THE JUDGEMENT

I was fortunate enough to be invited to compete in the second annual Rip Curl Judgement video contest. Essentially I've got four weeks to put together a dope edit that will go up against 15 other riders to see who's video is most impressive. I've enlisted the talent of Craig McCallion from Half Cab to stitch it all together. Up for grabs is 2000$ in prize money for best video, and 1000$ for the top people's choice video. 

We've got a few ideas up our sleeve, the only challenge will be time of course. But we got some preliminary stuff out of the way last night and filmed the video's intro at Babylon Nightclub, in Ottawa. Now it's time to get on the water!

GONE WINCHIN' w/ HALFCAB

get the full story at halfcab.ca and wake2wake.ca...

Capitalize: THE DOCUMENTARY

Capitalize: The Documentary from Craig McCallion on Vimeo.

Last year I was fortunate to be invited to MC a local rail jam hosted by friend Craig McCallion. I had obviously heard about Capitalize at the Clocktower before and attended in years past, but it was the first year that I would be participating. 

I can remember showing up to do my thing and was completely taken aback by the size of the setup and how well everything was put together. All the final details were coming together at this point and the Half Cab crew resemble a little army of ants bustling around making sure of it. Before I knew it, the mic was given to me and away we went, Capitalize 7 would go down in the books as the best one yet. The riding was absolutely amazing; it was big, it had style, and shit got technical! 

In watching Capitalize: The Documentary, not only was I able to relive last year's experience but it also helped paint the bigger picture for me. Like I said, when I showed up last year I had no idea what I had walked into. As the night progressed, I couldn't believe the amount of work, dedication, and seamless teamwork demonstrated by the Half Cab crew as a whole. It worked like a well-oiled machine that just kept going and going. By the end of it, I had to ask Craig: "how the fuck do you do it?". And his answer was simply "I don't know, we just do." (Although, the after-party debauchery that followed at Babylon provided more answers than Craig would readily admit)...

Nevertheless, this documentary goes a long way in telling the story of how something very small and humble can come to take on a life of its own. Any person with a brain and a heart should watch this video to appreciate what can be gained from love and the unbreakable spirit of fraternity.

All I can say now is that I'm very excited for what's next. THIS SATURDAY IS THE NEXT CHAPTER, CAPITALIZE 8 - SAME PLACE SAME TIME. SEE YOU ALL THERE!! CH-CH-CHYEAH!!

Winches and Stitches: the movie.

Charlie Locks from Craig McCallion on Vimeo.

This is the follow up to the story and pictures from Winches and stitches I published back in April when we had a winch session in the Rideau Canal. In addition to some really good snaps, the whole day was also being documented on video. Hear the full story from the boy himself!

Wake Dans Rue #2!

The second stop of the Wake Dans Rue urban wakeboard series is going down tomorrow in Sherbrooke, QC! Myself, Craig McCallion (Half Cab Productions), Kelsey Chiappa, and Charles Sirois will be making the trip from Ottawa with Charlie's van.

Regardless of the contest outcome, we are in for a sick weekend of riding, partying, camping, and more riding. On our way back from Sherbrooke we will be stopping in at the Derome's for a cable shred. I cannot wait to check this year's setup!!!

The first stop was in Drummondville on June 10th, 2012. Peep the highlight video at http://www.sbcwakeboard.com/video_display/video:6220/Wake-Dans-Rue-Drummondville. 

Men's :

1- Benjamin Laclair (1000$)
2- Yan Thibault (500$)
3- François-Olivier Jutras (250$)
4- Alex Savoie (125$)

Women's:

1- Kelsey Chiappa (300$)
2- Marie Line Ouellet (200$)
3- Camélia Barrière (100$)

Lipsmack goes off!

On friday night my dudes at Half Cab Productions held it down at Babylon Nightclub in Ottawa, Ont., for the Canadian video release party of Slingshot's Lipsmack! The video was super well received with many partygoers eager get on the water and see what all the fun is about!! Special thanks to Craig McCallion, Babylon, Slingshot, Slaysh, and the Derome's for putting this thing together! For more photos, please visit www.halfcab.ca

Five Q's with Craig McCallion

1. So after two full-feature wakeboard films Legit and What UP, what’s next for Half Cab Productions?

As of now there’s no real master plan for another film per say. All I know is that I want to keep pushing it when it comes to riding and filming. I’d like to keep posting fresh content on my blog as the summer goes on. And I guess we’ll see what we have when it’s all said and done.

2. How was the off-season? Rumor has it that it wasn’t much of an off-season for you with snowboarding, Thailand, Australia, and everything in between.

Yeah, the off-season was super sick. I got to snowboard early in the season and then took off for my honeymoon through Australia and Thailand. First stop was Cables Wake Park in Penrith (a.k.a. Sydney) then I headed up the coast to Bli Bli and rode Go Wake Park. In between we checked out a bunch of the little coastal cities and got a few days of surfing in. From there it was off to Thai Wake Park in Bangkok. The whole Thailand experience was simply amazing! TWP is just an unreal place to ride. So after about a month on the road, it was nice to be home and chill with my dog Rusty. It was really to cool to jump from one season to the other and then back again, the last few weeks of snowboarding were also super fun.

3. While on the subject of cable parks and flex boards, how have they come to change the game for you?

Coming from a snowboard background, the idea of riding park on a wakeboard just makes a lot of sense. Cable parks are cheaper, and I’m mostly into riding rails anyway as opposed to riding a wake. It just makes wakeboarding that much more appealing to me as a snowboarder especially with a flex board.  It provides that snowboard feel that I was always looking for.

4. “Zeaching”. What is it? Do you agree with it? Could it help legitimize wakeboarding as the ‘fourth’ boardsport. Your thoughts.

I’ve always used the term ‘no trick’ which I guess is what the kids are calling ‘zeaching’ these days. I guess if I were to define it, it’s that gray area between a nosepress and a noseslide, or an indy versus a tindy. I understand that everyone does it, but wakeboarders should be conscious of it and try to keep it to a minimum, especially if you’re going to call yourself a pro. And if we do that, I think it will help wakeboarding get more respect from other board sports.

5. What are you looking forward to this upcoming wake season?

The Ottawa video release party for LIPSMACK, Winching, the Derome Cable, riding the Rideau, friends, cottages, Sunday Fundays at the Beach Club, road trips, Wake dans Rue, building/hitting new setups, filming…etc. etc. etc.

Half Cab'n Thailand!

Last month, my good friend Craig McCallion at Half Cab Productions took the liberty of spending his month-long honeymoon odyssey through the lands of Australia and Thailand. (Editor's note: You know you've scored the right girl when she's cool with spending a few days at a cable park AND has no problem taking over filming duties. Big ups to Nicole!)

Anyways, I was super stoked Craig got the chance to check out Thai Wake Park. He was even lucky enough to shred their newest feature (pictured above). But of course the highlight of the park has got to be the kickers, they are simply the BEST! Check out Craig making good use of them with this Nicholas Muller inspired Japan FS rodeo...

Japan in Thailand from Craig McCallion on Vimeo.

Capitalize 7.

.season opener.

#Capitalize7

Free ridin' gypsies Pt.2 - new edit!!

Free ridin' gypsies (Pt. 2) from Johny Bonney on Vimeo.
July was crazy fun month for me. I was fortunate enough to be able to travel from Ottawa to Timmins, back to Ottawa to Winnipeg, back to Ottawa to St-Zotique and to Trois-Rivières, and then back again. Confused? Tell me about it. Shit at the end of all that, it was already August!

Here's part two which features myself, Johny Bonney riding at Beach Club and the Derome's, Charles Sirois, Craig McCallion (Slaysh, Halfcab Productions), and my bro Justin Bonney (Billabong) at the Derome's as well. The footage from Trois-Rivières, Québec, is from a winch contest called Wake Dans Rue (Proam Productions) and features Ben Leclerc (Slingshot, Axis, Billabong, Etnies, Dragon), Yan Tibo (CTRL wakeboards, Axis, Go Fast energy drink, von zipper), Alex Savoie (Liquid Force, Sharks, O'neill, Dragon), and Max Cartier (O'Brien wakeboards).

Needless to say that I got lots of riding done, visited some cool places, and met some even cooler people along the way.


FREE RIDE MORE.- theboomboxdream.com -

Half Cab freshness!

Check out these two new fresh edits from Craig McCallion and Half Cab Productions!


Big Bang 2011 from Craig McCallion on Vimeo.


Beach Clubbin from Craig McCallion on Vimeo.

www.halfcab.ca

What Up Tease III: theboomboxdream.com edition feat. Justin and Johny Bonney

What Up Tease III feat. Johny and Justin Bonney from Johny Bonney on Vimeo.
Got the keys to the editing room courtesy of Half Cab Productions and produced this little video for y'alls viewing pleasure. This is the third and final tease for Craig McCallion's What Up video before its premiere this FRIDAY JUNE 17th 2011 at Babylon Night Club! See you all there!

Slingshotin' at Wow

First day at Wow/Pop Wake School in St. Zotique (a.k.a. the Derome compound) with Charlie Sirois and Craig McCallion. Great first day to get all the cobwebs out and try out some new Slingshot gear that Craig was able to score after showing them the teaser for What Up. I got to try the Slingshot Reflex 141, and was super stoked on it! Just might have to pick one up myself...