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.
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.
[coolplayer]http://www.dbzer0.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=647&g2_serialNumber=3&.mp4[/coolplayer]
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.
[coolplayer] http://www.dbzer0.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=653&g2_serialNumber=2&.mp4 [/coolplayer]
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
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.
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.
[coolplayer]http://www.dbzer0.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=591&g2_serialNumber=3&.mp4[/coolplayer]
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!
[coolplayer]http://www.dbzer0.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=618&g2_serialNumber=3&.mp4[/coolplayer]
New video of me playing with fire in Frankfurt
[coolplayer]http://www.dbzer0.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=82&.mp4[/coolplayer]
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.
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 😉
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 🙂
[coolplayer width=”320″ height=”240″]
http://www.dbzer0.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=552&g2_serialNumber=3&.mov
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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
Since my new [tag]firestaff[/tag] arrived I haven’t had time to really try it out. Only once when I initially got it did I attempt it but it was a failure due to weather.
Well the last two days I’ve been going out to Navarinou square to remember my skills. I stopped going to Alexander’s statue because the port gets kind of windy and throws my aim off.
Anyway, while at Navarinou I see lots of familiar faces and a lot of people come to talk to me. Others want to try out the staff while others just chat with me. It is a new experience for me (being this popular) and I can’t say I don’t like it. The attention I am getting is invigorating. For my part I don’t act (and I hope I don’t in the future either) like a self-important egomaniac and strike up conversations with the ones that approach, especially if they are cute girls grin, but I’ve been talking to the occasional junkie as well.
Sunday was my first afternoon (or rather night) out, I saw a girl, Δήμητρα, that possibly likes me and I also met some new people, like a young girl just now getting into staffs, her cousin and a fat girl that challenged my skills vs her chains. I, unfortunately, also saw Αννα and her boyfriend as they came around to see the rest of the group that was around at the time. I met her boyfriend’s friend who seems a nice enough chap but her boyfriend seems reluctant to acknowledge me, even if we’re in the same group of people. Αννα of course pretends she doesn’t see me at all :/
I didn’t get to do much of training of Sunday because people kept talking to me, but I did do some serious mingling and meeting. I can’t say it came out badly.
On Monday I once again went to Navarinou square, this time a little earlier so as to have some time to practice alone. Later some acquaintances showed up and once again I couldn’t focus (what with them constantly wanting to grab my staff). The new girl was also there and she seemed extremely “friendly” as well. Δήμητρα also appeared after a while but she was waiting to go for a date with a guy she met over the internet. After a while she left to meet him and later came back with him and was wondering how to get rid of him (“he just doesn’t click”), at around 23:00 people dispersed and I learned that some had gone to Carpe Diem (A Cafeteria/Live Stage) and I decided to head over there as well. I was lucky and I bumped into Μαρία and Αναστασία, two girls I met at the X Club one time and I decided to hang out with them.
We chatted for a while until the Live begun (A progressive violin/guitar duet with very strange and loud sound) and we had to shout. Later Δημητρα arrived as well, she had decided to bring the dude to Carpe Diem where her friends were in order to make him uncomfortable enough to leave. He found an excuse to leave (obviously getting the hint) and she was happy.
After a while she, quite unexpectedly, came to our table, introduced herself and sat down because she was bored with the other guys.
The night went on wand at some point the girls left and Δημητρα pressured me to take her for a walk at Navarinou. There we found the guy that initially showed me the Fire Staff and he had taken some leaps in his skills. I know I need to get in touch with him at some point to learn some new stuff. Obviously he is training at the fokas park.
We hanged around for half an hour or so where I met Χρήστος (a guy I saw all the time at the X Club but never got around to meeting him) and had to endure Δημητρα’s attempts to play with the staff or the flower stick of some other guys. In the end we went to get her bag from Carpe Diem only to find the others had left. Fortunately her bag was still there.
Yesterday was more interesting. I had set up with the young girl to gather at Navarinou again but this time use live fire. I went over there at around 7:45 pm (after buying a long-sleeved shirt I really liked, one with claw like rips in the middle) and started warming up. Βιολετιά apparently had come downtown to see me and she sent me an SMS to go and see her. I had already told her I was indisposed at this time and did so again. I told her to come see me instead, and she did eventually.
Another friend also passed by on his way to private lessons and he decided to stick around for a while to play with chains and also another girl (The fat one that challenged me) came around. So we all lighted our things and had a three person show 😉
After the show, I saw that Βιολετιά had appeared along with a friend and we chatted a bit. I also did a small show for her but she didn’t seem impressed.
Me and Βιολετιά have a habit of teasing each other with mild insults and I think I may have gone too far this time. A while after the show ended I told her to “Bugger off because I was bored of you”. Now obviously I was joking but it seems she took it a bit too seriously. She left immediately and although the obvious choice at that point would be to run after her and apologize, I didn’t realize how she took it and so I left her leave. Later I settled it through SMS and cell phone but it was another chance to hang out together lost.
Anyway, the rest of the night proved interesting as well. I ended up making out with a girl and agreeing to keep tings light, and I also went to the supposed “Nevermore night” at Silver Dollar with Μαρία (The last and only person that could come with me). The music sucked however and after 1.5 beers and no winning lottery tickets we left. Apparently the DJ thought that Nevermore is a hard as Slayer, Sepultura and Cradle of Filth groan.
There is just one small sour thing in this whole story, the replacement staff had bended way too much. I tried to bring it back but first I am afraid of stressing it too much and secondly it never works right. Damnit, I’m seriously let down by this purchase. Although I like the fact that its flame lasts for a long time, this bending and breaking business is very annoying. I’m thinking of taking it to an Iron Worker shop to see if he can straighten it.
I swear to Bob, if this one breaks as well there will be hell to pay!
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.