Grace to Effort VideoBro: BelgiumJosh

Effort Skateboards' videographer, Josh from Belgium, or "BelgiumJosh" or "belgium", broke bones and snapped ligaments on a miniramp, last week. Effort's owner, "Big Red James" did the same deal back in the day. Just the cost of pushing skating to the N'th degree. We're all glad you Effort guys do hard work to keep Cincinnati Skateboarding moving forward. We all hope you recover as well as James did...

like multiple pins, screws. Like 8 months recovery. That's the deal... Big Red still has a plate in his ankle. Hasn't had the down time to get it removed... Hopes that Josh'll have the time.

Tough thing of it is that Josh has had operations on both of his feet, already, to remove dead bones, skating through as best he can. I watched him last april or march doing sick blunt slides to 270 out on the near 5 foot wall at Delhi, the night of the opening... he must have tried that thing like 50 times before we went to Shanghai Mama's for a great meal. I think that was the first time we met. Nice to know you, Belgium.

Prayers ascend.

Something More

I have linked Mike V in recent months... I have enjoyed his point of view... I kind of get creeped out at how serious it's all taken, though. too serious about skateboarding, people... Mike. There's something more to life than this skateboarding stuff. Seriously, if its your LIFE, it shouldn't be. It should be a PART of your life. Not you LIFE.

Skateboarding starts with playing with a toy on roads and sidewalks built with other people's money. on obstacles and parks developed by others for us... we are consummate moochers and need to develop some serious gratitude in our culture toward the cities and parents and people...

some people, through practice and dedication, discipline and sacrifice, raise skateboarding to an art form, modeling higher aspects of human potential. Hats off. Gratitude should be multiplied...

Over the last 22 years, I've been really shocked at the sense of entitlement that skateboarders manifest. Haven't we thought this through a little more thant that? I mean, realizing all that's being freely given to us,and all we're taking, we will enjoy it even MORE from the humility we'll get...

a false sense of entitlement really ruins stuff. It ruins personal fun, making one too serious about what they're doing. It blinds you to the generosity of others who have gone before you. I trashes the opportunities of the ones who can't get past the stigma of your bad behavior. All that loss, because you think the world owes you for being good at skateboarding? Wow. And you're proud you're selfish. Wow. Piece of work, dude. Piece of work.

So the next time you want to resent the cops, or business people of your town, think about all you have been given in your life, from the birth canal on down to today, walking around under someone else's sunshine... think about the curb you're grinding: who built it? What did it cost? Who DOES care? and find soemthing somewhere where skating will be a positive thing. Go hit stuff in rough neighborhoods. Get parks made there, where destroying curbs and rails will help kids break out of the dark...

and don't be whiny elitist skaterboys. that's tired...