Why I (still) Love Protest the Hero

PreProduction Crepe from Luke Hoskin on Vimeo.

Dec's Deck: Update #2

With a vague idea of what I was to purchase as far as wood and glue are concerned, I took a deep breath and walked into the only place I know where wood and woodworking items can be procured: the home depot. Never before have I felt like such a fish out of water.
Walking through aisle upon aisle of various items that can help one "improve' one's home like a lost child searching for his distracted parental unit, I found myself shrinking by the second. I knew that I needed several feet of maple veneer, but what I didn’t know as where these handy-people kept their veneer. After what seemed like hours of wandering, I stumbled across what I was looking for, but alas, there was no maple veneer in stock. I chose oak.
Grabbing what oak veneer I could find, I made my way to the cash and made my escape. Walking through the front doors, smelling the sweet air of freedom, I felt like Andy Dufresne must have felt after his escape from Shawshank.
Setting up shop in my back yard, I began to unroll the veneer. Measuring carefully and cutting even more so, I began the slow, tedious work of piecing together the wood. As of right now, the seven layers of oak are stacked one on top of the other with glue in the middle to encourage the pieces to stick together.
Let’s see how this goes.

Declan

Dec's Deck: Update #1

So, I began sketching design ideas on a slab of cardboard. I think I'm going for a bit of a longer deck, roughly 35" with a standard width of about 7 1/2".
I busted out the measuring tape, a sharpie, and my thinking cap.
I have no idea what I'm doing.

Declan

My Summer Project

While kicking around the house, waiting for employment to kick in to full-swing, I have come to a few realizations. The first of these discoveries came after watching the trailer for the new VBS film "Doin it Baja". I now look forward to my future career as a dishwasher while making films on the side. I used to be afraid of this truth,but, if I am able to make just a couple films that will be as fun as "Doing it Baja" should be I will be absolutely thrilled. The second of these discoveries is my summer project, rather, my first summer project. I've been watching quite a few short films on korduroy.tv which feature surfers who are taking the sport back to the grassroots level, focusing on experimental areas and bringing the fun back. Seeing the maverick surf board shapers experimenting and discussing how rewarding it is to build their own board made me jealous. I have to try constructing something with my hands and then using it myself. Therein lies my summer project: I have decided to build my own skateboard.
I've been skating since I was around 11 years old, with a short break for a couple years when soccer was getting too competitive. But I've never even thought making my own deck was a possibility. I felt confident about going in to a local skate shop and handing over upwards of $200 for a complete. It was the nature of the beast.
Don't get me wrong, I have nothing but the lowest expectations for this first attempt. I couldn't tell you the last thing I constructed with wood. I'm not what you would call a "handyman".
I will be keeping the site updated with my progress. This is either going to be awesome, or the worst thing ever. I'm going to bet on the latter.

Declan