Forums > Videos > Fun in the Garden

Posted: 23rd Jun 2005
Helz - have you tried opening it with the DivX player as opposed to Windows MP?

But yes - come to G'ford on Sunday anyway (and bring others!)
Nice forecast - not too hot (Last week was pretty warm) - but we get lots of nice shade from the trees and being by the water helps too

Burner of Toast
Spinner of poi
Slacker of enormous magnitude

Posted: 23rd Jun 2005

Written by: duballstar

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....

right then, criticism... erm.... your grass looks a bit dry, could do with being a bit greener to match the bushes...

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Pesky hose-pipe ban

Burner of Toast
Spinner of poi
Slacker of enormous magnitude

Posted: 23rd Jun 2005
hey durbs, the poi video is wicked! i love the whip catch and am trying to learn it, i will have it soon!

erm, criticisms.... hmm...im biased but but whip catches? seriously though, i dont think i can offer anything except what somebody has already said, dunc maybe, that the throws could be timed a little cleaner, but other than that, me likes!

Aim high and you'll know your limits, aim low and you'll never know how high you could have climbed.

Posted: 25th Jun 2005
WOW!!
I've just watched these vids at home. Criticism

** can't think of any criticism at all**

Written by: Helz Bellz

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the spinny magic that is Durbs.

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I said I wanted spinny magic...and spinny magic is exactly what I got.

Nice one Durbs!

Live well, love much, laugh often...

Official O.B.E.S.E. cheerleader

Posted: 27th Jun 2005
i like the contact one.
lots.
possibly more than i should
its all really coming together and your choice of when to put what in the mix (if you see what i mean) is becoming fluid as hell.

the horizontal spider thing truly made me go the first time round.
that's a gorgeous yet really simple illusion, cheers for that dude.
found the thumbs holding bit right tricky with an acrylic though.

as for the poi one, i liked the antispin out of hugs stuff lots, so i learnt that too




cole. x

"i see you at 'dis cafe.
i come to 'dis cafe quite a lot myself.
they do porridge."
- tim westwood

Posted: 27th Jun 2005
I went back and watched the contact one...



I'm getting a ball.. that sh1t was too frickin' cool..

More useless information courtesy of Rev...
Confusing the masses, one post at a time...
"Obviously, you're not a golfer.."- The Dude
"Buy the ticket... Take the ride..." -Raoul Duke
"FEMA has never done catastrophe planning..."-Michael Brown

Posted: 27th Jun 2005
FINALLY managed to get it to play on my girlfriend pc (ive got a mac).
Love the poi vid. Its actually inspired me to pick up some poi again which i havnt really done since last summer. Fancy showing me a couple of new tricks at Falmouth? been looking at the vid ive got of you from firetoys but could use some guidance me thinks.
CJ vid was also very cool but as has already been said a bit far from the camera, nice tho.

"Don't do it naked!"

Posted: 28th Jun 2005
How had i missed this?

Durbin...............................................

Sleepy now and still grinning from the contact one and the section shortly after 6mins of the poi one - so will say more useful things when i have watched both more and slept a bit (maybe not in that order though........)



mucho big and in anticipation of lotsa tomorrow too..... night x

Geologists do it in the dirt................

Posted: 29th Jun 2005
Very nice work my durbin ya pale lanky man take care dude

eat more macdonalds

An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind

Give a man a fish and he'll eat 4 a day hit a man with a brick and you can have all his fish and his wife

"Will's to pretty for prison" - Simian

Posted: 30th Jun 2005
*taps fingers*

Oi Fluff - crit please!

Burner of Toast
Spinner of poi
Slacker of enormous magnitude

Posted: 1st Jul 2005
argh sorry.................. these things musn't be rushed...........

Geologists do it in the dirt................

Posted: 1st Jul 2005
Ok - so I'm probably going offline for a while today. Moving house. Gotta sort out some sort of connection in the new one though no idea how long that might take. So I've spent a while thinking and watching and thinking. There is so much material, skill, variation etc.... I have no idea where to start! These are just my thougts cos I know you would like them - though feel free to ignore anything if it doesn't seem to make sense!

*(Incidentally the reason I appear to have written so much is because I have watched and enjoyed these lots and really wanted to try and explain why - sorry if it means there's lots of random fairy rantings to get through!)*

Contact Vid:

Me likey:
- All the dance from 1.04-1.35 - spot on IMO and a pleasure to watch.
- I know nothing about contact but as an uneducated observer I was happily captivated.
- Smooth groove all the way through - fancy footwork mucho impressive
- 4.30-4.50 pushing the ball about stuff is wicked - probably my best bit. Very very clever.
- the turning that follows is sweet too - means that it's not always face-on which I think is actually quite important.

To think about:
- You seem to overbalance by having the majority of your wieght on your right leg. This means you often lift the left to rectify it. Not a big criticism but a more even distribution especially when stopping off to either side would really help. It detracts from your hand movements and doesn't appear to be intentional.
- I really like it when you turn - you can move around the ball a hell of a lot with the sort of slides and glides and wiggles ( ) you can do - It doesn't always need to be in front of you. I would love to see some more spacial use stuff

Poi Vid: (this might be a short essay............. lol)

Me Likey:
-That first move Crosser/antispin mmmmmmmmm so so so tasty you have no idea. Well, maybe you do, but it looks simply divine.
- Same time stuff (2.18-2.23ish) is excellent variation - especially with the legs, and the antispin bit in front (or whatever it is) - nice nice...
- Smooth whipcatch - still totally beyond little me!
- You really loosen up and move infinately better through 3.15-3.20, then seem to remember you're spinning and start concentrating again. That free-flowing section is, IMO, fantastic to watch. We need more!
- Antispin flower combo (about 4.13-4.23 I think) is hardcore! Massive big grin over here - had to watch it a couple of times - blimey!
- 8.12 you joker
Transition into Anti at 6.35 ish This has to be it. The move. Wow. I'm going to be playing with that for a long time. So clean, smooth, effortless, complex, pretty, tekflow of the highest grade - spot on Durbin you make this fairy mucho happy indeed - I need to learn that......

Overall - smooth, clean, varied, clever, well mixed from tek to flow and back again, sweet isolations, loadsa throws (in lots of combinations which I love), stalls, airwraps, loops, all well very very nice engaging spinning. Have lots of these

To think about:
Movement.
- Flowers. So cleanly done but too static for my liking. Although you have a lot of variation I'd like to see less standing 'doing a flower' and more moving 'using flowers' if that makes sense?
- Feet. I know you have a lot of control when you do contact but you kind of supress your movement a lot when you spin poi. When you bend your knees and bounce a bit more (3.15......) then your spinning instantly becomes more pleasing to watch. This may just be a personal thing but I really think when you concentrate on spinning the poi the overall picture really looses out. When you stop concentrating and let go everything falls together with a lot more life
- Balance. Possibly picking holes here - but - I would like to see you focus on your balance so that your weight is shifted with a little more control and you don't have to correct so much - you often 'fall' or 'drop' onto one foot after doing a move, rather than placing it down intentionally. I do that a lot too - and the more I focus on it the more flowing and free my spinning is.

phew! Told you...........

All in all - lovely Nice tunes (esp the contact one) and lighting. Maybe a little too long as they are shot from one angle and are mainly face-on so there's not much variation as far as the scenes go, but other than that big big smiles all round. I will be picking your brains lots at Falmouth for sure

Geologists do it in the dirt................

Posted: 1st Jul 2005
Ahhhhhhhhhh

Perfect - thanks

Note to people - that is how to give good crit

Right, I'm off to Italy.
See you in a week or so

Burner of Toast
Spinner of poi
Slacker of enormous magnitude

Posted: 1st Jul 2005
I would give some criticism, but I haven't seen them yet!!

Empty your mind. Be formless, Shapeless, like Water.
Put Water into a cup, it becomes the cup, put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle, put water into a teapot, it becomes the teapot.
Water can flow, or it can Crash.
Be Water My Friend.

Posted: 2nd Jul 2005
Hope you'll be back for Uberness, mister durbs

Getting to the other side

Posted: 2nd Jul 2005
nice vids durbs, i agree with everything fluff said and a bit more!

methinks i am going to go outside and practice some flower variations. i liked the look of complete confusion on your face when you did one of the flower transitions, i might practice that a bit too.

diggin the waistwrap hyperloop too dude, well done you!

O.B.E.S.E. Official Potato man.

Remeber kids.... Its all fun and games until someone loses a bol**ck!

Posted: 8th Jul 2005
So... im sat there last night and my internet connection screwd up and i didnt know what to do......... so i decided to watch a few vids........

Dude - i watched your contact vid again - this time with sound and can i just say i really enjoyed it.......

its wierd although ive seen you do that shite in the flesh soooo many times you are still amazing to watch - even without a tan

After that i watched your poi one too again......... your antispin into normal spin stuff is getting far too smooth and that overhead whipcatch........ well

Your one talented little blokey for sure........

/end strugz niceness

Oh and about that thing i txted you about........ if it was on the 17th last month and around 130 = then

i take it all back

Catch you in falmouth

"...We don't stop playing because we get old, we get old because we stop playing......."

Posted: 8th Jul 2005
You shall need a mighty big glove to catch that lanky feller

An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind

Give a man a fish and he'll eat 4 a day hit a man with a brick and you can have all his fish and his wife

"Will's to pretty for prison" - Simian

Posted: 19th Jul 2005
ok ive only seen the first half of the contact vid lol coz my download messed up, but ill critique what i saw (with inspiration from the fluffy one in critique style ).



overall its very nice.



great bits!!!

-the body waves and glides with the ball isolated. amazing!!!

-some of your iso's were new to me, new moves are always something great in particular the enigma like one where you move from thumb to fingertip and vice versa so your hands move sideways but the ball stays isolated then your hands stay and the ball moves.(i hope that made sense) around the 56 second mark

-your isolations in general were all done beautifully.

-i like the way that, while it is very much front on like others have said, you dont stay still. youre always moving and this adds very much to the interestingness (is that a word?) of watching you

-i also like how you play with different heights a bit. moving the ball up and down and not just left and right. during your isolations especially.

-ill add more here when its done downloading again and ive been able to watch it in full



constructive criticism: (im gonna be a little picky here coz i love contact and it seems you do too so its all in the name of self improvement )

-your body rolls need a little work. you looked a bit uncontrolled on a few of the chest rolls (the prayer chestroll with the almost drop at 1:42 in particular ) and the barrel rolls.

-im not so fond of the liquid stuff, following the ball, and the ball dragging your body waves, but that may just be me. any time you just hold the ball and move it kinda fast, in a non linear way while gripping the ball, especially when your hand covers most of it, it takes away from the magic and plants the "its just a ball" thought in peoples heads.

-in relation to the above comment, there are a few times when you do a move, an isolation with an arm wave or a few other things, then just sorta swing the ball down to your other hand or into an armroll and go on with your routine. 1:28 and again at 1:37 and a few other spots. this swing is not a smooth transition. this is being really really picky tho.

-your isolation from 1:30 to 1:35 needs little work

-something really simple and basic that can nonetheless make all the difference: look at your butterfly/windshield wipers. the ball doesnt move from side to side much. it almost goes straight up and down when you roll from front to back to front of your hand. with a little more motion in it it could possibly be more aestheticly pleasing. a matter of preference and style but something to think about. and on second look you dont do it all the time. just in places.

-like others said, work on your balance a little.



ok thats enough for now. overall huge positives and very small negatives. i liked it a lot. cant wait till its finished downloading and i can see all of it lol i really need to visit the UK so i can play with (and pilfer moves from ) all you crazy good kids!



thanks durbs!!!!



PS sorry for the hugeness and sheer messyness of this post. its late and im sick and cant be arsed cleaning it up.

We walk light
Down the wires
Higher than weather baloons
Empty hearts on fire...

Posted: 19th Jul 2005
I still haven't seen these vids...

I did ask someone to put them onto DVD... But, you know what Spinners are like...

Durbs?

Nudge Nudge...

Empty your mind. Be formless, Shapeless, like Water.
Put Water into a cup, it becomes the cup, put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle, put water into a teapot, it becomes the teapot.
Water can flow, or it can Crash.
Be Water My Friend.

Posted: 19th Jul 2005
ok i watched it again now that ive had some sleep and my conclusions is: goddamn i was picky last night!!

this is a really nice vid!!!

only new suggestions:

spend a little time on your head rolls, coz theyre awesome when you can do them. so f'n hard tho!
your strobing with the ball was awesome! i really liked it! but when you do the full body strobe (around 3.50) maybe try to keep the ball a little higher or central so its not just hanging off to one side
and maybe mix in some chest/neck/shoulder hits when youre pushing the ball and it comes to a stop. just to add to the effect.

great stuff tho!! theres so much there for me to learn thanks again!

my 100mm acrylic arrived not half an hour ago

We walk light
Down the wires
Higher than weather baloons
Empty hearts on fire...

Posted: 21st Jul 2005
lets spread the love of good vid crit

Geologists do it in the dirt................

Posted: 24th Jul 2005
Having problems downloading.. gets to around 40-50% then the connection with the server resets. adsl 256, IE6, Windows 2K. Tried turning off Zone Alarm, which causes problems like this occasionally, but that didn't solve it.

Going to download GetRight now *shudder*..

Posted: 24th Jul 2005
Good luck Ry, I managed to dowload it easy pie so come check it out if you need...

.....Can't juggle balls but I sure as hell can juggle details....

Posted: 6th Aug 2005
Nice one Durbs Kinda freaky. I dont know if the start is ment to be grainy, but it starts like that on mine and after afew minutes its clears up. Is it ment to do that?





Nice to see some different stuff on here Iv only seen the first one tho



Other than that good quality, music and moves (tho i dont know much about kontakt) but its interesting...just one thing, it was a little bit long

Posted: 7th Aug 2005
I watched your videos. i dont really have anything to say. :x

Posted: 8th Aug 2005
Oh...er...thanks?

Burner of Toast
Spinner of poi
Slacker of enormous magnitude