Chaos in Germany. WB Meet & Greet. Oh, my word...

[Craig Frank]

Robert - thank you for the narrative. And thank you Robby for being such an awesome host.

[Roy Partin]

That looked and sounded like such a joyful time. Thank you for the pictures. I may have to sell a couple cows to do it, but I am going one year

[Jessie Edwards]

http://thequasihippie.blogspot.com/2016 ... -home.html

[Robert Gage]

Jessie, this is great - and so absolutely you!

But, dear friends, it has to be put on record: Jessie does not like tea! But this just proves that even people who are full to the brim with accomplishments, talents, and joyous energy almost always have one little flaw....

[Jessie Edwards]

I added pictures to the post.

Wait. What do you MEAN flawed??? :p

[Robert Gage]

Ahhh! I've now seen the pictures, which add a lot of flavour. But Jessie! That's not a big slug! I have slugs three times that big in my front garden - and they're bright green! [I can now imagine Jessie's shriek at receiving this news.]

And folks, don't believe a word of her self-criticism. The reality is far, far different (and hugely better)!

[Ron May]

Welcome back Jessie.
I am so glad that you had this epic experience and I thank you for sharing it with us.
Your blog was very well written and a part of me was right there with you while reading it.

Tell us what you learned about cracking while there please.

Ron

[Rachel McCollough]

Absolutely great! Thanks for letting us ride along with you, Jessie! One day when my boys are old enough I'd like to tag along

[Robert Gage]

Tell us what you learned about cracking while there please.

Ron, some of it's hard to put into words, but here are some general things....

1. Don't look at the ground: look at the horizon.

2. Don't think too hard about each step of what you're doing. (This was Robby's big criticism of me. Jessie came up with the phrase, 'Be like a Princess in the Garden' - in other words, be relaxed and free. Robby said I had graph paper in my mind all the time - and he was right!)

3. Don't use too much muscle. It takes a lot less energy than people think they're using to do these cracks. Let the whip do all the work.

4. Give the whip time to complete each move before you try to send it somewhere else.

5. Relax! Robby gave several amazing demonstrations of volleys or figure-eights while telling completely unrelated funny stories. If you can do that, you're relaxed!

6. Be patient! Robby says it took him eighteen months to learn the Victorian cutback!

I'm sure Jessie or the others could add to this list....

[Jessie Edwards]

Its all in the videos. The only real difference was, if you didn't understand what is happening in the video, you had Robby helping you understand in real time, which is what made it different. Also, we helped each other and by doing that we helped ourselves.

I am so incredibly tired. Nap. Now.

[Robby Amper]

Ahm, Robert... You wrote "6. Be patient! Robby says it took him eighteen months to learn the Victorian cutback!". What me took so long was a full 360 degree circle turning counterclockwise under a clockwise double overhead crack. The Victorian Cutback went a bit faster...

Robby

[Ron May]

Mr. Robert, thank you for the rundown.
Robby, that sounds really complicated. It shows your patience and dedication.

Ron

[Robert Gage]

Oops! Sorry, Robby! I was muddled! Of course I remember now, when you remind me. (I should have said, 'one particular maneuver'.)

[Ben Varsek]

Thank you Ralph, Robert, Mario and Jessie for uploading the picutures and for sharing your experiences during the meet !!!

I have uploaded some pictures of the meet in a roll call but I'll repost them here.

These pictures have been taken as we were about to leave for the whip lessons on saturday:








The lesson itself had been so much fun and the amount of whips to choose from was mindblowing (until then I had only seen pictures or videos of them):










I'm sure that all of you know what a great teacher Robby is but to experience his teachings first hand is just amazing:










Robby has a great talent in creating a wonderful training atmosphere by finding a perfect balance in between beeing serious and beeing funny. Serious enough to not loose the focus on the actual lessons and funny to create a nice, relaxed and fun atmosphere.
Speaking of that Robby is making funny jokes 24/7 for example when we all went to the chinese restaurant he challenged Claudia to a "lightsaber" fight with chopsticks and then argued with her about who had won !!!
Both him and Claudia have been wonderful hosts - just to give you an example of Claudias hosting qualities: Jessie had told me that she had bought bannanas on one day because she likes eating them. On the next day Claudia had put a huge pile of bannanas into the fruit basket on the kitchen table. About 15 minutse after Jessie had told me this Claudia had arrived with sunflowers for Jessie just because she had heared that Jessie likes sunflowers.

On Friday we also had lots of fun. We've spend time in Robby's gazebo in his garden before going to the chinese restaurant and Claudia has made sure that all of us had plenty to drink.
The entire day had been filled with jokes and very interesting "inside strorries" that are not on the forum.
Robby's house is filled with interesting things (for example: when I went to the bathroom there had been a handsigned photograph of Darth Vader with a personal refference to Robby).

All the participating members have been really nice, friendly and also made a lot of jokes.
To summ it all up - it has been a wonderful experience: infromative, funny and a joy to experience and I'm very thankful that I was given the chance to participate !!!

All the best
Ben

[Robert Gage]

Thanks for re-posting these photos, Ben!" I think there are a couple I missed before....

And you are absolutely right about Robby's teaching, and Robby's and Claudia's hospitality. There is no doubt that I (for one have come home greatly enriched!

[Sir Roger Tuson]

Such a good time! So wish I could have made it. Next year!

[Robby Amper]

Don't say too much nice things. I could become arrogant...

And on Darth Vader. Yep I know Dave Prowse quiet well. We met on a convention, where we both were guests. I have his pic with with a personal message, and he has one from me. Dave once started a campaign "The Force against Arthritis" and I tried to help a bit. That was all.

Robby

[David Cross]

That's awesome, Robby. I haven't met many famous people. I met a trio of country singers at a concert, once, who were very friendly but didn't have much time to chat. I also met Adam West, who was similarly busy.

[Rachel McCollough]

Well, we know Robby.. Though some of us hasn't met him in person yet, I think that counts for knowing somebody famous.

That's the famous one I'd like to meet.

[Ron May]

I am so ignorant. Who is Dave Prowse ?

Ron