#upsb

So, I thought I’d make a quick update post about retiring since I keep disappearing and appearing randomly in and out of the community. Honestly, I don’t think many people really care, but a few people might want to know so I figure I should say something about it. And if not, maybe you’re just curious.

For the amount of work that I try to put in, it’s really easy for me to get burnt out from anything related to pen spinning. As a moderator I kind of feel like a role model or a community contributor, and it’s very draining in terms of interacting with other spinners, making projects, and trying to keep encouraging activity in any way I can.  

It might seem like not that much work from the outside, and maybe it isn’t to some people but I personally start to feel tired. General moderation on the forum means that I have to deal with the worst of the people or situations on the forum, and it ends up being my job to sort it out. I’ll deal with some troublemakers maybe, and I’m also trying to look for new members that show promise and encouraging people where I can. Making projects such as collaboration videos which is a lot of editing and organization, or even just blog posts requires me to sit down and write an outline to structure what I want to talk about.

It gets increasingly hard when I know that I should be doing something more productive than my hobby that I enjoy a lot. Stuff gets in the way sometimes and I have to deal with life stuff like everyone else.

Now, I’m not quitting pen spinning or anything, I still spin occasionally when I’m at my desk. I’m not deleting UPSB off of my bookmarks and never visiting it again. But. I’m also not guaranteeing that any of that is impossible to happen down the road. I still intend to lurk and check up on people occasionally but it’s just getting difficult for me to keep going.

Artist: David Choi Music: Missing Piece

Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/walkingjacket DL: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1V-bEHEJXtjoKq73HwteseS4Vnk0TqHYw/view?usp=sharing Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzTtEmkyWhd3zcvSwqu0KeUefOFHAhRSs

About WalkingJacket

WalkingJacket was a very underrated UPSB spinner from New Zealand. Much like Casual, he also frequently used Tinychat to talk to other people of the community, and was one of the members of a small friend circle on Skype that they called “Frans” (Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NveaMh2MfKI).

I didn’t get to interact with him too much outside of Tinychat, but talking to him on Twitter recently has been nice.

Spinning

WalkingJacket’s spinning is very wiper focused, which already makes him stand out from most pen spinners. It’s also pretty crazy because the comssa mod he spins is not really a comssa. It’s actually a BICtory with comssa caps and HGG tips. (I’m sure WalkingJacket will clarify for me when he reads this.)

Edit: He did clarify for me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/line_nz/status/1294178528808714241

His ThumbSpins are pretty notable, as well as his cool use of Tipped Sonics.

The ThumbSpin at 0:36 was a nice display of his control over spins above 0.5 on the thumb. 

At 1:58, this is a combo that uses a ThumbSpin 1.5 as a subtle addition to his finisher. 

My favourite thing about WalkingJacket’s spinning is how he uses Tipped Sonics in his combos. He makes the Tipped Sonics more circular when performing it in a wiper-based combo, giving the trick a unique look.

Even in a non-wiper combo at 0:05, he found a really cool way to implement it by pre-curling his index finger before the Tipped Sonic Reverse is used. 

The combo at 1:22 shows how good he is at using regular Tipped Sonics (not reverse).

1:18 is a raw display of his skill with Tipped Sonic Rise while on the grip end of the pen.

Music

I thought it would be neat to end Project Adrift on a pop song that has lyrics with a bit of a sad tone to it. Very fitting for a video series so based on nostalgia.

Artists: The Geek x Vrv, Anomalie  Music: Paris Jazz Club 1920

Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmfx...  DL: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xKWO...  Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list... 

About Sopi

Sopi is a pen spinner from UPSB and SPC (Swiss Penspinning Community). Since SPC was mainly a website with a chatroom that wasn’t too active, he became an active member in UPSB as well. Sopi has joined UPSB collaboration videos, two of which were actually made by me. He was also well known because he managed UPSB’s “Up[sb]fes” for quite a while.

On a personal level, Sopi was a really nice guy to talk to. Unfortunately, our timezone difference made it difficult to talk often in real time. However, back then we would talk more when I ended up staying up pretty late most nights.

Spinning

Sopi’s spinning is just, well, it’s pretty to watch. Where he lacks in trick variety he makes it up plenty with his finger positioning and overall flow. 

His overall finger positioning is very relaxed, his fingers are slightly curled and closed tightly together, giving off an almost “delicate” visual effect. Sopi also keeps his index and pinky fingers outstretched fairly often. These subtle accents, the index and the pinky fingers, stand out more because the rest of his fingers are relaxed and not immediately catching the eye.

At 1:00, he is able to keep the index finger outstretched during the Twisted Sonic Rev 23-34. This is some finger independence that not many people have, especially considering that Nikoo purposely uses the bending middle and index finger movement to make it look appealing. Well, Sopi doesn’t need to bend those fingers at all.

0:42 is one of my favourite combos from Sopi that demonstrates a nice rhythm and flow. The direction changes are tight, and the Twisted Sonics flow seamlessly into the Ring Around 0.5.

Music

I happened to come across this song the day I uploaded the solo, and it hit me that this would be great song choice for a solo. 

Artist: Intervals 

Music: Sweet Tooth 

Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/ZkhanAPSC 

Download: https://drive.google.com/file/d/100kL... 

Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...

About Zkhan

Zkhan was first and foremost a community contributor to UPSB. He organized and participated in World Tournament/World Cup events, he updated the forum to UPSB v5, and he was the administrator of the forum before it shut down.

The one thing I remember the most about Zkhan is a Skype group that existed back then called, “Zkhan’s Wonder Emporium”. It was a friend circle that helped me improve my pen spinning and also to have friends to talk to.

I became a moderator on UPSB as the years went by, and was able to hear a lot of things about what he did behind the scenes. Having worked with Zkhan and learned what it’s like to be an administrator, the effort he put into our community is still very appreciated.

Spinning

Zkhan’s spinning has dated over the years, but some of his clips are still pretty nice.

One of my favourite clips from Zkhan. I used this in the Stricken PV as well.

Some of these clips, like the one posted above, have the perfect balance between execution and his natural style. 

Many of his clips have a lot of hand flourishing and excessive arm movement that isn’t so well-received nowadays, but there’s something that’s missing from a lot of modern pen spinning that Zkhan has: the tension behind tricks that effortless spinning will never have.

Music

The song I used for the unofficial solo video. Another one of my favourite artists.

Extras

Artist: 大象體操ElephantGym 

Music: 月落moonset 

Download: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hyUPv44l...

Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list... 

Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/Shinpster 

About Casual

Casual was a very unique spinner on UPSB. He also frequently used Tinychat to talk to other people of the community, and was one of the members of a small friend circle on Skype that they called “Frans” (Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NveaMh2MfKI).

If I remember correctly, he named himself “Casual” because he called himself a casual pen spinner. 

Edit: Or, as WalkingJacket corrected me on Twitter, because of a golf term.

Spinning

Looking back at his spinning today, Casual’s spinning is more than meets the eye:

At 0:45 in the solo video, he does a bunch of Fingerpass Reverse before doing it again after the Twisted Sonic 23-12. It’s a really cool little sequence that stands out in the combo because of the sudden direction changes.

At 1:38, instead of doing a Shadow T1-12, he does a very common PDS/JEB linkage but with a Shadow starter instead of the typical Scissor Spin or ThumbAround.

Casual was definitely unique by differentiating himself a bit from the standard PDS/JEB linkages that everyone uses. Additionally, his finger positioning is a bit different from most spinners.

Some more notable moments:

0:32 - Shadow (different type of shadow catch)  to MidBak

0:38 - Cool TF charge and nice NeoSA

1:12 - Cool Sonic direction change

1:25 - Index bend finger position during finisher link

Editing

When I edited this solo, I was motivated once I found the song. I know that most people are probably more familiar with either English or Japanese vocals, but this is just one of my favourite bands. I’m making these unofficial solos partially for myself as well.

However, the artists released a version of the song with a Japanese singer, so I’ve made another version of the solo.

I originally made this solo to be about 3 minutes long, keeping in mind that I had the option to shorten it to make it more accessible. As a result, there are four versions of this solo on my YouTube channel if any of you guys prefer those instead.

The Japanese Vocal version of the solo.

Download: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YJD7eK47wgjjjzkEyfuhULQcfWPmhWZd/view?usp=sharing

Extras

The Mandarin version of the song, “Moonset” by Elephant Gym.

Music: The theme of Sachio 

Artist: Mabanua 

DL: https://drive.google.com/file/d/13FH5...

Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list... 

Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/KozaUPSB

  Koza was a cool pen spinner, and I have fond memories of watching his spinning and interacting with him.

Koza uses relatively simple tricks even though he’s spinning heavier mods, but I also appreciate his spinning because of a memory I have of him:

One day on Tinychat (a browser-based video chat), I remember Koza taping or binding his fingers just to make himself used to a specific finger position. It was pretty funny to say the least, but it shows that he cared about finger positioning in pen spinning.

When watching his pen spinning today, it still holds up to me. At 1:16, you can see his pinky curl, which I like. In addition to that, he also adds a lot of interesting arm and wrist movement into his spinning in the combo at 1:40. You don’t have to enjoy watching Koza or anyone’s spinning to understand when someone clearly puts effort into trying to create their desired effect.

From what I remember, Koza was nice to talk to and hang out with. He might have been quiet on the UPSB forums, but he was very active on Tinychat and Skype.

Fun fact: I’m pretty sure Reason was drunk when he filmed his bakfall clip.

One of my favourite memories is when we made a collaboration video together as a group called “Clarence the Ladybug CV”. When I was video-chatting with Koza and a bunch of other UPSB guys I enjoyed talking to, I noticed that my Rubik’s Cube had a ladybug on it. And so, the video was born. I can’t remember where the joke of Koza not being able to do a bakfall came from, but it became the main joke of the collaboration video. The final clip in the unofficial solo is from this CV. 

Some of you might have heard about this new project I’m working on from social media posts, and I thought I’d give people more details of the project in this post.

Introduction

I’m Hobby, I’m a Canadian pen spinner from UPSB (Universal Pen Spinning Board). I moderated the forum for a time before it was shut down. On UPSB, I’ve taken on many projects: from organizing a pen spinning podcast to making a collaboration video series for each season of a year. Because of my focus and prior experience on a lot of community based projects, I decided to start a project called, “The Workshop”.

My Objective

“To create a constantly growing English-speaking pen spinning community on a Discord server to help newcomers or veterans learn and improve with a friendly, helpful, and safe environment.”

Why a new Discord server?

Well, Discord is becoming a great way to organize a community in an old-school chatroom format. The fact that UPSB is down means that there isn’t a proper learning environment for the English-speaking community anymore. Currently, there are other pen spinning Discord servers, but they don’t really have the safe learning environment I want for the community to grow. What the other Discord servers have going for them is although they lack the learning environment, it’s a great place for people of that age group to hang out. So, I feel like there’s a market for both types of Discord communities.

Brief Overview/Work Progress

I started working on this project sometime in late November or early December of 2018, and I’m pretty close to finally releasing this to the public. I really wanted to make sure I didn’t rush this and take my time for the sake of the project and my own mental health, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to keep it up if I got burnt out. 

This is a very brief overview of the work I’ve done so far:

Writing the Discord rules

Recruiting a staff team with their age and maturity in mind

Learning and setting up a Discord server from scratch

Writing a moderator’s guide to show my intent on the server

Writing bio’s of the staff team

Hiatus from working during winter break

Finishing bio’s

Private invites sent to start the discord off

Currently, in the advertising step

Staff Team

Now, I definitely cannot take on possibly the biggest community project I’ve ever worked on without some help, and I definitely needed it. I chose moderators and helpers based on their age, maturity, knowledge, and social skills. I wanted a staff team that was 20+ age wise to add a general level of maturity to the server. My staff team has helped me quite a bit so far with decisions and ideas. 

This is the list of people helping me run “The Workshop” so far:

Hobby (myself)

ᴁva

Coffeelucky

DArKT

Chevy

Tiffany

SpeakEZ

i.suk

Baaron

Gunter (Temporary helper for updates on the new server icon)

If you would like to know more about the background of the staff members on the list, check out this link for their bio’s: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-aYNVeLwDmOQFaBCT47t02JeeMndcnpt_vQeWAS859Y/edit?usp=sharing

Invite links

The invite links of the new Discord server will be posted on my Twitter (@HobbyLogics), some Discord servers, and other social media platforms in the next several weeks. Hope to see you there!

More Information

Discord Rules