How to get your own graphics on your board

Slovenian snowboard company Artec have come up with a genius idea with their Blueprint series of snowboards ... now you can order a snowboard with your own personal graphics on it for 549 Euros.

The boards come in 3 sizes - 154, 157 and 160 cms and they can turn them round in just 3 weeks.

I can't vouch for the boards having never heard of them before and I think the graphics are on the top only (not the base) but it's a mouthwatering idea. I mean how many riders do you know who are creatives?!

Check out their website for details: http://www.artecproject.com/blueprint/en/

Jumping With Jussi (Mack Dawg) - dvd review

Directed and edited by Mike McEntire and Jussi Oksanen.

If you’ve always wanted a personal tutorial from one of the best snowboarders in the world and can’t afford a summer at snowboard camp, here’s your chance thanks to Jussi Oksanen's trick tips dvd.

But let me be Master Of The Bleeding Obvious and say right away that this dvd is called JUMPING With Jussi… it ain’t JIBBING With Jussi (now there *is* a name for a blog!). In other words, no rails, no wall rides, no snowboarding across water, no road gaps (although technically that would count) and certainly no urban footage.

Maybe he’s planning a follow up but for now, Jussi has decided it would be most wise to demonstrate 16 of his favourite big air tricks in a specially closed off trick park. A bit like when Hamley’s open their toy store exclusively to Michael Jackson. Think of it as the skill of a ninja combined with the responsible attitude of a sensei.

Beginning with straight airs and progressing through to pulling 900s, Jussi demonstrates each trick with crystal clarity while calmly talking you through it, over and over, making each jump sound as easy as he makes it look.

Seriously though, the approach is clearly designed to encourage your confidence as much as demystify and there must be something to learn here for everyone from beginners to the most advanced riders.

"...Jussi fell just 4 times in the making of this dvd while he landed tricks around 600 times!"

Obviously a degree of ability is required before you attempt to ride in the big man’s bindings, (as the credits go to great pains to point out). And as they also point out, Jussi fell just 4 times in the making of this dvd while he landed tricks around 600 times! So if you are thinking of ever pissing the guy off, don’t forget some kryptonite.

"...and ride out like a champ"

I like to think of JWJ as the snowboarding equivalent of one of those self-belief tapes. You could try taking the soundtrack with you into the park with you, iPod style, or maybe play it over and over in your sleep… you CAN pull a cab 540… you can… you can...

…“and ride out like a champ!”

Verdict: I'd give it 5 out 5 because it's Jussi but I'd give my chances of getting beyond a straight air, 0 out of 5.

Go to http://www.mackdawgproductions.com/ for more info.

Optimistic? (Absinthe Films) - dvd review

Riders: Wolgang Nyvelt, Marco Feichfner, Gigi Ruf, Matt Beardmore, Justin Bennee, Matty Ryan, Mikey Le Blanc, Nicholas Muller, Terje Haakonsen, Sylvain Bourbousson, Hans Ahlund, MFM (Marc Frank Montoya), Nicholas Droz, Jules Reymond, Erik Christensen, Phil Damianakes, Kurt Wastell, Annie Boulanger, Romain de Marchi, Danny Davis.

Number of times watched before reviewing: 8

Looking forward to seeing the new Absinthe film every season is as exciting as waiting for Christmas. Directors Justin Hostynek and Patrick Armbruster are two of the most consistently high quality film makers in snowboarding and I have seen all their collaborations since the exceptional Transcendence in 2001 (which means I’ve only missed their debut effort Tribal). Also I love the way they support European riders.

"This is the first dvd I have reviewed since the advent of the YouTube era"

Optimistic? is their 8th movie and it’s the first time it has ever crossed my mind that they may be spreading themselves a bit thin. They have obviously broken into TV now with the series Flipside (about the making of last year’s More - both available on DVD) and deservedly so. However Optimistic? doesn’t instantly gratify or have the wow factor of their previous movies. Why?

It certainly isn’t down to the quality. This is the first dvd I have reviewed since the advent of the YouTube era and standards have never been more important. How else can you justify the price tag of a dvd when anyone and their dog can post homemade jibbing footage on the web for free?

"Optimistic? is Justin and Brustie's most beautifully shot film to date"

This is no let down. Optimistic? is Justin and Brustie’s most beautifully shot film to date with a restrained palette of colours that is as pleasing to the eye. They even make the graffiti look like fine art exhibits. No cheap and garish video camera colours to be found here.

The soundtrack is as tasteful and relevant to the visuals as I’ve come to expect from these boys with the exception of the awful Babyshambles (if I had to listen to them every day of my life I'd want to be on smack). The clever incorporation of animation and graphics are as accomplished as I have seen in an Absinthe production - those fonts dropped on mouth-watering landscapes will give wet dreams to certain graphic designers I know.

It isn’t down to the riders – most of the usual big boys are present including Gigi Ruf, Jules Reymond, Wolle (now Wolfgang!) Nyvelt and Nico Droz. Absinthe are one of the few top film crews that include predominantly European riders although I did miss American Travis Rice this time. He is often an Absinthe regular, one of my personal faves and easily one of the most progressive snowboarders on the circuit. Terje Haakonson, the nearest we have to a godfather of snowboarding, makes a (very brief) cameo but don’t get too excited, it’s a piss-take on skiers.

"I did miss American Travis Rice... easily one of the most progressive snowboarders on the cirtcuit"

There’s more ski-related humour. You know that shouldn’t laugh but watching Marc Frank Montoya head down the piste deliberately spraying every skier in sight is cruel but undeniably funny – almost as funny as his preoccupation with being a hip hop star as MFM fans will testify. Also there's Mikey Le Blanc's claims that his forbears invented snowboarding (or stand-up tobogganing it seems to me).

So what’s the problem?

"a heavy shift to backcountry and deep powder riding which looks a lot more fun to do than it is to watch..."

Well, it begins with a heavy shift to backcountry deep powder riding which looks a lot more fun to do than it is to watch and perhaps should have been left til nearer the end. Admittedly the backcountry sections are nice in a wish-I-was-there way and there is plenty of creative jibbing on what nature has to offer.

I suspect though that like most snowboarders, I want to be amazed by the tricky skills and sheer bravery of those I couldn’t hope to duplicate myself in a million years. In this respect, Justin Bennee and Matty Ryan ’s rails & rooftops section is eminently enjoyable, due mostly to their guerrilla approach to urban snowboarding and Erik B and Rakim's 'Don't Sweat The Technique' soundtrack. And it was nice to be reminded what a skillful snowboarder Nico Droz actually is.

"...it was nice to be reminded what a skillful snowboarder Nico Droz actually is."

At a time when there are few truly new snowboarding tricks to be seen, the only thing novel here is the inclusion of wall rides which I have noticed a few pros going for on snowboarding sites recently. Of course we have some big air (probably what Absinthe used to be most famous for) and lots and lots of rails but perhaps not enough progression to be more than a satisfying fix – not to amaze.

For Absinthe regulars, this is a film to add to the collection for sure but if you haven’t seen one of their films before, try find More, Saturation or Transcendence first.

Verdict: 3.5 out of 5 Go to http://www.absinthe-films.com/ for trailers and more info.

Filmography:
Optimistic?, More, Futureproof, Pop, Saturation, Vivid, Transcendence, Tribal. Also Flipside (series about the making of More).

Be a talent spotter and help someone get sponsored

Check out this competition on snowboard boot company Thirty Two's website. They asked riders to send in their homemade videos and have promised to sponsor the winner of the three best entries posted here:

http://thirtytwo.com/blog/2007/11/14/sponsor-me-contest-needs-your-vote/

Check out the videos and post who's your favourite!

Oh, and the second guy is called Joni, not 'Toni' as you'll see if you watch his video to the end. He's really good too, certainly the most pro, although Dan's my man.

Macaroni, Beer & Weed

Here are a couple of homemade snowboard videos from the East Coast of the USA that I came across in blog section of the SNOW BOARD magazine site in the US ( http://www.snowboard-mag.com/node/28394 ).

As I've been old enough to drink - even in the US - from many many years now, I still find these juvenile boozers really funny (as someone points out, one guys looks about 12) and they can jib too! Big up bmlittler.

Macaroni, Beer & Weed video (Part 1)




Macaroni, Beer & Weed video (Part 2)

Who the f*** do I think I am?

Welcome to Jibber Jabber, a new blog dedicated to snowboarding.

I used to run a website called Stoked on Snowboarding that became too difficult to maintain after a series of serious illnesses. Even now I'm still recovering from bowel surgery after just getting the all clear from cancer... and that's only the illnesses I've suffered THIS year. (Yes, you should read THAT blog sometime but for now I'll spare you).

"I still have the telephone-directory-thick paperwork that Coca Cola's lawyers sent me when they threatened to sue!"

It didn't help that my banner design took the piss out of Coca Cola ( Stoked... Coke...geddit?) and looked similar to the red and white Coke can design but with a snowboarder pulling an air trick over the wavy white line. I still have the telephone-directory-thick paperwork that Coca Cola's lawyers sent me when they threatened to sue!

As you can see from the name of my new blog, I still can't resist a pun.

Two years after ending Stoked on Snowboarding, I still get a few free snowboarding dvds from film makers who know I can't do them the favour of promoting them. After staying in hospital 5 or 6 times in the last 3 years, I find this very touching. Let's face it, snowboarders and the people who work in snowboard related companies are a cool crowd.

I got to thinking that perhaps a blog could do everything my old website used to do. I could still write reviews of snowboarding movies and snowboard related video games.

"The nearest I ever got to being a *real* jibber was concussing myself on the long 'gas pipe' rail at Milton Keynes SnoZone..."

Posting photos would be a breeze now (you can even do it from your mobile phone these days). And I could even drop in the occasional YouTube video I come across. Plus I'd be able to read comments from you lot and know what you're thinking too.

I'll also point out any interesting sites, blogs and cool competitions I come across.

Let me say straight off that even though I have some professional 'journalistic' experience (I started as a writer for rock mag Kerrang! , ran the video games channel for UK internet service provider CompuServe and worked on BBC Radio 1's website for half a decade) I am not an amazing snowboarder. You would be surprised how many people at Radio 1 love snowboarding - my God!

The nearest I ever got to being a *real* jibber was concussing myself on the long 'gas pipe' rail at Milton Keynes SnoZone after realising I didn't know how to stop! I also turned myself black and blue when I refused to recognise my lack of talent in the snow park for two weeks in Fernie, Canada.

And then there was the time I slipped on some ice crossing the car park at the base of Big Mountain in Montana while carrying my board under my arm... I fell hard on the sharp edge of my board and for a month thought I had broken my ribs! Oh and if you are the fat middle aged woman with the chihuahua who sat in her car ignoring me while I crawled around on the floor thinking I was going to die... fuck you very much!

On the positive side, I love the mountains and I love snowboarding. I enjoy watching snowboard flix like the rest of you and then there was the time I got to interview my favourite snowboarder Jussi Oksanen and got him to sign my board (a Jussi 157.5 signature board funnily enough).

I might not be good enough to snowboard for a living but I still hold on to this crazy idea that someday someone might pay me to live in an idyllic resort in the mountains somehwere, writing blogs and building or designing websites via a remote hyperfast broadband connection and a laptop. Hey! Put that pin away before you puncture my dreams!

I hope those are credentials enough to waste a few minutes of your time now and again. And who knows, perhaps a few pro snowboarders who really DO know what they are talking about, might post the occasional comment. I can dream can't I?