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| Writing here now:
http://burnowt.blogspot.com
I like their look.
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| I guess any day you dodge all the bullets is a good day. Of course,
some would point out a good day would be best described without the use
of firearm metaphors.
The
Berkeley Tournament did seem a bit spottier than previous years, but it
finished by 10:30, which I figure is on par with the usual. I wasn't
there the whole time, though, so I'm still catching up on all the
details. There's always some grumbling after CMAT, but it does sound a
bit more serious this time around. Heard of a little incident with some
China coach that seemed to be handled well. I was there to help close
things out at the end of the day judging intermediates. I felt a little
rusty frankly -- a few decisions I might rethink, but I'm generally
comfortable with the scores I awarded.
I didn't spend the whole day at the tournament, for a change.(1)
I was pretty clear beforehand that I'd be out that afternoon catching
my first ball game of the year. I was all set to go rain or shine, but
in what might be considered an act of divine intervention, we got
partly cloudy skies with a few good breaks of sunshine as we watched
the Giants roll over the Braves 12-6. Even got a bit of a sunburn
watching it all. Possibly the most satisfying game I've attended in
years. ery special thanks to the Flower (aka Lumber's better half) for
the freebie!
The
tournament after party was hot, crowded, and not broken up by cops,
which again is something we had been worried about that didn't come to
pass. It ran its course like all parties should -- with the front yard
smelling like puke and folks trickling out slowly into the wee hours of
the morning. Remembered chatting with some neighbors who had dropped by
to see what the fuss was about and pick up a beer. Gotta love Berkeley.
(1)
I was there by 8 am to help out with the judging, only to find myself
milling about all morning. I think I'm just going to sleep in from now
on and show up for the swing shift. | | |
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So it's been a week since the first 'part' and a good two weeks since the original event, but let's just wrap this up...
Miscalculated after-parties are becoming something of a tradition at
Collegiates. Let us not speak of Stanford 2004, where at least one
other guy and I got tossed out of a club. The Davis 2005 committee
rented out a terrific space on campus only to be forced to host it DRY.
And now this year.
EPD gives more than 85 drinking citations this weekend -- Oregon Daily Emerald
Of course, making the news can be considered something of an
accomplishment. Such things are not without fallout, though. If you
were there or simply very sympathetic, do help.
At least until then, however, I'd say things were going swimmingly. It
was kind of a slow start, probably because our very hospitable and
unsuspecting hostess apparently had no idea what she had agreed to.
When we got there, no alcohol was to be found and the residents by all
appearances were ready to settle in for a mellow Saturday night of TV
and Gamecube. Within what must have been minutes, the garage was a
dance floor, tubs of punch were mixed, and the occupancy of the house
went up by at least two orders of magnitude.
That all came to a screeching halt at around 11:30 when Eugene's "Party
Patrol" unit hit. These guys wasted absolutely no time screening folks
for age and alcohol and issuing 22 underage drinking citations. For
those of us from the free republic of Berkeley, this was quite a shock.
Especially in our condition, there wasn't much that we could do, so we
hopped the van back to the hotel. After lounging around at our hotel
lobby for a bit, I turned in. At the very least I'd get a decent
night's sleep for the drive home. | | |
| In spite of it all, I've found that it's pretty unusual for me to
regret checking out a Wushu tournament. I was really wishy-washy about
heading up to check out/help out with Collegiates last weekend, but
even with all the brushes with icy death on the I-5, police oppression,
and sleep deprivation, I came back satisfied that I'd made good use of
my precious, precious weekend.
The event was tiny in
comparison to previous years, which is naturally a bummer, but I must
admit it's nice to run through these things without intense time
pressure. I barely worked a third of the time I was there, which
allowed me to contribute to posterity by taking lots and lots of
pictures, applying in a really half-assed way the various things I've
learned in my photography workshop.
I'm not sure if the Oregon guys fully appreciate this, but they've got
a really nice looking gym. It gets plenty of natural light and I love
the wood paneling and scaffolding.
In the afternoon, rays of sunlight would hit various parts of the rings which made for some interesting lighting opportunities.
This is Kunyu from the Stanford team. I got my hand at doing some
ringleading this time, which helps me recall people's names. Stanford
went on to win the coveted team title.
Here's Caren from the Cal team. No idea what the results are from all these, but you know where to get 'em.
Filip from the Stanford team. The shot sort of works even if the exposure is probably about a stop too dark.
The Cal 'Happy Bears' team group set stood out dramatically from the
rest of the field. There was a general sense talking to folks afterward
that this whole trend of including LENGTHY sparring sets in group sets
has got to stop. I'm slightly looser on this in that I think some is
okay if people can positively NAIL it -- i.e., if it really looks like
a fight. That sort of thing takes real time and skill to pull off. If
not, I'd highly recommend ditching it.
The Cal team did have a lengthy sparring section, but it was very well
choreographed and very convincing. But in the end, I generally side
with the view that group sets are about perfect timing and
coordination. Maybe folks have forgotten, but you'd be shocked how
awesome people look when they're perfectly together across a
complicated series of moves.
A small tournament meant a relatively early stop (after a pretty
forgettable and impromptu 'Mad Tricks' competition), which left plenty
of time for...
They never seem to print out enough of these things.
To be continued... | | |
| Absolutely can't miss with these these. You won't be spending V-day alone this year!
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