When you are young, and I mean young-young, life offers you some very exciting ways to venture beyond your own limitations and explore your individual potential. Skateboarding is one of them, and in my opinion one of the most rewarding (Yes, dear best-agers, I know, you can still start skateboarding when you are sixty, but the chances to become a pro are very slim. Then again, chances to get seriously hurt are definetely much, much higher. How about inlining?).

Anyway, in 1978 I set up my own skateboard shop, and although I’ve never been a really good skateboarder, a 15-year-old team member of the shop went on to become one of the world’s most famous skateboarders. For me Claus Grabke was the essence of what skateboarding should be: a great combination of art, music and athletics to build your own personality and find the courage, the dedication and determination it takes to make your dreams come true.

Although I later on left the world of skateboarding, skateboarding never left me. That’s why I keenly followed the recent online-release of ELEMENT, a documentary in 4 parts about one of the most successful and influential skateboard companies.

This is the link to chapter 4. Have a look, it’s very inspiring, even if you are a best-ager. Or an inliner. Or both.

MAKE IT COUNT, CHAPTER 4 "EARTH" from ELEMENT SKATEBOARDS on Vimeo.

If you ever looked at the chaos on your screen and thought: I can't write on this!, here comes the solution:

Quick look at Ommwriter from Giles Turnbull on Vimeo.

The anthropologist Marvin Harris has a theory that the human race can be divided into porcophobes and porcophiles.

There can't be much doubt about which side of the fence Daniela and Bernd of Meyer, Miller, Smith are coming down on. To witness: The carnivore couple will take part in Porkcamp, a barcamp-style event centered around slaughtering, preparing and eating pigs.

From January 22nd to 24th seven groups of seven porkcampers each plus a butcher to a pig will slaughter the pigs, cut up the meat, prepare (and feast on!) a butcher's meal with fresh black pudding, pork pies and liver sausages. There will be hands-on experiences about warm meat processing, brining, smoking and the production of meat preserves, there will be hams to salt and dry, bags of meat to freeze, lard to clarify, and, best of all, German sausages to make.

It will be the most wonderful weekend. (Maybe not so for the pigs.)