On Saturday, March 28th Okemo Mountain in Ludow, VT hosted its first annual Joey Jam and BND is here to give you the recap.

So what is a Joey Jam you ask? Well then you must not be familiar with the term “Joey”. To put it simply, a Joey is a wicked sweet skier or snowboarder who seems to be stuck in the early 90’s. If you have ever seen any skiing movie from 1989-1994, then you should know exactly what I mean.

To successfully qualify as a Joey is not very hard. Simply raid your childhood closet of any and all winter clothes or equipment and go nuts. This includes, but is not limited to, Starter jackets, headbands, Lee or Wrangler jeans, cheap and bright Oakley sunglasses, ski’s size 210 or bigger, single tip snowboards, sports jerseys and much more.

The Joey Jam consisted of one washed out…ahem…i mean wicked sweet jump and a butter box. However, rules were much different than most competitions. Skill did matter, but it was not about how GOOD you were, but rather how AWESOME you performed. To place in the top 3 at the Okemo Joey Jam, you simply had to look, act, and play the part the best. That included the outfit, dialog and skill (or lack there of!).

The winner of the Joey Jam received the totally killer 1992 Chevy Camaro RS 25th Anniversary edition shown in the first photo. This baby was not only purple, but wicked sweet dude. What more could any joey ask for?

So if you missed it this year, don’t sweat your wristbands off. The Joey Jam was a huge success, with over 50 participants on its first run they will definitely be throwing another next season. So break out your Sony Walkman, throw in some Bon Jovi and relax because your going to have to wait until next year.

I apologize for the fuzzy pictures, my camera was on the fritz… -Dan

If your into boarding or skating, chances are you have either thought about or tried to capture some nasty footage of you and your friends in action. Standard point and shoot video cameras are great for most filming. However, once in awhile you come across a situation where you lose a great shot due to a shaky camera while moving.

I would like to introduce to you the GoPro® Helmet HERO.

The Helmet HERO was designed to be mounted onto any hard surface such as … well … a helmet! It comes standard with a shockproof & waterproof quick-release housing to keep all the tech inside nice and new. Meaning you could even slap this baby onto the front of your board and capture some sick powder lines without worrying about damaging anything with water.

The best part is that his little baby packs a punch for the price. Featuring a 170 degree wide angle lens, 5 megapixel camera for still shots and a decent video camera that shoots at 512×384 pixels all for UNDER $200! It also comes with various mounting adapters, straps and a 3-way pivoting arm for more control. Not good enough? Additional expansion mounts are available separately, including handlebar/seatpost, chest harness, roll bar, and surfboard mounts.

Powered by a few AAA batteries, your able to capture all your glorious moments on a standard SD card for easy camera to computer transfer. Play around with the various modes such as video, standard photo, photo every 2 or 5 secs, 3x photo burst sequence, self timer and even an upside down photo/video flip and become that professional film editor you always dreamed of.

In the end, it’s not the best video camera out there, and also not the only mountable one. However, for under $200 it’s a great piece of equipment for any serious skater or boarder looking to stand out from the crowd with some above par filming.

For more information and specs, check out the official website!

It’s true, this horrible phenomenon is sweeping the slopes at this very minute. I’m talking about text messaging of course, but not just any texting… texting WHILE boarding! (Que scary music).

There I was, sitting on the chairlift eagerly waiting my arrival to the top of the mountain when a young woman snowboarding caught my eye. At first glance I thought she was videotaping her run down the mountain on her spiffy cellular telephone. However, I could not help but notice that her glove was off.. and her thumb moving at an extraordinarily, almost supernatural, rate of speed. Then it dawned on me, I was witnessing the rare act of texting.. while snowboarding! (Que scary music again)

Many questions can be asked as to what brought this horrible & terrifying act upon the snowy trails of northern New Hampshire. Why is it not easier to stop, text, then ride? Why not just make a phone call instead of texting? What is so important that it couldn’t wait to the bottom of the trail? Why did I purchase the meatloaf at the lodge instead of the pizza, when the pizza was clearly more delicious?! These questions, and many others, may never be answered. We were just lucky that no lives were lost on this frightful day, but I can’t say the same for the future of all skiers and snowboarders out there.

To help spread the word about the dangers of texting while boarding, or textboarding, you can donate your hard earned money to Boards and Decks, where it will be most likely spent on something completely unrelated to meatloaf, and more related to delicious pizza. Then while consuming pizza I will chat with my surrounding lodge mates about the dangers of textboarding.

Here are some other activities Boards and Decks suggests keeping off the slopes.
- Applying Lotion (creamboarding)
- Blogging (blogboarding)
- Flying a Kite (idiotboarding)
- Getting Dressed (chappedboarding)
- Shaving (trimboarding)
- Watching a Movie (attentiondefecitboarding)
- Crying (tearboarding)
- Eating Meatloaf (loafboarding)

If you feel we have left anything off the list, please leave your comments below and your shoes at the door.

For my first music spotlight I would like to introduce you to a little band called Against Me!

Against Me! hit the punk rock scene back in 1997 with their first Demo but it wasn’t until 2002 that they really stomped their name into the stage with the release of Reinventing Axl Rose. Lead singer Tom Gabel and the rest of the band; Andrew Seward (bass), Warren Oakes (drums) and James Bowman (guitar), have then continued to release 4 more successful albums after that with their latest album, New Wave from 2007.

Gabel is known to set the stage with some deep anti-political overtones verging on the line of anarchism, something traditional punk rock fans may find unusually welcoming while listening to. Some of the older tracks from Against Me! really set the bar with their half screaming vocals and raw stage sound. It’s easy to become fixated with their upbeat and happy-go-lucky tempos, something I find myself eagerly wanting to dance to with one fist in the air.

Over the years the bands raw uncut sound has transformed into something a little more refined in the studio, as many successful bands do. However, I find myself unable to break away from their earlier releases for many reasons. They bring back the feeling that some original punk rock bands brought to the table, something hard to find in these days full of indie and emo alike.

For a quick sample of what Against Me! offers, check out this acoustic track from their 2004 Acoustic EP. This song is entitled Reinventing Axl Rose

Recommended listening to while: SKATEBOARDING

For more information on the band visit them online:
AgainstMe.net
Against Me! on Myspace

Spring is only days away, which means pretty soon its time to hit the hot pavement with those skateboards if you haven’t already. To start the season off right I would like to invite you over to www.skatessentials.com.

Run by my friend Marcus, Skate Essentials is a great resource to get your skate fix. Marcus covers everything from pros and tricks to board companies and latest gear.