2014-12-27

Blogs To Read - love from berlin

Today I want to introduce to you to Rae Tashman, a digital product designer and photographer, obviously located in Berlin. Also she runs her blog that is built with a big focus on visuals but the texts are at least as important. I'm going back to browsing through her archive now, see you wednesday.

http://raetashman.com/
http://www.lovefromberlin.net/


Follow my blog with Bloglovin

2014-12-24

Awesome Decks - UNIKORN Lorcan / Moostaste

I found the Moostaste in my Pinterest feed one day and was confused at first - many decks before tried to be arty as hell, but this one really got me. The UNIKORN Moostaste (on the right) is one of those boards that are supposed to hang on the wall and decorate your living room. It was actually released in 2012 already and now, it is not in production anymore.

So I headed to their website for a little research and found out that the artwork was designed by uberkraaft, a really awesome artist. Also I found the new board by UNIKORN - the Lorcan (which you see below).

The Lorcan is shorter and the kick makes it really useful for tricks and the griptape has a really performance oriented look. But UNIKORN from Montreal always works in cooperation with artists from all over the world so this has a artwork just as beautiful as the Moostaste. In this case it is the work of the Brazilian artist Victor Beuren. His thoughts on the deck:

“This deck is all about having fun, about the enjoyment you get from riding it. It’s about the wind on your face, the feeling that you are actually flying across town the kind of feeling that we all hold dear. The design brings toy planes, parachutes, wings and a pilot to help carry your imagination in flying with you.”

The Lorcan is available for $140 CAD deck only or a hundred dollars more for the complete board with Bennett Vector trucks and Seismic Rippler wheels

















Follow my blog with Bloglovin

2014-12-20

Alien Post - Mockingjay

Might be a little behind with that movie and I actually watched it some weeks ago. However, I didn't get to write about it until today. These are some things that stuck to my mind and for me are the major facts about Mockingjay.

Cut at the right spots.
There is this one thing I totally love about the Hunger Games movies: They are cut at the right spots. Especially after Catching Fire and now Mockingjay part one I can't wait for the next movie to come to the cinemas.

Hysterical screaming.
Also I really appreciated how Katniss kept her hysterical screaming to the minimum this time around - it pretty much made me hate the first movie.

Design of District 13.
At first I was a little disappointed by the design of District 13, but only until you got out of the living quarters. All the high tech elements were as impressive as in the Capitol.

Mockingjay evolution.
It is fascinating to see how the Mockingjay emblem changes over the movies and how it more or less sticks to the book covers. Also I found this fan edit including the possible, unofficial emblem for the last movie.



Follow my blog with Bloglovin

2014-12-17

In Pictures - Longboarding Together

My fourth post ever was about why it is so great to get together with people when longboaring. This here is a little follow up of pictures I found on Pinterest that really express the message I had in that post.


























Each of these pictures tells a story of friends getting out together and searching for the thrill and fun of longboarding. Of course they all need a long road ahead - feeling the freedom and stuff. So beside that cliche and the fact that none of them was a real situation, I really like how they look and have different styles. One is dark and full of tension, another one showing the party going on on the road and one spreading pure summer and very happy and adventurous vibes.

However, I just wanted to show you these few pictures to stay motivated for longboarding - summer isn't even that far away! I'm already planning for new adventures and I might also buy a new board. But I will surely update you about anything exciting as it happens. Protect your spots and keep exploring!


Follow my blog with Bloglovin

2014-12-13

One Day In Hamburg - Christmas Time

One thing that's perfect in Hamburg in December is all the bright Christmas decoration that is spread all over the city. This here is just a tiny piece of it spread over maybe half a mile through the city. But I had a really good time trying out some stuff with the town hall and how it was lit from below and the clouds hushing by.

The scale of Christmas trees.


Love how this picture turned out with really warm colors..

While this one is really moody, especially the dark top.

A little too bright but I love how the buildings pops out from the background.

I like how the seagull sneaked in on this one.

























Follow my blog with Bloglovin

2014-12-10

Cold Days Longboarding Outfit

Of course there are many longboarders that only ride in the summer because of the trend and the style. But if you are like me and the longboard is your major way of transportation you might know the struggle of iced hands and cold air inside your jacket. I found myself some ways to fight the cold so that I can stay on the board not only on the glaciers.

Softshell jacket. One of the major problems is that the warmed up air inside your jacked gets pushed out by the cold air because of wind and your own movements. First step to counteract that is to buy a wind proof softshell jacket. You might want to find one with a little strip of fabric behind the zipper - I often felt the cold sneaking through that cracks.

Flexible gloves. When choosing your gloves you might want to go for the thinner ones. There is nothing worse for me than loosing the grip on my fingers, so I always use my winter biking-gloves for longboarding as well. They have the right balance of keeping your fingers warm and usable. If you have a bad day and it's too cold for your fingers, just get the blood into your hands by closing and opening your fists repeatedly.

Oversize and layers. I generally like to wear larger cloths when I'm on the board - in the summer they provide good air circulation but when it's cold they have another effect. Your shirts make your jacket tighter around the waist because of the excess cloth. Also you get the possibility of working out warm wind proof joints at your hands and feet. Layering up shirts and jackets also helps with that.

Beanie and scarf. There is one thing I love about the cold season: Hiding my face behind a fluffy and warm scarf. I pull it up tightly over my nose so that the warm air I'm breathing out flow all around my cheeks and over my eyes - all the condensing water gets caught in your eyelashes but that's totally worth it. Even better is to have a beanie on your head as well so there is nothing more than your eyes exposed to the cold and your ears are protected by two layers of fabric.

So do you have your own ways to tackle the cold or do you prefer public transport as soon as it gets colder?


Follow my blog with Bloglovin

2014-12-06

Winter Season - Cleaning Your Bearings

First of all, there are two reasons that there came no post on Wednesday. It was the day after my birthday, so I didn't really have the time to sit down and write. But also I was busy with preparations for this upcoming mini series: Winter Season! In this case "mini" doesn't mean in short time because I'm going to stretch it out until maybe February - not sure yet - but there won't be many posts of the series. It will be all about getting your board ready for spring, starting with cleaning your bearings. I personally do it every three or four months but it might be different for you because of different products and the difference in use. Actually you could do that every other week as it is so easy.

To begin with, get your wheels off the board - I use a 13mm socket on a ratchet. Be sure to collect all the speed rings as it's quite easy to loose one or two of them. Sometimes, the inner speed rings stick to the truck because they get pressed together pretty hard - just use the tip of are small screwdriver to get them loosened and pull them off the truck with your fingers.

Then get the bearings out of the wheels with that same screwdriver: Get it halfway into the core, push the spacer aside and leverage it out from all sides. You could actually do it without moving the screwdriver around but I would surely get it in my eye some way.

 You should now have eight speed rings, eight bearings, four spacers and for lock nuts. As I said before, these small parts get lost so easily.



The next step is to get the covering off the bearings by simply pushing the tip of your screwdriver in between the covering and the bearing's inner ring. Then gently pull it up - it might stick a little if it is very dirty. They also stick to your screwdriver if it has a magnetic tip as the inside of the covering is made of metal.

























Repeat that for both sides of each bearing. Some like to  keep one covering on, but I personally don't think they get really clean that way.

Prepare a empty can of vitamin supplements by getting the resin out of the cap. Just cut out the paper-like covering in the middle. Then put the parts that you want to get cleaned - I usually clean all of the other parts as well, but separated from the bearings -  inside there, add a drop of dish detergent and fill it up with water. But leave some space for the fluid and the parts to move inside the can. Shake the can with the cap on for a minute or two, wash it out with some fresh water and repeat the cleaning two or three times. By the way - I advise you, not to hit any animals that are interested in what you're doing. Dry all the parts properly with paper towels and a hair dryer on low temperature.

Then use your speed lube - I used some left-overs from our latest car servicing - to get the bearings working again. Don't use too much as that slows the bearings but. Then simply put the covering back on, assemble the wheels and get them onto the trucks again. That's it. You might need some time when doing it for the first time but once you know how to get it done, it's a task of maybe half an hour.

Do you have any shortcuts or tips? And how often do you think is it necessary?


Follow my blog with Bloglovin

2014-11-29

Blogs To Read - Hand Luggage Only

Recently I really got into travel again but as I'm currently a volunteer at a school I am pretty much limited in budget and time. So, I try to suck in as much about my favorite destinations and routes as possible through the internet. Aside YouTube, blogs are my major source with my personal number one:
© Hand Luggage Only

© Hand Luggage Only

These two guys there on the left are actually still quite new to the blogging business - although their had the idea of Hand Luggage Only since 2012 their started the blog in April 2014. They write about anything they think could be useful or entertaining for their readers: travel logs of the most awesome parts of their never-ending journey, top lists of activities and tips, and guides to make your travel smoother.


"We believe that travel should be accessible and open to all, that's why we try our best to showcase WHYs, HOWs and WHEREs of the very best in travel."




2014-11-26

Stay On The Board

So, you might know that winter is not my favorite season for longboarding. My fingers got cold even with 25+°C sometimes, as they don't really have any task and just hang in the wind most of the time. But now - late November - it is really painful sometimes. Also the cold air gets up your sleeves, the street tends to never really get dry and it gets dark way too soon. Many longboarders search for an alternative and most of them end up snowboarding. I personally did it the other way round: I just couldn't wait one year to get onto the snowboard again and didn't want to go for indoor winter sports. Here are some of my experiences about transitioning from longboarding to snowboarding and vice versa.

Rear foot steering. I personally pretty much kick out my rear foot when I'm turning on a snowboard - just like sliding on a longboard. At the same time, you will most likely miss the sliding all the times you're in the city without slopes.

Locking in your feet. My girlfriend didn't trust the longboard at first because she was used to being strapped to the board. But as I told her, there is nothing to worry about. My feet did never just slide of the board - neither while carving nor pushing.

Atmosphere. Of course, the atmosphere is totally different. On a longboard you can go on for hundreds of miles without ever visiting the same place twice. On the snowboard you are pretty much limited to the mountains you're around and you will have to stop after a trail of maybe 10 miles, if you're lucky.

Does anyone of you have other experiences with these differences or did you notice anything else?


Follow my blog with Bloglovin

2014-11-22

Awesome Decks - Landyachtz Chinook

For today, I found a really nice downhill and freeride board: The Chinook. This is one of the examples that show how Landyachtz does not only guarantee great artworks but also awesome shapes.
With its 9-ply Canadian maple it has basically no flex unless you really try to bend it. In the overall length of 40" there are two wheelbase options: 31.25" and 32.25". The W-bowl concave locks your feet in at the right spot and makes it hard to slip off. The drop gives you the possibility to get your foot close to the wheels to gain some extra control over the +/-10° wedged trucks. Although this might seem a little drastic when you look at it, the Chinook is meant to be a less aggressive version of the Evo - still a monster - to match the more modern trucks.

I just love everything about the artwork: How the lion's head is symmetrical, how all of it consists of these striped triangles and this awesome glow of the eyes. Well, not everything - I would love to have another option to the main colors. Maybe a red or a darker blue would work out really well. But I guess there won't be any other color setting as the deck isn't in production anymore. If you love it for the shape and don't really care about the artwork, you can still buy the Landyachtz Evo for $140 deck only or $240 to get it equipped with Bear Grizzly 840 181mm trucks, Hawgs KM FSU 70mm 80A wheels and System ABEC 5 bearings.

2014-11-19

Giving In To Blogging Stereotypes

I never liked these cliche bloggers that post nothing else than top lists, awards and link ups. But actually - now that I blog myself - I understand how good it feels to have a scheme to work by and build your content around. Also readers as well as authors have a benefit from them:

Top lists: As a reader it is super comfortable to go through a list of eight or ten facts or tips and just leave out the ones that don't catch your interest within the first  two or three words. At the same time you can write it in a very easy way as you can split your research and writing into little texts. Perfect to take one item at a time whenever you find five or ten minutes to write on it.

Awards: If you want to find new blogs to read, just search through your favorite blog and see if he or she ever did one of the blogging awards. Usually there are ten bloggers nominated and also you can go by the blog that nominated the one that you are reading. Obviously, as a blogger you get some extra visitors from your nomination and also you have a guide to write your post by.

Link ups: Another community based kind of post that lives from and for creating a community and getting support from other people. When writing link ups you pretty much just have to build a platform for you readers -  maybe a topic to discuss about or one theme everybody can share their ideas about.

What are your favorite kinds of posts to write and read?

2014-11-15

One Day In Hamburg - Essentials

Water, the most important thing to humans. With six times as many bridges as in Venice or double the bridges of Amsterdam water is also a pretty big thing to Hamburg. These are some shots of the Alster and the Elbe, the biggest and most important water surfaces in Hamburg.










2014-11-12

Alien Post - The Stormlight Archive

Recently I really got into fantasy books again and the one I was most impressed by is The Way Of Kings from the Stormlight Archive series by Brandon Sanderson. I guess it's my girlfriend's fault. One evening she told me about the new book series she was reading and while she told me about the story (for once not spoiling me) she showed me some drawings that were included in the book. And for some reason, it drew my interest. So after she finished reading, or rather devouring the novel, I got it and this is what it is about:
In this first book the story is mostly built around the young man Kaladin who originally thought of war to be his chance to get out of the life he was born into but ends up as a slave, condemned by the man he would've given his life for. Of course slaves were wanted for war as well, what brought him to the worst place to be: The Shattered Plains, where the most brutal and outrageous war of all time was fought by the human race on the one side and the Parshendi on the other side, assumed to be responsible for the assassination of king Gavilar of Alethkar. King, assassination, war - sounds obvious, right?
At the same time - but on the other side of the continent - Shallan is fighting her own battle in order to save her family. To win the trust of the most important woman, the king's sister Jasnah Kholin, she tries to become her ward at first only to steal pretty much the most powerful item mankind knows about, a soulcaster, used to form anything you want from any material you want. Practically a way to make food from stone and water from soil.
Well, give it a try if you like what you've read so far. Book two, Words Of Radiance is also out already and book three is to be released in 2016 - so still enough time to read the first two over and over again.


Follow my blog with Bloglovin

2014-11-08

Chasing The Sun

One of the things I hate about fall and winter is how little light we get throughout the day. Especially if your photo- and videography is only a hobby - measured by the time you have available for it - it is hard to get ready for a shoot before the sun goes down. And we still have one and a half months left until we have the shortest day of the year. I'm stunned every single year again.

























Like really stunned: Once I realize that it's happening I can't find the motivation to get out and shooting. It just seems like I won't even find anything before it get's dark again. Yesterday I was on my way home around 4 pm and guess what I saw: Golden Hour! But of course I couldn't carry my camera around all day - also I didn't even think that it would become such a nice day. But let's not get too depressed because of that - here are some pictures I collected this summer.





2014-11-05

Awesome Decks - Bustin Sportster Pro

Today I want to show you one of the awesome longboard decks I found on Pinterest. When choosing a deck for your new board you can't focus only on the stats,  because no matter how good the board is - it still has to look nice.

So, this here is a nice 37,5" deck by Bustin: The Sportster Pro. With it's typical drop-through / wheel cutout design it is pretty much an all rounder for freeride, cruising and downhill. With the Thermo Carbon and maple hybrid Bustin tried to reach the right stiffness and elasticity balance that they all want. Every brand does it pretty much the same way - but they call it different every time.


But take a look at this gorgeous texture in grey - it still sounds awful. I can't decide whether it looks more like really luxury wood or like brushed metal. However, I love this shade. You shouldn't look too close at the lion though - to me the face looks a little too abstract. All the fur looks fine, especially the "majestic" chin, I think. But there is one thing that really annoys me: Why did they try to give the drawing a graffiti look at the bottom? The rest of the deck is all clean and noble except those eight stripes dripping down there. Still, there are other graphics available at the Bustin store for $179, if you like the shape.


Follow my blog with Bloglovin

2014-11-01

Blogs To Read - Muted Mornings

© Mimmi Rönning
And Sweden scores again: Mimmi Rönning is 19 years old and currently living in Glasgow where she's studying English Literatur. I love how she is one of the few bloggers now who write about whatever happens in their lives while others stick to their editorial calendars - although that might be fitting for their branches. However, I like her for her writing, topics and pictures that are always composed to awesome posts. Especially her appreciative posts are a nice read when you need to see the good things in life. Well, just browse through her blog a little and you'll find a lot of nice stories to read.

Latest appreciative post: One month in Glasgow & Appreciative Post #6
Muted Mornings || Bloglovin


Follow my blog with Bloglovin

2014-10-29

Structure in Your Work

Whether you're in school, at university or in your job - no success without structure in your work. Managing your schedule and your documents is essential for keeping up with everything. These are my top tips for when your system is at its limits.

Change your system. I tend to create rather complicated and strict schemes for my work. But they aren't perfect, never. So whenever I get tired of one scheme I rip it into peaces and build a new one from scratch. This is a great motivation to keep everything organized.

Clean up. This seems to be a bit odd but it helps. You wouldn't believe how much junk you collect over the time - unnecessary stuff in your flat and loads of paper you don't even need anymore. As soon as you get rid of all the old documents you have to focus on less and you don't get distracted from the things that are currently important.

Get digital. Over the last two years of school I got together with some of the geeks and built a group on Google Drive so that we could use more than our own thoughts. Also your mobile is much easier to carry around than hundreds of documents and easier to organize. Worksheets and forms can be scanned and added to your library and also you don't have to share everything if you don't want to.


Follow my blog with Bloglovin

2014-10-25

Visual Vibes - He Nailed It

Do you remember Ben Brown from three months ago? Not that it was the only time I mentioned him, but it was the last time that he released one of his Visual Vibes videos. So guess what happened this week: Buffer Festival in Toronto, Canada. A festival bringing content creators from YouTube to theaters all over Toronto. Many more or less famous YouTubers showed their latest creations and milestones and gave a little background information to each of the videos. Also pretty much everyone had a meetup after the screening where as many of the fans as possible got the opportunity to take pictures and get their questions answered.



So, this is Ben's latest masterpiece: The Canada Visual Vibes. Shot on his sponsored trip through Canada two months ago he captured the amazing wildlife and breathtaking views of mountains and ice-cold blue-water lakes that are spread all over the country. The editing took it's time (also because of the Seven Swims where he produced seven awesome videos for Lewis Pugh) but it turned out wonderful. I don't know what it is like if you don't know about the adventures he had in Canada, because for me it is also a awesome recap of all the things he did with Steve Booker and all the other people on the trip.

So whether you want to see what Canada might be holding for you or just like awesome film making you should definitely take a look at this video and subscribe to Ben for daily vlogs and travelling Visual Vibes.


Follow my blog with Bloglovin

2014-10-22

Now On Pinterest

Great news! Board Vibes is now on Pinterest, a awesome way to collect all kinds of awesome ideas, inspiration and products you love on a several virtual pin boards. For the beginning I created three collections for you:

 -- Board Ideas.  A collection of  mostly DIY ideas all about your longboard. Wall mounts, cookies, shelves. But this is still the smallest pin board.

-- Awesome Decks. While going through all kinds of longboards, I found some really awesome decks I want to show you. Mostly these are Landyachtz and Arbor boards with some pretty awesome photo paints.

-- Board Vibes. Well, that's what it's all about, right? Although this is partly a collection of hot girls on boards - or girls that are hot because they're on boards - I tried to capture this thing I just call Board Vibes as good as possible. But it is a fact that on something like Pinterest girls are more popular than cool guys, isn't it?

Visit Board Vibes's profile on Pinterest.

I added the "Pin It" button to the blog so you can pin the Board Vibes posts and pictures to your profile. Just hover your mouse over the picture you want to pin and the button will appear in the top left corner.

Just come back there every now and then to see what's new out there. You can also leave your ideas, pins and discoveries for me and maybe I'll add them to the boards.


Follow my blog with Bloglovin

2014-10-18

One Day in Hamburg - Alstervergnügen

So over the summer every year, there are some events that just affect the whole city. This here is a good example: the Alstervergnügen / the Alster pleasure. While the larger part of the lake Alster is home to all kinds of small boats, sports enthusiasts and all winter lovers when the ice is thick enough (that happes like once in five years and becomes a pretty big thing), the smaller part is home to many events and street festivals like the CSD and of course the Alstervergnügen, once in the summer months and once in the winter months. The pictures are one and a half months old now but is still was a pretty awesome day to spend in Hamburg.
















Follow my blog with Bloglovin