Amazing Pics from Cole Barash

I recently came across some photos by an American snowboard photographer which I absolutely love. Sometimes I'll see a collection, within which, maybe 3 shots will make me smile and the rest will bore me but nearly every photo from this dude blows my mind.


(I hope he doesn't mind me ripping off a pic...)
http://www.colebarash.com/

I read about Cole Barash in Outside Magazine, who said he was only 21 so the quality of these pics amazed me even more and in reading the below blog posting I couldn't help but laugh at the positive approach he takes:

Monday, February 9, 2009
Your bags are overweight sir... That will be $3100.

I travel heavy and frequently. And in all the places, airports, and countries I have departed from, I have never had a problem quite like this one....

Usually I am able to get by without paying overweight, being a loyal customer (1k mile) with united. Usually its all good. But it was a bit different this time flying from Zurich to Japan. Apparently, you are only allowed 20 kilo of total baggage allowance, and they allowed me 40 kilo. I had a total of 85 kilo to check on. The lady at Swiss airlines said, "sir, you are 45 kilo overweight, and we charge 70 swiss franks (about $70) for each extra kilo. Your total for 45 kilos will be 3100 swiss franks. She was not kidding, and i started to freak out as she was not going to budge. So I tried to solve and the only alternative was to have my bags shipped with TNT (fed version in switz) to Japan to show up 3 days later. So I missed my flight, and shipped the bags.

That was 9 days ago, and my bags still arent here. I have been in Japan without my lighting kit, or snowboard bag. It has been an interesting one for sure and has caused me to shoot quite different only with one flash. I am still very heated at this whole situation but I realized three things from this

1 This is traveling, combos of foreign variables sometimes produce bullshit
2 Some things in life, you cant control, and you have to make the best of, even at the most stressful of times.
3 When shit hits the fan, negative energy will bring negative outcome more times than not. So stay positive, and think of all solutions of a problem before deciding.
4 Fuck swiss air

Check his website: http://www.colebarash.com/
And blog: http://colebarash.blogspot.com

General Observations (round 2)

Just a few thoughts...

So Clare Weberloff, the Chk Chk Boom girl, is in discussions with the producers of Big Brother- possibly creating another monotinous TV program. I'm down with people milking it.

You may remember her (what some would suggest) racist comments in an on the scene interview with Channel 9 after a shooting in Kings Cross earlier this year. Good luck to her, I hope she enjoys the celebrity status Australia will give her.
http://www.theage.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/chk-chk-boom-kings-cross-bogan-launches-media-career-20090924-g3yp.html

In other news, a 19 year old Perth student's website has been shut down and is being investigated by police because his fictional character 'Nigel the Crazy Noonga' has been deemed to be racist.

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/crazy-noonga-website-sparks-racism-outrage-20090924-g3mz.html

I'm not going to waste time discussing the ins and outs of each case. I see both sides of both instances- I just think it's funny that one case allows the perpetrator access to great resources and the other simply gets shut down. Moral of the story? Get Max Markson to represent you.

Another observation is much closer to my heart. CJ Hobgood- one of the best and most deserving surfers on tour- had his boards stolen the night before a competition started in France. Additionally painful because:
a) there were 9 boards in total;
b) this is the start of a 3 comp European leg of which all boards needed for the next two months were stolen;
c) he is currently running 4th in the world.

CJ won Mundaka last year and I would expect he will do particularly well in Europe again this time around so unlike Micky Piccon, I don't lay blame upon a gang of theiving Spanish surfboard smugglers who make stealth missions across the border to steal boards in the dead of night, only to disappear into the Basque landscape. No. My suspicions land squarely on the ASP leaderboard. Current number 5 on tour is... Damien Hobgood. Is this a case of sibling rivalry? Is this an inside job?

Either way, help CJ get his boards back. He's a spectacular surfer and a great guy.
http://stabmag.com/jed/CJ-Hobgoods-boards-stolen-in-France

Parting Shot

What a monstrosity. Julian Wilson throwing up an arial pop shove-it then hits the lip riding goofy and he gets a 5.8. 5.8? You want progression? Start judging progressive moves. Perry (Hatchett- head judge) you're a dinosaur. Go home. Taj is the greatest surfer to never win the title and that's because he was progressive and didn't get judged properly. Now he's one of the most boring competition surfers on earth because he knows his moves wont be judged properly. The reason Josh Kerr left the tour is because his moves weren't judged properly. The only people who watch this sport are surfers. You know why? Cos it's fucking boring. There are 5 tricks in the whole sport- top lip, bottom carve, floater, tube, and cutback. 2 of those tricks can't even be done unless the wave is a certain shape- which rarely happens because the tour only goes to poor locations. No wonder nobody other than surfers watch the sport; it's the same 3 tricks over and over again. It's boring. ASP: ditch the judges. Get young judges who recognise progressive moves. Ditch the same old locations. Take the tour to great waves EVERY stop. 5.8 for Julian Wilson's arial pop shove-it? What a joke. I'm done with supporting competition surfing. Nothing new has happened since 1992 and I'm over it.

Slater: I'm with you.

Watch the heat and decide for yourself:
http://quiksilverlive.com/profrance09/backstage.en.html
Round 1, Heat 6.

Just Because...

Shane McConkey in Claim from Phil Herbert on Vimeo.

...it's never too late.

A Birthday Pub Crawl

I was rudely awoken at 7am on Saturday. 7am wasn't the problem. It was the fact that it was Saturday and it was my birthday. Luckily there was good reason for the rude awakening- a long overdue sports massage at the only slot available. So after the myotherapist had a field day on my twisted leg muscles, I was offered an amazing breakfast, some spare time and then a trip into the city for a tour of the pubs I've been meaning to see for ages: the oldest in London. I've wanted to visit the pubs with literary associations or where notable figures were regulars.

Deneil and I started the day at Ye Old Cheshire Cheese in Fleet St.

Rebuilt in 1667 after the great fire, the vaulted cellars are thought to be part of a 13th century monastery. Goldsmith, Tennyson, Doyle and Dickens used to hang out there in their respective times but there's no proof that Johnson did, despite his crib being 200m away. With detective work Doyle could have used, I came to the conclusion that Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese was a dump back in the day. If I lived that close to a pub but didn't frequent it, it must be crap.

Unfortunately that's as far as my Sherlock Holmes ability went. When Curty and Eva appeared at the bar I thought of it as nothing more than coincidence. But when Brett also 'coincidentally arrived' I was onto it. Deneil had organised a surprise pub crawl.

After Wendel and Seabrook arrived we moved on to the Cittie of Yorke.

There has been a pub on this spot since 1430 but the building was rebuilt in 1920. Its a huge hall with tiny cubicles on the side, which are rumoured to have been used by lawyers for consultations.


After Clare arrived we moved onto the newest looking pub, which claimed to be 'the oldest licensed premise in London'. The White Hart.


Apparently the White Hart was first licenced in 1216, and being so close to the Old Bailey it has been the final stop for those about to face the noose. The website mentions Dick Turpin as a patron just prior to his hanging- mildly misleading given he was hanged in York after over a year of living up there. Regardless of the history, the present was amazing as another 10 or so friends were waiting there for us. We had some food and moved onto one of the first pubs I went to when I got to London, the Lamb and Flag.


Apparently over 300 years old, this used to be called The Bucket of Blood because of the bare fist fights that took place here. In 1679 John Dryden was attacked in the alley way and now one of the rooms in the pub is called the Dryden Room. Once again, thanks to Deneil's immaculate planning more friends arrived. By this stage I was able to spend a good amount of time with people as their arrival was staggered throughout the day. The last stop for the evening was one of the most revered bars of London- Gordon's Wine Bar.


Established only in 1890, it is thought to be one of the oldest wine bars in the world. Before becoming a wine bar, the building was the residence of Samuel Pepys. The inside was very busy so we managed to get a table outside. Great bar and great cheese, and with all the excitement I managed to sip on a white port. There you go mum, there's hope for me yet.

On the way home, inspired by local history, Deneil and I took the long way and checked out a few laneways in Chiswick.

I don't know the history of them, although with the amount of reading and exploring I did in Chiswick when I wasn't working, I would certainly like to find out.

Thanks very much to everyone who came along. It was an awesome surprise. I had no idea this was being planned. Incredible thanks to Deneil who knows me so well, I fear her impending boredom as our lives progress! Thanks also to Wikipedia- you didn't think I wrote this blog off the top of my head, did you?

Where have the Last 3 Weeks Gone?

Todd's Notting Hill Afterparty (guest DJ...)


Climbing at Mile End


Paddleboarding in Brighton


Mountain Biking in Wales

Time goes quickly.

4 Quick Observations

Considering I'm at work, I should make it quick. I just have to point out the below:

1) Kenenisa Bekele is running the 5,000m for a share in the $1m bonus at the IAAF Golden league in Belgium tonight. There are 3 athletes still in the running (you have to win your event in each of the 6 (?) events throughout the season to share in the jackpot).

2) Backing Nick Keifer at $12 against Nadal in the tennis today is a great bet in my eyes. Rapha says he is "100% ready" but that means everyone else's 100%, not Rapha's. £10 on Keifer thanks.

3) I'm paddleboarding in Brighton tomorrow and hanging for it so I've been following this 'race': http://www.supfryslan.nl/ Check it out. I hope to get photos tomorrow...

4) Rage Against the Machine are still *%$&"*@~# awesome.