Cat has had his hair cut. Lots of us took the mickey out of Paul's less than elegant walking while juggling. There was a lot of coding talk as Cat is learning VB, Laurence is playing around with javascript & Chris is experimenting with PHP. Jo walked in early, berated us for not juggling enough then went to the pub. It was another good round of gladiators with another pretty even spread of points for the top three & Cat picked up two points in one game. Two more TWJC's left in the season & it looks like going right to the wire.
Kev decided to grace us with his presence this evening which was nice. Dave L threw lots of tomahawks at me & reminded me how to do a Why Not. Lawrence demonstrated proficiency at passing ultimates too. Most of the youngsters wore themselves out practising their gladiatorial technique earlier on in the evening so when it came to the official games they were too tired to mount an effective defense. This allowed me to close the gap that little bit further. 3 more sessions to go...
We were a bit thin on the ground this evening, still plenty of space to get some practice in which was nice. My shoulder throws are still giving me gip. Nicky used the snakeboard to stretch & wiggle away the aches & pains accumulated during the Brighton 10k she completed on Sunday (woo!) while lots of other people whizzed round on wheeled things too. The gladiators session saw a wider than normal distribution of points, partly due to Paul & Beth's line dancing antics, but also due to lots of displays of high skill. The frequency of wild & hopeful swipes are definitely decreasing, while well timed & aimed strikes are on the up.
Incidently, there are only 3 more TWJC's until the close of the season... hmm, I think I need to make a quick adjustment to the leaderboard software...
Gladiators: Simon naturally won a lot (8). Jon scored two ed; five or so gleefully celebrated victories (+2 points). A very surprised Kev won once.
ed; Dave L scored 11 (9 + 2) points... Which meant he was the highest scorer of the week. A lot of bouts this week.
My recollection: I started off well, I think being hyper really seems to intimidate. I took out Jon in my most successful match with an effective kick. Which seemed to be intimidating as well, in that I missed his clubs and got him unexpectedly in the stomach. However a round or two later an aggressive collision with DaveL's club and my face nearly landed me a black eye. I didn't really regain my "whirling dervish" mentalness after that. I left to do some more juggling tricks & was berated for my un-gladiatorial exit from the game. I've got some more energy where that came from so watch out next week.
ed; Meh. Anyway I won 1 point for winning and won -1 point for a kick to Jon's stomach.
I was happily practising lots of 3 club solo stuff at one end of the hall while the other end was taken over by the Tunbridge Wells Gladiator Club. Cat & Simon were practising one on one combat techniques, Dave L joined in & managed to pick up a very impressive bruise on his arm for his troubles. The official gladiator session (which saw some very enthusiastic drumming) saw Simon pick up another 6 points increasing his lead to an impressive 8 points over nearest rival Dave L. It is becoming increasingly apparent that the best tactic for gladiators is to run around as fast as you can. If I slip any further behind I might have to change the scoring rules.
The evening started off quietly, Kevin, Karina and Me arrived just after 7, and a large scaffolding was in the far corner which looked like it would be good for upside down juggling (but we were told that if we touched it we would be out...) after a while a lone wanderer appeared, John shearing, who hasn't been to the TWJC for many weeks if not months, and soon after Simon arrived, still trying 3 diablos... Hes almost there.
Jon, Nikki, Paul, Mr.K, Dave leech, Beth, Chris and a small child who's name i don't know (but that's nothing new) were soon making the numbers much higher than last weeks terrible show of people.
Dave L's spinney gun from Japan made another appearance.
Jo turned up unfeasnably unfeasibly *Spelling please Jon* early, and stole all the females (and Mr.K) off to the pub, although shortly after they all disappeared we started playing Gladiators.
Simon and Dave L scoring 6 or more points apiece. Jon, while taking out quite a lot of people failed to score as many points as Simon and Dave L, I scored a bonus point and the aforementioned small kid won a round by standing still.....
All in all quite a good night considering the not so fantastic numbers and jo's people stealing.
Oh and in the pub Dave L volunteered to organise the Christmas meal, and it took less than a minute, although the place still has to be booked, but it looks like the meal might be before January...
We were a bit thin on the ground this evening. Some people must have overdone it on Saturday night. Nicky & I worked on a variation of the runaround where the thief just walks straight through the pattern, stealing & returning 2 of the 3 clubs on the way. After a bit of work we managed to get it to a pretty presentable level. We had a enjoyable session of gladiators, Cat continued with the same kamikaze spirit as last week, newbie Chris seems to have grasped the concept of the double & swipe maneouvre but is struggling with recovering his own pattern afterwards. Kevin was struggling with a bad back (but not up to ambulance level, thank you Karina) so started off attacking us with clubs, then switched to sitting on a chair at the sidelines & firing Dave L's spinning projectile gun at us. The current top 3 players on the Leaderboard all suffered embarassing failures & ran the risk of penalty points. Hunting season is on next week as both Simon & I now share the lead.
It was nice to return to TWJC after a short break, Dave K was particularly impressed with my gleaming white tan. Beth continued her research into perpetual motion by gliding round the hall a lot. Karina & Chris are both working on 5 balls & were probably disappointed by the response to their requests for helpful pointers which were inevitably, "practise lots". Dave L wiped the floor with the field during gladiators but Cat also earned some bonus points for some extraordinarily violent play. He also crashed spectacularly into a wall which although worth noting is not worth rewarding with points.
Ed; Hope your feeling better Kevin. I've actually felt really bad at times this week. I made some stupid mistakes, lost money & my self esteem. So I hope your situation gets better. When people actually are experiencing rough times, I'm probably the worst person to talk to as I've never "been there". My sympathy does go out to you and anyone else who isn't having the best of times recently.
Have a good week all!
Ed; It loses sync somewhere before the devilstick part & has too many "blinky" cuts which make Dave especially seem less skilled.
I was trying to get the hang of that stutter edit look. But it's really easy for me to lose track of where important sections are, that and going overboard with them.
Simon & Cat spent a lot of time talking about diabolo string length. Newbie Jada Giada made great strides in learning to juggle on her first night & managed to pick up the basics very quickly. I demonstrated that neither Paul's reverse psychology or a girl fluttering her eye lashes is powerful enough to make me swing poi. Cat & Chris were both learning the 2 diabolo shuffle, Laurence was trying 7 rings, Paul was looking very dapper while wearing enormous padded shorts. I made Kevin squeal lots during gladiators.
WIDGETIZE