On The Road Again...

Well the time has come for me to journey back to Colorado. I'll be hittin the road in the Love Bus once again, but this time I'll be flying solo. I never did finish writing about the first Love Bus Adventure, which was an epic journey.. I guess I got a little side tracked. Maybe I'll finish that up when I get back. Anyway, I'll be driving for at least 2 days so there will be no postings for a while. In the meantime you can get your shred fix by checking out any of the sites under the Tired Of Reading Hybrid Sessions? section over there on the left. You Will Soon, South Of The North, Boil The Ocean, The Mustachio, and Shayboarder are especially tasty.

I have a few really cool features/interviews in the works that will be posted soon and some other super awesome content that everyone can get stoked on. Oh also the Gonz and I are having a Mu-stache growing contest... I don't think he's knows yet though, so stay tuned in to HS for some cool shit.

It's been a super fun summer here in the Biggest Little City In The World, but I'm pretty hyped to get back to CO. Mainly because I have a mini-ramp waiting there for me... Yes I now have a mini-ramp, boo ya! 8 by 24, 3 1/2 foot tranny, hopefully the neighbors around JB's house are cool because that thing is going to be seshed pretty much all day every day. And yes you can bet your ass there will be an extended post about the mini as soon as I get it all set up and paint some cool shit on it. I'm also super stoked to shred the bowls at Edora agian... The skate parks in Reno kind of really suck. And lastly, it's already snowing in CO and the snow season is sneaking up upon us like a ninja in the dark of night. Dig it.

This was the first full summer I've spent in Reno since moving to CO 5 years ago and it was a good one. Some highlights were....

4th of July at Tahoe
Wakeboard Wednesdays.. and lots of other days wakeboarding, and finally getting good
Jumping off cliffs into the river
Rage Fest 2008
Saturday Night Specials
Meeting some awesome new peeps
Late night skate seshes at the warehouse
And Now premiere
Getting a brand new Mac Book Pro... for free

There was probably lots of other fun shit I did but can't recall at the moment. Fuck it's late...

I'm out a dodge by 7am at the latest so if ya see the Love Bus crusin down I-80 slow n low, make sure to throw up that peace sign... Or dangle a bong out the window as you drive by... It wouldn't be the first time.

Peace out Reno, it's been real, Fort Collins here I come!

Oh yeah one more thing... My little sis and her bff Ashley just took off to Italy for a year of learning, traveling, painting, snapping photos and eating really good spaghetti and I just want to say I love you guys and am ultra stoked for your up coming adventures. Say hi to the Pope for me... That's amore!

WTF?

This video has been posted everywhere on the internet so why not here right? This dude and Richie Jackson should play a game of S.K.A.T.E....

The Market Grand Opening Photos

The Market Skate Shop celebrated the opening of their new store a couple weeks ago with a little bash and here's some photos to prove it. Check out Waistbandtuck for full coverage and stop by the new Market shop, I can't wait to peep it.

JB was kind enough pick me up one of the Market/Krooked Collab cruiser decks so I'm stoked about that... cause they're rad.

Skate & Create

This is possibly one of the coolest creations ever to come out of the Transworld camp. Four skate teams; Emerica, DVS, Globe, and Osiris picked their top 5 pro shreds and were given a private warehouse, 9 days, and a budget to come up with their own unique and creative vision of skateboarding in this best video style contest. The teams were given full creative control of the film and the construction of the obstacles but were responsible for obtaining all their own filming and photos and were judged on the skating obviously, but also cinematography, photography, creative vision and construction. The results are in and really are amazing. Each video is unique and the skating is insane. Hats off to Transworld for dreaming this contest up and to all the teams who absolutely killed it.

I'm going to post links to watch each video in hi-res, which is how you should watch em, but I"ll also post the shit quality youtube versions for all you lazy peeps.

DVS
Riders: Andrew Brophy, Keith Hufnagel, Zered Bassett, Daewon Song, and MVP Torey Pudwill
Creative Direction: Matt Deak
Videography: Colin Kennedy
Music: Fools by The Dodos

The DVS video Journey To The End Of The Night was crowned the winner of the Skate & Create contest and team rider Daewon Song scored the cover of the Oct. issue of Transworld. DVS really made a sick video. The obstacles they built were super creative and the skating was so good. Daewon's blunt to fakie in the cramped mini ramp was ok I guess and his tre flip gap to fakie was fucking insane, I watched that clip like 10 times. Not sure who these legs belong to but the smith nearly all the way around the half circle is so dope and Zered Bassett's barrel ollie to hippie jump through the ring is awesome. I'm super stoked on the cinematography of the video. I loved how they filmed pretty much all the skaters silhouetted against that bright ass light in the darkened warehouse and the song they used, Fool by The Dodos, fits perfectly with the film.

DVS S&C Film




DVS might have been crowned the winner by Transworld, but in my opinion the title should have gone to...

Globe
Riders: Ryan Decenzo, Greg Lutzka, Mark Appleyard, Chris Haslam, and MVP Jake Duncombe
Creative Direction: Joe G
Videography: Jason Hernandez
Music: Young Men Dead by The Black Angles




Globe's S&C film, What If We Put This Like This And Move This Over Here? Was an all out barrage of psychedelic lighting, brightly painted, creative obstacles, and incredible skating set to the psychedelic tunes of The Black Angles. If the contest would have been based solely on skating, Globe would have won hands down. Jake Duncombe was named MVP, and rightfully so, cause the dude killed it. The 180 nose manny up and down the titer totter feature and his 50-50 up, stall, to nose grind down on the death point obstacle were so rad. Lutzka and his famous fedora threw down on a street rail, especially this 270 nose blunt, and Chris "Grizzly Adams" Haslam and Mark Appleyard slayed maybe the most unique feature of the entire contest, The wall ride to poll jam... poll sticking out of the wall. Sick. I felt this was the best video, best skating, and most creative use of the features. I loved the striped lighting and the music choice was perfect.

Globe S&C Film




Emerica
Riders: Kevin “Spanky” Long, Braydon Szafranski, Leo Romero, Bryan Herman, and MVP Brandon Westgate
Creative Direction: Yogi Proctor
Videography: Mike Manzoori and Jon Miner
Music: No Fucking Clue



Well you're either going to love Emerica's Untiled S&C film or hate it.... And most people seem to hate it. I on the other hand, really like it. The skating isn't all that great, Leo Romero is falling all over the place, but I'm totally stoked on the vision of the film. Lots O' people are complaining it's to "artsy" but I thought that's what the contest was all about? I mean it might make you puke while watching it but it's definitely creative and unique. It's kind of hard to explain, there's lots of mirrors which give it the carnival fun house effect, and most everything filmed is the reflection of the skaters in the mirrors. I thought it was rad to see all the different angles of the skaters and of the board filpping created by the different reflections, something you'll have to watch a few times to noticeYou just have to watch it really. The music is a little suspect but I really liked the idea to use the mirrors. Just watch.

Emerica S&C Film

Osiris
Riders: Jimmy Carlin, Corey Duffel, Shuriken Shannon, Caswell Berry and MVP John Rattray
Creative Direction: Brian Reid
Videography: Russell Houghten
Music: Shitty Circus Music

The Osiris S&C film, Congress Of Freaks, was... eh, kind of lame in my opinion. I really wasn't feeling the whole circus vibe and it seems they spent more time on those stupid costumes than getting creative with the obstacles and skating. Although, Jimmy Carlin did smith double flip about 1:54 in that was quite nice and John Rattray got super gnarly and ollied through a ring of fire. That was actually really fucking cool. I watched it a couple more times in the hopes I would like it more but that wasn't the case... I still didn't like it. Watch it and judge for yourself.

Osiris S&C Film




Well that's it for Skate & Create. Check out the October issue of Transworld for a shitload of awesome photos and the stories behind each teams video, and make sure you click on the links to watch the films, it's way better.

That's It, That's All Hittin The Road

Starting in September, The ultra mega shred film That's It, That's All will be hitting the road for US/European premiere tour. I love living close to Denver.. everything goes through that city. If you're in the vicinity of any of these locations, I'd go peep the film, it's going to be a good one. Read all about the film and watch the trailers right over here.

Major Premieres in USA:

Jackson, WY - Sept 13

Denver, CO - Sept 27

Portland, OR - Oct 10

Seattle, WA - Oct 11

Boston, MA - Oct 16

Columbus, OH - Oct 17

Minneapolis, MN - Oct 18

Major Premieres in Europe:

London - Oct 31

Antwerpen - Nov 1

Paris - Nov 2

Lausanne - Nov 4

Milano - Nov 6

Wien - Nov 7

Munich - Nov 8

Prague - Nov 10

Warsaw - Nov 11

Barcelona - Nov 12

Stockholm - Nov 14

Oslo - Nov 15

Moscow - Nov 17

Major Premieres in Austalia / New Zealand:

Wanaka Aug 20

Sydney Aug 22

Falls Creek Aug 26

Melbourne Aug 28

Day In The Life...

Of Bobby Worrest part 2. If only everyday were this magical... Watch it in hi-def, it's better.

08/09 Rome

When in Rome... SDS. New website, new boards, bindings, boots, and really new this year, outerwear. Peep the goods.

Lets Slow It Down For All The Ladies...

I came across this video via Crailtap yesterday and have watched it like 15 times already. This is absolutely incredible. I have no idea who made it, shot it, or who the skaters are. I do know that it was shot with a RED camera, in 4k, which one can reasonably deduce from this little guy that it far exceeds a hi-def 1080p camera. Don't get your hopes up of ever owning one of these sweet babies unless you're in the film industry somehow or your trust fund just kicked in cause the RED ONE camera, body only, is going to set you back a cool 17 Gs. Throw in a lens or two and a couple other accessories and you're well over 20k. The camera is amazing though...

So anyway back to the film... Unreal would be one word that comes to mind. Almost the entire video is in slow motion, 120 frames per second to be exact, and you can get a taste of what an aerial ballet skating really is. You never notice the type of foot movements it takes to execute these tricks in real time, so it's pretty amazing to see em done in slow mo. There are so many subtle factors that can determine whether or not a trick is landed and it's way cool to see all the various ways a skateboard can flip; things you don't really notice at full speed. Seeing these tricks done this way really makes you appreciate how hard skating really is.

The video was beautifully shot and super clear and smooth. The RED camera really makes a big difference. The song is It's Alright by Bang Gang and it fits perfectly with the slow mo and really adds emotion to the video. You can check it out below but I would highly recommend watching it here to get the full on HD RED experience. You'll probably watch it more than once...


skate - shot on red - 120 fps from opus magnum prod. on Vimeo.

Boo Ya!

Already snowing in CO... Shred crew member Brian told me last week and my good buddy Z-Bird, fly fishing guide to the stars, who lives way up in the mountains in Lake Forrest, CO (Southern CO) told me there was a bunch of snow up there too. The stoke meter is starting to rise.....

Here's a little blurb from Snowboard Mag

August 15th 2008 a torrential downpour of rain and low temperatures collided into the state of Colorado bringing an early sign that winter is right around the corner. Over a foot of snow was reported to have fallen in certain Colorado Rocky Mountain zones. Is it all ready time to wax the old snow shredder? Independence Pass and Eisenhower let me in on a lil secret. Another big winter is on the way for CO!

Words/Photos: Zach Hooper

08/09 Capita Snowboards

Have a look at the new Capita boards fresh form the oven. I really like what I'm seeing from Capita this year and if I wasn't a Mervin fiend I would probably ride one of these.

This one is my favorite and you can't really go wrong with half naked babes jumping on a bed. Good work Capita.

More Slap

I wrote a little something the other day about how SLAP magazine is transitioning to all an digital format and here's a little more insight into the situation. Long time editor Mark Whiteley speaks about the upcoming changes.

08/09 Bent Metal Binder Machines

Another one of Mervin Manufacturing's magnificent marvels, (God I love alliteration) is their Bent Metal Bindings. After a long period of wanting, I finally got my hands on a pair of these last season after my much used Tech Nines exploded. See, bindings to me are a little like skate trucks... once you finally get a pair dialed and you get used to them, it's hard to ride anything else.

The Bent Metal Binders however, were instantly amazing... Eh, well actually they took a couple days of breaking in but then they were amazing. I had to make a couple adjustments on the "World's Most Adjustable Bindings" to compensate for my bigger feet, but the biggest adjustment for me was how the bindings sat on the board. The Tech Nines mounted almost flush, meaning that my foot was sitting on the binding only about a 1/4 inch off the board. In contrast, the Bent Metals are raised and mount about 3/4 inch off the board so you stand a little higher on your board. It might be a little hard to picture this, with out pictures, so I hope you can get the picture. This definitely took a few runs to get used to but once I did they were schweeeet. The board is way more responsive with the raised bindings and it also helps eliminate toe or heal drag.

The Step-In model is what I rode last season and I have no plans to get another pair this season, you know the whole skate truck analogy. Unless of course the fine folks at Bent Metal want to give me a few pairs to test out.


Step-In?... More like strap in

Since I'm all about riding pow and jumping off things and not as much into the jibbing, I like my binders like I like my drinks.... Stiff. The Step-Ins are made from melted down alien space craft aluminum so you get a nice durable, stiff binding with a response level of 10... or 11. I need my jungle cat like reflexes to be on point at all times and with the stiffer binder, that's exactly what you get. Plus I'm in the 215-220 lb range and I don't want the super flexy plastic binders to break while I'm gettin my steez on.

The leather ankle strap is plush and super comfy and the toe strap hugs your boots tight. The Step-In rules

Another awesomely innovative feature of Bent Metal Binders is their forward lean adjustment system.


It's hip to be a... Cube

The Cube has got to be the fastest, easiest method of adjusting forward lean in the history of snowboarding. All you have to do is turn it! I don't ever use any forward lean but for all you pipe riders out there, this is a tasty little feature

So if you can't tell by now, I'm pretty stoked on Bent Metal. They are definitely the best binders I have ridden and would recommend them to anybody, except gapers. Screw em to a Mervin board and you're likely to annihilate the entire mountain.

Check out Bent Metals new catalog featuring their 08/09 line up.

And Brain, I already know what you're going to say... and I don't want to hear it

Beautiful Losers

A couple Christmases ago my little sis bought me this big ass art book titled Beautiful Losers. That was about the time I was heavily getting into the arts and I read the book like 3 times. It is an amazing book, featuring some incredible artists and it's now a full length film. Well actually, it's been a film for a while, it premiered in March but I wasn't aware of it then. It came to Denver in May but unfortunately I was on the Love Bus Adventure and wasn't able to peep it. There's still a few more dates to see the film and hopefully soon after that it will be available on DVD. Skateboardings own Ed Templeton is one of the artists featured in the film... I really like his art.

I'm sure the film is amazing, the best description of it is from their website.

BEAUTIFUL LOSERS celebrates the spirit behind one of the most influential cultural moments of a generation

In the early 1990's a loose-knit group of likeminded outsiders found common ground at a little NYC storefront gallery. Rooted in the DIY (do-it-yourself) subcultures of skateboarding, surf, punk, hip hop & graffiti, they made art that reflected the lifestyles they led. Developing their craft with almost no influence from the "establishment" art world, this group, and the subcultures they sprang from, have now become a movement that has been transforming pop culture.

Starring a selection of artists who are considered leaders within this culture, Beautiful Losers focuses on the telling of personal stories. It speaks to themes of what happens when the outside becomes "in" as it explores the creative ethos connecting these artists and today's youth.

Here's a few clips from the film and for the remaining screenings, peep the Beautiful Losers website.


The Independents Show from beautifullosersfilm on Vimeo.


The Price of Success from beautifullosersfilm on Vimeo.


Beautiful Losers film trailer from beautifullosersfilm on Vimeo.

No Surprise Here

Bigger view

This really comes as no surprise to me since this is the absolute best piece of glued together wood and plastic I've ever strapped to my feet. Snowboarder Mag named the 08/09 Lib Tech Skate Banana the #1 Best of Test board in their September issue.

I'm going to wait until it's a little closer to snow season to drop vast amounts of knowledge on you about the Skate Banana's incredible shredding power and the technology that goes along with it. I've become somewhat of a resident expert on Lib's Banana tech since I've explained it so many times to people. If you can't wait for my Banana knowledge dropping seminar, you can read about the tech here.

Quiz time. Which of the following correlates most with riding a Lib Tech Skate Banana (or any Banana Tech board)?
A) How much fun you'll have on the mountain
B) How much better you'll shred
C) How many more babes you'll pull, on and off the mountain
D) How many back to back 10's you'll stomp
E) How much your steez levels will rise

Answer: F) All of the above.

Bottom line... You ride a Banana, you get babes. Dig it.

Tough Life...

Being a professional snow or skate shred, or being involved in the industry some how, sucks. These guys have it real hard. I mean who wants to put in all that hard work of partying and hanging out with smokin hot babes all the time? Not me, that's for sure. Shiiiit....

Magic Flashlights

This is one of the coolest trailers I've seen for a snow vid this year. Knife Show Inc gets creative at the High Cascade Summer Camp at Mt. Hood and Magic Flashlights is the result. It might be even better to watch this in an altered state of mind... Dig it.

Botox Anyone?

There's nothing like getting a big ol' fat injection of the latest and greatest cosmetic chemical to enhance the look of your appearance, huh? Yea I wouldn't know either...

However, the Transworld websites recently received a much needed face lift... Actually they needed their whole face reconstructed... and they did just that. The new skate, surf, and snow websites are up and running and looking pretty nice. I'm sure the Transworld BMX, Motocross, and Quad sites were also updated but who gives a shit about that?

The old sites were pretty bland looking and had shit jumbled all over the place and took forever to load but the new ones are super fresh and hip. Lots O' features, news, better forums, videos, photos, way more user friendly... The whole nine. The coolest new feature allows you, the reader, to upload videos or photos and post em up for the whole world to see.. Assuming it's not you mongo pushing around or side slippin down the hill falling leaf style.

The sites are lookin nice, peep the goods.

TW Skate

TW Snow

TW Surf

Speaking of TW... Here's a pretty funny little day in the life video featuring Bobby Worrest. Geez, dude pulls babes!

Dreaming in Digital

Aside from infant children, the super old schoolers, and jungle dwellers, is there anyone on this planet who doesn't know how to use a computer to access and surf the internet? I'm going to throw out a wild guess and say... not many. I mean of course there are people who don't know how but that's a rarity these days. The Vast majority of humans in this world know how to use a computer. My 8 year old cousin who still can't write all that well knows how to use one and his 12 year old brother knows how to so shit with a computer that even I, a very computer savvy individual, don't know how to do.

The world is moving towards a paper-less existence and the all mighty digital revolution is driving the Bus. With the overwhelming popularity of e-mail and text messaging, who uses regular postal mail to communicate anymore? Almost all the classes I take at CSU require assignments to be submitted via the internet, the construction company I work for does something like 85% of its business via email, people are now banking and paying bills on-line, the "Green" movement is pushing hard for less usage of paper to save the environment... The examples are endless.

So, keeping all this digital hoop-la in mind, yesterday SLAP Magazine announced they are currently transitioning to an all digital format and scrapping the paper printed mag. This has been rumored for a while and is now a reality. I was a little bummed to hear this at first because I've always enjoyed reading the palpable version of any magazine, especially SLAP, my favorite skate mag. But after pondering the transition, I think it really is a smart move on their part. (See above two paragraphs)

SLAP is the first magazine in the whole "Xtreme" (bull shit label) industry to make the switch and I have to believe it's only a matter of time before the other major players follow suit.

Check out the press release explaining the SLAP switch and also this extremely well written, and funny article at Boil the Ocean concerning the issue.

I can only hope this doesn't spell the end for SLAP and Mark Whiteley and company do this the right way. Maybe I should write a letter to editor.... Via e-mail of course.

The Market Makin Moves

The best skate shop in all of Colorado, The Skateboard Market, has finally packed up and moved headquarters. After 12 years on Jefferson street, tucked way the hell out on the North end of Fort Collins, The shop finally moved to a prime time location in the heart of the city. The new shop is located at 644 South College Avenue, which is between Laurel and Mulberry. Actually, I think it might be right across the street from the Waffle House! Nice...

I remember talking to Andy, the shop owner, a few times before I left for the summer and he mentioned they were trying to find a new place set up shop. He felt the hidden location wasn't exactly optimizing his business and wanted to get set up where there would be a lot more traffic, people walking and driving by and what have you.

To celebrate the move, the Market is throwing a little grand opening bash this Saturday, August 9th at the shop. The party starts at 6pm and you should get there early to get your hands on a limited edition Krooked/Market collab deck. There's a regular street shape and a cruiser shape available and I'm sure these will go fast. Shit I need to find someone to go down there and pick up a cruiser for me... So rad! If you buy a deck you also get a raffle ticket for other schweet prizes and the grand prize is an original Gonz piece of art!!

So I'm super stoked for the guys and they new shop looks sick. Andy, and they rest of the dudes that work there and skate for the shop are seriously some of the coolest people I've ever met. If you happen to be cruisin around Fort Collins or anywhere in Northern CO and are in need of anything skate related, be sure to stop by the shop and you'll get the hook up for sure. Decks, shoes, apparel, hardware... whatever you need they have. The also have some rad shop decks.

The grand opening party should be a blast. I'm still in Reno for a couple more weeks so I'm not going to be able to make it which blows. Hopefully someone takes some photos so I can post em up here.

This Saturday, 6pm, be there and support local skateboarding!!!

Old shop...

New shop

Tasty Skate Vids

Traffic Skateboards just put out a very cool film on their website for you to go watch for free. If you're into skating ledges, I recommend peeping this vid. Good tunes, and you really can't go wrong with a little jazz flute in any skate film. Moving in Traffic.



The Split crew released the first trailer for their film, Demons in the Attic, dropping this Halloween. Wouldn't it be great if there's footy of Duffel getting knocked out? None the less, I like the trailer, check it out.



The newest Creature pro, David Gravette, has a real solid part in Born Dead. He takes a pretty gnarly slam in the opening seconds... Awesome metal song too.

That's It, That's All - New Trailer

Oh man I'm getting excited about this film. From the bat shit crazy mind of today's most gnarly rider, Travis Rice, comes this epic adventure of a snow vid that's been over 2 years in the making.

Just watch the trailers and you'll understand what I mean. Here's the first trailer, and to watch the newest one in big, hi-def, click here, then click the TITA tab towards the top left of the page, then click Crikey, mate! at the end of the little blurb. Or just watch here for a smaller version.

The film drops in September so make sure to hit up your local snow shop and pick this one up.

Oh and the triple back flip about 1:50 in is pretty cool I guess...

08/09 Burton Gear

The biggest name in snowboarding gear, Burton, recently launched their new website featuring their new line up of goods for the 08/09 season.

I've never been a fan of Burton; I think there are other companies who put out a better product (Lib Tech for instance) and don't charge insane amounts of money for it. Also, I don't want to ride and look like what 75% of people on the mountain are riding and wearing. Burton does have a stacked list of some of the worlds best riders, and they do put out good boards, but I still think of Burton as like the Wal Mart of the snowboarding industry.. like they're trying to corner the market and push out the little guy. There are so many rad companies that I feel offer a lot more originality and have a more creative vision of what snowboarding should be about. I'm sure Jake Burton shreds but I still think of Burton as a bunch of suits sitting in their offices counting all the money their making instead of being stoked on snowboarding. Who knows... I might be totally full of shit.

Burton did put out a sick graphic last year with the Dominant and this years is rad also. This is by far the best graphic they've ever done. They're also putting out a sick looking film this year, It's Always Snowing Somewhere.

Blah, I can't really say much more... Peep the new site and goods if Burton is your steez.

Transworld's And Now Song List

For all you who have been searching for the song list from And Now, here ya go. Really good tunes on this film...

Intro/Montage - I’m Alive - Tommy James And The Shondells
David Gravette - It’s Not Easy - Consortium
Matt Miller - Midnight Rider - The Allman Brothers
Richie Jackson - Be Forwarned - Pentagram
Montage - Ride With Captain Max - Blonde On Blonde
Kenny Hoyle - Let It Ride by Bachman - Turner Overdrive
Nick Trapasso - Watching The Wheels - John Lennon
Sean Malto - Ballad Of A Thin Man - Kula Shaker
Credits/Montage - Half Speed - La Rocca