Photo Shoot @ The Exploratorium

I had a another photo shoot with Amy from the Exploratorium. It was the usual and the first time I've been back there since I won the California State Contest. It was soo cool to know I was the PosterBoy! I saw the Oct. Calender of events outside of the exploratorium. For the ENTIRE month of September, I was ON THAT POSTER!

Now it's time to work on that YOYO CAMP! Joseph is gone...

2008 National Yoyo Champion is...JOSEPH HARRIS

I feel guilty about this. After all the politics behind the scenes, I know deep down I was not suppose to compete. I just want this to be clear; I did not intend to offend anyone in the Japanese Yoyo community nor do I "not care" about the rules in Japan. It's a long story and like I said, most of it is behind the scenes so there is no reason why it should be mentioned publicly. That's the last time I'm going to talk about it publicly.

My 9th National yoyo competition. My 9th time going to Chico. It has finally happened. I never felt better about my routine when I finished my performance. I gave it all I got and left it up to the judges. They agreed that I was the best double-handed player in the Nation that 1st weekend of October 2008. Thank you judges. That means the world to me.

Of course, thank you to my sponsor YOYOJAM who provided for me everything I needed to win this contest. Thank you to all the yoyo companies that sponsored the contest as well as the other sponsors. None of this would have been as great as it was without their help. And of course, thank you to Bob and the Bird in Hand gang for running this competition since 1993. It was the first year it rained!!! I couldn't believe it. The rain and the results! Just like that I am now the National Champion.

Life is calling...back to being a college student at the University of San Francisco. (^_^)

*EDIT 10 minutes later*

That was quick! Someone uploaded my freestyle ALREADY!!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU RYAN GEE! There's a youtube below AND vimeo link (thanks Matt! aka Boxthor)


2008 Nationals - 2A - Joseph Harris from Box thor on Vimeo.

Nationals has come

Ryan Lai should be arriving in SF anytime soon. I have one class to go to and then I'm off to Chico with James and Ryan. Just the 3 of us! I have my routine ready and it's been awhile since I performed in front of a live audience. CA states was the last time. =/ Anyway, it's 530AM and I'm going to get SOME sleep hopefully before Ryan calls and tells me he's here.

BRING IT HOME BABY!!!!!! =)

5 days until Nationals!

This weekend was a relaxing YOYO weekend. Saturday was my first Spindox yoyo club meeting in almost 1 and a half years! They had new shirts, check it here:



Anyway, I've prohibited myself from watching TV until Wednesday, after my math midterm. I want to practice for Nationals and get in at least an hour everyday this week for practicing my routine. It was good seeing everyone, especially the old school yoyoers;

Bill DeBoisblanc, Paul Escolar, Gary Longoria, Jeff Longoria, Cappy, Stu, Nathan, and some of the newer yoyoers like Bryan aka figtree, Spencer Berry (maybe not old school but "midschool") and some new faces I didn't catch. I yoyoed the Saturday away and had a good time at the dinner after the club meeting in the Indian restaurant.

Other than that, today was very chill. I didn't touch a yoyo all day but watched football all day! >_< write in my journal as much anymore...technology...what is it going to bring in the future in terms of yoyos? Alright people, alohas!

-Joseph

"Hey, I know this is random but..."

"My friend's dad saw a TV show and said there was a guy doing yoyo who was really good that goes to USF. Was that you?"

*slight grin* Yes, that was. *smiles* She was giving me my care package that my East Coast Family (The Dietz family ROCKS!) sent me. I love you guys!

I guess fame does last for more than 15 minutes (^.^) I found out I can compete in the 2008 US National Contest. I've been practicing at least an hour everyday. Let's just hope it pays off. Off to do some chores and play some YOYOS! How do I upload videos on this thing? *scratches head* Never mind, I figured it out. Enjoy watching me practicing my freestyle for Nationals ^_-


Sep. 18, 2008-Playing for my neighbors from Mojo Yojo on Vimeo.

I might not compete at the National Competition in Chico

This sucks. I have to wait until I receive a reply about being able to compete at Nationals this year. I've been practicing and actually have some new double-handed stuff too!

Anyway, I'll keep things posted. Thanks for the support people!

-Joseph

The results...not BAD for a veteran

2008 California State yoyo contest-1A 5th place-Joseph Harris from Mojo Yojo on Vimeo.

That was the highest placing one handed routine I ever performed! Thank you Megan for recording that.

ON TO THE IMPORTANT STUFF...

As always, thanks to my sponsor Yoyojam for providing me with the yoyos and string! THe contest went great. Cappy, Stu, everyone who helped out with the event, the exploratorium, you guys are truly awesome. My 15 mintues of fame is now over...

Here's the link: http://www.yoyocontest.com/detail.php?ContestID=118

Text below;

2008 California State Yo-Yo Championship

Date
Saturday, September 6th 2008

Promoter:
Stu Branoff & David Capurro

Contest Website
http://www.calstateyoyo.com

Venue
Exploratorium Museum

3601 Lyon Street

San Francisco CA 94123

2008 California State Yo-Yo Championship Results

1A Freestyle Results

Place	Players Name	City	State	Overall Score
1	Augie Fash	Chico	CA	100
2	Paul Yath	Lakewood	CA	68.14
3	John Chow	San Jose	CA	66.81
4	Paul Han	Cupertino	CA	65.05
5	Joseph Harris		CA	62.31
6	Anthony Rojas	Riverside	CA	57.08
7	Alex Kim	Torrance	CA	55.17
8	Evan Geller	Emerald Hills	CA	49.33
9	Joshua Yee	San Francisco	CA	49.24
10	Gerard Amento	Cherry Valley	CA	40.47
11	David Philip	Santa Barbara	CA	36.91
12	Bernardo Preciado	Hacienda Heights	CA	35.37
13	Ian Bailey	Alameda	CA	34.65
14	Sam Ungerer	Roseville	CA	33.35
15	Bryan Figueroa	Oakley	CA	32.79
16	Gary Couch	Bakersfield	CA	30.91
17	Luke Romero	Hercules	CA	30.76
18	McLeod Benson	Hermosa Beach	CA	29.79
19	Matthew Fernandez	San Francisco	CA	28.26
20	Nathan Crissey	Sunnyvale	CA	27.45
21	Tyler Hsieh	San Jose	CA	27.33
22	David Ju	San Jose	CA	26.35
23	Benjamin Ross	San Diego	CA	24.73
24	Vincent Dezutti	Redwood City	CA	22.52
25	Trent Franks	Penn Valley	CA	22.01
26	Pasquale Baldi	Cherry Valley	CA	21.87
27	Omri Levia	Sunnyvale	CA	18.29
28	Joe Benson	Carmichael	CA	15.41
29	Joey Vitalari	Goleta	CA	8.8
30	Tin Nguyen	San Francisco	CA	7.19
31	Zachary Lytle	Chico	CA	4.67
32	Nick Honnold	Folsom	CA	3.33

Open Freestyle

Place	Name
Score
1	Joseph Harris			97.39
2	Bryan Figueroa			94.41
3	Paul Yath			75.99
4	Anthony Rojas			60.87
5	David Mellons			60.61
6	Doc Pop			55.06
7	Matthew Fernandez			50.46
8	Joshua Yee			44.7
9	Zachary Lytle			40.45
10	Tyler Hsieh			37.24
11	Nathan Crissey			33.35
12	Caroline David			26.49
13	Joey Vitalari			23.65
14	Tin Nguyen			22.95
15	McCleod Benson			15.02
16	Rick Cobb			4.04

Fixed Axle Freestyle

1	Joseph Harris		CA	100
2	Bill deBoisblanc	Oakland	CA	67.1
3	Alex Kim	Torrance	CA	48.84
4	David Capurro	Berkeley	CA	42.27
5	Nathan Crissey	Sunnyvale	CA	31.1
6	Joshua Yee	San Francisco	CA	30.9
7	Rick Cobb	San Francisco	CA	15.27
8	McLeod Benson	Hermosa Beach	CA	3.41
9	Chris Allen	Lincoln	CA	1.67