Yeah, things have been a bit on the �busy� side.

Which is good, cuz it keep us outta trouble, and we are very, very proud of what we have managed to “get out the door” in the last month.

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The Tradeshow Shuffle:

By the skin of our teeth, we completed the Coal, Union, Grenade and Snowboard magazine catalogs, as well as a pile of new DDC promo offerings, just in time for the Veg-ass tradeshow. Big triumphs all the way around. Got to see everything in action, which is always a treat. There is something cool about sitting in a lobby watching a couple guys pouring over a catalog, filling out a order form. Good stuff.

Tradeshow highlights:

01. Our Recon series for Forum snowboards, complete with Rose�s put-downs. Paul Brown’s illustration muscle stole the show, if you ask us. Uh, “Off the hook.”

02. Our Decade and Timeless snowboard series for Ride. Hubba hubba. Completely blown away by the level of craftsmanship and care in these beauties. Styk and Fank are fucking amazingly good at what they do. Those boards make we want to go riding again.

03. The Grenade booth, as well as their catalog. The boys are stepping things up and for at least a couple days out of the big year, polished up nice and clean to help the selling process along. Way to go. Much pride is felt here helping these little shits out.

04. The Union Binding Co. launch. Product, catalog, booth and buzz. Wow.

05. Snowboard magazine�s third issue was hot off the presses and was everywhere. In people�s hands, stacks in booths, etc. Good stuff. The media kit helped their prescence too, with shop quotes detailing �How the mag is working with the shops selling product.� Good stuff.

06. Coal Headwear, third year. Some 75 styles for the head! Absolutely beautiful. Taking off. The catalog was a good tool for the reps, and well, that�s the goal. Very proud of Brad and Kami�s work this year, and glad to help put it all into a big kit.

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The Gambler:

The highlight of the �Veg-ass Nightlife� we partook in this time around, hands down, was one specific, glorious moment. We had been playing roulette for awhile, hitting here and there, but more or less breaking even, which, considering how slimey it all is, was unbelievable. So we got tired and called it a night. Still within betting distance, everyone was chatting but a couple feet from the table. I could still feel the pull of the wheel and reluctantly, walked back over to try my luck.

I pulled the “sweatiest 20 dollar bill in Vegas” out of my pocket and threw it down on 34. What the hell. I was even, and what was 20 bucks in the grand scheme of things?

Well, the fuckin� �34� hit!

700 bucks in one roll of the wheel.

Euphoria. Goddamn euphoria.

Soup was on the DDC that night, as we recounted the night�s triumphs and heartbreaks over hearty late night meals. On the way back to the room, I thought I’d throw another 50 or so and hit the 34 again, this time with 15 on it. That�s 510 bucks in one hand. I was up some 1200 bucks, and feeling really good. Falling asleep was easy that night. Believe us.

Gambling’s highs and lows is a fickle process. People always say, “Stop when you are up.” But of course, that is just advice, and goes in one ear and out the other.

I had to fight to stay strong. I was gonna stop there and buy a drum set. My mind was made up.

But of course, I had some three nights ahead of me, which is deadly and insipid as those fucking tables keep calling and calling, and I managed to whittle that pile down to some 300-400 bucks or something in winnings, which, was fine, cuz, at least I came home with money, and, had enough for a drum set.

Everyone ate like a king, drank like pigs and shared a �overall good time� together. Suck-cess.

I took a grand in cash down, and brought home 1300+. I�d say that�s yet another triumph.

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The Drums:

I�ve always wanted a set. I play them all the time: In my head, in the car, falling to sleep, on the dashboard, on an airplane (due to nervousness) with my ipod as my giude and the floor as my kick pedal, etc. I�ve always wanted to play, but due to parental situations, roommates, city life vicinity, thin walls and well, a general lack of space, I�ve never had the opportunity to completely go for it.

Until now.

I got home from Vegas and immediately started combing the Craigslist posts. The second entry I clicked on turned out to be �The One.�

It involved driving all the way out to Beaver-tron:

� Pearl Export five piece drumset in excellent condition. Chrome eight lug super sensitive snare, 10 12 rack toms and 14 floor tom. 22 base drum. Gloss black. All finish and chrome is excellent — never gigged. Everyting looks and sounds great.

Cymbals are all a matched set of Sabian B8’s including 14 hi hats, 16 thin crash and 20 medium ride — all in excellent condition with no damage.

Hardware includes double braced cymbal stands (one is a boom)double braced snare and hi stands, kick pedal and throne. Hi hat and kick pedal are chain drive. All hardware is Pearl. Also including drum key, practice pads andd sticks. All hardware is excellent.

This entire set is complete with nothing missing — everything is in excellent condition, cleaned and polished. $525.�

He even came down to 500 bucks. I laid five crisp �hun-nerd� dollar bills across his palm, loaded up and headed back to the city, to my basement.

So we turn our sights toward a new world of time and beat and pacing�

I want to play with the finesse of John Convertino of Calexico.
I want to play with the confidence of John McEntire from Tortoise/The Sea and Cake.
I want to play with the ferocity of Mac Macneilly of that old Jesuse Lizard.
I want to play with the heavenly crash of Steven Drozd and the �94 era Flaming Lips.

If I could just play with a taste of what these guys do for me, I�d be a happy guy.

I�m practicing, in between projects and laundry and naps and meals. All good stuff. Plus, it�s loud as fuck down here, so, we�re looking into some of that �soundproof foam� stuff to hang and absorb some of the insanity. Prob’ly gonna move the rig over to the “storage side” of the DDC factory floor. Throw up some foam, kick some butt, etc.

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The Other Wonders:

01. The SHHH! action is still going… Here, here and wow, here. Wow.

02. Paul Giamatti is good stuff. Dumpy, in a beautiful way. Chalk one up for the real people. (Are those Neil Blender illustrations on that sitelet? Hmmm.)

03. Going here on Friday. Lots off schnitzel, lots of schnitzel.