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[MarkHayward]

Glad to hear the surgery went well Walter.

In other news, I finished the Battletop trophy, but haven't been able to shoot video to post yet. I just discovered that in order for the whole thing to be in the shot I have to move so far back that I can't reach the trophy to operate it. Haha. I'll get some help when I get to Lincoln this afternoon.

[poptop]

Have fun guys!  I wish I could be there.  I tried, but got vetoed by the family...

[MarkHayward]

Chad has the prettiest top of them all.

[Eric]

That's an amazing paint job.....Alan's work, yes?

[MarkHayward]

I went over to the Flatland registration table to get the awesome festival t-shirt, and noticed that it had a top on it. I immediately thought, "hey that looks like my top Chubby" but then realised that I was being totally vain. There was no way that was Chubby. So I bought my shirt and then ran into Chad on my way back to the top area. He said, "Did you see Chubby on the shirt?"

That is so awesome. Not only is it a cool shirt, but it actually has MY TOP ON IT!!! Amazing. I'm so honored, and now I have a new favorite shirt.

[MarkHayward]

Eric, that's actually one of Chad's own creations. String, foam and resin with auto paint on it. Looks incredible when spinning.

[Dick Stohr]

Wow!  Chad that is terrific.

[Eric]

Exceptionally cool Chad !!!

[MarkHayward]

I'm a little sorry to be rubbing it in for those of you who couldn't join us this weekend, (but only a little sorry) but Flatland was SO much fun. I had the best time.

I had pretty high hopes already, and I had WAY more fun than I expected. We had our own carpeted room for top spinning, we had a great top battle (Alan really got the kill shot down), and we also had a really outrageous Skittles bracket. I'm not exaggerating when I say that at one point we had 80% of the people in the gym watching Skittles. It was crazy.

It was also a great skill achievement weekend for me. I made great progress with the snap start, learned how to do orbits (although I still need a lot of practice), AND I got to try a one way bearing on a giulia top that Jorge set up to be left handed. It was so fantastic that my brain nearly exploded. Maurizio, that bearing is the icing on the cake. It makes an amazing top even better. Holy cow! What a difference that bearing makes. I will contact you to order one. I can't recommend it highly enough people.

I think we were all surprised at how exciting Skittles was. It should really be something we do at conventions more often. It's a great way to get lots of people involved. Not only did we have a lot of new people who had never spun tops, but we also had most of the ladies in the gym competing with us. That is no small feat for any skill event here in the U.S.

All in all it was a really really good event. What makes the difference is the details. The Nebraska crew really had it down. Everything was taken care of, and they even fed us! Outstanding job everyone. Plus, it didn't hurt that we had one of the most high-powered gatherings of top spinners I've ever been around.

[ta0]

I got back today at noon and there was a pile of work waiting for me, so I should not be here reading posts and posting . . . but I have to say a few words of how good Flatland was!  It really showed that two of the organizers, Rick and Chad, are top players: spintop players were treated like royalty! Thanks so much!!!!!

I'll be posting much more later today, including pictures.

[the Earl of Whirl]

Glad to hear everyone had such a good time.  Please, Mark, rub it in.  We want to hear everything!!!

[MarkHayward]

My arm is sore from Skittles. I think that's a good thing though.

[mtntop]

Or his arm may be sore from this.



Or



Or



More later, and by the way BEST TIME EVER!!!

[MarkHayward]

Wow! The string looks awesome!

[ta0]

Yes, this meeting surpassed my expectations!
I met for the first time in person lincolnrick, chad and zeemo, all of them one-of-a-kind guys. They will be inducted to the Figaro Gallery in the next few days, but here is a preview:







A couch may be the logo of the club but the organizers are no couch potatoes (by the way, they had like 7 sofas on the floor!)  They provided us with all we could ask for; this is a very "top" friendly juggling meet. 

Jon Gates was there, fresh from his vacation in India (he did bring back one interesting top). He made some excuses due to the jet lag, but he was still amazing, as always (could speed up a Siren King from a snap start to whistling speed).  It was great to see Alan again (and meet his girlfriend and his sister, both of whom competed in Skittles): thanks for the custom nuts to lock the S8 bearings! He was the man, winning UBTU and the skittles battles. I did not see Mark H. juggle, but he threw tops a lot.  He did a wonderful spintop routine in the public show ending in the funniest skill multitasking. On the Renegade show it was mtntop who shinned with a freestyle with his big top, timed by a regular top he threw on a plate. I think his only miss was the first boomerang and clean from then on.

(more later, I have things to do)