Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[ta0]

I am at the Westin. Talked to Dazzling Dave, Kyo, Yohans and several yoyoers. I heard that Mike D. registered for freestyles..

 I haven't thrown a top yet. The hotel is pretty nice. We will see how spin friendly it is. I guess it is time to figure it out. 

[ta0]

I was throwing with Dave. The tops on the table are his. He has made some really nice tops.
He only brought a single yo-yo 

[ta0]

Yesterday we stayed late playing tops until sleep conquered us. Fortunately there is enough space in the common areas with carpet to throw without hindrance. That is Davin, Dave, Mike D. and myself. Yohans also joined us for a while.  Also met Ian Smith, who is sponsored by Chico, I believe, and can do some nice bearing combos (another Figaro inductee). Topper77 should be here tomorrow morning.

Yohans had some new Energia tops with nice swirl colors and improved tips. He also had a Big Shock with a new light module with music    Dave is playing with it on the attached photo.

Yesterday there was live stream. I am guessing also today. But we don't know the time,  just that it is probably after the yo-yo sports ladder.  The stage is not very deep, what is going to be a problem for tops.

[yollector]

  I am glad you met Ian Smith.
He is quite the top thrower and I hope
is registered for the tops.
  He is the regional champ in the 3A division and
is also in the 5A finals as well.
  Good luck to all !
          RFC

[ta0]

Freestyles were a lot of fun!

1_ ta0
2_ Mike
3_ Dave

 

I am at the car rental: I'll meet one of the biggest spintop collectors in the world in a few hours!

[cecil]

I hope you all have a GREAT TIME.

[ta0]

I hope you all have a GREAT TIME.

We definitely had a great time!
Dave had so much fun with his routine! At one point he threw the light and music Energia top and went to the judges table!  Mike has such good moves! He just needs a few more tricks to cover the three minutes and have a dynamite routine. I had planned to change my routine from worlds but after I missed early I went back to that one, just a little messier.
We got large medals with very nice bands (inspired by worlds?) The national top trophy was missing: I guess poptop will send it directly to me.

I am glad you met Ian Smith. He is quite the top thrower and I hope is registered for the tops.
  He is the regional cha mp in the 3A division and is also in the 5A finals as well.

He said he plans to compite in tops next year. In the morning he threw tops with us instead of practicing his 3A. He could become scary good!
Somebody who also threw tops a little bit with us was Steve Brown: surprise!
I finally met topper77 (Derek). He came with some nice tops and his great skills to do wicked bearing tricks. It is a pity he didn't compete. He said he has concentrated in kendama the last couple of years, but I think his interest in tops was rekindled.  Actually, he is friends with Davin and sometimes they throw together. Davin is doing a lot of work promoting tops among kids at the yo-yo club and (if I understood correctly) every week in Downtown Disney at the Duncan cart. It was lots of fun throwing with him.

You don't need many top players to have great fun. I wish I could have stayed longer.
The visit to the collector was amazing. I'll write about it after I get home (lots of photos).

[jim in paris]

howdie !
thanx for keeping us informed of the fun in Redondo Beach
it's great you finally met Topper77 who is One Of A Kind player


jim

[Hroch]

Congratulation guys! 

Is there any chance of having freestyle videos? I haven't found anything yet.

[ta0]

Is there any chance of having freestyle videos? I haven't found anything yet.

I did record the freestyles from a side view (camera fixed to a post). Give me a few days to upload them.

I arrived home past midnight and now I have lots of work-related stuff to do, so I won't be able to post photos until tonight.
I was afraid that after Tokyo this contest would be anticlimactic, but it turned out a great trip, with some good anecdotes . . .   

[ta0]

Here are the new inductees:

Derek (topper777):


Note that Derek is left handed and I threw Figaro right handed, so he had an extra challenge to balance it.
When he approached me I only recognized him because he was wearing the S8 superman T-shirt . . . not!   

Here is Davin (phrawg2001):



and multi-skilled (very much so), Ian Smith:



One proof that you are passionate about something is when you are willing to substain injury in its pursuit. Friday night when we were throwing tops I hit a top upwards with the hand trying to save it (I have done that lately with some success) but I just knocked it directly to my face. The tip of the Hollow point cut me at the base of the nose. I did not take a photo, but you may be able to see the mark on my freestyle video. I also have a string with blood stains to prove it.

But the most dangerous situation I was involved during the trip was during my visit to the Montaña de Oro state park on Sunday. By the way it is beautiful (and free to access, contrary to state parks in Texas):



I freestyled a little on the beach, but as always the wind and the humidity don't make it a good place to do it.
Well, I was walking along a narrow path between the official trail and the bluff when after turning a corner found this less than three feet (one meter) away:



It was the first time that I encountered a rattlesnake in the wild. I tried to video it with one hand while I fumbled with the other with my top but it left before I was ready. I wonder how it would have reacted to a top landing close by . . . 

[mailman]

Great pictures, Jorge!!

[dazzlingdave]

I wanted to give my quick run down of the event.

It was great fun throwing with the top players who came to Nationals. (Although I wish we could have had a lot more of you guys!)
Jorge, Mike, Davin, Ian, Derrek and I were predominately the main players who threw together for a few hours. Although a lot of younger guys came and asked me to use my tops throughout the weekend....and they could do some of the basic bearing style tricks.....but it was obvious they were yo-yo players who were not really wanting to take the full on jump into tops. It was a fun thing to do for 15-20 minutes, but after that, back to yo-yo play.

I enjoyed the actual freestyle part of the contest on stage as well. It was obvious to me that 3rd place was going to be my spot after the contest, so there was no real pressure to compete....so I went for the fun and entertaining aspect of a freestyle. (although I started very well, and was hoping it would keep going!) Somewhere around spin top #5 things started to fall apart. In the end I used 9 or 10 tops, strings were all over the place, and I was still smiling! I did have fun!

Thanks to Dale and Val for judging the event. Mike and Jorge for competing, and all the people who watched and said they enjoyed the contest after.

Hope to see you all in Cleveland!

Dave

[ta0]

Hope to see you all in Cleveland!
Dave

Yes, Cleveland should be a great spintop meeting!

We did not have spintop battle or corkscrew contest. Tyler gets to keep his corkscrew trophy for an extra year for free (the way he pulverized the old record, he deserves it).

I had all the intention of eating at one of the two Tops burger places in Pasadena (www.theoriginaltops.com , www.topsburger.com), but 3 traffic accidents slowed my drive back to L.A. and I just got in time to the airport. Perhaps Davin can go there and take some pictures for us with a top (he should at least get a free burger!).

Here is the video I took with my phone of the rattler. It was almost very spintop-related: you can see the Giulia at the end 

[mailman]

Hope to see you all in Cleveland!
Dave

I had all the intention of eating at one of the two Tops burger places in Pasadena (www.theoriginaltops.com , www.topsburger.com), but 3 traffic accidents slowed my drive back to L.A. and I just got in time to the airport. Perhaps Davin can go there and take some pictures for us with a top (he should at least get a free burger!).

We have a local supermarket chain called Tops Friendly Markets.  It's a shame that they don't have a spin top in their logo....

http://www.topsmarkets.com/