Offshore drilling for oil costs jobs

It just doesn't work well. No matter how well you decorate it, it doesn't work. The explosion of the Deepwater Horizon off the coast of Louisiana threatens the entire Gulf Coast.

Who cares and why?

Obviously, there's a huge loss of recreation. That means fishermen and women can't fish, sunbathers can't tan, surfers can't surf, sailors can't sail, etc. Is that important? It matters, not only to the folks deprived of their stress relief but to millions of folks directly and indirectly dependent upon tourism for their income.

Naturally, the rich bounty that is harvested from the Gulf is also threatened. More thousands of people become unemployed.

Then there's the damage to the marine estuaries. This is where baby fish are hatched. So, the loss of jobs isn't for a season - it's for years.

Just how much oil could we have gotten from that platform and how many jobs did it produce?

For more on this, check out Carl Hiaasen's column in the Miami Herald here.

Intermediate/Advanced snowboard lessons

Like most snowboarders, I'm largely self-taught. That's part of the freedom. You hack it all together, maybe check out some YouTube videos, and surf your way to greatness.

The only problem - greatness never comes.

I don't even know how to rate myself. I only ride groomed runs to get to ungrooomed ones or to return at the end of the day. Much of what I ride is off-piste in Japan. In the states, I tend to stay semi-in-bounds or at least use the gates. So, I'm advanced.

But, I really suck in the trees. That doesn't stop me from riding them....I ride them all the time. But, truth be told, I wasn't getting any better. So, I'm an intermediate.

Anyway, I decided to take a lesson while in Colorado.

Professional golfers take lessons. Skiers take lessons. Why shouldn't I? Naturally, many of my friends laughed. My wife asked why. That just made me more determined.

I called the folks at A-Basin and asked to take a 3-hour private lesson. The person on the other end of the phone asked me if I was intermediate or advanced. I told him the above story and he elected to put me with an advanced teacher.

On February 16, I met my instructor Page Brush. Page started skiing at birth and graduated to snowboarding by the time he was 3 months old - okay, I exaggerate a little but he'd done both a very long time.

Naturally, he's much younger than me. At this stage in my life, everyone not in an old folk's home is younger than me. However, he was decidedly professional and knowledgeable and, as a bonus, had snowboarded Japan while stationed here in the Navy.

He asked me what I wanted to achieve. I told him to watch me ride and tell me what to work on first with the ultimate goal being to ride better in the trees. Throughout the 3 hours, he adjusted my stance, taught me how to turn correctly, adjusted my bindings, and - this is the amazing part - got me to ride moguls.

I've always hated moguls but he explained that they were a great place to practice to get better in the trees. I (hesitantly) took him at his word.

At the end of the 3 hours, I was better. I also had some serious things to practice. I rode moguls for a while longer to ingrain what he taught me. Making a very long story short, over the next weeks I rode trees better than ever before and I now intentionally ride a few moguls.

Bottom line - the lesson was the best thing I've done in a long time. Next year, I'll be back to take another...maybe two from the same instructor. If you're in the A-Basin area and want to contact him for a lesson, his email is coboarder22@gmail.com. I highly recommend him.

Fall surf catalog - some great ideas for snowboarding too

Let me just say - I love Patagonia. Most of their stuff is extraordinary. It's functional. Maybe most importantly, they give back so much to the environment.

Now they're doing online catalogs. Trees live. Videos are available. We all win.

Even if you don't intend to buy anything, check it out here.

You'll find videos and incredible photography. Hell, it's a couple of months before snowboarding season. Let's go surfing.

As always, if you can't see the links, go to http://snowboardingjapan.blogspot.com/ and see everything.

The perfect surfing movie?

Admittedly I've only seen the teasers but that will change very soon.

Check out The Drifter...maybe a surf movie instead of just clips of folks surfing.

If you can't see the videos, go to http://snowboardingjapan.blogspot.com/ and see everything.

How to surf an avalanche

Not recommended but here's one way:

Snowboarder triggers avalanche ... and survives! - watch more funny videos