Just an ordinary night. Nothing crazy. Just some people singing like cats singing Les Mis.

This is a gorgeous and fantastic rendition of the classic short “Oh! The Places You’ll Go” by Dr. Seuss. It spans the breadth and spectrum of both the journey to and from the man, as well as the multitude of experiences one can have at Burning Man. Filmed in 2011, there are so many wonderful people in this video, and it makes me smile with my heart to watch! Enjoy!

Wondering where the hell I’ve been the past couple weeks? Well, for those clever sports fans out there who know I hail from Dallas, perhaps you were able to be piece together the correlation between my disappearance and the beginning of the NBA Finals. Which, as you might guess, featured none other than my Dallas Mavericks. And as of last night folks, the Mavs are the 2011 NBA Champions! Hell Ya! It’s crazy I’m sure for many of you to discover the depth of my sports fandom. Considering how few sports fans I encounter in the spinning world, perhaps the significance of this achievement is going right over your head, but for me it’s awesome. That’s the best way I can phrase it. Awesome.

For my part, this win is both a culmination and validation. Culmination for the 2006 NBA Finals loss to the very same Miami Heat and the dreaded Dwyane Wade. With questionable referees and the greatest collapse in Mavs history, I was there at the very end, at the American Airlines Center in Game 6 as they lost it all. I stayed to watch the trophy presentation, not for my own team, but as the loser. And there is nothing more disheartening as a fan than getting that close, and seeing it all slip away right before your eyes. And I’m sure Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry weren’t too pleased either.

For years people have criticized Dirk as being too soft. As not being clutch. As perhaps being the greatest player never to win a ring. And while there was some truth in that, he left that all behind several years ago in my opinion. But without a ring, my favorite player was forever doomed to lack in the eyes of the media and the greater public.

Congratulation to the 2011 NBA Champion Dallas Mavericks for silencing those critics. Congratulations to Dirk and Terry for bringing this thing full circle. And congratulations to Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion, Tyson Chandler, J.J. Barea and all the rest for finally getting that first ring and bringing this thing home! It’s been one hell of a playoff run, and more importantly it’s been one hell of a decade rooting for this great team. 10 consecutive 50 win seasons finally adds up to one thing, a ring!

Dirk doesn’t have to listen to those nay-sayers who argue against his greatness with the age old argument of NBA titles. These Dallas Mavericks no longer have to hear about how soft they are, after out-hustling and out-gritting arguably the toughest and most athletic team in the NBA. And we can finally wash away that terrible taste of defeat 5 years ago and instead taste sweet, sweet victory.

This year’s championship meant something. It meant that you can still win the old-fashioned way, through determination, teamwork, and commitment. It’s one final stand against the notion of simply buying a championship by stacking the deck. Lebron, Wade, and Bosh are just going to have to wait. And this championship was truly a victory for those that believe heart is what matters most. Congrats again, and thanks for the ride! And to all those Heat fans and those Dirk haters:

“Take Dat Wit Chew!”

So Noel Yee, Drex, David Cantor, Brian Thompson, and Maiki Nope have been up to a lot of tech insanity lately, and these are the beginnings of their findings. They’ve come out with what’s being called the “Vulcan Tech Gospel“, which consists of a compilation of very technical ideas related to skill toys. The most influential toys in this tech are probably club spinning and poi, but I’m sure many of these concepts could be applied elsewhere. And let me tell you, brace yourself. These ideas are pretty dense, awesome, but dense. Don’t try to tackle everything at once. But this is an incredible step towards standardizing hand motions, patterns, and many of the confusing terminology we are constantly struggling with.

It’s something that they plan on adding to later, but for now he’s god the full thing available for download on his website, in pdf format. It’s nine pages of no nonsense tech, thus far. And so far he’s covered transition theory, 3D hybrids, and 40 patterns which Noel feels are the basic building blocks. It’s some really interesting stuff. Here’s the very first page, the Transition Theory, just to give you a sense of what’s in store.

So if you’ve got that mathematically wired mind, and are looking to probe the depths of poi/club theory, have at it. They’ve spent quite a great deal of time composing this, and it’s really something awesome. Enjoy, and geek out!

Hey all you people out there on the interwebs. I’ve got some awesome new suggestions for those looking to get professional quality fire photos, but have no idea where to start. Basically, unless you have some pretty sweet gear, the low light settings are going to be a bitch when it comes to getting the right shots. It’s either super grainy, or all you can really get are the same old trail patterns that everyone else has. Not to say they don’t look neat, but everyone in the community has seen that stuff before. So, here’s an interesting solution that we stumbled into with a bit of luck, and are now sharing with you!

I’m sure we’ve all heard the talk about not working for free, or making sure that you’re getting paid enough for your gigs. Well, throw all that stuff out the window when it comes to collaboration. And what better way to collaborate with others than through kick-ass photography?!

Tash and I were contacted by a man named Wade Simmonds, who runs the DFW Photography Meetup group. And, being a meetup group, they naturally hang out to take pictures together. So, this time around he was looking to photograph fire dancers in their natural environment. Normally, I would consider this a gig. Someone wants me to perform for them. Simple and Straightforward. But, being a meetup group, they can’t generally afford to hire professional performers just to take pictures. So, we cut a deal.

We needed new fire photos for our portfolio, website, and general awesome usage. They wanted those same awesome pictures too. It’s a win/win. So we came to an agreement whereby we would have the rights to use the pictures, and in return we would give them a huge discount. And it worked out great for us. Check out just a few of the shots:

Photo by Enigma

Photo by Ken Sheppa

Photo by Katherine Nguyen

So, how exactly does this post benefit you? Well, just in terms of keeping an open mind about how you work, and how your getting compensated is always a good idea. Tash and I often joke that we’d gladly take gigs with airline companies for no pay, instead getting Round Trip tickets to destinations of our choice. It’s what we’re already spending money on, right? But on a more related note, look for photography groups in your area, and pitch them this idea. If you’re looking for great fire photos, this is a great way to get tons of photos from a number of skilled professionals.

Today I’m bringing you folks a lovely documentary that I was actually a part of. Basically the documentary revolves around Electro Circus, the large gathering of spinners and DJs, drummers and more that happens in Austin, TX every couple of months. Upwards of 400 people are attending the event these days, so it’s kind of blowing up. And these students from UT wanted to make a documentary about it for their class, which would focus on what circus means to the people involved. And they found me, surprisingly enough from an article I wrote almost a year ago titled Electro Circus = World Peace?. You mean someone was actually reading my blog back then? Yay!

Featured in the documentary are myself, Shayen, Ciara Blossom, HappyHappy James, and several other people from the Austin community. It’s a great piece that showcases all the awesome people that make this thing happen, and I would like to thank them all for doing it. Without them, we never would have made our way to Austin. So here’s the documentary, in two parts due to the length and Youtube’s upload rules. Enjoy!

Part 1

Part 2

Ok, so just one little defense on my behalf. I love both the people from Austin and Dallas. The crunchy granola, as well as the D & D comparison is not meant to offend. Simply a generalization of mindsets, and how the two cities are very different. In reality, we’re all a bunch of crazy, fire-spinning, ball juggling weirdos. And I love it!