Jamming session

Dirk has just informed me through an email (which I couldn’t really read) that they’ve written about the previous jamming party they did on his birthday. I went there and to my delight I also saw that they uploaded two vids from me playing with fire.

Excellent! Finally a recent vid with a good capture. I especially liked the jamming behind me. It is something that makes dancing with fire even better.

Beltane

So [tag]Arnoc [/tag] piqued my interest about the yearly gathering he is having with his friends which he likes to name it after the Gaelic holiday, Beltane. As far as excuses to have a barbecue with your friends go, this is not half bad, although it doesn’t mind to remember that this is also the Labour day as well.

We didn’t have any maypoles or flowers but we did have quite a lot of Mead however, and I even brought a little bottle of Jaegemeister that a friend of Arnoc’s almost drank by himself

We also had quite a lot of BBQ but unfortunately, due to the fact that the ECB restaurant had an all-you-can-eat day I was pretty stuffed already and I couldn’t enjoy the fine souvlakia that were around, or the horrible cucumber salad
Time passed and people were starting to ask for a fire show. I was itching to test my new [tag]firestaff[/tag] so I gladly obliged them. There was just the perfect place in the back garden for such a thing.

We continued during the night with drinks and discussion and even some dancing around the fire on the music of Ensiferum if my memory does not fail me. Generally it was a good time and we finished at about 12:30.

It was around that point that I discovered the most ugly bird sitting on the tree and hooting. It was the owner of the place who snuck in and climbed on while no one was looking. Fortunately that ugly bird drove us home so we were spared having to wait for the last train in the cold.

Took five vids (but no pics) that you can find in the gallery now.

Good times

Annoyance

It greatly annoys me that Night Clubs around here won’t allow me to take my Glow Staff with me. It’s just a frigging Glow Staff, what is the problem with it? I’m not going to kill anyone with it, just dance. It’s also light and not suitable for assault (as it would sooner break than hit hard)

Now, the Final Destination doorman allowed me in with it, the last time I was there but I believe it was mostly because he’s learning to play it as well and he recognises me as a regular. Even then, he told me not to dance with it, even if the stage was empty. What the hell? I’m not going to tear the stage down with a glostaff!

It’s amazingly stupid. In London they would allow even metallic staffs inside but not here. Paranoia.

Yesterday I went to U60 where some friends had gathered after Speak Easy. By amazing luck, I decided to take a taxi which brought me to the place as they were getting some cool air. As luck would have it, one of them had reserved a guest list pass for a male friend of his that didn’t come so the option was still open. He let me take it and I ended up saving at least 8€ or 14€ (Damn those places always seem to charge amazingly high). Nice enough place but with such repetitive music I could only truly enjoy it with the staff. I went ouside and asked the doorman

“Hey, can I ask you something. I’m thinking of bringing a glow staff next time, is that allowed?”
“What’s that?”

I point to the blue led he has running on the back

“Oh, a stick for light?”
“Yes, but it’s about *this* big”
“Sorry, not allowed.”
“But it’s just for dancing, why?”
“It’s just not allowed!”

Now, I don’t think there’s an actual rule. “No big sticks allowed” because I do not think there are many people bringing those around. It must be a case of preemptive cancellation. You know, when they stop you doing something because they’re not familiar with it.

In this case, it just stops me from going to the place again since the only reason to do so would be to use the staff. Although there were many beautiful girls around, the music just doesn’t cut it for long exposure.

Very annoying.

New staff goodness

So I’ve finally received my two new Staffs from Firetoys and I’m really really giddy about it :). I ordered them last Friday night, they were posted on Monday morning and they arrived on Thursday morning. Now that is quick! Unfortunately we hit a snag when they didn’t find me at my place and left me a notice. Trying to call them back, to my dismay I discovered that they did not have anyone who could speak english and there was no way to communicate. Fortunately for me, my dear colleague Cyrus did me the favor of calling them for me and after a short discussion they arranged to leave them at the shop next to my place. Next day when I returned from work, they were already there. Oh Joy of Joys!

I ordered two staffs from the shop this time. Initially I didn’t want to shop from firetoys again since the last time I got one of their products, it broke within a month and I’m not really happy with the replacement I received since it has bent and twisted to a bad enough level to make it diffuclt to use.
However the initial choice I had in mind, te POOKaToys, has closed down their shop for some reason and the Home of Poi has a very small selection of staffs and no Glostaffs. The other sites I checked either were more expensive or had a small collection as well.

The first item I ordered was a contact [tag]Firestaff[/tag] with two wicks. Specifically I ordered this model because I wanted something sturdy and good for practicing contact moves.

The staff itself is the heaviest I’ve ever used and it is also amazingly sturdy. I can simple throuw it in the air and see it vibrating as it goes. This makes it a bit difficult for throws but on the other hand, during the training I did today I discovered just how much of a difference having a good staff does.

Where before I had trouble performing a simple Steve roll, just in one hour today I almost performed a perfect Halo-360, which was pretty amazing for me. The extra inertia of the staff, along with the fact that it doesn’t tangle in my hair anymore (as the silicone grip used to do) makes contact moves amazingly easier than before.

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I practiced for two hours and I think I have finally began to make progress. I still have to practice with the new weight, balance and longer shaft but that should be the easiest part.

The other staff I ordered was finally thr GloStaff (Glow Staff) that I always wanted. Yes, I’ve got very carnal reasons for wanting such a staff

This one one is the smaller sized one I’ve used (just 140cm) as well as the lightest. The shaft is very thick which makes it difficult to do finger spins and the weight makes it a bit unstable for contact moves. I believe I can counterbalance those with a lot of practice. It still looks absolutely amazing in the dark!

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Fireplay in Frankfurt

New video of me playing with fire in Frankfurt

This is after I went for a PingPong match with Cyrus and Alan (yes I won again ) and as night fell, I saw some fires close to me, so I went there and found a group of Czechs. They were more than happy to let me play with them since, after all, they were making money out of it.

When Cyrus gives me the pictures from his camera, I’ll upload them as well.

Animated

Yay! I now have my very own animated avatar (a few of them actually)

On other news, I’ve reinstalled Eve Online to check out the gameplay with all the new expansion and patches. It seems pretty good but slow as snails. It took me four friggin’ hours to complete my training and get my first frigate. At the time it was 1:30 am and I didn’t have time to kill any nasties. I tried to go on the missing my first agent gives me and I got my ass handed to me by about a dozen pirates, even after I spend all my money on firepower and defence. How the hell do they expect us to complete these?
Last time I played Eve, I stayed for about 1.5 months until I got bored, but maybe this has to do with the fact that I was mostly playing alone. I’ll try to get more social this time in case it helps.

Aaaanyway, at least my character portrait is kewl (Damn, wanted to upload it but it is not available on the site. Maybe because I have a trial account).

Update: and here it is

He is supposed to be blind and I’m planning to have an interesting background for him to fit with his drone fetish

So if you’re playing eve atm, look for Fygokentros

Βιντεο Φωτιάς

Ανέβασα ένα μικρό βιντεάκι που μου τραβήξανε στην Ξάνθη όταν έκανα ζογκλερικά με το πυροκόνταρο. Δεν είναι πολύ καλή ποιότητα γιατι το τράβηξαν με κινητό αλλα η γενικη ιδέα φαίνεται
Μπορείτε να το κατεβάσετε απο εδώ

New site Update goodness

B-day

Well, I’ve finally turned 1/4 of a century. I don’t feel too old.

It seems however that my lj writing has taken a break for a while. I just don’t feel like writing at this point.

This Monday I send SMS to various people I know to come over at the [tag]X club[/tag] where I’ll be hanging out tonight. Today most of those canceled Still, If at least one or two show up things should be fine. I also plan to drink a lot (at least for me)

Happening this last month:

We finally solved the problem with the AD at work. The security policies had been corrupted and we restored the default ones. Pericles and I have become friends and go and eat crepes together.

I’ve once again failed at romance. A girl I thought was mine, changed her mind in the last minute. At least she continues to talk to me…

I’ve played F.E.A.R and finished it. I Started playing UFO Aftershock and I’ve already grown bored with it (Although I still like it a lot).

I used duct tape to fix my broken [tag]firestaff[/tag] (duct tape rulez!) and started double-twirling which is much fun. Unfortunately the weather screwed me up and unless I find a place big enough to use (or risk freezing to death) I won’t be twirling for a while.
Here’s some (not-so) nice pics as well. I turned one into my avatar as well

I’ve formatted and reinstalled Ubuntu from the start. I got tired of stupid crashed and bugs. Still experiencing those. I’m waiting for Fedora 5 now.

That’s for now

Finally

My replacement [tag]firestaff[/tag] arrived yesterday. I was a bit disappointed by the silicon grip however. Where the old one fit snugly and had nice ends, this one seems to have space between it and the shaft and its ends are fixed with fed duct tape. The whole item seems a bit hastily done but I guess I can’t complain. Things could have been a lot worse (namely not getting my staff back). At least now I have the old shaft as well and can at least try to fix it someway.

Anyway, after I received it my first order of business was to go out and practice some because I have almost a month to touch the skill. Unfortunately it was raining lightly but I hoped it would abate until I reached my training grounds. On the way I bumped into an old friend of mine, Χρύσα (Translates as Goldie) who was taking a walk. After the necessary greetings I told her to come with me and we went towards the Alexander statue.

I always had a soft spot for her, I always hopes something happened between us at some point but I don’t hold much hope for it nowadays. She seems so preoccupied with other stuff all the time and does not seem to be interested the same way. Pity.

Anyway, on the road we talked about the summer and stuff like that and after I mentioned my Poseidi experiences she was dying to find out more. I ended up storytelling the entire trip to her mounting joy. Glad to be of help

She also caught me by surprise by telling me that my current haircut was the best she’s seen on me. I did not expect that comment from her and that says a lot.

I did not manage to do any serious practice unfortunately. The port area was even more windy and rainy than downtown and I could barely practice my moves between chatting and the constant wind. In the end I took her to the bus stop where she decided to walk (!) so we said goodbye (without kisses) and parted ways. I headed for home and saw some Samurai Champloo before going to sleep.

Staff Update

I have been in contact with the guys from Firetoys for the last day, trying to see what will happen with my staff break.
It seems it was from an external manufacturer and that may be the cause of its bad quality. I don’t really know, the could also be bullshitting me in order not to look bad. I did make a post in their forums about my mishap.

Anyway, the original plan was for me to send it and they would send me a replacement. However the postal costs are a bit high for such a large item and as such they told me to email them pictures of the break which they will forward to the manufacturer as proof in order to send me a new one.
For anyone interested, here’s what the break looks like

I took those with a friend’s camera. Mmmm, I need to get me one of those…

Lets hope everything works out alright…

I don't fucking believe this!

My Fire Staff just broke.

For FUCK’S sake, the fuckin’ aluminum shaft broke! How fuckin’ unlucky can I get? I don’t even have it for a month and it broke! AAARGH!

I am so GOD DAMN PISSED OFF right now I could punch someone!

This ruined my whole night (and it looked promising as well ) and probably tomorrow as well.

I just sent a mail to the company that I bought it from Firetoys and I hope for a quick response. I hope as hell they take it back and I also hope they don’t make me pay the postal cost. They’ll cost as much as the actual thing for fuck’s sake.

GOD DAMNIT! FUCKIN’ GOD DAMNIT!

Par-tay!

The last two days have seen too much of me dancing around and generally making a fool of myself. Wednesday was the Disco-pop night at The X Club and yesterday I went to a reggae party at one of the universities, near the star observatory. As a result, I now have too much blood in my caffeine system (Well, I always wanted an excuse to say that) and I’m generally very tired.

Both days out have been with Panos from KNE and some of his friends. He’s not much of a “mover”, meaning he doesn’t dance at all, but luckily some of his friends do so at least I had some cover.

Wednesday night we met at his apartment to wait it out until it was late enough to head to the club, we sat at the balcony sipping white wine and for some reason, discussion once again turned to the fact that I wasn’t a comrade. It all started when I told him I voted a black (meaning that I voted in a way that canceled it) and he got a bit worked out about it. They tried to convince me once more and in the end I told them about the philosophy I am following at this time, Hacker. To make a long story short, they agreed that it was a good philosophy but they just couldn’t quite understand how it all worked out. By the time I was finished, it was time to head out.

The [tag]X Club[/tag] was packed once again, although it seemed to me that there was a slightly less attendance. At the entrance was once again my ex that pretended she didn’t see me greeting.
Once again it seemed like a knew everybody around there. All the familiar faces were around and I was greeting people all the time.

“So you come here a lot then?” Dimitra queried
“Why do you ask”
“Well, you seem to know almost everyone”
“Heh, you make me feel so special :)”

The night was alright, although a bit crowded and at times it was just impossible to dance. I met a friend’s friend who was from England and was staying around for vacation and dragged her to the dance floor. Another friend of mine got mildly drunk as well and told me I was the greatest guy she knew. I also found one of the metal guys from Posidi that got stone drunk after a while. Panos and Dimitra left early and I stayed behind (I had company aplenty) and at the end of the night I forced my ex to acknowledge me *grin*

Yesterday, as I mentioned before was the reggae party. The night started at a local tavern where I found Panos and Co. eating chicken wings and drinking beers and wine. We were supposed to head there by 12 o’ clock but we ended up going at 1:30 am.
The place was crawling with people, and there was a lot of dancing going on. I had brought my [tag]Firestaff[/tag] with me as well so I took the opportunity to step forward and do a performance. I had two bottles of paraffin and a new metal container to put it in, so I was counting on at least 7 light ups. However things conspired against me and I only did three.
First, it appeared that my metal container had a hole in the bottom that was sealed up with plastic. Unfortunately for me, paraffin dissolves plastic and I was lucky enough to have put the cap of the container underneath it, so the flow stopped. Then after my first performance, and after I had told the others to watch out not to spill the container, I came back and found it face down on the dirt. There goes one bottle of paraffin just like that.
I was also a bit nervous while twirling because of the number of people watching and so I made some mistakes, the worst of which was the flaming end of the staff bouncing onto my head. I was cautious enough to wet my hair before starting the show but even then, I smelled burnt hair. Other mistakes included hitting my t-shirt (luckily with no effect) and some bad catches. Good thing is that I never dropped my staff once. After a short rest, the “dance floor” was full of people so I could do any more performances.

A girl also came and gave me a flier for the first Greek gathering of jugglers at a chalkidiki camping. She said she noticed me throwing the staff in the air from afar. Dunno, I’m thinking of going but it seems too much like a circus show, and I don’t feel very comfortable with that.

I also tried to dance a bit but this music just isn’t my show. I can well enough play with the staff but simply dancing to reggae is not me. I tried it alone, with company or just pongo-ing (not enough room for the staff) and I couldn’t feel comfortable enough.

I left alone at about 3am to sleep. I came home, drank 2 glasses of cold milk and one of cold water and went to bed. Today I woke up with a sore throat. Suits me.