Headed over to the Sequim Mervin factory for the video premier of Homeschool 8 -- and when I say headed, I mean flew. Following in the steps of our publisher, Jeff Galbraith, I jumped head first into the realm of private air and I'm all about it. Thanks to friend and pilot James Alton we landed VIP at the Sequim airport, stumbling distance from the Mervin Mfg. factory. First time ever visiting the home of Lib Tech and Gnu, and I got a quick tour of the factory, watched a board being made and even caught a glimpse of some 07 boards. Really cool.

After nightfall, departed from the bonfire and settled in on the lawn of the factory to watch the main event. Memorable sections include Peter Tosh, Banked Slalom footage, solid intermission footage and most importantly the mantra that never got old: "Home School Rips". The night ended with a raffle and all proceeds benefiting the Port Angeles Skatepark. Mervin Mfg. generously threw down enough product it seemed like most everybody was a winner. Ryan Kennedy walked away with a snowboard. Looking forward to "Homeschool 9".

May 10, 2006

BLI Airport

Scored the private flight from Bellingham (BLI) International to Orange County via my friend and pilot (and veteran Mt. Baker shredder) Travis Holland, his employer Paul Akers from FASTCAP, INC, as well as their art director, Jennifer Martin. Lifting off at approx. 5 pm, we make the flight to the Orange County airport in four hours. No parking, no security hassles, no overbooking, no delays, and no waiting for luggage. Happiness is a warm rental car, about twenty paces from your final resting point, and a deeply discounted hotel. Thanks, Paul and Trav. The craft itself is a six-seater Piper Jetprop turbo, with an 1150 mile range and a top cruising speed of 260 knots (300mph). The culture of private air travel is rad in and of itself: an interesting amalgam of flight junkies, Fortune 500 types, and interlopers like me. Being the only unshaven one in the executive airports with a faded Supreme shirt, Volcom jeans, and screaming yellow running shoes, earns a few looks, but its largely a casual crowd. It's hard to describe the sensation of ripping along through the air in a Porsche 911 of the skies compared to Air Greyhound. Everything is way, way bigger. Cloud banks become an alpenglow heaven, Yosemite and Half-Dome are real and amazing -- rather than indiscernible landforms 40,000 feet below.

By all means, everyone should fly private at some point in their lives for the experience. And with gridlock and gas prices what they are, I'm looking into flight lessons. Plus, at some point soon enough, they'll be running biodeisel air fuel. And you never have to give up your pocketknife. How cool is that?

Special thanks to Matty Swanson for showing the crew around OAKLEY Paul and Jen were both stoked and impressed with 1 Icon.

Words of inspiration about the movie........ Math, mist, sketchy, patterns, creativity, these are a few of our favorite things. Think Thank's "PATCHWORK PATTERNS" dropping like a ton of rainboww colored bricks right on your preconceived notions, this fall. Fly your freq flag and get down with the thickness.

Yo, yo, yo. Check out the "funny feelings" teaser. Better yet, SUBSCIBE and get the full deal for free without waiting for a 28MB file to load.

frequency TSJ crew heads south to Snoqualmie Pass for K2 and Summit at Snoqualmie's Mamafest event. Dedicated to spreading awareness and prevention of breast cancer, as well as raising money for a cure.

I am without a doubt the least e-inclined, e-interested or e-proficient person on our staff. I threw my cell away about three years ago, and I don't own a laptop, Ipod, or Blackberry. I rarely wear a watch. But that's not what the web is about.

I tend to look at these things a bit differently. Websites, blog communication, and viral dissemination of information are cool. It's like art theft. Duck in a duck out. Log on in a café in Amsterdam, say what's up, check conditions, do your biz, and get on your bike and ride. Do the same in Chamonix, Whistler, Santiago, wherever. Fight like a brave don't be a slave, make technology add to your life, not detract from it. Blog and destroy...

So, like for the last three years or so, Jessie Lu, frequency TSJ's art director has been bugging us to enter the Maggie's, the major awards for niche, travel, and industry publications in the US. And of course, we were always so busy making, printing, and shipping magazines we never had time for elective classes. Finally, she simply filled out the forms herself demanded we pay the entry fee and do this. And WTF, we won! Specifically, we won Best Consumer Quarterly for 2006, beating several other very high quality mags for this title. Special thanks to Norb Garrett for picking up the award and representing to a sold-out show in The Westin in downtown LA. We all went to Mt. Baker instead.