Wednesday, June 30, 2010

RETROSPECTIVE: The after-dinner


After BUSL 2010 Week 1

Monday, June 28, 2010

WEEKEND ROUNDUP: To all you new faces

On behalf of Beijing Ultimate, I hope you're all ready for a memorable summer.


The after-dinner at our favorite Shanxi place in Dongzhimen

Results from BUSL week 1:
Pillage def. Burn 14-10
Huck def. Bid 15-4
Pictures:









Friday, June 25, 2010

WEEK IN REVIEW: First summer league game this Sunday

As if you needed a reminder, the first week of BUSL 2010 is this Sunday! Happy Valley, 2 to 5 pm.

PICTURES OF THE WEEK:



Photos by Kevin Reitz

GOOGLE GROUPS POST OF THE WEEK:

Boehner, 6/25:

Hey Ultimaters,

The Redbucks are getting into high gear, preparing for our tour down the China coast. To celebrate the kickoff of the tour, we are having a Redbuck BBQ on the 2 Kolegas lawn at 7:30pm Tuesday, 29 June.

As if things couldn’t get any better, Hobo Luke and Jimmy Yeehaw promised to pull out their smoker they built last year. Their creation makes the best smoke meat this side of the Pacific and the resulting pulled pork sandwiches are nothing short of spectacular.

Join The Redbucks at 2 Kolegas for a pulled pork dinner and an early evening bluegrass show. There’s no better end to a work day than Bluegrass, BBQ and Booze.

Get their early, the pulled pork is going to go fast!

40RMB

* This will be our last Beijing show with all six members (Chip is leaving China next month). Also, with two other folks out of town for the rest of summer, you probably won't have another chance to see some Redbuck bluegrass until late September.

China Tour Information:
For anyone that is going to be around China or has friends in other cities that love bluegrass, the Redbucks are traveling down China's coast over the next two weeks.

July 1st - Qingdao - Redstar
July 3rd - Shanghai - Mao Live House
July 4th - 191 Space - GuangZhou
July 9th - Yidutang - Shenzhen
July10th - Fringe Club - Hong Kong

"For those aching for some live bluegrass, old-time, and country music, it simply doesn't get any more authentic than The Redbucks. Performing their down-home repertoire of American roots music for over a year now, this ensemble of fiddle, banjo, mandolin, guitar, upright bass and sweet, soul-wilting harmonies has made them one of Beijing's most in-demand bands. To celebrate the recent release of their first album, All That Glitters, consisting of 13 original songs, the band will be embarking on their first China tour from June 30th through July 10th. From Qingdao to Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong, The Redbucks guarantee a stompin' good ole time."

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

RETROSPECTIVE: It's summertime!

To commemorate the start of summer (league, that is), here's this, from last year's finals:


Stay classy, Baby Girl.

Monday, June 21, 2010

WEEKEND ROUNDUP: Chengdu hat results



Gareth's team beat Bill/Tao's team twice on Sunday, both times on universe point. An EPIC final point in the finals resulted in five combined turnovers, including three from Bill's team. There was a hand block, a caught huck not-quite-for-score, a near-layout-D, etc. etc. It was pretty awesome.

Wish you could've been there.



Couple pictures from finals:



And afterwards:

Mythical Seven, or something

Winning team

Technically not from Sunday, but this was my team



Jim won the party award... again (Jim was actually the lone winner at Kunming, though the rest of Beijing's players helped him out). This after winning a skirt from the bar Saturday for beating everyone in limbo. Who could've guessed? Oh wait...

More pictures here (Chen Yangming), here, here, here, here (Dean Huang) and here (Ruth Yoder).

UPDATE, 8/11: My Facebook album here.

Friday, June 18, 2010

WEEK IN REVIEW: Beijing Ultimate greetings from Chengdu!

The hat tourney in Chengdu is this weekend. I am in Chengdu right now, and this is what it looks like...

PICTURES OF THE WEEK:




Okay, the above are from Mt. Emei, which isn't quite the same thing as Chengdu. As in, it's much more breathtakingly stunning.

Jim, Jeff, Alicia and I say hi.



GOOGLE GROUPS POST OF THE WEEK:

Beijing Ultimate Summer League 2010! From Tao, 6/16:

Thanks to everyone who came out to the hat tournament. Now onto the next big thing: summer league!

The fourth annual Beijing Ultimate Summer League (BUSL) will begin Sunday, June 27, at Happy Valley fields at 2 pm. We'll send a reminder later. Summer league will run seven weeks, with the final week being a two-game affair with beer on the field and a PARTY afterwards (tentatively planned for Saturday, Aug. 7).

If you would like to participate in summer league, please email me the following information by Thursday, June 24 (so we can draft you onto a team):

--NAME
--GENDER
--PRICING OPTION (see below)
--SKILL LEVEL (1 to 4, with 1 being "complete beginner" and 4 being
"club-level player")
--T-SHIRT SIZE (Chinese sizes)
--WILL YOU BE AT FINALS? (yes, no, maybe)

PRICES (we will collect on June 27):
1) Full-season (all weeks, including finals/party): 250 (working adults) / 140 (local Chinese students)
2) Half-season (3 regular season games + finals/party): 150 / 80

Both the above include an official summer league shirt (50 rmb if purchased separately)

Party = all-you-can-eat food and all-you-can-drink beer on field

Each game: 40 / 25
Finals/party: 70 / 45
Finals only, no food: 50 / 30
Party only: 30

Talk to me if you have questions/comments/etc.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

RETROSPECTIVE: Matt Mueller, ladies and gentleman

Hopefully a future potential employer doesn't upon this via Google (or some insidious company that charges to dig up these sort of harmless and fun pictures) and uses it against him. From China Nationals 2010:

"Who's that chick?" has been asked before, and the answer is, "Do you know?"

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

WEEKEND ROUNDUP: Duanwujie hat tournament

The Dragon Boat Festival being this Wednesday, China's new "weekend" for the week is Monday and Tuesday, which means everyone had Monday off (while working Saturday and Sunday). Beijing Ultimate spent this time playing in a hat tournament -- the fourth straight year we've done this to kick off summer league -- results of which are below.





The captains were Tao, Mike Shyu, Ivan Xu and Jim. The results (captain names as synecdoches for the team):

Rd. 1: Ivan def. Jim 9-6; Mike def. Tao 13-6
Rd. 2: Mike def. Jim 11-5; Tao def. Ivan 11-9
Rd. 3: Jim def. Tao 8-6; Mike def. Ivan 8-7

If in round 3 Tao and Ivan's teams would have won, three teams would have been 2-1 and point-diff would have decided the champion. (Mike's team would still have won.) If only Ivan's team would have won (Tao's team losing), then Ivan's team, by dint of head-to-head, would have been the champs.

Here were the final two points of the Mike vs. Ivan game:


Team list:

Tao:
Adam Nowak
Chaitkin
Chirona
Dong Xiaoming
Grace
Jehan
Joel Rosen
Juan
Lao Zhao
Li Hao

Mike Shyu:
Alicia
Carissa
Daniel
Gu An
Iyake (Rob's friend)
Kevin
Pat Li
Rob Adams
Xiangke
Russell

Ivan:
Amanda
Andrea
Andy
Brian
Derek
Evan
Gareth
HHH
Jeff Orcutt
Xiaofei
Xiaoxiao
Zhou

Jim:
Baby Girl
C-dice
Doc
Guy
Men 3
Jeff L
Ting
Yan
Yaoyao
Yu Xiangtian
Zhang Yuepan
POSTSCRIPT: It was Baby Girl's birthday! He's 23 and still legal... but unavailable. His girlfriend, Leigh, bought him a cake:


And others at dinner at our go-to post-game Shanxi restaurant -- the name of which we still don't know despite two and a half years of patronage there:



Yes, that's Chirona, Return Of.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Pictures from China Nationals

Can now be seen on the Zhongguofeipan and China Ultimate sites.








Friday, June 11, 2010

WEEK IN REVIEW: Hat tourney preview

Beijing can hold hat tournaments as well. This Monday, celebrate Duanwujie (Dragon Boat Festival) with this:


HAT TOURNEY DETAILS:

WHEN: Monday, June 14, 12:30 pm; van leaves DZM at noon (15 rmb/trip)
WHAT you need: white shirt, dark shirt, water, running shoes (cleats
are preferable, as we'll be on grass)
COST: 40 rmb. Local Chinese students and absolute first-timers to
Ultimate: 25 rmb
WHERE: Happy Valley fields, 十八里店村文化体育活动中心 (Shibali Diancun Wenhua
Tiyuhuodong Zhongxin)

PICTURE OF THE WEEK:


GOOGLE GROUPS POST OF THE WEEK:

Betsy, 6/9:

honorary shanghai open party champions,

readers of this weekly e-mail are hereby entitled to deliver one (1) kick to the groin of one (1) shanghai tournament director of your choosing. prize is non-transferable. groin must be present at time of kick. reader must shout “that’s for the party award, you tool!” while delivering kick. reader should then go celebrate with two (4) beers and larping.

WEEKLY ITEM #1: The Weekly Schedule

Wednesday, June 9, post-tournament dinner at DZM BCD place, 7:30.

Monday, June 14, Hat Tournament at Happy Valley, 1-6pm.
Stay tuned for details.

there will be no further practice or pick-up until BUC or gareth declare it. here are some suggestions for what to do with your free time until ultimate once again rules your world:

plant a tree
take a walk
do some yoga
get blackout drunk
get surgery on a broken hand
study chinese
study toni’s mom
study the supple touch
travel to an unfamiliar place
win a drinking contest
discuss current affairs
discuss those having affairs
discuss censorship
go shopping for tighter underwear
fly a kite
do wind sprints
work on the weekend
work on your second baby
work your ho stroll
watch a movie
listen to some live music
enjoy a bcd
go to a hat tournament
play frisbee anyway

_________

WEEKLY ITEM #2: Upcoming Tournaments

June 19-20: Chengdu Hat
July 4-10: Worlds in Prague
September 18-19: Singapore Open (tentative)

get to chengdu. it may be your last chance to play ultimate at the 2010 chengdu hat tournament ever.

_________

now is the time in the weekly email when betsy gives her weekly shout outs and call outs. remember, you want to get shouted out, but you don't want to get called out.

a shout out to larpers. big brother proved once and for all they are the coolest kids on the block and don’t need to wear diapers to make people love them. although they would if they thought it would make them cooler. which it doesn’t. it just makes you look stupid. stupid diapers.

a call out to alec. betsy hasn’t been this outraged since gollum betrayed frodo by leading him to the great spider shelob in the tunnels of cirith ungol on their way to mordor. big brother, like
frodo, will ultimately emerge unscathed and fulfill their destiny as the undisputed asian party champions.

a shout out to doc. betsy commends you on yet again inventing a needlessly complicated party theme all but assuring the party victory, complete with playing cards.

a shout out to everyone that used the playing cards. betsy saw kevin riding on stew’s back, jake acting as doc’s wingman, and alicia using chain lightning on lincoln.

a call out to chatikin. you need to start wearing two pairs of underwear and stop breaking hats.

a shout out to barbie. hey barbie. hi! how’s your hand after the gigantic blood vessel erupted from practicing layouts? call betsyyyyyyy!!!!!!!1!!

a call out to shanghai. who hosts a tournament and doesn’t give out a spirit award? you deserve a swift kick in the groin. betsy knows an army of angry frisbee players with a license to deliver one (1).

a shout out to taolicia. playing with broken bones and sickly stomachs, getting sick layout d’s, callahans, and greatests, they provided a source of inspiration to all. betsy gets a little wet when she thinks about it.

a call out to sandy. where was the free flowing bai jiu at the party? betsy hasn’t been this disappointed in an apothecary since the time one sold poison to romeo which he used to commit suicide. no, betsy is not cultured. yes, she googled it.

_________

WEEKLY ITEM #3: Lunch time Poll

which of the following new couples is most likely to last beyond this weekend?

a) chelfad

b) triple d

c) mini claire

d) jelan

e) chuliet

_________

and finally, your moment of zen…

http://chengduultimate.blog.com/

catch you on the field,
betsy
xxxooo