Quick Trip

Got a call from Kingpin yesterday and suddenly I'm off to Kufstein! Roman Astleitner's famous bowl/miniramp contest will be held this Saturday and I'm supposed to get some pictures in that battle pit. Wish me luck and no broken camera gear..

It will be definitely something else then the peaceful Mini where Pascal Rebierre is doing a Frontside Pivot to Fakie.

Alles Fuss oder was?

Wir haben nochmals ein neues Obstacles gebastelt in der Toni. Eine in Anführungszeichen Flache Bank to Wallride. Sieht gut aus aber schlägt auf die Füsse. Ich wünsche mir so sehr ein paar Neue.. Hat jemand welche in Angebot? Oder wenigstens eine so herrlich entspannende Sumpfwanderung wie damals in den Hochebenen in der Nähe von Lillehammer?..

Some say this, some say that, I say he's a damn good fotografer; http://piar.blogspot.com

Innovation survives

Sometimes it is really disturbing to know that any weirdo and his sister have access to my blog. Honestly, I don't like the idea that I can't control who reads my thoughts. After all I reveal a part of my personality and privacy.
In spite of this one could argue that I shouldn't have made a blog in the first place. But then I wouldn't be able to show my pictures. And pictures without comments.. Hmm.. I don't know.

However, the reason I actually started thinking about this situation was when I fell over this 'souvenir'. No Flash and low shutter speed made it difficult to make a decent picture, but the small holes are still recognizable as little worms. They were made by a Norwegian Prisoner of the Gestapo during the German invasion of Norway.
When the Gestapo took someone into custody they often used psychological and physical approaches in order to get information from their prisoners, similar to those methods used today in Guantanomo. A part of the treatment is to allow no form of distraction over a very long time. No books, no communication, no music, no contact to the outside, no nothing. You slowly loose track of dates and time itself and get lost in your Imagination.
And what has that to do with those holes? Well, that smart Norwegian managed to get hold of a needle and by pinching letter by letter, in front of a candle on to a role of toilet paper he wrote his diary. Keeping a diary allowed him to hold on to something and kept him from loosing his mind and last but not least, giving away information. After all, he did work for the Norwegian intelligence and kept his secrets until the end of WW2.

Sonne

Die Toni hat jetzt ein neues Manual-Kombo. Zu dumm, dass die Digicam weggekommen ist! Brauch eine neue. Frühling ist da.

Oslo Pop.

Henning Braaten - Switch ollie. Summer 2004.

blank spot

That's how my brain perceives its environment at the moment. I should be learning but all I get to is this black, empty hole.

Mau.

Maauuuuu.

St.Gallen

Was at a Vans event last Saturday.. They introduced some lim. ed. line called Syndicate. Must admit that those are some nice shoes.. But that's not of importance - the free bar was and the guys of the Saint City are! I haven't seen Andrea Furgler and Michi Wojnar in Ages. They've let me know that their new Video will be out around the end of March. Be sure to go to their premiere in St. Gallen or check www.skatflix.com for a secondary in Zurich!

Auch er wird einen Part haben; the legendary Luke Niedermann; Frontside Noseslide; Turbinenplatz; ZH.

How much longer..

..will it take until Zurich will get it's skatepark? After 6 years of hard work it seemed like the park would be built this year (check www.freestylepark.ch under the folder 'presse' for pictures and animation. It's killer..)
But no, it will be postponed now for appr. two years only because of two (!!!) individuals who are against it, have cash and a good lawyer. Democracy isn't always the best way to rule a country..

But hey, things could be worse.. At least we have a city to skate in and don't have to put up with farmer's choice.

Wellwell..

Got the shots of Mallorca back.. Luc saved the trip. I'm only happy with exactly one picture and that's Luc ollieing over a hip. You'll find it sooner or later in a skatemag - hopefully. For now you'll have to put up with an old portrait of Mr. Allround:

I Intended to take a picture of my damaged F5.. When I went downstairs to get the Digicam back from my neighbor - to whom I had lend it to for the days I've been to Mallorca - I learned that he had been beaten down and robbed right in front of our house, so that cam is history to. That leaves me with a borrowed Holga, an F5 which only lasts until the last batteries are down because I fucked the battery-pack and absolutely no money. Isn't that great?..

Over the Ocean

Safari in Mallorca: incredibly productive. Herb (the travel guide), Guy (my bad conscience), Miguel (the communicator), Zemp (the non-stop skate modus), Bircher (the one with a Jaguar at home), Luc (mr. 'Is the door really locked?') and Jan (the teenage motivation battery) acted all like they were kept from skating for a couple of months, which they actually were regarding the weather back home.. however, they skated like when they were at the peek of their careers and all of them got footage at basically every spot we went. I seriously had a problem deciding on which trick to shoot.

A Lack of Tourists, except for the hoards of old Spanish couples and all colored cyclists, turned the so called German Pass-out Factory to a well skateable Island. And the Guardia Civil was decent when we got to meet them. I guess that, compared to the fucked-up Beer Containers who invade some parts of Mallorca in the summer time, we were like a polite little Group of guys who still played with Skateboards. Together with Miguel's Spanish we always found a dialogue.

The Spots are small but beautiful, yeah beautiful! Not killer, not super awesome, just beautiful. The Locals polite and helpful. The food delicious as long as you forget about the coffee and pink salami during breakfast and the weather was moderate and a blessing compared to the 54cm of snow and the traffic breakdown which Zurich witnessed during our absence. Even massive rainfalls on Sunday added to the trip by giving us a brake and letting us remember how lucky we were to have a few days of t-shirt approved sunshine.

If you ever go there. Be cool to the locals and don't act like those crazy maniacs in the 'Bier Koenig' and you'll find that you'll be welcomed with Spanish good will.

Haven't developed the Pictures yet and had no digicam with me. Only an F5, a Holga and a Lomo Octomat. The Lomo got wasted and I fell on my F5. So I made my sacrifice for these few remberable days of effectiveness ...jJust as the Wrecks who came home after pushing their old bodies limits to the fullest. Except for young Jan we were all over 26.

to mallorca!

tomorrow, finally, sun!!! and mild temperatures - on the safari weekend tour. hahaaaa..!!!
and barefoot pivot fakies by luc.

Rain

Should do a portrait there. During heavy rainfall.