Close calls in downhill skateboarding and how they're portrayed/shared in the community

Downhill skateboarding is inherently dangerous, regardless of how you look at it. There are so many variables (cars, telephone poles, animals, other skaters, guardrails, rocks, road conditions etc) that skaters are doomed to fail eventually, and some of these fails happen to get caught on video.

While Ed remains completely safe and in control, there's a guard rail on one side of the road, a truck in the oncoming lane, and rocks to avoid in his own lane.

Everyone loves to watch videos of people failing, falling, getting hurt, you get the point. When it comes to downhill skateboarding its no different. However, downhill skateboarding is currently in limbo with legality and the public eye. Many people do not understand how "in control" we are while skateboarding, and how easy it is for us to stop quickly and in our lane. However, most of this knowledge stays within the downhill community, as does most of the standard videos. However, occasionally a video with someone hitting a car, guardrail, or extremely close call will go viral. 

The above video went semi-viral, and I chose not to share a video of someone getting hit by a car on purpose. When videos like this come out, its often the first and only video someone has seen of downhill skateboarding. They then get the impression that all downhill skateboarders have encounters like this very often and these things are unavoidable. 

This is a video that did go viral (3 Million + views), and features no unsafe riding. As a downhill skateboarder, watching videos where people mess up is fun, and I know not to judge all downhill skateboarding like this. However, I think it severely harms the sport when people do share those videos, which only hurts the downhills public image.

Furious 7

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

The latest installment of the Fast & Furious Series, Furious 7, was released this past weekend. Now I will admit, I am a bit biased because I've been a huge fan ever since I saw the first film, but the box office numbers can speak for the films success. According to the Hollywood Reporter, in less than a week the film has made over $489.5 million, including $315 million internationally and $174.5 million domestically.

As a huge fan of this series, I really only had one complaint. For a series that is based around, and really got it's start by focusing on car racing, this installment had very little of it. The film was taken up by mostly guns, fighting and big explosions. Don't get me wrong, I've come to expect this is most new action films, but when it overtakes what a good portion of the series is about, then I think it becomes too much. On the plus side, the movie did retain it's string family aspect, which is something I have always enjoyed. The chemistry between the real life cast always has an incredible way of being portrayed on screen, and the movies push of strong family morals and values has always been something I've held close to my heart.

 

Regardless of the rest of the movie, I was incredibly touched by (and cried through) the tribute to Paul Walker at the end of the film. I was curious how the story would be adapted after his death, and the four months that the studio took to figure it out really showed. The end of the script and the song used was their way of being able to finally say goodbye to him, in the most heartfelt and loving way that a movie could.

The Pixar Theory: Everything Makes Sense Now

Over winter break I came across a new and interesting theory that I feel is relevant to everyone and anyone who has ever seen any Pixar movie. It's called "Pixar Theory." The theory was first brought up on Cracked.com in a video called "Why Pixar Movies Are All Secretly About the Apocalypse." They touched upon only a couple of movies that Pixar created. Blogger Jon Negroni, from jonnegroni.com, created more of an elaborate theory and was able incorporated all of the movies. I have read over his theory multiple times and it really makes sense. It is truly amazing that Pixar and other people have created this theory. My question is, did Pixar relies that they were actually creating this theory and that all of there movies are related? Obivously the know now, but did they really put the pieces together? I am guessing they knew they were doing it at little bit because they have put characters from one movie into another movie. Pixar calls these Easter Eggs. These eggs allow Pixar to begin the connection and then the story lines does the rest. Here are just a few examples of easter eggs in some of pixar's movies.

 In the movie Monsters, Inc. Boo hands Sully the Pixar ball, a Jessie Doll from Toy Story 2, and Nemo from Finding Nemo.

In the movie Toy Story there is a postcard from Carl and Ellie, characters from the movie Up. In the movie up there is a image that says islands which also appears in Toy Story. 

In the movie Up, Lotso bear appears in a little girls room, along with the Pixar ball.

Theses are just a few examples of the connections that Pixar has created. I really recommend reading the theory because you will never see these Pixar movies the same.

Here is the url to Negroni's Pixar theory. 

http://jonnegroni.com/2013/07/11/the-pixar-theory/