Last few homes shows, I’ve gotten out of the sound booth and back on the water. Here are a few pictures from our home show on the 20th.
I’m dead center with Holly
Still in the center
I’m still in the center
I’m in the 2-high on the left
Yet more proof that The Onion is America’s Finest News Source… “In this corner, you have plenty of time to think.” And there is more that is even better…
In other news, apparently, the next time I make my way to Boston, MA in the summer, I should be able to find some people to ski with. Seems there is a group of dedicated water skiers that formed the Dorchester Bay Club that like to ski in Boston Harbor on Wednesday night. And no, I’m not making this up. You can read the story here. I personally love the photo with the story. Dude looks like he is struggling to stay up on two. Love the enthusiasm to go skiing there.
I’ve found the TV that I want to have at my house. Notice I didn’t say in my house. I don’t think it’d fit. This TV measures 134 by 55. And those measurements are in feet. I could set it up in my backyard, install a new giant picture window to watch it through. Pretty sweet. It is HD too! Comes with a stadium quality sound system and goes for a mere $8 million. Best part is, my yard is wide enough to hold it in the back. Not sure I could afford the electricity to run it though.
Finally, now that the Little League World Series is over and the NFL hasn’t quite started yet, if you are looking for something sports related to watch, check out the US Open. Yes, that is tennis I’m talking about. Looking for some reasons to watch, go here. You just might find yourself interested. In other news, I watched a total of about 5 innings of the LLWS and 1 quarter of preseason football (all of the football tonight). I’m still too busy skiing and partaking in sports to sit back and watch them.
The sports guy, Bill Simmons, over at ESPN.com recently visited Wisconsin. For an entertaining read about an entertaining weekend, go check it out. He covers the Sausauge Race, Miller Park’s Special Sauce, Bizarro Laker Girls, the old Brewers Logo, the origination of tailgating, cheese, weather forecasting cows and much, much more.
Walking into this movie, I wasn’t quite sure I was in the right theatre. I expected to see a theatre of late teens and twenty something’s, but there was a variety of people in there, older, younger, clean cut and otherwise.
This is another movie where my expectations were low going on. Surprisingly, there was a lot more story to the movie than I ever expected to see. Although, going for the low brow, cheesy not quite a horror flick with some action, they managed to hit the nail on the head. Even had a spot that made me jump.
There are way too many cheesy CGI snakes and snakes biting people in lots of strategic places that make you both grown and laugh. There is even a cute little dog to watch.
Without Mr. Jackson staring in the movie, it probably wouldn’t have been as entertaining. I kept waiting for him to bust out into his speech from Pulp Fiction (“If any of you mother fuckin’ [snakes] move, I’ll execute every mother fucking last one of ya!”) Either that, or see him whip out his light saber from his Mace Windu character and start slicing and dicing the snakes.
If you like the cheesy type of movie that this aims to be, you won’t be disappointed. If you aren’t in to the movies, you might as well wait for the DVD.
Welcome to the South Harmon Insitute of Technology. Well, what can I say about this movie. First off, I’ll let everyone know my expectations were not high for this movie. I was just hoping for a simple, funny comedy. And that is what I got. Nothing special, but I was entertained for 90 minutes. I could tell while watching it that they filmed with the intention of releasing an unrated version when it comes out on DVD. It follows in the footsteps of American Pie and Revenge of the Nerds and all of the other knock offs, but in the end, it is entertaining. Well worth a watch when it comes out on video.
And for the Revenge of the Nerds fans, there is a remake due out in 2007.
Photo from Jim’s PhotosMad-City can’t make the local news, but the US Olympic Committe knows we won. You can read it here.
Not sure on the details. Guessing just a “here are some kick ass barefoot moves” type video. Here is a preview…
http://lads.myspace.com/videos/vplayer.swf
Get this video and more at MySpace.com
Here are some more random stories collected from around the net… Enjoy!
In Favre We Trust. Somehow, this story at The Onion (which is America’s finest news source) just doesn’t seem to be too far fetched. I could see this happening.
Superman Wears Jack Bauer Pajamas. Jack Bauer shoots a guy in his leg to get him to talk, he talks. Then to get says, “This will help the pain” and smacks the guy over the head to make him pass out. While waiting of the next day to start, you can go here and get lots of random facts about Mr. Super CTU.
Double Up del Noche. Pro Wakeboard Tour will be taking the Summerfest grounds in Milwaukee on Monday night. I’m tempted to wander over there. Interested, let me know. Drop a comment or shoot me an email if you know it. More details here.
Chuck Norris Bridge [update] A while back I posted about Hungary is having a contest to name a new bridge and Chuck Norris was in the lead. Well, since then, the current vote has changed. Check this out for more details. Turns out they like Comedy Central in Hungary as well. Now, Stephan Colbert has jumped into the lead since he pimped himself on his show. Want to go vote, the article has details on how you can help name a bridge that you’ll like never see.
Tom & Jerry. No not the drink, but the classic cartoon. Apparently, over in Europe they are not taking kindly to this old toon (and some others). Apparently, there are a handful of shorts that show smoking. And everyone knows that all kids do everything they see cartoon cat and mice do on TV. Supposedly, they are suppose to be censored and edited so they are not shown smoking, but they aren’t doing enough. Don’t believe me. Here is the real story. The links are a little funny. If they don’t work, goto Reuters.com and search for smoking in cartoons.
Electronic Warfare. Bullet Proof Jacket. Check. Helmet. Check. Rifle. Check. MP3 Player. Check. Yes, that could be a real checklist that someone about to march into battle may go through. Apparently, some people stationed in some hot areas have quite the collection of electronic gadgetry. Get the rest of the story here. [this is by no means meant to be anything negative about the troops. it is just an observation.]
Nationals started off Friday at 11am with one of Mad-City’s swivelers, Ann Wittenberg, competing in the Individual Competition. She qualified by winning the Wisconsin State Swivel Ski Individuals Competition. She was first on the water on Friday and skied a very clean routine. She ended up placing fourth in the Nation, which she was happy with.
Next up was the team jump competition. As I mentioned earlier, I was shocked when the Mad-City Jump Team won the Wisconsin State Jump Championship. Not that they could do all the jumps, just that they did them all without falling in one act. Before state, they had been falling. Just like before state, they had been falling during the week coming up to Nationals. One of the first jumps off the ramp was a triple heli by Chris, Paul and Bugsy. Chris and Paul were clean and skied away, but Bugsy made it interesting. Not quite sure how but he ended up on his back. With a little help from the driver, he managed to do a tumble up, bringing the crowd to its feet (we like to see people Make It!). The rest of the jumps were clean up until Paul O’Conner did the 720. (Yep, a double heli… rope wrapped once, two rotations around with a hand-to-hand pass of the handle on the second rotation.) His first attempt was close. Second attempt, stuck it!!! They ended up on top. #1 in the Nation!
2 Man Gainer
4 Man Front
720
2006 Mad-City Jump Team – National Champions
Next up, Friday we road tripped back up Mad-town for our last show run through before we skied the next day. We headed to the Coliseum Bar & Grill. They knew we were coming, but it didn’t seem like it. We had them running for a while. Next up, I had a pretty low key night. Just got everything ready for the next day…
Saturday morning finally arrives. I arrive at the meeting only to find out that the sound system (used in Madison at the practice the night before) wasn’t brought down to Janesville. Through some miscommunication, it was thought we didn’t need the equipment because of the house system. Problem was, we needed the mixing board and mikes. Props to Tristan for driving up to retrieve everything. Made good time too.
Showtime finally arrives… Pre-show dance rocks.
Preshow Dancers7-Man Backfoot line… clean through the show course.
7 men (One as a Bride) – BackfootingOpening Pyramid… came real quick after the backfoot line, a 4-3-4. Lost a couple on the way back to the beach, but looked good.
Opening PryamidMontage… Came through pretty clean. Cake popped the handle on his front flip on the Sky Ski. Kristen nailed 3 720’s on her swivel pass through the show course. A quick, hot act.
Tumble Turn
Sky Ski
One of Kristen’s 720’s
Paul on the WakeboardNext up, an extreme makeover for our groom left at the alter. First he needs to ski in… At state he barely made his dock start for his 15 yards of skiing. This time, he did miss his start. Heard up near the judges… “Was he suppose to fall? I think he was…” Instead of making Cory over though (at State he was dressed for a night on the town in Rapids.) This time the joke was on Janesville, last year their theme was an extreme makeover of their ski show, but it ended up being pretty much the same as always. After Cory’s extreme makeover, he looked exactly the same.
After the makeover, a little one-act show… Shoe skier doing overhead 360’s, 3-high pyramid, doubles couple and a gainer and flip off the ramp. Everything clean and Beau even threw in a overhead turn on his landing at the beach on his shoe skis.
One Act ShowThen we took a trip to Coyote Ugly to see the ladies of the Mad-City in the ballet line. Lost one of the dock, and somewhere, another fell as well. 22 ladies left, 20 came back. Not perfect, but their dances are money and their water routine is great as well.
Girls Ballet – Do Your Thing
On the WaterJump 1 was next… Nothing special, but pretty good. Another jump act.
Plagerizer… We stole it from Janesville…Swivel hit the water next. And we have four very good swivelers… a combined 13 State and National titles between them. I don’t know enough about swivel to name everything they did, but it was all clean and Kristen even through with a 1080. Yes, a 1080. Only one of the weekend to my knowledge.
Ann in Star SwivelThen we go to big act… our toe turn line disappeared, more than half the trios didn’t return to the stage and we lost a couple conventional couples. Only boat to survive in tact, our star swivel boat. Basically, this act blew-up. Not as bad as we thought though. Still scored about 330 (trios made their passed, just didn’t come back to the beach.)
21 Person Staggered Trio Act
Conventional Doubles
Star Staggered Swivel Line – The Best Swivelers in the Nation
Toe Turn LineNext on the water, Jump II, our pizza deliverers… But first, we have a special fill where our abandoned groom gets a special massage…
Who Wants a Massage from the Gal on the Right?Then there is Jump II. Pretty clean, but there was a bad fall in the four man heli.
3 Man Heli, 1 Man 180…
4 Man FrontThen Adam does a little fill to let our ending pyramid get ready. Last year he found some people that were surprised to see him at Nationals because they had heard that he wasn’t announcing last year because he was sick. Really sick. Truth be told, he took the summer off to start a family and he let everyone know.
Ending pyramid…. Lost one couple of the dock (Brad usually makes it). A 4-3-double top 3 with an extra person came through. Lost a few more in the corner. Not great, but could be worse.
Ending Pyramid… a 2-4-3-SomethingThen Adam does his little dance… 4 minutes, 22 songs. Standing-O from the crowd.
Evolution of Dance, Mad-City StyleNext on the water, the hottest act of the weekend, the Jawdropper!!! One man, one boat, 3-passes, all quick… As the boat takes him off the dock, the screams of jets fills the air. He turns the corner for his first approach and “gimme fuel, gimme fire, give me that which I desire” screams through the air. Makes his first jump (a flip or gainer). Boat whips around and he goes back to make his next jump (a gainer or flip, whichever he didn’t do first). Boat whips around again. So far the boat hasn’t left the show course. This time he gets a little setup time… he wraps the rope, pops of the ramp, spins once, spins twice as he passes the handle and… money!!! Crowd is on its feet. I can’t turn up the music loud enough to be heard over the crowd.
One Man Front
The 720
Landing the 720Finally, our combo-swivel-ballet act takes to the water. 37 people, 2 boats. Crowd loves the guys dance on the dock, likes the water routine, loves the ending dance done by everyone.
Yes, our guys can dance…
Guys Ballet on the Water
Girls Swivel Combo Line
Ending Ballet-Swivel-Combo-Line DanceCrowd is on it’s feet as our show comes to a close.
A Mad-City Team Whoo Ha!!!I knew we had skied a good show. One act blew up and a couple other uncharacteristic falls. But nothing that could kill our chances for a championship. Others didn’t have my optimism, but they didn’t get to see the show.
Other shows of note… Wonder Lake, took 2 pre-fabs off the dock, looped them around. Meanwhile, 4 more sit on the dock- 2 on the dock, 2 on the floater, another boat sitting there looking like it is going to pull them off. But as the boat pulling the 2 pre-fabs already on the water loops behind the main dock, the boat in front of the dock beaches itself. The dock and floater split apart by about 15 feet. The boat, already pulling 2 pre-fabs, hot picks four more as it splits the gap between dock and pier. This was on sweet act. I found some pictures on the web of the hot-pick… Check it out…
The Boat is Splitting the Dock and Floater
Yes, that is 2 on the water and 2 on the dock and 2 on the floater. 
Everyone makes it!!! Awesome!!!Another highlight… the first 6-high was pulled through the show course. At 5 MPH. I think this was done by Backwater.
Backwater’s Six HighRAJ skied a good show, but like ours, didn’t have clean pyramids and had some other falls scattered throughout the show.
Little Crow opened with 6 barefoot pyramids. Only 2 made it through the course (I think). The rest of the show followed in the same manner.
Saturday night, lots of fun was had by all as we partied at Damon’s and then a handful headed to Quotes. Made for a long night.
Finally, the tournament finishes and it is time to announce the awards…
Specialty Awards
Best Jump Act – Mad-City’s Jawdropper
Best Pyramid Act – Wonder Lake’s pre-fabs
Best Ballet – Webfooters
Best Barefoot Act – RAJ
Best Swivel Act – Mad-City
Best Double’s Act – RAJ
Willa Cook Award – Kristen Heilman (Mad-City)
Skip Gilkerson Award – John Debelock (RAJ)
Traditional Box Scores
Best Dock and Equipment – Wonder Lake
Best Pick-Up Boat Crew – Mad-City
Best Tow Boat Driving – Wonder Lake
Best Announcing* – RAJ
Standings…
1. Mad-City – 2154
2. RAJ – 2093
3. Wonder Lake – 1979
Look at the picture for the rest of the un-official results…
We then head up to Madison. Great Dane in Fitchburg. Much celebrating was done by everyone… And a long weekend comes to a close…
Other places of interest on the internet reporting about Nationals…
Here are some places on the web to go get photos of Mad-City at Nationals and lots of the other teams.
*4 of the 7 judges scored Mad-City over Janeville for sound
Some random stuff from the past couple of weeks…
We Believe… American’s as whole believe a lot of unbelievable things. Once again a great ESPN columnist has put together a great list. Go check out the article by Jim Caple over at ESPN.com
AVP… And no, I’m not talking about Aliens vs. Predator. I’m talking about AVP Pro Beach Volleyball. And it is possible to learn about life by just learning about AVP. At least California life. Plus, it is one of the best uses ever for swim wear. And even people who drop hundreds on sun glasses and sandals still go bonkers for free stuff. Go read the article by Mary Buckheit over at ESPN.com
One thing that could relate to Mad-City, is apparently when large events are in progress, you must walk your bike while near the event, even when you are on the bike path. The one redeeming quality about Mad-City’s ski site is the bike path. A lot of scenery goes by. Bad part is, some bikers insist on going 30+ MPH while there are large crowds and there have been way too many close calls.
Breast Awareness Campaign… Over at the Onion, they have another great story… Apparently enough people just aren’t aware of Miss Simpson’s and she wants more attention. Go get the full story here.
National Recap coming soon…
Mad-City Wedge 
