Kane, Allen, and I headed up to Tahoe for some snowboarding this past weekend and needless to say it was a blast as usual. Allen and I have worked down a tried and true formula for getting up to Tahoe fast in comfort, boarding all day, and getting home on Sunday with a whole day still ahead of us. I’ll be going up many more times this season for sure.

I also finally got my first proper opportunity to take advantage of the fisheye lens I picked up a couple months ago. Next time I want to hit a mountain that has more incredible views like Squaw or Northstar… but until then, these were more than satisfying. The photo below taken on the lift of the three of us would’ve been impossible without the lens because I was just holding the camera at arm’s length.

I headed up to Heavenly this past weekend with Allen & Euge for a full day of boarding. Tahoe had just been dumped on about 4 feet in the past week so there was much awesome snow to be had; The trails especially had great coverage, which made for some sick runs down the mountain instead of having to take the gondola back to the base. I recently got a Yakima rack for my A3 and it is shaping to be one of the most rewarding investments I’ve ever made, aside from simply looking legit on the car. Mich and I are planning on heading up to Tahoe again this coming weekend now that she’s back from Scandinavia. I’m banking on the Superbowl driving crowds away from the mountain.

Been really digging CFCF‘s 2nd full length album, Continent. So glad I jumped the gun and pre-ordered this guy’s new record on vinyl despite that his first effort felt a bit empty. To my surprise, Continent is consistent, much more rich, but still retains the CFCF minimal/downtempo style that I’ve grown to love more and more. The attention to detail with the album artwork also threw me off a bit in a good way, as he has adorned the cover and inner sleeve with warm and worn whites accompanied by photos of, well, motherfuckin’ plants. The whole execution of it leaves you very content staring at it in your hands. Here’s a sampling of some of the best tracks:

I make a prediction… because last year, my good friend Dave did for ’09 and it all became true. I predict that 2010 will be a year of reflection, rewind, and most importantly relaxation. OK so these may just be hopeful wishes, but nonetheless I am feeling rather psychic tonight.

This notion came to me after my family and I visited my great Aunt Clara. She can drive a car, and still does weekly. She can carry on a conversation for hours. She is 4 foot, 11 inches. She is 95 and oh god do I love her. She’s the last of my Dad’s parent’s generation and probably the only relative I have that I can truly look at her and speak with her and suddenly want to be more Italian. Her house is in Monterey Park, before it became near entirely Chinese. We went to her place to visit and she was complaining to us how telemarketers call her up and immediately start speaking Chinese because her last name is Young (hah). Did I mention she incinerates trash in her back yard (yes, burning garbage) even though it has been illegal since the 1950′s? Anyhow, I just wanted to post up a photo of us two for context. I’m clearly on my knees and still clear her height by a good inch or two. It’s so cool.

Over the break was filled with family, work (bleh), and friends, as usual. I went to Bear Mountain twice thanks to the ping from Will ass Chang with J.Chorng in tandem with Michelle and the dance machine himself, Brian Han. I ended up snowboarding for 2 days, staying in Michelle’s relative’s cabin for two nights. Even though none of us four saw you Will, many fasho’s and thanks for the heads up because getting a good start on the season boarding has got me confident hitting jumps and boxes now. I bought my season pass to Heavenly in Tahoe and am going to go boarding again this weekend. New years was an absolute blast at the Chorng house, needless to say. Everyone who was there knows the real deal, aNYway.

Hope you all have a legit 2010, I’m damned excited about it. If you’re up in SF early next week, try to come out to an art show Michelle is going to be in called Intergalactic Space Travels. I just got back 2 pieces of hers I had framed even prior to knowing she was going to be in this show and I must say the work is getting more and more chalk full of dank-awesome.