I just saw COL 2008

And it wasn't even my free copy, it were somebody elses...

If you like reading other peoples opinions read on: (Or if I know you, I'll say something about you in this, if I don't more than likely I won't.)

Firstly, again, the quality of all the videos improved DRAMATICALLY over last years. There was no really truly bad stuff this time.

Couple of things I noticed immediately:

Sage: ZOMG, if there had been a pro camera crew there it would have super super super awesome. That camera dude was okay, but with a better camera, and more angles would really have done sage's performance justice. I mean, making fire orb interesting for like 4 minutes? Who would have thought that was possible!?!? Good dancing, good job!

Clure: Why is your camera sooooo grainy! ARGH! Nice use of guitar friend. I liked the close up of his face. The black between the fan cuts was perhaps a tad too long thou... Good to see some irish waterfalls!

What's with the DVD case saying Northern Ireland for one entry and Ireland, UK for another? Northern Ireland is part of the UK, Southern Ireland / the Republic, isn't. So that's the same thing? Plus the 2nd to last entry, from the US isn't listed on the back of the case which was confusing, since I think all the rest were...

Woolsey: Look at the camera more I think. Remember flirt with the camera! Also, really nice sequences that you culd tell you had worked on, with some really nice arm movement and gracefully dance ness. Hmmmmm.

FireTribe: You're camera angle almost crossed the invisible line. Which makes the 90 degree cut disorientating. Isometric angles / 45 degrees from front on, are different enough, and show the wheel plane.

Bluecat: Too many fades, not enough 'speed' changes in the spinning on the editing I think maybe. The scenery is almost better than the watching of the spinning. Over use of the silouette and the funny hats. Good effort for juggling in winter in scotland in loads of clothes thou.

Shilly Shally: Good use of close ups. Shame it's just from a gig, would have liked to see more of your crazy personality chris, and more dance stuff from you guys, cos I know you're awesome. Two very different camera shots as well, one very orange and the other a higher shot showing the audience in front. The orange one is rather nice, but the other is not so well done. The light isn't so good in that one.

Not many stories this time around I seem to recall.

Unhurried: EXPLORATORIUM! Woohoo! errrrr, nice staff stuff, good movement as every. By the end thou, I would have like to see you hurry up. Some differences in the intesity of your movement would have been nice. There were some really beautifully graceful bits in there thou... Hmmmmmmm.

Sandy: Juggle wibbling? Oh dear. Have you taken up WoW as well? Don't you have better things to do with your time? ;P
Er yeah, nice video, liked the previous location under the M32 better, had more contact staff in it too. What can I say? I'm biased. I could see the influence of the india (was it india?) trip.

Noel: Er, you look a bit like a school teacher... Some geeky ass poi in there, and some good looking backgrounds... A bit frantic with the poi at the end thou....

Durbs: YEAH! Good effort! I bit far from the camera occassionally, and like you'd just gone out to the forest near your house with a camera and a tripod.... Swwweeeeettttt footwork, some really well integrated with the poi movements. You're trying to be the whipcatch king huh? Is that like the milky bar kid but different? "Whip Catches are on me!" Er, yeah, really liked it. Could have done with you doing every awesome whip catch you know, in a row, with incredible transitions in a single shot... but well... that'll be next year huh?

Firegroove: Wooooooo, I was at that film shoot! gotta love lester and jade's routine and the fire swords... Love you guys.

Michael: Go SOX! Was this filmed before or after firedrums?

Er... yeah, nicer DVD this time too. I liked the solarised slowmo title sequences. Of course the question is: Whose silouettes are on the cover? And the real question, why is the earth pictured on the cover centered on america? here's me thinking HOP was based in NZ?

Oh yeah, and I totally think Yuta and Ronan's COL entry would have OWNED all the others. Cos it rocks. Such a shame.

Argh! I want to see it

Yeah, sorry about the grainy camera thing... not sure what happened there... and by the time we found out it was too late to do anything. Drat.

Thanks for the comments, which just make me want to see it more!!!

xx

F**k me, praise from Meg - that's going straight on the CV
Only one of the forests was near home, i had to travel to the other forests/hills/fields... Dedication i tell you!


Does this mean there'll be a copy waiting at home for me tonight?

Btw, I think the one with the skirt and the firehands in silhouette on the front (at about 7o'clock) is me...

I recognise the large butt.

(god, I hope it's me after that !!)

it's not your butt, it's just the line of your legs? Errrr yeah.

Oh meant to say, my friend said the dip to blacks inbetween the fans bits was well done, cos fans can go on for overly long, but the cuts made you want to see more, which is pretty surprising for fans. Where are the 'angel wing' creations I made for ya? eh eh?

Oh and by the durbs: You suck. I must have forgot to put that in my 'review'. I like the sweatpants and the hippie top. Is that toasts new costume? ;p Yup, don't rile me, or I'll get sarcy.

Anyway, durbs, hope your well in whatever godforsaken part of england you're in. Thanks for introducing me to the mighty boosh. And black sheep, I might go to NZ yet, if only to be afraid of zombie sheep.

black sheep in a fantastic film.. funnily enough i was introduced to it by cole in london.. but you get that

Heheh.

Aye, it's just my legs... thank god for graininess

The angel wings still haven't been wicked, to my shame. But it's on my list of things to do... so that's good

Next year

Hope you're having good adventures x

Is juggle wibbling more geeky than learning to balance a ball on the tip of your finger?
Yea, I wanted to put something other than just contact staff in my video this year, didn't get round to shooting the doubles bit so it didnt go in, hopefully sort it out for next year.

Yes it was india, do you mean cos i chose a green location rather than a dirty cityscape like i normally use? Again i fancied trying something different, but i think on balance i prefer dirty urban landscapes, they are more me.

no I meant your spinning looked more performancey, than it did before. but not as much as when I saw you at the BJC...

Ball on the finger is an awesome trick. Nimi is my hero.

Yeah, I gotta say I prefer urban locations much better. Having a beautiful untouched natural lanscape in the background and a human in the foreground wearing the products of 1000 years of clothing production technology and doing a skill with zero survival value is pretty weird to see.

Oh yeah, but you're still a dirty hippie.

I'll take that as a compliment, performing being me job and all that

Dirty hippie? im not the one galavanting around the world crashing with other spinners

Damn i want my copy to arrive, is it lame that ive already organised a projector and half of Bristol* to come round to watch it?



*This may be a minor exaggeration.

(Here is an ongoing projector too..)

sneaks out,

:R

Woah... The standard really has jumped again! Loved the variety of stuff there.

My favourite was probably Durbs one, even if he was using those silly poi things

Well done everyone whos on there!

so, i haven't seen it yet, but i already know what's wrong with my entry

its mostly that it was not the footage i wanted to use - bastl and i made a fantastic shoot, with costuming, variety, fun, etcetc... and the tape died after 9 days of sub-zero temperatures :crying: . but we felt like putting in an entry in any case, even a sub-par one.



looking forward to getting it and watching the whole thing (though i have seen a lot already.... )

my copy hasn't arrived yet but i can't wait to see it! i have, however, seen ronan & yuta's video and can't believe it didn't get on. must've been something weird, yeah? certainly couldn't have been because of quality.

Yay - my copy just arrived
Boo - i'm at work and can't watch it.

i've watched it now.

and its really nice

opinions later

Just got my copy, and I'm impressed!

The videos are mostly well produced. Good lighting, original music, and performances worth watching. I put it on to watch a couple while my bath was running, and I ended up watching 2/3rds of the videos before I remembered the bath! Were you to know how long that day had been, and how much I needed that bath, you would understand the depth of the compliment I have just given the body of work represented on COL2008!

I might actually rip the soundtrack onto iTunes. I'm amazed that so many people found good music to work with.

The art form is definitely maturing

Yay! seen it. Although it was a rather rushed viewing so gonna watch it again and give opinions later, MUCH higher standard than before though.

PROJECTION TONIGHT!

can't wait,

:R

Yay - Background title screen silhouette FTW!

Had a quick flick through - all looks good.
Loving the all star cast

Loving the typos too

Northern Island?!!!

Hopefully mine will be there when I get home from work later tonight...

x

1) Circles in the Anomalous Zone 0

+talent
-spark

2) Sage of Sangre del Sol

"No orb, movement, no movement, orb."

3) Unhurried 0

-music
+move

4) Pyrotation -2

-dark electro
-stage fire

5) MCP +3

+location
+skill
+smile
+legend
-piano

6) Direction change +4

+talent
+music
+location
+pose

7) Bali Dreams +5

+music rap
+smile
+speed
+magic
+class spin

8)Meet me here -1

+waterfall
+music
-fire
-costume
-grey part

9) Glow with the Flow 0

-sinth electro(drumm bass)
+scene

10) FireTribe +1

-static
+trance
+mixing

11) Shilly Shally 0

+group
+skill
-individuality
-mixing

12) Sandy 0

-music
-smile
+d'n'b
+acro

13) Goropika 0

-voices
+drum
-drummers
+lightning

14) Spinning in headphones +2

+footwork
+music
+felexibility
-back stand
-cam bug
+skill

15) Torch Poi +1

-music
+mistakes
+funny
-location
-cook look
+ninja
+musketir

16) Red on Fire -2

-music
-style

17) Firegroove +2

+music
-words
+location
+style

18) Ebino -3

-moon
-voices
-music

19) Tunnel vision 0

-cam effect
+tunnel
-music
-wrists
+costume
+pose

20) The Erasing Rubber Art Duo +2

+location
-snow
+music
+pose

21) Fiamella Fire Duo 0

+location
-front fire
+statues
-camera look

22) Puppetery -1

+idea
-music
-front fire

23) infinitos -3

-cuts
-music
-promo
-group
+hula

----------------------------

The repeating bug I've found is music
and using fire on the ground (except
if it has a shape..).

Top score:

+5 Bali Dreams

(If this was performed as one piece,
than you are better than I.)

-3 Ebino, Infinitos

(This is world compilation, neither promo
nor party..)

-----------------

Together, an awesome and in-
spirational DVD.

Specials thanks:

HOP, Nick, Mcp, Rovo, Rob, Seb,
Durbs, Noel, Sage and other.

the end,

:R

Er - what's a "cam bug" and what's a "back stand" ?

Violet thing area, in the left top corner.
That make the sky and the forest violet..

Moment you spinning back to the camera,
only one moment in the first half in the
forest.

I really enjoy your movement.

well done,

:R

I can't believe you gave us a minus for snow! surely we get plus points for filming in sub-zero temperatures! or is this a tropical-only competition?

Anything that makes you want to shiver when sat in a nice warm house obviously gets a minus

luckily I have a +4 staff of contact. That should boost my score. Now I need to get rid of the -2 beanie of comedy...

I have to face the gazebo alone.... but i have the 'carry several extra items' van of doom.

And I can't believe I got a minus for fire in a fire arts competition!

I concur with the grey thing though

But I completely disagree with costume!!
That was my Mum's skirt, and it was quite a massive part to do with the meaning of the video! and I think it totally fitted the Irish-themed guitar playing... Anyways, anyways...

Watched it all last night...

First of all, regarding mine - we're really disappointed that the clip that made it on to COL is even darker than the one we sent in - but I guess that's true for lots of people, again.

I'm going to upload mine somewhere (when I find the original), so you can see the difference. It does help when you can see what I'm doing!

Also, as might be obvious to some, our camera guy synced up the movement and music track with quite a horrible delay - my choreography actually fits to the music, but it seems to be running a second or so early on the video. Le sigh.


Anyways....


Some people are saying the standard is 'so much higher' this year. I dunno.

The standard rises every year on COL, and there is always a lot of ok stuff, mixed with some lovely pieces. If the standard was to stay the same, we wouldn't be getting anywhere!

However, for me, there were three standout lovely ones...

1. Durbs (Pansy in the Park)... Beautiful movement, cool tricks, nice setting, really good feel to it.
2. Nick (Bali Dreams)... lovely choreography and musicality, great expression.
3. Rob and Seb (In Scotland)... amazing scenery and shots, nice, friendly atmosphere and great spinning... I can't believe you had footage better than this?!

There were some other ones I loved - Meg's was awesome and head-bending; it was great to see FireGroove grooving with clothes; Yuta's was gorgeous and stunning and Infinitos was good too.


Thanks so much Malcolm for all your hard work again this year!!

Clare xx

so, as i wait for the ultraslack members of 'Toast to respond to me, i will write here some thoughts after 2 viewings...

won't be as in depth as last year, but i will say one thing that for me definitely does 'raise the standard' - there are no sketchy videos there. each one is at least pretty good. result!

standout ones for me, in no particular order:

durbs: its a shame you never actually spin like that I'm voting for you to not be allowed to enter it as it's not representative...
seriously, its very nice, very skilled, and you done good.

mcp: much better on a second viewing. could have done with either being one shot or many, not 2. better than last years.

Nick: I wathced this, and said 'i have never had a single spin as beautiful as this'

Firetribe Duet: not ubertechy, but really, really nicely done. and the timing is utterly impeccable. much kudos.

Sandy: i really like the skillz, the style, the washed out colour... but i think the last shot shouldn't be there, and i think a lot of folks won't like the washout.

Glow with the Flow: first time i watched it i skipped on cause of preconceptions about the way the start looked...... second time i watched it and appreciated it for what it is, which is a really nice spin with great editing.

Clrrrrr and will: difficult to talk about this one cause i know both the music and the fire piece so well, and yes, i spotted the out-of-sync-ness... but i love it. and always will.

--------


I'm pleased that mine and sebs is getting a general thumbs up - makes me want to actually put in a proper COL effort next year, making sure i have tapes that work... now then. who to persuade to come for a long visit.....?

Bluecat, you only get points for snow if you're naked!

Don't encourage him, COL is meant to be family fun, not mind-numbing horror.
Plus, think of the shrinkage

i can post the naked snow footage we have here, but i didn't think it was suitable for the yoof of today...

Meggie so nicely suggested I write something, so here we go, even though for some reason, I seems to say things then offend people, nothing personal here just honesty about my feelings...I am posting only the videos I can remember right now as I sub the 4th grade!!

Congrats to everyone who made it in,
I feel so happy to be on a compilation with so many other colleagues and friends =)

1) Circles in the Anomalous Zone

Khan it started really interesting, but then got a little boring, you have many more innovative tricks now for hoop. But I am little sad you quit poi and CJ, and don't have much in the vid...I did like the above shot from your job (**wink) looks great, you could have worked with that a little more. Ohh mayor Newsome in your video next year
More with two hoops? More contact with the Hoop!!! I am so glad there was a hoop vid in COL though, so thanks. Also thanks for everything you've done for me in the past, spinagogue, inviting me over and everythin...

2) Sage of Sangre del Sol

I dunno, I think sage as a performer might be the best one on this video, with probably poi, doubles and dancing. But ironically enough she didn’t spin them, reminds me of that ejc video with arashi and the hand candles. But, I’d much rather watch sage dance around with a flaming marshmello on a string, than arashi and the majority of spinners that I coulda been watching instead. I was a little disappointed sage didn’t spin, she can really bring it, and is such an inspiration to dance while spinning.


3) Unhurried, Ian Smith

I dunno, I know this guy, kinda unfair for me to say something. But he dances, more modern and slow. I did think his spinning could have varied a little in tempo, yeah the song kinda sucked. Overall though good showing but could have been a little shorter. But I watched you slap it together in hot ass Richmond Virginia, so good for getting it done on time.

5) MCP

Meg nice T-shirt. Where’s you cute little asian girl costume. Good doubles and such, but we’ve alls seen the other long ass doubles videos you’ve made….next year dress up and do something different. But I do like how your video wasn’t trying to be all cool and emo like yours last year, more down to earth. (or increased lazy-ness) Ohh, you look like ROCK, maybe serpentine, either way add some movement!! Like Bhutto, or salsa 6)

Direction change

Boo me. I coulda tried harder, but I like the locations if you look close in the contact staff shot there are bison in the way back. Way cool!

7) Bali Dreams

Dang, one of the best filmed burns ever. But I seen it already in the Nicks new DVD. Little different than original. Actually considering the high quality of the vid in Nicks DVD “Moves” I am surprised that his COL entries quality was kinda, eh.

8)Meet me here

Very boring introduction. I am not so into the candle stuff unless it has more manipulation in it. Like Ima or maybe Arashi. Had a big hippie vibe to it, like then there was this guy standing next to the waterfall, then the props are now poi... I thought that the music could have been a little better. Also the video quality was sooper poor….i like the spinning a little when it started.

11) Shilly Shally

I love Chris, Corey and Sully.
More tech from others than Chris, or just make it all Chris. More meteor with chris. Excellent camera, nice capture of images. Chris, where are you!!! Come back to the USA soon…

12) Sandy

I like this video a lot, shows a wide variety of skills and techniques. I guess I could have done without the five ball stuff, that was a little over the top. Nice smooth contact, the camera colors with the green were good. I like your martial arts movement things going on. I thought that scene with the three poi wibbling actually was really funny, especially the angle. Only bad thing is Sandy's serious face, more happy!

13) Goropika

Hilarious. Does appear to be a pretty good performer though. Not so much on tricks. Such a big guy with such a little staff is kinda funny. Especially when it goes between his legs…hehe… Seems very similar to Dai’s video last year. Lots of drumming and screaming japenese guy. Unless there is a lot of that in Japan.

14) Spinning in headphones

IMHO best video of COL 2008, neat-o style with the gliding and whip catching. Nice locations. I like the sweat pants, makes you look like some kinda british hip hop ruffian who likes dub step. Also they actually ripple when you slide around which is kinda cool. Also the vest makes up for that a little. I hope you win. Would make me happy.

15) Torch Poi

Dang this guys facial expressions are even more real in person. So real you might not be able to even look at him when he spins. Innovative-ish prop, torch poi, but not the best execution, learn more tricks and make them more innovative.

17) Firegroove

SEAN BARRY EXPERIENCE!!! I really like the song, I like how much more relaxed this video is than fire grooves previous ones, much less being cool (although the location is still super cool) and more on spinning. Nice partner doubles jade and lester. Good spinning from Hannah as well. I dunno, maybe next time you should go to like a crappy place in la and shoot instead of all these nice ones…I still think this video looks very fire groov-ish, I’d like to see you all outside of the cool box more often.

18) Ebino

Did Yuta really condone this? Nice spinning from Yuta, but sorry to say not as interesting as I might have hoped. The moon effect is not as cool as it was initially intended though. I want Yuta to make a new routine!!!! With Cat-eyes!! And no stalls


20) The Erasing Rubber Art Duo

Some crazy beautiful sunset shots in there. I am going to assume that the staff juggling wasn’t as good as it coulda been because of the cold. I was kind of disappointed in the level of the partner staff stuff. I’ve seen you and Sebastian juggle better, two years ago in paris. Also many of the shots don’t show the juggling s good as it could. I love the location, and the water and stuff, like conan the destroyer… Finally where’s Robert Heart!!!

Okay if you want me to write somethin about your vid and i didn't let me know, thats all I remember right now....thanks for listening.

My copy hasn't arrived yet and the anticipation is killing me.

Noel & Richee, I have to say I agree with your comments on my video. I was pretty psyched about it when I first made it, and still am pleased with it as a visual exercise and for the feeling of it, but not so much with the hooping.

I had more stuff planned with the City Hall location, but I was asked to stop because they had to set up for a prom, and I didn't have time to go back and shoot more. I only got about 6 minutes of footage in that location and some of it is just the blank floor. I spent more time setting up the camera than actually hooping. Some of it could've been cut and replaced with better hooping from the park, but at the time I wanted to use as much of the interior footage as I could, because of what a pain it was to get. Probably not the soundest artistic decision.

I'll be sure to speak with the Mayor about making a cameo in the next one. Maybe if I hoop in front of his office...

And for the record, I haven't "quit" poi and cj...I just hoop more (and still not enough...)

I'm really looking forward to this one...maybe it will be waiting for me when I get home later.

Thought id post a little about the ones i can remember as standing out as ive lent my copy to a friend.

Meg: up to your usual standard, some lovely doubles patterns but the contact looked a bit lazy, sorta like you couldnt be bothered. Locations were nice but more would have been good.

Nick; Beautiful. All that needs to be said.

Noel; nice, a couple of the locations were a bit dodgy though as you couldnt see the sticks very well against the background. And you could work on your footwork a bit for some of the contact but i LOVED the negative space poi.

Clare; A bit hippy for my tastes but that was the best fire hands ive ever seen so really enjoyed it.

Durbs; yea rockin'! watched it with Bags and had an argument over your whipcatches, i liked them, he didnt. Dancey popping stuff was tre cool.

Bluecat and Bastl; I think your too hard on yourself, your video was great but i can see how you could have put more stuff in there. Locations were the best on the dvd and i'll give you credit for juggling in baltic temperatures even if others wont.

I did have some thoughts on others but without the dvd here i cant remember which ones. Overall though very good, i think its going to continue to get harder to judge every year.

Finally got round to watching my copy the whole way through, some thoughts and feedback...

COL2008 DVD
Pros:
Better menu system, nicer intro scenes (the solarized stuff), good quality of entries
Cons:
A couple of typos, artist names missing in credits (as in actual names, not just names of video), less prop variety than last year (I thought anyway...). Also I think the order was a bit strange; contact staffer followed by another contact staffer, then 3 poi-ers - for me it emphasised any skill differences which detracted from the artsy side of some videos.

Circles in the Anomalous Zone
Pros - Settings, costume, movement.
Cons - Isolation work was a little sloppy.

Sage
Pros - Movement, as Meg said - keeping orb interesting is an impressive feat!
Cons - I don't know why, but it bugs me this was just a filmed performance. One (off centre) camera angle, no close ups, just seemed to suggest a lack of overall effort in terms of putting an entry in. Also meant some of the dacning wasn't that clear.

Unhurried
As the name suggests, slow style - though this, for me, meant the whole energy level was quite low. Nice skills and setting though

Meggy:
Obviously of silly-high tech quality, and pleasantly light-hearted with drops and cheese-poses a-plenty. Wasn't sure about the background. Modern, but a bit too plain. Don't see how you can diss my "costume"

Noel:
As others have mentioned, the backgrounds sometimes made it hard to see the staffs, but the n-space poi was cool and it had a nice overall feel to it. Nice ice-lolly.

Nick:
Lovely spin, single-take wonderfulness. Normally I'd say it would need more camera angles/shots or different locations, but the spin and performance were good enough to keep it interesting.

Cluuuuuuuur:
Video quality issues aside, I liked the presentation of it. My only real grip would be I've seen you spin poi a lot cleaner than that. I think i also would've zoomed in a smidge too to capture the full wiggle factor. My faveourite bit was Will's smiley strum close up.

Glow with the flow:
I really liked the presentation, though I'm sure I saw a cameraman in the background a couple of times.

FireTribe Duet:
I really liked the 2-person stuff, especially the subtle switch into 2 poi each. Costumes didn't really work for me (I just don't like zorro masks, sorry).

Shilly Shally Fire Arts:
Meh, as with Sage's I couldn't help but feel it was a minimal effort entry - just filmed at a spin-meet. Skills and performers aside, it didn't really work for me.

Sandy:
Smile I liked the look of the video, and the skills were top-notch. I thought the ball-juggling was a little unnecessary (though good) but really liked the ground-staff work.

Goropika:
Certainly interesting, use of live drummers was novel and spinning was good.

Me
The video kind of changed from what I'd envisioned it being, the after-effects weren't really needed (aside to cover up sloppy timing), and sort your encoding quality out.
Also, note to self, after cycling to nice locations, remember to un-tuck trouser leg from sock - looks very gay.

Torch Poi:
You scare me, possibly in a good way. Couldn't work out whether it was genuine or sarcastic/playful. Interesting prop, which could be developed further.

Red on Fire:
Think this was the belly-dancing fire fans? A nice routine, though a little too dark throughout which obscured some of the dancing. Nice though

Firegroove:
Wicked location, good to see a less promo-y feel to this entry. Good skills as always, though I miss the skimpy costumes

Yuta:
Nice spinning, nice lighting, the location was a little barren, but a highly watchable video.

Erasing Rubber Arse Duo:
Pish, stop being so hard on yourself Roblet. Best locations on the DVD, some fine staff play and beautiful visuals. Maybe not the greatest tech video, as sometimes you're a little too silhoutted, but for eye-candy it's top notch.

Infinitos:
Felt very much like a promo, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Often there was just too much happening on screen to actually take any of it in - though bonus marks for quantity of fire

Apologies for those I've missed, my memory's not what it was.

Hey beige is a lifestyle choice, not a costume.

Thanks Sandy and Durbin... And Durbin - you try your fancy slidey stuff in a big long skirt and uneven wet surface

Noel... hmmm. Lots I could say here about comments you made about me, and other people. But I'm not going to.

Just one thing: "I thought that the music could have been a little better"

Really?

Will is an exceptional musician and an incredible guitar player. The music used in my video was one of very few that was 'real', not just a generic track ripped off the internet.

I could rant on about this for much longer... but I'm going to stop here.

As for the hippy-vibe... I didn't see that

The Tao comment, my mum's skirt, the title (which was also the name of the track) all tied in to the meaning I was trying to get across - obviously not very well

Anyways...

Oh, and Sandy... I thought yours was great too (fantastic editing by Sy!), just very no-nonsense - and when I think of you, I see you smiling in a cheeky way

i never meant to offend anyone, just my honest criticism's (lets not start this thread again)

oh no am I the new Meg!

I didn't realise the thread had stopped...

And no, you're definitely not the new Meg

i meant the "honest criticism" topic that often happens when people have a hard time accepting certain forms of critique.

Not this thread, i would love to hear more from others about COL

I think it's fair to be critical of criticism if the person that is the critic has totally missed the point of the video.

Like if I were to be all like critical of 'unhurried' saying he didn't do like five matrixies and loads of anti-spin contorted hand isolation doubles, it would entirely miss the point of the his video, which clearly isn't about that.

But hey, I can be harsh again if you want, just ask! I was being super heaps nice and when I look back at my first post I kinda cringe. It looks like a cuddly censored bluecat style of post. I'm so middle aged now. I can be mean still. I promise.

Thanks Clare, but i edited it not Sy. Although he did all the camera work for me. No mean feat for a cripple!

Yea i could have smiled more i guess, i did in some bits but they just didnt make it through to the final edit. Besides, i take my spinning very seriously dont ya know

Hehe... no worries Meg... we all know you are the mother of mean...

And Sandy... wow, I thought Sy edited... good work then indeed

More smiling next time please

x

and meg? if you want me to be less cuddly, i will.

just wait til i tell you what i REALLY thought of your vidoe

Hey! I didn't even use the word 'pandering'.

panda-ing?



i kick your ass.

-------

when do we get judgement, in a moment of on-topicness?

BLUECAT BIRTHDAY
!!!
Take that!

I think the birthday cat would rather go for wine

Or perhaps just hang out looking mysterious

cool... I never thought about it before, but "blue cat" is the name of a very fine chocolatier in brisbane cbd...

mmmm... chilli chocolate truffles...

To quote MCP's opinion of COL2008:

"There was no really truly bad stuff this time."

I was on COL2008. That means MCP thinks that I am not truly, absolutely horrible at spinning. If she put that on a button and gave it to me, I would wear it. I'm not even joking.

MCP - To answer your question, the torch poi entry it was filmed after FireDrums. I had never seen 1.5s before FireDrums, and it gave me the idea to try them with torch poi.

Noel - I agree. I have a long way to go in spinning, and need to learn more. But I'm glad I got torch poi on a COL....Hopefully, my entry will encourage others with more skills to try their hand at torch poi (and then they'll teach me how to make those things sing).

As a side note, Noel, my entry for next year's COL will only be facial expressions, with no props of any kind.

Two words: antispin eyebrows. You heard it here first.

Good heavens. The USA elected Obama and the Red Sox just signed 2008 MVP Dustin Pedroia to a six year contract. Verily, friends, it is a great time to be alive right now.

:ditto: Compliments from Meg are amazing. I've printed mine out and am going to have it made into a t-shirt

whereas i'm keeping a collection of all my mcp-insults and am hoping to publish soon....

Ohhhh, where's my preview copy?

Tis not fair. You never insult me to my face. I feel unloved.

*looks at Photo of Meg*

Bitch.

So when do the judges reach their decision and announce this to the world - "Winners will be announced in November"

So Noel lent me his copy and I finally got to see it! This is such a valuable project Malcolm & HoP have undertaken, it really gives such a good snapshot of how these arts are developing over time. YouTube performs some of the same function, but whereas the vids on YouTube are often process-oriented, these are so much more about presentation, and they're "curated" so the overall quality is assured.

[/digression]

As is the case with everyone, I was enthralled by some of these and bored by some others but even those had redeeming qualities. Mostly for the ones I thought less successful it was a case of all the pieces not quite coming together, even if they were all present.

My top three, the ones that made me go 'wow' more than once and that I had to immediately rewatch (in order of appearance):

Bali Dreams / Sandy Contact / Spinning in Headphones

I can't rank them though as they're all so good in different ways.

Clare, I thought your video was lovely but in particular I wanted to mention that I love the music. I've actually hooped to it a couple of times, it's great. Kudos to...Will(?).

Good effort everyone! Already plotting for next year (so much to practice!!!)

p.s. the title of the track in mine is "Medibeat" ('beat', not 'bent' ;p)

Glad you liked the vid...

And Will is glad you liked his track - he says thank you

x

PS: and durbin, why so eager to know? think you won, huh?!

heheheheh... hope so!

Not so much eager as curious

I liked the track too - is that Will's normal stuff or something specially created?

yeah, i want to know who durbin beat into second place!

Im sorry, ive been away for a bit, and i havent kept up with all of this. Is it too late to enter a video for the dvd? Cause the contest is still up.

I might just be making some nooby mistake, so be kind if im being stupid.

But weve been doing very serious filming, and i soooo want to enter.

Our most recent exploit was a poi shoot in the local mall, we gathered crowds and everything.

Sorry dude the DVD is already out and kickass
peoples are just waiting for judgment

but hey it just gives you more time to make a really kickass entry for next year.

Indeed - the entry for CoL 2009 is already up

Burnage to the hardcore.

See what happens when im without interweb for extended periods?

xD

Oh well, i will pour a whole ton of extra work into my filming in the hopes of entering next year.

I think they've decided that noone wins this year, as giving any sort of prize to someone like durbs is considered to be against the geneva convention.

Wouldnt it be supporting terrorism, bluecat? I've seen Durbs' videos after all.

Hey - terrorists need supporting too!

oui. j'ai besoin de gagner $2000 pour acheter un nouveau ak-47

Well I did a days work at a juggling shop and now have a copy of COL8 but been too busy to watch it!
Sooon or after Woodford or something....

so, without intending to sound desperate (but probably failing ), when are we likely to hear? should we be revising our 'expecting results of judges deliberations in november' to 2009? I don't mind waiting but some info'd be nice.

off for a computer free christmas in a couple of days :o) aaaah

smiles
Rob

nice spinning all around,i especially loved nick's performance though.has to go down in my books as one of the best fire spins ive ever seen.

also,where or when are the results for the competition announced?

:ditto:

*twiddles thumbs*

I am announcing winners this Friday. Sorry about delay.

Great

Thanks
x

hmm,seems i was so cleverly on another page when i asked my question and didnt realize that bluecat already asked....i love being really intelligent so i do

..i think i shud win though for my powerful intellectual skills of pretending to enter a video but not really....i think my pretend video was too good (am i convincing anybody here???......didnt think so....im gona crawl back into my hole...)lol

good luck to everybody anyway,i hope to have a video entered in 2010

Confusion! Ok, so I haven't seen it yet, but... I've seen a few reviews in this thread of my and Brad's entry yet we're not listed among those on the DVD...

Can someone clear this up for me?

What was the name of your 'piece'? That's what's listed on the DVD,not the names of the people involved. SO unless we know your piece was called Pali Dreams or SyndhroDudes in Heaven or Me in Post-Industrial Wonderland or whatever, there's not much way to know/help

Please someone correct me if I'm being obtuse and the people's names really are listed somewhere....
CHeers
Gabe

Apologies! However, being that I've not yet seen the DVD, it would have taken some act of paranormal psychic ability for me to know this thing that you have just so kindly told me. :-p

Act name: Puppeteer's Dream

Gratzi!

As previously explained because of so many credits and contact details we refer to the www.homeofpoi.com/col2008
As you will see on that page there is a lot of information.
This allows information to be kept up to date.
Performers names have changed in the past as with contact details, websites etc.
A simple title is provided to us which can be a troupe name persons name, and/or descriptive title.
We place those on the video to "keep it clean" for watching and say for full details see that link.
I really do not want to display outdated information on a DVD.
Maybe next time submit a different title for the entry being aware that it can not change.

Does that make sense?
I want everyone to get credit for their work and keep it updated with emails, performance name/s, websites...
Is it that hard to look it up on the website?
Maybe I can send a printed copy with each. But I prefer to print less paper if I can

Oh, my! Now things have definitely gone wonky -- this is why I normally don't talk :x

Please disregard my earlier comments and sorry for the trouble... I'll scrape up a copy of the DVD and have a looksie for meself

Your work is fantastic and amazing, Malcolm, and I'm sure we all appreciate your love of trees and attentiveness to our tendency to alter identities.

<3

Oops
Totally my bad. Silly me and my lousy eyesight. Didn't see the little words at the bottom of the cover.

I've been told that it's tagged on at the end of the Fiammella Fire Duo chapter, and it doesn't have its own chapter. But since I don't have the video, I can't confirm that.

[edit] Could someone that has it please take a looksee? I'll make cupcakes

Yes. There are some text at the end of the video. Something like thanks to all involved in making this DVD and futher information available from www.homeofpoi.com/col2008 plus the cover of the DVD talks about the link.

Sorry you do not have a copy yourself

Yes, that text is at the end of the DVD. This is before it. I've been described some of the details [via PM], and they correspond exactly. What I'm asking is for someone to check their actual video against the list on www.homeofpoi.com/col2008 and we can clear this up.



[edit & addquote] In no way misunderstand this to mean that I don't appreciate all the hard work of the HoP team to put this wonderful DVD together.

please can i crash this topis new user sorry i am from rsa and would like to find out more about competitions and championships can you help me get some direction

HI there poifun-academy. Welcome to HoP.
(Just a pointer though... good idea to take your email address out from your name box- might attract spammers.)

Are you looking for live competitions? Personally I don't know of many, as the general ethos of the poi community as I've seen it tends to be more about skill sharing and having fun without competition. The topic has been raised here a few times, having cometitive leagues and so on, but it never seems to get very far.

People have raised objections about the codification and ranking that would be involved, and the notion that 'winning' such a thing would be meaningful, given that so many poiple would not get involved. So saying someone was the 'champion' of Europe or whatever would not be respected, and would just be divisive to the community.

There are heaps of comps for baton twirlers though, you might get some clues from that world. And I did hear some rumours of glowstring 'battles' though that was from the USA and seemed related to the hiphop battle approach.

Having said that, there is one little comp I know about...a firedance comp held on the Gold Coast, Qld, Australia once a year, sponsored by a local shop (Threeworlds).
I've been a judge for that one a few times, so I know the criteria include choreo, presentation and safety as well as technical skill. There was a similar one in Cairns a few years ago too. One thing about comps with financial prizes is that the money has to come from somewhere, so the ones I have known are sponsored by shops.

HoP runs COL (Circles of light) as a video competition, so its about how well the vid is presenting the art, not just technicals.

There are heaps of comps for baton twirlers though, you might get some clues from that world. And I did hear some rumours of glowstring 'battles' though that was from the USA and seemed related to the hiphop battle approach.

Are you looking to run one, or enter one?

there's also the Japanese Fire Festival Fire Contest.. it's amazing
lots of great spinners competing in a very constructive and beautiful way
www.firefestival.jp

Wow - these COL videos are just getting better and better - both in the quality of the vids, and in the music!

congrats to all the Winners - I'm not surprised at the placings, although I think there are some other honourable mentions that could fit in there - I'll post again with some of these after I watch the video again.

Durbs you fatty - well done!

Well done Malcolm for continuing to provide one of the only serious fire comps with a global reach, and outstanding diversity.