‘Cause it’s cool…
Posted on February 14, 2008
Me and JBell in Italy…
Yeah, we used to use 5 wheels. Every once in a while, I really miss them; Usually when I am sliding sideways through a corner, never when I am changing my wheels.
and ’cause she’s so cute…
Sandra, here posing for a photo ID/secruity card, makes even the most posed smile look real/happy…
Yep, still missing her. Wouldn’t you?
I can hear the steel drums now…
Yep, Soulja Boy is inescapable, even North of the Border… Sorry to break it to you D2tha… This Supa-man! was on form nearly the whole Raps game; the height of Soulja-popularity…
It just describes my mood…
On a train en route to Stage 9. T-Mobile baby! Autograph: Bert Grabsch, Pro-Tour Rider from Kreuzlingen…
I am preparing a photo-quiz post, I’ll be looking for your help. Especially from ‘Team-Rainbow’ old-schoolers.
-Double A to the R-O-N.
Oh, and I fixed the comment section problem, so drop me a line via the site and see if the problems are sorted out for me. Thanks!
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I love skating.
Posted on February 12, 2008
Ok, so…
I was going to post something about how I haven’t posted much in editorial style lately.
I was going to post something about how that ususally seems to hurt feelings, or “piss off”, or… whatever, whenever I do.
I was going to post about how hyper-sensitive people can be.
I was going to post something about how that is the stuff that needs to come out and be known.
I was going to post about how people seldom enjoy negative turths, and more seldom truly accept them.
Instead I am going to post about how I love skating. Haha! I really do. I love training indoors, through the corners, relays, sprints, passing, long stuff, short stuff, starts, finishes… Did I mention relays?
I love racing outdoors. I love racing in huge packs, watching attacks, going 50kmph+ in a massive group with a line moving up or back either side, through a turn at full speed, the wind pressure of a huge downhill…
For some reason, the Zurich Marathon keeps coming into mind… The right corner going into the long uphill straight that goes into the tunnel, followed by the 180 degree turnaround into the downhill on the other side. Going through those turns was so f**king intense. …awesome.
I think I’ll even post a picture or two or three…
This was a street performer I saw/met in Berlin.
He was playing some kind of Indian instrumental music that sounded like a lot of whining and grinding (with a surprising amount of melody) set to a mid-90’s techno beat. If nothing else, it was unique. This was actually one of the weirdest sights I had seen in all of Europe. The pictures don’t really do it justice. If you’ve already noticed the fake sunflower, I cannot say if it has a purpose, but I suspect not.
First, that is not a headband. That’s hair. I know its hard to believe, it doesn’t really look like hair, and I am still not quite sure what part of the head it came from, but believe me… it’s hair. …and some sort of wax-like material.
Second, yep, that’s a flower pot. Not the clay style; just one that is supposed to look like that. With a few mis-matched crews, a speaker is fixed to the pot, and this is where the “wall of sound” was coming from. Extremely low-tech.
Next, that is not a violin. It didn’t even have a body, hollow or not. It was more like a stick with some strings, and some kind of pickup.
The music came through all those guitar effects pedals (I saw a flanger, a mono chorus, a few different distortion pedals, and a whack of digital delays). What gave it the real magic was that he looped what he was playing through the series of digital delay pedals. It took a few minutes to get a “song” going, then he would crank up the beat that was already coming through an early edition Sony mini-disc player. Then he would basically solo over the top of the rhythm section loop he had produced with the noises being steadily replicated by the digital delay.
All this Lo-Fi was being pushed by a “Sans-Amp” pre-amp powered by about 3 euro’s worth of Double A (AA) batteries. Basically awesome. I wondered how long it took to gather this setup together.
I wish I had more pictures, but this was taken with Sandra’s cell phone…
Here is me chillin’ with the snowman Sandra and I built on Heart Lake. We went for a hike around the lake in the snow, took pictures and walked, threw snowballs at each other, and wrestled a little with each other. Damn, I miss her.
Ok, so I will probably get back to the editorial stuff after I am finished the next few things at school. I love that stuff too.
Still lots going on the the WIC…
-aarondabombdotcom.
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WIC
Posted on February 7, 2008
So, the inline world should be sighing with relief…
Iguana, the governing body of the World Inline Cup, ‘toying’ with the idea of reducing the maximum number of skaters per men’s teams to 4 (from 5) for 2008, announced finally that this last minute decision would not be made for the 2008 season, but is expected to be adopted for 2009.
With the majority of pro teams already secured with five skaters per, this had the potential to create utter chaos in the highest tier of inline marathon racing. The very fact that this decision was left until 22 days before the team registration deadline is an ebarrassment to me as a skater, but creates a disturbing image of the organizers of the largest and most competitive inline racing series in the world, and casts a shadow over the series itself. At least common sense has prevailed.
At the same time however, it can safely be said that this year’s WIC has the potential to be the most contested and the most exciting season of the series’ history. With more teams, more athletes, more international representation and exposure, and the potential for some parity in racing, this year’s cup looks to be taking another few steps forward.
While the majority of the large teams have already announced their full rosters for ‘08, it will be interesting to see the remaing team announcements and official registrations over the next few weeks. More big news on this front to follow.
Phew….
-aarondabombdotcom.
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The Weakerthans
Posted on February 5, 2008
The show was off the ‘hizzy’. Haha, meeting up with a ton of friends at the front of the stage a solid hour before the show (in order to get up close), the crowd was bouncing, and the band was truly excellent. I t was awesome. I did take a few pictures, but they are on my cell phone. As far as I can tell, there is no way to transfer them to my computer without uploading them onto my cellular provider’s server, which is (no surprise) a pay service.
Speaking of pictures, here are two. The first is me having a deep and meaningful conversation with a statue. He didn’t talk much, but man, he was a good listener.
Hey, here’s one! Looking for dollars? Are you gullible? And stupid? …As hell? You may qualify to be part of our dangerous experiment. Bring your resume, wallet, social security, ATM and all credit cards to Carl’s Car Wash……There was a time in my life when I thought; ‘dancing in front of the car wash’, that’d be the only thing I’d ever want to do. But, I don’t know. The way these guys wash cars, well… I just don’t know anymore. Ok, enough with the non-sense. The Weakerthans have a myspace page you can check out. http://www.myspace.com/theweakerthans
Oh, so the second pic… Sandra and I. Over the Christmas/New Year’s holiday. Self-timer. Damn she looks great! I think it’s like “Beauty and the Beast”. Oh, she is shorter than me, she’s just sitting on my lap in this pic.
School is plugging along slowly. It seems the next paper or test is perpetually around the corner. There isn’t too much longer, and I actually really like a few of my courses. By this point, these seem to be the only ones I have interest for/in.
RSO: I was actually planning to MC the event, and comment on the races from inside the DJ booth, and play music between races. I thought it would be fun, and maybe even ‘educational’… haha, maybe next time. I think it would really liven/cool up the atmosphere. With a bit of planning, I think I could even pull off rather ~polished show. Instead, I was chief referee. That was fun. I think the highlight had to be the crowd during Marco Frusteri’s races. There was a great energy, and I have to say thanks to the crowd for the energy. That was truly great.
Lots of crashes. Ouch. I think we need board pads. Actually, I know we really need them. I don’t think anyone is too hurt, but Georg did miss practice Monday, and was calling splits instead. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing then…
Again, I’m not too sure what to think about the series. I think that it is really good for some, but I think that it may be for the minority of skaters. Plus, I don’t see any non-regulars showing. I think though, that most would get more out of practice anyway. the good news is that we do have an hour+ of practice after the races provided we get through the races efficiently, which we will if I am involved.
Ok, this didn’t really have much direction. Neither did I tonight. This whole sleep/study/training schedule improvement in the new year that I mentioned a few posts ago is in progress. I am actually really enjoying it so far, but I think I need to dial up the time spent sleeping. I had a hard time staying awake today.
-aaronblogstoomuchbutdoesntcare.
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