Posted on by — Leave a comment

Using Artificial Intelligence to reimagine classic yo-yo tricks

This episode of PopCast was so fun to make! I’ve been experimenting with generative art tools, like Dalle-2 and Midjourney, and loving the results. I had the idea to make a video about using classic trick names as text prompts for Midjourney, and then I spent the whole weekend creating prompts, shooting footage, and editing it. The idea of this episode I used the names of classic yo-yo tricks as prompts for Midjourney, then I wanted to see the results.

I love how this video turned out. It’s got some cool art and some footage from our yo-yo meetup in San Francisco. As an extra bonus, I’ve included all of my favorite images below, including several that didn’t make it into the video. Which one is your favorite?

Images generated from yo-yo trick names:

“Brain Twister”
“Rock The Baby”
“Around the World”
“Shoot The Moon”
“Sleeper”
“Stop and Go”
“Stop and Go”
“Cheese Whip”
“Double or Nothing”
“Buddha’s Revenge”
“Buddha’s Revenge”
“Yet Another Gondola”
“Ecco Bind”
“Wrist Mount”
“Two Handed Milk the Cow”
“Boingy Boing”
“Skin The Gerbil”
“Gondola”
“Brent Stole”
“Power Throw”
“Eli Hops”
“Two Handed Loops”
“Casper Slack”
“Plastic Whip (in the style of Dali)”
“Freehand Bee-Sting”
“Gyroscopic Flop”
“Plastic Whip”
“Mach 5 combo”
“Godspeed Combo”
“Green Triangle”
“Purple Monkey Dishwasher”
Posted on by — Leave a comment

San Francisco Yo-Yo Meetup on July 16th in Golden Gate Park

Hey Bay Area yo-yo friends, lets hang out this Saturday!

San Francisco Yo-Yo Meetup on July 16th. We will be by the bandshell in Golden Gate Park from 1-4 pm. If there is a concert happening, we’ll probably be closer to the big water fountain near the bandshell. This event is open to everyone, and we’ll be joined by Mr. Yoyothrower, the owner of Rain City Skilltoys. I hope to see you there!

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Restocked on Bolts, Pawns, and Bishops

5 yo-yos on a white surface. The yo-yos are Bolt yo-yos in each colorway. Black, red, blud, white, and green.

Good news everyone, I’ve just restocked my site with fresh new Bolt yo-yos and counterweights.

Brand new to this batch is the new green Bolt yo-yo, which comes sets up for responsive play. This yo-yo comes lubed with a narrow bearing and is great for beginners or old school players.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

New Thumbnails

Every now and then, I like to hire an artist to make some thumbnails for my videos. I really got a kick out of this new batch, so I thought I’d share them here. 

These thumbnails are for the following videos:

I sort of like these thumbs, but I always wonder if they clash with the overall style and vibe of the show. What do you think?

Posted on by — Leave a comment

PopCast: Skin The Gerbil

The newest episode of my PopCast yo-yo vlog is all about Skin The Gerbil. Skin The Gerbil is one of my most popular tricks, so I’m really excited to dedicate an entire episode to it. I talk about how the trick got its odd name, what is “alpha style”, and more yo-yo history. I hope you enjoy it!

Huge shout out to Clifton B. for editing this video, Noel von Joo for shooting it, an dall of my Patreon sponsors for making it possible.