Zuni

Zunifer. Zunerella. Zunificustis. The ghost and spirit of DSC. You've got some stuff in yo fur.

Creatures While You Wait

It has been a hell of a first week living in my new home and I think it will only get better. That being said, however, I'm not sure how often I'll keep posting. I'm still taking lots of photos, but I'm just not on my computer as much. Anyways, here are some more insects!

A caterpillar nomming and a butterfly laying its next generation.

Longboard Review: The Bombsquad Saltflat Throwback

First, a short bit of history on this smaller company. Among those who have tried Bombsquad board, there is a bit of a cult following. Yes, they are lesser known, but they have become quite popular among riders who are looking for performance decks developed for and by riders. Wes Coleman and Tanner Leaser are the founders and have been in many disciplines of the longboard scene for many years now. Now, Bombsquad has been making bombproof products since day one (several years ago) when they noticed a demand for a beefier noseguard and began to deliver that very product to the public. It only makes sense then that their decks be just as beefy as their first products.

The Saltflat was one of Bombsquads first and most popular boards. It has gone through a few different iterations (aluminum and wooden), but their most recent is my favorite. Ladies and gentleman, please join me as we enter the Bombsquad Saltflat Throwback. Now, I did do a quick photo post when I first got this board with the specs and all, but I figure I’ll just post em again. The board is made of a solid 9 plies of tasty golden maple and is 37 inches long. At its widest point (right where your front foot sits) the board is 10.25” and tapers down to 9.5” right before the rear wheel wheels. So, it has a fairly symmetrical shape with a taper from the nose to tail and has an asymmetric concave (which I will talk about later. It is drilled for three different wheelbases, 28.5, 29.5, and 30”, so you have some options.

I used this board with two different setups. One was more slide oriented which involved 10” Fifty Caliber trucks and Sector9 Centerset Raceform 70mm 78a. The other setup was for a bit more speed and had paris 195mm (soon to try out Prandals w/ 42 baseplates) and some lime BigZigs. Both setups were mounted on the longer wheelbase.

Now this deck, as you might have guessed, rides like a responsive and agile bulletproof tank. The weight is considerable, but it is a wooden topmount speedboard so that is to be expected. The 9 plies of maple feel extremely solid under my feet and it is stiff as a rail under my 175 lbs—literally zero flex. Due to its size, however, it is still very easy to whip around for freeride and sliding and whatnot. Also, it feels great for early grabs and I actually am able to whip around 180 early grabs off flat ground—something that I was not able to easily do on my Bhangra.

I wanted to make a special note on the concave since the version that I picked up was one of a limited run with a unique concave. The concave throughout the board is pretty mellow: the front is about ½” radial and the rear is a VERY mellow W. Personally, this is a great setup for me because I like my boards to not torture my feet; I prefer mellow cave with gnarly grip (Gator is your friend!) rather than vice versa. The ½” up front keeps your foot where it should be and if there is any time you think you may slip off for some reason, the edges are wicked sharp and work great for digging in and throwing your board around.

I’m a big fan of the W in the rear mainly for when I use the board for garages or hills (every once in a blue moon). It is in just the right spot so that when I’m going around turns, I don’t have to worry about moving my foot to dig in on the edge or something. Instead, I can just keep my foot right where it would normally be while I’m a tuck and push my toes into the little pocket where the W is. I had never been a fan of W before mainly because I found it uncomfortable to stand on for long periods of time, but I couldn’t be happier with this mellow concave. That being said, this version of the board may not be for everyone. This model is great for those who love a directional board, something a little more race oriented. But to all those searching for a beastly topmount with symmetrical concave, there is nothing to fear! That’s because this concave was only for a limited run and they will soon (or may have even started now) be running the Saltflat throwback with a deep tub or radial concave throughout. Should be dope!

Another feature I wanted to point out on this updated 2011 Saltflat is the wheel wells. Bombsquad went and cut out some nice deep double wheel wells to accommodate tons of crazy setups on any of the wheelbases. Now, I am a fan of loose trucks so I was stoked to see the wheels wells in person—the placement is spot on. I can run my 70mm centerset raceforms on 10” Calibers with no riser on the outer wheelbase and I can run my 75mm Bigzigs on paris 195 with only 1/8” of riser. One of the huge advantages of topmount riding is that you have such great board control with all the weight you can put over the front truck. Often, however, you have to sacrifice a bit in terms of ride height, often putting at least ¼” of riser to get a desired setup. Bombsquad did an awesome job with these wells so that you can still run your favorite setup while keeping it reasonably low.

And a little on aesthetics: there is something to be said about the style of this board. I suppose it can be said for most topmount speedboards, but the simplicity of this deck really just stands out. Classic shape with no extra frills or fads going on; this board was designed for a purpose and it wants to go fast. The simple shape coupled with the vintage black and white roadster graphic makes for a hell of an attractive board, but why do I have to tell you that? Just look at the photos yourself! Though I must warn you, it is much sexier in person.

Anyways, this board has an awesome price point if you’re even thinking of picking it up. Depending on where you’re buying from, they can range from $100-115 which is about the price of an entry level board even though you are getting a professional quality product. Check it out! If you’ve got any questions, I’d be happy to try and answer them. And as always, keep skating.

Bigfoot

Sasquatch doesn't need trails to navigate.

Feet of Rust

My friend helps host a monthly spoken word/open mic poetry reading and its coming up on October 4th. I started writing something out for it, but I'm not sure if anything will come of it. I noticed recently that I tend to write a lot on my feet. Not physically, I mean, I write a lot about my feet.

Sector 9 Centerset Raceform 70mm

I picked up a set of new 70mm CS 78a (yellow) raceforms when I was throwing together my Saltflat complete and man am I happy I did. I had noticed a lot of hype around these wheels, or rather Raceforms in general, and I wanted to see if they were really as good as everyone was saying. Well, as of now they are my favorite slide wheel. They are extremely buttery and it seems like the wheels just melt from traction to slide effortlessly. Very predictable, but don't have a defined traction point. That being said, these are not good wheels for cornering. I my back wheels tend to slide out when I try to corner at the local garage, but you know, I'm alright with that. Plus, they're centerset, so you don't even really need to worry about coning if you just remember to flip and rotate your wheels every once and awhile.

Thank you sector 9 for making some tasty, greasy and very affordable slide wheels. I can foresee more sets of these in my future.

Lines Up and Taught

About to go set up a few lines in Davis Central Park with some friends. Stoked! I haven't slacklined nearly enough this summer.

Here's a shot of a friend in mid jump on a shorter trick line.

The Devil's Apple

Found in the hills of the Big Creek Reserve, Big Sur

"Notorious for its toxicity, Jimson Weed is a large flowering plant with the genus Datura and the family Solanaceae. It has long white trumpet-like flowers. Its seeds grow in pods and can be consumed (or its leaves can be smoked) to produce an extremely potent psychoactive effect.

A typical dose is 5 to 7 seeds, but it has been reported effective in as little as 2. An overdose can cause delirium, delusions, paralysis, stupor and death. This is due to its dangerous combination of atropine, scopolamine, and hyoscyamine.

Its effects are said to always trigger a 24 to 48 hour anticholinergic delirium, which basically means the user is incapable of distinguishing fantasy from reality - NOT to be confused with hallucination in which the user may know is false interpretation. Overall, no matter how bizarre things get, the user will still find the twisted reality credible.

Users report when they are not hallucinating, they still are susceptible to abnormal actions which the user perceives as normal, and things the user would never do seem like just an everyday activity: ie. Rearranging furniture into one corner of the room in a very obviously impractical way, but the user, completely aware of what they are doing still does not see it as abnormal and may believe they are doing something useful."

Photographing Photagraphers

I really enjoy taking photos of photographers who are in the moment. The ones who get lost in what their shooting are always the best. This was one of my favorite ones that I took recently, enjoy!

Painting Birds

Well I'm all moved into my new house, the Davis Student Co-op (DSC for short, make up you're own acronyms for bonus points), and it is amazing. There was a lot of renovation done over the summer and the construction crew repainted a lot of the walls plain white. So, now I have these huge canvases surrounding a bunch of my room and the first thing I think I want to paint is a bird mural.

Now, don't worry, I'm not planning on painting some giant ducks on my wall. I was thinking more along the lines of birds of prey. Maybe an osprey? Only time will tell.