Travis Smith: my resume, bio and photos back to the main blog page

Today, i went to an league-wide skills clinic and BBQ for the Vancouver Ultimate League.

The thing I like best about the sport, as I said to Laura—allow me to explain my aside with this digression: Laura looks like a “Jen” and I’ve called her “Jen” in several games, before after and (most unfortunately) during, at which point the real “Jen” (who looks like a “Penny") wondered why I was yelling Pass! to her, which screwed up an otherwise-fine pass; anyway, now I know “Jen” is Laura and I want ot cement that fact in through repetition .... ok, fine, you caught me, I just wanted to use every punctuation mark in one sentence, and who can blame me?

Ahem. Anyhoo.

The thing I like best about Ultimate is the thing that ultimately makes it a forever non-professional sport; namely, there’s no one in charge.  There are no refs.  There are no coaches.  There are no fields.  It’s the type of sport that belongs in The Matrix.  The fields are marked anew each time a team goes out to play.  Players referee themselves.  Fouls are self-reported.  We have a team captain, and he kinda sorta organizes things, except when sometimes someone else steps up and buys part of the uniform or arranges to bring food to a game.

Today, there were about 300 people gathered loosely at Jericho Beach, piling gear and bikes in a big row, running around, teaching themselves and others how to throw and catch and block and defend and otherwise run around without colliding with each other.  It was excellent.

Also today, I took my bike in to get it repaired.  Tuesday, I’m road worthy again!

Overheard

“BBFF (Best Bacon Friends Forever)”

...who said it?

“I find myself thinking of a checklist Wozniak wrote a few years ago describing how to become a genius. His advice was straightforward yet strangely terrible: You must clarify your goals, gain knowledge through spaced repetition, preserve health, work steadily, minimize stress, refuse interruption, and never resist sleep when tired. This should lead to radically improved intelligence and creativity. The only cost: turning your back on every convention of social life.”

...who said it?

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream.”

...who said it?

“Ever have something in your teeth that you cannot stop tonguing?”

...who said it?

“ . . . the war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan’s advantage.”

...who said it?

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2007/07/29 11:50

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