Headed Out

I’ll be flying out to Denver this afternoon for SIA trade show, then heading up to Aspen to check out the clusterfuck known as X-Games. For those of you unfamiliar with SIA it is the largest, longest running winter sport tradeshow. It was moved to Denver 3 years ago after a nice long run in Las Vegas(the good ol days). It’s not that Denver isn’t fun but when the snow sport industries gather together, it’s much more fun if there’s no snow in the immediate area(reminds people they’re there to work not party, no bueno.) So I’ll be roaming the Denver Convention Center all day tomorrow finding the best of next years snowboard gear, heckling uptight ski company exhibitors and hopefully scoring lots of free stuff I can give out to you, my loyal readers. Friday morning it’ll be time to head up to Aspen to join the circus. Like so many of my fellow winter-sports enthusiasts, I have a love hate relationship with X-Games. I love that it elevates the exposure of our sports. I love that it puts more money in my friends’ pockets for their tireless year round preparation to impress on a big stage. I love the parties. What I hate is the general attitude at X-Games and the insane people it somehow attracts. It’s like instead of water people in Aspen have been drinking a mix of Monster Energy and speed(I’m convinced crack not speed is the active ingredient in Monster). I will go no further in hating on X-Games, I think the photos I take this weekend will do the talking. Despite the extremely high kook factor, X-Games was incredibly fun last year and I’m looking forward to covering it as a self proclaimed gonzo-journalist this year. I’m envisioning something similar to my coverage of Outside Lands summer before last. In addition to the article coming next week I’ll be updating my Instagram and Twitter feeds regularly so if you’re not following those, better get on it. Hope you’ll all enjoy what I’ve got in store for you.

Cheers,

Andrew.

Way Out East: Part 3

Kitsch at it's best.

When we awoke Sunday morning it was to a clear blue sky and a crisp breeze coming off the lake, that didn’t last long. By the time we’d gotten ourselves together in order to fetch breakfast it had clouded up and was threatening to rain. Having had our previous attempts to skate thwarted by weather or ridiculous skatepark mandates(full pads at my age that I have to pay to rent? Don’t think so.) we made quick work of a mountain of food at The Skinny Pancake and headed to Burton HQ. For those of you who don’t know, Burton has long had skate facilities for their employees and they’re nice enough to let just about anybody skate so long as your respectful(should go without saying). I used to be fortunate enough to skate the bowl everyday when I lived in Burlington and I jumped back into it with the notion that all the lines would come back to me within a few runs.

Way Out East: Part 2

From the moment we got on 91 N Dave was anticipating a stop at "The Big Red Barn".

We awoke Friday morning to find the clouds had broken, the fog had buggered off and the sun was shining bright. I felt like a million, other members of the crew not so much(things can get serious after a Bruins win). Never the less, we thanked our hosts, loaded up the Charger and headed into the city with the intention of seeing a few landmarks.

The original 7-11 dates back to 1774....

Even having been to Boston as many times as I have, I still marvel at how cool the old North End is. Home to Boston’s “Little Italy”, the oldest bar in the city and one of my shop destinations for the trip, “Ball & Buck”.

Way Out East Part 1: To Maine & Back

As far as our experience was concerned, I'm inclined to agree.

For the second year in a row I was lucky enough to be able to make a brief costal switch in October. It’s somewhat of a pilgrimage to restore my sanity and re-charge the batteries if you will. Living in a season-less, sun filled “utopia” can be creatively draining, especially when Fall is your favorite time of year. So I once again laid plans to return to the east coast, only this time I had a list of specific shops to visit in order to spread the word about Nice Life’s new and improved product. In addition to that I would visit a few places I vaguely remembered from my childhood and view them in a whole new light. It’s funny just how much of a difference a few years makes. If you’d told me 4 years ago that I was not only going to make a point to drive up to the L.L. Bean Flagship store in Freeport, ME but be excited to share it with two friends who’d never been to Maine, I would have probably taken offense, as I would have assumed you we’re poking fun at my rural upbringing. Oh what a difference a few years makes.

I swear those pine needles were already on the sign. No art direction needed, nature had it covered.

After waking up bright and early at our lux accomodations in the South Seaport area of Boston, we piled into the Charger(American cars are BACK!) and headed north on I-95.

I've never had my I-Phone double expose an image before.

Annnnd We’re Back

Been on a little bit of an internet hiatus this pack week due to the excessive amount of good times had in Denver and Aspen. Highlights of the trip included Burton’s 2nd annual party at Diamond Dolls Caberet(can’t post the photos), firing handguns from my friends hot tub(forgot to take photos), Johnny’s Sandwiches(best in Aspen), arguing with a crusty local who wouldn’t let a bar manager put on the Celtics/Lakers game because snowmobile supercross was on(entertaining), the most excessive sushi bill for two people ever(at least in my experience), my buds Scotty and Louie getting 2nd in superpipe(some guy named Steve White won), Alex Schlopy decimating the field in his rookie debut in ski big air to claim gold(kid is on fire) and of course DJ Z-Trip at Belly Up(thanks Louie). I will tell you what I told my buddy JR, the last time I went to X-Games in Aspen I was 18, drove from Gunnison at 9 at night in a blizzard, watched the Roots perform and ended up sleeping in my friend’s Cherokee(not Grand, just Cherokee) with 3 other people. So this trip was a serious upgrade to say the least. My perspective on Aspen has gone from the worst place ever, to one of the most fun places ever. I look forward to going back in the summer when the town will be free of all the Monster Energy schwilling, Brian Deegan truck driving, Affliction wearing doucher’s that come with the X-Games scene. See ya next year Aspen.

This about sums it up.

Fall In Vermont

I’ve been in Vermont enjoying amazing weather since Friday. What have you been doing? Whole lot more photos to come at the end of the week when I’m back in Cali.

Cheers!

Off To San Francisco

I don’t know why but I always seem to end up flying places on Tuesdays. Maybe it’s because you never wanna show up somewhere on a Monday or maybe it’s because flights are cheap on Tuesdays. Whatever the reason the best song to listen to during take off and landing anytime you’re flying is Tuesday Afternoon by the Moody Blues. Try it sometime I promise you’ll like it. This is of course assuming that you have a window seat and a cinematic imagination. Look for posts from SF all this week.

Cheers.

Twenty-Something Wasteland: Outside Lands 2010

Twenty-Something Wasteland

Outside Lands Music Festival 2010: As experienced by Andrew Maness

Let’s get this out of the way right off the bat; I had not been to a music festival before attending Outside Lands in San Francisco two weeks ago. For some people what will make a difference in how they feel about what I’m going to say in this article but hopefully you’re not one of those people. The truth is that technically I could say I’ve been to two music festivals (Ozzfest in 2005, Virgin Music Fest in 2007) but I’m not counting those because they didn’t have the festival “vibe” (you know hula hoopin girls, spun out old hippies, rampant drug use,). I was unsure at first if Outside Lands would even have that vibe I’ve heard so much about but all my doubt was diminished the moment my friends and I went through security at Golden Gate Park on Saturday the 14^th of August.

Outside Lands Photo Post Preview

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5 photo preview of the amazing madness that was Outside Lands 2010

On The Road Again

Great weekend in San Francisco, more on that later. Truckee is chill time. Played some hoops today, thought about how much it sucks all my camera equipment got stolen in SF, decided the I-Phone 4 takes good enough photos to cover the rest of the trip, and decided tomorrow is a good day for playin music in Reno with the one and only Nate Farrell. Thursday it’s off to Park City and Saturday, Jackson Hole. Spreading the word about Nice Life one mile at a time.