Bonfire and insanity.

Saturday night was met with an invite from John to come to his mom's house for some fire and some beer. The mayhem was later, and I would have to assume that it had something to do with Chip. Or Chris. Or both.

Either way, it was fun, even though Mica struggled to figure out how we could be having fun at a bonfire without drums or weed.



Corey fueling up!


HEY LADIES.


Something was funny, but it was not Chip's burning jizz rag.


Mica made me have to drink New Castle, but I found a way around that.


The next day was was wall to wall skate park. I learned toboggans, which is honestly a trick that I never really even considered trying. I got some pics of hot hot skateboarding action, too.





BMX also happened, and really, by the end of the night I was physically toast.

This pic has a simplicity to it that I really found pleasing. Joshua.


Neebo gave me a 180 barspinner to fakie over the spine. He also gave me a beer.


Austin (I think that was his name, I just know that he is related to the Jake that I know) was going for the handplants over the spine. That guy has arms as big as the river.


That's it for now. It was a busy and completely fun weekend.

SUPER MEGA PHOTO POST

Today, I got my hair cut. I went to Lox at the urging of Mica. She went with me and helped explain to the stylist that I did not want it cut too short, because we liked the length and all...we just wanted it cleaned up a little. Well, it's too short, but my hair grows really fast, thus my ability to get a beard in less than 3 days.

I fell really hard tonight. Really hard. Ow. Old age threw a haymaker at me and just about scored a knockout, but I got off the mat. Kind of.

While I sat here with a bag of frozen beans on my knee, I got together some pics of Andy and Hendor, two of my favorite skaters in all the world. Hendor is one of the chillest people there, but he skates like he is mad at someone. It's rad. He nailed the hardflip over the hip first try. Dialed...


Andy...well, what can I say about Andy? He's super friendly, knows more about Star Wars than I do (no shit) and is like a bear with the strength of 10 bears. Front side 360!


Tonight the park was dead. Chalk it up to Sundown in the City, I guess. Zack was there, was shredding and had no pegs. He has the one footed flattie on lock down. Mike Aitken weeps...


He also no peg bonked this rail...


Billy looks like he should be in a Social Distortion cover band, or maybe even breaking beer bottles over someone's head, but he rides like he is carrying a Faberge Egg in his pocket...glass smooth.


Tetro is the only guy I see at the park throwing these out on a regular basis. No hands. No problem.


These are for Mica. Look at Grant. But don't stare.



That's all for now. I am gonna go heal. Sort of. God, this hurts.

I wish bmxboard would just send me a password.

Damnittohell. The last couple of days have been busy busy. I cut the grass, started taking down the dog pen fence (hopefully a ramp will magically wind up there) and I have rode my bike probably more than I deserve. Mica is a wonderful gal for letting me ride as much as I get to. I went last night got some photos of ol' Josh and Neebo. Josh does alley-oop 360's like I wish I could...he's so damn good. It's wild.


Neebo was tossing tailwhips over the hip and Mica pointed out that this picture looked cool because of the lights...


Today Zack Biggs was there and is way down with getting pictures taken.
Opposite jib over the peanut bowl hip...


One footer in the deep end...


Invert!


I've been 50-50'ing the back side of the over vert lately and it is fun, but not nearly as scary as people think it is. Sure, it's about a 13 foot drop on the other side, but man...just lean. If I can do it, anyone can.

My lavish lifestyle is going to kill me.

Reading CNN.com at work today set me on the path to a discussion with my co-workers about the price of gas, our precarious national security situation because of our dependence on foreign oil and how there is no end in sight. This led to me becoming rather depressed about the fact that I drive a Chevy Blazer...a truck that I am pretty much stuck with for a while. Gas will be 5 dollars a gallon by the end of the year. Though, in reality, even if I was driving a smaller car, I'd not likely be saving all that much money at the end of the day. Or maybe I am just telling myself that. Either way, it bums me out to see things deteriorate in such a way. I wish I could install solar panels on my house, but I lack the know how and capital.

This feeling is compounded by the fear that Clinton will somehow win the nomination. It saddens me to think that people still get ahead by way of character assassination and fear mongering. If she wins the nomination, I am just going to sit this one out. Because a country ran by her or McCain will not be different one way or the other.

Man, I am really down about this.

The land of Vienna Beef.

I spent the last week in Chicago at a training class for my job. The hotel I stayed in was nice, but the internet access was essentially wireless dial up, and I had no desire to fuck with that. So, I just spent the nights walking around, or drinking coffee, or talking to Mica on the phone...just whatever. I just wanted to be home. It was also an opportunity for me to heal a little. I took a really bad spill while skating last week. Skating. The activity that I can largely do with my eyes closed. So much for that. Thankfully, the bike is back in working order. So, while in the city of wind, I did what everyone else does, including sneaky fucking Russians...I took pictures of the Bean. Actually, it is called the "Cloud Gate" but it is pretty much a big chrome bean. Very "Flight of the Navigator".

This shot was on Monday night. I got back to my room, got stir crazy and grabbed my camera. I am laying on the steps for this one, holding as still as possible. No one thought I was homeless, as they didn't shoot me horrible looks. They just thought I was crazy. Everyone in that city was carrying 20 pounds of gloom...


This one was on the same night, but I black and whited it. I really liked how it turned out. So much so that it became the desktop background on my work laptop. Good job, Stephen. Thanks!


This last one was a daytime shot. There were all these Russians milling about and staring at themselves in it. I had no idea that Russians were that narcissistic. I knew they were sneaky and could dodge bullets, however.


So, that is all for now. I guess I am getting ready to drive somewhere to eat some BBQ.

The grass is greener.

Because my dog has shit all over my back yard and just really done a terrific job of fertilizing the thing.

I mowed it, cleaned it up and took my son out there to see what he'd think of it. I hooked him up with his new (to him) whip and he seemed to like it.




And check out his "I'm chillin'" stance. Kid is gonna be a ripper.



I wrecked hard this past weekend. I actually did no damage to myself, but I destroyed my new cranks and new pedals. Shit. I guess I am glad that I did not get wrecked, because when I look at what was done to the metal on my bike...well...I realize that I would have shattered my leg.




Before the bike carnage, I got some pictures taken of me riding! Gasp!

Fastplant, baby!


Hippity hoppity.

Nostalgia in human form.

I grew up skating...a lot...and in the process of doing so, I made friends that did likewise. I would still see them from time to time and even though our lives have changed a great deal, our common thread was still there. Now that we have a skate park, I see them even more...like yesterday. Nate Holder was the man when I was in middle school. Vert skating was THE form of skatboarding in the 80's and Nate was ripping it up with guys twice his age. I can remember seeing him skate and seeing that picture in Thrasher and being completely awed that I went to school with him. Watching Nate skate now is like watching him skate back in 1988. Smooth. Controlled. Suit up, man.


Nate still goes higher than anyone.


His rock and rolls always looked unique to me. Still do.

If I was awed by Nate, I was driven by Jamie Smith. He was my peer...we skated together often, and even though we had different styles, we pushed each other constantly. Sometimes it was competitive, but more often than not it was just two friends trying to have fun. Jamie went on to some amazing things via skateboarding, whereas I starting BMX'ing, but we're still friends. And he is still really fucking good.


I just like the way backside disasters look, and he does them fast and smooth.


As tech as he always was, he could go big, too.

My daughter got some tooth work done yesterday and had to be numbed. When I dropped her off with her mom, she tried to smile but looked like she had a palsy, so being the great dad I am, I laughed and took a picture.


On Tuesday, I had to drive to Jamestown, TN for work. On the way up, I saw this creek and thought it just looked beautiful, so on the way back I stopped and took some pics.



I'm so vain...