Underwater Pumpkin Carving

This sounds soo cool. I would love to learn some of the ways that people do this. I am sure that there are some who just go underwater with a knife, a pumpkin, and there scuba gear, but according to Saipan which also has a link to a forum some of these guys have actual gear for this.

I think this is probably one of the more interesting scuba diving hobbies that I have heard about so far. I probably won't ever get the chance to do it since I don't live near any good dive sites, and usually don't go anywhere around halloween. Oh well, it doesn't mean i won't try it on something some time though. Maybe I'll get the chance some time. Either way I thought this was pretty cool and will try to look a little more on the forum link. I am at least really interested in what some of the people carved.

Global Warming Can Blow Me

So check it out, Tribe Films is getting ready to release a new movie December 1st. This Croatian company has gathered some of the best Croatian riders for their sophomore release. These guys really get me pumped to go snowboarding. They are always smiling and look like they're having fun the entire time. I think you will be able to download the movie after it is released.

Living in the midwest I was excited to hear a resort was opening. WildMountain is offically open for riding. However, only a few of the intermediate slopes are ridable and very few jibs. But it's a start.

What really pisses me off is the weather here. Today's forecast, 60 degrees and partly cloudy. Seriously, we aren't going to get snow until January. All the time I read about resorts opening and awesome weather, and here I am still stuck in the middle of fall.

I remember as a kid, it was freezing by the start of November and snowing midway into the month. I remember school getting canceled because of the snow.

Now days we haven't even had a frost, let alone any snow. It is raining at mountains when snow should be falling. If this isn't a sign of global warming I don't know what is. And all you idiots who don't think global warming is real, WAKE UP!

Luckly, Thanksgiving break is coming up next week and I'll hopefully I'll have a few days to get away. I look forward to colder weather.

Mark Gonzales and a bit of pondering

Courtesy of Fourstar Clothing

As weird and as lame as it sounds, I’ve been pondering. I know it might be the sign of a romantic academic, but I do believe that thinking about things makes one a critical thinker and well-versed person. One of the main things that came to mind as I pondered today was the “Day in the Life of Mark Gonzalez” section of the 2006 film by Fourstar Clothing, Super Champion Funzone. I think that Mark is probably the most insightful professional in the skateboarding community and always has plenty of interesting things to say in every video he appears in. In this particular clip Mark mentions how skateboarders want everything to be perfect. For example, they don’t want any parts of their skateboards missing or damaged. Or they want to land the tricks they are trying in the way they are supposed to be done. He uses these examples to draw a few observations about the state of American education. Mark laments that our culture often teaches kids to “settle for less” such that they wouldn’t even pay attention to the intricacies that skateboarders do in their trade.

I thought about this statement more and more; eventually arriving at the realization of its true power and insight. I think our society has, of late, ingrained this external locus of control into many of our young people. We, as an American culture, are buying into the belief that most everything being outside of our control and we consequently leave everything up to fate. I suspect that the American dream is no longer about working hard, bettering yourself, and establishing and providing for a family. Now it seems that success requires hitting a streak of luck or being at the right place at the right time.

So how much does our societies locus of control relate to skateboarding? Well actually quite a bit. You see as a skateboarder, I have learned what the fruits of hard work can be. I try a trick over and over again until I land it. That’s persistence paying off. Sometimes I won’t be happy with how I landed it, perhaps it was sketchy, and I will do it again until I get it better. That’s the pursuit of perfection. And why do I continue to throw my body down onto the ground again and again until I’ve done what I set out to do? The reason is that it is gratifying and fun. Yes, it took a lot of hard work, pain, and a hell of a lot of practice, but the rewarding feeling of success was worth it in the end. I think our culture needs to wake up and realize that kids need to be taught that persistence and the pursuit of perfection do pay off.

When will kids no longer settle for less? When will we shift our collective locus of control from being the fate-based, fallacy-riddled external type to a more achievement and hard work oriented internal type? Excelling in skateboarding isn’t about luck. Just like any other sport, it’s about hard work, determination, and the pursuit of perfection. I believe that the people who learn these values will prosper in their future endeavors. So for God sakes get up off your ass and work hard. Don’t settle for less!

To Board or To Ski: Which is Right?

Which is easier to learn, skiing or snowboarding? Many first time visitors to the slopes ask this question. This depends on your definition of easy. Do you want to be able to ride the lift right away? Or would you rather be able to ride that black diamond in a day or two? There are advantages to both skiing and snowboarding.

Skiing is most like ice-skating or rollerblading. You have the ability to use both of your feet independently of each other. For some of the less coordinated this can be a disadvantage, but with a little practice it can become easy. Another advantage to learning to ski is having poles to help you balance. These two shafts help you move around on flat ground and help keep you in place on sloped plains. On the first day skiing, you should be able to ‘snowplow’ or ‘pizza’ your way down the hill. This simply involves pointing your toes towards each other, slowing you down. This should allow you to ride the lift to an easy slope or even intermediate run in the first day. In the next couple of days, parallel carving should be easy enough. After this however, the learning curve begins to slow down.

Snowboarding is most like skateboarding or surfing. Although your feet are strapped to one board this can be helpful. No crossing of skis keeps your legs from twisting up. Also you don’t have to worry about keeping both feet together as they can’t really move that far apart. Snowboarding takes a few days to get the hang of. Learning to control the edges of the board is tough. If you use too much edge you can loose you balance and fall, but not using enough edge can cause you to catch the other and once again fall. Finding the balance between the two is one of the most important skills when first learning. Once you can turn and stop, which are very closely related, snowboarding becomes very easy to learn. Riding intermediate and advanced slopes within the first few weeks is very possible. Hitting jumps and grinding rails are two other options that open up very quickly when learning to snowboard.

Both skiing and snowboarding are easy to pick up if you have a little patience and a little time. Which you choose is ultimately up to you. So why not take a ride and try both? I guarantee both will be fun and well worth your time.

Planks vs. Boards: The War Rages

Ever since snowboards were created in the 60's, a “rivalry” has existed between snowboarders and skiers. There are many ideas as to why there is a tension between the two. My next couple of post will cover snowboarding vs. skiing.

When people are asked which is better, snowboarding or skiing, it is really an unfair question. Although both take place on snow, snowboarding and skiing are two very different sports. Snowboarding did not originate from skiing; rather it comes from a long line of surfers and skateboarders (via about). This being said it is hard to tell which is “better” because they are so different.

I can almost guarantee that every skier would say skiing is best and every snowboarder would say snowboarding is better. It is true both have their up sides and both have down sides.

Skiing:
Easy entry and exit of bindings. No hassle bending over.
No blind spots because you are constantly looking downhill.
Easy movement on flat areas.
Faster than snowboards.

Snowboarding:
Secure bindings don’t fall off when you fall, letting you get up quickly.
Less equipment to bring from the car: wear boots, carry board.
Boots are more comfortable to walk in.
(via grays on trays)

These are just a few examples of advantages of each sport. It really upsets me when either side decides to take a stand and unfairly represents the other side. A good example is in this slide-show. Every claim made for skiing can be made for snowboarding besides the speed. Snowboards are evolving. Skiers are just as unsafe. Both require skill and can do a variety of riding. Both have advantages when learning, and are nerve-racking at the beginning. This fellow just needs to open his eyes and look at the other side.

Which do you think is better? What advantages and disadvantages does each have in your opinion?

Next post will discuss which is easier to learn.

Halloween Treat

Courtesy of Zero Skateboards

I’ve had a tough time with updates lately; too many tests and projects to worry about and get in the way. I really have wanted to put some stuff up on here; I just haven’t had the chance. Since today is Halloween I figured that I should probably write about something scary. Well I confess that my topic won’t be very scary, because other than Jake Brown’s fall at the X-Games, what is in skateboarding?

I’m going to giving you a look back to a widely popular video that was released, coincidentally on Halloween. Jamie Thomas and his company Zero Skateboards out of San Diego are notorious for their mind blowing skate videos. Dying to Live, which was released in 2003, was a video that wowed audiences by showcasing the Zero team’s handrail carnage, backyard pool murder, and stair set torture. Sounds like a horror flick doesn’t it? Well not exactly, but the video did inspire a generation of skateboarders to go balls to the wall in every aspect of their skating. Now you’ll see kids skating pools, stairs, handrails, and many more things to the extent that they are pretty damn good at it.

But let me get back to the video and talk about what else makes it special. The skateboard world knew who Jamie Thomas, Adrian Lopez, and Matt Mumford were. They all had ridden for Zero for quite a while and had established themselves as some of the top professionals in the industry. But what’s important is that Dying to Live introduced some now-household names to the skateboarding community.

Jon Allie, a native of Wisconsin, put together a great video part that included a lot of highly technical flip trick to grinds down big handrails. One of the big things that stuck out in his part was his nosebluntslide down the Hollywood High sixteen rail, one of skateboarding’s benchmarks. Now Jon has a pro model show with Circa and a variety of signature skateboards from Slave Skateboards, the newest venture from the Zero camp. Once a no-namer, Jon seemingly blew up over night and became an instant hit with many skateboarders.

Ryan Smith and Lindsey Robertson are two more that Dying to Live knighted with recognition. I group them together because they share most of the same sponsors and are commonly grouped side by side. Ryan tended to favor the big handrails where as Lindsey took care of the big gaps. Both have signature boards with Mystery and are now know for their disregard for bodily injury and their continuation of pushing the limit of how big good skateboarding must be.

Scotsman John Rattray was well known in Europe before this video came out, but in the United States the opposite was true. In 2003 Rattray stunned audiences with his mastery of every aspect of skateboarding. After all, the guy can do a 540 on a vert ramp and then go lipslide a 15 stair rail. Now Rattray as well known by many and has several signature models with Zero. Another thing that should be noted is that he has a degree in physics from Cambridge University.

The final and by far the most influential skateboarder the world found out about upon the release of Dying to Live is Chris Cole. Though he already had a great part in the Transworld video, In Bloom, about six months before the Zero video, it was in no ways comparable to the Dying to Live part. From 360 flipping large sets of stairs including the Rincon 4 to frontside boardsliding a ridiculously long hubba ledge (as seen above) Cole was amazing. He was promptly turned pro after the video was released and now has several pro model shoes and clothing lines with Fallen footwear and apparel. Nowadays there are lots of kids that want to be just like Chris; look like him, dress like him, and skate like him. I can’t tell you how many times I have been to the skatepark and there will be a kid there saying to his friends “Check me out, I’m Chris Cole” and end up trying to 360 flip a large set of stairs.

Perhaps that’s the scary part of this story, a group of skateboarders influencing a much larger group to do things like jump off buildings, grind handrails, and skate backyard pools. But maybe, that larger group is just simply dying to live. Happy Halloween.

Spot Check: Frankfort Skatepark

Situated somewhere in between Lafayette and Indianapolis lies the small, but bustling city of Frankfort. Home of the Frankfort Hot Dogs, not only does the city have a crazy mascot and an abundance of processed meat, it also as a great skatepark.

Along with a few of my friends, I went down to the city this weekend to have a good old fashioned session at the skatepark. The park is comprised of a variety of well-placed, pre-fabricated, concrete apparatus designed to appeal to just about all skateboarders. The park includes three, four foot tall mini-ramps, two of which have extensions and the other has a spine in the middle. There are two pyramids; one with a hubba ledge and a rail that can be skated by both regular and goofy footed skaters and the other with a flat wall extending across the hip. There are two fun boxes. One features a concave curve while the other includes a variety of options including a flat bar and an elevated box. There are several other obstacles placed throughout the park including a flatbar and a bench. Frankfort’s skatepark also includes a hefty six stair with hubba ledges and a handrail for the more ambitious skateboarder. All in all, a solid amount of obstacle assortment can be found here. As one of the smoothest skateparks in the state, it is one of the most fun places to go.

My friends and I had a good time skating all the options the park had to offer. Though this wasn’t the first time I had been to the park, it was nice to have a change in the monotony of the police infested skate spots my college has to offer. You couldn’t have asked for a better day either. It was sunny and warm with a nice cooling breeze; sort of one of those perfect fall days we all love. I really hope to go back to the park sometime soon. I really like it a lot. So if you are ever traversing north-central Indiana on I-65, pull off at the Frankfort exit and have yourself a little session. It will be a lot of fun.