moon eyes 2016... couple photos

more to come....

pocket wifi hunter

 cold  kicking on the docks

HAUNT motorcycle, my pick for the trophy 

always will have weak spot for a 510

moon eyes show 2008.

every once in a while i have an OK idea, this was back at Yokohama in 08

when i staged jason and my bike to look like a biker campfire scene. this year i will just have the bike no staging. trying to be a little more present this year. safe travels everyone.

RIP........... brother brother brother

a spirit that is calm

from years ago

Trust: firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.

     I come across this photo from time to time. I've posted it before. It's a crazy one.... now for me to look at. It triggers lots of emotion, joy, regret, struggle, and hope are just some of those. My upbringing was quite different from many people i come across. Not anything super abnormal just the fact that my Dad lived in the suburbs and my Mom lived in a ghetto. That alone, made me really see the world with a different set of eyes. The train ride in between these two homes was about 40minutes, it was a really reflective time, in either direction of travel. For such quick commute, it bridged two different worlds. Of course the skate to moms house was more about keeping my head down and avoiding conflict, where as the skate to my dads i kind of dragged my ass knowing i was safe most likely would make it to his house unharmed..... which is funny because i probably had more things yelled at me from passing cars in the suburbs than the city. That experience and it's contrast taught me compassion for the people in life that have never had a chance and possibly wouldn't know what to do with a better way of life it fell into their lap. I tried to show these boys a better life.... i hugged them when they needed it, fed them, helped with school work, yelled at their worst teachers, disciplined them, protected them, and tried to show them a world outside of a West Oakland that to them was about a ten block radius. In the end the streets held the weight.... standing on the corner gave you status, shooting, robbing, and being a thug was more exciting than loading boxes on a loading dock or other jobs their Oakland public schooling left them qualified for. You ever try to do homework in a house with 10 other kids, and a Grandma that is taking care of you because your dad is dead and your mom is on the streets? It was hard enough to just have a conversation in their house. You can point your finger at this type of life and say "get off your ass and get a job" and i understand that, but i'll tell you what, even walking into a restaurant with these two boys, i could not believe the negative judgment in the eye of the onlooker. When they were little kids ....."they're so cute" when they got bigger, "sir are these boys with you, could you keep an eye on them". No surprise.  But still i tried, even as i lost my hold on them, till finally one day i let go. They ended up in jail, one for life, one in and out. I often look back and can really only see the good times. Trips to burnside with them skating beside me, skating various parks, or maybe a day trip to santa cruz to hit the boardwalk. It's sad how it all ended up, but that's just the way it worked out.

      My opinions, my point of view, my lack of patience or sharp tongue.... they help protect me. I don't want to lose the things that help make me, me. I couldn't really play with whacky costumes or be a complete phony and live in that neighborhood, not only would i have probably taken a beating, but people around there would not trust me. It helped shape the person i am today, i think it's part of the reason I'm so critical of others, because i had to be very critical of myself in order to feel genuine. Trust who i am. I don't relate to many folks, i don't like to do things in big groups,....... i still just kind of like to skate though the neighborhood alone and take it all in. The things that have found me that i love, have done me well. They've challenged me and brought me many interesting places. Man i wish those boys could see some of them. So if i get too opinionated or call you out on being an imposter, it's only me protecting myself but i should know better.We are living in a culture where you can just download a new personality app, and then find the people that have downloaded the same. Ive began to TRUST who i am, to be more comfortable with myself. Experiences like having those boys in my life really showed me how lucky i am, and that having a caring mom and dad... even if separated was huge jump on life.

   I'm shocked to see to see level of ignorance bigotry in this world right now. Shit there was one guy who was invited to born free that i will never sit in a room with again, due to his views. This is fucking America we stole it, then we made it from people from so many parts of the world. Maybe point the finger a little bit less and use that energy to keep an open mind and help someone. If it fails tell me that you learned nothing from it. 

take away fear, think about how this country was made.

 the hand outs to the ghetto? the ghetto america created......  enjoy your nikes, your 850 tv channels, and the bubble you live in. It's sad state of affairs. this election is an embarrassment.

fuck this clown

i'm almost back.... in the middle of playing catch up after bf.

it's getting there

trying and learning

 taking what it was and making it what it is

   smells like oysters

                                         


                                  more perspective

                 

                                       i can feel this one

                            soby and tara. thanks for your help and support

                                          miraculous

                                      its been my traffic beating shop truck for running to chrome and to get parts. makes you kind of wonder why the fuck your breaking your ass to get something that might not even be there

                                     killing myself to live, pissing in the wind

                        went to mexico for two new feet

                               removing finger tips and feeling good

                      make due

           

one small scratch and it's in

scene/seen report 1369

san quentin background 

gateway

naked from the chest down

exploring the yukon

non fattening tech article:

"and things very few other people have done"
there are things we've learned at age 16 through skateboarding....
one is to never say stuff like
 " (the photographers name) took this amazing photo of me"
  i know some were not packed into vans full of 10 other -peers- that
were ready to pounce when things like that were said..... so i blabber it out
here as a free idea.



i'm only ok at the doing things like photographed below. but hey they run.

sky in the lucy with diamonds

flip it and reverse it.

shit.... RIP GUY CLARK

  if there's any one songwriter that has sung me though some rough spots it's Guy Clark.....
thanks for all the beautiful tunes.

i had to delete that last post... the more i listened the less i bought it. sorry. let me replace with the very real Link Wray

maybe a song, or a poem or a thought grouped into words

    dark clouds don't look down
 and try to take me back,
 let me sit against the old oak tree
 with the cool green grass between my feet
listening to that little bird sing that song that says
 -you've been looking for this happiness for so long-
 let these lines deepen from laughter around these eyes,
 i'll be the custodian for these good times.
lifes rules have been advertised
 since we were young enough to see,
to obtain white picket fences, costumes and misery.
but with eyes wide open now, and this heart awake,
 those rules hold no stake

the week in sports.....

mc donalds vibes

"no dude I'm serious, the 90's are making a comeback"

i thought the light was super artsy, turns out to be just a really shitty photo

never not practicing

sometimes you chuga lug, then turn around a puke in someones cooler

- tent city- 10 years or more ago

this full pipe was over 30 feet tall, so that makes its transitions 15ft plus. it was in the middle of nowhere in Australia. We had driven the van on dirt roads for hours upon hours hoping that at the end of the road the pipe of all pipes laid waiting for us. When the road finally ended, we pulled over to find a practically dried up reservoir, judging by the size of the overflow pipe peaking above the mud and the crud we had found our spot. 

We slid around a fence with our boards and our tents and hiked down to the other end of that overflow , which obviously led to where a river once was. Everyone was slightly delirious from the drive and being on the road for weeks. As the sun lowered , we found our camp spot,  ditching our tents and boards we hiked over to the pipe. Laying in front of us was a sleeping monster, littered with trash, cracks, dead animals, and the nastiest mud. There was a about 10 of us, rare to have a silent moment, but at the sight of this drain, jaws were wide open but no words came out. Eventually i think it was julien that simply grunted "fuuuuuuuuuccckk"....... 

The thing was not only impressive in size but completely terrifying, the fact that we were hours from the nearest hospital didn't ease the anxiety. Like no full pipe i had ever seen there was a 30 ft bomb drop into the thing, so you were completely hauling ass on your first turn. As we walked away, the bats had started to fly around our tired shuffling bodies. The flies were chewing on every scab, and then we started to talk about what we just saw. 

With this many people at this time of night when camp is setting up, all you hear is the shuffling of nylon from the tents and sleeping bags and then just zippers. Its almost comical. Then it gets practically silent as everyone sets up their  little zone. Our gathering of fire wood was barbaric, branches ripped from dying trees, logs popped out of dried mud, old skateboards, if it was flammable it got burnt. Someone threw a full can of beans in the fire, i ducked behind a tree watching the can swell with the heat... then BOOM!! The can explodes, what goes up must come down, boiling beans falling from the sky, Bailey feel asleep a little too soon and was woke up by beans burning all the way through his bag and onto his flesh. "what the fuck man"   we all started rolling with laughter. 

I fondly reminisce about these times, obviously. It wasn't a shit show, it wasn't what you think you see in the videos of people trying to out -shit head- or out party the next guy. It was more like soldiers gathering the night before battle, burning off some of that anxiety, as their minds wander into the coming mornings battle. That next morning i only heard flys, maybe some shuffling of tents, but just BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ.... The Oz flies are no joke. Most mornings they served as our alarm clock. As i got up i noticed Juliens tent was empty. I have deep respect for Julien, we've traveled the world and never once have i worried if he'd be alright, picked up his trash, or not felt the fire he has to skate new things. I knew he was in the pipe, so i dragged my groggy ass up there, sure enough he was squatting in some wretched filth with some make shift scooper and a bucket trying to make a dent in the crap that lay in the bottom of the pipe. Gabe was there shooting some film of the thing, this photo was that morning. We had to haul the crud up out over the 30ft bomb drop as well.  Is this when i say "you gotta pay to play".... I'd rather not.  I think Julien cleaned more of it then anyone, and skated it the least. Not due to fear or lack of skill, but something deeper than that. Anyone that has ever built something knows what i'm trying to say.

This trip was pretty hard core. Sometimes some skate purist will say things about some of these trips being paid for by someone else.... like i "did in on my own buck" which is great. That guy probably would of lasted 3 days on this trip, or been dragged from the back of the van. There was nothing glamorous about it, somedays you had the jokes or the fire or the story to get everyone through a drive and the other days you prayed your buddy did. You can glamorize it, you can down play it.... paint a picture, make it poem, voice over, get that perfect staged shot..... but that's not it. Its the balance of being completely uncomfortable and completely comfortable at the same time. Or maybe the story teller or film maker should have to clean the pipe, you know what i mean? 

the new - RIPPER- #6

 river killing it

  ja-pan

 homeless

 nicke and the lobster boss

thanks dude. they all see the mama tried, i'll see ramblin fever

whats the frequency kenneth, hows the clearance.. Clarence.

    gasoline eh?

  fuck around and find out

quite possibly the best break up line

maybe an oakland minute or maybe just some random stuff

that's a lot of primer

 black and blue

 they got a baby now

caution: god on board

my bike was pumped on the santana cover. noodle on.