Jensen Kimmit joins Team YoYo Factory; haters run mouths

 

Huge congratulations to Canadian badass Jensen Kimmitt for his new place on the YoYo Factory Contest Team!

The announcement was kind of odd, as the public wasn't aware of this until it was announced as he was standing on-stage at the California State Yo-Yo Championships, which of course led to a ton of people running their mouths and spreading nastiness about Jensen leaving the Caribou Lodge Yo-Yo Works team. 

It should be noted that Chris from CLYW had this to say:

"When Jensen gave his notice to leave CLYW, we hugged it out at a reggae show. How could I be upset about this ... new beginnings are super exciting!!"

So yes, it was discussed beforehand. There wasn't any public notice, but there didn't really need to be. The people involved discussed it, and everyone was cool. So instead of focusing our conversation on it for the next two weeks, how about we all just jump up and down and get super stoked about his AMAZING freestyle routine, the fact that he (and Patrick Mitchell) each won $1000 at a yo-yo contest, and the fact that this is a huge opportunity for Jensen's yo-yo career.

There is a ton of positive stuff going on here, and this is a pretty exciting time to be a yo-yo player!

Filipino Yo-Yo Player wins $20,000; blows my mind

Joshua Davis won "Ultimate Talentado", the Filipino equivalent of "America's Got Talent", taking home a grand prize of ONE MILLION PESOS!!! That's a little over $21,000 USD, for the exchange rate impaired.

Check out the video above...he had a full complement of back-up dancers, and performed to a Michael Jackson medley. This kid is absolutely amazing, and that is some SERIOUS money!

What an incredible time to be a yo-yo player. Amazing!!!

Thanks to Chris at YoYoSkills.com for the heads up, and the link to a better video!

Huge congrats to Patrick Mitchell and Jensen Kimmitt!

These two guys showed up at the California State Yo-Yo Contest and each went home $1,000 richer.

Amazing routines...super inspiring to watch and technically just incredible.





I've known Patrick for a looooong time, and he's always been one of my favorite players to watch on stage. The kid just goes for broke every single time, and loves every second of it. His joy is absolutely infectious, and his skill is unmatched.

Congrats bro. I'm stupidly happy for you on your 7th California State title!!!

Recent work from friend and fellow yo-yo player, Rodrigo Yokota a.k.a. Whip.

Scary thing is, he's as good at throwing yo-yos as he is at drawing and painting.

His brother's no slouch either...at yo-yos or art. Helluva family. Wonder if they'd adopt me...

vannen watches

I really dig these watches, and that's saying something...considering that I have had a phobia of timepieces since high school.

But I just stumbled upon this excerpt of an interview with the owner of Vannen Watches, Mr. David Stowe, and this absolutely cemented my belief and support of this company:

"What makes a Vannen different from other artist watches?
We pay our artists one of the best royalties in the business. Not many people know this, but when you buy an artist designed product - 9 times out of 10 that artist is getting screwed out what they really deserve. So with Vannen we set out to change the game and truly support the artist and get them paid so they can survive and keep making great art. Aside from that I like the fact that our watches are assembled and packaged in Los Angles. I take pride in that too and it feels great knowing we're helping people stateside keep their jobs."

There are precious few companies out there really making an effort to take care of the artists whose work they are using as the crux of their business. This simple ethos really holds a lot of water with me, and I hope that if you're considering a new watch you'll take a look at Vannen and consider one of theirs. 

http://www.vannenwatches.com