The Think Tank

Debbie and I competed in this years Northwest Shootup Tour, a series of tournaments held throughout Oregon and Washington in December and January, culminating in the Final this weekend in Camas.  In order to qualify for the Final, you had to compete in at least three of the first ten legs.

In all there were more than 120 people who competed over the course of the whole Tour, and this years payouts were the largest ever.  All told there was over $3,000 handed out this weekend.

Debbie continued to improve over the course of the whole series, which sort of worked against her in some ways.  She wound up winning the Second Flight back in December, and since then she improved her average score a bit, which stuck her at the bottom of the First Flight instead of the top of the Second.  That is good in that it means she shot better, but it is unfortunate in that it means she would have to shoot through a whole lot of people in the Elimination rounds to get into the money.

She shot really great this weekend, eliminating four people and moving up three places, making the largest jump in placement of anyone in the whole event.  She started out 11th over all, and finished in 8th place in the First Flight.

I shot fairly well in the earlier stages of the Tour, but the last three events were not so good for me.  Still I manged to be ranked 3rd over the course of the entire event, and I moved up enough to compete for the win, but in the end I lost by two X’s and finished second.

It was a very fun experience and I look forward to competing in it again next year.

Full results can be found here.

The final results for the Washington State Multi-Color championships came in yesterday, and I was surprised to find that I finished third.  I shot pretty well the second day, but I shot what I felt was a very mediocre score the first day, so I was quite surprised to find that I had finished in the medals.

Full results can be found here.  My division is A-M-FS.

In case any of you are wondering why it is called the “Multi-Color” championships, it is because we shoot at a target like the one at left, which has multiple colors.  Officially this is called a FITA (Federation of International Target Archery) face, but FITA scores this target differently then the National Field Archery Association does, so there are now two different rounds: FITA rounds, and what most of us call Vegas rounds, named after the World Archery Festival held each year in Las Vegas.  Apparently Washington decided that “Washington State Vegas Championships” did not sound good, and since they also have a State FITA Championship, they went with “Multi-Color Championships.”  This also helps to differentiate it from another commonly shot round, which uses a target that is all blue with a white bullseye.  Washington calls this tournament their “Blue Face” championship.

PS – Back in November I shot in the Washington State Indoor FITA Championships, where I came in first place.  I was surprised about that one too.  😉

My friend and ex-workmate Mike Vogel has completed his second feature length film Did You Kiss Anyone?, and it will be playing at the Bagdad Theater on February 7th, 2012!  Please go check it out!  The film is shot completely in Portland, Mike is an awesome guy, and his movies and videos are always well done and very funny.

Here is a link to the full details.

His last movie, The Waiting List, is available on YouTube as well.  I would highly recommend that you check it out too!

I got the official results from the Washington State Indoor FITA that I shot in last month, and it turns out that I won!  There wasn’t a huge turn out, only 10 people in the mens division which is pretty low, but I guess a win is a win.  I figured I was probably in the top 4-5, but I did not think that my score would be terribly competitive, so I was quite surprised when I saw the results tonight.

Full results are here.  My division is Senior Male Compound Release.

Portland, OR —

Chris Roberts-Olsen, Supreme Allied Decorator for the Northeastern Front, has declared victory today over the forces of Grinchiness everywhere, bringing to an end nearly four weeks of feverish efforts.

“There will still be some minor wrap up operations, cleaning up a few hold-outs here and there,” said Sue Lauber, the Northeastern Regional Commandant.  “But major decorating operations are now ended.  We haven’t seen so much as a green Grinch hair since before Thanksgiving.”

Roberts-Olsen and Lauber are satisfied with their efforts this year, but they aren’t getting cocky.  “We’re prepared for some additional setbacks.  You never know when a string of lights could blink out,” Roberts-Olsen reported.  “But it looks like everything will be a good to go before the weekend”, he said, referencing the traditional end to the fighting season.

Not everyone is as chipper as those two, however.  “You people are ridiculous,” declared Shannon Corgill, a former Reservist recently called to active duty.  “I better get a back rub out of this deal.”