Post your random thought.

[NoSwitch]

Radeng posted this over on Gnarwheels:
The cut off for paid riders is 250, and always sells out. A good two thirds of the crew also skates, so add another 50 or so riders.

Not as many spectators/photogs/drone operators as usual, but they were there too.

The Fall Freeride will be held on September 4-6, registration opens this Friday. The University of Maryhill will be returning, well worth the extra $ for the chance to learn to skate the hill with Joe Lehm and his assistants. The fastest I've every made it down was in the class following the line being chalked on the road by Max Capps, that was super helpful to understand the best way to enter each curve. Highly recommended.

Anything that requires tossing a board sideways is a big fat NOPE here.. Have at it, I'll watch the videos.. close enough for me....

[Neanderthal1]

Same.
I embrace the working stiff credo... "Remember, we gotta go to work in Monday." I'll leave the racing and speed thrills to the young guns.

[Varial_222]

Daaamn the nostalgia I'm feeling rn.

[Dr_Feelgood]

Good to see you old friend !

[NoSwitch]

Couple thoughts on the 'Murika and guns dilemma. Cops are starting to realize that the standard issue vests they wear are no match for high velocity .223 rounds coming out of AR15 rifles. This isn't the first time they sat outside afraid to go in and engage a fully armored and armed maniac. If they know they have no good answer for these types of situations they should be the ones screaming to stop allowing regular ordinary jackhats to buy them more easily than a 6 pack of bud.

[rockst*r]

Couple thoughts on the 'Murika and guns dilemma. Cops are starting to realize that the standard issue vests they wear are no match for high velocity .223 rounds coming out of AR15 rifles. This isn't the first time they sat outside afraid to go in and engage a fully armored and armed maniac. If they know they have no good answer for these types of situations they should be the ones screaming to stop allowing regular ordinary jackhats to buy them more easily than a 6 pack of bud.

The way that Gun Culture operates, it has weaponized the rule of the minority...nearly 400 million guns in a country of roughly 350 million...fewer than half of those 350mil own guns, meaning that the majority of gun owners owns more than one. Per this lil site over here (which roughly correlates with other data I've seen), only 32% of households own guns. That site also says that the average gun owner owns 5 guns...but that's highly swayed by families or individuals who own 20 or more guns. Couple that with "gun culture" and inheritances, meaning that suddenly when an individual turns 18, they're bequeathed with a veritable armory from Grandpa's closet.

Non-gun owners outnumber gun owners. 83% of gun owners support background checks, and see the NRA as being out of touch. That only leaves 17% of gun owners who don't. Furthermore, according to that same site, only 29% of gun owners think the NRA has their best interest at heart.

If we take that 32% of Americans own guns, and only 29% of them think the NRA has their best interest at heart...we're left in a situation where 9.2% of Americans absolutely control the dialog on guns and gun culture. And that's fucked up.

[NoSwitch]

If we take that 32% of Americans own guns, and only 29% of them think the NRA has their best interest at heart...we're left in a situation where 9.2% of Americans absolutely control the dialog on guns and gun culture. And that's fucked up.

And they're straight up delusional! Insane people afraid that da gubbermint's gunna tek muh gunz.. because they're the people who really shouldn't have guns.. Tis is yeat another reason why we need universal healthcare.. to ensure folks ae mentally competent while exercising their rights. Honestly I'd father a felon have a gun than a stupid crazy person having 50 guns..

[Neanderthal1]

"I'll give you my gun when you pry it from my cold, dead hands"

I loved the proposal to arm teachers. Lol....

[rockst*r]

And they're straight up delusional! Insane people afraid that da gubbermint's gunna tek muh gunz.. because they're the people who really shouldn't have guns.. Tis is yeat another reason why we need universal healthcare.. to ensure folks ae mentally competent while exercising their rights. Honestly I'd father a felon have a gun than a stupid crazy person having 50 guns..

NPR interviewed a Responsible Gun Owners' Group representative after...gah, one of the shootings. They asked him pointed questions: How do you keep firearms out of the hands of dangerous people? The guy's answers kept going in circles: Well, our organization only represents responsible gun owners. We support responsible gun ownership. When NPR doubled down and asked again how they want to prevent bad guys from getting guns, the Responsible Gun Owners guy also doubled down and said that if guns are used for crimes, they're not being used in a responsible manner.

It was lightly infuriating listening to this guy - his points were that "shall not be infringed" is the most important text in the second amendment, any sort of background checks are "infringements," and "well-regulated" means that gun owners should regulate themselves in a responsible manner. He didn't offer any answers to the NPR host, only circular logic about what was or was not "responsible" gun ownership.

[NoSwitch]

NPR interviewed a Responsible Gun Owners' Group representative after...gah, one of the shootings. They asked him pointed questions: How do you keep firearms out of the hands of dangerous people? The guy's answers kept going in circles: Well, our organization only represents responsible gun owners. We support responsible gun ownership. When NPR doubled down and asked again how they want to prevent bad guys from getting guns, the Responsible Gun Owners guy also doubled down and said that if guns are used for crimes, they're not being used in a responsible manner.

It was lightly infuriating listening to this guy - his points were that "shall not be infringed" is the most important text in the second amendment, any sort of background checks are "infringements," and "well-regulated" means that gun owners should regulate themselves in a responsible manner. He didn't offer any answers to the NPR host, only circular logic about what was or was not "responsible" gun ownership.

Every individual is a one man "well regulated militia". Ys, Heller was the most horrifically wrong SCOTUS decision in the history of our nation until... the next horrific one later this month..

[NoSwitch]

I'll admit I'm part of the problem. I have a couple firearms that I have no intention of using for hunting (unless there are no places to buy food anymore). Packed away in a safe only for the literal total societal breakdown chaos scenario. I'll gladly give mine up when we, as a UNINTED nation decode to all give them up together. But, as long as everyone else has those kids of weapons, I'm sitting on mine too.

Difference is, I'll NEVER be a "gotta take my gun to go to McDonald's" guy. As long as there are working police doing their jobs (at least some of the time) I'm leaving the guns mothballed hoping to never need to fire them again. Took each one to the range exactly once to make sure I knew how they work before stashing them somewhere I'd probably not be able to get to before a home invader kills me. I'd rather die that way than live with the idea that one of my kids has access to them... They don't even know I have them.

[Neanderthal1]

I had a rather impressive "rotating collection" of pistols BC (before children). I parted with them AC. That was a long time ago.

Firearms are a lot of fun, but they are definitely a liability.... and yeah if you store them safely, there's no way you'll get to them in time in the event of a home invasion or something really crazy... and that's the paradox. As far as having one around in case of big gov tyranny... I'll take my chances.

[NoSwitch]

I had a rather impressive "rotating collection" of pistols BC (before children). I parted with them AC. That was a long time ago.

Firearms are a lot of fun, but they are definitely a liability.... and yeah if you store them safely, there's no way you'll get to them in time in the event of a home invasion or something really crazy... and that's the paradox. As far as having one around in case of big gov tyranny... I'll take my chances.

I've got the 9 in a well hidden and wall secured ergonomic lock safe but still not easy to get to super quick. I've got several baseball bats stashed behind furniture that I'd go for first of someone kicked in the door and I wasn't in the same room as the safe.

My 18 year old daughter has been hospitalized twice for suicide prevention. No way I'm leaving a firearm anywhere she could find it and easily get her hands on it I really don't get the gun culture of immersing your kids in firearms daily. I'm definitely in favor of proper training, scout camp shutgun and rifle shooting, etc.. But getting your 12 year old an AR is just insane. So is having them around where the kids can get ahold of them without your supervision..

[-Wings-]

I remember this site from early 2006, 2007 when I was trying really hard to get better at skating. Never did follow through with my dreams, but have done many other things with my life this far. Wonder if anyone remembers me here that's still active.

[NoSwitch]

I remember this site from early 2006, 2007 when I was trying really hard to get better at skating. Never did follow through with my dreams, but have done many other things with my life this far. Wonder if anyone remembers me here that's still active.

I'm always amazed when someone pops back in here who's been off living life for the past 10-15 years and still remembers their login here or even has the same email address they registered with. There are probably quite a few folks who've tried to check back in here but couldn't get logged in to tell us they dropped in.

[rockst*r]

I'm always amazed when someone pops back in here who's been off living life for the past 10-15 years and still remembers their login here or even has the same email address they registered with. There are probably quite a few folks who've tried to check back in here but couldn't get logged in to tell us they dropped in.

I, too, maintain poor password security.

[Ibanez]

I'm back from down under. You Aussies have to rename Melbourne to how it's actually pronounced. My whole life I've heard and said it as "mel born" not "mel ben" Also I like the drop bear joke you do to tourists but my wife was scared for a while. An animal that can attack and tries to eat your face I don't think walking under trees with an open umbrella is going to stop it. Now a knight's iron shield yeah that would do it.

[rockst*r]

I'm constantly working through some shit. A lot of things I do and hobbies I have, I'm at a skill level where a lot of people have told me that "if they were as bad as I am, they'd give it up." Can't ollie on a streetboard, can't break 30mph on a downhill board, my personal best distance on a bicycle is 33 miles, my 5k running speed is a 14-minute mile, my guitar skillz are limited to basically the first position chords, I've gone literal years without catching a fish (despite fishing pretty regularly), I've never shot a deer, I'm happy to break 50 while golfing (on 9 holes), I've been disinvited from several tabletop groups, even casual poker games have left people saying "I don't even know what you're playing right now."

I took my wife out golfing for her first time a while back. She said she's just so unaccustomed to being new at something - if she couldn't win at whatever activity, she'd quit and find a new one. I told her I had no idea what she was talking about because my life has been all about me sucking at whatever I do. We got into a really nice discussion about participation trophies and stuff. I mentioned that the most common trophy I got was "most improved," and that it hurt because it put into words my internal anxiety: I truly did suck, and even the coaches recognized that. I never won "best on team" or "team leader." She, as an athletic coach, tried to assuage my feelings by saying that most improved meant exactly that: I was the most improved; I put in the hard work, and I listened to the coaching staff. But, she's a swim coach - she can measure her athletes by how fast they go...these are quantifiable, measurable things. When you're looking at me playing hockey or whatever...there's not actually a measurable thing. Even the best players on the team had dry spells - but they could produce. When they started the season scoring 0 goals, and ended with 20 or whatever...I started with 0 and ended with 1 (goal per season, that is). I was aware of that, so was the entire team. So, in this case, "most improved" felt like pandering: "Hey, Rockst*r needs a trophy, let's give him that one."

The reason I have so many dumb hobbies is because they all interest me, and they give me some sort of sense of happiness. It's just incredibly discouraging to log onto an enthusiast forum and read things like "Man, if I shot that poorly, I'd give it up!" "If you're not willing to sacrifice your standard of living, you're not a true longboarder." "I'd be embarrassed to enter a 5k run and get more than 40 minutes."

[Neanderthal1]

Well... if you enjoy your hobbies, who cares? You gotta do things for yourself and for your enjoyment because there's always somebody "better" out there.

[rockst*r]

Well... if you enjoy your hobbies, who cares? You gotta do things for yourself and for your enjoyment because there's always somebody "better" out there.

It's not always about someone being better, it's the attitude that "if I was as bad as you, I'd just give it all up." That shifts my mentality from "I'm doing this for goofy fun," to "I'm not x enough for y:"
Not good enough for this guitar
Not cool enough for this bike or skateboard brand
Not deserving enough for whatever praise I'm getting (which has led to gnarly impostor syndrome at work).

Assholes gonna ass, and I'm probably just being overly sensitive, but it's hard to get out of your own head, ya know?