Top 20 from SLUG Mag

Check out no. 11. I don't buy it. no way...

One Week's First Takes: What I can do without multiple tries...

something to show for my funeral. cut down and condensed with music by Beck from the movie, Nacho Libre... all of which are fair game for my funeral. you know, i'm really cognizant of my mortality... when my kids talk about death--those are precious conversations. we're dead for so long--that is, we enter such and eternal eternity when we die. Preparation of heart and life is... pretty basic... and far too rare... So here's an offering for my funeral. I'll keep these coming. it's good for me...

Brazilian Exchange Son: Marcelo Drops In

Marcelo, our Brazilian Exchange Son, has a real passion for skateboarding. He practises all the time, and things don't come super-easy for him. He has a lot of tenacity and heart. I admire that in him. We are so glad he has come to live with us, and I love to skate with him.
if you feel tempted to write me something about safety or headgear, I'm not there with you. Talk to the football coach, whose students have a much higher rate of head injury with helmets ON. Skateboarding is surprisingly safe, appearances notwithstanding.

So this is THAT DAY in Marcelo's skateboarding career! The day he dropped in!

That silly little trick i keep doing...

why do i post so many of this trick on the web? because it's just so danged fun to do! i love to come here and look at it...
...and by the way, this footage was a series of first takes, after drinking almost 2 liters of liquid... and wicked fun.

Backyard Bowl

this represents mine and Sam's work so far. We started the bowl on my birthday, and have put somewhere around 20 man hour in on it so far. not more than that... the deepest point is, well, up to seth's neck... about 3.5 feet? maybe actually deeper since he was standing on a point not as deep as the deepest level... but it's deeper than a shovel handle...

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...