Last weekend Shane and I finally broke out the BND boxes for a night time session. After setting up the lighting and packing down the runs, Shane was cool enough to film me hitting the box a few times. Although, we only got a few minutes of footage, I still threw together a quick video for everyone to check out. It’s not much, but we have plans to get more filming done this year, so check back later.

Shaun White is reportedly know as the “Flying Tomato” among press and news channels who feel the need to nickname everything they talk about. While I fully understand that his hair is long, wavy, red and perhaps even clean (thats beside the point), I don’t fully agree with the whole tomato thing.

Suuure, tomatoes are definitely red, but so are many other things. So why classify him as a tomato and not an apple? Does “Flying Apple” not hold that same characteristic charm as tomato? All i’m saying is, if were all going to be so quick to tag someone with a nickname, it sure as hell better be relevant to the person it is applied to. Personally, i’ve never seen Mr White fly, and i’m not even sure he likes tomatoes. I feel there has been a slight injustice on his behalf by the press.

With a little brainstorming, I have come up with a few of my own nicknames for Shaun. I feel they all speak as loudly as the Flying Tomato.. some even louder.

1. The Halfpipe Hydrant
2. Powder Poppin’ Pomegranate
3. The Totally Stoked Stop Sign
4. Bloody Headed Boarder
5. Gold Medal Muppet

Yes, I understand your confused by the muppet one, but look at it this way, would you rather be known as a muppet or a tomato? My point exactly.

If you live anywhere near the east coast of the US you probably heard about the ice storm that knocked over 320,000 people off the electric grid. I was unfortunate enough to be just another number facing the wrath of mother nature. We lost power for a total of 45 hours, yet I feel lucky compared to many that are still in the cold tonight.

Not having power puts a lot of stuff into perspective. Simple things we all take for granted are suddenly torn from our lives such as heat, running water, etc. It’s not easy for families with children and pets to care for.

Once the freezing rain tapered off I took a walk outdoors to snap some pictures of the frozen landscape. What I experienced was so much more than I could have ever predicted. Every 2 or 3 seconds the sounds of splitting trees and snapping branches would echo in the distance, or sometimes much closer.. Large trees were bent like rubber from the weight of the ice, the ones that could not bend were snapped and splintered. The roads were absolutely covered with debris and electrical wires. From my own home there was no escape using even the smallest of cars.

Here are just a few of the pictures I was able to capture from the morning after the storm.

However, among all the destruction was the natural beauty of mother nature.

My heart goes out to those that still are among the 180,000 without power…

I try not to stray too much from the snowboarding and skateboarding subjects here on BND, so I want to invite everyone to come visit my personal “everything” blog Samurart.

Like BND, it sat unused for a few months, but now that I’m back in the swing of things I hope to keep it updated more and post some of the other things, besides boarding and skating, that interest me.

Dan

Awhile ago, when I had more free time to kill, I had done a few snowboard designs in Illustrator. I have them linked on my old Samurart blog, but I wanted to give them a new home where they felt more welcome. Click on one below for a larger image.

When and if I design a few more ill post them as well.