No skating, this means me

Not like anyone cares, but here's my latest news. Haven't been skating that much lately, maybe twice in 2 months. We had a cold front for a good while and everything was icy, and now the weather is nice and I'm sick. Excuses, excuses! I did try and teach one of the other dads at my son's preschool how to skate. I was trying to show him ollies when he wilsoned and damaged his hip, so, end of lesson. I plan to skate Monday at the local, run-down park with my nephew, but he's a flake, ha ha. If I get any photos I will post them.
I have been playing some PS3 games, Call of Duty 5 and Resistance 2, but R2 sucked I thought and I sold it on Craigslist. Maybe I'll get Skate 2 but probably not. I'm reading Artie Lange's new book and it's a good one. Also just saw Seven Pounds, the Wrestler, Valkyrie, and Gran Torino, three of them out of the theater.
Between that and being a dad/husband and working, there's almost no time for skating. That will change when I get motivated again.
As Al Pacino said, "We'll get there, pop. We'll get there".

The big book of british smiles

The tiny country of England occupies square mileage smaller than the state of Oregon. However, it rains more and there's less chances of weather dry enough to skate. Luckily, there's South Bank. This is one of the most famous spots in the world. We were only in London for a short while, so this is the only spot I skated. Next time, I hope to visit Meanwhile 1 and 2, and some of the great skateable architecture around London. It wasn't all skating, though. Most of the standard tourist stuff was done too in our adventures around England and Scotland. Here are some of the 911 pictures we took.

Me doing something other than a kickflip. 80's style Wallride at South Bank...

Out of focus ollie to ledge.

Boardslide.

Bank bomb.

Next, it's off to Bolton skatepark (near Manchester, in one of the 4,000 holes in Blackburn, Lancashire), where boards get waterlogged, wheels slide when you don't want them to and ramps get rendered useless. This would be a nice prefab park if it had a cover over it.

Powersliding, not by choice.

Opposite view of the hump and ramps.

Slam City Skates is in London, and it's a cool shop, cool people.


My new drug of choice, the china white one in the middle. This particular fix costs 40 quid, somewhere in the neighborhood of 70 US dollars. Too much for a deck? Yes, but the grip was free.


Loads of spots to be skated, like this school.

Now for the tourist stuff:


I'm on the phone, do ya mind?


Waiting for tickets. Just kidding.


Tea time.


Tolerated but still not legal.


That's when the hurdy gurdy man came singing songs of love.


Well, well, what's all this, eh son?


In the poob.





All within a stone's throw of South Bank.


The local filth.


Wembley at night.


Shame train.



Loser's limo.




Abbey Road crossing and studio.


Tower bridge.


Too damn expensive.






Edinburgh, Scotland.


The Black Rose, coolest pub in Scotland. They have Slayer on the jukebox.


Haggis.





Glory, glory Man United.


Hey Beavis.


Long trip, ready to go home.


British influence.

Beat it, ya val jerk!

The 10th Annual Tim Brauch contest went down at the local skatepark today. It was like watching old skate videos live in person. Ray Stevens II was playing old Drunk Injuns & McRad songs, Dave Duncan was calling the contest, Mofo was taking pics, and Hosoi, Cab, Mike Rogers, and Aguilar were there. Oh yeah, and Duane Peters and Salba too! The pictures are mostly groupie shots since I am not a good action photographer.
I stayed for the girl finals and the masters comp...didn't hang for the pros, although I did see Jimmy The Greek. I was just waiting for the Daggers to throw some jacks into the pool when Corey Webster was taking his winning run. Here's the results.

Salba looks on while Cab tears it up in the deep end.

Salba, frontside air.

Mike Rogers, survivor.

After a hang up on a backside air.

The masters Hosoi and Cab.

Hosoi after nearly slamming on a body jar.

Julie discusses Hannah Montana with her peers.

After talking about Hannah Montana, Julie gets into deep thoughts.

Carving to first place.

Always gracious to his fans, Cab signs stuff.

The Master of Disaster in the flesh.

Duane still rips to this day.

Dave Duncan, judges, and Joel Gomez from Sessions.

Salba carves up the shallow.

Cab in a long 50-50.

Feeble grind.

Frontside gnarliness.


Cab still skates like he's 20. Elguerial...



I got my Skate Rock Volume 2 album signed by Julie Kindstrand, RS2, Cab, Hosoi, Salba, Dave Duncan, Mofo, and Duane. If you ever wondered whose legs those are on the front cover, it's Spidey. Mofo told me all about this album-he designed the cover. Rad!

SLO ride

There's only one real trick in my bag, and that's kickflips. Oh sure, I can do a few other tricks, but nothing to speak of really. The only ones I have pictures of are kickflips. There's probably not too many older skaters that still waste their time on them. As a side note, I suck at bowl riding, and would trade my best kickflip for one good tile carve.

Oh and FYI, the San Luis Obispo (Santa Rosa park) skatepark sucks major ass. It's a few rickety quarterpipes and boxes and a janky mini ramp. Nails and screws sticking out just enough to grab your wheels, holes in the decks, you name it, they got it. There's even wood shards all over the ground, and the staff looks baked off ther asses. PLUS it's 2 bucks to get in. WEAK! The Los Osos park is also 2 bucks but it's way rad. It's concrete and has an over vert bowl and a lovely flow bowl that actually goes to vert. If you're in the area and have a choice, there's no reason to debate. Go to Los Osos. Paso Robles skatepark is also concrete. You may pass it on the way to SLO. It's right next to the State Fair on 101. I tried to hit it, but it seems perma-closed. Jumping the fence didn't appear worth it as there would e alot of sweeping to do. Haven't tried Atascadero. It's been years since I went to Morro Bay, but that's not much better than SLO.


August 30, 2008, still doing tricks in the driveway at my mom and dad's.

Bass Flailer

Here's a shot of me playing bass with The Eyesores at Johnny V's, August 23 2008. I used to play drums in this band from 1994-1996. I'm not ashamed to admit that I suck, but it sure was a good time and that's all that matters. No more finger playing for me, just picks! It sure was good to see all the old guys again.

Safeway now selling SST records

I saw this Safeway commercial on TV and couldn't help but thinking maybe the guy (or girl?) who directed it has punk influences. At 0:25 you can almost see Black Flag bars, they're just a bit different.



Coincidence?

There's another commercial in this series with a kid on a skateboard that rides by the house at the very beginning of the advert. Maybe us older guys that grew up on punk and skating are finally making their way into mainstream America. Six...Pack!
Coming next week: The AC feminine itching powder commercial, and Circle Jerks hand lotion.

Ever take it off any sweet jumps?

My new Cold War deck is sick. It's got a nice squarish tail and it feels really light, even with 8" Krux, 58 mm Bones STFs, and Rockin' Ron's Ceramics (stage one--hey dude, get your product line straightened out). The concave is just right. Only one slight pressure crack as of yet.
I've only skated it a little (ONE session on a micro-mini) and a couple kickflips in the yard, but I know I'll love it for months to come. I need to get out more, but with 3 kids and a house and 2 cars to maintain, it's getting harder.
It's harder still to get any pictures, so all I could post was that lame trendy one at the top. Someday I'll start bringing my photographer wife with me.