[Mad Hatter] Many shiny, such log!

[annyshay]

On 1/3/2018 at 1:31 PM, Mad Hatter said:

HUMANS DON'T HAVE HOCKS, HORSES HAVE HOCKS!

true

 

Much shiny continues! How are the other toys?

[raptron]

21 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

Afterwards I worked dragon flag negatives, man they SUCK when your bum's got bigger.  

They suck ALL THE TIME, hahaha. Good work! 

[Elastigirl]

Looks like you are having fun. This year needs to be the year I finally play with the hula hoop

[Mad Hatter]

23 hours ago, MikeWazowski said:

All the shinies!! Love the self-awareness you have around what it takes for you to work hard at something.

You could say that. Or you could say that I got exercise ADD with the attention span of a toddler and goal commitment phobia.  

 

17 hours ago, annyshay said:

true

 

Much shiny continues! How are the other toys? 

They're just sitting there, taunting me, while I'm impatiently waiting for my rig to arrive.

 

3 hours ago, raptron said:

They suck ALL THE TIME, hahaha. Good work! 

Hahaha true. But now they've gone from this is stupidly, ridiculously hard to my abs are going to explode.  

 

2 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

Looks like you are having fun. This year needs to be the year I finally play with the hula hoop

I am. Easy to do when on vacation.  

 

Yes, do eeeet!

[Mad Hatter]

Man I've been lazy today. Last week of vacation so I spent all day napping and watching youtube videos. My biggest accomplishment was to finally finish Un Lun Dun! It's been next on my reading list since forever, and I even started to read it, but then I somehow got distracted by about 5 other books in between and had to restart it. Oops.   

 

I did do a few handstands, and discovered that if I try really, really hard to lock out my arms and shoulders and knees and ankles at the same time, my hold times significantly drop as the only thing left that I can compensate poor finger balancing with is my core.  And it's SO hard to bring back my core into alignment if it starts going one way. If I pike I have some degree of movement and can bring it back, but if I start to arch I really, really struggle. But hey it's still an improvement from using all the joints for balancing.

 

To distract you from my laziness, here are two hoop videos that I thought were crazy good.

 

 

 

[@mu]

ha here you are

 

On 1/3/2018 at 7:39 PM, Mad Hatter said:

MY TOYS ARRIVED TODAY!  But I have to wait for another WEEK for the rig...  

 

I got an aerial hoop, and a aerial yoga hammock thing (that I've no idea what to do with ) and a new hula hoop as a preemptive measure. (I seem to make one/buy one/lose one every year and every summer I get sad I don't have one.)

 

SQUEEE!

 

Fantastic !!! Has the rig arrived by now? What sort of rig did you get in the end?

It's going to be very hard the first few weeks (non stop play, body crying for a break )

 

I also don't understand why we say hock, sometimes I say hook (like a knee hook), it makes more sense to me somehow...

 

The intro of the first video with the sort of body isolation + hoop moving, what a brilliant idea! And the invisible steps + the tic tac thing in synch with the hoop. So many ideas!
I really like it when performers add little things like that. But then she also goes into back lever and foot heel hang like it's nothing  Will check out the 2nd video later.

 

[@mu]

On 1/2/2018 at 9:34 PM, Mad Hatter said:

 

I have a bunch of Marlo Fisken flow videos. I want to master them

 

I had to google this. Will check a bit more later. It seems it has both floor flow and pole flow?

[Echoceanic]

On 02/01/2018 at 7:36 PM, Mad Hatter said:

I also read Stardust. Such a lovely little book. Though I think I loved the Gaiman's short essay on myths and their power at the end of the book even more.

 

 

We read the same book at the same time! I liked it, but I tend to like books where I don't figure out the plot in the first four chapters more. But it didn't seem like it tried to be a book where you have to figure out stuff.

[WhiteGhost]

19 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

I did do a few handstands, and discovered that if I try really, really hard to lock out my arms and shoulders and knees and ankles at the same time, my hold times significantly drop as the only thing left that I can compensate poor finger balancing with is my core.  And it's SO hard to bring back my core into alignment if it starts going one way. If I pike I have some degree of movement and can bring it back, but if I start to arch I really, really struggle. But hey it's still an improvement from using all the joints for balancing.

 

Haha, I also made this same discovery.  My default solution to arching is to take a step with my hand. I have no idea if I can bring it back without stepping because it is already ingrained to the point that I step before I have a chance to think about it...

 

19 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

To distract you from my laziness, here are two hoop videos that I thought were crazy good.

Holy moley, that second one was completely amazeballs!   

[Mad Hatter]

7 hours ago, @mu said:

Fantastic !!! Has the rig arrived by now? What sort of rig did you get in the end?

It's going to be very hard the first few weeks (non stop play, body crying for a break )

Not yet, but I'll hopefully get in on Tuesday!  I got the x-pole a-frame, but with a slightly longer top bar to avoid hitting myself as much.

Thanks for the warning - I'm going to do my best not to break myself.  

 

7 hours ago, @mu said:

The intro of the first video with the sort of body isolation + hoop moving, what a brilliant idea! And the invisible steps + the tic tac thing in synch with the hoop. So many ideas!
I really like it when performers add little things like that. But then she also goes into back lever and foot heel hang like it's nothing  Will check out the 2nd video later.

Right, it's so good! Too many performances are boring AF to watch, with little to no musicality, no story and just tricks, tricks, tricks. This is what a performance should be like!

 

7 hours ago, @mu said:

I had to google this. Will check a bit more later. It seems it has both floor flow and pole flow?

Check out her instagram - she posts a lot there! She's brilliant, at both pole and floor work or just any kind of movement. Could watch her dance for ages.

 

6 hours ago, Echocheanic said:

We read the same book at the same time! I liked it, but I tend to like books where I don't figure out the plot in the first four chapters more. But it didn't seem like it tried to be a book where you have to figure out stuff.

Ha that's awesome.  I see your point, but personally I didn't mind the plot or the simplicity. I mean it's a fairytale right? It's not supposed to read like a detective story. I've also seen the movie (multiple times) so I already knew what I got myself into. Most of the book's plot line was the same as the movie's, just with a very different tone. I adore Neil Gaiman's fairytale style of writing though so it worked for me.  

 

5 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

Haha, I also made this same discovery.  My default solution to arching is to take a step with my hand. I have no idea if I can bring it back without stepping because it is already ingrained to the point that I step before I have a chance to think about it...

 

Holy moley, that second one was completely amazeballs!   

I always fight, I mean really fight, to bring myself back to alignment, even if I know there's no way I can save it. It's one of the lessons I've really taken to heart. It might feel difficult and look messy when I'm swaying all over the place, but it's a great way to build strength and gain body awareness at the same time.

 

Yeah, she's incredible!

[Mad Hatter]

I'm so bad at completely wasting days when I don't have anything planned! I don't even know what I've done today. I watched some HP, that's about it. I listened to music and danced around occasionally.

 

 I practiced my handstands throughout the day too, today's drill was getting into a splits handstand, then bringing the legs together and back down again into the other side split. I wasn't very successful, I only managed to get to the other split a few times and without enough stability to hold it.

 

 

[Mad Hatter]

Oh mannn, anybody remember this?!  

 

 

[Echoceanic]

5 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

Ha that's awesome.  I see your point, but personally I didn't mind the plot or the simplicity. I mean it's a fairytale right? It's not supposed to read like a detective story. I've also seen the movie (multiple times) so I already knew what I got myself into. Most of the book's plot line was the same as the movie's, just with a very different tone. I adore Neil Gaiman's fairytale style of writing though so it worked for me.  

 

 

It was the first Gaiman book  I have read and I caught on to the style fast. I haven't seen to movie. I liked it, but it was out of my usual cup of tea, which is good, I need to broaden my horizons.

[Mad Hatter]

5 hours ago, Echocheanic said:

It was the first Gaiman book  I have read and I caught on to the style fast. I haven't seen to movie. I liked it, but it was out of my usual cup of tea, which is good, I need to broaden my horizons.

The book is definitely more of a comedy/adventure, but still with a fairytale twist. You should definitely read more of his stuff though! 

 

 

[Mad Hatter]

Climbing was stoopid, handstands were stoopid and everything was stoopid. That about sums up my day. 

 

I was already late on my way to the gym, when it turned out they've moved all the bus stops around. By the time I found the right bus stop I juuuust missed the bus. Grr. These buses only run every 20 minutes, so I thought oh maybe I can take a different bus. I walked around for 15 minutes and couldn't even find the bus stop... So I had to walk all the way back to the first bus stop, wait for the bus there and on top of that, as I was stepping onto the bus I discovered that I've lost my travel card with about two months worth of travel money.  By the time I got to the gym I was already super late and super grumpy. I was this close to just say screw this and go home, but my friend was going to come and I haven't seen him in forever, so I went anyway.

 

Honestly I might as well have stayed at home - I had a super shitty session. And now that I'm not scared of climbing anymore it's hard to get excited about every tiny win, rather I get reminded how much I suck and get grumpy about it.  

 

Meh. At least hangouts afterwards was good.

 

Then again I have to go back to work tomorrow.

 

Grumble.

[Lara]

On 2/1/2018 at 7:04 PM, Mad Hatter said:

• Travel somewhere cool
• To contradict the last goal I also want to increase my savings by €10000

 

I like the smell of shiny fresh threads....

[@mu]

18 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

I was already late on my way to the gym, when it turned out they've moved all the bus stops around. By the time I found the right bus stop I juuuust missed the bus. Grr. These buses only run every 20 minutes, so I thought oh maybe I can take a different bus. I walked around for 15 minutes and couldn't even find the bus stop... So I had to walk all the way back to the first bus stop, wait for the bus there and on top of that, as I was stepping onto the bus I discovered that I've lost my travel card with about two months worth of travel money.  By the time I got to the gym I was already super late and super grumpy.

 

oops, a little run into Murphy's law I see  
How is today looking?

 

I watched the second video and it's beautiful, and a very very high level of technique and risk actually. I knew she wouldn't fall, but still she got me really tensed up because there was no mat at all. There is this thing that people do on hoop, fall from the top to the bottom part. This scares the hell out of me. I can see the worse case scenario: half missing the bottom and smashing your chin right there on the bar, and then once all your teeth have exploded out of your mouth, bam on the floor.

[Mad Hatter]

6 hours ago, zenLara said:

 

I like the smell of shiny fresh threads....

I'm the first to admit that my goal setting is not the greatest.  

 

So do I!

 

2 hours ago, @mu said:

 

oops, a little run into Murphy's law I see  
How is today looking?

 

I watched the second video and it's beautiful, and a very very high level of technique and risk actually. I knew she wouldn't fall, but still she got me really tensed up because there was no mat at all. There is this thing that people do on hoop, fall from the top to the bottom part. This scares the hell out of me. I can see the worse case scenario: half missing the bottom and smashing your chin right there on the bar, and then once all your teeth have exploded out of your mouth, bam on the floor.

Today is much better! Even though it's the first day of work.  Except that even though I tried really hard to be good and go to bed early I of course couldn't fall asleep until hours later so I'm dead tired today. My lovely colleague was making fun of me because my eye bags have the same colour as my very purple hair. And that was after I'd put on makeup hahaha.  It was actually pretty fun to be back, lots of laughs were had. Of course I already miss my lazy holiday but it could've been worse.  

 

Yeah some drops really freak me out as well, with or without mats. Just a second of not focusing enough or a tiny slip and you can seriously injure yourself. At least hoops are pretty consistent in how they feel, as opposed to poles where the grip is treacherous and changes all the time and across the length of the pole. But then again, even if you do do everything right drops on lyras must be seriously painful!  

[Mad Hatter]

Eugh just finished taping my hoop - it took over an hour.  But it feels so much nicer now! <3

 

Not much in terms of physical activity. I did a few endurance handstand holds agains the wall (only 3x60s, harder than expected!!) and a few kick ups because I couldn't help myself. But mainly I was really tired and saving myself for hoop tomorrow.  (Or climbing if worst comes to worst and the rig doesn't arrive.) 

[@mu]

9 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

Eugh just finished taping my hoop

 

Did you use a coloured tape? purple?

Rig delivery today, enjoy the hoop and toys!

I have been thinking about ways to incorporate handstand or elbow stand with silks. Either as entrance or exit. I haven't tried anything yet.
Exit is probably the most accessible. You see when you are back balancing on a low sling, you can go backward till you reach the floor, say on the elbows or on straight arms and then exit. I haven't seen this yet. Maybe it exists in aerial yoga. Not sure. Have you seen something like this? On the floor it would be like a bridge, going to elbows and then going up in elbow stand from there. I think it would be easier from the sling since feet would be elevated already. Do you see what I mean?

[@mu]

To clarify: I have seen supported elbow stand, and handstand (crocheted legs) on slings. But I haven't seen exits to the floor from this (usually you go back to the sling in back balance or straddle inside the sling).

[LouCarJo]

Cool performance videos!

 

Glad to hear the return to work wasn’t too bad.  And that your colleagues are on good form!  This time of year is difficult to be motivated to do stuff but you have done well keeping up the handstand practice!  I like how you set yourself mini goals and then are good at attacking them :-)

[Mad Hatter]

4 hours ago, @mu said:

 

Did you use a coloured tape? purple?

Rig delivery today, enjoy the hoop and toys!

I have been thinking about ways to incorporate handstand or elbow stand with silks. Either as entrance or exit. I haven't tried anything yet.
Exit is probably the most accessible. You see when you are back balancing on a low sling, you can go backward till you reach the floor, say on the elbows or on straight arms and then exit. I haven't seen this yet. Maybe it exists in aerial yoga. Not sure. Have you seen something like this? On the floor it would be like a bridge, going to elbows and then going up in elbow stand from there. I think it would be easier from the sling since feet would be elevated already. Do you see what I mean?

Haha nope, I went for plain black this time. 

Thank youuuu! Can't wait now.  

 

On pole handstand mounts and dismounts are very common, but I'm not sure how easily translatable those would be on squishy/slippery silks. I have almost no experience of silks though and know nothing about aerial yoga. I think I've also seen some variations on lyra, I imagine there you could either go straight into a backbalance or a knee hang from either handstands or elbow stands or even a single leg bridge to single leg knee hang. All of those should definitely be doable if you're working with a sling, both as entries and exits, but as you say exits would be easier for sure, unless you have really good control in your inverts. Otherwise there's a bit of a risk of just crashing into/through the apparatus.  While exits could be done dynamically into back walk over type things if you can't or don't want to press. Definitely worth experimenting with! 

 

1 hour ago, LouCarJo said:

Cool performance videos!

 

Glad to hear the return to work wasn’t too bad.  And that your colleagues are on good form!  This time of year is difficult to be motivated to do stuff but you have done well keeping up the handstand practice!  I like how you set yourself mini goals and then are good at attacking them :-)

8 days running with handstands, only 357 to go.  I have a whole bunch of mini goals that don't involve handstands though, need make sure I incorporate those too. But things are going well so far.  

[raptron]

Yay for your incoming rig and play station at home.

 

I was going to recommend a walkover out of an apparatus as that seems like it'd be a pretty easy transition to the floor and could look very coooool.

23 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

Today is much better! Even though it's the first day of work.  Except that even though I tried really hard to be good and go to bed early I of course couldn't fall asleep until hours later so I'm dead tired today. My lovely colleague was making fun of me because my eye bags have the same colour as my very purple hair. And that was after I'd put on makeup hahaha.  It was actually pretty fun to be back, lots of laughs were had. Of course I already miss my lazy holiday but it could've been worse.  

Haaaaaaaha. Such kind coworkers.

[annyshay]

7 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

I went for plain black this time.

Assassin!!!