The End Of the World as We Know It

Or, at least, as I know it. It's the beginning of the Great, Hot Depression. It's the end of the snowboarding season.

This is the saddest time of the year for me. Really! It is! And it's just the tip of the iceberg as I slowly flubber around the melting ice evaporating into summer. You know, I like to snowboard, and I like my cold weather. Hot weather is, well, bringing me under the weather (haha, see what I did there? *nudge nudge*). All puns aside, I will begin to express my grief of the ending season.

It all starts with a trip to the webcams. I get up, and it's May. That hit my so hard. I've spent well over all of last summer and fall's time contemplating and obsessing over the next season. And that season is over. This is it, this is now, that is in the past. Another year, gone.

Meanwhile, all I can do is immerse myself in 2009 snowboard flicks and skate around pretending I'm a hobo, because that's what the asscannons want to think. Oh yeah, and there's this blogging shit, and rhythm games (I simply have to post about that soon). Lots of options, little compensation for the time lost.

Time is a valuable thing. Watch it fly by as the pendulum swings. Watch as I plagarize Linkin Park on this here blog. They had it right, but it never hit me with a hammer until this year. And I think it started with this amazing book I read, "If You Come Softly," (check it out, it's a great read) because, lets face it, its name has good love appeal. But it really made me think how important it was that I spend all my time wisely and never ruin a single moment. It was a senior-aged thought. I was in high school.

Interesting as anything was the swing-a-round. I started as a snowboarder who couldn't wait for time to pass, and now I'm sitting here thinking about the time that's gone and spent. And time never stops spending, I'll always have an out of control drama queen teenager (so to speak) governing my moments spent on Earth. So I'll be dreaming, and waiting, and watching, and playing as time flies right by and sits just out of reach.

Think Thank - Cool Story

Think Thank's continueing the legacy of super creative films with progressively creative riding by creatively talented riders.

In other words Think Thank is known to step outside of the box, or waaaay out of the box, which makes for great films that are fun as hell to watch. I always try to check out their trailers each year and their films are getting better than ever. This year, they're back with a highly promising film and a pretty cool plot sorta thing.

I could explain their theme in words, but it's better that you watch it instead. Think Thank's Cool Story:



Thanks The Angry Snowboarder for putting this on his blog, so I can find the link on youtube and stea.. I mean embed it here.

On a Lighter Side - Terms I Like to Say.

Butter: To tail or nose press on a snowboard and spin at the same time is called a butter. Used in context with the ever popular phrase "buttering the muffin," which means buttering some obstacle (or a slope I guess), preferrable a natural snow boob. Not to be confused with my Negro friend's favorite saying "I'm gonna butter up dem biscuits and sweet buns" which means he's horny.

Steez, steezy, steez machine: One of my favorite words, it refers to a person's style on a snowboard: how they can make snowboarding look. I like to use it to describe tumbling gapers. They have extreme levels of steez.

Ga(y)pers: The guy who sits on a box or rail because he thinks it's a bench or thinks you're on cocaine because the "powder is tight." In other words the beginner on the slope with a serious forehead burn.

Shredding: I only use this term to refer to pow, because I TEAR THAT SHIT UP!

American High Schools are Moldy Shits

Okay, between the ever popular cops vs. skaters war, dealing with angry asscannons at spots, and the swine flu from the South of the Border, I have to attend the pile of dirtyness which is the American High School.

I've got nothing agaisnt spending my time there. I've got nothing agaisnt my friends and other people I come into contact with. I've got nothing agaisnt learning. I'm all eyes and ears.

Nevertheless, I think American high schools are pieces of junk. Especially in places like California where the school board thinks that they can stuff 35+ students into one classroom. But it's more than that, there's so much more going on at these schools that haunts me.

The way I see it, there's a raging whirlpool. The whirlpool grows larger and larger as more students and teachers are sucked into it. It feeds on students, it grows on power. It's like this:
Teens are forced into school to learn. There they are taught in a "nurturing" environment. Things and phrases that are supposed to make you feel special and good starting from a young age. Well what about when you're a teenager? You're sick of this shit, so you rebel. Now the rebels get disciplinary punishment, which is, skipping school for a week or so, and forging a signature on a referral. The rebels come back, fired up more than ever to cause wrongdoings. They'll make jokes and demand as much attention as possible because they're missing that at home. They don't care enough about the world, because their world doesn't care enough about them. And you know what teachers and staff do? They complain. Every day, each day, that these kids are bad, will never be role models, and we must separate them from the "good" crowd. Day in and day out this is what I see.

If someone could just sit down and have a talk with these kids, maybe they could've turned out a little bit better. Maybe they could've cared about their future.

Why don't teachers care? How about this: take a crummy, low paying job, add being bossed around by people who know nothing at all about school life, and sprinkle on a touch of rebellion. Then, take away the respect that the public used to give to teachers. Plus, take the fact that most of the school board, who runs the schools, have never taught nor have been involved in some kind of school management, and throw around budget cuts like confetti. I would feel bad too, but I have no right to say whether or not I would be the savior teacher. After all, I am not a teacher.

Every once in a while I'll get teachers like my 8th grade history teacher who will buckle up and help you out. People like him are miracles. People like him care.

As more and more teens are sucked into this lost whirlpool, other's expectations keep dropping, so students expectations drop. What's going to be left if this goes on? Certainly not something productive.

I may be writing an opinion, but it is an opinion that is based on facts.

Burton 2010 Preview (plus a really cool site)

Ah, hate 'em or love 'em, that's the nature of Burton snowboards. Some say they are too much corporate and not enough of a rider's company. I have to agree with that. While I disagree with the way they handle their company and the way they treat they're employees and athletes like strict shit, I have to say they're boards are pretty well made.

Some of them are anyways. I used to love this company. They started the sport of snowboarding (well.. co-founded) and Jake Burton was such a cool dude. The boards did their job and the graphics were tight as XXS shorts.

They got me into snowboarding, and my first board ever was a Burton (punch, 140, 2006 model, I think). Before that, it was the dreaded renting for like... 4 years. Yessir I have to say some of their boards are great and spot on, like the Burton Hero.

I've heard only rave reviews about it (with some issues about the pop...) that this snowboard will play more than a playboy bunny and hold stable at high speeds suprisingly well for a new-fangled (or blast from the past) rocker. This is the board I want and will buy this fall at the bay area snow show. So while drooling over it and obsessively hugging it in my mind, I stumbled upon this really awesome site on google that has images of all the 2010 burton boards, top and bottom.

The only downside is that it's mostly in Japanese, but the links (link descriptions that show up at the bottom) are all in English, so you can navigate semi-successfully throughout the site. This website is really cool, and I advise all of you who actually read this post to go check it out.

Here's the burton 2010 mens' board lineup: 2010 Burton Snowboards Preview

Here's the main website: Side-B blogzine
All credit goes to the fine folks at the above mentioned website. Oh, and check out the Burton Hero LTD. I love the graphics, and if I'm lucky enough to get my hands on one, I'll be sure to write a review on it.

Sandbox - Shine On

I've seen one or two Sandbox films during the apres at the lake of Tahoe. They're really great and I think they capture the essence of snowboarding very well. While they're filming might come a little under par when compared to amazing film crews like Isenseven, they're films always have an aspect of fun involved that really gets me hyped up to shred some powpow.

Shine On, and we'll keep shining too.

Ming & Ping - Beautiful Things

This band is, hands down, my favorite band of all time. They, in my opinion, are revolutionizing the synthpop genre, making music I describe as indie electronic modern synthpop goodygoodness.

What makes them so great? Amazing tunes, with perfect beats and awesome synth lines that anyone can dance to. A unique style that is universal yet all their own. But what really sets them apart in my opinion are their lyrics. They are meaningful, thoughtful, and are not meant to be catchy, but often are anyways. The subjects they expand upon include social inequality, man vs. world, and really the darker side of life. This is true music right here.

Have a listen. Who knows, it might turn out to be your favorite song of all time like me.

Donkey Basketball. Says it all.

Recently, my school's FFA chapter hosted a donkey basketball game featuring staff vs. students riding jackasses of the donkey persuasion. This was a fundraising event to help us raise money for the FFA, an agriculture program for young adults that spans across the whole nation. With it, we get hands on experience, albeit, not much, but enough, to learn about our state's number 1 industry: agriculture.

It's an interesting program, except for the fact that we have to do some extra projects and pretty much bribe us for good grades (participating in events such as these are worth 10% of my overall grade).

Anywho, check out the wacky good fun smashing time these asses are having while riding donkeys. Don't worry, the asses get hurt a lot more than the actual donkeys.

Final score: 30-26, students win!

Morgan Hill Snowflex Center gets Yet Another Sponsor!

This time, it's from a bigger company with some serious props: Sessions. I've seen their factory driving by to Scotts Valley (chill little town by the way) and I love their protective gear (when I actually wear any). It's super duper great that companies are taking an interest in our quaint little snowflex center. No doubt if this miracle pays off, it's gonna be huge and it's gonna be popular.

Next week they'll be spreading the love and enjoying some air time on the news as well as on the radio. Tune in and check them out, I'm not sure what stations, but when I find out, I'll either post the stations and times here, or just get the videos. This is getting to be really exciting and is turning out to be quite promising. Hold well, and we could all be enjoying some June riding.

New updates will be added to their website shortly. Check them out here: Morgan Hill Snowflex

Forum - Forever

Forever Forum! Indeed, indeed.
This is their new trailer for their 2008/2009 season flick. Check it out. Dropping this fall, yadda yadda radda radda.