Just Skatin'

2007-04-30T18:40:00.000-07:00

Hello there,
I recently wrote an English paper regarding the great surf/skate photographer Warren Bolster....if you'd like to read it, click the link below.

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dc8jt7w3_9gz6gdj

Thanks....your comments are appreciated!

Just Skatin' Montage 1

2007-03-24T13:35:00.000-07:00

Hey folks, it's been a while, and while my internet wasn't working I made a nice photo montage from what I had on hand. Enjoy.

Just bombin'

2007-02-05T18:53:00.000-08:00

Skirmish (click for video)

Gus and I had a recent "grudge match" on one of the smaller hills in Middletown. It was pretty fun, considering the horribly cold weather. Mad props to Alex E. for doing the camerawork. Enjoy.

(by the way, the Bozi rips)

Anybody else like top chef?

2007-02-04T15:58:00.000-08:00

I saw the "finale" yesterday, it'll be sad to see that show leave our televisions. Probably the only show I've sort of closely followed too. Man, it was great.

Sucks that Marcel didn't win either, I was rootin' for him. Those sugar teardrops were amazing. I've been reading up on Molecular Gastronomy and I'm going to try my hand at hot ice cream sometime in the next week or so.

So, anybody else like top chef?

Cheers

sigh

2007-01-31T04:27:00.000-08:00

so, today, I walked to school. It turns out there was a delay.

New board!

2007-01-29T17:30:00.000-08:00

Just recieved my Bozi Mad Bomber 2 Badboyz Inc. Ltd. Edition speedboard....

Pics first, review later. Enjoy the eye candy.

Picture 1

Picture 2

Picture 3

Picture 4

videos 6,7, 8, and 9 of the puppies.

2007-01-26T19:55:00.000-08:00

Here they are, less than a week before we brought one home.

Video 6

Video 7

Video 8

Video 9

Enjoy, and thanks for watching my spree of of non-skate related puppy videos.

golden retriever pups, feeding time

2007-01-13T15:53:00.001-08:00


10 minutes of chow down with the pups. 5 weeks old.

golden retriever pups, video 5

2007-01-13T15:52:00.001-08:00

Here's another video of the pups, 5 weeks old

what's going on?

2007-01-07T18:50:00.000-08:00

An article was written out and posted on the front page of silverfishlongboarding.com about sector9 and abec11 getting together. While the Randal-Sector9 article stood, they removed this one in about 30 minutes. Only 3 or 4 people claim to have seen it. Go to sk8trip.com and check under the trucks secton----don't those "liquid trucks" (aka, the trucks chaput has had in the protype stages for god knows how many years) look familiar to randals? what the hell? And then the completes, retro completes, pink completes, clothing? retro, pink, abec 11 clothing? Chaput's big red x is "Great for campus cruising"? not to mention this sk8trip is much different than the last one I saw...

who knows what's going on here? Sector9 grabbing randal was a good move, but damnit I hope they keep pouring the same abec11 urethane....I love that stuff...actually decent sector9 completes? who knows? Is it a marketing scheme? Will Randal Fuller keep designing trucks? What about chaput's fyre trucks? Sector9 had better do some good things with their newly-obtained resources....

-------------------------------------------------------

Edit: it turns out randal hasn't been sold to s9 but s9 has been bought by abec11. Interesting, indeed.

aaaaaaaaah whatever, we'll see how things work out

puppy video update.

2006-12-28T11:38:00.000-08:00

Some recent videos of the little buggers.

Enjoy.

Video 1

Video 2

Video 3

Video 4

2006-12-20T10:02:00.000-08:00

William Dent is another uncle of mine....he's helping with conservation in south america.

What an awesome little christmas greeting they've worked up for us.

Puppies!

2006-12-13T16:27:00.000-08:00

Check these little buggers out, man they're cute....baby golden retrievers, 2 weeks old. That's my uncle and my mom in the background, my uncle's the one who breeds them. Hopefully we can bring one home after christmas....

Check My facebook "puppies" album for more pics, here's a quick vid of them from yesterday.

here's a link for those of you who can't see the vid

Happy holidays

2006-12-07T19:48:00.001-08:00

(to the tune of 12 days of christmas)

On the first day of '06, I learned to ride DH
...With an old nuclear pickle and crails!

On the second day of '06, I rode in NOVA's race
...watching people pass me,
...on an old nuclear pickle and crails!

On the third day of '06, I sold my rolls rolls board
...for some geezered slalom,
...watching people pass me,
...on an old nuclear pickle and crails!

On the 4th day of '06, I recieved a used big bug
...Sold my old rollsrolls board,
...for some geezered slalom,
...watching people pass me,
...on an old nuclear pickle and crails!

On the 5th day of '06, the mail gave to me, a package...from mile-high skates!
...recieved a used big bug,
...Sold my old rollsrolls board,
...for some geezered slalom,
...watching people pass me,
...on an old nuclear pickle and crails!

On the 6th day of '06, I learned to coleman slide...
...got a package...from mile-high skates!
...recieved a used big bug,
...Sold my old rollsrolls board,
...for some geezered slalom,
...watching people pass me,
...on an old nuclear pickle and crails!

On the 7th day of '06, I practiced my cross-steps
...learned to coleman slide...,
...got a package...from mile-high skates!
...recieved a used big bug,
...Sold my old rollsrolls board,
...for some geezered slalom,
...watching people pass me,
...on an old nuclear pickle and crails!

On the 8th day of '06, I fiddled with new stims
...Practiced my cross-steps,
...learned to coleman slide...,
...got a package...from mile-high skates!
...recieved a used big bug,
...Sold my old rollsrolls board,
...for some geezered slalom,
...watching people pass me,
...on an old nuclear pickle and crails!

On the 9th day of '06, I got a leather suit
...fiddled with new stims,
...Practiced my cross-steps,
...learned to coleman slide...,
...got a package...from mile-high skates!
...recieved a used big bug,
...Sold my old rollsrolls board,
...for some geezered slalom,
...watching people pass me,
...on an old nuclear pickle and crails!

On the 10th day of '06, I rode down a fresh paved street
...Wore my leather suit,
...fiddled with new stims,
...Practiced my cross-steps,
...learned to coleman slide...,
...got a package...from mile-high skates!
...recieved a used big bug,
...Sold my old rollsrolls board,
...for some geezered slalom,
...watching people pass me,
...on an old nuclear pickle and crails!

On the 11th day of '06, I ripped hills, a new flexdex
...rode down a fresh paved street,
...Wore my leather suit,
...fiddled with new stims,
...Practiced my cross-steps,
...learned to coleman slide...,
...got a package...from mile-high skates!
...recieved a used big bug,
...Sold my old rollsrolls board,
...for some geezered slalom,
...watching people pass me,
...on an old nuclear pickle and crails!

On the 12th day of '06, I became concrete kahuna!
...rippin hills on my new flexdex,
...rode down a fresh paved street,
...Wore my leather suit,
...fiddled with new stims,
...Practiced my cross-steps,
...learned to coleman slide...,
...got a package...from mile-high skates!
...recieved a used big bug,
...Sold my old rollsrolls board,
...for some geezered slalom,
...watching people pass me,
...on an old nuclear pickle and crails!

Gettin those last few rides in...

2006-12-04T15:25:00.000-08:00

Aaah, winter is here. Autumn is making his final stand, spring vanished along with summer too long ago to remember, and the coldfront is finally setting in. It's crucial to get that last taste of fresh asphalt before the snow starts to fall.

Latley I've been doing a lot of cruising. Nothing like a brisk autumn cruise, cross-stepping past neighbors raking their leaves and taking in the fresh air, nice, big, smooth carves and plenty of deck to stand on. That's right, my big bug has been getting a lot of riding lately. Once summer sets back in I'll probably be on the 62" cruiser more, too. This seems to be the time of year for cruising....Layin' back and enjoying the world change, not a sound but the humming of your wheels.

As far as christmas goes, I might ask for a balance board, to practice things on. A new speedboard (rayne avenger, force c7's, speedvents) is also on the list, I can finally put the pickle to rest as a speedcarver/jack of all hills kind of board. The slalom board is also getting some trucks and wheels on her, should be a fun little alternative to my flexdex...those rubber bushings have NO rebound at all, by the way. Fun to turn, but hard to get used to and they can't pump worth beans...I'll throw some khiros in there tonight.

Remember though...the best things in life aren't things.

Enjoy your holidays, and thanks for readin'

NOVA PICS!!!!

2006-11-25T19:47:00.000-08:00

whoo! they're here!

Northern Va. fall outlaw Downhill race...

2006-11-20T16:25:00.000-08:00

Freaking sweet.

Loads of great guys, the fastest hill I've seen, and more stoke than you can fit in a blue van full of kids.

Just a few things....

Longbord1, you remind me of a groundhog coming out of his hole, when you saw the van. In that huge crowd of dudes your head just popped right up and I swear, you scanned it good before we had a chance to even step out.
wow, putting names to faces was cool.
Thanks for the warm welcome, too many names to remember.... Dane, thanks for remembering mine.
Nick, Man, your hair is long....
Ned, my dad likes you a lot.
"You want to die? This is your board!"
Longbord1, you and Crappysurfer are a picture together.
Jay Clure, downhill on a GS board, now that's gnar. And you beat me!?!?!
Adam colton, coolest cat in town. A great guy too, had a nice time chatting with him. The loaded speedboard looks like it's coming along well.
Jam (or is it Connor)? Nice fall you had there! Way to kill me in the Amateur race too :)
Skitching, it's harder than it looks....hehehe....
"seriously man, you need to eat some hamburgers"
That stake didn't have a chance, William Wallace
Mike D. , sportin' the nose ring
Damn, that's one fine looking hill.
"Where's the bathroom?"
She's too pretty to stand on, I'm, sorry man, I just can't stand on her....
"The Jacket, it weighs as much as he does"
"Where's my free stickers?!?!"
"Just crank 'em down, man, crank down those bushings"
Whoa! NICE Jimz's....
"Tuck, tuck, tuck, tuck!"
A perfect day for a race, if you ask me.
Thanks for the huzzah of a goodbye.
A spring race would be insane.

I'm happy I could go.

Thanks to ned for getting all those sweet pictures, I'll feature a few on here when he's done uploading them. Sorry I couldn't stay for the slide competition....Nick, you look like you came out of Braveheart.

Cheers

2006-11-12T17:04:00.000-08:00

The keyboard and mouse got stolen from me friday, saturday, and today.

Can't talk, mom is going to kill me if she finds I'm on her *cough*lap*cough*top*cough*

Big bug review is in the works, got a nice ride on her friday and I'm still recovering from the stoke.

Later

2006-11-09T18:44:00.000-08:00

Just a few pics from the latest session...enjoy them.

Coolness
Michael
Tom
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...g/IMG_0649.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...g/IMG_0638.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...g/IMG_0637.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...g/IMG_0641.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...g/IMG_0644.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...g/IMG_0636.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...g/IMG_0629.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...g/IMG_0628.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...g/IMG_0621.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...g/IMG_0626.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...g/IMG_0623.jpg

Sorry I've been slow on the updates. Grades haven't been too good but I get on the computer when I can. Big slide article coming soon, as soon as I can get a 360 coleman down...haha, It's coming, seriously, I won't let you down....it's going to be hella huge.

I also plan on s-glassing the nuclear pickle, to stiffen her up for next year's racing season. Can anybody guess where this year's christmas money is going?

The NOVA race is in about a week and a half. Man, I can't wait for it. Things are going to be killer.

Edit: There's also a video that we've been having trouble uploading for several months...progress is being made as I speak, it's an old video, but you folks will love it. Can anybody say, "capes"???

Cheers

bushing changes and such

2006-11-03T18:39:00.000-08:00

Today I got that tingly feeling inside...

....you know, the one you get when you feel like your bushings aren't just right.

I ended up swapping bushings on my flexdex and speedboard...also had an opportunity to take a few pictures.

My two most ridden boards.
Flexdex classic 29, rts/x 129mm, lime 66mm zigzags
Nuclear pickle, crail speedtruck 180mm, Abec 11 90mm flywheels 78a

The flexdex trucks...I've got some big, black soft rubber bushings in there. That's right, Rubber bushings. Geezer-x at Monkeywrench machine works makes these, they're called monkeyrubbers. Softer than white khiros....also a lot bigger. I can't wait to try them out.

bigger pics can be found here and here

On the speedboard, I've got an interesting bushing setup....I figure it's worth a shot. Good thing I had 3" kingpins in there.

Usually I'm not a big fan of conical bushings in a speedboard setup....let alone soft conicals. I was looking for something harder and more beefy than 85a green stims that would give me a bit damper rebound but the same turning ability. Once I get the truck tightness right, this seems to hit the spot. The beefiness of it takes away from the usual twitchyness I get in a conical bushing and the soft top bushing/blue stim will help me through those turns.

I'll have more updates on this later, once I figure out how it rides. But it's intriguing to think how, in theory, this might be the best bushing setup I've come across.

My latest project has been a cross on the underside of my speedboard. The inside area that hasn't been taped will be painted yellow and covered with a layer of polyurethane finish.

Speedboarding is a dangerous sport. And you know how worrisome it is, flying around a blind corner without knowing where any cars are, or just that feeling you get from walking up the hill and looking down, and saying, wow, that's going to be fast....

My faith in christ is what has gotten me through that time and again. One of my favorite chapters, proverbs 3, says "trust in the lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding"...basically, that means to put your faith 100% in him. He's with me as I fly down the hill, and he's with me as I carry my cross back up the hill.

Tomorrow I'll get that paint job done, and post some pics.

Thanks for reading

Four wheels down.

2006-11-02T17:43:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I was stopped while riding my flexdex classic 29 home from school.

The administrator asked me if I had heard the beginning of the year presentation on school policy and skateboards, I guiltily admitted yes sir, and he let me go saying if he saw me on school grounds again with it they'd take it. I insisted there was a mis-understanding, that my board was meant for transportation, not tricks, and that I used it to get to and from school. I showed him how it didn't have a kicktail, the whole nine yards. Still, he said, it's a skateboard. So I apologized, walked with the board until I was out of sight, and skated home feeling like crap.

But lately I've been thinking, a skateboard is a form of transportation, plain and simple. So on a whim I drummed up this amendment to school policy, called "four wheels down"....

...this amendment would permit skateboarders to use boards as transportation to and from school, provided that the boards are used as transportation only (this will be under the discretion of an administrator), and all four wheels are down (thus the name). The skateboarder must also poise no threat to pedestrians...

Those are just the basic ground rules for it. Tell me what you think (comments, please)...because I'm pretty sure that with a little more planning, a petition and full write-up could follow.

Cheers

Halloween run

2006-10-31T17:47:00.000-08:00

Tonight we had a little halloween session---sorry folks, no pics. We forgot the camera.

But let me tell you, it was a blast! First time on my flexdex in a week, and the more I ride that board the more I love it. Had a full carving session down the speedboarding runs and things ended up faster than usual...crazy fun.

At the top of the hill you can see the entire valley. Tonight it was beautiful, the sunset portraying a full spectrum of orange, pink, blues mingled in between and passerby clouds. You can see for miles from the top of this hill. And the moon came up early, you could see it in broad daylight, just awesome looking.

...luckily I was done with the run before trick-or-treaters arrived. But even then, the cars were honking louder than ever. Way to get in the way of an awesome skate session....my mom even feels guilty for making me come home while the rest of my friends were out for a few more hours. I only had time for one run, but it was a GREAT. The low hum of urethane against fresh pavement, the whir of the wind in your ears. The moon on one side, the mountains on the other, and the hill in the middle. Just one of those great chillin' evening runs. I hope I can get more of those in before winter...man, this is my favorite time of year.

Today I was walking home and these kids just speedwalk on by, iPods booming and arms full of books....they just looked so cluttered. Every one of them passed me, too. And I was a good quarter mile in ahead of the last when I started....honestly, people. Look at the trees! The mountains, in broad daylight, whispy clouds tickling their slopes....all of this, right next to my high school entrance. And nobody stops to look at it? That in itself just amazes me. Stop hurrying around, people! There's plenty of time for you to work, enjoy these fine autumn days while you can. The trees seem to be on fire, with their color changes. Just glorious, glorious looking. And blatantly people say, "oh, I see those trees everyday" or, "who cares, Jordan? I've lived here my whole life and those mountains haven't changed"....right....You mean to say they don't get more beautiful, or give you an appreciation for life at all?....astounding, Watson.

These fresh crisp autumn days are what I live for. Top it off with longboarding and you've got a very delicious pie.

slide session

2006-10-29T19:27:00.000-08:00

Today I had a sweet sweet slide session with a few other guys, I was able to sneak out of the house for an hour and go skating.

Once I get my mind settled there will be a huge, huge, slide post documenting the gloves I've gone through, slide tips, and all the etc. you could think of. And I mean huge....I've been working on this for a steady month or so.

The big event of today was a coleman slide. I finally nailed it without grabbing rail and looking like a kook. This article is by far the most helpful guide I could've had.

The guys at silverfish really know their slides. And it's a great feeling, pulling off your first coleman. Just the biggest ear to ear grin. Try not to hit the tar spots in the road though, they'll stop you while your board keeps going. Fun either way. haha.

Less than three weeks until the NoVa fall race! Earthwing, Longboardlarry, Loaded, and East Coast Board Co. are sponsoring the whole event, and there should be a huge age and experience range. A few of our local guys are racing in the amateur race. I'll be in the regular race sporting my leathers and fullface....the anticipation is killing me. It should be a lot of fun.

...updates soon. School has been hectic lately. Stay chill.

90mm flywheels, new helmet, good times....

2006-10-16T16:24:00.000-07:00

Hey there folks,
I recently had the opportunity to trade a few things for some 90mm flywheels in 78a. These were happily coupled with my nuclear pickle speedboard, blue crails, and biltin bearings. Prior to now I had been running the setup with blue 76mm 75a GOS wheels.

I also recieved an AFX-F87x (orange) in the mail a few days ago.

Today the whole rig got to be thrown together with my new sliding gloves. This recipie made for a great speedboarding run....to top it all off, a few hills I'd never hit before. Hooray for suburban exploration!

Upon recieving my 90mm flywheels I was able to take them out for a quick commute. The first thing I noticed was their size, weight, and urethane depth. These were bigger than I expected! They put me more than a half an inch higher than previously, when I was using 76mm wheels...which means they're going to roll over almost any rock or piece of debris that gets in your path.

At higher speeds they hold a very solid line and have a very controllable, comfortable drift. Today I took them down a few new hills....the acceleration is a tad slow, due to their size, but once these wheels get going they're hard to stop. I am very, very happy with my trade for these. They were worth it.

The helmet was another great purchase of mine. Just the single ride I took in it today....it has paid for itself in confidence. I'm not nearly as nervous while speedboarding anymore, and with the experience to take some large hills this helmet lets me sleep soundly. I can rest assured that my jello-filled skull won't get any leaks.

However, It took a bit of research before I decided on this particular helmet. Features that I liked about it were:
1. Color---Cars can see my brain bucket from a mile away.
2. Price---I got it for under 100 dollars, shipped. Right in my price range.
3. Ratings---This helmet is both DOT and Snell m2000 Certified. For more information on helmet ratings and helmets, click here.
4. Accessories---It comes with a cool little face-shield that swivels. No need to make your own.

As I said before, I've really gotten my money's worth out of this one already.

To finish things off, I'll summarize our speedboarding run today, with a picture.

Every bit of it was as challenging as the bit before. Probably one of the most gratifying and satisfying speedboarding experiences I've been on. Maybe it was the helmet, or the huge wheels, or just all my excitement, but when I did that run I was walking the tightrope between safety and stupidity. I just bombed it, without any fear of cars....something I've never felt before.

My legs started to cramp from the tucking. My gloves and I drifted around every corner. Coming into the final bend and not a single car, finishing with an ear-to-ear smile on my face, and then hitting up a few more smaller runs to cool down with the friends. I've never had quite an experience like it.

Thanks for reading, and stay cool,

Latest session pics

2006-10-11T12:53:00.000-07:00

2006-10-10T14:11:00.001-07:00

I posted this a few days ago on silverfish...the front page of my paper. What a coincidence, I was just thinking about this kind of stuff.

There's been a lot of controversy about skateboards as a means of transporation. Read the article, it's pretty neat. Most of what they talk about is street/park skating, but I'm glad to see that at least the council has a little bit of sense.

http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sec...?StoryID=52838

Read and enjoy while the velcro on my new gloves sets.

...

2006-09-29T20:03:00.000-07:00

It's been a week since I've posted here.

Homecoming is tomorrow. We won the football game 35-0. I'm not a big fan of football either. Whatever. I couldn't care less. And all they play at the dances is rap and country....whatever happened to the Disc Jockey in DJ? Not a single DJ we've had know's how to scratch. By my experience, that's a pretty low stoop for a DJ. He should be called the sound guy or the music changer, or the Lame Jockey. What a bunch of shoobies our school is full of. We can't even hire a DJ. That's lame.

At our "pep rally" the principal declared that if anybody yelled "go home freshmen", then they'd be suspended. Suspend me, please, along with the rest of the student body. You think that's lame? Try getting the homecoming court to play musical chairs at a pep rally. Musical chairs sounds like something they'd do at an 8 year old's birthday party.

While we're at it, let's just make an announcement that all the stoked students who did some fancy facepainting has to get all it removed. Everybody. That's a third of the kids in our school. People's faces were brown from the smeared paint that had to come off. What a great way to get hyped up about homecoming, Mrs. Principal Ma'am. RIGHT. That's like the anti-bang for school spirit. Our prinicpal has set a new low, and I didn't think that was possible until today.

Anything else? oh yeah, the football players can't dress up like cheerleaders. And having the administration say it promotes homosexuality is inadvertantly promoting the belief in homosexuality. Ahahaha. Give us a little slack, honestly. Dressing up like the opposite sex as a joke at a pep rally, if I didn't mention isn't the same as standing on a street corner and protesting for homosexual rights.

And finally, the paramount event of my day. A spanish test. If any of you have ever taken spanish it is stressed that as Americans we see everybody we know as a friend, and in spanish, people use the word acuquantaince. The question was asking about what we thought the word "friend" meant in the United states.

To me, it meant the same thing as it did in spanish. So I wrote what I thought. That in the united states we also use the word aquaintance, just because I talk to somebody at school doesn't mean I'm their friend. A friend is somebody you can chill with, if you catch my drift. I wrote that this so called "difference" between the two countries was a load of crap, in short. And then to top if off I asked my teacher that, "since the question asks for what we think, it's impossible to get the question marked wrong unless you write what somebody else thinks, right?"...

...She just gave me the biggest, ugliest confused look that a 30 year old female teacher can give and started mumbling to herself. Funny stuff. And if I get the question wrong i'm arguing my case.

That's about it for today. Moar thangs laetir.

Updates:

Sliding gloves have been made, now I've just got to write an article about them and my board.
I traded my 75a GOS for 90mm flywheels to go on my speedboard. These should be sick. In the mail and headed for my house...
Bought a flexdex classic 29, limited edition. I couldn't resist. $100 with biltins, lime zigzags, and 129mm rts/x. What else is there to say? These aren't even being sold anymore by flexdex, I don't know whether just to shelf it for a few years or skurf it. Probably the latter option.
Learned how to cross step and had a bangin' good time impressing the elderly ladies.
My birthday is in 3 days. Getting a fullface (afx-f87x). It's going to be sweet.
Conquered my fear on coblentz. Sick stuff.
Went to bed earlier than midnight. That's a first.

I'm going to bed now.

awesomest person of the week

2006-09-22T12:38:00.000-07:00

The latest thing to pique my curiosity.

Weird Al is this week's awesomest person.

His latest knock-off, called "white and nerdy", is hilarious.

I am blessed.

2006-09-20T18:30:00.000-07:00

Today has been an awesome experience for me. Jesus has turned my life around, and continues to do so. His work is everywhere, from each tiny ball bearing to the mountains we have ridden.

I saw three people get baptized today. It was an awesome experience. My time will come.

2006-09-17T11:38:00.000-07:00

another fish hooked...

2006-09-12T09:02:00.000-07:00

so....a good friend of mine just ordered a sick complete off MilehighSkates...

It's a sector 9 bomb hills with holey trucks, lush magma wheels and mini-logo bearings. I can't wait to see how she rides....

Never forget

2006-09-11T11:00:00.000-07:00

Never forget.

Conspiracy or terrorist attack, you decide.

I'm sticking with maddox on this one.

God bless.

Uggh.

2006-09-11T10:51:00.001-07:00

I voted for myself to be in the homecoming court.

If I win, It's going to be sweet,

...but nevertheless the guilt of it is intolerable. I'll get over it, after all, I voted for who I wanted to win, and nobody was forcing me to change my vote. Guilt is a powerful feeling, eh? I wonder who our president voted for in the elections? It's always seemed like an honorary thing, voting for somebody else. This is a topic that deserves a good longboarding session to talk about.

...

On the good side, a package came today from MHS, I'm pretty stoked about it. And my home-made board is almost done *surprise* it's looking pretty sweet. The sliding board should be here tomorrow, I need to get my hands on some velcro.

Most of the wheels you saw in the "wheel porn" thread are sold. Whoopee, Supaflex here I come.

Later

Crikey.

2006-09-04T11:06:00.000-07:00

Steve Irwin, better known at the Crocodile Hunter, died yesterday, after a stingray barb peirced his heart.

He was 44 years old, married, with two kids. My condolences go out to all of you.

Wheel Porn....for your viewing pleasure...

2006-09-02T20:26:00.000-07:00

So...today I decided to count my wheels and gather the parts I don't use in a big pile.

(I've got 48 wheels in all. 30 pictured, another two 88a grippins I forgot to add....there's also about a foot of risers in the picture...5 unused trucks as well...)

This is what I do on rainy days. Big thanks to colinT for most of these.

Enjoy.

__________________

School and leathers...two great things...

2006-08-29T12:33:00.000-07:00

Hey again, School just started for me a day or so ago...
It's pretty sweet. I've got some good classes with some great people, and my days have been going well. Only complaint is my locker---it's on the other side of the school. But they've installed a lot of new technology and there are a lot of cool new teachers in, I'm really enjoying it.

Also got my leathers yesterday. They're flippin' sweet, fit like a glove (with a little bit of looseness on my rear end), but for $65 shipped, not a bad deal at all. I'm super stoked about these, can't wait to race in them. Hoping to get a fullface helmet for my birthday.

Speed stance...I'd better get some shoes on while I'm at it...

The rear end is a little dirty, but it's thick material, definitlely not going to break anytime soon.

Check out the logo on the back...If you look cloesely, it says "HOLLAND".

Thanks for checking them out, I should have a slide glove tutorial coming up soon enough.

Also going to review some other goodies in the skate stash when I get the time.

Dropped off my brother at school today...

2006-08-24T19:46:00.000-07:00

Yeah, so, I had a great day in Pittsburgh while dropping off my brother at College (CMU) and getting him settled.

Pittsburgh is one of those cities where you look around the corner and there's always something new. I wish I had a camera and some more time there.

The reward of a 4-hour drive---
I am now in charge of my house's third floor until thanksgiving. The attic is mine! Praise the lord...

I'm turning in my job application tomorrow, hoping I can get a fullface helmet and camera with my earnings.

Later

Another good speedboard run

2006-08-22T16:33:00.000-07:00

So, finally learned how to bomb a few hills that I had been unsure of.

Named a new longboard run. "The Mustang". You should be able to view it on LongboardMaps.com within a few days.

Pretty sweet, about a mile long and I only had to push once. Hella fun. Wore all my gear (kneepads, elbow pads, wrist guards, gloves, helmet)....also got to tweak the bushings, those blue stims are amazing for DH, I'm telling you...

The sister and I just had an argument. I've gotta vent. I'm sick of being her butler and slave. She's my sister, not my guest.

My parents are disappointed, they keep telling me to wait another day until she leaves and not say anything or act up around her, rather, I'd like to leave a lasting impression on her, so she knows what to expect when she comes back. Pure hell until she thinks of me as a brother instead of a servant, and I finally get some respect. Every time she kicks me in the balls I tell myself to stay focused. Keep it coming, I say. Come on, you can't kick any harder? Pain is temporary. All I'd like is some decency. Throw a candle at me, will you? I joke. She throws it. I keep laughing. Don't be scared of her, Jordan, the most she can do is kick you in the balls, and she's already done that. Stand up for yourself. That's what the voice of reason is saying. All I'd like is for her to treat me like my older brother, or leave.

Later.

A pretty good day

2006-08-21T13:51:00.000-07:00

So, today goes into the book as a pretty good day, in fact one of the best days of longboarding I've had in a while.

A street across from mine was recently paved.

It's at least 3 lanes wide and ever since it's been paved I could count the cars I saw on my fingers. (I'm up to around 10 right now, probably going to have to start using my toes soon...)

Got at least 4 or 5 good runs on it with my big bug, yep, this hill is definitely a keeper. Cross-steppin-it and hangin' ten most of the way down, end with a steep little hill and a wide heelside turn. The fun keeps coming, time and again you go down it.

So, after we finish carving the turkey, we head out to another beauty around a mile or so (uphill) and away from my house. The run itself (you guessed it) is around a mile long. Around a 10-minute carve run and a fast bomb run, we decided to give it a go. Starting at the top near another fresh patch of pavement, get some speed going and start the rail-to-rail carves.

Less than 100 metres down the run and Michael almost loses his board in a storm drain...he carved it a bit too close but didn't come out with any injury.

...and luckily we could fish out the board, we walked back up the hill and started again.

...as I was saying, we were doing rail-to-rail curb-to-curb carves to slow ourselves down. Hella fun, throw in some more cross-stepping action, put on some good music in your head and this hill is kinda like a party...

Around halfway down I decide to take a detour. We skip a turn and keep going, only to find ourselves going faster and faster down one of the biggest hills in town. When I say big, I mean long, long and wide, not very steep, but at a moderate slope. This was the first time we hadn't seen cars on it (it's usually packed with them and impossible to longboard down...) and it was GREAT. Smooth asphalt and a long, empty road.

aah I wish I had a camera. Best day I've had in a while...we came back to the first hill and took a few more incredible runs, played follow-the leader and a few other longboard games...I was incredibly stoked. Probably going to go out there again tonight and do a few more runs.

So, yeah, stoked just begins to describe it. Almost all the runs were done in an awesome silence, we hardly talked if at all through them.

A big thank-you to Michael Burns who kept me going through the heat of midday,
You're a pretty stoked stoker, and the stoked stoker's gotta know that your stoke is the stoke that keeps a stoked stoker pretty stoked. Those were good grapes, by the way.

Slalom board, plenty of pics....

2006-08-20T20:10:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,
I finally got out the camera and took some pics of the slalom rig, and a slalom-gear review is in the works right now.

------PICS------
(taken from my thread on the 'fish)

here's the bottom of it---
yellow flake with a MonkeyWrenchMachineWorks purple flake/sticker logo on it.

the wedges were made from a hard 3/4" riser cut in half...
As you can see, I've got to get myself a toestop as well...

Trucks are tracker rts/x, machined by geezer-x with a spacer, allowing me to run a 85mm front truck and 109mm back truck. They've also got 8mm axles, which I'm liking a lot...

Wheels are either abec 11 grippins 81a/88a (shown) or hyper strada 66mm 78a

The top of the board is covered in clear sand-grit stuff...really locks your feet on and adds color to it.

As far as bushings go I'm running:
front: khiro white barrel top/lathed green stim bottom
back: khiro blue barrel top/lathed green stim bottom

edit: I've recently taken off the bottom green stim on my front truck and replaced it with another khiro white barrel bushing. It's really working out great so far.

Mark at milehighskates should be getting an order from me tomorrow or the next day, I've really got to get some longer hardware and risers, wheelbite has been quite a problem with some of my heavier friends (as well as myself).

This board was exchanged (in addition to a whole lot of other goodies) for my rolls rolls.

...glad you could see it,

Just Bikin'

2006-08-18T16:20:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,
Ever since we've moved to a different house, I haven't had much time to skate...the roads are pretty full of traffic. The sidewalks are in need of repair, too.

Lately I've been doing errands on my dad's old bike, a 1979 Schwinn Le Tour IV that we fixed up together. This bike has a history---it was one of the last to be made in Schwinn's Chicago factory before the factory shut down around 1981.

The miles are cranking in just like those manual gear-shifters...nearly all the parts on this one are vintage, from the carrying rack to the toe clips and shifters. The tires and inner tubes were the only parts that needed replacing.

She's great for getting around town on....in fact, this bike has been ridden from Kent Island to Rehoboth beach twice, each time on a church camp trip.

In the rest of the garage---
I'm working on some sliding gloves and a setup to practice safety-slides on.

So that's my bike...in fact, if you didn't notice already, the bike I'm riding in my profile pic...

Thanks, and Later

Push for the Cure

2006-08-16T08:45:00.000-07:00

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in Canadian women. And four young men are pushing 8000km across canada for Breast cancer awareness.

Hoping to raise $1 for ever Canadian man, They began May 1st, 2006, in Halifax and have planned a six-month journey to Vancouver.

Read more at
http://pushforthecure.com/

And thanks for your support.

Hey All

2006-08-16T08:07:00.000-07:00

Glad to get this blog off the ground, eh?

Equipment reviews and the like should be coming. But don't wet your pants in anxiety.