Swing Tip

Whenever my swing gets out of synch, I find that this mini swing drill always helps to get things back on track. It's basically a fully cocked 9:00 to 3:00 swing. Above is a swing sequence that I cut up to illustrate it as the pictures at Menzie's website suck.

Zoo York Sky High series by Alessandro Zuek Simonetti

I'm not a big fan of the Ecko version of Zoo York but this line of decks is amazing. Here's the photographers website. At some point in my life, I'd like to live in Manhattan.

Random Videos

I've been slacking off on blogging the past little bit. Here's a few videos.

1. Cody Mcentire's pretty crazy.
2. Never thought I would be psyched on a video clip put out by Quiksilver... Jake Johnson, Reece Forbes, Tim O and Alex Olson cruising around NYC.
3. End of Summer Skate Jam at the Plaza... my regular stomping grounds.

Battle at the Berrics 2: Chris Cole vs. Denis Busenitz

Holy crap. Great exhibit by both skaters. Busenitz is becoming one of my favourites. I'm still not sure about his Adidas pro model though. That narrow toe looks like it would crush my wide ass feet.

Thomas Morgan fs flip

Thomas Morgan rules. Definitely one of the most underrated skaters from the 90's. Thanks to E at CBI for the scan.

Alien Workshop - Anthony Pappalardo

This board has a lot of meaning for me primarily because I owned the damn thing for 4+ years. I was barely skating from 2004 until June 2008 and this sucker came with me from Vancouver to Ottawa to Mexico. I did manage to skate a bunch in the summer of 2007 in Ottawa and a hand full of times at this ghetto park in Mexico. This board was solid... through all those years, it never warped, it didn't break on me, it never cracked or got soft. The nose finally blew out due to shooting out on me and ramming into a wall so I took it apart and left it in the streets of Morelia. I just wanted a fresh start when I got back to Vancouver. Graphic from here.

NYC rehash

I just got back from NYC and had a great time. We flew with Cathay Pacific and stayed 5 nights. Here's a few observations.

1. We stayed at the Best Western Bowery Hanbee, an all around great mid-range hotel in Chinatown. Highly recommended. E at CBI stayed in the same hood a few weeks ago at the Comfort Inn Manhattan Bridge, which sounds like another good spot. Both are fairly new hotels which is always nice.

2. I decided not to bring my board. We caught the tail end of Tropical Depression Danny so there was lots of rain for our first few days. I figured it would either be too wet or too hot and, to be honest, the only thing I would have skated is the Banks. I ended up getting a cold on the 2nd day and was pretty much fighting through it the whole stay. I did see my first Shut, 5boro, Roger(PS Stix) and Habitat Ecoply boards. The former three companies are pretty rare in Vancouver.

3. Being dog owners, my wife and I notice them where ever we go. Surprisingly, at least 50% of the dogs we saw in New York were Frenchies. We also saw a PBGV, a rare breed which is what my OG pup Basil was (RIP buddy).

4.
This Puleo ledge is at Chrystie and Delancey, which is a few blocks north of our hotel and south of the Whole Foods in the Lower East Side.

5. Only "celebrity" sighting was Jason Dill and his entourage (urban cowboy + random dude) walking down Grand St near my hotel. His arm was in a sling so I'm guessing he's injured.

6. This store Uniqlo was pretty awesome. It originated in Japan and the Soho store is the only one in North America. 95% of their gear is really clean and basic.

7. Restaurants always seem to be hit or miss. Here are a few that we enjoyed and would eat at again.
a) Mary's Fish Camp in the West Village - it's small, it's not cheap and it has an open kitchen. Expect to wait but it's well worth it.
b) Baoguette Café in the East Village - it's rare to find a good veggie Vietnamese sub. This place has a great one.
c) Lombardi's in Little Italy - America's first pizzeria. Stoked on their pizza margarita.
d) Wild Ginger Vegan Restaurant in Chinatown and Brooklyn - lunch menu was great. Lots of options. It's healthy and it's always nice to be able to order anything on the menu rather than trying to weed out all the meat dishes.
e) Sobaya in the East Village - hand made soba noodles. Traditional Japanese style. Awesome.
f) Baja Fresh and Chipotles - we don't have either of these in Canada so I always stop by when visiting the States. I'm a sucker for double fisted veggie burritos.

The one's we thought would be good but didn't blow us away were: Freeman's, Angelica's Kitchen (Vancouver does organic healthy food better than both), B & H (my wife's matzah ball soup is superior and the challah we get from Terra bread in Vancouver is better as well), Acme (it was good but I don't think we'd go back), Bleecker St Pizza (Food Network's #1 Pizza in NY, I have no idea how that happened)

Thanks to everyone who hooked me up with information on cool shit and bunk crap in the city.

Wood: China vs. Mexico vs. USA (Update # 4)

Fourth update on the wood showdown. I haven't been skating a whole lot the past two months due to a heat wave, home renovations and vacation. The PS Stix USA Habitat board lasted me for 6 sessions over 2 months. It was definitely the most solid feeling of the three boards. I brought it with me to Tofino and skated the park one evening and ended up breaking it on a flat ground 360 flip. Super bummed.

In the grand scheme of things, I prefer the wood from PS Stix or BBS Mexico. I'll never buy another China Black Label but I will try out other Chinese wood such as Chocolate and Girl, neither of which I've tried in over 10 years.

Next up are two PS Stix USA Jason Dill boards.