Russia on overdrive

Incredible tour of Russia in progress.  Has been a very fast two days here in Moscow, so I didn’t have much chance to get on the Internet.  The first day was a marathon of walking.  I actually got up at 5am the first morning and went to the gym.  I got on the treadmill and ran 9 km.  It is easier to run on that machine than outside on the sidewalks that’s for sure.  Then worked out on the Kinetic gym machine for awhile before hitting the pool and sauna.  Yes that’s right living the VIP lifestyle.  Grand Hyatt is a very very nice hotel for anyone who can drop a thousand dollars a night!  So after that workout we must have walked at least 10 to 15 km during the day.  Everybody was really feeling it at the end of the day.  I had an extra 9 km of running and a 10 kilogram backpack to lug around all day so I think I really got my workout. We got back to the hotel at like 1am and I crashed. Didn’t wake up until the maid came into the room 15 minutes before check out time.

The touring of Moscow was fantastic, really enjoying this trip. We are being guided around by Andrey a local shop owner here, and without him it would be much much harder. Nothing is in English, subways and signs are impossible to read. The city is clean and people are polite and respectful. The Red Square was amazing both in daylight and at night. The signs of globalization are certainly creeping into Moscow, but this is still a great time to visit if you can. There is still an innocence and purity here that I have not felt for a long time. Probably since I went to Peru three years ago. Ten more years and Moscow will probably just be another city like London, Tokyo and LA. Heck there are still lots of people rollerblading here, so that gives you an idea of how far behind they are culturally, perhaps ten to 15 years out.

Red Square

Paul Mittleman from Stussy getting a shot of the Cosmonaut gear in the mall by Red Square.

I love the fact that you can actually buy fresh fruit, bread and vegetables at the little local stands that are everywhere in the city.  Pizza, beer, juice and those kinds of stuff are sold in the stands.  No crappy cold packaged fake burritos, or cardboard tasting calorie mate bars, but real food.

The underground passageways are filled with these little tiny shops that sell everything from underwear to shoes laces, magazines, keys and watches.

Street scene.  The locals drive fast, very fast.  The roads are huge, six lanes wide in one direction for some roads and they take advantage of it.

Super model types everywhere.

The was a was a very beautiful girl on the subway yesterday and she had a boyfriend with an incredible mullet hairstyle kissing on her neck.  It was a sad thing to watch.  The mullet hairstyle seems to still be very much in fashion here.

OK check out the poster below.  We all thought this was for a gay bar, but turns out it is for a strip club for ladies.

Interesting side note, I have not seen what look like tourists throughout much of the city.  I am sure there are a lot of Russian tourists, and there were some tourist types in Red Square but that is about it.  We seem to be the only people taking pictures where ever we go.  And let me tell you we are all taking a lot of pictures.  I have shot at least 3-4 thousand pictures already.  The rest of our group is also shooting a lot.  It is hard to get anywhere as we all keep stopping and shooting constantly.  There are a lot of Kodak moments here.  Have to be careful where and what you shoot though.  Shooting inside buildings of any kind is pretty much not allowed.  Restaurants, cafes, clubs and bars all told us not to shoot.  Don’t try to shoot a photo of anyone in police or military uniform as they will shut you down straight away.  So we have been trying to sneak shots of places and people without being too obvious.

Red Square last night.  On the way to the train station we had to stop for a few minutes to shoot what may become the cover of the next Honeymag.  A night shot of Hiroshi with the Red Square in the background.  It was a super rushed set up and shoot as always.  I had my flash all set up and ready while we drove there in the taxi.  Detz-san was my assistant holding the flash and Hiroshi posed nicely in three different set ups.  Shot this most famous church as we rushed back to the taxi that was waiting.  We made it to the train with about 2 minutes to spare!

Overnight train took us all the way to St. Petersburg arriving 7:40 this morning.  Great train ride, slept good and woke to an amazing sunrise over forest and fields with low lying fog in the fields.  Super!  We checked into our new thousand dollar a night hotel and are resting a few minutes before heading out to check out the city and culture!

Arrived in Moscow

Well we made it to Moscow! Boy do the locals drive fast here! We got picked up at the airport by Anthony who will be our guide over the next week here in Russia. We sped away from the Domodedovo Airport quickly only to get stuck in a Russian traffic jam. It was funny watching people go off-roading on the side of the highway trying to get ahead of the traffic jam. Later when we asked one of the locals about the driving style here in Moscow, he just said “people here are enjoying the having of a car, so they drive fast” with a thick Russian accent! The weather here today was nice, a little rain but only in a few areas. There were high clouds, making for dramatic scenes, so hope we get more weather like that tomorrow. We are going to be touring the city tomorrow looking at cafes, bars and places that the young generation go to in Moscow.

Leaving Shibuya this morning at 7:30am.

Love the Russian cars.

VIP treatment at the Hyatt hotel, supermodels at the front desk even.

Hiroshi brought along the Leica M8, outgunning me right from the start!

Street by our hotel, how many lanes is that?

Off to Russia!

Flew to Tokyo today and spent the evening with Detz and Hiroshi and Jeff and AK. Had some good Udon noddles in Shinjuku and then some shaved ice at Hiroshi’s house! Those guys know how to live good in Tokyo. So tomorrow we fly to Moscow from Narita at 11 am. Looking forward to this second trip to Russia. Check out the schedule we got! I got this email today and this is just a portion of our tour. Looks like we are going to get to see everything happening in Moscow.

7/28（mon）Moscow
11:05 landing in Moscow 16:10
16:45-18:00 going to the Hotel.
Dinner in Shinok (Ukrainian authentic place)
7/29（tue）Moscow
10:30 travel guide around Moscow, including visiting some shopping areas.
Lunch in Denis Simachev Bar (Trendy place for opinion leaders)
Visit UK STYLE shop and walking around.
(This area has plenty of nice small cafes, shops, embassies, some very good Russian-Soviet Union antique shops)
Traveling by Moscow underground (metro). Visiting some beautiful metro stations and going to KIXBOX.
KIX BOX shop.
Visiting the Victory Hill (skaters area)
Stussy Pop Up Store
Solanka (the most interesting youth club). They have café so we can have dinner here.
Walking around this area
Visiting some clubs and bars (Propaganda, Pytevka v Gizn, China aviator Jo Da, Piroge)
7/30（wed）Moscow
Tourist tour to the Kremlin including visiting the Diamonds Fond and the Armoury Chamber, Uspenskiy Church.
Dinner in Tyrandot or Pushkin
Free time
Some suggestions:
1) Soviet Union Exhibition center called VDNX (Very exciting)

I like the Very Exciting comment! So look like it is going to be an action packed five days. Should be able to get some internet connection while I am there to keep the blog going. I am counting on it as that is while I am carrying this heavy computer over there.

From Shinjuku next stop Moscow

Looks like we are headed for rainy weather and cold temperatures over there. High of 15 degrees low of 6 is what I was told today! Well if you are in Moscow say hi!

Nike +

Have been getting into the Nike + system over the last few days. I actually received this little gadget on my trip to Portland with Hiroshi for Honeyee.com in April. I never took it out of the box until recently. I started running near my house during the editing of Car Danchi 3, but still didn’t take it out of the box. After finishing the editing I started running longer distances and really getting into it over the last two weeks. It has been a tough two weeks as the body is hating me every morning as I tie my shoes and head out the door. Now after two weeks of running everyday I am finally starting enjoy the experience and not feel so much pain! So I decided to bust the Nike+ out of the box. It is really a fun item. You put a sensor in your shoes and then wear the watch/wrist band that keeps track of your steps/time/pace etc., Then when you get home you can upload your run to the Nike+ web site and it gives you all the stats from your run. It also keep an archive of all your prior runs and helps you set goals and challenges with other people all kinds of stuff. I have never been much of a runner, but having the visual gratification seeing the stats and graph on the screen is pretty cool and gives some incentive to get out there and run some more! Pretty soon I will be wearing spandex and wrap around sunglasses with a sweatband for good measure! Not!

Car Danchi Lifestyle USA

Found this article in the newspaper about homeless people in the US having to live in their cars. Interesting stuff. I remember camping with my family around the US and sometimes being told to move on in the middle of the night. It is tough in the States not being able to just park your car anywhere you want and go to sleep. Here in Japan there is no law against it, so people can park and sleep pretty much where ever they want. Anyway, thought the article was interesting enough to post as it shows another side of the Car Danchi lifestyle, although not such a happy one.

Freerun Blueblood ad.

I don’t think I posted this ad. This is in the catalog issue of Freerun magazine released this year. Nice two page spread from Blueblood. The picture was shot in Tomamu, the snow was the remains of a quarter pipe in the snow park. There was no approach to the pile of snow so we hand shoveled a runway in. The remains of the snow looked like an iceberg just sitting there on the course. That is what really appealed to me about this set up. As the sun set the flash worked its magic and we were able to get this shot! Shinya is the rider. Click for a bigger version.

New Shoes

Decided to buy some new shoes for my upcoming trip to Russia. Went to “shugakusou” the outdoor shop here in Sapporo, but couldn’t find anything I like. Travel shoes are tricky. Comfortable, breathable, yet something that could be worn to a decent resturant and not look like I just came back from a mountain climb. Ended up at the local Nike store and found a cool looking pair or shoes called the Rejuven8. They come with two inners that can be exchanged and a bag to hold everything in. I only found out when I got home that the shoes went on sale on the 19th, which is the day I bought them. I don’t think I have ever bought anything on the day it was released! I am not that crazy of a shopper. Anyway went for the green and black combo, very comfortable so far.

New b*p magazine out!

The new issue of b*p magazine arrived here at the house yesterday! Once again I was amazed at the quality of this magazine, the paper, the printing, the photographs everything looks and feels great! I am lucky to be involved a little bit in this new issue too. This time I have a small section near the back. Taro Muraishi one of the writers for b*p asked me to recommend three places to snowboard or ski in Alaska. Not that I am the most qualified person to be writing such a column, but I took it on anyway! Thanks Taro, looks great! Pick up a copy of this collectible mag, if you are in Japan!

Some hate it, others give mucho love!

Recently went surfing on the web to the US Tran-World site. They actually posted the Car Danchi 3 teaser on the web site when it was released. I went back yesterday and found out that there are a whole bunch of comments on the teaser. Classic, classic stuff! There is a good split between the “haters” and the … well people who expressed more positive vibes. As some wise person once said, “You can please some of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all the people all the time.”  I had to cut and paste some of the comments in here to let you see what Americans think of the CD3 teaser.

I was actually surprised that so many U.S. magazines linked or hosted the Car Danchi teaser. What we are doing and producing over here is so far away from what is happening in the U.S. right now, I didn’t really expect it to be accepted at all. There seems to be a group of people that connect with the Danchi vibe though so that’s cool. I really like some of the comments from the haters! I think it might be neat to make some t-shirts out of these comments!

First the lead in from the editor!

“Asadanchi! I’m not sure how I missed catching the first two movies from Neil Hartmann of One Films featuring the Car Danchi camp-in-your-cars snowboarding crew … but I’m turning Japanese over this cool clip! Road trippin’ and dippin’ in the land of the rising sun. CD3, it seems, a pretty rad example of the multi-faceted aspect to the sport’s lifestyle, even if the shredding isn’t in full effect at pro level commonly recognized. There’s an honest sincerity here that can’t be denied because snowboarding is any one thing to every one of us. This is just DIY guys following good snow, making their own scene without front, living it up in close quarters that smell like feet, pleased to enjoy the ride. (ROADKILL reinterpreted. Dropping reference to the original flick that revved engines to pack board and bros and burnout on the highway and up mountain roads, may have me put on “time out” for fear of skewing too old, with you, the ESPN audience. Regardless, you gotta know where you came from to know your progression.)
“Asadanchi” translated means “morning wood” ** “Danchi” refers to “multi-unit apartments,” but might also suggest “cheap housing.”
•Car Danchi is a group of riders from Japan who live out of their trucks and search for that epic pow all winter long. Its a must see!

• At 8:37 PM, 2008-06-03, dam! said:
• dam is that in HD? what amazing footage NOT
• At 8:35 PM, 2008-06-03, sam said:
• wack shit
• At 8:31 PM, 2008-06-03, anonymous said:
• could this video get any laggier
• At 9:02 PM, 2008-06-03, antijuan said:
• i have no intent of ever watching that video
• At 10:10 PM, 2008-06-03, anonymous said:
• worst shit i’ve ever seen
• At 8:53 AM, 2008-06-04, anonymous said:
• The idea isnt lame its the filming thats lame. Im from western Canada so Ive riden more pow than most. I get how they feel about it, but it doesnt take aside the fact this movie blows
• At 12:33 PM, 2008-06-04, anonymous said:
• omg asians can snowboard pow is amazing but this movie kind looks like a clip from youtube step your game up peace
• At 3:28 PM, 2008-06-04, anonymous said:
• can we start calling people who think there good but sucks ‘wasts’
• At 6:21 PM, 2008-06-04, anonymous said:
• if the movie is anything like the teaser it’s going to suck
At 11:48 PM, 2008-06-04, christina yamaguchi said:
• this is either the most hilarious stunt tws has ever pulled, or im never logging on this website again. i cant figure it out yet.
• At 11:42 PM, 2008-06-04, car danshi sucks said:
• gayest video ever
• At 10:38 PM, 2008-06-04, anonymous said:
• this is disappointing. transworld: you and i are officially beefin
• At 12:59 PM, 2008-06-05, anonymous said:
• gayest shit ever on transworld
• At 3:21 PM, 2008-06-05, holy shit said:
• CAN U GET ANY GAYER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• At 3:18 PM, 2008-06-05, sean dieno said:
• im gayer than shark boy

Boy is must be rough coming up today in North America. The competition level is off the scale and anything that is different or not up to what is considered HD level is called out as total shit. Man I am glad I was born in 72 and grew up in the 80’s. I thought it was tough back then, no way the kids to today have it much harder. On a side note I also checked some other teasers on the TW site like the new Burton flick, “It’s always snowing somewhere”. I must say they had way more hater comments than Car Danchi, so I guess the haters deal it out equally to everybody.

Now for the love! Much thanks everybody!

Car Danchi 3: The Supreme Freeride
• Jun 16, 2008
• Comment on This Video
• At 10:37 AM, 2008-07-02, Simon said:
• I think…Car Danchi guys are all insane…haha!! Ugly too much!!
• At 12:43 AM, 2008-06-29, anonymous said:
• Nice snow, cool rides, good friends… but where are the betty’s?
• At 6:23 PM, 2008-06-26, devo said:
• My Friends…..once again envy is bad!!!!!!!
• At 4:13 AM, 2008-06-19, gas prices suck said:
• that would be an awesome lifestyle. love it
• At 1:19 PM, 2008-06-10, Hater Hater, said:
• Word! they be doin’ it G style! throwin it down like a G straight outta compton! i would live in a car if i could ride every Day!
• At 11:41 PM, 2008-06-09, anonymous said:
• Haters…If you cant respect that lifestyle, your not a snowboarder.
• At 9:37 PM, 2008-06-09, True Boarding said:
• Its nice to see a video of true dedicated boarders. Stop hating and respect the guys that go out there everyday living their dream.
• At 5:06 AM, 2008-06-08, lnce said:
• amazing!! actual snowboarding. so much bigotry from the mass American audience
• At 5:53 PM, 2008-06-06, og kushmaster said:
• i cant think of anything clever to write but cool concept huh. the narrator voice is like that video game voice that’s obviously from japan, that was the best part of the vid. cAR DANCHI. YEAH.
• At 3:42 PM, 2008-06-06, Jordan Glenn said:
• This is true snowboarding, all you haters can eat a dick.
• At 2:08 PM, 2008-06-06, anonymous said:
• this is sooo cool, these guys totally live for riding and that’s what everybody who calls himself a snowboarder should be.
• At 8:44 AM, 2008-06-06, anonymous said:
• i like the beat of the song in the intro.
• At 1:51 AM, 2008-06-06, 200H8T said:
• Listen up I’ve conferred with the official king of the haters, matt heneghan, (i shit you not, actual title) this is the realest shit I’ve ever seen. I live ten minutes from seymour, and we get snow, but i would trade it all for life like that. HANDS DOWN BEST SHIT EVER.
• At 8:53 PM, 2008-06-05, GC said:
• This is terrible you say? Are you out of your mind? They show way more dedication than all you little whiny kooks who live within walking/short distance to decent riding(not to mention all you whiners who have mommy and daddy paying for everything). To all who knocked on this video, your ungrateful and have no idea of what dedication is.
• At 6:33 PM, 2008-06-05, anonymous said:
• Show at least respect to those who actually dare to live up to the dream. Most of us would definitely not be bad ass enough to choose this. Be honest to yourself too. Well done Car Danchi Crew! Keep up the good work!
• At 2:30 PM, 2008-06-05, white kid said:
• I’m breaking my piggy bank open just so i can go see the premier of this video. one productions is the new mdp. its a fact. if you disagree. suck it. car danchi!
• At 9:57 AM, 2008-06-05, dan said:
• if you don’t like what these guys are doing your an idiot and dont deserve to call yourself a snowboarder…
• At 7:10 AM, 2008-06-05, anonymous said:
• Its quite obvious anyone that’s saying any bad shit about this totally missed the point of why trans world posted it. Its not about the riding, but the rarity of the lifestyle in which these guys live. So children…hush. This video is too dope.
• At 6:24 AM, 2008-06-05, brizzle said:
• All you haters don’t seem to understand the gnarliness of their epic shredical life!!! all the bs about never loggin in to tw again… go back to your super expensive outfits, pose with your ubercool friends and keep on thinking that’s the only real way to snowboard!!
• At 4:10 AM, 2008-06-05, airblaster said:
• dude, stfu, these guys are living the true life, while we sit here, complaining our butts offf.. .CmOn, i wanan live in a f-ing car right now 😀
• At 10:01 PM, 2008-06-04, the… said:
• only movie i really want to see this year.
• At 9:50 PM, 2008-06-04, anonymous said:
• nothing like shredding and living in a mobile home dude
• At 7:33 PM, 2008-06-04, anonymous said:
• this movie kills it
• At 6:20 PM, 2008-06-04, anonymous said:
• ya 4.25 for gas over here
• At 4:43 PM, 2008-06-04, eric said:
• they got it! true life..!!
• At 3:44 PM, 2008-06-04, leeannchin said:
• i bet those guys aren’t on tw spreading hate, partly because they’ve got love, and also because none of them have wireless in their trucks yet
• At 3:43 PM, 2008-06-04, anonymous said:
• I would love to live in my car. But every time I spend the night in my backseat I get booted by security, or police.
• At 3:22 PM, 2008-06-04, anonymous said:
• gas suck balls i spend $600 this season drivin to the mountain
• At 1:00 PM, 2008-06-04, Euro:::: said:
• Yeah nice project!!!I ll buy it!!
• At 12:42 PM, 2008-06-04, fdp said:
• sooo cool. that’s what its all about. damn you japs are awesome.
• At 12:08 PM, 2008-06-04, anonymous said:
• this teaser is the worst one I’ve ever seen ….but its awesome how they just ride and there lifestyle but i don’t think i would pay to watch this
• At 9:41 AM, 2008-06-04, anonymous said:
• This movie is gonna be good, hope I get to see it especially since we’re in the U.S. It’s just a group of snowboarders living and snowboarding, it’s a dream.
• At 8:33 AM, 2008-06-04, anonymous said:
• They must be a group of Japan Trustafarians?
• At 5:54 AM, 2008-06-04, Electric Courtins said:
• This movie really feels like snowboarding. Everything about it just says true snowboarding this will most likely be the only movie film coming out this year that’s really really true snowboarding. Got to go buy it
• At 3:14 AM, 2008-06-04, anonymous said:
• that’s what its all about. sickkkk
• At 2:21 AM, 2008-06-04, John S said:
• THIS IS THE BEST TEASER EVER MADE!!!!!
• At 1:00 AM, 2008-06-04, anonymous said:
• that’s awesome how they live
• At 12:45 AM, 2008-06-03, anonymous said:
• best video ever i buy it
• At 12:24 AM, 2008-06-03, powpow said:
• all the dipshits sayin this shit sucks are probably reppin girl boards so they can pretend like they are doing nosegrinds and couldn’t turn in pow if the yeti was after them. take the popsicle out your mouth and insert in your bum then you might have a feel for the “deep” you cunts
• At 12:16 AM, 2008-06-03, sick said:
• i like these guys. and they rip.
• At 11:19 PM, 2008-06-03, Frank said:
• That is so SICK. I’m jealous that they have the will power to do something like that. I would love to do something like that but know that I wouldn’t be able to handle it (society/parents and family would kill me) I’m def buying this movie (and not donwloading it haha) to show some support and pay for their gas so they can keep this lifestyle up, so awesome.
• At 11:07 PM, 2008-06-03, anonymous said:
• everyone should buy this movie so we can give them love and support
• At 10:13 PM, 2008-06-03, wtf said:
• so funny yet so awesome those guys were rad!!!!!!! livin out your car in late 20s early 30s is the way to go if ur a that badass, kinda crazy, but still awesome car danchi 3!!!!!!!!!!!!
• At 10:02 PM, 2008-06-03, anonymous said:
• why is this lame? Cause Travis Ettala isn’t throwing down switch triple rodeos? I find that I enjoy the videos with riders loving life, celebrating snowboarding and the amazing friendships that come with the lifestyle. Big smiles, hoots and hollers, and laughing. Geez, get over yourselves.
• At 9:25 PM, 2008-06-03, evang said:
• fs 3 onna swallowtail..
• At 9:18 PM, 2008-06-03, anonymous said:
• yeah freak face, don’t try to understand it, it’s an asian thing.
• At 9:09 PM, 2008-06-03, anonymous said:
• that was awesome haha
• At 8:58 PM, 2008-06-03, anonymous said:
• “A Powder Celebration!” haha… So Sick… i want this movie….
• At 8:41 PM, 2008-06-03, Ben Birk said:
• Living in your car, just snowboarding all winter, off the grid. anyone who says this sucks, need to go back to there orange county house, and put there little sisters tampon in.
• At 8:39 PM, 2008-06-03, Ben Birk said:
• AHAHAHHAHA, best teaser I have seen. So epic. Way to funny, and these guys are snowboarding. I gota get my hands on this movie. I will even buy it and not torrent it.
• At 8:38 PM, 2008-06-03, BREWSTER said:
• FIRST!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOT. thats a joke. these dudes are legit. takashikwasea tokurfiiias!! swanina fu shaku lashi raishi toi fahsii!!!! CAR DANSHI 3!!!! i CANT WAIT!!!
• At 8:28 PM, 2008-06-03, first said:
• gas prices suck!!!!!!!!!!

and finally a comment from Yuho the manager of Japans most famous pro snowboarder export Fuse Tadashi

• At 5:23 PM, 2008-06-05, Yuho said:
• Just to clear things up…That isn’t TADASHI’s crew! TADASHI’s crew is HEART Films. Check out more at: http://www.heartfilms.com.

What ever you do don’t associate yourself with the Car Danchi crew!

Going to Russia!

Yes that is Hiroshi getting his mug shot for the trip to Russia! I have been invited as photographer for a trip to Russia with Hiroshi and some folks from the Honeyee.com web mag! Will be leaving Japan on the 28th flying direct to Moscow and then road tripping to St. Petersburg! Wow. This will be my second trip to Russia, first was four years ago when I went to the SPC camp in Elbrus. That was quite the experience, snowboarding in what is basically a war zone that no one calls a war zone. This trip will be a little more on the high end … I hope.

For my visa application I actually cut up one of my old Kokusai seasons passes and took out the little picture to send off! Hate to cut up a seasons pass, but didn’t want to go to the trouble of getting picture taken!