When Fantasia 2000 came out in 1999 , it was at the tail end of the yo-yo boom and let me tell you, this clip make my 20 year old heart sing with joy and it made me feel like a 5 year old again, stealing my sisters Yoffy yoyo and falling in love with the toy that would grow to define a large part of my life. I had kind of a hard day today (just busy) at work so I thought I would cheer myself up, and then I thought I would cheer you up also.
Enjoy.
I don’t want to go into the politics of it.
I had a write up and deleted it, and wrote again and deleted it. This went on for about an hour.
The bombings are, were, and continues to be terrible. The marathon that was hit is an annual event that caters to a niche group of enthused competitors. An event like this is something we all can relate too.
Please take a moment and focus prayers, good thoughts, and support on Boston.
You can go here if you need help getting a hold of someone
Boston Mayor’s Hotline for families of victims: 617-635-4500 Boston Police line for witnesses who may have information: 800-494-8477
My thoughts are with the yoyoers in and around Boston, and the families of the victims.
Thanks for playing along, it was fun. It took a little over a month of planning, researching and building, but it was worth it. You can hop back in the Delorean and go back to YoYoSkills 1999 any time you want by clicking HERE
Honestly, up until about 10 minutes ago I hated Kendama’s. I didn’t get it. I never saw a trick that I liked and never saw really anything other than the basics. It was not doing anything for me. Then I saw this video.
and now I see. My eyes are open.
Today I found out that I lost a colleague. There is really no way to cushion the blow except come right out and say it. Paul Ash, also known as Sniffy-Yo, took his own life. He left a personal note filled with anger and suffering and made the decision to take his own life. I knew Paul in the yo-yo world, but not well enough to call him a close and personal friend. I wish I did though. I wish I had known he needed a place to stay and an ear to listen. I wish I knew him better. I wish I was able to be there for him in his time of need. My interactions with Paul were all positive. He came to me with advice for Video Reviews, and also offered me feedback on my written reviews. We would send yoyos back and forth to each other and at one point, we considered merging the Sniffy and YoYoSkills blog. Paul was a great asset to this community and never asked for special treatment or favors. He was a connection I was proud to have and valued. His opinion mattered when it came time to increase your collection, and that already short list of people has gotten even smaller. He will be missed by the yo-yo community, and by me. Paul is, was, and always will be a source of knowledge, unbiased opinion, and inspiration. He gave without expectation of receiving. We will miss you Paul. You had a greater impact than you ever could have known.
I have more news for the day, but will not be posting it. Today I lost a colleague in the yo-yo blogging world and out of respect, YoYoSkills will stand still.
I have asked a few people to write about Paul. Zammy was the first to respond. If more would like to remember Paul in your own words, please use the comment section below.
Zammy:
“Paul Sniffy Ash was not only a “good” person but in my eyes a “great” person. I say of this with full confidence and I have never once met the man face to face. But there was this fun type of vibe I got when I would speak to him through Twitter. He would often cheer me up when I was down, we would often speak of yoyo and we were in discussion of his new Sniffy interview series. His hardwork for the community through his reviews/videos were very important and some of the most unbiased straight forward reviews out there. I always had a good read over them. He really cared about yoyos and in general cheering people up, or at least to me.
We spoke about our own demons we dealt with, and he gave me quite a bit of good life advice. I’ll remember it for a long time. Thank you Sniffy for everything. I hope you are at peace. RIP 2-13-2013″
David from OneDrop had this to say:
Sniffy-Yo (Paul Ash) passed away on 2/8/13. R.I.P.
Your excellent blog and clever reviews will be missed by many. Your passion and how it enabled you to do charity projects like the one you did for kittydreams.org will be one of your legacies. It was an honor to work with you on that.
-David
You all were awesome in 2012, lets hear it for an amazing 2013!
- Chris
NOTE: I talked to a Fox News reporter today about Nate. They asked a few questions that I was unable to answer since I did not know Nate. I believe this video (found on yoyonews.com who also have a very touching story from Augie Fash) is the news report that I was being asked about. If anyone knows anything, please get that info to the right people or even do it anonymously so that Nate’s family can gain some sort of footing on this extremely unstable ground.
Nathan Dewitt, of Chandler, demonstrates his skills during First Fridays in Phoenix on July 1, 2011. – azcentral.com
This truly is the worst part of running a news blog in such a focused community. I just found this out and am providing the information I have available to me at this time.
Nathan Dewitt, 2005 PNW champion, yoyo instructor, died in a car crash having sustained injuries from a gun shot.
From the San Francisco Chronicle -
PHOENIX (AP) — Authorities say a man is dead after being shot and then crashing his car into a tree in Phoenix.
Phoenix police say 23-year-old Nathan Dewitt died early Wednesday after being taken to a hospital.
Police and Phoenix Fire crews responded to a rollover crash shortly after midnight and found an SUV on its side.
They say Dewitt crawled out of the vehicle and had been shot.
Police say it’s still unclear if Dewitt died from the shooting wound, injuries from the crash or both.
Detectives are trying to determine what happened leading up to Dewitt’s death and say he possibly was at Christmas party before the shooting and crash.
I did not know Nathan personally, but the yoyo community is so small and connected, we all feel it when a member of ours is lost.
- chris
Thank you all for such a great year and MERRY CHRISTMAS
I HOPE YOURS IS HORRIBLE
GO GET CANDY HENCHMEN
Like the trick it is named after, Operation Green Triangle may be hard. It may be hard to give up a part of your collection, but once your donation is completed it can be very satisfying.
The three points of the Green Triangle represent the three charities I want to focus on. You can technically donate to any charity, but the American Cancer Society (ACS), the Cancer Research Institute (CRI) and CureSearch for Children’s Cancer are my personal three tiers of charity donations. Here is why.
Support – The American Cancer Society is a massive organization that provides services on a breadth of areas but primarily focuses on patient support. Helping patients and families with therapy and support is a drastically needed service and the American Cancer Society does a phenomenal job.
Research – The Cancer Research Institute is dedicated to finding novel ways to harness the our own immunities and boosting the healing power of our own bodies to fight and cure cancer. This is important in finding ways to prevent cancer in the first place, and provide treatments to patients who cannot receive chemotherapy or aggressive therapy treatments.
Children – CureSearch for Children’s Cancer funds and supports children’s cancer research and provide information and resources to all those affected by children’s cancer.
The following items are being sold under Operation: Green Triangle
After yesterdays post, I spent a lot of time in chat and on the phone with a few people and we decided that the injustice presented would not go unanswered. Here are THREE great ways you can support Cancer Research. More may follow.
YoYo Community (www.YoYoCommunity.com) is teaming up with some of the industries best vendors to fundraise for the American Cancer Society during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Starting October 3rd, they will begin pre-sales for their first item by Toxic Strings, the Brett Grimes Signature BG-1s, in all PINK! Future fundraising items will be PINK Drop Bears by Ten YoYo, PINK Nessie T-shirts by G Squared YoYos, PINK Packaged Trifecta Bearings by Twisted Stringz, PINK YoYo Community YoYo Holders by Coty Michelle, along with contest prizes donated by King Yo Star YoYo’s to name a few.
Vera Bell, wife of YoYoJam’s President Dale Bell, is a breast cancer survivor. So every year, we run a special edition yo-yo in her honor and donate 100% of the proceeds to breast cancer research. This year, the special edition is a Hot Pink Classic! We are taking 100 of these to Nationals where they will be available for $10 each. Pick up yours and help us raise $1000 for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
Lastly, I started an auction drive called Operation Green Triangle. Hopefully this will be an annual thing.
Cancer has in some way affected 40% of the global population. Nearly 1 in 2 people have either had cancer, had a close call with cancer, lost a loved one to cancer, or are actively seeking treatment for cancer and the money promised to the American Cancer Society was stolen
Today, with the assistance and council of a few key members in the yo-yo community, I am announcing
Operation Green Triangle – #OGTyoyo for short
The Green Triangle is a core trick in the development of a modern yoyoer. It is difficult to learn, satisfying to master, and has three points.
What I am asking, is for community participation:
Pick an item in your collection. Post it up to ebay with 100% of the auction going to a Cancer Charity, and use the tag #OGTyoyo in the title.
Using eBay Giving Works, you can set an auction to donate 100% of that auction to a specific registered charity of your choice. eBay waves the listing and selling fees and the money goes directly from the buyer to the charity. There is no middle man. Once the funds are transferred, the seller receives shipping instructions for the buyer. This setup is 100% transparent and ensures that all promised auctions funds… 100% of them go directly to the charity. No middle man. No product to anyone but the buyer, no money to anyone but the charity. Period end.
From now until the November 1st, eBay auctions using the tag #OGTyoyo will be captured in a widget on YoYoSkills. Successful sales will be tracked. When you create your auction post a link to it on this thread. I’ll keep an updated list of what was donated and who donated it. The total amount raised will be presented at the end. I will be auctioning off some items from my personal collections for this charity drive. My auctions will be set to automatically transfer 100% of the sale going to one of my chosen charities. My hope is that you will do the same.
Thank you to Jason Week, Paul Escolar, LJ (vega), Caribou Chris, Zammy, Jrod, Louis Alley and all the others who provided input and feedback
Thank you to YoYoJam, Tony Alonzo, Coty Michelle, and Jacob Gross for getting me the info.
Enjoy.
also, does the guy kinda look like a 1980′s Draco Malfoy?
IS THIS MY FUTURE?
Well guys this is something that is near and dear to my heart. Theyo forum is celebrating 10 years since YoMike started it and Theyostore, now Theyostoretoo. Claudia Cuff (YoSis) and Randy Bird (YoCuz) have announced that in the up coming weeks, the product line is going to be updated and expanded. Also as a special treat, Randy has worked it out with OneDrop to produce a special edition Cascade for Theyo’s tenth anniversary. More info can be found here. Theyo was the first yoyo forum that I joined and was the only one I was a part of for a long while. So this announcement is something that I am very happy about. When Mike passed away, I was afraid that the forum and the store would be lost. So let me take this time to put in a plug for both. Theyo forum has taken a new lay out that is very clean and easy to navigate. Theyo still has some very good members that frequent the forum. The store may not have the same volume of items that some of the other sites have, but they still have some very nice yoyos that you would have a hard time finding anywhere else. So take some time to check it out.
Josh Yee is a long time contributor and friend of YoYoSkills.com. I have always thought that Josh should be sponsored. He is constantly in the top 10 in contests and plays all 5 play styles. He is a talented dude and now, he is sponsored by Madhouse YoYo’s! YoYoSkills.com family member Josh Yee is moving into the big leagues and we here at YoYoSkills are very excited for him.
“We here at the MadHouse have been talking with this player for the last year about his and our philosophy and perspectives on the yoyo community and he has decided to go with us.
So we are proud and excited to announce that we just picked up Josh Yee!… for the MadHouse.
Josh has been a great contributor and motivator in the yoyo community. We feel with his unique talents and our distinctive and interesting products it’s a perfect fit! So we are proud to welcome Josh to the MadHouse! We look forward to seeing what Josh accomplishes in the future!… “
My how the years have passed. Today marks the 4th complete publication year of YoYoSkills.com. It seems like only yesterday I was interviewing Hans and John Higby, and getting ready to do my first review. Since inception, YoYoSkills.com has had 6.8 Million visits and over 18.8 Million page views. YoYoskills has been read in almost every country on the planet. YoYoSkills.com now has an average of 600k page views a month. This last year I experimented with a few ideas like My(dot) and Made(dot). I was trying to fill more needs and provide more support to the yo-yo world. While not all of the idea’s stuck I learned from them and am pushing forward with bigger, more grandiose ideas
This next year, YoYoSkills is going to take slight a direction change. We have a few actual product ideas that should excite the yo-yo world. We will make the first of these exciting announcements in the next few months. With new reviewers on staff, different writers will have a focus area in which should excite collectors. With some luck, YoYoSkills will turn 5 bigger and better this time next year. We are also for the first time ever sponsoring yoyo players. The goal of the YoYoSkills Players Team is to promote new talent and help them get picked up by the big named companies. We had our first graduate, Dylan Benharris, get picked up my Timeless YoYo’s earlier this month. I am very excited to see where the Azevedo Brothers Nick and Andrew and the talented Carter Bliss end up. Expect more players in the future and more videos promoting these talented players.
None of this would be possible without the YoYoSkills.com Staff, my Family, the yoyo companies who send review units and news, and most importantly the support of YOU the readers. YoYoSkills.com exists because of you. Thank you for allowing me to serve you.
To celebrate, we are once again going to give away stickers.
The YoYoSkills.com Sticker – Designed by Colin Leland
You will get the YoYoSkills.com sticker and while supplies last, a random sticker from my giant box of yo-yo sticker. All you need to do is send me a self addressed, Postage Paid (stamped) envelope to the address below. One request per person. Please allow a few weeks for delivery as I stuff the envelopes. Supplies are limited and this is a one time offer.
Happy YoYoSkills.com Birthday to all the YoYoSkills.com readers.
It would make my day if you “Liked” the YoYoSkills.com Facebook page and left a Happy Birthday message there or maybe a tweet
For a YoYoSkills.com Sticker:
Send a Self Addressed and Postage Paid envelope to:
YoYoSkills.com Birthday
P.O. Box 81
Sheridan CA 95681
I have been hearing about this new media platform called Tout and it seemed like a lot of fun. It’s kind of like Twitter but for video. Since you can “tout” from almost any smart media device using the app, or your PC through the web, I thought it would be really cool to use this as a contest platform to give away some prizes.
So what am I giving away?
Remember this OneDrop 54?
The guys at OneDrop only made one of these bad boys with the race flags on it, and this is YOUR chance to own it now!
How to enter:
TOUT yourself doing a trick. You only have 15 seconds so be fast
ONE entry per TOUT account
Tag your tout with: #tout @yoyoskills and #yoyo (I know I didn’t mention it in my tout but do it anyway. This is how I will find your entry)
The five MOST IMPRESSIVE (to me) tricks that are “tout’ed will go up for a vote here on YoYoSkills.com
Contest entries MUST BE Tout’ed by August 10th.
Since I was on Vacation, I was not able to promote this contest as much as I wanted to. I am extending the Tout contest for the one of a kind OneDrop 54 till the end of August.
I couldn’t decide which one I liked the best, so I give you all three 4th of July yo-yo fireworks shots from the session.
YoYos used are Supernova Lite and Rockstar
My Favorite Freestyle of the livestream period
Thanks YoYoFactory for uploading a higher quality version.
This is a hard one for me and I could not bring myself to post it on Father’s Day. Anyone who knows me knows that my entire world revolves around my daughter. Some of you have seen her at contests and at yo-yo club when I attend. Family is very important to me. I consider myself friends with the Rubino family. I have done a video with Zac in the past and cheered along with the clan when Zac took PNRW. I have known the Rubino’s through yoyoing for a few years and consider them to be unsung heroes of the Nor Cal yo-yo community. Just recently, the Rubino family suffered what I consider to be one of the greatest tragedies a family can endure. Mark and Diane Rubino who are staples of the parent support divisions of yo-yo contests are also the parents of Zac Rubio whom we all know, and Janel Rubino-Perez. Janel and her husband Travis just celebrated the birth of their first child, and the Rubino’s first grandchild last October. Lucas Perez. Lucas started showing signs of trouble and within a week of going to the hospital for a checkup, unfortunately lost his life to a brain tumor. This happened just this past week. I can’t put my feelings into words here. As an adult I don’t cry about much. I cried on the 25 anniversary of my Mother’s passing and when my Grandfather passed, and I cried about this. I admit also that I am ashamed for doing so because I know that I cannot come even close to perceiving the loss of the Rubino-Perez family. Words fail me, except to promise my personal prayers for the family.
With great loss comes great expense and this is where the Rubino-Perez family needs us
- Mark
We have set up the The Lucas Perez Account at Butte Federal Credit Union at 2201 Pillsbury Rd. #192 Chico Ca. Atten: Kris to help Travis and Janel with Funeral and Hospital expenses.
I also want to point out the Learning Express of Roseville California is fundraising.
YoLEx will be yo-yoing non-stop for 24 hours in an effort to collect donations to offset hospital and burial expenses for the Lucas Perez Family of Chico, CA.
Beginning Thursday, June 21st at Noon and finishing Friday, June 22nd at Noon, Learning Express Toys of Roseville will be conducting a 24 Hour Yo-Yo-A-Thon to raise money in an effort to help offset medical and burial expenses. The Yo-Yo-A-Thon will be in our store located at: 2030 Douglas Blvd, Suite 25 Rocky Ridge Town Center Roseville, CA 95661 (916) 783-6310. We will have non-stop yo-yoing in a designated
Learning Express Toys will be donating ALL of it’s spare change collected from customers as well a $1 for every yo-yo sold this week in an effort to support this family in the yo-yoing community as well YoLEx will be conducting a 24- hour yo-yo-a-thon in order to raise additional monies for this family who has lost so much.For Memorial Service information:
Celebration of life for Lucas Perez Memorial Services
Neighborhood Church
2801 Notre Dame Blvd. Chico, Ca.
Saturday June 23rd at 3:00 p.m.
Yo-Yo Adventure Teaser ft. 8-bit Humphrey
This may not seem like a huge deal but I felt a real sense of accomplishment with how far it has come. I have been messing around with game creation for a while now and not really getting anywhere. I have always wanted to get into game design. I have dabbled a bit here and there but never really got serious. The last few days I dove deep again and started teaching myself the basics and this is the result. It is very very basic and just a teaser at this point, but someday I hope to make it an actual yo-yo themed adventure game.
Who better to be the Hero in our YoYoSkills adventure than 8-bit Humphrey the 2011 Cal States mascot!
Music by Doc Pop
- Amazon link for Doc Pop’s Album
