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Reviews of things I’ve Received in the Mail From time to time, companies find the time to
send me things in the mail out of the goodness of their hearts. Okay,
I’m not that delusional. I know things that show up in my mailbox are
there because companies think that sending me stuff will result in reviews
on this highly acclaimed website. Well, they’re right. If you send me
stuff, I’ll eventually get around to writing about it, cause hey, I want
to keep the free stuff flowing. So here’s the breakdown on what I’ve
received recently. Ultimate SnowboardingBy Billy Miller Carlton Books
Review: I should start off by saying this book is definitely not for people like me. It is something that your caring aunt or grandmother would buy for you because they know you’re into that snowboarding thing. When are you going to grow out of that anyway? Or it is for people who think snowboarding is cool and live in the Midwest and never get to do it. Or for the 50-year-old guy who’s too broke to buy a Porche for his midlife crisis and has opted to take up snowboarding instead. He’ll be on the hill every weekend with the same ski outfit he’s had for 20 years (hey, it was cool in the 70’s) and some board he picked up really cheap at a ski swap. What this book does well is to have truly legitimate people write unique and interesting stories about snowboarding. The book teeters precariously on the line between what would be written about the sport in a newspaper, versus what you’d read in Transworld or Snowboarder. The articles aren’t dumbed down and put into lamen's terms, but they are about more than just the tricks that “insert name of cool pro” can do. In fact, most of the images don’t even identify the rider. But, while we’re talking about the images in this book, I start to get into the reasons why it’s not for people who are truly into or informed about snowboarding. After the first 6 pages of cut out snowboarders soaring off some unidentifiable jump, it starts to get irritating. This simple fact causes the book to lose most, if not all, of its credibility. It just doesn’t seem like it would be that difficult to find good pictures and run them appropriately. Where were you on that one, Billy Miller? Other than that, I have knit-picky issues like the sequence labeled as Cab 540 is actually a 180. I guess at least I’ll understand now if I see kids doing 180’s and then telling their bros how sick their 540 was, right? Or how about the line that says, “Mt. Baker is located in eastern Washington…” If you’ve always wanted to know about snowboarding and have no background in the sport, check this one out. If you already are into snowboarding, don’t be surprised if this one shows under the Christmas tree in a box from a distant relative. I’m sure I’ll be getting a few copies myself. Buy it here
411 Snow #4
Review: I’m trying to be positive in these reviews. It’s my new thing, you know. But I have to start out by saying, 411 should stick to making skate videos. They make wonderful, wonderful skate videos. This issue of 411 Snow is just like all the other issues of 411 Snow. It has a lot of mediocre footage, a few really cool shots and a bunch of stuff that looks really familiar (like it was in another video.) Unlike its skateboarding counterpart, nothing in this video is truly outstanding. I like the shots of my friends at Mt. Baker and Matt Peterson had some cool tricks. Travis Parker was a good person to pick for day in the life. He’s funny. And of course, Mark Frank Montoya says this video is dope. Buy it here AfterbangRobot Food
Review: Some friends of mine were concerned that Afterbang was going to steal their idea. They had a plan to make snowboarding look really, really fun. Do stupid tricks and funny things on snowboards and film it. But from all the hype about Robotfood, it really seemed like they already had this taken care of. And Afterbang did make snowboarding look fun. The video showed a lot buttered muffins and hangin’ out and other things that you wouldn’t normally see in super serious videos like Mack Dawg. I liked this about it, a lot. Another perk of this movie was the artistic approach that was taken. Interesting angles, and not too many quirky effects…very tasteful. But my favorite part had to have been the 80’s jams all the way through. Every snowboard video should take note that the 80’s are back and better than ever. Okay, so I’m not one of those people who sit around and analyze every trick to determine how cool it is, so I have very few comments on the actual quality of snowboarding in this video. I’m going to go with it was good. I liked Jussi’s part. He masterfully combined buttering with doing really difficult looking tricks off big jumps. This is a good video, but if you’re too cheap to buy it, just pick up the newest Transworld. The whole thing is in there in still shots. Buy it here |
Presentation:
This showed up in a non-descript manila envelope with a letter
highlighting some key points. My personal favorite: features”
step-by-step lessons to perfecting hot moves…”
Presentation:
411 has its own special box and in included the video and a T-shirt. Bonus
points there. My favorite part though, was the florescent green
“advanced copy” sticker on the movie itself.
Presentation:
I got this one from Transworld, so I can’t really pass judgments about
the company itself. Of course, I could say, why the hell didn’t THEY
send me a copy of the movie? Yeah, what’s the deal with that?