The Fall of the Gatto Forum

Rome did not fall; it gradually declined and assimilated into other cultures. The same is true of the once mighty Gatto Forums. There was a time when it was the premier forum online for jugglers to talk and have a sense of community and fun while discussing juggling. Topics ranged from backcrosses to Sponge Bob, but it was always nice to log on and see what was going on in the juggling world. No more. We may never be able to put an exact date on when the Gatto Forum began its decline. Was it the banning of certain members, Color changes, Dave Altman as Moderator, or maybe the creation of the private area? Whatever the combination may have been, one thing is certain; the Gatto Forum no longer exists.

A couple of months ago a thread was started on rec.juggling discussing why people did and did not visit the Gatto Forums. I spoke up strongly to defend the forum, after all it was my home, the one place online where I really felt comfortable talking with other jugglers. Whenever I go to a festival I find it easy to pick out my friends, because more than likely we started talking through the Gatto Forums and then through instant messenger. Yet, now I feel almost no allegiance. Very little makes me click the forum link under my bookmark tab. Where has the sudden lack of interest arisen from on my part? There certainly is no lack of a desire to juggle. I can juggle better now than I could at any point during my tenure on the forum. So allow me to take a look at different problems I see with the forum at the moment.

Banned Members

I admit that I fully supported the banning of Carey. He was annoying, obnoxious and added very little to juggling discussion. Still, I find it difficult to flip past Sponge Bob on TV if I’m feeling bored. But it was not his expulsion that annoyed me, rather it was when John Nations found himself kicked off the forum. Yes, they let him back on, but it seemed such a trivial argument and came at a time when many of us thought the forum was getting too strict. The foundation of the Forum has always been held in its motto: “where the pros go to talk juggling”? That’s very nice and all, but who seriously would believe that an online forum would not invite just as many annoying 12 year olds as dedicated professionals? In fact while the forum has become looser in more recent times, a couple of months ago there was a notable member, Joe Showers, who left the forum for many reasons. I could not help but sympathize with him on certain aspects. Even though I was one of the longest active members on the board, I was conscious while posting that any post could be the one that might accidentally offend someone and get myself banned. That does not facilitate free discussion and talk in an online community. It is completely legitimate for people to be disciplined if they make comments such as “Anthony Gatto is a terrible human being” but actual opinions about juggling should never have been limited.

Anthony Gatto

Anthony is one of my favorite jugglers. When it comes to ability and performance ability, I believe that he has no rival. When speaking with someone at Philly Fest this past weekend and was asked who I thought the world’s best juggler was, I found myself biting my tongue. Considering the fact that the person questioning me was Vova’s girlfriend I found it difficult to not give him credit; however I knew in my heart the true answer. Vova is great, but Anthony can juggle 7 clubs longer than Vova can even imagine, with a club balanced on his forehead. There is no way to devalue Anthony Gatto. It is one of my absolute goals in life to see him perform and shake his hand before I die, but unfortunately the novelty of Anthony Gatto has worn itself out. Two years ago the forum was a much tighter knit community. There were much fewer members and it was easier for Gatto to respond and connect with the forum members. I will never forget posting admittedly terrible videos, and yet having Anthony Gatto watch them and comment and give me advice. It was as though Tiger Woods had commented on my golf swing. Nowadays this simply is not possible. Videos are posted by the boat load and Anthony simply has given up on watching the vast majority of them. Furthermore it seems like every other day some new member asks the same old questions about siteswaps or juggling as an art which forces Anthony to sound like a broken record. It is no longer such a big deal with he does make a response, it has become commonplace. Sadly, it is taken for granted. The internet juggling community is no longer thankful for his presence; instead it is much more popular to attack him.

Dave Altman

Ok, honestly, does anybody know who Dave Altman is? Where did he come from? What does he do? The only description we generally get is a wheelchair dwelling Anthony Gatto fanboy. So why is he the moderator? The issue at hand seems to be whether or not the forum should have a moderator. I think that it should either have a couple so that it’s not a biased source, or not at all. The forum survived just fine without Altman, and if he never signed on again, we would continue to survive. A moderator other than Anthony is simply just not necessary. This is not an attack on Dave Altman as a person I do not know him well enough to speak of him as a person, rather I feel that we should either have a couple Moderators to balance out his views, or we shouldn’t have any at all.

Private Area

Thankfully, this was done away with, but I feel as though the damage was done while it existed. It excluded many members who could not understand why they would not be entitled to access. It made the forum have an exclusive membership to it that was unnecessary.

I could go on and on about why the Gatto Forum has declined to the point of non-existence, but nothing I can say will change what has happened. I will continue to use the forum even though it is barely a shell of the forum I used to love. When you sign in and make your next post, just be mindful of one crucial fact: you are no longer posting on the Gatto Forum, you are posting on Juggling Talk.

Behind the Juggler: Anthony Attinello

Name, how old are you, and for how long have you been juggling?

Anthony Attinello, 20 years old, juggling for 4 years.

At what point did you know that juggling was what you wanted to do, and would make up a critical part of your life?

I was 16 and it was the summer of 2003. I decided to look up juggling on the internet after I had been messing around with it on my own. I saw what was possible with juggling and I started practicing. One of the videos that got me into it was Bill Berry doing 5 ball mills mess with these massive juggling balls. They had to be at least 3.5 inches. Then I became obsessed and started doing it all the time.

To date, what is the most unusual thing or set of things that you have juggled?

I used to work for a plumbing company and when we didn’t have any job sites to go to, it was my job to clean the shop. I’d usually hide behind a shelf and juggle anything I can find. So random plumbing supplies including PVC pipe, copper fittings, plungers, copper pipes, bolts, wrenches, chanelox, and anything else you would find in a plumbing shop.

What has your juggling career entailed so far?

Performing for my High School talent shows, charity events, juggling conventions and one WJF convention.

What accomplishments are you most proud of?

Juggling
Beating Vova one on one in combat
Qualify of 7 XL rings
97531 qualify with 5 balls
7 ball half shower

Life in general
Getting into college
Not having any moving violations on my car
Living for 20 years without dying, I am very accident prone.

How many of each type of props do you juggle?

7 balls, 7 rings and 5 clubs. 7 balls and 7 rings is ok, 5 clubs is a pain right now.

Do you specialize in any auxiliary props or non juggling circus arts?

No

Generally speaking, do you wear socks while you juggle?

Yes, always. Socks and shoes.

At what types of venues do you usually perform?

Anywhere that wants to book me. Lately it has been a lot of charity and variety shows which is fine. Me and a few other jugglers at the University of Delaware have a paying gig coming up soon.

Anything amusing or unique ever happen at one of these shows?

My friend Pete and I performed for a variety show for V-Day, also known as Vagina Day. There were singing groups, women doing vagina monologues, and this guy who brought out this huge 20 foot python and a 6 foot alligator. The snake was awesome. Other than that not really, I have not performed that much.

Are you a clown?

Do you want to be punched in the face?

What makes up a standard juggling practice for you?

I usually start with clubs. I spend time on 3 and 4 club tricks and variations and then I practice 5 for a little bit. I definitely don’t practice 5 clubs enough. Then I move on to balls or rings, it depends. Lately I have been working on 360’s again. I really do not like 360’s all that much. I will go through phases where I like them, then I will have phases where I do not do them at all. So yea, I practice the basic 3 ball 3 up to reinforce fundamentals and make sure everything is solid. Then I move on to 4 ball siteswaps and connections. I guess you can say I have been inspired by the WJF a little bit. I just try and link as many 4 ball siteswaps and tricks together as I can. 5 balls is my favorite number so I work a lot on that. Then it is on to 6 balls. I feel that 6 balls is neglected by a lot of people so I work on it a good amount. Then I practice 7. Rings are next. I just bought a set of XL rings from www.kineticjuggling.com so I have been using those nonstop. They are really awesome and a lot of fun, even though they destroy your hands. Everyone should at least try them. Once my hands have had enough I go back to normal sized rings. I practice 3 and 4 ring 360’s, moves and multiplexes. I work on the same thing with 5 rings as I do with balls pretty much. I think you know what is next, 6 and 7 rings.

What is it that will make you want to pick up your props tomorrow and keep juggling?

I want to keep getting better. I have this problem with thinking that I am not that great a juggler and I always feel like I should be better. Juggling videos are also a huge motivator. I see other people doing awesome things and I want to go out and try them or put my own spin on them. I also like the feedback that people give me on my own videos. I like the creativity that comes with juggling and I like trying tricks that are out of the box and that people have never seen before.

What goals are you currently working towards?

Get better with 7 balls, 7 rings and 5 clubs
5 ball 5 up 360, 5 ring 5 up 360, 6 ring 4 up 360s and get better at 3 club 3 ups
4 club backcrosses in any form or variation. Of course 5 club backcrosses.
3 club crotch throws and reverse backcrosses. I want to qualify both.

Which prop is your favorite to juggle? Any specific reasoning?

I guess I would say balls are my favorite. I have been juggling them the longest and I am the best with them. Rings and clubs are tied for second. I am better at rings but I like them both equally. I like clubs because there is so much you can do with them. Different types of thows, catches, and pattern variations. I like rings because they are easy and they are very visual to the audience. Also they seem to be the less popular of the 3 basic props so that motivates me to work with them even more.

Are there any specific jugglers that inspire you?

Dietz, Wes, Gatto, Karas, Vova, Garfield, Selby and Anna, Peter Bone, Komei Aoki, Brett Sheets, Kristian Wanvik, Joe Showers, Norbi, the list goes on.

Do you have any “claims to fame” in the juggling community?

I suppose my two juggling videos that I put out with the juggling club at my school. A few people at the WJF recognized me from the video so I guess people have seen it. You can find them here:

UD Juggling – Spring 07
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5Hn6eMZAPA
http://www.jugglethis.net/filemgmt/visit.php?lid=984

UD Juggling Club
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-OqEoBs76I
http://www.jugglethis.net/filemgmt/singlefile.php?lid=858

Where do you see yourself in terms of juggling in a month, a year, 10 years?

Month – not that much better
A year – Very good with 360’s and getting ready to compete in the WJF Intermediate rings and balls. Making a few more videos and being busy with running the juggling club at my school.
10 years – Much better at juggling and also teaching it to kids at my job as a Health and Physical Education teacher.

Art or Sport?

This is a tough one. I think either Ivan or Jason said that juggling is an art, a skill and a sport. I definitely agree with this statement. Juggling is whatever you want it to be. When I juggle I definitely lean towards the “sport” juggling approach. I like siteswaps, 360’s when I feel like it and hard transitions. I definitely appreciate so called artistic juggling though. Ring manipulation grew on me but I only like it in short bursts. I cannot take too much of it at once. I also really like jugglers like Wes and Karas that have very visual and choreographed performances. So I will never say, “No, Juggling is only a sport,” or “Juggling is only an art.”

Balls, Beanbags, or Russians?

I definitely use beanbags the most. Sometimes I like using a hard ball though. They have a different feel which is good and I like to take a break from using the sportco balls.

If there is one thing you would like the juggling community to know about you, what would it be?

I'm really into punk rock and some metal and I have been to around 75 shows. I drove to Boston and back in one day for 2 bands. I also love to drive.