For less than $5 a month you can have space on a web server. For a few bucks a year you can have your own domain name. With a computer at the public library and a plain text editor you can then publish a website that can be seen more or less all over the world. THAT IS PUNK ROCK. It just requires a tiny bit of knowledge and effort to do your own thing. You should do it.
I’ve still got a little tendinitis in my knee, so I stayed home from Aikido last night. I took the Loaded Vanguard out and taped a few bertleman slides. Just for something to do.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDYKIYZpvjw
Also available in my VodPod widget, down on the right.
My friend Chris and I hit the Glenville ditch, here in Richardson, for a session last night. Being extremely manly, Chris managed to seperate one of the wheels from the truck on his newschool board, so I shared my longboard with him. He’s a good longboarder, of course, so it was killer.
This was my first real attempt at skateboard photography with my new Canon SD750. The first shots were pretty blurry. Then I started using Auto mode, pre-focusing on the area I wanted to shoot, and then panning with the skater as he rode by. Pre-focusing reduced the shutter lag to almost zero, making it a lot easier to shoot. The result was a much clearer shot of the skater — pretty neat — good photos for a total beginner. Chris got some good shots of me too. Check out the rest by clicking here…
Funny, after so many years of longboarding, that 44″ board doesn’t feel or look that big.
This weekend in the cities of San Marcos and Austin, Texas, downhill skateboarding enthusiasts gathered for the 2007 Cold Fusion Sizzler, which included giant slalom and downhill speed events.
Here is a link to some video from Saturday. If it looks like they were going fast, they were. Top speed was over 50 mph. For those who aren’t skaters out there, 25mph is fast enough on a skateboard to be scarey. Over 25 and you really need a good helmet and safety equipment. In the 35+ range most serious riders use a full motorcycle helmet. At speeds over 20 mph, there’s a phenomenon called “speed wobbles”. Your front and rears trucks hit a weird point there they sort of sync into a wobbling oscillation, which is scarey. Usually if you just stay calm you pass the particular speed range and get out of the wobbles. Of course, at those speeds you really can’t just jump off. Doing giant slalom on a 50 mph hill is very ballsy. So my point here is that these guys are “real men” – even the women.
Congrats to everyone, in particular Chris Doan, aka gorillabisuits, and Greg Stubbs, representing DFW.
This is one of my favorite pics of me longboarding. Its a few years old. Sure, I guess it is narcissistic to post pics of yourself, but this image always makes me feel good. As you can see, it was a beautiful day in Austin, Texas. I was sessioning the Turkey Bowl with some friends, riding my 48″ longboard. John Nau, the smoothest skater in Texas, took this photo. This was back when you could ride the Turkey Bowl without fear of some police showing up to kick you out.
Anyway, click the image to see it full-sized.
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Here’s another video clip I recovered – a 1-footed 900 spin on a 42″ longboard (Gravity Mini-Carve). This is one I shot during the months I was unemployed in the summer of 2002. It was hot outside! Most leisurely three months of my adult life. I think I’m going to set that board up again soon and tape some tricks. Maybe a 4 1/2 spin.
I can do quite a few one-footed 360s on a shortboard. My personal record, which is NOTHING compared to the really good guys, is 15. The longboard actually spins really well once you get going, but it is difficult to find the sweet spot where your ankle can keep the weight of the heavier board under control. Plus the wedge risers, used to improve the turning for the longboard, tend to make the rear truck less stable for spinning.
Anyhooooo, for those inclined to be interested in such things, the Mini-Carve was set up with Gravity wedge risers, Indy 136, and 66mm Gravity Street-G 85a wheels.