage. That an the choptsticks made me feel SO much better about my act which was coming up tomorrow, and I'd been nervous about going onstage without a shirt on pretty much the whole week.
So I went back and checked my email again, but of course Kieth Bindlestiff hasd other ideas, nearly dragging me outside to hang out with all the guys (Tony Psezzo, Mark the Knife, Warren Hammond, Ross, etc), and there we got into a conversation about WJF vs IJA, and I shared my revelation about how I was afraid of WJF6 not gonna be big at all, and then I heard an interesting and somewhat scary thought. the WJF is basically skipping a year by not having a con in 2009, and they said "Imagine if the IJA or the Emmy's skipped a year", and it sent a small shiver down my spine with the realization that WJF6 might not happen. I mean deep down I know Jason, he's not gonna quit for anything, but just the possibility makes me shudder, because nothing else exists right now that could come close to filling it's niche. There was a bit more discussion about stuff and glow ball juggling, but I managed to sneak away and off to bed.
DAY FIVE - SATURDAY
So this was the last day of the convention, at least where stuff was planned, and I got up eagerly to go play the games. It was a little lame that they didn't have as many endurance competitions as I wanted like the 5 ring endurance, but hey, can't get everything. I didn't come close to winning any of them, though Kevin Axtell won almost 50 bucks in the quarter juggling competition, and The New Steve came devilishly close to winning 5 ball endurance. If you want to get uber technical, I won Ivan Says because I was the only one to throw my wallet up to him when he said "Ivan Says", but that's just me being stupid. It was a great moment though when I realized after I threw it that one of the NYC condoms being given out I had in there, Ivan looking inside and seeing it.
So then after the games it was time for the party, where I could complain about the food line for ages. It wrapped the entire length of the building it seemed, and took a full half hour to get to the front for food. The food was good though once I got it and managed to somehow find an open spot at The New Steve's table. The awards and stuff were, well, awards, and I was a little surprised but not that much as to how Matt Hall got second and Doug Sayers nabbed first place. They both deserve it so much, but yeah, this really was Doug's time and he showed it in the competition and in the gym constantly. The DJ they got for agfter the awards was ok, nothing really special or even worth mentioning past the fact that he was there, and after a little dance-juggling improv around in a dark corner of the dance floor, I headed off to prepare for Renegade.
Now I've been hyping my trick all week, telling everyone who asked if I was performing at all that I would be doing Muffin Clutches topless. I had at least 6 people that were really looking forward to it, and I practiced it a couple times in the changing room just to be sure I could do it before heading back out to watch Mark The Knife and a few other acts before my own. I handed the camera off to the guy sitting on the ledge and went backstage to grab my juggling balls just before I was called out. The rest as they say, is history. You can watch that video up near the top of this post, and as you can hear, I got a standing ovation for it. It was one of only three standing ovations of the night, the other two being for cigarette tricks in the contest. So that made me happy beyond words, and all throughout the night everyone was congratulating and complimenting me on the act, it was the most surreal, awesome, and humbling feeling I've ever had and I loved every minute of it as people came up to me "That was the PERFECT Renegade act", "I couldn't have ever done that", and "You are the MAN!" were some of the memorable ones I heard. Even Bob Knickerson complimented me on it as he saw me, talk about being humbled.
DAY SIX-SEVEN - SUNDAY-MONDAY
So now the stuff was all over, and it was time for me to spend one more day gathering footage for the podcast and saying goodbye to everyone. Mostly though it was my day to relax and catch up on sleep in the hotel room I'd booked before heading over to the lobby to hang out with Kevin Axtell and the Humbolt Circus group for a bit, doing just a last little bit of juggling as we all talked over our highs and lows of the convention. It was a great few hours of relaxation before I finally headed off to bed one last time in Winston-Salem.
So after that night of sleep it was finally time for me to get back to New Jersey, with a freshly recorded set of videos that will keep my Youtube channel interesting for the next month or so, and an experience I am eager to repeat next year. I threw on my laptop and listened to some more Penn Radio as I drove up the easy roads through Virginia to West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and finally back to Jersey where I arrived at around 1AM and immediately screwed up my editing of the files, and losing nearly half the footage I got...... However I will be getting footage from other people soon, so I should be fine. Either way this was an amazing experience and I'm so glad I went.
A Day In The Life Of A Peanut Butter Cup ~ Reeses2150
Well that's what this weeks post is about, an idiot blogger (aka, me), giving a review of what happened at a week long juggling convention known as the IJA, the International Jugglers Association. But first, let me catch you up on what doesn't matter at all and tell you what I plan on doing for the next few blogs.
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Next weeks post, I'll have a review of the new Harry Potter movie because I desperately want to go see it, and I'll also have a story of my latest hobby, Geocaching! So next week should be an interesting post, then probably the week after that I'll have a tutorial on how to make a looping gif from a video file, because I was recently asked how to make them, and I figured it's a good idea for a tutorial. I'll probably also make a future post about what I covered in the videography workshop at the IJA, but then again this is all if nothing interesting happens at work, lol.
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Well now that I'm back working again, I have to get re-used to waking up and going off to spend the day organizing plants. The Garwood store though rearranged the outdoor rack while I was away and I couldn't be happier with the new arrangement! Now instead of it being in a different part of the store from the smaller stuff, it's right next to it, so the customers and I don't have to go back and forth hunting around for stuff. Smart move. Of course now is also the time when shipments and sales start slowing down, being the middle of summer and all, and I'm not sure what that's gonna mean for me, but hopefully it won't be too bad...
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Well I finally released Adverse Reaction, right before I left for the IJA I edited it together and uploaded it. Definitely not the best editing job ever because I had to use the 1st cut (corrupted windows movie maker hates me), but the tricks in it are absolutely top notch! Go ahead and watch it right at the top left or=f this post!
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THE 2009 IJA FESTIVAL:
So to start, let me talk about my decision to DRIVE down to North Carolina from New Jersey. I knew it was gonna be a massive drive, so I went on Monday because I wanted to save money on the hotel and monday there was nothing going on planned at the IJA except for the open gym. It was 9 and a half or more hours each way, easily the longest solo drive I'd ever made by myself, and I have to say, it really wasn't all that bad. Of course the reason it wasn't so bad was because I was smart about it, see I have a DC to AC current car adapter, so I basically have a power outlet in my car from the cigarette lighter, and I can run my laptop off of that as long as I want! That and I have downloaded all of the Penn Jillette radio shows in MP3 form from back in 2006. It's about a hundred plus hours of content, and I've barely gone through 10 hours of it before then, so I put them all on my laptop and had an endless source of good radio for the 9 hour ride. Though I do have to say, at the end of the drive down it really sucked, because the road I was to take from Virginia into North Carolina was Route 220, but the thing is there's a US220 and a dozen or so Business 220's, and Google maps was telling me to take one of those business 220's. So I was heading the right way for sure, but I was stopping at every gas station that was still open, it being 10PM at the time and southern Virginia, where there's at least 3 miles between an open gas station and another open anything. That was fun for sure, but then all the sudden I find myself exiting 220, and now as I'm in North Carolina, in the suburbs and rural areas, there are NO streetlights, and the major highways are only one lane, so I'm almost missing every single major intersection I need to turn at until I FINALLY make it into Winsten-Salem, and I realize how thankful I am to see streetlights and buildings again. It's a little revelation I had while taking that drive that I am a city guy for sure.
So once I actually arrived and found the orphanage, getting the key to my room and everything, I went to my 2 twin bed room with a shared bathroom and slept for the night. Next morning was pretty good, I got up and made my way to the convention center, finding that the attached parking deck was 6 bucks a day was a pretty good deal, and having the guy at the registration desk recognize me and sign me in was just as awesome. I spent the next hour or so checking out the gym and catching up with a few of the jugglers I'm friends with and who I like, those being Kevin Axtell, The New Steve, Paris, Rob Crites, Warren Hammond, Ross Berenson, Sean Blue, Matt Hall (once I saw him running down the hall to his next workshop, lol), and of course all the other people I didn't know that came up and knew me. It still amazes me that I'm such a big name in juggling, even after the knowledge has sunk in. Well either way, the time comes around for the cigar box workshop, and while there I'm reminded of all the wonders of 3 box stuff, and why I love boxes too. It was a great workshop, and the leader talked briefly about Ohako (a massive cigar box DVD from Japan I've been dying to get a copy of), and he said he'd give me a copy! SWEET! So let me think, after that workshop ended, it was about time for dinner before the welcome show, and I followed one of my new pals around a few blocks looking to see what was there, finding my two main places to eat for the next few days, the Quiznos (which when I went on that 1st day didn't have enough meatballs for more than a 6" sub, so they discounted me) and the Mellow Mushroom, which may sound like a place to drop acid, but it's a really nice pizza place, and believe me it was some awesome pizza.
The welcome show started and featured a few big names at the beginning, including Laura Ernst, Sean Blue, Kyle Driggs, and especially the hosts the Sharpe Brothers. What everyone was waiting for was the big hour long stage debut of team RDL, with Jay Gilligan, Wes Peden, Erik Aberg, and Patrick Elmnert. Let's just say, I could spend a whole blog post talking about them and how I don't like them that much, and I think that's just what I'll do either in another blog post or a forum post somewhere, but for now let me just say ther had a great 5 minute start, and then ten more minutes of good material stretched out into an hour long show. I'm kind of not ashamed to say I fell asleep for some of it right in the middle of a 15 minute long lull of nothing but 3 club scissors routines and random non-juggling stuff. it was nice seeing Wes do a 5 club 1 high 4 low shoulder throws, but past that, not for me at all, and a couple people agreed with me, but others couldn't have disagreed more. I think it's because they're either filling a niche or just have such a specific style. But again, I'm going into detail. Let me finish by saying, Wes went from doing 6 club scissors to poking balloons in the air...... (and people wonder why I don't like his post Sweden style...)DAY TWO - WEDNESDAY
So it's now Wednesday, and I have to wake up in time to host my workshop about videography. Since I started going to conventions I've been meaning to host a workshop on something, but I've really never managed to come up with a topic I thought I knew enough about to teach people, it's kinda the same problem with JoJ, but this year when Matt Hall put out a mass email asking for people to do workshops at the IJA, I looked at what was there and what I'd done with JoJ, and I realized that though there were tons of workshops about juggling and unrelated stuff, there was NOTHING on how to make videos or even the basics of shooting video! So I responded to Matt back in June and said I'd host one about videography, and now it was time to do it.
I entered the workshop, half expecting it to be empty except for 3 people, and to my surprise and joy, there sat a good dozen people in the chairs with their video cameras and props, waiting to hear what I had to say. I had two ways I could have gone with this workshop, the basics or the real video tips. Of course it seems obvious to me now, but as I asked what everyone wanted to see, I got back that everyone knew how to use their cameras and wanted to learn how to make a better shot. Perfect. So I went through the points about how to decide what makes good lighting and backgrounds from bad ones, along with everything on how to frame a shot and even techniques for holding a camera steady when there's no tripod around. I took any questions people had and answered them all fairly easily (which I was so thankful for, it made me feel smart and like I wasn't underqualified to do this), and at the end I got a lot of compliments, including one guy who said it was the least intimidating workshop he'd ever attended, which meant a lot to me. I'm always one to be on the same level with people, and I really don't like people thinking I'm pompous or above them or anything, just a guy offering advice on something he knows.
So after that, I bought my first Kendama ever, it was the last of the standard ones available from the japanese guys table, and I managed to snag it fr a cool 12 bucks. I couldn't put it down for the next 4 hours, I loved it and hated it so much as I tried to get my first spike, quickly picking up on the techniques as I went, eventually getting a full round from one side cup to the other, then to the bottom cup and then a spike. The thing I didn't realize in those four hours though, are that the 2 side cups are different sizes, and that the instruction book showed all the tricks I was coming up with in japanese. So I played around with it and got some footage of people doing stuff, and then it was time to go for food.
I met up with a group of jugglers at the Mellow Mushroom pizzeria, and just as they got a table I jumped in and didn't have to wait at all for a seat when there was a possibly 20 minute line. I brought the Kendama with me and played around with it a bit when the conversation was boring, and then we started talking about RDL and being me, I HAD to share my opinion. Luckily a few people were on my side, especially when I said the wes went to poking balloons line. The pizzas came and I ended up eating over half of a 12 inch pie, having not eaten at all that day yet, and then the group broke up to go see the youth showcase. This is the ont competition I really didn't care to see at all, so I went back to the gym to check my email and stuff on my laptop, again thankful beyond words for free wireless internet at the convention center. So I finished that and headed off to the Juniors Competition which followed the youth showcase. While in the lobby I played a game of Horse with Kendama players, and managing to not get last somehow after only a few hours of practice. The juniors competition was good, nothing really ultra-memorable, but I do remember there were diabloists all over. So yeah, that ended and I went back to the gym to grab saome stuff before heading off to the first Renegade show with sleepy eyes. After I watched a few acts including the legendary Bob Knickerson, I just got way too tired and finally back to my room.
DAY THREE - THURSDAY
So this is where it settles in and things start to become more mundane, like waking up in the twin size bed and heading off to the convention center. I for the most part took today to go to a couple workshops and to practice my ring stuff in the gym like I hadn't really one much, and I was finding it a little tough to do my favorite 5 ring moves, like the full reverse and half shower. It was in that moment that I knew I REALLY need to practice more at home. One of the workshops I somehow missed because I overslept was the acrobatics workshop, which I really love doing but don't have anyone here at home to do it with, but to my joy when I finished trying my ring stuff and went outside for water, I saw they were out there still doing stuff! I instantly jumped in and was a base for a few positions.Once that was over, there was a big lull between the workshops I wanted to go to ending and the Individuals Championships beginning, so I took that time to go off and do some Geocaching! I looked over on the websites for the local cache information and went out in search of the two closest Cache's, which were only about 3 blocks away from the center. I read the hint on the first one and instantly knew it would be hidden under a USA Today box, and so I recorded a video of me walking up to and quickly finding it. Granted the video makes it look sort of boring, but it's really an awesome thing to do. I still haven't put that video up, but I will next week when I talk more about my newest hobby.
So I got back to the gym and practiced a little more and then it was time for the championship in the theater. I went off and sat near a couple jugglers I knew casually, and watched as diaboloist after diaboloist went up and took the stage. Ugh. I understand Diabolo is tough and it's good, but the competition is supposed to be about toss juggling. So finally it was Doug Sayers turn to come out, and I WISH I was recording his act, because as you've probably heard, it blew everything else out of the water, completely. His insanely long run of 5 club backcrosses, his isolated 7 ball runs and tricks, his inside joke about him juggling rings, it was all beautifully put together. He got the only 100% standing ovation of the night, and I clearly remember after seeing the next 2 competitors go up, "If they don't give Doug the gold, there's gonna be a riot and I'm starting it!" Luckily for the judges, he was given 1st place and everyone went to the Renegade show happy that Doug finally got what he deserved.
That night at renegade the Passing Zone dropped in to perform a new act they had been working on with cigar boxes, and though I recorded it, it was one of the videos I lost when my converter blew up in my face. (If anyone has that on video, please email it to me) It was an awesome routine, and it was again the routine of the night, but unfortunately again, I ended u leaving halfway through thanks to sleepiness. Before I went though I checked google maps for any local food places that would still be open, and on my way to the local Wendy's, I ran across a 24 hour CVS, where I bought frozen pizzas and food for the rest of the week for myself, seeing as how where I stayed had a fridge and a microwave. Luckily for me, there were no real workshops I needed to go to the next day, so I could sleep as much as I wanted.
DAY FOUR - FRIDAYSo this, like I said, was the day I slept in, and I woke up around 1:30 or so and headed off to catch the numbers competitions. I got there and the first thing I heard when I asked what happened was that I missed 2 new world records happening, but thankfully because of that, they weren't very far along, and so I set up my camera and recorded a lot of what remained, again, this was a lot of the footage that got lost in conversion, but oh well. It was amazing to see regardless, and after that was X-Juggling, where I was amazed at how many WJF competitors there were competing for something, including Jack Denger and Josh Horton. Some of the tricks were awesome, others were stupid, most overall hey were just great. I thought a little after about WJF6 and who would be there for #6, after taking out Thomas, the X-Juggling competitors, and keeping just the regulars and not special guests like Ignatov or Lauge. I came up with a list of only about 4 big names and about 8 others above my skill level. So since then I've been a little scared about WJF6, even talking about it later with some other jugglers, but I'll get to that later.
So moving on, it was time for the cascade of stars, and m god was it good. Granted the first half wasn't the best series of routines ever, but then Greg Kennedy came out and did Boxes, Rhombi, and the Lotus I think it was called? And though the lotus sucked a bit, Boxes and Rhombi completely made up for it! Then intermission came and went, and when we came back, the curtain came up to reveal Greg Kennedy again in the Plexiglas cone, a massive cheer coming from everyone, myself included as he went through and performed the most famous juggling act there is. Then as soon as that was finished came Michael Menes performing the most amazing 3 ball routine, and then the classic stairwell miming act, which blew me and everyone else away completely. There were 3 other acts, all of which were so great and I'm not mentioning them by name because I want to move on, that and I can't remember the names, but moving on, the second half of the show was amazing.
Of course after it was Renegade, and it was planned to be Asian Night and games like Ultimate Beer Pong. Of course I could care less about all the Asian stuff, and so I went in late looking for the games, I entered the room right at the act where there was a guy in a thong, and only a thong, breaking chopsticks with his ass. Needless to say, a very interesting moment as I stayed for a little bit, asking about the games, and not getting any sort of clear response. Eventually I heard the games were canceled and so I headed off for sleep after watching Rob Crites do a handstand on a barstool in a Speedo onstage. That an the choptsticks made me feel SO much better about my act which was coming up tomorrow, and I'd been nervous about going onstage without a shirt on pretty much the whole week.
So I went back and checked my email again, but of course Kieth Bindlestiff hasd other ideas, nearly dragging me outside to hang out with all the guys (Tony Psezzo, Mark the Knife, Warren Hammond, Ross, etc), and there we got into a conversation about WJF vs IJA, and I shared my revelation about how I was afraid of WJF6 not gonna be big at all, and then I heard an interesting and somewhat scary thought. the WJF is basically skipping a year by not having a con in 2009, and they said "Imagine if the IJA or the Emmy's skipped a year", and it sent a small shiver down my spine with the realization that WJF6 might not happen. I mean deep down I know Jason, he's not gonna quit for anything, but just the possibility makes me shudder, because nothing else exists right now that could come close to filling it's niche. There was a bit more discussion about stuff and glow ball juggling, but I managed to sneak away and off to bed.
DAY FIVE - SATURDAYSo this was the last day of the convention, at least where stuff was planned, and I got up eagerly to go play the games. It was a little lame that they didn't have as many endurance competitions as I wanted like the 5 ring endurance, but hey, can't get everything. I didn't come close to winning any of them, though Kevin Axtell won almost 50 bucks in the quarter juggling competition, and The New Steve came devilishly close to winning 5 ball endurance. If you want to get uber technical, I won Ivan Says because I was the only one to throw my wallet up to him when he said "Ivan Says", but that's just me being stupid. It was a great moment though when I realized after I threw it that one of the NYC condoms being given out I had in there, Ivan looking inside and seeing it.
So then after the games it was time for the party, where I could complain about the food line for ages. It wrapped the entire length of the building it seemed, and took a full half hour to get to the front for food. The food was good though once I got it and managed to somehow find an open spot at The New Steve's table. The awards and stuff were, well, awards, and I was a little surprised but not that much as to how Matt Hall got second and Doug Sayers nabbed first place. They both deserve it so much, but yeah, this really was Doug's time and he showed it in the competition and in the gym constantly. The DJ they got for agfter the awards was ok, nothing really special or even worth mentioning past the fact that he was there, and after a little dance-juggling improv around in a dark corner of the dance floor, I headed off to prepare for Renegade.
Now I've been hyping my trick all week, telling everyone who asked if I was performing at all that I would be doing Muffin Clutches topless. I had at least 6 people that were really looking forward to it, and I practiced it a couple times in the changing room just to be sure I could do it before heading back out to watch Mark The Knife and a few other acts before my own. I handed the camera off to the guy sitting on the ledge and went backstage to grab my juggling balls just before I was called out. The rest as they say, is history. You can watch that video up near the top of this post, and as you can hear, I got a standing ovation for it. It was one of only three standing ovations of the night, the other two being for cigarette tricks in the contest. So that made me happy beyond words, and all throughout the night everyone was congratulating and complimenting me on the act, it was the most surreal, awesome, and humbling feeling I've ever had and I loved every minute of it as people came up to me "That was the PERFECT Renegade act", "I couldn't have ever done that", and "You are the MAN!" were some of the memorable ones I heard. Even Bob Knickerson complimented me on it as he saw me, talk about being humbled.
DAY SIX-SEVEN - SUNDAY-MONDAY
So now the stuff was all over, and it was time for me to spend one more day gathering footage for the podcast and saying goodbye to everyone. Mostly though it was my day to relax and catch up on sleep in the hotel room I'd booked before heading over to the lobby to hang out with Kevin Axtell and the Humbolt Circus group for a bit, doing just a last little bit of juggling as we all talked over our highs and lows of the convention. It was a great few hours of relaxation before I finally headed off to bed one last time in Winston-Salem.
So after that night of sleep it was finally time for me to get back to New Jersey, with a freshly recorded set of videos that will keep my Youtube channel interesting for the next month or so, and an experience I am eager to repeat next year. I threw on my laptop and listened to some more Penn Radio as I drove up the easy roads through Virginia to West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and finally back to Jersey where I arrived at around 1AM and immediately screwed up my editing of the files, and losing nearly half the footage I got...... However I will be getting footage from other people soon, so I should be fine. Either way this was an amazing experience and I'm so glad I went.
A Day In The Life Of A Peanut Butter Cup ~ Reeses2150
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Nothing To Say, Nothing To Say....
Listen Up!
And again, I'm late with the posting, but at least I remembered to do it this week! Man have things been crazy this past week leading up to the IJA. I'm going into overdrive because I want to edit and maybe release Adverse Reaction before the IJA, and at the IJA I want to record a convention video. I also am leading the videography workshop and need to make a pamphlet about what I'll be teaching in the workshop. Fun times...
::
Work is doing just fine as usual. Again, easy stuff, shipping days are moderate hell and I end up taking 2 full days to do it all, but now we're finally putting all of the outside plants on clearance, so hopefully they will sell and we won't be blocking half th parking lot with Hibiscus trees anymore.
::
I really haven't had the opportunity to juggle too much recently, but I have been thinking of stuff I want to do, most of it crap, but it's still stuff. I dunno, just filling space here...
Daily Life:
Actually I do have something to talk about this week that's completely new to me bust fascinating and I love it. Geocaching :D The basic notion is it's a small container of some sort that is hidden in a public place, and the exact GPS coordinates of the container are posted online, along with clues as to where it is. The object is to find the container, and write your name and date on the log sheet left inside of it, so you can see who else is a member of this kind of "underground activity" with you. It really is awesome, and it's like being part of a MASSIVE stealth scavenger hunt! The only problem for me is, I don't have a GPS XD, so I basically look at the google maps position and use the clues to tell me roughly where to look and I go and try to find the thing.
I've searched for three caches and found two so far, my first one being right on Main Street. I was driving home on the way to work and I remembered the really obvious clue and the spot on the google map. It was fairly obvious after I parked the truck and walked to the spot where the cache would be, and so I waited for it to be quiet, reached under where it would be, and found it, it was a bit of a rush as I opened the thing and saw the log sheet. Quickly scribbled my name down and replaced the thing before heading off back home. Fun times had by all :D
It may not sound like fun in text, but imagine an infinite scavenger hunt going on 24/7, whenever you want, that's constantly being updated with new caches and being played all around you. It's exciting! I'm hoping to hide a cache near my house sometime soon, because there's only one that's ANYWHERE near my house, and there's plenty of good spots to hide a cache within Sewaren.
Juggle This:
Yeah, nothing really to talk about this week. Haven't done much but I'm hoping to still have some new stuff ready for the IJA, including videos on youtube. We'll see if it works, because right now I am a little busy.....
A Day In The Life Of A Peanut Butter Cup ~ Reeses2150
And again, I'm late with the posting, but at least I remembered to do it this week! Man have things been crazy this past week leading up to the IJA. I'm going into overdrive because I want to edit and maybe release Adverse Reaction before the IJA, and at the IJA I want to record a convention video. I also am leading the videography workshop and need to make a pamphlet about what I'll be teaching in the workshop. Fun times...
::
Work is doing just fine as usual. Again, easy stuff, shipping days are moderate hell and I end up taking 2 full days to do it all, but now we're finally putting all of the outside plants on clearance, so hopefully they will sell and we won't be blocking half th parking lot with Hibiscus trees anymore.
::
I really haven't had the opportunity to juggle too much recently, but I have been thinking of stuff I want to do, most of it crap, but it's still stuff. I dunno, just filling space here...
Daily Life:
Actually I do have something to talk about this week that's completely new to me bust fascinating and I love it. Geocaching :D The basic notion is it's a small container of some sort that is hidden in a public place, and the exact GPS coordinates of the container are posted online, along with clues as to where it is. The object is to find the container, and write your name and date on the log sheet left inside of it, so you can see who else is a member of this kind of "underground activity" with you. It really is awesome, and it's like being part of a MASSIVE stealth scavenger hunt! The only problem for me is, I don't have a GPS XD, so I basically look at the google maps position and use the clues to tell me roughly where to look and I go and try to find the thing.
I've searched for three caches and found two so far, my first one being right on Main Street. I was driving home on the way to work and I remembered the really obvious clue and the spot on the google map. It was fairly obvious after I parked the truck and walked to the spot where the cache would be, and so I waited for it to be quiet, reached under where it would be, and found it, it was a bit of a rush as I opened the thing and saw the log sheet. Quickly scribbled my name down and replaced the thing before heading off back home. Fun times had by all :D
It may not sound like fun in text, but imagine an infinite scavenger hunt going on 24/7, whenever you want, that's constantly being updated with new caches and being played all around you. It's exciting! I'm hoping to hide a cache near my house sometime soon, because there's only one that's ANYWHERE near my house, and there's plenty of good spots to hide a cache within Sewaren.
Juggle This:
Yeah, nothing really to talk about this week. Haven't done much but I'm hoping to still have some new stuff ready for the IJA, including videos on youtube. We'll see if it works, because right now I am a little busy.....
A Day In The Life Of A Peanut Butter Cup ~ Reeses2150
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