Lou Reed

Not been blogging for a long time, but had to state yesterday was a brilliant day.

Had a lie in, went and did some food shopping, had a BBQ, then drove up to London to watch Lou Reed. Awesome day, Lou Reed was brilliant, so glad I got tickets to see him.

I've also been to London to see Mumford & Sons, Arcade Fire. And we also went to see the Lion King at the theatre, which is also brilliant.

I'm going to see Primus next week, then that's all my concerts done for the time being!

Me and Cheryl on some boxes

Me and Cheryl on some boxes a video by CJ Isherwood on Flickr.

March was pretty busy, I went to South of France on another snowboarding holiday, just for 5 days this time but was nice to get away. Video attached is of us doing some boxes (Cheryl doing them for the first time).

In the past week I have moved offices and jobs, I am now in a quiet office with 5 other people, rather than an open planned office with 50+ others, so that's a nice change.

Mothers day weekend has just gone, was nice, had a nice meal with the whole family last night and now back to work Monday morning, brilliant... (not really.)

Second colour added

Second colour added a photo by CJ Isherwood on Flickr.

After painting the entire board gloss black, I masked the edges and painted this red stripe down the middle. I have also painted further stripes, which will be in the next update. Again using the same masking technique and spray paint.

Paint it, Black

Paint it, Black a photo by Chris Isherwood on Flickr.

After I'd sanded/cleaned it down, I added 4 layers of white primer as a base layer.

I then added 2 layers of this black gloss paint

Post Sanding

Post Sanding a photo by Chris Isherwood on Flickr.

So, once the board has been sanded down taking the surface off, taking away the plastic/gloss-like finish, I have filled the binding holes with cotton buds to prevent paint getting in and clogging them up.

Next step is the primer, which will give the base layer and help stick the paint to the board. I will be using all surface white primer.

Snowboard Paint Job

Snowboard Paint Job a photo by Chris Isherwood on Flickr.

Been pretty busy lately, booked a second boarding holiday this season, this time we're going to south of France for 5 days riding. Also bought 2 new (well, second hand) snowboards.

I decided to give one of the boards a new look, I bought the pictured board and another board for £80 second hand. The board is pretty old, has a few notches in it through wear and tear, but overall not bad condition.

I did a little research online on how to do it, and went and bought a few bits and pieces. I bought some primer, masking tape, and some black paint for the base start (came to about £15 total).

Firs step... sanding it down.

What's up

Great Orion Nebula
Originally uploaded by Chris Isherwood

Took this photo the other night of the Orion constellation, and the little fuzzy patch just below the middle of the shot is the Great Orion Nebula, a cloud of gasses forming new stars.

I've got the bug back for photography, and astrophotography. I have bought an adapter for my camera so I can attach it to my telescope and get some sturdier and hopefully better shots of the moon and planets. In the long run I'd love to look into long exposures and getting some shots of deep space objects.

Other news is I may be buying 1 or 2 second hand snowboards, probably for use on the dry slope. I'm thinking of painting/designing my own artwork on one of them, but will probably need to spend a fortune on the materials etc.

Boarding again?

A pause for chips
Originally uploaded by Christopher Isherwood

Well, I have reset myself back into my usual routine after returning from Austria. It didn't take long, and in all honesty wasn't as bad as I thought originally, probably because things have been going above average recently. Things are moving at a pace I'd like them to move at, maybe too fast if anything.

Work has got busier, social life has got busier, and things I need to do has gone up. I'm working on a video using all the footage I got from Austria and I've got nowhere with it as it takes time, which I seem to have little of right now. But, I'm not complaining, it's nice doing things all the time, it gives you less time to sit around thinking too much.

As for what's coming up, we've been looking at another boarding holiday in March, possibly France this time, though time will tell on that one. Also looking to go away in May somewhere nice, I've got my eye on Dubai but will need to look into it a little more.

Some other things I've done, I got a new windscreen on my car, I've watched a lot of good movies (The Prestige - good stuff), I've made a Katsu Curry, I bought a new keyboard for my netbook as it broke, annnnnd I'm going for Sushi tonight.

Back from Austria

Stoopid Boarders
Originally uploaded by Christopher Isherwood

So after 7 full days boarding, and 1 day shopping, we returned from our holiday in Austria.

The snow was sufficient for the first few days, but the brilliant sunshine made things real nice. The last 2 days we got more, which allowed us to do some full top to bottom off-piste runs.

The accomodation at Chalet Alex was real nice, food was great and people there where real friendly, and our big quad room had plenty of space for our gear.

All of our boarding improved greatly, and I think we all gained confidence in our ability which helps quite a lot.

Smile

Sea hits the sky
Originally uploaded by Christopher Isherwood

Never has one person made me smile so much.