You can see, by looking at this old file of Randumb Notes, how it's evolved over the last four years... it's been many things at many times, as I've felt it appropriate, necessary, or as a whim with the wind... take what you read here for what it's worth, and don't take it, me, or yourself too seriously. Or if you do, don't write about your bad trip to me, keep it to yourself. Thanks, and enjoy. --Mark

2002

December 2002

Happy New Year, people! Go out and celebrate life, living, friends, skateboarding, music, and good times, while they last. The president may have us in a war soon. In the words of J. Grant Brittain, if you pray, pray for peace.

I'm always happy when the new year stuff comes and goes. I like Spring, so this is a good time to bring another Spring closer. And now that we're past the winter solstice, we're into longer and longer days, too. That's always a good thing for me. So I'm happy right now. Another year gone, another year older, and less in debt than I was a year ago, thankfully. I hope that you, kind readers, are doing well, doing what makes you happy, and not taking the ship down with you... have a good one.

Saw Gleaming the Cube in its entireity last night for the first time. Very nice... some good skating, although, as usual, the Hollywood types never get it right. Maybe I should stop bitching about that and be glad that they never get it right...?

There's a new site called skatetrivia.com that is up and running. It's pretty cool, although they do have some really stupid questions. It's a site where you can answer multiple choice questions about skateboarding. "What team did Jamie Thomas and Chad Muska ride for together before Circa?" Answer: Toy Machine. Some of the questions are pretty lame, though, as they ask "Who is the Black Label team captain?" The choices are Jason Adams, Mike Vallely, Omar Hennson (sic) and someone else. And the correct answer, according to the site, is Mike Vallely, who doesn't even ride for Black Label anymore... So it's pretty much a take-it-as-it-comes thing, but it's fun and worth checking out. SkateTrivia.com

What an interesting night--I just realized that I haven't written in here for a while. I've been gone, traveling for work for most of the month. And now, I come home after a night of good music and good friends (are you sick of this theme yet?) and realize that it's been a while, and that Transworld Skateboarding Magazine wrote a nice article about my site and I should probably acknolwedge them and give a hearty thanks, and maybe even while I'm at write about some of the stuff that's been going on. Unfortunately I'm stuck in the trap again of the dichotomy between living life and writing about it. If I'm writing about it, am I really doing all I can out there in the real world? Does writing about it take away from the effect of simply experiencing? Or, let's be Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre and define life by living. Think about that one for a while. Natch.

Innsbruck, Austria, December, 2002. Wow! Such an amazing time, for sales meetings... ah, screw it, I'm going to bed and I'll write more later...

Turnover played with a hot band called This Bike Is A Car Bomb the other night. Seriously punk rock stuff played with such country down home flair and (semi)-radical politics that it couldn't helped but to be enjoyed. The spirit was so there it made me a little ashamed of how I am when we play. But more than that, it inspired me to be better, more fun, more relaxed, more serious, and everything else. Just better at all the good, important things.

I saw Manic Hisapanic for the first time tonight, and they were great. Steve Soto is another of my favorite guitar players, along with Stimy from Inch, John Reis, Don Pendleton from JFA, and Mike Fox, and anyway, Manic Hispanic does covers of so many classic punk songs with the lyrics changed to cholo-related themes. "Mommy's Little Cholo," "Mexican Society," "Mexican Chalk" (instead of Chinese Rock), and you get the idea. They're really funny, and a really good time...

Skated the new Laguna Niguel bowl today. The park isn't open yet but for some strange reason there is no fence around the park and the only thing ready to shred is the bowl. It's a clover of sorts, three heights, three connected bowls, similar to Clairemont in SD and to Fontana, but this one seems more rideable to me, at least from a carving prospective. The lines are amazing and there is this cool roll-out lip section with a hip that lets everyone enjoy. And the surface? Well, Wally Hollyday did it and it's amazing. I should say his crew did it... The parks are getting better.

There is also a new park being designed for Orange and for Rancho Santa Margarita, too. Lance is working on the RSM one with Mike Hirsch and it should be good. By the way, Fontana and Upland can be added to the list of parks that have lights on regularly now. West Covina, La Habra, Laguna Hills, are the others here in the area that think skateboarding is equal to basketball, hockey or softball. Just think, maybe some of the "little criminals" who don't have a place to skate at night would skate at the parks if there were lights, huh? A good friend of mine recently told me about the lights at some of the parks in Oregon: they're on motion sensors and they go on and stay on whenever skaters are in the park, 24-7. Pretty good idea. Pretty simple, too.

Whoa. Sometimes lyrics are so poignant--Blake from Jawbreaker is one of my favorite lyricists and the stuff he's written is so amazing I can't believe it sometimes. Right now I keep thinking of the existentialist-like line from 24 Hour Revenge Therapy "I never felt like this before, I say that every hour."

Danced last night with a pretty girl to The (International) Noise Conspiracy's "Will It Ever Be Quiet" and realized how nice that song is. Nice for a slow dance...

November 2002

I'm in love with adventure, with the modern world, with rocknroll, not with Massachusetts, but once with a girl from Connecticut. I'm passionate about passion. I'm serious about being serious. I get emotional about being emotive. I love being in love. Actually, no... I love the idea of being in love, but I'm not so sure about it in the practical sense. (Can you convince me?) One of my long time acquaintances is having his 40th birthday party in a few weeks. It's the time again when I start thinking about having kids and having a family and commitment. At one time I sort of thought I was there. I was wrong. It's become a common thing with guys of my generation... too many damn interests and not enough focus on one. What to do? Give up things I can count on? Well... yes, if it's right, I would... I did it before and it wasn't even right, except I didn't want to face that... OK, too much rambling. Do you make sense? Does it matter? Is this just another way to avoid being serious?

It's been a while since I've written about Inch, and that's a while too long. What is it about this band that has maintained my interest as much as any other band over the last 10 years? They broke up a few years back, and the few times I did see them live, they had some trouble pulling off what they put down on record, but man, those records are absolutely amazing. The first is called "Stresser" and has two guitar players on it, and rivals anything in the indie/San Diego/guitar punk/post-hardcore vein. Amazing songs... The second is called "Dot Class 'C'" and is a little more varied, but blows me away. The third is called "This Will Fall On Dead Ears" and... well, it's amazing, too. I think if I had to pick a favorite, the first might be it, but then... ah, screw it. You get the idea. If you like Drive Like Jehu's guitars, Jawbreaker's amazing lyrics, RFTC's catchiness, Nirvana's moments of passion, or the amazingly sensitive moments of later Three Mile Pilot, you'll like Inch... I can't write enough.

I've had a couple people ask me recently if I was sick and dying or suicidal. They asked because I've taken to using expressions like "Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think," and similar others. I really don't mean these things in a morbid way. It's actually just a way of trying to express the fleetingness of life, and how it's important to live each moment as if it were your last. Or at least to make the most of each moment. Hope for the best, plan for the worst, sort of. I've just had dear friends die, and I feel that the lessons I learned from their passing must continue to be important to me. And so I share some of them...

I actually skated the Vans park tonight. It was a lot of fun. I'm still making progress in the combi-pool, sort of putting it all together, although I'm still pretty much embarrassingly unskilled at riding such immense stuff. And although it's completely boring to write about, I've recently tried to switch from riding the super-wide boards I've been riding for years down to a more modest 8.25 inch board. I keep wanting to dig out the old board, but I know that if I just keep riding this one I'll eventually get used to it. Anyway, that makes it a challenge even more than ever.

At the park tonight Kyle Yanigomoto was skating, and although I've seen him skate for years, tonight he made an impression on me that I won't soon forget. He's amazing, stylish, and so good. And the encompassing feeling that I get when I watch him skate is that he's having so much fun--it just really comes through. He's a lot of fun to skate with. And oh, yeah, Evan Hernandez was there, too. He's so good it's ridiculous.

Kevin and Cheryl Wilkins had their second baby boy a few weeks ago. Cian (pronounced Key-un) is a beautiful baby boy and will be keeping Mom and Dad up late nights for a while, so if you're an old friend, drop them a line and say hi! Big brother Miles is now almost four. Man, time flies! Congratulations, Miles and Kevin and Cheryl!

Punk Planet has been a source of fairly consistent entertainment and education for me over the last 7 years or more, and they've recently compiled a book of their favorite 25 interviews. It's called "We Owe You Nothing; Punk Planet: The Collected Interviews." If you're into reading stuff from people like Noam Chomsky, Winston Smith, Jem Cohen, Ted Leo, Steve Albini, Henry Rollins and Black Flag, Thurston Moore, Jello Biafra, Los Crudos, and Ian MacKaye, then this book will give you some of the best interviews of these people that I've seen. Here's a completed unauthorized excerpt:

Daniel Sinker/Punk Planet: How else (has your taste for the unorthodox) manifested itself?

Ian Mackaye: How hasn't it manifested itself? Bascially, I've done everything not by the book [laughs]. All through my life I've done things in an unorthodox way. **** When I was a kid, we formed a skateboard team because we liked to skateboard, not because we were particularly good or because we had sponsorship. We just did it. I started skateboarding in the mid-70's and a lot of people thought, "Oh, it's just a sport." But it's not just a sport. Skateboarding was about redefinition. It was like putting on a pair of filtered glasses--every curb, every sidewalk, every street, every wall had a new definition. I saw the world differently than other people. Everything had completely changed because I was a skateboarder. It really helped me understand the idea of redefining what's been given to you. I've always been interested in saying, "Here's what's been presented, now how does it work and how can it work?" Skateboarding was such an important part of that. ****I had given up on playing music by the time I was fourteen or fifteen years old because I wasn't a trained musician. I didn't think I could do it because it seemed that everyone who did it were professionals. That's why punk rock was so important to me. I realized that here was a space that I could operate in the way I wanted to which would never go over with mainstream people whatsoever. To find that space made so much sense to me. It was so much a part of the rebellion that I was feeling with skateboarding. Punk rock seemed like a logical place to go next. ****Ironically, at the time I thought that skateboarding and punk rock never mixed. They totally did not mix in 1979. I stopped skateboarding as much because my skateboarding friends were totally not into punk rock and my punk-rock friends were not into skateboarding. It wasn't for another year or so that skateboarders finally started becoming punk rockers. Now the two are almost synonomous. But at least for a few years, they seemed opposite; they seemed to be at odds with each other. To me, though, there was a totally logical, natural bridge between the two. I was so happy when Tony Alva cut his hair off. I was so pleased. I thought, "Wow, it wasn't just me." That made it seem more logical.

This Ian MacKaye interview excerpt is from "We Owe You Nothing; Punk Planet: The Collected Interviews." The book is available from punkplanet.com, where you will also find a reliable source of socio-political and punk rock information. Recent issues include articles about the occupied West Bank; Brett Gurewitz's drug addiction and learning to love life again; Vagrant Records "story;" punk rock porn (and all the implications you can guess at)... Each issue contains a good mix of political and musical articles, and the best seem to be politically aware musicians rolled into one (Ian MacKaye, Jello Biafra, etc.) The book is published by Akashic Books, New York.

"Life is a drink, and you get drunk when you're young..."--The Jam

Every time I go to call friends it's always too late at night. I need to get back on a 'normal' schedule. No time like the present, right? Goodnight now!

eS is coming out with two new pro shoes in 2003: a Tom Penny shoe (finally!) and a Rodrigo Tx shoe. And I saw the Emerica Erik Ellington shoe recently--it's really cool. Good looking, not too thick, but with an airsole. I hope I can skate in them!

One of the things I enjoy writing about occasionally is books that I've read. I read a ton--I spend too much time reading, actually--and although a good portion of it is novels that aren't considered fine literature, I read a lot of books on other subjects: documentaries, non-fiction, biographies, histories, etc. Because I've bought every book I've written about here, I'm able to avoid the uncomfortable position of having to write about a book, and feeling a responsibility to write more than opinion. In other words, I've been free to do whatever I want without experiencing looming guilt about it.

In September I received a book entitled "Coloring Outside The Lines: A Punk Rock Memoir," by Aimee Cooper. It was the first book I've been asked to review, and I must admit I'm feeling awkward. Had this book been an amazingly good read on punk rock life during a certain era, or an amazingly bad read, I'd feel more apt to write. But I've been procrastinating...

"Coloring Outside The Lines" is a series of short anecdotes and stories which occurred successively in the life of Aimee Cooper primarily during an 18 month period in 1979, 1980, and 1981. The stories are funny, sad, poignant, and express the author's personality well. However, that personality is what gets to me. Ms. Cooper, in life and in her writing, consistently fails to ask the question why. This constantly left me hanging. She tells a story in which her friend Emil, (who apparently at some point played drums for Black Flag) ran and jumped in her car and gave loud, panicked directions to "Go!" So she went, and fast, and as they escaped she saw a menacing sight that appeared to be a kidnapping in the background. But not only did the author, at the time, not ask what the hell had happened, and what was her friend was doing there, and who were those people, and what was it all about; she fails to acknowledge that those questions are important, and does nothing to even expound upon what might have been the source of the short-lived turmoil. Instead, she takes it in stride and ignores the questions that would scream in my head.

And it continues throughout the book--she never asks why the experiences are what they are, and she never questions her friends, never asks any of the tough questions, but instead just exists, almost in other people's worlds. Indeed, this is Aimee Cooper's path through life. I'm not sure if it's her chosen path, one that she does realize she needs to alter, that bothers me, or if it's the nonchalance with which she presents the stories with regard to that path, but I found myself exasperated with her: I wanted to tell Aimee of twenty years ago to stand up for herself, to be tougher, to ask why and to question things. And I wanted to tell Aimee in 2002 that I wanted to know more: more about what she was thinking, more about what she guessed was going on, more about her and her friends and... I just wanted to know more!

Perhaps, if looked at as a portrait of the mundane, "Coloring Outside the Lines" could be considered a worthwhile snapshot of the life of a punk rock girl in the midst of the LA punk scene during a very interesting era. She rubs elbows with Exene, John Doe, Greg Ginn, Johnny Thunders; she works at Slash Records, and is there at a time I would love to have been there. But perhaps the best way to consider "Coloring" is as a simple document, and a very worthwhile one, of how punk rock is one way for people to learn life's lessons. Some learn those lessons through team sports, some learn them by travelling and interacting with people while skateboarding, some work their way through college, and some live a punk rock life, or at least part of one. Aimee Cooper spent a very interesting two years learning a lot about people and life while she was submerged in an emerging culture, and she doesn't try to glorify it, alter it, or make it more than it was. And that honesty is perhaps one of the best lessons that punk rock may have ever been able to provide to anyone.

While I wouldn't recommend "Coloring Outside The Lines" to everyone--there are far more attention-grabbing books about punk rock and punk lifestyles out there, although I've seen none that have such a personal scope--it is an interesting read, and presents for the first time (to my knowledge) the story of LA punk rock without the trappings of the "stars" involved in that scene. For someone like me, who devours everything he/she can get their hands on about punk rock, especially during that era, this book is a very worthwhile addition to the collection.

The author, Aimee Cooper, can be contacted at possumwp@aol.com The book is published by Rowdy's Press, P.O. Box 847 Elgin, TX 78621 and can also be purchased online at amazon.com

October 2002

The new Digital Video is out, and Mark Appleyard has another amazing part. To think it's all stuff that was either not used in the Flip video or filmed since is to realize that Appleyard is definitely prolific, even at 19. Whew...

Found a good new guitar store near the house, which is always nice--don't have to go to Guitar Center anymore! It's called Rockit Music, it's in Brea right off Imperial Highway, and it's a good shop! Lots of good Gibsons and Fenders, a decent selection of amps, really good prices, and they're willing to order anything. Plus, no Guitar Center hassles with depressed failed rockstars. (Although, I do have to admit, that the people at the Brea Guitar Center are the best staff of any GC I've ever been to. Nice, actually helpful, and mostly without attitude. The girl Kelly at the door is hot, too! Was that sexist?)

Terrin from Boilermaker just had a baby! Don't know the details--or even if it's a boy or a girl-- but congratulations, Terrin! Good job!

Well, it's already the 24th and I haven't written in this thing all month. There've been some other things added and fixed on the site, some new links, to Sessions, and to Britt Parrot's M.E.S.S. (that's Mid-Eastern Skateboard Series) site, and the Sten Guns micro-site, and we're working behind the scenes on a couple other things, too. Between that and skating, playing music, traveling, and other stuff it's been hard to make big strides, but I'm getting there!

First, congratulations and good luck to Phil Esbenshade, the notorious Phil E., who had his first born a few short weeks ago. Although a conversation about names ensued, "Max" won out over "Sweeper." Good job, Phil! Get some sleep!

Sten Guns are playing with Powerflex 5, The Hunns, and the Faction at the Transworld Skateboarding twenty year anniversary party. Should be a lot of fun, but probably pretty nerve-wracking, too. And of course, all of this is contingent upon Lance Jr. getting his grades up! No music unless he gets a C Minus on the next progress report. We should be called C Minus.

Anyone care to start a pool on who will be Thrasher's Skater Of The Year?

Independent Trucks is doing a coffee table type book which should be out towards the end of next year. With the history of Independent Trucks and pretty much every good skater ever (except T. Hawk) being part of Indy at some point, expect good things.

I have to write once again about how good the Locust is live. Although last night's show wasn't as spectacularly funny as some of the other shows I've seen recently, they are always so tight and on that it's frustrating, as a guy who wants to be that good. It must be hard for them to constantly top themselves, but they always do. And (International) Noise Conspiracy was great, too, although they definitely suffered from poor house sound at the Glass House. It got better a few songs into the set, and then stayed there, not sounding too good, especially when the second guitar player was playing, as opposed to when she played keyboards. But they wowed the crowd anyway, and it was pretty amazing.

One more thing to add: certain people just make me feel so proud to be part of whatever this little scene is. People who are nice, warm, and just full of goodness, doing kind things for others. Sometimes I get warm and fuzzy all over, and it makes me want to be that way to others. Niceness is contagious. Try it sometime.

The city of Upland built a park for SAlba. It's got a perfect halfpipe, fullpipe, and bowl, along with a completely sub-par street area. But don't go there for the street course--the full pipe and bowl were designed by Steve Alba and are amazing. Well worth the visit. Skate the fullpipe, kiddies!

There's also a really good street park in Asuza that is worth skating--lots of ledges, stairs, banks, and rails. Definitely worth checking out, even if there's not a lot of tranny.

September

Now Playing: Tanner "Ill Gotten Gains"

Sex Pistols! Holy Moly. I could sit here and write what I'd consider a very interesting review and rant about how in awe I was, but I'm sure it would end up being very borish and self-absorbed, so I'l just keep it short. The Pistols sounded like I'd hoped they'd sound--tight, loud, with that amazing guitar tone and total wall of sound that somehow actually does come across live. Paul Cook was so on it, and Glen Matlock--well, I was bummed that he fingerpicked the bass, but he's good as hell. They did every song from "Bollocks" except Sub-Mission, plus Did You No Wrong, No Fun, Stepping Stone, I Wanna Be Me, Belson Was A Gas, and a funny encore of Hawkwind's "Silver Machine." So good, so glad I went. Other bands I enjoyed hearing/seeing were Bad Religion, Offspring (gasp!), Blink (gasp! gasp!), Buzzcocks, Social Distortion. I'm bummed I missed the Circle Jerks and GBH. Anyway, it was a good day, and thanks to my friends Ian, Jeremy, and Ryan for the hookups. Oh my goodness.

California passed a helmet law for skateboarders under the age of eighteen, effective January, 2003. Pretty lame.

Now Playing: Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros, "XRay Style and the Art of.." whatever it is. So good.

Sex Pistols are tomorrow! Thanks to longtime friends I've somehow fanagled my way onto a guest list and backstage pass for the show that features Blink, Circle Jerks, Bad Religion, Adolescents, TSOL, Pennywise, Offspring, GBH, New Found Glory, Unwritten Law, blah, blah, blah. I've seen most of those bands and am only mildy interested in a few of them. But also playing are X, the Damned, the Buzzcocks, and the Sex Pistols. I've heard the Damned have been horrible the last few tours, but X is always amazing, I'm looking forward to the Buzzcocks, and the Sex Pistols I'm so amped about. I missed them in 1998 and didn't care--I was afraid that seeing them would ruin my longstanding appreciation of them. But that was really stupid, I realized not too long afterwards. So thanks to the Queen's Golden Jubilee, the Sex Pistols decided they needed to reclaim the jubilee for their own. (The Queen's Silver Jubilee, in 1977, was during the heyday summer of punk rock, and the Pistols played on a barge on the Thames river during the Queen's celebration to rousing mixed reviews, and to the dismay of many in England.) So they played in London about 6 weeks ago and figured since they'd practiced, why not do this show. Whatever, I'm excited. Another chance to relive my childhood and be a music geek! Don't think I won't be getting autographs!

Found out today about a secret pool that not many people know about. Call for directions!

My friends Andy and Lisa got married today. It was a really cool wedding, great music, tears of joy, laughter, good food, and good times. Congratulations, lovebirds!

September 12: Gosh, it's been a while since I've written in this thing again. Maybe that's good. It means I'm out living more an outdoor life and spending less time in here sitting down for long periods of time with bad posture and not stretching my back, which means when I want to skate I'm in pain and can't. But September always brings this last-few-weeks-of-the-summer near panic and I try to make the most out of outdoor activities while I can. Actually, this year has been really good for this, as I've tried and succeeded at living as much as I could, rather than just passively killing time. Very little TV, lots of music, a fair amount of skateboarding, a lot of traveling, meeting a lot of people, and a lot of days to feel good about accomplishments. But everyday that goes by when I don't write in this journal, even for a few minutes, I also think about missed opportunities to share good things with friends known and unknown.

What is it about the fear of facing a tough task that seems easier or better than the eventual realization that you've made someone's pain a lot worse than it could've been? I got stood up pretty harshly recently by someone who I thought was beyond that. I hope that... I hope for good things, and I work to make them happen. And I can live with that.

I wrote a favorite song list a few weeks back, and of course every time I hear one of my favorites, I wonder 'is this on the list?' Well, three more than weren't on the list: Three Mile Pilot, "Slow Hand;" TSOL, "Flowers By The Door;" and The Tubes , "Talk To Ya' Later." I'm sure there'll be more soon enough.

Paul Rodriguez, one of my favorite skateboarders and all-around good guy, quit City Stars to ride for no one, then made the decision to ride for Girl early this week. Good move for Girl! Mikey Taylor is still the man on City Stars--he just turned pro. Congrats, Mike! And by the way, Kareem Campbell is one of my favorite people. We have absolutely nothing in common except a love of skateboarding and some peripheral history, but the guy is gold. Brilliant gold.

I still haven't written about Woodward, and I'm afraid that the more I put it off the harder it will be to write. But there's so much... I went with my good friend Mark Holder, and even though I think our experiences were very different, we both found at Woodward what I think a lot of people don't find--only a certain person can handle it there. Good people and good times are abundant there for me, and always have been. Warmth begets warmth, or something like that. And this year was no exception. Actually, even though there were less of the crew there when we were there than usual, the people we spent time with and met were amazing. Jonah Owings, Buzzy, Ryan Wilburn, Barker Barrett, Mike Frazier, Alan Russell, Shannon, Erica, Jen Wolf, Nate Wessel, Ruben A., Alexis, Dave from Florida, Erich Browne, Furlong, Mark Podgurski--the list always goes on. And meeting Rachael and Elena was very nice-- blooming friendships that I'm stoked on. And, I even saw Margie and Nina and met their wonderful families. What is it about that place that is so amazing? OK, I'm getting choked up, I'll stop. Oh, yeah, one more thing. Mike Frazier and his chess tournaments are so amazing--he gets a group of campers who know how to play chess and organizes round-robin matches to determine a camp champ. Pretty damn cool.

ASR came and went. Cool things were seeing video footage of Elissa kickflipping 12 stairs, the Emerica video teaser, and something else... what was it? I guess that's about it. Outside activities that rocked were the Coup D'Etat across the street put on by Alien Workshop, TumYeto, and a host of supporters, and the Etnies party with TSOL and the Adolescents. On the bad news list were the Osiris Wet T-shirt contest (I heard from people there), girls who tease, companies with racist names, and disrespectful people. Oh, well!

The Clash played at ASR, and the Sex Pistols are playing this weekend. What's going on?

August

August 31: Just heard from my friend Shannon today, at Woodward. Seems that a couple days after Mark Holder and I left camp, a group of staffers and a couple campers were out at Hairy John State Park after the Lodge had closed, and the campers--who were adults--crashed their car into a house on Route 45. Of the three people in the car, one died, the other two are still in the hospital but will make it. Pretty bad situation for all of our friends out at Woodward, and I'm thinking good thoughts for all of them.

Ed T and the Mice will be making their debut in October at a special gathering in Orange County... should be lots of fun. Watch for a track in the upcoming Firm video if they can get their act together... Update: Ed will not be able to play the show, since he will be in Paris skating and watching over his most prolific art show to date, at the Palais de Tokyo, aprestigious art museum/ gallery. This place is also, not coincidentally, the skate spot known as the dome, and Ed will be incorporating some skateboarding into the show. Erik Ellington, Spanky, and Rick McCrank will be part fo the deal as well. Good for everyone but the Mice, who will nevertheless play, adopting Worked Worlder Hagop for the date.

August 26: The XGames were in Philadelphia for the second and last time this last few weeks. There are those that hate what ESPN has done to skateboarding, and those that put up with the XGames as a necessary evil. I think that anyone who complains about the XGames and then allows their world of skateboarding to be affected by ESPN is pretty weak--there doesn't have to be a connection. I don't think the XGames are necessary, but neither do I think they are evil. They're another contest, and yes, it's blown out, and yes, a lot of kooks know a little more about the art of skateboarding than they did, but it doesn't have to affect the hardcore dudes. They can always skate that pool, or have their midnight session on a curb, or build their backyard ramp/pool/quarterpipe/ whatever. To blame the recent blowout of skate spots on ESPN is so naive and wrong it's ridiculous, and I've actually heard that connection made as well... What they do is give a little more money than anyone else in skateboarding to those who want it. No one is making John Cardiel or Julian Stranger or Geoff Rowley go--they're not there. But it doesn't hurt those guys, or anyone in skateboarding, no matter how hardcore they are, to hold a contest.

My dear old friend Kristy Brauch got married recently. Congratulations to Brian and Kristy, and best of luck to both of you. Brian--you got a good one, take good care of her!

Woodward is Woodward and I need to write about it some. But right now I've got to go to work, and call Beth, and my parents, and clean the studio, and put stuff up on eBay--watch for a special Lance Mountain milk carton helmet, signed and with accompanying polaroid photograph--and pay bills. And everything else... so I'll try to write a little each day for the next few weeks, and catch up. Once again, thatnks to those of you who have written in support of this little Randumb Notes thing--it makes it easier to keep going!

Some favorite songs right now:
Fugazi: Furniture
Swing Kids: Warsaw
Refused: New Noise
At The Drive-In: One-Armed Scissor
Wire: Ex-Lion Tamer
The Clash: 1977
The Jesus Lizard: Mouth Breather
The Jesus Lizard: Glamorous
Shellac: Rambler Song
The Jam: The Modern World
Monorchid: This Jazz Ain't Free
(International) Noise Conspiracy: Smash It Up
Throwing Muses: Hate My Way
Verbal Assault: They're Talking

8/15/02: Just got back from a skatepark tour, but this wasn't just any skatepark tour. For the last ten days I've been in the company of a 12 year-old, two 13 year-olds, two 14 year-olds, and a 16 year-old. It was their first real road trip for skateboarding, and it was everything a road trip should be. Amazing, hard, fun, intense, with lots of skateboarding. Going back to the early days of road trips for me, the ones I remember most were the ones when there weren't spacious motorhomes, luxury hotels, and good food waiting at every stop. So this should provide memories for a lifetime for these kids.

We headed south for a stop at TumYeto, which was amazing thanks to Mike and Damon and Tod. We made a quick visit with good ol' Hugh for inspiration and advice, then we started out to Arizona, bought fireworks and skated in New Mexico, went north for 4 days in Colorado, turned west towards home with 3 days in Utah, stopped in Vegas, then through the dsesert with a fireworks stop at Zzyzx Rd. Highlights included hanging with Aaron Hooper at the Aspen park, which was my favorite park, and which Aaron destroys. The Punchbowl, a cliff-jumping spot just up from town, made Aspen my favorite stop. Taos, NM, and Aurora, Fort Collins, Boulder, Silverthorne and Frisco in Colorado were all lots of fun. There were some other parks where we'd stop and leave after barely skating them, and some, like Logan, Utah, where we stayed all day, meeting cool people and hanging out. We haven't done an official count, but it was at least 25 parks, plus downtown Albuquerque and Denver. Not enough time to write about it all right now--Woodward (fortunately) and the XGames (unfortunately) are on the immediate horizon--but at some point the photos of the parks will be up on one of the good skatepark websites and photos of the kids will be up here and everywhere I can put them.

The iPod is up to 1456 songs right now. It's probably pretty boring to read about me and my silly little juke box, so I'll stop after recommending these things to anyone interested in carrying a lot of music with them for whatever reason. It's a mobile DJ studio in the palm of your hand! Just add speakers...

By the way, I'm reminded by a conversation I had with my nephew, who is a music pirate, to point out that I have every single one of those songs in my iPod because I converted them from my CDs. CDs I bought. If I like a band enough to enjoy their music, I like them enough to pay them for it, so I don't steal it. Such a harsh attitude, I know, but after owning a record company for 10 years I guess the idea of artist's right has sunk in.

There's been a little rumor going around some circles in skatebaording that Jessica Alba is Micke Alba's daughter from when he was like 16 or something. I always doubted it, but wasn't sure that it wasn't true, but now I am. I read just enough of an article about her to know that her father was in the military. Sorry to rain on the parade for those who thought it was true...

After not really even talking to him for about four years--since I quit working for TumYeto--Jim Greco showed up at the house and hung out the other day. We played music, and the same gusto and charisma that he adds to the world of skateboarding, he carries into his guitar playing and singing. Even in a little room in the garage, it comes through--the kid's got something that is special. After running through a number of Heartbreakers, Ramones, and Stooges songs, we ran through "You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory" by Johnny Thunders. Pretty amazing song--one of Lance's (the drummer) favorites--in this case, sung by a pretty amazing guy. Keep your health, everyone, it's the most important thing we've got...

I really miss Tim Brauch right now. It's been in the back of my head for a while, because I took my first trip to Europe, in 1992, with Tim and his sister Kristy. I just got back from there and saw many of the same things the three of us did together for the first time. I also have been emailing Tim's mom a lot, too, and also, Kristy is getting married this month. Just lots of reminders of good times, a good friend, and a good person. It's odd, too, because more and more I find myself in situations with skateboarders who don't know very well who Tim is, and even though I know it's not their fault, I find myself frustrated at that. But all I can do is tell good stories and try to pass on his spirit.

My Seven Favorite Skateboarders Today, in No Particular Order:
Dustin Dollin
Ali Boulala
Spanky
Bryan Herman
Braydon Szafranski
PJ Ladd
Arto Saari

Now Playing: Dinasaur Jr "Fossils"

My recent trip to Germany was a blast on many levels, but one of them was the privilege, still, after all these years, of spending time with the Faction. I'm pretty lucky to have gone from 16 year old fan in 1983 to 18 year-old photographer and acquaintance in 1985 to longtime friend in 2002. During that time I moved away from San Jose and yet still grew the friendships with Gavin, Ray, and Steve, I put out their first CD collection, a near-discography you can read about and get elsewhere on this site, and now, I've had Scottish food in Germany with them. Great music and great people, and I'm proud to know them and to have "worked" with them over the years. If you like rock or punk rock music and skateboarding and are reading this, you probably know about the Faction. If you don't, what are you waiting for? Oh, by the way, for fans, they've got at least five new songs that are all as good as the original stuff or better. The chemistry between the four guys now is friendly and fun and it's showing in their writing. The Whistler, Aisle Seat, and Cut It Out are three new ones worth listening for...

The next Transworld Questionable article asks "What is more important to you than skateboarding?" I think that just a few short years ago I might have naively answered "Nothing" to that question and left it alone, but now, due to health issues, I realize that my health is more important. And of course, I realize that family and friendship are more important--people are more important to me now than the act of skateboarding. Nothing brings me more joy than making someone happy, or just spending time with a good friend, connecting. Beyond these things, music and skateboarding, and maybe photography, are the only other things that really matter to me. And I think I've realized the last year or two that the only real material things I truly value are my photographs. I like my guitars, my cameras, and my CDs. I really like my collection of art and photos that my friends Chris, Ed, Thomas, Damon, Rob, Ron, O., Yogi, Satoru, and Garry have given me. But without these things I'm OK. Without friends and family, I'm nothing. Wow, I've come a long way. Maybe there is hope! And Jen, too little too late, I know.

July 2002

Added about 220 more songs to the iPod today. Devo, Dinosaur, Violent Femmes, Verbal Assault, Stiff Little Fingers, TSOL, the Jam, X, and more. This thing is so amazing. I'm planning on having the best juke box ever, in the palm of my hand. The "Various Artists" section will be so good--best-of songs from one-hit punk wonders and that rare good song from even the creepiest rock bands. I'm psyched, can you tell?

Does Ethan Fowler like anyone?

Nobody ever got the Clash trivia question (below) right, so here's the answer. It was obscure, I know. The Clash, on their first record, pay tribute to the Ramones by singing "Going through a tight wind" in the introduction to "Police and Thieves." This line, of course, is from the first Ramones song "Blitzkrieg Bop." The Ramones record came out about a year before the first Clash record.

Hi Beth! If you're actually reading this, email me!

Jason Dill is so amazing. I've known him forever-- at least 15 years, which means I remember the days when he'd do your trick right after you did, in any session, just to one-up you. But he was young, so it's easy to look past that. These days, he's living the life of a professional skateboarder, and he's staying true to himself and all his wackiness. But the thing that really strikes me is his zeal and his openness about his lust for life. He's so into new adventures, meeting new people, not because of what they can do for him, but simply for the sake of good conversation, enjoying new people, and sharing life's experiences. After spending a few hours a few times with him in Barcelona, I'm really happy to have had the experience myself, and glad to have the history with him as well. Sometime I'll have to try to dig up some photos of Jason as a twelve year old Blockhead ripper.

Now Playing: iPod on shuffle!

Got an iPod today. Here's what I put in it right away: AC/DC High Voltage; At The Drive-In El Gran Orgo; best of the Avengers; Black Flag the First Four Years; BoySetsFire In Chrysalis; four songs by Bush (an embarrassing guilty pleasure); Clash s/t; Crimson Curse Discography; Devo Are We Not Men; Drive Like Jehu s/t; Fugazi Furniture; assorted Iggy Pop songs; Everything by Inch; Jawbreaker 24 Hour Revenge Therapy; Jesus Lizard best of Bang; Los Olvidados Discography; Minor Threat Discography; Misfits Box Set disc 1; Ramones Mania; Radio Birdman Under The Ashes disc 1; Refused Shape of Punk to Come; Sham 69 assorted songs; Swing Kids Discography; White Stripes White Blood Cells; Wire On Returning; Punk The Jubilee disc 1. I'm really psyched on this thing. I can't afford it but I sold a computer and used less than half the money on this thing--the prices just dropped. Anyway, 2500 songs--when they're short punk rock songs--and bye-bye walkman!

July 30: Feeling much better now, although I got two doses of reality once again this morning in the form of bad things happening to my friends...

Lance Hahn, (in)famous former Hawaiian punk rocker and the mastermind behind Cringer, JChurch, and Honey Bear Records, had to climb down from his third story apartment in Austin, Texas, and suffer through watching his life go up in flames. I can't tell you how hard this is to even imagine. Imagine watching this happen to your photos, your records, your ___________whatever, fill in your own blank, with something that means everything to you. Thankfully Lance is fine, and so is his girlfriend Liberty. I'm feeling for you Lance, and some stuff is on the way.

Erich Browne is a Pennsylvania/North Carolina skateboarder and a friend who has recently developed bad kidney problems, and now I know why I haven't been able to get a hold of him. Friends are holding a fundraiser in Mid-August. Hang in there Erich! We're all thinking good thoughts.

Email me if you'd like to donate something to either of these guys lives.

Writing that stuff above made me thoughtful this morning. Those of you who know me know I wear my heart on my sleeve anyway, so I'm normally a pretty thankful guy, and I realize that I'm really lucky to be able to live this life. But man, this kind of bad stuff can happen to any of us, and it really makes me want to go out and tackle the day and make the most of life and tell my friends I love them and I'm happy to have them in my life...

Now Playing: Swing Kids "Discography" CD. This record just keeps getting better. "Intro to Photography" is genius.

July 26: Feeling a little better today, maybe I'm getting over this post-traveling depression. Every time I come home from an amazing trip I get into this depressed state, get all screwed up, can't sleep, can't face reality, don't want to go to work, don't want to do anything really. It comes from being out there, traveling, having the time of my life, every time, and not having to face any of the pressures of everyday, so-called normal, responsible life. It's hard to take that plunge, though, and just live that life, traveling all the time. I'm not sure that it would mean as much to me if I did it all the time, and so I savor the times when I can travel and live nomadically, even if it's for short stretches at a time. I'll face the depressions and, like everything else, learn how to deal. Of course, this time, there was some other factors adding to the maelstrom in my head, having to do with a beautiful girl... an especially wonderful girl who just lives too damn far away.

Now playing: Hot Snakes "Suicide Invoice"

I've decided/realized that stories about L'Espuina de Pollo are useless, because the spot itself isn't what makes it interesting or fun, but it's the people who gravitate consistently to the spot that kept me and plenty of others interested while we were there. L'Espuina de Pollo, also known as L'Espuina de Pollo Loco, or the Chicken Corner, is this little 4-way intersection in Barcelona, about 2 blocks off La Rambla (La Rambla is a very wide sidewalk, sort of like a boardwalk, that runs from near the center of Barcelona down to the harbor, about 1.5 miles or so, and is infested with street urchins, performers, artists, scammers, hookers, and everyone else you could imagine). Somehow, at the Chicken Corner, there can be 100 skaters and girls standing around drinking beer and playing guitar and shooting the breeze until 5 in the morning. It's a little intersection of alleys, nothing special about them that attracts the skaters or anyone else, but named such because there is a large broiler in a restuarant on one of the corners where they cook chickens during the daytime. Kitty-corner to that there is a graffitti of a chicken that actually looks more like a bat or a mouse with wings. Keep in mind this is an alley, and the distance between the two corners is maybe 20 feet or so. Real small. Barely wide enough for a large car to fit through, but more than enough room for a bunch of skaters to lodge for the night, buying icy cans of beers from street vendors for 1 Euro. Plenty of girls going by, plenty of good times had by all. But maybe it's one of those places you have to visit to appreciate.

Last summer Justin Strubing was in Barcelona to skate and he met a girl named Ingrid. He decided to stay in Barcelona for two months, which prompted various phone calls from his Dad, brother, etc. Well, after numerous visits by both Justin and Ingrid to meet family and all that stuff, Justin and Ingrid have decided to get married! We'll let you know when the happy occasion goes down, but for now, congratulations, guys!

Now playing: The Lot Six: I forget the name CD (hopefully more info to follow on this band)...

July 22: Where to begin? First, thanks for the kind emails from those of you who asked when the next updates to this silly little journal will be posted. I knew a few people read it but had no idea I'd get that much response after being gone. Makes me wonder if I should keep the personal stuff out of here, but when poeple write that that's the stuff they like, it makes it a little easier.

Stories for the next few days will hopefully include L'Esquina de Pollo, more details about Justin Strubing getting engaged(!), a rant about Jason Dill, Herman and Spanky stories, how I got arrested in an Italian train station for skateboarding, more stories about how much people hate Americans just for being Americans, Tales of La Rambla, and more... thanks for your emails, and keep 'em coming. For now, here's a taste.

I usually don't say blatant hellos to people, but am very glad to have met a kindred spirit of mine from Germany named Florian, whom my friends in the Faction introduced me to on this last trip. It was great to get to meet you, Flo, I'm psyched! Also psyched on seeing the Faction in Dortmund, on a big stage with great sound and a great response from the kids. Got to spend a little time with the band, too, which always means a lot to me with them. Plus, it was good to see them get so psyched about a show.

I think I have a new favorite skater. Dustin Dollin is so amazing. I wrote about him after my trip to Australia in November, but every time I see this kid he's so much fun to hang out with, he raises more hell than everyone, and he's always laying down the skateboarding. And while he may be a hammers kid, he also skates his ass off with no cameras, whether it's manuals, ledges, stairs, or whatever. And it's always amazing.

The list of "pro" skaters in Barcelona right now comes down to people who enjoy skating and aren't just collecting a paycheck. There is so much stuff to skate in that city it is unbelieveable, and there are so many untapped spots that the locals protect, like any smart skaters would, that just get randomly discovered every time someone gets lost. Among the skateboarders reaping the benefits right now are Ed Templeton, Diego Buchierri, Jamie Thomas, Caswell Berry, Austin Stephens, Spanky, Bryan Herman, Enrique Lorenzo, Nilton Neves, Justin Strubing, Kenny Hughes, Terry Kennedy, Jason Dill, Wes Lott, Jessie Van Rockout, Adrian Lopez, Chris Cole, Tim O'Connor, Eric Koston, Rick McCrank, Rob Dyrdek, Anthony Van Engelen, John Rattray, Ali Boulala, Frank Gerwerstein, Arto Saari, Dustin Dollin, Lee Smith, Paul Shier, Satva Leung, and more that I can't even think of right now. Plus there's all the London guys like Lev, James, Richard, Alex, and more who are there on their own time living the life. And of course there are the nameless faces of people from Israel, Australia, France, Germany, and other places unknown who were there at the spots, skating, having fun, enjoying the act... Hats off to all of these guys for chillin' and having fun, while still putting the time in on their skateboards and keeping it real.

July 7: I have a flight today at 3pm. LAX to Paris, then onto Lausanne, via Geneva. Hopefully no bombs, or mysterious packages at the airport.

July 6: Went to the airport today to try to fly to Europe, and basically got sent home (OK, it was my decision, but man, was it sketchy there!) because there was a bomb scare in the international terminal at LAX. My flight was at 840pm, and at 6 o'clock they weren't allowing anyone in the terminal. I'll try again tomorrow.

July 3: I've spent the last few days in the company of three new freinds who've been really amazing. It can be really hard to invite people full-on into your life and have things click, just like it can be tough to take that plunge into someone's life, but it's been great. And I can always tell the character of someone when my sister Laura likes them, and she loves Rob, Beth and Carolyn, so I know they're good people. There's something about having warm people in the house that makes me feel really good. Anyway... today is Magic Mountain... fun!

June 2002

June 28th My new (soon to be old) friends Beth, Carolyn, and Rob arrived tonight. It's going to be a good week full of photos, phun, and phlexible hours. Tijuana, Magic Mountain, Hollyweird, backyard barbeques, a little skateboarding, and lots of beach time, too... good times!

This band I'm in is recording next Tuesday so I'm sure I'll be a little stressed about that. But it's far better to have too much to do than not enough. If I'm nervous now I wonder what I'll be like next week.

For those of you who have been asking about the Los Olvidados CD that I wrote about fenagling a copy of last summer, the wait will finally be over. July 8th Alternative Tentacles will be releasing a three CD series of Punk Skate stuff. Besides Los O's "Listen To This" there will be the Drunk Injuns discography CD "From Where The Sun Now Stands I Will Fight No More, Forever" and last but certainly not least in my book, Free Beer's "The Only Beer That Matters." Start the Ark, buddy! Now the first two JFA records need to be re-issued and the key elements of the skatepunk roots will be available again. I think some planets should be aligning soon. You can find out more info here: free beer, or by going to alternative tentacles.com

A great, amazing book that I've had for a while but that never ceases to grab my attention is called "The Journey Is The Destination: The Journals of Dan Eldon." This is a collection of journals from a young photo journalist who was raised in Kenya but also spent some time in Southern California. He has a sense of humor and design that looks like it could be right out of a early 80's skateboard 'zine. And somewhere along the line Ed Templeton must've either seen these journals and photos or else been psychically connected to Dan Eldon: the similarities in design style are too similar to not be spooky if he hasn't. And Dan's photos are the perfect examples of what I think a documentarian should shoot: they capture the human element in whatever stage it exists. It's not always pretty, but it's not always ugly either, and there's a state of grace or beauty in even the things we traditionally think of as ugly. Dan, along with three other photographers from Reuters and AP, was killed in the July 1993 by a throng of angry and distraught mourners after a bomb killed many religious leaders and respected elders outside Mogodishu, Somalia. The book is well worth checking out. It's published by Chronicle books.

I've been trying to get Todd Congelliere to come skate for a while, but he's always too busy. So the other night I finally went and saw his new(er) band Toys That Kill, and they're so good. Live, they come accross like an energetic Rocket From The Crypt mixed with Green Day before they hit the big time. And there's still some of that raw punk rock thrown in, too. Anyway, I got their CD, and although they sound a little more bubble-gummy on some of the songs, it's really, really good. If you've ever heard Ann Barretta, think Ann Barretta and RFTC mixed with new things and more humor and you've got Toys That Kill. And they played with this amazing band called The Rolling Blackouts who I'll definitely check out again, too. Garagey and fun, sort of reminded me of The Mummies without the toilet paper and old sheets.

June 17: Went to a couple of new parks yesterday. La Habra has been open about a month, and although I fear that it's doomed for helmet and full pads sessions in the future, they currently use discretion about who to let in without a helmet. All kids who are sketchy don't get let in without a helmet, but he'll let the older guys skate if they show up without one. Anyway, the park is a good sign that maybe they'll all start getting better soon. It's got a 4 foot deep square pool with four round corners, pretty evenly spaced, and a fun street/flow area. There are a couple handrails, a 6 foot quarterpipe, and the rest is a combination of banks and trannies that makes for good hips and easy speed. There is a little spine int he middle, a small hubba, and a bank to rail on both sides of the park, one round, one square. Both of those rails are really long, maybe 30 feet, and they're approachable from the end, too, so you can grind them then go into the bank. All in all a pretty fun park. Go now before it gets too crowded--we had a great session yesterday. It's on Idaho north of La Habra Blvd, south of Whittier Blvd.

After that we went to the new Monrovia park. Rumor has it that Ben Schroeder designed this park, but I have the feeling that he designed something taller and it was chopped down at the building stage. The main trannie feature here is actually really cool. It's a bowl with a fairly big shallow end, about 3-4 feet deep, wide open with decks. Then the middle section has three pump bumps that are a little too close together, but they're still rideable with speed, especially if you're moving sideways rather than straight over them, Then the deep end opens into a bigger bowl, with a coupleof 5 foot tall walls connected by short corners, and an escalated section that gets up to about 8 feet tall but is hard to get speed for. In the middle of the pump bumps is a big taco shaped wall that builds then drops into that escalated section. The entire thing has coping, and the lines are there, but the good ones are hard to find. That alone makes it worth skating. There is also a small street area that is fairly well designed, with a cement jump ramp to picnic table, a hubba or three, a double set of stairs, and various rails and flat bars. It's small, though, and it seemed like speed was hard to get. Still, especially for transition skaters, the park is a lot of fun. It's just off Mountain Ave a little north of the 210.

Now playing: Toys That Kill "The Citizen Abortion"

June 16, 2002: Garry Davis here. My nephew Jon is visiting from Cincinnati for a while, so I picked him up at the Santa Ana train station today and brought him back to Marks' house in Orange to session at the backyard ramp for a spell. I was sitting on the patio watching Jon warm-up for a while when a few old-timers started showing-up, most of whom I wasn't really familiar with. There was former Hell-bow owner Jimmy Arrighi, a couple of his friends, and then (you won't believe this) Neil Blender walked into the backyard. A half-hour later, Lance Mountain and Lance Jr. arrived, followed after that by Ed Templeton. I don't think you understand how the mere presence of these legendary individuals all in one backyard at the same time officially stamped the day with the label of "epic".

Neil ripped the ramp apart with obscure moves of yore like smooth tail-taps, layback tail-taps and fakie ollies on the extension—not to mention long lip slides, funny little airs, Smith-grinds and the highlight of the day: a buttery Hand-out with effortless re-entry. He is a crack-up, as always, and I'm glad we got to chat for a while. Lance Mountain powered his way around the ramp with his long-running intimate knowledge of transition and Ed flicked frontside nose-blunts, front-truck grinds over the spine and tons of other amazing stuff—with an overall fast and solid command—on every surface. My nephew Jon was on-edge all day, rippin' all kinds of grind variations like laybacks barely touching the coping with his hand, switch-crooks, non-traveling tailslides and many more.

At the end of the day, Ed, Lance Jr. and Jon played a game of S-K-A-T-E on the King Rail out in the front driveway. All three participants were getting rather "tech" at times. Ed was in command with his usual solid self. Jon blew me away with a frontside nose-blunt slide. Lance Jr. ended-up taking top-honors, knocking Ed out with a kickflip frontside boardslide. He's so fun to watch, especially when he barely makes it out of a trick all sketchy and goofy with his body contorted in a funny pose. He reminds me of his dad a lot (especially while street-skating). Lance Jr. was wearing bright green old-school Vans and looked like he was actually enjoying himself, laughing and having fun—something that often seems to be sorely missing in the serious tone of today's skateboarding world. Everyone began to trickle away after the game of S-K-A-T-E. To say the least, it's not exactly every day that a session like this goes down (maybe back in the '80s it would have been more common, but certainly not now). You have to appreciate it while it lasts—I know I sure did. I still can't believe it all happened. The true spirit of skateboarding shone on this day. It's hours later and I'm still feeling kind of dazed. Now back to Mark...

Now Playing: The Rolling Blackouts (live)

Click here for two amazing photos that I shot a long time ago and still really like, of Mark Gonzales and Tim Brauch.

June 4: Had a wrestling match with four hundred pounds of kids tonight on the front lawn. My arms are sore and my back has bruises already, but it was a sort of exorcism of sorts to get it all out and have some fun getting wrecked.

In the CD changer: Ramones s/t, Sex Pistols Never Mind..., Clash s/t, Stiff Little Fingers Inflammable Material, Wire On Returning. After spending three days in London doing really dorky things like taking pictures of the high-rise tower blocks where Mick Jones lived, and pictures of myself under the Westway on Portobello Road (site of the riots in 1977 that spawned the back cover photo of the first Clash record), and driving through King's Road (it's now 100% yuppie-fied and full of lame shops), I came home with renewed vigor to learn these records in entirety on the guitar. The first Clash record is done, the Sex Pistols and Ramones records are halfway there, but I can't seem to get the SLF version of Bob Marley's "Johnny Was" down the way they played it. Stiff Little Fingers stuff isn't as easy as I would've thought. And Wire? The easy ones are easy, the others are impossible. So I'm learning the easy ones: Ex-Lion Tamer, Outdoor Miner, 12XU. They're the best ones anyway.

Trivia: on which Clash song from the first record do the Clash pay direct homage to the Ramones? Hint? They use an exact line directly out of a well-known Ramones song. First person to write the correct answer wins 5 free CDs from Goldenrod Records. Within USA only. Write by clicking here.

Wow, imagine this: some actual skateboard news. J. Strickland and Andrew Reynolds have parted ways. J. is best known as the former Birdhouse Team Manager who masterminded the Baker Bootleg videos and has been running Baker since the beginning. However, recently J. has been working hard on getting Bootleg off the ground and so Andrew decided he wanted more of a hand in Baker and J. should be free to concentrate on Bootleg. Let's hope that the good stuff continues for both guys.

More gossip? OK. Watch for Pig Skateboards being launched soon. Despite the recent Pig Wheels ad, PJ Ladd is riding for Ricta Wheels. Eric Koston is also on Ricta Wheels. Is that truly the best team in skateboarding? Do wheel teams count? If so, Pig might've had it a few years back. Jason Adams is off Vans and on Duffs, with a likely shoe coming out soon. Justin Strubing will be sadly leaving his Emericas behind for a shoe on the new Kris Markovich company. That company will be through Osiris, which is whose shoes a paroled Jay Adams will be wearing soon, hopefully, as he's getting a pro model shoe. Anthony Mosely is upsetting a lot of people lately by saying things he hasn't thought clearly about, but hopefully the price he'll be paying will help learn a lesson. Gershon Mosely's Blind graphics depicting him knocking out Reynolds are not only macho, stupid, and arrogant, they're nonfactual, if art is supposed to be imitating life. Gershon did punch Reynolds once in their little scuffle about 8 months ago, but it was a little later when a drunken Reynolds was pushed by someone else and fell into a bench that he lost his tooth. Gershon, or "GMOS" as I guess he's going by now, didn't do it, and yet he's still claiming... I guess he's tough, though, huh? A busy Reynolds has left the drink behind for a life of TCB, as outlined above... and speaking of TCB, Tom Penny is still filming for the DVD version of the Flip video SORRY, which I've now seen enough times to know is really, really good. The best video ever? Perhaps.

Haven't skated it yet, but there is a new park in La Habra that's supposed to be pretty damn good. My old friend Hugh bought a '78 Volvo wagon from Steev Claar that used to belong to Neil Blender and he may be living in it soon. Hugh's been ripping up Ocean Beach and Coronado lately, sometimes with other longtime San Jose ripper Kamal Sahota of the infamous Sahota Brothers. Garry Davis made a number of additions to the Apple Website on June 3. Check it. I guess that's it for tonight.

Now Playing: The world's greatest band: Inch

June 3: I've been to a few countries in my life, but I just got back from Finland and I've gotta say that it's pretty damn amazing. Of course I realize that it's always different than living there when you go to a place for a short period of time. Still, Helsinki is an amazing city. They don't care about skateboarding, they've built some amazing places to skate, the city is clean, safe, and full of trees, and the girls are beautiful. More than any other place I've ever visited, by far, the women are striking. Serious sensory overload.

PJ Ladd won the contest in Helsinki last weekend. It was his first pro contest, and the day of the finals, he didn't even skate on the course, not once, except during his runs, which included a kickflip over a gap he'd never jumped, a 360 ollie heelflip over a pyramid hip, a kickflip feeble grind down a rail, and a nollie-flip into (from the deck) a 6 foot quarterpipe. Pretty damn amazing.

Spanky got second place in the same contest. His first pro contest and he nails it in his run with a clean line and lots of solid amazing tricks. Bastien got third, with typical amazing Bastien tricks and style--he's amazing, too. Fourth was Jani L., who just turned pro for the Firm, and fifth was a tie with Arto and Euro Antilla, who rides for Flip. Fun contest, good times. I'm also stoked that I got to meet Louie Barletta--he's a nice guy and real funny, and a great skateboarder.

Also: being in London for the Queen's Golden Jubilee and the start of the World Cup and Punk's Silver Jubilee was... interesting. More soon, maybe.

May 2002

May 23: Just had a very nice surprise checking out SteveBerra.com. Very nice site, good design without being too arty, and easy to navigate through good photos, sequences, articles, fiction, and journal-style entries that eliminate the stage between skater and fan. Well worth checking out.,

May 21: Tom Penny is here in California today, and there's an eS sample Penny shoe. It looks pretty amazing and he wore it tonight--everyone was checking it out. The Flip video, "Sorry"... starts off with Johnny Rotten narrating, sort of, talking about the video, and then introducing each skater throughout. Here's the run through: Mark Appleyard got the first part, and it was amazing. The filming here was especially nice, as there were a lot of roll-bys and moving camera dolly-style shots (The "Frangle"). Appleyard is amazing and this is the first really commensurate video part for him. Ali Boulala's part was so much his style, it was great to see. He dawdles some, but somehow it builds into this amazing collection off oddities and raw skating, and the overall effect is very successful. Alex Chalmers is one of the best park skaters--one of the best all-around skaters-- but his part was all park footy, and it was all great stuff. He skated to the Faction... Bastien's part was simply outstanding. He's fifteen and he's already at the most astonishing level. Kickflip back lips and frontboards down huge rails, and some amzingly quick feet--meaning quick gnarly lines. Rowley's part was my favorite, although it was in the middle, meaning that they (the team chose the order) possibly thought others were more worthy of the opening and closing parts. No matter, in this line-up everyone was strong. Rowley did huge ollies, rails, kinked rails, and some really cool long-ass grinds. Rune's part does him justice--he's one of my favorite skaters, and he did stuff I've never seen before, and he always looks good doing it. He did a face high backside alley-oop ollie to tail over the channel at Bob's. What? Tom Penny's part was really good--it started off with some mini-ramp skating, then faded into a cool dream sequence, and then Tom's new footy starts. Parts pure new amazing tricks and part vintage Penny style, it ended up a very accomplished part for Tom. He's never been gone, he's always been there. Arto's part was last and it's long and good, and it's odd to think what he might've gotten if he hadn't been hurt the last few months. A lot of the tricks that have been in ads the last six months, as well as stuff from his Thrasher SOTY interview, his part is last for a reason--it's really, really, good. The music for the video really fit everyone's parts, and the editing is great. Boulala's part is raw and fits his little raw punk image. Bastien's part is to some good beats, and has edit-scratches that match his flair and the music. Arto used two songs--the second is "rocknroll suicide" by Bowie, and it's so perfect, the way it builds. Oh, yeah, that was another thing that is really good--each part really builds, from a slower, sometimes sketchier or imperfect (more human?) group of tricks into the real amazing stuff. Fred's got a flair for the editing that matching his quality filming. There's so much to say, but the bottom line is if you're reading this and into skateboarding, you should check out the Flip video yourself. Buy a copy when you can, it won't be available forever. Oh yeah, I also got Johnny Rotten's autograph!

May 19: Man, I've written a lot this month already. Anyway, yesterday was a pretty amazing day--got to play music with some friends while other friends were in the backyard skating, then I went skateboarding to San Clemente with a good group of people to skate with, then went to Hollyweird to have dinner and hang out with a different group of friends: Justin and Beth, Erik and Lucy, Spanky and Herman, Trainwreck, Braydon, Miner, and more dudes. And then I went and saw the " Champs" at The Smell with Daniel, Felipe, Peter, Josh, Brian, Joel, and a large contingent of the Rosemead crew. Packed day. I love it.

May 16: About 9 months ago we did an interview with Manny on here, and I've been meaning to do more with the other kids. So, without further ado, here's Taylor Corner, interviewed by Manny, and then by me:

Manny: Taylor, are you hardcore? Taylor: No.

Mark: What does that mean, hardcore? Manny: Hardcore skater.

What's a hardcore skater, Manny? GSD. No, one who skates all the time and falls all the time. Who cares. Manny: Taylor, How come you wear your cuffs so big? Cause I do, why do you care?

Because I'm just trying to come up with a way to let you know it looks really bad. I don't care. You shouldn't worry about what other people wear and just worry about yourself.

It's highly noticeable. What do you think about Eric poking a pine needle into your ear? Not very cool. That's all I have to say.

Taylor, what tricks have you learned this week? Uh, none. Not this week. I hate the board I have right now. The last trick I learned was frontside boardslides.

How long have you been skateboarding? Seriously? I don't know. Maybe three years, but it snowed where I used to live so I couldn't skate when I was younger most of the time. That was in Bend, Oregon.

Why do you like it so much? I'm thinking.

"I like skateboarding because it's rad." No, that's not it. I don't know why. It's fun.

Do you like interviews? Nope.

Do you like skateparks? Yep.

Do you like Disneyland? Sure.

Do you like your wood shop class? No, cause Mr. Pruss is mean, but the projects are cool.

What's the name of your girlfriend, again? It's not my girlfriend.

Yes, it is, it's Yahaira. And Manny think she's a black Arabian who studies Buddhism.

Does she like you or does she like you? I like her.

But she supposedly likes him, too. Manny's making that up.

Does she like skaters? She's going out with one. That's why Manny can't say she's my girlfriend.

Taylor, do you have any shout-outs? No.

Don't you want to say hi to anyone? Wait. No, don't write that... I'm thinking. Hi to Manny, my Mom, my Dad, Matt, not Eric, cause he poked me in the ear, Garry, the Clash, At The Drive-In, Eddie, and Kelly, and John and Christian. And Manny said that every time you write Eddie's name you have to put "ugly" in parentheses.

Anything else? (Thinking...) No.

And now here's Manny, interviewed by Taylor, and Mark:

What's your full name? Manuel A. Belmonte.

What's the "A" stand for? Nothing.

That would start with an "N." Oh, well, Adrian. Do you like rollerblading? Aren't you yourself a rollerblader, Taylor?

Would that make you a hesh biker? You sure like biking in your Osiris sweatshirt. This is stupid.

So how many times have I saved your life from going into the street and getting hit by a car. Five or six times.

Pretty good odds. That made no sense.

I don't care. What tricks have you learned in the last month? Ollies.

What else? 360 flip noseblunts.

What's your favorite trick? Ollies.

What about wheelies? I leave those to "Ugly" Eddie.

So who are the most influential skaters to you right now? Gay skateboarders.

Mark: You don't even know any gay skateboarders! Manny: Who cares, put it down. Steve Sanderson. This one time, me and Steve were skating in his backyard and there was a water stream from sprinklers, and we were doing tricks over it, and Steve ollied it, and I 180'd it, and Steve said "Oh, you're trying to step it up a notch." So I backside 180'd it, and he's all "Oh, so you're trying to step it up two notches." I said "You're gay, Steve." He said "I know," and he tried to make a move on me, and I backed away and said "Let's just be skate buddies, Steve."

Taylor: Do you like potpourri hearts that are soft and velvety? Don't throw that at me, please!

How many hours do you spend Tech-decking a week? Second to none.

Mark: OK, this is starting to make even less sense. That's it. No, no! Mark, ask me some questions.

OK, Manny. Have you learned any new tricks on the ramp? Good rock to fakies, fakie hang ups, I almost have axle stalls, and higher kickflips to fakie, and sliding down the ramp on my butt and tearing myself a new a**hole.

Did you make feeble backside reverts on the flat bar yet? No, I have frontside reverts, or just to fakie down. I call them to fakie because one time I asked Ed (Templeton) how to get out of feebles and he said you just kind of lean back, and he told me to show him one, and I did it 180 out. I leaned back, and did it to fakie, and he said "Or, you can just do it to fakie." So I call them to fakie.

How come you're so into skateboarding, always wanting to go somewhere, but always relying on me to take you there? There's no good skate spots around here, and they're all too far, so I rely to want to go to a skatepark so I can tag along.

There are a lot of spots around here, where you could skate to them. You're just too lazy. That's not true, you're lazy. Those spots are killed, from my good skateboarding, and switchstance.

Taylor: And ugly fat guys that yell at you. What's your girlfriend's name? Taylor. No, put... I'm trying to think. Who's one of those fat ugly chicks in the TV business? One of them. Actually, all of them. You have to ask me to give shot-outs.

Shot-outs? Shouts, I mean.

OK, go ahead. I would like to give a shot-out to Emerica, all the neighborhood kids, and all the heshers that have chosen the right way to skate. And the ams that better be pro by the time I'm sponsored. And Steve Sanderson, the "gay jock," who'd rather be driving his new truck than skating. And answer your phone next time I call, Steve. And TumYeto...

This list is about to end. No! Annoying Parker, weird-voice Greg, Brian Sumner, and the box that is going to be made sometime.

Tell me about the Ass-Face Kids. It's just a group of kids named me, Parker, Javi, and Matt. And it's still awaiting other ugly kids. It is a great group of kids who want to have fun and be creative. I'd also like to give a shout-out to GSD. Come home, Garry!

Now playing: Inch "Educated Woman: Greatest Hits" CD (Goldenrod) The title of this CD changes every time I play it... I think the last time it was "Inch Digs A Hole in Your Sleep."

After dislocating my shoulder about 6 weeks ago I still haven't really gone out and gone skating, and I'm itching to. I tried once and screwed up my back, so I've been trying to heal completely before I get hurt again. Man, it sucks not being able to skate. At least these days I've got a ton of other things I want to do, so it's not as bad as it used to be.

Now Playing: Fang Discography CD, especially "Money Will Roll Right In." Especially not some of their other stuff...

They certainly don't need any more links or advertising, and I would hope that most people who know about skatepunk.net would know about crailtap.com. But that site is consistently amazing. Really, really good stuff, funny stuff, and as I see it, they're doing it for the "right" reasons: it's not just another front to get people to buy stuff... And also, you can get to BendPress and buy really, really nice pieces of skateboarding art, such as the original Wrench Pilot comics, the Girl painted ads Andy Jenkins did a few years ago, and other original Bend pieces. I just got Wrench Pilot #4 and I'm psyched.

Now Playing: Fugazi, End Hits.

Tonight I had a conversation with a cute girl named Ashley, talking about bands and music, and I was hard-pressed to actually name my favorite bands of all-time. It's weird, because with records, I never seem to be at a loss for a list of desert-island discs, or with live shows, I always have my favorite shows at the tip of my tongue. But tonight it was a little weird trying to figure it out. If I had to name 'em, I'd say the Clash and X are at the top of the list, but those two bands sure don't represent the core of the music I really like today. For instance, I've had Fugazi moments; times where I've not taken Fugazi out/off of the tape player, CD player, record player, but still, the records don't do as much for me over a long period of time as a Clash record. However, I only saw the Clash twice, and I've seen Fugazi countless times. And I'd have to say that the Clash weren't as intense or impressive live as Fugazi was, ever, but because I only saw them twice, those moments are more imbedded in my memory than most of the Fugazi shows I saw. That, and the first time I saw the Clash was a sort of first for me, romantically, so of course it holds good memories... X has always been an amazing live band, and their records, for the most part, have been incredible to me as well--at least the first four... And then there are the bands that I never saw live and who only put out a record or two, but who were incredible: Gang of Four, Minor Threat, Sex Pistols, Radio Birdman. And it's harder to judge a smaller body of work, right? Then there are bands who were incredible (incredible!) on record but somehow had trouble pulling it together when I saw them live: Soulside, Inch, Pitchfork, Monorchid. So then there are bands like Big Boys, Refused, the Wipers, Skull Kontrol, Afghan Whigs, the Jam, who I never got to see live but I still love their records... Anyway, it was nice to be stumped for once, and I think it's good that I couldn't name an all-time favorite right off the bat... and like Ashley said, the Ramones have to be in there somewhere, right?

ManMade played their first public show tonight--I just got back from there. I actually had a couple of beers so I'm a little bit beer-goggled out right now, but man, it was a good night. We played twice, there were some cute "fans" there, and even though I'm only the bass player it was a lot of fun... Paul Simonon style bass lines are really fun to play, and I'm doing my damndest. (Part of this entry deleted).

Want a little interesting bit of skateboarding history? Check out the team for Circle-A Skateboards and check the art gallery and shop for Bob's current project, Circle-A Skateboard Shop, San Jose, CA. Circle-A.net.

I'm playing my first show with my new band tomorrow night. It's funny, cause it's just a little party, and still I'm a little nervous. Just a little. Anyway, it'll be good, I'm pretty amped. It's just funny that I'm even thinking twice about it.

Now playing: Mixed CD of Refused EPs made by Howie Burdick. Thank You, Howie!

May 9, 2002. Three years ago today my dear friend Tim died. What to say? There are so many stories to tell, so many good times shared. I'm proud to say that I was Tim's friend. I know he was a friend to so many people, and I know our friendship was special. That was one of the amazing things about Tim--how he made me feel about myself. He did it for lots of other people, too. He died right after Slam City Jam in 1999, and even at that contest, he was making friends. Mark Holder and Billy Weatherford both became friends with Tim on that trip, after not knowing him before, and still, three years later, I still meet people who called Tim a dear friend. What a great quality... Here I am blubbering again. I will go out and skate today and think good thoughts about Tim and his family, and imagine what Tim might be doing. Today will be a good day. We're all thinking about you, Tim!

Now playing: Supersuckers, Supernova, Rocket From the Crypt, Muffs, Misfits, Seaweed, Buffalo Tom, on a mixed tape, a la Tim Brauch.

Get busy living, or get busy dying...

Today's Current Desert Island Discs (in no particular order):
Clash "The Clash"
Refused "The Shape of Punk to Come"
(International) Noise Conspiracy "Survival Sickness"
Inch "Dot Class 'C'"
Dead Kennedys "Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables"
Fugazi "End Hits"
Afghan Whigs "Gentlemen"
At The Drive-In "In/Casino/Out"
JFA's Second Full Length "Pipe"
Swing Kids "Discography" CD

My Seven Favorite Skateboarders Today, In No Particular Order:
PJ Ladd
Chris Senn
Steve Caballero
Eric Koston
Arto Saari
Paul Rodriguez
Ed Templeton

Now Playing: The amazing new 4 song demo CD from The Faction!

Just got back from Vancouver for Slam City Jam. Had a great trip--one of the best contest trips I've had in a long time, Didn't spend any time in any lame strip clubs (or any strip clubs), didn't have hassles getting into and out of the contest, didn't have to search for things to do at night. On Friday night my friend Rick had the grand opening for his skateboard shop, AntiSocial, and there was an art show opening the same night at his art gallery in back. Tons of people showed, Tony and I got to play a little bit of music, which is one of the best ways I know to spend time with friends, and then Don and I left to go to another Etnies-sponsored party. I met a great girl and felt this weird connection with her, even though I couldn't tell from her. But we flirted and it was nice, and I got to see her a little over the rest of the weekend. There were other parties to go to on the other nights, old friends to see and new friends to make, and so that's just what we did. We (Me, Don, Tony, Justin, Billy, Dave, Mark, Tony, Corey, even Carrie) were sharing good times--and soaking them in--and Vancouver was a good place to do it. Even got to see Doug Smith some, which is always a pleasure. And the Faction played twice, Mike V. and the Rats played once, and I could go on and on. But I won't right now. Maybe later. I need to write to Kendra Gaeta right now. Have you ever heard Wesley Willis' song about Kendra Gaeta? It goes "Kendra, Gae-ta!" over and over again. I'm getting off the subject here... I love Vancouver, and every time I go there I say I want to move there.

Now Playing: Streets CD--from Vancouver, B.C. I'm sure I'll be ranting about this band on this website at some point in the future.

New link: FloridaSkater.com

April 2002

I just got back from Germany. After the barbeque, (see below) I had a day to recover before leaving for 8 days on a whirlwind skateboarding demo tour of Germany. The team was eS, the skaters were Eric Koston, Paul Rodriguez, Rodrigo Teixeira, Mike Taylor, Bob Burnquist, PJ Ladd, Rick McCrank, Tom Penny, and Arto Saari. One of he most amazing crews of skateboarders I've ever travelled with. Betweeen killing the demos, these guys were true skate rats, out skating all night long, finding painful ledges on the days off, hunting down fun spots to skate from videos they've seen, and skating an awful lot without any cameras around. I think I've already written enough about PJ below, but it's all true and more. And Rick is a demo killer, over and over again. But everyone had their moments to shine, and everyone did. A great trip to be a skateboarder and feel good.

Now playing: Seaweed's cover version of Warsaw by Warsaw (they were soon to change their name to Joy Division). I wish I had an iPod.

On Saturday, April 20th, we hosted a contest and barbeque in Joe Lopes' honor. About 280 people came to skate, eat, drink, and enjoy. There were a lot of people who had bought Joe's board when they were young, and we all traded Joe stories if we had 'em. Paul Schmitt told me that one time Joe was interviewed and was asked "What's your favorite part of all of this, the skateboarding, the barbequing, the traveling?" and Joe simply responded "Life." Pretty poignant, now. For eight hours the backyard was a mess of people of all ages and eras, somehow involved in skateboarding and all touched by Joe's contributions: good times were his main thing, and skateboarding was a major tool towards that end for Joe. That was what prompted him to hold the first ever backyard contest, "Joe's Ramp Jam," and to have a skateboard graphic with a guy grilling a steak. Thirty skateboarders rode the spine and hips, and the roof, and in the end the obvious choice put Joe Lopes in first place. $1250 went to Joe's trust fund for first place, and all the skaters were bumped one spot in the prize money to enable that. Neil Heddings took home $1000 and was the first place skater besides Joe. Chad Vogt, Brian Patch, Kyle Yanigomoto, and Riky Barnes rounded out the top five. Others in the prize money were John Ponts, Al Partenan, Patrick Melcher, Ryan Wilburn, and Jeff Grosso in 7th to 11th, and Scott Taylor, Mike Manzoori, Tode Freud, Carlos DeAndrade, Sam Hitz, and Jerry Hafner in 12th to 16th. Most of these guys donated some or all their winnings to Joe's family. Between the first place cash, the donations from guys like Riky Barnes, Jeff Grosso, Chad Vogt, Kyle Yangomoto, and Carlos DeAndrade, and the donations dropped in the kitty, we were able to raise over $2200 for Joe's family. This whole event would not have been possible if it weren't for the visionaries at Etnies (Beau Brown and Don Brown), Foundation Skateboards (Tod Swank, Mike Page), Pig Wheels (Josh Beagle), and Split Clothing (Skip, Andy, Kate and Dave). Thanks for having faith in me to do this. The barbeque idea came together through the guys at Element. Bod Boyle and Steve Douglas both came to America in the early eighties and stayed with Joe in San Leandro--he took them in and gave them a place to stay and skate and kickstart their skateboard careers. Bod and Steve were integral in making the barbeque happen, and I thank you guys for the support, and the help, and for letting me be part of something good for an old friend and teammate. Thanks also to my sister Laura and nephew Taylor for allowing the entire thing to be part of their lives so willingly and gracefully for several weeks of preparation and one day of fun and chaos.

My friend Justin got evicted from the house in San Diego he'd lived for seven years, because they sold the house. Upon moving out they threw a house party and The Locust, Blood Brothers, Defacto, GoGoGo Airheart, Moving Units, and one other band played... Very cool show, bands, party. Has anyone heard the new Mars Volta record yet? I'm dying to, but can't get my hands on it...

Mike V. and The Rats may sound like you'd expect a Mike Vallely band to sound, but they're not bad. If you can say Rollins Band, Minor Threat, and pissed off, you've got a good idea. But he's got that charisma that carries through even on record, and although I was naturally skeptical at first, I like the three songs I've heard on their demo CD. Pretty cool. I'm sure you can get info from Mike's website...

There's going to be a contest on the ramp in the backyard on April 20th. It's a memorial barbeque for Joe Lopes, who passed away in a car crash in March. Joe left five kids and a wife, so we're trying to make something nice for them in this horrible time in their lives. Please get in touch if you'd like to contribute something. There will be trsut fund info for the kids here soon.

Can't get that Refused record out of the CD player...

PJ Ladd. There's so much to say here about this kid, but just let's leave it at this: His new video part in "PJ Ladd's Horrible Wonderful Life," which was put out by Coliseum Skate Shop in Boston, is probably the most inspiring video part I've ever seen. He rides for Flip and eS now, and has or will be setting a new level of standard for young guns coming up. He's part of the new wave that will have some veteran pros facing the music that they're not quite cutting it anymore...

Now Playing: Blood Brothers CD

March 2002

I'd really love the hear the new Mars Volta record. Can't wait til it comes out. Also, I hear good things about another ATDI spin off band called Sparta that I'd love to hear...

Just got back from the Tampa Pro contest. It was about what I expected for Tampa-- lots of good times, good skateboarding, nudity, drinking. There were some pretty (stupid) girls from one of those voyeur camera houses at the contest all weekend. I feel sorry for them--some definite issues there. I hung out with some new people this time, too, which is always nice. Chris Nieratko from Big Brother is a lot nicer than he wants you to believe, and Kenny Anderson really is as nice as he seems. I talked to Rick Howard more than I have in years--it probably totaled five minutes. Got to know Chany a little, and just spent a fairly enjoyable weekend among friends. A good feeling... Mike Vallely went nuts in the best trick contest (held on the big tranny-to-bank wall) and not only did more tricks than anyone, he did some crazy stuff. Invert to board to fakie, frontside air to wall bang to revert, a speedy no-comply to tailslide and more. And Mike's new leaf seems to be working. I heard more than a few people saying how stoked they were on Mike for the first time in a long time. If there's another candidate for super-stardom in skateboarding (besides Tony Hawk) it may be Mike, and he may be gearing up for just that. Aaron Suski did a frontside ollie to tailslide, backside revert, Senn did a half flip to Casper-flip-in on the top of the ten foot wall, Rocky Norton was going crazy, Patrick Melcher was celebrating St. Patty's day and was flying everywhere, and Nate Sherwood got congratuskations from everyone just for being himself. In the actual contests, Sandro Diaz won the vert--he's really good, and his alley-oop McTwists eight feet out are amazing--one of the best things I've ever seen. Jake Brown was my early favorite, but Jake flamed out and didn't make the cut. Darren Navarrette, Neal Hendrix, Mike Frazier, and Matt Dove all skated well. Jesse Fritsch, too-- he skated better than I've ever seen him. In the street, Matt Beach was rad in practice but didn't put it together like he can. Rodrigo Teixeira was another early favorite. In his prelim runs he did a kickflip 5-0 down a ledge, and kickflip front board and kickflip back lip down rails. Caine Gayle did a lot of tricks extra clean, and Andrew Reynolds skated huge and consistently, but Eric Koston came out the victor with amazing lines, and consistent hard tricks. Did I actually just write "the victor?" Oh well. Paul Rodriguez got fifth, too. That boy is killing it!

Now Playing: Refused "Shape of Punk to Come" (again!)

Garry's Apple website has made me do something nightmarish. I'm undertaking a project that will surely give me headaches at some point, but I'm going to do it anyway. Del Mar Skate Ranch needs a website. The stories are endless, the skaters are among the most famous and complete group of any park in skateboarding, and the documentation will be impossible to make complete. But someone's gotta do it. I'm starting interviews now, so please contact me if you have stories to share or some photos.

I've finally figured out something good about Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. I generally see video games as a waste of time when kids could be out skating or making zines or doing something more constructive. Yeah, I know video games are supposed to build hand eye coordination and I know that a lot of kids in Buffalo, New York or other terrible, cold places don't have the weather to skate everyday. But with all the kids who buy into every trick in Pro Skater and then ask real skateboarders at demos to do a "sproing" or a "rodeo clown," it's pretty disgusting that any video game can set the tone for a significant part of culture, rather than culture setting the tone for a video game. But, I do have to say that my nephew Taylor would never have been singing Motorhead's "Ace of Spades" if it weren't for Pro Skater 3. And I liked hearing it.

Now Playing: Chameleons UK, Strange Times

February 2002

I've read a load of good books over the last six weeks. That's why the site hasn't been updated too much! Here we go, book reviews:

England's Dreaming: Sex Pistols and Punk Rock, by Jon Savage. Faber and Faber. This is an exhausting look at the Sex Pistols life as a band, and the infinite influence they had on fashion, western pop culture, and music since their inception in the mid-70s. England's Dreaming details the lives of the five members prior to and until after the bands demise in 1978, as well as the other players in the punk rock hall of fame/shame: Malcolm McClaren, Vivienne Westwood, Don Letts, Bill Grundy, etc. Full of discussion and disagreement, Savage's account is quite complete, and makes for a very interesting read, if sometimes too full of minutia. I found the chapters on the early days of the band--especially playing live--and the recording of the album quite compelling, although the entire book kept my interest through nearly 600 pages. Not for the timid, but a very good book.

Now Playing: Fugazi, Instrument Soundtrack

Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs, by John Lydon. Picador USA. After reading England's Dreaming, this much lighter fare by Johnny Rotten (he's legally allowed to use the name again) is just as compelling, although nowhere near as complete as Savage's book. Told in a very informal and personable tone, Rotten goes through many of the same stories we've already heard, but from J. Lydon's unmistakable viewpoint, and it actually makes a complementary counterpart to the previous book. There are numerous quotes from associated parties, and Lydon's biting humor and sarcasm run rampant. Although he seems somewhat bitter, Rotten is able to laugh at himself and at the world, and this translates well and makes for a good book.

Now Playing: Gang Of Four, Peel Sessions

Ramones, An American Band, by Jim Bessman in association with the Ramones. St. Martins Press. I think this is a reissue in new shape--it's got a faux-leather jacket cover with silver foil Ramones lettering and "seal"--and I haven't seen it on bookstore shelves in a long while. My friends Mark Holder and Saecha Clarke got this for me for Christmas, and it's a great read. After reading this I went out and bought three of the reissued CDs that I only had on vinyl a long time ago. The book goes through the life of the band, with all their changes, dramas and roadblocks, until 1993. Because it is in association with the band, there's the definite feel that we're hearing what the band wants us to hear. But despite this, Ramones is a compelling view into one of the great punk bands, and is well recommended.

Now playing: Youth Brigade, Remember '86

Make the Music Go Bang: The Early L.A. Punk Scene. Compiled/Edited by Don Snowden with photographs by Gary Leonard. St. Martins Press. This is a fairly pointed collection of stories about different specific aspects of L.A. punks early days. Subjects range from general impressions of the scene/time in general (roughly '76 to '82) to the Elks Lodge Massacre, the East L.A./punk cooperation, the invasion of hardcore from the suburbs, as well a detailed account of all the famous/infamous locales. A good book for the serious fan, but if you want something really good about the same subject, you should check out the next one.

Now Playing: The (International) Noise Conspiracy, Survival Sickness

We Got The Neutron Bomb: The Untold Story of L.A. Punk, by Marc Spitz and Brendan Mullen. Three Rivers Press. Almost, but not quite, an L.A. equivalent of the wonderful Please Kill Me by so-and-so or whoever, We Got The Neutron Bomb (the name comes from the name of a Weirdos song) is an excellent oral history of L.A.'s underground and not-so-underground punk scenes as they developed from the early 70's (Iggy and the Stooges, Bowie, Rodney Bingenheimer, Runaways, early 'zines, etc) through the to success of the Go-Go's and the fairly widespread knowledge of bands like the Germs, Black Flag and the Circle Jerks. Included are stints into east L.A., rockabilly, the suburbs and the violence they brought with hardcore, as well as excursions into the Canterbury Apartments ("punk rock dormitory") and the influence drugs had on the scene in general. X and the Go-Gos are discussed extensively, and Paul Beahm/Bobby Pyn/Darby Crash is a central figure, although the quotes from Darby are few and far between, and obviously different from the rest of the book by in that they aren't looking back, but rather were culled from older sources. This is a complete collection on a subject I find vastly interesting, and although I'm certainly no longer nostalgic about the early days of punk (and indeed, skatepunk), this is definitely a worthwhile read. And thanks to Beau Brown, who got this book for me as a present. Cheers!

Now Playing: Ramones s/t

Dance of Days: Two Decades of Punk in the Nation's Capital, by Mark Anderson and Mark Jenkins. Soft Skull Press. http://www.softskull.com This is a book I've heard about for a long time and finally found at Vinyl Solution in Huntington Beach. There was an excerpt from Dance of Days in Punk Planet about 8 months ago, and that piqued my interest. I can't tell you how highly I think of this book. Not only is Dance of Days a documentation of the positive punk ethos in action, but the book itself is an example of that often unwritten code of the underground's belief, and indeed reliance upon, action and idealism. Starting in the mid Seventies and running through the mid Nineties, the stories are complete with numerous quotes from the action girls and boys, and women and men, and grrrls, who made up Washington D.C.'s punk and underground scene. Especially interesting to me is the detailed accounting of Bad Brains, Minor Threat, and Fugazi, although that may identify me as a dufus who just knows about the "big" D.C. bands. There's just not as much to write about the shorter-lived Rites of Spring, Embrace, Three, or the (later) major label Jawbox. With equal emphasis on the political efforts of groups like Positive Force as on the personal politics of the punk bands, Dance of Days is inspiring, and should be considered a must read for all fans of hardcore punk rock or political activism.

Now Playing: Misfits, Disc Two of Coffin Box Set

All Ages: Reflections on Straight Edge, Compiled by Beth Lahickey. Revelation Books. This is a series of interviews with short introductions on key players in the so-called straight edge "scene," as well as people outside that scene who were part of the periphery, especially in the editors' hometown area. Although I think that a stronger interest in straight edge as a real "scene" may be needed for complete appreciation of every single interview, there are certainly very compelling subjects included. Ray Cappo, Civ, Dan O'Mahoney, Kevin Seconds, Ian MacKaye, Mike Judge and Jordan Cooper come to mind as the most readable, although certainly other players in bands like Gorilla Biscuits and Verbal Assault are enjoyable as well. I'd recommend this book to anyone with a strong in hardcore, or anyone with an interest in straight edge.

Now Playing: The Clash s/t (U.S. Version)

The Old School Skate Jam II was fun / happy / nervous / sad / scary / mild and most happening. Even notorious human recluse Neil Blender was seen flowing the mellow vibes to any and all ancient astronauts. Eddie Elguera, Duane Peters, Jinx and all ripped the bowl as if it were 1980. Also seen flitting about were Stacy Peralta, Steve Caballero, David Andrecht, Grant Brittain, Kevin Harris, John Lucero, Lance Mountain, Sam Cunningham, Kevin Thatcher, Rick Blackhart, Bryan Ridgeway, Bryce Kanights, Pushead, Sausage Man, Tony Alva, Steve Olson, David Hackett, Ron Cameron, Miki Vuckovich, Per Welinder, Jim Gray, Beau Brown, Livmoe Joe and many more. Tod Swank told me I need to trim my nose hairs. What a nice guy. Thanks, Tod—you're a dear. Hell...even Bruce Logan managed to guide himself into the maelstrom. One highlight of the evening was watching Brian Patch tease the rafters above the bowl with way overhead hip-airs. He blasted ollies any direction he pleased. Brian also heat-treated long stretches of the metal coping with his trucks. This young stowaway (how'd he get into the Old School Jam?) seriously blew the minds and emotions of all who stood around the bowl's decks. This guy is a human blowtorch and people were definitely craving.

The ASR Trade Show came and went quickly like a gentle breeze—a zephyr, if you will. We (Mark and me, GSD) be chillin' at the Emerica and Etnies cribs inside the Convention Center. Mark was spinning punk-rock on the turntables as I snapped pix of the almost-naked Reef Girls. E-mail me here if you want to see 'em. There was a street course and vert ramp set up. Lincoln Ueda and the Brazil guys were violating air molecules above the vert in a most non-polite manner. Lincoln's tweaked lien airs and rocket airs must be seen to be misunderstood. The Dickies Girls near the ramp were busting out—curvier than a human spine treated to a hundred years of scoliosis.

Now playing: Refused "The Shape of Punk to Come"

January 2002

The Faction played Friday, January 25th at The Usual in San Jose with the Clay Wheels, Outtaline, and Future Now DJ's. I couldn't make the show, but word has it that the show was crazy. All sorts of people coming out of the woodwork to get riled up and listen to some good guitar punk rock. Bummed I missed it.

Rumor had it that Colin McKay and Stevie Williams had left the Girl team to start a new company, which will reportedly be run through D.C. Shoes but will be manufactured and distributed through Alien Workshop. Latest word, though, is that Stevie is solid where he is on Chocolate, and is not part of the new company. Update 2/18/02: the newest Chocolate ad shows Stevie and Richard Mulder with their Chocolate tattoos, and the tag line "Chocolate4Life."

Now Playing: White Stripes "White Blood Cells" CD

Wow, 2002. Started off the new year with a quick road trip to the skateparks in Arizona. Went to Casa Grande (small, but good, with no fence, nothing over 5 feet tall, a cool bowl/spine thing that works as a fast snake run), Cottonwood (good backyard style pool with channel in shallow end, a 3,5,6' combi pool that's fun, and a small street area), Camp Verde (worthless bowl, fun street/bank area), Paradise Valley (really good, big, with a good stand-alone backyard style kidney and large combi pool/spine, as well as a large, well put-together street area), Chandler, Mesa, and Desert West. On the way we stopped at Palm Desert, too, which was good, although it always pains me to see all these things that were obviously built by a non-skateboarder. Everyone thinks they get it, and they don't. Anyway, I shot some photos and mpegs, so as soon as I figure out how to load movies, there will be some up here somewhere.

Entry Deleted. There's a first time for everything...

Now Playing: Dodgeball "Hooray For Everything" CD.

2001

December 2001

In 1991 I shot two rolls of photos of a G.G. Allin show in San Diego. Not long afterwards I developed one photo of John Reis and G.G. that was used as a label on Rocket From The Crypt's first 7 inch. About two years ago I printed two other shots, and actually looked at the rest of the rolls in detail. They weren't bad. Well, I've finally gotten them printed, and a number of them will be appearing here before too long. I'm also selling matched print sets of two different sequences on eBay, for pretty cheap. If you're interested in a set, e-mail me, and I'll get in touch with you.

Now Playing: Locust CD

Playing next: Crimson Curse CD

Playing after that: Charles Bronson Discography CD

Garry Davis has been working on the Apple Skatepark website for a while, and recently met up with former manager of Apple, Kevin Tate. Kevin gave Garry a number of photos from Apple, but also gave him a photo of Eddie Elguera doing an early frontside rocknroll at Colton. You can check it out in the skateboarding photos section, along with some other new additions. Bookmark us now to make it easy to stay current on all the happenings at skatepunk.net. Also, e-mail Garry here to get on Apple Skatepark website's mailing list.

In 'Where are They Now?' news, I ran into Mike Stelmasky at the Coronado Skatepark in late December. Besides being the inventor of the Stale Plant, or Stelmasky Plant (an Andrecht invert grabbing between the legs) he and his brother Kenny have been long time dedicated skateboarders who I've known about for 17 years or more. We were leaving as Mike arrived, but GSD and I stuck around long enough to see him drop straight into a layback rollout on his first trick in the deep end. Just another affirmation of the do-it-because-it's-fun school of thought.

What a strange Christmas. After Jen and I split up earlier this year, I knew it would be a hard one. I spent the day on the phone talking to a lot of friends, which was perfect. The holidays always make me miss good old times, but lately I've been really trying to grasp onto the idea that it's today that matters today, and the past is good for making today better and not much more. But that counts for a lot. This may be my last post for 2001, so I wish I had something more poignant to say. Oh, well.

On another note, I got a bunch of great books for Christmas. Sometimes I think I'm too transparent--too easy to shop for. From my friends Mark and Saecha I got the Ramones book "Hey Ho Let's Go!" and from my friend Beau I got the new oral history of LA Punk Rock that's set up as a companion to "Please Kill Me" about the New York punk scene. And I recently got John Lydon's book "Rotten" too. Read this column in one month for reviews on all three books!

Diego Buchieri, aka the Butcher, is now riding for Toy Machine! Despite some behind-the-scenes crap that's really disgusting and sad, Diego made the switch and Ed's manifest destiny continues. Toy Machine is a set of ideas, and the team is a vehicle for those ideas. On the way, they have fun and hopefully make a comfortable living. Sounds like a good thing to me. Diego quit Think before making the switch, but some of the guys from San Francisco threatened Ed. Although I can't say the same for all the people who are part of that San Francisco conglomerate, I really like some of the guys at Think, and I've always liked their art and most of their team, over the last 10+ years. They'll recover--they always do, and they'll go on to get more amazing skateboarders. If you really want to know more behind-the-scenes stuff, go to Transworld's message boards. There're all sorts of people divulging way too much info there.

Favorite live shows of all time: (Updated, but still in no particular order)
Fugazi/Fishwife/Pitchfork at La Paloma, 1990
Bad Brains at Iguanas, 1989

International Noise Conspiracy, 2001

Jesus Lizard, (old) Casbah, 1994

Murder City Devils, 2001

GG Allin, The Spirit, San Diego, 1991 (for other than 'quality' reasons)

Rocket From the Crypt, big bus tour supporting "Group Sounds", 2001

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 Troubador, 2000.

The Locust, San Diego House Party, 2002. (added in March 2002)

November 2001

I finally got the White Stripes CD "White Blood Cells." I've heard so many of the songs in skateboard videos and sponsor-me tapes the last few months, I knew most of the songs. At one point, out of 30 sponsor-me tapes we watched at work, there were 7 of them with White Stripes songs. I think two or three of them used that song "I Can't Wait." Anyway, the record is really good. Pretty country with vocals that make it rawer than any Cash or Williams, Jr. As a matter of fact, the White Stripes owe a great deal to Mr. Gordon Gano and his band the Violent Femmes. A 'punk' take on country with trying vocals and funny lyrics about love, death, and whatever. I like it.

I saw Rival Schools and International Noise Conspiracy tonight. Pretty damn good show. Rival Schools were really good, but they reminded me a little too much of a weird combination of Jawbreaker and Jawbox. But definitely energetic and enjoyable. Too bad the crowd was mostly there to see International Noise Conspiracy. What a show they played. Very energetic, good choice of songs, and just enough rhetoric to let the crowd know what they were about. Good banter, too--they were really good at getting the crowd into a positive mood. Definitely one of the better shows I've seen in a long time, and probably the best show I've seen this year.

Now playing: Ramones debut.

October 2001

Cairo Foster is amazing. Skateboarder Magazine put together a short but beautiful interview with him and the photos and wit are very impressive. See for yourself.

Lifetime skateboarder and tattoo artist Art Godoy has set up shop in Vancouver, B.C.. Tattoo Funhouse (obligatory Iggy reference) is worth checking out next May for Slam City Jam, or whenever you're in Vancouver, or check out their website here. Surprisingly, his twin brother Steve Godoy is still in Orange/L.A. County area, where he's doing tattooing (about a mile from here) and hanging out with his kid Knox, who has been turning heads on his skateboard as well. Knox rides for Baker Skateboards, and recently quit Emerica to ride for DC.

In other important Godoy twins news, they will be playing two shows in the LA area with legendary Radio Birdman guitarist Deniz Tek on November 2 and 3. They do a good mix of Birdman songs as well as some of Deniz's post-Birdman solo stuff. I saw one of these shows about 5 years ago and it was amazing. If you're a fan of blazing blitzkrieg rock or punk, or of bands like the Stooges, MC5, the Clash, the Saints, Motorhead, you'll be bummed if you don't make the show.

Good luck to Ed Templeton with the rebuilding of Toy Machine (see Flatspots) Although a number of people actually suggested to Ed that he end Toy Machine, his life won't offer any other solution than to continue. "Win the war after losing every battle." Hey, I wish everyone well.

Got an e-mail from Tom Knox. His band the Cacti Widders have released their first full-length and judging from Tom's standards, I'm sure it rips. Watch for future news about these guys right here.

My friend GSD has been around a lot lately. We've been skating every day. Last week we skating those vert brick quarterpipes in downtown L.A. and were both stoked to do backside grinds on 'em. Then we hit the Combi-Pool at Vans and both carved tiles. Not bad for a couple of old guys. Watch for a bunch of old skateboard artifacts that Garry has been selling on eBay. Early Big Brothers, Thrashers, and a few real early Transworlds. We've also seen someone selling art and doodles by some famous skateboard artists--keep your eyes peeled on skateboard auctions for some pretty amazing pieces of skateboarding's history.

How can I bottle this energy? Whenever I meet a great girl and start to think about her a lot, I always have a lot of energy to do everything in my life. It makes things so much nicer to do when you've got someone to share them with. For a long time, as a husband, I took that for granted, and then suffered through no longer having it. And here it is again. Because I'm somewhat jaded (believe me, I'm not that bad) I always expect to get hurt, but I also always expect to handle it fine. Anyway, it would be nice to be able to feel this good without facing the risk of rejection that it has to entail. And of course, that's the risk-reward situation that is all life. The greater the risk, the greater the potential for reward. It's what makes great skateboarders, too. The guys who aren't afraid to take those huge risks are the ones who find the glory. At least I'm not afraid to jump headlong into love, because I sure ain't doing it on my skateboard anymore...

September 2001

Having a ramp in the backyard is the best thing I've ever done. It's pretty much on lockdown from random jerks coming and ruining it since there's always someone at the house, so it's no hassle, and it's brought out a bunch of old friends who I haven't skating with in a long, long time. Here are a couple of photos of the ramp in various stages, and the two guys standing there are Jay and Josh of Vertical Skateparks, who built it. It's amazing.

My Seven Favorite Skateboarders Today:
Geoff Rowley

Erik Ellington

Mark Appleyard
Tosh Townend
Ed Templeton

Garry Scott Davis

Chad Vogt

Today's Current Desert Island Discs (in no particular order):
Clash "The Clash"
Refused "The Shape of Punk to Come"
(International) Noise Conspiracy "Survival Sickness"
Inch "Dot Class 'C'"
BoySetsFire "In Chrysalis"
Fugazi "End Hits"
Chameleons UK "Strange Times"
At The Drive-In "Relationship of Command"
The Faction "Collection"
Los Olvidados "Listen To This"

Now playing: (International) Noise Conspiracy.

Yeah, yeah, whatever.

Now Playing: Fugazi "Steady Diet of Nothing".

It seems a pretty good time to start a 'personal zine' type stuff on here. I've always wanted to make what 'they' call a personal zine, but a) haven't had the guts to put it all that much on the line, and b) haven't had the desire to be so openly egotistical as to believe that people would want to read the kind of stuff that I might write.

After three years in the movie business, I made a return to the skateboarding business a few months ago. It's been a tough road to get here. Along the way I went through a divorce and tons of heartache, moved, bought a house, sold a house, stressed, found a lot of good friends, reacquainted myself with a lot of old friends, and pretty much went through as radical of a lifestyle change as I could've imagined. I built a great mini ramp in the backyard and I've been skateboarding a ton. Aside from losing my best friend Jen, my life has become dreamlike. I'm fundamentally happy: I'm playing music, writing, skateboarding, shooting photos, hanging out with interesting, challenging people, and doing a lot of different things. Going places, seeing the world, documenting what I see, thinking, and trying to use some of my experience to make other people's lives richer. What could be better?

There are six really great kids who live in the neighborhood. They're all between the ages of 9 and 15. One of them is Taylor. My nephew Taylor is a great kid, thirteen years old, who loves to skateboard, scooter, fingerboard, play soccer, play with his dog Molly, his cat Tigger, and spend time with his Mom and Dad. His mom is my sister Laura. I've been blessed to have them as roommates since moving. We're family, and family is something I've been able to grow up enough to appreciate the last few years. It's not always easy, but hardly too much truly worthwhile is. Anyway, Taylor and I have been able to do so much together the last few months, it's been great. I learn so much from him Sometimes I take him for granted, and sometimes he takes things for granted, too, but we're good friends and I'm really happy about living with him and his family. His old man Steve is a funny, interesting lifetime surfer and contractor who I've also learned a ton from. We're so politically and ideologically different it's unbelievable, but being in this living situation and going through the day-to-day challenges of dealing with that has been a great thing. We all talk about unity, right? Well, I've learned that it starts right here at home. And so I get along--do what it takes to make things work. Sounds way too benevolent, but it's satisfying, so forget how it sounds.

Now Playing: Rocket From The Crypt "Group Sounds."

I can't believe how much I've been listening to three particular bands from San Diego the last three or four months. All three of Inch's records are amazing, they're one of my favorite all-time bands. And Tanner's first record? Just amazing, still. And maybe I've moved on enough from feelings of bitterness to really appreciate No Knife again. I love Drunk On The Moon and Hit Man Dreams is great, too. Pretty wondrous how vibrant that scene was in the early and mid 90's.

Lately I've been hanging out with the kids from the neighborhood. I live in an area with lots of kids: I live with my nephew Taylor, and within five houses of here there are Manny, Matt, Eddie, John, and Christian, and Eric and Kelly and Andy live pretty close, too. Pretty inspiring to be around kids who love to skateboard--not to be sponsored, but just to learn and progress. Hopefully we'll hear from all of these guys in the next few months, but for right now, here's Manny...

So, how long have you been skateboarding?

Since about a week before you gave me that Zero board. I had a Habitat board. (That was in May, 2001)

How come you're so into it?

(He stops making a flip book out of my sister's post-it notes to answer.) I don't know. It was something to do in my spare time, and then I started liking it and having fun, going to skateparks and stuff.

What tricks have you learned?

Ollies, kickflips, backside flips, varial flips, I almost got 360 flips down. I've done 6 stairs, but I'm sure I could do a small 7 set. On the ramp I can do axle stalls and rock to fakies, fakie hang ups, backside grinds, and I learned frontside grinds today.

Is skateboarding helping you in school?

Not really but I do most of my homework at home before I go out skateboarding. It doesn't do anything for my school, really.

Do you have any shout outs?

What's that?

Do you want to say hi to anyone?

Yeah, I'd like to give a shout out to Matt for skateboarding with me, Taylor, John, (keep on doing boneless flips), Steve Sanderson, and Ricardo.

Yeah, Manny!

Now playing: Refused (all of it)

The Faction played their first show in twelve years on July 14th. It was the first time they've played with original guitarist Russ Wright since releasing their first record in 1983, and that record (and all the others afterwards) featured second guitarist Adam Bomb Segal. In 1989 Jeff Kendall filled in on guitar for a one-off reunion show at the Cactus Club in San Jose, and that show was met with an enthusiastic but small crowd. On July 14th, Steve Caballero, Gavin O'Brien, Ray Stevens II, Keith Rendon, and Russ Wright, played to a sold out crowd at The Usual, a large nightclub in San Jose that was oversold and overpacked for the show. The show was amazing, to say the least. Gavin's voice was great--dare I say better than ever?--and Ray, Stevie, Russ, and Keith were rock solid, playing as if they'd never stopped over the last 16 years. They played pretty much everything you'd expect them too, and generally kicked ass. Best show I've seen in years. To make the show even better was Los Olvidados, San Jose's long-lost punk rock heroes, who aren't as well-known as any punk band today simply because they never released a full albums' worth of material. Their stuff was on the Thrasher Skate Rock records in the early (good) days, and on various punk rock radio shows throughout the first and second wave eras of California hardcore. They've finally released a CD with 13 songs, one of my two favorite records of the year so far. Seek it out, it's worth the hunt.

August, 2001: Wow. Haven't written in this thing for a long time. It's time, though, to start writing again, as life settles back to normal. Since that last post I've gotten divorced, quit a good job in the film business, got another good job back in the skateboard industry, sold a house, bought another, built a backyard ramp, closed Goldenrod Records, and saw the Faction. Live. More details about most of this stuff as time permits.

Now playing: Rocket From the Crypt, "Group Sounds"

2000

The Blood-Drive is the Los Angeles area's answer to the amazing punk shows that have been going on down in San Diego on Halloween for the last few years, and this year it's a doozie. Among others, X, the Damned, Supersuckers, Zeke, Misfits, Gluecifer, & Zen Guerilla are playing. Should be a hell of a night!

You know it's a smaller world than it used to be when you watch a movie with Kevin Bacon and realize that you're within four degrees of separation from him. Weird.

Now playing: At The Drive-In's new one.

Saw Jason Lee's movie "Mumford" finally. Pretty funny. Actually a lot better movie than I thought it would be based on the reviews. He's pretty good in it. If I didn't know better, I'd actually be fooled into thinking that he really was pretty dumb... Recommended for a quiet rainy evening in with your lady.

Now playing: Rancid's new record.

Now playing: Avengers Bootleg CD.

A web pal emailed the url for a cool website that's made by MelBend and/or Mark Lewman. Check out crailtap here.

Now playing: At The Drive-In "One Armed Scissor" CDep.

I've put a few skatepunk.net stickers at drive-thrus, on stop signs, other people's cars, wherever. I got the first email from someone who said they saw one and used... it was from someone at NewAge Records, which is a pretty cool label.. anyway, it was funny, 'cause he saw it at Burger King, where I drove through once to get a Slurpee. Gotta love that frozen sugar!

Now playing: Galaxie 500 "On Fire"

A few weeks ago Rob Erickson sent me a cool photo of a great looking pool in Nashua, New Hampshire. \Looks like the right coast is getting some ood cement love.

Now Playing: The Dickies "Great Dictations" comp, and god is it good!

Saw the Locust again last night. They continue to amaze me live. This was the last show with drummer Dave, I guess Gabe is going to play drums. He's pretty amazing, I hear. They've also released a double LP of remixes by guys like Sinking Body and I Am Spoonbender of their songs. Pretty cool. Not only that, but the Locust and Three One G are continually the best packaging outfits out there in recordland. Always something new... Also met and hung out with Mark McCoy, and it's always nice to make new friends.

Now Playing: Charles Bronson 121 song double CD of everything they did. Pretty hot!

Check out this website: MertzWorld. It's done by longtime vert wonder Rob Mertz. Lots of good skateboarding, stories, funny stuff...

Juice Magazine has been around for 6 or 7 years, and they're finally getting some recognition... Rob Erickson and Jim Murphy are among those lending some credibility, and among the mag's fans are Duane Peters and Steve Olson, who definitely enjoy its coverage of all aspects of skateboarding. Watch for a special 50th issue out soon, free at your local good skateshop. This issue has a hall of fame article, and includes some photos by yours truly.

New Rancid record comes out August 1!!! New Rancid website, too.

Now playing: The Distillers

If you're into home recording, check out the new Roland BR8. It's a very cool digital 8 track recorder that is so easy to use I can do it. Ping-ponging is easy, there are virtual tracks for saving alternate takes easily, and it's got a built amp modeling system, so it's easy to get some pretty cool sounds very quickly.

Now playing: New 3 song ep by AtTheDrive-In.

I've been reading a book called "Last Gang In Town", which is about the Clash. It's really, really good, and I recommend it to anyone who has an interest in the original punk scene. It's hard to believe that that scene at one time consisted of basically four bands...

Saw BoySetsFire in LA and San Diego, and they were good both times. I was a little disappointed in the lack of applied politics present, but I'm also not sure what I expected. Their records are just so inspiring to me that I guess I expected something that wasn't realistic. The shows, especially in the more intimate surroundings of the Empire Club in SD, were very good. Shot some photos, too, that will be up here soon. Although I couldn't quite understand the match up, BSF toured with AnnBaretta, whom I had never heard before, and whom I liked a lot. They have a new record out on Lookout which is very good.

Now playing: BoySetsFire "After the Eulogy."

Lots of parks to write about. Skateparks that is. The new Vans Skatepark in San Jose, or Milpitas to be exact, is the best yet. The Winchester skatepark washboard is recreated, and from all accounts is better than the original. There's also a very deep pool, a smaller Mickey Mouse shaped pool that's about 5 feet deep, a vert ramp, a very good mini ramp with a hip, small corner, and two extensions. And then there's the street course, which actually is fun to skate and has so much stuff it's unbelievable. A lot of fun, and they dedicated the park to Tim Brauch.

Oregon keeps on building new parks. Haven't made it up there yet, but the photos in Thrasher look hella-sick. I did go to Arizona to skate Mesa and Chandler. I can't accurately express how good both of these parks are. Mesa is huge, deep (comparatively) at 5 to 8 feet throughout, and has a lot of good stuff to skate. Chandler is excellent, too, with two bowls of about 7 feet or deeper, and a really fun obstacle area. I went with Daniel Shimizu, Nash Goji, Jason Hernandes, and Philipe Bonilla, all rippers who put the parks to the test. Everyone passed, except me: I was gimping around from the previous weeks' excursion to NorCal, where I hung out with family and skated some parks:

There's a new park in Healdsburg, California, that is really good. It's the closest park that NorCal has to the good parks in Arizona or Oregon. It's about 3/4 acre, with a bowl section with not-that-great rounded hips, but two side by side bowl ends in a "T", and then one of the long sides is a wide spine into a smaller capsule bowl. They're 4 and 6 feet deep. Then there's the obstacle section, which is suprisingly well-designed for flow. Actually, the whole park flows fairly well. By far the best of all the parks up there. It's 12 miles north of Santa Rosa. From 101, go into Healdsburg, take Dry Creek Road exit and go east. At the first light turn right (south) and the parks right there on the left.

I also skated the Napa park again, just to remind myself of how silly it is. Apparently, though, it's not as bad as Sonoma, which closed due to completely horrible shotcrete (or whatever) surface pouring. The design pretty much sucked, too. Alameda isn't new, but I went there for the first time. It's pretty fun, although it's also easy to point out it's flaws, too. The thing is, though, that it's still rippable, as evidence by all the rippers who had it dialed when I was there.

Now playing: Ann Baretta

My nephew Taylor Corner took his first man-sized slam at the Palo Alto park. Pretty much took the dive from the top of the 5 foot bowl onto his hip, trying to go too fast. Fighting the tears, he sat there for a second, went and sat down for a while, and made me a proud uncle by getting up and tackling the rest of that full day (six parks). He and his friend Tyler Derby learned 50/50s at Healdsburg, Tyler learned ollie 180's over a handrail, and Taylor learned half-Cab fakie rocks. Pretty good day for a couple of 11 and 12 year olds just really starting to get into skateboarding.

It's been a while since I've written on this thing. Too much to do. I finally saw At The Drive-In. They're amazing, as expected. Shot some photos I like, they'll be up here soon. Their newer, more user-friendly website is up, too.

Now playing: Clash On Broadway, Disc One

On Saturday, May 13, a Tim Brauch Memorial skate jam was held at Palo Alto skatepark. About 300 people showed up, skated, talked, hung out, and enjoyed memories of Tim's life. Stickers read "When you skate, Tim skates." So we skated.

Now playing: AC/DC "Let There Be Rock."