Jason Ghikadis: skiing, music, life

This evening I had a nice chat with Jason Ghikadis, an old friend from the glory days of the ski scene, circa 1999-2000. Jay was one of the first non Smart Mogul Skiing campers I met who had seen Degenerates and was knowledgeable about the movement. Anyway, he is a super talented guy in so many respects; he was the first among my friends to achieve sponsorship, as well as film with Meathead films
( www.meatheadfilms.com)and Theory-3 Media ( www.theory-3.com). In a lot of ways, Jason was one of the founders of the underground ski video scene that remains popular to this day. Anyway, as we we were catching up tonight, Jason and I talked about the pitfalls of sponsorship, and he captured in one sentence what i've been searching for:

" its every kids dream to make it. plus the extreme sports factor is huge. but you're right, the drive to make it my job really spoiled what it was all about."

I almost cried when those words came out. I couldn't agree more. While I totally respect the drive that alot of riders have to achieve sponsorship and ride for a living, I think it needs to come naturally. It can't be forced; either you have it or you don't. If you don't hold the talent to make it a career, just enjoy the moment and take it for what it is. Skiing is a super fun sport practiced in the outdoors with your family and best friends. Nothing more, nothing less. Here are some great photos that Jason and I certainly enjoyed checking out together some years ago:

( by the way Jason is making music these days, so be sure to check out www.myspace.com/bozquo )






Crimson Posse Productions circa 1999. Ghikadis gets the cover with a sunset shot.



God bless JP Auclair. The most creative man on skis.



Cover of Focus, circa 2003. Ghikadis' best seggie, according to him.



Liam, myself, Jason, Waldie: the first Level 1 Premiere in Montreal.

PBH...well that proved to be an interesting evening

PBH went down tonight, drunken debauchery ensued, and once again, everybody loves Tsoukas. Here is the photo essay for you to enjoy.


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" we forgot the panties? how could we forget the panties?" The evening started off with some serious issues. Alas, Olivier rose to the occassion by volunteering his own undergarments as a substitute.




JLEW enjoys the comraderie of the soiree.



Tsoukas works the VIP.



I wish they all could be Fauteux girls.



The lovely Annick enjoys a lap dance.



Tsoukas works the crowd.



That Veronica Vaughan is one fine piece of ace...I know from experience.



Let it be known that tonight I was a dancing, dancing, dancing, dancing machine.



once again, everyone loves Tsoukas.



I get intimate with the hood of a monster truck. Covert operation.

Great Article on McMansions

the McMansion, the villain that has taken over the waterfront in my hometown, has made it to CNN. So named for their cookie-cutter appearance and general hideousness, the McMansion is a true reflection of one's total lack of class in the face of excessive amounts of money. One might call the proponents of the McMansion nouveau-riche, or bourgeois fatcats, but I prefer to call them ' pigs with more money than brains and obviously shitty taste." Enjoy the article.



Communities march against 'McMansions'
'We're losing mixed-income neighborhoods'

Monday, March 27, 2006; Posted: 3:04 p.m. EST (20:04 GMT)

Livia Landry talks to Jeff Perlman, mayor of Delray Beach, Florida, near her home.
Image:


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Manage Alerts | What Is This? DELRAY BEACH, Florida (AP) -- Livia Landry likes life the way it is in this quaint tree-lined neighborhood a few blocks from downtown -- front porches with wind chimes and potted plants jutting out into sunshine-filled, perfectly groomed green yards.

Young mothers push sporty three-wheeled strollers up sidewalks past century-old homes, chatting with neighbors about the day's events.

Lately, talk has turned to history as this seaside city confronts a growing national trend, the "tear-down phenomenon," with wealthy buyers replacing turn-of-the-century bungalows on tiny lots with so-called McMansions.

Plainly put, it's out with the old and in with the new.

Communities across the country are grappling with the issue in a mad dash to save character. From Delaware to Georgia to California and Florida, historic homes are being demolished and replaced with 6,000-square-foot palatial properties.

"With these homes, there's no green space. They're building on the entire lot," said Landry, who is fighting a neighbor's proposal to dwarf her 1,200-square-foot bungalow with a 4,200-square-foot home. "They'll change the whole vision and character. Once you wipe out history, you don't get it back."

Historic homes often have prime locations near city centers, making them attractive to wealthy buyers and developers intent on snapping up scarce urban land. But some believe America is at risk of losing its sense of community and affordable housing.

"Most of these new houses are more internally organized. You see the driveway and garage doors from the street, not people," said Adrian Fine of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. "We're losing mixed-income neighborhoods because the prices are going up so much that it becomes one class."

Even so, issuing moratoriums can stir a political firestorm, in part because the new construction enlarges the tax base.

In Atlanta, the City Council last month rejected by an 11-3 vote a proposed 120-day ban on construction of McMansions in five neighborhoods.

"You would have thought it was the second burning of Atlanta," said Councilwoman Mary Norwood, who drafted the plan. She said the Atlanta Board of Realtors mounted a massive campaign to defeat the measure.

Last year, leaders in Arlington County, Virginia, adopted limits on home sizes that, in most cases, means a house alone can occupy just 30 percent of a lot.

Officials in Lewes, Delaware, the state's oldest town dating to 1631, recognized the rash of demolitions in historic neighborhoods and instituted a design review process for construction projects.

'We're regentrifying what's outdated'
The trend is also appearing in more contemporary neighborhoods. In the hills of Alamo, California, about 30 miles east of San Francisco, residents of the tony Bryan Ranch community beat back plans last year by PeopleSoft Inc. founder David Duffield to build a 72,000-square-foot home (by comparison, the White House is 55,000 square feet).

The average size of homes in the United States has grown steadily in the past 20 years, from 1,905 square feet in 1987 to 2,349 square feet in 2004, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

And as cities fight sprawl and commuters tire of traffic, more people are moving into urban centers.

But Robert Lang, director of the Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech, which tracks urban growth trends, scoffed at the notion that mansionization means a loss of community.

"All the research shows that sense of community is not driven by the design of the structure but by demographics," he said. "It's all fallen away since the inventions of telecommunications and the automobile."

In Delray Beach, city officials proposed a six-month halt to construction in five historic neighborhoods, which would temporarily end the march of mansions and could limit homes to 2,000 square feet.

Developer Mitch Kass, of Fort-Lauderdale-based Glenn Wright Homes, defends the construction. He is building a dozen houses, some nearly 4,000 square feet, in a neighborhood next to one of Delray Beach's historic neighborhoods.

"We're doing a regentrification of the housing stock. We're not destroying the Everglades here," Kass said. "We're regentrifying what's outdated."

the sun is up my friends

spring is in the air. couldn't ask for better weather in Ottawa. I thought about going to take some pictures of the Parliament this afternoon, but alas, I leave you with this, an obstructed view the High Commission of Brunei as seen from my apartment window.

Godbout

here is an article I wrote about Alexis Godbout as it appears at www.level1productions.com

Too Fast Too Furious, Alexis Godbout Burns Rubber

An obvious and catchy way to start this piece would be to compare my life at the age of fifteen to that of Alexis Godbout. It would be easy to let you know that, during that era, my life revolved around dial up internet, junk food, and b-grade comedy movies. My principal source of income was my allowance, which really didn’t amount to anything, but was more than adequate given that Ipods and cellphones were essentially non-existent. All that to say, I wasn’t traveling to France and Aspen to ski, nor was I cutting school to jib with Charles Gagnier, Peter Olenick, Simon Dumont, and the rest of the Salomon pro team.

It’s another brutally cold day in Mont Tremblant, Quebec. Grey and overcast, light snow, blustering winds. The last thing I’d ever want to be doing is standing dead still for headshots, hiking a box in the park, and standing still again for photos intended to go onto the mountain’s website and brochures. Only a 15-year-old kid could have the energy to be doing this. In fact, I’m not even really doing any of that; instead I’m standing at the bottom of the new feature with Alexis’ mother, chatting about what it’s like to raise a prodigy.

Taking care of a ski phenom is probably no different than tending to the life of any other teenage boy. Alexis runs into his mother at the bottom of the park. He has recently arrived from school, and the main concern at the moment is whether her son has brought home his biology books (big test tomorrow), and if he has eaten the sandwich she packed for him. No different than any other 15-year-old, right?

The atmosphere changes when we arrive back up at the top of the park. It’s obvious at this moment that Alexis is now in charge. He parks himself at the apex of the in-run leading towards three tables. First hit is a step-up. He spins 180, hits the second table with a zero spin, and launches a cab 7 leading mute off the last kicker. Without waiting for myself or mum, he bolts down to the lift to catch another ride.

Most people who live in Tremblant know, or know someone who knows, Alexis Godbout. When we arrive at the Flying Mile, the liftee warns us that this is the “ dernier remontee” but that Alexis “ pourra prendre cinq ou six autres run avec sa vitesse.” Translation: last ride up, but Alexis might be able to squeeze in five or six more with his gusto. Not since Philou Poirier has such a prominent rider emerged into the freeski scene from the area. At the local end of season big air event last year, the announcer crowned Alexis the next king of Tremblant. Problem was, the label was about three months too late. His mother and father had already helped their son sign his first contract with Salomon, he had competed in the US Open, and was quickly on his way to inking a deal to join the Spy Optic team.

Mrs. Godbout and I are involved in a heated discussion about her son’s career potential. She knows that the scene can be conducive to heavy partying, girls and other vices accessible to any teenage kid, but she respects her son’s honesty. He has a clear conscience, and has informed her of every slip up on the road, most notably a glass of champagne in Tignes, France when Charles won the Airwaves. In the meantime, Alexis seems to have grown tired of taking promo shots on the mellow box. He eyes his mother, making it clear without words that he wants to get going. She glares back at him (this is after all a Tremblant promo shoot, and both parents are instructors on the mountain), he sighs, and without opening his mouth, picks up his skis and starts hiking back up. I guess Alexis isn’t completely in charge in the park today.

By no means is Alexis spoiled, nor is he the owner of many material excesses. With his winnings so far this year, he’d like to buy an mp3 player and a laptop. He doesn’t have an agent handling his business decisions and spending habits, and his family seems a little unsure about what to do with his earnings. “ Put it in a Swiss bank account,” Alexis quips as we ride home for the day. He looks back at the park, reminding himself that he won’t ride again until Saturday, when school is done for the week. He seems oblivious to his success, as though he doesn’t realize that most kids his age haven’t traveled to France, Vail, Aspen, and back to France again in the last five months. Either way, both Alexis and his family recognize that he has a unique opportunity, a chance to see the world, meet great people, and otherwise expand his horizons. Most importantly, careful decision making and an open mind have allowed them to take small steps each year to allow their son to get closer to his dream.

A lot of work remains to be completed. Alexis is easily the best rider in the area, and he’s lacking other strong skiers to nudge him along. He tells me that he pushes himself to progress, but it’s clear that he needs to be surrounded by other top level competitors on a regular basis. That’s all long term at the moment. More pressing issues include finishing high school ( he’s in grade 9, and has two more years remaining come June), eating a good dinner, and studying for that biology test.

Like Vin Diesel in The Fast and the Furious, Alexis Godbout lives his life a quarter mile at a time. While he may not own a driver’s license or a set of wheels that rivals Dumont’s Cadillac, this phenom is clearly in control of a 10 second car.




MEDIA

Photos
1. Alexis Down Rail
2. Alexis B+W


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Rabchuk's birthday: the Dirty Cabin Adventure

Average bowling score: 225, 256, 0, 238.



Watch out ladies, Levi is on the prowl.



Brokeback Mountain.



Rabchuk sports a trucker hat of the ironic variety. In other words, he doesn't really drive a truck, but he wears the hat anyway. However, inside sources say that 7 is his lucky number.



Ottawa is one of the few towns east of the continental divide and north of the Mason-Dixon line that can draw a crowd for Cowboy night. Lots of unironic trucker hats, jean skirts, and 10 gallon lids.



Magnum and Blue Steel.



Everybody loves Tsoukas.




Do Mase get the ladies? Do Puff drive Mercedes?



Tsoukas and Rabchuk. Discussing the finer points of the Greek national sport.