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2007

2006

December

Bummed out: Bionic records closed--I went by there today and was sad to see another indie store with real records and real CDs closed down. A definite bummer casualty of technology.

Weird but cool: I walked into the Jamba Juice around the corner from my house today and got my smoothie, as always. I turned around and had to do a severe double take. Gailea Momolu was standing right behind me... it took me a minute to place him, it was so out of context. And behind him was Paul Machnau...Two amazing skateboarders from Canada who now live about a mile from me, in little ol' Orange... Like I said, weird but cool.

Daewon Song, Thrasher Magazine's Skater of the Year, 2006. Well deserved and long overdue...

The other day I wrote about Rancid... (below) How much I like them, how for a while it was an embarrassing pleasure, and I've sort of been wondering why it was that way for me. I think it's because they seem to have this image of being a dumbed-down band, like it's remedial punk rock or something. It's not. This may be partly (or almost entirely?) because of the outward image, what with the mohawks and pretty consistent punk ghetto gear. The thing is, with these guys, the gear and the life is not simply a facade, or a front. They're real. The realest, when it comes to punk rock in 2006. But do not confuse real punk rock with stupid, unintelligent, or otherwise lower-level in the gray matter department. One look at the lyrics they write, and have written consistently over the last 13 years, on every album, and any fan of Dylan, Fugazi, Jawbreaker, Elliott Smith, The Clash, Rush, or any other band known for great lyrics would definitely admit that the words these guys have penned are right up there. And musically? Well, there's no title or contest (thank god) for best bass player in the world, but if there was, Matt Freeman would be in the running, and if it was for best punk bass player, there's not anyone else close that I've ever seen. Speed, agility, accuracy, and an uncanny ability to write a line that somehow circles without ever sounding like it's repetetive. And the stuff that Tim writes, and that Lars writes, run the gamut from one end of the punk spectrum to the other, and it's all great. Super fast eighties hardcore style? Yep, got it covered. Catchy, fifties throwback back beat punk rock? Of course. Clash-flavored rock that transcends all rock categories? Yep. Ska-flavored skunx-rock that Matt and Tim created in a previous band? Handled. Rancid-flavored songs that transcend all other rock and punk styles? Yep, in droves... I guess what I'm trying to say is, check it out. If you consider yourself an intelligent music fan, you're contradicting yourself if you don't check out Rancid.

Now Playing: Against Me! All of it.

Does a journal for a year count if you don't write in it a certain number of times? Who was it that said "The unexamined life is not worth living?" I forget who said it, but I like it...I know there are no rules for a journal, and I can do whatever the heck I want... but it seems that I've not written enough this year, again. This just came into my head because I was realizing that it's been almost 8 years since I started this silly little journal. The journey is the destination, right? Right. And I've spent a bunch of time living it and a bunch of time documenting it, and I'm still hoping that I can find the balance in the middle somewhere.

I saw Rancid the other night. They continue to be one of my favorite bands. And whereas a few years ago I was somewhat guilty about that--as in, a guilty pleasure--I am not any longer. They are seriously one of the greatest bands I've ever seen, and their records are great, too. Chock full of great songs: catchy, pulsing, punchy, rolling, sing-a-long, touching--they do it all really really well. I wonder why they have a weird stigma? Well, maybe that's what makes them so good still, and maybe it's what keeps them out of the big giant halls... whatever it is, I'm happy for it. They've got a newe record coming out in 2007, and I'm stoked. Rancidrancid.com

Now Playing: Rancid, Indestructible

In 1999 I wrote this list of my favorite shows of all time:
Favorite live shows of all time: (in no particular order)
Fugazi/Fishwife/Pitchfork at La Paloma, 1990
Bad Brains at Iguanas, 1989
Bad Religion at Iguanas, many times
Dead Kennedys, JFA, Sun City Girls, at the On Broadway, 1983
Tanner's last show, the Casbah, 1997
Drive Like Jehu at the Casbah, 1994
Rocket From The Crypt, the Casbah, Circa, Now! era
Rancid, at SOMA, Out Come the Wolves tour
No Knife, pre-Drunk On The Moon
The Clash, SF Civic, 1983
The Faction, many times, 1983-85.
At The Drive-In, at the Troubadour, 2000.
And now, if I had to rewrite it or add to it, I'm sitting here wondering what I would take away. I don't really think I would take away any, but if forced to, I would remove Dead Kennedys, No Knife, Drive Like Jehu, and... that's it. However, I would have to add:
Inch, Casbah, 1996
Monorchid, Casbah, 1997
Rocket From The Crypt, Group Sounds Tour, 2000
Murder City Devils, El Rey, Last Tour
Against Me! Anytime, Anywhere
International Noise Conspiracy, Survival Sickness Tour, Everywhere
What is it about the definitive list that is so interesting? Why are we drawn to this type of thing? I'm not sure of the psychology of it, but I like doing these lists. And so there is of course, a secondary list of bands/shows that I would say were great, and these are bands I would travel far and wide to see, in addition to all of the above bands.
The Jesus Lizard
Mudhoney
Supersuckers (they might even have to go on that list above...)
Clikitat Ikatowi
Shellac
Slint (yes, I only saw them on the reunion tour, like everyone else.)
Heavy Vegetable
Three MIke Pilot
The Locust
Swing Kids
The Crimson Curse
Fluf
Refused (Never saw them.)
Sex Pistols (saw them in 2002 and 2003 and they were great!)
Of course there are other that I'm forgetting but you get the drift...
Who's on your list?

October

It's been an interesting month. I am officially a work-a-holic, which is both cool and really depressing. I feel like a damn shoegazer, all emo and whiny, and that is a perpetuating cycle, because it's so damn depressing to be all depressed. But being able to work and get a job done where people are depending on me in a big way is one of the most rewarding things I've ever experienced. It's totally its own reward, and a little quiet recognition is all it takes--as a matter of fact, I would much rather have quiet heartfelt recognition than a big show. As we near GvR, which is the biggest event I've ever done, it's pretty funny that I already know I'm going to get all bummed out afterwards, because it will all be over. I fear that I won't be needed, which I guess is one of my biggest fears. And am I expressing this fear now in the hopes that facing it will help me get over it? Why do I write this stuff? Why have I ever. In June I wrote that stuff below and then didn't actually write again for 4 months. So much for being an accurate journal--I guess the value in that comes from the longevity, and I'll always have an idea of what I was thinking in between these little entries. Dark Entries. Anyway, here I am again, writing about writing and thinking about thinking. I sometimes think I just need to decide to be happy and I"ll be happy, and when I have work to do, I feel like I should be happy, and that's why I am. I'm not as much of a mess as I sound like.

June

Blah, blah, blah. I feel like I should write, but everytime I think of something to write about, I feel like it's so ego-driven and self-centered that I feel like Mike V. And if you've read this thing at all you known I've been so torn about that. It's a Catch 22--it's both gutsy and vulnerable to put yourself out there, which is healing and therapeutic and interesting to read, but it also requires a sense of ego that relies on the assumption that people are inherently interested in what I write. Maybe I should assume that people are interested in me if they're reading this, but that's such a bold statement and seems so freaking macho that I can't stand it. Or I could assume that people are interested in people, which sets it up the opposite way--that it's really not about me at all, but about humanity. That makes it work a little more, but is also kinda depressing. But that's better than the other option. I'll go with that for now...

May

Wow, I'm actually writing twice in one month. Not even sure what there is to write about, but I do have some energy these days and there are thngs to be happy about once again. You know, it's funny, I meet people who read this thing and think I must be this emo-boy always-depressed dude who goes around with no joy. I'm not that. I have become pretty jaded the last five years, though, since getting divorced, and I feel like I've finally gotten on a train permanently headed in the right direction, back to being a much more positive person. It seriously kills me that at work people view me as this bitter, negative guy. My own doing, I knowm and I'm paying for it. But I'm also digging my way out of ths hole. I don't have much to be bitter about.

There's a skate shop in Ventura called Skatepunk, and I actually got a series of pretty funny emails from the guys with all these half-threats about them suing me if I continue to make shirts with the word "skatepunk" on them. The first email started off with this sentence: "Why do you have the R for registered trade mark and C for copy  for Skate Punk when you dont even own it?" Whoa, dude, slow down, I do own it. Anyway, I though it was a prank from a friend and turns out, after about 10 emails back and forth, that it wasn't. But there were still a bunch of funny lies ("we sued Shorty's and won") and stuff that made no sense, all in an effort to protect his business' name, which of course wasn't even necessary. But if you find yourself in Ventura, stop by and say hello. Dude's name is Roger, and he needs all the support he can get.

It's now May. Should I even bother labeling this year with months? I may not get to write anything at all. I think the only thing that has kept me from throwing in the towel is that I know myself, and I know that I'd later regret it, and I also have this idea about the synergism of this journal. The idea being that it's value grows with each word, but also with each passing day. I started it in 1997, and most of that, from 1999 or so on, is below. No pictures. so I can just keep writing. I started writing little blurbs about my friends and skateboarders and bands. As I slowly got more comfortable, I started writing more about my life, especially as I got divorced and then loved again. So it stands as a document from way before "blogs" was in existence, and I'm still holding on to the notion that it's worth something (to me at least) just for being some sort of record of the last 8 years of my life.

That said, as we approach the one-year anniversary of my mom's death, I still feel slightly paralyzed. I've been pushed into action by various forces including financial necessity, but that excludes things that I've done for fun on a lot of levels. Anyway, I haven't been able to write too much lately, and just now I saw this amazing "review" from Lance Hahn, hero-dude from J Church and Cringer. I've been writing about Pitchfork for years, telling anyone who would listen about this record, and to see it in my inbox in the "J Church Listening Room" from Lance was great. So I'm borrowing this and reprinting it here--below. Lance does a great email every once in a while that I totally love reading. If anything, it helps me learn about a variety of music--not just punk, although mostly, in all its varieties--and more so, films, especially underground and art films, for lack of a better term. You can check it out here if you're interested: To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JChurchNewsletter/m or maybe by sending an email to: JChurchNewsletter-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

IN THE J CHURCH LISTENING ROOM: PITCHFORK "Eucalyptus" LP

I love John and Rick. I love these guys. I love their music. Pitchfork is probably my favorite as I've got the most memories tied up with this music. I remember when I first met John. Cringer was down in San Diego playing a big show with Scream and Excel. Pitchfork was the first band on and was still a trio. They were amazing. They were the perfect West Coast response to Rites Of Spring. John was a young kid who took us to the shop nearby so we could buy soft drinks. To this day, he's still as excited and enthused about music as the first time I met him. I think this record showcases everything that is great about his guitar playing. It's crazy tuneful while experimental and challenging. I remember watching some interview with Eno where he called Hendrix the first electronic musician, as he was as interested in sounds as he was in notes. I think the same can be said for John. On this record he's carrying the melody on every song while pulling out all the stops in guitar trickery with harmonics, pick scrapes and other pick-up noises. It's fucking an inspiration. Rick is also on fire with some of his most venomous lyrics. "Burn Pigs Burn" is a knife in the gut. And he doesn't let up there. "Rana" is pure poetry and the lyrics perfectly marry the big riff (I swear, it must have been somewhere in Blake's subconscious when he wrote the outro to "Chesterfield King" (he's talking about Jawbreaker)). I'm so happy this record is back in print. (Swami) Click here to listen and buy: http://www.audiolunchbox.com/album?a=7309

February

Another year promising to be better than the last. And I'm hopeful. Today I'm going to LA to sell some of my Mom's records and CDs, and then I have to clean up the office and then maybe play some music. How did this thing become a diary for the day? Maybe because I didn't have anything else to write so at least I can amuse you with utter boringness. In photography, an everyday photo or snapshot capturing the essence of the decisive moment, even if that moment is otherwise lackluster, is still a study in composition, technical execution, and visual beauty. With words we're not so lucky, and I fear it just comes across as boring...

Now Playing: Respira/Radio Antagonista demos

January

I've been thinking a lot lately about abstractions, and the way I grew up being sort of desensitized to "feelings." I think that my father had to learn to avoid feelings for some reason that I don't know. His time in two wars and high rank as an Army officers, as well as living through the Depression as a boy obviously contributed, but I wonder what else led to it. I was always told to not worry about my feelings, to get tough and take it. And of course I was never able to... and so as I sat with my father for four days in the hospital over Christmas, I did some thinking and reading, and it's interesting to me that some generations of Americans are taught that feelings are abstractions which can be put aside. But they're not, feelings are real, and perhaps they are the realest things we have. It's obviously something I'm dealing with a lot in the year after my mom died, and my first dog died, and going into the year in which my father will probably die. Anyway, if you have any thoughts or good info to read, I'd love to hear it or read it...

2005

December

Now Playing: The Clash s/t LP

December 22: "Breakfast does not cause lunch." This has been on the front page of the site for a couple weeks now and I had no idea that it would cause such a commotion. Basically it's a way of saying that just because one event preceeds another, the first doesn't necessarily cause the second event. Given the recent string of things in my life that have been piling up, and seemingly have created a run of bad luck, I've been doing my remedial philosophising and trying to make sense of it all. And during this I read somewhere about succession of events and I like the cryptic way that it sounded: breakfast doesn't cause lunch. Pretty funny, simple, maybe cryptic, yes, but true.

If anyone knows an eager young programmer who is willing to work on this site for a good rate, please have them email me at mark at skatepunk.net. I want to start sort of over, actually get some more photos up, create a simpler way to add photos, and restart the evolution. Thanks.

Now Playing: Against Me! (of course)

December 7: I'm out of here for five days, but it's interestng that I've got five days' worth of momentum on here. But the last few days it's been less and less. I think that perhaps true apathy means not caring if I do or don't. Does that make the words less meaningful, somehow? Have I become a slacker? Is it possible to be a part time slacker? Or a slacker on some things and not on others? Are you sick of these questions yet?

I heard that band Thrice on the radio tonight, and man, he sounds like Ian MacKaye so much. What a bummer.

December 6: Sometimes things are just so easy, and sometimes, the simplest things are just hard to do... like writing on this thing, calling friends back on the phone, paying bills, writing Christmas letters, etc...

I finally added one photo of the bowl to the end of the ramp page. It's not a great photo, not enough contrast, but it gives the idea. I will be making a bowl page here very soon.

December 5: Here it is almost Christmas again. I wonder if I'll actually say something about how dispicable I think they are to my lame neighbors if they come caroling or with gifts again this year. I want to try to think of the most gentle way to say what I want to say, without sarcasm, without being cruel. Is it possible? These are the people who called the city on me when I was building the pool in the backyard. The people who complain to all the other neighbors (who come tell me) when I have ten people and four cars over to the house in the middle of a Saturday afternoon. Anyway, they're jerks, and very self-righteous, and although right now I'm craving the conflict, maybe the bext thing is for them to not come to the house this year... I'll mask my disappointment somehow.

Soundtrack for 2005: Against Me! Everything from Tom's Demo Tape right up thru the Mouse On Mars remix of Don't Lose Touch.

December 4: I have posession obsession, but is it worth anything to say that I don't have it nearly as bad as some of my friends, or as my father, or my brother? There are all different types: Lance collects anything skateboarding. He's even made it so cool that people read about it in the skateboarding magazines. Me, too. I loved those articles. He's got locks of Caballero's hair, wedding invitations from his friends who got married, boards that were in famous photos of him or someone else, prototype boards and wheels that never saw the light of day, drawings by Gonz and Neil and Lucero, and so much more. My brother has books, records, CDs, but also has a competitive pile of junk that I couldn't even define. So many books, about music, and growing plants, and eroticism, and weird dudes from the sixties, and self help, and on and on. CDs... well, the CD collection is pretty concise, actually. Plus, I can't talk too much about that stuff. Same with records. But I've sold a ton of records, and if I don't listen to a CD within a year or so, I get rid of it. Especially with how easy it is with an iPod these days... and I have gotten rid of junk. My dad grew up in the Great Depression, and learned to save anything that might be someday useful. This meant if a scrap of would could be used someday down the line, we saved it. Or a piece of metal, or an old doorknob. Growing up in the time he did it made sense--you saved for a time when it meant you could save money. My mom was the same way, but with her it was less sensical and more obsessive behavior--she saves magazines that she swore someday she would read. And she did read a lot, but her pride refused to let her admit that she wouldn't get to everything. This push / pull meant she was constantly working to keep ahead of the curve, but of course she was always behind. It made life interesting, and among other things, our mom's habits have taught all of the kids to be self-entertaining. We know how to make the most of our lives, time-wise. I wish they would've taught us how to save money instead of junk! It took a lot longer to learn that habit. So, anyway, my habits are hereditary, and it's been tough to fight it. Being married to Jen helped with the junk, sort of, although she was so intolerant of any psychological reasons for behaviors that didn't mesh with her way, that for a while she pushed so hard to get rid of stuff that I froze, and couldn't get rid of stuff. What she meant, what she ultimately wanted, made sense, and I understand her fears that long term our house would become like my parents, but it was never that bad, and the way it was dealt with was pretty lame. These days my possession obsession is limited--I finally got rid of all my skateboard sticker collections, I sold all my skateboarding magazines, I sold tons of other little things on eBay, and the Goldenrod Records legacy is now down to about two boxes, which I still continue to sell, slowly. I don't have hundreds of pairs of shoes, like a lot of my friends, I don't even have ten pairs. I fully understand having a limited mental capacity for posessions, but at the same time, as my sister recently pointed out as I lamented the stuff I still do have, it's these things that are examples of my personality, and when they're neatly displayed around the house, they really make the house feel warm and lived-in and part of me, as opposed to a boring place with pretty pictures from Target on the wall and no personality. So it's a balancing act. The things I do have collections of: musical instruments--small collection; studio equipment--small accumulation that gets used regularly; records--about 2500 including 7"s; CDs, about 1100, which has barely grown the last 5 years, because I've gotten rid of so many; and books, limited to punk and classic rock, and skateboarding, with a few photo books thrown in, too. I'm not sure why I'm spelling it all out, but that's it... and the stuff I don't have, I'm obsessive about not having--don't want it here, don't want it here. Get rid of it, if it's not being used. Oh yeah, I have photo albums, which would be the first things I'd grab in case of fire.

Whoa, where did that rant came from? It was all written before I even had a thought about what I was doing....

I wrote that bit about stuff this morning, and now it's 1am on Sunday night, and I did laundry and was putting the sheets back on the bed, and I spread out this blanket. It's a blanket that Jen and I had when we were married, and I realized something that amazingly, I had never thought of before. (Why am I thinking about Jen so much lately?) She always got on my case about buying stuff that I liked, like CDs, guitar crap, or tools, but was always very happy to send money, usually conservatively, I have to admit, on fashion/style stuff. Example: I had old T-shirts that she hated, because they were old. But if I liked them, and they were perfectly good, I would keep them, just like the blanket that I've kept all these years. But some people get rid of perfectly good clothes just because they're out of style, or because they'd been around for a while, which I never understood. But what it came down to, I just realized, was that once again, the things we wanted to spend money on were different, and her habits were OK and mine were bad! Why didn't I realize this before?

Now playing: Some Girls "The DNA Will Have Its Say"

December 3: I wonder why I have developed such an aversion to the holidays. Every year it seems that the celebration and the shopping season and the lights go up earlier. Is it people being anxious and hoeful for this time of year, or are they victims of the commercialism that encourages dollars to be spent, to partake in capitalism?

As you can obviously tell, I haven't written here for a while. Not since the bowl was done, not since Jim Bates won the éS Game of SKATE, not since Chris Cole won Skater of the Year 2005. Not since I saw Against Me! five times, and not since their album came out. Not since I met Claudine, and not since I went on the best/worst reading binge I've ever been on. Barely since my Mom died, none since I've come to grips with it (I haven't). Get the point?

Breakfast does not cause lunch. Just because one thing precedes another doesn't mean the first thing caused the other. But I'm slowly going crazy, and it sure seems like the things that have happened this year have helped. Last year was bad, with my Dad in the hospital all year, and the crap that was going on at work. This year, the work stuff got sorted out, and how, and everything was cruising until May. I've shut down a lot, and was able to recover by focusing on just a few things, getting them done before moving on to the next. Thus, not a lot of writing.

Now Playing: Head Wound City S/T CD on 31g

I just read something about habits of types of people. I'm pretty impatient, and a commonality among impatient people is that they don't like to cook. This is true with me. I had a point, but it would take too long to write it out, and I'm too impatient to do it right now. Maybe later. (I think there was a connection between procrastination and impatience, too.)

I just heard that a friend got a medical marijuana card. He's a habitual smoker, so this will surely make his habit easier to maintain, and because I know the weed mellows him out, I'm happy for him. But it makes me wonder about the system, when basically someone can get a card without being truly sick enough to be under a physician's care. Not a bad thing, but a thing nonethheless that I'm wondering about.

Why don't people realize or care, especially people of color, that symbols like the iron cross are hate symbols? Am I too sensitive? Have I become PC? I just don't get it. And by the wy, Skin Industries sucks. It's no surprise to see a bunch of meathead dudes in house slippers with black socks to their knees walking around in Skin T-shirts, but to see girls who are at least intelligent enough to have a brief conversation with wearing their clothes is disgusting. A brand based on misogyny, sexism, and racism? Sounds perfect! Sign me up! Here's my money--just in time for Christmas.

Now playing: Against Me! Searching For A Former (Rumored) Clarity

I found out that I guy I've been friends with for a long time is in jail, or actually, state prison. The bummer is that it's for something pretty sad, but not so uncommon. The good thing is that he owned up to it, didn't go to trial, and is facing his time served, and won't be in there more than a couple years. But it sucks to think of a friend in prison. When it was for something like what my friend Gator did, it was easy to just say "forget that guy, he murdered someone..." I didn't know how easy until I threw away his letters... (and now I'm wondering if that's the right thing to do? Should I abandon a guy like that? I think yes, why waste my life's energy on someone who didn't value life very much. And then I think that it's a good object lesson that we can all do stupid thing impulsively, and I'm glad I'm much less of a risk-taker these days. Man we did stupid things when we were kids.) For someone like Josh Swindell, who did a despicable, hateful crime while caught up in a moment, I wasn't good enough friends with to really have to face that decision, of what to do. But with this current friend, there was a moment of thought, and then I realized that of course he's still my friend. I'm rambling. Whatever.

August

Got an email link to this "old school" site today, good stuff, although I still hate the terms old school and new school, not only because I think that skateboarding needs less classifications, categories, and internal factionalizing, but because by this point I really think the terms are worthless. The company New School started about 13 years ago, which is now about 35% of the total life of skateboarding, or almost 45% if you consider when the urethane wheel hit (1974). So what constitutes new school versus old school? Right now it's anything after the H-Street videos, in the early 90s, which coincides with progressive changes in board and wheel designs, and yeah, I understand where and why the terms are used. But I've learned about where a lot of stupid terms come from, and I don't use them either. Stop categorizing and classifying--these categories only emerge in an effort to make each group that much more elite, so the members of the different groups can feel somehow superior to the others, for more comfort. It's easier when lines are drawn. Shine easy, shine comfort, when it comes to skateboarding. Be inclusive, embrace other skateboarders, and forget the categories.

I think I'm not phased by much in skateboarding anymore. The biggest thrill has truly become sharing cool things with the kids--Taylor and his friends. It's a different type of joy, and maybe it feels better because it's less selfish.

While we were in Texas a few weeks ago, we got tickets at a skatepark for skateboarding before the park was open. It's a public skatepark in Portland, TX, and you have to pay to skate, so the ticket was for theft of service. They actually put a couple of us in handcuffs and were so gung-ho about taking us to jail like we were big time criminals or something. It was pretty ridiculous. At one point one of the cops actually admitted, quietly, that it was kind of embarrasssing to have to do what he was doing, but then he went right back into sheep mode and explained that he was just doing his job, and he was just trying to get paid so he could go home and sit on the couch and live a happy life, and if he rocked the boat at work, it was not productive for his real life plans. Pretty pathetic. Kill me if I ever get like that.

I've written a little bit about the bowl in the backyard--it's a combi-bowl shape with a miniature Darth Vadar rollover bump in the middle, and some squared lip, some metal coping, and pool coping. We've been skating it on the weekends for a few weeks, even though not all the flat decks and flat bottoms are poured. It's sort of like skating a pool with a couple feet of water in the bottom. But it's been great anyhow, because it is still possible to generate speed,a nd it's turning out to be a lot of fun. But the best part is that it brings people together. Getting together for skating, eating, or just to hang out are major sources of good times and the bowl helps create all of them. I'm pretty psyched about it. If anyone reading this would like to build a concrete bowl in their yard, I've got just the man for you. His name is Eric Lee, and he's good. Real good.

The finals for the éS Game of SKATE are in San Diego on September 10. Free and open to the public, you should check it out!

The Baker video premiere is this coming Wednesday--should be good--I've heard it's the best video in a long time. That's hard to imagine, considering that Zero's video just came out, and it's only been two years since Yeah Right, but it's something to look forward to anyway.

Man, I haven't written on this thing in a long time and the last few weeks there've been so many things that I thought I might write about, and now that I'm here I can hardly think of anything!

My mom died in May, right after the 12th, when I wrote that bit below. Things have taken on a different hue--things that have been very important to me in the past aren't so important any longer, and I've got a much different outlook on a lot of things. I've been trying to come up with a way to explain it, and finally just decided it isn't really worth trying to explain. My friends, who would've probably always described me as a little high-strung at times, have noticed a bit more calm. Unfortunately, at the same time, my new job has put me in a high-pressure position, responsible for some high-profile events, and a lot of things and people are counting on me holding it together. I can't say I don't enjoy that, but it does put things in a different light and sort of force me to prioritize things down and out of the list... I'm rambling, so I'll just go back to what I wrote before--I can't really explain what's going on with me.

The bowl in the backyard is almost done, though, and we've been skating it a ton. Lots of fun... I'm still trying to get photos together.

June

Maybe I'll write later. So many trials, and all God seeing what I'll do, how I'll react. I have to think slowly, for once.

May

So much to write about, so little time...

It's already the 12th of May? Life is flying by. So the last few weeks I've been back into the project in the backyard. I'll try to get photos up soon. I've been building a pool/bowl for skateboarding. It's become an obsession, and doing it at the same time as I remodel the kitchen, install a hot tub, build two decks, embed myself into a new role at work which I totally relish, and build an outodoor kitchen barbecue area was a foolish decision, but it's coming together, finally. I'm up to over 700 tons... yes that's right, tons, of dirt out of the hole in the backyard. The neighbors love me, I'm sure.

Our company switched to T Mobile, which sucked, and I'm now on Boost, which rules.

Slint and New Model Army within a few weeks of each other? Still mind-boggling. Two of the top ten shows I've ever seen... along with At The Drive In, Bad Brains, Fugazi, Drive Like Jehu, The Clash, the Sex Pistols and others. And my musical... habits have been sort of tweaked by Against Me! It's all I've been listening to for so long. It's been about a month now and it's all I want to listen to. The last time I really remember being this obsessed with a single band was on a road trip in 1990 when I listened to Fugazi non-stop, and before that I remember doing the same thing with Bad Religion's Suffer. I've loved those bands for years now so the Against Me! thing is a good sign...

April

Wow, is March really gone without me writing a single thing in this thing? A lot has happened. I've got a hole in my backyard that a pool is supposed to be in someday soon, I'm remodeling my kitchen, I saw two of the best shows of my life (New Model Army and Slint), I got a new dog from a guy who didn't tell me the dog was deaf, and my new job is very intense and time-consuming. But rewarding. And Hugh is here! That's enough to keep anyone away from the computer.

February

Have you ever heard of the Seven Degrees of Separation theory that says within seven people, everyone in the US knows everyone? Basically, I know someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows someones who knows anyone you could name in the US. So, I know someone who knows Clint Eastwood, and Clint Eastwood knows Robert DeNiro, so I'm three degrees from Robert Deniro, etc... Anyway, try it sometime. You can probably name it. But even if you can't, I'd bet it's true. And then when you're done, check out this site, where my friend Justin Pearson connected his band Swing Kids to Yes, and The Locust to Van Halen.

Now playing: Heavy Vegetable, Pinback, Three Mile Pilot.

Gene, where are you?

Man, I just listened to Three Mile Pilot for the first time in a long time, and they are so amazing. I am so proud to be able to say that I released that Goldenrod 7" with "This Divine Crown" and "The Open Sided." "The Open Sided" is one of my favorite songs of all time. It is on the singles and comps collection CD that they put out called Songs From An Old Town We Once Knew and it's still available fom Goldenrod, too on vinyl--there are a few left.

January

Now playing: Stay Clean by Motorhead

First day back to work after five days away. It sure sucks that nobody even notices that I was sick. I know some people would kill for invisibility, but it always makes me feel so lonely when people don't notice when I'm not there... it's like getting a hair cut and nobody noticing, although I guess that's more of a girl thing, right?

Ron from the Supersuckers had a Ruby Is Love sticker on his Les Paul... if the photos I shot came out I'll send one to the boys at CrailTap, the best inside joke website on the web, or anywhere else. Dry senses of humor only, please. And have you seen skatefairy.com? Ohmygawd, what are you waiting for? And the triumvirate wouldn't be complete without skatemental.com...

If you're reading this and you're in Southern California, we could really use your support: Contribution is playing a show in Anaheim on January 27th. It's a showcase, sort of, and we need people to show up. If you're interested, please email me and I'll get some tickets out to you free of charge...

Now playing: The Nirvana Box Set

By the way, I think I wrote a couple weeks back that I have guns. I don't want to give anyone the wrong idea... I don't own guns...I inherited, by lack of a better place for them to go, my father's guns. They're going in a safe deposit box and hopefully won't be heard from again for a long, long time. I'm not a fan of guns. If we didn't have guns, people wouldn't get shot... I have a lot of friends who love guns, so I've had plenty of heated arguments, and know where I stand. If there weren't guns, people wouldn't get shot, iot's a pretty simple statement, and no amount of arguing will ever change that, or how I feel about it. So, because I'm not a fan of people getting shot, I therefore wish that there were no guns. In my weird depression I thought it was ironic and interesting timing for me to inherit these guns and so I wrote about it... maybe not the wisest choice, but have no fear, I'm certainly not suicidal, and the guns are now gone.

Hey, friends, I'm really sorry that this blog has been such a bummer lately. I hope it doesn't become something that is so depressing to read that you avoid it. I appreciate the words of support from friends all over the world--in the last few weeks they've come from San Diego, Encino, San Francisco, New York, and Germany, which is very nice. I'm actually feeling very good the last few weeks. Well, except for that bout with food poisoning from the Westin in San Diego. Anyway, I don't ever mean for this journal to be anything other than what's in my head, and if you've read for a while, or if you read down a ways, you'll know how I've battled in my head even with the egotism that goes with the assumption that people actually are reading this. But I've leaped that hurdle too many times to revisit, and have moved on. In doing so, I've accepted that what's in my head, when I write, goes here. So if there's crap in my head, crap goes on the virtual paper. I only hope that my words do justice for the joy that I often feel, and properly express the goodness that I do often feel blessed to have in my life.

I'm bummed that I missed the Indy book signing in San Diego. It was amazing, by all accounts, and Bryce Kanights can be proud to know that he's put on one of the best events ever in skateboarding...

Cool records I bought on my recent trip to the best record store in the world (yes, even better than Ameoba): The Easy Cure Three Imaginary Boys reissue plus bonus disc; The Hip Hop Box; Pinback's newest, Summer in Abaddon; Q and Not U, Power; Franz Ferdinand s/t; and the Young, Gifted, and Black roots reggae comp. I also saw two great shows in San Diego this last weekend: Rocket From The Crypt with Deadbolt and a new hardcore quartet named Spacehorse with Matt Anderson, Scott Barteloni, Russell from Fischer and The Shortwave Channel, and Adam, the guy Matt Goldsby says has more hardcore knowledge thatn anyone in the world. All were rocking. And last night I saw Fluf! How amazing to hear those songs live. Really, really, good to see and hear Fluf. They played with the Supersuckers, who were great, but for some reason the crowd turned me off. I know, I know, I've espoused many times that I shouldn't let what other people do effect my enjoyment of something. It only did in as much as I didn't give the band as much of a chance as I would've if there hadn't been so damn many knuckleheads and dirt-girls up front. The times continue to change.

What do you do when you know your friend is blowing chunks, and it's none of your business. The answer is different depending on who you ask, but this is one that even I'm going to leave alone. Rob, you're blowing it big time.

It's hard to believe that Contribution formed a year ago already. Time flies when you're having fun, right? Our friend Boozy has joined the infamous Deadutantes. Man, they are all hot, and especially Katie, even though I heard she just quit or left or got the boot or something... can't wait to see them. Check out their site.

I think it's a really dangerous thing that I now have guns in my possession. But they won't be for long, though, they've got to go someplace safe. Wait, maybe I shouldn't write that. Oh well, no punches pulled. At least not here. I have to do that everywhere else, this should be one sacred place. And remember, you can't kick me harder than I'm already kicking myself.

Today is my awesome sister Laura's birthday. Happy Birthday, sis! I love you!

So I managed to start off the year with a new cover and I've actually written some stuff. The plan is to actually change the cover photo every week or so. The next one is amazing, I really want to leave it up longer, so we'll have to see. I'm also hoping to put up a page with all the past cover photos, at some point. Soon.

Meet The Fockers was a bit disappointing, no?

Did I already mention that it's time to lose weight? Being fat sucks. The good news is, I have only myself to blame. Damn Krispy Kreme opened up near the house. Donuts are my downfall.

Congrats to Mike and Heather, who just agreed to enter into marital bliss!

Now Playing: Gang Of Four, Contract, from the Peel Sessions. It really sucks that John Peel died. He was a champion of good music, no matter how much money was behind it, and usually even more of a champion when there wasn't much or any money behind the music. Money is such a factor in everything, and that sucks. He'd Send In The Army from Urgh! A Music War was the first Gang Of Four I heard, although my friend Nathan had Entertainment in about 1981. He loaned me the vinyl around then, a couple years after it came out, and I taped it, but I didn't really get it and fall in love with Gang Of Four until about 1987. Such an amazing band.

If this dribble sounds like it was written when I was drunk.... oh well. Maybe a drinking problem would be better than some of the other problems I've got. Speaking of being drunk, it's unanimous: the song I reach for most upon inebriation is Refused's New Noise. Second choice would be their song Summertime vs. Punk Routine. Third is, surprise, surprise, anything by Inch.

It's 2005 and I'm going to write. Probably too much, again. But what the hell. There's a lot to be thankful for, despite all the crap that our leaders pull. $40 million on Bush re-inaugral celebration. That's a bunch of crap. But I digress. I am going to write. To make up for lost time. To spit it all out. I'm going to stop worrying about the outcomes, because the worst possible outcomes won't hurt anyone, except possibly myself. If you've read this tripe for a while, it'll be nothing different, it's just be more than we've seen the last year or so... and I have a feeling it's going to be worse.

Now Playing: Elliott Smith, From A Basement On A Hill.

Elliott Smith is so amazing. The last record is my favorite. there's more electric stuff, but there are still songs like Memory Lane and Let's Get Lost that are emblematic Elliott Smith, just perfect little pop songs that somehow transcend the meaningless that mainstream culture produces endlessly. I'm not sure if I'm glad that not more people know about this sort of underground music, so that I can still feel like I have it all to myself, or if I wish everyone knew, because it's so beautiful, and I have have a benevloence towards people in general that makes me wish them well. Am I this sick that I need to wonder about this stuff? Isn't this supposed to be stuff that we grow out of in high school or college? What's wrong with me? What's that on your shoulder? What, my head? Anyway, I've really been into Elliott Smith lately.

Desert Island Bands, January 1, 2005:
The Clash
The Sex Pistols
Fugazi
Minor Threat
The Faction
X
Rocket From The Crypt
Inch
Radio Birdman
The Beatles
AC/DC

Bands that have been burning holes in my iPod screen because they've been there so much this year:
Refused
Inch
Bob Dylan
Elliot Smith
Radio Birdman
Gang Of Four
Moving Units
Reeve Oliver
The Clash
AC/DC
Rancid
International Noise Conspiracy
Jimi Hendrix
Rocket From The Crypt
Afghan Whigs
Reeve Oliver
Billy Bragg
D.O.A.
The Germs
Jawbreaker
The White Stripes
Worked World

I wonder why I do this? And then I wonder why I wonder why I do this.

Dear You,
Thanks for being nice and polite. It's noticed and it makes a difference, despite all the lessons that I've been taught otherwise. It makes me think and realize that being nice counts for a lot. I need to learn that lesson a little more often.

Dear You,
I'm sorry I can't be more for you. What I'm giving is now all I can give. It makes me sad that there's not more, but this is it. I enjoy what there is, but this is it. There's a good song I never thought I'd say I like, by Phil Collins, called That's All. Check it out.

Dear You,
Thanks for being an inspiration. For realizing that you're not perfect, but for still being what you are, for being proud of being a punk rocker, an idealist, and for not ever sacrificing the ideals that you espoused. Growth happens and ideals don't have to change, even as the times do. The unconditional love is noticed and appreciated. Please know that you continue to inspire. Thanks.

Dear You,
Thanks for nothing. There were some good times, but you've somehow even managed to ruin most of them, no matter how long ago they were. Instead of memory being kind, you've trumped time, and made them worse for yourself. But I've finally realized that your bitterness is your fault, not mine. Just think of all the time you consider wasted. I don't think that time was wasted. I think that time was spent trying to learn and enjoy life, trying to do the best I could every day. And it's taken me a while to learn that it's not on me, it's on you. I have the advantage, because I know that I have a lot to learn still, still, everyday, and I'm willing and able to learn and grow. Can you say the same thing?

I've struggling here, trying to come up with the words to write about my dad. He was a Colonel in the Army. Went to West Point, is a genius, was an engineer, fought in World War Two and Korea, has a steel thigh bone from an accident in France during the Korean War. His political leanings are definitely to the right. But he's been in the Veterans' Hospital in Menlo Park for almost a year now, and he's not ever coming home. He had a stroke last January, and although he's been hanging tough, it's one of those crappy things where he could go at any time. All the family is spending as much time as we can with him, for the kids it's almost like trying to make up for times in the past when we took him for granted, or were too busy with our own lives to be more a part of his and my moms. I've been trying to reconcile my own politics with the pride I feel about my dad fighting for the country during those wars in the past. It's a weird juxtaposition of emotions...

2004

February

2/24/04: Truly random thoughts:

Despite the stuff that's going on lately, or perhaps because of it, I've been really into playing music and working on the website for our new band, Contribution. There's a link right over there to the left if you haven't already seen it. I look forward to the nights we play music with so much joy that I sometimes feel guilty that I'm able to enjoy something while my friends and family are struggling for more basic life necessities. But other friends are helping me keep everything in perspective, and I appreciate that.

I think the name "Sharks Keep Moving" is a pretty cool name for a band...

I feel grateful that I have my mental capacities, and I pray (as much as I pray) that my friend Hugh can stay strong and healthy.

My dad's life (before me) remains a mystery to me, although I'm finding out more bits and pieces. I'm going to see him day after tomorrow.

My sister Martha: Wow...such a wonderful woman, so strong... and it just keeps hitting. I guess the more you give of yourself and the more you open yourself to love and goodness, the more chance you have that bad things that happen will affect you. The more people you love, the more chance that someone you love will face something bad. Kind of a weird inverse justice, huh? Two of Martha's friends were murdered this week. All I can do is think good thoughts (is that praying?) and offer a kind ear. Martha, I'm so sorry for you...

Thinking about finding joy where I can has led me to the assumption that playing music is my new skateboarding. I used to skateboard a lot and listen to music and go see bands occasionally. These days I'm playing music a lot and watching, reading about, and working within skateboarding. I still love both, my participation factor is unchanged, it's just the physical level of involvement (as opposed to the mental / emotional involvement) that has evolved.

My friend Ken Lewis had to close his shop, Hanger 18, which was a good skate shop in San Diego, even if it was a little small... it was his second baby, and his passion showed. But he's landed on his feet with a good job at Transworld and I'm very happy for him. Good job, Kenny!

Snowboarding is fun, although today I felt old...my legs were toast after 4 hours. Well, it was the first time this year and I haven't been skateboarding very much.

My friend Don and I were talking about Hugh and the current dilemma I'm in with trying to help him and still maintain my own position, and Don brought up a theory I've never really heard about input people and output people. Everyone is one or the other, although with different relationships we might fit into different roles. But the people who accept input from other people keep getting it, good or bad, and the outputters are constantly looking for inputters to output onto--output their stories, troubles, good times, whatever... I don't really have a point, it was just a pretty basic principle that made sense for me with a lot of things going on right now, and it got me to thinking.

2/19/04: How do you help someone who won't accept help? Who won't accept that they need help? Who is so concerned with self-image and how others percieve them that they won't tell anyone when they have issues or problems or need help? Maybe that's an easy question for me to ask, since I'm pretty open about stuff. And I'm sure my reasons may be just as unhealthy for why I'm the way I am...but I have two friends (who barely even know each other--the two stories aren't related except they occurred to me about the same time) and neither will ask for or accept help... One is in denial that he needs help. This is actually part of the condition, though, and so I am forced to accept it. But it saddens me that after years and years of friendship, I have to say goodbye to someone. I can't take the constant energy vampirism, and lately, as the issues have gotten worse, the threats of violence...The other friend has health issues that are perfectly alright, because they're out of her control, but she refuses to tell anyone about them, refuses to ask for help, or to allow anyone in to offer kindness. Yeah, I know there are conditioning issues here, but I wish she would get over them... and allow friends to do what friends do. Offer support and friendship...it doesn't have to be anything more.

Now Playing: Afghan Whigs "Fountain and Fairfax"

For the first time in a long time, I've finally got a bunch of my photos in a group show. The show is called "This Is Not A Photograph" and is showing for one weekend only this Friday and Saturday at a private space in Ocean Beach. Miki Vuckovich, Garry Davis, and Johnny Donhowe are among the fine photographers who are taking part...here's more info: SoundAndFury.

Now playing: the Birthday Party, Greatest Hits. I don't really like this as much as I hoped I would. A few hits, but mostly misses.

Last Friday night the Faction played with the Adolescents and Strung Out in Anaheim, a few short miles from here...great show. The Faction played a shortened set, which sucked because it may have been their last show, and Strung Out... well, I don't really care for them too much, but they sounded alright...The Adolescents were great! Those guys can sure sing melodies well... Anyway, turns out the Faction might not be done after all... oh well, I'm glad I saw them in San Jose last month anyway. It was a good road trip with Hugh.

The ramp in the backyard is going away... Lyle, the new owner, is here right now, making the first of many trips to tear her down and cart her off to the new home... I'll shoot some photos this weekend, hopefully, since I've never shot one.

After writing all this stuff about my father (below), writing about skateboard parks seems somewhat trivial. But it's important to me, too, and so I plug on. As many of you know (you know, that avid six of you who read this) I spent a lot of time here discussing what I thought were the benefits of many types of skateparks, and spent some time arguing that certain types of parks were better for "skateboarding" than others. You can read those views below if you care, as well as my thoughts and hopes for the park I primarily designed, the etnies Skatepark of Lake Forest. That stuff is all in October's rants, just scroll down.

Now Playing: Bob Dylan's Bootleg Box Set. Awesome. Thanks, Dave Hoang!

Anyway, the park that sits 200 yards down the hill from my office, sucks. It doesn't suck because it's poorly built, or because it's too expensive (it's free, thanks to my company's donation), or because there are too many kids, or even because you need to wear pads (although that does really suck). It sucks because the environment is absolutely no fun for skateboarding. It's like a prison: think black fence, security cameras everywhere, five guards watching every move everyone makes, and a constant big brother voice on the loudspeaker that says, "Johnny, your mom is in the parking lot." Or, "Sir, please don't hang your sweatshirt on the fence, that's not allowed." Or, "If you're not skateboarding you need to leave the skatepark." They've managed to take what a lot of people see as the best park in the area and turn it into the worst. The kids would rather go to crappy Laguna Hills or Huntington or skate anything rather than go to the etnies prison of Lake Forest. I'm very sad for the kids in the area who will either soon tire of the park, or who will think that that kind of completely stale environment is what skateboarding is all about. Because it's not, and although I'm proud of my work designing the park, it's all for nothing, because the city has taken something based on freedom and turned it into crap, when they had a choice. They don't have to make it this way, they choose to, and they blame it on their constituents, which is crap. It makes me very sad.

Well, I sure didn't get much done here in January! Seems like January is an unhealthy month for me, although this year was much better than last. I also had other people's problems to consider so I didn't concentrate on my own, which is a mixed blessing.

My father was born in 1920 in or near Washington, DC. He spent much of his youth in various places around the US--he was an army brat. Honolulu, Hawaii, Atlanta, Georgia, and San Francisco, CA were all places he lived before high school graduation. He was accepted at West Point Military Academy in the late thirties and he graduated in the top of his class--the class of January, 1943. His was the only class to ever graduate West Point in January, and they allowed this early graduation only so the officers could go off to the looming war: World War Two. At age 24 or so, the officers were to lead the soldiers into battle. As is customary at West Point, the top students choose their Military Occupation, and my father was immediately the Captain in a Military Batallion of the Corps of Engineers.

Dad landed at Normandy (think Saving Private Ryan) on day 17; my grandfather had landed on Day 9. Although he refuses to talk about it too much, basically his job was to lead his company behind enemy lines to blow up bridges, keeping German forces out of the north of France. He's still got a German Luger that he took from a German officer he captured.

After World War Two, he met my mom, they got married, and then he went off to Korea, where an explosion and car crash rendered his right leg metal--he's had a metal thigh 'bone' for 51 years, more than half his life. My brother and sisters were born in the fifties, while the family lived in such places as Orleans, France, Upstate New York; Millbrae, California; Arcadia, California; Satellite Beach, Florida; and McLean, Virginia. At some point in there my Dad mot his Master's degree from Cal Tech, too.

I was a retirement gift to my dad in the late sixties, and that's when he started the next phase of his career. He worked for Philco, then as a civil engineer for Santa Clara County and then San Mateo County. During the early seventies he began fooling around with computers. He hand built an Imsai 8080, which used binary code "screens" (light on or off meant yes or no to any command), in 1974. Thus began his love affair with the computer. He was an early member of the Homebrew Computer Club in Palo Alto, CA, which was where folks like Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak spent a bit of their time during that era. Our neighbor and Dad's friend, Bob Howell, was genius engineer who created the first floppy disk. It was called the Exatron Stringy Floppy. My dad was part of the company, and part of his role was to take the genius, scientific jargon that the layman couldn't understand, and rewrite, reword, and restate it so that everyone could understand highly technical information. And thus launched his third career: he coauthored a few handfuls of books, taking highly scientific and technical information and rewriting it so that the recreational home computer user could understand.

Although I of course have a million stories, this is the gist of what I know about my dad's life. I can tell you about the man himself, and his integrity, and the caring, and the changes he made to better himself, and the love he felt and did share, or didn't share, but those things only matter to me. Hell, perhaps all of this only matters to me... Anyway, my father had a stroke the day before his 84th birthday, a couple of weeks ago, so of course I've been thinking about his life a lot. I don't know too much. Much of what I do know I know because my friend Daniel Harold Sturt rode with my father and me in a moving truck in 1989 for eight hours, and Dan pulled more out of my Dad about the war and the crap that Dad was so secretive about than I've heard the entire rest of my life. I know that he taught by example, and that he was very tough. He was very tough on my brother, to the point that it led to a lifelong rebellion. He taught the kids to be tough, and strong, and work hard, and to stay busy, and never be happy with the status quo, and to always strive to do our best, and don't settle for anything less. And in those lessons, he taught us that if we didn't like his way, to think about and create our own way, and that's the best lesson I learned.

Dad is in a health care facility. It sucks to see him there, but at least I get to see him, and I hope I get to for a long long time. At West Point they have a tradition: there's a long-standing honor bestowed on the Oldest Living Graduate. That's always been Dad's goal, and he's not too far away. I know he's going to make it.

Now Playing: Sparta

Lance Mountain Jr got married! Kelli and Lance tied the knot a few weeks back and have moved into an apartment in Long Beach! Awesome!

Now playing: Goodie Mob. Yep, one of two or three hip hop bands I like, thanks to Erik Ellington and Elissa Steamer and crew from TumYeto tours a few years back. Stoner vans rule!

Last May after our show for Dusty's birthday party, Lance Jr. pretty much decided he didn't want to play bass anymore...and he stopped joining us for Sten Guns practices. We kept at it, and as Hagop wrote more new songs we kept getting more and more excited about playing. Lance J didn't want to do it, though, and no matter how much we held out, it seemed like he wasn't going to rejoin us... So when an offer for a couple of good shows came down the pipe, we thought we'd do them with our friend Javi. But it turned out that Lance didn't want to do them without Lance Jr, so that fell through. So Hagop and I put Sten Guns on hold for a while and started a new band: Contribution. Despite being what Lance has called "a Sten Guns cover band!" we managed to play a couple of great shows, and we're all really into it, playing a lot, and working on songs all the time... watch for the new Contribution website here soon. And thanks, GSD, for the artwork!

You know, I wrote all that stuff about my old man up there, and I think I've been at a little bit of distance from it all, and not really able to absorb the mortality of my father. My sisters have been damn amazing about the whole thing. I was really afraid to go see my father. I know, right after it happened, that he was getting care, because my sister Martha flew to San Jose and stepped into take care of everything. I'd like to think that I was capable of doing all that she did if it was necessary, but I don't have to wonder--she acted instead of wondered. And Laura has been a constant buoy for Martha, and we've all been up there doing little things that hopefully help the family situation, my mom, and therefore, my dad. This is one of the toughest things I've ever had to face, and I'm very thankful I have grown close to Laura and Martha and have them in my life. Today is Martha's 50th birthday, too! Happy birthday, big sister! I love you!

Now Playing: REM, Murmur and Reckoning comp CD.

January

Wow, it's been a while since I've written. This journal was sort of too much too handle for a while, and also, I've been doing my old favorite thing--actually out living. Lots of things to write about, so I'll write notes to myself here: Lance Junior got married; the etnies skatepark of Lake Forest is a great park in a completely terrible, stale environment; I've got a new band called Contribution; my father had a stroke; my sisters are amazing; I'm tearing down the ramp in the backyard; and the Faction got asked to play one more show with the Adolescents (one of their favorite bands) so I'm going to see them one more time about three miles from my house! If all goes well I'll be writing more about all of these things in the next few days. Until then...

2003

December

Am I the only one who watches people in the so-called pit at punk shows and gets disgusted? Is it a sign of age? Or is the irony of the de-evolution of the pit evident to anyone else? Here's what I mean: In the late seventies and the early eighties, "punk rock violence" was a common theme of news stories. But for the most part the pieces focused on the slam dancing, which was, ironically, the least violence part of the hardcore experience. The circle pit dancing, the skank, and the slam dancing of the times were violent in nature, but it was more violent by default: the point of the dance was not the violence, it was more a by-product of the dance. At the Thrasher Skater Of The Year party in San Francisco last night the way the kids danced was so silly. No rhythm, no movement to the music at all, it was just pushing and beating for the hell of it. It didn't even matter if the music was on or not... It was great to see Chef Pierre in there actually dancing, arms swung low, having fun and moving to the music. He's a big dude, too, so he was taking out some folks, but that sure as hell wasn't the point.

Bryce Kanights has recently finished the Independent Trucks book. I can't wait to see this thing. It's going to have a lot of great photos in it-- a couple hundred pages of arguably the most powerful icon and team in skateboarding's history. If you've seen the Indy website then you've gotten a taste of what's to come, and with Bryce behind the project you know it's going to be great. Watch for it in early 2004!

The Faction played what may be their last show in San Jose on Friday night. I love that band. I think that part of it is what they've meant to me for so long, and part of it is that it's great music. I first heard them in early 1983, and they were one of the first punk/hardcore bands I ever heard. On top of that, they were skateboarders and I identified with them and the stuff they sang about. That's definitely something that I think kids today are missing--which may not be a bad thing. But kids now don't have a need to seek out the companionship of other "outsiders" who ride skateboards. Everyone rides a skateboard. The skateboarders who start today aren't doing it to stand out, they're doing it and fitting in... it's not bad, it's just different than the way it was. I'm not sure if the Faction's music sounds outdated to other people. To me it seems to stand the test of time perfectly, and they're better now than they've ever been. I'm sad they're calling it quits, but glad I got to see them as many times as I did.

A lot of us have what we call Guilty Pleasures when it comes to the music we listen to. Maybe it's a band whose aesthetic or ideals don't correspond with the rest of our musical tastes. Maybe it's a band who is so drastically different or outdated or mysoginistic that you're just embarrassed to have them in your record collection. Maybe they're just not "cool" in the eyes of our peers and we don't care. Anyway, I've got a few of them, and I'm sure I'll think of more as soon as I close the computer for the day... for now, here's my current list of guilty pleasure music: The Offspring, Millencolin, Green Day, Heart, The Waitresses, Weezer, Buffalo Tom... I guess these are the bands that people give me crap for liking, or having in my record collection. There are also a couple bands I really can't stand that a lot of people in my different peer/friend groups love: Guns n Roses, Led Zeppelin, Danzig, Motley Crue, Slayer, Nation of Ulysses, and more... Yep, I managed to write for five more minutes on a subject that can be considered completely useless!

Many of you have probably seen this elsewhere, but some haven't. It's worth reading, so I'm duplicating it. It's from Michael Moore. I don't always agree with everything he says, but he provokes thought, and that's more than many people in positions of power are doing. In fact, they usually want to discourage thought and closer inspection. So here goes:

We Finally Got Our Frankenstein... and He Was In a Spider Hole! -- by Michael Moore

December 14, 2003

Thank God Saddam is finally back in American hands! He must have really missed us. Man, he sure looked bad! But, at least he got a free dental exam today. That's something most Americans can't get. America used to like Saddam. We LOVED Saddam. We funded him. We armed him. We helped him gas Iranian troops.

But then he screwed up. He invaded the dictatorship of Kuwait and, in doing so, did the worst thing imaginable -- he threatened an even BETTER friend of ours: the dictatorship of Saudi Arabia, and its vast oil reserves.  The Bushes and the Saudi royal family were and are close business partners, and Saddam, back in 1990, committed a royal blunder by getting a little too close to their wealthy holdings. Things went downhill for Saddam from there.

But it wasn't always that way. Saddam was our good friend and ally. We supported his regime. It wasn't the first time we had helped a murderer. We liked playing Dr. Frankenstein. We created a lot of monsters: the Shah of Iran, Somoza of Nicaragua, Pinochet of Chile. And then we expressed ignorance or shock when they ran amok and massacred people. We liked Saddam because he was willing to fight the Ayatollah. So we made sure that he got billions of dollars to purchase weapons. Weapons of mass destruction. That's right, he had them. We should know -- we gave them to him!

We allowed and encouraged American corporations to do business with Saddam in the 1980s. That's how he got chemical and biological agents so he could use them in chemical and biological weapons. Here's the list of some of the stuff we sent him (according to a 1994 U.S. Senate report):
* Bacillus Anthracis, cause of anthrax.
* Clostridium Botulinum, a source of botulinum toxin.
* Histoplasma Capsulatam, cause of a disease attacking lungs, brain, spinal cord, and heart.
* Brucella Melitensis, a bacteria that can damage major organs.
* Clostridium Perfringens, a highly toxic bacteria causing systemic illness.
* Clostridium tetani, a highly toxigenic substance.
And here are some of the American corporations who helped to prop Saddam up by doing business with him: AT&T, Bechtel, Caterpillar, Dow Chemical, Dupont, Kodak, Hewlett-Packard, and IBM (click here for a full list of companies and descriptions of how they helped Saddam)

We were so cozy with dear old Saddam that we decided to feed him satellite images so he could locate where the Iranian troops were. We pretty much knew how he would use the information, and sure enough, as soon as we sent him the spy photos, he gassed those troops. And we kept quiet. Because he was our friend, and the Iranians were the "enemy." A year after he first gassed the Iranians, we reestablished full diplomatic relations with him!

Later he gassed his own people, the Kurds. You would think that would force us to disassociate ourselves from him. Congress tried to impose economic sanctions on Saddam, but the Reagan White House quickly rejected that idea -- they wouldn't let anything derail their good buddy Saddam. We had a virtual love fest with this Frankenstein whom we (in part) created.

And, just like the mythical Frankenstein, Saddam eventually spun out of control. He would no longer do what he was told by his master. Saddam had to be caught. And now that he has been brought back from the wilderness, perhaps he will have something to say about his creators. Maybe we can learn something... interesting. Maybe Don Rumsfeld could smile and shake Saddam's hand again. Just like he did when he went to see him in 1983 You can find a photo here.

Maybe we never would have been in the situation we're in if Rumsfeld, Bush, Sr., and company hadn't been so excited back in the 80s about their friendly monster in the desert. Meanwhile, anybody know where the guy is who killed 3,000 people on 9/11? Our other Frankenstein?? Maybe he's in a mouse hole. So many of our little monsters, so little time before the next election.

Stay strong, Democratic candidates. Quit sounding like a bunch of wusses. These bastards sent us to war on a lie, the killing will not stop, the Arab world hates us with a passion, and we will pay for this out of our pockets for years to come. Nothing that happened today (or in the past 9 months) has made us ONE BIT safer in our post-9/11 world. Saddam was never a threat to our national security. Only our desire to play Dr. Frankenstein dooms us all.

Yours
Michael Moore
www.michaelmoore.com

For a look back to the better times of our relationship with Saddam Hussein, see the following:

Patrick E. Tyler, "Officers say U.S. aided Iraq in war despite use of gas," New York Times, August 18, 2002

William Blum's cover story in the April 1998 issue of The Progressive, "Anthrax for Export."

Jim Crogan's April 25-May 1, 2003 report in the LA Weekly, "Made in the USA, Part III: The Dishonor Roll."

"U.S. had key role in Iraq buildup; trade in chemical arms allowed despite their use on Iranians and Kurds," Washington Post, December 30, 2002.

"Iraqgate: Saddam Hussein, U.S. policy and the prelude to the Persian Gulf War, 1980-1994," The National Security Archive, 2003.

That should be plenty to keep us occupied for a while!

Now Playing: Skull Kontrol. "New Rock Critic" is such a great song...

My friend Hagop is a great songwriter. Lyrically, he's up there with greats like Costello when it comes to humanist lyrics. It's pretty rad to be able to play guitar on his songs...

I'll let others gush about the etnies Skatepark of Lake Forest. I've done enough here before it opened... Click on these two links for photos and more. SoCalSkateparks.com Transworld Skateboarding

It's so cheesy to write about the benevolence of humanity around this time of year--if we feel benevolent shouldn't we feel that way all year-round? Anyway, today the weather was so great and the sky was so perfect looking, with high clouds and a gorgeous, irregularly colored sunset, and tonight, working around the house I felt so energized. It's a good time of year to feel OK about myself, about helping out poor kids and their mothers, about spreading love and joy, and making other people feel good about themselves. Is there something wrong with me? Is that what I sat down to write?

Watching Lance take his first runs in the pool at the skatepark was so amazing. First run was backside and frontside carve grinds, backside forever grinds in the deep end, rocknroll, frontside grind, and out...all with Lance style. Can't be beat. It only got better from there.

I have jury duty tomorrow. I'm sort of excited to be doing my civic duty but I also see it as an inconvenience. Is that selfish to feel that way? I could have gotten out of it again. Well, either way, I guess that action (going) is louder than the words (complaining) and so I'll leave it at that.

Ack! I need space and time and I feel like everyone around me is so damned sensitive...

I wrote this line above the other night, about a week ago, after returning from a trip and then having the pressure of the grand opening of the skatepark looming... it's funny that travel used to be so much of a release for me and now time being home is the calming agent.

Now Playing: International Noise Conspiracy, following the Moving Units, who are playing at the Glass House in Pomona tomorrow night. I'm bummed I can't make the show...

A friend of mine lost one of his dogs the other day. It's funny, because I was talking to someone about it, and I mentioned that I'd rather have my dogs alive than some people I know. You know, the old bumper sticker, The More People I Know, the More I Like My Dogs. Anyway, it seems like such a weird thing to say, like it's some left-wing wacko socio-politcal thing, or heck, maybe even some hardcore right ideal that some people don't deserve to live. But I don't think like that really, it's more a way of thinking about things logically, in the sense of what brings us joy, what makes our lives, or in this case, my life, better. And my dogs bring joy, and some people bring nothing but sorrow and bitterness, so of course, if I had to make that choice... But back to Scott, I felt his sorrow and loss so thouroughly, and I felt so hopeless. All I could do was be there and listen, and it felt good to not only do that, but also to share his sense of loss with him. Maybe it takes another dog lover to appreciate or share that, but man, did it hurt. I'm really not looking forward to that day when Booker or Kona or Molly goes.

I just got back from San Jose del Cabo, Mexico. Spent a week or so with the road reps and international distributors that I work with. Some of these people are so amazing and bring joy to my days, something to look forward to. Again I feel lucky to be in the position I'm in. I'm not bragging, I'm simply counting my blessings. Although the surf was lame on the east side, groups of far better surfers than I traveled to the Pacific side, where an amazing north-west swell hit Todos Santos and Cerritos. A bunch of pro surfers from California flew down when they heard about the swell, so the sessions were apparently great fun. It was nice to hear their stories. Our group struggled through mostly bad conditions and had just as much fun. Some of the guys built a crazy lean-to, Mike D. built a bonfire the size of a Ford Expedition and set it on fire with kerosene, Justin and Beth and a crew rode ATVs, Holder took a bunch of friends out in a skiff to the arches, some people rode horses, others jet skis, and everyone seemed to have a good time. And although the raging seems like the center point of these meetings, it's just an excuse for sharing good times with good people. It's the people that matter, people and relationships, and so I feel good about the last week!

I can't remember offhand when the last time I wrote about Inch was, but it's probably been too long. My favorite band, still... I love those three records!

I added some news to the Sten Guns Music page tonight--we've got another song available, this time on The Firm's Can't Stop Soundtrack. No shows or anything much in the works, hopefully 2004 will bring more live action.

I've been writing, just not stuff I'm ready to put here yet. Too many people asking me if I'm really all that depressed. I think that I write it here and it helps keep me sane. But don't tell them you're sane...either way, I'm not as depressed as this stuff apparently makes me seem. I'm busy, and that keeps me going! Next weekend is the grand opening of the skatepark and it is going to be great. I'm really proud of the work I've done for that skatepark and it's been a battle to keep from blowing my own horn too loudly... I know how lame that is to do. Doesn't make it hard to not do. Anyway, come skate! Rufio is going to be playing, and almost all of the éS, Emerica, and etnies teams will be there...

One of the reasons I've been not writing much here is that I've been building a new guitar cabinet and amp head case. I'm not even sure exactly how I got started on this damn project, but I spent most of the month cutting, routing, sanding, gluing, and assembling a 3X12 cabinet for the Classic 50 head I got in October. It's got a Celestion 16ohm G12H out of a early 70's Marshall cab in it for low end (50hz frequency response) and two new Greenbacks for mids and highs (70hz fr) and faster cone breakup. I read about the idea on some website discussing all the new "boutique" amps and cabs, and thought it would be fun to try. It's about done, I have no idea how it will sound, but I'm excited as hell to try it of fun, learning how to use a router and learning about rabbet joints and miter cuts and how strong some glues really are. I'll put a picture of it up here soon, when it's all finished...

November

Skip November. Actually, here's what I listened to a lot in November: Refused, International Noise Conspiracy, Gang of Four, Crimson Curse, Swing Kids, Elliott Smith, Bratmobile, the Rolling Stones, the Rolling Blackouts, X-Ray Spex, Inch, the Big Boys, and the Dead Boys.

October

I got a new Classic 50 head on eBay and it came today. I'm excited that tomorrow I get to go and spend the day up in LA and Reseda going to guitar shops with Hagop...

I've been looking at Honda Elements lately... really cool cars. I wish they held more people. I want to get a smaller, cheaper car, but I still haul the kids around and I'm not sure how it would work with everyone if I had a smaller car. Maybe it's time to stop worrying about that, though. As the kids turn 16 and older they're relying upon me less and less, and I could really use a cheaper car payment...

John Roach is the superintendent of the skatepark we've been working on. On Monday his daughter Ashleigh died in a fire as she and her sister and brother were evacuating from the fires in Valley Center, California. His daughter Alysson is in critical condition, badly burned. The Roach family is on of the many who lost their homes. John has been a kind spirit and very flexible with numerous changes to the skatepark, an incredible man. Seeing the outpouring of love at the service for Ashleigh, it all made sense; they're an incredible family. If you pray, pray for John and his family.

Now Playing: Elliott Smith, The Lime Album

The fires have touched a lot of people in Southern California. An old friend of mine, Donavan Dear, who is the sound mixer on CSI: Miami, and was the boom operator who fine-tuned my career when I was working as a sound engineer, had a close call with the fire in Stevenson Ranch, near Valencia. His wife Francine got dizzy from smoke inhalation one day, and the family was packed and ready to evacuate while that fire was being fought off, but fortunately the Dear family was able to escape with their home untouched.

Almost everyone here has had a pretty bad case of ash lung or soot-eye over the last ten days, but it's still nothing compared to the poor people who've lost their homes. It kind of puts everything into perspective for me. I've been calling a lot of old friends, writing cards, and trying to be in touch with people. It sounds so sappy, but I've been trying to make sure people I care about know how I feel. Sometimes it's hard when distance and behavior patterns don't prove the feelings, but I do what I can. That's all we can do.

Now Playing: Refused, The Shape Of Punk To Come

Time to simplify... the end of daylight savings does weird things to my mind.

Do you ever get that feeling that says it's time to "protect yourself"? I've been so inside myself lately. Perhaps it's reactionary to the depressions I typically go through this time of year, but I find myself enjoying solitude and independence more than ever. It's hard to face when it hurts other people, people who want to be close. It's not intentional. I think the people I find myself gravitating to are the people who are unconditional friends, or at least low-conditional friends. The problem with that as a defining factor, for me, is that all friends are conditional, aren't they? It's an ongoing and usually unspoken condition: "We're friends until we're not." or "We're friends until you screw me or I screw you and then one of us will end it." Would I still be friends with a guy who stole my car or my guitar, or who acted like an idiot and got me beat up and left me lying there while he ran away? Probably not. But anyway, I digress. I mean that on a day-to-day basis the people I find myself calling reaching out to are the people who don't need a lot from me, whether it's time, or energy. The sad part is I know how crappy that is, and I try to avoid that thinking, but there are times it just overwhelms...It's very selfish, and contradicts and negates a lot of the selflessness that I'm proud to have sometimes. But I don't like the end of daylight savings or my birthday or darkness or cold or wind and when they all come at once I do get overwhelmed... god, I'm messed up... and I think I just realized it here once again, right before your very eyes...

Now Playing: The Damned: Machine Gun Etiquette (This is great--it's been too long since I've listened to the good Damned stuff.)

So there are all sorts of fires in the mountains and flatlands about 50 miles from here and the entire sky is gray with smoke. There are ashes everywhere, in the house, in the car, on the dogs, on the ramp, in my eyes. And I'm worried about it? Man, I feel so bad for the folks out in Rancho Cucamonga whose houses have gone up in flames because someone set a fire... what kind of sick power do people get from setting a fire? I don't understand people with no conscience, and when I meet people like that, they scare the hell out of me. And not only the people whose houses are burned, but also all the people out there in the Inland Empire who are getting sick from breathing ashes all day long, and whose houses and plants are getting ruined from the ash that is everywhere...and of course to my wandering mind that leads to remembering that in general I am very lucky. Not only is my house not on fire or completely covered in ash, but I'm not being bombed and I'm not starving. Counting the blessings helps keep me from getting too depressed, I think... and they are there to be counted. I wish the very best for these folks out in Cucamonga and Fontana and Duarte and Arcadia and Monrovia, etcetera...

Went to the Damn Am contest today. It seemed like a healthy thing, a lot of fun, people who wanted to be there, having fun, hungry to have fun and get better and do well in the contest, not jaded, or at least not completely jaded... a good sign, I think, of perserverance and strength for skateboarding on that certain dreaded, unspoken-of level.

I've got about 8 of the Sessions Records Noisses compilation CDs left for sale. Click on the Sten Guns link to the left and check it out...

Now Playing: Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros: Streetcore

My Sister sent me this joke--or is it a joke?--and while I rarely post this kind of thing, it seems good on this occasion.

A Bush Tale: While vacationing on his ranch one August day, George "Dubya" Bush gets thrown from his Segway, lands on a rattlesnake, gets bit and unfortunately dies because the emergency room at the nearest hospital is too understaffed to treat him in time. So his soul arrives in heaven and he is met by St.Peter at the Pearly Gates.

"Welcome to Heaven," says St. Peter. "Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem: We seldom see a Republican around these parts, so we're not sure what to do with you."

"No problem, just let me in; I'm a believer." says Dubya.

"I'd like to just let you in, but I have orders from the Man Himself: He says you have to spend one day in Hell and one day in Heaven. Then you must choose where you'll live for eternity."

"But, I've already made up my mind; I want to be in Heaven," Dubya protests.

"I'm sorry, but we have our orders."

And with that, St. Peter escorts him to an elevator and he goes down, down, down, all the way to Hell. The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a lush golf course. The sun is shining in a cloudless sky, the temperature a perfect 72 degrees. In the distance is a beautiful clubhouse. Standing in front of it his dad...and thousands of other Republicans who had helped him out over the years. . . Karl Rove, Dick Cheney, Jerry Falwell .... The whole of the "Right" was there... everyone laughing ... happy .... casually but expensively dressed. They run to greet him, hug him, and reminisce about the good times they had getting rich at expense of the "suckers and peasants." They play a friendly game of golf and then dine on lobster and caviar. The Devil himself comes up to Bush with a frosty drink, saying, "Have a Margarita and relax, Dubya!"

"Uh, I can't drink no more, I took a pledge," says Junior, dejectedly.

"This is Hell, son: you can drink and eat all you want and not worry, and it just gets better from there!"

Dubya takes the drink and finds himself liking the Devil, who he thinks is a really very friendly guy who tells funny jokes and pulls hilarious nasty pranks, kind of like a Yale Skull and Bones brother with real horns.

They are having such a great time that, before he realizes it, it's time to go. Everyone gives him a big hug and waves as Bush steps on the elevator and heads upward. When the elevator door reopens, he is in Heaven again and St.Peter is waiting for him. "Now it's time to visit Heaven," the old man says, opening the gate.

So for 24 hours Bush is made to hang out with a bunch of honest, good-natured people who enjoy each other's company, talk about things other than money, and treat each other decently. Not a nasty prank or frat boy joke among them; no fancy country clubs and, while the food tastes great, it's not caviar or lobster. And these people are all poor, so he doesn't see anybody he knows,and he isn't even treated like someone special! Worst of all to Dubya, Jesus turns out to be some kind of Jewish hippie with his endless 'peace' and 'do unto others' jive.

"Whoa," he says uncomfortably to himself, "Pat Robertson never prepared me for this!"

The day done, St. Peter returns and says, "Well, then, you've spent a day in Hell and a day in Heaven. Now choose where you want to live for eternity."

With the 'Jeopardy' theme playing softly in the background, Dubya reflects for a minute, then answers: "Well, I would never have thought I'd say this - I mean, Heaven has been delightful and all --but I really think I belong in Hell with my friends."

So Saint Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down,all the way to Hell. The doors of the elevator open and he is in the middle of a barren, scorched landscape covered with garbage and toxic industrial waste... kind of like Houston. He is horrified to see all of his friends, dressed in rags and chained together, picking up the trash and putting it in black bags. They are groaning and moaning in pain, faces and hands black with grime. The Devil comes over to Dubya and puts an arm around his shoulder.

"I don't understand," stammers a shocked Dubya. "Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and a clubhouse and we ate lobster and caviar...drank booze. We screwed around and had a great time. Now there's just a wasteland full of garbage and everybody looks miserable!"

The Devil looks at him, smiles slyly, and purrs, "Yesterday we were campaigning; today you voted for us."

Now Playing: Become Human by Hagop Najarian

Pretty funny--something I wrote below got sent to Sleestak.net and torn up--seems my views on some skateparks aren't well-liked. Oh well. Didn't get here worrying about that. Although I did write a long reply post. No thanks to Ben Schroede4r (sic) or whoever uses that name on Sleestak dot net for calling me out.

Anyway, I wrote this long reply, so I'll post it here. In order for all of it to make sense, you may have to check out Sleestak. Actually, you should anyway, it's been a great zine since before the web days (at least I saw the paper zine a long time before I knew they did a web zine) and it's always been great.

I took out the cussing since I try to keep this site friendly for all-ages. Here goes:

Hi. I'm the guy that wrote the article that got copied and posted here. Keeping in mind that it was and is my opinion, I feel a need to clarify what I said, since in the shortened version that got copied here the context is incomplete.

I believe that what people had issue with was that I wrote that the Oregon crews build parks that aren't good for skateboarding. I did not say they're bad for skateboarding, but rather that they're not good for skateboarding.

Basically, I believe that some of the parks in Oregon, or more exactly, the parks that some of the crews that have come from Burnside (Dreamland, Grindline, etc), are building parks that are not the best parks that could be built as far as the skateboarding industry is concerned. That's a big difference from saying they're bad skateparks. Obviously, they're not--they're a lot of fun and a lot of people enjoy them, so they're good skateparks. Some of them are my favorites... Here's what I meant: I work in skateboarding and make my living in the skateboarding industry. I want the industry to grow without sacrificing what it is all about--the soul of skateboarding. What that means to each skater is probably different, but I believe that if skateboarders are running the companies with skateboarders' interests in heart and mind, we'll be alright. I've been skateboarding for 33 years, I've seen it all, I've never "sold out" and I've made many decisions to turn down money in order to stay true.

In order for skateboarding to continue to grow, we must keep getting new kids to try it and enjoy. If a city is going to build a park, there should be something for the kids to skate. Getting young kids to skate and their parents to accept it is important for that continued strength of the industry. The builders of those parks have argued that kids need the influence of bigger parks and vert in order to be better skateboarders. Well, yes, that's true. But If ten kids go to Klamath Falls, some of them (a majority?) are going to be too intimidated to try to ride or learn on anything there. If a kid goes to Ashland, for example, or Medford, or Grants Pass, it's much more friendly and there is smaller stuff for them to learn in/on, as well as big stuff. It's a simple question of what I would call "social responsibility." A lot of the parks those guys are building are great, but they aren't great for the kids who go there and want to ride street obstacles.

I believe that a park should have a good mix of everything. I wouldn't even go as far as to say that it should be a mix that represents skateboarding as a whole--which would mean that the parks should be 95% street obstacles--no way-- but they should have rideable street sections, since that is what most of the people buying skateboards, and what most of the kids in the cities where the parks are being built ride. Some of the parks that have been built up there look like either the street section was a complete afterthought or the builders have absolutely no clue about street skating. Why shouldn't they be held accountable? Why shouldn't someone call B.S. on that? I guarantee you that if the bowls were bad, all sorts of people would be calling B.S. on the builders...

I know that in small towns like Hailey and Klamath and Lincoln City, the kids are adapting. But I've been to those towns and talked to kids who felt ripped off because they didn't get a good street course. It's not popular to say it, but the kids in Brookings who will never jump over that pool gap feel ripped off that there is one set of stairs with ledges to constitute their park. The kids in Port Orford don't go to the park--they were at the local 7-11 or CircleK when I went through there this summer, and said they hated the park and skated the school...

It's easy for guys who get their boards for free to rip those parks, but for the kids of the future, it's a sad picture. For someone who wants to skate everything, it's a rip off. I wouldn't expect anyone else to say "f*** the street stuff" and dictate to me what I should ride any more than I would say "f*** the tranny" to anyone. So if the parks aren't meeting the needs of everyone, why can't I say they're not good for skateboarding? Perhaps what I should have said is that they're not as good for skateboarding's future as they could be.

I know that a lot of people don't give a crap about "the industry" but I do--and I worked my ass off from 1993 to 1997 to change the HRA law in California which other states are following now. And believe me--these parks would not be built at all if the industry was crummy and there wasn't money to be made. If there were no kids skateboarding (a strong industry) then they wouldn't be going to city meetings and asking for a skatepark in enough numbers to make a difference... So, no industry or a weak industry means shooting ourselves in the foot as far as parks go... The industry is not Andy MacDonald--he's outside the industry when he sells that stuff to Costco or whoever. The industry is largely (obviously not entirely) made up of guys who've been doing this for a long time and do care about skateboarding. Julien Stranger, Jim Thiebaud, Mic-e Reyes, Tod Swank, Paul Schmitt, John Lucero, Lance Mountain, Don Brown, Jim Gray, Chris Miller, etc... guys who are still working to make things good for skateboarders. Yes, they make money, but those guys and a lot more are also fighting to keep things pure and good for skateboarders of the future.


To answer some of the questions and comments that people had after the post:

I am taking the end product with thanks--I was commenting on the fact that the designing is a lot harder than it seems, and I was stating that other people are second guessing me. It's very easy to look at a finished product and see the flaws, and that's what others are doing, even when they loved the idea going into the building process. But as soon as it's built, it's "Oh, that should've been built like this..." I skated the park today and had a great time, though!

About the etnies park and cost: as that guy Eric said, the park will be around $40 for a year membership--after that, each time you skate, it's free, any time. Compared to $14 for two hours at Vans, I'd say they're doing pretty well.

A couple of the guys from Dreamland mentioned that the crews do not have full creative control at building these days. I stand corrected. I was under the impression that they only took those jobs where they would. I was misinformed and I was wrong. And yes, I'm new at the design process, and like I said in my journal entry, it's a thankless, tough job, and I've earned a lot of respect for "all skatepark builders."

SwitchNollieKGrind is so critical of people who think differently than he does that it hardly warrants a mention, other than to say it was that kind of mentality--"People who think differently than I do must be 'hit by a bus,' called idiots, or otherwise ridiculed"--that the jocks had against skaters all the time I was the only skater in my high school a long time ago. What a sad existence. (Note: this gentleman later posted that his sarcasm didn't transalte through the web very well...?)

As for what Tom said: "I can't think of a single exception to the rule that kids (of any age) and/or their parents get themselves invested in their town's public process and will their skateparks into fruition. Neither mainstream media nor the skate industry play roles in making that process happen." He's absolutely right--kids get the parks built--by putting pressure on the cities. Well, the pressure wouldn't be there if the industry was weak. The industry (not the people in the industry, but rather the intangible industry--the business made up of skateboarding companies) may be a result of the kids, or the kids may be a result of the industry, but either way, the industry's strength is reflected in the skateparks--so what I said before stands. It may be a vicious circle, but you can't continue to get new parks built if the industry ceases to exist--there would be no kids pressuring cities. And if there were no kids pressuring cities, then at some point in the future, the industry would suffer.

Sort of funny that my journal entry even got posted here. It was after a bad day of work... man, I had no idea. I changed my post on my website to reflect what I wrote above: those parks aren't not as good for skateboarding's future as they could be. Wow, lots of fun!

Now Playing: Streetcore by Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros

Neighbors: can't live with 'em, can't kill 'em...

I just added a couple of articles I wrote a while back about sponsorship. Actually, one about getting sponsored and a silly response to all the kids asking silly questions at demos. Click here for the article index.

Nike is a huge corporation driven by profits, and they don't care about skateboarding. They take good care of a handful of skateboarders, and I'm glad for those guys that they're finally getting their due. My good friends Daniel Shimizu and Chet Childress are on Nike and like it. But the guy in charge never skated, and they're not doing anything for skateboarding. They are not making or sponsoring skateparks, they're not supporting grass roots contests or events, they're not involved in the associations that make up the skateboarding industry, and they're not ethical in the way they obtain riders. They're also not taking any chances on young talent and developing them--they're throwing their money around to established guys only and not doing anything for the future of skateboarding. I used to not get what Consolidated was talking about, but I do now. They're coming in and they're hoping to make a lot of money from our industry now that a lot of people have worked their asses off to get us where we are. Nike sucks. If you want to support skateboarding, don't support them or wear their products.

The etnies skatepark of Lake Forest is almost there. We're about two weeks away from pool coping on the skull bowl, and that'll be the last thing in the park. The security guards are there, and they're needed, because today they poured flats in the entire street area! It's getting close! I can't wait...

Why is it that certain older skateboarders--the so-called elite skateboarders of any/all the skateboarding generations, are sometimes the most arrogant excuses for assholes in the world? It would seem that the guys who've been ripping for 25 years or more would be the guys who could relax, not be worried about what people think, and be comfortable with who they are and their place in life. But instead there are a handful of guys who are such jerks and so arrogant and cocky that it's truly sad. The mentality of "I'm great at skateboarding, and if you're not, then I don't want to give you the time of day" is such a pathetic attitude. It's also pretty sad to think that there are people who've been lucky enough to go through life into their forties never holding down a nine-to-five, skateboarding for a living, and earning so much respect and admiration for doing something they love, and yet still they are bitter and sour at the world, as if we all owe them something. Definitely chalk one up for another thing to be sad about with skateboarding. Why do I care? Because at my age, it's heartbreaking to see people I looked up to as a kid be complete arrogant jerks to kids or people who obviously look up to them.

There are a bunch of skatepark sites, but one I've been using a lot lately to get directions and reviews is SoCal Skateparks dot com. It's still growing, but it's done by lifelong skateboarder Mike Hirsch and is really good. If you want info on skateparks, especially ones in Southern California, check it!

A while back I got a new guitar--a white Les Paul Custom, and bought a strap for it from Levy's Leathers at the nearby Impersonal Guitar Sellers, Inc (G.uitar C.enter). Although guitar straps aren't an item most people would give much thought to, getting the right one is important, because using the wrong one is hell. LP Customs are very heavy and so the right strap becomes even more important. Anyway, the lacquer on Gibson guitars apparently never truly dries--it stays porous--and so it soaks up the colors of anything around it. I've seen this with Gibson's own pink fur case lining, and since my guitar was white, the lacquer soaked up a bunch of the dye from the strap, and created a nice stripe of green across the face and sides of my beautiful new guitar... Anyway, I know you're wondering why I'm writing about this here... well, to make a long story short, I wrote Levy's Leathers to find out exactly what the story was, if it was a bad dye on the strap, if maybe the dye didn't set properly, or whatever. I was obviously curious if it was a bad strap, or if it could be fixed, or what the deal was. I got something I don't often get these days--good customer service. A gentleman at Levy's Leathers took the time to call me and explain the situation about the lacquers that Gibson uses (Gibson doesn't change their lacquers because they're what makes the guitars look so nice) and actually give one of his customers the time of day. I appreciate that and I think it's worth a lot. As long as I'm playing guitar and buying straps, I'll be using theirs. And if you play guitar you should check out levysleathers.com

Now Playing: Joe Strummer's new single "Coma Girl" there are two versions, and they also come with live songs: Blitzkrieg Bop," "Yalla Yalla," "The Harder They Come" by Jimmy Cliff, and "Rudi, A Message to You" as made famous by the Specials. "Coma Girl" is great, and I can't wait for the final record to come out...

Wow, I can't accurately express the joy I felt last night as Sten Guns practiced my first song. I still can't sing all that well, but we played a song called "Every Day" that I wrote and sang, and while I've written and played tons of songs musically on guitar and piano, I've never really written the lyrics and melodies as well, and it felt amazing. Lance and Hagop were really patient and kind-- a perfect environment for a singer/songwriter without a lot of confidence... it felt like the times I learned my personal best tricks on vert--frontside rocks, lien to tails, lipslides... a great sense of personal accomplishment...fun.

Now Playing, you ask? Well, lemme tell ya: Powell, or someone working closely with Powell, just released a CD with 25 tracks of Bones Brigade Video Tunes. It's songs from the first three Powell Videos (don't count the promo short) and it is great. It's got the really cool instrumentals from the Bones Brigade Video Show, especially Tony Hawk's part at Del Mar; it's got most of the essentials from Future Primitive, (1-2-3-4! 1-2-3-4!) and it's got a lot of the original music from The Search for Animal Chin. As seems very typical of Powell since Stacy Peralta left a decade ago, the product just isn't great. There are no liner notes, all the artists are either abreviated or dittoed or unidentified (who were the Rad Boys or Los Pukes, and who was Johnny Rad?), and there's nothing to learn from looking at the CD. There are a bunch of badly collaged photos from the videos, a great cover shot, and that's mostly it. Pretty disappointing. I'm not sure how to get it--it looks almost bootlegged in nature, but if you can find one, it's definitely worth owning, despite my lame criticisms. Why can't I just be happy with things the way they are? Anyway, this is great stuff.

Speaking of the Bones Brigade Video Show, I think it's pretty lame that Powell reissued that video in a different edit. I forked out hard cash for the video that started it all, and that I enjoyed as a kid, only to realized after watching that there are scenes missing--a couple of ditch scenes as well as bits and pieces of Lance's amazing street skating, and a few other tidbits here and there. Not sure why they'd do that, but I'm sure that it sucks.

The Sten Guns news page has now become more of a story of the band, which is pretty funny in that we think we even have a story...but it's hot nonetheless. The link is right over there. <---------See it? It says "Sten Guns."

Now Playing: This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb. I think I wrote about this band about a year ago, so scroll way down if you want to know. They're still amazing.

I cannot believe that Arnold Shwarzenegger is going to be our governor. Yesterday was a sad day for California, and most people in the state don't even know it. People like what they know: they like the familiar and the safe, and it worked for this clown. Terrible!

Skatepark design is a thankless job. I've had my hand deep in the Lake Forest Etnies skatepark project for more than two years now and I about had a heart attack yesterday, and for what? Is anyone going to really appreciate it? Will the skaters there still second guess everything--yes they will, I'm sure. Everyone in the world is second guessing everything we've done. Me, too. Anyway, yes it's a tough job, and yes, someone's gotta do it if we want the parks to be good. Let's just say that I'm now a little more forgiving to the people who have designed or built some of the crappy parks for cities, and in a certain way, even less forgiving of the Oregon crews, who only build parks where they can have complete control. Those guys don't have to deal with the city on creative issues--there are no "designing architects" other than the builders themselves, to tell them what they can and cannot do, and yet they still build parks that aren't as good for skateboarding's future as they could be. that are bad for skateboarding, or at least the hope for continued growth in skateboarding. Or, let's say, not good for skateboarding... Anyway, I've earned respect for all skatepark builders in general--it's a hell of a lot harder than it looks. Wally Hollyday and his partner Joe, from California Skateparks, have been amazing, and are doing a great job. The etnies park will open December 13, so come skate it at Christmas time! I wrote a description somewhere down below...

I recently took down the Sten Guns news page--it was incomplete due to a computer screw up a few months ago--it used to be a running journal of the bands progress. At some point I hope to write the story of the Sten Guns, but I haven't yet, so to have an incomplete journal up there was bad...

Now Playing: Slint Spiderland

If today is election day where you live, go vote! Read this tripe later. In California, today is election day, and there is a horrible movement to put Arnold Shwarzenegger into office. The issues are silly, misguided, and the mudslinging from both sides has gotten sooo bad. But to put Pete Wilson's car tax onto (Governor) Davis isn't just, and the way the neo-fascist money-changers have forced the issue because they can disgusts me. No on the recall.

I've been writing the last few days about this little bout of depression I've been going through, and one of the ways it manifests itself is by laziness, and watching TV. Fortunately I've had a lot of playoff baseball games to watch recently. A bunch of the neighborhood kids have expressed their surprise at the fact that I like sports, and indeed have wondered if I'm hypocritical or contradictory, since I often espouse to them a strong sense of anti-jockdom. I've always had at the tip of my tongue the point that I like the games, just not the attitudes. Mostly the attitudes I don't like are those of amateur jocks or high school or junior college jocks, who feel they have something to prove, or somehow feel threatened because I'm a skateboarder, or somehow don't belong in their club. That's the attitude that I find so disgusting, and that's the attitude that got me beat up three times in high school. (I think I've written about this here before.) "Oh, you're a skater?" (Sound of fist flying through the air and then--thud--impact on my cheek). "Skaters suck!" I grew up in a great neighborhood with lots of good kids to play with, and I've always skateboarded, since 1971. But until I was 13 or so, I played organized little league, and I played soccer into high school and then recently. And the neighborhood would always play street hockey and basketball soccer and touch football in the street, and it was always a lot of fun. Never as much fun as skateboarding, but fun to play with my friends as a kid. (I'll interject here that I don't watch baseball all season long--the playoffs are much more interesting to me, where each game has a weighty outcome, with possible long-term and career implications.) Anyway, I enjoy the feeling of watching a baseball game: the rhythm of the pitcher; the private battles each batter presents; the chatter that hums like a locust, in and out of consciousness; the way people move; and the sense that the men playing know how to act (for the most part) and know respect. They don't (again, for the most part) talk about how good they are, they show it. And quietly, with respect. The act of doing something because that's the way it should be done, no need to talk about it. That's something I enjoy. I really dislike the opposite of that attitude, where smack-talk reigns, where things are done simply for superiority's sake. As an example of that attitude creeping into skateboarding, the other day I was at Paramount with the kids and some skater watched his friend try a switchflip over the pyramid ten times, getting close but missing. So this guy rolled in, made it, and got in his "friend's" space and yelled loud enough for the whole park to hear "In Yo Face!" It was disgusting and made me not proud, for that moment, to be a skateboarder. I was talking with my friend Erik yesterday and he suggested that maybe those two kids were fine with that, which of course is possible. I kept my mouth closed that day, but just because those two kids might've been fine with it doesn't make it something to enjoy or be proud of. If you've been reading this column lately you may see a pattern here. I'm battling personally with some of the things that skateboarding has become.

Now Playing: Thrasher's SkateRock Volume One and Two on the iPod

Below I wrote about how I recently realized that skateboarding has become two-tiered for me: I work in skateboarding's industry, but I'm also a skateboarder, and have even defined myself as such, through dress, style, attitude, music, and more over the last 23 years of my life (with a short reluctant break for a marriage). But lately the two levels are incongruent, and I'm struggling with it in some senses. On the other hand, I'm also glad it's developed this way. I can go into the backyard and have a session with friends just like it was 1986, and skateboarding doesn't have to even have evolved if we don't want it to--this hasn't changed, and I am holding onto this aspect of the beauty tightly. On the other hand, there are so many people doing it, and involved in it, and so much money, that I'm hurt and disgusted and saddened and I long for the nostalgia of the salad days/glory days. And of course that brings up another issue as I realize that nostalgia is pointless, and can be damaging. Live for today, and don't live in the past, etc... anyway, I'm not going to finish this now-- This is an ongoing piece--there will be more, I just don't have time today--so stay tuned.

Now Playing: 7 Seconds Compilation/Collection CD

I wrote below about how I always seem to go into a rut this time of year. Last Saturday would've been six years since my ex-wife and I got married. Man, it's been a long strange trip. We were different people then, and I can't imagine where that would've gone. It's not to say that I'm happy it didn't work out, but given where we were, we had to go our separate ways, and I'm happy we were able to do it like we did. And I can't imagine being with her anymore, after again knowing a complete life full of the things that I love. Anyway, I think that the anniversary of that particular failure in my life also adds some melancholy to this time of year.

Also, last week started off poorly when I got in a little trouble at work for being an asshole to someone. As the skateboarding world gets bigger, more and more people who don't understand get involved, and as I rely on others to make stuff happen for our riders, filmers, and other team workers, I often get told that something will happen, and it doesn't. Of course, after I get told that a check will be ready, I tell the person waiting on the check, so when it doesn't happen, I repeatedly get hammered for failing to keep my word. After waiting for weeks for a large check that simply needed five minutes of attention, I explained my situation very emphatically to one of the executive assistants. Of course it wasn't her fault, and my tirade wasn't aimed at her, but still, there's no use in me being a jerk. Of course, this set off a larger discussion, where I learned that there are numerous people who don't enjoy my 'confrontational and condescending' attitude. They're right, of course, I need to be, and I want to be, nice and have people enjoy me personally and professionally. While I need to do it with tact, there still are times when the irresponsibility of others, and others high up in our company, is so ridiculously irreverent that it must be pointed out with whatever passion is needed in order to get the point across. I'm always hoping to catch more flies with honey than vinegar, and I'm proud to get the job done, so hopefully it'll be easy to muster up the tact to present myself as a nice guy.

October first is my ex-wife's birthday. Happy Birthday, Jen! I hope your day is great and that you're doing well...

Wow, October first. Two-thousand and three. Got a great letter this week from an old friend/acquaintance. (Isn't it odd how we're all connected by these things we do, whether it's music, or skateboarding, or whatever, and even though we may never spend any serious time or quality time together, after a lot of years you feel as if you know a person?) Something I've been thinking about lately is the system I seem to have unconsciously developed for separating skateboarding as a business from skateboarding as this thing I've done for thirty+ years. I've been trying to sort out a good way to talk about it, and maybe even define it. There have been things that I've read or discussed with people that touched on it, but I can't quite put my finger on it... Any, talking about it with Christian has helped me get a little closer to pegging the feeling. Reading Dave Swift's editorial in Transworld a couple of years ago about backyard ramps and the feelings of freedom that they produce was focused on one aspect of this similar theme, and has stuck with me. Anyway, still not enough of a grasp on it to write more about yet, but something I am reaching for...And, it's always nice to have discussions with people who I've shared similar paths and passions with throughout the years.

Speaking of Dave Swift, the core of the Transworld staff, that is, the Transworld Skateboarding Magazine staff, has left to make a magazine without Clairol ads and with some integrity. Swift, along with Kevin Wilkins, Grant Brittain, ad man Mike Mihaly, and Ako and Atiba Jefferson will be the producers and owners of The Skateboard Magazine. More info to follow as I get it or as I see fit...

September

The etnies Skatepark of Lake Forest is going to be amazing! It's big--there will be big stuff going down--and it looks good, fast and fun. The first few rides on small sketches of cement have revealed Wally Hollyday's worked to be amazing, as expected.

When I think of "love stories" it brings to mind cheesy Harlequin romances or books by people like Mauve Binchy. In all fairness, I've never read one of her books, but audience and perception combine to form the image. I just finished reading Love and Glory by Robert B. Parker, and while it could be called a love story, it is more accurately the story of a man's personal journey in pursuit of love. This is not a story full of love scenes--there are few of those, and they are very brief. Rather, it is a tale of heartbreak leading to drinking and sinking, which in turn leads to the refinement of a personal code of behavior, as a tool used in recovery. If you've read Hemingway, and know or enjoy the code hero ethos, but could stand to read something a little less dense, then you'll enjoy Love and Glory. This is not pulp fiction, Rachael!

Now Playing: "Depression" by Black Flag.

This song (Depression) looks so funny by itself, to say I'm listening to it, but I'm fighting it off right now--fighting off the tough stuff at work, the tough personal life, the end of another summer, getting older in a few weeks, the end of daylight savings, etcetera. Maybe I'm getting better at fighting it off, though, which would be a bright spot...Anyway, my current try at a solution is to spend a lot of time working, and at least I'll get stuff done. So I'm off to work now.

"To confront a mind that radically alters our perception of the world is one of life's most unsettling yet liberating experiences. Unsettling because it can undercut carefully constructed rationales, liberating because at last the obvious is seen for what it is. However troubling reality may be, human dignity is not affirmed in fleeing it. Rather, dignity lies in seeing reality for what it is--and acting responsibly in the face of it."--James Peck, in his edited collection of Noam Chomsky essays and interviews.

ReeveOliver, a great band from San Diego, has been getting heavy airplay in my iPod a lot lately.

A couple weeks ago I wrote about not wanting to see the Gator movie-- I actually left halfway through, as it started to get ugly. I couldn't handle the emotion that was welling up inside me, and so I split. After talking about with Lance, I was able to see what he saw as the value in the movie. Saturday Stevie and I talked about it for a while, and he finished convincing me that I needed to see it, too. It was funny how those two guys felt the exact same way about the movie, and it's no coincidence that their two lives, being right there with Gator at the fulcrum of skateboarding stardom, followed much the same paths as Gator's, but their choices led to safer paths. I'm now hoping to see the movie.

Now Playing: Chameleons, Strange Times

Ryan Sheckler's streak ended this weekend when Carlos De Andrade ripped his way to first place in Oceanside. Sheckler ripped, though. I like that kid! As usual, it was good to hang with friends--Senn, Swift, Scott Taylor, and Dan Sturt, even!

I've been reading a lot lately, so expect some more reviews here soon. Seems this time of year I always get depressed because of residual back-to-school feelings from being a kid (back-to-school meant loss-of-freedom), and my birthday, and daylight savings and summer weather ending. So I end up buying books and enjoying quieter times, instead of infecting others with the negative energy. Anyway, I'm tackling the Chomsky Reader, which is a tough one, as well as Parker's Love and Glory and some stuff by Frost and Hemingway. I love the Hemingway stories, but they're so dense and slow to read that I get frustrated at times, so I'm not sure how far I'll make it.

Saturday night Lance, Hagop and I played music for a little while at Hagop's house for his birthday party. Mostly originals, with just a few covers. It was a lot of fun, but it just isn't the same energy or vibe as when Cyril is with us. It's still good, it's just different and not near as rich with positrons.

Now Playing: Spiderland by Slint.

Thanks to Chris Ortiz, who gave me a photo from 1991 of me ollieing over the hip at Skate Zone in Tucker, Georgia. I have two photos of myself sort of hidden somewhere on this site, and now there may be three, soon. After checking out my friend Rob Mertz' website once again, I don't feel so bad about having the three--he's got hundreds of himself!

Garry Davis has been working on a new album, here in the garage. It sounds realy good, and will be the first full-length to emerge from my studio. The studio is so self-sufficient that many days Garry goes in and records tracks by himself.

Now Playing: "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding" by Elvis Costello, from The Best of...

I haven't heard from my old friend Hugh in a while, but he called today to say hello and ask that I take down something I'd written here about the car he bought a while back--he didn't like what I'd written. Sorry about that, Hugh! Anyway, I couldn't find it to take it down, so I'll keep looking for it. And Hugh, we sure missed you at Chris' wedding a few weeks back--you should'a been there! Derf, Brennan and Chris shot an L curb photo and we all thought good thoughts about the old days skating and drinking and hanging out... I hope you're doing well, buddy!

Now Playing: Fluf's new one: Canary Training Record

Photos of Mike Vallely with Black Flag here.

All the recent talk (in my life) of hardcore has made me think about the bands that were so important to me during that certain era of my life. Here, in rough order of discovery, are the hardcore bands that made a difference to me:
Black Flag
DOA
Los Olvidados
Dead Kennedys
Seven Seconds
Minor Threat
Bad Brains
Misfits
Ribzy (they were from San Jose and had a song on the MaxRnR comp)
Code Of Honor
Vandals (first record)
TSOL
With the exception of Ribzy, TSOL, and the Vandals, these are all bands that I still listen to regularly today, although I also listen to a hearty dose of new stuff, and am by no means stuck in the past musically. Anyway, the Big Boys and the Faction, the local heroes in San Jose, were a little later but became very important soon enough. At the time of the first hardcore shows I went to, in early 1982, I'd already been listening to punk stuff for a year or more--since Fall of 1980-- but was a johnny-come-lately to "the scene"--there'd been a whole bunch of shows going on in San Jose and especially San Francisco that I never knew about until there was a flyer in the skate shop for a show at nearby De Anza College. That was Los Olvidados, Ribzy, Mistaken Identity, Social Unrest, Whipping Boy, Executioner, Unaware, and more. Also, other bands like Agent Orange and X wouldn't be lumped into hardcore today, but then there was nowhere else to put them, and they were both among early shows that I saw. This was 1982, and X went on to become my favorite band for at least ten years. Although they never had the same impact early on for me, Social Distortion, Germs, and Youth Brigade were really starting to be known in punk circles during this time and the first two were both really popular graffitis (along with the Dead Kennedys logo, the Black Flag bars and the Circle-A, which later evolved into the Circle-A skateboard logo with the wheels drawn under the cross bar of the "A".) I "discovered" those bands in earnest in about 1985 or 1986, when hardcore bands started to disappear and there was room to digest more of the original stuff. (I didn't start to understand or appreciate the Germs until the early 90's--guess that makes me suspect, huh?) Of course, compilation records like Beach Blvd, The Decline of Western Civilization, Hell Comes to Your House, Not So Quiet On The Western Front, Rodney On the Roq, and the Thrasher Skate Rock tape (volume 1) and record (volume 2) were all essential in the wonderful discovery of all this music. Actually, it all came from skateboarding: skateboarding was first and foremost until the last few years, when music has slowly ebbed its way into the forefront of my mind.
That is enough nostalgia for today... (how did that happen?)

A few days ago I opened the forum to reviews of the Gator movie. Greg Taylor, of Ramp Armor (the best ramp surface I've ever ridden) sent me this today:

Mark--
 
Colby, myself and Brad Siedlecki went to see the Gator movie last Friday night in SD after the first night of ASR.  Here are my thoughts:
 
Stoked:  Not Really.
 
Helen Stickler took an opportunity to tell a story that many of us (skateboarders who did not grow up in California) wanted to know more about.  Growing up with Gator as an icon of skateboarding allowed  this movie to strike a chord with me. The first half of the ninety minute movie showed vintage footage of the parks I only dreamed of skating: Upland, Del Mar and the like.  I sat there and wondered where she got all this footage from - the raw clips of Gator, Blender, Phillips and all the pros I looked up to in the eighties.  The fact that the movie opens up with the same beginning from Skate Visions with the all-too-familiar "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah" only to lead into Agent Orange was in good taste.
 
The movie is very factual and at some parts graphic.  There were many phone interviews with Gator where he expressed his remorse and proclamed his faith.  Along the same line there were also interviews with many of his peers: Cab, Lance, Hawk, Jason Jessee and others. I thought many people took the vehicle the interviewer gave them as an opportunity to talk shit about Gator. I understand maybe why they would do that but I maybe I don't.  I have never lost a friend to such a heinous act so I cannot accurately comment on what I would do.  Blah, Blah, Blah. 
 
As I told Helen Stickler on the way out of the theater I wish this story did not have to be told. 
 
If you are a skateboarder this is a must see -  Like it or not this is part of our history.  Excellent movie but Stoked? Not Really.

Now Playing: Reeve Oliver, The Reeveolution EP

I was trying to explain to the neighborhood kids about how raw hardcore was in 1979 or 1980. It's tough to put it into context--even the craziest stuff, that sounded so out there in that era, sounds fairly commonplace these days. When I think of the vintage hardcore years, I think Black Flag, Minor Threat, Misfits, and DOA. I think that most people into it from that time would agree with at least three of those four... Obviously there were others. Anyway, the occasion for the discussion was seeing Black Flag tonight. We got back about half an hour ago... here's the scoop.

Now Playing: Murder City Devils, Broken Bottles, Empty Hearts

We got into the Palladium right as Dez and Greg came out. They both played guitar, and the drummer was (I think) the guy from Mike V and The Rats. There was no bass player for the first set of the show. Apparently it was on tape--someone had played it earlier and recorded it for the set. Dez and Greg played an instrumental first (was it something from My War? I don't know that record too well.) and then launched into the whole My War album. The singer? It was Mike Vallely! I cannot figure this guy out. I really find him so damn interesting, but there have also been times when I've thought he was hypocritical, foolish, and/or meatheaded. Regardless, his awkward charisma shines through, and tonight he did a great job of singing this part of the set, pouring his heart out. He's always had presence, and that adapted to the stage well, as he seems to borrow moves, about 40/30, from Henry Rollins and Ian MacKaye from the Minor Threat days. The other 30 percent is his own. (I'm being facetious, of course, but his influences do shine through.) I'm slightly envious of Mike--I would love to do what he did... Sing with Black Flag? Hell yeah, count me way in...But Mike V is like a trainwreck for me--I don't want to look, I know it's cheesy to rubberneck, but I just can't help myself... And like I said before, he remains completely compelling. On that same note, Mike has always reserved the right to reinvent himself, and as far as I can tell he is always headed in the right direction. By the way, I write this stuff about Mike simply because he is a figure of interest to me, and he and I hold some strong beliefs strangely parallel. As always, check out MikeVallely dot com for more on Mike.

OK, back to Black Flag, the next set was with Sal, the guy who played on the last few BF tours in '85-'86, playing bass. On drums it was Robo--who actually included a drum solo during Louie Louie, which was the last thing I'd ever expect at a Black Flag show. Dez played guitar for a few songs--he played what looked like Greg's clear plastic guitar--and Greg was on guitar, of course. (He was playing a Strat copy with one humbucker, one volume knob, with tremolo--really simple and clean, in black, easy to operate.) After a couple songs, Dez put down the guitar and sang. This is what I was waiting for. They played most of the songs that I wanted to hear, including Jealous Again, No Values, Nervous Breakdown, Fix Me, Thirsty and Miserable, Wasted, I've Had It, No More, and more... After about 50 minutes, Sal and Robo split, and the recorded mystery bass player re-emerged, and they did more songs with the first drummer: Depression, Revenge, Six Pack, Machine, etcetera. The did Gimme Gimme Gimme, In My Head, and a reprised Louie Louie and the lights came up. Lots of fun.

The are so many things to write about. As expected, a Black Flag show in LA brought out a hell of a lot of meatheads. There was a huge pit--it was mellow during the My War set, but once they started playing the earlier stuff, it went as wild as any pit I've ever seen. Reminded me of Bad Religion shows at (at the Palladium) from the late eighties, or in Tijuana during that same time. As usual, I'm torn in my thoughts about the violence. Yes, I understand that nobody is forced to go into the pit--it's there for those who want to...participate. But at the same time, there were so many idiots with swastika tats going the opposite way just swinging fists out at anyone ahead of them, and a hell of a lot of people just looking for fights... I understand that it is what it is, but I guess I just think of and long for the earlier days when it was still about dancing, or skanking, in a circle. Yes, there was contact, a lot even, but it wasn't about the violence, it was about a statement of individuality, against the "normal" way people danced. I realize I'm too nostalgic and idealistic... the pit was about violence--the thrill of inflicting for some, the thrill of surviving for others. Some didn't--there was a lot of blood, at least a couple broken ribs, what looked like some bad back damage, and at least one guy knocked out. I really only saw one fight, although Taylor and Eddie saw another. The fight I saw was fairly mild--two guys boxing for a minute--and no security even came and broke it up. I was also suprised that I saw a lot of girls in the pit--this was a violent pit and there was a good healthy amount of girls--not just boys' fun.

GSD heard on talk radio tonight something about the show last night (Friday night) being stale, with the way the bass was recorded and stuff, but I had fun. It did seem sort of lackluster--I think a lot of that had to do with the fact that the stage was off limits to the crowd, and so fiercely enforced that people were chased and thrown out if they somehow managed to get up there. It was a great time, very enjoyable, but it was still a reunion show, and it still wasn't 1982, when all this was fresh and new and exciting--you know, the Salad Days.

One last thing that doesn't really have much to do with Black Flag, but rather just something that I noticed tonight... I don't understand the whole pride about being trashy thing. I saw at least a couple guys with "Trash" or "White Trash" tattoos--I know it's an identity, but it seems like there might as well be a "Stupid" tattoo somewhere, too... Why be proud of the bad aspects of what you are--why not be proud of the goodness? I know, perception is everything--the question was rhetorical anyway.

Now Playing: The Mercy Seat by Nick Cave, as recorded by Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash died yesterday. His seven inch "A Boy Named Sue" was one of the first records I ever listened to. I remember the excitement I felt each time the climax came in that song, when Sue meets his Dad and says "How do you do, my name is Sue, and now you're gonna die!" It was funny then, and it still is, in a different way. I didn't even know Cash had been sick--I'm sad to see him go.

September 12: I spent yesterday afternoon and last night, and the better part of this morning's early hours, in the studio with Jim Greco and Jimmy Moore, recording some songs. Greco has always been charismatic, but his sobriety has been good for him. He's got a focus that's scary, a constant, urgent sense of being "on," and that all-eyes-on-me attitude...He's a great guitar player and songwriter and he has a very strong, unique sense of where he's headed. Although the session was a little long, it was definitely great to record those guys. And Jimmy Moore on the guitar? Forget it--amazing!

I'm not sure if it's just my age and generation of skateboarding that I grew up in, or what, but Duane Peters has been a constant source of interest to me since I was 12 years old--since he had that first interview in Action Now, I think it was. Not only was he a freak with short hair, but he was funny as hell. His interview and Tony Alva's interview are the only ones from that era whose words I still remember. When I was a kid I devoured every word of the magazines and the interviews were always the best parts, but Duane's interview, talking about getting chased by the Neopolitanos, some gang in Huntington Beach, and about putting on wigs and going to surfer parties and getting chicks with these wigs on--hilarious stuff, and I've remembered it for all these years. Anyway, I think a lot of it has to do with timing--I was just at that amazing impressionable age when my mind was forming, and I've always had this affinity for Duane, even after I met him and got to know him. Of course, there were some darks years, and at some point maybe being as raw and uncaring as he is should be old and sad, but for some reason I don't think about that too much with him. The drugs are a sad part of his makeup, too. Did I say makeup? I wasn't talking about hte stuff he wears... Recently, hearing more and more stories about him from Lance and Hagop, he's become even funnier. I'm leading up to the fact that I can't wait to see the Duane movie. Who Cares: The Duane Peters Story was supposed to premiere at ASR last week, but didn't make it to the show. I think they showed it on Saturday night but I was skateboarding with the kids and so I missed it... I plan to see it as soon as possible, so look for it here in review form soon.

Now Playing: Johnny Thunders, Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory

Speaking of movies--anyone want to write a review of the Gator movie? I tried to watch it and it hit too close to home, so I bailed. It dramatizes and somewhat glorifies an arrogant, egotistical maniac whose mind led him to kill someone. The movies starts off with all this great stuff about how cool and charismatic that guy was, and makes it look cool to be out of control. I was spending a lot of time hanging out with Gator during his last days freedom, so I guess I'm just a wuss and don't want to think about that too much, and that's why I left the movie... anyway, someone write me a review and I'll post it in this here column.

Now Playing: The Vibrators Pure Mania

September 9: Just got back from another ASR show in San Diego, where I was able to spend a shot amount of time with the neighborhood kids riding the Concourse. Still one of my favorite downhill spots ever, it's fourteen floors of good speed, constant right-hand turning, and a nice elevator ride up. Used to be the security gards went home at 11pm, but after a couple of rides we got politely escorted out of the place...

Javi, Oscar, Manny, Kelly, Eddie, Pepito, Pedro, Taylor and I just got back from a week-long road trip up to Oregon and back. While there wasn't enough street skating for Manny, and there wasn't enough skating in general for any of us (except maybe for me) we had a good trip. I want to share some views about some of the parks up there in Oregon and I just haven't been able to find the time... I think a lot of them are pretty amazing, but at the same time, a lot of them are crap... anyway, stay tuned for more feedback on the trip sometime this week.

Some of you who read this regularly may notice that I took some names out of my rant below about racist idiots involved in the MotoCross event at the XGames... well, I was advised to do so by a couple people, and while I feel that the cause is worth standing up for, I feel that my personal safety and that of my family is more important, at least in the case.

Now Playing: Kill Me Tomorow ep (Not sure how much I like it yet, though)

Timothy Nickloff and I spent a couple hours last week down in the dirt at the new etnies skatepark of Lake Forest, going over some final changes with Wally and Joe of California Skateparks. There will be six main sections of the park: the Plaza, the Ledge Alley, the Park Course, the Flow Course, the Bowl, and the Skull Pool.

The Plaza will be all ledges and flat rails, along with a manhole-type ollie bump. It will be wide open and will be big enough to get plenty of speed, because it will be the pushing area for the sets of stairs and the hubbas and rails that lead into the park area. The Park Area will be very linear, with banks to a picnic table, manual pads, ledges, and a couple more hubbas. This section was designed for back and forth flow, with little side-to-side flow, to help avoid collisions and improve rideability of the "street" objects. At the far end of the Park Area there are a wide quarterpipe and a wide bank.

Leading down the far side of the park next to the freeway, there is a Ledge Alley, which leads from the Plaza to the Flow Course, through a bank-to-wall and bank-to-curb section. The Flow Course will have a nine-foot vert wall and corner, big enough to get plenty of speed, and will feature enough tranny throughout to keep the speed. There will also be bowl corners, banks, pump bumps, rollers, and banked pyramids. This is the section in the northwest corner of the park, near the freeway and Lake Forest Drive.

The last two sections of the park are the bowl, a 5 and 7 foot mini-ramp-type bowl with corners, hips, and plenty of speed and lines. This will have metal coping. Last is the Skull Pool, which will have parallel walls in the shallow end (6 feet deep) with two matching hips into a nine foot deep end, with tile and coping.

The total area of the park will be about 38,000 square feet, all skateable. The contours of most of the park have been dug, and Saturday, November 15 is the date that the park is set to open...!

August

Now Playing: The Clash From Here to Eternity (live)

The neighborhood kids watched two timeless punk rock classics today: the live Minor Threat video and The Great RocknRoll Swindle. They're way into the music, even if they don't completely understand the whole attitude thing, and why it's funny that they're sort of 'mall punks.' I guess it doesn't matter where they get the info about the bands, if they get it. So the last couple of days I've been trying to turn them onto bands they've never heard of: Descendents, D.O.A., Dag Nasty, Bad Brains, Los Olvidados, the Faction, Radio Birdman, Stiff Little Fingers, UK Subs, Warsaw, the Vibrators, the Big Boys, etc... They're pretty responsive to all the fast energetic stuff--a fun audience to share with. We'll be in the car a lot this next week on a skateboarding road trip, so there will be plenty of opportunity for more exposure to lots of music then, too.

A few years ago I put up a link to Tim Payne's Team Pain website--they're pretty much the best ramp builders in the business, and should be recognized as such. They're also building some pretty good cement these days, too. The cement at Woodward is amazing... anyway, I saw Tim this weekend and he mentioned to me that the link was down so today I fixed it. And here it is, again!

Now Playing: Circle Jerks Group Sex

I think the worst part of getting my wallet stolen, besides the feeling of violation, was the 2 hour wait at the DMV I had to endure today to get a new drivers license... but oh, well. I've dwelled on that negative energy enough already.

Now Playing: Inch Stresser

Down below somewhere I wrote about Eddie and his shark-bite experience. Well, the little brat was messing with me... he did carry a shark across the sand and throw it in the water, he just never got bit by the thing. Little snot-nose, Eddie. He and his friends read that and figured they'd better come clean. I wish they'd never told me it was all fake. I really liked their story!

XGames were this weekend. Not my usual thing to write about, but it was good to see Ryan Sheckler deserve a win in front of such a large audience. Also watched Motocross Freestyle, and despite the complete meathead contingent of people in attendance, I had a good time. Very entertaining stuff, although there seemed to only be about 15 tricks. Maybe it's like early street contests and I'm just unaware of the subtleties. I probably wouldn't ever go again, but it was good to see once. 909 is the area code of the inland area of Riverside, just east of here, and it's also the locale where a lot of the motocross pros live, train, whatever. There was a loud and proud contigent of 909ers, and worse, people who lived elsewhere but were wearing 909 "brand" gear. Completely meatheaded, largely racist, even if they don't know it, and generally stoopid, dude... When are people going to realize that SS and Iron Cross and Swastika symbolism is completely retarded? It is symbolism that is based on hatred, anger, racism, and most importantly, ignorance. You're stupid, don't you know that? Or are you too stupid to even know that you're stupid? It's 2003, get a clue, and don't wear Nazi insignia. Actually, I hope that nobody that stupid is reading this. It completely disgusts me that there's this whole generation of kids who will grow up thinking that this stuff is OK, all based on the Metal Militia motifs and the actions of that band of violent, dim-witted imbeciles...

Sorry about the rant, it's just hard to swallow all the idiots, as usual.

Back to Sheckler--he rips, he's humble, smart, and friendly--a lot friendlier than his old man, that's for sure. Did I already say he rips? He deserved to win the park contest. Eric Koston won the street contest, which shouldn't surprise anyone. Is there anyone else you could think who would beat Eric when he's on? The rest of the stuff is readable on the espn website or something, if you really want to know.

Now Playing: Sparta's first record. I would've thought that I'd like the Mars Volta more than Sparta, based on the energy that erupted from the two hair farmers at At The Drive-In shows. But I find myself reaching for Sparta for more. I know the two bands are not competing, I'm just making the comparison. I like the Mars Volta record, it's a great Album-Oriented-Rock album in the vein of Boston or Rush, but it's just not the same as At The Drive-In, and I think I resent that a little on the part of those two dudes... please remember, nobody asked you to read this drivel!

I went with Melanie and a group of people from work to see J. Mascis on Saturday night. I was very skeptical that i would enjoy the performance, but man, I was wrong. I loved it! Last time I saw the Fog they played one or two Dinosaur songs and the rest were newer J. songs. This time it was about 80% Dinosaur songs. I like the other stuff, but I feel connected in so many ways to the songs he wrote during the Dinosaur Jr era, and really enjoy them so much more. The show was amazing: He came out wearing an Electro-Harmonix tee shirt, sat down behind a video screen of old skateboarding and various stuff, and started to play as the screen went up. J. ripped on guitar, solo style, with a couple of stompboxes for looping and distortion and that's it. Really, really good show!

Anyone know where Louis Wigger is these days? Lemme know.

Now Playing: "Taxi Driver" by Hanoi Rocks. Before they tried to be really glammy, they were focused on the rock and roll, and they were great. Thanks to Andrew and Justin who turned me on to Hanoi Rocks a few months ago.

Hey, Rachel, it was good to talk to you the other day!

11:30 PST Thursday August14, 2003. So I just got home a little while ago and had to take a long, scalding hot shower. Why, you ask? Because I spent about an hour and a half in a dumpster at a gas station in downtown Los Angeles tonight, diving around and looking for my wallet. It's funny, in a sad way. I'll explain. Yesterday, for the Grind movie premiere at Mann's Chinese in Hollywood, the powers that be at work decided to get a limo for the ride up. I was one of the lucky ones chosen since I'd worked on the deal a little, and I was happy to go. I'd never been in a limo before. So at 330, I parked my car outside the office. I was gathering my things, and the last time I remember seeing my wallet, I had set it on the roof of my car. From there I didn't specifically remember doing anything with it, but I knew that it wasn't in my car, and that I had either left it on the roof of my car in the parking lot at work, or had put it one of the bags of beer my friend Mark had gotten for the ride. I wasn't sure which, I couldn't remember... I figured if I'd left it at work someone would turn it in, since it wasn't on the roof of my car when I get back to the office late last night. But that hadn't happened, and thus I figured it must've gotten in the car with us. So, since that bag of beer was gone by the time we pulled into a parking lot of the Chevron station at Olvera Street, where the empties were thrown away, I figured I knew where it was. Today I called my credit card companies and was told that there were no attempts to use the card, so I thought that maybe it was actually in the bottom of a trash can or dumpster at that gas station. Tonight I drove up there, found the dumpster, and, armed with trash bags and donned with plastic gloves, dove into a full, stinky trash dumpster. I kept telling myself it was worth it, that I wasn't too proud to be doing that. It was disgusting, but it made me really appreciate how lucky I am, once again. I'm a lucky man, I know it. Anyway, after several conversations with God, and after wondering just what in his name I was doing there looking for a small object that holds a lot of information about my life, and after finding the bag of beers with all the other wrappers we'd had, but no wallet, I drove home. On the way I home I conceded to the fact that my wallet was lost forever, and called to cancel my credit cards. I'd put holds on them earlier in the day, and thank goodness. Someone had been trying to use them! At a gas station in Tustin, close to work. So apparently someone saw the wallet on the roof of my car at work and swiped it, one of my co-workers more than likely, since the lot isn't in a place where people just wander in. Pretty lame, huh? But the cards are all cancelled, the DMV line will be short 'cuz I'll make an appointment, and I'll be a lot more careful in the future. I've learned from it... I also had the humbling experience of life at another level, and it made me realize and count my blessings. I gave my shoes to a guy who needed them as I left the gas station parking lot, too. I know that sounds so cheesy, but I made his life a tiny bit brighter tonight. And I can laugh at myself. Somehow I feel more... mature, knowing that I've gone through this and although it tried to tear me apart, I haven't let it. Things are going to be OK.

Now Playing: KNX Drama Hour: Dragnet and Box 13

I finally saw the Bootleg 3000 video. Pretty good skating, pretty good video. Pete Eldridge surprised me with some of his stuff, and Elissa is always nice to watch. The surprise for me, though, was Scott Kane... the kid really is amazing. It's a big time shame, though, that whoever edited his part made it completely boring to watch. There was absolutely no drama, no emotion, no edginess, no anything, to make it interesting and draw in the viewer. The skating is there, and it's amazing, but it's presented in such a "So what" way that it's too easy to watch all this amazing stuff go down and still say "Who cares?" Memo to the editor: create a little drama, a little interest, a little reason for me to get tied in to the rider and all the things that go into that level of amazing skateboarding... (Still, a good video, worth watching--check it out.)

Now Playing: The Saints, Best Of CD

The Sessions compilation "Noises: The Skateboarder Sessions" finally arrived... seventeen bands with skaters in them doing one song each. Comps are sometimes hard to swallow these days, as there's been so many of them, but this one is really good. Of course, I'm a little biased, as it's the first record I've ever had released-Sten Guns have a song--a cover of Stiff Little Fingers' "Here We Are Nowhere" on it. I'm pretty psyched. You can get it at any good record/CD store or direct from Sessions Records.

Now Playing: Refused The Shape of Punk To Come

Not too many people actually get bit by a shark, but Eddie Calderon, one of the kids in the neighborhood and a real character, did the other day. We were at Doheney, and there was a fisherman who caught a couple of small sand sharks--he'd catch them and just put them back in the water while he was trying to catch something else. One of them he gave to Eddie, who was going to come back down the beach and show me... I was still surfing, so I never saw it, but apparently Eddie made a funny voice and said "Oooh, I'm going to bite you!" and put the shark up to his arm, and the shark actually bit him in the arm! This is a 13 year old kid! The bite wasn't much at all, although it did break the skin, and it wasn't much to worry about. Funny story to tell about how he got bit by a shark, though.

Garry and I drove up to San Jose yesterday to attend Chris Johanson's wedding. The ceremony was as I expected it to be--very unorthodox, very original, and very Chris. I haven't known his wife Jo for very long, but she seems like an amazing woman, and Chris is very happy. The ceremony was so Chris--full of humor and love and all kinds of special goodness. It struck me at some point that Chris has had a fondness for certain expressions that emerged during the hippie and beat generations, combined with a sense of eastern philosophies, since he was 18 or so. And he would often say things like "Your negatron energy does not resonate well with my positivity, and karma will come your way." This would be followed by a deep hearty and heartfelt laugh. Well, the wedding was full of these terms, and although it brought a lot of laughter, it was no joke--the positive energy was flowing freely, and a good time was had by all during the wedding and after, and the love Chris and Jo expressed there, in front of their friends and family, was epic. After the toasts, Chris spoke of his love for Jo, and said it perfectly: "Nothing else matters, it's all about friends and famiily." Hear, hear!

Now Playing: Testors CD on Swami

So the other day Lance, Hagop, and I were playing music, everything was just getting going, and I'm the only one who can see the door to the studio. All of a sudden, the door opens and this guy walks in, sort of falls, throws himself into the room, just like Kramer from Seinfeld. But this guy was dark-skinned, had no shirt on, and his fisherman's hat was half-on and completely disheveled. It was Spidey, and it was the first time I've seen him in 15 years, and this was the entrance he made...He played bass, had a lot of fun, and it was a trip to be playing music with yet another guy whose board I rode a long time ago.

I finally met Matt Crane, Garry's long time friend and drummer of Custom Floor. I engineered as Garry and Matt laid down drum tracks and scratch guitars for about 15 songs and experimental pieces last week. Good stuff as always from GSD--can't wait to hear it all when it's finished. And Matt is a great guy and a great drummer.

Now Playing: DOA "My Old Man's a Bum" on the iTunes.

You heard it here first: butt crack is the new cleavage.

This may be a little out of date, but it's still relevant. My friend Garry compiled a list of his favorite albums of the last couple years... it doesn't need more explanation than that, so here goes:

2001 Top Fifteen
(In alphabetical order)
Deuter--Aum CD
Deuter--D CD
Fushitsusha--I Saw It! That Which Before I Could Only Sense 2-CD
Djam Karet--Suspension & Displacement CD
Bjorn Olsson--Instrumentalmusik CD
Charlemagne Palestine--Jamaica Heinekens In Brooklyn CD
Charlemagne Palestine--Schlongo! Daluvdrone CD
Parson Sound--2-CD
(Live) Harry Partch Centennial Celebration @ UCLA (12-hour event)
Günter Schickert--Uberfallig CD
Simon Wickham-Smith & Richard Youngs--Lake CD
Sonny Sharrock--Black Woman CD
Sun Ra--Outer Space Employment Agency LP
Sun Ra--Life Is Splendid LP
Various Artists--Jazz Actuel 3-CD
2002 Top Twenty-Two
(In alphabetical order)
Alèmu Aga--The Harp Of King David (Ethiopiques 11) CD
(Live) Derek Bailey @ Spruce Street Forum (San Diego)
Faust--The Wümme Years 5-CD
Fushitsusha--Origin's Hesitation CD
Harvester--Hemat CD
Harvester--Sov Gott Rose-Marie CD
Joe Jones--Solar Music CD
Carsten Jost--You Don't Need A Weatherman To Know Which Way The Wind Blows CD
Takehisa Kosugi--Catch Wave LP
Magical Power Mako--Hapmoniym 1-5 5-CD
Anthony Moore--Pieces From The Cloudland Ballroom CD
Neu! LP
The New Tweedy Brothers CD
Ouba--Freak Out Total CD
Prince Far I--Cry Freedom Dub CD
Dick Raaijmakers--The Complete Tape Music Of 3-CD
Laurie Spiegel--Obsolete Systems CD (awesome!)
Taj Mahal Travelers--July 15, 1972 LP
Voice Crack--Kick That Habit VHS
Trevor Wishart--Red Bird CD
Iannis Xenakis--CCMIX Paris 2-CD
Iannis Xenakis--Musique Electro-Acoustique CD
Notes: Obviously, these titles didn't necessarily have to be released
(or even reissued) in 2001 or 2002, they are just my favorites from
these last two years. I hope you'll get to hear at least a few of
them. You can find info on all these artists (and just about anything
else) at google.com.--Garry

July 2003

It's the silly things that make the days go well. This morning on my way to work I saved a red striped box turtle from getting squashed on the road. I was hauling down the back way from Orange to Lake Forest and came around a bend in the road, and saw the car ahead of me pass an object on the shoulder that shrunk with the wind. It was a turtle, about 10 or 12 inches across, and it was headed straight towards an uncomfortable death. I turned around and put on the flashers, picked up the turtle and put it on the side of the road aimed way from traffic. It promptly turned around and headed back towards the road, determined to get to the other side. So I figured 'what the hell,' and I picked it up, crossed the road again, and put it on the other side of the street in the dirt, headed towards the marshes. The turtle seemed to know exactly where it was headed, happily trodding in the same direction it had been going the whole time. Do turtles follow the sun? Is this deja-vu all over again? Doug Smith, Bryan Pennington, and Kristy Brauch will all remember a similar story from a 1991 road trip on the east coast... I have a photo of Doug with that turtle somewhere...

Now Playing: The Mars Volta Delousing in the Comatorium

One of the best things I've ever experienced is teaching or showing or sharing the things I love with people who are interested in seeing, doing, sharing, learning. I can barely surf, but this last weekend I got my second surfboard (see note below) and was able to show a friend how to surf, at least well enough that she was able to stand up and ride for a short time after just 30 minutes. Plus, now the neighborhood kids will be able to ride, too, since I have an extra board.

Chris Borst is not from Bakersfield, he just lived there when we all found out about him, as the youngest (at the time) skater to do a McTwist, and the first am to do one. But Chris was weened at the beach, surfing and spending a lot of time in the water. He's continued with his love of surfing by shaping surfboards for the last 15 years, and I am now the proud owner of a Borst Designs longboard--9'6" of clean surfing enjoyment. Thanks, Chris!

In 1999 I wrote this list of my all-time favorite live shows. (The ATDI show was added later.) I'm happy to say that four years later they all hold up and I have vivid memories of all of the shows. After the At The Drive-In show I've added my new additions to the list. These are, obviously, all bands that I would go out of my way to see anytime.
Favorite live shows of all time: (in no particular order)
Fugazi/Fishwife/Pitchfork at La Paloma, 1990
Bad Brains at Iguanas, 1989
Bad Religion at Iguanas, many times
Dead Kennedys, JFA, Sun City Girls, at the On Broadway, 1983
Tanner's last show, the Casbah, 1997
Drive Like Jehu at the Casbah, 1994
Rocket From The Crypt, the Casbah, Circa, Now! era
Rancid, at SOMA, Out Come the Wolves tour
No Knife, pre-Drunk On The Moon
The Clash, SF Civic, 1983
The Faction, many times, 1983-85.
At The Drive-In, at the Troubadour, 2000.
Murder City Devils (w/RFTC) El Rey, 2001
Hey Punk! Skate Punk show with US Bombs, Faction, JFA, Los Olvidados, Drunk Injuns, Supersuckers, and X! August 2001
Rocket From The Crypt, Group Sounds Tour, anywhere, 2001
The Moving Units, Avocado Club, 2001, or anywhere, anytime.
Sex Pistols Reunion, 2002
International Noise Conspiracy/The Locust,Glass House, 2002

Once again, it's been a long time since I've written on this thing. Where to start? Well, I guess with my "Now Playing:" The Locust, Plague Soundscapes

I'm still surfing, although a little less. I've finally gotten past that "complete kook" stage and now am just in the "kook" stage. Actually, by surfing a lot at breaks without a lot of localism, it's easy to be out in the water with a lot of people learning to surf. I've picked up a few things--one important thing has been realizing that it's not as much the actual act of surfing that is tough to learn. The harder thing is geting to know the ocean, the break where I'm surfing, and how the water will behave. Learning those things has helped make it easier to actually stand up and ride the wave--rather than spending 10 seconds standing up on the board in a two hour session, knowing the ropes about the ocean has made it much easier to spend 5 or 10 minutes actually riding, which makes the learning curve for riding much steeper. It's so much fun, a lot like skateboarding was when I was a kid and realized I was getting better each time I skated. In the past the process of putting on the wetsuit and the drive and being cold made it tough for me to stick with surfing, but this time I've come to enjoy the process as part of the whole experience, and it's like few other things I've ever done.

Now Playing: Moving Units s/t ep

During our international sales meeting in June, I was out at San Onofre with friends from Belgium, Germany, Australia, England, France, Sweden, and the USA. Sharing the afternoon sun and the waves with them was almost paramount to those first road trips to ride a skateboard--memories to last a lifetime. If you've read my writing here at all, you know that I've come to terms with my sentimentalism, and I try to enjoy each experience as it happens, knowing that these are the good old days. Well, that day at San Onofre was a good one.

Speaking of my 'problem' with sentimentalism, I've been trying to learn and read about how romanticism and nostalgia are separate emotive tools of the mind. Over the last few years I've tried to separate myself from serious bouts of nostalgia, as I've seen friends get so wrapped up in the past that they forget to live in the present. But reliving an old positive moment is always nice, so I don't think it's necessary to complete eliminate that, I just like the idea of keeping things in the present.

Now Playing: Hawkeye's Yellow Blackbirds, self-released CD.

I've been playing with a new band, Radio Antagonista, for a few weeks. Late night practices with beers, freinds and good times have been pretty amazing, and we played our first party last weekend--it was chaotic, and aside from swearing off ever playing using someone else's amp, it was a lot of fun. High energy, emotionally charged fun music, and Radio Roger is a madman on the bass and on the dance floor while he plays. Watch for a new website here soon!

The ramp in my backyard has been seeing good regular sessions again, and thanks to Dr. G, I've been able to skate again. I've had hip, leg, and back pain for most of the last three years, and have been to three doctors who did everything they could shy of telling me to get over it, or that it wasn't anything. Well, I'd heard about this mysterious Dr. G. for a long time, as old friends like Neil Hendrix, Mike Frazier, Bob Burnquist, Lincoln Ueda, and more have always talked about him and his effectiveness at managing their ailments. Well, I finally went a few weeks back, and found out that I've had a hip flexor this whole time. It's hard to describe without using the doctor-terms I've learned, but basically, the muscles around the top of my thigh bone have been tightened severaly since the injury, doing three bad things: the tightened muscles themselves are painful, and anytime I'd stretch them inadvertently it produced significant pain; the muscles pulled the femur up into the hip socket, produced degeneration of the bones, and arthritic pain; because of the "shortened" effect of one leg over the other, even though it was slight, my back was out of whack. Electro-something-or-other and ultrasound have vastly improved my leg and the pain is already greatly lessened at this point, so I've been able to skate! Man, what a good feeling--emotionally as well as physically.

Before I enjoyed this recent resurgence in my skating ability, I had plans to try to give the ramp away and build a pool in its place at the end of the summer. I may be changing my plans, but if you know of anyone who has room for a ramp and the desire to build one if they got the materials for free, feel free to email me--it's going to happen at some point.

June 2003

The Sten Guns version of Stiff Little Fingers' "Here We Are Nowhere" comes out today on the Noisses comp! Check out Sessionsrecords.com for info on how to get them, or email me here to get a copy.

Tom Penny is here in the US and has been skating hard again for a while. Having recently had a son, he seems to be highly motivated, but no matter what the cause, it's driving his skating to even newer heights. He skated a demo at Active Ride in Chino Hills the other day and was skating amazingly. Nollie cab flip over the hip, switch nose manual to fakie flip, and nose manual to nollie three flip were among the things he was doing with grace. Still amazing after all these years.

May 2003

Hey! We're looking for a drummer. If you know any drummers in Orange County and want to send them our way, it would be much appreciated.

Now playing: The White Stripes "Elephant"

I saw something I've never seen before last night and I'm not sure if it was pathetic or beautiful. I thought it was pretty cool and funny at the time, though. I was with Mike and we came out of this bar in old Orange, near the circle, a couple minutes after two a.m. There were fifty people on the sidewalk all of a sudden, after getting hastily and heartily encouraged to leave the bar as it closed, and most of the people had been drinking for a while. It was ripe for violence. This guy with long blond hair didn't start anything, but he didn't walk away, either. It started with him standing up to this older man who mouthed off to him and who got smacked for his words. Then, of course, everyone piled on Blondie for hitting an old guy. So peace broke out for a few minutes, the young guy apologized to the old guy, and everyone cheered. But then somehow this other dude, who'd been congratulating himself on his peacekeeping efforts between those two, starts to get into it with the blond guy. They start to throw blows and the blond guy is 40 pounds lighter than the other guy--I'll call him Hefty--so Blondie starts ducking punches and going in to wrestle. After about a minute of scuffling they come up and get separated and pulled out of the middle of the street. Hefty had a big bite mark on his arm--pretty funny. Now, during this whole thing you've got to remember that there are 50 people milling around, following the fight, in the middle of the street. These two guys' friends are trying to keep the fight going, guiding traffic around the fight in the street so the two can figure it out. And almost all the girls who were there, and there were a bunch of them, were encouraging the guys to fight. "Nobody will get hurt, let them sort it out." I thought they were crazy. So after they're broken up, and Hefty saw the bite mark on his arm, he went back to Blondie, stood in front of them, and said, "Dude, you bit me!" "Uuuuhhh, oh, uh, oooohhh, uuhhh..." "Are you through?" "Are you through?" Bam! Hefty tagged Blondie upside the head and it was on. Again. A good three minutes of fighting, which after 30 seconds evolved into wrestling--that was the only way Blondie was going to stay alive. Mostly Hefty had the reach, weight, and a little more sobriety on his side, but on the ground Blondie was able to stay even. Not that any of this matter. They'll show some bruises and be scarred for a little while. I'm sure it'll be nice badges of honor for these guys. But the hottest part was after the thing was over and the guys were tired and beat, they shook hands, hugged, and made complete peace with each other. The crowd was now even bigger, and everyone cheered and clapped for these tow drunk brawlers and the entertainment they'd provided. They just wanted to fight, I guess... Pretty hot.

If you haven't seen "Yeah Right" yet, what are you waiting for? Amazing parts from Marc Johnson, Brian Anderson, and Mike Carroll, as well great stuff from new Chocolate/eS am Justin Eldridge, Paul Rodriguez, and Eric Koston. The extra parts are amazing, too. Even freaky Nate Sherwood's got a trick--talk about cred building. And what's up with that guy? Making a porn sponsor-me video is a wacky as it gets. But I digress. Get "Yeah Right" if you can find a copy and enjoy a future classic today.

Tonight I was able to upload those Hagop photos I wrote about the other day. You can check them out here.

Things I've been listening to over the last two months:
X-Ray Spex "Germfree Adolescents"
Afghan Whigs "Gentlemen"
Avengers First LP on CD
Bauhaus "BBC Sessions"
Angelic Upstarts Greatest Hits CD
Moving Units Four Song ep
Twenty Years of Dischord Box Set
Scrimmage Heroes "The Mighty Insect"
Billy Bragg "Back To Basics"
Lemonheads "Create Your Friends"
D.O.A. "Hardcore '81"
The Mars Volta ep

The Moving Units are another one of those bands that I can see myself gushing about. The best jazzy drumming in punk rock, a great bass line in every song, and enough catchiness and guitar-as-percussion noisiness to keep it interesting. Great.s

When I was at Slam City Jam a few weeks ago my friend Justin asked why I hadn't written in this thing in a while--it was a friendly reminder that people actually do read it. Anyway, he then mentioned that my assessment of Austin Seaholm from the Tampa Pro Contest (see below) was harsh. I just reread it and I think it was pretty mellow. The only other option was to not write anything, and I'm pretty bored with that choice lately. Gotta call it like I see it. There's hope and optimism in what I wrote--the trick criticisms are worthless--who cares what anyone thinks about the tricks a skater does--but Austin's whole act was horrible. Being ungrateful and pissed when you get third in a pro contest is classless and I wish I knew the kid so I could be a friend to him and tell him that he needs to get a clue. If he was that pissed maybe he should've protested by not cashing the check. Yeah, right.

My old friend Dan Sturt has been popping up here and there lately--it's been a pleasure to see him and catch up a little lately. He's as intense as ever, and is as powerfully nutty as he ever was, he's just got a good sense of morality now that he didn't when we were roomates in the late 80s. And our old pal Sin is working at Duffs, designing shoes. It's nice to be able to keep track of friends.

Now Playing: Bad Religion's Master Trilogy. "Suffer," "No Control," and "Against The Grain." These records pretty much defined what a lot of other bands have been trying to do for the last fifteen years.

At the Transworld Awards the other night, the final tally ended up something like this: Jamie Thomas won reader's choice for best street skater; Mark Appleyard won skater's choice for best street skater; Danny Way won for best vert skater; Paul Rodriguez won rookie of the year; PJ Ladd won best video part of the year; the Flip team won the best team; Sorry was the best video, and Duane Peters won the skateboarding legend award, which he celebrated when his band The Hunns played six or seven songs. After that was the new Transworld video Free Your Mind, which had Dan Drehobl and Rob Welsh parts and cameos from a few other people. Another good video, although it wasn't as compelling at first viewing as the other TWS videos have been the last few years. Congratulations to Paul, PJ, Mark, Jamie, and everyone...

My good friend Hagop has let me scan thirteen of his photos from the early eighties to put up here. I'll hopefully be able to get to that pretty soon--they're already scanned, so it should be easy.

Now Playing: Reeve Oliver 6 song ep

The Firm has been on tour for most of the month of May. I meant to write about it a long time ago in the hopes that I could let one or two people know about the dates before they happened, but I never got to write before hand. Apparently the tour has been great, with Bob and Ray there for part of it, and Lance, Matt Beach, Javier Sarmiento, Weiger, and a few other guys doing demo after demo. If you haven't seen Can't Stop yet, you don't know what you're missing.

Now Playing: Sahara Hotnights ep with "Teenage Kicks"

I've been to a few places over the last few years--I've been lucky to be able to travel a lot. There are a few places that are always a lot of fun, and then there are places that are amazing. I always have fun in Tampa, Dallas, New York, Phoenix, Portland, Seattle, London, Paris, Amsterdam, etcetera. But there are a couple of places that are different. I've always loved Vancouver. The people there are great, the city is full of that energy that you don't get in most west coast US cities (SF is the exception), and between the water and the hills and the mountains and green-ness, it's just a plain beautiful city. The other city that I've come to really like is Helsinki. Man, that place is great. So clean, such clean air, great people, gorgeous girls, a great skateboard scene, good music, and a population of people who are neither obsessed with or disdainful of American culture. Maybe that's the key: there are so many places where people put their noses up at Americans while they're surrounded and immersed in American culture in the own country. The people are so resentful of the part of America that many Americans are resentful of. Anyway, Helsinki has a fairly small amount of American influence that's readily visible--a lot less than in Paris or London or wherever--and the people don't have that resentment against Americans that people in many countries have. There's not a general appreciation, it's almost a confident indifference--not to Americans, but to nationality of any kind. It makes the Finnish, at least in my limited experience, more real, more genuine, and much more pleasant than people in the other countries I've been to. Of course, having good friends there helps as well. Visiting Helsinki gives me that confidence that there's another place I could live if for some reason I didn't live here.

New skateparks are popping up all over the place. There was a time about a year ago when I'd managed to skate all of the ones in southern California, but now there are so many I'm way behind. I did just get a chance to skate the new Laguna Niguel park a few times--I think I wrote about it here a few months back. Anyway, the park is a lot of fun, good flow throughout all parts of the park. The bigger stuff is OK, not great, but certainly better than anything from a few shorts years ago, and it's worth skating for a while. The only bummer (once again) is the pay to play fee of thirty bucks a year and the full pad rules.

Now Playing: Pitchfork "Eucalyptus."

In the mid-seventies, one of the first records my big brother gave me when I was a little kid was Jimi Hendrix' Axis: Bold as Love. Although at the time I think I was most impressed with the track "EXP," with the alien skit, the record has been in my collection ever since. In the early eighties I spent a lot of time getting to know the rest of the Hendrix catalog, and read some things about Jimi's life--enough to know that the rumors I'd always accepted as fact about how he died weren't true. In the mid nineties I messed around with trying to play some Hendrix riffs, and I read the John McDermott biography. I've been a fan for a long time, and it was all accented emphatically this last week when I got the chance to pay respect to Jimi at his new memorial in Renton, Washington. The topper was that I was there with Janie Hendrix, Jimi's younger sister. Here's the deal: Emerica's Andrew Reynolds used Jimi's song "Burning Of The Midnight Lamp" in the new video This Is Skateboarding, and as part of the deal Emerica made a donation of shoes to kids at Jimi's middle school and high school. Andrew and Emerica team manager Justin Regan went with Janie and a few folks from Experience Hendrix to make the donations, and spend most of hte day doing Hendrix stuff. I was along for the ride, and it was very surreal, a really great experience. I feel like I've been really lucky the last few months--this was definitely a highlight. I wish I could share this story with my big brother...

After a skateboarding trip landed me in Hawaii in February I spent a couple of days learning how to surf on those longboards at Waikiki Beach. I'd surfed a bunch a long time ago at a longboard break in Santa Cruz, but had pretty much lost whatever I'd learned then. So after I got home in February I got a board and I've been surfing as much as possible ever since. I've definitely got the fever and I can't get enough time in the water. I've bored my friends at work with stories about my first little floater, first outside-to-beach rides, and first bigger waves I dropped in on. Starting something new as an adult is a lot different than learning as a kid, but it's a hell of a lot of fun. Anyone want to go surfing?

April 2003

In April I managed to think about writing here a lot. But I never managed to put anything down on. I spent a lot of time examining all this crap that I write on here, wondering if there is an inherent egotism in this column that I should avoid, or that I should want to avoid. Was it worth that risk, and that kind of thing. Anyway, I've ultimately decided to keep doing it, and I guess for now that's the thing.

March 2003

Now Playing: Pretty Girls Make Graves, first EP.

I just got back from Tampa--which reminds me, did I ever even write much about the Emerica tour?--and Tony Trujillo won. He rips, good style, nice sense of humility, and I was glad to see him win. Austin Seaholm was about as unpleasant to watch, over the course of the whole weekend, as Tony was nice to watch, but get this: Austin actually seemed to have earned some respect from the kids. Over the weekend, he skated well, in that he did his tricks and stayed on his board. He does about 50% horrible tricks, but they're horrible because they look so ugly, not because they're easy, so he can't help but get some judge and crowd approval. But over the course of the weekend, Austin's ego seemed to be in check, he seemed to have some self-control, and the crowd was definitely getting behind him. So during the finals, he nailed one of three runs, making his line. His line had typical Austin Seaholm tricks in it, like 5-0 to tailslide to switch crooks, and then his little curb-dancing thing where he does a nose stall on the quarterpipe, ollies to tail on the same coping, then does a backside ollie backside revert in. It looks fancy, looks like a jumping bean, and nobody else does the trick, so the crowd always goes nuts. But there's a reason nobody else does that trick--it's disgusting. Disgustingly easy for anyone in the contest, and it looks stale--not flowing, not smooth, and combined with his style it looks especially ugly. Of course Austin did a couple other tricks that were good or OK, but in general he did a lot of tranny tricks spiced up with a lot of horrible or weird tricks (try doing a noseslide, then jumping from noseslide to backside tailslide while moving accross the ledge--your board stays in the same sliding position) and a few basic street tricks. (Maybe we're witnessing a Tony Hawk type thing here and these tricks are the wave of the future. If so, when that happens I'll be happy to eat my words and admit that I was unable to predict the future of skateboarding.) So Brian Schaefer and Ryan Clements got the three finalists up to the pyramid to announce the winner, and when they called Austin Seaholm's name, he looked so upset it was ridiculous. He took the trophy clock thing, threw it into the crowd all pissed off, and walked up, got his board, and split, looking like he was going to cry. So ridiculous. He had taken a couple of steps forward, with the public and with his peers, and he just put himself in ruined status for a long time to come. I don't know this kid, I've just seen his act, and it's sad to me that he doesn't have any guidance about how to act. On the other hand, his homies at Illinium kicked him off the team (before they went out of business) and he just got the boot from Vans, so maybe he just won't be told... I want to make excuses for him--he is only 15, but somehow it seems all for naught. Good luck, kid, I have a feeling you're going to need it. (If you think my words are too harsh, keep in mind, you don't have to read this. Also, it would be really easy to dismiss the kid as most of his peers have, and to not even consider him at all. Rather, I've offered my opinion, and also my hopes that he learns some of life's lessons about humility and behavior--how to act. Perhaps it's not enough that it's better than he'd get elsewhere, but it's all I've got.)

Now Playing: Worked World discography CD-R

"Support our troops" is such an ambiguous term I can't stand it. What does that mean? If I wanted to, how would I go about supporting the troops when someone tells me I should? Does it mean support the horrible war we're fighting in Iraq, as in, be in favor of it? (I won't). Be proud of the killing of people because we want oil prices lower? (Nope.) Because it will put some life into our staggering economy? (Bad idea.) If that's what it is, then no, I don't and won't. What the term sounds like it means to me is that we should throw our moral support behind them, and I believe that is worth something. The best way we could support them, as individual people, as troops, is to hope and pray that they come home in one piece. Better yet, bring them home. That would be real support. This war isn't about the terrorists that caused 9/11, or about attacks on American soil.

This is America imposing our will on a smaller country because we don't like the way they do things. This is America bullying a smaller country because we can. What if some other country didn't approve of the fact that America spends 30 times more money on "weapons of mass destruction" than we do on feeding the poor, or educating the poor, or providing health care. Why is it that we're allowed to have whatever weapons we want, but we dictate that other countries can't have the same weapons? Is it anything other than the old 'might makes right' theory at work? The biggest bully in the playground gets his way, because he can, and the people who like to play his games have fun, and the people who like to play other games are out of luck...? I may not know everything about this war, and I may not have all the facts, but I do know that nobody came here and started a war. So no matter what the details, I believe it's wrong.

Now, all that said, I feel very much for the troops that are over there. Having gotten the orders, they're doing the honorable thing and doing their duty, and that is worth a lot. Without people who are willing to die for their country, what is the country worth? So yes, I appreciate what they are doing, even though that presents a contradiction with what I believe is the purpose of this particular war.

I'm having a hard time believing it's March already. Where does the time go?

Now Playing: The Jam, everything on the iPod, with an emphasis on stuff from The Gift.

3/1/03 Now Playing: BoySetsFire, After The Eulogy CD

February 2003

2/28/03 Now Playing: Chinatown with Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway, and "Happiness" by Inch.

2/26/03 Got a good joke in the email today:
President George Bush is visiting an elementary school today and he visits one of the classrooms. They are in the middle of a discussion related to words and their meanings. The teacher asks the President if he would like to lead the class in the discussion of the word "tragedy." So the illustrious leader asks the class for an example of a "tragedy." One little boy stands up and offers, "If my best friend, who lives next door, is playing in the street and a car comes along and runs him over, that would be a tragedy." "No," says Bush, "that would be an accident." A little girl raises her hand: "If a school bus carrying 50 children drove off a cliff, killing everyone involved, that would be a tragedy." "I'm afraid not," explains Mr. President. "That's what we would call a great loss." The room goes silent. No other children volunteer. President Bush searches the room. "Isn't there anyone here who can give me an example of a tragedy?" Finally, way in the back of the room, a small boy raises his hand. In a quiet voice he says, "If Air Force One, carrying Mr. & Mrs. Bush, were struck by a missile and blown up to smithereens, by a terrorist like Osama bin Laden, that would be a tragedy." "Fantastic," exclaims Bush, "that's right. And can you tell me why that would be a tragedy?" "Well," says the boy, "because it wouldn't be an accident, and it certainly wouldn't be a great loss."

One of the things about this little Randumb Notes thing that I try to be really aware of is how easy it is for it to become a whiny little bitch session. It would be very easy to use this space to complain about a lot of things, but I can't really imagine that that would be interesting. And it's not something I imagine I would be proud of. Maybe it's that I lack the confidence as a writer that I'd be able to pull it off effectively; I've seen some really amazing pieces, especially on the web and in fanzines, that have held me captive as I read every whining little word. But I guess I just don't want to have to resort to that sort of stuff to keep this interesting. I've also written here before about walking the thin line between truly personal stuff; subjects that, were they written about here, would/could effect/hurt other people: dating, sex, health, job, relationships, friendships. The dilemna comes in knowing that many (some?) of my friends actually read this thing, and knowing that they are my "audience" is sort of like writing in a journal when you know your girlfriend sneaks into that secret spot and reads in when you're not home. There's some satisfaction in writing the juicy stuff, the stuff you want them to know but don't want to tell them, but it also leaves a bad taste in my mouth thinking about it. One way around this is to write about an anonymous third party, or make up a name, but that's just not the same. It's sort of being a pussy about it, I guess, but I also like to think that there's a certain honor in exhibiting restraint in what I write here. It would be very easy to share tons of gossip, things I know are true about people you know, if only by name, but the only reward in doing so is that fleeting satisfaction that comes from being the messenger: that momentary attention that passes as the story is completed. Realizing that sort of attention is very fleeting was an important passage for me. And so I write long, boring diatribes like this one, killing several birds with one stone, gaining satisfaction in both the honor of a decent subject or the lack of an indecent one, and gaining an audience, if only for a few moments.

I've just written this piece above now because I've just re-read what I wrote last night about my trip (below). So many people have said to me how lucky I am to be able to go on a trip around the world, and I do appreciate being able to travel for work, but I've felt this compulsion to explain that it's not all fun. Why do I find it encessary to explain this to people and not just accept their comments as mild, good-natured envy? I'm not sure why, only sure that I found myself, as the day to leave drew near, explaining that I wasn't necessarily looking forward to the trip. Indeed, in the days leading up to the first premiere, I didn't really even want to go on that trip. I would've been happy to stay home. But of course, now I'm very glad I went.

Now playing: The Saints, singles collection CD.

2/25/03: Got back last night from a pretty hectic, amazing trip. Started out in Los Angeles with the Emerica "This Is Skateboarding" premiere at the El Rey Theatre on the first of February. The 3rd we were in Phoenix, the 6th, Vancouver, the 8th, New York. Then it was a fast three days in Europe: Feb 8th in London, 9th in Paris, 10th in Berlin. The 15th was in Tokyo, the 18th in Sydney, and the 20th in Honolulu. Now, I realize that it's pretty boring to hear someone complain about traveling. As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing luckier than being able to travel and see the world for work. But lucky doesn't mean that every minute is rich with joy and free from hassle or strain. Anyway, I'll keep it short: flying east all the time means jet lag never really leaves you. Every flight leaves early and arrives late (or early in the morning), and you never really catch up. We arrived in London on Monday morning after an all night flight, the team had interviews in the afternoon with little or no sleep, the premiere was that night, two showings, and we had to be up at 7am to get to the airport to fly to Paris, to repeat the same thing over again. And then again to Berlin. And besides showing the video, everyone on the trip wanted to skate, get photos, have fun, sleep, meet girls (some of the team), and check things out. There's not enough time. What good is it to spend time on a plane flying to some cool city only to be too tired to walk to a good restaurant? Or walk to downtown? Or to do anything? From Vancouver to Tokyo we were in cold weather, below freezing, the entire time. It only rained in Tokyo, though, and it snowed a little, too. Once we were in Japan we had a little bit of free time, one entire free day, which made it nice, but spending 18 hours traveling for 18 hours of awake free time isn't all it's cracked up to be, and that's just one direction travel time. The 22 hours to get to Sydney was a couple of long flights with a break in Singapore with enough time for a sandwich, and in Sydney there was one free day, which for me was spent scouring the record stores for rare Radio Birdman, Clash, Saints, Sex Pistols, Vibrators, X, and Cure records. Sydney was nice--it's the middle of summer there, so it was warm. I think I wrote last time I got back from there about the bats--they're everywhere in Hyde Park, and they are amazing. With about a 30" wingspan, I love to check them out and watch them pluck bugs out of the air just above the water. Honolulu was next and of course that was nice. A few days after the premiere there were spent relaxing and trying to surf. A few good friends joined us and despite some hijinx everyone had fun. I'm not sure if this still little story still qualifies as "short," but I feel better now after my little gripe sesh. And yes, it's lucky to be able to travel, but it's also nice to be able to be at home. Read more about the Emerica video travels and everything at emericaskate.com

Now Playing: X "Aspirations" LP. (This is the Australian band X, who I hated for years for just having the audacity to have the same name as X from L.A., who were/are one of my favorite bands. But this record, from the same era as Los Angeles ('78-'79), is great. I think it was reissued on AmRep at some point in the early 90's but I haven't seen it forever, and it's hard to find. If you like the Saints, Radio Birdman, and early overseas version of hardcore, get it if you can.)

January 2003

1/31/03: Haven't had the time to write for a while, but couldn't be stopped after a discussion with Lance Mountain last night. Seems that the Game of S.K.A.T.E. that we did at the trade show last Friday was another one of Lance's co-inventions. It was a game that came from Whittier Skate City, the same late 70's park that John Lucero, Neil Blender, Jeff Grosso, Hagop Najarian, and many other skateboarding greats came from. S.K.A.T.E. was invented by Lance, John, and Hagop on the trannies of that park along with Skate Slave and Add-A-Trick, two other fun skateboarding games. I really did learn something new yesterday. Lance is amazing.

Now playing: Sten Guns rough mixes.

Despite a truly unusual relationship with Mike Vallely, I'm in pretty constant awe of the guy. He's one-of-a-kind, and he intrigues me to no end. In case you haven't already, you should check out mikevallely.com Mike's got tons of good stuff to read on there, including a journal, info on his current stuff going on, his family of sponsors, the Rats, the places Mike will be soon, the "Mike V. Story," and a lot more. And Mike even recently announced that this will be his last year of professional skateboarding. Check the site for the full stories.

Sten Guns had an unusual week--we're going back into the studio today for final touches on the stuff we recorded two weeks ago. Watch for songs on comps and a few seven inches out soon! See Sten Guns micro-site for more details.

1/30/03: Happy Birthday, Beth! I hope it's a good one and you're spending it well. :-) Later: One email made my day today. It was a good one, with that little something to say--that little bit that told me that the person who wrote it had read the stuff here and got it, and once again, everything was worthwhile. Thanks!

1/23/03: I saw the new Firm Video "Can't Stop" last night--amazing skateboarding, great video. Bob Burnquist, Rodrigo, Matt Beach, and a couple of the Upstarts are killing it. Check it. And just wait until you see the cover of the new Transworld! Omigosh!

Tonight (1/20/03) a new dear friend told me that she's read this journal the last few nights and was worried about my comments about my health. Well, I'm fine, for the most part. There's stuff going on, but it's not so big or important that I need to share it here. But if you're a friend or family member and want to know, just give me a call and we'll talk. Don't wait till I'm dead, OK? (Bad joke, I know. Just checking to see if you're paying attention.)

Now playing: random songs on the iPod.

No blood for oil! Is protecting "our way of life" really what we're doing over there? Are we protecting American citizens or our soil in the middle east? No. What we're really doing is protecting our way of life as far as convenience and cheap oil are concerned. And Mr. Prez and his crew think that as a country we're ready to kill over it. Well, I'm not. I'd rather be inconvenienced, drive a little less, and have no blood on our collective conscience. It's not worth taking lives over. That's what no blood for oil means to me.

Now playing: Wire On Returning

Played with a great band tonight in San Diego. The D4 from New Zealand plays a pretty hyped-up Supersuckers style rock show. A little bit of Motorhead, AC/DC, Ramones, Didjits.... hell, it sounds just like the Supersuckers without the cowboy boots! And damn good. And since the show was at the Casbah, I'll mention that one of my goals in life came about tonight. For many years I took photos of bands at the Casbah--both locations--and I ran a record label for seven years while living in San Diego, with many of the bands playing the Casbah regularly. I'd always wanted to someday play there, be up there on the satge instead of down in the crowd, and tonight Turnover opened for the Tori Cobras (Chris Squire's latest band and dare I say my favorite?) and the D4 at the Casbah. I know it probably sounds silly, but it felt really good.

Now playing: Janie Jones and the Lash 7", Monorchid 7" on Gravity, Speed King Trio 7" on Troubleman.

1/19/03 After Joe Lopes died last Spring, I was able to put on a contest that benefitted his family, and in the course of the planning for that event I got a lot of letters and notes about Joe, about his influence on people. As I've been going through them again recently, this one again stuck out as especially poignant. Perhaps even now more so as I go through personal things which make me feel my age.

"I have been out of the loop for some time. Just a quick thought I had: a clichéd rock and roll band coughed up this nice little bit: 'Life won’t wait'. Marriage, kids, the family pulled taut by the menial nine-to-five—this is life; the bus that will not wait. Miss it and who knows what you’ll catch anymore than where it’s going. But the ride does not need to be the ca-chug of a three-axle Stageliner. Hop on and choose your seat. Heck, jump out of the window if need be.

We live a life marked by toil. Its bills from the mechanic or bank, doctors’ notes and the like that keep us struggling for air amid the blue skies of any fair city. Kids scream in the car, in our ears while idling in traffic, just as we drift into a happy place. This, however, is what keeps us at pace, keeps us looking at the joys permitted by a smile, a lost tooth, and a pair of hands interwoven in a sunset’s passion. Life wont wait—good advice from Californian gutter punks.

A man starts his career, an era of life, a car for the wayward hitchhiker to procure his long needed ride. Joe Lopes with his bar-b-que-backyard model and an intrinsic attitude that said, “I am beyond this; I will do it my way,” which adapted many youths to the sidewalk surfing soul that allowed rebellious pranksters of the beach days to devote hours, then weeks, which bled to years and lifetimes, to the sport that keeps our minds and bodies afloat amid the bobs and crests of this suit-and-wing-tipped sea of nine-to-five.

But there can be some combination of the two. A half conformo, no more square than his raucous brethren, giving way to a wife, children, and a home, while keeping the roots of his soul tenaciously anchored to its chosen path.

I never got to meet Joe Lopes, but I rode his boards, pretended I was him, in a green-lawned backyard, grinding across the sky. I was too young to realize what he had done for so many people who may not've even known that their shoulders were touch be His hand.

It’s 2002, I don’t ride my skateboard as much as I used to, and my heart is heavy. Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue—Joe Lopes was all of these things and then some."

1/17/03 All my life, growing up, my father always said that the only thing more important that my education was my health. Health, the most important thing. I've taken it for granted for so long that these days it's tough to learn to take care of myself. If you've got it, be thankful!

Now playing: Clash Bootleg LP

1/10/03 I just got an email from Justin Gold and he let me know that the Berkeley park is being jackhammered. Seems the land the park was built on was contaminated. I heard that it was built on top of an old paint factory, adn when we were there a few weeks ago (see below) we hopped the fence, even though there were signs that said contaminated water. We stayed out of the water for the most part, though! (But I was wondering why I'm glowing...)

What's up with Stance magazine? That thing is so horrible... taking the things that dorks and jocks on the periphery of skateboarding relate to, like how much money is being made, what kinds of cars people have, and who's getting tattoed by whom, and capitalizing on it... pretty damn lame if you ask me.

1/5/03 I just got back from a small road trip with my nephew Taylor and a crew of his friends. We went to a whole bunch of parks, some I'd been to and some new ones. Ripon is a tranny lover's heaven; Salinas, Greenfield, and Ceres are fun, and Berkeley is good when it's open. One of the things that I've noticed recently, though, is a disparage between where cities are putting their recreational dollars and where they're being used. On New Year's night, Wednesday January first, the eight of us pulled up to Camarillo skatepark. It must've been around 9 or 930, and I knew there were no lights at the park. But damn if there weren't already a couple groups of kids rolling around in the park. With our 8, there were about 20 people in the skatepark, in the dark, trying to find a safe and creative way to spend some time. About 100 yards away, there was a full set of 6 or 8 tennis courts with full lights, and not one person playing tennis. Doesn't anyone at any city office ever go out and see what happens in their city? Every decent (not even good) city park I've ever been is always way more crowded than any swingset, tennis court, basketball court, or baseball field. But instead of providing constituents with a place to go and gather and do something physical and creative, politicians do the minimum and then let skateboarders continue to be the banes of society. Let's get some lights at some of these parks! The parks in Oregon have lights on motion sensors that work great. Hats off to Fontana, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, El Cajon, and La Habra for doing the right thing and getting lights for their skateparks...

Randumb Notes Archives 1998-2001