So TSOJ sent in THIS LINK (a lot of you guys are kind enough to send links, and I haven’t gotten to some good ones. Thanks much, and I will get there eventually!)
It’s about helmet/hats like Hubris has worn in the strip occasionally. Very cool. We’ll get these in the States pretty soon, unless I miss my guess.
Some of you guys have very kindly asked me to put up some photos of the New Orleans trip. I oblige.
From the New Orleans Zoo. I’m always on the lookout for interesting helmets. How did the Aztecs skate in these things? Or maybe this is Buddha. Did Buddha skate?
Even if you don’t have small children, if there seem to be more than enough strollers at the rental booth, get one. Much better than carrying the camera, the camera bag with another camera and more lenses in it, tripod, souvenirs, umbrella, maps, sunscreen etc. on your person.
The first of two wedding parades we saw on Bourbon street.
One of the test shots that would eventually lead to the photo shoot that involved my arm injury.
There you go for now. I’ll post more things later. New Orleans is a fine, fine town, and this trip was the first for me to take my kids along. There was much more spending-time-in-places-with-expensive-tickets than my wife and I usually do. The WWII museum is, however, great and well worth the expense. Go if you have the chance. Probably never would have made the time if the kids hadn’t wanted to go, and that would have been a shame. And they don’t allow photos there, so you won’t see any photos here.
I’ve mentioned before the nice skatepark that was built here in Memphis a little over a year ago. It has one of those nice polished concrete surfaces that seems forbidding at first, but is really nice to skate on. But I just got back from a trip out to the Pacific Northwest, and where there’s that much snow, you do your skating indoors during the winter. It’s been a lot of years since I tried skating indoors. The last indoor park I went to much at all, I was taking a BMX bike after a few skateboard falls. Let me tell ya… I was worried more about skating an unfamiliar board than I was an unfamiliar park. I figured I had a really nice kickturn, so I could find some area where I could while away a lot of time just skating round and round. Maybe, I thought, I’ll work on riding fakey if I get tired of kickturns.
Well, not so much. Turns out that concrete is very forgiving when it comes to your balance point and the amount of friction it affords your wheels.
I fell down a lot indoors, and the kickturns in which I was so confident in were not right for a roomful of high-quality masonite, steel edges and slick concrete. The board slid sideways out from under me over and over again. I hate to admit it, but I lost my temper and my good mood quick. I’d like to think I could get used to masonite and all. I’d be a better skater for it- the finesse and control needed are exemplary. So… who’s got the money and the business plan to come into Memphis and build another indoor park? I warn you… we’ve had the low-end park (the Dark Side) that did everything on a shoestring, and we’ve had the high-end park (Cordova) and a couple of others, I guess, and they’re all gone now. I imagine that the profit margins on such a business are slim, and the insurance pushes the ledger toward the red.
Revolution Snow and Skate is the indoor skatepark in Wenatchee, WA (there’s an outdoor park, too. Not much play this time of year is my guess) An employee there pointed out that the skatepark is NOT how that business stays afloat- the storefront supports it, though I’m sure the store benefits from having an onsite skatepark.
Visit ‘em if you get the chance. Skate a little. Buy something. Tell ‘em we says “Hey.” Nice folks.
Just so you don’t think I didn’t enjoy my time there- When I couldn’t fall back on my routine skills, I learned to drop in, finally. It was a great day. Very exhilarating.
But I still can’t ride fakey worth a poot on masonite.
The other day at the skatepark, the newspaper (the Commercial Appeal, who no longer runs The Buckets and fired their staff editorial cartoonist Bill Day, and therefore can be ignored.) sent Chris Desmond out to photograph the lovely and talented Aaron Schafer, who was instrumental in getting the city to back a gorgeous skatepark and quit just putting up signs everywhere else that said “no skating”. Chris took photos of other people who were there, too. This is one he took of me. Note the elaborately colored helmet I took from my oldest son. Note the way the sunlight plays upon the bristles where my hair used to be. Oh, yes, I’m one fine lookin’ stud.
Photo by Chris Desmond
That was, indeed sarcasm, for those of you who didn’t catch it. I look like someone’s dad at the skatepark. I am someone’s dad at the skatepark. But at least I’m one of the dads that skate.
I own a few weird helmets. I should post those on non-Comic strip days. Maybe this weekend. Make sure to check back, you hear?
And you can shop a high-end helmet. Click on it. You know you want a high-end helmet…
Jeff Outdoors –
The man abuses outdoor gear, so you don’t have to
I’m the guy who only bought a ski helmet when my buddy told me his wife wouldn’t let me ski with him anymore until I bought one. I reluctantly left my Happy Humper Woolie hat at home and donned my new Giro helmet. On the first run, I wiped out and the tip of my ski left a dent in the top of the helmet the size of a nickel. I’ve been wearing a helmet ever since.
Last year, I bought a new Giro G-10 after trying on several brands. On the first run, I wiped out, hit a rock, and got a dent in the top about the size of a nickel. Go figure.
The Giro adjustment system is pretty much awesome. It has a dial in the back that works crazy-good. Everything about the helmet is comfortable and there are no rub spots. I wonder if they broke into my house and measured my head when I was sleeping?
The side webbing is adjustable with quick-flip buckles, the goggle retainer in the back is big enough to use with gloves, and the vent slide is easy to find and use with gloves on as well.
The G-10 does not have a visor, which I like. There is also nothing to keep your goggles from sling-shotting to the back of your head when you perch them on the front of the helmet. I have spent more than a few chairlift rides trying to find my goggles as they dangled on my back.
Pros
Cons
Bottom Line
Get a helmet that fits. There’s a pretty good chance that Giro is going to fit.
Jeff’s a pretty handy guy to have around for advice. Want to shop the Giro G10? Click the helmet below.
