I just peed my past a little watching this, but I hate scary movies. I’ll bet “The Cabin in the Woods” is no where near as scary as The Dream Catcher! Stephen King wrote it, need I say more? Watch the Dream Catcher trailer below!

What happens when the weekend cabin goes bad? This trailer for The Cabin in the Woods suggests it might not unfold with the predictable path of your typical horror movie. Indeed, the film was written and produced by Joss Whedon of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” fame and directed by Cloverfield writer Drew Goddard, and reports from those who’ve seen the script were that it was quite good — genre, yes, but clever within the form.

The film was shot in and around Vancouver over three months in spring 2009, then languished as its studio, MGM, suffered major financial problems. Release was delayed so it could be converted to 3D (remember that?) and now has been scheduled for April 13, 2012. Will it be as instantly awesome as Frozen, the best stuck-on-a-chairlift-and-hounded-by-wolves movie ever made? Whedon hasn’t had a major hit since Buffy, but with creepy Matrix-style effects, a strange control room, and lines like, “The lambs have passed through the gate. They are come to the killing floor,” my money’s on Cabin.

2 feet of snow at Camp Taint March 2012

I just got an text message with blurry photo attached from co-owner Nasty Nate. He encountered so much snow at the gate, 2 miles away from our cabin he had to park the truck there and snowmobile up to it. Good day to bring the snowmobile… It’s officially the first snow machine at the cabin. Apparently there’s 2 1/2′ of snow there and 3′ on top of the mountain. Too bad I’m stuck at work….

- Cheers

Watch all 4 parts of Far Out below, in this episode Vice goes to meet the Chilean Dick Proenneke (Alone in the Wilderness fame). He’s still there… living alone, far out in Patagonia.

Faustino’s Patagonian Retreat – Part 1

Faustino’s Patagonian Retreat – Part 2

Faustino’s Patagonian Retreat – Part 3

Faustino’s Patagonian Retreat – Part 4

For this episode of Far Out, VICE went to Chilean Patagonia to meet Faustino Barrientos, one of Lake O’Higgins’ most infamous inhabitants.

Lake O’Higgins comprises a portion of the border between Chile’s Aysén region and Argentina’s Santa Cruz province. Since 1965, Faustino Barrientos has lived alone on the shores the lake, in a house built from the remains of a shipwrecked fishing vessel. He’s a pastoralist, living mostly off the land and his livestock, with few modern amenities. His nearest neighbors are in Villa O’Higgins, a small community of several hundred people, 25 miles away, accessible only by a two-day horseback ride through rugged mountain animal paths. Every few years, Faustino makes this ride to sell his cattle in town.

Currently 81 years old, Faustino is reaching the end of his life, and his self-imposed isolation is being encroached upon by the forces of government, economy, and tourism. In December 2011, VICE went to document his lifestyle and speak with him about the changing face of Patagonia and the gaucho lifestyle.

Episode 1

For this episode of Far Out, VICE went to Chilean Patagonia to meet Faustino Barrientos, one of Lake O’Higgins’ most infamous inhabitants.

Lake O’Higgins comprises a portion of the border between Chile’s Aysén region and Argentina’s Santa Cruz province. Since 1965, Faustino Barrientos has lived alone on the shores the lake, in a house built from the remains of a shipwrecked fishing vessel. He’s a pastoralist, living mostly off the land and his livestock, with few modern amenities. His nearest neighbors are in Villa O’Higgins, a small community of several hundred people, 25 miles away, accessible only by a two-day horseback ride through rugged mountain animal paths. Every few years, Faustino makes this ride to sell his cattle in town.

Currently 81 years old, Faustino is reaching the end of his life, and his self-imposed isolation is being encroached upon by the forces of government, economy, and tourism. In December 2011, VICE went to document his lifestyle and speak with him about the changing face of Patagonia and the gaucho lifestyle.

I could try and rearrange all this info to make it look like I knew a lot about the Toyota Trekker, but since I was first introduced to these beauties from this post on Jalopnik, I’ll just repost it here. One day, I will be a subscriber to this magazine, but for now, the Subaru is doing just fine. Unreal:

Several years before the 4runner was introduced to the world an odd collaboration between Toyota and Winnebago produced a little known compact SUV conversion called the Trekker.

Production numbers vary depending on who you ask, but its generally agreed upon that somewhere between 1000 and 1500 Trekkers were produced between 1981 and 1983. 30 years later Trekkers are even rarer than when they were new which is why we were so intrigued to find a pristine example listed for sale on Ebay.

Trekkers were originally sold and marketed as Winnebagos. The motor home company received partially built Toyota trucks and sub-contracted out construction of the fiberglass body before completing final assembly. After final assembly they were available for order to Toyota dealers.

Exact Trekker history is sketchy at best and there are several different versions of the exact story of these trucks. Some point to Toyota dealers talking Winnebago into producing the trucks, while others suggest the company won the right to build the trucks directly from Toyota’s Japanese HQ.

Regardless of how it came about it’s clear from examining this very original 1981 example that conceptually the Trekker was an early version of what would become the wildly popular first generation 4runner. Because they were specialty vehicles when new Trekkers came equipped with pretty much any option you can imagine on a 1981 Toyota truck, but underneath the hood of the notoriously bullet proof 4 cylinder 22R engine remained.

It’s nearly impossible to find any Trekker considering how few were made when new, especially an example as original as this one. It’s understandable then that the price of obscure old Toyota SUV ownership isn’t exactly cheap. This well kept example has a listed buy it now price of $16,500.

Alaska Wakeboarding Teaser from Catchin’ Air Tv Show from UpDown Productions on Vimeo.

A teaser edit from episode 4 of catchin’ air. Andy Hurdman wakeboards through an ice field well waiting for the wind to pick up. You can download the show at http://hydrusmedia.spinshop.com/

Music – “Magical World”–Bassnectar remix

I recently found this webisode series on Youtube about a man named Masa, a successful travel writer with an MBA that has decided to live off the grid in a small community on a remote B.C. island called Haida Gwaii (First Nations’ name for were the Queen Charlotte Islands. The community is called Tow Hill and it’s right on the beach and full of amazing creative cabins, built with mostly found materials.

Masa is currently in day 319 of his year on Haida Gwaii, he’s built his cabin and trying to live a subsistence lifestyle, gathering as much food as he can while it’s in season; hunting or growing. He uploads video updates 3 times a week to his YouTube Channel and posts long thoughtful blog entries to the RADx website and his Facebook Page. I encourage you to follow his project and slowly get to know him and his journey as he truly has put his money where is mouth is and left a busy career to sample a totally different lifestyle.

Go Masa!

I’m a big YouTube fan and use it as my main entertainment source, I even watch it on my TV in HD. That’s the easiest way I catch Masa’s videos so I encourage you to subscribe to his YouTube channel and you’ll be notified each time he uploads.

Here’s his first video if you want to start off right:

Cool Neighbor cabins

Masa visits Richard and Frances Riley, neighbors and cabin builders themselves to check out their digs. The couple explains how they’ve put together their own comfy home using recycled materials and timber they found on the beach.

Keep coming back for updates as Masa documents his epic adventures for radX.ca. His new video diary will be published every Tuesday, along with a weekly written blog.

The Chevy Blazer and its GMC Jimmy clone were early modern SUVs. Maybe their width kept them from being better received by the public, as the 1991 Explorer later was. They became popular as support vehicles in public service departments, and Police Chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) drove one in “JAWS.”

Recreational Vehicle fever was in full pitch in the early and mid-1970s. The GMC Motorhome looked like a spaceship had landed and sprouted wheels, and used the front-wheel-drive transmission from the Cadillac Eldorado and Oldsmobile Toronado, initially powered by the Oldsmobile 455 cu in (7.5 l) V-8.

On a more compact level, in 1976 and 1977, Chevy sold the Blazer Chalet and GMC offered the Jimmy Casa Grande. Every one I saw was tan and brown like the one here, but other colors were available.

They were essentially factory slide-in campers bolted onto the Blazer/Jimmy with enough ’70s-colored graphics to make the Brady Bunch feel right at home. When properly equipped, they had two bunks, a refrigerator, 2-burner stove, a sink, a dinette, 5,000 BTU gas heater, and drapes.

The ad says it’s “The Blazer You Can Live In,” but some sort of restroom facilities might be desired for a more permanent residence.