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May, 13Almond Lumberjack: The Process
Cam Oden documents Clutch, shaping Almond’s 9’6″ Lumberjack.
Shape -> Laminate -> Glass-On Fin -> Hotcoat -> Sand -> Gloss & Polish.
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May, 13Band of Frequencies: All I’ve Found
Last year George Greenough teamed up with Shannon Sol Carroll and released a video for the Band of Frequencies single; “All I’ve Found.”
Check out an interview with Shannon Sol Carroll here.
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May, 13BELLA VITA: A Surfer’s Journey Through Italy
In a world of globe-trotting surfers chasing perfect waves in far-off lands, is it possible that an undiscovered surfing wonder could still exist, perhaps over-shadowed and hidden for years in the veil of a country’s overwhelming lineage of style, architecture, food and culture?
In pursuit of the answer, filmmaker Jason Baffa chronicles Chris Del Moro on a pilgrimage back to his ancestral homeland with elite professional surfers Dave Rastovich, Lauren Lyndsey Hill, Conner & Parker Coffin and Italian stand-outs Alessandro Ponzanelli and Leonardo Fioravanti as they explore the burgeoning surf culture blossoming amongst the Mediterranean’s oldest and cherished traditions.
A visual epic captured in 35mm, Bella Vita presents an intimate and powerful journey of self-discovery where the unique powers of family tradition intersect with the enlightenment of re-discovery in a forgotten natural resource.
Help fund this project, on Kickstarter
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May, 13Justin Coffey: Old Man
Justin Coffey is an old man. He drinks old fashions, rides logs, and doesn’t like kids horse playing on his lawn.
Happy Birthday, old man. You’re a great friend, good man, and tolerable business partner.
Here’s to small waves, strong drinks, motorcycles and misbehaving.
Cheers,
- #SPJ
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May, 13POINT BREAK: By Wes Anderson, David Lynch, Tommy Wiseau, Joel Swanberg
Remaking Point Break seems like blasphemy. Kathryn Bigelow’s 1991 surf/bank heist/skydiving action movie teamed up Keanu Reeves with Patrick Swayze, and Gary Busey with meatball sandwiches. You can’t really top that cast. Ericson Core is set to head the reboot… but Patrick Willems + Max Rouzier have a few other directors in mind. Check out this brilliant spoof, by Lumberjack Films.
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May, 13Review: Topo Designs Daypack
Over the years, I’ve bought a lot of backpacks. Everything from full-frame mountaineering packs to overly complicated carryalls. Some of them have had sternum straps and hydration hoses and stretchy side compartments where you’re supposed to put a water bottle – among other accouterments. Honestly, though, I like the simple shit. Something that’s comfortable to carry, easy to access and made in America. I suppose that’s why I’m so taken with the Topo Designs Daypack; a 22-liter backpack made in Colorado from 1000d Cordura. Lined with a coated pack cloth, Topo’s Daypack features natural leather lash tabs, YKK zippers and shoulder straps reinforced with seatbelt webbing.
I’ve been using this bag for more than six months now. Along with my Topo Designs Duffel, I took it with me to Mexico, Israel and Amsterdam. I’ve packed it full of camera equipment, a 5mm Matuse wetsuit, my MacBook and all kinds of other stuff. The YKK zippers and paracord pulls keep things secure, and the shoulder straps are strong enough I’ve carried shit I probably shouldn’t have. Damn thing has never let me down. It’s at home underneath an airplane seat, or bouncing around in the bed of a pickup truck. It’s the perfect pack. And for just $144, it’s better than anything you’ll buy at REI.
Buy your own Topo Daypack.
This review originally appeared on The Peanut Butter Coast
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May, 13Film Review: Transworld Skateboarding x Perpetual Motion
If you’re turning to Transworld, by now you should know that they are one of the few surviving skateboarding magazines. This video is a worthy complement to such a steadfast publication. This is a skateboarder’s skateboarding movie through and through, and it runs an efficient 38 minutes.
If you’re looking for the production value of ‘Sorry’ or even the sophomoric touch of ‘Jump Off A Building’, you’ve come to the wrong place. Perpetual Motion ignores the convolution of skits or muddling set pieces and the result is a straightforward though respectable showcase of its stars. Silas Baxter-Neal, Julian Davidson, Jimmy Carlin, Walker Ryan, Josh Matthews and Tom Remillard turn in solid runs with Carlin and Silas providing the backbone to the piece.
By pulling no punches, it knows what it is and has no delusions of grandeur.
Notes:
Music in skate movies is generally an added bonus, and in this case it gets a deserved ‘meh’ rating with a shoulder shrug (it lifts off at with the Temptations and limps to the finish from there)… There is a sweet montage of various skaters about halfway through, but, you have to wait until the end credits to see who was involved. So by the time I read Lance Mountain’s name, I was too lazy to rewind and spot the former Bones Brigadier…
Trick of the Flick:
Silas Baxter-Neal’s session as a whole shouldn’t be missed, but at 29 minutes he goes bluntslide to nose-
blunt on a concrete bench. It’s nasty.
Review Haiku:
No frills and it’s short.
Three words spoken throughout it.
Skater’s skate movie.
- Lucas
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May, 13Team Mike: Everybody Love Everybody
I grew up in Independence, Iowa – current population 5,957. When I was young, our address was simply “Jennings RR1.” I lived in the country with two loving parents, a witty older brother and your classic dog and cat. The majority of my childhood was spent caricaturing Luke Skywalker, Superman and Michael Jackson. My older brother, Chad, built me an X-wing out of some cardboard when I was five. I ran around with red underwear on the outside of my blue sweatpants when I was six. I had hardly mastered the moonwalk at age seven, but thought I looked pretty damn cool sporting my mom’s silver ski glove insulator on my right hand. As I got older, I slowly transitioned from wearing my underoos to flannel, listening to more Smashing Pumpkins and less Jackson 5 (MJ and Billy get equal play these days).
High school was no fun. I wasn’t good at sports. I wasn’t popular with the ladies. I was a long haired geek who bought a computer instead of a car when he turned 16. My fondest memories are of the weekends away from high school, when my brother Chad would come back from Wartburg College. He’d bring new music, new movies, new information and old friends.
One of those friends was Mike Jensen. Mike was the crazy one. A stocky son of a bitch with wild hair and infectious energy that traveled almost as fast and strong as his singing voice. He was what I wanted to be. He grew up in my town, hung out with the same families and watched Star Wars with my brother. He got in fights with jocks in high school. He was in choir like me, had a hot girlfriend, was caring, but cool and escaped Independence. He was living in Waverly (which seemed like another country at the time) and was in a college band named ‘Sweat Lodge.’ For that reason, reasons unsaid, and the reasons listed above, to me… he was a rock star.
These days, Mike lives in Waverly. He married that hot girlfriend, has three beautiful daughters and teaches music.
Mike Jensen IS a rock star.
Unfortunately, Mike has a few other things going on. A few months ago, Mike started having seizures After countless trips to the physician, it was discovered that Mike has a brain tumor. He’s having that tumor removed today, May 3rd.
Earlier this week Mike asked people if they could send him a note stating “who I am to you.” Part of the risk of his surgery is that he could possibly lose a bit of his personality. And part of his plan for recapturing that explosive energy is to have reading material and reminders of who he is to the people in his life. The few paragraphs above, are what Mike Jensen is to me.
Mike means a lot to a lot of people. His friend Melinda started a TeeSpring campaign, where you can buy TEAM MIKE shirts. All the proceeds go to Mike and his family.
Mike has another friend (and band mate) named Paul. Paul likes to stream the current MN Public Radio music station when he works. They do this thing called “My Three Songs,” where you request a three-song set with an explanation and they read the story and play the tunes. Paul made a playlist for Team Mike and sent it to DJ Barb Abney earlier this week. His letter is posted below, along with the 3 songs.
- Shawn
Dear Barb,
My three-song set is dedicated to my very close friend and longtime bandmate Mike Jensen, an Iowan who is having surgery for a brain tumor this week (5.3). This dedicated husband and father of three beautiful girls is not yet 40. I’ve been thinking about him a whole heckuva lot leading up to this surgery, and was spurred to write you with this request because I know how much Mike would love for more people to hear his music and to send positive energy his way. I hope you will play it – it will mean a lot!
The first song is a track Mike wrote for our band Spin Spin Coupling’s forthcoming album Vinyl Envy. With members in Iowa, Wisconsin, and Chicago, we’ve been playing together since 2001, but most of us have known each other and played together for 20 years. I think “War” is one of the most dynamic tracks we’ve ever created and seems fitting since Mike is in the midst of battle with this tumor. Here is a link to the WAV file. Sorry – it’s not totally radio-ready, but we weren’t ready for this crisis…it has a long fade and should be cut at about 5:20. I realize this is a bit unorthodox, but if you can do it, that’d be awesome.
We played the opening bars of “Turtledove” by Trip Shakespeare at one of our earliest gigs, which was opening for our heroes in The Flops in Madison, ten years after we saw Trip Shakespeare together at Wartburg College, our alma mater in Iowa. At the Flops show, we had a great chat with Matt and John, who autographed Mike’s LP of Across the Universe.
Finally, while I considered some Sigur Ros, Low, Kings of Convenience, and other more ethereal fare with which we have some great memories, if I know Mike, he would prefer to be able to cruise down a country road right now, rocking out to an old favorite. So, I chose “Stereo” by Pavement, one of his favorite bands, and a song to which we’ve done that very thing several times in the past.
2. Trip Shakespeare: Turtledove
3. Pavement: Stereo
