Carving Nostalgia

As I don't have a great deal of time to write anything today, I thought I would post some short clips instead. Here they are.

It is no secret that I have a real appreciation for German cars, particularly those from the Mercedes-Benz family.  The cars I really connect with tend to be those from the mid seventies to the mid eighties.  During this era the designs were pretty much as perfect as you can get,in my opinion. The build was solid and the over all look was synonymous with German (over) engineering.  However, these cars were not so utilitarian so as to lose any trace of personality, not at all for the models from this period have this in absolute abundance.  From nose to tail they have an incredible number of characteristics that are uniquely Mercedes and befitting of the era from which they hail.  These are just some of the things that provide them the appeal, but to be honest there are a whole host of ingredients that combine to give this car a set of qualities that never fails to make my head turn when I see one.   The models that I have a real interest are those which are built on the W123 ch

T-Bones Early Bones Brigade era Ever since I entered the world of boardsports, some thirty years ago (I had to think then, is it really thirty years, scarily, it is), I have been drawn to skateboard hardware, in a big way.  There are many things that add to the appeal, I love the graphics, the imagery and the banding has always struck a chord with me. My being a young grom in the mid eighties coincided with the emergence of so many great things in skateboarding.  It was pre selling out, the brands were still relatively small and the boards still had unique shapes.  The videos that came out of the houses of Powell Peralta, H-Street and Santa Cruz defined the era, perfectly.  While my first love was surfing, I always did prefer the skate aesthetic. I really like the level of detail that was applied at this time, as well as the authenticity of the products.  There was also something about the quality that made each item seem as though it had been hand made by someone who l

I'm not sure what to think of modern surfing, its is becoming so far removed from what I know and love about it, that I simply do not know where I fit in with it anymore. To begin with there is the style of surfing that has emerged in recent years.  For while there are a lot of current surfers who can still gouge a big power move, ride waves with style and flare. There are many more who simply flap, with the sole purpose of pulling some kind of air.  Looking at the mainstream surf media, you would think that this was all there is to surfing, for then amount of coverage that the above the lip moves get is incredible.  Many of the airs have been borrowed from skating and snowboarding, and they just don't translate all that well to surfing.  Often these big moves are clumsy, the stance awkward and the whole thing just a bit phony. Added to which, you can bet that for everyone that was successfully landed, there will a dozen that didn't end all that well.   And that I think

I have let things slide a little bit on the blog front.  I could cite a whole heap of reasons, but aside from the obvious one of not having the time, the main factor is that I simply haven't been inspired enough to write about anything. I guess this might be at least in part to do with the time of the year.  It's dark, cold and invariably wet, so the activities that I love enough to write about have been minimal.  Also I just haven't been feeling it of late, hence the long gap since my last post. The good news is that I now have a whole heap of topics in mind, so as and when I am able to do so, I will put the time in and get some decent posts up!