Saturn Precision Yo-Yos

SpyyGuy Comics: Punch Line! the Final Issue

SCUBA Steve — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 17:48:35 +0000

Sector Y is at it again, showcasing Guy Wright’s stylish tricks using his blue and yellow splash Punch Line!

Shawn Garcia and theglasslab.com

SCUBA Steve — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 03:50:03 +0000

Shawn Garcia is well known in the yoyo community for his creative genius behind the lens. Check out his compilation of SPYY shots at theglasslab.com

MA States ‘10 – a first hand account

Ed Haponik — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 04:04:04 +0000

a week ago, i was sitting in reagan airport, feeling exhausted and dejected. i had popped out of bed around 4am, was fully comported 5 minutes later, and then spent the next few minutes shaking my wife awake so she could drive me to the airport. i’m a good husband. unfortunately, i made the mistake of assuming that, if us airways offers a flight to hartford with a 30 minute layover, it MUST be enough time! sadly i was mistaken, and though my ticket would indicate i arrived at the connecting gate with minutes to spare, the plane was gone. to be sure, i asked the guy attending the gate.

‘you just missed it, man.’

‘you’re kidding, right?’

‘… you see a plane out there?’

awesome customer service. this threw a monkey wrench into my plans for the day. i was flying up to hartford, where my friend and yo-yo icon, john higby would pick me up. i was super-amped because we were even going to do a few shows together, but following this snafu it was no longer possible. in a sense, i was glad, not because i’d miss the shows, but because i had been kind of stressed out. i love driving, but hate the whole process of air travel. it’s not a ‘fear of flying’ thing, so much as a ‘dear lord this is annoying’ thing. however, once i got this roadblock out of the way, i found myself much more relaxed, and able to enjoy the trip.

luckily, andre, who was running the contest, happens to be one of the most benevolent and generous people on the planet. having just driven 2 hours east to pick up johnnie delvalle, he was totally cool with going another 90 minutes out of his way to come get me. i ended up getting to his house around noonish. johnnie and i (who had met briefly, but never really hung out) watched stargate (i initially mistook it for dune, betraying my age). i met andre’s wife devon and his brother jamie (who also mistook stargate for dune – space-deserts, c’mon), and eventually we all went to chili’s. the best aspect of chili’s was easily listening to jd order. while the rest of us contented ourselves with elaborately-named items of the regular menu (crispy honey-chipotle chicken crispers? can i get an acronym?), johnie ordered TWO plain chicken breasts off the children’s menu and veggies. when it came, i must say it was clearly more healthy than any of the sauce-laden, salt-dusted, deep-fried crap the rest of us ordered. after lunch we yo-yo’d, watched family guy, and johnnie drew on andre’s cat with a sharpie.

a little while later, higby arrived at the boulay household and whisked elliot jackson and myself off to his home. john’s house is insane-crazy-awesome. it’s kind of a 2-story log cabin on 4 wooded acres (bisected by a stream… with fricking RIVER OTTERS). every square foot of the inside pulsates either with art, or with memorabilia from the late 50’s/early 60’s (frequently the two are one and the same). yo-yo’s are strewn about every corner and surface, and there are those set aside for the higby’s son theodore rocket to play with (and chew). john showed us his yo-yo museum (in fact i slept there), which is a legitimate trove. pieces from every era of yo-yoing’s history are illuminated, including a pristine flores from the 30’s and several duncan tin masterpieces.

i gotta say, i definitely ATE as well on this trip as i have on any yo-yo excursion. generally, it’s scavenging for bits of whatever i can find or the game of ‘dietary roulette’ that is white castle. but john and rebecca are all about the awesome food. the first night we had chinese that only uses veggies from its own on-site garden. for dessert, john torched up some creme brulée, with a perfectly crispy upper layer. next day, he made poached eggs and a pasta with his own homemade marinara.

i think one of the things i really appreciate about john is the delight he takes in precision. making a perfectly consistent creme brulée or poached egg takes awareness, patience, and flexibility… much in the same way that maintaining an audience’s interest does. having watched john’s stage show several times, the thing that always strikes me is that his cues, lines, and tricks are always right on point. nothing’s overly complex or difficult, but like his creme brulée, it’s always perfectly presented. consistency is a dying art.

the contest, itself was wonderful, but kind of a blur. i judged every division (which must have included 100 competitors all told). andre was ridiculously nice to me, and i genuinely enjoy judging (otherwise i don’t even watch a lot of freestyles, honestly), but i’d be lying if i pretended that my eyes weren’t ready to bleed by the end. fortunately, a lot of the freestyles were genuinely worth watching. andrew bergen (in pretty much every division), along with elliot jackson and nate suttar’s 1a were particularly noteworthy.

particularly surreal for me, was the ‘meet the pros’ table andre engineered. i sat with bergy, jd, and eric koloski and signed a ton of my yoyoexpert/spyy trading cards. as much as i’d like to take myself seriously as a ‘pro’ yo-yo player, the table predictably devolved into a contest to see who could vandalize their own card the most creatively. (i’m pretty sure viking-monocle-sideburn ed won that particular battle). sadly, the papier-maché piñata-masterpiece that john devised for the contest, señor jodel, plummeted from the sky without warning about 30 minutes into the contest. although part of me wished it had waited until the freestyles had begun… that would have led to serious (albeit hilarious) injury.

generally, hilarious hyjinks and malfeasance can be expected to follow a yo-yo contest, but for the first time i really just chilled out after this one. i got to play with rocket, who is just about the most adorable baby ever – justly deserving of his official baby-model status, and watch an ancient video of ‘the first lady of yo’, linda sengpiel. i was in stitches watching mrs. sengpiel offer $100,000 to anyone who could recreate her ten trick routine – she opened a leather briefcase while making the dare (but never showed the camera its contents) and never divulged what the tricks even were.

i [barely] made my connecting flight the next afternoon, and arrived safe and sound, replete with warm fuzzies as i often am after a yo-yo trip. it genuinely left me dismayed at the prospect of not knowing which one i’ll attend next. if you’ve never been to a contest (or to ma states specifically), you don’t know what you’re missing. get out there and discover how much more fun and incredible yo-yoing is when it’s a shared experience!

Sector Y Presents: SPYYGuy Comics – the video

SCUBA Steve — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 19:20:44 +0000

Sector Y, THE official yoyo video achive, presents SPYYGUY Comics… A stunningly edited piece Featuring Guy Wright and his agile sidekick, the Punch Line! Click the image above to watch the vid.

Punch Line! Now shipping to stores.

SCUBA Steve — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 20:06:32 +0000

The profile of this yoyo was inspired by Guy and his desire for something uniquely bubbly and floaty. Its wide shape and rounded rims make long grinds a breeze, while it’s centralized mass provides a light and airy feel…

Click on the images learn more.

good horses and bad horses

Ed Haponik — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 04:14:07 +0000

while driving to an aikido seminar yesterday, i remembered an old description of japanese horsemanship which i read a long time ago.

i’m paraphrasing: ‘it can be said that there are four types of horses: excellent, good, poor, and bad. the best kind of horse will run or stop at the command of his rider even before he sees the shadow of the whip. a good horse will respond immediately at the crack of the whip before he feels any pain. the poor horse will react to some measure of physical pain, and if the worst kind of horse reacts at all, he will do so only when the pain of the whip has sunk into the very marrow of his bones.’

almost all of us would prefer to think of ourselves as the ‘best kind of horse’; as ‘excellent’. failing that, we’d like to be ‘good’, and so on. this is just as true of yo-yo players as any other pastime or profession. it’s totally natural to do so, because our society tells us that our worth is linked to our achievement; to our product. what is the ‘product’ of our yo-yoing, however? how do you measure it? by a trick list some other yo-yoer compiled? by your placing in a contest as judged by other yo-yoers? i think that no extrinsic standard will ever feel wholly valid and unassailable. your yo-yoing is just as good as you feel it is as you do it; just as worthwhile and fulfilling.

i don’t know that the stratification of excellent to bad is really the best way to think about things like yo-yoing. no one wants to feel ‘bad’, but in many respects, it’s best to see oneself as the poorest manner of horse, because that horse allows for the most room to grow; the most reason to practice.

some players have tremendous innate ability. within a few weeks of first picking up a yo-yo, they have already made outstanding progress, and are working on tricks that many players would consider to be ‘advanced’. to believe that one’s skill is dictated solely by the perceived level of the tricks we can complete, however, is an empty hoax. the manner and attitude you demonstrate in your practice matters as well. your true skill is composed of all of the time and experience that has gone into your play, period. if after a great amount of time, you are still working on basic tricks, this does not mean that you are a ‘poor’ yo-yoer. in aikido, we work on ‘kihon waza’ (basics) every class. a sensei distinguishes himself from a novice by the energy and conviction he applies to the basics, and in his reasons for doing them. the only way to become a truly ‘excellent’ yo-yoer (or anything) is to fulfill your personal potential, and if you think about that reasonably, it’s something that no one can really accomplish subjectively. there’s always something new to learn and pursue.

the important thing is to shed your qualitative understanding concerning your yo-yoing; that you find a way through ‘good’ and ‘bad’. if you’re playing yo-yo, and you forget about ‘good’ and ‘bad’, then i think you’re looking at it in a productive way. you should continue practicing and continue growing… but to believe that your play is only worthwhile if you achieve this or that end is a fool’s errand. a person who believes himself to be a ‘good, complete yo-yoer’ is really quite the opposite, since there will be no need to continue to grow. we may need this or that challenge in order to ‘convince’ us to practice, but it’s the practice (and not the product) of yo-yoing that’s most meaningful. in this way, it could be said that practice is, itself, completion. we play yo-yo not for the purpose of ‘getting good’ somewhere down the road under some unknowable future sunset, but for the purpose of playing yo-yo, itself. whether you’re a a good horse or a poor horse, take joy in YOUR yo-yoing, such as it is.

play now, and in so doing, be complete.

Guy Wright throwing his signature series yo-yo

SCUBA Steve — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 16:25:54 +0000

We’re putting the finishing touches to Guy Wright’s signature series yoyo, the Punch Line! Look out for final release information on the SPYY blog soon! In the mean time, please enjoy Guy throwing his red with silver splash pre-release.

Happy Juice…

Guy Wright — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 22:33:02 +0000

Hello friends. This is just one of those little thoughts that make me enjoy what I do a little more.

The portable happy machine:
It all starts with what makes you or rather what makes everyone happy. Well, its chemicals…in your brain. (serotonin, dopamine, endorphins, whatever) when these chemicals are released it makes you happy. (To put it in a really simplified way) lets call it happy juice. Nice and simple right?

The tricky part:

Getting it to be released. The reason that your brain releases happy juice is because your brain has determined that your body has done something awesome and therefore it (you) deserves a reward. So it’s all about the reward for effecting the physical world in just the right way. So if you get your body to dance around just right your brain will see that and say “hey that’s some mighty fine dancing. How bout a dose of happy juice?” and BAM! You’re happy.

The other tricky part:

What does your brain consider to be worthy of a reward? This can pretty much be determined by you. You just have to play around a little. For example: who is to say how hard it is to throw a suicide?…you do! This is your brain we are talking about right? So technically it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. If you believe that it is hard to do your brain will agree that it is hard to do. So in turn when you throw a boss suicide you will get hella happy juice.

The beauty:

Yoyos are nice and small. Much smaller that other things people use to get happy juice (guitars, cars, bars,…stars…sorry got carried away with rhyming) they also have an infinite amount of tricks/maneuvers that you can do with them.

So, when your standing at the dreary bus stop going to work/school and everyone around you is staring at the ground you can reach into your pocket, take out your Guy wright pro model Punchline by SPYY, throw it around and smile because your one of the lucky few that has a portable free happy juice machine. Push this button, pull that lever, play with the infinite number, find a combo that your brain will reward you for, and BAM! Collect your free happiness.

i spyy – Andrew Robinson

SCUBA Steve — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 19:39:56 +0000

zen and the art of yo-yo

Ed Haponik — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 22:16:25 +0000

ok not really. i’m not quite egomaniacal enough to believe that i could legitimately make that connection. actually, it’s a take on eugen herrigel’s book ‘zen and the art of archery’ (wherein the author exposes himself to traditional japanese archery in the effort to understand its more esoteric applications)… hey, if he can make it work for a book, i should be able to milk a blog post out of it.

when steve approached the team about contributing to the spyy blog, i wanted to do something different (in this case, ‘different’ takes the meaning of ‘exactly the same thing i’ve done on every other blog’). what’s always intrigued me about yo-yoing is the fact that people continue to do it. some people even obsess about it. while i won’t go so far as to espouse the socratic view that ‘the unexamined life is not worth living’, i AM pretty curious as to why we, as a community, continue to yo-yo. one of the more justifiable criticisms one can make about yo-yoing (and, i guess, about most of the things i tend to pursue) is that while throwing, yo-yoers aren’t really being ‘productive’.

before you get all uptight about how i just offended yo-yoers everywhere, consider the perspective of the non-yo-yoer. here we are, a bunch of dudes (mostly) in and around the prime of our lives (again, mostly), spending hours at a time obsessing over our ability to manipulate a small ‘retro-winding, double-knobbed toy’ (to use the parlance of one brian roberts, doctor of popular). we’re not building houses. we’re not farming. we’re not selling advertising airtime. it’s going to be difficult for the hustling mainstream world to appreciate the value in learning rancid milk or arm wraps, and while we spend a lot of energy explaining to ONE ANOTHER about how great we are, few people are really out there spreading the yo-yo gospel to the uninitiated. mostly we just look at our hands, momentarily glancing up only after we find our way out of a particularly convoluted (self-designed) trap to see if anyone was looking (which more often than not… they weren’t).

the masses seem to get the up and down. they seem to get walk the dog (and request it ad nauseum). you can do those things AND simultaneously think about all the stuff you’re going to buy later at wal-mart. ‘progressive yo-yoing’ though? using the yo-yo as a creative, expressive tool? almost every yo-yoer who has, at some point abandoned the safety of their domicile has also had to ‘defend’ their art to someone, be they a parent, sibling, school bully, or weirdo at the bus stop (‘you must have a lot of free time!’).

so i guess… what’s your answer? what is your yo-yoing DOING for you? what’s it doing for ANYBODY? and if you can’t answer that question… is it worthwhile? WHAT JUSTIFIES YO-YOING?

personally, i see yo-yoing as a dynamic art; something like ultra-ephemeral graffiti. it works as a neat metaphor for life, and regularly helps me remember that i lose a bit of ’spin’ every day, and to appreciate the time i’ve got. my exploits with this ‘child’s plaything’ (hi, woody!) have also brought me into contact with some of the most fascinating, multi-faceted characters i’ve met anywhere, ever. play aside, those relationships have certainly been ‘worthwhile’. some people play yo-yo to excel at something unique. others mold it into a competition. where is the meaning for YOU? do you know?

really, the specifics of our answers don’t matter so much as that we HAVE answers (or at least consider some). maybe yo-yoing’s greatest value is in GIVING us something to question. if it amounts to us busying our fingers for an idle lack of anything ‘better’ to do, then i guess i’d kind of agree with the hypothetical ‘masses’ in failing to see the great use. if however, we apply a greater use to it; if it helps you to know who you are… then i think it is instantly made worthwhile and productive.

from time to time, i’ve been accused of trying to make yo-yoing a deeper pursuit than it is. i don’t believe that it has to be deep at all. the simple joy of playing yo-yo IS its own reward; is itself a ‘greater use’. however, i also think that it’s wise to look critically at our selves and our choices and understand what they reveal about our nature. i think from the moment we begin to explore yo-yoing and its value, it justifies itself.

apologies if this, my initial post, was annoyingly confusing or circular… but then, i suppose that’s what i was going for.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!