its a celebration!

i know it's a little early to be wishing happy new years in the wet coast. nevertheless, here's a huge happy new year to friends and family everywhere. thanks to all the peeps that have tuned into the blog over the year, stay tuned for the "best of ho 9" in the coming weeks, until then - keep it classy, peeps. see you in o' ten!

does powder really suck?

after some nagging sprains, and a couple of weeks of boiler plate ice at the locals i finally got a chance to test out my stepchild powder sucks 158. Having ridden a bunch of rockered decks recently, i had forgotten how much i digged a regular camber board; lively, responsive and super easy to ollie, it was awesome. overall, the board is great; super easy to ride, and the midflex keeps it ridable for the whole mountain, and not just the park. how was it on rails? jumps? honestly, you're asking the wrong guy, as i just dig on ridin the whole hill, doing flat land tricks, rollers - that type of thing. so for my riding the board was great + i'm a pretty big guy and the board held up well, with no chattering or slips outs whatsoever.

overall, i digged on the deck and will probably end up riding it all season vs. my rockered burton easy livin. i just liked it better + the regular camber made the board seem so much more lively and fun. Another big plus for the board is the price. In a world of $1600 snowboards, $359 US for a great deck is killer deal.

in the end, does powder really suck? hell no, nor does this board. grab one and support those companies that support snowboarding.

essential viewing - District 9

I’m pretty vocal about my distaste for all that is all Hollywood; but the other day, Nan convinced me to watch a flick that renewed my faith in film.

The movie in question was District 9. Now, I really didn’t know what to expect about this flick, but I can honestly say that I was so impressed by it that I ended up watching it twice over a two day period. Checkout the trailer for more

I won’t talk much about the story of the movie, as I don’t want to give much away. But if it were a recipe, this movie would be a bit of aliens, mixed with the twilight zone, and a little conspiracy theory to round it out. So if you dig on any of those things, I am sure you will dig the movie. Additionally, director of the flick, Neill Blomkamp went to Vancouver Film School, so go support a local done well.

Also, if lead actor Sharto Copley does not get an oscar for his performance, I’m going on a hunger strike*.

*hunger strike concludes after one hour

inspiration.... again

I love this bike

that is all.

Thanks to the boltsactioners for the inspiration

psychowheels dot blogspot dot com

Although I’ve never been to Japan, the culture and style has always fascinated me, and from what I have heard, Cats out there are “all in” when it comes to their particular scenes, especially the motorcycle scene. I came across one example of that commitment to the “scene” the other day while scouring the interweb. That example came courtesy of Japan motorcycle blog psychowheels - now these guys have some cool articles and some even cooler images, with my favourite below.

I love this picture; so much style. You can just imagine these cats cruising around town freakin everyone out. It would be awesome

public music announcement: Thrush Hermit back on tour!

Back in the 90’s, the Thrush Hermit boys delivered two great full length records: Homewreck and Clayton Park, of which Clayton Park was my personal favorite. So much so, that I still listen to it (which says something about the longevity of the music). Seriously, when Clayton Park hit, I had never heard anything like it; it was straight rock n’ roll with no bullshit filler or over pretentious guitar solo’s. It was like Bon Scot AC/DC mixed with CCR, awesome. I predicted huge things for the band, and was surprised when they did not hit the big time. Listening to the album now, it’s clear that it was ahead of its time and if it was released now, the boys would enjoy their due success.

Additionally, lead singer of the band, Joel Plaskett is practically a Canadian music icon so go out and support the band when they come to your hood. Believe me, you’ll thank me later

big shout out to Canadian music lover and friend of the blog Brenda for letting me know about this bit of essential music info!

dirty harry

Caught part of the classic Clint Eastwood flick Dirty Harry last night, and was blown away with the radness of this flick. If you haven’t seen it, or if you live in a hole, Dirty Harry is story of hardcore cop, Harry Callahan and the shit he gets into while working the mean streets of San Fran.

Now, what I really loved about this movie was its rawness, and grit that just does not exist in films anymore. Nobody was overly good looking, and none of the gals looked like they just walked out of a beauty salon (just watch CSI for that shit), it was just real.

You know that if Hollywood did a remake of Dirty Harry, ol Harry would be played by a perfectly dressed and styled Tom Cruise, with the girls looking like models; just wack. An example of Hollywood’s wackness was the recent Terminator flick; Yeah, the effects and all of that were cool. But it made me laugh when all the gals in the film were perfectly made up, and dressed in skin tight leather; all while battling terminator robots, give me a break.

dank ass, snowboard boots and a chimp = success!

Now the whole Nike entering snowboarding is definitely a hot debate these days; with tons of folks thinking they have no business in the shred world. Me, I think that pro shreds put their bodies through hell so if riding for Nike helps them stack their bank accounts a little easier; lace them bitches up.

One thing that Nike definetley has is the best marketing team around; combine this with the always entertaining Danny Kass and you have the most original boot campaign ever, you have to check it out. Additionally, you have to give it to Kass, as all of his pro boots look like nothing else on the market, and these definetley keep up the tradition; where have you seen double tongue shred boots before?

star wars X adidas! i loves you

yeah, i'm a self declared star wars nerd. seriously, i love the shit - not in a "lets go to the star wars convention and dress up like stormtroopers" way, but definetley in a "let's line up for 5 hours to watch the phantom menace" type of way. excuses aside, you have to check out this amazing star wars X adidas collection featured by the good people at sneaker freaker. Also, check out the killer apparel selection as well; yep the vader cape is a bit over the top, but that x-wing hoodie is the business!

look at that shit, AT AT hi-tops!!!!

i dig em all, but these degobah system pieces are on the must have list for me. haut!

awesome

Jai is constantly keepin things fresh around the house. this time, i walk in the livin room and he is runnin my helmet watching spongebob. check the artistic masterpiece in the background, seriously awesome.

4Q drops the good word

While checking out Max Schaff’s 4Q conditioning blog the other day, I came across a piece that gave me that “dang, I’ve been there” feeling. Check it out…

My first day of high school was hell. i felt so outta place. i still wanted to be a kid...and looking around me in the hallways i realized it was all gonna change. jocks with full beards, dudes wearing perfume they called cologne, and these little groups of alike kids that stood about and looked down their noses at the kids that didn't belong to one of their nests. skateboard tucked under my arm, repeating in my mind my locker, combination 10-23-13... 10-23-13…

Fitting in has always been a difficult concept for me. the older i got the more i found people with the same feelings drawn to loner activities like skateboarding, artwork, music, and motorcycles. Things that you can do on your own... but are also fun to do with like minded folks.

Although I don’t back the whole biker gang thing, I have to give Max a hype up for featuring this super cool shot of the infamous all black biker gang, the East Bay Dragons from oakland

does it get any better? i submit, it does not.

hit mount seymour for my first day of the season today. 35cm's of new snow and fairly good visibility = good times. i love the vibe of mount seymour; yeah you have your token dorks here and there, but overall it was cool to say hey to all the folks that i would chat/shred with last season, plus the hoots and hollers of cats lovin the conditions just made for a perfect first day. check the pic for proof

the shred was followed up with a killer meal with the family and friends (thanks again V)
then, to put the day right over the top, the road dried up enough (after almost 2 weeks straight of rain) for me to get the bike out for a quick burner. Yep, it was cold, but it was soo much fun just nailin it, that a planned 10 minute ride, ended up being almost an hour. does life get any better? i submit, it does not

capita's kilin it everywhere

Strolling through ikea for some swedish meatballs today and came across the new and improved Capita shelf brackets. i knew joining forces with C3 was the best idea ever

should have left it stock vol.6

"who cares homie, don't fix my hole in the roof. just throw on that $10,000 paintjob. after all it barely rains in vancouver."

moonwalkin'

picked up this super cool mooneyes aircleaner at the sema show recently & i just got my bike back today so i threw it on. i'm backin it

my man at the mooneyes booth said it was a prototype so i got all hyped, only to see it for sale for everyone right on their website boo hoo

fear and loathing at sema

the annual mancation to las vegas went down last week, and it was some serious fun. all the while the team attempted our best to keep it classy throughout the craziness that is las vegas. through all the fake boobs, personalities and people we checked out the sema show and although it was more scaled down than in past years, it was still fun as hell and even featured some cool bikes. check out the pics for evidence

the legendary ken block dc impreza was in attendance, as was x-games/ nitro circus main man, travis pastrana (who was alot bigger than i thought), real friendly and a super good dude

killer bike at the house of kolor booth. you can't tell from the pics but the whole thing was scotchbrighted, awesome

so dope it deserved 2 shots

all handformed aluminum cafe racer body

zonda, man, zonda



some cool RSD shit

not a big fan of the guy, but a slick jesse rooke bike

the legendary ariel atom.

easily, the best in show.


sick new ford focus. yeah its a bit boy racer, but still cool

the OG bigfoot truck! that little dude in front of him was about to get crushed

i love ya Las Vegas. until next year....

essential noise part deux

the hot snakes are in heavy rotation in my vehicle as of late, especially these two tracks; if credit is what matters i'll take credit, and automatic midnight. i just love how the hot snakes played fast, loud and unapologetic. yep, the show would probably last an hour tops, but it would be the best hour ever. I always wanted to play in a band like this, but my god, i would be out for a month after playing one track like the downstroke master Speedo.

and yeah Matt, i fully back you, Mario killed it on the skins

essential noise

some time ago i featured the beautiful noise of the hot snakes. now this band was made up of the a couple of drive like Jehu folks and a couple of rocket from the crypt cats, including the always entertaining john "speedo" ries. and although the hot snakes are no more, these 2 tracks kill it. enjoi

and for the drive like jehu fans out there, here the hot snakes boys do the killer track bullet train to vegas, awesome. turn up your speakers and enjoy the brilliance

getting started early

i walk in the house the other day and Jai is on the floor examining a book on pathophysiology. i couldn't pull him away from it; later on over apple juice he told me that he could feel the juice in his small intestine, awesome.

riding durty

with my bike in the shop and the weather getting colder, we're making every riding day count. Keeping this in mind, Johnny boi came over to work on his nightster. Now this thing is a killer bike and it runs like a bat outta hell. He just got his exhaust heat shields powdercoated black, and we hooked up his turn signal relocation kit. after that we went for a quick spin, with me rollin in Johnny's CRV and J on the hog. soo much fun, shooting pics and rippin it up on the bike. poor johnny froze his ass off, but after a pho soup bath he's back in the game. check the pics for the hotness

after riding this thing, my bike needs the 1200cc engine upgrade, stat!

johnny boi reppin his harley, and my chariot in the background
we also shot a little youtube vid of the day, no crazy boltsaction shit, but serious fun nonetheless, check it here

chop shop

so i finally did it, switched out the original seat on the bike for a rad west eagle solo seat. after that it was on, chopped up the rear fender and fender struts, moved the signals, etc.. etc.. couldn't have done it without the inspiration matt from the oldepro's bike and his how to mount a solo seat manual - johnny boy gave a seriously helping hand, and nan dropped in with some words of wisdom. yeah, the fellas busted my ass for my crazy impatience, and for having tools all over the place but what can you do, i'm backin it.


looks like a real chop shop with that background

Crazy Colt Part Deux!

some time ago i featured crazy colt's bmx hyjinx on the blog. well, after seeing this clip i had to feature the freak again. check out the vid and lock up your daughters

Buell motorcycles is no more....

its a sad day for employees and fans of Buell motorcycles as Harley has decided to stop production of the bikes by Oct 30th of this year. It's too bad as Buell offered some cool bikes, and the founder, Erik Buell always appeared passionate about the bikes and motorcycling in general. For me, i have always been a huge fan of the Buell Lightning and would have bought it, if it wasn't for the release of my bike this year. if you want to read more about Harley's decision click here, if not pour one out for the good people at Buell.

now that is a cool looking machine

RIDE snowboards presents SNOWBOARD ART 8!!!!!

Loyal Blog followers may remember me sqeaking out a win for last years Ride snowboards art contest. with that in mind, it's time to celebrate as RIde is presenting the SNOWBOARD ART 8 contest. other than a getting a cool g note, my own board, and world renowned fame and fortune, i also got to design this years art contest flyer (as seen below). so, if you saw my stuff and thought "this guy sucks, i could do better than that" or if you just like design, put down the bong and lets see some cool shit!

Trip to the Museum

Jai and I checked out the Trev Deeley Harley Davidson museum the other day. Funny thing is that despite being based in a Harley Dealer, the museum barely had any Harley’s; with most of the bikes being early English rides: BSA’s, Truimph’s, and Norton’s. Now, I’m not an old bike aficionado, nor do I think old bikes are better than new one’s and all that shit. My thing is I just dig the style and the look of the older bikes; especially the tank design’s and paint jobs. With a project bike looming in the future, our trip to the museum definitely helped with the inspiration.

look at that tank

now that is a cool paintjob


Jai was feeling this norton sidecar. i think it looks good on the boy

look what showed up in the garage

J-man brings it home with a 2008 Nightster, so awesome! within an hour of getting it we changed out the bars, removed the mirrors, switched up the air cleaner, and removed the front fender, hotness! we went for a quick cruise together, seriously the best shit ever!

oh yeah johnny boy, turn on the techno!

awww, like 2 brothers...

Hoon what!

watchin wednesdays with reda today and noticed this aussie chap runnin a Hoon hat, Frank you're blowin up!

good from far, but far from good

Just finished up my ghetto rattle can spray job on my helmet, and i think it came out pretty rad myself. yeah, there is some paint runs and some bumps, but thats due to my lack of patience rather than skill. nevertheless, i dig it

i feel like jackie stewart wearing this thing, so cool

seymour run

took an early morning run up to mount seymour the other day, and despite the cold it was awesome. the bike was running well, and the roads were clear = a good, fast ride. Plus it was great to check out mt seymour prior to the season kicking off. check out the pics for evidence of the day

soon these lifts will run again. oh yes, they will.

didn't notice the holy glow around the bike when i took this shot.

sample sizzale

Put down the bong and hitup the only sample sale that matters; the Faceshots Burton sample sale. Jeff and his crew have boards, boots, bindings, outerwear and accessories to help you meet your shred fix, all at prices that'll make you say "whattttttt!"