Tuesday, March 31, 2009

old tattoo flash.....4Q0

the harley davidson 4Q tire flash is insane.
someone gave me a small zeroxed copy of it a while
ago... but this is much better. I got 4Q from the blitz song.

the mexican sombrero with the swaz and panhead motor is
amazing. and the naked lady face thing rules.
anywho. pretty cool.



thanks NATE

Monday, March 30, 2009

style

vintage --Salba--

and he really is related to
jessica alba.

Friday, March 27, 2009

one of the coolest old bars in -OAKLAND-

unfortunately it's getting surrounded
by parking garages and big business.
definitely can't park your hawg in
front no more. here is some history:







Opened in 1883 by Johnny Heinold as J.M. Heinold's Saloon, this Historic Landmark looked much then as she does today. She was built right here in 1880 from the timbers of an old whaling ship over the water in a dock area that even then was at the foot of Webster Street. For nearly three years, the building was used as a bunk house by the men working the nearby oyster beds. Then in 1883, Johnny's $100 purchase, with the aid of a ship's carpenter, was transformed into a saloon where seafaring and waterfront men could feel at ease.

During the 1920's, the ferry that ran between Alameda and Oakland stopped next to Heinold's. Alameda was a dry city at the time, and this bar was truly a commuter's First and Last Chance for a refreshment. As the years wore on, many servicemen left for overseas from the Port of Oakland, and the First and Last tradition stuck, so the name of the saloon was officially changed to Heinold's First and Last Chance.

In the years that followed, an inordinate number of writers, adventurers, politicians, and humble folk like you and me have enjoyed the ambiance and the history of this unique bit of Oakland. So listen to a few tales that can be told here.

It is for good reason that this is known as Jack London's Rendezvous. As a schoolboy, Jack London studied at these same tables we still use today. Later, he would return to his favorite table and write notes for The Sea Wolf and Call of the Wild. At age 17, he confided to John Heinold his ambition to go to the University of California and become a writer. Johnny lent London the money for tuition and, although he never got beyond his first year, it was while studying at this saloon and listening to the stories of shipmates and stevedores that he developed his thirst for adventure. The theme of men bravely facing danger appears throughout the best of his works. Indeed Johnny Heinold and The First and Last Chance Saloon are referenced seventeen times in London's novel John Barleycorn. Heinold's saloon was where he met Alexander McLean, known for such cruelty at sea that his boat was nicknamed The Hell Ship. At the time of its writing, McLean became a model for London's Wolf Larsen in The Sea Wolf. With the help of Johnny Heinold, the deals for London's three ships, the Razzle Dazzle, the Snark and the Roamer were struck in this bar.

Jack London is not the only spirit that keeps us company in these walls. Oakland mayor John L. Davie brought President William Howard Taft in for relaxation and refreshments. Robert Louis Stevenson spent time here while waiting for his ship to be outfitted for his final cruise to Samoa. Other notables to sit at this bar include Joaquin Miller, Robert Service, Charles E. Markham, Earle Gardner, Erskine Caldwell, Ambrose Bierce, and Rex Beach.

-m0chi- delivery service

all the way over in j-pan

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

............squares

--tOny alVa--



as a kid i stared at photos
like these for hours. it absolutely
looked impossible to me. beautiful photograph.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

......the eyes have it......

hold me close

found this photo.
made me think of a first date.
she's sucking in her stomach.
he looks nervous like he's got
to hot of a chick and she might bail soon.
the bike.... the broken window.
hardtimes to come..??

-Harpoon's- -Subterranean-

thanks for the photo harpoon

Friday, March 20, 2009

Cool -jon humphries- photo

lance mountain over the deathbox
from inside the deathbox.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

-Almost Free-

oops.... ok. now it should work.
it's ghetto and short... but
i never tried to make a video.


here is the video from my trip
down south and back.


Monday, March 16, 2009

just got back from a 1000 mile round trip down south

the 101 is beautiful this time of year.
the roads were in pretty good shape.
got pulled over...CHP. lot's of em out.
got some photos and video....
(give me a minute.)

these people helped me out with a
finding a new tube for flat and other shit.
first off.. WIL !!! thanks for everything. i owe.
the -cycle zombies- scotty and turkey and big scott
the tire worked out great,, THANKYOU.







this song was stuck in my head bone-


My days, they are the highway kind
They only come to leave
But the leavin' I don't mind
It's the comin' that I crave.
Pour the sun upon the ground
Stand to throw a shadow
Watch it grow into a night
And fill the spinnin' sky.


Time among the pine trees
It felt like breath of air
Usually I just walk these streets
And tell myself to care.
Sometimes I believe me
And sometimes I don't hear.
Sometimes the shape I'm in
Won't let me go.

Well, I don't know too much for true
But my heart knows how to pound
My legs know how to love someone
My voice knows how to sound.
Shame that it's not enough
Shame that it is a shame.
Follow the circle down
Where would you be?


You're the only one I want now
I never heard your name.
Let's hope we meet some day
If we don't it's all the same.
I'll meet the ones between us,
And be thinkin' 'bout you
And all the places I have seen
And why you where not there.

by townes van zandt

Thursday, March 12, 2009

more from old friend.. -Sterling Silver-

Max,
Thanks for posting Dad's old bike! I hyperlinked him to your site and he was blown away! He loved the sight, and waxed nostalgic, and offered a few more details...the front mag rim was off a top fuel dragster purchased at the show- a one off prototype. The paint was super fresh because he went down only a few days before the show (oversize back tire caught in undersized fender, duh?) The original paint was elaborite orange pinstripes on green metal-flake (pictured in the first black and white photo)He sold the bike, bought a new sportster (around 2K those days!) which was promptly stolen (he found out years later) by the guy he sold the first one to! This guy was soon after killed by angles at a party that went bad....so the story goes ....Great biker drama eh?






Sterling thanks once again
and please thanks your Dad.

- orphans.. socal -

-- real skateboards--



has a really cool new
online catalog check it out HERE

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

dear: whom- ever sent me this photo.

i fucked up and didn't save
your name with the photo.
stand up and be known.
thanks

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

-sean's triumph--

sean's primary chain exploded on the freeway
going 65mph down the 101.... long skid onto the
shoulder.... sketch. ripped chain tensioner hole
outta the case. anyone know how to get one of them
belt drives for a 650.... for cheaper.??


Monday, March 9, 2009

*--- ken nagahara ---*

ken is a friend of ours.

ken moved here to Oakland from Japan to
photograph skateboarding.
now that i know ken, i would guess he
probably had 6 bucks in his pocket and
no plan.
i've never in my life seen anyone with
such bad luck... that could care less
about having such bad luck.
he's always broke always on the move
and down to go anywhere at anytime.
his bsa always breaks far from home.
recently on a ride his jacket went under
the rear wheel, he skidded downhill at least
a hundred feet and he made it to a stop with
out crashing...... but the best part is when he
did finally stop, he took off his camera bag to
look under his fender and his bag rolled down a hill
into a creek.. kens bsa doesn't have a kickstand
so he had make a quick decision.. the bike or his
livelihood... he layed the bike down and ran for
the camera. ken was still all smiles. just happy to
still have his bag and his bike.
ken rules. he speaks perfect japanese and
english and takes cool photo's








ken and his BSA

Thursday, March 5, 2009

from ---nAtAs kuapas--

the first time i met Natas Kaupas i was
14yrs old and at a skate camp. i think at cal poly.
my dad split the cost with my mom and i remember it
being a really big deal that i got to go..... and for me
it was. skate camps then were a totally new idea. there
was no formula for it like there is now. woodward hadn't
happened yet. some kids got sent there by parents
that just wanted to ditch their kids, some kids just thought they
wanted to go... once there they wanted out.
not me i could have lived there. i wanted to skate all day.
perfect ramps like i saw in videos and tons of skaters... there
were "skaters" at my school but that just meant they wore vans.
on one of the last days of camp they announced NATAS was gonna
do a Demo. every true skater was physced. at the time i was wearing
white converse CONS with blue laces.... just like natas wore.(so i thought)
they started the demo... i wiggled up to the front. he ollied a
huge stack of boards like 8 or 9.... probably taller than me. Natas snapped
the tail off his board quick.. not clean off but broke so it was dragging
on the ground. natas or his friend had another complete setup and he
carried on with the demo. shredding. then his shoelace exploded and
the demo kinda slowed down again.
they called out "anyone got a shoelace?"
i kinda got the chills and panicked a bit. cause i knew
right then and there i had a brand new BLUE converse shoelace
in my pocket. to describe me at the time.... young, akward, and shy as
all hell. i kinda wiggled back and forth for a second, tried to say
something........... then all at once he looked right at me.
and with all my might these words stumbled out of my mouth,
........."HEY MAN I GOTTA SHOE LACE"
out from my pocket i pulled the baddest, strongest, most bitchen,
blue shoelace you had ever seen. willie wonka golden ticket shoe lace.
he kinda stepped back and was like..
"oh whoa it's even blue"
smiled,
said
"thanks"
laced up and carried on with the demo.
every kid looked at me bewildered.... like what the fuck??
you just a carry around a blue shoe lace??? i'm sure someone said it.

well here's where the drum roll starts to kick in.......
after the demo Natas walks up to me in front of everyone and
hands me the board he broke......
Complete board!
New thunders!
New OJ freestyles!
Swiss bearings!
shaking i reached for the board.
he kinda smiled and laughed and said
"thanks for the shoelace".

FFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCKKKKKKK
it was insane. i hid that board under the mattress for the rest
of camp. i slept on top of the lump of board. when kids asked about it
i told em "i sold it"........ cause i had to get it home.
i still got got it. broke in two. hanging in the garage......
had to use the trucks and wheels though.
the graphic was his first panther graphic.... but a graphic
of a dudes face in screened under that.. they never did that graphic so
the first boards he got they just screened over with the panther.

when your a kid, days like those..... are so huge. -max
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------


So the other day it happened that Natas sent me this note
along with the attached photograph.
Natas is still cooool.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"because i think of your blog as a motorcycle, skateboard, dog loving blog i do have a neat story that i think at least you would enjoy.

we are doing a remodel on the santa monica house, the one you have stayed at . while digging a new foundation we found a bottle with a note. the note was written by Charles, about the truest, most loyal dog, Prince. lived 11 good years, died 1919. we found bones around the bottle. (see pic).

i took the photos and am planning on burying the bones close to where we found them. we think its one of the things that made this house so special. (maybe why you liked it here?)
added heavyness is my dog, Bonnie, was diagnosed with cancer a year ago- she's eleven and responding to chemo like a champ. still going strong, swimming and chewing on her dog, a long haired dachhound, Cidney. but made me think of old Prince. dogs lived okay way back then as well.

best wishes max- i'm starting a bike build really soon. will keep you posted."
nk

Dan from reno found this

picture of his uncles panhead.

-- bud lite--

i could try to explain but i wont.
it ended up all bad. stuntin.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

--john cardiel-- 1990...ish

i got a visit from john yesterday...
plain and simple john is amazing.
his vibe is positive.

so many --what ifs?-- in this photo.
riding on glass.

stolen from the skatebook
tobin took the photo.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

-josh's knuckle-

josh asked me to do the paint on his knuckle.
jeremiah from love chopper created the dream for him.

Monday, March 2, 2009

--sterling silver--

On the
first day of 7th grade i sat down
at a four kid table in my first
"art class" it was a table with an empty
seat.... so i sat there. i cant really
remember anyone else at the table but the
kid that sat diagonally across from me.
i remember looking over at him... he was
already drawing. i kinda peeked at what
he was drawing and i want to say it was
like some dragons and castle kinda stuff.
he looked different from the rest of the
kids, little more greasy, to be honest he
looked like the son of a biker.
A few minutes after everyone was seated
the teacher took role call and i heard the
usual names called out:
"jones, jeff?"
kid replies "here"
"smith, jenny?"
she replies "here"

then..... i hear.
"Silver, Sterling?".... even the teacher looked
a little sideways. The kid sittin' across at my table
looked up from his drawing and answered " here".

That was the first time i met -Sterling Silver-
i remember he liked to draw. he was good at art class.
his dad had a Harley and he always seemed a little calmer
and cooler than most 7th-8th graders. With out being the
-cool kid-.
I ended up moving a few years later and we lost touch.
until a few days ago i got the email below.
he has a bike now, and still does art.
and his quote about life was he's
"Just LIVI'N, etc...."

thanks, SterlinG
good to hear form you
,,,, max



his Dad's bike below. oakland roadster show.


Hey Max,
Here's a start on the old photos. The pin-striped flames (and zig-zag man on top of tank) and metal-flake blend are done by Oaktown old-schooler Carie Greenwood, long time friend of the family who died just a few years back. He used to stripe everyone's bikes from Sonny Barger to Evil Kenievel. Somewhere I have a picture on top of Kenievel's Jet-Bike, a bike built around a full size jet engine! We still have some of his work around (trades for tattooing his wife).

Sunday, March 1, 2009

-ben davis dies-

black bens, grey bens, dark green bens,
cut-off bens for shorts....
part of the costume for many years.
and we shared the same BirfDay.
thanks for the heads up brian.


He was married to the same woman for 73 years; he started his clothing company when he was 21 and never worked another job; he lived his whole life in San Francisco, the city where he was born.

Mr. Davis died Friday after a lengthy battle with Parkinson's disease. He was one week shy of 95.

"My father wasn't a real flashy guy," said Davis' son, Frank, who took over the reins of the clothing company about 15 years ago. "He wore a Ben Davis shirt every day of his life. Ben Davis pants, too."

Mr. Davis was born on Feb. 20, 1914 to a family that had been making clothing for generations, and who were partly responsible - along with Levi Strauss - for the invention of jeans.

dolphin shorts???

her whole style is
dead on. the bike????