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March, 2009:

Gold Rush Campout

Mar 17th, 2009
by rich.
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goldrush

Come join us! RSVP here or email

Come join us for a weekend campout with hoops, music and friends. If you made it by Hoop Heaven at Burning Man, or HoopCamp, you know how we do a party. We’ll have the soundsystem, shade, lighting, etc. The location is amazing. 30 isolated acres in the woods. Located on the North Fork of the American River, you can find remnants of the California Gold Rush. If you’re up for a hike there is an old mining cave that heads into the hillside 3 miles. We also have a large fire pit for the nights. Plenty or room to hoop but try and avoid throwing your hoops off the cliff.

LNT (leave no trace). Bring a tent. There is an outhouse but no water source. If we end up with more than 20 people we’ll rent an additional outhouse and we’ll all split the cost. Although we don’t anticipate any costs, should any arise, we will be asking for contributions.

More details to come.

Hope you can make it!
Lauren, Rich & Grant

Contact Rich directly if you would like to come.

aRose by Random Rab

Mar 12th, 2009
by rich.
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rab

Grant used to say that “The Riddle” by Random Rab was the soundtrack to our lives that no one knew. He said that because he played it all the time, everyone loved the song, but no one ever really payed that much attention to it. If you don’t own “The Riddle” by Random Rab, I highly recommend looking it up on iTunes. It’s in my top ten favorite tracks of all time.

The new album just released by Random Rab is amazing. It makes me long for a sunrise on the playa.

So far, “For my corpse” is my favorite track. I’d been listening to it off Rab’s myspace profile for the last two months trying to figure out where I could get a copy.

You can find the album on iTunes here.

Sign of the times

Mar 12th, 2009
by rich.
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A restaurant I was working on has been put on hold.

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Opulent Temple Massive: Thoughts on performance part 2

Mar 11th, 2009
by rich.
1 comment

_mg_5748small1Friday night I made it the Opulent Temple Massive on Treasure Island. It was an amazing and slightly strange party. It didn’t feel like what I have come to expect of a Burning Man party. It felt much more like a rave. Vick’s Vapor Rub on a dance floor… seriously? Plus there were a lot of overly aggressive guys. It was not not really my scene, so I hid behind my hoops. I took the occasion as an excuse to practice performing. It was an expansive warehouse and there was plenty of room that we weren’t inconveniencing anyone so I hooped all night with Rosie, Nicole and Laurie. I owe those three big thanks for being my hoop buddies for the night. Rosie and I arrived at 9:30 PM. I left at 4:00 am and I had only set my hoops down for about an hour.

It was a great night to hoop because there was plenty of room but often I’ve seen people push there way onto the dance floor with a hoop when there was barely room to stand. Once I saw someone carry a hoop into the Root Society Dome at Burning Man when no one could even stand because it was so packed. In that space it was ludicrous to even bring a hoop. I’m not even sure what they thought would happen.

Sometimes enough space can be created on a bustling dance floor to hoop. This is the grey area that takes some tact to know if it’s appropriate to hoop. I strongly feel that if you are going to take up valuable space on a crowded dance floor, you better be capable of putting on a show and entertaining the audience. It always makes me uncomfortable when I see a hooper walk into a dance floor with a hoop, expecting others to move out of the way, then proceed to waste hoop for 15 minutes irritating everyone on the dance floor. It makes us all look bad.

On the other end of the spectrum, I saw Stefan take a hoop to the center of a hugely crowded dance floor at L.I.B. last year and light up the audience. Everyone stopped dancing to watch the show. We’re talking 200, maybe more watching in awe. It was impressive as hell and frankly quite amazing. The guy can work a crowd. I think Meg the Cat was playing with him too.

Photographer Tev Lee caught some nice shots at the Opulent Temple fundraiser last Friday. Nice guy too. Check his work out here.

Free track. Glitched up and whompy just how I like it.

Business Cards

Mar 9th, 2009
by rich.
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090309businesscardsmall Just received my new business cards. The cards say, “isopop, hoop performance teaching research.” I’m particularly fond of the research part.

Bartendaz

Mar 9th, 2009
by rich.
1 comment

Crazy video I saw on YouTube today showing urban gymnastics with a dash of object manipulations and isolations sprinkled in. I love how they’ve taken gymnastics and made it more interesting by making it almost like break dancing. I can relate the to the way they approach their art.

Bartendaz Inc is the fitness division of Constellation a non-profit organization that unites physical fitness, martial arts, youth empowerment and hip-hop to push our youth and our communities to higher standards of physical, social and moral excellence. We are promoting a lifestyle that comprises the notion, that being healthy, intelligent and street smart is cool.

Here is a link to the Bartendaz (thanks Rosie).

Weight Loss

Mar 6th, 2009
by rich.
4 comments

skinnyrichSo I never really looked that heavy but I’ve lost a lot of weight hooping. It’s been more of a side affect than anything. Losing weight has never been a goal of mine, it just happened.

So here is my cheesy weight watchers style photograph. These jeans are about a 18 months old. I’ve lost about 5″ in my waist. I haven’t weighed myself recently but I think I’ve lost about 40 pounds.

Thoughts on performing part 1

Mar 5th, 2009
by rich.
1 comment

Since I have several performances scheduled in the next few months, I’ve been thinking a lot about performance. I’ll be writing over the next few days trying to clarify my thoughts on performance. So far this has proved surprisingly challenging. It’s a heated subject for many including myself.

per⋅for⋅mance
/pərˈfɔrməns/ –noun

1. a musical, dramatic, or other entertainment presented before an audience. (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/performance?qsrc=2888)

I have intentionally ignored performance for the two years I’ve been dedicated to hooping. I think it was part of me finding my own authentic voice with the hoop. Had I started performing earlier, I would have been shaping my voice for the audience. That was something that I didn’t want to do.

So when at HoopCamp Stefan called me out in class and said, “even if you pretend no one is watching Rich, you know you’re still performing” the statement prompted a “go fuck yourself” response from me. I have never chosen to take on the responsibility of having an audience. Of course I didn’t actually say that and Stefan and I had a long productive conversation about performing later that night.

I believe that If someone is performing, they have a responsibility to the audience. I haven’t wanted a responsibility, accept to myself. Can one even reach the same meditative states while fulfilling the obligation to an audience?

Now I am making the choice to perform. That is a conscious decision I am making. Performance is only one facet of my relationship with the hoop. I also mediate with the hoop and research and play and…. the list could go on. Performance is not my primary motivation. All you performers out there, I love you and it’s great that performing is a primary motivation for you but please don’t try and define my relationship with hooping.

Help the Do-Lab find a new location for Lightning In a Bottle

Mar 4th, 2009
by rich.
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Below you can find the email from the Do-Lab about L.I.B. being canceled. Original email here. It’s really unfortunate. L.I.B. is one of my favorite events and we had big plans this year.

Since L.I.B. likely won’t be happening, we might consider throwing a campout Memorial Day weekend. My family owns 30 acres on the north fork of the American River in a remote and discreet location. Grant & I would setup the shade structures, stage lighting, generators, etc. Could be a fun party and it’s Lauren’s birthday.

From the Do-Lab:

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After many months of searching for a new location we are sad to report that, as of right now, we have been unable to acquire one, therefore LIB will not be happening this Memorial Day Weekend. We have seen many properties that just weren’t quite right and the few properties that we thought were perfect for the event, unfortunately, did not fall under the proper zoning for what we are trying to create. We realize how much this event means to everyone and that this is very disappointing news for the entire LIB community, as you can probably imagine it is extremely disappointing for us as well.

There is nothing more important to us than our community so rest assured that we are doing everything in our power to make this happen. We want all of you to know that this is just the beginning of our search and we will not stop until Lightning in a Bottle finds a new home… it’s just going to take a bit longer than we had hoped.

We are still open to all suggestions and leads for a new location so please spread the word and keep the suggestions coming in. It means the world to us that so many people care so much about this event. Thank you for all of the love and support.

On a positive note, we’ve got something special in the works for August so stay tuned…

The Do LaB
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If you have any info about possible LIB locationor options, please email us at manifest@thedolab.com

Here are the basic guidelines for our new location search:

150+ acres of privately owned land

Beautiful flat usable land, preferably with many trees and/or a water source

Must not be part of the Williamson Act, or part of any agricultural preserve

Ideally located between SF and LA, but we are open to moving further north or east.

Secluded and not near any homes
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Animated Diagram

Mar 3rd, 2009
by rich.
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I know I say it all the time but I love the way poi and staff spinners break down their movements. This video by Alien Jon for MCP is incredible. I’ve been thinking about the important visual points with the hoop, particularly off body.

If anyone knows of good software to make animated diagrams like this, please drop me a line at rich@isopop.com .

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