Redondo Beach Contest this SUNDAY

I was done tutoring and decided to submit my online timesheet. I watched some new yoyo contest videos in Japan then stumbled across yoyonation (www.yoyonation.com) for no reason at all. I hardly check any yoyo board except for Greg's board (www.yoyoing.com)

Anyway, on the yoyonation board there was a quote that made my ENTIRE WEEK better;

I feel nervous when meeting pros. When I was talking to Joseph Harris, I was stuttering like crazy!

There was a lot going on with me this week aside from the regular school (midterm), work, internship, tutor. There were some personal issues that affected me this week but after I read what the person wrote, my face lit up. ^_^

The Redondo yoyo contest is this Sunday, I'll be leaving after my class ends at 9PM once again. Can you believe this is my 4-5th (I lost count!) time back in SoCal the past two months? Talk about being a dedicated yoyo pro. What's funny about it all is that I am a YOUNG pro yoyoer that only does performances PART-time. If I could make a living out of this, that would be great. Let me rephrase that and shoot for the moon;

If I can make a GOOD living out of being a professional yoyo player, that would be great.

Because everybody in the world knows that the label of a professional yoyo player falls under the category of 'starving artist.' That's why I'll have 2 bachelor's degrees to fall back on. Once I am accepted into Business school and earn my MBA, I'll have that to fall back on too. That is of course, if the 'PRO YOYO PERFORMER' thing never works out. =P

That's called having a plan. That's my plan...Other than that, this yoyo pro is out. Oh, here's the most recent yoyo performance of me; it was my 1st place freestyle at the Pacific Northwest Regional


PNWR 09 - 2A - Joseph Harris from Box thor on Vimeo.


THANK YOU BOXTHOR (aka Matt) for the video. Great quality! Enjoy.

Joseph Harris. American Yoyo Association Board of Director

Sounds good! I am using that title to make some changes in the yoyo community right now!

Also, the gig was great last night! Loads of fun, I even had my OWN TSHIRT JUST FOR THE EVENT!




Not only that, it was a success all around. The email when I came back to SF;

You were amazing!!! Thanks so much for being there and jazzing everyone. Good to meet you too. You were easy and charming to work with. Best of success.

Yeah, that's a good look;

National yoyo champion.

Board of Director for the American Yoyo Association.

More Scholarships that need VIRAL ATTENTION!

Who is Your Hero? Brickfish

What Tempts You? Brickfish

Moving up in the 1A ranks...

Here are the results from the 2009 PACIFIC NORTHWEST REGIONAL COMPETITION

2009 Pacific Northwest Yo-Yo Championships Offstring Results

Place Players Name State Final Score
1 Bryan Figueroa CA 100.00
2 Connor Swan AZ 71.95
3 Ryan Lai HI 50.91
4 Kyle Hedges WA 39.90
5 Jacob Jensen OR 4.47
6 Joseph Harris CA (0.36)


2009 Pacific Northwest Yo-Yo Championships 3A Results
Place Players Name State Final Score
1 Ryan Lai HI 100.00
2 Josh Yee CA 57.43
3 Joseph Harris CA (4.59)
4 Jacob Jensen OR (8.74)

2009 Pacific Northwest Yo-Yo Championships 1A-Prelims Results
Place Players Name State Final Score
1 Jensen Kimmitt AB 100.00
2 Tyler Severance DE 69.51
3 Joseph Harris CA 58.87
4 Miguel Correa TX 48.22
5 Charles Haycock BC 47.79
6 Ryan Lai HI 45.07
7 Chris Mikulan AB 40.53
8 Mark Allen TN 38.87
9 Josh Yee CA 36.31
10 Kyle Hedges WA 34.00
11 Jacob Jensen OR 32.34
12 Kyler Burnett WA 31.17
13 Sean Vanzandt LA 27.50
14 Reed Smith AZ 25.65
15 Branden Moreau WA 23.13
16 Ben McPhee AZ 16.30
17 Carson Sablan WA 15.16
18 Jeromy Nguyen OR 14.91
19 Dalan Kerr ID 14.66
20 Paul Dang OR 11.24
21 Clint Armstrong OR 6.89
22 Clifton Crimefighter OR 3.42

2009 Pacific Northwest Yo-Yo Championships 1A Results
Place Players Name State Final Score
1 Jensen Kimmitt AB 99.81
2 Tyler Severance DE 81.49
3 Grant Johnson CA 69.01
4 Joseph Harris CA 53.75
5 Miguel Correa TX 52.66
6 Ryan Lai HI 51.00
7 Charles Haycock BC 45.62
8 Josh Yee CA 42.94
9 Sterling Quinn WA 42.61
10 Mark Allen TN 41.81
11 Boyd Seth OR 34.08
12 Justin Deal ID 33.36
13 Chris Mikulan AB 32.46
14 Kyle Hedges WA 31.55
15 Jacob Jensen OR 29.93
16 Kyler Burnett WA 15.67

2009 Pacific Northwest Yo-Yo Championships 2A Results
Place Players Name State Final Score
1 Joseph Harris CA 100.00
2 Grant Johnson CA 56.14
3 Ryan Lai HI 54.74
4 Dave Bazan ID 34.45
5 Josh Yee CA 25.63
6 Kyler Burnett WA 5.74
7 Jacob Jensen OR 1.23

Yes, I did receive negative scores (the parenthesis indicates a negative score) but I did not prepare routines for those divisions. Only my 1-hand and double hand freestyles were prepared. It takes a lot of effort to appear effortless. Offstring would be cool to work on...

Anyway, yoyo gig on Wed. So I have to be a college student for a few days until the next yoyo get-away! I'm gone...

LUCK

Luck is when preparation meets opportunity. I *FINALLY* received the phone call. It's going to be held in LA. Tickets have been bought. $45 RT SF to LA after I submit that mystery greyhound rider survey. I have no clue how many yoyoers are going to be there but I do have that private audition time lined up so we'll see. On top of that, I won't know how I did (if I get through to the next round) until probably MARCH if they contact me again. Good thing I'll have my Grandma and Dad there for support after I'm finished! Amazing timing.

Other than that, I have to add some crazy crowd-pleasing tricks to my performance. I am allowed 1.5 minutes MAX! I'm traveling all that way to show 1.5 minutes?!?! Talk about a risky investment. As I learned in school (Finance class) and through yoyo competition;

The greater the risk, the greater the reward

So I'm pulling out the stops on this audition in 2 days. We'll wait and see what happens. Until then, hopefully the road to fame has begun...

Private Audition w/ America's Got Talent AND the Miami trip!

I received the email from the casting director just now...they received it and they said

"It's great-I'm going to have the team call you to give you the audition time for the 31st either today or tomorrow.

Cheers,"

I had a great time in Miami with the first ever female National and World yoyo champion, Jennifer Baybrook this past week. We even performed for her company! I had an informal introduction to her boss and boy was that a great networking opportunity that I was no where near prepared for >_<

Anyway, we had a yoyo slumber party on a FRIDAY NIGHT in Miami! Haha, she has these video clips from WAY BACK and it was a trip down memory lane. Instead of going out and spending money in Miami on a beautiful yet cold Fri. night, we made a 2A page, played yoyos, shared stories, and had laughs all around. I want to start a yoyo slumber party! It would be fun, exciting, and a great way to give back to the community! I have a handful of old yoyo videos but they are all at home on the islands. I'm sure it's not that hard to do a slumber party! This will spark 2A once again, perhaps even the next yoyo boom. OK, maybe not the next yoyo boom but if I do receive that BOD position for the American Yo-Yo Association (AYYA), I'm sure I'm in a better position of power and credibility. Then, I can start a yoyo boom and start touring again like I talked to Jenn and James about in Miami. That would be ideal...only time will tell. We'll see.

School begins today but I look forward to traveling to SoCal twice in a week. Once for the auditions and the 2nd time for the SoCal Championships where I will be a judge. Then off to Seattle I go for the Pacific Northwest Regional Contest.

Jan 30-Feb 1 = Los Angeles Convention Center
Feb 6- Feb 9 = Santa Barabara
Feb 14-Feb 22 = Seattle

This looks like a very active yoyo semester the upcoming months. Time to learn submarine to impress America's Got Talent!

Board of Director; Joseph Harris

That has a nice ring to it doesn't it? A quick update from Tokyo, Japan! I was recently emailed about applying to be a part of the Board of Directors for the American Yoyo Association (AYYA). My sponsor said it would be good for me and my resume. The voting doesn't start until next week so we'll see what happens.

In other yoyo news, once I'm back in the city, the call will be made to America's Got Talent casting director. I think I still have time but we'll see what happens. I can't believe I couldn't find it sooner, what a great opportunity!

Yoyo JOE is gone!