Why are there so many pretty girls in France?

He asked me this over dinner, fillet perch and fries with salad, and he asked with all honesty and he's right, there seems to be an inordinate number of lovely young women, de jolies jeunes femmes, I should say.   And here I worried that he would be monocular with his skateboard race only in his mind that he would overlook the rich cultural environment we have found ourselves in... well my boy has not let me down,  not only can he concentrate and fixate on the race course, but that while still noticing les jolies jeunes femmes as well.


Medieval France is stunning, as are the summer Alps, and that is coming from a gal who is used to mountains.  The Coastals are beautiful and the Rockies are breath taking, but i'd have to say the Alps are pretty nice as well, and the towns near them seem friendly and welcoming,,, but I'll have to see how the next few days go first....
Pictures to follow.  

A great, not typical, skateboard film!!!

Last night I attended the premier of the film Drop: My life Downhill, with my son Wolfgang.  He is a fan of the sport and a talented rider in his own right.  I have attended numerous launches and openings of various sorts through my life, from theatrical performances, to art openings, book launches, architectural and academic celebrations of various sorts.  But what I have to liken this event to the most in my experience is an art school theatre opening.  What! You are probably thinking, but hear me out.

First of all, this was a highly involved, emotionally charged cooperative project.  Lots of folks had a lot invested in this film, from skating, and revealing thoughts and experiences of the sport from an insider's perspective, through to the hours (and hours) of filming and editing. This is not at all unlike the investments that people pour into theatre performances, especially when original material is being produced. 

Secondly, the energy of the young people that attended the premier was so charged that they could have it could have run the equipment, or heated the building with it--should have heated the building... brrrrr. Maybe it is just a sign of my deepening middle-age, and I am making more connections than are actually present, but I will hold for now that the community of longboarders with their shared passion, openness, and uni-focus 'skate?' is again like the communities that I was a part of at that same age.  How can someone eat, breath, and sleep skateboarding (dream more than sleep)?  Well, I know the answer to this: easily, just ask any one of them; ask my son.  It may seem extreme to me to have such a single foci, but if you had asked me when I was twenty-anything, if I would do anything that wasn't involved in art, theatre or academics (research...yes it's true, I was very passionate about this), I would have said quiet emphatically, 'it's my life, that and my kids. There is nothing else.' That would have been true, it was my community, my entertainment, my passion, my recreation. 

I have to applaud the director, Marc MacCrudden for his vision and execution of this film.  He has succeeded in presenting the world of longboarding in a light that it so deserves.  Drop: My life downhill, is in a league of its own as far as skateboard films go.  If you expect the typical 'skate porn' as described by Chris Chaput, then you will be happily surprised.  Drop takes viewers into the individual experiences of some of the word's top ranking downhill and freestyle riders.  The racers speak for themselves, revealing their highlights and some lowlights (ie: famous crashes or close-calls).  The film is as educational as it is entertaining.  One of the highlights for me was the spectacular shots of Maryhill and other winding roads.  Sexy indeed.

I am looking forward to an IMAX downhill experience that looks at the entire race circuit... why not?  Or how about a feature film that takes a fictional racer (with lots of techincal/ cultural advising and stunt doubling) and follows him/her (maybe a him and a her) through their training, drama, close calls, and other conflicts as they follow thier dream, and get into the big leagues.  Think Billy Elliot, but not; Thrashin, but not.  You know what I mean?

Way to go all that made Drop happen.  You have a fan in me. 

Drop: My life downhill

The premier of the film Drop: My life downhill is tomorrow night at the Richshaw theatre in Vancouver... Yes, I have my tickets, and Wolf and I are going to check it out for sure.  I've seen the previews and I am totally intrigued.  I have watched more youtube videos (at the request of my son "mom, check this out,") than a non skater, non-boarder really should.  But here we go, to the show.  I'll post my 'review' later.

Olympics 2024

So, post games--Winter Olympics, that is, I got to thinking about the summer games, and what if we hosted them, and what if, say, longboarding became an olympic sport... This sent my mind a wandering into all sorts of fun and wooly ways until I finished the following piece (check out the two part post on Siverfish as posted by Skategeezer)

Olympic 2024: by me... yours truly... hay bale mama. (meaning the spectator, not the rider)

Would love to hear what you think!

Too much Steeze? How could that be?

Landyachtz has posted my son (the speedy one) on the team page! Official and all;)
More steeze than someone his age should have... they say.

here is his team page info:
landyachtz team
you can click on his photo, or go to the link directly below. It's a slideshow of his riding.
Wolfgang Coleman

fun!

Concrete Wave!!!

Wolf came home from Landyachtz the other day with the current issue of Concrete Wave. Needless to say, he had a huge grin.

" Turn to page three," he said.

So I did, and there it was...
Introducing Wolfgang Coleman...

At that moment, I was simultaneously proud and terrified... This is my boy!!! This is my boy?

Then on the next page there is this gruesome image, a Zombie... well, not a real one. But a good lookin' fake.
Now, that's not my son. Or I should say, that's NOT my son. But the tag-line says (if you are like me and can't read the tiny print,) 'The deadliest freeride wheel ever' Wolfgang Coleman, Eh Team. Okay, they're not saying that it's my son, but his name is on the icky guy!!!

Now, I have to stock up on the current issue, and keep some extra to send to grandparents. ... because, after all, He is MY son;)
L


...

ICBC is unfair to our Longboarder

Now I don't know what others' experiences are with this insurer are, but we have discovered that they seem to have no interest in being fair with one longboarder in particular.

They have neglected to consider any of the witnesses from our son's claim, and only from the driver and his witnesses. Our son was skating in control, with a helmet, through an intersection where the car was stopped at a stop sign. Then at the last second, the car lurched through the intersection, and my son hit it in the tail side of the car. My son had the right of way, the driver drove through the intersection when it was not safe to do so. Our son had three witnesses who provided three witness statements along with his own.

We were told last March that an infant advocate would handle his claim as he is under 19 years old. They were apparently never assigned eventhough he suffered injury which we stated when filled in our claim, and have doctor's notes to prove.-- They say that he wasn't injured and that is why he wasn't assigned an advocate. Another ommision on their part.

How can they say that his witness statement don't count, and also that he wasn't wearing a helmet? This whole situation makes my blood boil. They now tell us that there is no appeal process--which is also a lie.

Riders beware. The 'insurer' will take the driver's side it seems and discount anything said to the contrary. Yuck!

We are not dropping the ball on this one! They can't treat our son this way, we won't let them.

Unkle and the Push

Unkle.ca is a local e-zine for longboarders and they have pubished the first half of my story about the Push for the Cure. Go here to check it out! Push for the Cure.

Push for the Cure

This weekend is 2009 Push for the Cure, and Wolf is keen. This isn't the first time he's participated in Fundraising and awareness raising, but it is his first time with the Push for the Cure. He's done runs with school, and then on his own, when he was about 12, he shaved all his long hair off, donated the money he raised to the Children's Foundation at Children's Hospital, and he also donated his hair to a wig organzation that makes wigs for kids who are undergoing chemotherapy.

So tomorrow morning, bright and early, we'll be loading the van and driving to Hope, where he will meet up with the other riders who are in for the long haul: 150 km, or 97 miles; whatever way you look at it, it is long. What began a few years back with a small group of energetic riders who pushed from east coast to west, and others who pushed from West to East, has become an annual event, where the final leg of the journey, Hope to Vancouver, is the focal local push.

At 15 years old, yes, still fifteen for a few more months, I will leave him in Hope, and collect him in Vancouver. I have come to trust and really like the group of riders and racers he here at the Coast. All the best to all of them!

Longboarding and Volcano Sliding... oh my!

We all want what’s best for our kids—that goes without saying. But for those of us who are speed and pain adverse, it is a little more difficult to wrap our heads around. Today, I am happy that my son has ‘only’ taken up longboarding. If we lived in Nicaragua, it could well be another story. You see there, parents of extreme seeking athletic type kids would be seeing their kids off for a day of fun ‘bombing’ the local volcano! The local active volcano. I am not kidding. These riders go down the 40% incline sooty ash of active craters at speeds of 50 miles an hour! There’s till lava in Cerro Negro, though it hasn’t blown in ten years, it could. So, all you worried parents out there... count your blessings, unless you have a sooty cone begging to be ridden, your speedy off-spring will have to settle for asphalt and pavement.

King of the Forest results.

Thought I'd throw in the link to the final results to King of the forest. I've already mentioned that Prince of the Forest... fella under 16, is none other than my son, Wolfgang Forest!! no kidding, that's his name and so his title is well suited.


KOTF. resultes click here:

Images are on the same site! That site being Unkle.ca... for great local event coverage!

Sometimes I rant

Guilty. Yes, at times I am irrational, impulsive, and possibly even foolish. But that isn't necessarily bad. It seems I am not alone. I have been guest blogger these past few weeks at Rantingparent.com. I know that this has nothing to do with longboarding, but it has a lot to do with teens, parenting and a solid sense of humour... that is if you don't mind satire.

So, if you have like humour... as in you can laugh at yourself, and not just at others, then perhaps you would like or at least appreciate my postings at: Late-onset post-partum depression. They read in order of part 1 and then part 2...

Prince of the Forest!!!

Yesterday as Wolf left with his brother, Akask, to the King of the Forest 20 km endurance race, he picked up his novelty cheque for last year's finish as Grom of the Forest 2008. He would then hand it off to his successor, the Prince of the Forest 2009. This was also Akask's first event that he participated in as a racer. We wished them well and off they went.

At 10pm last night, they walked in. They looked beat. Happy, but beat. "Do is it okay if I put a couple of screws into the wall in my bedroom," Wolfgang asked.

"What?" I asked.

He held up his trophy board: This year's Prince is none other than our Wolfgang Forest, the Prince of the Forest, an aptly named child.

"Congratulations, son," his dad said. "We'll find a way to mount your board on the wall... but not with a couple of screws."

Wolf had finished 14th overall in over 80 riders, and was the top Grom (junior for those new to the lingo); and Akask was in around the top 20. "I wasn't prepared for that." He huffed, and smiled.

Well done boys. I said to them then and now to them here. Their next event is a three day push from Hope to Vancouver for the annual Push for the Cure, fundraiser for breast cancer, the long weekend in October.

Photos to follow!