Friday February 2, 2007 Park CIty, Utah Happy Groundhog Day! These two groundhogs saw their shadows.
Monday January 29, 2007 Park City, Utah Sundance Edition #2 No Phamu sightings at Sundance but I heard he was sliding around over on "Shamu's Run" at Park CIty Mountain Resort (see photo). I did get to see some films, including the new Craig Kelly documentary that was shown at the X-Dance Festival which was very well done, VHS: Kahloucha (entertaining Sundance World Documentary about Tunisian action filmmaker who makes his movies with a VHS camcorder) and a Sundnace presentation of six short films. The Kahloucha film was preceded by an groovy animated loop that I believe is by artist Tim Biskup (see photo). We could use some fresh snow and there is a lot to be said about making art when you don't have the "best" tools and materials to work with...Went to Brighton and rode an icy and hard pack Millicent today, just because. I have mostly been at PC, riding some park ( jumps), taking random runs, exploring. I am beginning to look to summer and possibilities for trips where I can hit fun pipes and ride powder...I am going to start working more and saving more for summer travel and my likely relocation for next season.
Saturday
January 20, 2007 Park City, Utah Sundance Edition #1 I walked
to work tonight and discovered that the
place where I live has become the main focus of the entertainment media's
attention. I had an excellent day riding at Brighton and
made it home as snow flurries were beginning to fall and before the
heaviest Sundance
traffic gridlock took hold. On my way to work P Diddy and his body
guards were coming at me down the sidewalk folllowed by a pack of paparazzi
snapping pictures nonstop. Diddy is one handsome man. I am really kind
of ambivalent about most of this whole celebrity thing, but Diddy is
The Man. As I was walking out of work (literally
right out the back door from where I work) there was one of those "red
carpet" event entry zones set up, with the big backdrop with logos
on it...I checked out the goings on for a couple of minutes...Kevin
Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick came through and I snapped the pic below. I
think I
only got about 4 degrees of Kevin Bacon and 1 degree of Kyra but you
can tell who it is. I am not really backing this amateur paparazzi
thing that the tourists seem to be so fond of in PC this week but I
guess
it is okay for momentary entertainment as long as things don't get
out of
hand and people's privacy is respected. I find it really amusing that
I just walk out of work and this whole circus is set up back there.
The big news is that the reclusive and elusive Phamu, the famous performing orca,
is supposed to arrive at Sundance any day now.
Wednesday
January 17, 2007 Park City, Utah I rode at Snowbird during the day
today and then did a late afternoon/early
evening session at Park City. I went through the tunnel
back to Mineral Basin at Snowbird today...I really like the terrain
back there...but
it needs some more snow on it! Snowbird has its soft spots but I found
myself "ice jibbing" a lot today. I am glad to see the sun
getting higher and shining on a little bit more of Snowbird each time
I go. I came back to Park City and did a couple of errands, then went
over to PCMR for some runs. I've been extremely fixated lately with
fine-tuning some switch riding thingies that are just fun to do (i.e.
switch ollies)
but also open up lots of new possibilities when it comes to progression.
And it just feels good to be on the snow for a little bit of bonus
riding. It feels sneaky. I've still been feeling sad, a general malaise
from
the lack of major snowstorms and then the sense that I am in some kind
of rail purgatory where no one gets me at all. I want to ride a fun
pipe, one that is not all severe like the PC pipe. Just a good icy
enough to
be fast but still a little bit soft 18ft superpipe-type pipe.
Off the snow there are so many things I want and need to do right now. I need
to revise/rebuild this website, this page is getting too long and heavy and the
design could use some fresh inspiration. I am also in the process of doing some
new paintings. I feel like some of the ones from Summer of 2005 worked, but some
of them did not capture what I was trying to communicate. They aren't approaching
perfection nor do they have the refinement to allow for the viewer to fully experience
the leap of abstraction the subject matter seems to request. I am switching from
all oils to acrylics and a little bit of mixed media. I have had good experiences
with faster-drying paints in terms of being able to keep a direct flow of ideas
from my inner visualization through to the finished painting...there are some
goaches of deer and seals I did in the mid-90s that really my favorite things
I have ever painted. And I am leaning into very Pop Art and popular culture-influenced
realms that lend themselves to implementation of synthetic media. I also have
some fashion projects on deck and in process...I made a couple of crazy knitted
snowboard hats that came out well but I am kind of veering away from that because
it is far too time-intensive relative to the impact of the final product. I made
a dress that just needs to be lined and have it's finishing embellishments constructed
and attached (which I will finish) and I started a really elaborate hooded-sweatshirt
project which I am not sure what I am going to with it right now. I have a job
but I am not getting the amount of hours/pay that I need so after my Sundance
company leaves I am going to get another job...then I think I am also going to
go ahead and take the test for my personal training certification, that may end
up being my other job for the longer term. Regarding the non-snowboarding creative
stuff, it is part of the continuum that alongside snowboarding is my creative
world at this time, there is just such a void in me where there is this snowboard
creativity that isn't being taken to it's "completion" or "communication" stage
of the cycle...until I can make that happen I have to have these other things
to (pretend to) fill the void...to reassure myself that I have some worth. And
when I look into my riding and ask myself what is lacking, it is not just a matter
of not being able to do grabbed 7s off of every iced-over, hard-as-rocks jump
and thinly iced rock cookie in Utah. There is something else involved here, something
a bit sinister, because I am not sure how I feel about the value system behind
it or my motivation for wanting it so badly. This cultivation of this "art
form" with such attention to detail, this honing of a sport-craft...narcissism
and a sharp blade of high-fashion criticism...this weird alternate universe
of the anti-iceskating/gymnastics/cheerleading/beautypageant/playmate...does
anyone
really want to look at us (the women)?...I mean really want to look at us?
Can I make myself want to look at myself, to watch my riding on film? Really
want
to look at it? Can't take my eyes off of it...?
I will have more to say about this sometime in
the not so distant future.
Monday
January 15, 2007 Park City, Utah The mornings have been below zero
F temperatures the last three days.
I've been at Brighton the past two days and I think
I am getting used to the cold but I can't deny that it does funky things
to the snow. I
waxed with the hydrocarbon cold green Swix and it is okay but I need
more speed than normal in some places and have issues getting my board
off the ground sometimes. The last storm filled
in Millicent Bowl a tiny bit more so they have now opened the lower
bowl but there are still so many rocks flush with the surface it is
something
of a minefield out there. Channel 5 in SLC says we are at 70 percent
of average snowpack right now and that sounds about right. I am loving
all of the things I can do with the natural terrain inbounds at Brighton
but we need some significant storms before things can really be hit
the way they can be hit if there is the right amount of snow in the
right
places. My base and edges on the new board I started using in early
December need some serious attention. I am not going to completely
stop hitting
stuff in rock zones, that is the whole reason the be in Utah...but
now that I have cozied up to the rocks and am comfortable with them
I am
feeling drawn to maybe getting into the pipe more or some other challenge.
I almost feel like I am wearing out the millicent game on the present
level I am playing it and I want to take it to the next level but can't
without completely killing my board so I play it for a couple of hours
and then go do something else, like play Snake Creek game. I am anxious
to see how Snowbird's pipe is going to be...it still isn't open/ready
yet. Since Brighton's is not, how do I say, consistent...and though
I am coming to terms with Park City's 22ft ice taco thing, it would
be
really nice to have a pipe that was conducive to progression. As is
true with all park things right now, when things are "firm" the
stakes are pretty high and experimentation isn't happening at the rate
it does in Springtime in Mammoth conditions.
It is January 15. I am super-anxious to do so many things this winter and it
feels like progress is coming at far too slow of a rate. I like things hot and
fast and I like things to be special and new and extraordinary.
Friday January 12, 2007 Park CIty, Utah I've been sick for a couple of days so I haven't been riding in spite of the nice new snow out there. It is so cold, maybe not even single digits. It has been a long time since I have been sick enough not to want to go out and try to ride or get exercise. I shoveled my steps and my car out, so that counts as something. I am really over a lot of things right now mostly just how casual and unmotivated people are about riding here in Utah -- I can't even make a buddy to take turns holding a digicam with me to get some shots. I am in a situation where no one, not one person in the whole world, believes in me or cares or gives a shit about my snowboarding. I don't know what to do or think anymore.
Monday
January 8, 2007 Park CIty, Utah I've been feeling lonely
and sad because in
my quest to do what I really want to do with snowboarding
I have diverted so far from the path that one is expected to take
to "make
things happen" or whatever, that I am feeling kind of lost out
in the desert or something. I feel like maybe I should ride more pipe
and try to participate in the competition scene but I know that still
doesn't feel right. I like to look at terrain. I see the terrain and
I see all of the infinite possibilities pouring off every facet and
transition...and I try things and explore and I honestly know what
I can do and see how that relates to the "fuckingist action" (in
the words of Bruce Lee) that I can possibly do and see the places where
my skills are lacking and I peer into that abyss...I know there are
some big things I need to add to my repertoire and I know that nothing
is ever "dialed" or "on lockdown" (everything
is being locked down lately, it is the present hotness of the vernacular)...it
can always be smoother or somehow more fun and beautiful, I can
be more aware inside of the movement or more engaged in the process.
I
really like this, whatever it is that I am doing. It is just so
lonely.
My mom told me she saw a Florida Panther when she
was walking her dog last night. She said it was wearing a radio necklace.
They are very endangered. Only 30 to
50 remain in the wild. It is one of the most critically endangered species
in the world. It is a subspecies of the Cougar and used to range all over the
southeastern
United States all the way into Texas but now they are only found in southwest
Florida. I have been really into Tigers and big cats lately...I was also
really involved in researching New World cats for my Maya Art and Culture studies
back in College, some of my art from that period has cats in it. I have this
plush
tiger that lives in my living room and I have been learning that tigers are
headed for a similar situation as the Florida Panther. Sometimes one has to
stop
trying
to adopt Cambodian babies and look at what is happening and how one can help
in one's own backyard. There is a new Panther
Fund that supplements Florida's
state funding and the money goes directly to helping Panthers' immediate needs.
Here are some nice Florida Panther pictures
from the galleries at Daniel
Carroll Taborga's Florida Panther Site. I don't think the last one is a
Florida Panther because those are the trees like we have around here.
Sunday January 7, 2007 Park City, Utah I love riding windblown snow.
I was at Park City today and it was gusting and snowing and
nice piles of the softest, finest snow ever were to found in the right places.
I had a really sketchy/scary drive home from Brighton on Thursday in the snowstorm
so I have been taking it easy on the driving for a few days.
Winter
2008/2009
Summer 2008
Winter 2007/2008
Summer 2007
March/April/May 2007
January/February 2007
November/December 2006
September/October 2006