i'm a weiner again!

As you may know last year the stars aligned and i pulled off the win for the Ride snowboards SBA7 art contest. yep, it was my 15 minutes of fame and i got a cool g note out of it + a brand new ride snowboard with my graphic on it. Well, the cash came and went, but today i got the best surprise ever when the board you see below showed up on my doorstep. Yep, you may notice that the graphic is different from the design that i did, but this deck is everything that i dig; simple lines and design + i'm hyped on it. the board is based on the ride DH 157, and if we ever get some snow i'll get out there and shred the shit out of it. a huge thanks to all the people at ride, especially Casey Huffman for everything

oh yes! its like christmas, birthdays and all that rolled into one!

here are the original designs that i sent in for the contest

olympic ride

J-man, Naj and i hit up our first official ride of the season today. Naj bought out the hellraiser and showed us both that we are pussy's by rollin in a t-shirt and no gloves the whole day, raw! rawness aside, it was a killer ride; we saw some olympic festivities, enjoyed some sophie's burgers served with a side of shit talk, awesome. enjoy some pics of the ride

naj and the hellraiser + johnny and the nightster, tough!

no jacket or gloves, that bitch is crazy!

back home! i wish there was more pics, but i was busy ridin. thanks fellas

my life right now

as mentioned earlier i have been seriously laggin on the blog front, and i recognize that. the problem is that these two pictures describe my life right now, things should be back in order soon and then its full speed ahead with the nonsense of blogging!

it used to be a kitchen

pray for me.

burger time

behold the magnificence of the Sophies Cosmic Cafe cheeseburger. i have talked many times about it in the past, so i won't waste anymore time, just know it was the best burger ever!

BIke show Ho ten

Yep, I know I have been seriously laggin on the blog lately, so to make up for it here’s our recent journey to the BC Motorbike show in Abbotsford. It was freakin freezing out, but a pretty bangin show inside. Check the hotness
nice custom crossbones from the peeps at barnes HD

some slick classics from Royal Enfield

Johnny boy running it on the bullet. if he threw on some chick jeans and got a fixed gear; it would be hipster time!


hundred grand ducati, dang bitches thats some serious cake

ducatee monster, hotness!

nan running it on this dope black and gold crotch rocket, and no i didn't take the pic for the dame next to him, well not entirely
now this bike was something, not really my style but the craftmanship was amazing. no wires anywhere, scotchbrighted engine, etc. etc. etc. pretty hot stuff

after wandering the halls and seeing the plethora of leather vests, chaps and chrome shit we came across this little booth featuring some biltwell lids, and some seriously cool chops. the people in the pic are those behind langley's No9 Cycles. the bike in the background was the business, amazing paint job and classic style. get out there and support your local bike builder people!

so there's my little recap of this years bike show. sure there was alot more stuff, but my camera is sucking lately and a majority of the shots were out of focus. oh well, add another thing that i need to buy

Tyson, son!

I’ve always been down with Mike Tyson; yeah, the dude is a trainwreck at times, and he blew 300 million on chicks, booze and drugs. But seriously, when this dude was in his prime he was truly the most ferocious, intense and exciting boxer around. Back then he was the man; video games, music videos, cash money, Mike was killing it. Then just like Michael Jackson, people tore him down. I’m not saying that Mike had nothing to do with his collapse, simply that there was so many people trying to bring this kid down that in the end that’s exactly what happened.
The other night I checked out the killer Tyson documentary, and was impressed with Mike’s honestly. The dude just says what he feels in every situation, and then gets chastised for it. If you were, or are a Tyson fan or even if you not, check out the Tyson flick, you’ll definitely learn more about the man and the events that made him the way he is.

To end off, here’s Mike doling out some serious shit talk, enjoy!

pre birthday awesomeness!

Youngblood's hyped on his new skate deck. The good people at Nixon made it extra sweet with JP Walker’s stepchild snowboards graphic on the base. Plus the deck showed up one day before the tike’s birthday, awesome!

UNION Force Bindings – a somewhat unbaised test

So today I threw on a pair of Union Force bindings on my deck to see what all the hype is about. Yep, I have had a pair of Union’s in the past, but they were first year Force samples which had some sticky ratchets, so i wasn't really backin em.

The setup
Board - Stepchild 158 Powder Sucks
Bindings – Union Force m/l
Boots – Burton Jeremy Jones size 10

To ensure that my test was on point, I mounted up the binders on my trusty Stepchild Powder Sucks deck as I have been ridding this thing all season, and I am super comfortable with the way the board rides.

I usually ride Burton bindings, so the first thing I noticed was that the bindings do take a little time to setup the first time, as pretty much everything is adjustable. Take your time and chill, and you’ll find you can get em set perfectly to your boots.

Strapping in, the first thing you will notice is the straps; super comfy, without being overly soft or huge + the capstrap is easily the best I have ever used. The baseplate is not as cush as it is on the Burton Triad that I usually ride, but at the same time its nothing that would convince me against buying them. The ratchets should also be mentioned, as they are strong and super easy to get in and out of. just a couple o clicks and your in super solid, awesome

I was a little caught off by the zero forward lean in the highbacks. This is probably due to the built in forward lean that Burton bindings come with, so it’s no knock to Union – I just wasn’t used to riding actual zero forward lean. Keep in mind that I hate forward lean, so it actually wasn’t a bad thing.

Riding the bindings for the day, the response reminded me of a Burton Cartel, (albeit with a waay different highback and less forward lean) or a slightly stiffer Burton Mission – I know its wack to compare, but what can you do.

The only thing that bugged me about these bindings was when I was buckling in. I usually strap in standing up, and when pushing the ankle strap out of the way found that it would fall behind the binding, so I would have to reach back and grab it. (please see pic for what I mean) Yeah I know I’m being a bit of a bitch, but I am sure you could put a little thing in the strap to make it not fall all the way back.

maybe my guts too big, but reachin for that ankle strap was tougher than it looks

Overall, I would say the Union Force is a solid binding and a killer option to the endless binding options out there. The straps, ratchets and response is amazing, and the aesthetics are awesome. Seriously, I would probably buy these things just because they look so cool; plus they remind me of the Forum Green pro binding from back in the day. Additionally, the people at C3 are doing good things for snowboarding, so feel good in supporting those that support you. And I’m not kissin any freebee ass here, I paid retail for these things, bitches!

"but it's my new bike!" we don't give a fu*#

Johnny boy got inspired from the motorcycle show & started the chop on his new nightster, bravo dude.

i would love the dealership folks to see this picture, "sir, i think you may be voiding your warranty!"

love at first sight

i love this bike. everything about it, the paint, the stance, the style. thankyou sucker punch sally's now i have to start saving

Best/ Worst of o nine - vol 2 - food -

It's no secret that I live to eat; and with so many amazing choices for food in this beautiful city it was tough to pick my favourite spot for the year. that being said, i chose the following as they had the biggest/best "i gotta tell so and so about this place, it's awesome" - consistency and quality of food. Anyway, enough chit chat, here's my choice for best eating spot in 09; and as an added feature best burger or 09

Best – Dinesty – now if dim sum is not your thing, you’ll hate this place. But if you dig on serious eats with amazing flavors, Dinesty in Richmond is the spot. Sure, the service isn’t the greatest, and the place is always packed – but if you can deal with it, you’ll thank me in the end. Order up the spicy tomato and beef, some shaomai and get down to business. After one visit you’ll discover why we call this place the “crack shack”

ohh, look at that.
Best Burger – sophies cosmic cafe - while my boy’s at the Vera’s in Surrey have turned out some bangers, Sophie’s Cosmic Café still wins for burger of the year. check out my past review for more

Overrated – Fat Burger – the first time I went to this place I was seriously let down; basic burger that’s supposed to taste like heaven, but rather than a feeling of elation, the burger left me feeling like Michael Douglas in falling down, screwed over. The first time around, I though it may have been a one off; but then I went back again to give it another chance only to discover that the fat isn't all that.

just give the man a good burger, is that too much to ask?

star wars X adidas! i loves you vol 2

yeah, this ad is everywhere on the interweb but i still had to hype it as well. Nan sent it over to me and i freaked when i heard the imperial march break beat mix. sick!

Best/ Worst of o nine - vol 1 - movies -

I was gonna put my whole best/worst of 2009 list together, but it'll just take too long, so decided to break it up into parts.
Part One - Movies
Best Movie – District 9, seriously – check out my review here to see why
Worst Movie – Transformers 2 – c’mon, this was one of the worst movies ever. Sure seeing Megan Fox run around all sweaty is entertaining, but it was just too much cheese for me. Air brushing a motorcycle while chattin on the phone about breaking up with your boyfriend, gimme a break. Straight cheese

yeah, i know she's seriously good looking. but after 2 hours i was over it

busted!

One of the things I love about living in Vancouver is that it never gets overly cold, yeah it rains a lot. But the fact that you can take your bike out for a rip on January 3rd and not freeze to death is too good. So to make the most of the weather, I went through the checklist of things I would need to make the ride ultra sweet:
Gloves – check
Helmet – check
Balaclava – check
Jacket – check
Insurance – didn’t check
15 minutes into the ride I get pulled over (by 2 cop cars) and get reminded that my insurance had expired = the bike gets parked on the side of the road until a tow truck can pick it up. Luckily the police lady chose to cut me a break and didn’t give me the $600 ticket for no insurance.

Good times!

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!