ftblog
Tofino
I have recently moved away from the busy city life of Vancouver to the small quiet town of Tofino, and I am quickly learning the meaning of island time.
After only a few days after my move I hiked through rain forests that resemble the movie Avatar, watched Humpback and Killer Whales breach out of the water, showered in natural hot springs, Storm watched, be introduced to my new surf family of Long Beach Surf Shop, and surfed some of the best waves of my life so far.
Things here move at a much slower pace, but when the swell rolls in life picks up. Gas tanks run empty, and people count down the seconds to finish work and suit up for the frigid waters of the Pacific Ocean. It reminds me a lot of Whistler and the way the town would buzz over fresh powder, and search for the best spot.
I visited the south Island last week to check out new surf spots, and watch Kim Churchill perform live in Victoria. Kim is a brilliant musician from Australia, and is so good I am thinking of using a song of his in the next FT edit. The spots around the south island to surf are incredible. I get why it’s so heavily localized. Only a 10-minute walk through the rainforest and there on the horizon are perfect point break waves. Being there has changed my outlook on the potential for Canadian surfing. Although it seems like the secret's out about these spots due to the crowds in the water on the weekend, I can’t help but to search around the corner for the next secret spot.
I am here as a filmmaker to document the lifestyle of the west coast surf life, and so far in only a short amount of time I have seen a fair share of adventure. Vancouver island is a special place. Capturing it is my new passion.
South Island Wave from Family Tree on Vimeo.
Photos by Sally Jarvis
Ryan Kenny
Team Goldie - Going Out Living (ft. Jimmy Stadt of Polar Bear Club)
Team Goldie is the one-man phenom Matt DiStefano. Here's the demo of the title track from the upcoming debut full-length from Team Goldie featuring guest vocals from Jimmy Stadt of Polar Bear Club. Also check out his 2011 version of Gym Class Heroes' Taxi Driver. I love the shout out to fellow FT music friends Living With Lions!
Shad Interview with NRML
It all started with a Facebook message. I remember getting a message from Pat Bolduc about a month and a half ago. He was looking to get in contact with Shad's management to set up this interview and shoot photos of his show in Ottawa.
Set on the rooftop of NRML, one of Ottawa's premiere urban boutiques, the interview went off without a hitch. I especially like interviewer Naj Peterson's homage to Inside The Actor's Studio by asking those famous 10 questions to wrap up the interview.
Before getting started with the interview, here are a couple of photos taken by Pat that day. Click the photo to see more
NRMLxNoble Savage - Shad Interview pt.1
NRMLxNoble Savage - Shad Interview pt.2
Sled Shred with Snowboard Addiction
A good day on Sprout mountain with Nev Lapwood from Snowboard Addiction and photographer Alex Scott. Sled shredding is definitely as fun as I hoped it to be. This was just a mellow day of cruising around doing laps and hitting the odd feature when we found it. Fun times.
The Dreadnoughts in Europe
The Dreadnoughts have made it to Europe as part of their Polka's Not Dead tour. They're playing Germany, Russia, Poland, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Ukraine, France, and the UK.
Check out The Dreadnoughts Myspace for full details. If there's any chance you can make it, GO! You do not want to miss these guys in concert!
Click to check out photos from their CD Release Show in Vancouver.
Delbrook
A couple of weeks ago we got word that Vancouver was getting snow overnight so without sleeping, we got our gear ready, picked up a Banshee Bungee from Kevin Sansalone at 2am after he got home from the bar, and piled into Nick's truck to drive to the city.
The roads were just TERRIBLE! We were in whiteout conditions for most of the drive then as soon as we turned the corner to Lion's Bay, the roads were clear of snow and it was raining. Things didn't look very promising.
We got to North Van around 5am and scoped out Delbrook. There was only about 2cm of snow on the ground and it was raining. We didn't go down for nothing. We said "fuck it" and drove up about 10 blocks til we found some snow on the streets.
You couldn't really call it snow. It was slop. We took turns shovelling snow into the back of Nick's truck. After 3 loads we finished packing down the in-run and shaping the jump.
We went for team shits at McDonald's just down the street and waited for the sun to rise.
As you can see from the photos, the snow didn't last long. Soon the boys were landing in gravel.
Millen and Nick got some bangers that you will see in an upcoming webisode (you might even see the photos in one of next year's mags). Dooley was trying nosepresses but had to settle for a 50-50. He was PISSED.
Oh yeah, Kenny's girlfriend Merritt came by. I sneaked this creeper shot of Kenny going for it.
Jagermeister - Ice Cold Contest
Jagermeister's Ice Cold Contest launched last week. Guess who was hired to shoot one of their ads?
About a month ago I got the call from my friend Matthew Parrish who works for Jagermeister in Toronto. I used to shoot photos for his music site Truth Explosion Magazine. Anyway, Pare was looking for a photographer to shoot an ad for the Jagermeister Ice Cold Contest.
I went out that day to shoot some test photos. Head Office liked the photos so we booked the shoot for two days later.
I got there and met the Vancouver and Whistler reps. They had this huge 20 foot tall inflatable bottle. We started to set it up only to find out that the fan was broken! We were bummed cuz it pretty much makes the photo. Luckily, pro skier Sarah Burke was able to find a fan at her home (weird right?) and we postponed the shoot til the next day.
Ryan, Ben and Nick made it to the GLC for the shoot and some free Jagermeister. Joel even made it down from the city to model his manstache!
All in all it was a fun shoot.
If you want to win a free trip to Whistler for 2 with accommodation in a chalet (with a hot tub!), Buckcherry concert, Jagermeister parties and lift tickets to shred Whistler Blackcomb then sign up at the Jagermeister Ice Cold Contest minisite.
Shtchea - It's Been A While...
We may have slowed down with posts during the holidays but ShtChea continued to drop an edit every day. Here's some stuff you may have missed.
Run River - Live @ Merlin's Jan 7
Our friends Run River are playing at Merlin's Saturday January 7 in Whis. Show up at 9pm to listen to their friends Mindil Beach Markets, MCM, and Jay Greenway.
Photo - Mark Cohene (cohene.com)
Run River
http://www.myspace.com/run
Mindil Beach Markets
www.mindilbeachmarkets.com
MCM
http://www.myspace.com/mul
Jay Greenway
http://myspace.com/jaygree
Sandbox - Mt Seymour Premiere
Sandbox will be having a free premiere of their new video "Now You Know" Saturday, December 18th on a huge outdoor screen up on Mt Seymour in North Vancouver.
Come enjoy some night riding and check out the video. Remember to dress warm.
Spread the word to anyone in the Vancouver area.
Click the poster for more details on the Facebook Event page:
