Random amusement

[giddygeek]

So I have this competence thing, and I really enjoy watching people be good at things, whatever those things happen to be.

A while back I ran across Fatboy Slim's video for That Old Pair of Jeans which features interpretive juggling by a guy named Chris Bliss. It made me smile and smile, so I went and found Chris Bliss juggling to The Beatles' Golden Slumber.

Seriously. Happy making. I LOVE these two videos.

And THEN I found out that Chris Bliss has this rival, a guy named Jason Garfield, and all the Jason Garfield fans leave critical and sometimes nasty comments on the Chris Bliss videos because Jason can do what Chris does but with FIVE BALLS and the Chris fans say well, HE'S AN ARTIST, and etc.

The fact that there are juggling fandom flame wars makes me laugh so much, I can't even tell you. As does the fact that, um, I have a favorite juggler. A favorite JUGGLER.

Yeah, I don't know either. Next up, a favorite accordian player? But all three of the videos are still totally cool, and the comments are a riot.

Comments

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Every time I see something like this happening among juggling fans, or infertility bloggers, or greyhound owners, the first thing that I think is: "Oh, thank god. It's not just fandom." Is that wrong?

(Also, Best Beloved and I watched all three videos, and I have to agree: Bliss is better at what he does. He looks like he's dancing with the balls (*hee*!) more than anything - a lot of the time, they seem to be moving of their own volition, and he's better at the interpretation of it. Garfield is a good juggler - the better juggler on sheer technical skill - and he's definitely got the "wow" factor going, but he probably shouldn't be trying to beat Bliss at his own game.

Plus, I was suspicious of the edits; Garfield's video seemed to me like two different performances spliced together, and that could be to make it look more professional, or it could be to edit out errors.

OMG. Did I just - form an opinion about juggling wank? I don't even have an opinion about fandom wank most of the time!

*shamed*)

[giddygeek.livejournal.com]

It's not wrong! I think we all must do it. Who wants to believe that no, their friends are really the craziest?

You did just form an opinion! Since it is entirely an opinion I agree with, I will not mock. If you'd been all 'Well, clearly Chris Bliss is a hack and Garfield is the only juggler who matters' I'd have had to bring the wank into my own journal, and the combo of fandom AND juggling would've probably brought on the apocolypse.

Or not, but I'm glad we don't have to find out! ;-)